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Nation magazine is as far left as Fox News is far right. So I wasn't surprised to see this article in the Nation's online edition on Aug. 7: "America Has a Long and Storied Socialist Tradition. DSA Is Reviving It."

It's supposed to impress us with the argument that socialism has been an integral part of American politics and has had some storied successes. Chief among them, according to the article byJohn Nichols, is Milwaukee.

From 1910 to 1960, the hotbed of socialism in America was Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the time it was one of the largest and most prosperous cities in Americaand it was run by Socialists.

And so forth. But what Nichols fails to mention in this long homage

Milwaukee's Sewer Socialist mayors: Emil Seidel, Dan Hoan and Frank Zeidler.(Milwaukee Public Library)

to Milwaukee "socialism" is that it was widely known as "sewer socialism." It wasa variety of municipal reforms that would not be considered socialist or progressive by the likes of Bernie Sanders or his far left supporters.

The Wisconsin Historical Society described it as " a program of political action that, while operating under the name of Socialism, was really a variety of moderate reform."

In other words, municipal ownership of the street cars and utilities and the kind of "good government" today advancedby civic and business groups. The term "sewer socialism" was...

coined by Morris Hillquit at the 1932 Milwaukee convention of the Socialist Party of America, as a commentary on the Milwaukee socialists and their perpetual boasting about the excellent public sewer system in the city. [From Wikipedia.]

Nichols' omission might not have been intentional, considering the way history is taught these days in schools. But it does, by omission, overstate the extent of socialism's "storied history."

dennis@dennisbyrne.net

http://www.dennisbyrne.net

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Nation magazine's deceptive article about socialism in America - ChicagoNow (blog)

Traditionally, the game industry leveraged its appeal and playful aura to exploit its workers. Young passionate developers were hired, worked until they burned out, regularly laid off, and replaced with younger, less-demanding ones.

But in the early 2000s, these unfortunate working conditions, along with the lack of individual agency for developers on increasingly large teams, collided with the wider availability of game-making tools. This gave rise to a lively independent games movement.

Like their counterparts in other culture industries, indie developers pursued more experimental and personal projects, rejecting dull and hierarchical corporate structures. They strived to build more inclusive communities of players and developers. (I talked about this in a 2012 lecture at Indiecade called Toward Independence.)

Alas, it turns out that the crucial component of informational capitalism is distribution. Conglomerates like Apple, Sony, and Microsoft quickly adapted to this peaceful seizure of the means of production. They opened their markets to indies and even supported some of them, while consolidating control over the vectors along which content previously known as culture spreads in order to get a cut at every transaction. The result is a saturated market in which small producers take all the financial risk and rarely succeed financially, while platform capitalists make handsome profits while producing basically nothing.

McKenzie Wark detected this trend more than a decade ago in A Hacker Manifesto. In it, he describes what he calls a vectoralist class, which doesnt control the means of production but instead mediates connections and access to information.

This model, which was generalized by Google and is now increasingly applied by non-informational services like Uber and Airbnb, presents daunting new challenges for socialists. Traditional responses like unionization may become less effective given the interchangeability of the productive units. Workers may see this new, precarious autonomy as a satisfying alternative to underpaid nine-to-five jobs.

And if not the factory or the office, where exactly is the primary site of class conflict? Can these platforms constitute the first primitive infrastructure for a democratic, non-centralized socialist economy in which I can be a driver one day and a game designer the next?

Continued here:
Socialism at Play - Jacobin magazine

We can defeat socialism, but not through reactionary, survivalist methods. We must once again make the church the center of our community life, support positive local programs that truly help people become financially independent, free of government

Socialisms barbs have sunk deep into the heart of Americas soul. We see the Titanic struggle as Democrats and Republicans jointly hamper Trumps attempts to return choices to the people. Washington will never willingly stop its progressive control, but we can make them.

As one who has studied the progressive/socialist movement from the Congressional halls to small communities across the country, I believe we have a rich opportunity to adapt an explosive method to defeat the anti-Constitutional forces in America.

For years, Constitutionalists have joined marches, attended meetings, written articles, and built networks.

Through speeches, seminars and videos we have exposed regionalists for grabbing local authority, sustainable development for driving up housing costs, and federal regulations for usurping local land use and zoning laws. Experts in education, climate science, and Constitutional law have bared how our federal agencies and court system are turning the land of the free into regions of the fettered.

Despite successes, every week reveals the incessant tick-tock of the socialist advance.

In September 2016, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority used taxpayers money to reduce the monthly rents to $75 for HUD residents who visited relatives overseas for up to 3 months. The agency felt it was unfair that East Africans should have to save for so long to take an international trip most working Americans will never be able to afford.

In 2014, an affordable housing developer proposed building low-cost housing in a closed Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania warehouse. When the voters and officials rejected the plan for zoning reasons, the developer contacted HUD who sued Whitehall. By December 2016, Whitehall agreed to change their zoning laws, operate under a court-appointed monitor, and pay the developer $375,000 for costs including out of pocket expenses.

In a socialist society, the government defines fair and votes become a minor nuisance.

The progressive movement in America has advanced so far that in 2016, the unelected Thrive Regional Partnership consisting of 16 counties in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, urged their faked regional community to take inspiration from the works of Parag Khanna. Khanna is a global strategist who preaches that nations must merge into connected regions overseen by direct technocracy. He advocates that the American Democracy of our Founding Fathers, (he apparently does not realize the U.S. is a Constitutional Republic,) is crumbling and must be replaced by a technocratic intelligentsia.

Khannas technocracy model recommends we eliminate the U.S. Senate and replace the President with a 7-member panel of elite, ivy-league educated experts who are better equipped to make decisions than squabbling elected officials and uninformed citizens. The nation would consist of regions managed by unelected councils. Local community members would merely have an opportunity to offer input. (Think of a regional planning session where all opinions are welcome, but only those that meet the pre-determined outcomes are accepted.)

This Communist nightmare is closer than you think. Regions like San Franciscos Association of Bay Area Governments and Minneapolis Twin Cities Regional Council, routinely force through transit lines, toll roads, complete streets, and housing projects against voters wishes.

Along with dozens of other regions, these groups and hundreds of existing Councils of Governments are salivating to turn Khannas direct technocracy into your future.

President Trump has thrown a monkey wrench into the lefts relentless drive toward a centrally managed nation. He has been immensely successful in re-working bad trade deals, opening industries for growth, and reducing costly federal regulations. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment is the exposure of the vitriol and atrocities of the leftist establishment.

Still, Trump is not enough.

HUDs 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, handed the progressive movement a legal tool to bludgeon communities into central planning and assault the poor while masquerading as their rescuers. AFFH represents the clearest threat to independence, property rights, and local autonomy in our history.

Yet, HUDs recent resolution of the AFFH-based Westchester case and the confirmation of Dr. Carson as HUD Secretary have left the rule fully intact.

We must disconnect local communities from federal dependence because it is the lifeblood of socialism. Big government does not help the poor, it feeds on them. Since 1965 the U.S. poverty rate has not wavered from between 11% and 15%, ever! This, despite spending over $20 trillion.

The left needs the poor to be poor. It is the only way they can garner the votes to remain office. Imagine entering an election cycle knowing that 11%-15% of the people think they need you for they fear they will not eat.

It is not just poverty that propels socialism. The socialist movement eliminated Christianity in government and education because they know what our Founders knew. Only a moral society can be a free society. Without a Christian moral foundation, America devolves into more offenses and violence, which leads to more elitists and tighter state control.

It is time to attack the heart of the progressive beast. The only way to kill the socialist movement is to free the poor, eliminate the demand for federal money and reinstate the church as the center of community life.

A growing society of independent, financially successful, Christian practicing, and capitalist African-Americans and Latinos is the equivalent of an Ebola outbreak inside the haughty progressive political community.

This much-abused base must be realigned with people who have no political axes and no concern other than to help them out of poverty and to share in freedom.

Community programs are already proving that low-income minorities will change their allegiances when they feel the benefits of new opportunities. That is why, in the Spring of 2017 I started the Miss Mary Project. We are a church-based program that teaches working age members of low-income families in urban and suburban areas, not just how to get a job, but how to excel on the job and become indispensable, promotable employees. Rather than help people rise to just above poverty, we help propel them to a lifetimg of success, reducing the need for federal programs.

Our work is based on 30 years of corporate leadership training experience and builds on existing successful programs for the poor. The Miss Mary Project has been so well-received that we are already opening publicly supported centers in Chattanooga, TN and Greenville, SC with plans to go nationwide.

We can defeat socialism, but not through reactionary and survivalist methods. We must once again make the church the center of our community life and engage in and support positive local programs that truly help people become financially independent and free of government.

John Anthony is President of Sustainable Freedom Lab, LLC, John is deeply concerned about the impact of government regulations and particularly sustainable development programs on businesses, property rights and our successful American way of life. To that end, he develops and presents programs to inform conservative, liberal, and independent Americans of the pitfalls of current policies.

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How to Annihilate US Socialism and Force Washington to Listen - Canada Free Press

Satish Kumar, a beloved elder of the green movement, has been setting the global agenda for change for the last 60 years. Greatly inspired by E.F. Schumacher, author of the iconic Small is Beautiful, Satish started the Schumacher Society in the UK and the experimental Small School in Hartland, Devon. He founded the Schumacher College and has been its Programme Director since. After 43 years of editing and steering the Resurgence magazine (Britains longest-serving editor), the publication, described as the artistic and spiritual flagship of the green movement, Satish stepped down as its editor soon after his 80th birthday. He is the author of several books, the most notable one being No Destination, which is the story of his 8,000-mile walk from New Delhi to Washington to plead for nuclear disarmament.

Satish Kumar is the innovative, imaginative and ever expansive global Gandhian, pacifist, author, farmer, editor, educator and activist, mentor to millions in the green-humanitarian movement. Described as one of Indias most illustrious sons, recipient of several world accolades, he travels the world, speaking, teaching and inspiring. He turns 81 this month.

Over the years, I have come to understand that all my actions ought to be driven by a sense of service. You know that quote from Rabindranth Tagore? He said, I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy. I am in the service of the earth and her forests, rivers, animals and people. Young or old is only an idea. As long as my health permits, I wish to serve until my last breath. Through service I connect with people, animals and nature. Life is nothing but connectivity which is another word for relationship. E.M. Forster famously said, only connect which means that in order to be a good earth citizen, thats all we need to do.

Schumacher offered me the post of the editor of Resurgence magazine in 1973. At that time I was only visiting the UK and was planning to return to India to work with the Gandhian movement. Schumacher said, You will make an excellent editor of Resurgence. I answered, But I want to return to India. Schumacher asked, Why? I replied, I am a Gandhian and I wish to work for the Gandhian movement. Schumacher said, But Satish, there are many Gandhians in India, we need one in England. Make Resurgence a Gandhian magazine, both have the same values. Ecological reverence, social justice, spiritual values, simple living, local industry and political action, are what Resurgence stands for. Schumachers argument was very persuasive and in 1973, I became editor of Resurgence. I am delighted to say that over the years, Resurgence has carried articles from the wisest, brightest, most iconoclastic thinkers from every part of the globe. Of particular interest to me is to link East and West, Gandhi and other global public intellectuals.

My biggest challenge is to interpret Gandhi for our times. It is not necessary to go back to Gandhi, we have to transport him to our time. For me sarvodaya (the upliftment of all) is much more inclusive than any political ideal. Capitalism and the free market benefit the 'few' at the expense of the 'many' and particularly at the expense of nature. Socialism or communism also puts humans above nature. Socialism is utilitarian the greatest good of the greatest number. But sarvodaya does not put humans above nature. Sarvodaya is the well-being and upliftment of all living entities humans, animals, forests and oceans. Capitalism and socialism are both anthropocentric. Sarvodaya is bio-centric or life-centric and much more relevant today when life-giving air, water, forests and land are being sucked away from us by commerce. For far too long has Nature been sacrificed at the altar of growth. Sarvodaya promotes elegant simplicity, frugality, sustainability, respect for bio-diversity and nature conservation. This dimension of Gandhi has been at the centre of Resurgence and my lifes work.

Schumacher College is a new model of radical and cutting-edge education which encourages one to critically engage with ecology, economics, livelihood, political action and sustainable living. Our work is to inspire, challenge and question ourselves as co-inhabitants of the world, to ask the questions we all struggle to find answers to and to find sound knowledge, intuition and wonder in our search for solutions. This is a place for personal transformation and collective action. We describe this as a holistic approach to learning, practising the education of head, heart and hands, bridging the gap between theory and practice, knowledge and experience. Schumacher College is now a respected college that attracts some of the worlds most well-known thinkers, philosophers, writers, scientists, activists and artistes and students of all ages and from every corner of the globe.

Look at what the realists and pragmatists have done for us. They have led us to war and climate change, poverty on an unimaginable scale, and wholesale ecological destruction. Half of humanity goes to bed hungry because of the realistic leaders of the world. I tell people who call me unrealistic to show me what their realism has done. Realism is an outdated, overplayed and wholly exaggerated concept. Instead, we need to learn from nature. Nature is realistic; man is the only being who is not. Who else goes to bed hungry? Not snakes or tigers or any other animal. Nature does not need 'realistic' Tescos or Monsantos to feed itself. Our system of 'realistic' business leadership has totally failed. We need more idealism in the world. And yes, the poor are never the problem. It is the rich who are making a mess of the world in pursuit of greater and greater wealth, causing pollution, resource depletion and climate change.

Disenfranchisement or feelings of powerlessness are the casualties of globalisation because globalisation benefits only the global players big companies, multinational corporations. Globalisation concentrates wealth in fewer and fewer hands. This is why the top 1% own more than 50% of global wealth. So, fundamentalism is, to some extent, the result of the failure of the neoliberal market economy. The pursuit of power and wealth by any means, corrupt or otherwise, has been the agenda of politicians during the past 50 years. So, we need to return to a decentralised human scale, humble, modest and sustainable form of economics and politics. The more people are empowered, the less extremism there will be.

It is time for the environmental movement to embrace the cause of animal rights. The green movement is rightly concerned about global warming and climate change, loss of biodiversity, clear-cutting of rainforests, pollution of our rivers and oceans and the explosion of human population. But one important dimension is missing from our environmental agenda and that is attention to the cruel plight of animals used for food, entertainment and experiments as much as those lost to us by poaching and forest depletion. Animals are part and parcel of the environment, so I call upon all environmental activists and organisations to remedy this and embrace the cause of animal rights as an integral and important part of the environment movement. We need to add the rights of animals to the welfare of animals. This fundamental dignity of life and equality of rights is an essential foundation upon which the environmental movement has to be built.

My guiding mantra is Soil, Soul, Society. The nurturing of the first two will automatically give rise to the happy third. I have spoken and written about this extensively.

India has a soul that is philosophically so large that it is unfathomable to many cultures. So, it pains me to see narrow sectarian thinking, keeping India in the dark ages, causing strife and dissent, and in the process ignoring the real issues that concern the county. I ask Indians to exercise their own independent judgement to focus on what really matters. I also ask Indians to lead the world in ahimsa (non-violence) and kindness, through embracing all that is culturally and socially noble.

Satish Kumar will be teaching Gandhi and Globalisation at Navdanya Farm, Dehradun, between October 29 and November 2, 2017.

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Sarvodaya, the solution to the ills of capitalism and socialism - The Hindu

Letters to the Editor (Aug. 9): Kansans, socialism, Catholic conference, city funding Wichita Eagle (blog) An Aug. 7 claimed that our military, police, fire, interstate highway system and social security were examples of socialism. Webster's definition of socialism is any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ...

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Letters to the Editor (Aug. 9): Kansans, socialism, Catholic conference, city funding - Wichita Eagle (blog)