A personal reflection from inside the empire

By Musa T Bey

I live in the United States—the richest empire in human history. I’ve been told my whole life that this is the land of freedom, the land of opportunity, the land where anyone can make it if they work hard enough. But like millions of others, I’ve come to realize that these promises are lies—shiny lies told to keep us working, consuming, and believing in a system that is killing us.

For those of us who believe in a future beyond capitalism, the question becomes unavoidable: what will it take to end this system?

I’ve come to the conclusion that nothing short of revolution—real, socialist revolution—can bring justice to this country. But I also know that such a revolution here will demand more from us than perhaps anywhere else in the world.

Why Revolution Is Necessary in the U.S.

Look around. We are living in a country where millions go without healthcare while billionaires build rockets. Where people sleep in tents under empty skyscrapers. Where Black people are murdered by police with impunity. Where workers are called “essential,” then discarded like trash. Where climate catastrophe accelerates while oil companies rake in record profits.

The U.S. is not broken—it is working exactly as designed. It’s a system built on slavery, settler colonialism, and genocide; refined through imperial conquest, racial capitalism, and mass surveillance. Every reform we’ve ever won—civil rights, labor protections, public education—was bled for, and even now, they’re being rolled back. The idea that we can simply vote or lobby our way to justice under this system is a fantasy.

Capitalism here is not just an economic system—it’s a religion. And the state exists to protect it. The police don’t exist to keep us safe. They exist to protect property and enforce the hierarchy. The military doesn’t defend freedom. It projects power. The media doesn’t tell the truth. It manufactures consent.

To end this system, we need more than anger. We need power. And to build power, we need organization, clarity, and yes—preparedness for confrontation.

What Revolution Will Require Here

In the U.S., the revolution won’t look like storming a palace. There is no single tyrant to overthrow. The power here is diffuse—corporate boardrooms, banks, think tanks, billionaires’ bunkers, and behind every corner, a militarized police force.

So we need to build from below. Community by community. We need unions that are not just about contracts, but about class struggle. Tenant councils that can defend homes. Mutual aid networks that go beyond charity. Political education rooted in history—especially the parts they never teach in school: the labor wars, the Black Panthers, the Indigenous resistance, the Chicano movement, the anti-war revolts.

We need to prepare for repression. Because the moment we seriously threaten power in this country, we will be labeled terrorists. We’ll be surveilled, arrested, blackmailed, maybe killed. The state has done it before. From COINTELPRO to modern FBI infiltration, they’ve always targeted revolutionaries. We shouldn’t fear that—but we need to face it clearly.

And we need to prepare ourselves, not just organizationally, but morally. Revolution is not easy. It’s not romantic. It’s painful. It means sacrifice. It means losing people. It means years, maybe decades, of struggle.

The Cost

Let’s be honest: people will suffer. Some of us already do. But the struggle for revolution will bring more suffering in the short term. Some of us will go to prison. Some of us will die. Families will be torn apart. Repression will be brutal. Supply chains will break. Infrastructure may collapse.

And even if we succeed, the struggle doesn’t end. Revolution is not a moment—it’s a process. The U.S. is a deeply divided, multi-national empire with a long history of white supremacy, individualism, and imperial domination. Building socialism here will be the hardest task of any revolutionary movement in the world. But I believe it’s possible. I have to believe it. Because the cost of doing nothing is far worse.

The Alternative Is Slow Death

If we don’t act, the planet will burn. Inequality will keep rising. Fascism will creep in under the guise of law and order. Whole cities will drown, and others will choke on wildfire smoke. The U.S. won’t fall with a bang—it will rot from the inside, dragging the rest of the world down with it.

So the question isn’t “Can we afford the cost of revolution?”

The real question is “Can we survive without it?”

What I Believe

I don’t know if I’ll see the revolution in my lifetime. But I know I want to live in a country—on a planet—where human life matters more than profit. Where land is cared for, not commodified. Where no one dies because they were born poor. Where work is dignified, and rest is respected. Where decisions are made by the people, not corporations.

That’s what I fight for. That’s what I organize for. That’s what I’m willing to risk for.

Not because it’s easy. But because it’s necessary.

Revolution here will cost us dearly.

But the future it makes possible?

That, finally, will be worth living for.