Despite official statistics of nearly three straight years of economic recovery and improving employment figures -- make no mistake about it, there is a crisis in the U.S. There is a political crisis, a social crisis, and an environmental crisis. At the root of the political dysfunction is the fact that the economic “recovery” is shallow and fragile while the majority of new jobs offer low wages.

The ruling elites are trying to make the working people, the poor, and the youth pay for a dire situation created by casino capitalism. At the same time, they try to blame each other for the crisis because neither party can point the finger at where it really belongs -- the big corporations that helped make this crisis and that fund both political parties. While the big banks got bailed out with billions of dollars, working people have seen continued mass unemployment and budget cuts.

This is what we want: a society where we, as human beings, have more control over key decisions in our lives, not based on discrimination, where all workers gain full employment and a living wage. Where government is fair and democratic and not predatory. We want services such as healthcare and education to be high-quality and free, as well as decent housing accessible to all. We imagine a society based in solidarity and cooperation without the looming threat of climate catastrophe.

We need a powerful mass movement in campuses, the streets, and workplaces: an independent political voice. Socialists agree that working-class gains are made from powerful social movements -- breaking up big banks and restoring the Glass-Steagall Act, bringing banks and other large businesses and companies into public ownership. For the environment we need energy companies taken into public ownership. Why? Because about 90 companies are responsible for around two-thirds of global carbon emissions.

These changes are achievable, and necessary for a decent continuation of mankind. In the past, the labor movement achieved the eight-hour workday, social security, and other benefits through mass struggle with tens of millions of workers. Now, we are under attack. Democrats and Republicans are trying to cut these benefits for working people gained throughout centuries. We can fight for every reform made and new ones -- only of the power of the ruling class is broken. Faced with mass resistance and organized civil disobedience like mass demonstrations, strike action, and protests, it is possible to again force the ruling class to back down. For example, a massive strike by the Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU) forced the city’s mayor Rahm Emmanuel to cede some of his attacks on public education and the CTU.

But of course, entrenched corporate interests will resist all change against the status quo. That’s why it’s so important for working people to rebuild a fighting labor movement in solidarity with each other under the same oppressive system. Social struggle always comes with the need to build new political force for the 99 percent. There’s already mass consciousness around this idea. Whether they know it or not, the millions of Bernie Sanders supporters were helping him start a potential new political force for the 99 percent, though it wouldn’t have worked anyway, within the framework of the Democratic Party and a neoliberal apparatus. They have not allowed him to win, and have kept him locked within a rigid framework. He’s endorsing Hillary. We need an independent mass party of, and for, working class people to fight for our own interests here and now, linking it to a socialist transformation of society.

So, if we are to break the stranglehold of corporate politics and stop the economic and environmental disaster they are creating, ordinary people need to build a party for the 99 percent right now, and it is not optional. Kshama Sawant was elected and re-elected for city council position in Seattle -- and open socialist who has helped Seattle gain the 15 dollar-an-hour minimum wage, among other victories.

We need to push forward with more left independent candidates and run our own. Jill Stein is the most radical in this election cycle, and we need to support her. Kshama Sawant is a good example of a socialist candidate up for election who can help make real change. These steps can lead to a basis for a new worker’s party which would massively shift political discussion and consciousness, strengthen movements, and be able to challenge the status quo.

So, the real question to all of this is where to go from here. You might want to consider joining a national revolutionary Marxist socialist organization called "Socialist Alternative," which I am a member of. It fights for all of those facing exploitation and injustices in the workplace, on the stress, on campuses, and communities. We are a diverse organization demanding legalization of undocumented workers, full reproductive rights, elimination of sexism, racism, and the capitalist system as a whole, representing the interests of many millions of diverse people around the globe. Socialist Alternative is in political solidarity with the Committee for Worker’s International, a global socialist organization in 35 countries on every continent. Join us!