On “Election Day 2008: The class issues”
Thank you for providing the most insightful filter through which to interpret events that will unfold today. I have come to expect nothing less from these daily issues, and am always gratified.
I continue to recommend the SEP consider proactively engaging in establishing organized food groups with farmers as a means of fending off the upcoming crisis of hunger and malnutrition for hundreds of millions, as the capitalist debacle continues to degenerate and become evermore deeply entrenched in the quagmire of its own making.
Not only is it important that this be done as a practical matter for sustaining the burgeoning numbers of workers being cast into poverty, it is crucial it be done in an evolutionary socialist manner that can help propel and sustain the sharp change of direction needed.
Fraternally,
TP
Shortsville, New York, USA
4 November 2008
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As you watch the US election returns, please be aware that there is at least one vote—mine—in Houston for the Socialist Equality Party's candidates, Jerry White and Bill Van Auken.
Of course, they weren't on the ballot, so I had to write them in. And of course, the electronic vote-stealing machines did not leave enough characters to write in their full names. I think it came out something like “Jerry White/Bill Van Auk,” and there was no way "Socialist Equality Party" would fit.
So let's see if my vote is tallied anywhere during the election return coverage tonight.
I have come to depend on the WSWS to keep me from descending into insanity. Keep it up. I talk up wsws.org among my friends.
Charles H
Houston, Texas, USA
4 November 2008
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For in fact, the very omission of "class" is in fact the largest mistake in America today. I have spent time with the lower class, I have learned that in fact they are smarter as a result! Kudos to Dana Beal—a good father, and a good grass roots organizer. He has helped raise the very best.
Windy
New York, NY, USA
4 November 2008
On “Video: SEP Candidate Jerry White speaks in Chicago”
I would just like to make an observation on the idiotic blinkered bankruptcy of US liberalism in relation to the support of Obama by organizations such as moveon.org, The Nation, Democracy Now, etc.
What is their point of departure in supporting Obama? Putrid national chauvinism, the mythology of the American Dream, the venerable sages in the form of the founding fathers, that’s what. These are sacred, perennial and must be restored to their rightful place, and American particularism with them.
Not only are these philistines incapable of objective analysis, they are hostile to any such concept. Just ask Cindy Sheehan. These organizations that are vociferous opponents of the Bush administration and assiduously criticize and document government malfeasance, bury their heads in the sand when it comes to the most glaring and obvious flaw in their promotion of Obama:
He supports the bogus “war on terror”—the biggest lie of all!
It is the so-called “war on terror” that has provided the pretext from which all the crimes of the US administration flow: The invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq; the strikes inside Syria and Pakistan; the indefinite incarceration of “illegal combatants”; the sanctioned use of torture; drumhead military tribunals; the Patriot Act and the overriding of habeas corpus; the sanctioning of the unrestricted use of wire tapping.
No doubt these organizations would consider this nit-picking, that while Obama is not perfect, his victory is a step in the right direction.
David D
Melbourne, Australia
4 November 2008
On “Britain: The furore over the BBC’s Brand and Ross broadcast”
Thank you for your wonderful article on the furore over the Russell Brand incident on BBC Radio. It was a far more insightful article than anything else I have read on the topic.
I think the incident highlights a whole range of interesting points with regards to the BBC and private media corporations. In most countries state media is generally felt to be a mouthpiece of the government. The fact that the BBC shows more independence of perspective than private news corporations tells a great deal about the relationship between the Labour government and private media.
With regards to the high salaries of some BBC presenters, I’m sure a lot of the anger at that can be directed to the lack of talent that many of them have (Jonathan Ross being particularly untalented and unfunny) and the fact that the BBC announced 1800 job losses last October to save costs. This included the loss of a third of the outstanding Natural History Unit. This unit has been responsible for some of the most breathtaking documentaries to ever be produced, documentaries that show the true potential of TV.
Of course the BBC is in a Catch-22 situation. If it produces the quality drama and documentaries it is rightly famous for, it will be accused of elitism and being out of touch. If it produces low grade TV of the same standard as most of the rest of the media it will be accused of being a waste of taxpayer’s money. Unfortunately it seems to be going down the route of “dumbing down” rather than taking a principled stand. I suppose it is one more sign of the decline of Capitalism that even its greatest achievements in culture are becoming or have become unable to take a principled stand to defend themselves.
David C
4 November 2008