The rich and powerful want war; so much is clear. Billions are flowing into military spending, forced conscription is being reintroduced in various countries, and the military is starting to revisit schools all over Europe. There is no secret that full-scale war preparations are underway. And while the rich seem to get richer by the day, the youth is confronted with the question: obey or resist.
But why do they need war?
In the world we live in, money and power – in other words, capitalism – rule. But today, capitalism has entered into crisis, with crashes in the stock market, economic problems all around, and crises in governments. As we watch politicians come and go, the system stays and is filled up with racists and fascists. In this time of crisis, we can see how powerful countries are trying to get the biggest piece of the cake for themselves and are unleashing war on the backs of millions who are murdered, displaced, and left with nothing.
With war erupting across the world, the genocide in Palestine continuing, and our rights being stripped away in all aspects of our lives, we know the role the ruling class has set out for us: to serve as human cannon fodder that can be placed on the front lines, in the factories, or at home in order to keep their war machine going.
But we are not powerless. The war begins here; we can stop it here.
We are millions in schools, universities, workplaces, or in our neighborhoods. We are young workers, women, LGBTI+, migrants, and youth of different national and cultural backgrounds. And we have seen the ugly face of this system in its blatant sexism, racism, heterosexism, and exploitation in every aspect of our lives.
So let us not stay silent, but fight back exactly where we are!
No matter where we are as youth, we are not helpless! From our neighbourhoods to our universities, from our schools to our workplaces: we can show them that their war preparations and attacks on us will not be accepted.
For this reason, we are calling on all youth to mobilize in the streets on the 20th of November, to Boycott their schools, Strike in their workplaces, and Resist wherever they are.
„Strike, Boycott, Resist“ means that we will not just go to the streets as a symbol. We will use all the forces we have to fight for our future and put our resistance into practice.
Come together in your locality, build a committee, and organize a campaign of actions all the way till the 20th of November.
We need everyone to know: the future is in our hands. No one wants war, and everyone wants a future. We know what we want: we want an end to this capitalist system; we want socialism!
On the 20th of November, we will say: Strike, Boycott, Resist! Youth rise up against war!