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.

Socialist International-A View

The Second International, which was formed in 1889 and dissolved on the eve of World War I in 1914 and the Labour and Socialist International which dissolved itself in 1940 with the rise of Nazism and the start of World War II, constituted some of the same parties that would later form the Socialist International.
While the Second International was split by the outbreak of World War a skeleton form survived through the International Socialist Commission. The International re-formed in 1923 (as the Labor and Socialist International), and was reconstituted again, in its present form, after World War II (during which many social democratic and socialist parties had been suppressed in Nazi-occupied Europe).
During the post-World War II period, the SI aided social democratic parties in re-establishing themselves when dictatorship gave way to democracy in Portugal (1974) and Spain (1975). Until its 1976 Geneva Congress, the Socialist International had few members outside Europe and no formal involvement with Latin America. In the 1980s, most SI parties gave their backing to the Nicaraguan Sandinistas (FSLN), whose left-wing government had incited enmity from the United States.
Since then, the SI has admitted as member-parties not only the FSLN but also the centre-left Puerto Rican Independence Party, as well as the ex-Communist parties such as the Italian Democrats of the Left (Democratici di Sinistra (DS)) and the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO).
The Party of European Socialists, a European political party active in the European Parliament, is an associated organization of the Socialist International.

The SI itself is still a top shelf organization of the global left. They officially support the various anti-capitalist movements around the world. The SI calls for the international abolition of the death penalty. The SI favors every country adopting some kind of Ecological policies. They also favor canceling debts in many of the 3rd world nations. It is importantly to remember that the SI opposed the US led action of war on Iraq . Virtually every SI member party opposed the war.

The SI took a stand against apartheid In South Africa supporting Mandella. Being a champion in international human rights. In Jamaica Prime Minster Stanley took a stand against US pressure. The US gave the (socialist) People’s National Party government a hard time for Jamaica trying to get rid of poverty and having the nerve to embrace Cuba. In a Conservative government, the Jamaican begin toting M16 military riffles.

The Socialist Party of Allenede came back to power several years ago which is a adamant rejection of Augusto Pinochet’s fascist reign of terror and human rights abuses which lasted from 1973 until 1990. After the CIA backed overthrow of democratically elected Salvatore Allende.
The Movement toward Socialism organization in Venezuela is an observer status member of the SI. The MTS supports the justice and reforms of Hugo Chavez. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has to destroy the Socialist government of Venezuela. The USA’s northern neighbor, Canada. The New Democratic Party did fairly well. They picked up 5 seats in the House of Commons from 14 to 19. electorate.

The Socialist Party of America had had enormous success in Milwaukee when it was an SI party member. No since the early 1900′s has the USA had a real significant Socialist Party. That is Where the American Labor Party and Socialist International step in. The ALP/ISO will seek entrance to the SI.

Dedicated and Inspred by Mel Little

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)

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.

Dear Jay

Dear Jay Blumberg. You asked about Quality jobs and good pay. I am about to tell you why that is not happening. Back in my day we had a notion called the Peace Dividend. The Peace Dividend was suppose to foster a new world of opportunities and improved quality of life. Of Course this never happened. We are melded to the notion of manufacturing jobs. We refuse to acknowledge these jobs are being evolved out of. This is like the Local Black Smith, Tinker, Spinners, and Sawyers. Automation is making way for reduced employment and de-skilling of labor in the Blue Collar Community. Not to mention many of these jobs go to aliens because they will not unionize and they are easily underpaid. There is a mission amongst Corporate CEOs to reduce salaries and work hours. This prevents wage increases, unionizing, and benefits. The average CEO makes 800 time more than the average employee. Many get $54,000,000 a year bonuses and pay less taxes than most workers. Back in the day we where suppose to have something called the Peace Dividend. After the Cold War there was suppose to be good quality paying jobs and a mission toward full employment. The Meaningful Jobs, such as maintaining infrastructure, the so called Green Jobs, (Recently outsourced to China) and many other Sustainable and Livable community jobs that paid a decent wage never happened. Instead, We got George Bush I’s global hegemony, Clinton’s NAFTA and GATT, George Bush II’s endless wars which costs us billions. The notion of full employment comes form the Universal Income and public works jobs. (Many people work outside the workplace, in which this was suppose count as work and work is a Job) The Universal Income or Basic Income Grant would have stimulated the economy and produced more jobs for everyone who wanted to work at a regular job. This would also pay for volunteering and public works programs, not just a handout. However there would be a dictatorship of the job. This was a farce since the 1970’s our lives had been undermined by Ford’s shortages and inflations, Reagan’s war on workers and the poor and decades of Presidents, Congressmen, and Senators who have betrayed us in behalf of there sponsors. We have the best Government money could by and the government gives to the rich nine ways to Sunday. 80’s prosperity brought in a wave of insensitivity, uncaring, and elitism by the Yuppies who had no respect for anyone below there income creating a new caste system, rather than a Democracy where everyone is free and equal. Even today we see that even the Democrats, our social party, doesn’t understand us or even know who we are. The struggle of workers means people fall through the cracks with a temporary and horrible safety net. The Long Mean Season continues today and our Liberals and office are only offering us half measures and bury anything and any idea that can save us. So you see, that is why we are not getting good pay or good jobs.