Socialist Worker: Building a new left in a new era
More than 900 activists gathered in Chicago June 18-21 for the first stage of Socialism 2009—which continues in San Francisco July 2-5. The conference brought together people from across the U.S. and from all walks of life—teachers, students, bus drivers, military veterans, civil rights movement participants, independent journalists and activists from the U.S. and internationally.
There were panel discussions on the fight against the death penalty, building a movement to defend public education, and rebuilding the labor movement in a time of economic crisis.
Seattle Examiner: Socialism Conference 2009- Is this their time?
Capitalism has collapsed; major banks, brokerage firms, and insurance companies needed a bailout; unemployment is over 9.5%; food banks are overwhelmed. Congress doesn't seem hurrried to act on pressing matters such as health care reform, which in a New York Times survey said that 72% of the population favors. Is it time to try Socialism?
Pundits and financial experts are now breathing a sigh of relief because the fear of total collapse seems to have been extinguished for now. But most people are not aware of the true extent of the bailout: the Federal Reserve kicked in nearly $12 trillion dollars via loans and guarantees, in addition to the bailout that President Bush passed in 2008.
Socialist Worker: Socialism takes a big step
The second Socialism 2009 conference took place last weekend in San Francisco with over 900 people coming from up and down the West Coast and across the U.S. to attend sessions during the three days of political education and discussion.
San Francisco Socialism followed a similar conference held in Chicago at the end of June, which also drew more than 900 people, mainly from the East and Midwest.
This was the first year that Socialism—an annual event sponsored by the Center for Economic Research and Social Change, and co-sponsored by SocialistWorker.org—was held separately in two cities. That decision clearly paid off—the total attendance between both conferences was nearly double that of last year.