Illegal Arms Trade

Just as America’s streets are flooded with weaponry, so is the global market-place. From the American-bought hand-gun that killed a Mexican presidential candidate this year to the varied weapons of war equipment used by Iraqi forces during the Persian Gulf War, weapons of every variety are moving undetected across world borders.

Here in the United States, violence-weary Americans have begun standing up to the once all-powerful gun lobbies.  In Philadelphia PA there is a murder everyday.

America’s arms export policy point to three problems
1. Connected gun merchants are above the law. 2. Many foreign Nations
Aren’t subject to us regulations. 3. Secret Government are complicit  in international gun merchandising.
Even a single American-supplied weapon can change an entire contry’s history. Luis Donaldo Colosio, the 44-year-old heir-apparent to the Mexican presidency, was killed in March by two bullets fired from a .38-caliber Taurus. The gun was originally purchased in 1977 by a security firm executive in San Francisco and had crossed the Mexican border some time later without a  trace, say authorities from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF).

After the end of the Cold War, the Soviet Union collapsed. Tens of thousands of ex-Soviet soldiers were put out of work. Much of Eastern Europe was the same. In Africa, the lack of superpower support meant that the traditional militaries collapsed. And societies were beginning to fragment into numerous rebel groups ( National Liberation Front, Democratic Liberation, ETC)  and there was a great demand for military arms. Many of the former Soviet citizens  became arms dealers. The situation  went from a situation traditionally emphasized heavy arms to one which emphasized small arms — what the soldier could carry. These would have been AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, mortars, that sort of thing. They were cheap, they were durable, and they could be concealed and easily transported. And I think the fact [is] that the West kept track of the state-to-state arms transfers, but what made this a particularly difficult problem after the end of the Cold War was there was no tracking of small arms.
And it had a major impact on Africa — very devastating. I guess 7 to 8 million people had been killed by the turn of the century [2000]. There were millions of refugees and internally displaced [people]. Also, numerous people maimed or otherwise brutalized. Whole areas of Africa just ravaged. I think perhaps Sierra Leone, Liberia, and eastern Congo are the most terrifying examples.

The flow of arms into Africa is a worldwide phenomenon. Arms dealers use banks throughout the world. Transportation companies throughout the world, whether it be sea or airplane. Deals are made in one country for arms purchased in other countries. A lot of arms flowed out of the former Soviet republics. But there were also arms coming from European countries as well, and Asian countries. It was a bonanza. And it was unregulated.
The impact on Africa, if you could look at several different sectors of society. The Karamojong people living in eastern Africa, it’s a pastoral group, traditional warriors. Suddenly, they’re armed with AK-47s. It turned their society into chaos. In eastern Congo, where you had an invasion by the Ugandans and Rwandans and various rebel groups active in the area, it just devastated the entire portion of that country. I can remember speaking with some people who lived there. They said, “There’s nothing here. There’s no roads. There’s no police force. There’s no schools. There’s no medical services. There’s nothing. You’re on your own.” And that is the most egregious example. And then you have rising crime rates in places like Nairobi or Johannesburg, in part fueled by the easy availability of illegal arms.

Children and  millions around, not just Africa,  the world are being sensely murder and are victims of international weapons trade.

The Revolutionary United front (RUF) in Sierra Leone armed up to 23,000 child soldiers with illegally acquired arms. These children were mostly used to raid villages and guard diamond mines. They were drugged, raped and forced to commit such atrocities as killing their own parents  Many Children are dismember and hacked or shot to death.

The illegal arms trade makes the armed seizure of natural resources possible.

Small arms can be traded directly for natural resources such as oil, diamonds, and timber or for the profits generated by the sale of those natural resources.

This is like a cancer.

Social Anthropology

Social anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups and siuations. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive observation (Includin research and participation), the social organization of a particular person: customs, economic and political organization, law and conflict resolution, patterns of consumption and exchange, kinship and family structure, child rearing and socialization, religion,
Socialists must understand ; economic anthropology; environment ; development.
Ethnic and gender identity based politics; Intersectional of ethnicity/race, and class; Anthropology of human rights; Anthropology of human inequality; Ethnic inequalities and economic transformation in the planet mission to eliminate poverty. The development of civil society in the world. The impact on this process, climate change policies (focus on their impact on sustainable and livable  communities), Science and Technology Studies , sociology of organizations and institutional sociology, theories of power. anthropology of war, violence and conflict, nation-state, ethnicity, and economic anthropology.
Many Liberals and Socialist here in America are clueless to the culture and societies of others.
The problem is ignorance and inexperience. Many socialists feel that the world should adhere to American values and perpetuate socialism on those values. This is utter non sense.
People of different culture and societies have social morays and values of there own, which many American, even socialists do not understand..
In the beginning of Star Trek, Captain Kirk speaks about new cultures and civilizations.
When many Star Trek and its predecessor shows viewed the different values and natures of alien beings.
People criticized Benazare Bhuto when she had an arranged marriage. She explained, even as a Socialist, that this was her way and her religion.
If one where to go to Japan or Korea and start preaching the American gospel, they would tell you they have different values and culture.
People have their way of life, communication, environmental, and value system different from ours.
There are some who believe we should force people to see things our way. This didn’t work in Italy as I once was told by my cousin. A fellow socialist, this is Italy, not America, we do things differently here.
If American Socialist are going to be successful, we will have to follow the view of Gene Roddenberry. Also, Burt Wolf says, ” Travel melts away, ignorance, prejudice, and opens our minds.”
In dealing with people the mutual respect of being alien and foreign come to understanding. Democratic Socialism will free us all in different ways.
With universal understanding, tolerances, and acceptance of similarities and differences. We are all human beings and have many of the same needs. respect is a major ingredient. And diplomacy must be learned.

Democracy

“I am a Socialist because I am for humanity” Eugene V Debs

“I am a Socialist because I believe that Socialism and Democracy are the only Political Ideologies that allow people to be completely Human.” Tino Rozzo

Compiled from Various sources:

Democracy is a poliI am a Socialist because I believe that Socialism and Democracy are the only Political Ideologies that allow people to be completely Human.” Tino Rozzo

Compiled from Various sources:

Democracy is a political form of government where governing power is derived from the people, either by direct referendum (direct democracy) or by means of elected representatives of the people (representative

Democracy has taken a number of forms, both in theory and practice. The following kinds are not exclusive of one another: many specify details of aspects that are independent of one

Representative:

Representative democracy involves the selection of government officials by the people being represented. If the head of state is also democratically elected then it is called a democratic republic. The most common mechanisms involve election of the candidate with a majority or a plurality of the votes.

Representatives may be elected or become diplomatic representatives by a particular district (or constituency), or represent the entire electorate proportionally proportional systems, with some using a combination of the two. Some representative democracies also incorporate elements of direct democracy, such as referendums. A characteristic of representative democracy is that while the representatives are elected by the people to act in their interest, they retain the freedom to exercise their own judgment as how best to do so.

Parliamentary:

Parliamentary democracy is a representative democracy where government is appointed by parliamentary representatives as opposed to a ‘presidential rule’ wherein the President is both head of state and the head of government and is elected by the voters. Under a parliamentary democracy, government is exercised by delegation to an executive ministry and subject to ongoing review, checks and balances by the legislative parliament elected by the people.

Liberal:

A Liberal democracy is a representative democracy in which the ability of the elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law, and usually moderated by a constitution that emphasizes the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals, and which places constraints on the leaders and on the extent to which the will of the majority can be exercised against the rights of minorities (see civil liberties).

Direct:

Direct democracy is a political system where the citizens participate in the decision-making personally, contrary to relying on intermediaries or representatives. The supporters of direct democracy argue that democracy is more than merely a procedural issue. A direct democracy gives the voting population the power to:

Change constitutional laws, Put forth initiatives, referenda and suggestions for laws,

Give binding orders to elective officials, such as revoking them before the end of their elected term, or initiating a lawsuit for breaking a campaign promise.

Of the three measures mentioned, most operate in developed democracies today. This is part of a gradual shift towards direct democracies. Examples of this include the extensive use of referenda in California with more than 20 million voters, and (i.e., voting).[57] in Switzerland, where five million voters decide on national referenda and initiatives two to four times a year; direct democratic instruments are also well established at the cantonal and communal level. Vermont towns have been known for their yearly town meetings, held every March to decide on local issues. No direct democracy is in existence outside the framework of a different overarching form of government. Most direct democracies to date have been weak forms, relatively small communities, usually city-states. The world is yet to see a large, fundamental, working example of direct democracy as of yet, with most examples being small and weak forms.

See: List of direct democracy parties

Participatory

A Parpolity or Participatory Polity is a theoretical form of democracy that is ruled by a Nested Council structure. The guiding philosophy is that people should have decision making power in proportion to how much they are affected by the decision. Local councils of 25-50 people are completely autonomous on issues that affect only them, and these councils send delegates to higher level councils who are again autonomous regarding issues that affect only the population affected by that council.

A council court of randomly chosen citizens serves as a check on the tyranny of the majority, and rules on which body gets to vote on which issue. Delegates can vote differently than their sending council might wish, but are mandated to communicate the wishes of their sending council. Delegates are recallable at any time. Referenda are possible at any time via votes of the majority of lower level councils, however, not everything is a referendum as this is most likely a waste of time. A parpolity is meant to work in tandem with a participatory economy

Socialist Democracy:

Contemporary social democracy:

A red rose is often used as a symbol of social democracy, mostly adopted in the period after World War II. The American Labor Party uses the rose, carnation, and cardinal.

The contemporary social democratic movement came into being through a break within the socialist movement in the early years of the twentieth century. Speaking broadly, this break can be described as a parting of ways between those who insisted upon political revolution as a precondition for the achievement of socialist goals and those who maintained that a gradual or evolutionary path to socialism was both possible and desirable. Many held a view of quite different objections to Marxism.

　

Social democracy should neither expect nor desire the imminent collapse of the existing economic system What social democracy should be doing, and doing for a long time to come, is organize the working class politically, train it for democracy, and fight for any and all reforms in the state which are designed to raise the working class and make the state more democratic.” Eduard Bernstein[15

Social Democracy Economic Planning, Mixed Economy, Participatory planning Market economics, Market-oriented Mixed economy Regulated markets: Social Market, Mixed-Market, Welfare State State ownership or cooperative ownership of the means of production and heavy industry State ownership or cooperative ownership of the means of production Private ownership of the means of production with minimal public ownership of some industry State or public owns resources and major economic institutions, uses the surplus labor to fund government programs, state-directed investment State, public or worker cooperatives own resources and enterprises, uses them to fund government programs, sometimes with state-directed investment State mainly funded through progressive taxation, government regulates private business and provides welfare Socialist economics, Economic planning.

The main feature, All people have the right to freedom and liberty. They have divergent points if view free opinion and expression.

This also means free and unhindered elections, with all candidates represented from various political parties with free and open access to the ballot for freedom of choice. access

　

Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations, to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation. The term is sometimes used synonymously with 'social democracy', but many self-identified democratic socialists oppose contemporary social democracy because it is based on the capitalist mode of production.

　

Democratic socialism is difficult to define, and groups of scholars have radically different definitions for the term. Some definitions simply refer to all forms of socialism that follow an electoral, reformist or evolutionary path to socialism, rather than a revolutionary one.] Often, this definition is invoked to distinguish democratic socialism from communism, as in Donald Busky’s Democratic Socialism: A Global Survey], Jim Tomlinson’s Democratic Socialism and Economic Policy: The Attlee Years, 1945-1951, Norman Thomas Democratic Socialism: a new appraisal or Roy Hattersley’s Choose Freedom: The Future of Democratic Socialism.

In light, Capitalism must be eventually burned out, become the exception and not the norm. Nationalization and th end of Neo-liberal programs are the mission.

Dedicated to Don Busky-Red Pen. RIP.

(originally destroyed by newsvine)

Democratic Socialism

Democratic Socialism advocates for real change. Our agenda has two sides. One for social change, and one for political change. The issue of Social change must be implemented and there must be allowance for it. Here in The USA, along with many communities, even in a global sense, A majority of people public policy that would Further the combat against poverty and social inequality. Many times the preferences of ordinary citizens Are ignored for the sake in demands of powerful elements such as groups, powerful investors, corporations, Major investors and the affluent. Those people do not mind the high degree of inequality. The remedies of societies problems are possible. But frequently fought off with right wing mythology which states. we will create more bureaucracies, smaller government, and Utopianism. The chief purpose of government is to pursue policies that benefit all citizens. Even Republican Abraham Lincoln supported the notion of a “Government For The People”. These must include the fight against poverty and economic inequality. In fact these policies are efficient, effective, and freedom enhancing, rather than wasteful or freedom reducing. Social policy often meets Right Wing moral platitudes against those Who need assistance or are suffering and defines them as the undeserved and burden to society. I call for a Political system of Compassion and open mindedness, rather than one of disdain and ignorance. We need to address those who labor, as the are the most important segment of society, since work defines most peoples lives. No more should the worker, nor those who contribute to society have unjust laws against them and be made to suffer the consequences of oppression. Socialist Parties are about “Labor and The People. As many who know, New Zealand, Canada, and Scandinavia are Democratic Socialist States or have had them, they are not neutral. All socialists should are acquainted with being business-minded and union-minded. Opposing capitalism does not mean opposing business or trade; we are not advocates of returning the world to a regressive state, we are advocates of advancing the human condition. That requires knowing the terrain in which modern are fought on behalf of the worker and society for a truer Democracy. In Europe there are ten parties on the ballot-and voting is done on Saturday. It is also treated as a National Holiday. These Countries have a 98% voter turn out. Instead of the 40% we have here. The Mythology of stealing votes, and more parties are hurtful are the cries of the two party duopoly who wish to maintain power. We saw what a fiasco the two party system has been in the last Presidential election and throughout the years. In a real Democracy people have what is called FREEDOM OF CHOICE. In a Democratic society people have the right to exchange ideas and have free and open exchange ideologies, and make choices based upon them. Socialism wishes to transform society. The popular notions of economic development must pass. We have developed a materialistic society based on wasteful consumerism. That must change. We need to build a society that embraces a sustainable future. Many communities are recklessly being destroyed but rampant development. This Development has brought to many strip malls and not enough economic development which produce quality jobs. We need a sustainable future. One that balances our ecological needs with our financial needs. Our future must contain a greater degree of Cooperative Enterprise. We must develop and build Cooperatives so people can have quality jobs that also sustain our lives. Cooperatives are businesses own by Employees. They are run on a democratic basis and fulfill Economic and social needs. The advantages of Cooperatives are that they are Democratic, self sufficient, equal, give equity, Provide a living wage, and ecologically sound. There are many Cooperatives that can be developed. Worker owned Supermarkets, energy Companies, Phone Companies, Social Needs Coops, and more. Coops and Public enterpise should be developed in place of Welfare, because they can alleviate poverty, re-develop Communities, and sustain the natural environment. This would give people the ability to control there own work. Employees would have control of the means of production. It would also eliminate the mindless mind numbing jobs entrenched in Taylorism and Workfare Programs which pay slave wages. We need a welfare system that will give people freedom, and not manage poverty. We can change society so every person can live a happy fulfilling life. One of the best systems of Coop enterprise is the Mondragon system of Spain’s Basque region. We have coops in America that provide inexpensive food, and where the first in product labeling and consumer consciousness is providing quality products. We need a better system of work environment. American Socialists advocate

1. Six weeks paid vacation.

2. National Health Care.

3. Social Programs that work.

4. A Living Wage.

5. Free Continued College and University.

6. Ecological Development

7 Labor Rights

8 Meaningful Jobs

By cutting back on Government Waste and Corporate welfare programs we could literally afford all of this For our nation and share with developing nations. Transforming our attitudes away from the coldness of today’ thinking, we could develop a society Where we develop more compassionate, charitable mentality. Where the national wealth is shared and we put a end to the torture of poverty .

Democratic Socialism is about prepetuating a better society.

Workers Democarcy

Workplace democracy is the application of democracy in all its forms (including voting systems, debates, democratic structuring, due process, adversarial process, systems of appeal, and so on) to the workplace.
It usually involves or requires more use of lateral methods like arbitration when workplace disputes arise.
Workplace democracy theory closely follows political democracy, especially where businesses are large or politics is small:
movement, farm and retail co-operative movements,  Democratic Employee Stock Option Plans all made contributions to the theory and practice of workplace democracy and often carried that into the political arena as a “more participatory democracy.” The Socialist International Social Democrat, Socialist and Labor Parties should adopted this as one of their Main focuses. Workplace democracy norms such as  co-leadership, deliberative democracy applied to any major decision, and leaders who don’t do policy. The Democratic Socialist Parties have always supported the notion of work place democracy and democratically controlled institutions.
In Sweden, the Social Democratic Party made laws and reforms 1950-70 to achieve more democratic workplaces. The unions right to balance the management and have some influential power was rather radical at that time, but still within the capitalistic society. ( which should be burned out)
Politically, Salvador Allende inspired a large number of such experiments in Chile before his death on September 11, 1973. The book Brain of the Firm by Stafford Beer details experiments in workplace feedback that exploited systems theory extensively.
Venezuela has instituted worker-run “co-management” initiatives in which workers’ councils are the cornerstone of the management of a plant or factory. In experimental co-managed enterprises, such as the state-owned Alcasa factory, workers develop budgets and elect both managers and departmental delegates who work together with strategists on technical issues related to production.

Individual career development

Employee development, job enrichment, job rotation and entrance training can be arranged by the work team itself to suit its own schedule. Job sharing is also possible and desirable if a worker wants time off and another is in a position to do overtime, without the concern that this will set a precedent for management abuses or job losses.
Training should not be for insiders or the well connected but should benefit the community.
Succession planning is everyone’s problem: senior management will be replaced by whoever is elected to replace them.
There shall be no discrimination or class. All people will have the opportunity to have positions, entry positions, education, and leadership training.  with out coming  from and important family or special connections.
Organizational structure and management

Office politics in such an environment can be difficult: people might devote a lot of time to keeping their colleagues satisfied and supporting them socially and politically, and there is less surety of success.
Success is much better through a co-operative system. Performance appraisals in particular are very sensitive, as it’s conducted by peers. Meetings and meeting systems must generally be very efficient, and require strong models of chairmanship and sophisticated models of how to handle consent and dissent.  Open-space meetings and other methods to define their agendas have been used by some organizations, notably political party and management consultant organizations. One example is the Living Agenda pioneered by Canadian political parties.
There must be assurances that fellow workers will not abuse and protection instilled by quality control and Union Committees.
Organizational culture should however be generally more accepting of organizational learning and peer review of performance.
Performance improvement, self-assessment and coping with one’s own
Ability to adapt and mature. However, this is not to say those skills always apply in management: Peter principle applies if anything faster: people who are perceived as effective are elected to run things, which they promptly fail at. However, there is much more acceptance of returning to the shop as a worker if someone fails at management, which is much more difficult in organizations where there is a culture gap between managers and workers.
This can be improved by education for competence and ability in a education system that doesn’t fail to provide the education needed.
Also grievance and resolution can be applied. The better planned organization, the better the chances of success. There should be an avoidance of nepotism and the buddy system.
It may be easier in environments where consensus or consensus-seeking decision-making is already practiced for the most important decisions: who leads. Consensus democracy methods already exist to make very large scale decisions in social organizations.
As well as factories producing everything from textiles, ceramics, glass and rubber to food and refrigerators, the network also includes transportation companies, educational facilities and even hospitals. Most of them are headed up by men, but in some cases, the horizontal organizational structure has helped women move into leading roles.

One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by the world’s governments in 2000 is to promote gender equality and empower women. But in this case, the progress achieved by women is not a result of a government policy. On the contrary, it was the women themselves who took control of the abandoned factories and other businesses and got them back on their feet.

Grissinópoli is a member of the National Movement of Factories Recovered by Workers, a collective of roughly 80 companies formed in the late 1990s to group together bankrupted businesses that had been abandoned by their owners, but not by their employees.  These factories are now boss free and co-operative.

Everyone who sells their body for labor for a living are members of the working class. This includes most segments of society, workers who are self-employed as well as wage earners in the employment field. We are different in multitudes of ways but one thing we have in solidarity is that we are all members of the working class, we all depend on our work and that of our families. The real enemies of the working class are the capitalists – a small society that  gets their income mainly from stocks, bonds, inheritances, and real estate. They  control the political parties and the government with their wealth. These people make their money from birth right, not from work. The more profit they make, the more damage they do. The working class also does not include small employers and managers (petty despots) who control workers.  Workers are 90% of the population.  Although not all elements of Capitalism are bad, Capitalism should be the exception, no the norm.

My Socialist Youth

RESTORED FROM NEWSVINE

Tino Rozzo

As a youngster, I guess one being aware of there class would have Socialist inclinations.

I was raised in the industrial town of Paterson NJ.

My family worked in factories and where low wage earners. My father constantly touted Socialism. I wondered what it was. I went to the now defunct Library on Madison and 6^Th Ave and pulled out a book on the three isms.

Capitalism, Socialism, and Fascism. I was sold. I new where I stood. I was a Socialist.

That is where I found my favorite Marxist book, “Das Kapital”

It must have caught on earlier because my father factory was a Union shop. We went on Union picnics and most of my hero’s where Union people. Back in the late 1960’s Unions where very relevant.

I used to go to my mothers factory. There where other factories around. I used to watch the workers come out and they all looked dismal and tired. I remember one man who seemed exhausted and dirty. He wore grey cover alls. No one in the factories seemed happy to be there.

We also had outside class warfare. Paterson was considered low and the kids from the wealthier towns used to come and do something racist called “Whack a n****r day”

Our gang put a stop to that.

Many times the wealthier kids would find kids from Paterson and beat them up. Of course we would retaliate.

One thing that was constantly stressed when you where with wealthy kids. The future was for them, your just going to work. They where the future we where not.

People who worked for a living where paid low, but in the early 70’s the pay check went much further. Capitalism attacked in the early 70 with the fake gas crisis. Forcing oil to go up.

Gerry Ford was President. Suddenly there where shortages everywhere. Sugar, Milk, Wheat, peanuts, you name, Inflation was the economic condition. Ford had distributed WIN buttons, (Whip Inflation Now). As President he was a big joke. That is when it really sunk in. Capitalism was evil and had to go. Bu there was no revolution.

I watched Doctors rip apart patients in the name of profits. People went into poverty.

We needed National Healthcare. Still do.

The Vietnam War took many innocent lives, People came home in rather horrible health.

The Vietnam War was a miserable, illegal, and immoral war that destroyed a lot of lives.

Some friends and I played a little joke one day. It was winter and we whore those Russian style hats with ear muffs. My friend,, Communist, brought Red Stars to school one day and we stuck them on our hats. The teacher yelled at us. “Take those stars off, don’t you know that is the symbol of our enemy. Once in a while we would salute the flag with the Nazi salute.”

The Socialist Workers and Socialist Labor Party was active. I used to Read “The People.”

We frequently saw Socialist posters on the walls of the factories.

Ah our rebellious youth! Me and my Communist friend would go to the rail road bridges. We found paint and would graffiti Socialist slogans. My favorite one was ‘ The only Solution is Socialist Revolution.”

Socialist propaganda was painted all along side of those bridges .

(For those who live in Passaic County, they are the three bridges on Wabash Ave not far from Lafayette.)

I didn’t find the Socialist Party USA till my early twenties. It was the 1980’s and Reagan was about to destroy America.

I was actively involved with the Socialist people there. (That is when I discovered a lot of insincerity, ersatz intellectuals, and dilettantes) Michael Harrington was king of that circuit.

Getting a job at a electronics plant fueled my Socialism. My boss put up anti socialist propaganda about how we are more productive than the Soviet Union.

I told him maybe the USSR wasn’t as shallow and materialistic as we where.

I seen to many people come and go, and they are all the same.

I used to go to the Revolutionary Bookstore, when it was on 10^th street in NYC.

The people there, well, had personalities. there I discovered Debs and Thomas.

Back to my misspent socialist youth.

I spent a good deal of my high school years involved in Leftist Politics. Going to protests.

Preaching the Socialist gospel. I never imagined when I grew up I would actually run for office. At 18 I voted in my first Presidential election . And I voted for David McReynolds and Sister Diane Drufenbrock.

Back to High School. I wrote a paper on Marxism and Socialism in which I received an A. I wish I still had that paper.

Some teacher got upset with me because they where died in the wool Capitalists. The system works! If one of NJ over paid teachers.

The Cold War was on. The message was “America is a free country, one can be anything they want’ In Russia they tell you what you are going top be.” I found when I graduated High School, that was anything but true. I was met with much Anti-Italian racism and discrimination.

Through out High School I was frequently turned down for jobs because I wasn’t the right religion or ethnic. This even went into my adulthood.

There was also fear of nuclear wars. Russia wanted to bomb us everyday. They even made movies out of nuclear fear, like “Zero Hour”. Twilight Zone and “Outer Limits” frequently had shows depicting nuclear annihilation.

I regret not finding the Sp earlier. It would be nice to have been a YPSL member. My loss.

Here I am now, still Socialist after all these years.