There is no just future that includes the USA
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The myth of a just future for the US
The vision of a “just future for the US” is an oxymoron — a contradiction onto itself. Many have willingly laid down their lives for this seemingly noble cause. It sounds appealing, ringing of freedom and the other purported values of the US empire, and evoking a sentiment of peace and prosperity. It is also, ultimately, erroneous.
Before I explain why, I want to delineate what justice is and isn’t. Justice necessitates the liberation of all people and lands. A piecemeal liberation, where some are free while others are left destitute and oppressed, is not true liberation nor justice. Likewise, a future where the power roles are reversed, where the formerly oppressed invoke generations of systematic violence on their former oppressors, is not true liberation nor justice. Justice requires far more than righting the wrongs of the past when possible, with the shortcoming that the lives and the histories destroyed cannot be replaced — justice requires the dissolution of the systems and institutions that have perpetuated and would continue to perpetuate violence against peoples and lands. Justice, simply, cannot allow systematic violence to continue in any form or against any target.
The inherent barriers for justice in the US
Countless scholars, community organizers, and everyday people throughout histories and geographies have articulated the inherent injustice that is the continuation of the US. Rather than focusing on detailing the vast swath of justifications for the abolition of the US, I focus on the abolition of institutions of violence and the return of stolen lands, and how achieving justice in these realms will require the abolition of the US as a necessary step.
Abolishing institutions of violence
Within the US, there are numerous institutions which, from conception, have been instruments of violence and injustice. This includes police, jails & prison, the military, and other similar arms of the US government such as the CIA, FBI, and DHS: The persisting history of policing in the US is a continuation of slave patrols, premised on protecting the interests of the white ruling class and crushing any…
