For the better part of my 67 years, I’ve watched American workers keep their heads down and their mouths shut. The establishment’s grip is tight, and every attempt to break free has been met with brutal pushback. The closest we came to real, wide-scale resistance was in 2011, during the Occupy movement. It was raw, chaotic, and full of potential—but ultimately, it got crushed.

Why? Because the powers that be don’t just sit back and watch when the people start to rise. State repression, corporate media spin, and internal fractures tore the movement apart before it could deliver a knockout punch. That’s the cold, hard truth.

For decades, workers have been told to trust the system, to work hard and move up, to compete against each other instead of standing together. Fear of losing jobs, homes, and dignity keeps most locked in place. Isolation and fragmentation have been the bosses’ favorite tools, making collective action feel impossible or too risky.

But here’s the thing: history shows that change doesn’t come from comfort zones or quiet desperation. It comes from moments when the spark meets the tinder—a perfect storm of outrage, organization, and courage.

Right now, that spark is faint. But it’s not gone. The work we’re doing to share clear information, to build organizing muscles, and to keep morale alive is the groundwork for the next surge. It might take years or the right crisis, but when it happens, the workers who’ve been prepared won’t be scrambling—they’ll be ready.

If we want a real uprising next time, we have to be honest about what crushed the last one. We have to learn, build, and never forget that the power lies with us—when we stand together.