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Fight for $15 on April 15: A Battle for Raises and Much More

David Moberg Working In These Times
Fight for 15 organizers say the protests planned for April 15 will be “the largest low-wage worker mobilization in modern history.” Actions are planned in 200 U.S. cities with allied demonstrations in countries such as Italy, Switzerland, France, New Zealand, Brazil, Japan and Bangladesh. U.S. fast food workers organizing for $15 per hour minimum wages will be joined by other low-wage workers as well as students from 170 U.S. universities.

Economic Inequality: It’s Far Worse Than You Think

Nicholas Fitz Scientific American
According to Pew Research, most Americans believe the economic system unfairly favors the wealthy, but 60% believe that most people can make it if they’re willing to work hard.

Ferguson Officials' Racist Emails Released

Jon Swaine and Oliver Laughland The Guardian
Emails between officers and city official – including one joking about stoning Muslim women and image used to mock Michelle Obama – now made public

Friday Nite Videos -- April 3, 2015

Portside
The Next System Project. Wealth Inequality in America. George Carlin: How Does Our Economic System Work? Leonard Cohen -- Everybody Knows. Introducing Anti-Unionol.

Tidbits - April 2, 2015 - Mexican Farmworkers Strike; Death Penalty; Water Privatization; Elizabeth Warren; Cesar Chavez; and more

Portside
Reader Comments - Mexican Farmworkers Strike; Innocent Man on Death Row - Prosecutor Apologizes; Stealing Africa's Seeds; Fighting Water Privatization - Ireland and Mexico; Run Elizabeth, Run; Jews Who Speak Out Against Israeli Policies; Cesar Chavez, the UFW - Lessons for Today; Feminist Heroes for Children; Cuba Eradicates Syphilis; Billie Holiday and Ethel Rosenberg; Resources for Passover; To Better Understand Greece and Syriza; Announcements

How Is "Right to Work" Being Enforced?

Kathy Wilkes The Progressive
Wisconsin has joined a host of other states whose right-to-work laws emulate "model legislation" produced by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) describes ALEC as a "bill mill" supported by several conservative foundations and dozens of high-profile corporations, like Koch Industries and ExxonMobil. So-called 'Right-to-Work" favors corporations at workers' expense.

The Historical Context of Voting Rights

Bruce Hartford Civil Rights Movement Veterans
When we were founded as a nation, a fierce political battle erupted over who would have the vote. It was a fight over who was included in "We the People." We have been fighting that political war ever since, and continue to fight it to this day. The issue of who has the vote continues to be a fight because those who are well-served by the status-quo want to limit the voting power of those who they fear have good reason to be dissatisfied with the way things are.

A Better Europe is Possible

Oskar Lafontaine & Leandros Fischer Jacobin
Die Linke's Oskar Lafontaine on "anti-systemic" parties and how to forge a democratic Europe. His views on solidarity with Greece and Syriza, as well as developments in Spain, Italy, France, and Germany. His insight on a future socialism - recognizing that past socialist endeavors have failed because they were undemocratic and centralized. In this sense, another path has to be chosen. In my opinion, it is the path of employee-managed enterprises in which democracy flows