An economic recovery—for capitalists

 

An economic recovery—for capitalists.

An economic recovery—for capitalists

 

Statement of the Lindsay/Osorio campaign

 

June 4, 2012

Unemployed job seekers attend a job fair in New York City.

Despite the economic turmoil of the last few years, the biggest banks and corporations have managed to consistently remain profitable ever since the massive taxpayer-funded bailouts. However, as the bleak jobs report for May shows, workers have been left out of this so-called recovery.

 

A total of 69,000 new jobs opened up in May, the lowest number in a year. Because about 125,000 jobs a month are needed just to keep up with the growing workforce, the official unemployment rate increased slightly to 8.2 percent. If workers who are thought to have “dropped out” of the workforce and those who have been forced to accept part-time work are included, the figure rises to 14.8 percent.

 

As these statistics make clear, the capitalist system offers no solution to the epidemic of unemployment and underemployment. That’s why the Lindsay/Osorio campaign proposes a socialist solution.

 

We demand: Seize the banks—Jail Wall Street criminals with the vast wealth of society—which we, the working class, create—liberated from Wall Street parasites, we can initiate a massive jobs program.

 

Our 10 point program states: Make a job a Constitutional right. Tens of millions are jobless and under-employed because the capitalists control employment. A decent paying job must be a legal, guaranteed right. The minimum wage should be raised to $20 per hour and a living income must be guaranteed for those who cannot work.

 

Capitalists employ workers for only one reason: without our labor, they cannot make a profit. When they can no longer profitably sell the commodities we make, as is the case in an economic crisis, they carry out mass layoffs without a second thought as to the devastating consequences to workers or their families.

 

Even in times of relative stability, the ruling class still needs a constant reserve of unemployed people to accommodate the chaotic and unplanned shifts in direction inherent in capitalist development. Having more workers than available jobs also helps depress wages and strengthens the negotiating position of the capitalists.

 

A job is central to human dignity and should be considered a basic right. Like all other rights for working people, it cannot be fully or permanently realized under capitalism. To fight unemployment at its root, support the Lindsay/Osorio campaign and join us in the fight for a socialist future!

 

Content may be reprinted with credit to VotePSL.org.

Democrats: The Lesser of Two Evils?

As I’m sure you’re aware of, it’s election year. The bourgeois parties are having their little fight to see who will ascend to the top. There are some on the left who think that their only choice is to vote democrat, because the “ultra-right” is way worse of an option. We are supposedly held hostage by our bourgeois system, and must only hope for the least worst option. After all they say, hasn’t Obama done some good things?  Hasn’t he changed things a bit?   My long and drawn out answer to that question lies below. Warning to those easily offended: strap into your seat belt, sit down or whatever. You’re not going to like this, Dems.

What Have the Dems Done: The Clinton Years

Let’s start back in the time of Clinton. I could start much further back, and go over the internment camps of FDR, or the attacks on Cuba by JFK, or the imperialism of Jimmy Carter, but let’s just start a bit earlier for time’s sake.

William Jefferson Clinton. President of the US. I think people genuinely liked this guy, he seemed nice. Too bad that most Americans cannot seem to think deeper than that about a presidential candidate. And so the man from Hope was elected. And what happened after that? Let’s take a look.

One of the first things Clinton did in office was to perpetuate the imperialist policies of his Republican predecessor, Bush, in the impoverished country of Haiti. I’m sure that helped the people of Haiti a hell of a lot. Overthrow their government, subjugate them to the ridiculous enslaving policies of the IMF, and dictate to the Haitian people what their government can and cannot be. The result of Clinton’s attacks on Haiti was even more poverty, crime, corruption and despair. That’s a “progressive”. What else did he do? Well, to continue we’ll be getting away from Haiti, which you can read about here: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jan2010/pers-j18.shtml

Moving on. Clinton was an imperialist, we can see that in Haiti, and many of his other actions during his 8 years in office. What else did he do? He helped lead the charge to destroy the welfare system in America. He campaigned in 1992 on the promise to “End welfare as we know it”. And he kept that promise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Responsibility_and_Work_Opportunity_Act

Enough about him though. Read up. See what he did. He was nothing more than another in a long line of capitalist imperialist presidents.

Moving on to:

Obama: Change?

Here’s a list I found of the things Obama has accomplished so far:

1. Escalated an failing war in Afghanistan, leading to even more suffering among the civilians and the Taliban in the nation.

2. Overthrew the left-wing democratically elected President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, since he was a threat to US interests.

3. Backed the failed Coup through the State Department that attempted to overthrow the disobedient left-wing President, Raphael Correa.

4. Sent various agents, trained in Fort Benning, to Venezuela to reduce the popularity of Hugo Chavez.

5. Signed a Healthcare Bill that is essentially a giveaway to insurance companies without the limitation of public option or cost control.

6. Refused to cut unfair tax cuts for those earning $250,000 and above.

7. Bombed Yemen and made an agreement to cover it up as a Yemeni government operation.

8. Set up a stronger central government in Iraq under extreme control under the US State Department.

9. Lied about closing Guantanamo Bay.

10. Refuses to do ANYTHING about climate change, as well as continuing to ignore the Kyoto Protocol.

So called communists in the Communist Party USA are supporting this man for president in 2012. He has done nothing but continue American imperialism, helped big business, hired people from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, he’s thrown Bradley Manning in jail for exposing US war crimes, given tax cuts to the rich and rich corporations, he has threatened Iran with war for building nuclear power. He is a conservative, plain and simple. A bourgeois politician who works for the 1%.

Leftists: STOP. SUPPORTING. OBAMA. Stoppit. He is not a socialist, he is not even left of center. He is a member of the capitalist imperialist party of the democrats, and HE DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU.  Stop being swayed by the scraps they throw you from the table. Overthrow the table, set a new one up, big enough for everyone, and take your rightful place. Stop asking for permission to change the world. They’re not going to give it to you. Stop pretending that you’re making any fucking progress by supporting the democrats. Stoppit. The lesser of two evils is by definition EVIL. The democrats gave the bailouts to the banks and the corrupt car companies, BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars to the rich ruling class, lining their own pockets at our expense. STOPPIT. Abandon the so called democratic party and start working towards real socialism, and real change. What are you afraid of? That we might achieve something? That we might actually gain something? We will only get what we fight for. And if you’re supporting the democrats, you are not fighting for socialism. You are giving up, you are supporting a capitalist imperialist.

So, CPUSA, : Either stop supporting the democrats, or give up the name CPUSA so real communists can use it.

Rant finished.

P.S. That goes for  and other Obama supporting “communists” and “leftists” and “socialists, STOPPIT.

Plutocracy in Action

Yet another GOP debate went down tonight. I did not watch it. Couldn’t bear the thought of trying to stomach a couple of hours of more ridiculous right wing pandering, gay hating, immigrant bashing, war mongering, rich people loving bullshit. Couldn’t do it tonight. So I am not going to comment on the ridiculous asinine theatrics that I’m sure went down tonight at the so called debate. What I am going to talk about tonight is the apparent invisible nature of our plutocracy. On twitter I have 17 year olds trying to lecture me about how our “democracy” is so much better than any socialism. (ignoring of course that socialism is an economic system, and democracy is a form of government). I want to talk about the huge disconnect between the average American and the politicians that are supposed to be their representation in congress. In short, I am going to how you tonight why the US is not a democracy, but is an all out plutocratic regime that cares little for the opinions of the little people.

One can see anywhere these days that the gap between the poor and the rich is growing, ever faster, ever wider. Some want to ignore this fact, pretend like everyone in the US has a chance at a good life (ignoring of course for a moment a majority of the world who would laugh at this delusion). Who should we trust to run our country? Those that have beat their way to the top of the financial pyramid, those who are multimillionaires? Apparently so. The number of millionaires on capital hill is far greater than that of the national average. Nearly half of congress, and more than 67% of the senate are run by millionaires, some of whom are multi-millionaires. That goes for both sides of the isle. That doesn’t even count the income from their spouses.

While they have millions to get elected to cushy jobs in congress, millions of Americans are out of work, surviving on food stamps, and barely making it. While children don’t have money for school supplies, while people are dying from lack of adequate medical care, millionaires in congress are debating whether or not to extend unemployment benefits. While anti-socialist republicans are slamming the left for advocating a humane and smart health system that provides the human right of medical treatment to all humans within our borders, millionaires in congress receiving free government ponsered health insurance are resting easy on their laurels.

We are in an economic crises, the fat cat capitalists are getting richer, and the poor are falling into ever more dire circumstances. Capitalism is eating itelf like a rabid zombie, tearing itself apart with it’s own contradictions. It is only a matter of time before this evil empire crashes to the ground. Be there to pick up the pieces.

We don’t need millionaire 1%er congress people. We don’t need fat cat CEOs who run the companies into the ground and float away on cushy parachutes. We need a country and government run by the working class, a society based on rationality, reason, humanity and hope. Down with the bourgeois government, up with the power of the people’s democracy. Demand socialism now, fight for it like your life depended on it, because it does.

 

“The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.

Working Men of All Countries, Unite!”

Why socialism polls well among young people and African Americans

From http://www.liberationnews.org Why socialism polls well among young people and African Americans.

Why socialism polls well among

young people and African Americans

 

Statement by PSL presidential candidate Peta

Lindsay

By Peta Lindsay

JANUARY 4, 2012

Peta Lindsay, 2012 presidential candidate of the Party for Socialism and Liberation

Photo: Bill Hackwell

Recently the Pew Center for research published a poll in which they found that 49 percent of young people in the U.S. have a favorable view of socialism, while only 43 percent reported viewing it unfavorably. The report also revealed that African Americans have a favorable view of socialism at a rate of 55 percent to 36 percent.

This news seems to have taken some in the capitalist media by surprise—but should it? Our experiences and our conditions shape our consciousness. And in our relatively short lifetimes, the experiences of my generation have certainly run contrary to the myth that the capitalist free market is a force for “peace,” “freedom” and “prosperity.”

In the last 10 years, we have seen endless wars that were premised on lies and driven by profit. Weapons contractors, financiers, oil executives and the politicians and generals who sit on the boards of these major corporations have literally made a killing through record profits from the death and destruction that they have been allowed to wreak abroad.

Millions of people across the country, the majority of them young, have marched against these wars and if we lived in a true democracy, if the decision to pursue these wars had ever been brought before the people, there is no doubt that our brothers and sisters in uniform would already be home.

The cost of these wars is rarely discussed in the mainstream media, but we feel it every day when we look for government services that we need and find that they have been cut for lack of funds.

Many of us are surprised to find ourselves in need of government assistance at all. We all grew up hearing that if we studied hard and worked hard we would succeed. So those of us who could went to college despite rising education costs, shouldering crippling loans for the promise of a good job and a foundation for a good life. After graduating, we found that the market had no intention of keeping that promise.

Employment opportunities are declining, unemployment in this country is officially at 8.6 percent but in reality far higher. And there are fewer jobs today than there were two years ago. It is not just the unemployed who are suffering. Many of us are underemployed—meaning we work but we do not earn enough to survive. Many of us take temporary work or work part time, taking jobs with no benefits or internships with no pay, because the “job creators” have eliminated decent-paying positions knowing that they can squeeze more labor and more profit from the “standing army of the unemployed.”

Our wages are going down while the cost of living goes up. The explosive growth of the Occupy Wall Street movement forced the mainstream media to acknowledge this truth. Young people have been sold out by this system, and we are becoming more and more willing to fight back. We want peace, we want equality, we want jobs, and we want the wealth that our labor creates to be used to provide the things that our people need. We want socialism.

Obama cannot resolve the crisis of capitalism

Many people thought that the election of an African American president would result in better lives for African Americans in the U.S. But Obama’s election coincided with a crisis of capitalism that no capitalist leader, not even Obama, can resolve. The official unemployment rate for Black youth is at 41.3 percent. (americanprogress.org, July 2011)

Predatory lending and the housing crisis led to high rates of foreclosure for many families in the U.S., but the rates for African Americans were astronomical. Home ownership has always been important in our community, because it is something that has historically been denied to us by legal and extralegal means. While the segregationist laws that kept home ownership out of our reach for so long have been overturned, the laws of the free market allow the banks to kick us out of the homes that we have purchased.

Historically, economic and social gains made by African Americans were never a natural by-product of the free market but always the result of a struggle that forced reforms and government intervention in the market. We have struggled for centuries to bring ourselves closer to equality. There will never be full equality under capitalism, a system that must keep workers divided, that must keep some super exploited in order to drive everyone’s wages down so the capitalists can profit.

Conservatives are afraid that ‘capitalism’ has become a dirty word

They are right to be afraid, though it is certainly not just an issue of semantics. We have seen the devastation wrought by capitalism, and we are no longer accepting that this is the way it has to be. This past year, we have also seen our sisters and brothers in Tunisia and in Egypt fight and win. In the Occupy movement and beyond, we are developing strategies and tactics for our struggle right here. It is a new year and we will fight for a new system. One that offers us true equality, decent-paying jobs, education, housing, health care, all those things our class needs and deserves. Join us in the fight for socialism.

Content may be reprinted with credit to LiberationNews.org.