Socialist Visions

In our series on evaluating the Bernie Sanders platforms, we foucs on in this epsiode on the goal of making college education tutition free and debt free. Many people are asking how can we have tutition free college. We will cover what Senator Sander's platform is proposing, and then we explain how indeed state sponsored education can be done even in a capitalist econmy— though it would be even better under a socialist economy. Listen and call in wiith your feedback. 347-857-1319.

This is second part in a series in which we explore and expand on the political platforms of Bernie Sanders.  In this episode, we would talk about the all-important issue of income and wealth inequality, which we see as the basis of so many of the social and economic ills facing this country and the rest of the world. As we always do, you will also propose how modern socialism could reduce economic inequality. We invite your feedback to the show.

Bill Fletcher Jr has been an activist since his teen years. Upon graduating from college he went to work as a welder in a shipyard, thereby entering the labor movement. Over the years he has been active in workplace and community struggles as well as electoral campaigns. He has worked for several labor unions in addition to serving as a senior staffperson in the national AFL-CIO. Fletcher is the former president of TransAfrica Forum; a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies; an editorial board member of BlackCommentator.com; and in the leadership of several other projects. Fletcher is the co-author (with Peter Agard) of “The Indispensable Ally: Black Workers and the Formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, 1934-1941″; the co-author (with Dr. Fernando Gapasin) of “Solidarity Divided: The crisis in organized labor and a new path toward social justice“; and the author of “‘They’re Bankrupting Us’ – And Twenty other myths about unions.” Fletcher is a syndicated columnist and a regular media commentator on television, radio and the Web.

In light of the continue attack and murder of Black people in this coutry by racist cops, Bernie Sanders released a platform about what he plans to do about racial injustice. We will spend this episode putting racial injustice in context of the present day police brutality and discussing what his platform means for Black communities and communities of color in this country.

The Black Panther Party was one of the most militant, influenetial, respected, and targeted Black Nationalist groups during the 60s and 70s. As part of its ten point program, the BPP essentially advocated for an end to capitalism, and replacing it with the objectives of socialism. We will discuss why and how this program is still relevant to today.

Though many people still can't invision the United States as being a socialist country, the popular support of Bernie Sanders does show that people want a political economy that works in the interests of all people, and not just in the interests of a small property owning class. To this end, we discuss in this episode how the US might move from a capitalist/imperialist impire to a socialist political economy that really works for the people, and a better world overall.

In this episode, we share books we've read over the years that are useful for understanding and critiquing capitalism and socialism. We will be recommending both classic and contemporary books that are assessable to general readers. We invite you to call in with their own recommendations. 347-857-1319.

There's lots of misunderstanding and misconceptions about the theories and practices of socialism — its history and implications for the future. In this episode we provide some analysis of how socialism evolved, what were and are some of its strengths and weaknesses, and what needs to be done to have real socialism in the future. This show is extension follows a previous show about the difference between democratic socialism and revolutionary socialism.

In this episode we will discuss why Bernie's presidential platform is important whether he wins the election or not, and what it means for the US, the world eonomy overall. If you don't know, his platform includes the following:

Universal healthcareFree/affordable public collegeTransform our energy systemOverturn Citizens UnitedRaise the minimum wage to $15End the war on drugsRebuild our crumbling instructorRaise taxes on the 1%Stop endless military spendingExpand Social SecurityEnd police brutalityDemilitarized the police

Note: we apologize for the technical issues with this show. Most of the show can be heard, but there were drops in audio, but of the most show is still clear enough to be heard. 

In this episode, we discuss why we ultimately need a 20 hour week. It's difficult to imagine people actually working less and not more. We will discuss the problems and challenges of work in a capitalist society, and how a shift from the 40-hour work week would lead to greater freedom and choices for all people. Call in with your comments and questions: 347-857-1319.