I was not yet on the radio or i would have gotten his name. He had a holocaust survivor on the show the other day who is a suit salesman. I asked dennis the last time we did ask a jew he said why are jews so funny and he thought that was silly and and i said no t is good question. And he said it is because suffering produces good humor and a sense of appreciation when for when there is not suffering. I think that is probably the answer. Thank you john and the Nixon Library i want to thank you and all of you for coming out. We have great authors here. It isnt the extensive hotels that we put them up in but it is these priceless gifts we provide them. This is what would nixon do mug. There is about 5,000 more in the store. We will have hugh hewitt out front to sign the books. Thank you. [ applause ] [inaudible conversations] booktv is on facebook. Like us to interact with guest and viewers. Wat wat wat wat watch videos and get up to date information. Next, is magic where they will discuss what a socialist america would be like. This is a little over an hour. [ applause ] i would like to welcome everyone to living in a socialist u. S. Is that better . I would like to welcome everyone to the book launch. We are happy to be here at the beautiful houses works book store in lower manhattan. Our thanks to them for hosting us. And a big thanks to the able and helpful staff at harbor collins for helping us to promote our book. [ applause ] for those of you who have not seen the book or dont know what it is about, i thought i would read a blurb written by glen ford. This will give you a feel of what is coming the depth of capitalism is a certainty. Yet, socialism, the only system that can Save Humanity are scarce and useless to those locked in todays struggle. How do we make the break from the particular spaces in the here and now . And answer this question socialist must apply universal principles to a whole world starting with the movements in which they are directly engaged. Imagine living in a socialist u. S. Gathered under one cover the most gifted thinks of the american left, men and women for who socialist is the compass that points to radical transformation. I couldnt agree more. At tonights event you will be hearing from the three editors. Francis golden. [ applause ] michael smith. And me, debby smith. And five of our wonderful contributotrs. I have been a socialist since going to college in the radical 60s in boston. The atmosphere encouraged everyone to question everything. I worked for the nonvietnam defense young, the womens movement, and i participate in the movements that are growing so rapidally. Rapidly now i will tell you a little bit about francis. She heard the world socialist when she was 18. She got married at 20 and her activism began and at age 89 it hasnt stopped yet. In 1959, she helped organize lower new Yorks Community to meet moses and save the neighborhood from urban renewal. She founded the francis golden Literary Agency and it is still going strong savoring books that help change the world. Now she says lets free mumbia. Francis, why did you want to do this book . Well, i was feeling pretty okay. I have it. Can you hear me . Yes. I was feeling dispondent because it was once said give me socialism or barberism. It is build into the system. It is also built into the system is its demise. That is what we are going to feel the possibility for. So much we worked for and gained was crumbling before my eyes. Taking charge of womens body was done three legislation. With more than half of congress and the sensate being millionaires how can they reflect our problems . There is no connection between the legislators and the majority of the people. I thought we won the right to vote through the countless struggles of black people in the south and all of a sudden the republicans realized that blacks and hispanics are not going to vote for them. So they simply, with the help of the cock brothers Koch Brothers oh, okay. They planned new laws that will prevent them from voting. Are we going to let that happen . No way. All of the reversals of what we gained were loosing. People are ignorant about what socialism. They are told it is foreign, evil and antidemocratic. And i thought we need to tell them the truth. So i surrounded myself with many of my own clients and many of my dear friends like fran pivot and blanch cook. And you know, all of those wonderful writers who are leftist as well. And i said why dont we write a book that tells the people what socialism really can be like for our lives. And not one of them said no. Not one of them charged a penny. All of this was done by the goodness of their heart and their wonderful brains. They contributed these documents that make up your terrific book which is here tonight. I want you to know that not only were they the ones that didnt charge. But mike, debby and i, will not make one penny on this. I think Harper Collins was reluctant to this book saying it doesnt tell both sides of the story. Indeed it doesnt. We are telling the truth. Not the crap from the media. They said no, we cannot do that, it isnt balanced. I said you know, you did a book that is a pure piece of shit called get on the mike. I said you should be ashamed of yourself. My agency gave you the best writer in the country. And a book, which next to the bible, sold the most called good night moon. Right now, on the best seller list of the New York Times is another one of our books, the golden and the genie and you have the nerve to say no to me. That was the appeal. The Vice President wrote back saying your passion and persistance has won out and we will do de. All of the lefty publishers wanted to this book. They were banging on my door saying we will print it tomorrow. But this book needed money and the little publishers are dead broke. But Harper Collins has the money to support this book. We got the most amazing editor. Denise oswald and Gregory Henry who is our promotion person and they are doing fabulous work to make the book a success. The fact we are on television with cspan tonight is an indication of that. We thank them for changing their minds. [ applause ] so a lot will depend, in my opinion, on us. Just being here isnt enough. Just subscribing to papers isnt enough. We dont realize how powerful we can be. I never leave the house without a button that says tax the rich and on the back says free mambia. I go home with six buttons. People say if you had one, would you wear it . And they say sure. So i come home with none and buy these and give them away. It is as a lit thing. But it spreads the word just having the buttons in your pocket. You will get down the street without someone tapping you and saying they love your button. Give them away. It is an easy thing to do. And we should never leave the house without our message either on art back or on a button. We cant just let it happen automatically because it doesnt work that way. The only way socialism is going to be successful in our country is if the people who run the buses, who worked the factory, who are the workers in this country recognize how powerful they can be in stick together and demand change. Thats what it takes. Each one of us acting up. Are we going to see this happen are we going to wait for the millennium . Do we want it to happen by all of us becoming activists . Yes, thats what i want to hear. Thank you commit thank you. Im going to introduce the third editor, michael smith. New york City Attorney and author written with Michael Ratner, how the cia got away with murder. Hes on the board of constitutional rights. He was educated at the university of wisconsin in his 60s when he learned social history from the great teacher, Harvey Goldberg who testified on palestinian rights for committees of the u. S. Congress and the united nations. He cohosts and a lot of you looked into that. And Michael Ratner and he lived in new york blakeney. My goal. What has been the reception of this book so far . Well, i was telling my friend carl landau they were doing a visionary book, a book about how things might be if we imagine socialism. The profits from isaiah to jesus thought about ideas and our boat. I said when the lion lays down with the lamb. Sal said when the lion lays down with the lamb, the lion is not going to get any sleep. Alice walker wrote, this is a book a lot of us have been waiting for her. The timing is exquisite. Others on fox radio two days ago. The interviewer actually invited me to come back. A recent pew poll showed that 49 of young people under the age of 30 at a favorable reaction to the word socialism and is even higher amongst people of color. Webster has an online dictionary. The two word that had the most hits last year were socialism and capitalism. A woman ran for city council. She beat a longtime democrat. She got 100,000 votes. She had a huge amount of community and union support. Things are changing. I read yesterday that the socialist organization that she is in is teaming up with the International Socialist organization and solidarity to run a campaign in chicago. This book is a contribution to that kind of energy and movement. [applause] the book is structured as follows. Im going to go over so you know what we try to do. The first part of the book is an indictment of capitalism. Capitalism promises democracy and promises a better way of life for everybody. Its failed in both respects. Democracy, Citizens United decision, or corporations are now people to give as much money as they want a true capitalist parties. I believe a corporation is a person to take it to colonoscopy. [laughter] democracy, the nsa, my friend and comrade and contributor to this book just heard a good article about the msa. The nsa knows every tweet, every keystroke on your computer, every phone call you make. Even expresident jimmy carter said we no longer have a functioning democracy. What about guaranteeing a decent way of life for everybody . Real wages havent come up in 40 years. Quality is ridiculous. The Walton Family from walmart and the five kids and a daughterinlaw are worth 69. 8 billion. That is more than the entire 30 in the bottom of this population. Wages . Weve got to fight to increase the minimum wage is 7. 50 and the guy then ran chase manhattan bank, jamie diamond just got a bonus of 20 million. The guy makes 80,000 a day. [inaudible] yeah, just what frances says, putting the economy and a whole. They were discussing whether they should get the bonus in the committee at chase admit that we dont want to alienate people by giving them all this money. We dont want to alienate him by rewarding him. Why do they want to reward him . He calls that eric holder and a cardholder to agree not to profit criminally, just to pay a fine i was his service. When we tally about the chapters in the book, the meat of the book is the imaginative power. As my friend ramsey clark says come if you do not hope come you dont do anything. This part of the book is hope. Im going to give you an idea of some of the articles written by not people on the panel, but some of the people in the audience or the people who couldnt make it. Angela davis wrote an article on alternatives to the criminal Justice System. Leslie kagan and melanie k. Wrote about a reallife might be different under socialism. Ron gonzales wrote on immigrants in this country. William ayers wrote teaching freedom. Theyve wonder if and socialist medicine on the right to housing, creating a Sustainable Food system. I read an article on civil law. Michael ratner wrote about what he would do if he was the attorney general. Put someone with my posse to attorney general. I would answer that to say with climate change, hell is warm enough for her. [laughter] steve bush man who did a wonderful job editing this book or article on drugs in a society where people care about each other. Matt callahan wrote our capitalism. Personal, emotional life without capitalism. Michaels wake wrote the working class has the majority. Renee braden gall wrote on a womans workday. Pretty nice but not a pretty terry bisson wrote a fine short story, looking back 2077. Last and most importantly, joe korbel road on ecosocialism is the first piece of the book of the last piece of the book. Cant do it under capitalism. If we dont solve that problem, we are doomed. The last part of the book [applause] the last part of the book by 10 pieces on how we get to where we are to where we want to be, how we make a socialist transformation. Michael moore wrote about a bill of rights. The first bill of rights had to do with total freedom, the First Amendment and the fourth, fifth, sixth and so on. The new bill of rights would guarantee housing, employment, food, education and be treated decently when youre an older person. He writes about that. Paula bronx, historian wrote about the third American Revolution. The first of course was the struggle for independence from england. The second was given formal rights to the enslaved black population in this country. The third American Revolution will be a revolution for economic and democratic rights of the population of this country runs the resources of this country and without a majority of people participating in bringing it about, socialism will come to not. Now it is no accident that most of this book with only a couple exceptions, most of this work is written by people my age. Veterans of the 60s, people who were in the Civil Rights Movement and the movement against the war in vietnam and the womens Rights Movement and the gay movement. The history of social struggle and progress at the time of jesus, since the time of the prophet has been a history of hills and valleys. The 60s was a. We are coming up to another hill. These people have had an experience they contribute to this book and made it a very wise book. I want to end with this thought. Pick the book up, read it and use the wisdom and make the most of it. [applause] thank you, michael. The first contributor you will be hearing from tonight, emphasis on the faculty at the university of new york Bradley Fenner together with richard kluwer, the author of regulating the poor, poor peoples movement, why Americans Still dont vote. Challenging authority and the one i like best, whos afraid of stances fox gibbens . [laughter] [applause] the article she wrote is entitled welfare in a new society, and into impoverishment and degradation. Can you sum up this article for us . I will. Thank you, daddy. I want to thank debbie and michael for making me part of this party. I especially want to thank francis because francis is an old friend and she is like a sister to me. Dont we sort of look alike . My mother and shes my daughter. Francis is my family and she has been for quite a long time. So this event means a lot to me. But i want to say just a word as i promised not to talk too much about why it is important in political terms. A lot of you here can remember how 35 years ago, kind of a frumpy woman who wanted to be school mom to the world named Maggie Thatcher announced there is no alternative. There is no alternative she meant to be Aggressive International capitalism that she was promoting. In fact, she even said there is no such thing as society. There are only individuals and then she added reluctantly, and families. While, you can laugh at Maggie Thatcher, but she was part of an aspect of the capitalist that has always been very important, was very important in the 19th century and became enormously important in the 20th and 21st century. That aspect is the propaganda that tells people that capitalism and the neoliberal capitalism is rooted in nature, that its a machine that operates according to the laws of nature. But its not made by people and because it is natural it operates according to natural law of supply and demand. There is no alternative. This book is the beginning of what we have to do in a big way, which is to explain why yes, theyre all are tremendous. There is an alternative. It is possible to have a democratic economists and we are going to call it socialism. I took advantage of the fact that i have to make. This is to talk about my contribution. My contribution is about welfare in this new democratic and socialist society. Well, will we have welfare in that society quite after all, our first imperative is the quality, is it not . Our first demand is to redistribute the fortunes that they have stolen from a fortunes that were built up in the past. Of ordinary people theyve stolen our wealth, the wealth that was there and through muscle and blood and tears and hope and imagination. So we have to do a lot of redistribution and we have to break up the Financial System that operates like a train out of control. Make it into a public utility. I dont know exactly how to do that, but maybe one of you do. So we will do that. We will do that. I said in my little piece, even given this grand imperative, there are going to be people who are going to kind of be left out. Theyre going to maybe not be able to work. Maybe they will be disabled or maybe they just go live in another world. And you know, it is very important in our society that we include everybody and that we provide a decent life for everybody am in no way to learn how do that by looking at the capitalism has treated poor people. Capitalism has treated poor people by making of them outcasts. The consequence of that has been bad not only for the poor, but everybody, all the working people who fear becoming poorer. So in this new society, we should really have a universal and come. Why not . Is going to be a rich society. We dont want a Gross Society that will put more poison into the air and the water. But there is enough. Everybody should have a subsistence income and nobody should have to talk to bureaucrats or social worker or in maintenance clerk or any other kind of investment to earn their income. Some of us will write poetry. Some of us will do some work, hard work. We may even clean the toilets. And then we will get a little more for that may be. We havent worked out the details, but everybody has included, everybody has economic security. No more welfare. [applause] thank you, fran. Our next contributor is ron young ski. Ron was worn in detroit in 1938. Im not giving anything away there, am i . His parents both from italy in part is to have a workingclass identity and social justice, a belief in the possibility of social change, commitment to democracy and a hatred of the undemocratic ruling plan. He embraced socialism in his early teens during the mccarthy era and has remained committed. For the last 48 years, his part has long been part of the radical community and detroit. He looks forward, as we all do to a vibrant socialist movement to win the millions for an alternative to the inequitable investor is capitalist system. The article ron wrote is entitled to democratically run economy and replace the oligarchy. Please summarize this article for s. [applause] thank you. Basically what i tried to do in the article was to indicate a couple things. One, that contrary to the point that francis just mention or reference, contrary to tina that there is no alternative that we really dont need the capitalists. If not only to start it, but its really not necessary for the economy. I think a lot of what i put in that article is also covered by the piece that i think we agree that the evidence that capitalists are necessary is the fact that there are all of these Employee Owned and direct data and operated firms that are according to many studies, including one by the general accounting office, the Government Accounting Office actually operate more efficiently and more productively than comparable private owned firms. [applause] in addition of course there are all sorts of Public Utilities have functioned perfectly fine and in fact, usually operate at lower cost than private utilities. There are public thinks. I know some people are interested in public links. There is a public bank in north dakota, which is really very efficient. There are also government run insurance plans such as the one in wisconsin. In addition of course, the government runs agencies, which are for profit. They are not part of a capitalist system, that provide a great deal of what we need as a society. They have in the past and can in the future provides social security, education, belief if necessary and in many countries and perhaps one day in this country, health care. So in fact, there really isnt any evidence that capitalists are necessary. The skeptics claim of course the democratic, and by the way everybody on this panel is for a democratic socialist economy. The skeptics say well, a democratically directed society is just utopian. It just doesnt work. It is defied by human nature. But in fact, i think thats just not true. First of all, all the evidence i just cited is also evidence that people can cooperate and produce manufacturer services, government benefits without the spur of competition, without the necessity to make a profit. But even more than not, i would like to say this, but as i argue in the book, that in fact it socialism ever comes and i believe theres a very Good Opportunity that it will, it will become because the majority of the people in this country wanted. Theyve decided that in fact there is an alternative, that they dont need the capitalists. Working class is bright enough to do that is bright enough to construct a method of organizing the government in organizing the economy in a way in which human needs are prioritize over profits. I think that in fact that incites young people are beginning to understand that they can operate democratically and theyre very interested. I dont predict exactly what the format that democracy will be. Somehow or another the vast majority of people in this country. This is not the soviet union. This is not china after world war ii. I believe with regard to all of that evidence that these young people can erect a system, which will operate democratically without any help from the capital. [applause] we have an egg call. Unexpected call. We can hear you. [inaudible] i think it is all overdue. I think that many people have been forced for a number of reasons overwhelmingly economic unfortunately when the socalled in criminal Justice System has been somewhat of a failure. We live in what i was call the foundations. Several billion people idea back are into and within this prison house. We have 80,000 people in solitary confinement. America may not be number one in terms of how much working people speak. America certainly not number one when it comes to how children are educated. But you can be sure that it is number one. It comes to the number of people in the percentage of people who are behind bars another quote, unquote correctional control. That is why both of us chose to write on the subject that we did. We have the terms of declarations. We have time to get through in the world of solutions. Thats why we have the Death Penalty winding up the prison industrial solitary confinement system, also developing something called community court, where people who are not professionals, but people who have a vested interest in the safety of their communities. They make their contribution to bring some sanity to this Prison Industrial Complex. A thank you for this brief moment and i thank you for all of your contributions under the urgency. [cheers and applause] is incredible to hear your voice. I didnt expect that. [laughter] it was a great treat. Thank you. One must do what one must do. You manage to do it better than anyone in the world. We are here to make sure my three goals in life, one that everybody on their apartment and cooper square. The second is this book in the third as we pledge to you that before long you will be free. [cheers and applause] thank you, darling. I love you. You now, when you work, you get closer. So we are working. [applause] wow, you have a hard act to follow. Our next speaker will be [inaudible] [applause] he is a writer, a cultural organizer and a socialist who lives in the bronx. His articles have been featured in the New York Times, time out new York Magazine in the u. K. Guardian. Tell us about the article you wrote which is entitled remarks were free from, socialism and the struggle. [applause] first of all, good evening brothers and sisters, good to be with you. You look so beautiful out there. Its like woodstock out here. I am so happy to be here in this particular space and time. Thank you, michael and francis for letting us into your dream. The title of my small contribution was called for those of you who grew up in the 90s though thats where im from. It starts off with this idea that, you know, that socialism and the black liberation has always been very together. Theres this whole thing where we look at someone like obama and we both want to take away his citizenship and then call him a socialist. And it is a strategic framing thats always been around in terms of framing the civil rights struggle. Though often times when people come or black folks rose up, it is always the communist agitators from the out side. Its always funny that we have wealth in this country has always been framed as people on the outside, but the idea is very much ingrained bad as people who are very specific about that. Lets be honest. Thats a really truthful about it. When we talk about wall street, what is the first commodity on wall street . Black slaves provided they caught wall street . To keep the native americans out. That is a tremendous history that we are dealing with, right . To what talk about occupied wall street, were talking about really getting to the heart of the matter of what this country is imparted. But whats the point of that, right . The idea within the concept of the black freedom struggle has always been the safety of a transformative socialist tract is has always been present and you see it time and time out. You see it in, first of all, in some of the african societies were socialism astarte this even before slavery. He ceded the fact that many of the abolitionists including the german immigrates who came to america who are abolitionists. Karl marx himself wrote, you know, it cannot be freed as long as the black screen is branded. You see it in the fact that john brown, many people now that he wrote in the whole entire constitution of the United States of america that outlined the idea of Common Property amongst whites and blacks, right . This is a deep history we are talking about here. What are we talking about in terms of the harlem renaissance . Think him going to the soviet union. The harlem renaissance was purple, black and red. So theres a whole different type of collar around it, it do. Being clear, activists and artists. And what do we talk about in terms like angela davis, founded by Barbara Smith in the 1970s by radical black feminists. The site that Herriot Tubman freed 400 slaves. Not just a quiet old lady, you know, she was a general, right . And she was trying to break the back of White Supremacy by her actions, right . This is a tradition that we are definitely proud of. As michael mentioned, right, as many people who are prosocialist in this country right now, the majority of africanamerican people are for socialism because the experience under the horrific conditions of capitalism. We talk about a city like new york city, 50 of africanamerican young people unemployed in socialism right now. [applause] so, you know, debbie is giving me a signal to start walking. So im going to read just a little bit of this last year and then i just want to kind of bring a couple of them. Someone please save me a glass of wine. A day after wall street was occupied, my son marl text they came into the world. I often joke that like the occupied with my son was born lucky messy, disorganized and screaming for attention. Unlike my son, in generations past trying to learn how to be in the present and looking towards the future. Socialism can be found in organizations like the black Sovereignty Network in detroit or in jackson, mississippi with the jackson plan lake cochlea mold were like michael jackson. Indeed, socialism is an unfinished struggle and has been the dream of many before us and as tony vergara once wrote, atrium is real, my friend. The failure to realize is the only unreality. Amen. Lets get to work. [cheers and applause] can i get some noise . [applause] thank you. Next we will be hearing from Brock Weisberg about her article sex, equality, love. The University Distinguished professor of history and womens studies at Johns College and the graduate and are. Her books include crystal at eastman on in revolution, declassified eisenhower and the legacy of peace and Political Warfare in and roosevelt come a three volume biography. She has served as the American Historical Association for research and on the board in society. She cofounded the deep History Society and open information and accountability and is a member. Blanche, tell us about social reformers, socialist you wrote about. Thank you so much. [applause] i really just want to thank you all for being here and i want to thank the editors and i want to thank Frances Goldin who brought this into life as she does so much for all of us. And i just want to say, working on Eleanor Roosevelt right now who is one of our great socialist. And i started hesitated to say that for a little while until i found the column she wrote on august 10, 1944, just as fdr is going to run for the fourth term in which he is called on the american and the new deal is called unamerican and everything they stand for is viciously attacked by that little republican, mr. Dooley and his campaign manager, john foster dulles. [booing] so here we are in the 21st century with its great heritage, and this great heritage, you know, from Crystal Eastman, world war i socialist and pacifist who founded a place called the Womens International league for peace and freedom. So theres ccr and the aclu and theres the funds for open information and accountability and theres a war against whistleblowers. What is going on here . If we had freedom of information, we wouldnt need whistleblowers. Everything we are doing. [applause] is so stupid. To use the word lmr roosevelt used all the time. How stupid we are that we dont realize when she was talking about education, she said, we do not invest enough in education. We spend Something Like 20 of what we spend on white children on black children. This is 1934. She says why dont we understand that we will all go ahead together or we will all go down together. 1934. In this article that i found in 1944, she makes it very clear that s. Is truly greedy people who have a little sign over their bad. Maximize profits. For the 1 , when it should occupy everywhere and occupy everything. Should we really need to reconsider what we want from our politicians. We need to see that there are people who intend to serve human beings and site to serve human beings. And then mayor pete hall who want materials. And support those politicians and those people who think you may need and only after that about things as francis said, most of us dont need and at this point, most of us dont want. So here we are. We are asked to stick to our chapters. I do want to mention Crystal Eastman who founded the aclu and the Womens International league for the freedoms during world war i. I do want to mention shame on them similarly in war, my partner has written about lillian were in a great socialist interplay, dr. Deploy in ms. Ellington is on right now until february 16. Two great socialist in a room together with a confrontation. We need them now, just as we need each other. These are the people in my chapter. But i want to mention one other person not in my chapter. Wendell wilkie. Some people said they were sort of socialist as children idolize as a child. Im a recovering rant. Ive never seen poverty. Ive never seen bigotry the way i thought in North Carolina i am happy to say in North Carolina we have monday and we have great change. And then theres the window will be. Wendell wilkie goes around the world in 1843 and has an epiphany. His epiphany is very simple. Everything that happens anywhere in packs on everybody everywhere. We are one world. And its Wendell Wilkie who says to fdr, hey, why dont you have an executive order and end segregation in the military . How about that. Thinking about starting a new party after the war in Wendell Wilkie drinks too much, eats too much, very suddenly at the age of 52 battersby and a bad idea that we need a new party, a truly progressive antidixiecrat party to end bigotry on the kind of classes of insanity we have. Housing for everybody, jobs for everybody. We need 60 million new jobs to have a global trade structure that must be democratic. We can all work together. He even thought we could all work together, all of us globally through the united nations. I want to say one more organization i want you all to let god, which is the National Economic and social rights initiative. The u. S. Has never even had a conversation about the economic and social rights of universal declaration of human rights. So this is what we make globally. This is what we need domestically. We have to add the Prison Industrial Complex and the military industrial complex. And i have to say, it is not just folks who are socialist. I teach at john jay college. Veterans come back from what theyve seen and what theyve endured and theyre very angry. Theres a 600 veteran club and theyre very angry because the majority of the Homeless People are veterans. And they have this club that goes to the park with food and blankets. Something is really wrong and we need to end it. We dont need to truly greedy. We need socialism. We need love. One of the people in my chapter says a match in, imagine if we could have a society where everybodys needs were taken care of nac happiness, happiness for everybody. Thank you, francis. [applause] now we will hear from richard. [cheers and applause] Professor Emeritus of Economic University of massachusetts amherst. He is a visiting professor at the new School University in new york. As we can publications include occupy the economy, challenging capitalism, and contending economic theories, transient and marxian. Democracy at work is here for capitalism. He hosts economic update week we are writes regularly for the guardian entries. Org or hes been interviewed on democracy now, alternative radio and others that i am blanking on. Show moliere, New York Times magazine named him americas most prominent marxist commack and he can be found at democracy at work. Info. Bricks come your article is intended to shape of a postcapitalist future. He recently described to us what you hope the future might look like. [applause] thank you. What i want to very briefly do is ask you to imagine, which is what the article does, what a socialist reorganization of the economy would really look like in a way that was not prefigured by what happened in the soviet union or china and in a way that was not brought into the core of what socialism once united state for not a lot of people. Therefore i think not only can we learn from that history to do something new and different with the socialism we want to imagine what the american people, but i think we could draw them in to the movement to achieve this by saying roughly the following. For a long time, it has been putting Human History that the only conceivable way to organize the units that produce the goods and services we all depend on is if a tiny group of people run the business. Major shareholders elect the board of directors and they run the business. They decide what to produce, how to produce, work to produce and what to do with the profit and all the rest of us come to work, monday through friday of having two or eight hours, contributor brains and muscles and then go home because that is the end of our function in capitalism. There is no way to build a Democratic Society where we live if we spend most of our adult life, five out of seven days in an enterprise, which is the absolute opposite of democracy. And the enterprises of capitalism, a tiny group of people make all the decisions. The rest of the people live with them, close a factory, that the factory, distribute most of the profits to a handful of executives everybody else is not. All those decisions are made by a tiny group of people. We live in a society that not only causes held democratic, but goes around killing people in the name of democracy and yet the Single Institution that most of his people live, the work place is the most democratically organized institution imaginable. So now imagine a socialism for america that dares to say what i just said them to commit itself as the first order of business at a socialist revolution will change your life. You will become a working person in an office, a store, a factory, who together with all of the others collect truly makes the decisions what to produce, how to produce, where to produce. If the workers make these decisions democratically, what they close the factories and move to china . I dont think so. What do you toxic to knowledge if it destroys their lives and those of their children . I dont think so. Would they take the profits of the company and give them like the jamie diamond 20 million while everybody else can send their kids to college . I dont think so. Thats a socialism that doesnt have to worry about redistributing the wealth because it would never distribute the wealth in the first place of a capitalism has done. A socialism that committed itself [applause] a socialism that committed itself to the democratization of enterprises would give a new meaning in the new attraction to the people of america who want it, who are horrified by what businesses are doing and who would support a move meant to make those decisions that are supposed to serve the people finally do that in the only way possible. You want an economy to serve the people, the people have to be in charge of the fact trees, the offices and stores that make an economy run. I think socialism but that is a core principle is a socialism we cannot only imagine, but we can imagine winning. [applause] thank you, rick. We have a lot of work to do. I want to thank you all for coming tonight. Please pick up a book, order more from the local bookstores. Go to her soontobe finished website, imagine living in a socialist usa to find about future events. Thank you. I have one other thing to say. This is the independent newspaper. This is the independent newspaper. Its a fabulous fourpage spread about imagine living in a socialist usa. Everybody should subscribe to it. Thank you. The editor is here tonight. Everybody should surprise. He signed subscriptions. We need to support this paper. This paper reports the news we need to read. Please get us out. Thank you. Were going to build a socialist movement in the city. This newspaper, independent media, thats what we need. We cant align anything except ourselves. So please subscribe to this newspaper. Thank you very, very much for