#1343 Bread and Roses (Socialism is Freedom and Firefighters)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2020
⏱️ 78 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 3/10/2020
Today we take a look at Democratic Socialism and how to explain it because socialism and the freedoms it provides are a lot more American than we tend to think.
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SHOW NOTES
Spencer Cox discusses what democratic socialism means in action.
Ch. 2: Move Over Socialism Democrats Need to Reclaim the Word "Freedom" - Thom Hartmann - Air Date 3-18-19
Among Democrats, there is a big debate about the word Socialism but should Democrats be talking about the word freedom instead?
Ben Dixon breaks down a clip from MSNBC and what they get wrong about democratic socialism.
Ch. 4: Jackson Mississippi's Socialist Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba - Backstory - Air Date 4-26-19
A conversation with the mayor of a southern town looking to make it the most radical in the nation
Ch. 5: Capitalism vs Socialism - Progressive Faith Sermons - Air Date 9-1-19
"Socialism" has become a political scare word used to frighten voters away from progressive programs intended to expand health care coverage, make higher education available to lower-income families, and to raise the minimum wage to a living wage.
Ch. 6: Who’s Really Afraid of Socialism? - Deconstructed - Air Date 2-6-19
To discuss America’s long-held resistance to socialism and its current rise in popularity, Mehdi Hasan is joined by Washington Post columnist Elizabeth Bruenig.
The world is changing and we need to make the world work for more people. If we do nothing the world will end, but we have so much to gain. A promised land is just beyond the horizon.
Ch. 8: Talking Democratic Socialism with Bhaskar Sunkara - Hear the Bern - Air Date 6-25-19
Bernie Sanders gives a democratic socialist speech and Bhaskar Sunkara helps break it down.
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 9: Final comments on the lasting effects of propaganda and the coming revolution
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
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- These Times - The Pine Barrens
- Tripoli - Pecan Grove
- Contrarian - Sketchbook
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
SHOW IMAGE
"Medicare for All Rally," Molly Adams, Flickr | License | Modifications: Cropped & increased contrast
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of a Left Podcast in which we shall |
| 0:07.0 | learn about democratic socialism and how to explain it because socialism and the freedoms |
| 0:12.8 | it provides turns out to be a lot more American than we tend to think. |
| 0:17.3 | Clips today come from Washington State Indivisible, the Tom Hartman program, the Benjamin Dixon |
| 0:23.0 | O. Backstory, a progressive faith sermon from Dr. Roger Ray, deconstructed the dig from |
| 0:29.8 | Jacobin and here at the barren. |
| 0:38.5 | You talk about the Green New Deal, you talk about Medicare for all, you talk about student |
| 0:42.6 | debt and that brings up what we know is going to be Trump's tactic in the 2020 election |
| 0:51.9 | which is to demonize those programs and use socialism as a cudgel and it might work |
| 0:57.7 | because while the issue of socialism pulls well with younger voters, it does less well |
| 1:04.4 | with older voters that same pupil had the majority of people ages 30 to 65 and older |
| 1:10.5 | viewing negatively. |
| 1:12.5 | So how does the DSA advise on pushing back against what we know will be Trump's narrative |
| 1:17.4 | on socialism? |
| 1:19.2 | So I think the way that a lot of activists see this and I think people have knocked on |
| 1:24.4 | doors would understand as well is that you're not going to win an abstract argument about |
| 1:28.1 | what socialism is or is not. |
| 1:30.2 | But instead if you're door knocking with someone talking about the concrete changes that we |
| 1:35.3 | want to see, talking about better workplaces, we're actually paid a fair wage, talking about |
| 1:39.9 | these transformations where we have affordable housing that doesn't cost 50% of our paycheck |
| 1:45.4 | or we can actually get the medical treatment we want. |
| 1:47.6 | So focusing on these concrete things and conversations, one-to-one conversations with people is |
... |
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