Texas Longhorns with newborn calf in Bluebonnets

Texas Longhorns with newborn calf in Bluebonnets

Please note I have a new phone number...

512-517-2708

Alan Maki

Alan Maki
Doing research at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas

It's time to claim our Peace Dividend

It's time to claim our Peace Dividend

We need to beat swords into plowshares.

We need to beat swords into plowshares.

A program for real change...

http://peaceandsocialjustice.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-progressive-program-for-real-change.html


What we need is a "21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity" which would make it a mandatory requirement that the president and Congress attain and maintain full employment.


"Voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by concerned citizens"

- Ben Franklin

Let's talk...

Let's talk...

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

We need to stop being so timid. Speak your mind!


Trump and the Republicans, along with many Democrats, are resorting to red-baiting and anti-Communism along with vicious attacks on socialism that are nothing but lies.


They are doing this hoping to bully people into silence and to head off any discussion about socialism being an alternative to capitalism.


It is up to socialists to bring socialism into the public square and to explain the solutions socialists have to all of these problems.


This becomes even more important as the capitalist economy is headed towards a severe economic crash.


Wall Street knows this crash is coming and instead of doing what is required to prevent this economic disaster, because the richest of the rich further enrich themselves from the hard times they force upon us, they want a tyrant like Trump in power to control the people.


We are in a terrible mess.


On the one hand we are confronted with climate change; on the other hand we are confronted with an economy about to go to hell. And on top of this we have a Wall Street bribed government which thinks it can dictate and bully the rest of the world to conform to Wall Street’s agenda which sets us up for more of these never-ending dirty imperialist wars.


This is capitalism.


The alternative is socialism; a cooperative socialist commonwealth based on peace where jobs are created solving the problems of people and society in a way that is in harmony with Mother Nature.


Working people are going to have to give some serious thought to the situation we are in.


Working people are going to have to stop being so timid.


Working people are going to have to begin bringing forward real solutions to our problems- the reforms we need to survive as we prepare the way for ending capitalism and getting us on the road to socialism.

The message I sent to Ilhan Omar:














Stay strong; your voice is appreciated... in solidarity and struggle for social and economic justice and a better world through socialism!

Seeking refugee status... the truth


I don’t think people understand how difficult it is for people seeking refugee status to get a fair hearing... especially from the Trump Administration since Trump has many racist and anti-Communist biases.


One thing missed when it comes to asylum seekers is that many have “criminal records” because the government has subjected them to criminal prosecutions because they are involved in struggles for reforms and to defend their rights and livelihoods.


These prosecutions are part of the persecution.


Often the charges are trumped up charges, to boot.


I was deported from Canada and denied a fair hearing before it’s immigration and refugee board because of my numerous arrests in opposition to the Vietnam War and union picket line activity.
One of the “crimes” was for “destruction of government property.” Sounds real bad, doesn’t it.
Well, I posted a bumper sticker on the door of the federal building that said, “We want jobs not war” on the day I was drafted.


So, just because someone has a “criminal record” should not exclude them from getting a hearing because that criminal record might be part of the reason the people are seeking political asylum.
Now, in my own case, the United States government refused to release its files that the FBI maintains on me and refused to cooperate with requests from the Refugee Board.


Now, consider this when it comes to the countries south of our border...


The United States government has been a party to much of the political repression that takes place down there...


A fair hearing on a refugee claim would require that the United States government would have to disclose its participation in the crimes. This will not be easy to do.


In my case I had many lawyers working on my behalf and thousands of dollars were spent trying to get a fair hearing.


I really doubt many of these people coming with refugee claims ever get the fair hearing they are entitled to.


Trump does not want to acknowledge the criminal activity by the CIA and private security firms operating south of the border... thus they are trying to make it difficult for people to get fair hearings on their refugee claims.


And while Trump claims he is against the drug gangs, let us remember that it was through the Iran-Contra Affair that these gangs involved in the drug trade became so strong.


On top of all of this there is the anti-union, anti-Communism and very racist prejudice that is working against people seeking refugee status.

Taking a joy ride in space... on our "dime."


All of these wealthy people are taking a joy ride on Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic at the expense of working people who have been exploited and have had no say in how the wealth created by their labor is used.


Does anyone ask the workers who have created the wealth being used to give these wealthy people a joy ride if that money could have been better spent for the benefit of society right here on earth in eliminating poverty, providing a better quality education or decent housing or health care?


And we have billionaires Elan Musk and Jeff Bezos making similar outlandish expenditures for the same purpose.


What kind of society prevents those who have created the wealth from participating in the decision-making process of how this wealth will be used?


If reports in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal are correct about how Branson, Bezos and Musk abuse and exploit labor are correct, it would seem justice would require these workers have a say in how the wealth they have created under such cruel duress should have a say.

Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) leads the way, again




Simpson is first Canadian national union Black female leader
July 19, 2019 Nearly 30 years after being a shop steward in her workplace, Jan Simpson is the first Black woman to lead a national union in Canada. The postal worker was elected national President at the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) convention in Toronto. 

From Newsweek: Almost 80 Percent of Philosophy Majors Favor Socialism, Poll Finds

https://www.newsweek.com/socialism-philosophy-majors-college-poll-1449238?fbclid=IwAR3VtgImmdYQNj-nDIrxret67r5wT6pY8BWT3IcxJZnrQ8HmQuqSGe0K5WI

Puerto Ricans show how to get rid of a crooked and corrupt leader who hides his corruption behind a wall of hate




We need to take a lesson from Puerto Ricans and hit the streets... to get rid of Trump.




A billionaire Democrat says he will vote for Trump rather than vote for Bernie Sanders

The truth slips out... these rich bastards sank George McGovern’s campaign and voted for and supported Richard Nixon...


Previous to this, back in 1948, the rich bastards in the Democratic Party forced out Henry Wallace and they defeated one of the best United States Senators, Claude Pepper when Harry “At Bomber” Truman recruited a two-bit half assed fascist bastard to run against Claude Pepper because he was a friend of Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union and worked for peace through mutual cooperation with the Soviet Union.


Lies, Lies, Lies and more lies fabricated by both Democrats and Republicans

No wonder the American people have a lower opinion of Congress than they do of Trump.


Trump lies about everything; so do the party hacks from both parties. And so do the “journalists” covering these politicians.


And so do the pundits... Karl Rove is the perfect example of one of these professional liars whose lies are intended to spread hate and division.


Then we have the problem where people will just repeat all these lies actually thinking they are spreading the truth even though they never take the time to research anything for themselves.


Almost all of the lies are fabricated around racism, red-baiting or anti-Communism using the most vile forms of national chauvinism and the most despicable kinds of jingoism.


Then we have guys like the “linguist” George Lakoff whose work for the Democratic Party revolves around formulating “progressive policy directives” free from specific solutions with the sole intent being to hoodwink people out of their votes.


Lakoff does the same kind of dirty work for the Democratic Party like what Karl Rove does for the Republicans.


When Trump or these others “quote” someone they intentionally twist the quote in order to be able to justify the lie that is supposed to be their response to the quote; so we get lie piled on top of lie; and then their supporters add their own little twist when they repeat the lie; and then when you challenge their litany of lies they create even more lies to “defend” their indefensible positions... and then people wonder why we have so many confused people in this country.


Why do people allow a bunch of liars to do their thinking for them? When you allow others to do your thinking for you, you are contributing to the attack on democracy and this allows and enables politicians to get away with starting wars and violating people’s most basic and fundamental human rights.


And it allows politicians to get away bringing forward gimmicks instead of real solutions... Medicare for All being a classic example of such a campaign gimmick... people who have never taken the time to read the proposed legislation don’t even know that it’s proponents haven’t even included how it will be funded. Who would support such legislation when there is no funding proposal for it... yet people will make up another lie pretending they know how it will be funded!

A question for the Working Class Studies Association

I posted this on the Working Class Studies Association Facebook page and wanted to share it with all of you:


At what point does the WCSA initiate a discussion about the need for a new working class based people’s party and begin discussing the successes of the socialist Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party and the Progressive Party?


I wonder why the WCSA has not held some kind of forum or workshop to discuss what Elmer Benson wrote and introduce this in classrooms across the country for students to study and discuss?


http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/47/v47i04p154-161.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3I7AK7Rs9-KzdCtCK3ngkd01q2AIqvQTTJD5M3e0UlsuOg8VObbKW8jSM


And along these lines, why is there practically no discussion in academia about the way one of the most ardent supporters of the New Deal and peace, Claude Pepper, was treated by Harry Truman and the Democrats... they selected a reactionary Democrat to defeat Pepper in the Florida Primary in a vicious anti-Communist red-baiting campaign.


If you have any members in Austin they may want to check out the Claude Pepper files that are mixed in with the Charles Marsh files at the LBJ Library in the University of Texas campus.


Henry Wallace chose to leave the Democratic Party and his good friend Claude Pepper decided to remain in the Democratic Party... there is a lesson to be learned here. How might we be living in a very different country today had there been a Wallace-Pepper Progressive Party ticket placed before the American people?


Why do so many in academia, especially those who identify with the working class, continue to support the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates when the working class needs it’s own party because of how the Democrats treat workers in offering gimmicks as a way to trick workers out of their votes instead of real solutions to problems?


At what point does all of this get discussed?


So far there has been no response.

It can't happen here

This is not that far fetched. Bormann and Himmler made plans to carry on the work of the Nazis outside of Germany in Argentina and the United States should they be defeated and to these ends the Nazis invested in property and businesses in both countries. Do we really think the Nazis who fled the Red Army and went to both Argentina and the United States weren’t carrying out their agenda all this time? After all, the Nazis packed Madison Square Gardens and other huge convention centers around the country... these fascists did not just disappear and Nazis smuggled into our country from Germany at the end of World War II by the Dulles brothers... what were they up to?


Claude Pepper, who had been a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee visited Hitler’s bunker and concluded that Hitler had escaped... and Eisenhower also said he believed Hitler had escaped and Stalin said the same thing.


Trump’s father was part of these fascist movements.


There is good reason to believe it is more than coincidental that the politics of Trump mimics the Nazis.


We must also remember that sections of U.S. big business partnered with Hitler and backed the Nazis.


It is not coincidental that American politics changed so drastically after World War II and where we are at today.


“It Can’t Happen Here” is perhaps more appropriate for today than when it was written...

Gary Huck
We need to ask why it has become so easy for Trump to tap into racism, red-baiting and anti-Communism to hide his corruption.

Mueller wasted thirty-million dollars

After listening to Mueller “answer” questions today, does anyone really believe giving this guy thirty-million dollars to spend on an investigation was money well spent?

So, the Mueller hearing didn’t go well for the Democrats...

... surprise, surprise; only a bunch of Dumb Donkeys could have thought it would turn out otherwise.
In fact, Robert Mueller as the head of the FBI interfered and meddled in our elections more than the Russians ever could have as he ordered the repression of Communists and socialists, the main critics and opponents of Wall Street monopolists and their imperialist agenda of never-ending dirty imperialist wars paid for through austerity measures here at home shoved down the throats of working people.

Capitalism has to go

The supporters and apologists for capitalism cannot escape the fact that exploitation of man by man is what makes capitalism capitalism... and war, poverty and racism are an integral part of capitalism from which there is no escape except through socialist revolution. This is why the over-paid pundits promoting capitalism, and even the democratic socialists who love capitalism in the social democratic countries of Scandinavia, refuse to debate Marxists.

Why was it so easy for Nazi war criminals to immigrate to the United States?

About this immigration issue.


Nazi war criminals were smuggled into the United States by those in power.


It is far easier for war criminals and the murderous thugs who worked to prop up every two-bit half-assed fascist dictator supported by the CIA to get into this country than honest working people, many of whom have been their victims, to get into our country... and this is the real disgrace of the immigration policies of both the Republicans and the Democrats.


And on top of this, there is this racist fascist bastard Stephen Miller being allowed to establish U.S. immigration policies that includes the very mean, cruel and inhumane policy of separating children from their parents... a policy that could only be advocated by the most strident racist, fascist Hitlerite.


Racist.


Fascist.


Imperialist.


These are the proper words to describe those at the helm of U.S. government today.
Concentration camps... another correct term.


This is what we get when Wall Street is placed in control to make sure the capitalist system keeps churning out maximum profits for themselves- the very few- instead of creating a society, socialism, which works for everyone else.

The Choice Isn’t Between Capitalism or Socialism

Leave it to Bloomberg to add confusion...



bloomberg.com

All countries practice a mix of both, and the U.S. isn’t the free-market leader…




https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-23/the-choice-isn-t-between-capitalism-or-socialism?fbclid=IwAR2UznxtWZTuMXpiAdzB9jTYyzMRk-Ols_Q8FAD7My627SvtSnO8MeVY0G0


The choice is between capitalism and socialism if we want to survive we will have to take the socialist road and that path is very clear... one only needs to read The Communist Manifesto instead of relying on the billionaires like Bloomberg and their over-paid pundits creating lies like this to confuse and disorient working people.


We have no “mix” of the two systems in this country. The Wall Street capitalist monopolists own the mines, mills, factories along with the transportation, banking, communications, health care and media industries.


The only reforms we have have been won through very difficult struggles with these Wall Street capitalist monopolists opposing us.


These capitalists have opposed everything from public education to Social Security.


And these Wall Street capitalist monopolists rob us of the reforms we need to live decent lives as they squander the wealth only workers have created on militarism and their wars... this is something Bloomberg does not want to talk about- these dirty imperialist wars.


Bloomberg would like us to believe capitalism is not responsible for the three main evils of the modern world: war, poverty and racism.


Bloomberg’s Wall Street crowd has given us Donald Trump and his band of the most vile and corrupt racists, fascists and warmongers.


When was the last time Bloomberg ever allowed a Communist to express their opinions in his publications or news outlets?


Bloomberg does not believe in democracy except for the very wealthiest of the capitalist oligarchs... this article is sheer lies and hypocrisy because the only choice we have is between capitalism and socialism... the two do not “mix.”


Those who choose capitalism choose exploitation and war.


Choosing socialism is choosing life and a better world free from exploitation, war, poverty and racism.


Bloomberg will never choose to forego exploitation and war because he profits from both.
Ask yourself if you have ever heard Marxist views like this permitted in any Bloomberg media:


https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/climate-change-and-the-military-industrial-complex1


Or views like this:


http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2017/11/one-of-my-blog-posts-hits-all-time-high.html

Or:


http://socialismtheoryandpractice.blogspot.com/2007/07/why-socialism-byalbert-einstein.html

Working people are not provided access to voice their opinions by the likes of Bloomberg who is all riled and rattled now that his rotten capitalist system is being challenged by grassroots and rank-and-file activists and common people who realize socialism is the way out of this capitalist mess.

bloomberg.com
All countries practice a mix of both, and the U.S. isn’t the free-market leader…