Author: icsswpadmin

ICSS 20210509 – Theory of Revolution – Mehmet Bayram

ICSS 20210509 THEORY OF REVOLUTION – MEHMET BAYRAM
SUN, MAY 9, 2021: 10:30 AM TO 12:30 PM PACIFIC

The recent events call us to revisit Historical Materialism to understand what is happening.  The COVID-19 Pandemic, the re-emergence of the cold-war racing towards a real war, the Minneapolis murders by the police, the US police force becoming the third largest army in the world, the Amazon workers’ organizing efforts, the struggle of the health care workers, the Indian Farmers’ Strike, the failure of the world capitalist system to deal with a simple and preventable disease, and to allow millions of people to die from it shows the world, as we know it, is bubbling and boiling.  “A Change is gonna’ come,” for sure, but why, how, when, or where?  Where are the “Locomotives of History,” the revolutions, as Marx called them?
As the saying goes, there is no revolutionary action without a revolutionary theory. 
We will not offer solutions or chart a path to revolution in this session.  However, we will visit Historical Materialism and see why revolutions are a way of life, a natural phenomenon, a natural way for anything, including human societies, to evolve and change.  When, how, or do the dialectically consequential evolutionary and revolutionary stages of development merge into one?  We will discuss the assertion of the inevitability of revolutions, the development, needed conditions, the necessary organizations for societal change and revolutions.  The possibility of change without violence, a peaceful transition, will be discussed alongside what constitutes a revolution.  We may even talk about what happens if a change does not occur in the current human societies.
Our speaker will be Mehmet Bayram of the ICSS group is an activist, journalist, photographer, videographer, and translator.  His writings, news articles, and commentaries could be found in https://Sendika.org, or in English, https://sendika.org/kategori/english/, a progressive site that survived for more than 20 years, even after the Turkish government shut it down 62 times.

 

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ICSS 20210502 – Socialism: Scientific and Utopian – Eugene E. Ruyle

Sun, May 2, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Pacific
Socialism: Scientific and Utopian
Just as Darwin discovered the law of motion of biological evolution, so Marx and Engels discovered the law of motion of human history and with it, placed the science of human society on a firm, working class basis. In 1880, Engels published Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, explaining how socialism had been transformed from a utopia into a science. This science was further developed by Lenin who led the world historic October Revolution and is continuing to develop in other world historic revolutions in China, Vietnam, and Cuba, and well as revolutionary movements throughout Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Unfortunately, some comrades have chosen to reject science and revert to utopianism. We will examine this question in group discussion in which everyone is encouraged to participate fully.
Organizer: Eugene E Ruyle is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies at CSU, Long Beach; President of Veterans For Peace, East Bay Chapter 162 (Berkeley/Oakland); and active in a variety of working class organizations, including the ICSS and the Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality and State Repression.

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ICSS 20210425 – Grover Furr on Issues in Soviet History

Sun, Apr 25, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Pacific

Grover Furr on Issues in Soviet History

Grover writes that he will discuss two subject in his talk. First, he will talk about his new book Trotsky and the Military Conspiracy, available from Amazon.com. Second, he will discuss the issues concerning evidence: what evidence is; how to analyze it; what logical fallacies and false arguments are employed to avoid facing the evidence.

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ICSS 20210418 – The Law and the people’s rights in India – Mihir Desai

ICSS 20210418 The Law and the people’s rights in India – Mihir Desai
Sun, Apr 18, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Pacific

Mihir Desai on Law and People’s Rights in India
Our speaker writes: I will be speaking about legislative and policy changes during the Modi Government affecting rights of people. This will include the new labour codes, farmers laws, laws concerning citizenship, love jihad laws, education policy, AADHAR act, changes in laws affecting NGOs, Environmental laws, laws concerning elections, demonetisation, etc. This will include the erosion of parliamentary democracy and federal structure. The talk will also include the use of existing and new draconian laws. It will be in the overall context of the present context of the Establishments efforts to suppress all dissent and to hollow out all institutions of accountability.

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ICSS 20210411 – Ten Things for US to Understand about Latin America – Laura Wells

Sun, Apr 11, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Pacific

Ten Things for US to Understand about Latin America

Our speaker, Laura Wells, just returned from two weeks in Nicaragua with a delegation sponsored by Sanctions Kill, Alliance for Global Justice, and Friends of the ATC. When she received the announcement for the delegation, she felt instantly inspired. She had already visited the other two countries named as the “Troika of Tyranny” by Trump’s Secretary of State Pompeo. She knew “tyranny” was a lie about Cuba and Venezuela and wanted to see if it was also a lie about Nicaragua. She was especially interested because there is a common impression across the political spectrum that Daniel Ortega was good in the 1980s but became corrupt and authoritarian when he returned to the presidency in 2006. See more at https://laurawells.org/ten-things-for-us-to-understand-about-latin-america/

Laura will report back on the struggles in Latin America and the Caribbean resisting US imperialism to create a better world, based on her visits and studies. In the Q&A, she would like to engage in a robust discussion of what we can learn from the shift in consciousness in Latin America and about their advances toward socialism.

Laura Wells is a longtime political and social activist. She is a leader in the Green Party, running for Congress in 2018 and for governor in 2010. In 2002 she garnered nearly a half million votes in her run for California state controller. A former financial systems analyst, she supports taxing the rich, implementing public banks, and making significant changes to Proposition 13.

We highly recommend her blog: http://laurawells.org/

LOGIN INFORMATION
We Intend to start the presentation as close to 10:30 am as possible, but the Zoom room will be opened up, as usual, at 10:15 for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc.. The program (and recording) will end at 12:30, but the Waiting Room will remain open until about 1 pm for informal discussion.

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