Speech on class struggles

[The New Left]

I'm writing a speech on class struggles to be presented to my entire school (1000 people). What are some key things to include? Typically something Marxist or Leninist.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

If you could be a bit more specific I could do my best to help.

[Hit The North]

You could do worse than model your speech on Marx's classic statement on the subject here:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works...ifesto/ch01.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm)

[The New Left]

Originally posted by Compañ[email protected] 23, 2007 05:11 am
If you could be a bit more specific I could do my best to help.
More or less just talking about how the left is more for the people than the right. Explain the values of the left (social democracy, democratic socialism, socialism, communism). And talking about how 5% of the world has 95% of all wealth and we have enough food to feed the world 12 times over and how we could distribute all that evenly amongst everyone.

[MarxSchmarx]

More or less just talking about how the left is more for the people than the right. Explain the values of the left (social democracy, democratic socialism, socialism, communism). And talking about how 5% of the world has 95% of all wealth and we have enough food to feed the world 12 times over and how we could distribute all that evenly amongst everyone.

An image is worth a thousand statistics. When you're giving a talk to that many people, rational argument is a waste of time.

Instead, play to their heartstrings. Talk about things like workers dying in dangerous jobs, homeless children, the rain forest, and people dying of treatable diseases like malaria and dysentery.

Then tell a story how all that is connected to rich schmucks. Tell them that the reason generic drugs aren't available in Africa is because corporate executives in America are worried about their patents and their profits. So they spend billions of dollars to buy politicians to prevent these drugs from reaching these markets. People die, but the rich only want to get richer. Tell them that if the corporate executives don't do this, they will be fired and may go homeless!

Argue, therefore, that the system effectively (for all intents and purposes) forces people to behave selfishly. But it also destroys many lives as a consequence.

Try to convince your audience of two things: (1) people dying of treatable diseases is horrible and (2) if they were capitalists, they would probably try to maximize their wealth too. Then they are uncomfortable. Here's where you make them feel better, by saying "it doesn't have to be this way" and describe how in the Red Utopia this problem can be solved - lives can be saved, and the corporate executive can feed his family.

This is just an example. I'm sure you can come up with better cases. But do something along these lines instead of talking numbers or syllogisms.