Socialist Worker vs. the Class Struggle
Nick P. at Black Sun Gazette
It is worth continuing to explore the role of the International Socialist Organization and its political line expressed in Socialist Worker. As the class conflict becomes more two-sided, groups such as the International Socialist Organization will—regardless of the intentions of individual members—play a crucial role in protecting the existing system.
When one sees the ways in which the International Socialist Organization (and other groups like them such as Socialist Action and the Workers’ International League) play left defending attorneys of the trade union bureaucracy and middle class reform organizations (who play a crucial role in defending the Democrats who push many of the same policies as the Republicans) you can see a straight line drawn from the fake left to George W. Bush.
Socialism Versus Socialist Worker
From Nick P. at Black Sun Gazette:
Things have been rather hectic around Black Sun Gazette Central lately, so forgive my lack of regular communication. I’ve got a few articles brewing that I’m sure my loyal readership is sure to enjoy.
However, I wanted to take a moment to go back to the subject of the International Socialist Organization and their website, SocialistWorker.org.
One of the most common arguments by ISO members is that the tendency with which I am in solidarity “does nothing.” I’d like to take some time to seriously examine this claim, in a more reasoned and less emotional way than my prior screed on the ISO.
Why I Hate The ISO
From Black Sun Gazette
This is an article I’ve wanted to write for a long time. I considered the subject to obscure until my special lady friend assured me that it was not. If you’ve ever been within 50 miles of a college campus you probably know who the International Socialist Organization are. They’re the obviously middle-class kids shilling a banal newspaper in really large type font who curl into a ball and start crying if you ask them a question harder than “but is socialism really possible / aren’t people naturally selfish / didn’t socialism fail in the Soviet Union?” If the ISO weren’t running around claiming to be socialists, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have any problem with them. If they just fessed up to the fact that they’re garden variety radical liberals who want good people to do good things in the world, I wouldn’t have the…
Machines Designed to Change Humans
I remember how my mom used to yell at my dad because he was always trying to explain how we’re being farmed.
The Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab creates insight into how computing products — from websites to mobile phone software — can be designed to change what people believe and what they do.
Yes, this can be a scary topic: machines designed to influence human beliefs and behaviors. But there’s good news. We believe that much like human persuaders, persuasive technologies can bring about positive changes in many domains, including health, business, safety, and education. We also believe that new advances in technology can help promote world peace in 30 years. With such positive ends in mind, we are creating a body of expertise in the design, theory, and analysis of persuasive technologies, an area called “captology.”
By arriving at this page, you’ve reached the main website for our research lab, directed by Dr.…
Five American Socialists You Must Know About
Nick P at Black Sun Gazette:
While trying to shy away from any kind of social chauvinism, I must admit that I prefer to read American penned socialist literature more than anything. I am, first and foremost, an American, and I prefer to speak and read American. Nowhere is this more important to me than in socialist literature. The direct, plain language of America will do more to win people to socialism than European theory, which, while relevant today, can come off as a bit dry at times. And, as always, something gets lost in translation. While I still laud Marx and Engels as co-kings of the movement, and Lenin and Trotsky (perhaps the most brilliant political theorist of the 20th century) brilliant theorists and politicians of the same order, the following five are the guys I go to when I want to read for education and pleasure.
Read More at Black Sun Gazette
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