The tragic
wildfires that have taken place since Tuesday, January 7, 2025, have destroyed
thousands of homes and structures across Los Angeles, leaving tens of thousands
homeless. The death toll continues to rise as bodies are discovered under the
ashes of homes. While the corporate mainstream media spotlights the rich who
have been impacted, Peace & Freedom Party members have been on the ground,
day after day, providing aid and relief to the thousands of working-class
families who have lost everything.
This crisis is a
consequence of capitalist plunder of the earth’s resources, refusal of the
billionaires to allow measures to prevent the climate catastrophe, and a
failure of the City and County of Los Angeles to respond effectively. Let’s be
clear: The climate crisis is one that is accelerated by the Democratic and
Republican parties alike. Both parties work for the interests of the
billionaire class, leaving working-class people to pick up the pieces.
Peace &
Freedom Party members have joined other community organizations to help clear
the streets of the horrific destruction, organize relief distribution, and
provide a helping hand wherever necessary; local city and county officials
criminalize the public by focusing their efforts on arresting “looters.” The US
National Guard was deployed not to help victims find housing, clothes, food,
shelter, but to patrol the streets for “criminal activity.” They are NOT going
after the big-time looters, but the landlords who have jacked up rents 10% to
100% and more since the fires hit.
Meanwhile, days
away from the anti-immigrant Trump’s inauguration, immigrant community leaders
and activists from the Pasadena Job Center were some of the first to jump into
action to begin the process of rebuilding the communities of Altadena and
Pasadena.
The Peace and
Freedom Party is the only socialist party that has ballot access in California.
We need a party of the working class to act in the interests of the people. In
the continually occurring national disaster crises, both capitalist parties –
Republican and Democratic – have left us to fend for ourselves. For example,
President Biden announced a measly $770 per victim of the wildfires.
We say enough is
enough. What we’ve seen in the last week is that the working class is more than
capable of organizing to meet the needs of the people, it is the working class
that will rebuild what has been burned to the ground. The Peace and Freedom Party
was born out of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, committed to socialism,
democracy, ecology, feminism, racial equality and internationalism. We stand
for the defense and protection of the environment, to ensure permanent and
guaranteed housing for all, and universal healthcare for all.
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