by Stevie Dickie
Growing up on Cape Cod, I began building my class consciousness young. Locals will tell you of a stark wealth divide, a brutal housing market, and rampant addiction. Working families struggle to survive in the seasonal economy and struggle to leave.
My parents worked hard. My mom was a part-time nurse, part-time bartender; my dad framed art for a local gallery, built bikes for a department store, and did freelance design projects from home. Still, I listened to them worry about food, electricity, and gas. My peers and I worked weekends and summers for ruthless small entrepreneurs; our families rented from predatory landlords who raised rents and neglected repairs. I didn’t understand, but I was angry.
As an adult, I have worked hard, too. I have yet to benefit from the expensive degree I was pressured to pursue. I have heard that my generation will never own a house; never retire. The so-called “progressive” Democrats I clung to in the Trump era have proved no more accountable to the masses than the Republicans I had learned to blame: they are dissolving the rights of women and queer people; they continue to throw money at cops, as videos of police brutality circulate; they allow the housing crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic to rage on. We are expected to keep working.
I met members of the Independent Socialist Group last summer at the Trans Resistance March in Boston. New to the city, I was looking for community. I told them I was interested in socialism but didn’t understand it. ISG organizes study groups for folks to read about Marxist theory and labor history. I was inspired by the spirit of collaboration, which I’ve since found carries over to our work on the ground.
I am a socialist. I believe workers should control the economy and should make enough to live comfortably—and it shouldn’t be controversial. Together, we have the power to fight against capitalism and win a better world.
Independent Socialist Group 