Written and edited by Norm Scott:
EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!!
Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!
The
plaintiffs are New York City parents and educators who have joined
together to seek redress against these school budget cuts that strip
millions from our city's children and schools for the upcoming school
year.
On Monday, July 25th, at 4 pm, via an INFORMATIONAL ZOOM CALL,
the case lawyer, Laura Barbieri of Advocates for Justice, will share
details about the case to those interested in joining the suit either as
a plaintiff or friend/support of the case.
Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters,
along with other parent and educator leaders, will also join this call.
This call is primarily organized by and for New York City public school
parents and educators.
Join us. RSVP, right now, to join this call on Monday. We must keep up the pressure on our electeds to restore funding!
Please share the details about this suit and Informational Zoom call with your friends, family, and networks.
Check out The Alliance for Quality Education’s #RestoreTheCuts digital toolkit to
learn more about the cuts in your local school and how you can take
action to restore full funding for our New York City schools.
Laura D. Barbieri, Special Counsel for Advocates for Justice, stated:
“The explicit language of State law requires that these egregious budget
cuts be halted and reconsidered by the Mayor and the Council, because
the law was not followed. The State Legislature enacted an explicit
budget review and voting process by the Board of Education that was
eviscerated by the Chancellor’s abuse of authority. No emergency
justified the Chancellor’s ignoring the proper procedure.”
Someone called me today wanting to know why the UFT was not part of the suit. I LOLed -- no way -- they are not in the habit of being bold. They'd rather negotiate behind the table where they are given a little stool to sit on. I posted the press release on the suit minutes after it was announced. Parents/Teachers Sue DOE Over Budget Cuts
They certainly won't try to rile up the members to fight. That leaves it up to the activist element in the UFT to engage in a fight.
I am proposing a campaign to get members to sign a letter of support for the law suit. A letter that can be submitted to the court. My sense is that, in the hope of waking up the UFT, there may be an unwillingness to embarrass them publicly by some. So it's up to UFT members to create enough of a stir to become a problem for the leadership. Here is video of the rally, followed by more info from Leonie Haimson.
Also
much thanks to Laura Barbieri and the crew at Advocates for Justice,
for working so hard on this lawsuit pro bono and doing it so quickly!
This
morning we filed a lawsuit on behalf of four parents and teachers to
halt the Mayor's budget cuts to schools, and to require that the City
Council has another opportunity to vote.
The lawsuit is based on
serious procedural errors committed by the Mayor and Chancellor, by
allowing the City Council to adopt the education budget before the Panel
for Educational Policy had an opportunity to hold a hearing on the cuts
and vote on the education budget, which state law requires must happen
first.
Instead, the Chancellor declared an emergency to
immediately send the diminished funds to schools, before either of the
Council or the PEP had a chance to vote on them. In this way, he
attempted to short circuit the legally mandated process.
We
found that in twelve out of the last thirteen years, several Chancellors
have invoked the same bogus "emergency" with the same boilerplate
language -- without detailing what actual emergency existed. Here is a press release with more detail and quotes from the plaintiffs; and here are the legal documents.
Even
earlier in the day, there was a rally to protest the rally in front of
Tweed, organized by the Progressive Caucus of the NYC Council, where
many parents, advocates and Council Members spoke about the havoc these
cuts would cause to schools and students' lives.
Among the
speakers were CM Alexa Aviles, who voted against the budget, as well as
five CMs who had voted to approve the budget: CM Shahana Hanif, Lincoln
Restler, Jennifer Guttierez, Shekar Krishnan and Carmen de la Rosa all
apologized for their votes, and promised that going forward, they would
not approve any more budget cuts to schools. They also said they were
demanding action by the Mayor by August 1 to restore the cuts.
In
the afternoon, a bunch of parents including Reyhan Mehran buttonholed
the Mayor outside an event in Brooklyn, where the mayor called the cuts a "rumor."
They
later met with the Mayor at City Hall, where he was surrounded by a
bunch of aides. After they described the awful effect these cuts would
have on their schools and the system as a whole, the Mayor apparently
said he couldn't say much about the issue because of the lawsuit, but
that they had no idea how hard he works to benefit NYC children and how
hard these choices are.
Reyhan responded with, "Just don't make these choices then. Restore the cuts now."
Anthem, the parent company of BlueCross BlueShield, has notified
New York City that it is withdrawing from the proposed retiree health
care plan.
The City and the Municipal Labor Committee are exploring their
options for continuing to develop a unique Medicare Advantage plan for
retired employees. We will keep you informed as the process goes
forward, but we want to assure you that the UFT is never going to stop
fighting to preserve premium-free health coverage.
Here's the option for the UFT - Stop promoting profit making privatization and Leave us alone --
Four
NYC parents and teachers filed a lawsuit today in NY Supreme Court,
asking for a temporary restraining order to halt the severe budget cuts
to their public schools planned for next year, which will otherwise
cause class sizes to increase and students to lose valuable programs and
services.
As the lawsuit points out, New York State
Education Law clearly specifies a mandated process by which the NYC
Board of Education (also known as the Panel for Educational Policy) must
vote to approve the education budget prior to the City Council vote;
but in this case, the City Council voted to adopt the budget on June 13,
ten days before the Board voted on June 23, 2022. The lawsuit asks for a
revote of the City Council in order to ensure the legally-required
process occurs, and that the Council has the opportunity to reconsider
its vote based on the testimony of nearly 70 parents and teachers who
spoke out at the Board of Education meeting, detailing the profoundly
damaging impact of these cuts on their schools.
Instead
of following the legally mandated procedure outlined in state law, the
Chancellor instead issued an “Emergency Declaration” on May 31 to adopt
the budget without any Board vote, though no real emergency existed,
using boilerplate language. At the Board meeting on June 23, the
Chancellor erroneously declared their vote meaningless because the
Council had already adopted the budget. Yet in fact, in twelve out of
the last thirteen years, different NYC Schools Chancellors have invoked
such “emergencies” when typically none existed, in order to adopt a
budget prior to a vote of the Board of Education, thereby disempowering
the Board and eradicating its essential authority under state law to
approve education budgets.
In addition, State law
also requires that the Board vote on a budget in which the expenses of
the Community School District Councils are delineated separately from
the expenses of the City Board, which did not occur either.
The
plaintiffs include Melanie Kottler, a parent with a rising 2nd grader
at PS 169 in Sunset Park, a school with a large number of students with
special needs and English Language Learners, which as of July 14, will
have its Galaxy budget reduced by millions of dollars compared to this
year. Melanie deplored the fact that the school will be forced to lose
classroom teachers and thus increase class size as a result: “The
2021-22 school year was incredibly challenging for teachers at our
school. Not only were they working tirelessly to try to catch students
up from learning loss the year before, but some teachers also faced
students who had never even stepped foot in a school building. COVID is
not over, and nor are these challenges. I’m afraid that larger class
sizes will only make things more difficult for PS 169 students and
teachers.”
Another plaintiff is Sarah Brooks, a
special education/ICT teacher at PS 169, who reported that the school
will lose paraprofessionals, afterschool programming, school trips, and
possibly their school counselor as well, damaging the quality of
education for all students, but particularly those with special needs:
“The budget cuts will cause all the students at PS 169 to suffer. They
will lose out on specialized instruction, mental and academic supports,
and the vital opportunity to learn outside of the confines of their own
neighborhoods. The Special Education program will be markedly and
significantly impaired. Our students deserve more from their schools.”
Plaintiff
Tamara Tucker is a parent of two children at PS 125 in Harlem, a
high-poverty school which is facing the loss of its arts programs and an
increase in class sizes due to cuts of hundreds of thousands of
dollars. She said, “Everyone at PS 125 has already been stretched so
thin, and this will only become worse in light of the budget cuts for
this upcoming year. The students are going to be the ones who will bear
the brunt of this poor decision. The formula that is used to calculate
school budgets is fundamentally broken and does not account for the
actual needs of schools. It is not fair and is not benefiting students
in any way. Every child should have art, music, and enrichment classes.
These subjects are part of a well-rounded education and bring joy and
diverse perspectives to children of all ages.”
Plaintiff
Paul Trust is a music teacher who has worked at his school since 2005,
PS 39 in Brooklyn, but now has been excessed. His school is losing its
entire music program because of more than a half million dollars in
cuts. He said, “My students thrive and are empowered through music. Many
continue to pursue their passion in middle school and beyond. I have
students who have gone on to the finest conservatories and those who
have formed the loudest of rock bands. All this will go away with these
budget cuts. Neither the Mayor nor the Chancellor seem to be concerned
with the irreparable harm these draconian cuts may cause our students. I
can only hope that this will not be the last year I am able to continue
to serve the school community I love.”
According to
Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters, “We have
interviewed parents, teachers, and principals who told us that the
smaller classes in their schools this past school year have been
essential in allowing them to reconnect with their students and help
them begin to recover from the disrupted learning and disengagement from
the school closures and remote learning that occurred during the height
of the pandemic. These children will have the rug pulled from under
them if these cuts are enacted, and much of the progress they have
gained will be lost, in the anonymity of excessive class sizes where
their teachers will be unable to give them the academic and
social-emotional support they so desperately need.”
Laura
D. Barbieri, Special Counsel for Advocates for Justice, stated: “The
explicit language of State law requires that these egregious budget cuts
be halted and reconsidered by the Mayor and the Council, because the
law was not followed. The State Legislature enacted an explicit budget
review and voting process by the Board of Education that was eviscerated
by the Chancellor’s abuse of authority. No emergency justified the
Chancellor’s ignoring the proper procedure.”
Bernie trashes Manchin -- Bernie Sanders says Joe Manchin is
'intentionally sabotaging the president's agenda,' believes Democrats
erred in negotiating with him 'like he was serious' ---
What I loved about this was Bernie challenging Martha Raddatz mis-characerization -- what we want our politicians to do -- Insider reports:
While speaking
with ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz, the Vermont lawmaker
decried Manchin's stance that he could no longer support the legislation
due to his concerns over inflation and said the lawmaker was
"sabotaging" President Joe Biden's agenda.
And he became visibly animated when Raddatz said that Manchin "abruptly" ended talks with Democratic leaders regarding the bill.
"Senator
Joe Manchin, of course abruptly pulled the plug this week on the
Democratic plan," Raddatz said before Sanders interjected.
"He didn't abruptly do anything," Sanders said. "He has sabotaged the president's agenda."
He
continued: "If you check the record six months ago, I made it clear
that you have people like Manchin and [Arizona Sen. Kyrsten] Sinema to a
lesser degree who are intentionally sabotaging the president's agenda,
what the American people want, what a majority of us in the Democratic
caucus want. Nothing new about this."
Sanders then laced into Manchin's political fundraising, pointing out his ties to the energy industry — which holds immense sway in West Virginia — and Republican donors.
"This
is a guy who is a major recipient of fossil fuel money ... a guy who
has received campaign contributions from 25 Republican billionaires," he
said.
When Raddatz countered that Manchin said he wanted to act in the best interest of West Virginia given that inflation last month rose 9.1 percent from a year earlier, Sanders replied: "Really? Really?"
Sanders was not impressed with Manchin's reasoning regarding the proposed bill.
"Same nonsense that Manchin has been talking about for a year," he
told Raddatz. "You ask the people of West Virginia whether they want to
expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing and eyeglasses. Ask the people
of West Virginia whether or not all people should have health care as a
human right, like in every other country on Earth." "In my humble
opinion, Manchin represents the very wealthiest people in this country,
not working families in West Virginia or America," he added.
The United for Change opposition party in the UFT which received 34% of
the overall vote in the recent UFT election, including 56% from the high
schools, will have exactly zero representatives there. AFT President
Randi Weingarten's Unity Caucus will send all 750 of the UFT Delegates
to the AFT Convention because of the UFT's at-large voting system that
basically disenfranchises high school teachers who often vote against
Unity Caucus.
While the UFT/Unity parties in Boston and their buddies at the DOE party in Florida ----
Meanwhile in the real world of masssive DOE budget cuts with the Unity/UFT being fundamentally absent -- and watch some cuts getting restored and them taking credit --
And back to the world of oligarchy - Why not send DOE people to Florida for a junket while cutting the budget? Do we really need Supes and dep-supes? Off with their heads --
Axios reports an interesting critique of the usual Fed actions -- which has been coming from the left which points out that a batch of this infation is coming from profiteering and supply chain issues but the Fed and Biden and Republicans are happy with pushing people out of jobs to deal with inflation. Lawrence Summers says we need 10% unemployment to cure inflation -- and he's a Democrat.
A recession would be worse than this
A recession would be worse than the inflation the U.S. is seeing now, which is actually showing signs of easing up, some progressive economists are now arguing, Emily writes.
Why it matters: The
Federal Reserve has been hiking interest rates to tamp down inflation,
and is expected to continue — but this runs the risk of triggering a
downturn. And at this point, that "cure" might be worse than the illness
Dr. Powell is treating.
"The data is saying we have time to be flexible," says Josh Bivens, who makes this point in a new column from the Economic Policy Institute.
Details: The high rate of inflation
the government reported for June freaked a lot of people out, but
energy prices mostly drove the surge. This month, gas prices have fallen
at their fastest rate since the pandemic.
Other commodity prices are down, too. Lumber, a leading indicator of the pandemic inflation, is well off its recent highs.
Meanwhile, inflation expectations are receding, as Axios Macro reported last week.
"There are a lot of reasons
for believing that inflation has peaked," Dean Baker, senior economist
at the progressive Center for Economic and Policy Research, tells Axios.
The big picture:
With inflation, there are actually winners and losers. "One person's
cost is another person's income," Bivens notes, pointing to record oil
company profits, for example.
Rents and home prices go up; landlords and home sellers benefit.
Bivens
— who is typically on the side of labor, not capital — doesn't applaud
this kind of redistribution of wealth, he adds. But a recession "would
have worse distributional consequences."
With a recession, everyone loses —
not just the unemployed. Even if you hang on to your job, raises
vanish, advancement opportunities narrow or disappear. "The economy
overall is poorer," Bivens says.
Young adults starting their careers would have fewer job options, too.
This is especially significant,
considering how the recent economic expansion has benefited those at
the bottom of the ladder. The lower-paying jobs that have improved in
quality recently would worsen significantly, as employers took back the
upper hand.
And, typically in a recession, the first to lose
jobs are lower-income or less-educated folks, or those with criminal
backgrounds, Baker emphasized.
Yes, higher prices also hurt those people — but unemployment isn't going to make that better.
The other side: Some note that recessions can be short, while longer-term, structural inflation can eat away at affordability for years.
What to watch: All
eyes are on the Fed meeting next week when it is expected to announce
another rate increase of at least 0.75 percentage points.
There are people who question the logic of the decision making in pushing school cuts in the face of rising numbers of students abandoning the NYC DOE - let's make it worse and drive more people out. But where are they going?
Some have left the city, some are home schooling and others going to private or charter schools. We know the game of pro-charter Adams and Banks -- drive people to charters. But there is a problem -- the NYC charter cap has been reached. So what to do? Drum up public outcries - funded by anti-union, pro-charter billionaires for releasing the cap.
Despite its weakness, the UFT still remains an obstacle to cost-cutting with even a weak contract and with every loss of a teaching position, the UFT loses dues and political influence. The only way to coutner that would be a massive organizational effort internally and we know the Unity machine doesn't have the DNA to do that. There are things that people are doing to fight this battle - nothing much publicly from the UFT.
“NY City Council members demand mayor ‘immediately restore’ school funding,” by WNYC’s Jessica Gould:
“New York City council members are demanding the Adams
administration ‘immediately restore’ funding that was cut from public
school budgets for the coming school year, and fill the gap using
hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent federal stimulus funds.
‘Principals, schools, and teachers must make important decisions within
the next month, and your continued inaction is hampering their ability
to make the right choices for students,’ council members wrote in a
letter Tuesday sent to the mayor and schools chancellor. The letter was
signed by Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and 40 of her colleagues on the
51-member council — the latest in a series of tense exchanges over
school funding.”
A giant show with a massive cast in a small theater with a 9 piece band is a powerful experience. And very funny - a play within a play where reality and Shakespeare come together.
Having brief - very brief - role in the opening - I've been to enough rehearsals to see this very complex show develop into a powerhouse - tonight is the final rehearsal. As part of the set building crew, I saw massive, moveable structures go up that often have to be hidden in plain sight on the stage as they are too big to move offstage. One of them is like a mini-house - with a running water fountain - which I hope to inherit post show for my backyard. And oh those costumes -- no expense has been spared.
There is talent unlimited, some of it worthy of Broadway -- the singing is powerful and so is the amazing dancing - and ony $25 a ticket with free parking - and a short walk to the beaches at Fort Tilden.
I even have some extra tickets so hit me up if you are interested.
And in terms of covid - audiences must be masked and the entire cast must show evidence of a neg test before we open.
COME SUPPORT OUR CAST & CREW
Congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard to bring this production to life. Break a leg!
KissMeKate
Presented By The Rockaway Theatre Company
Rhode Island Progressives Push for Takeover of State Democratic Party: Progressive slates offer a state-level model for the left to overcome the stagnation of Biden’s presidency and the national Democratic Party... The Intercept
Finally Biden acted on abortion - what he should have done ten minutes after the decision was announced - instead of leading he looks like he's following due to pressure. He just doesn't have the DNA to fight back. Neither do the leaders of the party -- who do have the DNA to fight the progressive wing.
I've been tracking the oft unreported war inside the Dem Party where liberal (actually neo-liberal) mainstream media lines up against progressives. I heard another attack by Joe on Morning Joe the other day -- you lost, so just shut up about being critical of Biden. The progressive wing will not accept Biden or Harris or Pete B. There will be a primary in the Dem party -- and look for a 1968 LBJ type situation where Biden loses the New Hampshire primary to some Eugene McCarthy like figure and withdraws and the Dem Center tries to force Harris down our throats with cries of Bernie Bro like charges of racism and misogyonism against the progressive critics of possibly the worst politician we've scene. At least in 68 Hubert Humphrey was not horrendous and almost won.
For me if health (which is problematical) John Fetterman is my choice for 2024. The AFT/UFT will endorse Harris - you read it here first.
I'll get to the good news Rhode Island portion above at the end of this post. But first.....
Let me remind you as I do time and again --- the UFT Unity Caucus is firmly in the hands of the same neo-liberal center/right forces - no matter what Mulgrew and Randi say --- always watch what they do, not what they say - they are echoes of the incompetent Dem Party masters -- except they are both competent at maintaining control of their own party machinery.
David Sirota responded:
Liberals who have spent 20 years being a cheering section for Democratic Party betrayals of the working class & electoral failure — you’re part of the reason Trump won in 2016 & part of why fascism is on the rise. Actively encouraging Democrats to fail is part of why we’re here.
Here are two more articles that fall into this mix.
I saw Gustavo Rivera in person at a live Sam Seder show in March and
he's fantastic. He dared to call for Insulin prices in NYS to be capped
at $30. So look at this NY Post (which is cheering the anti-progressive move) article. By the way, make some guesses as to what the UFT will do in this race.
Bronx Dems dump AOC-aligned Sen. Gustavo Rivera over far-left positions
he Bronx Democratic Party decided to part ways with a veteran incumbent amid a contentious power struggle between its left and far-left flanks.
In an unusual move, the leadership of the Bronx Dems snubbed state Sen. Gustavo Rivera and instead endorsed his rival, lawyer Miguelina Camilo, in the reapportioned 33rd district.
Even more surprising is that fellow state legislators who run the Bronx Democratic Party — state Sen. Jamaal Bailey, who is party chairman, and Assemblywoman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who is the party’s secretary — back the move to dump their colleague.
“Gustavo has aligned himself with the far left of the party.
Defunding the police, that’s not going to sit well in the 33rd
District,” said Dinowitz, whose Assembly District overlaps with the
senatorial district, including Riverdale.
Rivera joined the left wing Working Families Party and socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in backing insurgent Jessica Woolford against Dinowitz in the June 28 Assembly primary. Dinowitz trounced Woolford.
Bronx Assemblyman Michael Benedetto also easily defeated primary
rival Jonathan Soto, who was endorsed by the WFP and Ocasio-Cortez.
Benedetto and Dinowitz were among the incumbents who beat back lefty insurgents on a good day for the establishment and a bad day for the political left.
About one-third of Rivera’s district is new under court-ordered
redistricting, taking in the northwest Bronx neighborhoods of Riverdale
and Norwood. The Senate primary will be held on August 23.
Dinowitz noted that Rivera now resides in the 31st District but
insisted on running again in the 33rd. Camilo, following redistricting,
decided to run in the 33rd instead of the 34th district, an open seat
after state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi opted to run for Congress.
But Rivera, first elected in 2010 after defeating convicted crook Pedro Espada,
has the backing of the Working Families Party and a slew of powerful
unions. He has been associated with leftist causes such as defunding the
police and instituting a government-run public health insurance system.
Rivera, the Senate health committee chairman, also has pushed
controversial policies, such as providing comprehensive benefits to illegal immigrants and pushing legislation to open “safe injection sites” to give drug addicts clean needles to shoot up drugs.
The leadership of the state Senate — Majority Leader Andrea Stewart
Cousins (D-Yonkers) and Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris
(D-Queens) — are also backing Rivera’s re-election.
“I always endorse my sitting members and I want all of them to come
back to the Senate. Senator Rivera has always been a valuable member of
the Senate and I look forward to continuing to serve with him,”
Stewart-Cousins said.
Rivera’s response to the Bronx party snub? Bring it on!
“Senator Gustavo Rivera has been representing the working people of
the Bronx for over a decade. He is a labor candidate and advocate for
his community,” a campaign spokesperson said in a statement.
“The Senator has already amassed support and endorsements from 1199
SEIU, CWA, NYSUT and PSC l. He will continue to fight and deliver for
his community. He represents over 70% of this district and looks forward
to the spirited primary election,” the Rivera camp said.
Camilo formerly headed the Bronx Women’s Bar Association and served as a
commissioner on the city Board of Elections, an appointment that goes
to people with close ties to the party leadership.
“Immensely proud to have the endorsement of @bronxdems, an
organization that has seen me grow as a young lawyer and dedicated
member of our Bronx community,” Camilo tweeted Tuesday.
Bailey, the Bronx Party leader, said Wednesday night that
party officials sought to avoid a primary by urging Rivera to run in the
34th district or 32d districts instead. Rivera refused.
“We were not looking to primary Gustavo. We tried to avoid a primary. We were not able to figure it out,” Bailey said.
“We believe in Miguelina,” he added.
On the good progressive news dept, is this story from Rhode Island - maybe a model for other states - you won't take the Dem party away nationally, so do it state by state:
Rhode Island Progressives Push for Takeover of State Democratic Party:
Progressive slates offer a state-level model for the left to overcome
the stagnation of Biden’s presidency and the national Democratic Party
Our main goal is to organize working class people around a broadly economic platform that ties in social issues into core economic issues... we want candidates that focus on class.... willing to take on the establishment power structure ---- roughly 17 minute mark of video - Bhaskar Sunkara, Jacobin, interviewed by Jen Pan
I ran across this enlightening interview on Jacobin you tube where Jen Pan talked to Jacobin founder Bhaskar Sunkara who talks about class and race on the left and then on dysfunction on the left. He talks about the cultural divides where some want to focus on bread and butter issues and others want to talk about race as race as a free standing system. He also points to a cleavage on how some liberal-left people want to talk about economic policy in a certain way - say Elizabeth Warren - vs a Bernie type analysis.
I've actually lived though some of the divisions in groups where there's a race vs class divide in terms of analysis -- every socialist doesn't avoid class and economics - but the roots of continuing racism is often at issue.
The mostly united pro-Bernie front on the left seems to have come apart.
So I've been following discussions on divisions on the left -- I'm a fan of Krystal Ball and Sam Seder and they often seem to be coming at things from different places. The Young Turks and Jimmy Dore wars. Many of my colleagues in UFT oppo politics are Jimmy Dore, Glen Greenwald, Useful Idiots - Aaron Mate fans - skeptical of the support fot Ukraine and often taking a Putin point of view. Sam Seder calls these people essentially right wing.
One of the most intersting parts of the interview come at the 21 minute mark where Jen Pan raises the issue of the class composition of the left, which is far from the working class - and I mean the black and white working class. The old left of the 30s was very working class. Now not at all. (Even Starbucks union movement is pushed by college educated). She says since the 60s the left has become more professional nanagerial class and lost its working class base. She asks what is the biggest obstacle to the left getting back to its working class roots - is it the cultural, rhetorical, linguistic ticks?
And I have to say, I get very turned off when I hear rhetoric with no analysis. Like if you are a a socialist who believes capitalism must end where is the analysis of what exactly takes its place? Or the process of destruction and mayhem in dismantling capitalism. I asked this wuestion of two hard core socialists -- can you have democracy and your vision of socialism where you cannot have a two party system that can reverse say nationalization of certain industries every 4 years. One said maybe a multiparty system of only socialist parties. Have you seen socialists of differing opinions in action?
Baskar's answer seems to agree about rhetoric on the left being wrong but he attributes that to the many defeats the left has faced. He calls it the ghetto of the left -- like when do leftists get to talk to non-leftists, especially working class? I remember one early leader of a caucus I was in tell me he has no non-leftist people he talks to. Baskar talks about being in small socialist groups or caucuses where you hear only one real voice --- where if you disagree with anything you get slammed as being discordant - I've actually seen people claim to feel unsafe when a loud disagreement over a political issue breaks out. A few of us looked at each other and wondered how snow flakes intend to take on the power structure of the UFT.
Baskar mocks some of the disagreements on the left as to what year the Soviet state changed into Stalinism. Working class voters prefer candidates who focus primarily on economic issues. Their not against talking about racism but want these issues framed in univeral terms. Bernie tried to do that and got slammed by the left cultural warriors.
Health care is good because it helps everyone - not just framed as a racial justice issue for one segment of the population. Right now John Fetterman seems to me the only candidate I've seen who has the ability to do this.
I love this:
"even if we are reliant on an activist base to begin with, we are not just stuck with this space forever."
Apply this point to organizing in the UFT -- the hopeful realization by the activist left base that they will never win even a segment of power in the UFT without broadening that base -- maybe the emergence of United for Change was a sign but those who know the left from experience are always prepared to see things slip back for the interests of sectarian politics.
Stop talking to each other but reach out to people not only on the fence but on the other side of the fence.
He asks people to look around whatever groups people are in and ask if that group is equipped to have an influx of 5 thousand working class people. We should be building the shells of organizations that can be truly mass.
I remember once at a joint rally over the 2005 conract talking to someone from another caucus and saying wouldn't it be wonderful if we had even 50 hard core activists in the UFT and the response was: If they are the right kind -- that was a warning sign to me of the kind of exclusivity some gtoups try to enforce internally.
Here's where he nails it:
We shouldn't be building groups that are so sensitive that a few interpersonal things or a few controversies gets it destroyed or they spend so long inwardly debating with each other and then deciding when the next meeting is - a kind of inaction group --
Boy have I seen this - groups that talk to and at themselves and often morph into a small oligarchy of control by a few and even their own mass begins to lose interest and becomes perfectly content to let them run things. talk talk talk - make up some action event to simulate organizing - but
keep the rhetorical and procedural gates up to keep the "wrong" kind of
people out...
Trust me -- I've been guilty of this idea of we want to be in a "comfortable" space with like-minded people. ICE was a more open group but talk talk talk was certainly frustratign to people who wanted action. I was very comfortable talking and debating. ICE could never be an major organizing force alone in the UFT - though some people seemed to think so. In fact the founding of GEM in 2009 was a reaction to ICE inaction -- but I also think ICE is the only group that offered a relaxed space over rice pudding to just talk, dispute, argue over issues etc and work for consensus and no matter how hard you fought you walk out colleagues. I think that is also really needed.
Bhaskar points to DSA which is more action oriented and seems to be a clearing house of sorts for various points of view but there is also an avoidance of taking on such divisive issues. -- ie - witness the cancellation of Black scholar with a heavy class analysis Adolph Reed, Jr.
I'll leave you with these links so you can see the dysfunction of the left in action.
Jun 1, 2020 — Ben Burgis tells the story of the DSA cancellation of Adolph Reed and critiques the concept of class reductionism and a category that ...
Aug 16, 2020 — Amid murmurs that opponents might crash his Zoom talk, Professor Reed and D.S.A. leaders agreed to cancel it, a striking moment as perhaps ...
Aug 18, 2020 — Amid murmurs that opponents might crash his Zoom talk, Professor Reed and D.S.A. leaders agreed to cancel it, a striking moment as perhaps ...
Aug 17, 2020 — His article concluded: “Amid murmurs that opponents might crash his Zoom talk, Professor Reed and D.S.A. leaders agreed to cancel it, a striking ...
