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Kshama Sawant
A candidate running under the Socialist Alternative party for Position 1 in the 43rd District (Seattle) of the Washington House of Representatives. She'll be running against Democratic Speaker of the House Frank Chopp.
www.votesawant.org
"Darwin did not know what a bitter satire he wrote on mankind ... when he showed that free competition, the struggle for existence, which the economists celebrate as the highest historical achievement, is the normal state of the animal kingdom." Engels
Left: 8.99, Libertarian: 5.84
Not really sure what they seek to accomplish with all of this. Coupled with their support of Jill Stein and love for coalitions, it seems they're so desperate to become well-known that they're willing to leave behind communism and wave the flag of liberalism.
Thems are fightin' words, man
But really I don't know enough about the campaign to make a judgment. Interesting that she got onto the ballot though.
What they seek to accomplish? Uhm, it's pretty clear to me. To build the beginnings of a new worker's party and to publicly challenge and expose the Democrats. When you make claims like that it's helpful if you could qualify it with something.
Here's a video from a recent Soc. Alt. meeting in Seattle:
Capitalism in Crisis and the Socialist Alternative
Do point out where we're waving the flag of liberalism.
"I want to say sweet, silly things." - V.I Lenin
I've actually met that guy in person. He's from Austria, so he doesn't necessarily represent Socialist Alternative. In any case, talks like these are hardly representative of the party's real line, which consists mostly of liberal talking points like student debt and a lack of any real theory. This all comes from my own experience with the party.
As far as I'm concerned we're all the CWI. And why wouldn't student debt be a real issue? Reform and revolution are not opposites, you know.
"I want to say sweet, silly things." - V.I Lenin
The student debt problem in the US is huge and is driving large numbers of people in their 20s into poverty.Its not just a "liberal talking point" but a basic and nightmarish fact of life for many, including people on this forum.Socialist Alternative/CWI is an international organisation and socialism obviously must take an international perspective.We've had comrades from Ireland, the UK, Lebanon and Nigeria tour the US to discuss the struggle in their countries.
As far as our "real line" we push for breaking with the Dems, putting the economy under public ownership.
http://www.socialistalternative.org/about/
Anyway Kshama very ably showed up the hypocrisy of the Democratic Party. We are certainly not "liberals".
To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget
Arundhati Roy
Lenina Rosenweg is a glorious beacon of light
Student debt is a huge problem, I get that. But let's not make that one of of our campaign's biggest issues just to attract students. That's just baseless opportunism. Instead, talk about capitalism as a whole, why it needs to be put to an end, and what radical alternative is. A communist party needs to put forth a communist program, not just vague demands that people could just go to the Green Party for.
I don't mind a socialist running for office. We need to engage at the electoral level at some point. My concern is that we don't try and piggy back off the liberals and thus make our message pointless.
Brospierre-Albanian baseball was played with a frozen ball of shit and tree branch
"History knows no greater display of courage than that shown by the people of the Soviet Union."
Henry L. Stimson: U.S. Secretary of War
Take the word “fear” and the phrase “for what, it’s not going to change anything” out of your minds and take control of your future.
[I]Juan Jose Fernandez, Asturias
"I want to give a really bad party. I mean it. I want to give a party where there's a brawl and seductions and people going home with their feelings hurt and women passed out in the cabinet de toilette. You wait and see"
I'll write something longer about our method more generally when I'm not surfing on my phone but one of thr main slogans is "capitalism has failed the 99%!", cuts straight to the point don't you think? And we took it to the courts to defend our rigjt to identify as socialists on the ballot.
"I want to say sweet, silly things." - V.I Lenin
Her campaign is certainly markedly to the left of liberalism. If I lived in that district, I'd vote for her, but I'm in the 11th District.
"I have declared war on the rich who prosper on our poverty, the politicians who lie to us with smiling faces, and all the mindless, heartless robots who protect them and their property." - Assata Shakur
Well there are other ways to help out with the campaign if you want to. There's a form that can be filled out on the vote sawant page if you want to get in touch with them or even just give your personal endorsement. Ultimately this campaign isnt about the votes but to build something for the future, in WA and beyond.
"I want to say sweet, silly things." - V.I Lenin
"I want to say sweet, silly things." - V.I Lenin
this shouldn't be in mutual aid. maybe the other mod in the thread could have moved it.
moved to politics
"I want to say sweet, silly things." - V.I Lenin
Yeah a party should have a systemic critique, but there's nothing wrong with agitating against particular symptoms of the system to show the public how the failures of Capitalism are directly impacting their lives.
Socialist Party of Outer Space
From the North Star:
Sawant, Stein, and Post-2012 Left Strategy
"I want to say sweet, silly things." - V.I Lenin
