Take Off The Mask

United States, 2008. Behind a rather large curtain of deception lays the true nature of society. The working class has been unknowingly masquerading as the middle class. Low-paying and part time work have been masquerading as temporary stepping stones, and the Democratic Party has been masquerading as the people’s party. It’s time to unveil these myths and expose the truth.

The vast majority, approximately 80%, of Americans are working class. Blue collar, white collar, salary or wage, we are all employed by the upper class that owns the means of production. We work at our bosses pleasure, and when it becomes more profitable to eliminate our jobs….well, have a nice day and good luck.

Which leads us to the service sector and retail sector, which continues to make up a larger and larger percent of our job market. In fact, this sector now accounts for 100% of all new job growth and these jobs pay on average 30% less than manufacturing jobs. So as the traditionally secure, full-time manufacturing jobs have been outsourced, they have been replaced by low paying, part time and temporary jobs, often insecure and without benefits. Most people filling these jobs consider them to be temporary, not serious jobs, but end up staying there for several years waiting for that magical real job to come around. So as the saying goes, good jobs are disappearing from America and reappearing…nowhere.

The Democratic Party, just as much as the Republicans, can be thanked for these problems. We can thank them for wonderful policies like NAFTA, CAFTA and the extremely bloated military budget. The so called progressive democratic presidential candidate right now wants to increase the standing army by 90,000 soldiers, wants to leave a large number of operations troops and private military contractors behind in Iraq and will only offer “For Profit Healthcare” for everyone. I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty conservative to me. In comparison, in our favorite war partnering country of England, the conservative party is more liberal than our so called liberal party.

I will of course have to concede that we can’t blame the democrats and republicans for all of our problems because that would fail to address the systemic nature of them. By system, I am of course referring to our economic system. The only purpose and goal of capitalism is capital accumulation, that is, expanding profits. Nowhere does it say “guarantee meaningful work, living wages and a quality life for everyone.” Nowhere does it say “preserve the environment, conserve resources and produce in a sustainable way.” It only says increase profits. The Democrats are just as much a capitalist political party as the Republicans, they are not a workers’ political party. They serve the interests of capitalism. To them a good economy is judged by Wall Street not Main Street, profit margins and revenues not standard of living. Let’s not be confused by their so called solutions to the problems we face today as a world, they are merely band aids at best. We have been voting for democrats to represent us for decades now and have seen nothing but a decrease in real wages, expansion of militarism and cuts to the social safety net. The term “market solutions” has got to be the biggest pot of crap soup I’ve heard since trickle down economics.

This is why I am running for congress as a Socialist. I am not afraid to challenge big business capitalism every step of the way. I am not beholden to corporate interests like the candidates from the major parties. My only interest in public service is simply that, to serve the public, which is overwhelmingly working class folks like you and me and our families and friends. The elite minority at the tip top of the economic ladder already have 500+ representatives in congress, it’s about time that we the working people stop voting for their representatives and start running and voting for our own!

Here are some of my key platform planks:

www.votevachon.com

Another World Is Possible... And It's Necessary!

THE MOTTO:

Another World Is Possible…And It’s Necessary!

THE PROBLEM:

“We, The People” have been excluded from decision making.

WHAT HAPPENED TO DEMOCRACY?

(PUBLIC AIRWAVES AND CORPORATE MEDIA)

The endless pursuit of corporate profit has guided our government policy onto a perilous course that must be changed. Private campaign contributions, lobbyists and personal business interests of government officials have effectively transformed this democracy into a corporatocracy. Private media giants serve their own rather than the public’s interest. A government of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations which does not consider the well being of the people at large, nor that of the planet on which we live.

With less than 50% voter turnout, the United States ranks 139^th out of 172 democratic nations. This is likely due to the fact that most people, like myself, recognize that there is essentially no difference between the two corporate parties that run the show. The corporate interest is well represented while the interest of the multitude is left by the wayside. However, by not participating, the public further hands the reigns over to the corporate elites. This cycle must be stopped!

WHAT HAPPENED TO GOVERNMENT?

(PRIVATIZATION = WE PAY AND WE LOSE)

In the past three decades we have witnessed the wholesale privatization of practically every function of government, from highways to military to prisons to disaster relief. This process has left the United States with a dubious reputation among other industrialized nations: 1. Highest number of incarcerated citizens per capita, 2. Highest percent of citizens without health care, 3. Highest death rate from treatable diseases, 4. Highest rate of homicide and violent crimes with guns, 5. Largest military budget, and 6. Largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. The neo-liberal (capitalist) quest for “emerging markets” has made incarceration, illness, warfare and natural disaster response into very profitable industries, and guess who foots the bill? The taxpayers and the environment.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MIDDLE CLASS?

(THE RICH GET RICHER AND…)

The income gap is skyrocketing: according to 2005 statistics, the wealthiest 300,000 Americans collectively received as much income as the bottom 150 million Americans. Per person, members of this top group received 440 times as much as the average person in the bottom half earned, which is double the income gap from 1980. “As of 2001, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 33.4% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 51%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 84%, leaving only 16% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers).” (Domhoff, G. William. Wealth, Income & Power. 2005 www.sociology.ucsc.edu)

The current system and the course on which it has set our nation can only be characterized as insane, destructive and unjust.

THE SOLUTION:

Stand up for policies that really help us! Vote for what you believe, not who you think can win.

INDEPENDENT, GRASSROOTS POLITICS:

(GET UP, STAND UP)

Rallying behind the Democrats, the “lesser of two evils,” will not end this current destructive pattern. The Democratic Party, as Edwin Laing said, is “where social movements go to die.” Independent, grassroots politics in conjunction with direct action are the only way the population at large has ever won anything from the power elites.

The environment, the quality of our lives, the lives of innocent civilians and soldiers in uniform… these are issues that are worth standing up for and at least trying to improve.

While one congressional representative cannot change the entire system, he/she can fight for reforms that will improve our daily lives and, more importantly, develop a political consciousness/solidarity among the people who will collectively make the real changes in the long run.

Please visit my campaign planks as well as those of other candidates, become a well informed voter and cast your vote based on what you believe will best serve us all collectively!

ThankYou,

Todd Vachon for Congress
CT 2^nd District

WWW.VOTEVACHON.COM

Analyze The Media, Think Critically

Whenever something is fervently supported or opposed in the media I like to stop and ask a few questions: Whose interest is it in? Who benefits from supporting or opposing it? And why do they have to support or oppose it?

Example 1: Publicly Funded Universal Health Care

Whose interest would it be in? Well, everybody’s, but especially the millions of people who do not have coverage right now. The poor, the small business owners, the unemployed and even the middle class. Even the folks with insurance who pay hundreds of dollars per month for family coverage (and still have to fight every single claim and bill during their “free” time) would greatly benefit by having most of that money back in their bank accounts. Folks who have avoided following their dreams because they needed to work a job with insurance benefits could now pursue their true interests.

Who benefits from opposing it? The insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies that make tremendous amounts of profit from the privatized system. They don’t want to give up their cash crop just to let us all live healthier and longer lives.

Why do they oppose it? Because it has been proven to work and if witnessed it would be tremendously popular. They must spend millions of dollars on media campaigns to misinform the public about “socialized medicine” because they know that it is an actual threat to their current racket. If it were really such a bad system would they feel inclined to spend so much time and money to convince us of it?

The media blitz is used to dissuade public support for a popular idea.

Example 2: The Invasion of Iraq

Whose interest was it in? Well, nobody’s, except the weapons manufacturers, private military contractors and the oil industry. It was easily foreseen that absolutely nothing good would come from the invasion and occupation., even Dick Cheney knew that in 1991.

Who benefited from supporting it? Who “profited” from it? These were the “unbiased” military and intelligence experts who are now all heads of their own for-profit security contracting or consulting firms raking in multi-million dollar government contracts. The oil companies who have been seeing constant growth and record profits. The destruction and reconstruction companies.

Why did they have to support it? Because the public was opposed to it. In January 2003 only 31% of Americans supported invasion. Two out of three Americans wanted to let the UN weapons inspectors continue their search. (NY Times/CBS poll)

The media blitz is used to rally support for an unpopular idea.

Example 3: Democratic Socialism

Whose interest is it in? Everybody’s, except the very small fraction of super-rich capitalists.

Who benefits from opposing it? The top 20% of our society that owns 80% of the wealth, but especially the 1% that owns 51% of the wealth. They don’t want to give up their extremely ridiculous amounts of inherited wealth and settle for a very comfortable upper-middle class existence. They might actually have to work a little.

Why do they oppose it? Because the ideals of socialism are wildly popular: social security, universal health care, unemployment insurance, living wages, affordable housing and a sustainable energy future. They use the media to separate these programs from the category of socialist when they are in support of them. They effectively turn the “S” word into a curse by attaching it to the former Soviet Union, which was neither democratic nor socialist.

The media is used to make a popular ideal unpopular and dissociate it’s core elements from it.

Like all things that you see, read or hear, including this, it is always a good idea to examine it from opposing perspectives. Who is saying what and why. By doing this you will be able to come to your own informed opinions and make good democratic decisions accordingly.

A Message To Progressive (Liberal) Voters

The Democratic Party is where social movements go to die. It is the home of progressive talk but not progressive action. Socialists hold representative seats in parliaments around the world and truly stand up for and act on these progressive ideas. They of course embrace the ideals of Democratic Socialism, but must work within the framework of a capitalist political economic system. They stand with the most liberal and progressive representatives from other parties to pass good legislation that protects worker’s rights, social security, universal health care, public transportation and renewable energy. Socialists are always opposed to war.

A Message To Hardline Conservative Voters

You are probably on the wrong page unless you are trying to turn over a new leaf and incorporate words like "empathy", "equality" and "compassion" into your vocabulary.

Economic Democracy

What is Economic Democracy?

Economic Democracy is real socialism, period. It is a state of society in which all people work cooperatively as equals for the common good of all. It is achievable only when democracy has been extended from the political sphere to also include the economy. The titles democratic socialism, economic democracy and participatory economics have been used lately to distinguish “true socialism” from the authoritarian and undemocratic states which have wrongly mislabeled themselves as socialist.

Here Are A Few Simple Principals of Democratic Socialism:

• Production for human use, not for profit.
• Classless society where no person should exploit any other person.
• Conservation of natural resources through sustainable production.
• Changes in society and government should be made by free and open elections.
• Widespread and full public education is essential to guarantee the equality of people.
• People must have access to information and be allowed to communicate their ideas in order to make informed democratic decisions.
• Public, collective ownership of the means of production and distribution, as well as the democratic management thereof. (Not state ownership of every human enterprise)
• Food, housing and healthcare are basic human rights and should be guaranteed to all.
• Democratic socialism must be achieved democratically.

“Socialism” Misused

Many societies have disguised themselves by using the term socialism. Countless dictators and despots have been able to rally people around the egalitarian ideals of socialism in order to take control of their governments and then never put these ideals into effect. "National Socialism" for example advocates a one-party dictatorial capitalist society, aka fascism. "Communism" has been used by one-party authoritarian states with centrally planned economies, aka state run capitalism. The Soviet Union was neither democratic nor socialist. A real socialist society would have to arise by democratic means and remain completely democratic in order to remain truly socialist.

The Socialist Party, USA

Todd has been endorsed by The Socialist Party, USA and will appear on the CT ballot as the socialist candidate. The Socialist Party, formed in 1901, strives to establish a radical democracy that places people's lives under their own control - a non-racist, classless, feminist socialist society...where working people own and control the means of production and distribution through democratically-controlled public agencies; where full employment is realized for everyone who wants to work; where workers have the right to form unions freely, and to strike and engage in other forms of job actions; and where the production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few. We believe socialism and democracy are one and indivisible.

A Note To “Nervous” Voters

You agree with Todd’s views on the major issues but are reluctant to vote for a socialist candidate? Please consider this: One socialist representative on the floor of the House of representatives will obviously not transform America into a democratic socialist society. What it will do is place a very progressive (liberal) voice in congress that will fight for the interests of the working class (middle class) and the poor, not the corporations. The wealthy already have more than 400 voices representing their interests in congress.

If you are afraid of being put on some kind of “government list” then you need to reconsider your belief that we live in an open and free society. I encourage everyone to learn more about socialism and what it really is. It is NOT the bogeyman trying to take your stuff and eliminate your freedom… it is actually the opposite. Please visit some of the links below to educate yourself on a subject that is always mislabeled and suppressed by the ruling capitalist class in order to maintain the current world order that is very profitable for them at the expense of the rest of us and the planet.

Learn More About Democratic Socialism

The Socialist Party, USA

http://www.sp-usa.org

Text Descriptions of Democratic Socialism:
A Primer on Democratic Socialism, by Edwin Laing (PDF)
http://daschaich.homelinux.net/SP/Saint.pdf
The Renewing of Socialism: An Introduction, by John Bellamy Foster
http://www.monthlyreview.org/0705jbf.htm
Approaching Socialism, by Harry Magdoff and Fred Magdoff
http://www.monthlyreview.org/0705magdoffs1.htm
Parecon: Life After Capitalism, by Michael Albert
http://www.zmag.org/ParEcon/pelac.htm

Audio Descriptions of Democratic Socialism:
A Primer on Democratic Socialism by Edwin Laing (mp3)
http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=14518

Video Descriptions of Democratic Socialism:
Parecon Description Pt. 1 of 3 by Michael Albert
http://www.zcommunications.org/zvideo/6
Introduction to Participatory Economics Pt 1 of 5
http://www.zcommunications.org/zvideo/11

THE ECHO CHAMBER, Chamber, chamber…

Here are some issues that the corporate media would likely emphasize if they were to acknowledge my candidacy, let’s call it my pre-emptive rebuttal.

1. I am pro-choice. I feel that a woman's decision regarding her ability to bear children is her own decision to make and not ours. That is a choice she must make for herself or in confidence with her partner. End of story. Furthermore, the Hyde Amendment should be repealed in order to allow low income women to receive financial assistance for safe reproductive treatment. Reproductive freedom is just one of many freedoms that are currently under attack by the right wing.

2. I support socialized medicine. Do a little research, spend some time abroad, don’t believe the corporate propaganda. If it wasn’t a really desirable alternative, then big insurance and pharmaceutical companies wouldn’t spend so much time and money lobbying against it and misinforming us about it.

3. I want to drastically reduce military spending. Protecting our country and maintaining an Empire are two different things. How many other countries have hundreds of military bases all over the world? How many foreign nations have military bases on U.S. soil? Why is the military uniform of our nation desert camouflage? The last time I checked, the U.S. was not a vast desert… (well, not yet anyway, but the millions of barrels of oil used each day by our military operations might help out with that soon enough). Furthermore, an increasingly large percent of the hundreds of billions of tax dollars spent on militarism go into the pockets of for-profit security contractors, weapons manufacturers and consultants. The Homeland Security industry is the most recent market bubble and investors are just going wild over it! Privatized warfare is a very bad idea…what do you think increases profits in this industry? That's right, more war.

4. I am a Socialist. I believe that capitalism as an economic system is the root cause of most of the world’s injustice, inequality, warfare and environmental destruction. The ‘S’ word refers to democratic socialism, NOT state planned authoritarian communism. The Soviet Union was neither democratic nor socialist… more like state run capitalism. To learn what real democratic socialists believe I recommend: “You Don’t Have To Be A Saint To Be A Socialist” by Edwin Laing, “Parecon” by Michael Albert and “From Capitalism To Equality” by Charles Andrews.

5. I support complete nuclear disarmament. As with global warming, the U.S. is in the dubious position to be a world leader on this issue. We could lead by example in a coalition with other arms bearing nations to eliminate this global threat to everyone and everything.

6. I am not particularly religious. I was born a Protestant, but find value in the teachings of many religions without participating in any particular organization.

7. I have collected unemployment when out of work. I have been unemployed and collected unemployment insurance. While that is the nature of commercial construction work for tradesmen, it becomes quite apparent why programs like these are so necessary. You work a job until it’s completion, get laid-off, collect unemployment and call the union hall to get another job when one starts. Along with social security, minimum wage, and age and hour restrictions, unemployment insurance is one of the many great successes of the labor and socialist struggle in America.

8. I support gay marriage. Denying certain groups of people the ability to be married because of their sexual orientation is plain and simple discrimination. This is just another case of one group trying to force their belief systems on to others.

9. Undocumented immigrants are casualties of capitalist policies. No human being is illegal. Every man and woman that is a citizen in this country would also do whatever they had to in order to support their family in hard times. Immigrants are workers who don’t have jobs at home because of policies like NAFTA. Capitalists are profit seekers that love having the option of extremely cheap labor. Are there really a whole bunch of U.S. citizens waiting in line to be the next tomato pickers for Taco Bell at $10 a day? I feel that the appropriate action would be to help these workers organize and win a fair wage, as well as repeal NAFTA and other trade agreements that make nations like Mexico into our little sweat shops of horror.

The so called liberal voices in media will likely pose this sort of question:

Won’t a left third party candidacy just help throw the election to the republicans? Hmmm, I say, Is there really any noticeable difference in daily life whether there is a democrat or republican? I will not be a scapegoat for their inadequacies.

Third parties are the ONLY left parties. Democrats on the whole (with some exceptions) are centrists at best. Citizens must vote for what they truly believe in! I am not running against Joe Courtney, I am running against the two-party choke hold on our democracy. I am running to represent the interests of the working class and that’s it. I strongly feel that a greater diversity of voices are needed in our government to expand the scope of debate. Perhaps then, the 50% of eligible voters who don’t participate would be inspired to become involved in our democratic process. (As a side note, I actually like the way Mr. Courtney voted on most of the important bills. I however would vote against ANY more funding for the war and I would introduce new bills to end the war immediately, slow global warming, impeach the current administration and reform our broken electoral system.)

*Here are some organizations I have been a member of or to whom I have contributed money: The ACLU, Democracy Now, WHUS-Storrs, NPR, The Sierra Club, The IWW and The Socialist Party, USA.

State of the Union: Two Big Parties & You're Not Invited

1/28/2008

In the past 7 years our nation has become less and less free. Our government no longer values the right to privacy, has abandoned habeas corpus, has embraced torture and continues to justify unjust military invasions and occupations.

More than a year ago, Americans went to the polls (well 48% of eligible voters anyway) and registered their disapproval of the current path our country is on. They did the one sensible thing in a two party democracy- they voted for the other party!

Thank goodness the Democrats, who work so hard to represent the working class, refused to fund the war and our troops are now home. All of those billions (trillions?) of tax dollars are now being used to repair our neglected infrastructure. Our new national health system is being built as we speak. The jobs created by these work programs have done wonders for the economy! The new fuel emissions standards that require all cars to get 50mpg by 2012 will help us all breath a little easier. As will the fact that the U.S. has signed on to a national treaty, like Kyoto, to start fighting global warming for real….

Okay, I could keep going on but I’m sure you get the point.

It is very easy for us to place the blame squarely on Mr. Bush and his thuggish administration for their blatantly criminal activities, but that does not get to the real meat and potatoes (or gluten or tofu for my fellow vegetarians) of these issues. Granted, it has only been one year and the majority in the Senate is slim… but it still begs the question: were things really so much better under Clinton? The democrat who brought us NAFTA, increased military spending in a time of peace and supported his own illegal military operations that left thousands dead and injured? I guess the answer to that depends on your station in society and maybe your job (ie; if you work in the defense industry).

Regardless of your political leaning, these three points are irrefutable: 1. The Democrats have started and supported as many illegal foreign military adventures as the Republicans. 2. Global warming has been a known problem for more than two decades and neither party has done squat to fight it’s causes. 3. The root cause of policies that lead to the two previous points is the influence of corporate capitalists on our representatives. The only systemic goal of capitalism as a system is the accumulation of capital, which triggers the pursuit of endless profits at everyone else’s expense.

Both Democrats and Republicans represent these big business interests today. Just look at their campaign contributors and lobbying gift lists to verify. While the two parties may have differing views on specific social issues and slight nuances of foreign policy, they both are 100% committed to representing American business interests, aka capitalism as a system.

Here is where that system has brought us to in 2008:

- Our economy is heading into it’s next recession (part of a regular capitalist cycle every 10-15 years). Property taxes… sky high. Homeowners are losing their homes at levels unseen since the great depression. The middle class has been steadily eroding for 25 plus years. Manufacturing jobs? Outsourced and replaced by low paying and part-time service jobs (due to pro-business trade deals).

- Our education system is slowly being privatized. Our children and public school teachers being hung out to dry (due to the desires of the for-profit education industry and it’s incredibly flawed NCLB policy).

- Our roads, bridges, schools and other collectively owned assets are in complete disrepair due to never ending budget cuts. This conscious neglect will likely lead our congress to determine that this infrastructure should also be privatized.

- Our most basic ideals about law and justice have been tossed out and the two parties continue to pass bills that further erode our civil liberties.

- We are still illegally occupying Iraq – a war built on lies and manipulated intelligence.

- Millions of Americans live without health care.

The time is ripe for the people to stand up and undue the havoc wrought by George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, the Republicans and the Democrats. We must seriously engage the tremendous threat of global warming. We must be the leader in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and implementation of renewable energy. We must bring the citizens of this, the richest nation on earth, into the 20^th century and provide a high-quality health system for all. We must also hold the current administration responsible for it’s war crimes and lies. They have left hundreds of thousands dead or tortured and they must be impeached and prosecuted for these crimes against humanity.

My fellow human beings, it is time to come to terms with this fact: market ideology is directly responsible for many of the problems we face as a world today. That is why now, more than ever, we need to vote our conscience! Vote for the candidates who are interested in the well being of all humankind, not just the property owning enterprise class. We need to vote for a sustainable future for our children. The Socialist Party does what Democrats don’t and Republicans won’t. We Need To Vote Socialist!

Democracy is THE Isuue in 2008

1/14/2008

With the primaries and election campaigns dominating the news I feel that the time is ripe for us as a society to critically analyze our system. We pride ourselves for being a democracy and yet we suffer from one of the lowest voter turnout rates of any democracy in the "developed" world. It seems ever more difficult to consider our system a democracy when candidates are required to raise millions of private dollars just to gain access to the mainstream media. How democratic is our system when the corporately owned networks, like NBC and Fox, can decide which candidates will and will not be invited to television debates? Keep in mind that these are our publicly owned airwaves and merely licensed to private companies so long as they provide public service.

I would strongly urge citizens who respect democracy to demand free and fair access to the airwaves for all candidates. Not just in the primaries, but also for the general elections, where both major parties as well as minor parties and independents will be running. Perhaps a correlation can be drawn between the political apathy among nearly half of the population who does not vote and the general feeling that the two parties are essentially the same and the election turnout will not effect our daily lives. Common sense leads me to believe that more options can only make democracy stronger by increasing participation. The status quo is and always has been in the interest of those who benefit the most from it.

There is a lot of vague talk about change this year with an incumbent-free presidential election, but I'm not hearing the voices of the candidates that actually plan to change things. Discussion and debate are healthy and indeed an essential part of a democratic system. When the debate is controlled and limited, so too is democracy. The beauty of the American democratic system has been it's ability to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority... but I would strongly argue that modern media has flipped the coin and subjected the vast majority to the tyranny of a very small minority of power-elites. So, in the name of democracy, please consider contacting the FCC, the networks and your congressional representatives to demand equal media access for candidates. It can only expand the discussion of the issues that we are all facing collectively in 2008 and help to heal our wounded democracy.