The Revolution WILL be televised

804brown

Well-Known Member
People from all over the world recognize that we must stand together in solidarity to challenge the tiny
minority that dominates us. The revolts in Turkey, Brazil, Europe, the
Middle East and Asia – as well as in the United States – are all connected.
These struggles share common messages that people are more important than profit, that human rights must be respected and that we want to live in peace with dignity. We see that capitalism is failing and that the people must take control to create the kind of world in which we want to live. The Afghan Peace Volunteers said this clearly in their recent open letter: “accomplishing these actions hinges on us, on climate change citizens, Arab Spring citizens, Occupy citizens and the ‘awakening’ citizens of every country to free ourselves from the unequal dominance of corporate governments with their laws and weapons of self-interest.

The campaign to close Guantanamo stretches from the living rooms of US veterans to Washington, DC to
Yemen. Three veterans, Elliott Adams, Diane Wilson and Tarak Kauff are on a solidarity hunger strike
with the prisoners. They are coming to Washington, DC next week to protest and invite you to join them. Codepink recently traveled to Yemen to learn from the families of the prisoners about the impact of Guantanamo on their families.

People in Hong Kong marched in support of Edward Snowden and to oppose his extradition. Japanese railroad workers in Tokyo protested a lockout in Oregon, nearly 5,000 miles away, of American dockworkers who load
grain ships headed for Asia



What the security state doesn’t realize is that their extreme response to peaceful protests actually brings more people out. We’ve seen this recently in Turkey and Brazil. Though these protests seemed to be sparked by minor events, the development of a park and a rise in bus fare, they are actually caused by neo-liberal, capitalist policies similar to those in the US in which as the wealth of the nation grows, so does the wealth divide.

The responses by the leaders of Turkey and Brazil are very different. The Turkish Prime Minister ordered violent attacks on protesters, the arrest of lawyers, journalists and a crackdown on health professionals who cared for the wounded. But this brought more people out including lawyers and health professionals who marched in the streets. When Gezi Park was violently cleared, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. When marches were banned, people started holding standing protests.

Now there are community assemblies being held throughout the country, using the hand signals of the Indignados and Occupy; and the unions are calling for Erdogan to step down because he has lost legitimacy after his attacks have wounded thousands, critically injured 59 and killed 5 people. Erdogan continues on a destructive track and has ordered more tear gas and water cannons. Here is a petition asking the US not to supply more.

In Brazil, violent police attacks on peaceful protesters also brought hundreds of thousands into the streets night after night. The protests started in Sao Paulo and spread throughout the country. But in response, the President of Brazil expressed sympathy with the protesters and bus fares were lowered. The protests continued on Thursday in 100 cities and on Wednesday, some police joined the protesters and were welcomed with cheers. Police defections are a key step forward that greatly increase the chance of success.





 

Upsmule

Well-Known Member
People from all over the world recognize that we must stand together in solidarity to challenge the tiny
minority that dominates us. The revolts in Turkey, Brazil, Europe, the
Middle East and Asia – as well as in the United States – are all connected.
These struggles share common messages that people are more important than profit, that human rights must be respected and that we want to live in peace with dignity. We see that capitalism is failing and that the people must take control to create the kind of world in which we want to live. The Afghan Peace Volunteers said this clearly in their recent open letter: “accomplishing these actions hinges on us, on climate change citizens, Arab Spring citizens, Occupy citizens and the ‘awakening’ citizens of every country to free ourselves from the unequal dominance of corporate governments with their laws and weapons of self-interest.

The campaign to close Guantanamo stretches from the living rooms of US veterans to Washington, DC to
Yemen. Three veterans, Elliott Adams, Diane Wilson and Tarak Kauff are on a solidarity hunger strike
with the prisoners. They are coming to Washington, DC next week to protest and invite you to join them. Codepink recently traveled to Yemen to learn from the families of the prisoners about the impact of Guantanamo on their families.

People in Hong Kong marched in support of Edward Snowden and to oppose his extradition. Japanese railroad workers in Tokyo protested a lockout in Oregon, nearly 5,000 miles away, of American dockworkers who load
grain ships headed for Asia



What the security state doesn’t realize is that their extreme response to peaceful protests actually brings more people out. We’ve seen this recently in Turkey and Brazil. Though these protests seemed to be sparked by minor events, the development of a park and a rise in bus fare, they are actually caused by neo-liberal, capitalist policies similar to those in the US in which as the wealth of the nation grows, so does the wealth divide.

The responses by the leaders of Turkey and Brazil are very different. The Turkish Prime Minister ordered violent attacks on protesters, the arrest of lawyers, journalists and a crackdown on health professionals who cared for the wounded. But this brought more people out including lawyers and health professionals who marched in the streets. When Gezi Park was violently cleared, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. When marches were banned, people started holding standing protests.

Now there are community assemblies being held throughout the country, using the hand signals of the Indignados and Occupy; and the unions are calling for Erdogan to step down because he has lost legitimacy after his attacks have wounded thousands, critically injured 59 and killed 5 people. Erdogan continues on a destructive track and has ordered more tear gas and water cannons. Here is a petition asking the US not to supply more.

In Brazil, violent police attacks on peaceful protesters also brought hundreds of thousands into the streets night after night. The protests started in Sao Paulo and spread throughout the country. But in response, the President of Brazil expressed sympathy with the protesters and bus fares were lowered. The protests continued on Thursday in 100 cities and on Wednesday, some police joined the protesters and were welcomed with cheers. Police defections are a key step forward that greatly increase the chance of success.







Capitalism has never failed. What's failing in the world today and especially in America is hardly capitalism.

The most successful nation in human history became as a result of free men and women that were self sufficient upon one another. And were free to be so. Europe has never known this. America once did. Now that we've allowed the Constitution to be rewritten and or disregarded - we too could also be storming Capital Hill if it aren't for the most powerful police state on the planet.


Wake up ostrich.
 

804brown

Well-Known Member
Things are happening: the arab spring...the student movment in montreal...Occupy wall st...strikes in greece...anti austerity protest in spain...millions of workers striking in india against privatization and anti labot laws...hundreds of thousands of students marching for free college education in chile...worldwide march against monsanto...gezi park in istanbul...a million marching against the corrupt corporate establishment in brazil ...its to the point I cant wait for the morning paper!!
 

wkmac

Well-Known Member
Capitalism has never failed. What's failing in the world today and especially in America is hardly capitalism.

The most successful nation in human history became as a result of free men and women that were self sufficient upon one another. And were free to be so. Europe has never known this. America once did. Now that we've allowed the Constitution to be rewritten and or disregarded - we too could also be storming Capital Hill if it aren't for the most powerful police state on the planet.


Wake up ostrich.

Defining capitalism is problematic because there is no hard, fast definition of the term. Just start goggling and consider all the differences you run into. Defending or criticism of almost becomes like a monkey friend'ing a football.

However in the OP 804 posted in the 4th paragraph, a description was used in regards to the capitalism being criticized and that is "neo-liberal capitalist policies" and in the Keynesian world of economics, I find that to represent the current economic interventionism of crony or corporate capitalism. If that is the definition of capitalism then I too stand with them and consider myself also anti-capitalist. And in the current manifestation of capitalism with market interventions and fiat currencies, I have no problem what so ever calling myself an anti-capitalist because in those cases I'm opposed to that system of economics.

Thus I loosely support many of the global movements as some areas we may overlap and I hope these protests grow and grow and grow. With the announcement of Snowden being charged with espionage, I'd like to see Americans take part in a national sympathy strike but I know it will never happen because the American slave likes his/her cage way too much!
 

wkmac

Well-Known Member
Almost forgot, heard earlier today that I think it was in San Paulo that the protesters wanted to make sure the police understood they meant no harm towards them so they all sat down to show no violence would be forth coming. The cops in sympathy also joined them by sitting down as well. Don't know this as fact yet but word is spreading that in Brazil cops are starting to disobey orders so who knows.
 

Upsmule

Well-Known Member
Many argue today that the Constitution is outdated because it addresses problems peculiar to the eighteenth century, so long ago. Consider the injunction against titles of nobility in article nine section one of the Constitution. But is that outdated? The purpose of that injunction is to prevent the partisan bestowal of special privileges by the government, which privileges strike at the heart of a free society, which is based on the rule of law. Look at crony capitalism today, so common, whereby the government bestows favors and tax dollars on some businesses and it gives them a leg up over others. This is a striking example of what the Constitution was meant to prohibit and a striking illustration of why the Constitution is not outdated at all.

http://onstitutionminute.hillsdale.edu/episode6
 

wkmac

Well-Known Member
The Freeman editor Sheldon Richman, speaking at George Mason University, raised the question of just what mainstream libertarians mean when they call a country “capitalist.” What qualifies a country as “capitalist”?
A lot of countries with relatively low indices of economic freedom (including those ranked as “mostly unfree”) are conventionally regarded as “capitalist,” and referred to as such in neoliberal agitprop comparing them favorably to non-capitalist countries like Cuba. And the talking heads at CNBC and scribblers in the business press commonly refer to “our capitalist system,” even though it’s doesn’t even remotely approximate a free market.
So in common usage, among establishment libertarians and what passes for mainstream “free market” wonks, any country that hasn’t adopted Marxian socialism as its official ideology is “capitalist.”
Based on these observations, Richman concludes that “capitalism” in practice “designates a system in which the means of production are de jure privately owned.”


Capitalism: A Good Word for a Bad Thing
 

Upsmule

Well-Known Member

Fascinating read. Hard to get around his being an Anarchist though. In my previous link, the Constitution's "injunction against titles of nobility in article nine section one" was put there by the founders to prevent crony capitalism. Proving the Constitution is hardly out dated. The founders were geniuses with far more forethought and wisdom than most are willing to give them credit for IMO.
 

804brown

Well-Known Member
Capitalism has never failed. What's failing in the world today and especially in America is hardly capitalism.

The most successful nation in human history became as a result of free men and women that were self sufficient upon one another. And were free to be so. Europe has never known this. America once did. Now that we've allowed the Constitution to be rewritten and or disregarded - we too could also be storming Capital Hill if it aren't for the most powerful police state on the planet.


Wake up ostrich.

Capitalism "has never failed"?? How about the Depression of 1807 or 1815 or The Panic of 1837 or 1857 or 1873 or 1893 or 1907 or the Great Depression of the 1930s or the numerous recessions since including the dot com bubble and the housing bubble and currently (shhh) the student loan bubble. Wow, what a track record!!
 

oldngray

nowhere special
Capitalism "has never failed"?? How about the Depression of 1807 or 1815 or The Panic of 1837 or 1857 or 1873 or 1893 or 1907 or the Great Depression of the 1930s or the numerous recessions since including the dot com bubble and the housing bubble and currently (shhh) the student loan bubble. Wow, what a track record!!

There will always be economic cycles but name any other system that has a better track record than capitalism.
 

oldngray

nowhere special
Communism in its purest form is the most efficient economic system.

You pretend to work and the state pretends to pay you? As an abstract theory communism claims many things but extremely inefficient in the real world. Actually at the opposite end of the scale you could argue that fascism is efficient. If you don't mind another Hitler.
 

804brown

Well-Known Member
There will always be economic cycles but name any other system that has a better track record than capitalism.
You said capitalism never failed. I proved it has...over and over. Then is get saved/bailed out by BIG GOVERNMENT everytime. Without big government to pull capitalism up by its bootstraps, who knows what new and dynamic system we could have.
 

quamba 638

Well-Known Member
People from all over the world recognize that we must stand together in solidarity to challenge the tiny
minority that dominates us. The revolts in Turkey, Brazil, Europe, the
Middle East and Asia – as well as in the United States – are all connected.
These struggles share common messages that people are more important than profit, that human rights must be respected and that we want to live in peace with dignity. We see that capitalism is failing and that the people must take control to create the kind of world in which we want to live. The Afghan Peace Volunteers said this clearly in their recent open letter: “accomplishing these actions hinges on us, on climate change citizens, Arab Spring citizens, Occupy citizens and the ‘awakening’ citizens of every country to free ourselves from the unequal dominance of corporate governments with their laws and weapons of self-interest.

The campaign to close Guantanamo stretches from the living rooms of US veterans to Washington, DC to
Yemen. Three veterans, Elliott Adams, Diane Wilson and Tarak Kauff are on a solidarity hunger strike
with the prisoners. They are coming to Washington, DC next week to protest and invite you to join them. Codepink recently traveled to Yemen to learn from the families of the prisoners about the impact of Guantanamo on their families.

People in Hong Kong marched in support of Edward Snowden and to oppose his extradition. Japanese railroad workers in Tokyo protested a lockout in Oregon, nearly 5,000 miles away, of American dockworkers who load
grain ships headed for Asia



What the security state doesn’t realize is that their extreme response to peaceful protests actually brings more people out. We’ve seen this recently in Turkey and Brazil. Though these protests seemed to be sparked by minor events, the development of a park and a rise in bus fare, they are actually caused by neo-liberal, capitalist policies similar to those in the US in which as the wealth of the nation grows, so does the wealth divide.

The responses by the leaders of Turkey and Brazil are very different. The Turkish Prime Minister ordered violent attacks on protesters, the arrest of lawyers, journalists and a crackdown on health professionals who cared for the wounded. But this brought more people out including lawyers and health professionals who marched in the streets. When Gezi Park was violently cleared, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. When marches were banned, people started holding standing protests.

Now there are community assemblies being held throughout the country, using the hand signals of the Indignados and Occupy; and the unions are calling for Erdogan to step down because he has lost legitimacy after his attacks have wounded thousands, critically injured 59 and killed 5 people. Erdogan continues on a destructive track and has ordered more tear gas and water cannons. Here is a petition asking the US not to supply more.

In Brazil, violent police attacks on peaceful protesters also brought hundreds of thousands into the streets night after night. The protests started in Sao Paulo and spread throughout the country. But in response, the President of Brazil expressed sympathy with the protesters and bus fares were lowered. The protests continued on Thursday in 100 cities and on Wednesday, some police joined the protesters and were welcomed with cheers. Police defections are a key step forward that greatly increase the chance of success.






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRhq-yO1KN8
 

wkmac

Well-Known Member
You said capitalism never failed. I proved it has...over and over. Then is get saved/bailed out by BIG GOVERNMENT everytime. Without big government to pull capitalism up by its bootstraps, who knows what new and dynamic system we could have.

I would tend to agree that capitalism as we know it now has failed and you could argue it always has when you don't conflate capitalism with the idea of free markets or the better term freed markets. To that ends I have no problem with the term anti-capitalist because under the current model, I would be one. What we have is a type Mussolini/fascist economic model built for a global footprint as opposed to a purely national model. It's then blended with an anglo american hybrid free trade mercantilism and thus we have statist capitalism hidden behind the rhetoric of being free market. It's neither free nor markets to begin with.

This system only works with a large gov't structure that is capable of protecting cartels, privilege and invoking interventions at any turn in order to externalize costs on behalf of the monied and ruling class and shift down onto the working and lower managerial class along with the poor. The options are to crush it all, not likely, or begin to plan and organize alternatives and as the existing models collapse, and they will, you just tunnel under or around them and keep rolling. From markets to even alternative currencies. Cooperatives, worker owned/worker run, all these ideas can have a go. Just look at the success of Mondragon.

I won't say you'll like this below but I suspect you'll appreciate it on the basis that it opens the door to float ideas towards the ends of a new and dynamic system. I'm all for a big table that would allow that potential. Markets, Not Capitalism, because anarchists are opposed to copyright (gov't privilege)the book is open source on the internet and Charles Johnson's piece, as Gary sez, is a great read. The interview with Gary Chartier thanks to Reason is excellent.

"Markets Not Capitalism," Says Professor Gary Chartier - YouTube
 

wkmac

Well-Known Member
Communism in it's purest form has no state to begin with. Once the Dictatorship of the Proletariat has been successful, the state is completely abolished and eliminated. Read Marx himself on that.

Problem is, no form of communism that took over a state has ever moved beyond the dictatorship phase. Power corrupts and absolute power......!

Mikhail Bakunin rightly argued against advancing communism in any state form, he was for communism just not using a state mechanism to achieve it, and thus argued for anarchism until Marx had him kicked out of the First International. History and 20th century communism showed that Marx was wrong and Bakunin's fears of what State communism would become was right!
 
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