Over 50 years ago, the Black Panther Party established a Ten-Point Plan: We want freedom. We want the power to determine the destiny of our Black Community.We want full employment for our people.We want an end to the robbery by the capitalists of our Black and oppressed communities.We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.We want education for our people that … [Read more...] about The Black Panther Party and its Ten-Point Plan
capitalism
May Day History: The Haymarket Riot
by Lenny Flank In the early United States, labor unions were outlawed—they were considered to be illegal conspiracies in restraint of “free trade.” That changed in 1842, when, in the Hunt case, the courts ruled that collective bargaining was legal and that workers could form unions and associations. At first, labor unions were small, weak, and rarely extended beyond the … [Read more...] about May Day History: The Haymarket Riot
Is The New York Times Trying to Foster Working Class Consciousness?
by Gary Olson There is only one thing the ruling circles have always wanted — and that’s everything.— Michael Parenti A recent lead editorial in The New York Times reads “Another Way the 2020s Might Be Like the 1930s.” Written by Jamelle Bouie, an African-American millennial (age 33) on the paper’s editorial staff, the piece contains the following opening and closing … [Read more...] about Is The New York Times Trying to Foster Working Class Consciousness?
Introduction to The Manifesto & a reprint of abridged version of Das Capital
by BoB WeicK In a café in Paris in 1844 two young, brilliant revolutionary thinkers met, spent ten days in spirited wine-soaked debate and formed a lifelong bond. A friendship that would last 40 years. Their body of brilliant economic and philosophical writings would inspire revolutions, shake the foundations of political economy, and thereby change the course of … [Read more...] about Introduction to The Manifesto & a reprint of abridged version of Das Capital
Notes from the Editor [LT3]
Notes from the Editors The essays in this issue are of two sorts. The one we present first focuses on grassroots actions of the you-are-the-leaders-you’ve-been-looking-for persuasion. Mostly. Their focus tends to be on doings in the US: the black community, bingo workers, teachers and unions, meritocracy (an analytic counterpoise dealing with the wealthy), a grassroots … [Read more...] about Notes from the Editor [LT3]
Covid & Capitalism
Neither of these articles has any shocking revelations, but both are worth reading for the way they fill in some gaps in the mainstream narrative. “No. It’s Capitalism, Stupid.”, by Gary OlsonCovid-19 Profiteers Are Making a Killing, by Amber Colon-Nuñez … [Read more...] about Covid & Capitalism
“No. It’s Capitalism, Stupid.”
by Gary Olson The title is a riff on James Carville’s disingenuous (and stupid) phrase from 1992 when he was Bill Clinton’s campaign director. Carville’s pithy quip, “It’s the economy, stupid,” became the campaign’s de facto slogan. It functioned as a clever ruse to help Clinton beat Bush by pandering to workers and creating the impression that his policies would actually … [Read more...] about “No. It’s Capitalism, Stupid.”
The Social Democratic Pipedream
by Michael D. Yates Today in the United States, there has been an upsurge in social democracy/democratic socialism (I use these terms interchangeably; I don’t see much difference between them, at least in the U.S.) The main current of social democracy is the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), whose overall political perspective can be described as follows. There is no … [Read more...] about The Social Democratic Pipedream
Notes from the Editors (Left Turn #4)
Excessive gun violence and mass shootings have become the norm in the US, so has the trite and totally ineffective response of offering “our thoughts and prayers” by the governing political elite. There were about 252 mass shootings in the first 215 days of 2019. About 35% of mass shooters are young white men with prior training in how to use guns — often learned as high school … [Read more...] about Notes from the Editors (Left Turn #4)
Why It’s Important to Understand Cultural Capital
Gary Olson When categorizing my class background, I’ve invariably replied “working class” but in truth that was more aspirational than factual. My father was either unemployed or underemployed and died of a heart attack at age 46 while working as a night shift orderly at a veteran’s hospital in Fargo, ND. I was 12-years-old, with a 7-year-old brother, and thereafter our … [Read more...] about Why It’s Important to Understand Cultural Capital