Discussion Club

Discussion Club

• First Meeting: SP-USA Discussion Group- "AN END AND NEW BEGINNINGS" - SP-USA Discussion Group - Meeting 1 Hi all! Here is the info on the first meeting of the discussion group. If you have any problems finding the materials please email or ring me (718 869-2279). The meeting is scheduled for the SP office on Tuesday 23 Oct. at 7:00p. See you then.
  Peace,
  Billy
  

  AN END AND NEW BEGINNINGS

  • Howard Zinn, “Beyond the Soviet Union,”
    www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/1999-09/2zinn.htm
  • Bertell Ollman, “America Beyond Capitalism: A Socialist Stew Prepared for Liberals and Conservatives,”
    www.nyu.edu/projects/ollman/docs/america_beyond_capitalism.php
  • SP-NYC Discussion Club-
    
    
    Second Meeting of the 2007 Discussion Club
    • Free,
    • Open to the public,
    • no pushy newspaper selling!
    The first meeting of the SP-USA (NYC) Discussion Group was held last week. We had a very broad discussion which included topics such as anarchism in the Spanish Civil War, the French Revolution and the labor theory of value. One highlight was the introduction of lupini beans to the group discussion (by me). Although these were rejected by the majority of participants, I still hold firm that they will be an important snack in any democratic socialist society. For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupin_beans So, our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 6 November at 7pm in the SP office. The topic for the meeting is an introduction to the concepts of dialectics and historial materialism. The selected readings are perhaps the most challenging of the list as we will examine the analytical tool known as dialectics. This method of conceiving the world has offered many generations of Socialists a way to link theory and action. Activists get the chance to utilize high theory to make smarter more effective campaigns and intellectuals face the challenge of transforming abstractions into concrete strategies for liberation. So, once again please brings ideas, criticisms and questions. Also some food (vegan friendly is popular) and/or drink to share. Details...

    INTRODUCTION TO DIALECTICAL THOUGHT Bertell Ollman, “The Meaning of Dialectics,” in Dance of the Dialectic

    www.nyu.edu/projects/ollman/docs/dd_ch01.php
  • SP Discussion Club - Meeting 3 - Class and Consciousness-
    
    

    Comrades, The next meeting of the SP Discussion Club will be held this Tuesday night 13 November at 7:00p in the SP office. All these details are also posted on the Local's website: http://spnyc. org The readings for this week will include some classic writings on class and the role of consciousness. This will be our last scheduled week of readings in method. Subsequent meetings will focus on particular themes and topics. So, once again please brings ideas, criticisms and questions. Also some food (vegan friendly is popular) and/or drink to share. Details...

    CLASS AND CONSCIOUSNESS

    Karl Marx, Preface to the Critique of Political Economy
  • Discussion Group Meeting 4 - Tues. 4 December 7:00p-
    
    "We Educate Ourselves!"

    Discussion Group Meeting 4 - Tues. 4 December 7:00p Next Discussion Group

    STRATEGY I - Reform or Revolution?

    Rosa Luxembourg, Reform or Revolution? http://www.marxists.org/... Tuesday 4 December 7:00pm
    339 Lafayette Street (between Bleecker & Bond), Manhattan, NYC.
    Hit buzzer #7 and come up to the SP office on the 3rd Floor.
    (Note, we're up a couple of flights of stairs.)
    DIRECTIONS: Take 6 train to Bleecker Street or F/V train to Broadway/ Lafayette. (Manhattan)
  • Discussion Group Meeting 5 - Tues. 18 Dec-
    
    "We Educate Ourselves!"

    Discussion Group Meeting 5 - Tues. 18 December 7:00p Next Discussion Group

    STRATEGY II – The Party

    • Ernest Mandel, The Dictatorship of the Proletariat and Socialist Democracy
      
    • Antonio Gramsci, The Modern Prince, selections
      Selected Notes
      1. Brief Notes on Machiavelli's Politics
      2. Machiavelli & Marx
      3. Politics as an Autonomous Science
      4. Elements of Politics
      5. The Political Party Skip ahead to
      6. Analysis of Situations. Relations of Force.
      7. On Bureacracy - Read note 66(marxists.org version), note 83(Hoare and Smith Version) Skip ahead to
      8. Spontaneity and Conscious Leadership
      Skip remaining notes
    • DemSoc Discussion Group - Animal Rights- Topic: Animal Rights: A Multimedia Approach Earthlings (Movie) http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=GhxKnys7Ryw A Vision of Hell : The Torment of Other Species, Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone (Radio Program) http://www.takingai m.info/ Reference # 030701 & 030708 (about 2/3 of the way down the page) Why Vegan? The basics about veganism, speciesism, and animal rights (By Vegan Outreach) http://www.veganout reach.org/ whyvegan/ Saturday, March 8, 2008, 3:00 pm 339 Lafayette Street (between Bleecker & Bond), Manhattan, NYC. Hit buzzer #11; come up to the A. J. Muste Institute on the 3rd Floor. (No elevator, sorry.) DIRECTIONS: Take 6 train to Bleecker Street or F/V train to Broadway / Lafayette. This is a discussion group connected to the Socialist Party USA (NYC Local). The group is dedicated to the exchange of ideas, the
    • Discussion group meeting this Sunday, March 30th- Friends, The next meeting of the Dem-Soc discussion group will be held on Sunday March 30th @ 3:00pm in the A. J. Muste Institute (339 Lafayette St. buzzer #11). We will examine a short but influential section of Karl Marx's Capital (Vol. 1) entitled "The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof." At this meeting we can also discuss Jesse's proposal for establishing a set meeting time every month and develop a reading list. "The Fetishism of Commodities" raises important questions regarding the relationship between acts of production and consumption in a capitalist economy. Are these separate and distinct acts? Can distinct political strategies be developed to address both? Should socialists attempt to bridge the gap between the two? What tools would be most useful - culture, political economy...?
    • Discussion group meeting April 20th- The next meeting of the Dem-Soc Discussion group will be held on Sunday April 20th at 3:00pm in the A.J. Muste Institute (339 Lafayette Street, Buzzer #11). This months topic is Politics, Literature, & Proletariat Art. The links to the readings are as follows Leon Trotsky: The Social Roots and The Social Function of Literature George Orwell: Politics and the English Language Mike Gold: Excerpt from Jews Without Money
    • Dem-Soc Discussion Group-Politics, Literautre, & Proletariat Art- The next meeting of the Dem-Soc Discussion group will be held on Sunday April 20th at 3:00pm in the A.J. Muste Institute (339 Lafayette Street, Buzzer #11). This months topic is Politics, Literature, & Proletariat Art. The links to the readings are as follows Leon Trotsky: The Social Roots and The Social Function of Literature George Orwell: Politics and the English Language Mike Gold: Excerpt from Jews Without Money
    • Discussion Group- Activist Training for Single-Payer Healthcare Sunday May 4th 3:00pm – 339 Lafayette St. Buzzer #11 A. J. Muste Institute For one day the SP Discussion group will be converted into an activist training session. After reading, conversation and presentations participants will be able to conduct effective activist work around issues related to the campaign for national healthcare in the United States. Readings: “Universal Access to Healthcare,” Harvard Law Review, vol. 108, no. 6, Apr. 1995. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/democraticsocialistdiscussion/files/Healthcare/ Devi, Sridhar, “Inequality in the United States Healthcare System,” United Nations Human Development Report, 2005. http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2005/papers/hdr2005_sridhar_devi_36.pdf H. R. 676 Bill for Single-Payer Healthcare
    • Discussion Group- Anarchist Elements of a Socialist Economy? Sunday May 18th 3:00p - 339 Lafayette St. Buzzer #11 A. J. Muste Institute What can socialists learn about workers self-management, communal organization and grassroots democracy from anarchist theory? Join the SP Discussion Group for an investigation of the new proposals offered by Michael Albert in his book and website ParEcon. We will also investigate selected documents relating to the self-managed factories (fabricas sin patron) in Argentina. Readings: ParEcon – Michael Albert http://www.zmag.org/parecon/indexnew.htm Sin Patron (selections to come) http://www.haymarketbooks.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=Haymarket&Product_Code=L

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