Labor

Democracy, Economy, Green Party, Labor, Marxism, Socialism April 24, 2015

Do Marxist Principles Permit Us to Be Greens?

The North Star by Mark Lause, State Committee, Green Party of Ohio March 22, 2015 If I had a dollar for every time I heard somebody say that they wouldn’t support the Greens because they were “a bourgeois party,” I’d probably be able to buy my very own state legislator . . . or, at least, a cheap city councilman. While this assertion seems usually intended to kill the subject, I think a more refined understanding about the class nature of political parties among American Marxists is worth the risk of a discussion. Not that this is easy in 21st…

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Climate Change, Environment, Fracking, Labor, New York, Race, Social Justice January 19, 2015

A Green State of State Message on MLK Day

by Howie Hawkins New York Governor Cuomo’s State of the State address comes as we are celebrating Martin Luther King’s birthday. Unfortunately, half a century after the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the dream of equality and prosperity for all remains unrealized. Income inequality in New York is the highest in the nation, with one-sixth of New Yorkers living below the poverty line. In upstate cities, more than half of all children live in poverty. New York has the most segregated housing and schools in the country, worse than Mississippi or Alabama. More than a million New Yorkers…

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campaign reform, Democracy, Green Party, Labor, Marriage Equality, Third Party May 23, 2014

The Power and Potential of DIY Democracy

by Blair Bobier Common Dreams May 22, 2014 A seismic shift in the American political landscape has gone largely unnoticed. Yet, the implication of this political earthquake knows no bounds. On Tuesday, voters in two Oregon counties—one of them rural and conservative—voted to ban GMO’s. In 2012, voters in five states legalized gay marriage and the recreational use of cannabis. What is so remarkable about these victories is not just the incredible, rapidly shifting attitude of the electorate, but the fact that these successes came from voter-led initiatives. In other words, these independent grassroots victories do not owe their success…

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Climate Change, Economy, Environment, Fracking, Green Party, International, Labor, National Politics, New York January 20, 2014

Secretive trade agreement would undermine democracy

Post-Standard by Ursula Rozum January 20, 2014 Any speck of democracy and sovereignty we the people have left in this country is under attack. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a new international trade pact crafted by multinational corporations and currently being negotiated in secret by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) along with 11 other foreign governments. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) describes the agreement as “an attack on democratic governance” and “a punch in the face to the middle class of America.” The TPP began as trade talks among a few Pacific Rim countries, but has been expanded…

Labor, National Politics, occupy January 18, 2014

Mayday 2014: 5/1 Fight for 15

by John Halle January 18, 2014 A short piece provoked by the fun time I had hanging out with/moderating the Trots at the Brecht Forum on Thursday. The suggestion for making the $15 an hour minimum wage a central demand of a new movement was from Socialist Alternative’s Alan Akrivos. Comments on the piece and/or how to move forward on the idea appreciated. Most on the left are at least dimly aware that Labor Day was originally celebrated on May 1 to commemorate the framing and execution of the Haymarket strikers and that Mayday, at its peak, attracted tens of…