Musing on 21st Century Socialism

I've been thinking a lot about what socialism means in the context of modern times. I am radically opposed to the revisionist histories that suggest somehow the current climate is different than in the past. Many of our comrades seem to ache for a past where socialism was an idea that was widely accepted and popular. I continue to search the history books to find when precisely this may have been. In the times of Eugene Debbs, 100 years ago, when the SPUSA was at its apex, Wobblies were being assassinated by capitalists, none of the capitalist press covered socialist or anarchist movements with any credibility, and Debbs himself was jailed while running for president. Then came the Sedition Act, the Red Scare, McCarthyism, etc. etc. etc.

Perhaps things were better in Europe, but somehow I doubt there was ever a mass politics that measures up to the dreams of some. Certainly there is no reason to change politics simply to try to be popular! I often correlate my experience as a Marxist to that of early Protestants and draw inspiration from the author of "The Pilgrim's Progress," John Bunyan. It took hundreds of years for Protestantism to break the stranglehold of Catholic hegemony. Regardless on how good an idea may be, the more revolutionary it is, the more resistance it shall face because it attacks the interest of a larger base of power.

Considering the past 100 years, I think socialism has done pretty damn well!

What does 21st century socialism look like? Well, this advertisement presents a compelling vision. Take a gander: http://www.veninfo.org/

Copyfight!

An interesting new article has been published at openDemocracy, which explores the ongoing controversy over political and corporate attempts to crack down on internet activities, and to enforce intellectual property rights especially. This should be of particular concern at the present time, considering the recent example of "Don't be evil" Google's blatant collaboration with the Chinese government.

The movement to keep the internet free will be the defining fight in the information age, just as the environmental movement is the defining fight of the industrial age. As our physical make-up is reduced to a string of ones and zeros, and knowledge replaces property and labour as the means of production, democratic access to information becomes a basic civil right.

The copyfight has many parallels with the early environmental movement. Valid interest in access to information unhindered by intellectual property law is diverse – from librarians to scientists to developing world campaigners fighting for the right to distribute lifesaving generic antiretrovirals in Africa.

These parties are beginning to organise together, as shown by Consumers International's recent condemnation of the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation's pursuit of tighter intellectual property controls. Just as peace campaigners joined with conservationists, animal rights activists with anti-nuclear protesters, so will the people who fight on the fringes of the information war join forces.

Speaking of McDonald's...

Seeing McDonald's and strikes mentioned reminded me, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers community organisation is also busy taking on the Evil Empire, this time in Florida. The CIW represents agricultural labourers (mainly of Latino, Haitian, and Mayan origin), many of whom work in the tomato fields used to supply McDonald's for the purposes of producing their sandwiches, salads and so on. They often work in sweatshop conditions and are subject to violence and intimidation, in what amounts to modern-day slavery. The CIW, and its allies in the Student / Farmworker Alliance, are fighting for:

• The right to a fair wage, after more than 25 years of sub-poverty wages and stagnant piece rates;
• The right for farmworkers to participate in the decisions that affect their lives, after decades of sweatshop conditions and humiliating labor relations;
• The right to a real code of conduct based on modern labor standards, after McDonald’s and its suppliers unilaterally imposed a hollow code of conduct comprised of minimal labor standards and suspect monitoring.
  

The rotters! Anyway, on April 1st farmworkers from Immokalee (Fl.) and other activists will be staging a rally in Chicago, global headquarters of McDonald's, in support of their basic human rights. The CIW is also asking sympathisers to deliver this letter to their local McDonald's franchise.

Bush In India: Just Not Welcome

This article by Arundhati Roy appeared in The Nation this week, and is so bloody funny I had to repost it (with my own pictorial contributions, of course). As an infrequent follower of the capitalist media (I get all my news from The Monthly Review, In These Times, The Texas Observer, and the like) I didn't even know Bush was going to visit India. Nevertheless, India is heavy upon my mind for many reasons. As an IT worker, I have worked for years with men and women from India. More recently I've learned a lot about the rich socialist heritage of India (previous post) and the current struggles between the neoliberal, globalist agenda and the grass-roots but strong socialist and communist traditions. Also of note is the succesful Maoist struggle in Nepal (previous post) which is in the verge of liberating the entire nation from reactionary monarchical rule.

In any case, Roy effectively captures the humor and hubris of Bush's visit to India. Below is an excerpt:

On his triumphalist tour of India and Pakistan, where he hopes to wave imperiously at people he considers potential subjects, President Bush has an itinerary that's getting curiouser and curiouser.

For Bush's March 2 pit stop in New Delhi, the Indian government tried very hard to have him address our parliament. A not inconsequential number of MPs threatened to heckle him, so Plan One was hastily shelved. Plan Two was to have Bush address the masses from the ramparts of the magnificent Red Fort, where the Indian prime minister traditionally delivers his Independence Day address. But the Red Fort, surrounded as it is by the predominantly Muslim population of Old Delhi, was considered a security nightmare. So now we're into Plan Three: President George Bush speaks from Purana Qila, the Old Fort.


Ironic, isn't it, that the only safe public space for a man who has recently been so enthusiastic about India's modernity should be a crumbling medieval fort?

Since the Purana Qila also houses the Delhi zoo, George Bush's audience will be a few hundred caged animals and an approved list of caged human beings, who in India go under the category of "eminent persons." They're mostly rich folk who live in our poor country like captive animals, incarcerated by their own wealth, locked and barred in their gilded cages, protecting themselves from the threat of the vulgar and unruly multitudes whom they have systematically dispossessed over the centuries.

So what's going to happen to George W. Bush? Will the gorillas cheer him on? Will the gibbons curl their lips? Will the brow-antlered deer sneer? Will the chimps make rude noises? Will the owls hoot? Will the lions yawn and the giraffes bat their beautiful eyelashes? Will the crocs recognize a kindred soul? Will the quails give thanks that Bush isn't traveling with Dick Cheney, his hunting partner with the notoriously bad aim? Will the CEOs agree?

Read more of Bush in India: Just Not Welcome

When Hot Chicks Strike, We All Win

All across New Zealand, service industry workers are organizing and striking at Starbucks, McDonald's, Burger Kings and the rest of the usual suspects.

Check it out here: http://supersizemypay.com/

Socialism India

Most discussion about India in the West these days focuses on IT outsourcing. Few are aware of the fierce debate within India about the future of socialism in that country. Fewer still are aware that the very constitution of India was constructed upon socialist principles. The very constitution of India states the national goals as being "Democracy, Socialism, Secularism and National Integration."

In fact, India is an incredibly diverse nation made up of many national identities, religions and cultures. Also, India has been fighting a battle against the dual legacies of the caste system and colonialism. Nevertheless, despite recent trends towards market capitalism and globalization, socialism and communism have played a very important part in the sovereign political development of the Indian people.

A recent editorial by Sitiram Yechury CPI(M) in the Indian Express states clearly:

India empowered, thus, means the true economic emancipation and empowerment of all its people. To achieve this, we require a system—politico-legal; socio-economic; cultural-linguistic—which actually makes people the masters of the country’s resources and hence of the country’s future. India empowered, thus, means a country where there shall be no exploitation of man by man. This is no wild dream of an idealist. This vision is perfectly tangible both in today’s world and today’s India. India empowered means the socialist republic of India.

Socialism in the constitution of India is described by Wikipedia as follows (my emphasis):

The word socialist was added to the Preamble by the 42nd amendment act of 1976. It implies social and economic equality. Social equality in this context means the absence of discrimination on the grounds of caste, colour, creed, sex, religion, language, etc. Under social equality, everyone has equal status and opportunities. Economic equality in this context means that the government will endeavour to make the distribution of wealth more equal and provide a decent standard of living for all. This is in effect emphasizing a commitment towards the formation of a Welfare state.

What about the current economic "boom" in India and what it means for the prospects of Socialism in that country?

India's economic boom is causing unsustainable environmental damage and is blinding people to the misery of hundreds of millions of poor. [...] Even if you know what is going on, you can't help thinking India is this cool place now, Bollywood is 'in' and all of us have mobile phones. [...] India's economic boom is driven by policies which are causing unsustainable environmental damage. [...] There is no understanding whatsoever of what price is being paid by the rivers and mountains and irrigation and ground water. Mass destruction of urban squats and poor neighborhoods are another effect.

-and-

There is a "deadly cocktail" of factors at play that drives farmers to despair, [when] their crop has failed. [Indian farmers] have been reeling under drought with crop failure having become common. Official figures have 250 farmers having committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh between 1995 and 1998. The government says nearly 3,000 farmers in that state alone have committed suicide over the past six years.

So we can see what liberal economic reform has brought to India over the past 20 years. An expanding middle class with all that entails, to be sure, but also massive primitive accumulation and what amounts to mass murder of the urban and rural working-class and poor, and the appropriation of their land, livelihood and self-sufficiency.

Only a return to the socialist values nobly enshrined in the Indian constitution will bring sufficiency and peace to the hundreds of millions of proletarians in India who are very much worse off due to the current trends which have been sweeping this beautiful country.

References:

• (1) India Express
• (2) Wikipedia
• (3) Reuters/Common Dreams
  
• (4) BBC News

The Soul of Man

I continue to be very pleased to find that many of the smartest, most creative, and most interesting and admirable people turn out to be socialists. Of course the classic example is Albert Einstein, but today I discovered that Oscar Wilde was also a socialist and wrote an excellent piece outlining his vision for a libertarian socialist society.

Below is a portion of the piece and a link to the full 14,500 word document at libcom.org/library.

The chief advantage that would result from the establishment of Socialism is, undoubtedly, the fact that Socialism would relieve us from that sordid necessity of living for others which, in the present condition of things, presses so hardly upon almost everybody. In fact, scarcely any one at all escapes.

Now and then, in the course of the century, a great man of science, like Darwin; a great poet, like Keats; a fine critical spirit, like M. Renan; a supreme artist, like Flaubert, has been able to isolate himself, to keep himself out of reach of the clamorous claims of others, to stand "under the shelter of the wall," as Plato puts it, and so to realise the perfection of what was in him, to his own incomparable gain, and to the incomparable and lasting gain of the whole world. These, however, are exceptions. The majority of people spoil their lives by an unhealthy and exaggerated altruism - are forced, indeed, so to spoil them. They find themselves surrounded by hideous poverty, by hideous ugliness, by hideous starvation. [...] Accordingly, with admirable though misdirected intentions, they very seriously and very sentimentally set themselves to the task of remedying the evils that they see. But their remedies do not cure the disease: they merely prolong it. Indeed, their remedies are part of the disease.

They try to solve the problem of poverty, for instance, by keeping the poor alive; or, in the case of a very advanced school, by amusing the poor.

But this is not a solution: it is an aggravation of the difficulty. The proper aim is to try and reconstruct society on such a basis that poverty will be impossible. [...] Charity creates a multitude of sins.

There is also this to be said. It is immoral to use private property in order to alleviate the horrible evils that result from the institution of private property. It is both immoral and unfair.

Read the entire text of The Soul of Man by Oscar Wilde

Socialist World Map Project - Africa

After much painstaking work, I have finally compiled the socialist map of Africa. Like the previous installment of the western hemisphere, this map displays countries color coded by their degree of socialism (see previous Socialist World Maps). This is based on the platform of the ruling party or coalition of the country in addition to historical tendencies.

Africa was very difficult. First there are a lot of countries in Africa, but more importantly, many nations of Africa are in terrible shape due to the "African World War" in adition to general strife and the legacy of colonialism and the slave trade.

Nevertheless, there is a surprisingly large Marxist community in Africa, with much being centered in south Africa. Ethiopia was a socialist country for many years, but the drought and civil war invovling Eritrea and Djibouti, as well as conflict with Somalia, led to total state collapse in the 1980s and 1990s.

Tunisia and Lybia are classified as socialist because their official government position and economic systems are largely socialist, and after speaking with an Arab friend who has travelled in both countries gave me some insight into what the cultures there are really like.

Papandreou Elected Head of Socialist International

"With your help, we will all work hard to keep the flame of social democracy burning. A flame of hope for this challenging world."

More than 350 leaders and representatives from some 110 political parties and organizations gathered in Athens for the Council meeting of the Socialist International (SI) on 30-31 January 2006.

Athens News Agency (ANA-MPA) reports (link here):

Athens, Jan 30, 2006. [...] George Papandreou was unanimously elected as the new president of the Socialist International, during a meeting here on Monday of the organisation's council.

Papandreou was the uncontested candidate for the position, following his official nomination by a SI working group, headed by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero. The working group's recommendation was unanimously adopted in a show of hands vote.

In addressing delegates, Papandreou, the former Greek foreign minister, outlined what he called a vision for a better world and the central role that socialists have in such a prospect.

The PASOK leader cited an emphasis on greater freedom and democracy around the world, greater security, prosperity, equality and opportunities, but distinctly less poverty and hunger. "This will be a world that is more peaceful, with more cooperation," he said.

Papandreou added that the means humanity has at its disposal today can eradicate poverty, stop the "green house" effect, guarantee gainful employment, reduce infant mortality, improve healthcare, achieve equality between the sexes, include immigrants in local societies and stop the trafficking of drugs, weapons and people, among others.

Moreover, he outlined seven priorities for the organisation during his presidency, including:

• "democratisation of globalisation", noting that it is impossible to "have true democracy in the world when there is a massive accumulation of capital and power in the hands of the few; when multinationals challenge the power of democratically elected representatives of the people; and when mass media is controlled by vested interests and big business"
• Developing regional cooperation;
• Uniting citizens in common action, saying that socialists must today "redefine the balance between productivity, social justice and freedoms", while he again voiced his support for the "Scandinavian model", as he said;
• Relations between political parties and citizens;
• Cooperation with the "society of citizens" and the creation of new alliances;
• Gender equality, and finally,
• Building peace around the world and resolving crises, especially terrorism.
  

"We won't eradicate terrorism unless we tackle the reasons that cause it (terrorism)," he underlined.

Recommended (Socialist) Reading

Lately, I've been reading a lot which my comrades may find of interest. I find pleasure in reading, or media consumption in general, when 1) the content changes the way I thought about something, 2) when I learn something new, or 3) the content is entertainingly clever, which in my case tends to mean bitingly ironic social critique.

The January issue of the Monthly Review (Vol. 57, No. 8) contains three excellent and relevant cover stories all of which I highly recommend.

The first "The New Geopolitics of Empire" by John Bellamy Foster gives us the historical context of geopolitics and describes how it is being implemented today as explicit US policy, and specifically as constituted by PNAC and the Bush administration. The basic foundation of the theory is that all states are in constant competition with each other and must continually expand, both economically and militarily. The theory focuses on the geography of this realpolitik defining the geography as the stage. Sadly but not surprisingly, this is a very anti-humane worldview (states are the actors, not people) and further was a very influential concept with the Nazis.

The second is "What Will We Do?" by Ursula Huws. In part, this article is a discussion of individual identity as related to job categories and skill sets. This article also makes the argument that the current drive towards a "knowledge worker" global economy is, at its root, the creation of a global reserve army of labor. She describes historical trends to contextualize the current landscape of labor and touches on all the contemporary topics such as outsourcing and the heretofore decline of industrial unionism.

The third is "What Was The Matter with Ohio?" by James Straub. This fascinating article is an analysis of the shift in working class politics from the left to the right in the US, one outcome of which was Ohio going to Bush in the 2004 election (note: I am personally convinced that the evidence is more than complete to show that the Diebold voting machines had a lot to do with the election results). He describes how the evangelical churches have become a haven for a working class stripped of its jobs as industrial jobs are shed in Ohio by the hundreds of thousands. Straub tells the story of Ohio populism and progressive politics and its role as a catalyst for worldwide unionism, all of which has been devastated by the movement of industrial production to the Mad Max capitalism of the periphery areas, such as the Asian Rim. He quotes one of Karl Rove's strategists as describing the evangelical churches as the "new unions" - places where people find solidarity and where their politics are molded. Unfortunately these institutions are completely reactionary and focus the working class resentment along racial and gender lines. Not surprising considering they are largely funded by the ultra-right wing corporatocracy.

The Jan-Feb 2006 issue of ISR (International Socialist Review, Issue 45) has many interesting articles, a series of which focused on the California execution of Stan “Tookie” Williams changed my mind and opened my eyes. Especially relevant as February is “Black History Month” in the US, the articles tell the story of Stan Williams, his role in the Los Angeles gangs, arrest and conviction, and the incredible amount of work he did from jail to work to keep youths away from drugs and out of gangs. I encourage all to read the articles and (re)open your eyes to the truth of class warfare waged along race lines in America.

Finally, two book reviews from the Jan 13. Texas Observer (Vol. 98, No. 1) described a Texas I’d never know about – the Mexican-American radical communist-anarchists of El Paso at the turn of the last century (1890s-1920s). Ringside Seat to a Revolution by David Romo tells the story of El Paso during these times. Romo is a native of El Paso and he delves in the multiple micro-histories using psychogeographic techniques to weave a compelling and rich tapestry of a city experiencing dramatic social change.

In The Hummingbird’s Daughter, Luis Alberto Urrea is a novel, telling the story of his great-aunt Terresita Urrea, a famous healer and the Joan of Arc of the Mexican Revolution. Urrea was an inspirational figure in Mexico but had to flee to El Paso due to persecution by the Mexican Army. She was said to have healed over 10,000 people on one occasion, and many revolutionary fighters claimed that her apparition appeared during battles to lead them to victory.

Most of these articles should be available online, but I fully recommend subscription to any or all of the above mentioned publications.

Net Freedom Now

Some relevant propaganda, I encourage you to sign the petition:

What if …

• AT&T and Verizon blocked you from viewing your favorite podcasts and blogs?
• BellSouth cut off your net phone because you weren’t using their service?
• Comcast forced you to download MP3s from their store while slowing other music sites?
  

This threat is more real than you might think. Right now, the major communications companies are planning to discriminate against the online content and services that they don’t yet control.

http://www.netfreedomnow.org

Where to Buy Books

It is apparently common knowledge that Amazon.com is, like the other large companies of note in the post 1990s era (i.e. Wal-Mart, Verizon Wireless, Starbucks), extremely anti-union. What is book shopper to do, online or off?

Well, one of the places I've discovered when I visit NYC is called May Day Books located at 155 1st Ave. May Day is an anachist collective operated by unpaid volunteers. May Day has carved out a tiny space within the "Theater for New York City" but as you can see from the picture it is quite cozy. You will find books, zines, music, and videos that you are unlikely to find anywhere else. They even have Zapatista coffee! Check out their web site here: http://www.maydaybooks.net

For online shopping, I just today came across another anarchist collective called AK Press. AK has several locations in the US and England and relationships with some of the top publishers of alternative media. AK describes themselves as:

AK Press is a worker run book publisher and distributor organized around anarchist principles. All decision-making, including which titles we distribute and what we publish, is made collectively. Our goal is to make available radical books and other materials, titles that are published by independent presses, not the corporate giants, titles with which you can make a positive change in the world.

I found their site really easy to use and they had a lot of great books I was looking for but could not find elsewhere. Check them out here: http://www.akpress.org

For a more mainstream but unionized and pro-labor bookseller, there is Powell's. Although they do not carry very much of the alternative press publications, they do carry the majority of the mainstream books and a good selection of academic books you won't find elsewhere. They also have a decent used book selection. Check them out here: http://www.powells.com

Finally, another great place to browse is Colophon Books in Ithaca, NY. Downtown Ithaca is a book-lovers paradise with seven independent book sellers all more-or-less within walking distance of each other. Unique for an American city, central downtown Ithaca is setup as a walking mall called the Commons, with many great restaurants, shops and, of course, book stores. Colophon is interesting because they specialize in unique and macabre books including out-of-print, small print run and import publications. I picked up some beautiful Arthur Machen titles there printed using traditional methods; the form of the books appropriately echoing the beauty of the writing.

They are located at 205 N Aurora St, and you can check them out here: http://www.colophonbooks.us

Uncle Tom Kofi

"Any group that wishes to participate in the democratic process should ultimately disarm because to carry weapons and participate in a democratic process and sit in parliament, there is a fundamental contradiction and I'm sure they [Hamas] are thinking about that too." - Kofi Annan

I agree 100% Kofi. I hope this means that the UN is going to call for a global ban on weapons for all democratic countries and parties in the world.

Oops, sorry - this rule only applies to sand-niggers or other revolutionaries, tough luck Hamas!

(Thanks to BionicOc for bringing this to my attention)

Starbucks Workers Action!

Sean at tothebarricades.blogspot.com gives us a first hand account of the strike picket action against Starbucks in NYC. This is an excerpt from his post quoting the WSJ:

Details of Starbucks' woes at the National Labor Relations Board are also cited in the report. The company is set to stand trial on a wide range of charges including the termination of IWW member and former Starbucks barista Sarah Bender for exercising her right to join a union. Indeed, Starbucks' union-busting approach- high-priced anti-union consultants, propaganda, threats, and retaliation- is very similar to Wal-Mart's.

"The fact that some light has been shed on Starbucks' employment practices is a testament to the power of all the grassroots activists around the world that make up the Starbucks Workers Union community," said Daniel Gross, a barista and IWW organizer. "Never before has such a fundamentally anti-worker company done so well in creating a socially responsible image. With all the facts pointing to Starbucks as a poverty wage employer teeming with uninsured workers, the importance of a strong organization of baristas could not be more clear."

More here...

Lenin On Bolivia

Lenin at leninology.blogspot.com wrote an excellent post on Bolivia today. An excerpt follows, but I encourage you to read the whole thing:

Curiously enough, while much was made of Bachelet's victory in Chile introducing the first woman president to the country, comparatively little has been said about the fact that Morales is the first Indian president in Bolivia. It isn't that Bachelet's being a woman is insignificant - it just may be the only significant thing about her victory. Whereas Morales background intersects with the whole variety of reasons why he was elected. In short, this is the first Indian political leader Bolivia has had, in a country with an Indian majority, since Spanish colonialists conquered the area in 1525. It was the Indian population that provided an army of slave labourers to augment the "international help" in exploiting the silver mines. It was the colonial elite that controlled the country even after the colonists had been kicked out in 1809 - and a weak elite it was, too, susceptible to invasion and the loss of territory on all sides. It is fairly safe to say that this elite would have been dispatched a lot more rapidly and properly buried had it not been for US intervention. For although the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement had, following the 1952 revolution in which it ousted much of the old landed oligarchy and expropriated the mines, begun the process of consolidating the rule of the domestic middle class, it did create the conditions in which dual power could subsist. That was terminated by a CIA supported military coup in 1964, which saw Rene Barrientos take power until 1969, during which time miners had their wages cut and were massacred at Catavi. There was a short-lived left-nationalist regime under Gen. J.J. Torres in which workers's self-government was created in a popular assembly, and - yes - that too was supplanted after a mere two years by yet another CIA backed coup in 1971. General Banzer, after seven years of rule, was followed by a succession of military dictators known for their corruption, illicit narco-trafficking, and extraoardinary brutality. Subsequently, a sequence of liberalising governments allowed the country's nationalised assets to be bought off in large chunks by foreign investors - the so-called 'capitalisation' programme. Gen. Banzer won power electorally in 1997, with a mere 22% of the vote, and proceeded to crack down hard on the coca growers whose militancy had dogged previous governments, privatise industry, and renege on his pledge to suspend the privatisation of the oil company. All in accordance with the wishes of Washington. In 2001, he gave way to a former IBM employee, who in turn gave way to another 'technocratic' neoliberal. However, by then the genie was out of the bottle again - in 1998, the World Bank refused to guarantee a loan to finance water services in Cochabamba unless the utility was privatised and the costs passed on to consumers. In 1999, consortium led by Bechtel won the contract, and immediately doubled the price of water, which meant that for many it cost more than food. The World Bank kindly announced that it supported the full-cost pricing and declared that none of its loan could be used to subsidise water for the poor. In 2000, mass strikes and demonstrations broke the government and Bechtel were ordered out.

More here...

Onward, Christian soldiers!

I just found this old IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) song, made in response to World War I. I'm sure you will all understand why its irony is poetic even 100 years later (Note: I am a Christian, just not one who justifies murder with the Cross):

Christians at War (John F. Kendrick - 1916)

Onward, Christian soldiers! Duty's way is plain;
Slay your [Christian] neighbors, or by them be slain,
Pulpiteers are spouting effervescent swill,
God above is calling you to rob and rape and kill,
All your acts are sanctified by the Lamb on high;
If you love the Holy Ghost, go murder, pray and die.

Onward, Christian soldiers! Rip and tear and smite!
Let the gentle Jesus bless your dynamite.
Splinter skulls with shrapnel, fertilize the sod;
Folks who do not speak your tongue deserve the curse of God.
Smash the doors of every home, pretty maidens seize;
Use your might and sacred right to treat them as you please.

Onward, Christian soldiers! Eat and drink your fill;
Rob with bloody fingers, Christ okays the bill,
Steal the farmers' savings, take their grain and meat;
Even though the children starve, the Savior's bums must eat,
Burn the peasants' cottages, orphans leave bereft;
In Jehovah's holy name, wreak ruin right and left.

Onward, Christian soldiers! Drench the land with gore;
Mercy is a weakness all the gods abhor.
Bayonet the babies, jab the mothers, too;
Hoist the cross of Calvary to hallow all you do.
File your bullets' noses flat, poison every well;
God decrees your enemies must all go plumb to hell.

Onward, Christian soldiers! Blight all that you meet;
Trample human freedom under pious feet.
Praise the Lord whose dollar sign dupes his favored race!
Make the foreign trash respect your bullion brand of grace.
Trust in mock salvation, serve as tyrant's tools;
History will say of you: "That pack of Goddamn fools."

Socialist MP3s

I just stumbled across an interesting site with free downloads of socialist songs (MP3 files) and thought I'd share.

The site is called "Songs of Irish Labour" maintained by Helena Sheehan, a comrade who is a university professor at Dublin City University. Helena covers a wide range of socialist songs and tells her personal story of struggle as a socialist living through the past couple of decades.

Dr. Sheehan also maintains a page specifically about the song "The Red Flag" which can be found here. The Red Flag was written by labor activist Jim Connell 1889 and is a lovely and inspiring song.

What else? She has a bunch of links to other labor song sites, including the following:

• The Internationale: sound clip
• Sheffield Socialist Choir (3 sound clips)
• Union Songs
• Union Sites
• Other Music Sites
• Billy Bragg
• Tommy Sands
• Pete Seeger Phil Ochs Labi Siffre
• Bob Marley Alistair Hulett
• FoFMbM On The Web
• Industrial Worker -- Music/Song Songs of the IWW
• Liberator: The Songbook
• DSA Songs
• Ripe for Revolution
• Folk Music Home Page
• Artists
• Mudcat Cafe / Digital Traditions Folksong Database

So, check it out!

Socialist World Map Project (v2.0)

Based on recent events I have updated the Socialist Map of the Western Hemisphere. I also have decided to show occupied or colonized countries as "grey" on the map since these types of countries are not self-governed and the people have no real representation or political power.



Political events of note:

• Evo Morales (MAS Party) elected president of Boliva (18 December, 2005)
• Michelle Bachelet (Socialist Party) elected president of Chile (15 January, 2006)

I have not closely looked at all of the nations in the western hemisphere for electoral changes or other events so if there are corrections please let me know. I will update this map if I come across anything or anyone give me updates.

The map designates countries based on a spectrum defined here (previous version of map) and the research was done using Wikipedia cross-referenced with mainstream news sources and the the CIA World Factbook.

Obviously, my definition of socialist for the purpose of this mapping project does not mean that a given nation is organized as a truly socialist society.

Anyone interested in helping me with the rest of the world please let me know.

Yummy, Del.icio.us Linkrolls

OK I admit it - I am hooked on web 2.0 and the social software revolution. I will not deep-dive into that right now because I want to talk specifically about one web 2.0 technology, namely del.icio.us.

Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking tool which allows one to create a bookmark list and add tags to the bookmarks. These bookmarks are saved in a large online database shared by everyone else who uses the tool, and all of the tags and bookmarks are cross-referenced.

Four key advantages include 1) the ability to access your bookmarks from any device, 2) the ability to categorize the bookmarks for easy referencing, 3) the ability to see who else is bookmarking the things you are -and- to share your bookmarks with others, and 4) the ability to publish your bookmarks (e.g. for instance via RSS or linkrolls).

A linkroll in del.icio.us is defined as a list of links (bookmarks) which are associated with a particluar tag, and creating delicious linkrolls is simple!

First you have to have a del.icio.us account and create some bookmarks and tags. Then you simply go to this link http://del.icio.us/help/linkrolls and choose some preferences. A code snippet is provide for you to copy-and-paste into your webpage or blog and you are done! Whenever you add more bookmarks to that tag they automagically appear in the linkroll.

On this blog I have two delicious linkrolls on the right hand column, one is associated with my tag "fol" and the other "uncapitalist". I cannot tell you how thrilled I am with this tool and by the way, it is totally free! Needless to say, I am cancelling my Blogrolling.com account...

A Speech from a Real President

We in the USA have been inflicted with many presidents over the years. We have heard many speeches and learned in school and from the media that American democracy is "of, by and for the people." We learn from our president about "freedom" and the importance of "patriotism" although we are often left not quit sure what those things are. We are subjected to the lunatic gibbering of lunatics on a regular basis when our presidents are asked to engage in intellectual debate. We had a man with Alzheimer, albeit a tragic disease, representing us as our leader and literally worshipped as a national hero (even though he went by the nickname "Dutch," oddly enough). We have a president who refers to the richest 1% of the nation as "his base" with glee while sending the less fortunate to be ground into hamburger overseas (although as presidents go, he is far from unique in this regard, war and kowtowing to capital are national pastimes for American presidents).

So, ever wonder what it would be like to have a real president? One who had convictions he could intelligently elaborate upon? One who took representing "the People" seriously?

"Evo, what do you and the MAS understand by 'socialism,'" I asked him, when I was invited by the Executive Committee of the Bolivian Labor Central (COB). "To live in community and equality," he answered. "Fundamentally, in the peasant communities they have socialism. For example, if we speak of land. I come from the ayllu of the Department of Oruro. Clearly, where I live at this moment, in the East in Chapare, there are no ayllus. It is individual parceling, and there arise very serious problems, because it leads to small holdings, which you don't see in a peasant community where the land is communal."

"Does the socio-economic model of the MAS resemble more that of Lula, Cuba, or Hugo Chávez?" I insisted. "I believe it is something much deeper," he answered. "It is an economic model based on solidarity, reciprocity, community, and consensus. Because, for us, democracy is a consensus. In the community there is consensus, in the trade union there are majorities and minorities.

"Inside this official democracy of Bolivia they do not respect the thought, sentiments, and the sufferings of the national majorities. And within this framework we are seeking a communitarian socialism based on the community. A socialism, let's say, based on reciprocity and solidarity. And beyond that, respecting Mother Earth, the Pacha Mama. It is not possible within that model to convert Mother Earth to merchandise. In Bolivia with the agrarian reform it is better to be a vaccinated cow than a human being. For a vaccinated cow there are 25 hectares and for a human being there is nothing."

Read more here...

Evo Morales, Communitarian Socialism and the Regional Power Block
By Heinz Dieterich
Jan 14, 2006, 18:12