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Socialist Action is
a nation-wide group of revolutionary socialists. We fight for a society organized to
satisfy human needs, rather than corporate greed. We seek to revitalize the
anti-war, labor, student and other social movements, and to bring activists
together from different backgrounds into a revolutionary party that can
successfully challenge the wealthy elite. As socialists we seek to
understand the theory of Marxism, but as an activist group, we also seek to
put those ideas into practice. Join
us in the struggle to make a better world!
LINK: Click here to check out Socialist
Action’s News Blog!
 Turning the
Haitian Crisis Into an Occupation: After a 7.0 earthquake hit
the Haitian capital of Port au Prince on Jan. 12, U.S.
President Barack Obama
solemnly told the Haitian people two days later, “In this hour of need you
will not be forsaken.” The quake was a catastrophe that may rival the
deadly tsunami of 2004. At press time, the death toll is estimated at
200,000, and the number of affected or displaced persons is perhaps as high
as 3 million to 3.5 million out of Haiti’s population of nine million. continued
Supreme Court
Opens Door to Mumia’s Execution:
In a
dangerous decision and a break with its own precedent, the U.S. Supreme
Court, on Jan. 15, opened the door wide to Pennsylvania prosecutors’
efforts to execute the innocent political prisoner, murder frame-up victim,
award-winning journalist, and world-renowned “Voice of the Voiceless,” Mumia Abu-Jamal. continued
U.S. Brokers Sham Accord at Copenhagen: Given the
greatly lowered expectations thrust upon us by world leaders in advance, it
came as no surprise that the outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference
held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December did not include
mandatory, binding, and enforceable greenhouse gas emission reductions.
Thus, action was delayed once again. continued
The Health
‘Reform’ Bill: On
Nov. 7 the House of Representatives passed a health-care “reform” bill
whose central plank was a massive giveaway to private insurers. It included
a “public option” plan that would compete in an insurance exchange
dominated by the profiteers, and would cover only a fraction of the number
projected in earlier versions of the bill.
continued
Civilian
Casualties Soar in Afghanistan: This
month, the first members of President Obama’s
call-up of 30,000 military reinforcements are being transported to Afghanistan. Foreign military strength in
the country is scheduled to swell to about 140,000 troops by summer,
including about 98,000 from the United States. continued
Activists Try
to Break the Siege of Gaza: At year’s
end almost 1400 activists from 43 countries gathered in Cairo with the intention of marching
on the border with Gaza to try to break Israel’s genocidal siege. Timed to
coincide with the one-year anniversary of Israel’s massacres, the Gaza Freedom
March (GFM) sought to draw attention to the continuing trauma, hunger,
unemployment, and homelessness facing Palestinians in Gaza. At the same time, George
Galloway’s third Viva Palestina convoy was
wending its way toward Gaza. continued
Death Squads
Unleashed in Honduras: The human-rights
situation in Honduras is getting progressively worse,
with reports detailing a right-wing offensive that includes not just harassment
but kidnapping, torture, and murder. The international spotlight that
shined on Honduras after the coup against
democratically elected President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya
has now disappeared, and the right wing that has traditionally controlled
the country is now free to pursue leftists and pro-democracy activists
without fear of bad press. continued
Obama
Escalates Afghan War: Obama’s muted but substantial escalation of the war in Afghanistan shows exactly why the decisive
section of American big business decided to turn the helm of their system
over to him. The new flavor is “Bush lite.” That
is, it is a continuation of the same policies that are characteristic of U.S. capitalism in decline but with
an attempt to appear more flexible and collaborative with U.S. allies. continued
U.S. Occupation of Iraq has Achieved Chaos & Ruin:
As the U.S. administration debates escalating
its war in Afghanistan, more and more shocking
stories are coming out about the extent of the ruin the U.S.-led war
has created in Iraq. And they also give an
indication of why it is so difficult for the U.S. government to get out of
what is clearly becoming a deepening abyss in Afghanistan. Moreover, and what is
worse from the standpoint of ruling rich, it is one from which U.S.
capitalism as a whole can extract little profit since Afghanistan has no
oil. continued
Antiwar Mov’t. Protests Obama’s War
Escalation: President Barack Obama’s
nationally televised speech on Dec. 1 at the West Point Military Academy
announcing that 30,000 more U.S. combat troops would be sent to Afghanistan
served to open a small crack in the wall of deference to the president that
has to date prevailed in the antiwar movement and limited its power. Obama’s assertion that his troop surge, as with
President Bush’s Iraq surge before him, would be
followed 18 months later with the “beginning”
of a withdrawal of all U.S. troops, has been met with
nearly unanimous opposition from antiwar activists. continued
Lynne Stewart
Jailed:
The Nov. 16 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, to
reject radical New York attorney Lynne Stewart’s appeal of her 2005
frame-up conviction on five counts of aiding and abetting terrorism is a
legal and political atrocity. The court’s ruling is in line with the 9/11
witch-hunt “anti-terrorism” climate that has been orchestrated to stifle
dissent, justify war and, in Stewart’s words, “chill the defense bar.” In
interviews with the press, Stewart predicted that the ruling would set the
stage for the upcoming U.S. prosecutions of Guantanamo prisoners. continued
Gov’t. Softpedals Jobs Crisis; Bankrolls Corporations: As we
go to press, U.S. job loss figures for
November have just been released. The official unemployment rate remains
basically unchanged at 10 percent, with jobs still being lost in construction, manufacturing and information, while
temporary help services and health care added jobs. This still leaves the
economy down eight million jobs since December 2007. When those who have
stopped looking for work are included, the rate is over 17%. continued
Supreme Court
Refuses to Hear Kevin Cooper’s Appeal: On Nov. 30 the U.S. Supreme
Court refused to consider the appeal of innocent San Quentin death-row
inmate Kevin Cooper. The High Court reached its decision to reject Cooper’s
petition despite overwhelming evidence of a massive police frame-up—laid
out in dramatic detail in an unprecedented 103-page dissenting opinion
signed by five judges in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. continued
Honduran
Congress Rejects Zelaya Return: In Honduras the Nov. 29 election
is finished, as is the Dec. 2 congressional vote to decide whether or not
to restore the ousted, democratically-elected President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya.
In
the election, Porfirio Lobo of the conservative
National Party (one of the two traditionally dominant parties of Honduras) won the most votes by all
counts. However, controversy has emerged regarding the percentage of
voters that abstained from voting.
continued
Mumia Faces
New Execution Threat: After almost 28 years on Pennsylvania’s death row and innumerable
battles in the U.S. criminal injustice system,
innocent political prisoner, journalist and world renowned “Voice of the
Voiceless” Mumia
Abu-Jamal lost his final appeal on April 6,
2009.
Ignoring it’s own precedents and those of the
Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals below it, the U.S. Supreme Court
declined to affirm what had been the “law of the land” for decades, that
the systematic and racist exclusion of Blacks from juries voids all guilty
verdicts and mandates a new trial. continued
Honduran Mass
Movement: ‘Nobody Here Surrenders!’ On
Oct. 26, the media announced an agreement between ousted Honduran President
Manual “Mel” Zelaya and the right-wing
coup-makers who overthrew him. The agreement will restore Zelaya to power (pending the Honduran congress’
approval) and pave the way for peaceful late November elections. continued
Black is Back
Protest:
On Nov. 7, a national demonstration, called by the Black is Back Coalition,
will be held in Washington, D.C. There will be a march and a
rally in Malcolm X Park. People are marching under the call, “Resist U.S.
Wars and Occupation in the U.S. and Abroad! Reparations
Now!” continued
Report on Oct.
17 Antiwar Protests: On Saturday,
Oct. 17, protesters gathered in over 50 towns and cities around the United States to oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The date was chosen to mark
eight years of war in Afghanistan and to oppose the continual
escalation of that war, as well as to mark the 40th anniversary of the
Vietnam Moratorium, in which millions marched to protest U.S. aggression in Southeast Asia. continued
Report on LGBT
Rights March in DC: On Oct. 11, as
many as 200,000 LGBT activists and straight allies descended on Washington, D.C., for the National Equality
March (NEM), whose single demand on the federal government was “Equal
protection for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people in all matters
governed by civil law in all 50 states! Now!” continued
Union-Busters
Close Stella D’Oro Factory:
What began in August 2008 as a strike at the Stella D’Oro bakery in the Bronx became an 11-month protracted
war and one of the great labor battles in recent New York history.
The Stella D’Oro workers became a national symbol
of resistance to a heartless economic system. continued
Medicare in Canada: Canada’s national health insurance,
called Medicare, provides hospital and physician insurance to all Canadian citizens.
It does not provide health care directly from government hospitals or
through publicly employed physicians. Just imagine 10 provincial nonprofit
health insurance plans without deductibles, co-insurance or co-payments for
medically prescribed treatment. continued
NYC Transit
Worker Contract Bulletin: The arbitrator’s contract decision gives us raises of
4%, 4% and 3% over three years. Despite the hype, our 4’s are LESS
than both 4’s in DC 37’s 2-year contract.
continued
The Struggle
for Universal Health Care: The U.S. ranks #39 on the overall
quality of its health care, according a 2000 report by the World Health
Organization. This puts us last among developed nations, and also behind
such countries as Colombia, Morocco and Costa Rica. continued
Cockburn’s
Light is Out at the End of the Tunnel: Alexander Cockburn’s Sept. 4-6
“CounterPunch Diary“
hit piece against the U.S. antiwar movement, “Deeper into
the Tunnel,” merits the serious attention of all antiwar fighters and
organizations. This is not so much because of the spurious accusations he
hurls against Socialist Action and this writer, as well as others whose
socialist politics offend him, but rather because of his serious
misunderstanding of what it takes to build a united-front-type, democratic,
and effective antiwar movement. continued
Casualties
Mount in Iraq & Afghanistan: A lot of people who voted for Obama did so in hopes that he would get the United States out of the quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the first case, it was widely
understood that the U.S-led war and occupation was a costly fiasco,
and the sooner ended, the better. Yet there was less understanding of
the futility and waste of the war in Afghanistan, which the
politicians, including Obama, justified on
the grounds that the 9/11 terrorist attack on America had been organized from there. continued
The Ultra-Right
Pot Boils Over: The appearance of right-wing
mobs at town meetings organized by Democratic Party representatives to
discuss the proposed health-care reform has set off alarm bells, in
particular because of the blind fanaticism of the right-wing
protesters and their threats of violence, including armed violence.
These outbursts show many features of historic fascist
developments—and on a scale as yet unseen in the United States. continued
Workers Employ
Sit-ins as Job Losses Mount: There was a
period of several months after Hitler invaded Poland of relative inactivity on the
World War II European battlefield. Pundits called this the Phony War or, in
a play on words with the strategy of blitzkrieg, sitzkrieg—a
sitting down war. But there is nothing phony about the growing use of the tactic
of sitzkrieg by workers on four continents. You
don’t need lightning mobility to take control of a plant—just sit down and
don’t allow any work to be done. continued
Health-Care
‘Reform’ Schemes in Congress: The election of Obama raised expectations for sweeping health reform
sky high. But in spite of several self-imposed deadlines, Senate and House
health-reform bills were not ready by the time of the August Congressional
recess, when passionate local debate erupted at Congressional home district
town hall meetings. continued
Climate Crisis
Intensifies: Since government leaders and
environment ministers first met in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997 to formulate
an agreement to reduce global-warming emissions, the extraction and
combustion of fossil fuels has gone unabated as the worldwide demands of
the capitalist growth economy have risen. As a result, greenhouse gases
belch out at ever-increasing rates from both developed and developing
nations, causing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to spike every year.
They have gone into deadly overshoot by having exceeded 350 ppm CO2 and now stand at 390 ppm. continued
Pittsburg Antiwar Conf. Demands “Out Now!”: Over 250 antiwar activists from 26 states and the District of Columbia participated in the second
national antiwar conference sponsored by the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and
Occupations (NA), on July 10-12 in Pittsburgh. They were joined by two
central leaders of the recent Guadeloupe general strike, a top Haitian trade-union official, Palestinian leaders,
and several Canadian antiwar activists from Toronto and Vancouver. continued
Medical Aid
Convoy Breaks Gaza Blockade: On July 4 over 80 supporters of
Palestinian liberation left JFK Airport in New York to join what would end up being
a delegation of over 200 in the Viva Palestina-United
States (VPUS) convoy to Gaza. Arabs, Muslims, Christians,
Jews, Latin@s, Blacks, Asians, Native Americans,
and whites embarked on a trip to bring medical aid as part of the broader
goal of breaking Israel’s genocidal siege. continued
Israel Becoming Pariah as Atrocities Come to
Light: The
Zionist regime continues to become more discredited and isolated
internationally, as the new Israeli government adopts a more openly
right-wing character. Israeli soldiers involved in the assault on Gaza have themselves denounced the
indiscriminate terror inflicted on the entire Palestinian population of the
area. continued
Ruling in
Firefighters Case a Setback for Affirmative Action: A serious blow to civil rights was
dealt by the Supreme Court on the last day of its 2008 term, when in Ricci
v. DeStefano, the Court ruled in favor of a
group of white firefighters who claimed they were victims of “reverse
racism” in the aftermath of their city’s promotional exams. The ruling
implicitly calls the future of affirmative action into question, and marks
a great setback for people of color and women in job hiring, advancement,
and equality in the workplace. continued
Iraq Today – 5 Million Orphans: On July 4 of this year, Vice President Biden celebrated American Independence Day in occupied Iraq, in one of the presidential
palaces of the former regime, now an integral part of the U.S.-run “Green
Zone.” Four days earlier, PM Nouri Al-Maliki’s U.S.-installed puppet government declared a
“victory” signaled by the pullout of U.S. troops from major Iraqi cities,
and the beginning of the “restoration of sovereignty.” continued
2009 SA
Political Resolution: The central institutions of world capitalism are being
shaken by a severe worldwide financial meltdown not seen since the Great
Depression of 1929. The massive U.S. banking failures, credit freeze
and ongoing corporate bankruptcies have their parallels in literally every
industrialized and semi-industrialized nation, as do the draconian measures
inflicted on their working classes. The poor nations of the world, already
reduced to grinding poverty and deprivation, suffer even more. Still at the
beginning stages of a now universally expected deep and long recession, if
not depression, its full and devastating impact remains a way off. continued
The Story of North Korea: The capitalist press is full of horror stories
about North Korea of late. Almost every day we are bombarded with
sensational stories about North Korea’s nuclear program, the test
firing of its ballistic missiles and its reclusive leader, Kim
Jong-Il. And hand in glove with
these sensational stories, is a steady drum beat from Washington calling the use of any means
necessary to bring this rogue state to heel. continued
Iranian Regime
Shaken by Mass Protests: After a week of massive protests and street
confrontations, the Iranian government appeared to gain firm control
of the streets in Tehran and other large cities. To
achieve control, the government appeared to rely mainly on the Basij, a large volunteer militia force. Reports
from bloggers in Tehran claimed that the Basij who suppressed the protest demonstrations were
largely unemployed youths from backward rural areas that had been highly
paid to do their work. continued
Obama Forces
Layoffs at GM: It’s the most concerted union-busting drive in memory—and it is
being led by Barack Obama,
the auto bosses, and the Democratic Party. To the delight of the corporate
elite, President Obama’s “Auto Task Force” (ATF)
has insisted on a “quick and surgical” restructuring plan for the ailing
automobile industry, which includes deep cuts in wages, health care, and
pension benefits. continued
Supreme Court
Rejects Kevin Cooper Appeal: On May 11 innocent death-row prisoner Kevin Cooper lost
his bid in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for a rehearing
en banc of crucial evidence that would have exposed a decades-old police frameup and set Cooper on the path to freedom from California’s San Quentin State Prison. continued
S.A. Statement on Iran: A division in the ruling elite has opened up the
way for an explosion of discontent with the reactionary clerical
capitalist regime in Iran. The massive mobilizations
clearly reflect the deep hatred of the government by the masses in Iran's largest city. The greater Tehran area accounts for about
one-fifth of the total population of the country and is where most of the
industry is based. It is the major working-class center. It was also the
focal point of the 1979 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed crowned
dictatorship of the shah. continued
CA Court
Upholds Same-Sex Ban: On May 26, a rally took place on steps of City Hall
protesting the 136-page decision by the California Supreme Court decision
to uphold the Nov. 2008 passage of Proposition 8, amending the state
constitution banning same sex marriage. Over 18,000 same-sex marriages made
prior to the passage of Prop. 8 will stand. The vote was 6-1. continued
Do ‘Buy
American’ Schemes Save U.S. Jobs? Does "Buy American"
mean "Buy Union," as many of the labor tops say? It should be
obvious at the outset that the two slogans are quite contradictory,
particularly in a country where a mere 7 percent of the private sector is
unionized. continued
Obama Favors
Drug & Insurance Companies: May was not a good month for liberals with
illusions in President Barack Obama.
Parallel to a series of statements indicating he would continue his
predecessors’ attacks on civil liberties came a well-orchestrated show in
the White House making clear that Obama’s
health-care "reform" would be done by, for, and with the
profit-makers in the industry. continued
YSA Student
Purged From Campus Journal: An important free-speech fight is
gathering strength around the case of Marissa Blaszko,
a member of Youth for Socialist Action. Blaszko
was fired March 10 from her position as opinion editor on the Central Connecticut State University student newspaper, the
Recorder. continued
Democrats Play
‘Soft Cop’ on Immigration Reforms: When Homeland Security head Janet
Napolitano recently called off a raid on 100 immigrant workers in a Chicago
factory, her move was hailed as a significant shift away from the
anti-immigrant repression of the Bush years. Less attention, however, was
given to her directive that immigration agents take greater care in
selecting the "targets" and the timing of their raids. continued
Fund Workers’
Needs, Not Banks & Billionaires: As part of his plan announced March 30 to
"save" GM and Chrysler, President Barack
Obama demanded that autoworkers give back even
more of the wages and benefits they had won from the corporations in years
past. continued
Bankruptcy of
Capitalist Solutions to Climate Crisis: We live on a planet in peril,
one that is in jeopardy because of capitalist greed. The combustion of
fossils fuels to power commodity production is causing Earth to melt down.
Yet, no measurable progress is being made to cope with the situation since
greenhouse gas emissions continue to spew forth with no end in sight, CO2
concentrations have spiked every year this century and temperatures are
still rising. continued
Nationalize the
Banks Under Worker’s Control: Simultaneous with the
announcement of his 10-year budget plan, Obama
rolled out new bank bailouts. Obama announced on Feb. 26 that he was considering
giving $750 billion or more to banks.
And he said that $250 billion more would be held in reserve, based
on a conservative estimate of what the government could lose I the course
of spending that $750 billion on assets that might never regain their
value. continued
Zionism – An
Ugly History: The Zionist movement from the
very beginning was aided and funded by capitalists who saw it as a
preferred option to socialism and militant labor struggles, which they
feared. Jews were heavily represented in the labor movement and the socialist
parties of Europe. As an especially oppressed group within the working class, Jewish
workers were more exposed to the brutality of capitalism, and were more
likely to see a solution in socialism. continued
Troubled History of Afghanistan: The
story of Afghanistan is in
so many ways a tragic one. Afghanistan is one of the most impoverished
nations of the world. It is also one of the most war-torn, most ravaged, and
most beleaguered of nations. It is a nation that has been repeatedly beset
by invasion, external pressure and internal upheaval since before the time
of Alexander the Great. Its people are a people who have endured more than
most of us can ever imagine. In fact, for many Afghans, all that has
changed in the last one thousand years are the weapons which have been used
against so many of them. It is therefore with great sadness and respect
that we tell the story of Afghanistan.
continued
Trotskyism & the Struggle Against
Fascism: Fascism
is a term that is often thrown about rather casually, generally with very
little understanding of its actual meaning.
While many liberals, and even some radicals, tend to use the term as
simply a pejorative against people who are politically to the right of
them, we as Marxists have a much more precise definition, and
understanding, of what fascism truly is.
In our view fascism is a uniquely sinister and violent form of
capitalist rule. It is something
that comes about when the ruling class of a nation is in an extreme crisis,
when it feels that it can no longer afford the luxury of democratic
appearances, when the threat from its own working class is so dire that it
feels it must resort to the most brutal form of government in order to
survive. continued
Workers’ Action
Program to Confront the Crisis: The liberals propose
to tweak the Wall Street Bailout on behalf of the amorphous “taxpayers”
living on a mythical “Main
Street.” Revolutionary socialists,
in contrast, start from the needs of flesh-and-blood workers, and rely on
their class power to challenge ruling class attacks. continued
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