Transcripts For CSPAN2 Living In A Socialist USA 20140216

Hi. This is really id like to welcome [inaudible] [inaudible] is that better . I would like to welcome everyone to the turn 11 book launch. We are so happy to be here at the beautiful housing works bookstore in lower manhattan. Our thanks to them for hosting us and a big thanks to the able and helpful staff at harpercollins for having faith in a book and working so hard with us to promote it. [applause] for those of you who havent seen this book yet or dont know what its about, i thought i would read a blurb written about it by glenn ford who is the executive editor of the black agenda report. This will give you a feel of whats coming tonight and whats in the book. The death of capitalism sooner rather than later is a certainty. Transition to socialism the only system that can Save Humanity from the i committed contradictions of its path, officer generalized as to be useless in todays struggles. How does the great human constellation make a break from our particular spaces in the here and now . In answering this question, so to us must supply universal principles to a whole world of particularities started with the movement in which we are directly engaged. Imagine living in a socialist u. S. A. Has gathered under one cover some of the most best thinkers and activists of the american west. Men and women for whom socialist is the compass that points to radical transformation, a world that is a new footing, back from the precipice. I couldnt agree more. At tonights event youll be hearing from three editors of imagine living in a socialist usa, Frances Goldin. [applause] michael smith. [applause] and me, debby smith. [applause] and five of our wonderful contributors out a 32 computers. So i thought i would take a look at about myself. Ive been a socialist since going to college in boston in the radical 60s. It was in boston that the address you provide and encourage everyone to question societies assumptions. I worked fulltime for the antivietnam war movement, penn state Legal Defense fund, the feminist union and socialist movement. Im a longtime supporter of the brecht forum, the new York Marxist School and i still participate in anticapitalism and prodemocracy movements that are growing so rapidly. [applause] now im going to get a bit about francis. I love the francis. [applause] frances heard the word socialist when she was 18. Ann taylor, sound like a great idea. She got married at 20. Our activism began, and at age 89, it hasnt stopped yet. I can tell you she is a dynamo. In 1959 she helped organize new yorks Lower East Side Community Robert moses and save the neighborhood and thousands of residents from urban renewal. [applause] he founded the Frances Goldin litter agencies almost 40 years ago and is still growing strong, savoring books that helped change the world. Now she says, lets free mom be a mobile. Frances, why did you want to do this book . No, i was feeling pretty ive got a. Can you hear me . I was feeling pretty despondent because Rosa Luxemburg was dead. Give me socialism or give me whats the word . Barbarism. And we cant, its built into the system. It also is built into the system its demise. And thats what were beginning to feel the possibility for. So much that we worked for, so much that we gained was crumbling before my eyes. Taking charge of womens bodies was done through legislation. With more than half of the people in congress and the senate being millionaires, how can they reflect what our problems are . There is no way, theres no connection between the legislators and the majority of the people. I thought we had won the right to vote through the countless struggles of black people in the south. And all of the sudden, the republicans realized that blacks and hispanics are not going to vote for them. So they simply, with the help of the Koch Brothers they plan new laws and new laws presented revenge of them promoting. Im going to let that happen . No way, no way. So this was happening here all of these reversals of what we have gained was happening. And i can see, i dont know about barbarism but i sure smelled the fascism. And i felt one of the problems is that people are completely ignorant about what socialism really is. They just are told that it is foreign, its evil, that its at the democratic it and i thought, we really need to tell the truth. And so i surrounded myself with many of my own clients and many of my dear friends like Frances Piven and blanche cook, and i said why dont we write the 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 hearts and their wonderful brains. And they contributed these fabulous documents which made up of our terrific book, which is here tonight. I want you to know that not only were they the ones who didnt charge, but mike, entebbe and i can will not make 1 penny on this book entebbe and i. I think harpercollins was reluctant to do this book. They said we are reluctant. Can you believe it doesnt say both sides of the story . Indeed it does not. The rest of the story is told by the media, told by the world. We are going to tell the truth, not the baloney crap that comes from the major media. So i said they said no, we cant do that book. Its not balanced. I said, you know, you did a book which is a pure piece of shit, it was called the hundred worst americans that included other hard for authors who tried to be liberals get on the mic. Thank you. I said you did that book and you should be ashamed of yourself. We gave you, my agency gave you the best fiction writer in the country in the name of barbara kingsolver. My agency gave you a book which, next to the bible, sold the most called goodnight, moon. Right now on the bestsellers list of the New York Times is another of our books, which is simply wonderful, the golden and the genie. And you have the nerve to say no to me . How dare you. [applause] that was the third appeal, and the Vice President wrote back and said, your passion and your persistence has won out, we will do it. [applause] now, all the lefty publishers wanted to do this book. They were banging on my door saying we will print it tomorrow. But this book needed money. It needed marketing. It needed money, and the little publishers are dead broke. And all publishers are sufferi suffering. But i know that harpercollins has the money to support this book. And we were really lucky because we got the most amazing editor, Denise Oliver sorry, denise oswald, and Gregory Henry who is our commotion person, and they are doing fabulous work to make this book a success. The fact that were going to be on television tonight with cspan is an indication of that. So we thank them for changing their minds. [applause] so a lot will depend, in my opinion, on us. Because just being here is not enough. Our just subscribing to get papers is not enough. Every one of us has enormous power that we dont realize. We just dont realize how powerful we can be. I never leave the house without a button which says tax the rich. On the back of my coat, it says free mumbia. Mumia. I dont to work each day with six buttons. I come home with none. Would you wear . I say sure. I stick my hand in my pocket and give it to them. I come home with none slept though my pockets with another six. I buy these and i give them away. Its a little thing but dean how it spreads the word . Just having the buttons in your pocket, youre not going to get down the street before somebody captured ss i love your button. Give them away. Its an easy thing to do. Thank you. I have the card which says one person speaking up is louder than 1000 who remain silent. So we have to speak up. We have to up. Our ability to change the world, we are much more powerful than we think we are. If we wanted to sit in at a local Legislators Office until they did what we wanted, we could do that. And just five or six people getting together and saying, this is not going to happen without our pressuring them to change their mind. There is so much we can do. And we should never leave the house without our message be that on our back or on a button. We cant just let it happen automatically because it doesnt work that way. And the only way socialism is going to be successful in our country is if the people who ride the buses, run the buses, who worked the factories, who are the workers in this country recognize how powerful they can be, and stick together and demand change, thats what it takes to each one of us acting up. Are we going to see this happens to ari we going to wait for the millennium . Do we want to have it happen sooner but all of us becoming activists . Yes. Thats what i want to hear. Thank you, thank you. This book is a dream come true. Thank you, frances. [applause] im going to introduce the third editor, michael smith, new york City Attorney and author. His most recent book written with Michael Ratner is how the cia got away with murder. Hes on the board of the constitutional rights. [inaudible] spencer. He was educated at the university of wisconsin. In the 60s where he learned social history from the great teacher harvey goldberg. He has testified on palestinian rights before the committees of the u. S. Congress and the United Nations. He cohosts a radio show. Probably a lot of you listen to that. [applause]. You know, the land lays down with the lamb. And saul said, when the line and lays down with low and the lamb is not going to get any sleep. [laughter] alice walker wrote saying this is a book a lot of us a been waiting for. Your timing was exclusive. Ill say so. I was on fox ready of todays ago. The interviewer actually invited me to come back. Recent people showed that 49 percent of young people under the age of 30 and a favorable reaction to the word socialist and was even higher among people of color. Merriamwebster has an online dictionary with two words that had the most hits were socialism and capitalism. A young woman ran for city council in seattle. She beat a long time to regret. 100,000 votes, a huge amount of community indian support. Things are changing. I read yesterday that the socialist organization that she is in is to meet with the International Socialist organization and solidarity to run the socialist campaign chicago. So this book is a contribution to that kind of energy in the movement. [applause] the book is structured as followed. And going to go over briefly. The first part of the book is an indictment of capitalism. Capitalism promises democracy and it promises a better way of life for everybody. It is failed in both respects. Democracy, Citizens United decision, corporations are no people and can give as much money as they wanted to capitalist parties. I will believe the corporation as a persian the day it gets a colonoscopy. Democracy, the nsa my friend and comrade and contributor to this book michael let me just for of a good article about the nsa. The essay knows every tweet kill every keystroke and your computer, every phone call you make. Even expresident jimmy carter when he learned about this said we no longer have a functioning democracy. What about guaranteeing and decent way of life for everybody a real wages have not come up in 40 years. Inequality is ridiculous. The Walton Family from walmart, five kids and a daughterinlaw are worth 69 billion. Thats more than the entire 30 of the bottom of the population of. Wages to we ought to fight to increase the minimum wage. The guy that runs at Chase Manhattan Bank to skin a bonus of 20 million. He makes 80,000 a day. Just what francis said. Were putting the economy in the whole. There were discussing whether not there should give the bonus on the committee that chase. The thought, well, we dont want to alienate people. On the other hand, we dont want to alienate him by not rewarding in. He called up eric colder and got holder to agree not to prosecute chase criminally just to pay a fine. That was the service. Well, let me tell you a little bit about the chapters in the book. The second part of the book is the imagined part. As my friend ramsey clark said, if you dont have hope you dont do anything. This part of the book is hope. And going to give you an idea of some of the articles written by not people on the panel, but some people in the audience or people who could not make it wrote an article on alternatives to the criminal Justice System. Right on help clear life might be different under socialism. The vanguard role of emigrants in this country. Teaching freedom, socialized medicine, the right to housing, creating a Sustainable Food system. I wrote an article on so long. Michael ratner wrote an article about what he would do if he was the attorney general. A cold day in hell if they appoint someone with my politics, but i would answer that to say that with Climate Change hell is swarming over. [laughter] steve did a wonderful job added in this book wrote an article on drugs in a society where people care about each other. Matt callahan wrote on imagine dark. Personal, emotional, and sexual life without capitalism. The workingclass as the majority. The womans work to a. A beautiful palm, a very fine short story looking back from 2007 to seven. Last and most importantly echoes socialism, the first and last piece in the book because of we dont solve that problem and we cant do it under capitalism, if we dont solve the problem we are doomed. The last part of the book [applause] the last part of the book are ten pieces on how we get to where we are to where we want to be. Have we make the socialist transformation. Michael moran wrote about a bill of rights, the first bill of rights had to do with political freedom, the first amendment. A new bill of rights would guarantee housing, employment up, food, education and to be treated decently when you are an older person. He writes about that. The historian wrote about the third american revolution. The first, of course, was a struggle for independence from england. The second was giving at least formal rights to the enslaved black population in this country. The third will be a revolution for economic and democratic rights. The population of this country runs the resources of this country. Without a majority of people participating in bringing in about, socialism will come to naught. Now, it is no accident that most of this book with only a couple of exceptions is written by people my age. Veterans of the 60s, people were 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 since the time of jesus, the time of the profits has been a history of hills and valleys. The 60s was a hell. Your coming up to another. These people have had experience so i want to end with the stock. Pick the book up, read it, and use the wisdom and make the most of it. [applause] thank you. The first contributor you will be hearing from tonight is francis fox did it. Hes on together with richard he is the author of regulating the poor, poor peoples movement, why Americans Still dont but, housing authority, and the one i like the best, who is afraid of francis fox pavin. [applause] the article is entitled welfare in the new society, an end to intentional impoverishment and degradation. Can you sum up this article for us . I will. Thank you. First of want to take debbie and michael for making me part of this party. I especially want to thank frances because frances is an old friend. She is like a sister to me. We sort of look alike. My mother and my daughter. Francis is my family, and she has been that for quite a long time. So this event means a lot to meet in personal terms. But i want to say just a word because i promised not to talk too much about why its important in political terms. A lot of you here can remember how some 35 years ago and from the woman who wanted to be school want to the world named Maggie Thatcher announced, there is no alternative. There is no alternative, she meant, to the Aggressive International capitalism that she was promoting. In fact, she even said there is no such this in as society. There are only individuals. And then she added reluctantly and families. Well, you can laugh at Maggie Thatcher alone but she was part of an aspect of the capitalist assaults that has always been very important. It was very important in the 19th century and it became enormously important in the 20th and 201st century. That aspect is the Propaganda Campaign that tells people that capitalism, neil liberal capitalism is rooted in nature, but it is a machine that operates according to the laws of nature. It is not made by people and that because it is natural but operates according to natural law of supply and demand, there is no alternative. This book is the beginning of what we have to do and a big way , which is to explain why, yes, there are alternatives. There is an alternative. It is possible to have a democratic country. Were going to cause of socialism. I took the advantage of the fact that i had the microphone. I supposed to talk about my contribution. My contribution is about welfare in this new democratic and socialist society. Well, will we have welfare . After all, our first imperative is equality. Our first demand is to redistribute the fortunes that theres the one of fortunes that were built up in the past, been stolen the pensions of ordinary people. It helps to one know of, the wealth that was earned through muscle and blood and tears and hope and imagination. We have to do a lot of redistribution and the prick of 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. Maybe one of you do. We will do that, but i said in my little piece, even given this grand imperative there are going to be people who are going to be left out. They will not be able to work, maybe they will be disabled or maybe they just will live in another world of their own making. You know, it is important in our news society that we include everybody and that we provide a decent life for everybody. In no way we can learn how to do that by looking at the way capitalism has treated poor people. Capitalism has treated poor people by making of them outcasts. The consequence has been bad not only for the poor but for everybody, all the working people who fear becoming poor. So in this society we should really have a universal and come why not. It will be a rich society. We dont want our Growth Society that will put more poison into the air and the water. There is enough. Everybody should have invasive system and come. Nobody should have talked tow a bureaucrat or a social worker or an income maintenance clerk or any other kind of investigator turned their income. Without an, some of us will write poetry. Some of us will do some work, hard work. We may even clean the toilets. Then we will get a little. We now worked out the details, but everybody is included. Everybody has economic security. No more welfare. [applause] thank you. Our next contributor, ron was born in detroit in 1938. And not giving anything away there. His parents, both from readily imparted to him as a workingclass identity, a sense of social justice, belief and the possibility of social change, a commitment to democracy, and a hatred of the undemocratic ruling class. He embraced socialism in his early teens during the mccarthy era and has remained committed to its principles. For the last 48 years he practiced law as part of the radical community in detroit and looked toward, as we all did, to have vibrant socialist movement. The article or on road is entitled a democratically run economy can replace the dollar kirk. Please briefly summarize this article for us. [applause] thank you. Basically what i tried to do in the article was to indicate a couple of things. One that contrary to the point that francis mention or reference to, contrary to tina, there is no alternative and we really dont need the capitals. Capitalism just isnt necessary. Not only destructive, but really not necessary. Oh lot of what i put in that article is also covered by mix peace. We agree that the evidence that capitalists are not necessary is the fact that there are all of these employee the owned and directed and operated firms that are, according to many studies including one by the general accounting office, the Government Accounting Office but actually operate more efficiently and more productively than comparable privateowned firms. [applause] in addition, of course, there are all sorts of Public Utilities that functioned perfectly fine. In fact, usually operate at lower costs than the private utilities. There are public banks. 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 run agencies which are notforprofit, theyre not part of the capitalist system and provide a great deal of will we need as a society. They have come in the past and can in the future provide social security, education, police if necessary. In many countries and perhaps one day in this Country Health care. In fact, there really isnt any evidence that capitalists are necessary. The skeptics claim, of course, that the democratic and by the way, everyone in this book and panel is for democratic socialist economy. And the skeptics will say, had to rhetorically directed society is just utopian. It just does not work. Defined by human nature. In fact, i think that is to stop not true. First of all, all of the evidence i just cited about the fact that capitalists are not necessary is evidence that people can cooperate to produce manufactured services, produce government benefits. Without the spur of competition or necessity to make a profit. But even more than that i would like to say, argue in the book that, in fact, have socialism ever come to this country, and i believe there is a good and opportunity that it will commit will come because the majority of people in this country want it. They have decided that, in, there is an alternative. They dont need decapolis. A working class that is bright enough to do that is bright enough to construct a method of organizing the government and organizing the economy in no way in which human needs are prioritized over profit. I think that, in fact, the young people are beginning to understand that they can operate democratically and are very interested in the democratic forum. Up think anybody could predict exactly what the form of that democracy will be, but to think of somehow or another the vast majority of people in this country and this is not the soviet union. This is not china after the world war ii. I believe with regard to all of that that these in people, and will operate democratically and without help from the capital. [applause] we have Mumia Abu Jamal on the phone. [applause] we can hear you. Dear brothers, dear sisters comment your comments to my dear fellow contributors to the book on social, i am honored to have shared the page with dr. Angelo white davis and the chapter on the socalled criminal Justice System. I think it is long overdue. A think that any people who once fought one way has a force for a number of reasons. Overwhelmingly economic ones unfortunately, one of the socalled criminal Justice System has been something of a failure. We lived in what i like to call the prison house of nations. Several Million People are entombed within the prison house. And we have upwards to 80,000 people in solitary confinement. American may not be number one in terms of how much working people make. Americans certainly is not number one when it comes to how children are educated. But you can be sure that it is number one when it comes to the number of people and the percentage of people who are behind bars and under correctional control. This is the prison house Nation Commission that is why both of los chose to ride on the subject and we did. But we have enough in terms of declaration. It is time to really think in terms of the world of solutions. That is why we suggested the abolition of the death penalty, wiping out the prison investor complex of massage her confinement system and developing something called Community Courts were people in the community who are not professionals, but people who have a vested interest in the safety of their communities make their contribution on community towards so i think you for this brief moment and a thankyou for all of your contributions and did the ages and emergency. [applause] it is incredible to hear your voice. Until now expect that. It was a great treat. You manage to do it better than anybody in the world. Were here to make sure that my three goals in life, one was everyone owns an apartment in cooper square. The second is the book and the third is we pledged to you that before long you will be free. Thank you, darling. Of the. Every day. When you working in closer. Were working. Will love you. [applause] you have a hard act to follow. Our next speaker. [inaudible conversations] a writer, cultural organizer and socialist. He has been his articles have been featured in the New York Times, time out the york and the u. K. Guardian. Tell us about the article you wrote which is entitled socialism and the black freedom struggle. [applause] first of all, good evening. Brothers and sisters, it said it to be here with you. A and so happy to be here. Thank you for letting us in to your dream. The title of my small contribution, for those of you who grew up in the 90s, it starts off with this idea that socialism and the black liberation squad had been married together. There is this whole thing where we look at someone like obama. We both want to know, they want to take away his citizenship and then, the socialist. And it is a strategic framing that has been around in terms of framing the civil rights struggle. Often times when people rose up it was always the political communist agitators from the outside. It is always funny that we him build the wealth of this country have always been print as people on the outside, but the idea is in greened that as people who built the wealth of this country and lets be honest and truthful, when we talk about wall street will was the first commodity sold on wall street . It was black slaves. That is a tremendous history that were dealing with. And so when were talking about occupy wall street, were talking about getting to the heart of the matter and correcting the historical trauma in which this country is been a part of. More to the point of that, the idea that within the concept of the black freedom struggle has been this idea of a trend or of social practice that has been present. You see it time and time out. You see it in, first of all, in some of the african societies where socialism was already practiced before slavery, the fact it many of the abolitionists had a socialist dreams of vision. Including the german immigrant who came to america. Karl marx himself wrote a white man cannot be free. Hesiod and the fact that john brown, many people know about john brown. Many people know that he wrote a new constitution of the United States of america and outline the india of Common Property amongst whites and blacks. This is a deep history we are talking about. The harlem renaissance, going to the soviet union, oftentimes i said that the harlem renaissance was purple, black and red so theres no whole color rendering. Being queer about sexual activision. And what do we talk about in terms of folks like angela davis and brevard collective. Founded by Barbara Smith in the 1970s, radical blacks. Harriet tubman led a raid to free 400 slaves. Not just a quiet old lady. She was general. She was trying to a this is the tradition. And as michael mentioned, as many people who have told socialists in this country right now, the majority of African American people are for socialism because of their experience under the horrific conditions of capitalism. We talk about new york city with billions being made on wall street and 50 percent of your people unemployed, we need socialism right now. [applause] you know, debbie is giving me the signal. I will read a little bit of this last chapter and then bring a couple of people into the house. Someone please save me a glass of wine. The day after wall street was occupied my son came into the world. My sun was born looking merci, disorganized, and screaming for attention. Like my son its a mixture generations past trying to learn and be in the prison and looking toward the future. The seeds of socialism can be found in detroit or in jackson, mississippi. Just recently elected mayor. Indeed socialism is the unfinished half of the black freedom struggle. Has been the dream of many before us. As tony once wrote, the dream is real. The failure to realize it is the only unreality. [applause] the key. Next we will be hearing from blanche about her article didnt we respect the quality. The University Distinguished professor of history in womens studies and a graduate center. Her books include Crystal Eastman, the declassified eisenhower and Eleanor Roosevelt. She has served as the American Historical Association vicepresident for research. She cofounded the Peace History Society and the fund for open information and accountability and is a life member. Tell us a little about the social and activists he wrote about. Thank you so much. And theyre really just want to thank you all for being here. I want to thank the editors. I want to think francis and brought this and to life as she does so much for all of us to be done just want to sing, working on, no rules about right now who is one of our great socialists. I until i found a column that she wrote on august 10th 1944 just as fdr is going to run for his fourth term in which he is called on american. The new deal is called an american. And everything they stand for is viciously attacked by a bad little republican and his Campaign Manager so here we are in the 21st century with this great heritage from Crystal Eastman with world war one, socialist and pass this who founded we met at a place called the Womens International league for peace and freedom. The sec are and the aclu. There is the fund for open information and accountability and war against whistleblowers. If we have freedom of information we would not need whistleblowers. Everything we are doing is so stupid. To use a word that Eleanor Roosevelt used all the time, she said how stupid we are that we dont realize. And she was talking about education. She said, we do not invent enough in education. We spend Something Like 20 percent of will we spend on with children on black children. This is 1934. Why dont we understand that we will all go ahead together lori will all go down together. In this article she makes it very clear that capitalism is truly greedy. Maximize profit. She said, we really need to be consider what we want. We need to see that there are people who intend to serve human beings and then there are people who want material profit. What we want to do is to support those politicians and those people who think the out of human beings. Most of us dont need and at this point most of with the want your reviewer. We are asked to a stick to our chapters. I want to mention Crystal Eastman. I want to mention jane addams and lillian wald, my partner has written about lillian wald. Mary white, a great socialist and her play. On right now the biggest deal theater until february 16th. Two crates of fools in a room together with a confrontation. We need in know just as we need each other. These are the people in my chapter. I want to mention one of a person not in a chapter some People Center were socialists as children. I am a recovering reduced. It is easy would you go south for freedom. And i realize, i have never seen poverty. And have never seen bigotry the way i saw it in north carolina. And happy to say this is a moral monday. We have great change. There is this guy. He goes around the world in 1943 and has an epiphany. Its very simple. Anything that happens anywhere in packs of everybody everywhere we are one world. And it is a window the says, why dont you have an executive order in the end segregation in the military. Theyre thinking of starting a new party after the war. And when bill and drinks too much, is too much, loves to much, drops to a very suddenly at the age of 52, and that is the end of that idea that we need a new party and the hatred of the progressive anti Dixiecrat Party to end bigotry and the kind of insanity that we have. What they are standing for, eleanor and her friends, housing for everybody, decent, good housing, jobs for everybody. We need 60 million new jobs to have a global trade structure that we must have that must be democratic. We can all Work Together. He even though we could all Work Together globally through the United Nations to read a lot to talk about one more organization of want you to look at. The National Economic and social rights initiative. The u. S. Has never even had a conversation about the economic and social rights part of the universal declaration of human rights. This is what we need globally. This is will we be domestically. We have to end the prison in this true complex and the militaryindustrial complex. And i have to say, it is not just vote in the bronx who are socialists. I teach at john jay college. I have veterans who come back from what they have seen and what they have endured. They are very angry. 600 veterans they have this club goes out to the park with food and parks in the pockets. Something is really wrong. We need to end it. We dont need the truly greedy. We need socialism. One of the people in my chapter says imagine if we could have a society where everybodys needs for taking care of. There would be happiness. Imagine. Thank you. Thank you. Now we will hear from richard will. Professor emeritus, a visiting professor at the university of new york. His recent publications include occupy the economy, challenging capitalism, compounding economic theories, democracy at work. He hosts economic update weekly. He rides regularly for the guardian. He has been interviewed on democracy now, alternative radio and others that i am blanking on film wearers, the New York Times magazine named him americas most prominent marxist economist he can be found on line. Your article is entitled the shape of a post capitalist future. Describe for us what this post capitalist future might look like. Thank you. Ethnic what i want to do is ask you to imagine 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 no way that was not brought into the core of what socialism was in the United States for an awful lot of people. Therefore i did not only can we learn from that history to do something new and different for the socialism we want to imagine with the american people, but we can draw them in to a movement to achieve this by saying roughly the following. For a long time it has been taught in 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 on the business. Major shareholders select the board of directors, and they run the business. They decide what to produce, how to produce, where to produce, and what to do with the profits. All the rest of us come to work monday through friday, do our eight hours, contribute planes and missiles, 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 our most of our adelle wife, five out of seven days in an enterprise which is the absolute opposite of democracy. In the enterprises of capitalism a tiny group of people make all the decisions. The rest of the people live with them to bid all those decisions are made by a tiny group of people. We live in a society that not only calls its own democratic but goes around the world killing people in the name of democracy. The Single Institution in which most of its people live is the most of democratically organized institution imagine. So no imagine socialism for america that dares to say what i just said and to commit itself as the first order of business that a socialist revolution will change your life. You will become a working person in an office, store, factory in it together with all of the others collectively makes the decisions on what to produce, how to produce, where to produce if the workers made these decisions democratically would they close the factories and move to china . I dont think so. With the use of Toxic Technology that destroys lungs and of their children . I dont think so. Take the profits of the company and give them to the ceo, i dont think so. That is socialism that does not have to worry about redistributing wealth because it would never distribute the wealth of the first place the way capitalism as. A socialism that committed itself to five. [applause] a socialism that committed itself to this sense of the democratization of enterprises would give a new meaning and a new attraction to the people of america who want it, who are horrified by what businesses are doing, and you would support a movement to make those decisions that are supposed to serve the people finally do that in the only way it is possible. If you want an economy to serve the people, the people have to be in charge of the factories, offices, and stores that make that economy run. I think the socialism with that as a core principle is as socialism we can not only imagine what can imagine winning. [applause] thank you. We have all lot of work to do. I want to thank all of you for coming tonight. Please pick up the book, or more from your local bookstores. Go to our soon to be finished website to find out about future events. Thank you. I have one other thing to say. This is an independent newspaper. [applause] this is a Fabulous Four page spread about imagine living in a socialist u. S. A. Thank you. The editor is here tonight. Selling subscriptions. We need to support this paper. This paper reports the news we need your read. Thank you. Of we are going to build a socialist movement in this city this newspaper, thats what we need. We cannot rely on anything except ourselves. Please subscribe to this newspaper. Thank you very much for coming. [applause] [inaudible conversations] of perry. So we will have a signing line that will start at the table and go back. The orderly. Please let people leave if they need to. We have some volunteers who will be helping manage the line. It has already started and will go toward the front door. We have more books available at the front register. You can grab a book of the register. You can use those extra bucks. Thank you for coming. If you throw your garbage away you would be shocked and what a difference this makes. We are volunteer staff. 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