How can a powerful left-wing political movement take shape in the United States? RootsAction Senior Fellow Norman Solomon joins a panel of other experts to discuss the way forward.
http://www.thepeoplesgame.org/
KPFK and Pacifica Radio Series: Building a powerful left in the United States
Every afternoon from Monday, January 31st through Friday, February 4th, KPFK Radio will feature a special series focusing on the questions: How can a powerful left-wing political movement take shape in the United States? What policies and programs would such a “left” promote? How would it articulate and spread its message, so that it gains a critical mass of support across the U S population?
Informing this series is the sense that three years into the gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the vast majority of Americans have no significant political movement that represents their interests.
The idea of the “left,” going back to the inception of term during the French Revolution, is that of a movement, or political force, that operates in the interest of the general population, as opposed to the “right,” which supports the cause of society’s elites. In the contemporary United States, this would mean standing up for middle class, working class and poor households (which represent 95% of all people) vs. interests that represent the wealthy plus powerful private institutions (primarily corporations). It certainly sounds like a winning formula in a democracy, and yet a meaningful left in the U S – one that truly exerts a positive, impactful political force - is virtually non-existent.
The people of the United States - and the world, due to the central geopolitical and economic role of the USA and the global nature of the economic crisis - desperately need such a movement to advocate on their behalf.
So, how do we build one?
The series is featured on KPFK's website: www.kpfk.org where there is also be a link to a page designated for this series. Interviews and roundtable discussions that make up the series will be featured, along with transcripts of the interviews, and comments from listeners.
In addition to the daily hour-long special at 4pm (PST), there will be many segments during the week on KPFK’s other political talk shows that will be a part of the series – these interviews will also be available on the series website.
The entire Building a Powerful Left in the United States series will also be available for syndication across the entire Pacifica network, which includes the four other Pacifica stations and over 100 affiliates.
This series brings together intellectuals, authors, and activists from across the left. Among those invited to participate in the series include: Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, Cornel West, Dolores Huerta, Naomi Klein, Frances Fox Piven, Ralph Nader, Howard Dean, bell hooks, Robert Kennedy Jr., and many more.
