Blog for Peace and Freedom

Learning to use communications technology, while valuable, should not be overemphasized at the expense of learning the principles of organizing. While computer-based research and education has expanded our access to information, learning to evaluate information for its applicability requires greater focus. Analysis of communications in conflict, otherwise known as psychological warfare, thus serves as a prerequisite to effective engagement in netwar.

Comprehending how activism functions in this context, helps to distinguish between consciousness-raising and capacity-building. While not mutually exclusive, they are also not synonymous.

As more young people become involved in politics, they will, like us, live and learn from their mistakes. What they need to know in the digital age, is that connecting with millions through mass communication means little if the interaction fails to redistribute the power needed to socialize wealth and democratize capital ownership.

Chris Hedges, a columnist on the truthdig website, writes:

There are no constraints left to halt America’s slide into a totalitarian capitalism. Electoral politics are a sham. The media have been debased and defanged by corporate owners. The working class has been impoverished and is now being plunged into profound despair. The legal system has been corrupted to serve corporate interests. Popular institutions, from labor unions to political parties, have been destroyed or emasculated by corporate power. And any form of protest, no matter how tepid, is blocked by an internal security apparatus that is starting to rival that of the East German secret police. The mounting anger and hatred, coursing through the bloodstream of the body politic, make violence and counter-violence inevitable. Brace yourself. The American empire is over. And the descent is going to be horrifying.

You can read the full article at http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/calling_all_rebels_20100308/

The Wall Street Journal reports this bi-partisan focus on immigration legislation:

Lawmakers working to craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain.

Under the potentially controversial plan still taking shape in the Senate, all legal U.S. workers, including citizens and immigrants, would be issued an ID card with embedded information, such as fingerprints, to tie the card to the worker.

Link to Video:
ISSE members speak at San Diego rallies
6 March 2010

Members of the International Students for Social Equality spoke March 4 at rallies in San Diego, which drew thousands of people to protest cuts to public education. The demonstrations were part of events throughout the state and country to oppose school closures, tuition increases, and teacher layoffs.

This link to the original post on the World Socialist Web Site. WSWS home page.

WSWS Perspective
The liberals’ lament: What’s wrong with Obama?
9 March 2010

The first week of March has seen a number of commentaries in the American media, mainly from liberal pundits, worrying over the declining public standing of President Obama and the growing signs of disarray in the Democratic Party. More…

This link to the original WSWS article.

Los Angeles sends layoff notices to 5,200 teachers
By D. Lencho, Kevin Martinez and Dan Conway
9 March 2010

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) voted March 2 to send layoff notices to more than 5,200 workers. These included 2,000 elementary school teachers, 2,370 certified management employees, 321 secondary teachers and teachers in the arts, and 574 support personnel, including counselors, psychologists, nurses and librarians. The district is facing a $640 million budget gap. More…

Introductory remarks (excerpt) from John Andrews
On behalf of the ISSE, SEP and World Socialist Web Site.

The coordinated March 4 demonstrations throughout the United States marked a new stage in the re-emergence of class struggle in America. Thousands of students joined with their teachers and other workers in spirited demonstrations against state and local budget slashing. But these efforts will yield nothing unless they become part of a conscious fight to reorganize society for the benefit of the working population.

More and more people, especially among the youth, are coming to the understanding that the seemingly insurmountable problems faced by individual school programs are not the result of this or that decision, but rather arise from a greater social crisis, one with roots deep inside the ruling financial elite and its organization around the principle that the pursuit of profits trumps all other social interests. More…