I don't see how you can think it is underhanded. Its not like the
purposes of running a candidate is some kine of secret. It is a fully
admitted vehicle for disseminating ideas. As for getting together with
one candidate, well, I am not sure that can be done with the Green
Party. There are some groups that do support Green Party candidates and
still call themselves revolutionary socialists. Socialist Alternative is
an example. But I am not so sure that they are not drifting toward being
social democrats by doing so. The Green Party, as a whole, simply
supports capitalism and that is kind of antithetical to socialism. As
for the socialist parties banding together to promote one candidate,
that is being tried in both Britain and Australia with the Socialist
Alliance, but the big trouble is that it is really hard to get them to
agree on a single program. After all, the reason they split into their
various parties over the years is because they had profound principled
differences with each other. But I remember taking that position myself
in my distant past. As I was meeting radical groups and trying to learn
about them and figure out which I most agreed with I did say to them
that it would make more sense to me if they could all merge into one
organization and trade on the strength in numbers idea instead of
remaining weak by bickering with one another. I said that, after all, we
all have the same goals. I was told that it would be hard to even get
them all in the same room together. Then I saw what happened when they
did get in the same room. The Young Socialist Alliance was giving a
presentation at West Virginia State College and some members of the
October League were in the vicinity and decided to attend. The October
League people were entirely too contemptuous of the YSA to make any kind
of common cause with them. Then another time I actually invited a
Communist Party member to a YSA meeting. He was pretty polite, but he
declined offers to work together and then later, in a private letter to
me, he made some pretty strenuous denunciations of the Fourth
International. Then when I was in the Committee Against Registration and
the Draft that organization kind of attracted communists like honey
attracts flies. There was the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist). There
was the International Anarchist Communist Federation. There was the
Socialist Workers Party. There was the Communist Workers Party. Not
joining the coalition, but still orbiting around it was the
Revolutionary Communist Party, the Communist Party, USA and the
Communist Labor Party. I may be even forgetting some. Frankly, I think
our chapter of CARD was torn apart by the bickering. But what remains is
that the various parties have different messages that they want to
disseminate. One candidate would not be able to convey all of those
messages because they tend to be contradictory. Besides, some of those
organizations have the message that the elections should be boycotted in
the first place. I had some arguments with the RCP about that. They urge
people to not vote as if that is some kind of revolutionary statement.
They just don't seem to be aware that most people don't vote anyway and
that is never portrayed as a revolutionary statement. I know that it is
not apathy either, but it is always portrayed as apathy.
___
Neil deGrasse Tyson
“God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance.”
― Neil DeGrasse Tyson
On 3/5/2020 9:16 PM, miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
No, certainly not. Organizing people around issues where their actions have a chance of
having an effect is not underhanded. Strikes aren't underhanded. Passive resistance isn't
underhanded. But running candidates when you know that there's no chance in hell that
they can win, that they can't even get on the ballot in most states, taking up people's
time and energy for what amounts to a "show candidacy", seems underhanded to
me. If all the various socialist parties and the Green party would join together and try
to form a real alternative party, that would make sense to me.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Thursday, March 5, 2020 9:06 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: [blind-democracy] RE: [blind-democracy] RE:
[blind-democracy] Re: [blind-democracy] Re: Fight for gov’t-funded,
cradle-to-grave health care!
Then it must follow that any attempt to get out any kind of ideas is some
underhanded manipulative scam.
___
Neil deGrasse Tyson
“God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance.”
― Neil DeGrasse Tyson
On 3/5/2020 8:41 PM, miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Roger,
Sorry, That was my interpretation of what the SWP is doing. I know you didn't
say that. You just said that the candidates running would be used as propaganda
to organize people. I wrote what that means to me.
-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Loran Bailey <rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, March 5, 2020 8:30 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [blind-democracy] RE: [blind-democracy] Re: [blind-democracy] Re:
Fight for gov’t-funded, cradle-to-grave health care!
Miriam, you misrepresent everything I said. The best way I can refute this is
to just refer you back to my last message. Reading that message shows that I
said nothing like you are claiming I said.
___
Neil deGrasse Tyson
“God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance.”
― Neil DeGrasse Tyson
On 3/5/2020 4:24 PM, miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Isn't using the election as solely an opportunity for agitation and propaganda a rather
cynical way to treat the working people who might be attracted by that candidate's
campaign? It sounds like all those poor unsuspecting people who might be tricked into
getting involved, are being used as pawns to further the SWP's objectdives of which they
are unaware. "We're offering these pretend candidates so we can use their campaign
to seduce you into believing a philosophy which, we believe, is in your best interests in
the end. But we aren't going to tell you that we don't believe in this election, that
we're actually planning a revolution to overthrow this rotten system, and you might
become embroiled in this revolution, whether or not you originally planned to, and it
might become violent".
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran
Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Thursday, March 5, 2020 3:32 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: [blind-democracy] Re: Fight for gov’t-funded,
cradle-to-grave health care!
You are completely missing the point that Alyson Kennedy has absolutely no
expectation or intention of becoming president. The ruling class would cancel
the election before they would let that happen.
Furthermore, if there was a realistic prospect for her being elected then the
class struggle would have had to sharpened to the point that we would either be
in the middle of a civil war or else we would be on the brink of it. Alyson's
candidacy is simply a move to take advantage of the bourgeois electoral system
to spread agitation and propaganda. But suppose that she did get elected and
suppose she survived the violent attacks that would be launched against her and
her supporters if she did get elected and then she took office. If she then
went ahead and merrily administered the bourgeois state she would have upon
that instant transformed into a social democrat. That would be a complete
betrayal.
Her job would be to give the bourgeois state its final kicks to ensure its
collapse. Then she would participate in building a new workers and farmers
state, possibly being a delegate to a new constitutional convention.
___
Neil deGrasse Tyson
“God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance.”
― Neil DeGrasse Tyson
On 3/5/2020 11:56 AM, Carl Jarvis wrote:
The article states: "The Socialist Workers Party campaign is
grounded in the conviction that it is possible to emulate that
example(the Cuban Revolution). We can mobilize in our millions to
overthrow the dictatorship of the capitalist class here, take power
into our own hands and open the door to working people running society."
And then the article concludes, "Join us in campaigning for Alyson
Kennedy and Malcolm Jarrett, the working-class alternative in 2020!"
My problem with this article is that we can't take both approaches.
Either we advocate for Revolution and the replacement of our current
Ruling Class with a government which represents All the People, or
we send Alyson Kennedy and Malcolm Jarrett to be our sacrificial
offerings. That approach appears hopeless. Let's suppose, and it
is a real long shot, that Alyson Kennedy and Malcolm Jarrett squeak
out a victory, and find themselves in the White House. Then what?
I mean what do we Revolutionaries do? We have just won the top two
offices in the nation, and the most influential top dogs in all the World.
Are they prepared to lead a Revolution from within the
Establishment's System? Do they attempt to swim upstream and make
what social changes they can make? To me it is a lose lose
situation. The fact is that we live in, and have lived in from the beginning,
in a Class System.
This nation of the people never set out to be the government of All
the People.
Although I have no dog in this presidential fight, I plan to vote
for Bernie Sanders. Not because I think that he will win, or even
if the Heavens opened up and God smote all his opponents and Bernie,
like David with his sling, did win, but because I believe it is my
only way of spitting in the Establishment's eye. Bernie will be as
unable to return America to the New Deal Days, as would Alyson
Kennedy and Malcolm Jarrett.
But on the other hand, if we are truly serious about a People's
Revolution, then we need to stop pretending that we can "make a
difference" through tucking a few Progressives into the System.
It's like tossing red meat to a pack of wild dogs.
As a defender of the American People and their Rights and Dignity, I
am faced with deciding whose laws I must obey. Do I take the safer
path and obey the laws that have been bought and paid for to protect
the properties and positions of the long established Ruling Class?
Or do I obey those basic laws that defend the dignity and security
and health, and all the Rights that belong to First Class Citizens?
This is no easy decision. But it is one that every Citizen must
make, because we cannot serve two Masters. Either we support the
right of a few to own us, or we defend the Right to Human Dignity by
All the People. This constitution we live under was created back
when we were a collection of 13 Colonies and an Agrarian Society.
The Document was truly revolutionary in its day. It declared that
the Colonists were no longer the economic slaves of the King of
England. In the situation the Colonists found themselves, there was
no misunderstanding over whether they could somehow take over the
government and make changes to existing laws. There was only one of
two roads, compliance or revolution.
The ensuing struggle was costly for many Landholders. Many chose to
duck and cover, hoping the King would reward them once the uprising
was quashed.
While Times are very different today, we live in an Urban Society
and number 50 states and over 300 million People, we are still faced
by the same two roads. We can duck and cover and accept what is "given"
us by our Ruling Class, hoping they make wise choices that somehow
include us, or we can set them aside, thanking them for their long
years at the helm of our Ship of State, but recognizing that they
have outlived their day, and that they have become far too self serving.
But if we do the latter, we must realize that once declared, the New
Revolution must follow. Are we ready for it?
Carl Jarvis
On 3/5/20, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
https://themilitant.com/2020/02/29/fight-for-govt-funded-cradle-to-
g r ave-health-care/ Fight for gov’t-funded, cradle-to-grave health
care!
article
Vol. 84/No. 9
March 9, 2020
The U.S. government, the most powerful imperialist power on the
planet, like every other capitalist power around the world, is far
from prepared for the spread of coronavirus. The virus is new, no
one is immune, and it will take time to develop an antidote.
The rulers in China and Iran tried to pretend things weren’t so bad
and working people are paying for it. The administration in
Washington tells us they’ve got everything in hand and complain the
media is trying to make coronavirus “look as bad as possible.”
The deadly impact of the virus will fall overwhelmingly on working
people in the U.S., as it does elsewhere, exacerbating the broader
social, economic and moral crisis of capitalism bearing down on us.
Millions of workers already confront the declining availability of
health care. Hospitals have been closing in rural areas and
working-class neighborhoods, where the owners decide they aren’t
making enough profit. The system of health insurance in the U.S. —
whether it’s “Obamacare,” private health insurance or the
Medicare-for-all insurance schemes promoted by a wing of the
Democrats — is designed to guarantee a profit for hospital bosses
and drug and insurance companies, not to provide the health care
working people need and deserve.
If we can’t afford to pay the rising costs they charge for
premiums, deductibles or copays, we have to go without something
that should be a basic human right.
The capitalist rulers consider the provision of health care to
workers a nonproductive expense. Hospital bosses are notorious for
transporting homeless people seeking care out of the city and
dumping them. The capitalist rulers seek to impose the
responsibility for medical care onto individual workers and our
families. And if you don’t change your lifestyle — quit smoking,
lose weight, etc. — they want to make you pay more. You’re on your own.
Health care is social right
Health care is a social question. The working class and our unions
need to fight for government-funded cradle-to-grave health care for
all. Our labor produces all the wealth, more than enough to provide
care for all, for a lifetime. The problem is the employers
expropriate that wealth for themselves. So they don’t have to worry
about the costs of getting treatment.
Health care as a social right can only be won by class struggle,
including breaking from all the capitalists’ parties, which insist
that the health insurance racket is untouchable. It will take
massive struggles by workers and our allies to take the hospitals
and drug companies out of the hands of the capitalists who run them
for profit and organize to run them under workers control in the
interest of all. But it can be done.
Revolutionary Cuba is the one country in the world where health
care is not a commodity, where the surplus workers and farmers
produce is used to provide lifelong, preventative health care for every person.
And where thousands of volunteer medical workers provide much
needed care throughout the world, treating all they look after with
dignity and respect. A vivid account is provided in the recently
published Red Zone: Cuba and the Battle Against Ebola in West Africa.
The volunteers’ internationalism, author Enrique Ubieta
writes, “is an expression of their revolutionary humanism.”
As Che Guevara said, to be a revolutionary doctor you have to make
a revolution.
Revolution transformed working people in Cuba This is only possible
because Cuban workers and farmers made a revolution and the
government today is in their hands. Making that revolution
transformed working people. They simply look at the problems they
confront — from the U.S. rulers’ economic war against them to the
threat of coronavirus — as the responsibility of the whole people.
Whatever they face — a hurricane, a threat of disease, or anything
else — they prepare, mobilize the whole people and resources of
their government, and take it on.
The Socialist Workers Party campaign is grounded in the conviction
that it is possible to emulate that example. We can mobilize in our
millions to overthrow the dictatorship of the capitalist class
here, take power into our own hands and open the door to working
people running society. Join us in campaigning for Alyson Kennedy
and Malcolm Jarrett, the working-class alternative in 2020!
article end
list of 4 items
Audio version
Share
list end
RELATED ARTICLES
article
Capitalist economies wobble as coronavirus cases spread Media
worldwide headlined the news Feb. 24 with reports that coronavirus
infections and deaths were spreading outside China, where it
originated, with spikes in South Korea, Japan, Iran and northern
Italy. Capitalist governments around the world either admit their
health… article end IN THIS ISSUE Front Page Articles list of 6
items • ‘We need a labor party, independent of the bosses’
• Capitalist two party system’s stability won’t be restored • New
Zealand protesters say ‘Abortion is not a crime’
• Striking Asarco miners protest bosses’ union-busting attacks •
Federal court says Florida law gutting felons’ right to vote is
unconstitutional • Over a million Syrians forced to flee Idlib in
face of regime’s offensive list end Feature Articles list of 1
items • New book on Ebola launched at Cuban tropical medicine
school list end Also In This Issue list of 8 items • Kennedy: ‘All
workers should back Asarco strike’
• Back Socialist Workers Party 2020 campaign Contribute to $25,000 fund!
• Families, former inmates, SWP protest conditions at Georgia jail
• Capitalist economies wobble as coronavirus cases spread • Women
in Iraq say no to segregation of protesters • ‘Communism is not a
doctrine but a movement’
• Bosses step up spying on workers — on and off the job • Join 2020
May Day international brigade to Cuba!
list end
Editorials
list of 1 items
• Fight for gov’t-funded, cradle-to-grave health care!
list end
Books of the Month
list of 1 items
• ‘Second-class status of women arose with class society’
list end
25, 50 and 75 years ago
Letters
Corrections
main region end
© Copyright 2020 The Militant - 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor -
New York, NY 10018 - themilitant@xxxxxxx Cookies This site uses
cookies to improve your experience.
Learn more.
Okay, thanks
--
___
Neil deGrasse Tyson
“God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance.”
― Neil DeGrasse Tyson
