Socialist Alternative

Kshama Sawant on Election Night 2015

Brian K. Noe · November 13, 2015 ·

“We have shattered the myth that there is nothing progressive candidates can do against the avalanche of corporate money. We have shown that it is entirely possible, if there is the political will, to refuse donations from big corporations and instead base ourselves on the support of working people and win. That is why we have won, and successfully I might add, not just independent of corporate cash but also independent of the two political parties that represent that corporate cash.”

Kshama Sawant spoke to her supporters on November 3rd as her reelection victory was confirmed.

Read the full text of the speech.

Thoughts on 2016

Brian K. Noe · June 12, 2015 ·

Tony Wilsdon analyzes U.S. politics in flux ahead of the 2016 elections.

The central contradiction of our time is that capitalism is in decline, which means the system’s ability to make concessions has been significantly narrowed. Corporate profitability has been maintained by massively increasing exploitation while in the public sector there is endless austerity. Both major parties lie to the public to get elected, and then do the dirty work of big business once in office. Behind both parties and the mass media lies an elite 0.01% whose massive wealth rests in ownership of shares in big companies, financial institutions and real estate and other assets. They plough money into the two parties to represent their interests. They flood the corridors of Washington with their paid representatives to make sure pro-big business policies are enacted. These corporate-serving politicians from both parties then have to come back to the public with a new story as to why we should put faith in them again. As the cracks grow between corporate politics and the needs of the 99%, so the cracks grow in the political system, and so the opportunities grow to build a new political party of the working class and the poor.

Read the Article: 2016 Presidential Campaign Underway | Socialist Alternative

Reflections on the Second Revolution

Brian K. Noe · June 6, 2015 ·

One hundred and fifty years ago, on June 2, 1865, Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of Confederate forces west of the Mississippi, signed the Union Army’s terms of surrender. This marked the final end of the Civil War which, as Patrick Ayers explains, can also truly be described as America’s Second Revolution.

SOTU 2015 Sawant Response

Brian K. Noe · January 21, 2015 ·

On January 20, 2015 Socialist Alternative member and Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant gave a Socialist’s response to President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union Address.

Read the transcript: Kshama Sawant Gives #SocialistResponse to Obama’s State of the Union Address | Socialist Alternative.

Kshama Sawant’s Inauguration Speech

Brian K. Noe · January 7, 2014 ·

“To all those prepared to resist the agenda of big business – in Seattle and nationwide – I appeal to you: get organized.”

Read the full speech: Kshama’s Inauguration Speech – Vote Sawant.

Also, here’s Sawant’s Monday appearance on Democracy Now.