The climax of the Socialism 2014 Rally on Saturday, 8 November 2014, was a speech from Kshama Sawant, who was elected onto Seattle city council with nearly 100,000 votes as a Socialist Alternative (SA) candidate. She played a key role in achieving a council vote for a $15 an hour minimum wage in Seattle, which will lift 100,000 workers out of poverty, a transfer of $3 billion from the bosses to the low paid. She was given a standing ovation, both before and after her speech. After giving greetings from her party, SA, Kshama said: "Many have written about Seattle as a 'peculiar city', to elect a socialist and achieve the highest minimum wage in the country - double the federal minimum. But it's far more to do with the early awakening of US workers. It is a search for a way of fighting back. There is a strong questioning of capitalism and an openness to socialist ideas". Kshama explained how SA is taking up a number of issues, including supporting the fight against huge rent rises for people in low income housing, working with unions fighting for decent pay and fighting against discrimination that faces minority groups. Their work has succeeded in changing 'Columbus day' - celebrating a coloniser - to 'Indigenous Peoples' day', celebrating indigenous culture and opposing discrimination. SA has shown what a difference a socialist representative makes. The council pays $117,000 a year to each of its councillors. Kshama though is taking home only the $40,000 average workers' wage and donates the rest to a solidarity fund that supports workers' struggles. SA's support has grown; Kshama has a 60% approval rating in her area, higher than any other council member. The US mid-term elections, rather than indicating a shift to the right, was a verdict on the failure of the Democrats to deliver on any of the hopes invested in the election of Obama. The low turnout showed that. "Two thirds even of those who voted didn't expect it to bring about any change!". In areas that the Democrats lost, there have still been progressive proposals passed, including an increase in the minimum wage in four states. Consciousness is changing because of the bankruptcy of capitalist policies. "The US working class is not weighed down by the betrayals of social democracy like Labour in Britain." This is why there is so much potential for socialist ideas now. SA is able to have an effect beyond its size in leading struggles, because of its clear political analysis and confidence in the working class. The fast food workers' strikes, begun in 2012, showed the mood. The $15 now campaign has spread to 20 cities. "We are now taking the first steps towards a new mass workers' party in the US. Capitalism is undermining itself. All its institutions are seen as rotten by big sections of the population. The US congress is less popular than head lice and cockroaches according to a recent poll!" The explosive potential of the new generation is shown by the uprising in Ferguson, Missouri after the killing of a young black man by a racist police force. Climate change is also critical. Kshama spoke alongside Naomi Klein and others at a large gathering in New York marking an environment demonstration of 100,000 people. Kshama finished with the rallying call: "Let's build the powerful force that we know is necessary - because we have a world to win!" This was one of the best rallies the Socialist Party's Socialism event has held. It lifted the audience and gave us the confidence to go out and build socialist ideas.

• published: 18 Nov 2014
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