The Kasama project is a communist project. Their slogan is 'the emperor can burn down villages, the people are forbidden to light a candle'. They are seeking to put communism not just on centre stage in America, but internationally as well. Kasama is intended to act as a catalyst in order to achieve this.
What initially drew my attention to Kasama in relation to class struggle within in America, was an essay that features on the site, (http://kasamaproject.org/2011/01/13/corruption-and-class-struggle-life-in-todays-arizona/). This essay focuses on a particular area of America in regards to class struggle and inequalities, that is in Arizona. Between 2006 - 2010, Arizona had between 20.0 - 29.9 percent of its population living in poverty (U.S Census bureau, 2006-2010 American community Survey).
The essay by Joel Olson which is entitled 'What's It Like To Live In Arizona Right Now' states that Arizona's economy if founded on 'copper, cotton, cattle, citrus, and climate (tourism)', these are known as the '5 C's'. Three classes have been defined; the elites, white middle class and the working class. Not only is class struggle an issue raised in this essay, but also a divide between the different ethnic groups. This is noticeable in as much that the middle class have been defined as being 'white'. There is also mention of the working classes being predominantly 'largely Brown, largely poor, largely poorly educated, largely ignored'. This would suggest that there is a link between ethnicity and class in Arizona. In general terms the ethnic minorities are in most of the low paid, low skilled jobs. It has been pointed out that many ethnic groups such as Latinos, Blacks, Chicanos and Native Americans are denied higher paid jobs based on their ethnicity.
Another class struggle that is brought up in the essay is the arguments between the elites and the middle class. 'The frayed alliance between these two classes has created the political mess this state is in today'. Olson has suggested that the middle class are there for the elites to have a 'junior partner to dominate'. In terms of this so called alliance fraying, whilst this is happening the working class meanwhile are, turning to grass roots democracy and operating outside official political channels. How Olson has described this is as, 'This path they are carving is quite possibly a model for working class struggles throughout the nation.' What is being argued here is that the working classes are being ignored as the elites and middle classes are too busy arguing amongst themselves on various issues such as health and education, that they are ignoring the working class.
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