18 April 2016
By Molly Ball
The Atlantic
"American socialists have never gotten far. Their heyday, insofar as they had one, was in the early 20th
century, under the leadership of Eugene V. Debs—whose likeness hangs in
Sanders’s Senate office. Debs’s fourth presidential run, in 1912,
earned the Socialist Party of America 6 percent of the vote, still the
high-water mark for a socialist candidacy; his successor, Norman Thomas,
never came close to such popularity in his six presidential runs, and
the party fell apart under the scrutiny of the Red Scare. In the 1970s, a
few successor parties emerged, among them Socialist Party USA, whose
1976 nominee, the socialist former Milwaukee mayor, Frank Zeidler, got
just over 6,000 votes. (While that party today claims to adhere to
democratic socialism, it, too, finds Sanders insufficient: In the view
of Mimi Soltysik, its 2016 nominee, Sanders’s rhetoric about the middle
class is “bullshit.”)"
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Monday, April 18, 2016
Monday, April 11, 2016
The New Red Scare: Are the Socialists Coming?
11 April 2016
By David Azerrad
The Weekly Standard
"Our socialists, led by Bernie Sanders, want to fill the gap and take care of everyone else. They are clamoring for European-style middle-class entitlements to provide all citizens "free" benefits like health care, day care, paid leave, and college.
Appealing as this may sound to liberals and the young, real socialists are not taken in by it. The Socialist Party USA's current presidential candidate, Emidio "Mimi" Soltysik, for one, is not on board the B-Train: "To me, Sanders sounds more like a progressive Democrat/social Democrat," Soltysik explained to the Socialist, the party's official publication. "I don't see him putting forth a socialist proposal. I'm not seeing him talk about workers owning the means of production."
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Thursday, April 7, 2016
Mimi Soltysik, il candidato alle presidenziali Usa di cui non avete sentito parlare
È socialista ed ex punk, totalmente contro il sistema capitalistico. Non ha alcuna speranza contro Trump, Clinton o Sanders. Eppure ci prova lo stesso. Lo abbiamo intervistato
7 April 2016
By Andrea Indiano
Wired Magazine (Italian Edition)
Mimi socialista candidato presidente potrebbe essere benissimo il titolo di un film di Lina Wertmüller, se non fosse che a Emidio Soltysik, detto Mimi, manca l’accento sul soprannome e per di più è una persona vera. Nella corsa alle presidenziali americane 2016 che si concluderà il prossimo novembre non ci sono solo le sfuriate senza senso di Donald Trump e il duello democratico fra Hillary Clinton e Bernie Sanders. Gli Stati Uniti hanno un sistema politico di fatto bipartitico, ovvero ristretto solo agli appartenenti ai partiti democratico e conservatore.
Esistono però altri gruppi politici, che di solito sono fatti confluire nel termine “third party”. Quelli dei Verdi e dei Veterani sono i più famosi e gli unici che in passato sono riusciti a far eleggere un totale di due persone al Senato dagli anni ’90. Ci sono inoltre partiti ancora più piccoli, come quello dei Proibizionisti o dei Libertariani, che però hanno un seguito minimo e riescono a ottenere un po’ di attenzione solo nel periodo delle elezioni, grazie a candidati sopra le righe e fuori dall’estabilishment.
Fra questi rientra anche Mimi Soltysik, a capo del Partito socialista degli Stati Uniti, e molto diverso dal tipo di politico che siamo abituati a vedere in Italia. Soltysik abita in un piccolo appartamento di Los Angeles insieme alla moglie e a un gatto....
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7 April 2016
By Andrea Indiano
Wired Magazine (Italian Edition)
Mimi socialista candidato presidente potrebbe essere benissimo il titolo di un film di Lina Wertmüller, se non fosse che a Emidio Soltysik, detto Mimi, manca l’accento sul soprannome e per di più è una persona vera. Nella corsa alle presidenziali americane 2016 che si concluderà il prossimo novembre non ci sono solo le sfuriate senza senso di Donald Trump e il duello democratico fra Hillary Clinton e Bernie Sanders. Gli Stati Uniti hanno un sistema politico di fatto bipartitico, ovvero ristretto solo agli appartenenti ai partiti democratico e conservatore.
Esistono però altri gruppi politici, che di solito sono fatti confluire nel termine “third party”. Quelli dei Verdi e dei Veterani sono i più famosi e gli unici che in passato sono riusciti a far eleggere un totale di due persone al Senato dagli anni ’90. Ci sono inoltre partiti ancora più piccoli, come quello dei Proibizionisti o dei Libertariani, che però hanno un seguito minimo e riescono a ottenere un po’ di attenzione solo nel periodo delle elezioni, grazie a candidati sopra le righe e fuori dall’estabilishment.
Fra questi rientra anche Mimi Soltysik, a capo del Partito socialista degli Stati Uniti, e molto diverso dal tipo di politico che siamo abituati a vedere in Italia. Soltysik abita in un piccolo appartamento di Los Angeles insieme alla moglie e a un gatto....
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Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Kelso, who? Meet 6 lesser-known candidates in the presidential race
30 March 2016
By Morgan Buckley
USA Today College
"The tattooed, T-shirt-wearing former national co-chair of the Socialist Party USA once called Bernie Sanders’ record “imperialist.”
“Bernie Sanders seems to advocate more of a social democracy,” Soltysik says. “It’s an expanded social safety net based upon the welfare state, maybe more like what we see in Scandinavia, whereas socialism starts with worker control over the means of production, community control and full democratic participation. They are very different things.”
Soltysik says capitalist societies simply can not foster true equality. And now, more than ever, he thinks change is imperative.
“With the science of climate change, we really don’t have time to spend on reforming capitalism or greening capitalism” Soltysik says. “The planet is literally telling us it cannot hold a capitalist society or economic system. Change has to happen now.”"
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By Morgan Buckley
USA Today College
"The tattooed, T-shirt-wearing former national co-chair of the Socialist Party USA once called Bernie Sanders’ record “imperialist.”
“Bernie Sanders seems to advocate more of a social democracy,” Soltysik says. “It’s an expanded social safety net based upon the welfare state, maybe more like what we see in Scandinavia, whereas socialism starts with worker control over the means of production, community control and full democratic participation. They are very different things.”
Soltysik says capitalist societies simply can not foster true equality. And now, more than ever, he thinks change is imperative.
“With the science of climate change, we really don’t have time to spend on reforming capitalism or greening capitalism” Soltysik says. “The planet is literally telling us it cannot hold a capitalist society or economic system. Change has to happen now.”"
Read More
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Q & A with Angela Walker, Socialist Party USA candidate for Vice-President
27 March 2016
By Jim Brash
The North Star
TNS: First question, why were you chosen to be Mimi Soltysik’s running mate?
Mimi reached out to me about the campaign following my run for County Sheriff in Milwaukee. He said that he’d followed my campaign and really liked the fact that we took a very grassroots, people-centered approach. He felt that I would make a good running mate based on work I was involved in in Milwaukee, and the fact that I ran for sheriff unapologetically as a socialist.
TNS: Which public offices have you previously run for?
I ran for Milwaukee County Sheriff in 2014.
TNS: What did you accomplish by running?
I like to think that we reopened the discussion in Milwaukee about socialism, and how placing the needs of people at the center of the issues needed to be done, and could be done. We can demand, in very clear terms, the changes we want and agitate for those changes. People just need to be reminded of their power.
TNS: What would you like to accomplish with this current campaign?
I think we’d like to accomplish something similar with the presidential campaign. We want to remind people that they have power, and that worker ownership of their workplaces and communities makes as much sense now as it ever has. At a time when so many people have been victimized by deindustrialization, gentrification and institutional racism, we want people to be reminded that there really is another way to live. It’s not supposed to be this way, and people need to know that.
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By Jim Brash
The North Star
TNS: First question, why were you chosen to be Mimi Soltysik’s running mate?
Mimi reached out to me about the campaign following my run for County Sheriff in Milwaukee. He said that he’d followed my campaign and really liked the fact that we took a very grassroots, people-centered approach. He felt that I would make a good running mate based on work I was involved in in Milwaukee, and the fact that I ran for sheriff unapologetically as a socialist.
TNS: Which public offices have you previously run for?
I ran for Milwaukee County Sheriff in 2014.
TNS: What did you accomplish by running?
I like to think that we reopened the discussion in Milwaukee about socialism, and how placing the needs of people at the center of the issues needed to be done, and could be done. We can demand, in very clear terms, the changes we want and agitate for those changes. People just need to be reminded of their power.
TNS: What would you like to accomplish with this current campaign?
I think we’d like to accomplish something similar with the presidential campaign. We want to remind people that they have power, and that worker ownership of their workplaces and communities makes as much sense now as it ever has. At a time when so many people have been victimized by deindustrialization, gentrification and institutional racism, we want people to be reminded that there really is another way to live. It’s not supposed to be this way, and people need to know that.
Read More
Friday, March 25, 2016
What, Exactly, Is A Modern Socialist?
25 March 2016
By Wayne Schutsky
Modern Times Magazine
With the presidential primary season in full swing, voters must decide which candidate they would like to support for president. And for Democrats that means choosing between former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Yep, despite a big loss in Arizona, Sanders campaign is still chugging along.
While Clinton has been a household name in American politics for decades, Sanders was relatively anonymous on the national stage until he parlayed what seemed like a gimmick run for President at first into a serious push for the Democratic nomination.
While many were initially put off by the self-described democratic socialist, Sanders’ leftist policies have gained traction with many (predominantly young and white) voters, and his upsets in states like Michigan have proven that some Americans are ready to embrace socialist-type policies like a single-payer healthcare system.
Sanders run raises many questions in an American political system that hasn’t seen a serious candidate skew this far to the left in some time. Is America ready for a socialist presidential candidate? And is Bernie Sanders a socialist at all?
To answer these questions, I spoke with socialist presidential candidate Emidio “Mimi” Soltysik. Soltysik, along with his running mate Angela Walker, represent Socialist Party USA....
Read More
By Wayne Schutsky
Modern Times Magazine
With the presidential primary season in full swing, voters must decide which candidate they would like to support for president. And for Democrats that means choosing between former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Yep, despite a big loss in Arizona, Sanders campaign is still chugging along.
While Clinton has been a household name in American politics for decades, Sanders was relatively anonymous on the national stage until he parlayed what seemed like a gimmick run for President at first into a serious push for the Democratic nomination.
While many were initially put off by the self-described democratic socialist, Sanders’ leftist policies have gained traction with many (predominantly young and white) voters, and his upsets in states like Michigan have proven that some Americans are ready to embrace socialist-type policies like a single-payer healthcare system.
Sanders run raises many questions in an American political system that hasn’t seen a serious candidate skew this far to the left in some time. Is America ready for a socialist presidential candidate? And is Bernie Sanders a socialist at all?
To answer these questions, I spoke with socialist presidential candidate Emidio “Mimi” Soltysik. Soltysik, along with his running mate Angela Walker, represent Socialist Party USA....
Read More
Friday, March 18, 2016
Meet the Socialist Running for President in the Shadow of Bernie Sanders
18 March 2016
By Mike Pearl
Vice
No matter who he's talking to, anytime there's air in the conversation, Emidio "Mimi" Soltysik (pronounced "saul-TISS-ick") tends to ask the other people what kind of music they're into, or what they listened to when they were younger.
When he first met his vice presidential candidate, Angela Walker, he picked her brain about music too, but his reasons were political. "What's one of the songs that shaped you politically? What were you listening to that pushed you to be who you are?" Walker recalls Soltysik asking. Music was important to Walker as well—her identity, she says, was shaped by "being a black metalhead." Her reply to Soltysik included Rage Against the Machine and Public Enemy....
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By Mike Pearl
Vice
"You gotta see this real quick. You're gonna shit," Mimi
Soltysik tells me. It's an afternoon in late February, and Soltysik, the
presidential nominee for the Socialist Party USA, is leaning over his
laptop in the living room of his cramped, cat-dominated Los Angeles
apartment, showing me a YouTube video of a legendarily awkward performance by a seemingly deranged Chicago pop singer named Bobby Conn.
"It almost makes you uncomfortable, which is great," he says.No matter who he's talking to, anytime there's air in the conversation, Emidio "Mimi" Soltysik (pronounced "saul-TISS-ick") tends to ask the other people what kind of music they're into, or what they listened to when they were younger.
When he first met his vice presidential candidate, Angela Walker, he picked her brain about music too, but his reasons were political. "What's one of the songs that shaped you politically? What were you listening to that pushed you to be who you are?" Walker recalls Soltysik asking. Music was important to Walker as well—her identity, she says, was shaped by "being a black metalhead." Her reply to Soltysik included Rage Against the Machine and Public Enemy....
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