Something to thnk about: The miseducation of the Americano

The miseducation of the Americano

• Written by  Ken Fuller 
• Tuesday, 10 January 2017 00:00
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We were having our usual Thursday afternoon drink at our favorite restaurant in this Visayan city. Attendance was down this week, and there were just four of us: two Americans, an Australian and a Brit, each of whom had achieved or exceeded the biblical span of three- score years and ten.

The Australian, having recently read Charles Pellegrino’s fascinating Return to Sodom and Gomorrah, was explaining to one of the Americans, a born-again Christian, that there was a perfectly rational, scientific explanation for Joshua’s claimed feat in bringing the walls of Jericho tumbling down. 

Feeling that this discussion could be lightened with some musical accompaniment, I contributed the first few lines of “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho.”

“You know,” said Born Again, “it’s about 50 years since I heard that song.”

“How about this one?” I inquired, before giving them the first verse of “The Ballad of Joe Hill.”

Greeted with blank expressions, I asked the two Americans if they really expected me to believe that they had never heard of Joe Hill. No, they never had.

“Well, he was an organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World…”

At this first whiff of radicalism, Born Again pounced. “Ah, in your country!”

“No,” I replied, “in your country. He was a Swedish immigrant, real name Joseph Hillstrom, and the authorities in your country framed him for murder and had him shot. So are you saying you’ve never heard of the Wobblies either?”

“The whut?”

“Wobblies. It’s what the Industrial Workers of the World were commonly called.”

The second American, who, in the same forum, had once expressed the view that Obama was encouraging Muslim emigration to the USA so that they could eventually take over the country, now made his first contribution. “So this was, like, back in the 1880s?”

“No, Joe Hill was executed in 1915.”

“I guess this was back East.”

“No, out West.” Utah, in fact.

Both Americans shrugged. This was all news to them.

“Okay, here’s an easier one: what’s the link between the two songs, ‘Joshua Fit the Battle’ and ‘Joe Hill?’” 

Sensing that the tongues of the Americans were about to emerge from the corners of their mouths, and frowns of concentration descend upon their brows, I hastily added: “Look, one singer performed both songs. Just give me the name of the singer.”

The Americans were like two schoolboys who, having neglected to complete their homework, were about to flunk a class quiz.

“Alright, I’ll tell you: it was Paul Robeson.”

“Paul...?”

“Robeson. R-o-b-e-s-o-n.”

To make it easier, I had thought of throwing in “Ol’ Man River” as an additional clue, but I could see now that this would have made no difference, as it was obvious that these two Trump supporters had never in their three-score years and 10 heard of Paul Robeson (1898-1976).

“Singer. Actor. Performed before Welsh miners and concert goers throughout Europe. He once said one thing he liked about going to the Soviet Union was that no one called him nigger there.”

“Oh, he was a black guy?”

“Yes, and at one stage your mighty bastion of freedom and democracy refused to issue him a passport for fear that he would say nasty things about the USA — which, of course, we all love —while abroad.”

It is often said — and correctly so, unfortunately — that the average Filipino has little knowledge of the history of this archipelago. But the more I encounter Americans over here (and there are, thankfully, exceptions), the more I am convinced that the average specimen is just as ignorant of US history.

On one occasion, I utterly failed to convince an acquaintance that many other Americans — Brazilians, Argentinians, certainly Cubans and even Canadians — resent the way in which the USA has appropriated the appellation “America” as its exclusive property; and, having never heard of Amerigo Vespucci, he was completely in the dark as to the origins of the name.

There is, however, a crucial difference between Filipino ignorance and the US variety: the Filipino with little knowledge of his own history rarely if ever oversteps the bounds of modesty, while many a benighted Americano will not hesitate to proclaim that the land of which he knows so little has, being the greatest nation in the world, the God-given right to lord it over the rest of the planet (about which, of course, he usually knows even less).

It’s amazing how a Thursday afternoon drink can provide such insight into recent events in the USA.

Real health care reform is National Public Health Care

Mike Pence, Vice-president elect, says the American people voted for change and he tries to twist and pervert this to mean the majority of the American people want what the Republicans are trying to pass off as health care reform.

The very meaning of the word "reform" means to improve something and make something better.

The private for-profit health care the Republicans have in mind does not improve this health care mess. It takes us from the bad Obamacare to worse health care.

Why would anyone waste time defending Obamacare when what we need is a National Public Health Care System?

No one but a bunch of Democrats and Democratic Party hacks along with a few Republicans support Obamacare.

We need a health care system that is:

All inclusive from pre-natal through burial.

General health.

Eyes.

Ears.

Dental.

Mental health.

Everyone in; nobody out.

There is nothing controversial with this. National Public Health Care is based on the model of Public Education.

Employers don't want to pay.

No one wants to pay insurance companies.

For far less than we pay for militarization and these dirty imperialist wars we can receive free health care through a network of neighborhood and community health care centers.

Now is the time to meet with your members of Congress--- Democrats or Republicans--- to let them know we are for health care based on the model of Public Education.

There is no reason we can't win this with a united effort.

We should not be wasting time supporting Obamacare because no one wanted it from the beginning and we should be hollering and screaming that we want Obamacare repealed and an open and democratic discussion before the Republicans shove another worthless system down our throats that nobody wants.

Democrats and Republicans will work together to try to prevent a democratic dialog, discussion and debate just as they have in the past because they are beholden to the insurance and pharmaceutical companies and the American Medical Association.

For once the American people have a right to be heard and these Democrats and Republicans who thwart our desire for a National Public Health Care System by denying our voices being heard should be forced to pay the penalty at the polls.

Book a meeting with your member of Congress now and insist our voices be heard... democracy requires no less.

Health care is a human right.

Health care for people not for profit.

And, quite frankly, even single-payer with its large private administration and private delivery is not what we need unless it is used as a very brief transition period a couple years) to a full National Health Care System.

A popular movement can win because what both the Republicans and Democrats are doing is counter to what everyone knows we need.

In fact, the Democrats are no more on our side than are the Republicans. A popular movement of the people could win a National Public Health Care System the same way a massive popular movement forced reactionary politicians who were opposed to public education to enact it... people, united in a movement for the kind of change the majority of the people want, can win the change they want.

We can't win this health care struggle if we allow these Wall Street bribed Democrats and Republicans to set the terms of this debate and our first step must be to publicly insist that a National Public Health Care System becomes part of this debate.

We can't be meek and soft spoken--- we must be militant in a way our voices are heard and shared.

Lets see if Republicans and Democrats can hold to the American Medical Association dictated private for-profit health care can stand up to the popular people's demands for National Public Health Care based on the model of public education. Lets see if these Wall Street bribed politicians dare to defy the democratic demand of the popular will of the majority of the American people.

A viewpoint by Alan Maki

A viewpoint by Alan Maki, a union, peace, environmental and civil rights activist;  retired member of UNITE-HERE Local 17.

I offer this for discussion about Peace, Equality, Full Employment, Universal Health Care and Protection of the Environment.

This is my response to the invitation extended by the AFL-CIO to all people and organizations to comment on its White Paper, “Prosperity Economics, Building An Economy For All” by Jacob S. Hacker and Nate Loewentheil, intended to create discussion about the direction of organized labor and the kind of country we all want to live in where peace, social and economic justice for working people prevail.

Democracy--- as well as social, economic and environmental justice--- require no less than a full and broad discussion of these important concerns and issues.


I agree with the concept of “prosperity economics” by “building an economy that works for everyone.” There are several very basic facts left out of this “White Paper” and it is very hazy, vague and nebulous as to what our concrete and specific goals and objectives are to be and what kind of movement and struggle it will take for the working class--- organized and unorganized together--- to create a prosperity economics for us all.

The “White Paper” does not clearly articulate our main enemy: Wall Street. The “White Paper” doesn’t reflect the fact that we, as working people, are engaged in a social, political and economic struggle for power with the intent to replace Wall Street’s dominance over every aspect of our lives--- in our schools, at work and in our communities.

Let’s state right up front workers create all wealth but workers have had no say in how this wealth is distributed and used. This needs to change. Democracy requires no less.

Let’s also put it right out there before the American people that militarism and wars are squandering the wealth of our Nation to such a large extent we don’t have the resources to solve our many domestic problems. These dirty imperialist wars are killing our jobs and our standard of living just like they kill people.

Militarism and wars are a major contributing factor to the world-wide collapsing capitalist economy. No nation can continue to endlessly use the wealth of its nation to prepare for wars and to fight wars. This is sheer insanity.

Wall Street’s greedy drive for profits results in wars which exacerbates our problems.

Detroit goes broke; the rest of our cities are sure to follow as Wall Street wallows in profits.

Working people go without adequate health care; insurance and pharmaceutical companies get fabulously wealthy. Earlier retirement and shorter workweeks/longer vacations with no cut in pay create jobs and would keep us healthier, too.

Our public institutions like public education fall apart, crumble and collapse just like our roads, highways and bridges because we are constantly feeding a war machine intended to fight never-ending wars waged to protect Wall Street’s assets and profits.
We don’t need, and can’t afford, 800 foreign military bases dotting the globe.

Prosperity for all begins with the recognition peace is required to achieve full employment.

Full employment is about the government seeing to it that jobs are created for all at real living wages. It is about putting people to work by creating massive universal social programs like National Public Health Care, not job destroying legislation like Obama-care as detrimental to our health and jobs as wars without providing real health care reform while pushing the price of health care up instead of its stated intent to push prices down.

Eliminating militarism and wars eliminates the largest carbon footprint contributing to global warming and climate change as the Military Industrial Complex wastes our precious resources in a huge, monstrous complex that ruins our environment--- power generation, mining, manufacturing, the resources like oil and gas required to fight wars. Preparation for war, and war itself, creates a mammoth sized carbon footprint destroying our living environment while creating massive joblessness and poverty and ill health for our people as our air, water and land gets polluted.


The Wall Street selected politicians talk about “jobs, jobs, jobs” when their hidden agenda is really “profits, profits, profits” and “war, war, and more war.”

The time has come to make politicians legislatively responsible for full employment and peace because prosperity economics requires: peace and full employment--- a healthy people and a healthy environment.

Therefore, I propose that a central goal of the American labor and working class movement needs to be the building of an economy for all that is inseparably linked to peace and full employment which must include:

A Minimum Wage tied to all cost of living factors indexed to inflation. Jobs or a living income for all.

National Public Health Care. Protect, defend and expand Social Security programs.

Legislation prohibiting lockouts and scabbing. Repeal of “At-Will Employment” legislation--- the primary obstacle to worker empowerment and union organizing. End racism... Enforcement of Affirmative Action.

Price controls are needed for food, gas, home heating fuels and electricity.

A healthy economy means a healthy living environment and a healthy planet. We need a quality of life index.

The two-party system is a trap for working people. We must free ourselves from the Democrats and Republicans. A working class based people’s party is required if we are going to have a prosperity economics that works for all of us. We can learn a thing or two about health care and politics from our Canadian Brothers and Sisters.

We are now at a crossroads.

We will have an economy that serves Wall Street or we will have an economy that works for the rest of us--- we can’t have both just like we can’t have both war and full employment.


I encourage the use of the proposed Full Employment Act of 1945 pushed by the CIO unions and authored by liberal Texas Congressman Wright Patman and the associated hearing testimonies to broaden this discussion:

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015081304209;seq=10;view=1up

I also call to your attention the excellent Op-Ed piece by Bob Herbert, “Losing Our Way,” his last piece in the New York Times (March 25, 2011), which declares:

“The U.S. has not just misplaced its priorities. When the most powerful country ever to inhabit the earth finds it so easy to plunge into the horror of warfare but almost impossible to find adequate work for its people or to properly educate its young, it has lost its way entirely.”

I ask: What ever happened to William Winpisinger’s “Rebuild America Act” and the “peace dividend?” The AFL-CIO should bring back to life its Committee on Conversion--- from military production to producing for human needs; swords into plowshares is what was advocated by the late International Association of Machinist’s President, William Winpisinger. Where is this advocacy for peace and reordering our Nation’s priorities now?

Thank you for allowing me to share with you my critique of the AFL-CIO’s “White Paper.”

In solidarity and struggle.

For peace, equality, full employment, universal health care, ending racism and protection of the environment.

Alan L. Maki

Check out my blog:

Thoughts From Podunk

http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

E-mail: red_finn@live.com        

Phone: 651-587-5541                                                                               (end)

Campaign for a “21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity”

Campaign for a “21^st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity”

We are fed up with politicians campaigning on promises of “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs” and then failing to make themselves legislatively responsible for attaining and maintaining full employment.

We are fed up with our tax dollars being squandered on militarism and wars instead of being used to create jobs by solving the problems of the people and defending our living environment… its time to beat swords into ploughshares. Put people to work solving the problems of the people.

A National Public Health Care System would create over twelve-million new jobs paying real living wages providing people with free health care---  general medical, eyes, ears, dental and mental health--- through a network of neighborhood and community health care centers; this is a better use of our tax-dollars than wasting our human and financial resources on a far flung empire of over 800 U.S. military bases around the world. Or, it could be financed the same way Social Security is financed. Public funding. Public administration. Public delivery… nothing controversial; just like public education.

A National Public Child Care System would create over three-million new jobs providing working class families with free child care.

We need to restore WPA and CCC.

We insist Congress and the president enact full employment legislation which makes them legislatively responsible for attaining and maintaining full employment; assure everyone who wants a job employment at real living wages in line with the actual cost-of-living.

Full employment would provide stability for Social Security; everyone paying in; everyone getting something out.

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Let’s talk about the politics and economics of livelihood.

Return to: Alan L. Maki, 58891 CR 13, Warroad, MN 56763    phone: 651-587-5541

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Petition to the President of the United States and the U.S. Congress…

To defend Social Security and for the protection of all worker pensions

We insist there be no cuts to Social Security and Social Security be increased to a real living income for all.

We also call for reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act to prevent banks from engaging in the investment business. Far too many workers are losing their entire pension funds to crooked and corrupt bankers who are currently in the investment business. This must end.

All pension fund investment and management fund companies must disclose to clients their ownership in stocks and bonds which they are investing pension fund monies into.

More stringent oversight of pension fund investment firms and management companies is required.

The Social Security Administration must implement more stringent oversight of employers to make sure employers who deduct for Social Security are actually paying that money into Social Security. Thousands of workers have been under the impression money employers are deducting for Social Security is being turned over to Social Security only to find out upon retirement the money was pocketed by these unscrupulous employers.

Millions of workers are losing the pensions they paid into because of corporate bankruptcies and other corporate schemes; it is up to the government to make sure these pension funds remain solvent.

There should be a special curriculum developed made mandatory for all high school students and available to workers to teach them about Social Security, pension funds and all pension programs.

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Petition initiated by the Campaign for a “21^st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity”

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Big problems in the working class movements continue to surface but there are also beacons of hope.

In Canada, the Liberals work for Bay Street and Wall Street, just like the Democrats here, which means they are willing accomplices to these dirty Wall Street wars and the militarism of these merchants of death and destruction in quest of greater profits. Not only this, but the Liberals continue to see oit Canadians by allowing U.S. (and other) multi-national corporations to rape the land of natural resources while using Canadians as a source of cheap labor in the process--- what the Liberals essentially do is get a second and third mortgage on the country and its people every single time they get in office. With only sightly more than thirty-million people and its enormous holdings of natural resources and highly skilled labor, Canadians could be living extremely well with a very good standard of living if not for the fact of its participation in these dirty U.S. imperialist wars and foreign capitalists rapping the land and exploiting the people.


Hopefully, those on the left in Canada will stop attacking the New Democratic Party, focus on correcting the problems created by this small group of social democrats and democratic socialists who are afraid of socialism, and provide the kind of working class leadership capable of taking on the Liberals and Conservatives who are nothing but pawns of Wall Street and its junior partner, Bay Street in a struggle for political and economic power.


Sam Gindin and Leo Panitch have taken to lecturing the U.S. left about how we need some kind of special socialist party whose goals and objectives remain very vague while they have attacked the NDP in Canada while getting little to no response from workers for their call for such an undefined new socialist party in Canada when they have the NDP right under their noses. and then instead of supporting the most popular working class Communist Party in Greece (the KKE) they support Syriza which much worse than the NDP.


With the NDP, the good solid labor movement Canadian workers have built up, and with a much larger Communist Party of Canada, Bay Street and Wall Street wouldn't stand a chance against the Canadian people... and this is the kind of organized might we should be looking to build here in the United States... but, at the present time the U.S. working class lacks its own political party like the NDP, lacks a solid trade union movement and has a Communist Party USA in complete shambles with "leaders" hand-picked by the FBI to serve the interests of U.S. imperialism.


And Canadian workers have an excellent newspaper in The People's Voice; something else we lack here in the United States.


There is something to be learned from the current struggles of the Greek people, especially the Greek working class who have in very large numbers sorted through all of the confusion being tossed at them and taken up with the KKE--- http://inter.kke.gr/en/firstpage/


I will never understand why people as smart as Sam Gindin and Leo Panitch refuse to push for solidarity with P.A.M.E. and the KKE... perhaps for the same reason they shun the NDP instead of focusing on bringing left-wing working class leadership into it?


Until working people are willing to struggle for beating swords into plowshares I really doubt workers anywhere in the world will make much headway against Wall Street's thoroughly reactionary neo-liberal imperialist agenda intended to save capitalism at great expense to the rest of us. Here again, the Greek KKE stand out in the forefront of the struggle for peace as it fights to free Greece from the clutches of the greedy bankers and the multi-national corporations.

Communist Party of Greece - KKE

Communist Party of Greece

inter.kke.gr

Some thoughts about the anti-monopoly struggle... the Greek Communist Party says this stage of struggle is not needed; not needed in Greece or just not needed anywhere?

I don't think any of the Communist Parties support the idea that there are "intermediate systems' although they do bring forward the concept of an anti-monopoly government being an intermediate, albeit probably very brief, stage of government during which time the working class can catch a new breath to continue on with the struggle for socialism through which many of the anti-monopoly allies will be won to supporting socialism.


What would you see as an "intermediate system?" Capitalism and socialism are "systems." Anti-monopoly and democratic are stages, not systems.



I think it is up to Communists to be creative... whatever works to get the working class on the road to socialism.


I don't think any Communists have ever said that we "must" take the anti-monopoly struggle to a "stage."


Most Communist Parties around the world are much weaker in influence among the working class than is the KKE. If Greek workers don't need this intermediate stage we refer to as the "anti-monopoly" stage all the more power to you. Why go backwards in struggle when the trend of the struggle in Greece is for making the transition from capitalism to socialism?


On the other hand, where working class struggles are not so advanced other industrialized capitalist countries, I don't see how the working class can avoid the anti-monopoly stage.


Wall Street (and its many junior partners around the world) is the common enemy of workers, and most other people, in every single country. My personal opinion is that the Communist Parties should be working together to advance a common anti-monopoly struggle against Wall Street by encouraging mass struggle for the implementation of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights in every country--- the task is to take the words of these hypocritical liberals from a piece of paper to make these words a reality for everyone.


I should think the KKE would understand the need for a global and international anti-monopoly struggle like this? And such a struggle would help Greek workers in their struggle for socialism.


I think we need to be thinking in terms of Wall Street (and its numerous junior partners around the world) is our common enemy, anti-imperialist struggle, anti-monopoly struggle combined with the struggle for socialism.


Viewing the class struggle in this way would lend support to the struggle for socialism in Greece, would it not?


Is not the Communist movement flexible enough to take into consideration how all of this fits together internationally?


Quite frankly, I think the international Communist movement has, collectively, done a very poor job in taking issue with the Communist Parties, like the CPUSA which have gone completely astray to the point of siding with the enemies of the working class and sabotaging international working class solidarity including attacking the KKE.


I believe the CPUSA leaders like William Z. Foster, Gus Hall and Henry Winston were correct in advocating the building of a massive all peoples anti-monopoly front as a "stage" in the struggle (here in the United States) as the road to socialism just as the KKE is probably correct in assessing there is no need for this anti-monopoly stage of struggle in Greece.


I think the NDP in Canada is a good example of anti-monopoly struggle, too. The NDP for all practical purposes is the anti-monopoly coalition... although I understand there are those who would disagree with this and they think the anti-monopoly struggle can be by-passed... but, here again, Canada is not Greece.

Why no discussion about the need to enforce Affirmative Action?

Not one single one of the presidential candidates, in spite of a lot of talk about racism, has had the moral or political courage to call for the strict and strident enforcement of Affirmative Action where public funds are involved pursuant to Federal Executive Order #11246 signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson even though the enforcement of Affirmative Action is the only known mass remedy to racist discrimination in employment.


Why isn't there the demand that a rider be attached to every single piece of local, state and federal legislation proving Affirmative Action has been enforced before public funds can be allocated for any project?

Why are racists and bigots of every stripe being allowed to squash any mention of Affirmative Action enforcement?


And, why have ALL the foundation-funded outfits refused to call for the enforcement of Affirmative Action as the way to achieving full equality in employment in this country?


Probably for the same reason these foundation-funded outfits refuse to address "standard-of-living," "cost-of-living," the need for peace, making the politicians who talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" legislatively accountable for attaining and maintaining full employment and why they refuse to take up the need for a National Public Health Care System and a National Public Child Care System both of which would be publicly funded, publicly administered and publicly delivered just like public education.


We have allowed, through our failure to struggle against the reactionary ideas of the neo-liberals who see freedom of the capitalist markets to take over every facet of our lives to dominate the political discussion in this country through bullying, name-calling, intimidation of all forms, to dominate the political life of what is supposed to be "our" country and "our" government.


And it is time to speak up and challenge all of this.

Are you satisfied with getting your problems solved on the "lay away plan?"

My answer to a FaceBook friend who claims the time is not right to solve the problems of working people and is tired of hearing about working people and then claims there is too much confusion to find solutions to problems:

There are many solutions to the problems working people are experiencing and every single one of the solutions can be put in place just as quickly as the government moved to bail out Wall Street.

Working people, the working class, is the largest and only productive class in society and includes most seniors, most refugees and starving children. We have a right, as workers, to have a say and participate in the decision-making process in a way intended to resolve and solve our problems--- today, not later. We have created the tremendous wealth now being horded by the selfish and greedy wealthy few and we are entitled to have that wealth put to work solving our problems.

The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights was brought forward in 1948 and the vast majority of working people in this country and around the world do not have these rights beyond the piece of paper they are printed on.

You may be "waiting" for this election to be over but your fellow human beings, mostly workers, need to eat every day, need medical care when they are sick and not according to your "formula" of "baby steps" and "incremental change," workers need jobs at real living wages to survive and can't wait decades to get a real living wage job.

Tell me how long should a hungry child have to wait to eat? Until "after the election?" How long should an unemployed worker have to wait for a job? How long must someone go with a toothache before they get dental care?

For the working class and all working people there is only one formula that determines when working people have ever had their problems solved and it is spelled: S-T-R-U-G-G-L-E.

Working people will only get in the here and now what we demand and fight today.

We are not talking about luxuries like the latest style clothes and designer jewelry, vacations at luxury resorts in the Caribbean (although a week or two in Cuba would be nice), going to Disneyland every year.

Read the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights and you will understand what working people want and expect, right now, from government and an economic system that truly works for the people, all the people--- including working people who create ALL the wealth along with quite a little help from Mother Nature.

This is all we want and expect and struggle for right now--- not in "baby steps," not "incrementally," not on the "lay-away plan" promised by a bunch of crooked, corrupt, lying Wall Street bribed politicians looking for votes in order to try to put a shine to a "democracy" that is in rapid decay and only works for the parasitical wealthy few: http://unudhr.blogspot.com/

There are solutions today and among finding those solutions in many other places, I bring forward these solutions every single day.

The solution to a child being hungry is to feed them.

The solution to poverty wage jobs is to pay a real living wage based upon the real and actual cost--of-living.

The solution to a toothache is providing access to dental care.

Let us not play games here; there isn't one single reason the problems of working people are not being solved and that is because solving all these problems would cut into the profits of the Wall Street exploiters and the entire business (capitalist) class.

Every single day in the United States more food is thrown away than what it would take to feed every single hungry child in the world yet you don't want to get specific about who is dumping this food.

Every single day some worker suffers a toothache while a dentist refuses care because he/she is on strike against the "low" fees the State of Minnesota will pay but chooses instead of helping someone to be out playing golf.

You might buy diamond and gold jewelry on "the lay-away plan" but working people can not continue to accept a kind of politics that puts our problems on the "lay-away plan;" especially when this "lay-away plan" is only phony campaign promises never intended to become reality as the wealth of our Nation is either horded by the rich or squandered on dirty imperialist wars while you await some kind of special time to beat swords into plowshares--- again, the peace dividend promised decades ago by the Democrats, has never materialized for working people.

And you might not want to hear about working people or the working class--- but might I suggest you wouldn't be able to survive one single day without this class.

There is a great deal of confusion but that confusion is intentionally being sown in order to try to disorient the working class and prevent the solidarity and unity in struggle required to take on our Wall Street enemies.