"To speak in the most universal terms: we all want democracy. We are all exploited by our country's and the world's economic masters. We all want this to end, so that we might enjoy the fruits of our labor and happier, healthier lives. We all want healthcare, pensions, vacations, holidays, quality education, control over our labor, work that uses our full human capacities, societies in which children can grow up safe and healthy, livable environments, an end to war and other violence, and much more. There are still plenty of things to unite us.
Those of us in the rich capitalist nations have special responsibilities in all of these struggles. It is, after all, our countries that have immiserated the rest of the world. We need, first of all, to get our own houses in order, fostering solidarity at home as we confront our employers and our governments. We must do all we can to end the imperialism that wreaks more havoc around the planet every day. Second, we must join forces, as often and in whatever ways possible, with those suffering elsewhere, no matter how far away and no matter the issue. We must firmly reject the mindless nationalism that makes international cohesion so difficult.
In the face of such global violence, poverty, and injustice, it can be difficult to retain any hope for a future beyond capitalism. But if the reality of global inequality inspires what Antonio Gramsci famously called "pessimism of the intellect," the real work must begin with what he called "optimism of the will"-the undaunted commitment that drives radical change."