Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America

Next DSA Meeting, Sunday October 23, 2011 at 7:30 PM

2011-10-09T23:12:00.001-05:00

There will be brief business, and then table discussion.

Our next DSA meeting will be October 23rd, 2011 @ 7:30 pm at Davanni's Pizza & Hoagies, Riverside, at 2500 Riverside Ave, Minneapolis, MN, in the upstairs meeting room.

Twin Cities DSA at the Occupy Minnesota (Wall Street) Event, Sunday October 9th, 2011

2011-10-09T23:08:00.001-05:00

Today, several of us from the local Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America took part in the Occupy Minnesota (Wall Street) event.

There is some hope that people are waking up, and confronting the powers. Unchecked corporate power is a threat to our democracy and to social justice.

Americans of all types were at this event- anarchists, socialists, tea-partiers, Ron Paulites, libertarians, and ordinary people, all protesting Corporate power and its alliance with government. It is not shrill to suggest that unchecked corporate power is leading to a nascent fascism. Average Americans are being asked to sacrifice, while the rich and corporations are not being asked to sacrifrice. Corporate profits are privatized, while corporate losses are socialized.

Join the movement, stand up for your rights. Take part in the Occupy Wall Street event in your city. If there isn't one in your city, start it!

Here are some links:

Occupy Wallstreet

OccupyMN

"Occupy" movements are spreading to other cities, in the U.S. and in other countries, including:

Albuquerque, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Dallas, Des Moines, Houston, Iowa City,Jersey City, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Portland/Oregon, Portland/Maine, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Fe, Seattle, Tampa, Trenton, Washington D.C., Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, London, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth.

Memember of the Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America, including your truly, at the Occupy Event

Young Anarchist woman at the event.

Congressman Keith Ellison (D) of Minnesota, and Antonia from La Asamblea de Derechos Civiles

See more pictures on my public Facebook posting (may have to log in to Facebook to see the album):
Occupy Minnesota- Democratic Socialists of America, Twin Cities

Antonia from La Asamblea de Derechos Civiles speaks on the need to prosecute Wall Street, and on the shared struggle of all people, Latina, Black, White, and others, for social justice.

This was originally posted on Lance's Blog:

http://lancegold.blogspot.com/2011/10/twin-cities-dsa-at-occupy-minnesota.html

2011-06-30T18:34:00.000-05:00

Check out this video that breaks down the MN budget impasse!
MN Budget Deficit

Dayton wants to keep up with the increasing health care costs that the poor, disabled and elderly depend on and is trying to raise the $1.3B by increasing taxes on the wealthiest Minnesotans. The GOP led legislature says, "No way".

In 5 1/2 hours, the Minnesota government will shut down.

Upcoming Fist & Rose Newsletter

2011-06-29T11:39:00.003-05:00

We are working on creating a newsletter for the local. Our next meeting will be July 17, 2011 at 6:30pm at the Roseville Old Chicago. If you are interested in being part of this project, call or email Kate!

Stephan's back in town

2010-10-27T21:44:00.000-05:00

Dear Comrades in the Struggle:

Our dear Comrade Stephan will be back in town, and he is able to join us Monday evening, at Old Chicago. I will make reservations on Monday (they will not accept them before then) for 7 PM. I hope you can all join us!

Thanks to Kate for setting this up!

In solidarity,

Comrade Basil (Lance)

Consider Industrial Democracy- aber ratz fatz! by Stephan Peter

2010-09-18T14:30:00.003-05:00

It’s time to have a dialogue over the state of economic democracy, about employee

participation in the decision-making process; to recall a rich European tradition and to learn

from current experiments here and abroad – to be able to assess how participatory democracy

in the economy can work today.

Heinz Bierbaum

Vice Chair, ‘Die Linke’ Party, Germany.

“... Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital; that, in fact, capital is the fruit of labor, and

could never have existed if labor had not existed first; that labor can exist without capital, but

that capital could never have existed without labor. Hence... labor is the superior – greatly the

superior – of capital.”

Abraham Lincoln

“Annual Address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society.”

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 30, 1859.

Consider industrial democracy – aber ratz fatz!

For a transatlantic dialogue.

By Stephan Peter, Saarbruecken, Germany.*

“When the wise man points at the moon, the idiot looks at the finger,” Confucius is known to

have said. Facing a hegemonic market paradigm claiming omnipotency, widening income and

wage gaps here and abroad, and a culture that fosters growth over sustainability, today’s

German progressive change agents, not least Social Democratic Party (SPD) officials, talk

much about the need for a minimum wage. This tendency toward self-retreat verges on self-

ridicule. The SPD’s near surrender as an emancipation movement - under recent party leaders

Schroeder, Muentefering, or Clement - has been costly. In 2010 Germany’s progressive camp

is atomized into an unprecendented four political parties – the SPD, the Left Party, the

Greens, and non-voters. Only now is German – and European – social democracy emerging

from the depoliticizing ‘third way’ and ‘new middle’ paradigms that dominated party

programs and policies over the past fifteen years. As important as national minimum wage

legislation may be, it’s a metaphor for the lack of political vision and purpose, and nowhere

more so than in the one area that serves as principal justification, as raison d’etre, of social

democracy, that is, extending democracy into the economic realm. ‘Economic democracy,’ as

Europeans put it; ‘industrial democracy,’ to use an Anglo-Saxon term.

Not coincidentially, the proud, nearly hundred year history of European grass-roots,

participatory economic democracy, of communal socialism, is nearly forgotten: the ‘Red

Vienna’ of the interwar years, the kibbutz movement, Mondragon/Spain, French LIP and

l’autogestion, and Ken Livingstone’s Greater London Enterprise Board (GLEB), to name but a

few examples. Recent attempts to continue or revive this legacy have been timid or entirely

lacking.

A brief history. AUSTRIA. “During the 1920s and early 1930s ‘every visitor to Europe who

had any interest whatsoever in reform, housing, social progress, went as a matter of course to

look at the magnificent workers’ apartments that Vienna had built,’ the distinguished

American journalist Marquis Childs observed. Between 1923 and 1934, the city’s socialist

administration launched an extraordinary campaign to provide housing for working-class

residents, who were among the party’s most enthusiastic backers. The government

constructed 400 apartment complexes – 64,000 new apartments in all – that together housed

one-tenth of the city’s population. The pride of Vienna’s residential building program was the

majestic Karl-Marx-Hof (Karl Marx House), designed by Karl Ehn. Stretching almost a mile

along a major railway line, the Karl-Marx-Hof featured five monumental archways, a striking

red and yellow stucco facade, and lush interior courtyards as well as state-of-the-art

kindergartens, playgrounds, maternity clinics, health care offices, lending libraries, and a host

of other social services” 1).

The buildings housed local chapters of trade unions, the Socialist Party, consumer co-ops,

tenants councils, and numerous other associations. Hundreds of co-op members living in the

buildings organized special events throughout the year: film seminars, cooking lessons,

parties for the kids, etc. Political campaigns and mass rallies were held in the buildings’ inner

courts – in the Karl Marx Hof, George Washington Hof, Goethe Hof, Liebknecht Hof, Bebel

Hof, Lassalle Hof. Housing construction was financed by progressive taxes, not credits. Thus

the city fathers, Vienna’s Social Democrats, stayed independent of creditors and did not have

to service debt. The end of ‘Red Vienna’ came with the rise of fascism in Austria in the early

1930s. The Karl Marx Hof was actually shelled.

ISRAEL. From 1910 on, and accelerating with the foundation of the Jewish state in 1948,

came the creation of waves of kibbutz and similar cooperatively organized agricultural

settlements. Today there are about 270 villages with up to 1,700 inhabitants 2). ‘Practice what

you preach’ was paramount; to create a classless society in which working and living is based

on participatory democracy in the community. While there were never more than a small

percentage of Israeli citizens living in kibbutzim, this experiment had a profound effect,

worldwide, on debates about alternative living and working. “In the past 40 years, 400,000

youngsters from all five continents have spent some of the most memorable days of their lives

as volunteers in kibbutzim in Israel. Hundreds of them have stayed on the kibbutz and are

now proud members” 3). The kibbutz movement’s attractiveness to newcomers has varied.

“...After almost two decades of an economic and social crisis in most sectors of the kibbutz

movement, resulting – among others – in a sharp decline of kibbutz population, the last few

years are indicating a fresh and a new trend. Many kibbutzim report of growing numbers of

youngsters – singles and families – seeking to join kibbutzim, either as permanent members,

or as non-member inhabitants” 4).

SPAIN. In the mid-1950s Father Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta established a small polytechnic

school in the Basque region of Spain. Its five graduates, helped by Father Arizmendi, opened

Ulgor, the first Mondragon cooperative. “Today, the MCC [Mondragon Cooperative

Corporation] is a complex worth 24 billion dollars and employing 100,000 in 120 enterprises

all over the globe. It comprises factories, banks, insurance agencies and a network of retail

stores throughout Spain. Globally, the MCC invests in industries located all over Europe,

Latin America and Asia” 5).

Putting people first means “every worker-owner owns an equal share and has an equal vote

through ‘one class’ ownership. All worker-owners can participate in the General Assembly to

elect its Board of Directors, which is comprised of fellow worker-owners in the cooperative”

6). Mondragon is a network of co-ops where mutual pooling and sharing of some profit

increases the stability of the entire network.

Of course, there are issues in an enterprise the size of a global player. How to ensure co-ops

retain democratic principles not just by law but spirit? How to develop the relationship

between co-op members and non-member workers and how to facilitate the path towards full

membership? How to face a lack of democratic structures and culture in developing countries

in which MCC does business? Still, most observers of the MCC experiment remain

optimistic. They view Mondragon as prime evidence that co-ops can be more than

neighborhood cafes or bookstores; that it is possible to organize large enterprises in a

democratic, cooperative way.

FRANCE. L’autogestion or worker self-management is a type of workplace decision-making

which was popularized in the early-1970s by watchmaking company LIP in Besancon. Under

the slogan ‘It is possible: we make them, we sell them, we pay ourselves,’ this worker self-

management experiment garnered international attention and became a symbol for an entire

generation of ‘60s activists in Europe. Twelvehundred workers reacted to company plans for

restructuring, downsizing, and outsourcing by occupying the factory and taking two

administrators and a government labor inspector hostage. After French riot police rescued the

hostages, “the workers decided to take materials hostage to block the restructuration plans.

They seized 65,000 watches and hid them in various remote locations. They discussed the

moral legitimacy of the action, wondering if it was a theft or a sin – Catholicism was strong in

this region” 7).

The workers decided to occupy the factory day and night. The strikers opened the factory to

the media and eventually moved to run it by themselves. Workers at other Besancon firms

went on strike, accompanied by a number of large demonstrations. The organizational and

legal structure at LIP has changed several times since but it is the 1970s experience in

workers’ self-management that holds a firm place in the history of economic democracy.

GREAT BRITAIN. To defend and protect local communities in the face of economic crisis

the Labor-controlled Greater London Council (GLC) in the early 1980s developed a

paradigmatic alternative to standard economic development approaches which sought to

establish traditional ‘enterprise zones’ and attract large corporations – often pitting

community against community in bidding wars over who would offer the highest tax breaks

and financial giveaways. The council‘s Greater London Enterprise Board (GLEB) enacted a

number of measures, e.g., encouraging ordinary citizens, members of neighborhood projects,

shop steward committees, and worker cooperatives to make use of ‘technology centers,’

alternative R&D and learning centers. GLEB set up the London Cooperative Enterprise Board

(LCEP) to review and support the needs of area co-ops. It worked closely with trade unions to

assure worker participation and workplace democracy at those mainstream firms receiving

financial support. And GLEB invited trade union and community groups to participate in

local economic planning.

The GLC was dismantled in 1986 by the national government of Margaret Thatcher. But it

has become a “cause celebre attracting widespread support and publicity under [mayor] Ken

Livingstone’s leadership for its radical policies on transport, industry, equal opportunity and

inner city reconstruction” 8).

The underrepresented history of European economic democracy includes further examples -

like Italy’s ‘Red Bologna of the 1970s,’ or the wave of self-determined projects coming out of

the green-alternative movement of the 1970s and early 1980s in Germany. Writers such as

Fritz Vilmar and Klaus Novy have embedded the latter into a larger ideological perspective

connecting them to the more radical Lassallean tradition of the German co-op movement. In

all, it can be argued that much of this European experimentation with ‘working without a

boss’ is part of or at least has an affinity to the ‘third wing’ of the old labor movement: the

party, the union, the co-ops. Yet, there are also differences between then and now, between

the thrust and direction of economic democratization in, say, the 1920s compared to today.

When Fritz Naphtali published his landmark edition ‘Wirtschaftsdemokratie’ [economic

democracy] in 1928, written on behalf of the German General Trade Union Federation

(ADGB), he suggested a number of ways to gradually democratize the capitalist economy.

Self-managed businesses, state-owned enterprises, consumer cooperatives, and union-owned

companies were among his reform ideas. In fact, the German term ‘Wirtschaftsdemokratie’

was coined by Fritz Naphtali and his distinguished collaborators, among them Rudolf

Hilferding, Hugo Sinzheimer and Fritz Baade, in the late 1920s. “ ‘Wirtschaftsdemokratie’

predominantly refers to co-determination at the sectoral and national economic levels.

[Naphtali emphasized] the work council cannot be a pioneer of the new socio-economic

order” 9). That focus on the macro-economic level as well as the management level in micro-

economics came to fruition in postwar Germany. It was generally known as ‘German co-

determination,’ democratic corporatist capitalism, or ‘Rheinischer Kapitalismus’ – with

employers, unions, and the state as major players. Allied powers had a hand in this

development; “in effect, U.S. planners ‘punished’ postwar Germany with economic

democracy as a way of handicapping concentrated wealth and power” 10) – big business had

supported the Nazi rise to power and the war effort – but ‘Wirtschaftsdemokratie’ is not the

Anglo-Saxon model. Industrial democracy is.

The term goes back to noted British social reformers Beatrice and Sidney Webb, who co-

authored a book with that title in 1897. The Webbs stressed labor unions as democracies.

They focused on ‘union democracy’ and collective bargaining, while contemporary

proponents of industrial democracy also include direct democracy ideas at the shop floor

level. Characteristic of the British debate on socialization is the influence of British

democracy including the tradition of local self-control and ‘Guild Socialism’ which advocates

workers’ control of industry. The Anglo-Saxon emphasis on the grass-roots level, on forms of

participatory democracy, has always played a certain role in German political discourse but

never managed to really break through.

- In the 1920s sociologist Eugen Rosenstock-Huessey takes issue with a work

organization shaped by Taylorism and Fordism. In his book ‘Werkstattaussiedlung’

(1922) he proposes a decentralization of companies and work.

- In the 1950s the British Tavistock Institute develops the so-called socio-technical

approach, which assumes that company technology and organization can be coupled in

different ways – allowing for partially autonomous work groups. The approach is

subsequently much discussed in German social sciences.

- In the 1970s and early 1980s the Tavistock approach influences ‘Humanization of

Work’ (HdA) experimentation in German industry such as Volkswagen. Job rotation,

job enlargement, job enrichment, and partially autonomous work groups are seen as

implementation of American political scientist Ronald Inglehard’s ‘post-materialist’

values, e.g., autonomy, self-determination, and ‘Mitbestimmung am Arbeitsplatz.’

They also serve as a strategy – the expectation that once workers taste freedom, they

will demand more. HdA programs spread to companies such as Volvo, Saab, and

General Motors.

- Starting in 1974 the German government develops a research program called

‘Humanization of Work’ closely associated with then research minister Hans

Matthoefer.

- The 1989 collapse of the Berlin Wall and subsequent German unification open a

historic opportunity to implement industrial democracy on an unprecedented scale.

Then SPD party leader Oskar Lafontaine remembers: “German unification provided a

unique opportunity to move towards a democratic economic order and thus a truly

democratic society. For this one would have had to transform public assets of the DDR

[East Germany] into employee-owned property. This unique chance was missed... “

11).

- In 2007 then SPD party chair Kurt Beck introduces the concept of a

‘Deutschlandfonds’ [Germany fund] – a way for wage earners to participate in their

company’s success. Employees would pay into a national fund which in turn would

seek to obtain shares in their companies. This indirect participation is designed to

protect employees from bankruptcies. “If the Germany fund has shares from a

thousand companies, for example, it will not collapse, if two go under” 12). The fund

would make available the shares as capital for companies; employees would receive

profits and interest through the fund.

- The ‘Deutschlandfonds’ has its historic precursor in 1960s and 1970s concepts of

‘Vermoegensbildung in Arbeitnehmerhand,’ capital ownership in the hands of wage

earners. These ideas had been supported by paternalistic conservative, social Catholic,

social democratic, as well as labor union circles. Men like Karl Arnold, Oswald von

Nell-Breuning, or Georg Leber. But such ideas saw their most ambitious manifestation

in the so-called Meidner plan in 1970s Sweden. Social democratic trade union

economists Goesta Rehn and Rudolf Meidner proposed the creation of wage-earner

funds through profit sharing intended to democratize the economy over time. The

employee or trade union controlled funds would gradually increase in size and

eventually dominate over privately held shares – all without jeopardizing a company’s

liquidity. The end result would be large Swedish companies controlled by their

employees.

One can certainly identify a number of reasons why the German Left of the past 100 years

was unable to push industrial democracy, bottom-up participatory democracy in the economy,

so little beyond the programmatic level. But the reasons do not add up; what remains is a taste

of intellectual lack of imagination, an ‘exhaustion of utopian energies’ as German social

scientist Juergen Habermas once put it. Today, in 2010, paternalistic government for the

‘right’ reasons, nationalization, more bureaucracy – remedies of the past – are hardly the

recipe for a left future. Socialization is, because it combines, in simple terms, individual

liberty with solidarity, with community.

In ‘Socializing the Welfare State’ American Dissent magazine editor Michael Walzer makes

this case for socialization. “It is not inefficiency that has made nationalized production

disappointing. State-run industries are not (in the West) noticeably less efficient than privately

run industries. ...At the center, in the modern regulative state, nationalized production isn’t

significantly different from private production – and there, of course, lies the disappointment.

Nor is the experience of workers in state-run factories all that different, and, since

nationalization was supposedly undertaken on behalf of the workers, that is the greatest

disappointment. What difference does it make if one’s boss is a civil servant rather than a

corporate official? In principle, perhaps, a great difference, since workers are also voters and

so can take part in choosing the boss of their boss. But the political distance is too great: what

is true in principle is insignificant in practice. [Thus], ... the real alternative to private

management is self-management, autogestion, workers’ control... . The producers themselves

must take over... . Otherwise it is only state power, not the power of ordinary people, that is

enhanced”13).

Juergen Habermas adds another point – like Walzer, making litttle distinction between

nationalized production and distribution: the legal-administrative implementation of political

programs did advance social justice – but often in a merely quantified, monetarized,

controlling form. Nationalized distribution of services is overtaxed, is asked too much of, to

promote compassionate living, a sense of community. But is this not what the essence of

solidarity entails?

While Germany and Europe have a remarkable tradition in industrial democracy, today the

action is in the Americas. The scene is fluid, rapidly changing. Three developments are worth

mentioning.

1. A ‘solidarity economics’ approach has emerged out of Latin America’s social movements

and progressive party politics of the past fifteen years, as well as the so-called anti-

globalization movement since the 1999 anti-WTO protests in Seattle. Discussed at the 2002

World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brasil, and later at the 2007 U.S. Social Forum in

Atlanta, Georgia, and the 2010 U.S. Social Forum in Detroit, Michigan, the term encompasses

a wide variety of joint self-help, and often locally operating, grassroots projects and

organizations. “For some, it refers to a set of strategies aimed at the abolition of capitalism

and the oppressive social relations that it supports and encourages; for others, it names

strategies for ‘humanizing’ the capitalist economy – seeking to supplement capitalist

globalization with community-based ‘social safety nets’ ” 14).

In the U.S. two noteworthy efforts have been part of the ‘solidarity economy’ concept. “The

Data Commons Project is a collaborative effort betwen a diverse array of organizations in the

U.S. and Canada who share a mission of building and supporting the development of a

democratic and cooperative economy. The goal is to collectively develop an accurate,

comprehensive, public database of cooperative & solidarity-based economic initiatives in

North America as a tool for democratic economic organizing” 15). The project has been

active since 2005.

Furthermore, and perhaps more significant, the Solidarity Economy Network is a young

national network of organizations committed to developing a new framework for social and

economic development, one grounded in social solidarity, cooperation, egalitarianism,

sustainability, and economic democracy 16). The effort has been inspired by similar solidarity

economy networks in Brazil and Canada. A forum was held in 2009 to provide direction and

strategic planning for the effort.

2. Besides ‘solidarity economics’ there is an effort by some of the more progressive American

labor unions to reach out and do networking with other social movements that have been

engaged in anti-globalization protests – chiefly environmental groups and movements. A few

years ago the Minnesota Steelworkers Union formed a partnership with the Sierra Club to

promote renewable energy jobs and a green economy. Today, such initiatives have blossomed

into a national ‘blue-green alliance,’ which includes a number of labor unions and

environmental groups – in various states. It’s a distinctly labor-environmentalist alliance, that

is to say, it does not include business groups; and the green focus should permit openness

towards an aspect of industrial democracy and cooperation that’s hot: cooperatively organized

windmills and farms which - as a bonus - can save the family farm and corresponding

lifestyle.

3. The arguably most ambitious endeavour to establish worker co-ops and promote industrial

democray is the fall 2009 collaboration between the United Steelworkers Union (USW),

North America’s largest trade union, and the world’s largest worker-owned cooperative,

Mondragon International, from Spain. Good work [gute Arbeit] is an important focus. “ ‘We

see today’s agreement as a historic first step towards making union co-ops a viable business

model that can create good jobs, empower workers, and support communities in the United

States and Canada,’ said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. ‘Too often we have

seen Wall Street hollow out companies by draining their cash and assets and hollowing out

communities by shielding jobs and shuttering plants. We need a new business model that

invests in workers and invests in communities’ ” 17). The USW intends to proceed cautiously

but their collaboration with Mondragon has the potential to become a national trendsetter

stimulating similar efforts by other players.

The relationship between U.S. labor unions and the cooperative movement has been complex.

The USW “will insist on at least one modification of the Mondragon model: the worker-

owners will be organized into trade unions, and will sign collective bargaining agreements

with the management team” 18). Apparently, it’s not a huge step since within existing

Mondragon enterprises there are already social committees that deal with worker concerns –

not entirely unlike a union.

Contemplating current industrial democracy initiatives and experimentation in the U.S., one

cannot help but be reminded of a term that served as a progressive paradigm in the upper

Midwest and into Canada early in the 20th century. The Farmer-Labor movement and party in

Minnesota, the North Dakota Non-Partisan League, and the New Democratic Party in

Manitoba, Ontario, and elsewhere were informed by a viewpoint known as Cooperative

Commonwealth. It was “vintage American socialism. It symbolized an economic-political

system based on individual freedom and the common good. ...The program itself with its

emphasis on grassroots economic organization through producer and consumer co-ops, as

well as state ownership, further reinforced this image. [It] would mean more freedom for the

worker and farmer. Its brand of collectivism promised community participation rather than

bureaucratic control” 19).

Today, for instance, the Minneapolis-based North Country Cooperative Development Fund

(NCDF) can be understood to stand in this tradition. The fund is itself cooperatively organized

and provides support for community owned cooperative enterprises throughout the upper

Midwest. The fund publishes a list of co-op members of NCDF, testimony to the impressive

variety and size of the co-op movement there.

The ‘Cooperative Commonwealth’ and ‘solidarity economics’ vision can serve as an

inspiration for those seeking to give renewed meaning to social and economic democracy.

What’s needed now is a more systematic assessment of the current state of economic

democracy in Western Europe, and an evaluation of what can be learned from a more vibrant

North American scene. Such education could take the form of a scientific study, narrations,

youtube-style video clips, short film, or an international symposium – stepping stones towards

popularizing a vision. ‘When the wise man points at the moon, the idiot looks at the finger.’

It’s time to start looking at the moon, not the finger.

Sources:

1). Rabinbach, Anson. “Red Vienna: A Workers Paradise,” in: www.virtualvienna.net.

2). Kibbuz, from: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbuz.

3).”40 Years of Kibbutz Volunteers,” in: Kibbutzim Site, www.kibbutz.org.il/eng/

4). “The Kibbutz Movement – Facts And Figures,” in: Kibbutzim Site,

www.kibbutz.org.il/eng/

5). Marszalek, Bernard. “Mondragon:What Relevance for US Cooperative Development,”

October 27, 2009, in: http://jasecon.wik.is.

6). Witherell, Rob. Keynote Speech. Western Mass Jobs with Justice. March 6, 2010, from:

http://77wmjwj.org.

7). LIP (Company), from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIP_(company).

8). Nolan, Peter and O’Donnell, Kathy. “Taming the Market Economy? A Critical

Assessment of The GLC’s Experiment in Restructuring for Labour,” in: Cambridge Journal of

Economics, 1987, 11, p. 251, from: http://cje.oxfordjournals.org.

9). Mueller-Jentsch, Walther. “Industrial Democracy: Historical Development and Current

Challenges,” in: Management Revue, vol. 19, issue 4, 2008, from: www.management-

revue.org/papers/mrev_4_08_Mueller-Jentsch.pdf.

10). Hill, Steven. “Europe’s Answer to Wall Street,” in: The Nation, April 21, 2010, from:

www.newamerica.net.

11). “Man kann die Zeit nicht zurueckdrehen,” Linken Fraktionschef Oskar Lafontaine ueber

die Waehrungsunion und die Folgen fuer das vereinte Deutschland, in: Saarbruecker Zeitung,

July 2010.

12). „Arbeitnehmerbeteiligung: Beck schlaegt Deutschlandfonds vor,“ June 26, 2007, in:

www.stern.de/

13). Walzer, Michael. „Socializing the Welfare State,“ in: Gutmann, Amy. Ed. Democracy

and the Welfare State, 1988, Princeton University Press.

14). Miller, Ethan. “Solidarity Economics. Strategies for Building New Economies from the

Bottom-Up and the Inside-Out,” 2005, from: www.geo.coop.

15). Miller, Ethan. “Other Economies Are Possible! Organizing Toward an Economy of

Cooperation and Solidarity,” in: Dollars&Sense, July/August 2006, from:

www.dollarsandsense.org.

16). The U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (SEN) – homepage.

http://populareconomics.org/ussen/node/14.

17). Davidson, Carl. “‘One Worker, One vote:’ US Steelworkers To Experiment with Factory

Ownership, Mondragon Style,” in: Znet. The Spirit of Resistance Lives, November 03, 2009,

from: www.zcommunications.org.

18). Ibid.

19). O’Connell, Thomas Gerald. “Towards the Cooperative Commonwealth.: An Introductory

History of the Farmer-Labor Movement in Minnesota (1917-48),” (Thesis), Feb. 1979, from:

http://justcomm.org/fla-hist.htm.

__________

* Stephan Peter is a long-time member of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and of

the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). He is national Co-Chair of DSA International

Commission.

Minnesota DSA-ers Protest Arizona Immigration Law

2010-07-31T11:25:00.002-05:00

Thursday July 29th, members of our local Twin Cities DSA joined in a local protest in St. Paul against the Arizona Immigration Law. La Lucha Continua!

2010-06-09T09:30:00.000-05:00

SATURDAY, JUNE 12

6:30 pm Mayday Books FREE!

301 Cedar Ave. South on the West Bank in Minneapolis

Twin Cities DSA June Meeting-Monthly Meeting for brief business, discussion, and fellowship

2010-06-07T14:59:00.003-05:00

Twin Cities DSA June Meeting-Monthly Meeting for brief business, discussion, and fellowship.

Date: Sunday, June 27, 2010
Time: 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Location: Davanni's Pizza & Subs Riverside
Address: Riverside 2500 Riverside Ave, Minneapolis, MN

May Day Event @ The Black Dog Café

2010-04-16T11:58:00.001-05:00

Workers of the World Unite —

On May Day at the Black Dog!

Join us May 1st at 6:30 p.m. at the Black Dog Café for a spirited and

informative celebration of the 120th anniversary adoption of May Day

as the official holiday of the International Labor Movement. Stories,

poems, songs, video, art work, and presentations about the ongoing

struggle for economic and social justice featuring: Spoken word by

Anya Achtenberg, Ed Bok Lee, Kyle Chase, Diane Jarvi, and

Rich Broderick. Music by The Fantastic Merlins and Diane Jarvi.

Presentations by Dr. Stephan Peter, faculty member in political sci-

ence at Anoka-Ramsey Community College and long-time May Day

participant, and Members of the Minnesota chapter of the

I.W.W. on the attempted suppression of the Wobblies in the early

20th century and the movement’s current progress. Plus continuous

video feeds of May Day celebrations in Paris, Berlin and elsewhere.

The Red & The Black, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., the Black Dog Café,

308 Prince St., (across from the St. Paul Farmer’s Market), St.

Paul. Free Admission. On-street parking available, and off-

street parking behind the café, $1 for the evening.

Call 651.228.9274 for further information.

Lance's Thoughts on Health Care for All - from the View Point of Values and Practicality: A Religious Socialist's View

2010-03-13T11:55:00.000-06:00

I believe that health care is a human right, and that as a society we should provide health care for all, regardless of ability to pay. Health care should be totally de-commodified. I believe this fundamentally because of my Orthodox Christian values, based on the life of Jesus, the teaching of the Bible, and of the Holy Fathers.

But I also believe that it is much more practical and efficient economically to have a single payer system. For those who still cling to Capitalism, which in my view, is now a body riddled with cancer, you should embrace universal health care coverage administered by the government. It will relieve the burden on business and from your capitalistic view point, let the capitalistic tiger out of the cage.

A fair and equitable plan for health care or at least health insurance, would be to have a single payer. At very least health insurance should not be a for profit enterprise with shareholders. Switzerland provides universal coverage with private insurers who are non-profit. But single payer is best, in my view. Eliminate the middle man, have one system with low overhead that is efficient.

Right wingers often traffic in anectdotes of individual horror stories of other health care systems (usually Canada or England); but the empirical evidence is that most other industrial countries do a much better job over all in delivering health care, and certainly in providing health insurance, than we do. And we have some pretty damn gruesome horror stories here in America, too.

Though no system is perfect, many other societies have better health care, lower costs, spend a much lower percentage of their GDP on health carer than we do and they cover everyone. Plus we are getting our asses kicked economically because our companies have the burden of health insurance that companies in other advanced countries do not have. Health care costs are going up all over the world, and every system is challenged- but we are doing nothing.

There are other problems with health care besides insurance- reimbursement rates, costs of medicines, tort reform, administrative processes and costs, healthy life styles, all have to be addressed. But it is the nature of the health insurance industry that is ruining people financially, making people file bankruptcy, and killing people, about 40,000 per year.

Although I believe it makes practical economic sense to provide universal health with a single payer, it is my values that most strongly influence my views.

Health care is a human right- that is not only a universal humanistic value but it reflects the praxis of Holy Orthodox Christian empires of the past, and is the teaching of the Catholic Church as well.

As Patriarch Bartholomew stated recently, the Byzantines invented hospitals and their mission was to provide health care for all. Holy Orthodox Kings and Queens subsidized social services in the Byzantine Empire and in Holy Rus' in part with tax derived money.

Perhaps come Christians should ask themselves if their values are influence by the gospel or Ayn Rand.

"When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and HEALED ALL THE SICK." - Matthew 8:16 NIV.

Jesus did not ask to see anyone's insurance card.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“It is clear that we owe the Byzantines the development of the modern institutions we call hospitals...But what may be more important, we owe to them the view that every member of society from the greatest to the least deserve the best quality health care at that time. This is obviously relevant today, and as the United States debates the best way to provide health care for its citizens we hope and pray that the Byzantine Orthodox approach provides a model…”

- Patriarch Bartholomew I, November 3, 2009 at Georgetown University

February Twin Cities Democratic Socialists Meeting Sunday, February 28th, 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM

2010-02-21T09:11:00.000-06:00

WHERE: Davanni's Pizza & Hoagies, Riverside, at 2500 Riverside Ave, Minneapolis, MN, in the upstairs meeting room.

WHEN: 7:30 Pm - 9:00 PM, February 28th, 2010
PHONE: 612-332-5551

For more information call Dan Frankot at 651-224-8262 or send an email to: tcdemsoc@gmail.com

Besides having our usual business meeting, we will discuss chapter six of Michael Harrington's book, the Twilight of Capitalism.

October 18th, 2009 Twin Cities DSA Meeting

2009-08-31T10:35:00.005-05:00

WHERE: Davanni's Pizza & Hoagies, Riverside, at 2500 Riverside Ave, Minneapolis, MN, in the upstairs meeting room.

WHEN: 7:30 Pm - 9:00 PM

PHONE: 612-332-5551

For more information call DAN FRANKOT at 612-224-8262 or send an email to:tcdemsoc@gmail.com

Besides having our usual business meeting, we will discuss the national DSA Meeting in Chicago in October, and we will be discussing the most pressing issues of the day, including Health Care Reform.

Health Care Status updates for HR 3200

2009-07-30T18:10:00.002-05:00

Organizing for America Health Care Event

2009-07-22T08:43:00.004-05:00

Large BBQ for Health Care Reform! (Meeting)

Come join other health care reform supporters and Keynote Speaker Mayor RT Rybak for a large BBQ! We will be serving food, writing letters to our Members of Congress, having our blood pressure checked and continuing to bring visibility to the need for reform.

Bring your friends, family (kids please!) and neighbors. This will be an event not to be missed!

UPDATES: HERE ARE SOME ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EVENT

How much does it cost?
The event is free and open to everyone who wants to show their support for health care reform!

Should I bring something?
Sure! We have ordered lots of food, but as I’m sure you’ve seen, LOTS of people have signed-up online. Please feel free to bring something to share with the group.

What if it rains?
The Wabun Picnic area has a large overhang, so we will be having the event rain or shine!

Time: Wednesday, July 22 from 6-8pm

Host: Jenn Brown

Contact phone: 651-251-6318

Location: Minnehaha Park - Wabun Picnic Area D (Minneapolis, MN)

Godfrey Parkway & 46th St E

Minneapolis, MN 55406

Directions: The Wabun Picnic Area is in Minnehaha Park, but is located off 46th Ave S. If you arrive via Godfrey or E 46th St, go South on 46th Ave S. There are hundreds of parking spaces located by the picnic area, off 46th Ave S. We will also have lots of signs with directions. Please note: The Wabun Picnic Area is NOT by Sea Salt, but instead by the Veteran's Home. Kids? There is a pool area and playground right by the Picnic Area.

Associated Groups: Face to Face for Change-Twin Cities, Faith-Action-Change Minnesota, Generation Obama Minnesota, Minnesota for Obama 2008, University of Minnesota for Barack Obama

July Meeting

2009-06-25T15:14:00.007-05:00

Twin Cities DSA invites you to attend July's monthly meeting where the guest speaker will be Charlotte Lipa from the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition. July's meeting will be Sunday, July 12, 7:30-9pm. We look forward to a lively discussion on the state of Minnesota's universal health care initiatives. Please join us!

Health Care for All Americans- Sign the Petition

2009-06-19T10:59:00.003-05:00

Our current private health insurance system is the most costly, wasteful, complicated and bureaucratic in the world. Today, 46 million people have no health insurance. Even more are underinsured with high deductibles and co-payments. Close to 20,000 Americans die each year because they don't have regular access to a doctor.

The time is now for our nation to address the most profound moral and economic issue we face. The time is now for our country to join the rest of the industrialized world and provide cost-effective, comprehensive quality health care to every man, woman and child in our country. The time is now to take on the powerful special interests in the insurance and pharmaceutical industries and pass a single-payer national health care program.

Send a message to Congress, sign the petition.

Video presentation by Bernie Sander on Single Payor Health Care

Follow the health care debate in the Senate, sign up for the Bernie Buzz newsletter here.

The Petition:

Whereas:

• 46 million Americans are currently without health insurance;
• 60 million Americans, both insured and uninsured, have inadequate access to primary care due to a shortage of physicians and other health service providers in their community;
• 100 million Americans have no insurance to cover dental needs;
• 116 million adults, nearly two-thirds of all non-seniors, struggled to pay medical bills, went without needed care because of cost, were uninsured for a time, or were underinsured in the last year;
• The United States spends $2.3 trillion each year on health care, 16 percent of its Gross Domestic Product;
• Americans spend $7,129 per person on health care, 50 percent more than other industrialized countries, including those with universal care;
• The U.S. does not get what it pays for. We rank among the lowest in the health outcome rankings of developed countries, and on several major indices rank below some third-world nations;
• The number of health insurance industry bureaucrats has grown at 25 times the growth of physicians in the past 30 years;
• In 2006, the six largest insurance companies made $11 billion in profits even after paying for direct health care costs, administrative costs and marketing costs.

And, whereas:

• Medicare has administrative costs far lower than any private health insurance plan;
• The potential savings on health insurance paperwork, more than $350 billion per year, is enough to provide comprehensive coverage to every uninsured American;
• Only a single-payer Medicare-for-all plan can realize these enormous savings and provide comprehensive and affordable health care to every citizen.

Now, therefore:

• We, the undersigned, urge the United States Congress to pass a single-payer Medicare-for-all program which will provide quality, comprehensive health care for all Americans.

2009-03-12T14:56:00.002-05:00

Minnesota DSA members and supporters issue a call to action

Proposal for Solidarity with people of Europe and the Put People First March for Jobs, Justice and Climate for March 28, 2009.

Whereas the working people who did not create the current recession and are paying a high price through lost jobs and housing foreclosures, the Democratic Socialists of America calls on world leaders attending the G20 Summit in April 2009 to take decisive action to tackle the global recession and ensure that the world emerges a fairer and more sustainable place for working people an their families.

In solidarity with the Put People First March in Europe on March 28, 2009, the Minnesota Democratic Socialists of America calls on the National DSA to take immediate action and engage with union, faith and green groups to put on a USA Put People First March for Jobs, Justice and Climate for March 28, 2009.

We call on the national DSA to send a letter of support to the British Trades Union Congress for their efforts in organizing the Put People First March for Jobs, Justice and Climate.

Organizations backing the march include the TUC, Oxfam, Friends of the Earth, Action Aid, Stop Climate Chaos, Save the Children, WWF, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Salvation Army, Tearfund, War on Want, World Vision, Methodist Relief and Development Fund, Trade Justice Movement, Muslim Council of Britain and Jubilee Debt Campaign.

Free market fundamentalism has given mega-bonuses to the super-rich and destroyed jobs and communities for ordinary people. We DEMAND action for a better world based on justice for all and sustainable jobs and a clean climate.

Minnesota DSA members and supporters

Dear Friends of Twin Cities DSA- Please contact us!

2008-11-11T12:57:00.004-06:00

Dear Friends of Minnesota DSA:

We have a special request to make of you- we would like to request that you contact us via our e-mail and share your name, address & e-mail with us if you would like to be on our e-mail list for news from Twin Cities DSA.

We do not have very many e-mails, and we do not have names and addresses to go with some of the ones we have.

We do not share or sell our lists, our e-mail list is for our local Twin Cities DSA community, and for our friends elsewhere in the country who desire to keep abreast of our activities.

Please e-mail to us your contact information at: tcdemsoc@gmail.com

We hope those of you who live in the Twin Cities area can join us this Sunday, November 16th 2008 for our next meeting. See the notice below.

Best Regards,

Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America Steering Committee.

Canadian Activist Marianne Cerilli to Speak in Twin Cities August 28th

2008-08-03T17:11:00.004-05:00

The DSA International Commission and Twin Cities DSA are sponsoring a special speaker event as part of the upcoming Republican National Convention protests in St. Paul. Canadian activist Marianne Cerilli will be in the Twin Cities Thursday, August 28, 2008, to help give voice to a political agenda quite different from the RNC's.

Her topic: A Canadian perspective on U.S. politics - a review of the Bush years and a progressive wish list for the next U.S. president. Marianne Cerilli is a community activist, feminist, environmentalist, writer, and has been chair of the New Democratic Party (NDP) caucus in the Manitoba legislature. Come join us for an informal international talking circle with Marianne. The event is free and refreshments will be served.

Date: Thursday, August 28, 2008

Location:
Riverview Tower,
1920 S 1st Street in Minneapolis

Time: 6:30pm

For driving and parking instructions, contact Janette Lever at 612-341-4501

BRIAN MERCHANT TO SPEAK AT NEXT DSA MEETING ON PEAK OIL

2008-03-22T16:59:00.007-05:00

This Sunday, March 30th, Twin Cities DSA will be proud to welcome Brian Merchant to speak on the topic of peak oil. Our meeting will be at 7:00 PM, Sunday March 30th, at Davanni's Pizza & Hoagies.

When: Sunday, March 30th, 2008, at 7:00 pm

Where: Davanni's Pizza & Hoagies, Riverside, at 2500 Riverside Ave, Minneapolis, MN, in the upstairs meeting room.

Brian's Background
Brian Merchant attended the First U.S. Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions in 2004. Since then, he has made presentations on peak oil and energy transition for Living Green Expo, the Minnesota Green Party Membership Conference, First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, the Critical Thinking Club of St. Paul, the Environmental Sustainability program of the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs, and the Northland Bioneers Conference. Brian's article, "Have We Hit Peak Oil Yet?," appears in the 2008 issue of Do It Green magazine.

Brian served as a group facilitator for "Overcoming barriers to action and taking the next step," a portion of the June 6th conference, "Preparing Your Community for Climate and Energy Change: Opportunities for Local Sustainability" sponsored by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. He was a panelist for "Minnesotans respond to a growing energy crisis" at the May 2007 "Green by Design" conference sponsored by Minnesota Green Communities. And Brian is a member of the Twin Cities Energy Transition Working Group which developed the Twin Cities Peak Oil Resource Guide posted at Neighborhood Energy Connection.

Brian arranged for two public appearances in the Twin Cities by Richard Heinberg, author of The Party's Over and Powerdown, in June, 2005.

Brian has a B.A. degree in Psychology and an M.A. degree in Human Development.

Fighting for Health Care for all: Health Care Action

2008-01-29T10:11:00.000-06:00

We invite Twin Cities progressives to take part in an important event in order to fight for health care for everyone! Check the link below for details.

Take Action Minnesota
Health Care Action
Tuesday, February 12 at 11:30 AM
State Capitol Rotunda

Coalition organizing protests at Republican Convention in St. Paul:
www.protestrnc2008.org

MN United Steelworkers (USW)

2008-01-14T15:59:00.000-06:00

Twin Cities DSA supports the MN United Steelworkers (USW) campaign 'Moving the Midwest towards Energy Independence'. The campaign aims at expanding renewable energy development and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

Less reliance on foreign oil will reduce the chance of going to war over limited resources. More renewable energy and alternative fuel sources in Minnesota will create quality jobs for MN workers and family farmers. Other benefits include less pollution and global warming as well as greater price stability and energy reliability for MN consumers.

Building links between the labor and environmental movement is a step towards ecological socialism. Check out these links at:

www.blugreenalliance.com and www. apolloalliance.org

Recent Events

2008-01-14T15:31:00.000-06:00

November 2007:

Guest speaker, Kip Sullivan, author of one of the finest researched books on the American health care system entitled The Health Care Mess: How we got into it and how we'll get out of it. He works at COACT (Citizen Organizations Acting Together). He has worked closely with HCCM (Health Care Campaign of Minnesota), and more recently the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition.

September 2007:

During the week of September 17, 2007, four executive committee members of the Luxembourg local of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) visited the Twin Cities. The tour was sponsored by the Washington Office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The members were Koba Krause, Renata Fackler, Nikolaus Bahn and Bianca Bethke. There were several events scheduled around town, with the main theme of discussion being health care, renewable energy, Iraq War and European unification. The first major event was at the home of former Mpls. mayor and long-time Congressman Don Fraser and his wife Arvonne. 30 people from the DFL Education Foundation and Twin Cities DSA were present. The second day, MN Rep. Steve Simon (DFL) gave the visitors a two hour tour of the state Capitol building in St Paul, much more extensive than a regular tour. For lunch, there was a discussion with at the University of Minnesota Center for German and European Studies, led by director Sabine Engel. Representatives from the political science department, history, European studies, and others were in attendance-among them Minnesota's most famous historian, Prof. Hy Berman. Sabine Engel then treated the visitors to a tour of the University of Minnesota campus. There was also a brief talk with the dean of the Humphrey Institute, Brian Atwood. Wednesday, there was a roundtable discussion with ten or so labor union leaders at the AFL-CIO headquarters in St Paul, led by the editor of Workday Minnesota, Barb Kucera. The Luxembourg delegation then had conversations with staffers of a feminist bookstore in Minneapolis and also the "Wedge", the Twin Cities largest food co-op. A political report followed up their visit in October.

April 2007

Special guest, Saul Escobar Toledo, from Mexico's PRD party visits from Mexico City. Events in Mpls-St Paul included student student activities scheduled at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, DSA dinner in Minneapolis, and events in Chicago, IL.

Book of Condolence for Anna Lindh, Swedish Foreign Minister

2003-09-27T16:38:00.000-05:00

We received this message from the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis:
This day has been one of great sorrow as we awoke to the news of the tragic and senseless death of Anna Lindh, Sweden's Foreign Minister. People throughout Sweden and those with whom she came into contact had the deepest respect for her intellect, her passion and her compassion. She was dedicated to the cause of human rights, and to making the world a place where all peoples can have the opportunity for a meaningful life in democratic societies without fear of violence. She will be deeply missed, and all people should be keeping the members of her family, her colleagues, and the people of Sweden in their thoughts and prayers.

Secretary of State Colin Powell stated today that "Anna Lindh will be remembered for her outstanding contributions to international diplomacy and transatlantic relations. She had a special energy, integrity and compassion and she spent a great deal of her time focusing her efforts on global humanitarian issues. Anna was a cherished colleague and friend, and I will miss her."

There will be a Book of Condolence available for people to sign and express their sorrow about the death of Anna Lindh. This Book of Condolence will be placed at the American Swedish Institute, 2600 Park Avenue, Minneapolis. All are invited to come to sign this Book of Condolence during the open hours of the American Swedish Institute through Wednesday, September 17th. This Book of Condolence will be sent to the Embassy of Sweden in Washington DC.

If you cannot make it to the American Swedish Institute by Wednesday, inquire at the office there, as they expect to have the book on hand for a few days afterward; it just won't be on display. The Institute is open from 12 noon to 4 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It is open on Wednesdays from 12 noon to 8 PM, and on Sundays from 1 to 5 pm.
For more information, call the American Swedish Institute at 612-871-4907.
Archived 2003-09-27