Socialism

Bernie Sanders Is No Eugene Debs

May 27, 2015 Howie Hawkins, www.socialistworker.org Strategize! Democratic Party, Elections, Socialism

UNFORTUNATELY, TOO many self-professed socialists in the U.S. have abandoned the socialist principle of independent political action. They argue instead that whether or not to support a Democrat or an independent candidate is a question of tactics, not principle. That was not the case when the United States had a viable Socialist Party. The political independence of the Socialist Party is a major reason why it was viable, why it had power, why it elected many of its candidates, why it was central to the political dialogue of the country. After the demoralizing and self-defeating experience of fusion (cross-endorsing the more progressive Democratic and Republican candidates) that undermined and ultimately destroyed the Greenback Labor and People's Parties of the recently past Populist era, the Socialist Party of America put into its constitution a ban against endorsing the candidates of the capitalist parties.

Venezuela On April 11: 2002 Coup To 2015 Economic War

April 13, 2015 teleSur, www.telesurtv.net Educate! Chavez, Socialism, Venezuela

The 2002 coup was symptomatic of the impatience of the opposition to gain power democratically, their calculation that it was highly unlikely that they would be able to win power at the ballot box, as well as a reactionary response to the series of enabling laws which Chavez passed between 1999-2001. This series of laws really rocked the stronghold that the country’s elite had historically exercised over the Venezuelan economy and its political system. The 2001 reform of the Hydrocarbons Law in particular paved the way for the government to retake control over state oil company, PDVSA, which had basically just become a managerial entity tasked with administering contracts to foreign companies. These laws sent a message to opposition forces that the revolution looked set to be more than just a cosmetic overhaul of politics as is, as well as message to international economic organizations such as the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank that Venezuela intended to follow a sovereign and independent path in terms of its economic system.

The Most Dangerous Woman In America

March 17, 2015 Chris Hedges, www.truthdig.com Educate! Elections, Government, Politics, Seattle, Socialism

Kshama Sawant, the socialist on the City Council, is up for re-election this year. Since joining the council in January of 2014 she has helped push through a gradual raising of the minimum wage to $15 an hour in Seattle. She has expanded funding for social services and blocked, along with housing advocates, an attempt by the Seattle Housing Authority to allow a rent increase of up to 400 percent. She has successfully lobbied for city money to support tent encampments and is fighting for an excise tax on millionaires. And for this she has become the bête noire of the Establishment, especially the Democratic Party. The corporate powers, from Seattle’s mayor to the Chamber of Commerce and the area’s Democratic Party, are determined she be defeated, and these local corporate elites have the national elites behind them.

Op-Ed On Venezuela Slips Past NYT Factcheckers

February 20, 2015 Steve Ellner, www.fair.org Educate! Cuba, Journalism, Media, Socialism, Venezuela

A February 15, 2015, op-ed on Venezuela by Enrique Krauze seems to have slipped by theNew York Times' factcheckers. Krauze's thesis (a tired one, but very popular with Venezuelan and Cuban right-wingers in South Florida) is that Venezuela has not only followed "the Cuban model," but has recently outdone Cuba in moving Venezuela further along a socialist path even as Cuba enacts economic reforms. This idea is not merely an oversimplification--as it might appear to the casual observer of Latin American politics--but is largely misleading. To bolster his case, Krauze--a prominent Mexican writer and publisher--includes numerous false statements and errors, which should have been caught by the Times' factcheckers.

3 Things We Need to Do To Rise Up & Defeat Corporatocracy

February 6, 2015 Bruce E. Levine, www.alternet.org Strategize! Capitalism, Corporatism, Socialism

Transforming the United States into something closer to a democracy requires: 1) knowledge of how we are getting screwed; 2) pragmatic tactics, strategies, and solutions; and 3) the “energy to do battle.” The majority of Americans oppose the corporatocracy (rule by giant corporations, the extremely wealthy elite, and corporate-collaborator government officials); however, many of us have given up hope that this tyranny can be defeated. Among those of us who continue to be politically engaged, many focus on only one of the requirements—knowledge of how we are getting screwed. And this singular focus can result in helplessness.

Six Concepts For This Movement’s Continued Political Education

December 26, 2014 Danny Haiphong, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! Imperialism, Language, Mass Incarceration, Revolution, Socialism

Much of my work for Black Agenda Report has focused on an analysis of US imperialism and its relationship to oppressed people in the United States and abroad. Black Agenda Report covers many issues and topics, including the significance of the Obama era, the privatization of education, the Black Mass Incarceration State, Washington's imperialist policy in Africa, and much more. The primary function of independent media is to challenge the dominant narrative promoted by the ruling system around the issues that shape the lives of the oppressed. In this article, I define six revolutionary concepts for organizers, activists, and people struggling against exploitation of man by man. It is my hope that these concepts become popularized through our collective participation in the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the broader struggle for liberation that Black Agenda Report covers weekly.

“The Bravest Man I Ever Met” By Dr. King, Jr (1965)

November 22, 2014 Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., www.warisacrime.org Educate! Media, MLK, Socialism, Speech

Truly, the life of Norman Thomas has been one of deep commitment to the betterment of all humanity. In 1928, the year before I was born, he waged the first of six campaigns as the Socialist Party's candidate for President of the United States. A decade earlier, as a preacher, he fought gallantly, if unsuccessfully, against American involvement in World War I. Both then and now he has raised aloft the banner of civil liberties, civil rights, labor's right to organize, and has played a significant role in so many diverse areas of activity that newspapers all over the land have termed him "America's conscience." There are those who call Norman Thomas a failure because he has never been elected to office.

Do Western Leftists Hate Socialist Countries?

November 15, 2014 Andre Vltchek, www.counterpunch.org Educate! Capitalism, China, Latin America, Socialism

The multitudes in Europe and North America did not really pay attention, did not notice, but in so many parts of the world, the Left was elected or it fought and won revolutions that propelled it to power. This is a totally different world than it was some twenty years ago; we are living in increasingly optimistic times, full of wonderful alternatives. For the first time in centuries it seems possible to dream about a world that will not be defined by Western imperialism and colonialism! In so many places, people are once again in charge of their countries, standing tall, building their cities and villages, erecting towers and bridges, putting to work mighty turbines, giving light to the poor, healing the sick and educating those who were kept in darkness, for decades and centuries, as a result of Western colonialism and savage capitalism.

How Ecuador Threw Off The 1%

September 29, 2014 Important Cool, www.importantcool.com Educate! Capitalism, Ecuador, Human Rights, Julian Assange, Socialism

From being on the margins of the world, Ecuador was instantly at its centre when Wikileaks founder Julian Assange sought asylum at its London Embassy in June, 2012. When on 16 August, 2012, he announced the decision to grant asylum, Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño argued that “the extradition of Señor Assange to a country outside the European Union was feasible.” How had it come to pass that Ecuador, a nation of just 15 million people, could publicly denounce the human rights credibility of the U.S., the so-called leader of the free world? How could a nation with less personnel in its armed forces than the U.S. 7th Fleet possibly be poking the giant in the eye? The story of Ecuador and its capital, Quito, is a miraculous one that should inspire all those who want to believe that another world is possible. To tell it, we have to go right back to the beginning.

Parecon: Envisioning A Life Beyond Capitalism

July 3, 2014 Joris Leverink, www.roarmag.org Educate! Anarchism, Capitalism, Finance and the Economy, Labor, Socialism

ROAR: In spite of having been around for eight years, I’m sure that there are still a number of our readers who are unfamiliar with your idea of ‘participatory economics’, or ‘parecon’, in short. Could you provide us with a brief introduction to this concept? Michael Albert: It is hard to be too brief trying to explain to someone totally unfamiliar with it, but I will try. Also, I wouldn’t call parecon my idea because it can convey a wrong impression. And this is not just because the initial presentations were by myself and also Robin Hahnel, and it is not just because since then, many others have taken up the effort. Even more relevant, parecon’s features owe to a long history of intellectual and activist efforts trying to advance human well-being in economic settings, including critiquing some past efforts for example, in the Soviet Union, and working hard on new ones. That said, parecon is a proposal or vision for how to accomplish economic functions consistent with classlessness, self-management, solidarity, equity, diversity, and ecological good sense. Parecon is not, however, a blueprint, but is rather a formulation of some critical attributes a few key aspects of economics need to have if we are to accomplish desirable aims.

Civil Rights Champion Yuri Kochiyama Dies

June 7, 2014 Portside, www.portside.org Educate! Activism, Civil Rights, History, Japan, Socialism

Japanese-American activist and Malcolm X Ally, Yuri Kochiyama, has died at the age of 93. She spent two years in an internment camp and helped win reparations for Japanese-Americans. She was with Malcolm X when he was assassinated. She inspired generations. Tributes from 18 Million Rising and the Asian American Studies Center at UCLA; links to some of her writings and interviews. In the wake of her passing, 18MR is honoring Yuri by gathering stories about the ways she impacted individuals, our communities, and the movement. Tell us how you will remember her. BOLD I'll always remember Yuri as a compelling, inspiring leader who urged me to be my best radical self. I was a just a young, angry 20-year old student activist when I first met her - and I thought I knew everything there was to know about racism and injustice. Yuri listened to me at a time when I felt no one else would. Instead of lecturing me about my youthful foolhardiness, she affirmed my experience and agitated me to think bigger, be braver, and act more boldly. Nearly two decades years later, Yuri Kochiyama's words still guide me.

Portugal As A Model For A New Socialism?

April 25, 2014 Leila Dregger, www.terranovavoice.tamera.org Educate! Capitalism, Portugal, Socialism

Lisbon, December 1960. In a bar two students clink their glasses to freedom – “A Liberdade!” They are spied on, denounced and finally sentenced to seven years in prison. Under the Portuguese military dictatorship the word ‘freedom’ is prohibited. It was reading about this incident in the London Times which moved the lawyer, Peter Benenson, to found Amnesty International. It would still be thirteen years to the end of the dictatorship in Portugal. On April 25, 1974 left-leaning troops move into Lisbon and within hours take over all key strategic places in the country. The head of state and secret service give up after a short resistance. Forty-eight years of dictatorship are over. The dream of socialism awakens. Today Portugal suffers under a dictatorship again – the dictatorship of capital, as countless graffiti on the walls attest. Austerity measures, debt and tax regulations pressure the workers, small business owners, craftsmen and farmers above all others. The wave of privatization pushes masses of people into unemployment. The number of young people leaving the country today is almost as high as during the dictatorship – back then they fled military service and prison, today they flee from the prospect of a bleak future.

Seattle’s Elite Begin Their Counter Attack

April 18, 2014 Shamus Cooke, www.commondreams.org Organize! Minimum Wage, Socialism

Seattle’s corporations were blindsided, it all happened so fast. Socialist candidate Kshama Sawant’s successful City Council campaign tore through Seattle politics like a tornado, leaving the 1% devastated, unable to cope with a storm they didn't see coming. The Seattle elite had no way to counter her arguments, silence her supporters, or keep her from gathering a tidal wave of support for the $15 campaign. The establishment was paralyzed, powerless. But Sawant’s election victory was just the beginning of the humiliation for Seattle’s super wealthy. After singlehandedly transforming city politics, Sawant used her newly elected bully pulpit to torment the mayor and City Council and harangue Seattle's corporations, while simultaneously mobilizing thousands in the streets to bulldoze through her progressive agenda. The 1% had absolutely no idea what to do — they’d never experienced anything like it. They conceded defeat and agreed to a $15 minimum wage — in words.

Why No Sustained Protests (Yet)?

April 14, 2014 Richard D. Wolff, www.truth-out.org Strategize! Austerity, Protest, Socialism

The post-1945 destruction of the New Deal coalition - unionists, socialists and communists - keeps influencing Americans' lives. Today, its effects help explain why popular actions have been so muted against US economic changes since the 1970s and especially against the bailouts and austerity since the crash of 2008. Those effects also suggest what could reignite sustained protests and demands for change. First to be destroyed after 1945 were the communists. Coordinated attacks came from business, conservatives, government and media. Most academics and liberals (including many who had supported the New Deal coalition) were complicit in that destruction. Once again we witnessed that old repressive tool: rebranding domestic social movements as mere agents of an evil foreign puppet-master. More important, demonizing the communists served to tar other social criticism that included the capitalist economic system with much the same brush.

Occupy Sandy And The Future Of Socialism

April 6, 2014 Sam Knight, www.truth-out.org Educate! Occupy, Socialism

At St. Margaret Mary's Church in the Midland Beach neighborhood of Staten Island, Matthew 5:3 adorns the back of the congregation, declaring the poor blessed in spirit, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The locals, however, seemed to think that Her Majesty's Spirit was plagued by pangs of torturous anxiety roughly two weeks after Superstorm Sandy - donations of clothing and blankets flooded the church's pews. But whatever one makes of the promise of posthumous bliss as a reward for pious poverty, the scene portrayed a less controversial tenet of Christianity - being one's brother's keeper. The impromptu relief effort at the church and beyond - as in every crisis - quashed the notions that humans are inherently selfish and that they believe profit-maximizing produces the optimal social outcome.

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