Republicans triumph w/ fake populism: A mass anti-capitalist movement is needed to defeat the right

[marmar]

from PSL.org:




Republicans triumph with fake populism
Thursday, November 11, 2010

By: Caneisha Mills

A mass anti-capitalist movement is needed to defeat the right


The 2010 mid-term elections followed the familiar pattern. A whole host of politicians campaign as outsiders who promise to bring bold initiatives and "shake up Washington." They tell their constituencies that they are right to be angry and then hold out hope that with the right politicians, the government will live up to its promise to be "of, by and for the people."

But then what? No recently elected Senator or Congressional representative has said, “I will introduce legislation to bring all the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan home now,” or “We should have a moratorium on all foreclosures." Like all elections, this one will not eradicate exploitation, racism or any other form of oppression.

In fact, the rule of the corporations appears to be firmer than ever. One thing was unique about this election: It set a record for electoral spending with almost $4 billion spent. This is due in part to a new ruling by the Supreme Court that grants corporations the same right as individuals to donate to political campaigns.

Rise of the right wing?

Do 56 more Republicans in the House and six more in the Senate signal a massive “rise of the right wing”? Will the Tea Party leadership transform the Republican Party into an overtly racist, fascist organization? The answer quite frankly is no. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=14749&news_iv_ctrl=1261

[Demeter]

1. It's Not Anti-Capitalism We Need

Unless you use Capitalism to define a way of theft.

Accumulating capital and deploying it for projects larger than an individual or a family can handle is the only way to get big things done.

But there must be rules, and a Rule of Law, to see that those accumulating the wealth and deploying it do not abuse the power that goes along with it.

Socialism was at the beginning a set of rules to keep the Diseased forms of Capitalism at bay. Then it got carried to extremes, and also was used to abuse people.

So let's create a nation (as the Founding Fathers tried) in which the Abuse of Power is prohibited, punished, and unthinkable. And then we can implement small-c capitalism and small-s socialism to organize our social and economic lives.

This nation would be of the people, by the people, for the people--all the people, all the time. And it would have to extend these protections against abuse of power to all the people of the world, and then to all species and to the planet itself.

Both Capitalism and Socialism make horrible masters, but capitalism and socialism are powerful tools to preserve and advance human goals.