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Socialist Action is a national group of activists committed to
the emancipation of workers and the oppressed. We strive to revitalize the anti-war,
labor, anti-racist, feminist, student and other social movements. In the process we hope to bring activists
together from different backgrounds into a revolutionary workers' party
that can successfully challenge the wealthy elite. Our ultimate goal is a
truly democratic society organized to satisfy human needs, rather than
corporate greed. We've set up this page
to introduce you to our organization, and to invite you to join us in the struggle to make the world a better place!
The Socialist Message . . .
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 WHY WE ARE
PAYING FOR THEIR CRISIS?
Before the present Great
Recession, working people in the U.S. had already suffered a
decades-long assault. Between 1973 and 2007 our real weekly wages
dropped by 15%. By 2008 the average worker spent 20% more time on the
job than in the 1970s. During this period, the amount we produced per
hour increased by 50%. Our public services and safety nets were
shredded while our pensions and social security were looted. We gave
our blood, sweat and nerves in greater portions every decade for ever declining
compensation.
But this massive robbery was not
enough to keep the gears of profit turning. Nor did the trillions of
dollars spent on wars or gambled away in speculative ventures keep U.S. capitalism competitive.
After all the pain inflicted by the corporations and their political
partners, the whole machine still broke down.
In what was supposed to be the
final indignity, we were forced to shell out trillions of dollars to the
same banks that helped usher in the dark ages. The result?
Millions more of us are torn from our jobs to join a sea of the
unemployed. Over 20% of workers are now under or unemployed!
Our wages and benefits are slashed over and over again. Our homes are
taken out from under us, our credit is cut, our education and public
services disappear before our eyes. Those of us who still have jobs
are working harder than ever to hang onto our remaining islands of
security.
We are told by the president
that it is time to tighten our belts. Yet, the banks don’t tighten
their belts. The six biggest financial institutions paid their people
$150 billion in 2009. And instead of investing in jobs and providing
for human needs they are throwing money at the same types of speculation
that paralyzed the economy only a year ago.
The war machine does not tighten
its belt either. Instead it consumes record budgets and extends its
terror deeper into Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Haiti, Palestine, Latin America, Somalia, and beyond. These wars
and occupations are not waged to protect working people in the U.S. or to liberate other
countries. Their purpose is to defend the interests of the corporate
elite.
The ruling rich cut our basic
services and deprive us of employment, yet they find money to warehouse
ever more of us in their prisons. Connecticut’s bloated prison budget will
grow from $691 million in 2009 to $709 million for 2010.
Already in 2008 the Pew center found that more than one in every 100 adults
in the U.S. was in prison or jail – a
record in U.S. history.
After all the promises of hope
and change we are now told to expect less than ever before. Where has
all the wealth we have created gone? Why, after all this, is our
condition more desperate than ever?
THE ELECTORAL
CHARADE & OUR SOLUTION
As elections approach workers
will be treated to the greatest spectacle on earth. The Republicans
will play the bad cop. The Democrats will play the nice cop.
Crumbs promised by politicians will be hailed with more fanfare than the
super bowl. The crisis will be glossed over. The enormous power
of working people to transform our society will be denied.
The Democratic and Republican
parties are both representatives of the ruling rich – the tiny circle of
the ultra-wealthy who control our society by virtue of possessing the
wealth we have created over the course of generations. These
capitalists and their representatives are constitutionally incapable of
offering a solution to the crises created by their system. They can
only take more flesh off our hides, imprison and deport more of us, invade
yet more countries, and intensify the destruction of our communities and
our planet.
Their system is driven by the
hunger for profits and organized by the chaos of markets. That which
does not produce profits is of no consequence to them. When profit
cannot be obtained, wealth will not be put to any use. When they run
out of the means to extract profits their whole contraption seizes up or
bursts. Socialist Action opposes the right of this tiny minority to
rule society. We advocate the democratic rule of the majority
organized on the basis of human need instead of profit. We are
campaigning in support of a mass united movement of working people to fight
for our common needs.
We call for placing the biggest
banks and corporations under public ownership through democratic workers
committees. This will allow working people to organize the economy in
the interests of human need. We can eliminate military spending and
massive waste in other sectors like marketing, bureaucracy, redundancy, and
speculation. We can create full employment and shorten our work hours
while increasing pay. We can reorganize the economy to rapidly slow
the climate crisis by reducing world carbon emissions by 90% in a matter of
years. Working people at the helm can do all this and much more.
AN INJURY TO ONE
IS AN INJURY TO ALL!
The struggles for Black, Native
& Puerto Rican liberation, women’s liberation, immigrant rights, and
ending discrimination based on sexuality and gender identity are essential
for the victory of all working class movements. As are the struggles
of all oppressed groups. Such groups suffer the most intensely under
capitalism’s rule. Their movements have always advanced and
strengthened the causes of working people as a whole. Likewise,
workers will never wield sufficient power to reorganize society while
siding with the bosses in keeping other workers down.
YES, WE CAN
CHANGE THE WORLD!
Socialist Action is small, but
we are growing. And more important
than the size of our membership, is the power of our ideas! Armed with the combination of our
political program, our experiences, and the dedication of our comrades, we
are confident that we can help make the world a better place. At times capitalism may seem all powerful,
but at the end of the day nothing is made, and nothing moves, without
working people. When working class
and oppressed people choose to, we can and do have the power to make
history! The revolution is calling
will you join us?
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