Made in Pittsburgh within five days of the G20 summit by a team from Pittsburgh Indymedia, Twin Cities Indymedia, Glassbead Collective, and Mobile Broadcast News, a new documentary: “Democracy 101 (Rough Cut)”. Democracy 101 is a look at the policing and pattern of issues that arise during National Special Security Events. Made with footage from the recent repression of dissent in Pittsburgh, salvaged from the broken cameras, stolen video and arrested reporters, and independent journalists from around the country.
Posts Tagged ‘socialism’
International Workers League
Saturday, August 8th, 2009The Workers International League (WIL) has recently posted a position program dealing with the current crisis of capitalism …..
US: A Working Class Program for the Economic Crisis
Written by Workers’ International League Thursday, 09 April 2009
The Workers’ International League’s working class program for the current economic crisis.
No more bail outs for the rich. No reward for the fat cats! Nationalize the banks and insurance companies under democratic workers’ control and management. Banking decisions must be taken in the interests of the majority of society, not a minority of speculators. Compensation for nationalized banks and other companies must be paid only in cases of proven need to pension funds, 401k funds (and similar retirement funds), workers and retired workers. The nationalization of the banks is the only way to guarantee the deposits and savings of ordinary people.- Democratic control of the banks. The boards of directors should be composed in the following way: one third to be elected by the bank workers, one third to be elected by the trade unions to represent the interests of the working class as a whole, and one third from the government.
- An immediate end to the exorbitant bonuses, all executive pay should be limited to the wages of a skilled worker. Unnecessary managers should be reassigned to actual productive tasks needed by the enterprise. If the bankers are not prepared to serve on reasonable terms, they must be shown the door and replaced by qualified graduates, thousands of whom are looking for work and are willing to serve society.
- An immediate reduction of interest rates, which should be limited to the necessary costs of banking operations. Cheap credit must be made available for those who need it: small businesses and workers buying homes, not the bankers and capitalists.
- Quality housing for all. Rent to be fixed at no more than 10 percent of wages. An immediate end to home foreclosures, utility disconnections and rent evictions. Open empty homes to those without shelter. For a massive program of public works to create jobs and quality, affordable public housing.
- Abolish unemployment. Work or Social Security for all. For the immediate introduction of a 30-hour week without loss of pay to provide work for all. A living wage and pension for all. A sliding scale of wages, linking all increases to the increases in the cost of living.
- Down with business secrets. Open the books! Let the workers have access to information about all the speculation, tax evasion, shady deals, exorbitant profits and bonuses. Let the people see how they have been swindled and who is really responsible for the present mess.
- No to factory closures. A factory closed is a factory occupied! Nationalization under democratic workers’ control and management of idle factories and those under threat of being closed!
- For a massive program of public works: an immediate construction program of affordable public housing, schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, public transportation networks and other infrastructure to improve quality of life and create millions of jobs at union wages and benefits. Union-controlled hiring halls and apprentice programs to be immediately established in areas of highest unemployment. Against racism and discrimination: Workers’ unity is the way forward!
- The trade unions, co-operatives and consumer associations must work out the real index of the cost of living in place of the “official” COLA index, which does not reflect the real state of affairs. Set up committees of workers, homemakers, small businesses and the unemployed to control price increases.
- Abolish all indirect and regressive taxation and introduce a heavily progressive system of direct taxation on the rich. Abolish all taxation for the poor; make the rich pay for their crisis!
- For a drastic reduction of energy costs! This can only be achieved through nationalization of the energy companies, which will enable us to impose price controls on gas and electricity. No more profiteering at the public’s expense!
- The right of all workers to join a union, strike, picket and demonstrate. The right to free speech and assembly. No to restrictions of democratic rights under the pretext of so-called anti-terrorist laws!
- Complete independence of the unions from the Big Business parties and the state. An end to compulsory arbitration, no-strike clauses, and other measures intended to restrict the scope of action of the unions. Repeal Taft-Hartley and all similar anti-union laws. Democratize the unions and place control firmly in the hands of the rank and file. Direct election of all union officials with right of recall. Against bureaucracy and careerism: No union official to receive a higher wage than a skilled worker. All expenses to be available for the inspection of the membership.
- For a militant, class struggle program to mobilize workers in defense of jobs and living standards. The workers’ organizations must reject the false idea of “national unity” with capitalist governments and parties under the pretext of the crisis. They are responsible for the crisis and want to present the bill to the working class. For trade union unity on the basis of the above demands.
- For rank and file control, including the creation of shop stewards committees and the creation of ad hoc strike committees during strikes and other conflicts as a means of ensuring the fullest participation of the widest number of workers.
- No to class collaboration! The unions must break with the Democrats. For a mass party of Labor, based on the unions, armed with a socialist program.
- Unite private and public schools into a single, fully funded public education system, to provide free, quality, lifelong education for all. The immediate abolition of tuition fees and the introduction of a living grant to all students who qualify for higher education. A guaranteed job for every graduate, at a living wage. End the domination and exploitation of education by big business. For fully equipped youth clubs, libraries, sports centers, movie theaters, swimming pools and other recreational centers for young people.
- For a socialized national health care system. Abolish private health insurance and HMOs. Massively fund research and treatment for AIDS, cancer and other curable and preventable diseases. Nationalize the pharmaceuticals giants that squeeze their profits out of the health of working people.
- Break with the anarchy of the capitalist free market. Nationalize the Fortune 500. Socialist planning would mean the end of unemployment and ensure democratic control of production, distribution and exchange, using all available information and technology. Environmental plans would be measured in generations, not fiscal quarters. The unions would play a key role in the administration and control of every workplace. Trade unionism is not an end in itself, but only a means to an end, which is the socialist transformation of society.
- For the immediate withdrawal of all the troops and military contractors from Iraq and Afghanistan. Slash the military budget and massively increase social spending. Full civil rights for soldiers, including the right to join unions and the right to strike. Hands Off Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Latin America, the Middle East and the world!
- Against racism and discrimination! Defend the rights of all oppressed and exploited people. For the unity of all workers, regardless of gender, color, ethnicity, nationality or religion.
- For working class internationalism. For a Socialist Federation of the Americas as part of a World Socialist Federation.
Workers of the world unite!
source: Socialist Appeal
Pittsburgh Anti-War Conference, July 10-12
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009an important anti-war conference is taking place in Pittsburgh on July 10-12 (see below). Registration is encouraged before June 25 to reserve a dorm room and meals at the college where it is taking place. If you are at all interested in attending, contact Carl Sack of the Northland Anti-war Coalition (duluth), so you can talk about means of travel to get to the conference. NAWC has also agreed to provide some sponsorship money for people to attend
PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE
U.S. wars of intervention, mass murder and occupation are crimes against humanity. We must build a broad, united mass movement of the American people to end them.
U.S. wars of intervention, mass murder and occupation are crimes against humanity. We must build a broad, united mass movement of the American people to end them. How can this be accomplished? Share your ideas and proposals at the Second Open National Antiwar Conference sponsored by the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations at La Roche College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 10-12, 2009.
We demand:
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Stop the U.S. Wars and Occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan! Bring All the Troops Home Now!
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No to War Against Iran!
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No to U.S. Aid and Support for Israel’s Occupation of Palestine!
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End the Siege of Gaza!
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Trillions for Jobs, Pensions, Health Care, Homes, Education and the Environment! Not a Cent for the War Machine or for Bailouts to Wall Street and the Banks!
The purpose of the July conference is to plan actions to advance these demands. The warmakers never rest in prosecuting their wars and interventions and they accord no respite for the victims of such aggression. So there must be no “time out” or drift for the U.S. antiwar movement. We must stay out in the streets, mounting ever larger protests and bringing to heel those who are committed to expanding the U.S. empire, whatever the cost to humanity. That is what we will be talking about on July 10-12.
Our focus is Iraq and Afghanistan — where hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops, and contractors/mercenaries are at war – and Palestine, the victim of the U.S.- financed Israeli occupation. At the same time, Iran is faced with sanctions, threats and preparations for murderous assault if Washington and its partner, Israel, choose to play the “military card.” Meanwhile, Pakistan, bombed by the Bush regime, suffers the same acts of war under Obama’s lead.
We say NO to all these acts of aggression and occupation! For the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops, bases, and weapons. Out Now! Washington’s unprecedented military spending and corporate malfeasance – trillions for death, destruction and vast riches for the few – have lowered living standards and curtailed rights. All of this has contributed to a massive global economic crisis. Working people face depression-like conditions as millions lose jobs, homes, pensions and health care. The nation’s infrastructure, including schools, inner cities, hospitals, public transportation, and more, is in rapid decline. Misery, deprivation and poverty rise as social programs are cut, yet the U.S. government appropriates unlimited funds for wars and occupations.
The National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations is a growing network of local, state and national organizations. Endorsed by 600 groups and prominent individuals, it was founded in June, 2008 at a national conference attended by over 400 activists in Cleveland, Ohio.
Our central objective remains to unify the diverse forces that make up today’s antiwar movement in periodic, independent, broad and massive demonstrations that challenge the warmakers and demand an end to their policies of aggression, intervention and occupation.
During the past year we participated in antiwar protests at the Democratic and Republican Party conventions, supported coordinated antiwar actions in scores of cities in October and December 2008, collaborated with national and local organizations in building the March 21, 2009 mobilizations marking the sixth year of the invasion of Iraq and participated in organizing the April 4, 2009 New York antiwar protests.
Our conferences are conducted democratically, with all groups and individuals having the right to submit action proposals for discussion, debate and vote. Decisions are made by majority rule based on one person, one vote. These are invaluable tools for the antiwar movement to be the inclusive, independent mass force we must become to stop the warmakers.
We have learned from the struggles for civil, women’s, trade union, and LGBT rights and against the Vietnam War that successful challenges to the status quo are the product of collective, united, mass social movements. In the face of escalating wars and global economic crisis, we will convene again in July in Pittsburgh to strive for the unity required to end the bloodshed and occupations and replace current U.S. foreign policy with one that promotes peace and respect for the right of self-determination.
Friday Night, July 10
7 p.m. – 9 p.m.: Roundtable Discussion on the question: “What Can Be Done to Broaden and Unite the Antiwar Movement?” with Speakers from Local Antiwar Coalitions and Key Constituency Groups – students, trade unionists, communities of color, veterans and military families, faith groups, immigrants. Questions to be discussed: How can we build the antiwar movement among the named groups? What can be done to overcome the divisions in the antiwar movement?
Saturday Morning, July 11
9 a.m. — 9:05 a.m.: Welcoming Remarks, Molly Rush, one of the Plowshares 8 (which included Phil and Daniel Berrigan) who protested against nuclear warheads at a General Electric plant in King of Prussia, Montgomery County, in September 1980; founder of Pittsburgh’s Thomas Merton Center in 1973 and leader of peace and justice movement
9:05 a.m. — 10:05 a.m.: Keynote Speakers
Subject: “Collapse of the U.S. Economy While the U.S. Government Wages Wars on Several Fronts” by Michael Zweig, professor of economics and Director of the Center for Study of Working Class Life at the State University of New York at Stony Brook; active in American Federation of Teachers Local 2190; National Steering Committee member, U.S. Labor Against the War; articles published in The American Economic Review, The American Economist, Labor Notes, Monthly Review, The Nation, New Labor Forum, Rethinking Marxism, Review of Black Political Economy, Review of Radical Political Economics, Tikkun, and UE News; author of “What’s Class Got to Do With It: American Society in the Twenty-First Century” and “The Working Class Majority: America’s Best Kept Secret”; executive producer of the film Meeting Face to Face: the Iraq–U.S. Labor Solidarity Tour; Appeared on Bill Moyers Journal, Democracy Now!, CNN Radio and Al Jazeera English
Steve Early, Labor Journalist; for 27 years was International Representative for the Communications Workers of America and prior to that a staff representative for the United Mine Workers; author of Embedded With Organized Labor: Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home
Subject: “Strengthening the Movement to End the Occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine” by Zaineb Alani, member of the National Assembly Administrative Body; Iraqi poet and activist; saw firsthand the impact of two successive wars and has 40 extended family members still living in Iraq; Fulbright Scholar; her anthology of poems, “The Words of an Iraqi War Survivor and More” was published by Xlibris Corporation; serves as liaison to the international peace movement.
10:05 a.m.—12 noon: Discussion and debate of action proposals submitted by conference attendees
12 noon –1:30 p.m.: Lunch
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.: Workshops I
3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.: Continuation of discussion and debate; vote on action proposals (one person, one vote)
6:00 p.m. – 7 p.m.: Dinner
7 p.m. – 9 p.m.: Public Meeting – Speakers Include Gail Austin, Black Voices for Peace; Christian Parenti, correspondent for The Nation and author of The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq; Chris Gauvreau, National Assembly Continuations Body, CT United for Peace, Builder of New England United; Monadel Herzallah, President, Arab American Union Member Council; Brian Becker, National Coordinator, A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism); Jorge Mujica, one of the country’s most important leaders in the struggle to defend immigrant rights; Sara Flounders, Stop War on Iran Campaign, International Action Center; Ahmed Shawki, Steering Committee, National Council of Arab-Americans, Editor, Haymarket Books; Michael Schwartz, Professor of Sociology and Faculty Director of the Undergraduate College of Global Studies at Stony Brook University, author of War Without End: The Iraq War in Context, his writings on Iraq have appeared on numerous internet sites, including Tom Dispatch, Asia Times, MotherJones.com, and ZNet, and in print in Contexts, Against the Current, The International Socialist Review, and Z Magazine. (entertainment to be announced)
9 p.m.: Informal Socializing; Caucuses
Sunday Morning, July 12
9 a.m. – 10:25 a.m.: Workshops II
10:35 a.m. – 10:55 a.m.: “New Challenges Facing the Antiwar Movement” by Michael T. McPhearson, Veterans For Peace Executive Director; Co-Chair, United for Peace and Justice
10:55 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.: “An Assessment of the First Year of the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations” by Marilyn Levin, Member, National Assembly Administrative Body; Greater Boston United for Justice with Peace
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.: Adoption of Structure Document
12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.: Lunch
1:15 p.m. — 2:00 p.m.: Election of Administrative Body
2:00 p.m.: Conference Adjourns
2:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.: Administrative Body Meets to Elect Secretary, Treasurer and Subcommittee
WORKSHOPS
- Afghanistan and Pakistan: Washington’s Escalating War Policies
- The Economy and the War Budget: Attacks on Workers and the Poor
- The Future of the Earth: Climate Crisis, Global Warming and the Wars
- The Palestinian Struggle After Gaza
- What We Can Learn From the Movement to End the War in Vietnam
- Mass Action: Central Strategy for Ending the Wars and Occupations
- What It’s Like To Be a Deployed Soldier, Veteran, or Family Member Opposed to the Wars
- Haiti is Ourselves: U.S. Role in 100 Years of Oppression & Similarity to Other Struggles
- Defending Immigrant Rights Against ICE Raids and Unlawful and Indefinite Detentions
- Torture, Renditions, Unlawful Detentions, Guantanamo, and Wrongful Prosecutions: Holding Those Who Give the Orders and CarriyThem Out Accountable
- Campus Antiwar, Counter-Recruitment & Palestinian Rights Organizing
- Iraq Today: A Land of Blood and Oil
- Abuse and Discrimination Against Women, Gays and Lesbians in the Military
- The Continued Threat of Nuclear Weapons: Washington’s Attempt to Disarm Other Nations While the U.S. Retains Its Stockpile
- Racism: A Cornerstone of U.S. Foreign Policy
- Why We March and Lobby
- Is War a Force That Gives Us Meaning?
- New Weapons of War: Crimes Against Humanity
- Iran: The Key to Understanding U.S. Policy in the Middle East
- Pirate Panic: What is the Truth Behind the U.S. War on Somalia?
- Assault on Civil Liberties Since 9/11
North Star Republic in the Wall Street Journal
Saturday, June 13th, 2009Today in the Wall Street Journal, reporter Paul Starobin examines the issue of secession in the United States and not only mentions our website but presents a rather artistic work of cartography (by Jack Molloy) that prominently features the North Star Republic.
Check it out …. Divided We Stand
