Capitalism Breeds Its Own Executioners— Guest Post By Zach Shrewsbury

-by Zach Shrewsbury

Last week’s execution of the UniteHealthcare’s CEO is on brand with the state of affairs in our country and abroad. Desperation and anger drive people’s actions at the ballot box and outside. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Let me back up first to provide some context.

Earlier this year, I ran for the U.S. Senate in the Democratic Party primary. While my senatorial campaign won half of the counties in West Virginia— the southern, forgotten part of the state— the voter turnout was low and insufficient to help us secure the nomination. The general election was then lost substantially to West Virginia’s Republican Governor Jim Justice.

West Virginians ended up voting for candidates that projected anti-establishment values even though their actual policy agenda is nothing less than more corporate handouts and commodification of our entire existence fueled by an AI algorithm. 

We have learned two important lessons:

1. Our spirited, working-class-centric campaign and political agenda is a winning combo for the general elections. This is what the Democratic Party’s leaders and consultancy class refuse to admit.

2. To win the primaries, we must expand the primary election electorate beyond the party loyalists. My race was decided by just over 30 percent of eligible voters.

Thanks to a concentrated effort to defund and privatize the public sphere, traditional government programs have fallen short of addressing immediate needs, such as food security, housing, or clean water. Mutual aid initiatives fill these gaps by fostering community-driven solutions rooted in solidarity rather than charity. When local organizers like us deliver tangible resources, they demonstrate an understanding of residents' daily struggles. This builds a foundation of trust that traditional political outreach often lacks.

Moreover, mutual aid connects people's immediate needs with broader systemic issues, sparking conversations about the role of government, policy, and collective action. It encourages individuals to see themselves as active participants in shaping their communities, not just passive recipients of aid. This approach is particularly resonant in Appalachia, where a history of disenfranchisement has left many skeptical of political promises.

Instead of returning to our private lives, we decided to continue building trust, rapport, and civic engagement among voters where systemic neglect and economic disparity have left many struggling to access basic resources— and Bluejay Rising was born. Just like during the campaign, our core organizing principle is mutual aid, and our mission is to bring the disenfranchised to the ballot box, including in the primaries.

If we can change the dynamics of the primary elections by increasing the voter turnout, which hovers across the country at 30 percent, we will elect more progressives up and down the ballot because their bread-and-butter issue focus resonates with the broadest electorate. This is not quick or easy, and it can’t be accomplished by a campaign during one election cycle.

I’m not done with electoral politics yet, and another run for public office is probable, but in the meantime, join me as a monthly supporter of Bluejay Rising.