As the wealth gap in the United States increases, class consciousness becomes an ever more common topic in public discourse. Sean Claffey adds to this discourse by foregrounding real stories and the ripple effects that place working-class people in crisis. With Americonned, Claffey takes us from the founding of the Amazon Labor Union, led by Chris Smalls in Staten Island, all the way to the forced evictions of families in Orlando. Though the film does not offer new revelations about inequality, it does make grassroots activism a viable strategy to sow the seeds of tangible change.
The majority of US wealth is concentrated in the pockets of a select few, and a significant amount of people are suffering the repercussions of that disparity. One of Claffey’s subjects is Christina, a single mother of three who lost her truck driving job and had to apply for food stamps. When the person handling her application told her, “You drive a truck, so you can go find something else to deliver,” Christina responded, “Okay, I’ll bring my kids to your office and take your job while you find something for me.” This exchange exemplifies the often repeated narrative that the problem of resources is on the unemployed individual. Christina’s “punishment” for losing her job is having to advocate for herself to receive public assistance.
Americonned weaves archival materials with an insightful history of how labor movements are initiated by people who are fed up with unfair treatment by their employers. Billionaires like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos earn their riches less by the sweat of their brow than by their willingness to exploit workers to maximize profits and reduce costs. The film argues that the concept of free market capitalism is designed to make people feel guilty for being poor. Claffey points to Milton Friedman and Regan-era libertarianism as the architects of this type of ideology. Proponents of policies that favor business tax credits, unregulated labor practices, and union busting are the ones sitting on most of the wealth, while the super-rich have created the public perception that those who use and need public services (food stamps, cash assistance, etc.) leech off of society (“welfare queens”) and contribute nothing in return.
By allocating most of the film’s time to grounding audiences in its subjects and their situations, Claffey takes a pragmatic approach. By the end, I felt like I know someone like Chris Smalls or Christina, or any of the many people interviewed. The doc speaks with academics, social justice activists, and a venture capitalist, all of whom say the same things: The system is broken and it is not sustainable.
If Claffey has made one point abundantly clear, it is that intentional agents of change are needed to make the world a better place. Smalls did not expect to become the leader of a labor movement but he did what he needed to do for his family. Americonned demonstrates the power of organizing and how people can uplift one another through action. If everyone is a bystander, the monster of capitalism will only grow larger.
Americonned is playing in select theaters and is available on select streaming services.
