{"id":563295,"date":"2016-04-10T01:59:42","date_gmt":"2016-04-10T01:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/newsletter-building-toward-political-revolution\/"},"modified":"2016-04-10T01:59:42","modified_gmt":"2016-04-10T01:59:42","slug":"newsletter-building-toward-political-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/newsletter-building-toward-political-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Newsletter \u2013 Building Toward Political Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><div>\n<div class=\"pf-content\">\n<div class=\"printfriendly pf-alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.printfriendly.com\/print?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.org%2Fnewsletter-political-revolution%2F\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/pf-icon.gif\" alt=\"Print Friendly\" \/>Print Friendly<\/a><\/div>\n<p>This week the massive leak of the Panama Papers gave people\u00a0a glimpse inside how the extremely wealthy avoid paying taxes and hide their money. The reaction to the leak\u00a0showed that people are more sophisticated on these issues and also how many understand that\u00a0information can be manipulated\u00a0to undermine people and governments who oppose the United States.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Panama-Papers-leak1-e1460241027908.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-85999\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Panama-Papers-leak1-e1460241027908.jpg\" alt=\"Panama Papers leak\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"socialHighlighted\">Of course, we also know this is just one tax evasion firm, and not a major one. This is a small tip of a\u00a0massive tax evasion iceberg.<span id=\"tweetButton\" class=\"socialButtonHighlight clickheresocial\"><\/span>\u00a0E<\/span><span>stimates are that $7.6 trillion in individual assets are in tax havens, about one-tenth of the global GPD. The use of tax havens has grown 25% from 2009 to 2015.\u00a0<span id=\"socialHighlighted\"><span id=\"tweetButton\" class=\"socialButtonHighlight clickheresocial\"><\/span>\u00a0<span id=\"emailButton\" class=\"socialButtonHighlight clickheresocial\"><\/span><\/span>Gabriel Zucman, author of\u00a0<em>The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>estimates<span>\u00a0that US citizens have at least $1.2 trillion stashed offshore, costing $200 billion a year worldwide in lost tax revenue and\u00a0US transnational corporations are underpaying their taxes worldwide by $130 billion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Panama Papers will escalate demands for transformation of the economy as well as of government; continue to increase pressure on capitalism and result in the growth of the people-powered movement for economic justice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Seeing Through Propaganda<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The week started with the release of the results of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/panama-papers-demonstrates-global-wealth-corruption\/\">yearlong investigation<\/a> of documents leaked from the Panamanian company Mossack Fonseca by the German newspaper\u00a0<em>S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung.\u00a0<\/em>The company functions as a full-service wealth-hider for tax evaders and money launderers. This is not news, people have known about shell companies and tax havens for a long time. What is exciting about the release is getting to see the names of those involved.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_86001\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Panama-Papers-offshore-money-e1460241611821.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-86001\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Panama-Papers-offshore-money-e1460241611821.jpg\" alt=\"Source CNN\" width=\"300\" height=\"172\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source CNN<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The name that was most widely promoted in the Panama Papers leak was Russian President Vladimir Putin, even though his name was nowhere in the documents and connections to him were circumstantial. This immediately raised questions. The US consistently tries\u00a0to demonize Putin to ensure its global domination.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Parry <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/corruption-as-a-propaganda-weapon\/\">explained<\/a> how accusations of corruption are used to take down leaders that are targeted by the US. Organizations such as the\u00a0so-called National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and US AID are often involved in regime change operations and one of their tools is to fund media outlets that target US opponents, which is then echoed through the commercial western media. This then foments unrest that can be leveraged into supporting a coup.<\/p>\n<p>This is happening right now with the attack on Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and past-president Lula. Mark Weisbrot <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/the-forces-behind-the-attempted-coup-in-brasil\/\">writes about<\/a> the US role in the events in Brazil and coups in other Latin American countries. Of course, it is no coincidence that both Brazil and Russia are key players in the new BRICS bank that is challenging the US-controlled International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. at a time when the integrity of those institutions is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/greece-demands-imf-explain-disaster-remarks-in-explosive-leak\/\">being questioned<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_86000\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Panama-Papers-how-to-hide-a-billion-e1460241444874.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-86000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Panama-Papers-how-to-hide-a-billion-e1460241444874.jpg\" alt=\" People demonstrate against Iceland\u2018s Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson in Reykjavik, Iceland on April 4, 2016 after the Panama Papers revealed his wife owns a tax haven\u2013based company with large claims on the country\u2018s collapsed banks. (Reuters \/ Stigtryggur Johannsson)\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">People demonstrate against Iceland\u2018s Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson in Reykjavik, Iceland on April 4, 2016. (Reuters \/ Stigtryggur Johannsson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Panama Papers have sparked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/eggs-fly-in-iceland-as-panama-papers-spark-populist-anger-in-streets\/\">major protests<\/a> in Iceland demanding resignation of\u00a0Prime Minister Sigmundur Dav\u00ed\u00f0 Gunnlaugsson for using Mossack Fonseca to handle his wife\u2019s fortune. As protests grew this week, Gunnlaugsson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/panama-papers-iceland-prime-minister-resigns-after-leak\/\">announced his resignation<\/a> and then backtracked. Icelanders are now calling for a vote of no confidence and new elections.\u00a0Gunnlaugsson had been\u00a0<span>spokesperson for the InDefence movement, that fought foreign creditors\u2019 attempts to make Iceland pay out \u00a32.3 billion in compensation when Iceland\u2019s banks collapsed and were nationalized.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Craig Murray <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/panama-papers-western-1-protected-need-a-leak-of-the-leak\/\">reports<\/a> that the Panama Paper\u2019s leaker turned to western media which used the information for its political agenda and protected its allies. Many are asking about people in the US who engage in the same behavior. David Dayen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/this-is-much-worse-than-the-panama-papers\/\">writes<\/a> that creating secret companies to hide wealth is legal in states such as Nevada, Wyoming and Delaware and that it could be stopped easily if there were political will to do so. McClatchy is doing excellent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/us-scolds-others-about-offshores-but-looks-other-way-at-home\/\">reporting <\/a>on the creation of tax havens inside the US. We will discuss it in depth on our next episode of <a href=\"http:\/\/clearingthefogradio.org\/monday-april-11-panama-papers-and-the-shadow-world-of-finance\/\">Clearing the FOG Radio<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Glenn Greenwald <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/snowden-panama-leaks-show-scandal-is-what-has-been-legalized\/\">concludes<\/a> that the Panama Papers and Edward Snowden\u2019s revelations show that widespread misbehavior is legal. It is interesting that the head of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Gerald Ryle, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/panama-papers-publishers-dont-need-to-sell-out-wikileaks\/\">used<\/a> the Panama Paper\u2019s leak to criticize Wikileaks and perpetuate the myth that Manning and other leakers were reckless when in fact it is the western media that turns leaks into a tool of the state. We just passed the six year anniversary of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/6-year-anniversary-of-wikileaks-collateral-murder\/\">release of the Collateral Murder video <\/a>which changed the conversation about the US military\u2019s role in Iraq.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Protesting The Neo-Liberal Agenda<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/If-you-thing-Greed-is-bad-wait-till-you-see-capitalism.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-86002\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/If-you-thing-Greed-is-bad-wait-till-you-see-capitalism-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"If you thing Greed is bad wait till you see capitalism\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>The Panama Papers leak is one more piece of evidence showing that the global economy is rigged to benefit the 1% at the expense of the 99%. Rana Foroohar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/the-panama-papers-could-lead-to-capitalisms-great-crisis\/\">writes<\/a> that this awareness is playing out in the US elections where there is discussion about rigged trade agreements like the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) and the corruption of money in politics. This is personally gratifying to us because during the fight to stop fast track, members of Congress justified their support for fast track with the belief that voters would not consider trade agreements to be an important issue in the elections. They were wrong.<\/p>\n<p>In other countries, this rigged economy is identified as a neo-liberal agenda that drives cuts to public goods and services and privatization of them for profit. Neo-liberals pursue deregulation of industries and finance. There seems to be confusion in the US about this terminology because some identify the term \u2018liberal\u2019 with left-wing values. We choose to use the term. The neo-liberal agenda is one of the ideologies that unites the two corporate political parties, the Democrats and Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>This week, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/thousands-take-to-streets-in-france-to-protest-labor-reform\/\">massive movement erupted<\/a> in Paris, France. Called the Nuit Debout, or \u2018Night on Our Feet\u2019, movement, it began when students and workers protested in the Place de la Republique over a law to increase work hours. Despite a ban on protest, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/hundreds-arrested-as-french-police-assault-student-protests-against-labour-reform\/\">millions of people marched<\/a> throughout the country. The police responded with violence, which has led to greater protests and spread of the movement to other parts of Europe.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_86004\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Nuit-Debout-Night-on-Our-Feet-in-Place-de-la-Republique-April-2016-e1460242643901.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-86004\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Nuit-Debout-Night-on-Our-Feet-in-Place-de-la-Republique-April-2016-e1460242643901.jpg\" alt=\"Nuit Debout, Night on Our Feet, in Place de la Republique began as a protest a longer work week and has expanded into protesting lack of democratic choice and neo-liberalism.\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nuit Debout, Night on Our Feet, in Place de la Republique began as a protest a longer work week and has expanded into protesting lack of democratic choice and neo-liberalism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>While the Night on Our Feet movement <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/nuitdebout-a-movement-is-growing-in-frances-squares\/\">started about a month ago<\/a> because of the labor law, like all true movements it has taken on a life of its own. \u00a0In many ways it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/nuitdebout-movement-frances-indignados\/\">looks like<\/a> the Spanish Indignados and the Occupy movements with its focus on non-hierarchical and direct democracy methods of organization. The movement has broadened to have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/nuit-debout-citizens-are-back-in-the-squares-in-paris\/\">strong critique of neo-liberalism<\/a> and neo-liberal political parties, calling for the creation of alternatives much as the Occupy movement did. And now, the movement has extended to Brussels, Berlin, Barcelona and London.<\/p>\n<p>In the US, one of the front lines of neo-liberal attack is education. On April 13, the second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/millionstudentmarch-time-to-build-political-revolution\/\">Million Student March <\/a>will take place across the country. It has been endorsed by the Green Party Youth Caucus because, while Sanders comes close, Jill Stein, the presidential candidate seeking the Green Party nomination, is the only candidate whose platform is consistent with all of the student\u2019s demands. These marches would be an opportunity for students in the US to connect and express solidarity with the Night on Our Feet movement. And students in the US could go even further and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/dismantling-neoliberal-education-a-lesson-from-zapatistas\/\">reject the neo-liberal model of education <\/a>by embracing the principles and resistance exemplified by the Zapatistas.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Privatization-protest-e1460242746614.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-18507\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Privatization-protest-e1460242746614.jpg\" alt=\"Privatization protest\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a>Privatization of lower education is an area where students, parents and teachers are fighting back. In states, such as<a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/anti-common-core-fury-rages-as-latest-exams-given-across-ny\/\"> New York<\/a>, parents are choosing to opt-out of testing for their children. On July 8, teachers are coming to Washington, DC for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/save-our-schools-time-to-march-again-this-summer\/\">conference and rally<\/a> called \u201cSave Our Schools\u201d. They are fighting for \u201cdemocratically-controlled public schools that serve our communities.\u201d Mitchell Robinson of the Bad Ass Teachers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/what-we-can-learn-about-education-from-finland\/\">describes<\/a> the very successful public education model in Finland where, among other things, testing does not start until high school.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, another area of neo-liberal exploitation is of workers. Mike Whitney <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/gig-economy-another-vicious-attack-on-ordinary-working-slobs\/\">reveals<\/a> that over the past ten years intentional policies have led to a dismantling of our employment system. \u00a0Forty percent of workers are in alternative work arrangements, known as the \u2018Gig Economy\u2019, without benefits or protection. Instead of a recovery, under Obama\u2019s two terms, 578,000 good-paying public sector jobs were lost.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Worker-rights-are-human-rights-e1460243962146.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-86006\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Worker-rights-are-human-rights-e1460243962146.jpg\" alt=\"Worker rights are human rights\" width=\"300\" height=\"134\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Across the nation, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/a-15-minimum-wage-is-sweeping-the-nation\/\">Fight for 15 movement<\/a> is starting to win higher minimum wages. Airport workers in nine cities <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/chicago-airport-workers-join-9-city-strike-for-higher-wages-and-union\/\">went on strike<\/a> this week for higher wages and the right to organize. Farm workers, who earn a mere $6 per day, are asking people to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/berry-farmworkers-toil-12-hours-a-day-for-6-now-demanding-raise\/\">boycott Driscoll\u2019s berries <\/a>until they get a raise and better working conditions. In September, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/national-prison-strike-to-end-american-slave-system\/\">prisoners across the country will strike<\/a> to shut down prisons in protest of the very low wages they are paid. They are also connecting their struggle to the injustices of the school-to-prison pipeline, police violence and barriers that people face when they are released from prison.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Building Alternatives<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In this election season, there is widespread discussion of corruption in politics and the need for new solutions. People are rejecting the status quo and recognizing that anything worth having must be fought for. This is an opportunity for the movements that have been building over the past few decades and that have steadily risen since the Occupy movement took off in 2011 to push for the bold solutions that are needed to address the multiple crises we face.<\/p>\n<p>In a recent article, many thought leaders put forth a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/some-possible-ideas-for-going-forward\/\">list of transformative solutions<\/a> that come from movements around the world. They write:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecent progressive electoral efforts and mass campaigns around the world have revealed a huge reservoir of desire and of creative willingness on the parts of large sectors of populations, and very especially young people, to seek change\u2026.\u00a0Ultimately attaining worthy new program will entail thinking outside the box, as many emerging struggles around the world have urged, noting that the box is capitalism, patriarchy, racism and authoritarianism. The box is the imposed mental straitjacket of thoughts and practices typical of all too many countries\u2019 political life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Revolution-begins-in-the-mind-e1460243066504.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-78313\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Revolution-begins-in-the-mind-e1460243066504.jpg\" alt=\"Revolution begins in the mind\" width=\"300\" height=\"239\" \/><\/a>The term \u2018Political Revolution\u2019 is being used widely, particularly by supporters of Bernie Sanders, but in fact it has been growing for the last six years. Political revolution occurs when a broad movement of movements becomes activated, reaches consensus on major issues and challenges the status quo. This means a national consensus develops in three areas:<\/p>\n<p>1. People recognize that crises exist \u2013 such as the major crises we face with the climate, inequality, racism, environmental destruction, corruption and military aggression.<\/p>\n<p>2. The current political system cannot solve these crises.<\/p>\n<p>3. Transformative political solutions are accepted.<\/p>\n<p>Political revolution cannot be about one person. The Occupy movement recognized that truth and wasn\u2019t focused on a single leader. Movements are full of many leaders who play different and important roles such as providing food, protecting health, facilitating meetings, documenting what is happening, putting forward new solutions and more.<\/p>\n<p>Political revolution requires that we work collectively to achieve transformative change. At the end of the election season, no matter who is elected, it must be the movement that determines the political agenda. Over the last six years the popular social movement has grown and is confronting many issues. The movement has built power and we should not underestimate our ability to set the agenda for the next four years. What actions we take in order to\u00a0accomplish\u00a0that must be a topic of discussion within all of our social circles. We look forward to exploring what the political revolution looks like as the year progresses.<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-85826\" class=\"post-85826 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-resist tag-iceland tag-leak tag-panama-papers even\">\n<div class=\"post-headline\">\n<div id=\"post-85713\" class=\"post-85713 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-resist tag-france tag-indignados tag-nuit-debout tag-occupy even\">\n<div class=\"post-headline\">\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Source Article from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/newsletter-political-revolution\/\">https:\/\/www.popularresistance.org\/newsletter-political-revolution\/<\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>Views: 0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Print Friendly This week the massive leak of the Panama Papers gave people\u00a0a glimpse inside how the extremely wealthy avoid paying taxes and hide their money. The reaction to the leak\u00a0showed that people are more sophisticated on these issues and also how many understand that\u00a0information can be manipulated\u00a0to undermine people and governments who oppose the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":875,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1721],"tags":[633,13938,26864,1101,12249,23646,19969],"class_list":["post-563295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world-news","tag-college","tag-dangerous","tag-extreme","tag-india","tag-students","tag-targeting","tag-times"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/875"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewworldorder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}