The Cost of U.S. Imperialism

The Cost of U.S. Imperialism

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (2025), the wealthiest 1% of households are projected to receive roughly $117 billion in tax cuts in 2026 alone, meanwhile $75 billion of our tax dollars are being given to ICE to raid working-class communities and build immigration detention centers over the next four years. The Trump administration issued an Executive Order naming “antifa” a “domestic terrorist organization.” In an effort to dismantle progressive movements, the administration is deploying the National Guard to our cities — spending $1.6 million a day in a single city to repress dissent.

While the billionaire’s fascist regime strengthens at home, they continue to extract resources and exploit other nations through imperial domination. The U.S. maintains 750 military bases outside its borders in roughly 80 countries and territories. Through forced market expansion, the U.S. military — under the Department of Defense — stands as the largest institutional consumer of fossil fuels on the planet; in 2018 alone, it emitted 56 million metric tons of CO₂e. Since 2001, the U.S. military has produced over 1.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases — more than the annual emissions of Portugal, Sweden, or Denmark — making it the single greatest polluting institution on Earth.

Meanwhile, the war economy enriches a handful of corporate parasites — Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, and Halliburton — whose profits rise in direct proportion to the suffering, displacement, and death of the global working class.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Every time we ride a bicycle, we reject the fossil fuel economy that props up imperial war and corporate plunder. Building safe, accessible bicycle infrastructure is not just about transit — it’s about reclaiming our streets, our communities, and our future. By organizing together, we can create an economy rooted in human need and planetary health, not quarterly profits, dividends, and the prosperity of the few. A society built for people, not profit, begins when we take back the power to move — on our bikes, in our neighborhoods, and in solidarity with one another.

Ride with Critical Mass NOLA every last Friday of the month! We meet on the Barracks Street side of the French Market at 6:00 p.m. and roll out at 6:30 p.m. Let’s create community and ride for a better future. If you’d like to volunteer, click here, fill out the form, and we’ll get in touch with you.

Vive la Vélorution!

— CMN