#socialism

Today in History August 18, 1977: Steve Biko was arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act No. 83 in King William's Town, South Africa. He later died from injuries received during this arrest. Biko was a socialist and an anti-apartheid activist. He was 31 at the time of his assassination. He was influenced by the teachings of Martinican philosopher Frantz Fanon and the American Black Power Movement. His death brought international attention to South Africa's apartheid policies and helped launch the modern anti-apartheid movement. Biko was a leading figure in the creation of the South African Students' Organisation (SASO) in 1968, which was formed to give people of color the leading voice in the anti-apartheid movement which, until then, was dominated by white liberals. SASO was one of the first South African anti-apartheid groups that was open only to people of color (he used the term “blacks” to refer to Bantu-speaking people, as well as “coloureds” and Indians, who were also persecuted under Apartheid).

“Hillbilly Nationalists,” by Amy Sonnie and James Tracy, talks about a similar dynamic in the U.S. Civil Rights movement of the sixties. In the U.S., this conflict helped to spur the organization of white radical working-class groups, like the Young Patriots, who worked in solidarity with groups like the Young Lords, and the Black Panthers, who, in turn, influenced Biko’s politics.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #stevenbiko #Biko #southafrica #apartheid #racism #police #terrorism #policebrutality #policemurder #socialism #blackpanthers #younglords #YoungPatriots #books #nonfiction #hillbillynationalists #BlackMastadon @bookstadon

"The record goes back centuries, and in every case, the pattern is the same. As recently as 2010, Barack Obama was “unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage,” considering it a bridge too far. Only when it became politically safe did he side with the LGBTQ activists who had been fighting for their rights all along. Before that, it was leftists who led the charge to end apartheid in South Africa through a boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, similar to the one they propose against Israel today, while everyone from Ronald Reagan to the editors of the National Review opposed them and defended the apartheid. Likewise, the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s was considered far too radical by the American mainstream, with 61 percent of Gallup poll respondents saying they disapproved of the Freedom Riders. Today, despite Republican attempts to rewrite history, we know the protesters were in the right. So were the supporters of women’s suffrage, who were condemned for breaking windows and chaining themselves to things using language strikingly similar to what’s currently used to condemn Black Lives Matter or Palestine Action.

It’s the same with the protests against invading Vietnam: condemned at the time, now valorized in hindsight. Even earlier, the abolition of slavery was the territory of wild-eyed radicals like John Brown, who warned America that “the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away, but with blood”—and of Karl Marx, who wrote that “Labor in the white skin can never free itself as long as labor in the black skin is branded.” The Civil War that followed bore that prophecy out. Even the most obvious propositions in the world, like ending child labor in factories, had to be dragged into the mainstream by socialists and trade unionists."

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-left-is-always-right-too-early

#Left #Socialism #Progressivism #Liberalism #History

Para los hispanohablantes. Este texto se escribió originalmente en inglés. Se usó una aplicación de traducción, ya que no hablo español. Disculpen si la traducción es incorrecta. ⬇️

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Todos tenemos puntos de vista contradictorios: amamos a nuestras familias, pero nos vuelven locos. Queremos más vivienda en nuestras ciudades, pero no queremos que nuestros valores de propiedad disminuyan con el aumento de la oferta. Queremos mejores escuelas, pero nos echamos atrás ante un impuesto municipal del 0,1 % para financiarlas.

Es normal tener puntos de vista contradictorios, pero cuando esas opiniones entran en conflicto, la forma en que actuamos nos muestra cómo estas diferentes perspectivas se ordenan en nuestras prioridades. Cuando las cosas se ponen difíciles, descubres qué es lo que realmente te importa.

Tomemos la política: un estribillo común es que “ya ni siquiera sé qué significan derecha o izquierda, ahora son solo identidades tribales”. Hace muchos años, le dije algo muy parecido a Steven Brust, quien me respondió con esto:

“‘Izquierda’ y ‘derecha’ significan hoy lo mismo que significaban desde la Revolución Francesa. Pregúntale a alguien: ‘¿Qué es más importante: los derechos de propiedad o los derechos humanos?’ Si responden: ‘Los derechos de propiedad son derechos humanos’, están en la derecha.”

En otras palabras, la ideología de la derecha sostiene que si estás muriéndote de hambre y yo estoy incinerando un montón de pan que podría salvarte la vida, mi derecho de propiedad sobre mi pan prevalece sobre tu derecho a no morir de hambre. Eso puede parecer extremo, pero cada vez que pasas junto a una persona sin hogar tiritando en una ciudad donde apartamentos o casas están vacíos porque los especuladores esperan que su valor aumente, estás presenciando un intercambio propio de la derecha, donde el derecho de propiedad a una vivienda como activo prevalece sobre el derecho de otra persona a una vivienda como hogar.

Puedes deplorar la hambruna y sentir horror ante la perspectiva de que alguien muera en las calles de tu ciudad, pero si tomas el lado del propietario de una vivienda vacía sobre el derecho de la persona que duerme en su puerta, estás tomando el lado de los derechos de propiedad por encima de los derechos humanos. Valorás tanto los derechos humanos como los de propiedad, pero valoras los derechos de propiedad más que los derechos humanos.

(Originalmente escrito en inglés por Cory Doctorow: @pluralistic@mamot.fr)

#enespañol
#enespanol
#español
#espanol
#humanrights
#PropertyRights
#socialism
#capitalism

It looks like probably the only way to remove Trump now is for millions of people to march on Washington and surround the White House until he leaves, like Puerto Ricans did with their governor. Trump will order the army to fire on the crowd. Then we'll see if they obey. That's all there is now. #trump #uspol #socialism https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/puerto-rico-aids-scandal-text-messages-ricardo-rossello-1.5222854

What capitalism calls "progress" is only destruction: of communities, of autonomy, of nature, of dignity, of humanity.
No real progress is possible until we change the profit motivated trade economy into something that can meet the needs of everyone.
Let's kill capitalism!

#anarchism #socialism #anticapitalism #economy #political #politicalart #art

Artist/writer Molly Crabapple has a book coming out about the Jewish Bund, a secular Jewish labor organization (or organizations) in the early 19th century. If that sounds rather dry, I remember reading some of Molly's social media posts when she was starting to research the Bund, and they were fascinating. Not least because the Bundists seemed to be so far ahead of their time, socially and politically.

Available for pre-order now.

https://bookshop.org/p/books/here-where-we-live-is-our-country-the-story-of-the-jewish-bund-molly-crabapple/076afcc60cae1ffc

#labor #socialism #books #history

Another thread about a book I read! Again it was something I put off since my vacation in June, this time "Ideas and Opinions" by Albert Einstein, which is a collection of his various essays, speeches, etc. Even before we begin I'm going to recommend that people read this, because Einstein was indeed a renaissance man and (oddly enough) a socialist. Conveniently they didn't teach us that part about him in school. (nor about Dr. King, Helen Keller, etc.) (1/)

#books #bookstodon #socialism

What is the radical Left?

Despite real analytical and strategic differences, the radical Left is united by a shared endeavor to address the foundational roots of social injustices. It seeks to overthrow—not simply tweak—capitalist social relations.

Leftists work towards the common goal of a stateless, classless society characterized by collective self-determination, worker control of production, and individual freedom and dignity.

Anarchists are antistate or libertarian socialists who advocate the reorganization of society into voluntary federations based in social equality and individual freedom. Syndicalists, who overlap substantially with anarchists, believe that revolutionary unions should prefigure the new world and act as the vehicles to re-organize society.

The labels of socialism and communism are at times used interchangeably; it is often useful to think of socialists as those who pursue reformist strategies whereas communists advocate revolutionary seizure of state power by a vanguard party.

For a transnational account of the radical left in the Americas, check out my 2023 article "Radical Americas: A Hemispheric History of the Left," published in Left History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Historical Inquiry and Debate. It is free online here: https://lh.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/lh/article/view/39672

#anarchism #socialism #communism #history