We jumped off of the election victory right back into the middle of the global financial crisis. While we have a president that has openly supported workers against corporations and banks, we still have a financial system run amuck where working people foot the bill with our homes, our schools, and our jobs (or lack thereof).
Still, the parameters of what is necessary to turn the country around have been hugely expanded as so-called mainstream economists call for “at-least partial” nationalization of failing banks and companies like Ford and General Motors. Middle America grapples both publicly at town halls and privately at the dinner table about what a “just economy” would look like, all but defining a fetal path to socialism.
Legislation supporting gay rights is passing despite the defeat in California in states such as Iowa and Vermont. And I was just informed that the Presbyterian Church USA approved the ordination of gay ministers.
The YCL is having our National School August 15th-23rd in NYC. The school will cover the topics from political economy and the current economic crisis, socialism and what it means for young people today, understanding class in today's society, the fight against racism and sexism, and much more! Register online today.
Out of the Crisis: Building a new era of justice and peace
We are living in very turbulent times. The world is in transition. An old ear- an era of neoliberal extremism - is fading way. But no one is quite sure what the new era will look like. It resists easy prediction. It is safe to say tat the future of both our country and the world is still to be written.
Read the rest of Sam Webb's speech at the CPUSA website.
New Dynamic Blog Up Now
We have a new Dynamic Blog! Check out the promo video and click here to check out the new material!
Beyond War: A New Economy Is Possible
On the April 4th anniversary of Dr. King’s prophetic “Beyond Vietnam” speech, delivered at Riverside Church, we will gather in New York City determined to lead our nation in the new direction so many long for. For the first time in too long, we will march filled with hope. Now is the time that our movements for racial justice and economic equality, our movements against the wars and occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and elsewhere, our movements for a new economy based on people’s needs, green union jobs and sustainability will ALL come together to say YES WE CAN! Yes We Can move beyond war. Yes We Can build a new world of justice, equality and peace.
Click here for more information about the day of action.
The Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) has created a toolkit to help youth and students organize for the SLAP Week of Action March 30th-April 4th. Download it and so you can organize on your campus and be sure to sign up for SLAP updates.
The election of Barack Obama as president of the United States will forever be known as a major turning point, not only in US history, but in the history of the western nations and of the world. Although Obama’s election is no defeat of capitalism, it represents a changing tide in our on-going struggle for democratic rights, and a step forward in our long-term struggle for socialism. Obama’s election and the landslide victory over the Ultra-Right in Congress create the conditions for new advances for equality and democracy generally
For the past 7 years, the Bush Administration has led an on-going "war on terror" in Iraq and Afghanistan. While we condemn terrorism, both individual acts and state sanctioned, we oppose the continued US occupation of these countries.
Edwin Stanton, the tireless Secretary of War in President Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet said at the time of Lincoln’s death, “He belongs to the ages.” Much the same can be said about this election.
The election challenged long-held assumptions, broke voter turnout records, and shattered seemingly unbreakable barriers – none more historic than the election of an African-American president for the first time. And all this happened in the face of negative appeals to the worst angels of the American people. But to our credit, we repudiated the old politics of fear, division, racial code words, red-baiting, immigrant bashing, and nostalgic appeals to a country and time that never were.
If the election of Barack Obama was a monumental victory, election night itself was a magical moment
Lenin's Left Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder gives us an introduction to understanding how Marxist strategy and tactics are formulated and tested. For Lenin it was not enough to just want and work towards socialism, but how you actually planned to get there mattered as well.
Jobs With Justice (JwJ) is putting on their annual Grinch of the Year contest. Make your voice heard on who has done the most to hurt the working class.
Labor and people from every walks of life see hope in the Obama presidency, and they see someone who will be responsive to the demands of the broader people’s movement more so than Wall Street. This was exemplified when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi got a letter from big Democratic donors demanding she take back her support of Super Delegates switching their votes based on their Districts.
Generation Vote, a national coalition of different youth and student organizations, has created a Youth Agenda for the 2008 elections. Read it, endorse it, download it and distributed it today!
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