Socialism

Who Die For Life – Like Hugo Chávez – Cannot Be Called Dead

March 3, 2023 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental Institute For Social Research. Educate! Hugo Chavez, Literacy, Socialism, Venezuela

On 28 October 2005, a special event was held in Caracas at the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. At this gathering, held on the birthday of Simón Rodríguez (Simón Bolívar’s teacher), the Venezuelan government announced that nearly 1.5 million adults had learned to read through Mission Robinson, a mass literacy programme that it initiated two years earlier. The mission was named after Rodríguez (who was also known by the pseudonym Samuel Robinson). One of those adults, María Eugenia Túa (age 70), stood beside President Hugo Chávez Frías and said, ‘We are no longer poor. We are rich in knowledge’.

House’s ‘Horrors Of Socialism’ Resolution Spurred By Capitalist’s Fear

February 28, 2023 Michael Steven Smith, The Indypendent. Educate! Capitalism, Democrats, Republicans, Socialism

On Feb. 3 the newly-elected House of Representatives passed a resolution denouncing “the horrors of Socialism“ and opposed “the implementation of socialist policies“ in the United States. The resolution was discussed for several days. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida, the Republican sponsor of the bill, said “it is a lie that socialism will solve your problems, economic or social…We cannot let this evil ideology take hold in this country.” She went on to say that “we are in the United States the stronghold of freedom. That is why we must pass this resolution.” The resolution passed 328 to 86 with a majority of the Democrats joining the Republicans.

Raided By The FBI For Being Socialist, With Omali Yeshitela

January 27, 2023 Lee Camp, Mintpress News. Resistance Report Black Liberation, COINTELPRO, FBI, Socialism

Today, “Behind The Headlines” host Lee Camp speaks to Omali Yeshitela, a man raided by the FBI for the crime of being a black socialist. Together, the two discuss the revolutionary black liberation movement, U.S. imperialism, racism, and the corruption of the two-party system. In August of last year, the FBI raided the offices of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP), with agents using flash-bang grenades at 5 am on a Friday to startle and arrest individuals inside its headquarters. Yeshitela helped found the APSP in 1972, at a time when the Black Liberation movement was being similarly quashed by government forces. The group’s mission is to advocate for the rights and self-determination of African people globally. The organization has been a sharp critic of the U.S. and NATO-backed war in Ukraine and a defender of poor nations threatened by American sanctions, coups, embargoes, and blockades.

Why I’m Not Running Again For City Council

January 22, 2023 Kshama Sawant, The Stranger. Organize! Kshama Sawant, Labor Movement, Socialism, Worker Rights and Jobs

This is now the tenth year I’ve had the honor to serve as an elected representative of Seattle’s working people. Workers in Seattle, through getting organized alongside my socialist City Council office, and my organization, Socialist Alternative, have won historic victories, from the $15/hour minimum wage to the Amazon Tax to landmark renters’ rights. These victories have set a powerful example that has had a national and even international impact. In our four election victories and in every struggle, we’ve had to overcome the combined might of big business, the corporate media, and the political establishment. Each time, working people refused to back down, and we have prevailed again and again. This is the most important lesson from our example of socialist politics in Seattle. That when workers and young people get organized and fight, we can win. That no meaningful progressive change can be won under capitalism without the vicious opposition of the rich and their political servants.

The Forgotten Socialist History Of Martin Luther King Jr.

January 16, 2023 Matthew Miles Goodrich, In These Times. Educate! Capitalism, Class Struggle, Martin Luther King Jr, Socialism

In 1952 a 23-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a love letter to Coretta Scott. Along with coos of affection and apologies for his hasty handwriting, he described his feelings not just toward his future wife, but also toward America’s economic system. “I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic,” he admitted to his then-girlfriend, concluding that “capitalism has outlived its usefulness.” King composed these words as a grad student on the tail end of his first year at the Boston University School of Theology. And far from representing just the utopianism of youth, the views expressed in the letter would go on to inform King’s economic vision throughout his life. As Americans honor King on his birthday, it is important to remember that the civil rights icon was also a democratic socialist, committed to building a broad movement to overcome the failings of capitalism and achieve both racial and economic equality for all people.

Socialism Is Not A Utopian Ideal, But An Achievable Necessity

January 6, 2023 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Educate! Capitalism, Socialism, Sustainability, Transformation

In May 2021, the executive director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and the UN high representative for disarmament affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, wrote an article urging governments to cut excessive military spending in favour of increasing spending on social and economic development. Their wise words were not heard at all. To cut money for war and to increase money for social development, they wrote, is ‘not a utopian ideal, but an achievable necessity’. That phrase – not a utopian ideal, but an achievable necessity – is essential. It describes the project of socialism almost perfectly. Our institute has been at work for over five years, driven precisely by this idea that it is possible to transform the world to meet the needs of humanity while living within nature’s limits.

Cuba: 64 Years Of Revolution!

January 3, 2023 Isaac Saney, Resumen English. Educate! Cuba, Economic Blockade, Revolution, Socialism

The people of Cuba enter 2023 celebrating the 64th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. How can the singular meaning, the seminal nature, the effervescent history of the Cuban Revolution be sufficiently encapsulated? How can speeches, essays and ceremonies adequately convey the transcendent essence and substance of the work of Fidel, Che, Raúl, Vilma, Celia and so many other heroes and protagonists of this historic transformative event? Perhaps, it suffices to say that the significance of the Cuban revolution extends beyond the physical boundaries of the island. Indeed, the political and human geography of the Cuban Revolution is the planetary geography of the global struggle for justice, social development, and human dignity. The Cuban Revolution, flesh, bone, and idea is part and parcel of the wave of anti-colonial and national liberation struggles that swept Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean in the second half of the 20th century.

Ajamu Baraka: The Left Must Draw Clear Political And Ideological Lines

January 2, 2023 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast - Clearing The FOG Far Right Politics, Labor Movements, Revolution, Socialism

As 2022 comes to an end and major crises abound, Clearing the FOG spoke with Ajamu Baraka, a long time human rights defender and co-founder of the Black Alliance for Peace, about the big picture of what is happening politically and upcoming opportunities to organize for change. Baraka discusses the continued move to the right in the United States by both of the major political parties and their voting bases, including those in the liberal class, the complicity of the corporate media and the rise of censorship and repression against those who do not adhere to the manufactured narrative. Baraka explains why the Left in the US must organize an authentic radical opposition to the ruling class and have a clear political program rooted in a people-centered human rights framework and where that work is happening.

The FBI Wants To Put Me On Trial For Fighting For Black Freedom

January 2, 2023 Omali Yeshitela, Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa!. Resist! FBI, Socialism, State Repression, US Imperialism

There are strong indications that in early 2023, I, Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP), founder of the Uhuru (“Freedom”) Movement, will be indicted, along with other Uhuru leaders and members, by the federal government of the United States. Using the bogus and slanderous charge that we are “Russian agents,” the U.S. government and its “Department of Justice” will attempt to put us on trial and imprison us for fighting for the liberation of African people in the U.S. and around the world. But they will fail. We will win. I am 81 years old. My political work for the last 60 years or so is influenced by the fact that in my entire life, nearing 100 years, I have not known a single day when my people were not experiencing oppression, exploitation and humiliation.

Two Barrels Aim At African People’s Socialist Party

December 30, 2022 Don Fitz, Popular Resistance. Educate! Department of Justice, FBI, Socialism, State Repression

With new FBI and Department of “Justice” (DOJ) attacks expected in early January, a defense, mobilization and information session attracted hundreds of allies of the African People's Socialist Party (APSP). On Friday, December 23 they zoomed into the “Emergency Mass Meeting: Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa!” The APSP told its supporters that it expects indictments in early January 2023 and possibly sooner. Indictments could include many more than the four names listed as “unindicted co-conspirators” during raids of July 29, 2022: Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Party Director of Agitation and Propaganda Akilé Anai, African People’s Solidarity Committee Chair Penny Hess and Uhuru Solidarity Movement Chair Jesse Nevel.

The Economic Realities We Face At The End Of 2022

December 20, 2022 Richard D. Wolff, Counter Punch. Educate! Capitalism, Global Economy, Socialism, US Imperialism

Economies around the world were shocked and damaged over the course of 2022. Global capitalism had been brewing conflicts among the major powers (the United States, China, and the EU) for some time as their relative strengths and vulnerabilities shifted. U.S. capitalism and its empire are widely perceived as waning. Europe’s role as a U.S. ally and indeed its economic future became correspondingly riskier as a result. China’s economic growth encountered problems but continued to be remarkably positive and often crucially supportive of world economic conditions in ways that were once more closely associated with the role of the United States. China’s deepening alliance with Russia as well as its burgeoning global economic reach frightened many in the United States.

We Defend A Socialist Society Where People And Planet Come First

December 9, 2022 Muhammed Shabeer, People's Dispatch. Organize! Belgium, climate crisis, Socialism, Youth Activism

Belgium - An acute cost of living crisis marked by soaring food and fuel prices has hit working class households across Europe. In Belgium, students have been standing alongside workers at the forefront of protests demanding effective measures from the government to tackle the crisis. Peoples Dispatch spoke to Sander Claessens, president of the Comac student movement in Belgium, about their involvement in the protests against the cost of living crisis, political interventions in campuses and society, and the policies of the government towards education, among other issues. Comac is affiliated to the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB/PVDA). The name Comac is an abbreviation of the goals of the movement itself: Change, Optimism, Marxism, Activism and Creativity.

Decades After Berlin Wall Fell, Victors Still Trashing East Germany

November 26, 2022 John Wojcik, Orinoco Tribune. Educate! Berlin Wall, Cold War, Germany, Socialism, USSR

Germany - A few years ago, there were events in Germany commemorating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the pages of the press, prominent persons—from former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker to then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the now-deceased former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev—all weighed in with their commentaries on the significance of Nov. 9, 1989, all celebrating to a greater or lesser degree the demise of the former socialist state in the east. This year, there will again be speeches condemning the memory of that lost country. As someone who traveled frequently to the German Democratic Republic when it existed and spent years involved in the movement for friendship and solidarity with that country, I offer here some thoughts that I hope will put such celebrations in balance.

China Is Building A Truly Ecological Civilisation

November 22, 2022 Carlos Martinez, Morning Star. Create! China, climate crisis, COP27, Socialism

The 2022 UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (Cop27) has just drawn to a close. One of the defining themes of this year’s conference has been the insistent demand by the leaders of the global South for climate justice — for the wealthy countries to step up their financial and technological support to poorer countries, to help mitigate the effects of climate change and to speed up the transition to green energy systems. Climate justice is not some sort of fringe radical notion; indeed, the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” is written into international law, and reflects the fact that over the course of 200 years, Europe, North America and Japan have burned enormous quantities of fossil fuels on their road to modernisation, creating an environmental crisis in the process.

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