Growing support for system change has not yet been matched by a serious public dialogue about what an alternative might look like. A new Pew poll published 12/28/2011 indicated that people who are under 30 or black are more likely to favor socialism than capitalism, but this does not correspond to clear ideas of what socialism is or how a socialist economic and political system would work. We offer up this FAQ as a contribution to the discussion.

In the last week the ruling elite have mobilized their police forces in an attempt to smash the Occupy movement, which they correctly see as a threat to their rule. Democratic and Republican Party mayors and city councilors have sent out their police to obediently do the dirty work. But tearing down tents and arresting protestors will ultimately fail to repress a movement that has broad support. They may evict some occupiers in this or that city, but they cannot contain the deep anger in US society forever.

Police violence has been used around the world and throughout history to keep oppressed people fearful and subservient. From the revolution that swept northern Africa last spring, to the Civil Rights Movement to the current Occupy Wall Street movement, protesters have had to face intimidation tactics. Protesters were killed in Egypt, but they were still able to overthrow the dictator.

Terms like “class” and “class war” are usually deliberately avoided in the mainstream corporate media. When “class” is mentioned, it is mentioned negatively – as a term that only crazy ideologues or Marxists use. There is a good reason for this: The ruling elite don’t want working people to see the massive division in wealth between the 1% and the rest of us. They especially don’t want us drawing the political conclusion that working people, the poor and young people have common interests that are opposed to those of the richest 1%.

As the 99% begin to find their own independent voice, the question about what policies we should support to break the power of Wall Street will be discussed more. Socialists argue that we need to take the biggest banks into public ownership and run them democratically by workers and the general public.

Across the country and around the world, General Assemblies (GA) are a defining feature of the occupations. Their specific character and internal processes vary widely, but everywhere most Occupy activists consider GA’s more than simply decision-making bodies for the immediate protests. They are also viewed as a radical experiment in participatory, bottom-up democracy.

This past Saturday, hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters were corralled, entrapped and arrested by the New York Police Department. Meanwhile, young people in dozens of cities around the country discussed - or started - occupations of their own. While the occupations are small, there is widespread sympathy among workers, reflected in recent endorsements by pilots, transit workers, steel workers and even a group of off-duty Marines.

“The roots of economic injustice are in the system rather than in men or faulty operations.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Most liberal political theorists today rightly complain about deregulation, outsourcing, corporate tax loopholes and the rest, but they have a shallow analysis that leads them to a position of simply imploring the ruling class to change rather than understanding why they are incapable of doing so. They fail to recognize that capitalism was only able to provide the reforms it did in an era when U.S. economic dominance was completely assured.

Nouriel Roubini, who almost alone among mainstream economists had predicted the 2008 financial meltdown, warned that if things stayed in their current course, the perspective is "like in the 1930s - unending stagnation, depression, currency and trade wars, capital controls, financial crisis, sovereign insolvencies, and massive social and political instability."

The dictatorship in China is barely able to keep a lid on unrest. In fear of the masses they have significantly beefed up the state security apparatus in recent years. The revolutionary example of the Middle East terrifies them. The Communist Party’s 80 million members give a certain base but it is not a homogenous organisation. Many recent recruits include students and businessmen, and at every level of the party, members are engaged in private business. Even at the highest level of the leadership there are divisions on which road China should travel down.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the 44-day GM sit-down strike. This organized the largest automaker in the world and established the United Auto Workers (UAW) as one of the most powerful unions in the U.S. The impressive gains they won in the 1930s led auto jobs to be seen as the symbol of good union jobs with high wages and solid benefits.

This article is a response to the review of the Forum posted on the Socialist Workers Party website on the June 27th entitled "After the United Left Alliance forum."

Serious capitalist representatives and Marxists often have shared analyses of events. Where they differ is in the diametrically opposed class conclusions that they draw from these. This important book on China illustrates this well. The authors have the advantage of having lived and worked in China over decades at the very heart of the financial and capitalist sector of the economy. They are passionate and strong advocates of the proposition that the only viable system for China is the creation of a full capitalist economy and society.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011 is a date that will live in infamy. The Wisconsin State Supreme Court handed Governor Walker and his corporate backers a historic victory. Legal challenges to the way the anti-union “Budget Repair Bill” was passed - based on a violation of the “Open Meetings Law” requiring 24 hours notice for voting on legislation - were defeated by a 4-3 vote.