Texas Socialism

[TheReadMenace]

Some of the info is a bit late, but I just found out a day or so ago:

*** WHY YOU SHOULD COME TO TEXAS SOCIALIST CONFERENCE ***
A NEW OPPOSITION is being born. In Washington, DC, hundreds of thousands turned out in the biggest anti-war demonstration since the start of the Iraq war. The anger and outrage against Bush's policies at home and abroad was summed-up in the slogans, "Make Levees Not War" and "No Iraqis Left Me on a Rooftop to Die."

MILLIONS OF PEOPLE are asking fundamental questions about, in Time Magazine's words, "system failure." The free market at home and abroad has produced savage inequalities. Instead of addressing these, the US government has imposed free trade policies that have further impoverished the world's workers and peasants and prosecuted vicious attacks on our living standards here at home. To back up its reactionary economic agenda, Bush has diverted hundreds of billions of dollars to wars and occupations that have left a trail of devastation in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Haiti.

THESE HORRORS HAVE laid the foundation for the new opposition and a new left. Cindy Sheehan's stirring protest outside Bush's ranch in Texas re-galvanized the anti-war movement. Katrina then sealed the end of what remained of Bush's post-9/11 consensus. The hurricane's devastation and the government's callous, repressive and racist response exposed all that's wrong with American society.

IN THE WAKE OF Camp Casey, Katrina, and the DC March, Bush has gone from winning an election in a polarized country to now becoming the least popular reelected President since Nixon with solid majorities opposed to all his policies.

WITH INCREASING URGENCY, a new generation of activists is looking for an alternative that can explain the crisis in our world and help galvanize a fight for a better society. This year's TEXAS SOCIALIST CONFERENCE, "War, Racism, and Poverty: Time for an Alternative," addresses today's burning issues, how to fight for immediate reforms, and organize for a new society-a socialist society built to meet human needs from New Orleans to Baghdad.




Schedule, Directions and other info below:


War, poverty, Racism:
IT'S TIME FOR AN ALTERNATIVE !

*** TEXAS SOCIALIST CONFERENCE 2005 ***

Saturday, November 5
Austin, Texas * The University of Texas at Austin


*** SCHEDULE ***

10:00 a.m. -- Registration begins in Parlin Hall (directions below)

11:00 a.m. -- Opening Plenary: "War, Racism, Poverty: The Case for a
Socialist Alternative." Guest speaker: Paul D'Amato

12:30 p.m. -- lunch break

2:00 p.m. -- Workshops: "Fighting Imperialism from Iraq to Palestine"
and "From Katrina to the Minutemen: Racism in America Today"

3:30 p.m. -- Closing plenary: "Turning the Tide: Taking on Bush's
Wars at Home and Abroad"

Plus book fair, activist tables, an after-party and more...


*** INFO ON SPEAKER ***

PAUL D'AMATO is the associate editor of the International Socialist Review and a long time activist who has written extensively on topics ranging from the war in Iraq to the Marxist tradition. Paul recently traveled to the Gulf Coast to report on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the efforts of working class people in the region to be-build their lives.

International Socialist Review:
http://www.isreview.org

Paul's reports from New Orleans:
http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-...oastBlog.shtml

Paul on The Meaning of Marxism:
http://www.socialistworker.org/Featu...fMarxism.shtml


*** DIRECTIONS AND OTHER INFO ***

PARLIN HALL is at the northwest corner of the South Mall (the grassy
area south of the UT Tower).

Map to Parlin: http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/par.html

$5 donation requested. Overnight housing and child care available.
REQUESTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY MONDAY, OCT. 24

Contact us at:
[email protected]
(512) 494-0667
http://austiniso.org

*******************

On a bit shorter notice:

This Saturday in Austin, the KKK is coming down from Georgia to protest same-sex marriage and support an amendment to the city's bill of rights to ban same-sex marriage. Of course, there is going to be a counter-demonstration organised mostly by the local ISO branch, so if anyone is in or near the Austin area, feel free to join us at the city capital to show these fascists that they're not welcome here.

PM me with any questions; maybe some of us will march together?

Andrew

[TheReadMenace]

EDIT:

The anti-Klan rally is the day of the Socialism Conference. The March Against the Death Penalty was today (which was amazing, by the way).

Andrew

[CaptianAnarchy]

I say we ambush those racist BASTARDS and inflict as many casulties as posible on those racist Fukers

Racists Are Sub-Human and DON'T forget it

[TheReadMenace]

There's also another group doing a protest right before the main one.

Friday night, around 8 or 9 pm, there's going to be a sit-in on the City Plaza, and by 10pm it will decided whether or not it will be continued all night (it depends on the numbers). The purpose is basically to occupy the spot that the KKK rally is supposed to take place; if they can't have it, they can't hold their rally.

We'll see how that goes. The ISO branch is stressing solidarity with the sit-in group, even though we're hosting the conference that following morning.