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Life Arts    H2'ed 5/30/21

My Journey to Socialism: From 9-11 through the Great Recession

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Before I became a socialist, I knew the republicans were the party of wealth, and they wanted to turn back the clock in terms of cultural and religious politics. I thought the Democratic Party was inept, weak but well intentioned. I also believed that the individual personalities within the Democratic Party could make a difference. In other words, voting for Bernie Sanders would be very different than say, voting for Cory Booker. My thinking was that individuals mattered more than the party.

However, after reading the work of William Domhoff, in Who Rules America, and The Powers that Be, I realized that both political parties are controlled by the ruling class, specifically the Council of Foreign Relations, the Business Round Table and the National Association of Manufacturers. The republicans and democrats have differences over cultural and religious politics. But these are minor - or in Alex Cockburn's words - "not a dime's with of difference". On major issues like the commitment to capitalism - suppression of the working class and the US foreign policy of imperial wars, being pro-Israel, anti-China, anti-Russia, anti-Iran and anti-Venezuela - the parties are identical.

In the long run, electing Bernie Sanders would make little or no difference than electing Cory Booker since each takes their marching order from the Democratic Party - and the Democratic Party takes its marching orders from the ruling class - the 0.01%.

Addressing the pressing need to halt climate change is not profitable for capitalists

I used to wonder why the US was not more active in controlling climate change until I understood that it's not profitable for the upper-upper classes that own the companies that actively contribute to it. Scientists have been telling us for decades that our way of life is creating global warming, particularly from gas and oil emissions. In fact, "The U.S. military produces more greenhouse gas emissions than up to 140 countries." Newsweek 6/25/2019

While many of us watch and agonize over this, carefully composting our food scraps and using recyclables while trying to limit our driving, these actions are but a butterfly in the face of a tsunami.

Everything, everything, took on a new meaning for me and I was able to connect all of it up to the inherent problems of capitalism; gender relations, wars, police repression, the stock market. The framework within which we live is capitalism, the basis of which is to make a profit, almost always at the expense of the workers and the planet.

Framework for Socialism

Once I learned that true socialism means that the community as a whole makes the decisions about what gets produced, how much gets produced, how much the workers are paid and what is done with the profits, it was hard for me to understand why working folks would not want that. However, because the mainstream media promotes socialism as the anti-Christ, most of them fear it, or think it's not realistic. One question I've frequently been asked in discussions about socialism is to name a country that has succeeded as socialist.

I start by explaining that it's critical to understand that a single socialist country cannot thrive on its own if most of the world is based on a capitalist system. Then I point to some of the countries that are practicing at least some form of socialism and how they compare favorably to capitalist countries in the form of free health care, jobs for all, education for all, low cost housing and increased literacy. Countries that aspire to this include Norway, The Netherlands, Denmark, Cuba and Venezuela. As far as the lack of political diversity in parties in these countries, it is understandable that opposition needs to be limited because capitalists will use any opportunity to overthrow a socialist government. The United States, with only two parties, is not exactly a bastion of political choice. Looking around the world today I would challenge a reader supportive of capitalism to name one country that is capitalist and provides a better life for most people.

In order for us to win the population over to socialism there needs to be a plan. To simply frame it within such a broad and utopian sounding way without presenting a coherent and understandable way to bring this about will not convince anyone. In Bruce Lerro's article Do You Socialists Have Any Plans? Why We Need Socialist Architects , he outlines the need for a coherent plan for socialism in order to convince people that socialism is a better alternative than capitalism.

9-11 - No Blood for Oil

As soon as the news came of the World Trade Towers being hit, something in me changed forever. Watching the news was surreal and terrifying. Talk of war began almost immediately, with "W" putting the blame on Afghanistan - with absolutely no proof. What was even more alarming was watching how people reacted to it - many of whom jumped on the bandwagon of war.

Making signs

Shortly after the attack, my partner, Bruce talked me into going to my first demonstration. Together we made signs to bring with us - "No War on Afghanistan", "War is not the Answer", "No Blood for Oil". Making the signs was so much fun. We got old cardboard cartons from the grocery stores along with some long light-weight sticks from lumber stores to hold them up. We brainstormed ideas for what to write. Bruce's signs always had much more content than mine. I went for the fewer words, the better.

First demonstration

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Barbara And Bruce MacLean-Lerro Social Media Pages: Facebook Page       Twitter Page       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Barbara MacLean and Bruce Lerro are co-founders and organizers for Socialist Planning Beyond Capitalism. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter. http://planningbeyondcapitalism.org/

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