ISSUE #38 - NOVEMBER 2017 SUGGESTED DONATION $2 BUILD A MOVEMENT TO BRING DOWN TRUMP ALSO INSIDE GINGER JENTZEN CAMPAIGN p. 5 RUSSIAN REVOLUTION pp. 7-10 CATALONIA p. 13 WHAT WE STAND FOR WHY I AM A SOCIALIST Fighting for the 99% racism of the criminal justice system. Invest in rehabilitation, job training, and living-wage J Raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an Hannah Rooth jobs, not prisons! Abolish the death penalty. hour, as a step toward a living wage for all. J Defend immigrant rights! Immediate, Houston, TX J Free, high quality public education for all from unconditional legalization and equal rights for pre-school through college. Full funding for Since childhood, I’ve been deeply all undocumented immigrants. schools to dramatically lower student-teacher troubled by issues of economic dis- ratios. Stop the focus on high stakes testing J Fight sexual harassment, violence against parity. I was raised in conservative and the drive to privatize public education. women, and all forms of sexism. churches and tried mobilizing people to work on changing the massive pov- J J Defend a woman’s right to choose whether Free, high quality health care for all. Replace erty epidemic we often spoke about. fighting for a system that puts humanity first, the failed for-profit insurance companies with a and when to have children. For a publicly funded, single-payer health care system I found this struggle to be a dead end, and I’ve been recovering from lifelong depression. publicly funded single-payer system as a step myself quite alone in it. The beautiful thing about the socialist towards fully socialized medicine. with free reproductive services, including all forms of birth control and safe, accessible At fourteen, I stumbled upon a comic struggle is hangs on radical hope, and faith in J No budget cuts to education and social abortions. Comprehensive sex education. At book, “Introducing Marxism,” in the library the collective capacity of humanity to create a services! Full funding for all community needs. least 12 weeks of paid family leave for all. For of my private Christian high school. I vividly system that benefits everyone. It asserts the A major increase in taxes on the rich and big universal, high quality, affordable and publicly remember crying cathartically while reading it individual’s power to rise up and claim the life business, not working people. run child care. on the schoolbus home. deserved, while emphasizing the equivalent J Create living-wage union jobs for all the Basic Marxist theory, I think, is easily importance of others doing so: an attitude J Fight discrimination and violence against unemployed through public works programs understood. Like all things profound, it is which lends itself to the noble human poten- the LGBTQ community, and all forms of to develop mass transit, renewable energy, based on the knowledge we already have tial of making personal sacrifice for the good homophobia and transphobia. infrastructure, healthcare, education, and about the system that subjugates and dehu- of all. It embodies love for one’s neighbor: one affordable housing. Money for Jobs and Education, manizes us. To approach it openly, I had to that affirms her material and social entitle- J For rent control combined with massive public Not War remove the blinders of brainwashing and fear- ments and her right to rise up and seize them. investment in affordable housing. mongering put on me by society and evangeli- This is the “faith, hope, and love” preached J End the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. J calism. I was able to do this through my expe- in my childhood, turned on its head and made A guaranteed decent pension for all. No cuts Bring all the troops home now! to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid! rience coming out to my homophobic family. real. This is “my” Marxism, and my will to get J Slash the military budget. No drones. Shut I was prompted to begin this “thinking out of bed each morning and fight the dog- J A minimum guaranteed weekly income of down Guantanamo. through” process when I found the Houston eat-dog system that ceaselessly beats me and $600/week for the unemployed, disabled, J Repeal the Patriot Act, NDAA, and all other Socialist Alternative branch. Surrounded by a my loved ones down. J stay-at-home parents, the elderly, and others attacks on democratic rights. group of committed activists who believe in unable to work. J Repeal all anti-union laws like Taft-Hartley. For Break with the Two Parties of democratic unions run by the rank-and-file to Big Business fight for better pay, working conditions, and J For a mass workers party drawing together social services. Full-time union officials should Pats Fans Against Racism workers, young people and activists from be regularly elected and receive the average environmental, civil rights, and women’s wage of those they represent. campaigns, to provide a fighting, political Takes Off in Boston J No more layoffs! Take bankrupt and failing alternative to the corporate parties. remarks, recent attempts to suppress the companies into public ownership. Boston Socialist Alternative J Unions and other social movement players’ peaceful protests shows which J Break the power of Wall Street! For public organizations should stop funding and Since Trump’s vitriolic words about side they are really on. ownership and democratic control of the major supporting the Democratic and Republican NFL players taking a knee against racism banks. Parties and instead organize independent left- and NFL fans are still watching weekly to Building Fan Support J Shorten the workweek with no loss in pay wing, anti-corporate candidates and coalitions see which players stand, sit, and kneel. and benefits; share out the work with the as a first step toward building a workers’ party. Inspired by players, members of Boston PFAR believes there are many NFL fans unemployed and create new jobs. Socialist Alternative recently launched who want to take a stand against racism, Socialism and Internationalism police brutality, and improve their commu- Environmental Sustainability a new initiative called Pats Fans Against J Capitalism produces poverty, inequality, Racism (PFAR). PFAR’s goal is to bring nities. To capture this untapped energy, J Fight climate change. Massive public environmental destruction, and war. We together Patriots fans who stand against Boston Socialist Alternative and PFAR investment in renewable energy and energy- need an international struggle against this racial injustice and police brutality while hosted our first ever game watch party at efficient technologies to rapidly replace fossil failed system.No to corporate “free trade” defending athletes’ right to protest. a family-friendly bar in Cambridge. Every- fuels. agreements, which mean job losses and body was excited about future events and J A major expansion of public transportation to a race to the bottom for workers and the we plan to host another watch party in the NFL: Whose Football is it coming month. provide low fare, high-speed, and accessible environment. Anyways? transit. J Solidarity with the struggles of workers and J Democratic public ownership of the big oppressed peoples internationally: An injury to For a few hours every week, people get Spread “Fans Against energy companies, retooling them for one is an injury to all. to disengage from the stress of working to Racism” socially necessary green production. A J Take into public ownership the top 500 pay the bills and watch world-class ath- Players need to know they have fan “Just Transition” for all workers in polluting corporations and banks that dominate the U.S. letes play football. Millions of people trea- support as pressure increases from corpo- industries with guaranteed re-training and new economy. Run them under the democratic sure this part of their week, but nobody rate sponsors and NFL owners, scared to living-wage jobs. management of elected representatives of the loves the $12 stadium beers, $6 bottled lose profit. We need to build the pressure workers and the broader public. Compensation waters, billion dollar TV contracts, and Equal Rights for All to oppose the conservative weight of big to be paid on the basis of proven need to small the corporate sponsorships and adver- business on our sports. PFAR was easy J Fight discrimination based on race, nationality, investors, not millionaires. tisements that increasingly dominate the gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and quick to get together. We created a J A democratic socialist plan for the economy sport. religion, disability, age, and all other forms of Facebook page and flyered near the bar based on the interests of the overwhelming The NFL, a corporation whose primary prejudice. Equal pay for equal work. concern is profit, tries to appear apoliti- where we planned to watch the game. majority of people and the environment. For a Then we showed up, watched football, and J Black Lives Matter! Build a mass movement cal. But a closer look reveals a substantial socialist United States and a socialist world. J discussed how to build the #TakeAKnee against police brutality and the institutional number of NFL owners maxed out individ- ual donations to political candidates and movement. made $100,000+ contributions to PACs Building social movements and get- SocialistAlternative.org/join Join . supporting both Democrats and Republi- ting organized is the most effective way ) [email protected] cans. They also contributed at least $7.75 to demand and enact change. PFAR chal- million to Trump’s inauguration ceremony. lenges you to make a _FAR group in your J @SocialistAlt Though many of these same owners community. /SocialistAlternative.USA initially condemned Trump’s abhorrent 2 SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE.ORG • NOVEMBER 2017 POLITICS Demand for Impeachment Grows One Year is Enough! As we go to press, Trump is under increased pressure from special counsel Mueller’s investigation.