Stephen is a member of the Metro DC DSA Abolition Working Group and Red Rabbits. He has over 20 years of tech theater experience and has been trained in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 30 best practices.
A YOUTUBE CHANNEL THAT I USED TO FIND enjoyable and relaxing to watch is called post 10. It features videos of a person in Maine who travels around unclogging culverts and drains. These videos commonly feature the individual on a busy street, working on a clogged drain during or after a storm. Cars continue to drive by, unaware of him as they tear through flooded streets. He often recounts that if more care and upkeep from the city were implemented, he would not be taking it upon himself to do this.
The videos are entertaining and peaceful. Have you ever stopped and watched a clogged pool of water drain? It’s calming to see leaves and sticks float down a creek. It’s enticing to watch a whirlpool form and consume gallons of water in its mouth. It’s satisfying to see a large, clogged mess burst with debris, and then watch the water flow.
However, while watching these videos, safety concerns and questions began to clog my peaceful thoughts. Why is the YouTube creator sticking his ungloved hand in murky water? What if he gets cut by a sharp stick? Can the cars see him clearly? What if he gets stuck crawling in a tight space? Why is he working alone? Why aren’t the local and state departments of transportation fixing these drains instead of some random person? Why are we incentivizing people to risk their lives for a job that should be done by the government?
All these questions began to collect and stop my flow of relaxation, becoming anxiety-driven thoughts about the well-being of the person on camera — and about how these videos might lead viewers (including children) to think they can perform this dangerous work without protection or training.
One video stood out to me. The individual was working around dusk, fixing a culvert. The road that the culvert ran under had a crack where a new plastic pipe had been installed to replace the metal one. The water had become stagnant due to blockage, and there was a twisted, damaged metal guard that barely did its job to prevent clogging. While the creator was filming, a truck sped down the road incredibly fast, unaware of the work being done.
Watching what seemed like a run-of-the-mill video, it suddenly felt inevitable that these safety issues would lead to an accident. There wasn't an accident occurring on screen (yet), but that didn't mean that the scene was safe. The work in the video was being done alone at dusk. Visibility was low, and there were no warning signs to traffic that work was being done. The creator was wearing a high-vis jacket, but no gloves or eye protection. In the video, he takes out the mangled gate but just knocks off mud and puts it back in. Much like debris piling up to create a dam, these small mistakes could easily pile up to create a serious accident.
Luckily, the post 10 videomaker wasn’t hurt by the speeding truck. Still, what began as a relaxing video quickly inspired an existential crisis about how a lack of regulatory oversight has created unsafe and deadly conditions for everyone.
As late-stage capitalism continues to prioritize profit above all else, human life and safety become a budget item. As government agencies continue to be depleted, the problems fall on individuals to solve. And without training, regulations, and support, people will endanger themselves and others.
This critique is not meant to call out the maker of the videos. These situations are the inevitable outcome when we believe the free market can “fix” our society. The videos provoked a deeper question: what does life look like when we have more safety regulations and a government that works for everyone?
This question is especially relevant now. As the Trump administration continues to gut the United States federal government and destroy regulation policies, people’s safety and lives are at a much higher risk. An example of this is the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) cutting millions of dollars in grants to the Environmental Protection Agency. As climate change continues to decimate people’s lives, this lack of regulation will only exacerbate the coming climate breakdown death toll. Clean drinking water, having adequate heat and cooling, being able to afford electricity — these necessities are quickly becoming more and more scarce as the elites profit from the long-term effects of damage, chaos, and instability that are being formed by this administration.
The Trump administration’s actions aren’t just about destroying the already pitiful US welfare state today. Project 2025 is taking a wrecking ball to government load-bearing pillars and guards, empowering fascists in control to smash them to pieces, then stand on the rubble and say, “See, government is not working for anyone!” The goal is to fully atomize all of us, to extract as much as they can from us as individuals and then discard us as if we were broken branches clogging the flow of money.
What is the world we want to create and live in instead? The conservative fantasy that we must pull ourselves up by our own water waders, and that only individuals and profit can solve any problem, is a harmful lie. The tangible and achievable alternative is very simple: we need to create jobs and infrastructure that work on long-term solutions to problems like broken drains and culverts, providing the people working those jobs with safety, a sustainable income, and a life of dignity and quality.
Imagine a system in which drains and culverts are regularly inspected by government workers in good, well-paying union jobs. In a scenario like the one I described in the video, instead of one lone individual, there would be a team to figure out the needs of the project — resources, tools/machinery that will be needed, time of project, traffic flow, skilled technicians, alternative plans, etc. Yes, this is costly — but there is a long-term effect that is much more valuable. What are the benefits for maintaining this culvert? Less flooding that would cause accidents. Less costly road repair down the line. More people with full-time jobs, plus a pension that can lead to generational wealth. Health insurance that enables people to get the care they need. A job with reduced risks, greater dignity, and accountability that gives back to the community. A life eased of burdens, one in which individuals can find meaning and comfort outside of their daily tasks.
Maintaining human life must be the final determination in the cost-benefit analysis of such projects, not just the bottom line. These are the considerations a democratic socialist government would prioritize. And it is precisely that government that we must fight for.
This scenario is not a utopia but an achievable outcome through socialism, through class struggle, through mutual aid and coalition building. As we win elections, we win the power to create regulations and laws that protect people. As more people get involved with the Democratic Socialists of America and understand that their issues with work and life are not isolated but are caused by systemic problems, these laws and regulations can be enforced by popular participation. As more regulations are implemented, safer and better ones will grow from them, creating the foundation for more progressive actions to take place. By speaking up with a collective voice, we will make change.
At the end of the post 10 video that caused so much anxiety, branches cleared and the debris moved with the flowing water down the creek. But my desire for that better world stayed. That world isn’t a panacea of efficacy without strife, but a world that will be attained as DSA continues to create it. A world where as challenges and problems occur, there is a system in place to mitigate and address those situations — without sacrificing anyone.
The world we live in today is one that incentivizes (and often forces) individuals to risk their lives for money, while this new, obtainable world puts all human life above any monetary value. Again, this world is not fantasy; its foundations are among us. As we see in New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration has fixed potholes, hired people to clear snow-covered driveways and sidewalks, and is working on fixing structural load-bearing pillars in buildings. This is real, meaningful work that makes life better for people. And it shows that a system that puts human life at its forefront is not just possible, but readily attainable.
The world we aim to create is one where there is no longer one lone person reacting to systemic problems and taking it upon themselves to fix them (and sharing videos on YouTube). It is a world where everyone’s life has purpose and meaning, safety and security. That world can be ours, and we will make it.
