Below is the statement of the Socialist contingent of the DC march, the Seattle ISO rallies today in this spirit! (Saturday, October 2, 10am to 1 Federal Bldg -- 915 2nd Avenue)
Join the socialist contingent
Socialist groups and progressives are coming together for a socialist contingent in Washington at the "One Nation" rally on October 2--to put forward the demands of working people. Here is the unity call.
socialistworker.org September 28, 2010
A recent rally calls for jobs for the millions of unemployed in the U.S.We March for Jobs, Peace, Justice and the Socialist Alternative That Can Win Them
Hundreds of thousands of Americans organized by labor and civil rights organizations will gather in Washington, D.C., on October 2 to demand a change in the direction that our nation is heading.
We are proud to join this march to demand jobs, to demand an end to the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and for a society that is fairer, more equal and more just. We believe it important to be in the capital on that date to help create a counterweight to Glenn Beck, the Tea Party and Republicans, their reactionary politics, ruthless economics and their racism.
We do not, however, share the goals of the AFL-CIO, the NAACP and other organizations which hope to achieve jobs and justice by supporting Barack Obama and the Democratic Party in the national elections on November 2.
We believe that it has become quite clear now that neither Democrats nor the Republicans are capable of solving the country's three great crises--the economy, the environment and the wars--in a way that will be good for the American people. The goals of a full-employment economy, real environmental sustainability and peace cannot be achieved by our capitalist system and the corporations motivated only by profit. We need a new direction toward a new system.
The two major parties have failed us. During the past two years, the Democrats and Republicans have failed to represent us, but they have done a fine job of representing the banks, insurance companies and corporations. They saved the banks for the bankers--not those whose homes are still threatened with foreclosure or collapsing value. They saved the auto industry for the auto CEOs--not for the workers whose plants have been closed, whose health insurance contributions have been raised and whose wages have been lowered. They have saved the health insurance companies by forcing millions of Americans to buy their policies, while denying us a single-payer plan and leaving prices remain uncontrolled. They have saved them, but they have not saved us.
We join the movement for this march, excited and enthused to see the labor unions, the African American and Latino populations, the women's, gay and lesbian and environmental movements taking to the streets. But we know that change can only be brought about as it has been in every period of American history by independent social movements. And such independent movements must find political expression first in independent candidates and then in a party of working people and all in our society who suffer exploitation, discrimination and oppression.
The organizers of this march have called it "One Nation." The truth is we are two nations. One nation of corporate CEOs and Bankers and their legions of high level executives, the very wealthy of our country, and another nation of working people, many of them now jobless. We are two nations: the corporations who run this country and the working people who make this country run. We will be marching with the working class to end a system dominated by corporations. We march because we believe that those working people who make the country run should run the country.
We know from American history and the history of the world that great and progressive changes come about only from below. We know that in modern times working people, who stand at the center of our economy and represent the majority of our population, represent the crucial force capable of making the changes we need. We also know that if we only organize movements and fail to create an independent political force, the Democrats will harvest all of our organizing. The fruits of our labor will be turned against us in Congress.
So we march. We march for jobs. We march for single-payer health care. We march for free public education from K to Ph.D. We march for an end to our racist and class-biased injustice system, and for equal justice for all. We march for women's rights. We march for legalization of all the undocumented. We march for LGBT rights. We march for an end to the destruction of our environment. We march for an end to the U.S. wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. We march for an end to US support for Israel's occupation of Palestine and blockade of Gaza. We march knowing that the things we march for can only be achieved by abolishing capitalism and creating a democratic socialist society. We invite you to march with us. Join the Socialist Contingent on October 2 in Washington, D.C.
ORGANIZATIONS:
Dan La Botz, Socialist Party campaign for U.S. Senate, Ohio
International Socialist Organization (ISO)
Solidarity: a democratic, revolutionary socialist, feminist, anti-racist organization
Socialist Alternative
Socialist Action
Socialist Party of New York City
Socialist Party of Central Virginia
Action for a Progressive Pakistan
Dan La Botz, Socialist Party campaign for U.S. Senate, Ohio
International Socialist Organization (ISO)
Solidarity: a democratic, revolutionary socialist, feminist, anti-racist organization
Socialist Alternative
Socialist Action
Socialist Party of New York City
Socialist Party of Central Virginia
Action for a Progressive Pakistan
for a list of individual endorsers please see socialistworker.org
