Immortal Technique - The Poverty of Philosophy

Almost a year old, but as relevant an analysis of the crisis today as it was then.

Class War?

Just look at them.  It sickens.  Lest you forget, the enemy in the struggle is not simply the system, but the owning, capitalist, class.  They are not faceless, and they are not simply cogs in a machine.  They act with intention and class consciousness.  They exploit us, they grow rich from our toil, and they disdain us.  They hold us in utter contempt, and in so doing make themselves contemptible.

In the past, they have refrained from such public and blatant displays of condescension - but no more.  They have grown complacent and decadent, and the time has come for the people to unite peacefully and show them that they cannot act with impunity forever.  They may have control of the apparatus of state and the public offices of the land, but there still exists the ideal principle of one person one vote, and we must unite to make that ideal reality through direct non-violent political action.

Workers!  The exploiters have shown that they have class consciousness.  Do you?

Event: What is Socialism All About?

Where: McMicken 46 (University of Cincinnati campus)
When: Wednesday, October 5th - 7PM

If there's one good thing to come out of the current crisis, perhaps it's the proof that capitalism is a dead end.

Sure, it works, but for whom? While working people, students, and their families suffer, the bankers and politicians who brought us this crisis are doing better than ever.

With neither of the mainstream political parties offering anying but austerity, people are turning to socialist ideas.

Join Professor Pranav Jani from the Columbus branch of the ISO for an open dialogue on reshaping our society to work for the majority.

Facebook Event Page

Occupy Wall Street

Just a quick post to remind everyone that under capitalism:
1) The press is only as free as its corporate masters
Occupy Wall Street being ignored
and
2) That capitalism depends on the application of state violence for the continued "consent" of the population.

Chemical Workers Song

The View of Georgia from Cincinnati

On September 21st 2011 the State of Georgia murdered an innocent man by lethal injection. Despite a flawed legal process, involving several trials and last minute appeals, Troy Davis was executed without any evidence against him and after several "witnesses" recanted their forced testimonies.

There was an outpouring of support for Troy around the world, including the entire continent of Europe: "Serious and compelling doubts have persistently surrounded the evidence on which Mr. Davis was convicted, and these were recognized by the appeal judges. The European Union therefore calls for his execution to be urgently commuted."

However the President of the United States, which by the way includes Georgia, did not offer a single word or action on the subject. The very next day he was here in Cincinnati speaking at Hilltop Concrete about his American Jobs Act - in a word, campaigning. He was too busy trying to boost his poll numbers to shine the light on an appalling miscarriage of justice. Too much of a downer for the campaign trail.

Obama did not seem to grasp that he was speaking in a city that had to have the Department of Justice review of its police force in 2001 after a number of unnecessary deaths at the hands of the Cincinnati PD. The killing of Timothy Thomas, an unarmed Black man fleeing arrest for traffic violations,  in particular led to riots in the city. The department was subject to independent monitoring of its use of force until 2007.

This same federal agency should be focusing energetically on the State of Georgia's broken justice system. The Department of Justice should be investigating Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, the entire Board of Pardons and Paroles, and the Savannah Police Department. Then there might be some actual justice in this case.