Portside

Portside is sharing the following eight point proposal that was sent to us by the authors, because it is part of Portside's tradition to promote discussion and action by the left. We hope there will be a broad discussion on this proposal, a discussion that involves the wide variety and experiences of left activists and socialists today.

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Tuesday's election showed gains for progressives and labor-backed candidates, and also for socialists. In Seattle, Kshama Sawant received 46.1% of the total vote for City Council. However, the count of the most recently counted votes gives her 49.69%. Even if her opponent holds on, he has announced that he will not run again - against her or anyone else.

Elections show the tide can turn against the unholy alliance of big business, the Tea Party, and the religious right. Growing protests - the "Moral Monday" movement in North Carolina, militant immigrant rights activism, battles to protect women's health clinics from state budget cuts, strikes by low-wage workers, civil disobedience actions to challenge voter suppression, & campaigns against global energy corporations. Virginia - win in a race lost by 17 points in 2009.

Jon Wiener reviews Bill Ayers' latest book, about the Weather Underground, the U.S. student and anti-war movement, and what happened to SDS - the largest student organization in the history of our country - and a major part of the U.S. Left...And, he is very critical.

Despite the massive attention it's gained, this movement is still in its infancy. It must be built with strong workplace and community networks. This summer, we went on strike for very concrete demands. But we also went on strike for dignity, respect, and power. Because militancy works. My bosses don't taunt me about going on strike anymore. After striking, I got a raise - and more than a dozen co-workers asking me how they could join the union.

Democrats have reached a watershed. After two decades in which the party has moved leftward on social issues but has largely accepted the financial sector's economic preferences - the abject failures of the market economy are pushing the party leftward. The revolt against Summers was less about his positions on today's economic issues but his opposition to regulating derivatives. In Congress, in New York City and Chicago, Democrats are feeling the heat of the people.

Bill de Blasio's win in New York's Democratic primary isn't a local story. It's part of a vast shift that could upend three decades of American political thinking. Americans don't necessarily grow more conservative as they age. Sometimes they do. Economic circumstances that have pushed Millennials left are also unlikely to change dramatically anytime soon. de Blasio's mayoral campaign offers a glimpse into what an Occupy-inspired challenge to Clintonism might look like.

Reader Comments: Chelsea Manning Sentencing; Egypt; Koch Bros.; Kerry and the Mideast Peace Process; Petition to Hold Kerry Accountable; False History; Labor Unions At Another Crossroad-Exchange (Martin Morand & Bill Fletcher); Dawkins Dresses Up Bigotry; Announcement: Encore-The Blacklisting of Hope Foye - Los Angeles-Aug 24 Resources: The Unfinished Dream - The March on Washington & the Radical Legacy of Martin Luther King