Social Change and My Community by John Franz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf Anti-capitalism is salvation en-us 2023-06-27 18:02:16 UTC 2023-08-16 17:23:40 UTC hello@padlet.com Union Songs johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633677432 Growing up in a union family, songs of protest were always at hand. We listened to this often, especially during political campaign years and union contract negotiations.]]> 2023-06-27 19:04:05 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633677432 Douglas Aircraft Strike 1951 johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633691136 My father's first strike against Douglas Aircraft in 1951.,]]> 2023-06-27 19:36:34 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633691136 The Beginning of the Slide johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633697889 The beginning of the end of the labor movement in the United States. The beginning of the slide into oligarchy that we are now confronted with.]]> 2023-06-27 19:50:53 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633697889 Memories: Occupy Wall Street johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633709616 I thought this was it; the beginning of the end of this capitalist hell-scape we are enduring. But, alas, the powers that be crushed it, like they do the dreams of anyone who dares stand against them.]]> 2023-06-27 20:21:22 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633709616 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA circa 1955 johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633727073 The Long Beach I was born into. The never quenched thirst for profits could be seen in every direction.]]> 2023-06-27 21:11:45 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633727073 Capitalism = Death johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633728299 Capitalism is synonymous with greed and it is killing us. ]]> 2023-06-27 21:15:59 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633728299 Smog - Los Angeles, CA circa 1960 johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633730495 The cars that needed the gas that came from the wells of greed caused this, daily in my youth.]]> 2023-06-27 21:21:27 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633730495 FDR & Hope for the People johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633732492 My parents were both adults during the Great Depression. They understood that unfettered capitalism was evil and that the ideals of the New Deal could be the salvation for the working class and poor.]]> 2023-06-27 21:26:37 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633732492 My People! johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633741436 2023-06-27 21:55:49 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633741436 When the Masses Unite johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633752487 2023-06-27 22:31:45 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633752487 Protest Songs johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633765387 True then. Truer now. The music of my youth. The Beatles were the popular sound, but songs of protest filled my head and heart, I was not alone.]]> 2023-06-27 23:13:49 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2633765387 The Summer of 2020 johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2635281837 One of the costs of capitalism is the systemic racism baked in. It can be seen in the opportunities afforded BIPOC communities, and the overwhelming use of force by the State to keep them hanging on to the bottom rung of the ladder.]]> 2023-06-29 16:39:38 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2635281837 Why? johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2635286237 The one constant among my friends and compatriots over the decades is a deep-seeded resentment toward capitalism. For me, it all changed in the 80s with the election of Ronald Reagan and the shift towards oligarchy (Trickle-down economics). What my father achieved with a middle-class income was becoming impossible. The more time passed, the worse it got. Too many of my generation sold out to the promises of the "Greed is good" philosophy.
People who had been friends for years found new friends who better fit their new socio-economic status and newfound conservatism. As time passed, my community became my coworkers, those who shared my economic class and political views. My community spoke of the struggles to survive. We chose not to chase the money, but to chase living, a fatal mistake in a society ruled by the almighty dollar. Through the years, many more have joined in calling for the failure of this evil system. We know there is a better way. We have screamed together in outrage and cried as one at the many injustices we see on a daily basis. We have taken to the streets and voted. We have attempted to fulfill our responsibilities as citizens. 
My community believes another world is possible. We strive to make it so.





]]> 2023-06-29 16:50:20 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2635286237 Greed is Good. The Philosophy of Trickle-down johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2635287690 The shift in focus changed with the election of Ronald Reagan. This clip sums it up perfectly.]]> 2023-06-29 16:53:04 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2635287690 How inequality looks... johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2653712904 Perhaps the most famous photograph of the ravages of inequality, duplicated around the world in capitalist societies.]]> 2023-07-31 18:47:00 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2653712904 Battle of Seattle 1999 johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2661952746 One of the dominant traits of capitalism is the idea that the wealthy own the planet and the people to do with as they please. Exemplified by the World Trade Organization.]]> 2023-08-15 02:08:01 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2661952746 Perhaps a donut is in order... johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2661956069 If there is to be a new path, perhaps one that puts emphasis on the health of the planet and its beings is in order.]]> 2023-08-15 02:13:36 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2661956069 Glen Canyon Dam and the Crack johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2661963696 “Lake Powell: storage pond, silt trap, evaporation tank and garbage dispose-all, a 180-mile-long incipient sewage lagoon.”
- Edward Abbey - The Monkey Wrench Gang  ]]> 2023-08-15 02:21:58 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2661963696 Victories! johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2661969615 Years of in-your-face protests against Pacific Lumber led to the preservation of 10,000 acres of redwood forest along the Northern California coast, including the rarest of the rare: thousands of acres of a primordial habitat known as the Headwaters Forest. Onward!]]> 2023-08-15 02:29:22 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2661969615 Anti-capitalism and the environment johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662588660 My community understands that capitalism equals death. The narcissistic, sociopathic engine that fuels it has no compassion or empathy for any of the living beings that occupy our planet. My community understands that the only way to deal with this system is to forcefully, non-violently stand against. My community understands that extreme measures must be taken to stop the destruction of our natural resources. ]]> 2023-08-15 16:53:04 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662588660 The Enduring Power of Anti-capitalism in American Politics johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662593626 My community has a long history in the United States, a history in search of the ideal where people and planet are put above the eternal grift that fuels the current system we are forced to live under. There is hope. There is a way. My community understands this and is ready for the next chapter in history.]]> 2023-08-15 16:58:45 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662593626 Ant-capitalism and religion johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662603011 My community understands one thing, as Karl Marx concluded, "that the bourgeois state is the full dialectical realization of the ‘Christian state’." My community understands that white Christian nationalism combined with capitalism leads to an uninhabitable world for all but the "chosen." My community understands that government, if it exists at all, must be truly secular, atheistic if you will, and depend on facts and science for answers. My community is not faithless, but rather spiritual to the extreme, accepting that everything in the universe is connected, valuable, and worthy of love.]]> 2023-08-15 17:11:35 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662603011 My Book of Life Lessons johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662616721 “In clear-cutting, he said, you clear away the natural forest, or what the industrial forester calls "weed trees," and plant all one species of tree in neat straight functional rows like corn, sorghum, sugar beets or any other practical farm crop. You then dump on chemical fertilizers to replace the washed-away humus, inject the seedlings with growth-forcing hormones, surround your plot with deer repellants and raise a uniform crop of trees, all identical. When the trees reach a certain prespecified height (not maturity; that takes too long) you send in a fleet of tree-harvesting machines and cut the fuckers down. All of them. Then burn the slash, and harrow, seed, fertilize all over again, round and round and round again, faster and faster, tighter and tighter until, like the fabled Malaysian Concentric Bird which flies in ever-smaller circles, you disappear up your own asshole.”
― Edward Abbey, The Monkey Wrench Gang]]> 2023-08-15 17:27:12 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662616721 Social Location and Capitalism johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662652172 It is clear through evidence that those of us at the bottom of the income ladder and the BIPOC community are most adversely effected by the never ending march for profits. A system with profit as the goal can never meet the needs of all the people, but rather hoards the wealth and benefits that come with it. One need only imagine what the U.S. might look like if that wealth was redistributed in an equitable way, if reparations were paid to the descendants of slaves and the indigenous tribes whose land and children were stolen by white greed. A world where everyone had their basic needs taken care of: food, shelter, healthcare, education, et al. A world that put the emphasis on living rather than earning. A world that understood that the experience of life itself, and the lessons learned, are the most important experiences we can have as humans. ]]> 2023-08-15 18:06:45 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662652172 My political community johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662657714 Solidarity is strongest when like-minded people come together in common cause to battle the evils of society. DSA has helped Democratic Socialists get elected around the country, at all levels of government. DSA is helping to educate communities about the evils of capitalism and the benefits of a new way. Join us!]]> 2023-08-15 18:14:11 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662657714 What are their names? johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662672032 I wonder who they are
The men who really run this land
And I wonder why they run it
With such a thoughtless hand
What are their names and on what streets do they live?
I'd like to ride right over this afternoon and give
Them a piece of my mind about peace for mankind
Peace is not an awful lot to ask]]> 2023-08-15 18:33:10 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2662672032 Works Cited johnfranz https://padlet.com/johnfranz/3oo31g0n3ttd3xpf/wish/2663037995 Anon. 2018. “Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) - Workings towards a Better Future for All.” Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Retrieved (https://www.dsausa.org/).

Boer, Roland. 2018. “Religion and Capitalism.” Www.culturematters.org.uk. Retrieved (https://www.culturematters.org.uk/index.php/culture/religion/item/2738-religion-and-capitalism).

Booth, William. 1999. “Washingtonpost.com: California, U.S. Buy Ancient Redwoods.” Www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved August 16, 2023 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/march99/headwaters3.htm).

Bouie, Jamelle. 2019. “Opinion | the Enduring Power of Anticapitalism in American Politics (Published 2019).” New York Times, October 22.

CrashCourse. 2013. “The New Deal: Crash Course US History #34.” YouTube.

History.com Editors. 2019. “Reagan Fires 11,359 Air-Traffic Controllers.” HISTORY. Retrieved (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/reagan-fires-11359-air-traffic-controllers).

McLeod, Christopher, Glenn Switkes, and Randy Hayes. 2017. “The Cracking of Glen Canyon Damn with Edward Abbey and Earth First! (1982).” Sacred Land. Retrieved (https://sacredland.org/the-cracking-of-glen-canyon-damn-with-edward-abbey-and-earth-first/).

Our Changing Planet. 2021. “Why Capitalism Is Killing Us (and the Planet).” Www.youtube.com. Retrieved (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qxP2TzYcNw).

TEDx Talks. 2014. “Why It’s Time for ‘Doughnut Economics’ | Kate Raworth | TEDxAthens.” YouTube.

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