On this episode of SPS, Sophia and Pamela sit down with Spencer L., founding member of Platypus and historian of imperialism, to discuss the Rittenhouse trial and the “Left’s” response. They clear up the confusion around the Second Amendment among todays leftists, address the anti-racism of progressive liberals, and take up responses by Daniel Lazare (Weekly Worker) and the Bolshevik Tendency. In the second part of the episode, Andreas W. and Platypus Melbourne member, Ryan M., interview Sue Bolton (Socialist Alliance) on the protests against the Australian vaccine mandate, including the September attack on the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) offices. Union leadership was under attack by union members for their complicity with state measures, which prevented a return to work without vaccination. Andreas and Ryan ask, how should the left respond? Are these protests simply cannon fodder for the right? How should socialists understand this discontent in civil society?

SEGMENT I Links

>The “Left” on Rittenhouse

Daniel Lazare, “Rittenhouse and White Backlash” in the Weekly Worker, issue 1373 (25 November 2021)

https://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1373/rittenhouse-and-white-backlash/

“...The idea that good guys need guns to defend themselves against bad guys is asinine, since it is often far from clear in a shootout which is which. It is a determination that cannot be made individually on the spur of the moment, but can only be made deliberately and collectively, which is why democracy requires judges, courts and other such apparatus.”

Milwaukee DSA Statement on Rittenhouse Verdict, (22 November 2021)

https://milwaukee.dsawi.org/milwaukee-dsa-statement-on-rittenhouse-verdict/

“It is no coincidence that Rittenhouse wants to be a police officer when he grows up. The US injustice system was developed to enshrine white supremacy at the expense of those who work to undo it. As those in power continue to build upon the fascist foundations of our nation, it becomes ever-clearer that abolition of police and the carceral state at large is the only path forward.”

Bolshevik Tendency, “Killer Rittenhouse Goes Free—Fascists Celebrate”

https://bolsheviktendency.org/2021/11/27/killer-rittenhouse-goes-free-fascists-celebrate/

“Decent people do not recognize the “right” of fascists and their various ultra-rightist friends and associates to mobilize—nor do we recognize their right to “defend” themselves against attempts to disarm them, which is what Rittenhouse’s victims were seeking to do. While the latter’s tactics were obviously seriously deficient, their intent was commendable.”

>Education on Liberalism & Constitutional Rights

Ira Glasser, Free Speech and the ACLU, an interview by Glenn Greenwald

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGI4fc_VB7c

Platypus Public Fora Series: The Second Amendment and the Left

Platypus Review 110 (October 2018): https://platypus1917.org/2018/10/01/the-second-amendment-and-the-left/

June 9, 2018, University of Houston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaaAqAm6oAw

SEGMENT II Links

Sue Bolton's article in Green Left, Socialist Alliance's publication: https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/behind-attack-cfmeu-office

The other Green Left article Andreas quotes, by Dave Kellaway: https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/italy-fascists-attack-biggest-trade-union-confederation

Socialist Alliance's website: https://socialist-alliance.org/

Hosted by Sophia F., Pamela N. and Andreas W., with original tracks by Tamas Vilaghy, and editing assistance by Michael Woodson and Tamas Vilaghy. To learn more about Platypus, go to https://platypus1917.org/.