Fighting Imperialism With Workers World Party

On today's episode Heather interviews Cody Lamie from Workers World Party in Philadelphia. They discuss imperialism, colonialism, communism, mass organization, an upcoming event WWP is organizing on Philadelphia. We had a few technical glitches which was clearly the CIA meddling, but it was a good conversation otherwise. Check them out, even if you aren't someone who identifies as a communist. We all have so much more in common than we think.

On today’s episode Heather interviews Cody Lamie from Workers World Party in Philadelphia. They discuss imperialism, colonialism, communism, mass organization, an upcoming event WWP is organizing on Philadelphia. We had a few technical glitches which was clearly the CIA meddling, but it was a good conversation otherwise. Check them out, even if you aren’t someone who identifies as a communist. We all have so much more in common than we think.

Workers World Party

Heather and Cody finally get together to talk about anti-capitalism after a month of trying. Free time is a scarcity in socialist organizing circles. Workers World Party is a Marxist/Leninist party formed in 1959. The main focus of WWP is anti-imperialism. WWP doesn’t have anyone on the ballot in Philly this year, but they do in California. Their electoral goals are to push the political consciousness left. If you can control the narrative in debates, you can bring you issues to the table.  the 2 corporate pasties will never talk about imperialism or income inequality. Outside of anti-imperialism, WWP also seeks to form ties with the international left.

In Philadelphia

In  the 6 months following the Trump election, membership in Workers World Party Philadelphia doubled. No one predicted it. This infusion of fresh membership allowed them to grow into new local campaigns. They began a campaign against the opioid crisis in Philly. Members work with the homeless in Philly’s “tent cities”.  They participate in a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction campaign against the Philadelphia Orchestra. BDS is a campaign against Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians. BDS is an effective tool against apartheid regimes. Boycotts hit them in the pocketbook by making apartheid unprofitable. This effective tool was used in South Africa against their apartheid regime.  This is not about antisemitism, but basic human rights.

What is Imperialism?

People rarely talk about the evils of imperialism. Imperialism in its simplest form is monopoly capitalism. First world capitalism demands constant growth. It drains all local resources and them moves on to exploiting the global south. When profits fall in the local market industrial capitalists move into untapped markets. Where the capitalists see only markets, there are actually people. Those people have their resources stolen. The capitalists force them to work for 19 cents an hour for basic survival. When those people become disgruntled, the capitalists simply start an interventionist war to quell their worker uprising and install a puppet leader.

 

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