We all know the issues with thanksgiving's colonialist associations, so I won't go into that here. This post is moreso going to be a deconstruction of the idea of a holiday dedicated to being thankful in today's age and political climate.
Despite my best efforts to ignore the holiday and what it stands for, the thought of "what am I thankful for?" did cross my mind yesterday. And in all honesty, I really could not come up with much. I'm glad that I have my cats and my friends. That's it, that's everything I'm thankful for right now.
Some might object, "Aren't you thankful that you have three meals and a roof over your head?" And in all honesty, no, I'm not thankful for those things. Because in the year 2024, when we have an advanced supply chain that should be capable of providing the bare necessities of life to everyone, I don't think it's necessary to be "thankful" that we have those. Rather, I think those things should be considered basic human rights, and we should be livid that not everybody has them. Saying "I sure am glad that I'm not homeless and starving" just comes across as a "screw you, I've got mine" type of mentality.
Likewise, I'm not thankful for my job, because everyone deserves a job, and nobody should have the lion's share of the value their labor created stolen from them by capitalists. I'm not thankful for my health benefits, because it's 2024, why do we still not have free healthcare?! I'm not thankful for my "rights," because everyone should have them, I'm still missing a lot of them, and I'm about to lose half of the rights I do have thanks to Cheeto Benito.
This whole situation can be summed up as the rich and powerful having a table full of loaves of bread, and the rest of us having only a few crumbs from their table. And then we're told that we should count our blessings for having those crumbs, instead of having nothing at all? Fuck. That. I think instead of being "thankful," we should take a page from Howard Beale, and go to the nearest window, open it, and yell, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
Therefore, by the power vested in me (by myself), I declare today to be Demands-giving day. Today will be all about demanding the rights we deserve, but which have been withheld from us. So today, I demand:
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The right to the basic necessities of life for all
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The right to democracy, both in government and in the workplace
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The right of every worker to the full value of their labor
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Free healthcare for all
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The separation of religion from government, education, and healthcare
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An end to the fossil fuel industries, and swift action to solve/mitigate the climate crisis
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An end to the mass murdering and enslavement of animals, for food, clothing, or any other purpose
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Freedom from racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, ageism, classism, or any other form of institutional oppression
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An end to imperialist wars and aggression, both western and non-western
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Full liberation and autonomy for the Palestinian people, an end to the state of Israel, and heavy reparations to Palestine from the US and Israel
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Rights for undocumented migrants, an end to deportations, and the dismantling of ICE
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The return of tribal lands to Indigenous peoples, and full autonomy for said tribes
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The right to abortion for all, and laws prohibiting protesting outside of clinics
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An end to the prison-industrial complex, and a shift towards restorative justice
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More funding for education, especially higher quality education that emphasizes critical thinking skills
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Laws prohibiting governmental and corporate mass surveillance
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The abolition of landlords
I probably missed a few, but you get the idea. Of course, demands are hollow things unless they are followed by action, so parts two and three of Demandsgiving are to create a strategy to achieve your demands, and then go out and put that strategy into action.