“No to Capitalism! Yes, to Equality and Justice”
Who would have thought that the slogan once shouted by student activists during the First Quarter Storm of the 1970s —“Down with Imperialism!”—would now echo within the United States itself? Today, Modern American Imperialism, which controls over half of the world’s resources and possesses enough nuclear weapons to destroy humanity forty times over, has brought about widespread poverty and severe social inequality. Its neoliberal development model, driven by corporate globalization, has sacrificed both people and the environment on the altar of greed and profit. As a result, the threat of nuclear war and environmental catastrophe has become an urgent and undeniable danger to the survival of humankind.
It is both amazing and revealing to learn that since 2011, around 7,762 people across 122 U.S. cities have been arrested while participating in people-powered movement activities. This mass mobilization was a powerful response to more than thirty years of class warfare that began in New York and spread to thousands of locations around the world.
Dr. Noam Chomsky—widely regarded as the world’s leading intellectual, as well as a committed environmentalist and social activist—highlighted that one of the movement’s most significant achievements was bringing the issue of everyday inequality to the forefront of national discussion. He emphasized that inequality in the United States has reached historically unprecedented levels, noting that roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population have become aware of the deep and growing divide between the rich and the poor. Millions of ordinary Americans live in poverty while the so-called “free market” system continues to worsen their suffering.
The movement has taken on a monumental agenda: nothing less than a complete transformation of American society and a redefinition of the United States’ role in the world. Across the country, ordinary people are continuing to organize, building on the movement’s momentum with nonviolent and increasingly creative actions in hundreds of cities.
Despite arrests, tear gas, imprisonment, and various forms of harassment, the number of protesters continues to grow worldwide. Demonstrators have set up tents and protest camps, even reaching the steps of the U.S. Congress and the White House. Their voices ring out with powerful demands:
“We want a peaceful world! We want an egalitarian society! We reject war! We reject state capitalism, which is inherently self-destructive! We demand a decent society! We oppose American imperialism! We reject government policies crafted by the super-rich! We resist the rule of the one-percent elite controlling our government!”
It is truly remarkable—and almost unbelievable—that the same slogans we once shouted in the streets during the First Quarter Storm and the height of student activism are now echoing in the United States and across the world: “Down with Imperialism, Feudalism, and Bureaucrat Capitalism!” Many of those brave voices have since passed away—some imprisoned (as is now happening in the U.S.), others tragically killed. If only they were still alive today, they would realize the truth in the saying:
“In the darkest night, someone keeps vigil for the coming of a new dawn.”
I vividly remember some of them. One was none other than the late Secretary Chito Gascon, former Chairman of the Human Rights Commission. He was a passionate human rights advocate and student leader, having served as President of the University of the Philippines Student Council and later becoming a delegate to the 1987 Constitutional Convention. He was a close friend, staying at our home every time he visited Cagayan de Oro.
I also remember the late Mr. Roberto Rosales, a dear friend whose heart overflowed with compassion for the poor and the oppressed Indigenous Peoples. And of course, there was the late Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, fondly known as the “Father of Cooperatives.” I would often see him during the human barricades we staged in the 1990s in front of Manresa, protesting against logging. He would visit us as early as 3:00 a.m., and I once asked him, “Senator, why are you here?”
He replied, “I just want to see if you’re still alive.” Then he smiled.
Senator Pimentel, who was once a Martial Law prisoner himself, was deeply committed to social transformation. He authored the provision in the 1987 Constitution that states: “The State shall promote the viability of cooperatives as instruments of social justice, equity, and economic development.” He understood all too well how capitalism breeds poverty, injustice, and inequality—and he believed that the only true counterforce to this is cooperativism.
That is already part of the proud and trailblazing history our country has carved—a history that is now echoing across the globe. The reign of the one percent must come to an end, as modern American imperialism has brought humanity to the edge of a sixth mass extinction.
Today, there are two kinds of intellectuals. There are those who use their knowledge and skills to uplift the poor and the oppressed—often at great personal cost. They are isolated, ridiculed, imprisoned, and even killed. On the other hand, many intellectuals now use their talents simply to gain wealth, secure high positions, and live lives centered on instant gratification, fame, and power.
Just let a handsome candidate dance before you, and he wins a Senate seat.
But fight for the rights of the poor, defend the oppressed, resist illegal logging and destructive mining, speak out against land grabbing—especially that of Indigenous Peoples—and what happens? You are forced into hiding!
In our country, more than 100 people have been killed since 2016 for standing up for what is right, true, and just. Until now, not a single perpetrator has been held accountable. More than 1,000 families of the Manobo Pulangiyon Tribe remain in extreme poverty. Their 1,111-hectare ancestral land has been grabbed by a powerful corporation. For six long years, they have been forced to live in makeshift tents along the highway. After securing official certification of their rightful ownership, they tried to reclaim a vacant 4-hectare portion of their land on April 19, 2022. Crying out, “Please have mercy! We’re starving, especially our children!”—they were met with a rain of bullets, treated like pests.
According to Amnesty International, powerful businessmen, backed by those in power and driven by corporate globalization, have turned Mindanao into one vast plantation—profiting at the cost of people’s lives and the environment. A study by Oxfam reveals how the profit motive has captured the minds of governments, institutions, universities, and even religious groups.
There is now a deep desecration of spirituality, as we see in the case of Xavier University—selling its historic campus and Manresa land to the powerful Cebu Landmasters, Inc. This act not only sacrifices cultural heritage, but desecrates the burial site of Jesuit pioneers. And now, CLI has the audacity to flaunt its billions to destroy Manresa’s mini-forest—home to 40 species of birds—pushing them toward extinction. Is this not a direct contradiction of Pope Francis’s call to “hear the cry of the earth”?
Like the brave Americans who stand for what is right, we will not allow this, even if it means going to prison “That’s just money. What truly matters is what’s in your heart. Has it been conquered by the ego?” As Dr. Noam Chomsky declared, the new Masters of Mankind are the multinational corporations, the real architects behind government policy. These corporate architects claim that “war is the health of the state,” because they profit immensely from wars and conflict.
But change is coming. As we now see in the United States, state capitalism is beginning to collapse. What we urgently need is true social transformation—a shift in humanity’s mindset and way of life. Let us spread this truth: Unless we abandon a lifestyle centered on consumption—on maximizing buying power and material goods—and instead focus on maximizing the values that truly matter for human life, then this ego-driven culture of materialism and consumerism will be the end of mankind.
A powerful message is rising—not just in the U.S., but around the world:
We must now work for a different way of living—one that is not about maximizing consumer goods, but about maximizing values that are essential for life.
