What Socialism is NOT… by Michael Engel

by Michael Engel
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Socialism for Dummies, March 23, 2013
May 3, 2013

Image by EnvironmentBlog via Flickr

So what is NOT socialism?

Obviously, capitalism isn’t.  Well, duh, you say.  But it’s important to point that out, because defining capitalism is a useful start towards answering the question.  And it’s a lot easier to define than socialism.  Specifically: Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are privately owned, and which are organized and utilized for the purpose of maximizing the profits of the owners. 

Can Civilization Survive Capitalism? by Noam Chomsky

Dandelion Salad

by Noam Chomsky
In These Times
March 5, 2013

There is “capitalism” and then there is “really existing capitalism.”

The term “capitalism” is commonly used to refer to the U.S. economic system, with substantial state intervention ranging from subsidies for creative innovation to the “too-big-to-fail” government insurance policy for banks.

Lifting the Veil: Barack Obama and the failure of capitalist democracy (must-see; repost)

Dandelion Salad

Reposting in case you missed it or would like to view it again.

Warning

Image by Mayu ;P via Flickr

This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

[...] Sub-headed “Barack Obama and the failure of capitalist democracy”, this film explores the historical role of the Democratic Party as the “graveyard of social movements”, the massive influence of corporate finance in elections, the absurd disparities of wealth in the United States, the continuity and escalation of neocon policies under Obama, the insufficiency of mere voting as a path to reform, and differing conceptions of democracy itself.

How the 1 Percent Conjured a Monster Storm by Chris Williams

Dandelion Salad

by Chris Williams
SocialistWorker.org
October 30, 2012

Image by EagleEyez via Flickr

Chris Williams, author of Ecology and Socialism: Solutions to Capitalist Ecological Crisis, examines the man-made factors contributing to the disaster of Hurricane Sandy.

“If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections, and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind.

Richard D. Wolff: Capitalism Vs Socialism, interviewed by Cindy Sheehan

Image by Sterneck via Flickr

by Cindy Sheehan
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox Blog
Sept. 30, 2012

This week, Cindy Sheehan, interviews Marxist economics professor, Richard D. Wolff.

Professor Wolff breaks a complicated subject down with easily understood analogies and with prophetic solutions.

Capitalism Is Always At War by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
September 9, 2012

Image by Cau Napoli via Flickr

Vicious fanatics are trying to kill us and destroy our country. They’re blowing up our soldiers overseas. They’ve infiltrated our country. We must defend ourselves against these mad-dog berserkers before it’s too late.

This litany has been repeated by corporate-controlled media and politicians for years now, pumping fear into us. It is used to justify a massive ongoing war that has killed hundreds of thousands of our fellow human beings and almost bankrupted the USA.

SEP Candidate Jerry White: The Decay of American Democracy

Image by quisnovus via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

RussiaToday on Apr 8, 2012

RT’s Marina Portnaya talks to socialist equality presidential candidate, Jerry White.

Michael Parenti: Occupy Empire!

Image by quisnovus via Flickr

with Michael Parenti
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Michael Parenti Blog
www.michaelparenti.org
Mar. 31, 2012

MichaelParentiOrg on Mar 31, 2012

Ohlone College

History of Capitalism in the United States: Exposing the Myth of America

Image by Sterneck via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Warning

This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

“Let your life be a counter- friction to stop the machine.” — Henry David Thoreau

ClassWarFilms on Feb 13, 2012

A brief and crucial history of the United States

Exclusive: The god of this world: Money by Shawn S. Grandstaff

by Shawn S. Grandstaff
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
February 20, 2012

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes to know what love is you got to know what it’s not.

A conspiracy is just the label they use to cover up truth in order to maintain the delusional mentality of reality but with half-truths, which are whole lies, sold to us by the powers that be by being embedded with the media. They work together to sell us a bunch of propaganda filled with lies to deceive and control the masses in order to justify war, to push and sell capitalistic propaganda for the love of money

Parasite Capitalism: Human Awakening Calling Time On the Beast by Finian Cunningham

by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
East Africa
27 January 2012

Image by (Carrie Sloan) via Flickr

Listen to this fable. A man was lying in bed, tired and tormented. Tired because it was the early hours and yet he could not sleep; tormented because the cause of his tiredness was a mosquito, lurking somewhere in the darkness that would sporadically make its presence known by homing in on the man’s head, its whining buzz ringing in his ear. Try as he might, the man could not find any rest. Covering his head with the bed sheet only made him hot and breathless, the clammy discomfort made all the worse because of the climate.

Moral capitalism? What an insult to our intelligence! By William Bowles

by William Bowles
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
williambowles.info
27 January 2012

Image by tdietmut via Flickr

PM Cameron’s call for a “moral capitalism” would be laughable if it weren’t so tragic and hypocritical. After all, hasn’t it been capitalism’s alleged occupation of the ‘moral high ground’, what they now choose to call ‘humanitarian intervention’ that has been used as a justification for mass murder and genocide? But plainly the millions killed and the countries decimated don’t fall under Cameron’s definition of what is and isn’t ‘moral’. Clearly, it’s for ‘local consumption’ only.

Banking Wasn’t Meant to Be Like This by Michael Hudson

by Michael Hudson
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
http://michael-hudson.com
As published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
January 27, 2012

Image by duncan via Flickr

What will their future be – and what is the government’s proper financial role?

The inherently symbiotic relationship between banks and governments recently has been reversed. In medieval times, wealthy bankers lent to kings and princes as their major customers. But now it is the banks that are needy, relying on governments for funding – capped by the post-2008 bailouts to save them from going bankrupt from their bad private-sector loans and gambles.

Ecology and the Pathology of Capitalism by Charles Sullivan

Dandelion Salad

By Charles Sullivan
Information Clearing House
January 20, 2012

Image by Resident on Earth via Flickr

Contrary to everything we have been taught, there is no actual United States of America. The U.S. is an occupied territory that could more accurately be described as the Corporate States of America. If the geopolitical states are united, the people are not. We are a nation divided by ideology and by social and economic class. The U.S. is not a democracy and it never was. The systems of power do not allow the voice of working people to be heard or their collective will to be acted upon.

Why socialism polls well among young people and African Americans by Peta Lindsay

Dandelion Salad

By Peta Lindsay
liberationnews.org
January 4, 2012

Image by waywuwei via Flickr

Statement by PSL presidential candidate Peta Lindsay

Recently the Pew Center for research published a poll in which they found that 49 percent of young people in the U.S. have a favorable view of socialism, while only 43 percent reported viewing it unfavorably. The report also revealed that African Americans have a favorable view of socialism at a rate of 55 percent to 36 percent.