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It’s S17: Happy Anniversary!

Brian K. Noe · September 17, 2012 ·

Today marks the first anniversary of the beginning of the revolution.

Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com.

For more information and event listings, see S17NYC.org, here or here.

Follow Twitter hashtags #OWS, #S17 and #S17NYC or follow @OccupyWallSt.

Filed Under: Other Content Tagged With: Occupy, Revolution

Solidarity With The Chicago Teachers

Brian K. Noe · September 10, 2012 ·

The Chicago Teachers Union is currently on the front lines of a fight to defend public education. You can show your support by making a contribution to their Solidarity Fund. Every dollar helps.

If you care about the future of public education in America, take a few minutes to read The Schools Chicago’s Students Deserve – a new study from the CTU which argues in favor of proven educational reforms to dramatically improve the education of more than 400,000 students in this district of 675 schools.

 

Download the Executive Summary

Dowload the Full Report

Contribute to the Solidarity Fund

Filed Under: Other Content Tagged With: Chicago, CTU Strike, Education, Public Policy, Solidarity, Union

Full Text of 2012 Democratic Platform

Brian K. Noe · September 7, 2012 ·

Here is the full text of the Democratic Party Platform as approved this week in Charlotte. I urge you to read it carefully.

http://assets.dstatic.org/dnc-platform/2012-National-Platform.pdf

Filed Under: Other Content Tagged With: Democrats, Politics

American Labor History Timeline

Brian K. Noe · September 6, 2012 ·

The American Prospect magazine’s Website has posted an interactive timeline depicting a brief history of the Labor Movement in the U.S. adapted from If Labor Dies, Whats Next? – a Harold Meyerson piece that appears in the September/October issue.

The timeline includes such notable moments as the founding of the Knights of Labor, the Pullman Strike of 1894 (shown above), the Triangle Fire, the founding of the IWW and more. It’s basic information that every American ought to know, but relatively few do.

See the interactive timeline: A Brief History of American Labor.

Filed Under: Curated Links Tagged With: America, History, IWW, Union, Wobblies

What I’m Reading: The S Word

Brian K. Noe · August 29, 2012 ·

From the publisher:

Tom Paine was enamored of early socialists, Horace Greeley employed Karl Marx as a correspondent, and Helen Keller was an avowed socialist. The “S” Word gives Americans back a crucial aspect of their past and makes a forthright case for socialist ideas today.

Learn More:

Hits From the Basement: The ‘S’ Word [Abandon All Despair Ye Who Enter Here]

Filed Under: Other Content Tagged With: America, Books, History, Politics, Socialism

Full Text of 2012 GOP Platform

Brian K. Noe · August 28, 2012 ·

Here is the full text of the GOP Platform as approved today in Tampa. I urge you to read it carefully.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/104097929/Final-Language-GOP-Platform-2012

Filed Under: Other Content Tagged With: GOP, Politics

Belieber in Bike Helmet

Brian K. Noe · August 23, 2012 ·

caro-bike-helmet-1

Here’s a scan from the latest roll of Kodak BW400CN.

This was one of my first shots with a portrait lens (a Canon FD 135mm 1:3.5 purchased through eBay).

The subject said “the background is all blurry,” and I said “it’s supposed to be.”

Everybody’s a critic.

Filed Under: Pictures Tagged With: 35MM, Photography

Droplets

Brian K. Noe · August 14, 2012 ·

droplets 2 of 3

In 1973, my mother gave me a Canon FTb 35mm camera. It was my introduction to seeing things differently. I had little idea of what I was doing, but learned enough from trial and error (and chats with other photographers) to eventually get fairly good at taking candid shots at family gatherings, pictures of local buildings, landscapes and such. I didn’t have a flash, so I learned to use available light, and was drawn toward films that could be “pushed” (Kodak Tri-X for black and white prints and Ektachrome slide film for color). To this day even with a digital point and shoot camera I nearly always turn the flash off and shoot with the light that’s there.

Eventually the old FTb sat collecting dust, having been abandoned in favor of cheap film cameras that were easier to carry, and then digital cameras as that technology arrived. A few years ago I sent it in for cleaning and light meter repair, but even after that, it sat in the attic or on a closet shelf, patiently awaiting the day when someone would again be delighted with what it can do.

I’m a smarter photographer now, meaning that I understand a lot more about composition, light, lens, film and exposure. I believe that I’m finally able to begin exploring with my old FTb in a manner that befits its capabilities. I’m also ready to grow with it beyond the single 50MM lens and available light.

I’ll be posting some scans here from time to time. The first roll of 24 (Kodak BW400CN) turned out alright, with about a third of the shots being decent enough to share. You can find them (along with any future black and white scans) on this Flickr set. Please be kind in your criticism, as I’m still learning. Also, yes – I am aware that my scanner platen needs to be cleaned. 🙂

The photo above is one of a series I took last evening of raindrops on various windows in our house. I’m fairly pleased with three of them, which might eventually become a triptych of some sort.

I would be interested in feedback, particularly from other film photographers. Pointers to interesting images and websites would also be welcome.

The great depression-era photojournalist Dorothea Lange once said “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” I hope to learn a great bit more about how to see during the last decades of my life.

Filed Under: Pictures Tagged With: 35MM, Black and White, Photography

What is Fascism?

Brian K. Noe · August 6, 2012 ·

Some words become so overused or misused that they become practically meaningless. “Fascist” seems to be one of those words. If you perform a Web search, you’ll discover nearly twenty-million results, ranging from historical information relating to the Fascist governments of Italy, Germany and others during the first half of the Twentieth Century, to current wild-eyed conspiracy theory, to polemics on the right condemning “eco-fascists,” “feminazis” and such.

I’ve posted some thoughts and resources about this subject here in the past. I believe that Fascist tendencies are real (and perhaps even ascendent) in American political life today. The threat they pose to justice and freedom cannot be overstated. Therefore, it is important to understand what Fascism really is, to recognize it when one sees it, and to oppose it with all of our will and resources.

First of all, here is what Fascism is not. Fascism is not simply any ideology that seeks to pressure or coerce or impose compliance. It is not ever a leftist, or Liberal ideology. Fascism should not be conflated with authoritarianism (although authoritarianism is certainly a central aspect). Fascism does not merely mean oppression, intolerance, bullying or totalitarianism.

George Orwell addressed these misuses of the term in 1944, noting that he had heard it applied to Conservatives, Socialists, Communists, Catholics, fox hunters, bull fighting, shopkeepers, Olympic Committees and others. He also made note of the central issue in defining Fascism. “It is impossible to define Fascism satisfactorily without making admissions which neither the Fascists themselves, nor the Conservatives, nor Socialists of any colour, are willing to make. All one can do for the moment is to use the word with a certain amount of circumspection and not, as is usually done, degrade it to the level of a swearword.”

What is Fascism, really? Mirriam-Webster defines Fascism as “a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.”

So Fascism is, first and foremost, nationalistic in the extreme. It is also racist, authoritarian, regimented and coercive. Fascism stands opposed to liberty, equality and international solidarity – the classic hallmarks of Liberal Democracy (and the ideals of The Enlightenment).

Laurence W. Britt did a thorough study of Fascist regimes for a novel he wrote about right-wing extremists coming to power in the United States. He outlined the fourteen common characteristics of Fascism in Nazi Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, Franco’s Spain, Salazar’s Portugal, Papadopoulos’s Greece, Pinochet’s Chile, and Suharto’s Indonesia. I would encourage you to read the entire article as published in Free Enquiry. Here are the bullet points.

  • Powerful and Continuing Expressions of Nationalism
  • Disdain for the Importance of Human Rights
  • Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
  • The Supremacy of the Military/Avid Militarism
  • Rampant Sexism
  • A Controlled Mass Media
  • Obsession with National Security
  • Religion and Ruling Elite Tied Together
  • Power of Corporations Protected
  • Power of Labor Suppressed or Eliminated
  • Disdain and Suppression of Intellectuals and the Arts
  • Obsession with Crime and Punishment
  • Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
  • Fraudulent Elections

Here is how I summarized the basic framework of Fascism in an earlier post.

  • The core Fascist values are nationalism, Anti-Marxism, and a profound disgust for Liberal Democracy.
  • Fascists glorify the past, before the country was “debased” by foreigners, homosexuals, minority religions and the like. Fascists see themselves as a reaction to those who are a threat to “our way of life,” and they identify (and attack, sometimes literally) these scapegoats.
  • The movement (and the state) is organized around corporatism and largely serves corporate interests.
  • Violence against external and internal “enemies” is encouraged to the point of glorification. Wars, torture, executions, assassinations and the use of excessive force by the police are welcomed in the battle to “protect us.” There is an obsession with militarism, and likewise with crime and punishment. There is a flexible attitude toward basic human rights and the rule of law, if infringements are seen as helping the cause.
  • There is utter disdain for (and there are attacks made on) labor unions, intellectuals and the arts.

This sounds all too familiar, yes?

What can we do to fight against Fascism? As is the case with so many issues in life, the first step is to recognize the problem. It’s important that we see things for what they are, and call them by their proper names. When we see people coalescing around a nationalistic philosophy which denigrates the arts and intellect, which glorifies militarism, which uses religion to justify discrimination against homosexuals and Muslims, which seeks to scapegoat immigrants and the poor, which attacks organized labor, which serves the wealthy and the corporations – that is Fascism, plain and simple. We should call it that, and we should debunk the oft-asserted notion that such a philosophy is equally valid to others. The history of the last century has shown us again and again what happens when this insidious ideology is allowed to take root.

We should also miss no opportunity to stand up for freedom, equality and solidarity. We must support those who are the victims of Fascist rhetoric. This means speaking up for human rights, equality and justice for all – for homosexuals, for immigrants, for minority races and religions, for the captives in our burgeoning prison system, for the poor and the dispossessed. We must support our labor unions when they come under attack in the name of “fiscal restraint” and must guard against the infringement of the right to organize. We must defend and support artists and intellectuals, in both the marketplace and in academia. We must oppose the idea that uninformed opinions and specious arguments are valid and are equal with fact-based, well informed and well reasoned ones. We must boycott and otherwise oppose the moneyed and corporate interests in favor of the small, the local and the economically oppressed.

Perhaps more than anything else, we must gather together with others of good will in our local communities to build relationships of trust and commitment, dedicated to the values and practice of democracy, justice and cooperation.

If this sounds like a tall order, that’s because it is. I have come to believe that it is now a matter of survival, not just for our liberties, but for human life on the good Earth.

James Waterman Wise once said that Fascism would come to America “wrapped up in the American flag and heralded as a plea for liberty and preservation of The Constitution.” It would appear that such an ideology  has, indeed, come – and very much as he predicted.

Shall we stand up?

★ ★ ★

More Reading:

FASCISM – What It Is and How To Fight It – Leon Trotsky

Fascism, Anyone? – Laurence W. Britt, Free Inquiry magazine, Volume 23, Number 2.

What is Fascism? – George Orwell, London Tribune, 1944

Quotes on Fascism – Wikiquote

The Menace of Fascism: What it is and How to Fight It – Ted Grant – Revolutionary Communist Party Pamphlet, 1948

Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt – Umberto Eco

Filed Under: Commentary, Essays Tagged With: America, Fascism

Industrial Worker July and August 2012

Brian K. Noe · August 3, 2012 ·

The July/August 2012 issue of Industrial Worker from the IWW is now available.

The Industrial Worker is the official (English language) newspaper of the Industrial Workers of the World. It is published ten times a year, and printed by GCIU/Teamsters union labor. The editor is elected by the membership via a rank and file vote for a two year term of office.

I’ll be posting a link to the online version of each new issue as if becomes available. You can always find the most recent issue by clicking on the image of the newspaper in the right sidebar of this Weblog.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: IWW, Union, Wobblies

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