Socialism

Cuban Spies Disguised As Doctors

July 4, 2020 Roger Stoll, Popular Resistance. Educate! COVID-19, Cuba, Doctors, Socialism

The European Union now excludes travelers from the COVID-ridden U.S. but welcomes those from the virtually COVID-free Cuba. Cuba, the country that sends doctors and infectious disease specialists around the world to fight the pandemic, the country the U.S. has held in contempt for 60 years, villified with every epithet and sanctioned and embargoed and blockaded to within an inch of its life. In a catharsis of propaganda, the U.S. tries to convince the world that Cuban doctors are victims of human trafficking, or else they are all spies, or perhaps both. Rosa Miriam Elizalde likened it to a vision of Cuba as the Red Planet, sending spies to take over the Earth, like the invasion in H. G. Welles' War of the Worlds as told by Orson Welles in his (in)famous radio play.

Police Lessons From Cuba

June 24, 2020 By Reese Erlich, The Progressive. Create! Cuba, Police, Public safety, Socialism

Contrary to the image of brutal and repressive communists, police in Cuba offer an instructive example for activists in the United States. Police live in the cities they patrol. They generally treat citizens with respect. As I documented in my book Dateline Havana, police beatings of criminals are rare and police murders are nonexistent. Cuba has one of the lowest crime rates in Latin America. The ongoing protests for Black lives in the United States have forced an unprecedented national debate about the role of policing. Should police departments be defunded and that money be diverted to help poor communities? Should the police be abolished altogether? Cuba has wrestled with policing issues since the 1959 revolution. The government, while certainly having its share of failures, has created a system of community-police interaction that reduces crime without reliance on brute force.

How We Sold Soviet Union And Czechoslovakia For Plastic Shopping Bags

June 21, 2020 Andre Vltchek, China Daily Hong Kong. Strategize! Hong Kong, Imperialism, Propaganda, Socialism

For months, this has been a story that I want to share with young readers in Hong Kong. Now it seems to be the really appropriate time when the ideological battle between the West and China is raging, and as a result of it, Hong Kong and the entire world is suffering. I want to say that none of it is new, that the West already destabilized so many countries and territories, brainwashed tens of millions of young people. I know, because in the past, I was one of them. If I weren’t, it would be impossible to understand what is now happening in Hong Kong. I was born in Leningrad, a beautiful city in the Soviet Union. Now it is called St. Petersburg, and the country is Russia. Mom is half Russian, half Chinese, artist, and architect.

In The West – Propaganda, Hysteria And Truly Foul Breath!

May 31, 2020 Andre Vltchek, Journal Neo. Educate! Capitalism, colonization, Socialism, West

If it wasn’t so tragic, it would be laughable: the political brigands in North America and Europe are fuming, spitting and rolling their eyes upwards towards the ceiling. They are pointing fingers in all directions, shouting incoherently “China!”, “Russia!”, “Venezuela and Cuba!”, “Iran!”; “You, You, YOU!”. China and Russia are quietly building a new world, which includes brand new infrastructure, factories and entire neighborhoods for the people. Hospitals are being constructed, and so are universities, parks, concert halls and public transportation networks. Both countries are doing all this quickly and noiselessly, and with great determination.

Frontline Healthcare Workers Are Becoming Socialists

May 26, 2020 By Igor Krasno, Révolution Permanente. Strategize! Anti-capitalism, COVID-19, Healthcare workers, Socialism

As the current Covid-19 pandemic spread throughout the country, healthcare workers again witnessed how the for-profit healthcare system, along with the capitalist economic system, was unable to respond. Frontline workers, already putting their lives at risk, were being more exposed due to lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies that should never be in shortage, especially in a country that allows an individual with a net worth of over $100 billion to exist. Hospitals, already short-staffed due to years of “cost-saving” measures, were near collapse from the influx of patients. This helped to further expose the system and drive healthcare workers to action. As they say, “the boss is the best organizer.” Nurses and other healthcare workers began organizing actions calling attention to the lack of PPE and other supplies in their hospitals. These actions then led, in some cases, to larger critiques of the for-profit healthcare system and the economic system as a whole.

On Contact: Ecosocialism

May 24, 2020 Chris Hedges, RT. Resistance Report Capitalism, Ecocide, Ecosocialism, Socialism

On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to writer, teacher and activist Victor Wallis about the prospect and need for ecosocialism. Wallis’ book is entitled ‘Red-Green Revolution: The Politics and Technology of Ecosocialism’. Today we discuss socialism, capitalism, and ecocide with Victor Wallis. "The problem is it's not enough to run all of our private cars with solar cells. The whole problem of how much is used up in the way of materials, how much space is taken up and also the fact that if you don't change the social configuration of power, any progressive change that you might bring about can easily be undone by the same people who put them there in the first place."

Iran – Powerful And Determined

May 15, 2020 Andre Vltchek, Journal-Neo. Educate! COVID-19, Iran, Socialism, Wars and Militarism

US battleships are sailing right next to the Iranian territorial waters. One mistake, one false move, and war could erupt, engulfing the entire region in flames. Iran is a proud nation, and it takes its independence extremely seriously. Right now, the country is facing one of the most unjust embargos in human history. It is being punished for nothing; or more precisely, for sticking to all the points of the agreement called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) also known as The Iran Nuclear Deal, which it signed in 2015 with China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States—plus Germany, and which the United States abandoned, without providing any logical explanation. While not particularly happy about the U.S. withdrawal; Germany, France and U.K. are doing all they can not to anger their senior partner, and its leaders in Washington.

Post-Pandemic America: Prelude To Socialism Or Fascism?

May 8, 2020 Werner Lange, Hampton Think. Educate! Capitalism, COVID-19, Pandemic, Socialism

May 8 marks the 75th anniversary of the defeat of fascism in Europe, a historic victory over modern despotism that catapulted American capitalism to world domination by default. As the only combatant country with its cities and infrastructure left intact, the United States emerged from this colossal bloodbath as the single most potent economy on earth. Europe, especially Germany, lay in utter ruins and tens of millions, half of them civilians, lay in early graves. By contrast, the US economy flourished adding some 11 million jobs within the seven years following the war; the minimum wage increased; the poverty rate fell; farm incomes, dividends and corporate profits hit all-time highs; and bank failures along with unemployment had all but disappeared. American capitalism entered a Golden Age.

Coronavirus Decade: Post-Capitalist Nightmare Or Socialist Awakening?

May 6, 2020 Neil Vallelly, ROAR Magazine. Create! Capitalism, COVID-19, Global Recession, Socialism

The defining event of the 2020s has been established in its first few months. This will surely be the coronavirus decade, unless something much worse is heading our way, which is not out of the question. An epistemic break has occurred, a rupture in the seemingly entrenched mechanisms of neoliberalism. It is no surprise that Lenin’s quote about decades and weeks seems to adorn every other article. Suddenly, unrepentant free-marketers have been usurped by government interventionists, the pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps brigade drowned out by welfare statists, the we’ve-had-enough-of-experts dogmatists transformed into epidemiologists and public health professionals. The principle of utility has been completely altered overnight.

Diseased System In Shut-Lockdown

April 26, 2020 Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Austerity, Capitalism, Pandemic, Recession, Socialism

If growing misery among the masses is what made revolutions, the Lords of Capital would have been deposed from their ruling perches long ago. But human beings do not spend their lives tallying cumulative assaults on their well being and dignity, and ruling classes are expert at blaming despised Others, foreign and domestic, for the ills of society. History shows us that economic crises do not become political crises that seriously threaten the ruling order until a critical mass of people come to the realization that the system itself is rotten, unbearable and incapable of meaningful reform. They must not only hate the rulers, but also hate the rulers’ system of governance more than they despise domestic Others and “threatening” foreigners.

Capitalism Can’t Be Repaired

April 26, 2020 Richard D. Wolff, Brave New Europe. Educate! Capitalism, Pandemic, Recession, Socialism

Consider this absurdity: The U.S. government’s policy in the face of the current capitalist crash is to “return the economy to the pre-coronavirus normal.” What? In that “normal” system, private capitalists maximized profits by not producing the tests, masks, ventilators, beds, etc., needed when coronavirus hit. Profit-driven capitalism proved extremely inefficient in its response to the virus. Wealth already lost from the coronavirus far exceeds what it would have cost to prepare properly. In capitalism, a small minority—employers—makes all the key decisions (what, how, where to produce and how to use the proceeds) governing production and distribution of most goods and services. The majority—employees and their families—must live with the results of employers’ decisions but are excluded from making them.

COVID-19, Capitalism, And Socialism

April 20, 2020 Victor Wallis, Political Animal Magazine. Educate! Capitalism, COVID-19, Pandemic, Socialism

The COVID-19 emergency underscores longstanding truths about capitalism and socialism. Acting on the most immediate demands that it raises draws us directly into a confrontation with core issues. COVID-19 is exceptionally contagious, and those who are infected by it do not necessarily show symptoms. These two traits, in combination, guarantee rapid spread of the virus unless certain requirements have been met. Most directly, there must be ample supplies of the appropriate diagnostic tests, personal protective gear (masks, gloves, hand sanitizers, etc., especially for healthcare workers), and ventilators. At a more basic level, there must be an adequate healthcare infrastructure. This means that there must be enough hospitals and enough healthcare professionals and support staff to be able to respond effectively to emergencies.

Coronavirus And The Crisis This Time

April 20, 2020 Sam Gindin, The Bullet. Strategize! COVID-19, Recession, Socialism, Working Class

Crises – not regular downturns but major crises – are characterized by the uncertainty they bring. They interrupt the normal and require yet-to-be discovered abnormal responses in order for us to move on. In the midst of these periodic calamities, we don’t know how or even whether we will stumble out of them nor what to expect if they do end. Crises are, consequently, moments of turmoil with openings for new political developments, good and bad. Because each such crisis modifies the trajectory of history, the subsequent crisis occurs in a changed context and so has its own distinct features. The crisis of the 70s, for example, involved a militant working class, a challenge to the American dollar, and a qualitative acceleration in the role of finance and of globalization.

Contrasting Health Systems

April 19, 2020 Pasqualina Curcio Curcio, Ultimas Noticias, translation Resumen Latinoamericano, North America bureau. Educate! COVID-19, Health Care, Profit motive, Socialism

In the catalog of health provision and financing systems, we find a wide range, from the most private to the public and free of charge. There are systems whose provision and financing are completely privatized, such as the United States, Chile and Colombia, where the facilities that provide health services are private and in order to enter and be served, people have two options: either they pay for the service out of their own pockets or they take out an insurance policy so that when a contingency arises, they pay the bill. This type of health system based on the intermediation of insurance companies in which a “third party” pays, in addition to being extremely costly (the insurance company keeps a margin of the business’ profit) is the most exclusive: 1) if you do not have how to take out a policy, the safest thing, worth the redundancy, is to be left out, and in this unequal world in which 1% of the world’s population appropriates 82% of the wealth, it is many, many people who do not have sufficient resources to take out health insurance.

Pandemic, The Left And Workers’ Power

April 18, 2020 Juan Cruz Ferre, Left Voice. Strategize! COVID-19, Electoral Politics, Socialism, Working Class

There are over 140,000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., but the actual number of infected individuals is probably already in the millions. We don’t know the real incidence of infections because the Trump administration has intentionally restricted the availability of tests in order to keep numbers artificially low. For this reason, we missed a golden opportunity to detect cases early, trace their contacts and isolate before there was community circulation of the virus. Now it’s too late. ICUs are overflowing in New York City, and we can expect similar situations in other cities as they reach their peak of infected individuals. We are on track to finding ourselves in a scenario like the one in Italy or in Spain, but with a population that’s five times larger and without universal health care. In New York State alone, there were 279 deaths in the 24 hours of Monday, March 30.

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