Has anyone noticed a very interesting development that has been taking place in Wisconsin, the home of the most right-wing reactionary Republican governor in the United States, over the last month?
The Democrats--- including Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and all of these millionaire labor leaders--- have made Wisconsin the focus of their attention with more political activity than in the past than over the past six years during Scott Walkers term as governor of Wisconsin...
And they expect all of us to drop everything we are doing, including taking days off from work!
To do what? Campaign for Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.
Now, here is my question...
Actually two questions:
1. How come these millionaire labor leaders did not exert the same efforts and marshal the same resources to support the militant initiatives of the rank-and-file working class and grassroots activists who took to the streets, occupied the Wisconsin State Capitol and were preparing for a general strike to halt Scott Walker, the Republicans and the Koch Family bosses in their tracks as they destroyed the standard of living of millions by taking away the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions?
And, two...
Why weren't the same efforts and resources brought into the struggle to recall Scott Walker after the Democrats and their millionaire labor leaders friends pushed workers out of the streets and sabotaged their efforts that were leading towards a general strike by making people believe they would spare no efforts at getting a political solution through recalling Scott Walker?
And, the non-struggle position of the Greens who set up separate rallies because the millionaire labor leaders and their Democratic Party allies and friends didn't want their participation in the labor movement; so, instead of fighting for their right to participate in a UNITED struggle, the Greens took the cowardly way out of non-struggle.
All of this begs the question:
Why should workers waste their time and limited resources working for any of these worthless Democrats, of which we now know for certain Bernie Sanders is one of them.
Vote for whoever you want...
But put your efforts and resources into building a new working class based people's party that will finally challenge Wall Street and its two political parties for political and economic power.
The most successful alternative party in the United States has been the socialist Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party which called for the creation of the "cooperative socialist commonwealth" which would have brought the mines, mills, factories, banks, communications and energy industries under public ownership and control--- something this phony socialist Bernie Sanders and his long time "democratic socialist" colleagues are determined not to talk about just like they have determined they will not place on the table and before the people in the public square the need to beat swords into plowshares as the way to peace and a full employment economy.
We need an anti-monopoly/anti-imperialist working class movement of which this new party would be an integral component...
This is what movement building is all about.
And we can't build this movement if we are allowing the Democrats to drain our strength and monopolize our limited resources.
Bernie Sanders and the current labor unions in the grip of these millionaire labor leaders have the resources to tell the Democrats to go to hell but they are not going to do this.
This initiative needs to come from rank-and-file and grassroots activists.
Why are we delaying taking the required action?
All that is required are small circles of friends in each and every state and in the cities and communities around the country.
We know this is possible because of the huge turnouts for Bernie Sanders from among the working class.
Bernie Sanders has now openly stated his intent to betray his base of very enthusiastic socialist supporters as he declared in Wisconsin just last week that Democrats must come together to defeat the Republicans. This is not a program for change. Supporting Democrats has proven not to be of any benefit for workers and working class families. All we end up with is Wall Street wars paid for with austerity measures shoved down our throats which deprives us of real solutions to our very real a very pressing problems--- jobs for all at living wages and livable incomes, be they wages, unemployment compensation, welfare or Social Security, child care and free quality public education through university and the kind of world-class National Public Health Care System we are entitled to after having created with our labor the wealthiest country in the world the likes of which has never been seen before.
Where were Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Obama, the Democrats and the millionaire labor leaders when Wisconsin needed their organization and resources to get rid of Scott Walker?
As far as being so afraid of these Republicans like Donald Trump?
Tens of thousands of workers are forced to work in his casinos and hotels every single day and I have yet to hear one single Democrat or millionaire labor leader say that he is not fit to be an employer and his hotels and casinos should be taken away from him and placed under public ownership using eminent domain for the public good with the profits derived from these enterprises used for the health and welfare of all of us.
And Hillary Clinton and her Wal-mart friends are no better than Donald Trump or the Koch Klan.
This is a class thing.
This is all about CLASS STRUGGLE.
Politics is about class struggle.
Isn't it time we as working people start to talk about the politics and economic of livelihood?
Capitalism is collapsing all around us. Wall Street's wars are every continent creating massive human misery. Other people are being bombed when our own needs are going unmet.
We have "leaders" who will boast of having signed on to the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights but won't come up with the resources to make these words filling one sheet of paper a living reality for the living, breathing human beings who they expect to cough up votes to legitimize this rotten system.
Is there anyone else who feels like I do willing to sign on to a statement calling for creating a new working class based political party?
Canadian workers have their own political party--- the socialist New Democratic Party. It's late great past leader, Tommy Douglas, has been recognized in a poll involving millions conducted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as the "greatest Canadian of all time." Shouldn't this tell us something?
And Canadians can walk into any doctor's office or hospital and get the care they require without every having to pay one single penny let alone have their home taken away to cover the bill.
"Baby steps" and "incremental reforms" are the words of the uncaring, muddle-headed, upper middle class crowd of intellectual Democrats who don't have to worry about how to make ends meet and who have no concept of what is involved in this "cost-of-living crisis" now dogging every single working class family; we don't have to put up with this crap. Life is two short. There is no reason we should have to struggle just to survive.
We need the kind of organizations and a party that will enable us to take a giant leap forward comparable to what the wealth of our society--- which our labor has created--- will provide.
"Baby steps" and "incremental reforms" are the words of the uncaring, muddle-headed, upper middle class crowd of intellectual Democrats who don't have to worry about how to make ends meet and who have no concept of what is involved in this "cost-of-living crisis" now dogging every single working class family; we don't have to put up with this crap. Life is two short. There is no reason we should have to struggle just to survive.
We need the kind of organizations and a party that will enable us to take a giant leap forward comparable to what the wealth of our society--- which our labor has created--- will provide.
