Join @ellabakercenter next Saturday 11.7 2-3:30PM for a #ReleasesNOTTransfers Townhall. @jamesking0314 will be facilitating a dialogue with formerly incarcerated organizers/community members to show how #WeTakeCareOfUs and why releases are the only answer. pic.twitter.com/TQLiVafVlB

— Isabella Borgeson (@isaborgeson) October 29, 2020

EMAIL STRIKE.DEBT.BAY.AREA@GMAIL.COM FOR
ZOOM INFO A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE MEETING.

MAX HAIVEN, THE AUTHOR, WILL BE JOINING OUR DISCUSSION IN DECEMBER!

Strike Debt Bay Area hosts a non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included Doughnut Economics, Limits, Banking on the People, Capital and Its Discontents, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century, and The Deficit Myth.

For our October discussion we will be reading the first two chapters of  ‘Revenge Capitalism: The Ghosts of Empire, the Demons of Capital, and the Settling of Unpayable Debts‘ by Max Haiven (You can order it from Pluto Press.)

For our November discussion we’ll be reading the third and fourth chapters, and for our December discussion we’ll read the final chapters and closing material.

Join us – all are welcome! (This is a dense and intricate book, so if you want to join in on the discussion in December as opposed to just auditing the discussion and listening to the author we’d ask that you make sure you’ve read it…)

Capitalism is in a profound state of crisis. Beyond the mere dispassionate cruelty of ‘ordinary’ structural violence, it appears today as a global system bent on reckless economic revenge; its expression found in mass incarceration, climate chaos, unpayable debt, pharmaceutical violence and the relentless degradation of common life.

In Revenge Capitalism, Max Haiven argues that this economic vengeance helps us explain the culture and politics of revenge we see in society more broadly. Moving from the history of colonialism and its continuing effects today, he examines the opioid crisis in the US, the growth of ‘surplus populations’ worldwide and unpacks the central paradigm of unpayable debts – both as reparations owed, and as a methodology of oppression.

Revenge Capitalism offers no easy answers, but is a powerful call to the radical imagination.

Max Haiven is Research Chair in Culture, Media and Social Justice at Lakehead University, Canada. His books include Art after Money, Money after Art (Pluto, 2018), Crises of Imagination, Crises of Power (Zed Books, 2004), Cultures of Financialization (Palgrave MacMillan, 2014) and the Radical Imagination (Zed Books, 2014).

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83397516505?pwd=ZEd3VFdoMldLeHd1K2NLSnlCSFJadz091

11/7/20 The Olympics, Fukushima & The Madness

Panel Discussion November 7, 2020 (Saturday) 7:00 PM

No Nukes Action is hosting an international panel on the proposed 2021 Olympics and the continuing health and nuclear crisis at Fukushima.

Although the Covid-19 pandemic continues unabated in the US and around the world, the Japanese govern- ment and Prime Minister

Suga says that they plan to have the Olympics in 2021 regardless of the conditions.

At the same time, the govenment still has not removed the melted nuclear material from the 3 reactors in Fukushima, and release millions of gallons

of radioactive water in tanks surrounding Fukushima and also still plan to have part of the Olympics in Fukushima.

We will look at the situation and the MADNESS dominating the plan to have the 2021 Olympics in the mid- dle of a world pandemic with the continued dangers in Fukushima.

Speakers:

George Wright, Professor Emeritus
Sarah Yamasaki, Journalist, Tokyo
Eric Sheehan, NOlympics LA
Dr. Nayvin Gordon, People’s Medical Doctor

To join meeting:
NNA The Tokyo Olympics, The People of Japan, Sports & Fukushima

Time: Nov 7, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83397516505?pwd=ZEd3VFdoMldLeHd1K2NLSnlCSFJadz09

For more info:

On The Tenth Year Of Fukushima, The Olympics & The Resignation Of Abe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAumSj1yz0o

The Japanese Government Cover-up On “The Tenth Year Of Fukushima”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-FpjYE_WSM

No Nukes Action Committee

https://nonukesaction.wordpress.com

Our Sunday morning programs are scheduled pretty much on a “first come, first served” basis and confirmed at our planning sessions. The opinions expressed are those of the speakers only and do not represent a group consensus on the issues by the members of ICSS. Our general practice is to allot at least half of the time to comradely discussion of the issues so that we include as many voices as practical .

Check here close to the date each week for subject matter and Zoom info if not below:

https://icssmarx.org/icss-sched-latest.html

Sun, Sep 20, 2020:
Socialism and ‘Movement for a People’s Party’
In the US, a movement is afoot for a new party and over 100,000 people have responded to the call to form a new ‘People’s Party’, which is presently a pre-party formation.  In this Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library session, we will be showing some videos of the speeches by notable speakers and analyze the platform for this new political formation from a Marxist perspective, followed by a lively discussion

LOG-IN INFO 
The meeting will be opened up, as usual, at 10:15 for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc. We Intend to start the presentation as close to 10:30 am as possible

Raj Sahai is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2591082607?pwd=TTdlcFlnZEVCdWt2VlRHeWZLeHNKQT09

Meeting ID: 259 108 2607
Passcode: 6MwQP7

Sun, Sep 27, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: Labor and Immigration
David will talk about the struggles of farmworkers on the West Coast to organize, and the way it’s affected by their work lives and status as immigrants.  He’ll include photographs and a description of his documentary work in process.

Sun, Oct 4, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: The Crisis in Education:
Capitalist Mess and Socialist Solutions
The NY Times recently ran two articles on its front page: U.S. Campuses See Explosions Of Virus Cases,“ and “How Beijing got 295 Million Back to School.” This illustrates how socialism attempts to solve the mess in education created by capitalism. Similar forces can be seen in Oakland, CA, where billionaire-funded charter school organizations are buying our school board members, implementing school closures, and turning students and parents into vectors for billionaire profit. Meanwhile, socialists and union activists fighting to keep Oakland schools public, and to keep charter schools and their billionaire supporters out of our communities. We have invited Gerald Smith, an activist with Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and former candidate for the Oakland School Board, to lead a discussion with members of the Oakland Education Association (OEA) the teacher’s union. Discussants will include Mike Hutchinson, a candidate  for the Oakland School Board in District 5, endorse by both DSA and OEA.
The session will be moderated by ICSS Members Eugene Ruyle and Raj Sahai.

Sun, Oct 11, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: Dealing with Covid 19:
A Comparison Between Cuba and the United States
   Cuba, a socialist nation with a population of about 11 million, has suffered (as of mid-September, 2020) about 100 fatalities from the Covid 19 virus pandemic. The USA, a capitalist nation with a population about 30 times as great as Cuba, has suffered (as of mid-September), almost 200,000 deaths from this virus. The U.S., with about 30 times the population of Cuba has lost about 2000 times as many lives! What are the social, political, economic, ideological, cultural, strategic and other factors relevant to each nation that explain this profound difference
Dr. Laurence H. Shoup has taught history at a number of universities and is the author of five books, his most recent one being Wall Street’s Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire Neoliberal Geopolitics 1976-2019 (Monthly Review Press). He has been in active solidarity with the Cuban Revolution for many decades and has visited the country over a dozen times on a variety of solidarity excursions, including two Pastors for Peace caravans, several Labor Exchange trips, as well as with the Venceremos Brigade and Global Exchange.

Sun, Oct 18, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: What Should Working People in the U.S.
do about Elections 2020?
Should we: 1. Vote Third Party? 2. Vote Democratic to oppose the Fascist tendency represented by Trump? Trump? 3. Adopt the Safe State Strategy?, 4. Sit out of the bourgeois election? 4. Vote for Trump to deny support to the real danger, Biden? 5. suport only those down-ballot candidates from any group that pushes for reform of the capitalist system, e.g Greens, Berners and “The Squad”?
We have three confirmed speakers,
* Tom Gallagher, former Massachusetts State Representative and author of The Primary Route.
* Roger Harris, among his many activities, Roger is on the Central Committee of the Peace and Freedom Party and a board member of the Task Force on the Americas
* Laura Wells, former Green Party candidate for Governor, writer (laurawells.org)
ICSS member Sharon Rose will facilitate the session..
RECOMMENDED READINGS:
* The Specter of a Fascist Coup by Trump Haunts the US, But There’s Worse to Worry About https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/21/the-specter-of-a-fascist-coup-by-trump-haunts-the-us-but-theres-worse-to-worry-About/
* Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World By Rutger Bregman, recommended by https://laurawells.org
* Joe Biden, Don’t Let Donald Trump Run as the Antiwar Candidate! https://tomgallagherwrites.com
LOG-IN INFO 
The meeting will be opened up, as usual, at 10:15 for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc. We Intend to start the presentation as close to 10:30 am as possible
BLURB AND LOG-IN INFO WILL BE PROVIDED ON
FRIDAY, OCT 16, 2020

Sun, Oct 25, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: Attack on Anti-racist Organizers
On Sept. 17, 2020, several protest leaders, including four members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), were arrested in Denver, Colorado in a coordinated police attack. The organizers now face over 30 bogus charges including “kidnapping” and “inciting a riot,” and potentially years in prison. They were targeted because of their dedicated organizing efforts in recent months to denouncing the police murder of Elijah McClain in Aurora, Colorado.
This attack is part of a larger assault on the anti-racist movement directed from the White House, Governor’s mansions, and local governments and police agencies around the country. This can happen to any protester who has used their voice to mobilize in the mass movement against racism in every single corner of the United States.
   We will be joined by Lillian House, one of the protest organizers  facing 12 bogus facing charges including “kidnapping” and “inciting a riot,” and potentially years in prison and well as Richard Becker of the PSL.
For more info and to donate, see https://www.liberationnews.org/thousands-declare-their-solidarity-with-framed-denver-anti-racist-organizers-add-your-name-here/
The demands are: 1. Drop all the charges! 2. Stop the assault on the movement and on free speech!

Sun, Nov 1, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm DST FALL BACK
CONFIRMED -The fall of the Soviet Union: New insights into the sequence of events, starting with the victory of the Russian Revolution on November 7, 1917, and implications for Marxists today.”
Wadi’h Halabi, with the Center for Marxist Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will discuss this topic. His analysis extends to differences between the Chinese and Russian Revolutions. For example, civil war and land reform followed revolution in Russia but preceded it in China. Halabi’s discussion will touch on the ‘new Cold War’. The global class struggle hardly ended with the fall of the Soviet Union, and this is the framework of the presentation.

Sun, Nov 8, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED – WHAT NOW?
This will be our first meeting after the November 3, 2020 election, and we know they will not turn out well. Do we Dump Trump or Battle Biden? What will groups like ANSWER, the Poor People’s Campaign, and DSA  be doing? We have invited  Gloria La Riva, the only socialist Presidential Candidate on the ballot in 23 states, or her representative, to lead our discussion, possibly  she will be  joined by another speaker.
Gene is organizing.

RSVP here (scroll down)

Join the East Bay DSA Labor Committee for a 7-part study series on labor organizing in the 1930s, open to all and designed for anyone engaged or interested in workplace or non-workplace based movement work.

The Left has always played an essential role in building movements for social justice. The current pandemic and the deepening economic crisis presents us with urgent challenges. Especially since ours is a new socialist movement without tons of experience in labor and other working-class movements, we need to learn as much as we can about how socialists conducted themselves in the past. The 1930s was the last great period of labor organizing in the US. Like today, the 1930s began with widespread economic desperation, racist repression, and a weak labor movement. Yet, by the end of the ‘30s, millions of workers had created and joined unions after tumultuous struggles, with Left parties playing key roles.

What were the key lessons of the ‘30s that can inform our work today? How did workers organize themselves and their communities? To what extent was the fight against racism integrated into those struggles? What was the role of the union officials and the state? And in all of this, what were the strengths and weaknesses that Left organizations brought to the movement?

Groups will start the week of November 8th, consist of 10 – 12 people, and will meet every other week for a total of 7 sessions, factoring in a break for the holidays. Readings will be shared digitally at no cost, will average 50 pages every two weeks, and will include primary and secondary sources, fiction, and poetry.

For questions, comments, etc, please email labor@eastbaydsa.org

For a list of the readings, click here

Berkeley Copwatch would like to invite you to get involved in the movement to abolish policing, defend human rights, stand up for the rights of Black people, Indigenous people, Unhoused people, and all the marginalized members of our community. Since 1990, Berkeley Copwatch has taken a stand against police brutality, injustice, and the overreaching arm of authoritarian capitalism. Stand with us now and refuse to be abused! There are so many different ways to get involved in Copwatch (writing, art, activism, data entry), and no experience is necessary.

Meeting ID: 819 0627 1400

Passcode: assata

OTU’s Mission

The Oakland Tenants Union is an organization of housing activists dedicated to protecting tenant rights and interests. OTU does this by working directly with tenants in their struggle with landlords, impacting legislation and public policy about housing, community education, and working with other organizations committed to furthering renters’ rights. The Oakland Tenants Union is open to anyone who shares our core values and who believes that tenants themselves have the primary responsibility to work on their own behalf.

Monthly Meetings

The Oakland Tenants Union meets regularly at 7:00 pm on the second Monday evening of each month. Our monthly meetings are held in the Community Room of the Madison Park Apartments, 100 – 9th Street (at Oak Street, across from the Lake Merritt BART Station). To enter, gently knock on the window of the room to the right of the main entrance to the building. At the meetings, first we focus on general issues affecting renters city-wide and then second we offer advice to renters regarding their individual concerns.

If you have an issue, a question, or need advice about a tenant/landlord issue, please call us at (510) 704-5276. Leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will get back to you.

Eventbrite webinar link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chris-hedges-the-culture-of-despair-tickets-120320183909

 With the election over, it’s the perfect time to get the reliably candid response of one of our few great journalists. 

“Chris Hedges has been telling truth to (and against) power since his earliest days as a radical journalist. He is an intellectual warrior who confronts American empire in the most incisive, challenging ways. The insights he provides into the deeply troubled state of our nation cannot be found anywhere else. Like many of our most important thinkers, he has been relegated to the margins because of ideas deemed too radical—or true—for public consumption. Whether it is covering the dissolution of former Soviet states or embedding in the Middle East to understand

the post-9/11 world, he has been a singular voice pushing against mainstream media disinformation and the amnesia of establishment received wisdom. He is an intellectual heir to American radical heroes such as Thomas Paine and Noam Chomsky, and is dedicated to reigniting a shared commitment to radical equality and honesty.”

Pulitzer Prize-winning Chris Hedges spent nearly two decades as a correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans, with 15 years at the New York Times.  His books include Empire of Illusion; Death of the Liberal Class; War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning; Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt; and Wages of Rebellion. He currently writes a weekly column for Truthdig.

Mickey Huff is the Director of Project Censored, President of the Media Freedom           Foundation, and executive producer/co-host of the Project Censored Show on Pacifica Radio. His latest books include Censored 2020: Though the Looking Glass (co-edited with Andy Lee Roth) from Seven Stories Press and United States of Distraction: Media Manipulation in Post-Truth America (And What We Can Do About It) co-authored with Nolan Higdon from City Lights Publishing. He is currently professor of social science and history at Diablo Valley College, where he is co-chair of history as well as the chair of the journalism program. www.projectcensored.org

We meet over Zoom. If you’d like to join us, and aren’t on our organizers’ list, drop us an email and we’ll send you an invitation.

If you would like to join the meeting early and get an introduction to the concepts of public banking, or more locally to who we are and what we do, please email us and we’ll see you online at 6:30.

Donate to keep us moving forward

Join the East Bay DSA Political Education Committee for an analysis of what’s happened since election day.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84783105991?pwd=Tlk5SENqWHFHV216M1lSZkRtUGk2dz09

Meeting ID: 847 8310 5991

Password: 897028

Our Green New Deal Committee meets on the second Wednesday each month. We will discuss eco-socialist issues, upcoming events and actions, committee priorities, and campaigns. All are welcome! Please RSVP to receive the URL to the meeting or email green-new-deal@eastbaydsa.org.

Zoom – please RSVP for the URL & instructions.

As resegregation reshapes the Bay Area, low-income communities of color are increasingly living at the expanding edges of our region, where they struggle to find quality jobs, schools, and public transportation, decent affordable housing, and a political voice.

Generating policy alternatives to the region’s unjust land use, housing, and transportation systems have not been enough to stop this trend. To truly achieve regional equity in an era of resegregation, we must demand transformative politics that increases the political power of disenfranchised communities.

ECOTOPIA 2050 5-PART SPEAKER SERIES

Ecotopia 2050 is designed as a 5 Episode speaker discussion series with the first episode serving as an introduction/prelude to the event. The speaker discussion series is paired with corresponding book club meetings that give participants a more intimate opportunity to discuss the themes of the book in the community.

Based on the 1975 blockbuster utopian novel Ecotopia, this discussion and book club event series revisit some of the futuristic visions of the Ernest Callenbach classic. His visionary ideas, and those of his generation, that he so skillfully captured in Ecotopia are a fascinating amalgam of technical, economic, societal, and cultural transformations. They are predictive on so many levels, and the series will explore what has come true, what remains on the list of things to do that were proposed, and what new visions we might begin to pull together in the construction of an updated Ecotopian vision of today.

Registration Instructions
1. Choose your experience (single episode) or full series
2. Are you joining the book club? *choose the add on
Note: You must be registered for the full series if you register for book club.
3. Check out.
4. A secure Zoom link will be sent 24 hours ahead of event time to registered email.

Register Here

Sun, Nov 15, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
The Ongoing War on Syria & Why it Matters |
Rick Sterling will discuss the current situation in Syria and future prospects if Biden assumes the Presidency. Unreported in mainstream media, the US and allies continue to wage hybrid warfare on Syria – economically, politically, judicially and militarily. Why does the US persist in attacking Syria, preventing it from recovering and harming millions of Syrians? Will this change with a Democrat in the White House?  Why has this struggle become a focal point of East – West conflict? What are the best and worst things that could happen?
   Rick Sterling is on the Steering Committee of Syria Solidarity Movement.

He is an independent journalist who has written many articles about Syria..
LOGIN INFORMATION
The meeting will be opened up, as usual, at 10:15 for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc. We Intend to start the presentation as close to 10:30 am as possible. The program (and recording) will end at 12:30, but the Waiting Room will remain open for informal discussion.

Raj Sahai’s Zoom Meeting. (TO BE CONFIRMED)

Sun Nov 15, 2020 10:15am – 1:15pm Pacific Time

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2591082607?pwd=TTdlcFlnZEVCdWt2VlRHeWZLeHNKQT09

Meeting ID: 259 108 2607

Passcode: 6MwQP7

Sun, Nov 22, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm

How the US Dominates the World Economy: Failings of Modern Monetary Theory and why the US can print trillions of dollars and not experience inflation.

Stansfield Smith will explain how the US control of the world economy since the end of World War II has enabled it to bully the world’s countries into depending on the US dollar and using it as the international currency. This requires world countries to amass quantities of dollars to operate and to pay the cost of upholding the value of the dollar, which includes investing in the growing US debt. This also explains how the US can use its economic sanctions to punish countries that seek independence from US control. While Modern Monetary Theory gives an account of why the US can continue to print vast sums of money and suffer little inflation, its explanation avoids confronting the reality of US control of the world financial structure.

Stansfield Smith’s presentation is based on his articles: Inadequacy of Modern Monetary Theory and the Power of the US Dollar in the World Economy and Why the US Can Keep Increasing its Debt and not Suffer Inflation.
Stan Smith has been involved in the Freedom for the Cuban Five movement and the movements in defense of the sovereignty of El Salvador, Cuba, Venezuela, and other Latin American countries for 40 years. He has written numerous articles such as: First Two Months in Power: Hitler vs. Trump; What North Koreans Think; Framing North Korea; Is Russia imperialist; China’s International Solidarity Aid to the World During the Corona Pandemic; Chomsky and Other Liberal Intellectuals Ask Us to Join Them in Throwing in the Towel. He produces a weekly compendium of articles on Latin America at https://chicagoalbasolidarity.wordpress.com/.

Sun, Nov 29, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm (Thanksgiving weekend)
TENTATIVE: Abhinav Sinha on the International Working Class
Our speaker is editor of the renowned Hindi magazine ‘Muktikami Chhatron-Yuvaon ka Aahwan.’

Sun, Dec 6, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
The Logic of Capitalist Production and Marx’s Ecology
Even many Marxists are convinced that Marx believed in production without limitations, and thus Marx was oblivious to the question of ecology of the planet. Today the world is caught in a double jeopardy: on one hand capitalism is reducing workers’ organized bargaining power by production shifted to lowest wage countries pitting workers of one country against another and on the other capitalist production is consuming the resources of the planet provided by Nature rapidly while massively polluting land, water, and air. Since the fall of the USSR, China has been touted as the successful model of socialism using the capitalist market, or what is termed as “Market-Socialism”. This leads workers in US with no hope unlike in 1930s when they saw hope after the revolution in the USSR and workers had state power and were constructing socialism. A section of the US workers were drawn to a demagogue, namely Trump in the US and in India a majority of workers followed another demagogue: Modi in India. This trend is also developing in other countries. Raj Sahai will analyze this situation in the first hour and then in the second invite comments from the audience.