Saturday, June 25, 2016

A look back at U.S.'s radical Left

 25 June 2016

By Gabe Carroll
The Hindu

"The SPA’s political heritage can be seen today in two organisations: the Democratic Socialists of America and the Socialist Party USA. The DSA, which is the larger of the two at roughly 5,000 members, supports Mr. Sanders while the smaller and arguably more radical SPUSA has refused to, running its own candidate, California community organiser Emidio “Mimi” Soltysik. 

Mr. Soltysik and the SPUSA argue that Mr. Sanders is not really a socialist, and criticise his positions on foreign policy and the Middle East, on Israel in particular. 

“We are explicitly socialist, as in ‘worker control of the means of production’,” says Mr. Soltysik.
“Sanders seems to advocate for social democracy/progressive Democrat policy. He also has a terrible foreign policy record. Those aren't inconsequential differences.”"

Monday, June 20, 2016

Saying No to Clinton and Trump? See the K-12 Positions of Other Candidates

20 June 2016

By Andrew Ujifusa
Education Week
 
"The Socialist Party USA's nominee for president, Soltysik lists the party's education platform on his website. Some of the platform's general themes jibe with Stein's when it comes to K-12. Soltysik's platform includes the following points:
  • "We oppose merit pay for teachers, standardized testing, competition between schools within the same district, the sale of on-campus advertising in order to raise funds, and the increasing dependence of post-secondary institutions on corporate funding."
  • "We call for an egalitarian educational system with teaching methods that accommodate the wide range of teaching and learning styles, and that provides all students with the means to obtain the post-secondary education they desire.  We call [for] a maximum of 15 students per teacher for grades K-12, and a maximum of 50 students per teacher at the post-secondary level."
  • "We support student, parent, and teacher control of curriculum formation, and in the hiring and dismissal procedures of school personnel, through the formation of local school/community committees.""

Sunday, June 12, 2016

SP Presidential Campaign Profiled on Univision (Video and Article)

12 June 2016

The U.S. Spanish-language broadcast network, Univision, has produced a a video interview with SP presidential candidate Mimi Soltysik, as well as an extensive article on the campaign. Both can be accessed by clicking here.