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Podcast: Brian Becker. The current situation in the US

Bob Morris, on Nov 14, 2005, 8:34 am

Brian Becker is the National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition and a founding member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

He speaks about the current situation in the US from a Marxist perspective. For example, the 450 billionaires in the world have a combined wealth equal to that of three billion of the poorest. The polarization is growing. It’s not just about Bush, it’s about a system. This isn’t the ‘end of history’ much as the neocons would wish to portray it that way. Once the people realize they have the power, and function as the power, then they will have the power.

He continues, the Iraq War wasn’t an intelligence failure. Every member of Congress knew Iraq posed no danger, that there were no WMD, that Iraq was not responsible for 9/11. They all knew that – and voted for war anyway. An imperialist US has been invading other countries for decades. Congress knew precisely what they were doing, they were not “misled.” Instead, their actual intelligence failure was in thinking Iraqis would not fight back, that a people can not rise up and enter the historical process.

That’s a mistake isolated, arrogant rulers often make, isn’t it? And our rulers are just as much Democratic as Republican. Now they’re pretending they were misled when in reality the Iraq War was just another US colonial occupation by force of yet another country. So let’s not waste precious time and energy in the delusion that Hillary (or John Kerry or Al Gore) will do anything different if elected. The problem is far deeper than just one rogue politician

Some quotes:

“From our point of view, all CIA agents should have their identities revealed because they’re all criminals.”

“The beauty of capitalist democracy is that every four years the people get to choose who will oppress them for the next four years.”

“Our challenge as a movement is to take the growing expose of Bush’s crimes, which are the crimes of capitalism, is how to build an independent workers movement – that’s what socialism is – and not tie our fate to the Democrats or the Republicans, but build the struggle to have confidence in the people themselves, that we will become the masters of society, that we will be its leaders, that we don’t need millionaire/billionaire proxies”

mp3 (32:45, 11.5 mb) From a PSL conference in L.A. on 11/12/05.

Category: Podcasts, Socialism | 4 comments - (Comments are closed)

  • http://voidnow.org d.a.n

    “The beauty of capitalist democracy is that every four years the people get to choose who will oppress them for the next four years.”

    Sadly, that’s exactly what’s going on.
    The what to put an end to it is to do what
    we were supposed to be doing all along.
    Vote Out Incumbents, repeatedly, until they
    resolve some of our most     pressing problems.
    It’s the most simple, easy, non-partisan,
    inexpensive, peaceful, safe, and responsible
    way to peacefully force the federal government
    to be responsible and accountable too.

  • http://wwwradicalglasgow.me.uk John

    When has the federal government, (or parliament) ever been seen to resolve the problems of the working class. When have they ever been accountable? don’t you think that the track record of the capitalist/corporate greed system has had enough time to prove that it works for the benefit of the majority?

  • http://voidnow.org d.a.n

    Not at all. Not the majority.
    Not when 5% of the wealthiest have 60% of all wealth,
    how can the remaining 40% have a voice.
    Not when 10% of the wealthiest have 79% of all wealth,
    how can the remaining 21% have a voice.
    The government is FOR SALE.
    Only the people can change it.
    There is a simple want to do it.
    Just do what you’re supposed to do ( http://voidnow.org )

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