Unionmaid
September 17th, 2005, 07:21 PM
Dear Editor,
Thanks, Stranger Election Control Board, for your endorsement. Wow, maybe the revolution will be televised!
As for your suggestion that I leave the Freedom Socialist Party for the Democrats, hell will freeze before that happens. I dumped the Dems for socialism in the 1980s, after “liberal” Pres. Jimmy Carter reinstated registration for the draft. Since then, well-meaning folks have advised, “You’ll get further if you drop the ‘s’ word.”
But, truth be told, any progress toward justice in this country is due to independent political mass movements, with radicals and socialists leading the way. On the other hand, look at what the Democrats did to the massive anti-war movement which was out in the streets at the start of the Iraq War. Like you advise me, they urged protesters to “join the mainstream dialogue” via the Kerry campaign--and they killed the movement.
I’m a revolutionary feminist because I’ve studied Marxism and it makes far more sense than so-called “free-market” theories à la Milt Friedman and trickle-down Bush. What Marx scientifically showed is that, if humanity is to evolve, socialism is the next stage. Global productive forces are advanced enough to feed the entire world, and reduce the workweek—if the economy were planned, wealth shared, and industry publicly owned under the control of workers.
Instead, under capitalism, (or “market forces” as Jan Drago calls it) we get wars, man-made disasters like New Orleans, the trashing of our environment, and AIDS epidemics. The sooner we close Wall Street, the better for us and the world. Viva socialismo!
By the way, I call for a $17/hour minimum wage for all who work in Seattle, not just city contractors. In every nation (except Cuba) the poor are getting poorer and the rich richer. Few of us are paid what we need to survive, which in overpriced Seattle is at least $17 an hour.
In solidarity,
Linda Averill
Seattle City Council candidate Position 4
Thanks, Stranger Election Control Board, for your endorsement. Wow, maybe the revolution will be televised!
As for your suggestion that I leave the Freedom Socialist Party for the Democrats, hell will freeze before that happens. I dumped the Dems for socialism in the 1980s, after “liberal” Pres. Jimmy Carter reinstated registration for the draft. Since then, well-meaning folks have advised, “You’ll get further if you drop the ‘s’ word.”
But, truth be told, any progress toward justice in this country is due to independent political mass movements, with radicals and socialists leading the way. On the other hand, look at what the Democrats did to the massive anti-war movement which was out in the streets at the start of the Iraq War. Like you advise me, they urged protesters to “join the mainstream dialogue” via the Kerry campaign--and they killed the movement.
I’m a revolutionary feminist because I’ve studied Marxism and it makes far more sense than so-called “free-market” theories à la Milt Friedman and trickle-down Bush. What Marx scientifically showed is that, if humanity is to evolve, socialism is the next stage. Global productive forces are advanced enough to feed the entire world, and reduce the workweek—if the economy were planned, wealth shared, and industry publicly owned under the control of workers.
Instead, under capitalism, (or “market forces” as Jan Drago calls it) we get wars, man-made disasters like New Orleans, the trashing of our environment, and AIDS epidemics. The sooner we close Wall Street, the better for us and the world. Viva socialismo!
By the way, I call for a $17/hour minimum wage for all who work in Seattle, not just city contractors. In every nation (except Cuba) the poor are getting poorer and the rich richer. Few of us are paid what we need to survive, which in overpriced Seattle is at least $17 an hour.
In solidarity,
Linda Averill
Seattle City Council candidate Position 4