Houselessness, SNAP cuts and capitalism’s rotting core

By Benny Schaft

The growing crisis of capitalism has reached a significant and even more deadly turn, one that has produced a massive surge in houselessness. As the disciples of capitalism desperately try to keep their decaying system alive while it lies on life support, they tighten the screws of exploitation even more ruthlessly on the proletariat here in the imperial belly of the beast. These desperate attempts to protect capitalism have come at the cost of millions of working-class lives in the United States.

As many of us know from the writings of Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Vladimir Lenin and countless other revolutionary comrades, this situation was predicted long before it unfolded. Chaos is not a glitch in capitalism; it is in its nature. It drives itself to the very edge of collapse, creating conditions where it cannot consistently sustain itself and in the process, inflicts endless suffering on the workers.

Contrary to the arguments made by the ruling class — lies that blame immigrants or accuse workers of “laziness” — these excuses fall apart immediately under material reality. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids have only worsened conditions for the entire working class, escalating state terrorism and deepening vulnerability. The myth of “laziness” has been a weaponized talking point for decades, used by Democrats and Republicans alike to justify exploitation and oppression.

Meanwhile, millions of people are working more than one job, living paycheck to paycheck under horrific conditions. Yet the ruling class smugly suggests, “If your job is so bad, just quit and find a better one.” But we know that’s not possible for most, because under these brutal material conditions, quitting a job often means risking houselessness, or worse, total abandonment by the system.

And if anyone still clings to the illusion that the state will protect them, just look at the recent cuts and restrictions to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Workers, families, elders, even disabled people are being thrown off vital assistance, left to starve in the richest imperial country on Earth.

Millions of people who rely on SNAP to survive are told they must now “prove” their worthiness through stricter work requirements, while people are already working more than ever before just to keep their heads above water. And those who cannot meet those impossible standards? They are discarded, left to choose between covering rent, mortgage, food, medicine or watching their children go hungry. That alone exposes the true cruelty of capitalism: It will starve people before it ever starves profits.

What is the solution?

To truly reach the root of the crisis, we must return to capitalism itself. As stated earlier, the chaotic, profit-driven nature of capitalism, built on exploitation, has produced the situation we see now. Historical materialism proves this. A clear example is the Great Depression of the 1930s, triggered by the stock market crash, a direct outcome of capitalism’s instability, which left millions of working-class people houseless and starving. And now, history repeats.

The private sector continues its ruthless robbery through wage theft, rent exploitation and an ever-growing corporate hold over basic human needs. These conditions are further intensified by imperialism, with U.S. support for genocide in Congo, Sudan and Palestine, all for the sake of global dominance and profit, recently reinforced by resolutions voted on at the United Nations.

This is also painfully clear in the private ownership of housing, which plays a massive role in the rise of houselessness. So the question becomes: What should be done? What is the solution?

Reactionaries will say the proletariat just needs to “work harder” and our problems will vanish. Reformists will insist capitalism merely needs to be “regulated” or made more “moral.” But history has already proven that false. The New Deal, designed to save capitalism, ultimately failed, as capitalism easily tore through and reversed those reforms, bringing us right back to where we are now.

That leaves us with one real answer: the abolishment of capitalism and private ownership of the means of production from revolutionary class struggle. This will inevitably lead to the dictatorship of the proletariat, where power is fully placed in the hands of the people, not the capitalist class. This is the only real solution to the crisis that faces us. Reform has failed. Capitalism has shown its true face.

We now stand at a crossroads: socialism and life or capitalism and death.