Brian and Pat are back! 6 days away from a government shutdown and the 2 most powerful state officials are headed for a possible veto fight in Trenton! Plastic bags are now banned, wait, no, not banned. But banned from being banned? WTF indeed.

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On today’s episode Heather interviews Cody Lamie from Workers World Party in Philadelphia. They discuss imperialism, colonialism, communism, mass organization, an upcoming event WWP is organizing on Philadelphia. We had a few technical glitches which was clearly the CIA meddling, but it was a good conversation otherwise. Check them out, even if you aren’t someone who identifies as a communist. We all have so much more in common than we think.

Heather and Cody finally get together to talk about anti-capitalism after a month of trying. Free time is a scarcity in socialist organizing circles. Workers World Party is a Marxist/Leninist party formed in 1959. The main focus of WWP is anti-imperialism. WWP doesn’t have anyone on the ballot in Philly this year, but they do in California. Their electoral goals are to push the political consciousness left. If you can control the narrative in debates, you can bring you issues to the table.  the 2 corporate pasties will never talk about imperialism or income inequality. Outside of anti-imperialism, WWP also seeks to form ties with the international left.

In  the 6 months following the Trump election, membership in Workers World Party Philadelphia doubled. No one predicted it. This infusion of fresh membership allowed them to grow into new local campaigns. They began a campaign against the opioid crisis in Philly. Members work with the homeless in Philly’s “tent cities”.  They participate in a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction campaign against the Philadelphia Orchestra. BDS is a campaign against Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians. BDS is an effective tool against apartheid regimes. Boycotts hit them in the pocketbook by making apartheid unprofitable. This effective tool was used in South Africa against their apartheid regime.  This is not about antisemitism, but basic human rights.

People rarely talk about the evils of imperialism. Imperialism in its simplest form is monopoly capitalism. First world capitalism demands constant growth. It drains all local resources and them moves on to exploiting the global south. When profits fall in the local market industrial capitalists move into untapped markets. Where the capitalists see only markets, there are actually people. Those people have their resources stolen. The capitalists force them to work for 19 cents an hour for basic survival. When those people become disgruntled, the capitalists simply start an interventionist war to quell their worker uprising and install a puppet leader.

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Meet Yves Nibungco, an organizer from Jersey City with roots in The Philippines. Yves works on The International Committee on Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) and organized locally with the New Jersey Philippine Solidarity Committee. He describes how  his ancestors suffered under colonialism and oppression from several imperial powers. The conditions of this archipelago nation have taken shape under rule of The United States, China, and Spain since the 1500’s. The generations of injustice have borne a strong rebellious spirit in the Filipino people that Yves takes great pride in. He and his compatriots continue on in that revolutionary spirit. Check out the podcast or our Facebook Livestream then you can support the Philippine struggle by taking action!

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The budget shutdown looms and the Democratic Party shows that even with total 1 party control of the government we can still have battles over a millionaires tax and marijuana laws. Pat brings up the unlikely vote totals in the big Senate Primary race where a relatively unknown challenger made a very real showing against Bob Menendez. The other primaries fared no better for Progressive Dems who saw the establishment trounce grassroots efforts at change. There is always cursing when we talk about the statehouse shenanigans, so parents, please put headphones on around the kids. More to come as this drama plays out!

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