Click on the headline to link to The United National Anti-War Coalition-All Out On May Day!
Markin comment:
This message is from 2011 but applies this year as well-maybe more so.
Showing posts with label : ANTI-IMPERIALISM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label : ANTI-IMPERIALISM. Show all posts
Monday, April 09, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
On The 9th (Oops, Really 21st) Anniversary Of The Iraq War - Obama- Immediate, Uncondtional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan !
Markin comment:
The entry from January 15, 2010 of American Left History concerning the idea of the 20th anniversary of the American Iraq War and not just the 8th anniversary of the current war is reprinted below. Certainly for the vast majority of Iraqi workers and peasants that 20 year number is closer to the truth. Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./ Allied Troops (And Mercenaries)From Iraq!
******
*From The “Catholic Worker” Website- A Washington Demonstration Today On The 20th Anniversary Of The American “Presence” In Iraq
Markin comment:
In the nature of my political work, and having a little time to do such things, I am responsible in my circle for “surfing” the blogosphere. Most of the time it comes up dry for an idea for a commentary but today I have one from a seemingly unusual source, at least for me, the Catholic Worker. This organization, founded in the 1930s by Dorothy Day among others, is no stranger to this blogger. I will discuss that below in a separate note. What is important here is that they are organizing a demonstration and other events today to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the American “presence” in Iraq. That event is worthy of some comment.
Of course, tracing back the American occupation in Iraq to the first George Bush administration’s murderous rampage in Iraq, complete with saturation bombing beginning on the night of January 15, 1991 at about 7:00PM EST, is exactly right. Although in general memory most people split the first Bush (41) Iraq War from the second Bush (43) March 2003 Iraq War that is wrong. The “interlude” Clinton Democratic administration’s savage and murderous economic blockade, no fly zone, and occasional bombings count as well. The days of counting wars in a few years and done are, apparently, over. The notion of the age thirty and hundred years wars that we read about in our old childhood history books and that we thought were well done and over is still with us. Although I cannot support the pacifist and religiously-derived philosophical non-violent thrust of the Catholic Worker program for this day as set forth in their announcement I can appreciate their efforts in commemorating the nature of modern war, and war-makers. And just in case it is not clear who they are and what they are doing- Obama-Immediate. Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops (And Mercenaries) From Iraq And Afghanistan!
Note: The Catholic Worker spirit hovered, and hovered profusely in every room, around my growing up households both when we lived down at the edge, the flotsam and jetsam edge, of society in the old public housing projects when we were grindingly poor-struck and later when we moved an inch up to the regular poor, downwardly-mobile working class neighborhood of my teen years. I may have known the name Dorothy Day (and a little later, Ammon Hennessey, from out in Utah desert country, Joe Hill House Catholic outpost to Western bums, tramps, and hoboes, and also drifters, grifters, and midnight sifters he turned none away, as far as I knew) better than the pope’s. Well, maybe not as well, but close. Why? Well, for one, old grandma, crippled-up, house-bound , sweet, high saint Roman Catholic grandma, beatified grandma, no, not that “beat” beatified but beatitude-worthy, primo tuna fish sandwich on Friday- making grandma who was “hip” to the Catholic Worker movement in the 1930s when New York-based Ms. Day came to Boston to spread the non-communist (although not anti-communist, remember those were "popular front" days) good tidings. And that fuse was carried over in my mother’s generation, although not the tuna-fish sandwich stuff (at least she was not as good as grandma at it, no way). Lesson: the meek may not inherit the earth, but they sure as hell should. And you and I, being “hip,” can show the way. How? By fighting for a workers party (an earthly workers party) that fights for a workers government (ditto, on the earthy thing). Here and now.
*********
Markin comment March 19, 2011:
As, unfortunately, has become an unwanted tradition on the annual anniversaries of the start of this 2003 phase of the Iraq war, I make the same propaganda points as in previous years and repost from those previous years. This 8th anniversary is no different. All U.S./Allied Troops (and mercenaries) out of Iraq Now!
*On The 7th Anniversary- All Out On March 20th To End The Afghan And Iraq Wars-A Guest Commentary From "National Assembly"
Markin comment:
I have already argued in previous entries about the importance of massing in Washington, D.C. on March 20th for this event. Bring your own slogans and banners, but be there to start building the long-delayed and needed divorce from one Barack Obama who has been given a pass on war issues- for no known rational reason. We knew, because he made it clear from the beginning what his priorities were in 2008, and he rubbed our noses in it last year. Now we need to get our priorities clear. Obama- Troops Out Now!
**********
Below is a repost, in a seemingly endless series of reposts of last year's, the 6th anniversary of the Iraq War,of my comment.
Commentary
On this the Sixth Anniversary of the Iraq invasion I repost my entries from previous years. There is essentially nothing new to add, except to replace the name Bush with Obama in the slogan- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal of All U.S./Allied Troops from Iraq and Afghanistan!
From March 19, 2008
Today I will go to downtown Boston and participate in my nth demonstration against the Iraq War. I will have my banner, I will shout and I ....will be frustrated that in many fundamentals we (meaning here the anti-war movement) are no closer to forcing a total troop withdrawal from Iraq than 5 years ago. But, my frustration will pass. In fact it has already. I will shout to the bitter end- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal of All United States/Allied Troops and Mercenaries From Iraq and Afghanistan!
Below I have reposted, as much as it pains me, a comment I made as we approached last year’s 4th Anniversary of the Iraq War. Damn.
COMMENTARY
WRITTEN ON MARCH 19, 2007 THE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN INVASION AND OCCUPATION OF IRAQ.
This will be short and sweet for four years of war without an effective extra-parliamentary (or for that matter, parliamentary) opposition in an unpopular war led by an unpopular President speaks for itself. That said, the slogan Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal from Iraq by the United States and its rapidly dwindling coalition forces retains its validity. As does the fight for a straight no vote on the war budget. And, finally, as does the validity of the desperately necessary fight to form anti-war soldiers and sailors solidarity committees. Otherwise this time next year we will be writing about the fifth year of the war. Forward.
***************
I will not repost the 2006, 2005, 2004 entries because you have already read enough on this grim subject.
The entry from January 15, 2010 of American Left History concerning the idea of the 20th anniversary of the American Iraq War and not just the 8th anniversary of the current war is reprinted below. Certainly for the vast majority of Iraqi workers and peasants that 20 year number is closer to the truth. Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./ Allied Troops (And Mercenaries)From Iraq!
******
*From The “Catholic Worker” Website- A Washington Demonstration Today On The 20th Anniversary Of The American “Presence” In Iraq
Markin comment:
In the nature of my political work, and having a little time to do such things, I am responsible in my circle for “surfing” the blogosphere. Most of the time it comes up dry for an idea for a commentary but today I have one from a seemingly unusual source, at least for me, the Catholic Worker. This organization, founded in the 1930s by Dorothy Day among others, is no stranger to this blogger. I will discuss that below in a separate note. What is important here is that they are organizing a demonstration and other events today to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the American “presence” in Iraq. That event is worthy of some comment.
Of course, tracing back the American occupation in Iraq to the first George Bush administration’s murderous rampage in Iraq, complete with saturation bombing beginning on the night of January 15, 1991 at about 7:00PM EST, is exactly right. Although in general memory most people split the first Bush (41) Iraq War from the second Bush (43) March 2003 Iraq War that is wrong. The “interlude” Clinton Democratic administration’s savage and murderous economic blockade, no fly zone, and occasional bombings count as well. The days of counting wars in a few years and done are, apparently, over. The notion of the age thirty and hundred years wars that we read about in our old childhood history books and that we thought were well done and over is still with us. Although I cannot support the pacifist and religiously-derived philosophical non-violent thrust of the Catholic Worker program for this day as set forth in their announcement I can appreciate their efforts in commemorating the nature of modern war, and war-makers. And just in case it is not clear who they are and what they are doing- Obama-Immediate. Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops (And Mercenaries) From Iraq And Afghanistan!
Note: The Catholic Worker spirit hovered, and hovered profusely in every room, around my growing up households both when we lived down at the edge, the flotsam and jetsam edge, of society in the old public housing projects when we were grindingly poor-struck and later when we moved an inch up to the regular poor, downwardly-mobile working class neighborhood of my teen years. I may have known the name Dorothy Day (and a little later, Ammon Hennessey, from out in Utah desert country, Joe Hill House Catholic outpost to Western bums, tramps, and hoboes, and also drifters, grifters, and midnight sifters he turned none away, as far as I knew) better than the pope’s. Well, maybe not as well, but close. Why? Well, for one, old grandma, crippled-up, house-bound , sweet, high saint Roman Catholic grandma, beatified grandma, no, not that “beat” beatified but beatitude-worthy, primo tuna fish sandwich on Friday- making grandma who was “hip” to the Catholic Worker movement in the 1930s when New York-based Ms. Day came to Boston to spread the non-communist (although not anti-communist, remember those were "popular front" days) good tidings. And that fuse was carried over in my mother’s generation, although not the tuna-fish sandwich stuff (at least she was not as good as grandma at it, no way). Lesson: the meek may not inherit the earth, but they sure as hell should. And you and I, being “hip,” can show the way. How? By fighting for a workers party (an earthly workers party) that fights for a workers government (ditto, on the earthy thing). Here and now.
*********
Markin comment March 19, 2011:
As, unfortunately, has become an unwanted tradition on the annual anniversaries of the start of this 2003 phase of the Iraq war, I make the same propaganda points as in previous years and repost from those previous years. This 8th anniversary is no different. All U.S./Allied Troops (and mercenaries) out of Iraq Now!
*On The 7th Anniversary- All Out On March 20th To End The Afghan And Iraq Wars-A Guest Commentary From "National Assembly"
Markin comment:
I have already argued in previous entries about the importance of massing in Washington, D.C. on March 20th for this event. Bring your own slogans and banners, but be there to start building the long-delayed and needed divorce from one Barack Obama who has been given a pass on war issues- for no known rational reason. We knew, because he made it clear from the beginning what his priorities were in 2008, and he rubbed our noses in it last year. Now we need to get our priorities clear. Obama- Troops Out Now!
**********
Below is a repost, in a seemingly endless series of reposts of last year's, the 6th anniversary of the Iraq War,of my comment.
Commentary
On this the Sixth Anniversary of the Iraq invasion I repost my entries from previous years. There is essentially nothing new to add, except to replace the name Bush with Obama in the slogan- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal of All U.S./Allied Troops from Iraq and Afghanistan!
From March 19, 2008
Today I will go to downtown Boston and participate in my nth demonstration against the Iraq War. I will have my banner, I will shout and I ....will be frustrated that in many fundamentals we (meaning here the anti-war movement) are no closer to forcing a total troop withdrawal from Iraq than 5 years ago. But, my frustration will pass. In fact it has already. I will shout to the bitter end- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal of All United States/Allied Troops and Mercenaries From Iraq and Afghanistan!
Below I have reposted, as much as it pains me, a comment I made as we approached last year’s 4th Anniversary of the Iraq War. Damn.
COMMENTARY
WRITTEN ON MARCH 19, 2007 THE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN INVASION AND OCCUPATION OF IRAQ.
This will be short and sweet for four years of war without an effective extra-parliamentary (or for that matter, parliamentary) opposition in an unpopular war led by an unpopular President speaks for itself. That said, the slogan Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal from Iraq by the United States and its rapidly dwindling coalition forces retains its validity. As does the fight for a straight no vote on the war budget. And, finally, as does the validity of the desperately necessary fight to form anti-war soldiers and sailors solidarity committees. Otherwise this time next year we will be writing about the fifth year of the war. Forward.
***************
I will not repost the 2006, 2005, 2004 entries because you have already read enough on this grim subject.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
From The “American Left History” Archives (2009)-On The Slogan- “Down With The Obama Government”-Today (2013) More Than Ever- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal From Afghanistan!
Markin comment:
Recently, while attending one of several impromptu ad hoc demonstrations called to protest the escalation of the latest American imperial adventure, Obama’s troop surge in Afghanistan, I fell into a discussion with a young militant I met there who has been carrying a poster that read – “Down With The Obama Government”. While such a homemade poster should gladden the heart of every old time anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist militant I argued with her, and I argue here that such a slogan is clearly premature. And here is why I think so.
I have made something of a truism in this space that politics, and that includes revolutionary politics, is many, if not most times, a matter of timing. That is the case here. I will give juts a couple of pieces of information about this woman’s own political trajectory that I think demonstrates my case for the prematureness of her slogan. Budding militant X, in 2008, became, as a freshman at a local Boston college, an ardent supporter of and campaign worker for the presidential campaign of one Barack Obama. Her reasoning, as she immersed herself emerged into the political battlefield, for supporting Obama need not detain us here. As she related her story about her hours of campaigning and the places she had gone let’s just say that she was a fellow political ‘junkie’. Ms. X had high hopes, especially for Obama’s peace platform, as least how she understood it. By February, with Obama’s deployment of some 20,000 additional troops to Afghanistan just shortly after his inauguration, she was very worried. This latest troop escalation put her into opposition on the streets.
Hey, this is a nice conversion for our side, right? Right. But that seems to me to be exactly the point. We are just now in the beginning of a period that should see the breaking, among some, of illusions in the Obama government. We, certainly, will aid that process with our own timely propaganda (including the use of this example) but that is where we are realistically. In the process of accruing a critical mass of fervent anti-imperialist, anti-war militants. But we are not there now- not by a long shot. So take another look at that slogan- “Down With The Obama Government”. What could that mean today? It could only mean some alternate form of Democratic Party administration of the executive branch of government (A Biden government?). Or, more realistically, some “Tea Party”-style Republican administration. Egad- we damn sure do not want that.
For those of us who have some acquaintance with revolutionary history, we know that this slogan certainly has its uses. In a pre-revolutionary or revolutionary period, as most famously used by the Bolsheviks in their agitation and propaganda in the spring and summer of 1917. Unfortunately, as the old saying goes," times ain’t now nothing like they used to be”. So, here is what I propose (and I did so, in a kidding and gentle manner) to Ms. X. Store that poster for now and help us get the American and other allied troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq (and the world). Victory in that effort will go a long way towards fulfilling the reality expressed in her slogan. One day we will unwrap that poster and walk the streets under that banner- with plenty of people behind us. Our day will come, but just to be on the safe side - Obama- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S. Troops From Afghanistan. Build A Workers Party That Fights For A Workers Government!
Recently, while attending one of several impromptu ad hoc demonstrations called to protest the escalation of the latest American imperial adventure, Obama’s troop surge in Afghanistan, I fell into a discussion with a young militant I met there who has been carrying a poster that read – “Down With The Obama Government”. While such a homemade poster should gladden the heart of every old time anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist militant I argued with her, and I argue here that such a slogan is clearly premature. And here is why I think so.
I have made something of a truism in this space that politics, and that includes revolutionary politics, is many, if not most times, a matter of timing. That is the case here. I will give juts a couple of pieces of information about this woman’s own political trajectory that I think demonstrates my case for the prematureness of her slogan. Budding militant X, in 2008, became, as a freshman at a local Boston college, an ardent supporter of and campaign worker for the presidential campaign of one Barack Obama. Her reasoning, as she immersed herself emerged into the political battlefield, for supporting Obama need not detain us here. As she related her story about her hours of campaigning and the places she had gone let’s just say that she was a fellow political ‘junkie’. Ms. X had high hopes, especially for Obama’s peace platform, as least how she understood it. By February, with Obama’s deployment of some 20,000 additional troops to Afghanistan just shortly after his inauguration, she was very worried. This latest troop escalation put her into opposition on the streets.
Hey, this is a nice conversion for our side, right? Right. But that seems to me to be exactly the point. We are just now in the beginning of a period that should see the breaking, among some, of illusions in the Obama government. We, certainly, will aid that process with our own timely propaganda (including the use of this example) but that is where we are realistically. In the process of accruing a critical mass of fervent anti-imperialist, anti-war militants. But we are not there now- not by a long shot. So take another look at that slogan- “Down With The Obama Government”. What could that mean today? It could only mean some alternate form of Democratic Party administration of the executive branch of government (A Biden government?). Or, more realistically, some “Tea Party”-style Republican administration. Egad- we damn sure do not want that.
For those of us who have some acquaintance with revolutionary history, we know that this slogan certainly has its uses. In a pre-revolutionary or revolutionary period, as most famously used by the Bolsheviks in their agitation and propaganda in the spring and summer of 1917. Unfortunately, as the old saying goes," times ain’t now nothing like they used to be”. So, here is what I propose (and I did so, in a kidding and gentle manner) to Ms. X. Store that poster for now and help us get the American and other allied troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq (and the world). Victory in that effort will go a long way towards fulfilling the reality expressed in her slogan. One day we will unwrap that poster and walk the streets under that banner- with plenty of people behind us. Our day will come, but just to be on the safe side - Obama- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S. Troops From Afghanistan. Build A Workers Party That Fights For A Workers Government!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
All Out In Boston At Park Street Station On Saturday March 17th At 1:00 PM- For The Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied And Mercenary Forces From Afghanistan!
Markin comment:
The headline says it all on this one -
All Out In Boston At Park Street Station On Saturday March 17th At 1:00 PM- For The Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied And Mercenary Forces From Afghanistan!
The headline says it all on this one -
All Out In Boston At Park Street Station On Saturday March 17th At 1:00 PM- For The Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied And Mercenary Forces From Afghanistan!
Monday, January 30, 2012
The Latest From “The Rag Blog”
Click on the headline to link to The Rag Blog website.
Markin comment:
I find this The Rag Blog very useful to monitor for the latest in what is happening with past tense radical activists and activities. Anybody, with some kind of name, who is still around from the 1960s has found a home here. So the remembrances and recollections are helpful for today’s activists. Strangely the politics are almost non-existent, as least ones that would help today, except to kind of retroactively “bless” those old-time left politics that did nothing (well, almost nothing) but get us on the losing end of the class (and cultural) wars of the last forty plus years. Still this is a must read blog for today’s left militants.
Markin comment:
I find this The Rag Blog very useful to monitor for the latest in what is happening with past tense radical activists and activities. Anybody, with some kind of name, who is still around from the 1960s has found a home here. So the remembrances and recollections are helpful for today’s activists. Strangely the politics are almost non-existent, as least ones that would help today, except to kind of retroactively “bless” those old-time left politics that did nothing (well, almost nothing) but get us on the losing end of the class (and cultural) wars of the last forty plus years. Still this is a must read blog for today’s left militants.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
From #Occupied Boston (#TomemonosBoston)-Day Fifty-four–General Assembly-The Embryo Of An Alternate Government-Learn The Lessons Of History
Click on the headline to link to updates from the Occupy Boston website. Occupy Boston started at 6:00 PM, September 30, 2011. I will post important updates as they appear on that site.
****
An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers! Drop All Charges Against All Protesters Everywhere!
********
Fight-Don’t Starve-We Created The Wealth, Let's Take It Back! Labor And The Oppressed Must Rule!
********
A Five-Point Program As Talking Points
*Jobs For All Now!-“30 For 40”- A historic demand of the labor movement. Thirty hours work for forty hours pay to spread the available work around. Organize the unorganized- Organize the South- Organize Wal-mart- Defend the right for public and private workers to unionize.
* Defend the working classes! No union dues for Democratic (or the stray Republican) candidates. Spent the dough on organizing the unorganized and other labor-specific causes (example, the November, 2011 anti-union recall referendum in Ohio).
*End the endless wars!- Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops (And Mercenaries) From Afghanistan! Hands Off Pakistan! Hands Off Iran! Hands Off The World!
*Fight for a social agenda for working people!. Quality Healthcare For All! Nationalize the colleges and universities under student-teacher-campus worker control! Forgive student debt! Stop housing foreclosures!
*We created the wealth, let’s take it back. Take the struggle for our daily bread off the historic agenda. Build a workers party that fights for a workers government to unite all the oppressed. Labor and the oppressed must rule!
******
Below I am posting, occasionally, comments on the Occupy movement as I see or hear things of interest, or that cause alarm bells to ring in my head. The first comment directly below from October 1, which represented my first impressions of Occupy Boston, is the lead for all further postings.
*******
Markin comment October 1, 2011:
There is a lot of naiveté expressed about the nature of capitalism, capitalists, and the way to win in the class struggle by various participants in this occupation. Many also have attempted to make a virtue out of that naiveté, particularly around the issues of effective democratic organization and relationships with the police (they are not our friends, no way, when the deal goes down). However, their spirit is refreshing, they are acting out of good subjective anti-capitalist motives and, most importantly, even those of us who call themselves "reds" (communists), including this writer, started out from liberal premises as naive, if not more so, than those encountered at the occupation site. We can all learn something but in the meantime we must defend the "occupation" and the occupiers. More later as the occupation continues.
**********
Markin comment October 22, 2011
As part of my comment, dated October 20, 2011, I noted the following:
“… The idea of the General Assembly with each individual attendee acting as a “tribune of the people” is interesting and important. And, of course, it represents, for today anyway, the embryo of what the “new world” we need to create might look like at the governmental level.”
A couple of the people that I have talked to were not quite sure what to make of that idea. The idea that what is going on in Occupy Boston at the governmental level could, should, would be a possible form of governing this society in the “new world aborning” with the rise of the Occupy movement. Part of the problem is that there was some confusion on the part of the listeners that one of the possible aims of this movement is to create an alternative government, or at least provide a model for such a government. I will argue here now, and in the future, that it should be one the goals. In short, we need to take power away from the Democrats and Republicans and their tired old congressional/executive/judicial form of governing and place it at the grassroots level and work upward from there rather than, as now, have power devolve from the top. (And stop well short of the bottom.)
I will leave aside the question (the problem really) of what it would take to create such a possibility. Of course a revolutionary solution would, of necessity, have be on the table since there is no way that the current powerful interests, Democratic, Republican or those having no politics, is going to give up power without a fight. What I want to pose now is the use of the General Assembly as a deliberative executive, legislative, and judicial body all rolled into one. In that sense previous historical models come to mind; the short-lived but heroic Paris Commune of 1871 that Karl Marx tirelessly defended against the reactionaries of Europe as the prototype of a workers government; the early heroic days of the Russian October Revolution of 1917 when the workers councils (soviets in Russian parlance) acted as a true workers' government; and the period in the Spanish Revolution of 1936-39 where the Central Committee of the Anti-Fascist Militias acted, de facto, as a workers government. All the just mentioned examples had their problems and flaws, no question. However, merely mentioning the General Assembly concept in the same paragraph as these great historic examples should signal that thoughtful leftists and other militants need to investigate and study these examples.
And as always-everybody, young or old, needs to stand by this slogan - An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers Everywhere! Hands Off Occupy Boston !
**********
Markin comment October 26, 2011:
Recently (see October 22, 2011 comment above) I noted the following while arguing for the General Assembly concept as a form of alternate government using historic examples like the Paris Commune (1871), the early Soviets in Russia (1905 and 1917), and early antifascist militias in the Spanish Civil War (1936-37:
“However, merely mentioning the General Assembly concept in the same paragraph as these great historic examples should signal that thoughtful leftists and other militants need to investigate and study these examples.”
In order to facilitate the investigation and study of those examples I will, occasionally, post works in this space that deal with these forbears from several leftist perspectives (rightist perspectives were clear- crush all the above examples ruthlessly, and with no mercy- so we need not look at them now). I started with Karl Marx’s classic defense and critique of the Paris Commune, The Civil War In France.
*********
****
An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers! Drop All Charges Against All Protesters Everywhere!
********
Fight-Don’t Starve-We Created The Wealth, Let's Take It Back! Labor And The Oppressed Must Rule!
********
A Five-Point Program As Talking Points
*Jobs For All Now!-“30 For 40”- A historic demand of the labor movement. Thirty hours work for forty hours pay to spread the available work around. Organize the unorganized- Organize the South- Organize Wal-mart- Defend the right for public and private workers to unionize.
* Defend the working classes! No union dues for Democratic (or the stray Republican) candidates. Spent the dough on organizing the unorganized and other labor-specific causes (example, the November, 2011 anti-union recall referendum in Ohio).
*End the endless wars!- Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops (And Mercenaries) From Afghanistan! Hands Off Pakistan! Hands Off Iran! Hands Off The World!
*Fight for a social agenda for working people!. Quality Healthcare For All! Nationalize the colleges and universities under student-teacher-campus worker control! Forgive student debt! Stop housing foreclosures!
*We created the wealth, let’s take it back. Take the struggle for our daily bread off the historic agenda. Build a workers party that fights for a workers government to unite all the oppressed. Labor and the oppressed must rule!
******
Below I am posting, occasionally, comments on the Occupy movement as I see or hear things of interest, or that cause alarm bells to ring in my head. The first comment directly below from October 1, which represented my first impressions of Occupy Boston, is the lead for all further postings.
*******
Markin comment October 1, 2011:
There is a lot of naiveté expressed about the nature of capitalism, capitalists, and the way to win in the class struggle by various participants in this occupation. Many also have attempted to make a virtue out of that naiveté, particularly around the issues of effective democratic organization and relationships with the police (they are not our friends, no way, when the deal goes down). However, their spirit is refreshing, they are acting out of good subjective anti-capitalist motives and, most importantly, even those of us who call themselves "reds" (communists), including this writer, started out from liberal premises as naive, if not more so, than those encountered at the occupation site. We can all learn something but in the meantime we must defend the "occupation" and the occupiers. More later as the occupation continues.
**********
Markin comment October 22, 2011
As part of my comment, dated October 20, 2011, I noted the following:
“… The idea of the General Assembly with each individual attendee acting as a “tribune of the people” is interesting and important. And, of course, it represents, for today anyway, the embryo of what the “new world” we need to create might look like at the governmental level.”
A couple of the people that I have talked to were not quite sure what to make of that idea. The idea that what is going on in Occupy Boston at the governmental level could, should, would be a possible form of governing this society in the “new world aborning” with the rise of the Occupy movement. Part of the problem is that there was some confusion on the part of the listeners that one of the possible aims of this movement is to create an alternative government, or at least provide a model for such a government. I will argue here now, and in the future, that it should be one the goals. In short, we need to take power away from the Democrats and Republicans and their tired old congressional/executive/judicial form of governing and place it at the grassroots level and work upward from there rather than, as now, have power devolve from the top. (And stop well short of the bottom.)
I will leave aside the question (the problem really) of what it would take to create such a possibility. Of course a revolutionary solution would, of necessity, have be on the table since there is no way that the current powerful interests, Democratic, Republican or those having no politics, is going to give up power without a fight. What I want to pose now is the use of the General Assembly as a deliberative executive, legislative, and judicial body all rolled into one. In that sense previous historical models come to mind; the short-lived but heroic Paris Commune of 1871 that Karl Marx tirelessly defended against the reactionaries of Europe as the prototype of a workers government; the early heroic days of the Russian October Revolution of 1917 when the workers councils (soviets in Russian parlance) acted as a true workers' government; and the period in the Spanish Revolution of 1936-39 where the Central Committee of the Anti-Fascist Militias acted, de facto, as a workers government. All the just mentioned examples had their problems and flaws, no question. However, merely mentioning the General Assembly concept in the same paragraph as these great historic examples should signal that thoughtful leftists and other militants need to investigate and study these examples.
And as always-everybody, young or old, needs to stand by this slogan - An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers Everywhere! Hands Off Occupy Boston !
**********
Markin comment October 26, 2011:
Recently (see October 22, 2011 comment above) I noted the following while arguing for the General Assembly concept as a form of alternate government using historic examples like the Paris Commune (1871), the early Soviets in Russia (1905 and 1917), and early antifascist militias in the Spanish Civil War (1936-37:
“However, merely mentioning the General Assembly concept in the same paragraph as these great historic examples should signal that thoughtful leftists and other militants need to investigate and study these examples.”
In order to facilitate the investigation and study of those examples I will, occasionally, post works in this space that deal with these forbears from several leftist perspectives (rightist perspectives were clear- crush all the above examples ruthlessly, and with no mercy- so we need not look at them now). I started with Karl Marx’s classic defense and critique of the Paris Commune, The Civil War In France.
*********
Thursday, November 17, 2011
From the General Strike in Oakland- to the protests against the G20 in France - the Revolution is growing!-JOIN THE OCCUPY FOR JOBS NETWORK - DEMAND A MASSIVE PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAM PAYING UNION WAGES
AT THE PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY SAT. NOV. 5 at Hostos Community College in the SOUTH BRONX, AN "OCCUPY 4 JOBS" NETWORK WAS LAUNCHED, AND CALLED FOR ACTIONS ON NOV 23 (CONGRESSIONAL "SUPER COMMITTEE" DEADLINE) AND ON THE MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY WEEKEND
JOIN THE OCCUPY FOR JOBS NETWORK - DEMAND A MASSIVE PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAM PAYING UNION WAGES (go to bailoutDeople.org/occuDv4iobs to join)
We urge you to join the "Occupy 4 JOBS" Network that is in formation. The main demand of the Occupy 4 JOBS Network is for a massive public works project big enough to provide jobs at union wages for the 30 million unemployed and underemployed workers in the country.
Occupy 4 JOBS is not a copycat of the Occupy Wall Street movement. However, Occupy 4 JOBS is unabashedly inspired by the welcome change in the political climate that the Occupy Wall Street movement has ushered in. OWS has opened up the space for larger sections of the working class and the poor, especially unemployed Black and Latina/o youth and immigrant workers, to fight Wall Street and the profits before people economic system.
Frankly speaking, it would be irresponsible for those of us who have been trying to organize a mass struggle against depression level unemployment not to take advantage of the door that OWS has opened up, and launch new fronts in the struggle for economic and social justice at this amazing time; fronts that are deliberately fashioned to mobilize the communities that are not represented in the OWS movement. The "Occupy the Hood" movement is a good example of the new fronts that need to open.
It is vital that all of us be in the OWS movement and work to influence OWS to build bridges to those communities and movements whose presence is not felt in OWS yet. However, it is even more vital to open new fronts and no front is more necessary that the fight for jobs.
Occupations need not be the only tactic of the Occupy 4 JOBS Network. The word occupy has now taken on a broader meaning than its literal definition. Occupy now means fight back; it means self-determination and in the words of Malcolm X it means fighting "By any means necessary." We must continue to rally and march and meet, and do whatever we must do to expand the fight for jobs and to be effective. But we must also be prepared to occupy when the time is right.
The idea is for Occupy 4 JOBS to be a loose national network, with local affiliates determining their local priorities, while at the same time developing a process through which to decide on coordinated or national actions. An Occupy 4 JOBS affiliate can be a membership organization, or a project of an existing organization.
It's time to Occupy 4 JOBS!
Initial Signers of the Call:
Bail Out the People Movement
Frantz Mendez, President, USW Local 8751 Boston School Bus Union
Chris Silvera, Secretary Treasurer IBT local 808, Million Worker March Movement
Cynthia Mckinney, International Anti-War Activist, 2008 Presidential Candidate
The Occupy Wall Street Jobless Working Group -NYC
Unemployed Council Rhode Island
Donna Dewitt, President South Carolina AFL-CIO* for Id only
Charles Jenkins, TWU Local 100, VP Coalition Of Black Trade Unionist NY
Larry Adams, VP Peoples Organization for Progress, Former President, Mail Handlers Local 300
Teresa Gutierrez, Co-coordinator May 1 Coalition for Immigrant and Workers Rights, Deputy General-Sec. International Association of Migrants
Bernadette Ellorin, Chair BAYAN-USA
Job Is A Right Campaign, Baltimore
Father Luis Barrios, Co-Executive Dir. Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization
Rev. CD Witherspoon, Pres., Baltimore Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Pam Africa, MOVE Organization, Concerned Friends & Family of Mumia Abu- Jamal
Nellie Bailey, Harlem Tenants Council & Occupy Harlem
Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures Evictions and Utility Shutoffs
MECAWI, Michigan Emergency Committee against War and Injustice
Rosa Parks Human Rights Day Committee
Women's Fightback Network
Occupy 4 Jobs Network c/o Bail Out the People movement, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 617-522-6626 union labor donated
go to bailoutpeople. org/occuov4iobs to join the OCCUPY 4 JOBS NETWORK!
JOIN THE OCCUPY FOR JOBS NETWORK - DEMAND A MASSIVE PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAM PAYING UNION WAGES (go to bailoutDeople.org/occuDv4iobs to join)
We urge you to join the "Occupy 4 JOBS" Network that is in formation. The main demand of the Occupy 4 JOBS Network is for a massive public works project big enough to provide jobs at union wages for the 30 million unemployed and underemployed workers in the country.
Occupy 4 JOBS is not a copycat of the Occupy Wall Street movement. However, Occupy 4 JOBS is unabashedly inspired by the welcome change in the political climate that the Occupy Wall Street movement has ushered in. OWS has opened up the space for larger sections of the working class and the poor, especially unemployed Black and Latina/o youth and immigrant workers, to fight Wall Street and the profits before people economic system.
Frankly speaking, it would be irresponsible for those of us who have been trying to organize a mass struggle against depression level unemployment not to take advantage of the door that OWS has opened up, and launch new fronts in the struggle for economic and social justice at this amazing time; fronts that are deliberately fashioned to mobilize the communities that are not represented in the OWS movement. The "Occupy the Hood" movement is a good example of the new fronts that need to open.
It is vital that all of us be in the OWS movement and work to influence OWS to build bridges to those communities and movements whose presence is not felt in OWS yet. However, it is even more vital to open new fronts and no front is more necessary that the fight for jobs.
Occupations need not be the only tactic of the Occupy 4 JOBS Network. The word occupy has now taken on a broader meaning than its literal definition. Occupy now means fight back; it means self-determination and in the words of Malcolm X it means fighting "By any means necessary." We must continue to rally and march and meet, and do whatever we must do to expand the fight for jobs and to be effective. But we must also be prepared to occupy when the time is right.
The idea is for Occupy 4 JOBS to be a loose national network, with local affiliates determining their local priorities, while at the same time developing a process through which to decide on coordinated or national actions. An Occupy 4 JOBS affiliate can be a membership organization, or a project of an existing organization.
It's time to Occupy 4 JOBS!
Initial Signers of the Call:
Bail Out the People Movement
Frantz Mendez, President, USW Local 8751 Boston School Bus Union
Chris Silvera, Secretary Treasurer IBT local 808, Million Worker March Movement
Cynthia Mckinney, International Anti-War Activist, 2008 Presidential Candidate
The Occupy Wall Street Jobless Working Group -NYC
Unemployed Council Rhode Island
Donna Dewitt, President South Carolina AFL-CIO* for Id only
Charles Jenkins, TWU Local 100, VP Coalition Of Black Trade Unionist NY
Larry Adams, VP Peoples Organization for Progress, Former President, Mail Handlers Local 300
Teresa Gutierrez, Co-coordinator May 1 Coalition for Immigrant and Workers Rights, Deputy General-Sec. International Association of Migrants
Bernadette Ellorin, Chair BAYAN-USA
Job Is A Right Campaign, Baltimore
Father Luis Barrios, Co-Executive Dir. Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization
Rev. CD Witherspoon, Pres., Baltimore Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Pam Africa, MOVE Organization, Concerned Friends & Family of Mumia Abu- Jamal
Nellie Bailey, Harlem Tenants Council & Occupy Harlem
Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures Evictions and Utility Shutoffs
MECAWI, Michigan Emergency Committee against War and Injustice
Rosa Parks Human Rights Day Committee
Women's Fightback Network
Occupy 4 Jobs Network c/o Bail Out the People movement, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 617-522-6626 union labor donated
go to bailoutpeople. org/occuov4iobs to join the OCCUPY 4 JOBS NETWORK!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
From the General Strike in Oakland- to the protests against the G20 in France - the Revolution is growing!-JOIN THE OCCUPY FOR JOBS NETWORK - DEMAND A MASSIVE PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAM PAYING UNION WAGES
AT THE PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY SAT. NOV. 5 at Hostos Community College in the SOUTH BRONX, AN "OCCUPY 4 JOBS" NETWORK WAS LAUNCHED, AND CALLED FOR ACTIONS ON NOV 23 (CONGRESSIONAL "SUPER COMMITTEE" DEADLINE) AND ON THE MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY WEEKEND
JOIN THE OCCUPY FOR JOBS NETWORK - DEMAND A MASSIVE PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAM PAYING UNION WAGES (go to bailoutDeople.org/occuDv4iobs to join)
We urge you to join the "Occupy 4 JOBS" Network that is in formation. The main demand of the Occupy 4 JOBS Network is for a massive public works project big enough to provide jobs at union wages for the 30 million unemployed and underemployed workers in the country.
Occupy 4 JOBS is not a copycat of the Occupy Wall Street movement. However, Occupy 4 JOBS is unabashedly inspired by the welcome change in the political climate that the Occupy Wall Street movement has ushered in. OWS has opened up the space for larger sections of the working class and the poor, especially unemployed Black and Latina/o youth and immigrant workers, to fight Wall Street and the profits before people economic system.
Frankly speaking, it would be irresponsible for those of us who have been trying to organize a mass struggle against depression level unemployment not to take advantage of the door that OWS has opened up, and launch new fronts in the struggle for economic and social justice at this amazing time; fronts that are deliberately fashioned to mobilize the communities that are not represented in the OWS movement. The "Occupy the Hood" movement is a good example of the new fronts that need to open.
It is vital that all of us be in the OWS movement and work to influence OWS to build bridges to those communities and movements whose presence is not felt in OWS yet. However, it is even more vital to open new fronts and no front is more necessary that the fight for jobs.
Occupations need not be the only tactic of the Occupy 4 JOBS Network. The word occupy has now taken on a broader meaning than its literal definition. Occupy now means fight back; it means self-determination and in the words of Malcolm X it means fighting "By any means necessary." We must continue to rally and march and meet, and do whatever we must do to expand the fight for jobs and to be effective. But we must also be prepared to occupy when the time is right.
The idea is for Occupy 4 JOBS to be a loose national network, with local affiliates determining their local priorities, while at the same time developing a process through which to decide on coordinated or national actions. An Occupy 4 JOBS affiliate can be a membership organization, or a project of an existing organization.
It's time to Occupy 4 JOBS!
Initial Signers of the Call:
Bail Out the People Movement
Frantz Mendez, President, USW Local 8751 Boston School Bus Union
Chris Silvera, Secretary Treasurer IBT local 808, Million Worker March Movement
Cynthia Mckinney, International Anti-War Activist, 2008 Presidential Candidate
The Occupy Wall Street Jobless Working Group -NYC
Unemployed Council Rhode Island
Donna Dewitt, President South Carolina AFL-CIO* for Id only
Charles Jenkins, TWU Local 100, VP Coalition Of Black Trade Unionist NY
Larry Adams, VP Peoples Organization for Progress, Former President, Mail Handlers Local 300
Teresa Gutierrez, Co-coordinator May 1 Coalition for Immigrant and Workers Rights, Deputy General-Sec. International Association of Migrants
Bernadette Ellorin, Chair BAYAN-USA
Job Is A Right Campaign, Baltimore
Father Luis Barrios, Co-Executive Dir. Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization
Rev. CD Witherspoon, Pres., Baltimore Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Pam Africa, MOVE Organization, Concerned Friends & Family of Mumia Abu- Jamal
Nellie Bailey, Harlem Tenants Council & Occupy Harlem
Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures Evictions and Utility Shutoffs
MECAWI, Michigan Emergency Committee against War and Injustice
Rosa Parks Human Rights Day Committee
Women's Fightback Network
Occupy 4 Jobs Network c/o Bail Out the People movement, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 617-522-6626 union labor donated
go to bailoutpeople. org/occuov4iobs to join the OCCUPY 4 JOBS NETWORK!
JOIN THE OCCUPY FOR JOBS NETWORK - DEMAND A MASSIVE PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAM PAYING UNION WAGES (go to bailoutDeople.org/occuDv4iobs to join)
We urge you to join the "Occupy 4 JOBS" Network that is in formation. The main demand of the Occupy 4 JOBS Network is for a massive public works project big enough to provide jobs at union wages for the 30 million unemployed and underemployed workers in the country.
Occupy 4 JOBS is not a copycat of the Occupy Wall Street movement. However, Occupy 4 JOBS is unabashedly inspired by the welcome change in the political climate that the Occupy Wall Street movement has ushered in. OWS has opened up the space for larger sections of the working class and the poor, especially unemployed Black and Latina/o youth and immigrant workers, to fight Wall Street and the profits before people economic system.
Frankly speaking, it would be irresponsible for those of us who have been trying to organize a mass struggle against depression level unemployment not to take advantage of the door that OWS has opened up, and launch new fronts in the struggle for economic and social justice at this amazing time; fronts that are deliberately fashioned to mobilize the communities that are not represented in the OWS movement. The "Occupy the Hood" movement is a good example of the new fronts that need to open.
It is vital that all of us be in the OWS movement and work to influence OWS to build bridges to those communities and movements whose presence is not felt in OWS yet. However, it is even more vital to open new fronts and no front is more necessary that the fight for jobs.
Occupations need not be the only tactic of the Occupy 4 JOBS Network. The word occupy has now taken on a broader meaning than its literal definition. Occupy now means fight back; it means self-determination and in the words of Malcolm X it means fighting "By any means necessary." We must continue to rally and march and meet, and do whatever we must do to expand the fight for jobs and to be effective. But we must also be prepared to occupy when the time is right.
The idea is for Occupy 4 JOBS to be a loose national network, with local affiliates determining their local priorities, while at the same time developing a process through which to decide on coordinated or national actions. An Occupy 4 JOBS affiliate can be a membership organization, or a project of an existing organization.
It's time to Occupy 4 JOBS!
Initial Signers of the Call:
Bail Out the People Movement
Frantz Mendez, President, USW Local 8751 Boston School Bus Union
Chris Silvera, Secretary Treasurer IBT local 808, Million Worker March Movement
Cynthia Mckinney, International Anti-War Activist, 2008 Presidential Candidate
The Occupy Wall Street Jobless Working Group -NYC
Unemployed Council Rhode Island
Donna Dewitt, President South Carolina AFL-CIO* for Id only
Charles Jenkins, TWU Local 100, VP Coalition Of Black Trade Unionist NY
Larry Adams, VP Peoples Organization for Progress, Former President, Mail Handlers Local 300
Teresa Gutierrez, Co-coordinator May 1 Coalition for Immigrant and Workers Rights, Deputy General-Sec. International Association of Migrants
Bernadette Ellorin, Chair BAYAN-USA
Job Is A Right Campaign, Baltimore
Father Luis Barrios, Co-Executive Dir. Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization
Rev. CD Witherspoon, Pres., Baltimore Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Pam Africa, MOVE Organization, Concerned Friends & Family of Mumia Abu- Jamal
Nellie Bailey, Harlem Tenants Council & Occupy Harlem
Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures Evictions and Utility Shutoffs
MECAWI, Michigan Emergency Committee against War and Injustice
Rosa Parks Human Rights Day Committee
Women's Fightback Network
Occupy 4 Jobs Network c/o Bail Out the People movement, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 617-522-6626 union labor donated
go to bailoutpeople. org/occuov4iobs to join the OCCUPY 4 JOBS NETWORK!
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Via "Boston IndyMedia"- A Dissenting Voice-"Occupy Boston Struggles to Achieve Democracy"
Markin comment:
Markin comment October 8, 2011:
I have made the following observation about the Occupy Boston occupation (October 1, 2011)and the way things have gone. My objections center more on the lack of political clarity and motion now that people are moving to the streets, and getting ready to fight back. Below my comment I have posted a different kind of dissent which seems somewhat on the mark on the question the post addresses-who's running the show?
******
Markin comment October 1, 2011
There is a lot of naive expressed about the nature of capitalism, capitalists, and the way to win in the class struggle by various participants in this occupation. Many also have attempted to make a virtue out of that naive, particularly around the issues of effective democratic organization and relationships with the police (they are not our friends, no way, when the deal goes down). However, their spirit is refreshing, they are acting out of good subjective anti-capitalist motives and, most importantly, even those of us who call themselves "reds" (communists), including this writer, started out from liberal premises as naive, if not more so, than those encountered at the occupation site. We can all learn something but in the meantime we must defend the "occupation" and the occupiers. More later as the occupation continues.
**********
Occupy Boston Struggles to Achieve Democracy
by Boston IMC
(
No verified email address) 06 Oct 2011
Over the last few days the Occupy Boston protest has made some remarkable achievements. On the infrastructure front, an organized miniature city has emerged to feed, house and provide medical care for campers and visitors alike. Donations of food, equipment and supplies have been pouring in daily. The volume of corporate media coverage has been impressive, and the tone generally less hostile and dismissive than is usual for protest coverage.
This has all been accomplished in a remarkably egalitarian fashion. Formal leaders do not exist, and all decisions are made by consensus, at least in theory. General assemblies are held every morning and evening to attempt to make sure that everyone's voice can be heard.
Yet behind the scenes creeping authoritarianism threatens the occupation.
For starters, the protest marches that regularly leave from the camp are often far less democratic than the assemblies and working group meetings. While the march last Friday night was a freewheeling affair that went where marchers felt like, took the streets, and ended with a spontaneous demonstration in front of a (mostly empty) Federal Reserve building, subsequent marches have been heavily scripted by facilitators with little to no input from outside. A march on Monday morning featured a man with a bullhorn directing the route and tactics with no regard for the wishes of marchers. Anyone straying from the sidewalk was forcibly pulled back and scolded. Furthermore, the march target, originally the Fox News office, was changed to the State House in the middle of the night by a small handful of organizers, without any consultation with the general assembly. The bullhorn dude even attempted to end the march after a speech at the State House steps, but was finally overridden by his exasperated followers, who insisted on making a brief stop at Fox News before marching back to the occupation.
Even the general assemblies, on the surface a model of participatory decision making, have taken on an authoritarian tone. A small group of facilitators largely controls the meeting procedure. While in theory the facilitators are just another working group, open to all, they do not issue group reports like other groups such as Food, Medical or Outreach. In addition their meetings are not always well publicized, and they either have no group liaison or the liaison is seldom at the camp.
The result has been general assemblies where the process for getting a proposal before the assembly has been unclear or even nonexistent. Participants have been reduced to futilely expressing opinions with no obvious way to turn them into reality. Individual facilitators have used their control of the process to push their own agendas and stifle proposals they did not approve of.
None of the above is to say that the situation is beyond salvage. The facilitators meeting on Tuesday was announced, and newcomers were able to block several undemocratic proposals. In addition Direct Action, the working group responsible for planning marches and other protests, saw a flood of new people at their own Tuesday meeting, leading to refreshing discussions on a variety of topics and a couple of ideas for actions.
More importantly, the actions on Wednesday were a stunning rebuke to anyone who sought to control the occupation. These included a student march and blockade that stopped traffic on Atlantic Ave for about 20 minutes, and two marches, one with members of the Mass. Nurses Association, that took over the streets for hours with no preset routes.
More such actions are needed. If the Occupy Wherever movement is to grow into a genuine revolutionary force it must not be hijacked by liberals and politicians. Anyone who wants to prevent this should come to Dewey Square as soon as they can get there, ready to throw down.
Markin comment October 8, 2011:
I have made the following observation about the Occupy Boston occupation (October 1, 2011)and the way things have gone. My objections center more on the lack of political clarity and motion now that people are moving to the streets, and getting ready to fight back. Below my comment I have posted a different kind of dissent which seems somewhat on the mark on the question the post addresses-who's running the show?
******
Markin comment October 1, 2011
There is a lot of naive expressed about the nature of capitalism, capitalists, and the way to win in the class struggle by various participants in this occupation. Many also have attempted to make a virtue out of that naive, particularly around the issues of effective democratic organization and relationships with the police (they are not our friends, no way, when the deal goes down). However, their spirit is refreshing, they are acting out of good subjective anti-capitalist motives and, most importantly, even those of us who call themselves "reds" (communists), including this writer, started out from liberal premises as naive, if not more so, than those encountered at the occupation site. We can all learn something but in the meantime we must defend the "occupation" and the occupiers. More later as the occupation continues.
**********
Occupy Boston Struggles to Achieve Democracy
by Boston IMC
(
No verified email address) 06 Oct 2011
Over the last few days the Occupy Boston protest has made some remarkable achievements. On the infrastructure front, an organized miniature city has emerged to feed, house and provide medical care for campers and visitors alike. Donations of food, equipment and supplies have been pouring in daily. The volume of corporate media coverage has been impressive, and the tone generally less hostile and dismissive than is usual for protest coverage.
This has all been accomplished in a remarkably egalitarian fashion. Formal leaders do not exist, and all decisions are made by consensus, at least in theory. General assemblies are held every morning and evening to attempt to make sure that everyone's voice can be heard.
Yet behind the scenes creeping authoritarianism threatens the occupation.
For starters, the protest marches that regularly leave from the camp are often far less democratic than the assemblies and working group meetings. While the march last Friday night was a freewheeling affair that went where marchers felt like, took the streets, and ended with a spontaneous demonstration in front of a (mostly empty) Federal Reserve building, subsequent marches have been heavily scripted by facilitators with little to no input from outside. A march on Monday morning featured a man with a bullhorn directing the route and tactics with no regard for the wishes of marchers. Anyone straying from the sidewalk was forcibly pulled back and scolded. Furthermore, the march target, originally the Fox News office, was changed to the State House in the middle of the night by a small handful of organizers, without any consultation with the general assembly. The bullhorn dude even attempted to end the march after a speech at the State House steps, but was finally overridden by his exasperated followers, who insisted on making a brief stop at Fox News before marching back to the occupation.
Even the general assemblies, on the surface a model of participatory decision making, have taken on an authoritarian tone. A small group of facilitators largely controls the meeting procedure. While in theory the facilitators are just another working group, open to all, they do not issue group reports like other groups such as Food, Medical or Outreach. In addition their meetings are not always well publicized, and they either have no group liaison or the liaison is seldom at the camp.
The result has been general assemblies where the process for getting a proposal before the assembly has been unclear or even nonexistent. Participants have been reduced to futilely expressing opinions with no obvious way to turn them into reality. Individual facilitators have used their control of the process to push their own agendas and stifle proposals they did not approve of.
None of the above is to say that the situation is beyond salvage. The facilitators meeting on Tuesday was announced, and newcomers were able to block several undemocratic proposals. In addition Direct Action, the working group responsible for planning marches and other protests, saw a flood of new people at their own Tuesday meeting, leading to refreshing discussions on a variety of topics and a couple of ideas for actions.
More importantly, the actions on Wednesday were a stunning rebuke to anyone who sought to control the occupation. These included a student march and blockade that stopped traffic on Atlantic Ave for about 20 minutes, and two marches, one with members of the Mass. Nurses Association, that took over the streets for hours with no preset routes.
More such actions are needed. If the Occupy Wherever movement is to grow into a genuine revolutionary force it must not be hijacked by liberals and politicians. Anyone who wants to prevent this should come to Dewey Square as soon as they can get there, ready to throw down.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Protests Against Wall Street Spread-Defend the Wall Street Occupiers-Drop All Charges- The Class War Is Heating Up- We Created The Wealth-Let's Take It Back!
Click on the headline to link to an AP post-Protests Against Wall Street Spread
Markin comment
Defend the Wall Street Occupiers-Drop All Charges- The Class War Is Heating Up- We Created The Wealth-Let's Take It Back!
Markin comment
Defend the Wall Street Occupiers-Drop All Charges- The Class War Is Heating Up- We Created The Wealth-Let's Take It Back!
Monday, October 03, 2011
Via The "Boston Indymedia" Website-The Latest From "Occupy Boston"-Day Three Round-Up-Video/photoessay-Occupy Boston Day 3
Click on the headline to link to a Boston IndyMedia entry from Occupy Boston that started at 6:00 PM, September 30, 2011. I will post updates as they appear on this site.
Markin comment:
There is a lot of naive expressed about the nature of capitalism, capitalists, and the way to win in the class struggle by various participants in this occupation. Many also have attempted to make a virtue out of that naive, particularly around the issues of effective democratic organization and relationships with the police (they are not our friends, no way, when the deal goes down). However, their spirit is refreshing, they are acting out of good subjective anti-capitalist motives and, most importantly, even those of us who call themselves "reds" (communists), including this writer, started out from liberal premises as naive, if not more so, than those encountered at the occupation site. We can all learn something but in the meantime we must defend the "occupation" and the occupiers. More later as the occupation continues.
Markin October 3, 2011 comment:
Hands Off The Wall Street Occupiers And The Occupation Site- Drop All Charges Against The Protesters.
Markin comment:
There is a lot of naive expressed about the nature of capitalism, capitalists, and the way to win in the class struggle by various participants in this occupation. Many also have attempted to make a virtue out of that naive, particularly around the issues of effective democratic organization and relationships with the police (they are not our friends, no way, when the deal goes down). However, their spirit is refreshing, they are acting out of good subjective anti-capitalist motives and, most importantly, even those of us who call themselves "reds" (communists), including this writer, started out from liberal premises as naive, if not more so, than those encountered at the occupation site. We can all learn something but in the meantime we must defend the "occupation" and the occupiers. More later as the occupation continues.
Markin October 3, 2011 comment:
Hands Off The Wall Street Occupiers And The Occupation Site- Drop All Charges Against The Protesters.
Sunday, October 02, 2011
The Latest From The "Stop The Machine" Action In Washington, D.C.-October 6, 2011
Click on the headline to link to the latest from the "Stop The Machine" Action In Washington, D.C.-October 6, 2011.
Markin comment:
Veterans For Peace is one of the organizations organizing this event so you know, whether you agree or disagree with each of the programmmatic points raised, that this is a serious operation. Labor Must Rule- We Created The Wealth- Let's Take It Back!
Markin comment:
Veterans For Peace is one of the organizations organizing this event so you know, whether you agree or disagree with each of the programmmatic points raised, that this is a serious operation. Labor Must Rule- We Created The Wealth- Let's Take It Back!
Saturday, October 01, 2011
Via The "Boston Indymedia" Website-The Latest From "Occupy Boston"-Day One Round-Up-Report From the First Night of the Occupation
Click on the headline to link to a Boston IndyMedia entry from Occupy Boston planned to start at 6:00 PM, September 30, 2011. I will post updates as they appear on this site.
Markin comment:
There is a lot of naive expressed about the nature of capitalism, capitalists, and the way to win in the class struggle by various participants in this occupation. Many also have attempted to make a virtue out of that naive, particularly around the issues of effective democratic organization and relationships with the police (they are not our friends, no way, when the deal goes down). However, their spirit is refreshing, they are acting out of good subjective anti-capitalist motives and, most importantly, even those of us who call themselves "reds" (communists), including this writer, started out from liberal premises as naive, if not more so, than those encountered at the occupation site. We can all learn something but in the meantime we must defend the "occupation" and the occupiers. More later as the occupation continues.
Markin comment:
There is a lot of naive expressed about the nature of capitalism, capitalists, and the way to win in the class struggle by various participants in this occupation. Many also have attempted to make a virtue out of that naive, particularly around the issues of effective democratic organization and relationships with the police (they are not our friends, no way, when the deal goes down). However, their spirit is refreshing, they are acting out of good subjective anti-capitalist motives and, most importantly, even those of us who call themselves "reds" (communists), including this writer, started out from liberal premises as naive, if not more so, than those encountered at the occupation site. We can all learn something but in the meantime we must defend the "occupation" and the occupiers. More later as the occupation continues.
Friday, September 30, 2011
The Latest From “The Rag Blog”
Click on the headline to link to The Rag Blog website.
Markin comment:
I find this The Rag Blog very useful to monitor for the latest in what is happening with past tense radical activists and activities. Anybody, with some kind of name, who is still around from the 1960s has found a home here. So the remembrances and recollections are helpful for today’s activists. Strangely the politics are almost non-existent, as least ones that would help today, except to kind of retroactively “bless” those old-time left politics that did nothing (well, almost nothing) but get us on the losing end of the class (and cultural) wars of the last forty plus years. Still this is a must read blog for today’s left militants.
Markin comment:
I find this The Rag Blog very useful to monitor for the latest in what is happening with past tense radical activists and activities. Anybody, with some kind of name, who is still around from the 1960s has found a home here. So the remembrances and recollections are helpful for today’s activists. Strangely the politics are almost non-existent, as least ones that would help today, except to kind of retroactively “bless” those old-time left politics that did nothing (well, almost nothing) but get us on the losing end of the class (and cultural) wars of the last forty plus years. Still this is a must read blog for today’s left militants.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
The Latest From The “Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox” Blog
Click on the headline to link to Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox blog for the latest from her site.
Markin comment:
I find Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox rather a mishmash of eclectic politics and basic old time left-liberal/radical thinking. Not enough, not nearly enough, in our troubled times but enough to take the time to read about and get a sense of the pulse (if any) of that segment of the left to which she is appealing. One though should always remember, despite our political differences, her heroic action in going down to hell-hole Texas to confront one President George W. Bush when many others were resigned to accepting the lies of that administration or who “folded” their tents when the expected end to the Iraq War did not materialize. Hats off on that one, Cindy Sheehan.
Markin comment:
I find Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox rather a mishmash of eclectic politics and basic old time left-liberal/radical thinking. Not enough, not nearly enough, in our troubled times but enough to take the time to read about and get a sense of the pulse (if any) of that segment of the left to which she is appealing. One though should always remember, despite our political differences, her heroic action in going down to hell-hole Texas to confront one President George W. Bush when many others were resigned to accepting the lies of that administration or who “folded” their tents when the expected end to the Iraq War did not materialize. Hats off on that one, Cindy Sheehan.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Latest From The “Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox” Blog
Click on the headline to link to Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox blog for the latest from her site.
Markin comment:
I find Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox rather a mishmash of eclectic politics and basic old time left-liberal/radical thinking. Not enough, not nearly enough, in our troubled times but enough to take the time to read about and get a sense of the pulse (if any) of that segment of the left to which she is appealing. One though should always remember, despite our political differences, her heroic action in going down to hell-hole Texas to confront one President George W. Bush when many others were resigned to accepting the lies of that administration or who “folded” their tents when the expected end to the Iraq War did not materialize. Hats off on that one, Cindy Sheehan.
Markin comment:
I find Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox rather a mishmash of eclectic politics and basic old time left-liberal/radical thinking. Not enough, not nearly enough, in our troubled times but enough to take the time to read about and get a sense of the pulse (if any) of that segment of the left to which she is appealing. One though should always remember, despite our political differences, her heroic action in going down to hell-hole Texas to confront one President George W. Bush when many others were resigned to accepting the lies of that administration or who “folded” their tents when the expected end to the Iraq War did not materialize. Hats off on that one, Cindy Sheehan.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Economic End Times - by Stephen Lendman
Economic End Times
by Stephen Lendman
Economic End Times - by Stephen Lendman
Despite a deepening global depression, establishment economists are in denial. On June 9, the Wall Street Journal said those surveyed expected slow, steady growth through 2011, despite high US unemployment, a housing depression, European sovereign debt in crisis, and the unreported insolvency of major French and other banks.
On June 8, testifying before the House Budget Committee, Fed chairman Bernanke fantasized about 3.5% US growth through 2011, stopping just short of ruling out the possibility of recession he called "unlikely."
And in 2007, when equity and housing bubbles peaked, neither he or Greenspan expressed alarm, destroying their credibility in the process.
Based on an early August survey, establishment (in bed with Wall Street) economists now put the chance of "another" downturn at 30%, compared to 15% in May, expecting 2.5% growth over the next year.
Some, in fact were sanguine, calling America's economy strong, attributing negative views to a crisis of confidence, not hard reality, signaled by the August 4 shot across the bow market rout.
Despite a predictable rebound, it signified much worse to come because conditions are dire getting worse. Even manipulated data show enough to sound alarms, highlighted by economists like David Rosenberg.
On August 15, he expressed surprise about so "little reaction to the shocking US consumer sentiment data that were released on Friday - the worst since the tail end of the Jimmy Carter recession era in 1980."
Moreover, consumer spending is weak even with suspect upward revisions. In addition, "(n)ew mortgage and refinancing loan volumes fell 19% in Q2 to" a three-year low. Further, auto buying plans declined to a decade low, likely headed much lower as economic conditions deteriorate. Other big ticket buying plans also dropped to 2008-09 depths when the economy falling off a cliff seemed possible.
In fact, growth indicators overall are rapidly heading south at a time they're already woefully weak. There's no end to decline in sight. Remarkably, negative household assessments of government policy hit record lows, surpassing the depths of the early 1980s recession and Watergate.
As a result, Rosenberg called the US economy "recession-bound, expecting" even manipulated data to show negative Q 3 growth, followed by greater contraction in Q 4 and 2012 Q 1.
"(P)ractically every major variable is" negative. "We are past the point of no return....I can understand the innate need to be hopeful," he said, but it's impossible to dispute reality.
Weakness and imbalances are extreme. American and European sovereign debt are overextended and troubled. "Anyone who thinks this gets contained (especially in Europe) slept through the last financial crisis after Lehman failed."
And when weak economies beg for stimulus, austerity is force-fed, assuring far greater economic pain. It's coming, will deepen and persist because policy measures are opposite of what's needed.
Commenting on the August 4 market rout, Rosenberg said nearly always it signals downturns. Western economies are fundamentally weak. Unlike earlier times when the Fed could cut interest rates, it now relies on "untested methods to underpin investor confidence and the economy."
And if America's economy plunges, so do others even deeper. Hunker down believes Rosenberg and independent economists believing the worst is yet to come.
Other Respected Views
Economist Michael Hudson is unequivocal explaining a debt deflation caused Depression. The game is over. The global ponzi scheme ran its course. Papering over conditions only works so long before hitting a wall. Tunnel vision assures trouble. Wrecking economies to save banks is lunacy, and forced austerity when stimulus is needed guarantees disaster. It's not a matter of if, just when, how deep and protracted.
Economist Paul Craig Roberts, trends analyst Gerald Celente, and others worry whether Washington will choose greater war to distract public attention from economic distress. In 2009, in fact, Celente warned about the oldest trick in the book, saying:
"Given the pattern of governments to parlay egregious failures into mega-failures, the classic trend they follow, when all else fails, is to take their nation to war."
In 2011, he called it a worrisome wild card, perhaps preceded by a major 9/11 type false flag to enlist public support.
Bet on it, in fact, if conditions become bad enough, public anger grows, and Obama's approval rating crashes ahead of the 2012 election. War based on heightened fear is how to raise it perhaps high enough to win.
Highly respect analyst Jeremy Grantham began his August letter to investors headlined, "Danger: Children at Play" with a "Stop Press Addendum," saying:
"My worst fears about the potential loss of confidence in our leaders, institutions, and 'capitalism itself' are being realized. We have been digging this hole for a long time. We really must be serious in our attempts to resuscitate the 'average (number of) hour(s) worked' and the fortunes of the average worker."
"Walking across the Boston Common this morning, I came to realize that the unpalatable (to me) option of some debt forgiveness on mortgages looks increasingly to be necessary as well as tax changes" he discussed in his report.
"To go further, if we mean to prosper long term, I am sure we need to act to make debt less attractive to everybody: it really is a snare and a delusion" to think otherwise.
Calling America's Congress "dysfunctional," he said it has to decide between two bad choices:
-- austerity to kill demand when the economy is on its knees; or
-- do nothing, risk default, compromise the integrity of the dollar and send "a powerful signal to the world that the US, at least for now," is past its prime.
In fact, growing numbers acknowledge that reality. "Come to think of it," said Grantham, "the choice was between a technical default and looking like a Banana Republic (or) technical blackmail and looking" like the same thing. "Just different bananas perhaps."
Overall he sees hard times, "lean years." Any pretense otherwise "is beyond wishful thinking or weak math skills. It is either childish or gross and cynical politics: that is to say, even worse politics than usual."
With balanced budgets mathematically impossible without major politically unpalatable policy changes, the alternative is "kicking an enormous can down the road" for even greater predictable disaster.
It's the equivalent of not dealing with a metastasizing cancer until the patient dies or is too far gone to save.
Adding his own grim assessment, Grantham said if we keep "drift(ing) around rudderless, if we don't develop some real (nowhere in sight) leadership soon, then seven lean years may be the least of" America's woes.
Commenting on the August 4 market rout, he added that it "always (has a) disturbing habit of ignoring the obvious and ignoring it some more, until, in the blink of an eye, it doesn't."
On August 4, it blinked, making "risk avoidance....a good idea," Grantham believes that may be his polite way of saying watch out! I warned you! There's no visible light at the end of this tunnel, getting increasingly darker. Watch out indeed.
In fact, a deepening global Depression just began. It'll last years before ending, and cause grave harm to billions worldwide, not responsible for their leaders' malfeasance, especially those domiciled on Wall Street, complicit with political puppets in Washington they own.
Moreover, the greater pain caused, the more they benefit like their Western counterparts, wrecking their economies for personal gain.
No wonder astute analysts like Grantham expressed lack of confidence in America's leaders, disgust with a "dysfunctional Congress," and questioned "capitalism itself," perhaps self-destructing as he wrote.
For billions of global victims, it can't happen a moment too soon, if it isn't already too late to help.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen (at) sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
See also:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com
This work is in the public domain
by Stephen Lendman
Economic End Times - by Stephen Lendman
Despite a deepening global depression, establishment economists are in denial. On June 9, the Wall Street Journal said those surveyed expected slow, steady growth through 2011, despite high US unemployment, a housing depression, European sovereign debt in crisis, and the unreported insolvency of major French and other banks.
On June 8, testifying before the House Budget Committee, Fed chairman Bernanke fantasized about 3.5% US growth through 2011, stopping just short of ruling out the possibility of recession he called "unlikely."
And in 2007, when equity and housing bubbles peaked, neither he or Greenspan expressed alarm, destroying their credibility in the process.
Based on an early August survey, establishment (in bed with Wall Street) economists now put the chance of "another" downturn at 30%, compared to 15% in May, expecting 2.5% growth over the next year.
Some, in fact were sanguine, calling America's economy strong, attributing negative views to a crisis of confidence, not hard reality, signaled by the August 4 shot across the bow market rout.
Despite a predictable rebound, it signified much worse to come because conditions are dire getting worse. Even manipulated data show enough to sound alarms, highlighted by economists like David Rosenberg.
On August 15, he expressed surprise about so "little reaction to the shocking US consumer sentiment data that were released on Friday - the worst since the tail end of the Jimmy Carter recession era in 1980."
Moreover, consumer spending is weak even with suspect upward revisions. In addition, "(n)ew mortgage and refinancing loan volumes fell 19% in Q2 to" a three-year low. Further, auto buying plans declined to a decade low, likely headed much lower as economic conditions deteriorate. Other big ticket buying plans also dropped to 2008-09 depths when the economy falling off a cliff seemed possible.
In fact, growth indicators overall are rapidly heading south at a time they're already woefully weak. There's no end to decline in sight. Remarkably, negative household assessments of government policy hit record lows, surpassing the depths of the early 1980s recession and Watergate.
As a result, Rosenberg called the US economy "recession-bound, expecting" even manipulated data to show negative Q 3 growth, followed by greater contraction in Q 4 and 2012 Q 1.
"(P)ractically every major variable is" negative. "We are past the point of no return....I can understand the innate need to be hopeful," he said, but it's impossible to dispute reality.
Weakness and imbalances are extreme. American and European sovereign debt are overextended and troubled. "Anyone who thinks this gets contained (especially in Europe) slept through the last financial crisis after Lehman failed."
And when weak economies beg for stimulus, austerity is force-fed, assuring far greater economic pain. It's coming, will deepen and persist because policy measures are opposite of what's needed.
Commenting on the August 4 market rout, Rosenberg said nearly always it signals downturns. Western economies are fundamentally weak. Unlike earlier times when the Fed could cut interest rates, it now relies on "untested methods to underpin investor confidence and the economy."
And if America's economy plunges, so do others even deeper. Hunker down believes Rosenberg and independent economists believing the worst is yet to come.
Other Respected Views
Economist Michael Hudson is unequivocal explaining a debt deflation caused Depression. The game is over. The global ponzi scheme ran its course. Papering over conditions only works so long before hitting a wall. Tunnel vision assures trouble. Wrecking economies to save banks is lunacy, and forced austerity when stimulus is needed guarantees disaster. It's not a matter of if, just when, how deep and protracted.
Economist Paul Craig Roberts, trends analyst Gerald Celente, and others worry whether Washington will choose greater war to distract public attention from economic distress. In 2009, in fact, Celente warned about the oldest trick in the book, saying:
"Given the pattern of governments to parlay egregious failures into mega-failures, the classic trend they follow, when all else fails, is to take their nation to war."
In 2011, he called it a worrisome wild card, perhaps preceded by a major 9/11 type false flag to enlist public support.
Bet on it, in fact, if conditions become bad enough, public anger grows, and Obama's approval rating crashes ahead of the 2012 election. War based on heightened fear is how to raise it perhaps high enough to win.
Highly respect analyst Jeremy Grantham began his August letter to investors headlined, "Danger: Children at Play" with a "Stop Press Addendum," saying:
"My worst fears about the potential loss of confidence in our leaders, institutions, and 'capitalism itself' are being realized. We have been digging this hole for a long time. We really must be serious in our attempts to resuscitate the 'average (number of) hour(s) worked' and the fortunes of the average worker."
"Walking across the Boston Common this morning, I came to realize that the unpalatable (to me) option of some debt forgiveness on mortgages looks increasingly to be necessary as well as tax changes" he discussed in his report.
"To go further, if we mean to prosper long term, I am sure we need to act to make debt less attractive to everybody: it really is a snare and a delusion" to think otherwise.
Calling America's Congress "dysfunctional," he said it has to decide between two bad choices:
-- austerity to kill demand when the economy is on its knees; or
-- do nothing, risk default, compromise the integrity of the dollar and send "a powerful signal to the world that the US, at least for now," is past its prime.
In fact, growing numbers acknowledge that reality. "Come to think of it," said Grantham, "the choice was between a technical default and looking like a Banana Republic (or) technical blackmail and looking" like the same thing. "Just different bananas perhaps."
Overall he sees hard times, "lean years." Any pretense otherwise "is beyond wishful thinking or weak math skills. It is either childish or gross and cynical politics: that is to say, even worse politics than usual."
With balanced budgets mathematically impossible without major politically unpalatable policy changes, the alternative is "kicking an enormous can down the road" for even greater predictable disaster.
It's the equivalent of not dealing with a metastasizing cancer until the patient dies or is too far gone to save.
Adding his own grim assessment, Grantham said if we keep "drift(ing) around rudderless, if we don't develop some real (nowhere in sight) leadership soon, then seven lean years may be the least of" America's woes.
Commenting on the August 4 market rout, he added that it "always (has a) disturbing habit of ignoring the obvious and ignoring it some more, until, in the blink of an eye, it doesn't."
On August 4, it blinked, making "risk avoidance....a good idea," Grantham believes that may be his polite way of saying watch out! I warned you! There's no visible light at the end of this tunnel, getting increasingly darker. Watch out indeed.
In fact, a deepening global Depression just began. It'll last years before ending, and cause grave harm to billions worldwide, not responsible for their leaders' malfeasance, especially those domiciled on Wall Street, complicit with political puppets in Washington they own.
Moreover, the greater pain caused, the more they benefit like their Western counterparts, wrecking their economies for personal gain.
No wonder astute analysts like Grantham expressed lack of confidence in America's leaders, disgust with a "dysfunctional Congress," and questioned "capitalism itself," perhaps self-destructing as he wrote.
For billions of global victims, it can't happen a moment too soon, if it isn't already too late to help.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen (at) sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
See also:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com
This work is in the public domain
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
From Boston IndyMedia-A Protest Song For The Fourth Of July
Click on the headline to link to a Boston IndyMedia website entry for a Fourth Of July protest song.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Photos From The April 9th New York City Anti-War Rally
Click on on the headline to link to a Boston Indymedia entry for the April 9, 2011 New York City Anti-war Rally.
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Anti-War Protest Season Continues-New York City Anti-War Rally April 9
Markin comment:
During this February and March I have called for and placed a number posts in this space in support of a March 19th Veterans For Peace-led march and action in Washington, D.C. I also gave my reasons for such support in commentary in those posts. Mainly from a sense of solidarity with my fellow veterans and because they were ramping up their opposition to Obama's wars beylond yet another march. This march in New York on April 9th, while necessary as an action to oppose Obama's wars, is a more traditional one and while we will attend it does not have the dramatic impact and bonds of solidarity attached to it of the Veterans' march.
March and Rally: Bring the Troops Home Now!
When: Saturday, April 9, 2011, 12:00 pm
Where: Union Square • New York, NY
Start: 2011 Apr 9 - 12:00pm
Endorse the call to action from the United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC)
Bring the Troops Home Now!
March and Rally
April 9th, 2011
New York City and San Francisco
(Union Sq. at noon) (Time and place to be announced)
Bring U.S. Troops Now: Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan! End the sanctions and stop the threats of war against the people of Iran, North Korea and Yemen. No to war and plunder of the people of Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa! End U.S. Aid to Israel! End U.S. Support to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine and the Siege of Gaza!
Trillions for jobs, education, social services, an end to all foreclosures, quality single-payer healthcare for all, a massive conversion to sustainable and planet-saving energy systems and public transportation and reparations to the victims of U.S. terror at home and abroad.
End FBI raids on antiwar, social justice, and international solidarity activists, an end to the racist persecution and prosecutions that ravage Muslim communities, an end to police terror in Black and Latino communities, full rights and legality for immigrants and an end to all efforts to repress and punish Wikileaks and its contributors and founders.
immediate end to torture, rendition, secret trials, drone bombings and death squads
During this February and March I have called for and placed a number posts in this space in support of a March 19th Veterans For Peace-led march and action in Washington, D.C. I also gave my reasons for such support in commentary in those posts. Mainly from a sense of solidarity with my fellow veterans and because they were ramping up their opposition to Obama's wars beylond yet another march. This march in New York on April 9th, while necessary as an action to oppose Obama's wars, is a more traditional one and while we will attend it does not have the dramatic impact and bonds of solidarity attached to it of the Veterans' march.
March and Rally: Bring the Troops Home Now!
When: Saturday, April 9, 2011, 12:00 pm
Where: Union Square • New York, NY
Start: 2011 Apr 9 - 12:00pm
Endorse the call to action from the United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC)
Bring the Troops Home Now!
March and Rally
April 9th, 2011
New York City and San Francisco
(Union Sq. at noon) (Time and place to be announced)
Bring U.S. Troops Now: Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan! End the sanctions and stop the threats of war against the people of Iran, North Korea and Yemen. No to war and plunder of the people of Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa! End U.S. Aid to Israel! End U.S. Support to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine and the Siege of Gaza!
Trillions for jobs, education, social services, an end to all foreclosures, quality single-payer healthcare for all, a massive conversion to sustainable and planet-saving energy systems and public transportation and reparations to the victims of U.S. terror at home and abroad.
End FBI raids on antiwar, social justice, and international solidarity activists, an end to the racist persecution and prosecutions that ravage Muslim communities, an end to police terror in Black and Latino communities, full rights and legality for immigrants and an end to all efforts to repress and punish Wikileaks and its contributors and founders.
immediate end to torture, rendition, secret trials, drone bombings and death squads
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