forget teabaggers--"Capitalism is Organized Crime" Conference on April 19

[ima_sinnic]

okay, I know some people don't like A.N.S.W.E.R., but this looks interesting, organized by PSL, one of its member organizations:

You are invited to attend ...

"Capitalism is Organized Crime"
a conference taking place on
Sunday, April 19 in Washington, D.C.

The ANSWER Coalition encourages its members and supporters to attend an exciting educational event taking place in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, April 19.

Please see below for the list of featured speakers.

The "Capitalism is Organized Crime" conference will take place from 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm at the Festival Center, located at 1640 Columbia Rd. NW, between 16th and 17th Sts. (green line metro to Columbia Heights).

Guest Speakers, Panels & Discussion

Capitalism is a form of organized crime. The U.S. government is greasing the system's wheels to ensure that banks and big corporations get trillions in bailout funds. Meanwhile, millions of workers are losing their jobs and homes. Deep cuts are gutting public education, making health care even less accessible and decimating much-needed social programs. Police brutality and racial profiling are rampant. Working-class people are being hit from all sides.

The conference will link the struggles against war and militarism with the fight for economic justice. This conference will be an important opportunity for political activists to meet, analyze, discuss and propose solutions. The conference organizers believe that a radical reorganization of society is necessary to meet the needs of the people rather than to maximize the profits of bankers and corporate executives who have driven society onto the path of endless war and economic suffering.

Featured speakers at the April 19th Conference will include:

* Marcos García, labor attache at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C.
* Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney and co-founder, Partnership for Civil Justice
* Brian Becker, National Coordinator, ANSWER Coalition
* Hodari Abdul-Ali, Chair of the Social Justice Task Force for MANA, the Muslim Alliance in North America
* Eugene Puryear, Howard University student, PSL 2008 Vice-Presidential Candidate
* Prof. Zachary Wolfe, George Washington University, chair of the Amicus Curiae Committee of the National Lawyers Guild
* Maurice Carney, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Friends of the Congo
* Muna Coobtee, ANSWER Coalition and Free Palestine Alliance
* Frances Villar, Senator and Senate Parliamentarian of Bronx Community College Student Government, Vice Chair for Legislative Affairs for University Student Senate of City University of New York (CUNY)
* James Circello, Iraq war veteran and co-coordinator of the Veterans and Service Members Task Force of the ANSWER Coalition
* Crystal Kim, PSL 2008 Candidate for D.C. Council At-Large

Schedule for the day

11:00 am: Doors open for registration

12:00 noon - 2:00 pm: Panel I
Capitalism is Organized Crime

2:30 - 4:00 pm: Panel II
The Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism and for National Liberation

4:30 - 5:15 pm: Panel III
Is Socialism Possible in the United States?


$20 donation requested. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Childcare available. Please call to reserve.

The April 19 "Capitalism is Organized Crime" Conference is hosted by the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). The PSL is a member group of the ANSWER Coalition. Click here for more information, e-mail [email protected], or call 202-543-4900.

If you can't make it to D.C.,
check out the exciting conferences being held
in Chicago and Los Angeles on April 25.

More info, and to pre-register:
http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2/491840369?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=9069&news_iv_ctrl=1621

[cali]

1. Almost as whacky as the teabaggers

and the rhetoric is strikingly the same in tone. interesting.

[ima_sinnic]

2. I totally disagree

but that's just me :eyes:

[cali]

4. well, each to their own. I'm not a trotskyite. I'm a liberal and a progressive

I'm interested in a mixed economy with strong regulation, not in completely destroying all forms of capitalism. this is as fringe as it gets. thankfully. and ANSWER is as whacked as the teabaggers.

[gratuitous]

5. Yup, whacky as all get out

"The conference will link the struggles against war and militarism with the fight for economic justice. This conference will be an important opportunity for political activists to meet, analyze, discuss and propose solutions. The conference organizers believe that a radical reorganization of society is necessary to meet the needs of the people rather than to maximize the profits of bankers and corporate executives who have driven society onto the path of endless war and economic suffering."

I mean, gee whiz! Turn the efforts of the nation toward providing for the needs of the people rather than enriching the warmongers and the merchants of death along with their bankrollers? Proposing solutions? What kind of hare-brained nonsense is that?!

[leftstreet]

6. Yeah, how nutty is that? People over Profits. Are they high?

:thumbsup:

[personman]

7. I think they are polar opposites

The tea parties seem to be about exploiting simple, scared and reactionary people's often legitimate class-related grievances in a nationalistic, capitalistic, fascist direction.

Frankly I think a growing movement against capitalism, toward socialism, is precisely in order. I think the little people who are wondering why they are getting screwed would be much better served developing class-consciousness and working toward real change for social-justice, rather than taking the right-wing bait and fighting amongst themselves for scraps. The scapegoating of societies problems on to mexican immigrants is one example, this right-wing tea party attack on social-spending is another, plenty of others.

The real tax debate, as far as I'm concerned, should be about why we have all this money to kill but not to heal...

"A new study, meanwhile, from the National Priorities Project says that more than thirty-seven cents of every income tax dollar goes to military spending. By contrast, environment, energy and science spending projects split 2.8 cents of every tax dollar, while housing, community and food programs split 3.8 cents."

37 cents per dollar for military spending, 3.8 cents for helping our poor. I have no idea how accurate these numbers are, but if they are even remotely in the neighbourhood it's beyond shameful.

"Fight the taxes that fund the war, keep the taxes that help the poor." "Bail out the people, not the banks."

This concludes my tax rant. :)

-Andy

[Captain Hilts]

3. Left wing teabaggers. Ugh! nt