Northeastern University encampment where I and other protestors were arrested.
by Harper Glottmann
Miami, FL
Growing up in Miami, it was hard to ignore the wealth inequality all around me. Downtown, homeless people’s encampments stretch down several streets just a couple blocks away from luxury high rises.
Most of my life I did not think critically about the way our society is organized, the role poverty plays, and what real radical solutions to the world’s injustices would look like. I still believed that change was possible through reforming the current system. It was around the time I went to college at 18, majoring in business, ironically. I began engaging with leftist ideas. I was not yet a socialist, but it was clear to me that poverty and exploitation are inextricably linked to capitalism, and necessary in maintaining it. I was no longer under the delusion that liberalism and supporting corporate party politicians would advance the working class.
My upbringing was a Zionist one. Support for the state of Israel was unquestionable and ingrained in our Jewish identity, a belief I came to question and reject by learning the history of Palestine. I was compelled as I witnessed Israel’s escalation of violence against Palestinians after October 7th to join an organization and protest the genocidal siege on Gaza. I met members of ISG at a pro-Palestine protest, and eventually joined the organization. I strongly recommend any leftist, whether or not you call yourself a socialist, to join an organization. Being able to go to multiple encampments around Boston, my experience at each was one of comradery that made me feel first hand, in a way I never before have, the power people possess in great numbers with resilient organization. After joining the Northeastern University student encampment for two nights, I and many others were arrested by police. The pro-Palestine encampments at universities all over the world now have put pressure on institutions while exposing the state’s willingness to suppress mass movements.
Socialism provides the understanding of capitalism’s mechanisms and the framework of an alternative society that is structured around the well-being of all people. Understanding how capitalism works, the suffering it creates, and how it could be replaced, fighting to bring about a socialist world, as best one can, is the only reasonable thing to do.
Independent Socialist Group 