This panel examines Trumpism, Fox News, alt-right male fantasies, and unending sex scandals to explore the pornification of politics and the American Dream. It examines these phenomena as a symptom of the advanced stage of neoliberal decline.
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This panel will analyze the reinvigoration of Russophobia in American media and political culture over the last five years and its ramifications in shaping public attitudes in support of a dangerous new Cold War. We will in turn provide some historical context by discussing how alarmism about Russia is nothing new but dates back to the first Cold War lasting from 1917-1991 when the Russian threat was constantly elevated and popular culture stereotyped Russia as a dangerous and backward nation bent on subverting American national security from within. Few Americans remember that it was the United States that actually invaded Russia in 1917 following the great October Bolshevik revolution in support of white counter-revolutionary forces. Today, the United States remains more of a threat to Russia than vice versa, with American military spending topping that of Russia by at least ten times.
How can we activist-turned-politicians not just make a dent in the system, but win an election? Very strategically. And although winning is the obvious end goal, are there other benefits to running for office? What about raising issues (usually silent) in the media, exposing corruption, pushing the envelope and getting yourself known for the next time? Also -- how do you run when you are a political novice and do not have a machine, nor name recognition or money? Is it worth it? These candidates say, indeed it is -- that if you want the system to change, you must pressure it with the most effective thing that one person can do: GET ON THE BALLOT. Here what this diverse group of progressive Democrats and Greens have learned and wish to share to help the next generation of candidates!
Considering the ongoing shift and crisis of political landscape in the U.S.A. but also in Europe, that is deepening and radicalizing persistently, the emergence of new political subjects now seems more inevitable than ever before. Alternative, counter political or counter-establishment movements are constantly appearing in a move to reorganize the way politics is done and communicated.
These new political bodies demand change: new political and social agenda, sharp and immediate measures against inequalities, social injustice, the fraud economics of Wall street and the dictatorship of the banks, climate change, the constant state of war and the resulting politics of fear, supervision, exceptional authorities, escalating violence etc.
This is something that we do understand very clearly in Europe and we have to face together on both shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
It is a political and historical duty of the European Left in this unprecedented situation to hold out hand, start communicating and building an alliance with the American leftist parties, movements and organizations. That is a crucial point of the global struggle and the globalization of resistance.
Together we are stronger, therefore communication and cooperation with our American and Canadian partners is of utmost importance at the moment.
How to find the best fields of cooperation and exchange the most effective experiences between the North American Left forces and the European Left?
Since the election of Donald Trump, millions of Americans have protested his unconstitutional policies including the ban on Muslim immigration. But while the Islamophobia of this administration has been well documented, many have failed to recognize the plethora of policies and tactics by past administrations designed to disenfranchise the American Muslim community. From the use of "secret evidence" by the Clinton Administration to the PATRIOT Act and expanded surveillance that followed the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government has aggressively pursued American Muslim leaders, activists, and charities in the name of fighting the "war on terror". Since then, hundreds of Muslims have been victims of politically motivated terrorism prosecutions, many of which criminalize constitutionally protected speech. Author Miko Peled will discuss his recent book about the case of the Holy Land Foundation Five, who received draconian sentences for charitable work. Mel Underbakke, the executive director of the Coalition for Civil Freedoms, will discuss the case of Professor Sami Al-Arian, who fought against these civil rights abuses until his own unjust prosecution on false terrorism charges in 2003. Mel will also present on ways to stand up to these injustices.
Following the attacks of 9/11, the U.S. government embarked on a domestic "war on terror" which has employed a policy of preemptive prosecution that targets individuals and organizations based on their beliefs and ideology. In these cases, the actual crime is manufactured by federal law enforcement officials who almost always create and foil their own terrorist plots. This panel will discuss the questionable tactics and strategies by the government, such as discriminatory surveillance of American Muslim communities, infiltration of mosques by undercover agents and paid informants, and flawed counter-extremism programs, which undermine our fundamental freedoms. Murtaza Hussain, a journalist at The Intercept, will discuss government overreach in these national security cases. Attorney Kathy Manley, the legal director of the Coalition for Civil Freedoms, will further present on these abuses documented in a report she co-authored titled Inventing Terrorists. Ashley Young will discuss the unjust prosecution of her brother, Nicholas Young, a victim of FBI entrapment and the first law enforcement officer to be charged with terrorism.
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Income Inequality is growing wider by the day while Social Ills keep ailing the global human polity amidst an unparalleled advancement of the technological and scientific frontier.
We are being told that handouts to the poor, minimum wage, Unions, Taxing the Rich Lowering Taxes, Social Security, Universal Basic Income, Free Pre-K, Free College for All, Open Borders and unchecked immigration, Deficit Spending, Unlimited Government borrowing, Reintroducing the Gold Standard, Reforming the Federal Reserve, "Free" Trade or Protectionism, Regulated or Deregulated Markets, Protecting Private Property/Or its centralized appropriation are solutions to the problem.
All these contradictory solutions are being touted by either side of the ruling elites and their parrots in Politics, Media and Academia as solutions
to our Society's problems. Really?
All these schemes have been applied in one form or another and seem to exacerbate the problem rather than solving it. In a battle with the Cancerous Viral effects of "Rent Seeking" behavior both the so called "Left" and the so called "Right" come in armed with band-aids... all the while playing useful idiots
to the one and only real enemy of the Productive Classes i.e the Rent-Seekers (masqueraded as Financiers, Insurance Companies, Real Estate Owners).
So what should the productive classes do? Come and join us in an eye-opening discussion and effective solutions against the progressive gangrene of the economic enslavement of Humanity and the Destruction of our Global Commons.
Aaron Hamlin Felix Sargent from the Center for Election Science and acclaimed author Jackrabbit Rockstar invite you to join them in a round table discussion on Instant Runoff Voting and Approval Voting, and why they're a prerequisite for any and all democratic revolutions in the United States. Our current voting methods are the fundamental barriers to legitimate democracy. This will be a conversation on how we can subvert the current system to make true alternatives a reality.
The entire left is struggling towards a coherent electoral strategy. On
the one hand, many committed activists continue to feel they must vote
for 'progressive' Democrats. On the other, a huge segment of newly
radicalized fighters for social change have become totally disillusioned
from electoral politics altogether. Perhaps there is a third way. Hear
different perspectives from activists who have run or are running
electoral campaigns independent of the Democrats and join a discussion on
how the movement can make a definite break with the parties of big