Social Security Concerns Fuel Pittsfield 'May Day Strong' Rally
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — At the first of several May Day Strong events this weekend, community members rallied in front of the Conte Federal Building in Pittsfield with signs such as "Stop Trump's Terror" and "People Over Profits."
Wendy Penner of Greylock Together explained that the Northern Berkshire group has been gathering signatures on its petition to fire Elon Musk, which will be presented to state Sen. Paul Mark on Saturday.
The petition states that Musk, a billionaire known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, and X (formerly Twitter), has used his wealth and power to influence elections and obtain unbridled power, is "leading" without congressional confirmation or election, and has engaged in activity that undermine the health and safety of U.S. citizens as well as national security and the fundamental tenets of the U.S. Constitution.
According to AP News, "Musk has been focused on Social Security as an alleged hotbed of fraud, describing it as 'a Ponzi scheme' and insisting that reducing waste in the program is an important way to cut government spending."
On Thursday, it had over 800 signatures and was fast approaching its 1,000 signature goal.
"A lot of people say he was never hired, which is true, but I think the it was to give people an opportunity to express to our elected officials how angry and distressed they are about the harm he's causing, and to create a sense of urgency about doing something to stop it," Penner said.
"And he wasn't hired, but yet, he could be fired. It's up to the Republicans in Congress. They could end this so we just want our elected officials to do everything they can to disrupt the business as usual and return our country to a sense of normalcy."
When asked what is the best way to take action, she suggested joining a grassroots group, a phone bank, or choose from a number of actions on the Mobilize website.
"This is not a time to wait it out or to be afraid," she said. "I think this is the time to leave it all on the table and do everything we can to advocate for the country we want."
As a recipient of social security, activist Robin O'Herin said, "My home, my healthcare, everything," is at risk.
She was getting increasingly anxious as things on the national level got "crazier and crazier" and leaned into simple actions, taking trainings from three journalists who were in countries that elected presidents who became dictators.
"And they told me how they got them back, their democracies," she explained.
"The first thing was, if you're silent, you've already lost. Second thing was, you never win with violence. It has to be peaceful. The third thing was, when your government fails you, you have to get people in the streets and if you can get about 3.5 percent of the population every time that happens, you win."
She heard about the large "Hands Off" rallies planned for April 5 and registered to be a host, triggering a standout of about 2,000 people in Pittsfield on that day. A couple of weekends later, hundreds of people mobilized again throughout more than 10 rallies across the county.
"But May Day is a Thursday, and a lot of people work," she explained, adding that the May Day Strong events run from May 1 to May 3.
Meg Arvin, who organized the Pittsfield People's March in January, wants people to understand that is Social Security can be on the chopping block, anything can.
"I think it's a lack of access to proper education so that people understand the brevity of what is at risk because I feel like if they take away something like Social Security, which is something we all look forward to for ideally being retired, and that it's not just a pipe dream, then what else are they going to take away?" Arvin said.
"They're not going to stop at just Social Security and if they can do something like the beast that is Social Security, taking that away from people, then none of us are safe from any sort of hope for our future."
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