America's Failing System

Toxic industrials and mega-corps will always try and worm their way into lower and middle-income neighborhoods and places of living, as they do not expect to face much resistance. Added to this is the fact that the government, both local and federal tend to get money from these companies as do others. Yet what about those affected on a personal level? The small businesses that people visit, who try and make ends meet from the community and from travelers? The workers, and communities who have to breathe in the fumes.

In my area of Seattle, shit really started to go downhill for the neighborhood during WW2. An important background history about the area; Georgetown and South Park was land of Native Tribes until the 1850’s. For those arguing that this area was industrial after; wrong again. It was farmland until the early 1900’s and didn’t truly become an industrial zone until WW2. That was when a local farmer sold his land to Boeing for $1 in order to keep the manufacturer here.

Now that the area has become a toxic industrial zone, how do we and people in other situations fight back? We educate ourselves and join together as a community against toxic corporations that threaten the whole area, as well as our waterways. We demand that our local politicians take our problems seriously and to not just cater to the rich and the corporations. In my line of work, I write flyers, articles, zines, and go on podcasts as well to make what is being done to our communities more well-known. The problem with these mega-corps in our communities is that they have a mynopsony on the jobs as well. They entrench themselves into our communities and make people desperate for jobs, which is how they can get away with paying starvation wages.

How we can fight back is also through community-raised beds gardens, as well as remediation plants as I covered in a recent blog. Protests and coming together to fight this injustice as a community is what you can do to protect your family and future generations. What future will they have if we do nothing? We must fight for our communities.