Introducing Radio Series: “Building a Powerful Left in the United States”

Introducing Radio Series: “Building a Powerful Left in the United States”
January 30, 2011

by buildingapowerfulleft


Every afternoon at 4pm (PST) from Monday, January 31st through Friday, February 4th, KPFK Radio will feature a special series focusing on the questions: How can a powerful left-wing political movement take shape in the United States? What policies and programs would such a “left” promote? How would it articulate and spread its message, so that it gains a critical mass of support across the U S population?

Informing this series is the sense that three years into the gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the vast majority of Americans have no significant political movement that truly represents their interests.

The idea of the “left,” going back to the inception of term during the French Revolution, is that of a movement, or political force, that operates in the interest of the general population, as opposed to the “right,” which supports the cause of society’s elites. In the contemporary United States, this would mean standing up for middle class, working class and poor households (which represent 95% of all people) vs. interests that represent the wealthy plus powerful private institutions (primarily corporations). It certainly sounds like a winning formula in a democracy, and yet a meaningful left in the U S – one that truly exerts a positive, impactful political force – is virtually non-existent.

The people of the United States – and the world, due to the central geopolitical and economic role of the USA and the global nature of the economic crisis – desperately need such a movement to advocate on their behalf.

So, how do we build one?

This question will be addressed all next week at 4pm (PST) on KPFK. Tune in at 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara, 94.7 in San Diego, and online worldwide at KPFK.ORG. Shows will also be archived on this website.


http://buildingapowerfulleft.org/2011/01/30/hello-world/

:kick:

Because we are ignored by the corporate press. Remember how hard moveon worked? They had more followers than the small tea party but all the tea party had to do was blink and the press showed up. Some press even promoted their functions. The left has to work ten times as hard because the left with power is dangerous to the corrupt powers.

Play: http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/m3u.php?mp3fil=32034
Download mp3: http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/mp3/kpfk_110131_160030special.MP3
Podcast: http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/xml/special.xml
The podcast seems to include some previous kpfk specials.