Marxist ideology is one of the most potent weapons the working and oppressed classes have, a weapon that our class can and has used to not only win reforms but to build revolutionary societies where the people, and not profits, are in control. As the PSL identified at our 3rd Party Congress in 2016, one of our primary tasks is to mend the “break in ideological continuity” that emerged after the overthrow of the Soviet Union by reestablishing “the theory of revolutionary Marxism and the entire vision of workers’ power” as a dominant guiding pole in people’s struggles [1].
To correct for the ideological break, it’s helpful to have a concrete understanding of ideology and the different forms it takes. Although the word ideology is used frequently, it’s commonly used in a pejorative sense to refer to something that’s not factual, that’s unscientific, or that’s devoid of substance. It’s also used by those hostile to socialism to present a distorted view of Marxism. What exactly is ideology? What is the difference between bourgeois and Marxist ideology? What significance does this have for organizing today?
To address these questions and help repair the break in the ideological continuity of revolutionary socialism in U.S. social movements, this article outlines Marx’s understanding of ideology. It traces his historical-materialist approach to investigating the relationship between ideas, material reality, and modes of production through several of his works. This allows us to take in the theory’s nuances about life and consciousness, as well as to draw out examples that are still relevant and applicable today. In particular, we focus on the theory of commodity fetishism and the function of the wage in producing the bourgeois ideological conception of the atomized individual. Proposing a move from “true/false” to “correct/incorrect,” the end of the article returns to the importance of popularizing and promoting Marxist ideology to understand and transform the world today, as revolutionaries have done throughout the socialist struggle to break the chains of exploitation and oppression.

Read the full article:
www.liberationschool.org/what-is-ideology

What is ideology? An introduction to the Marxist theory of ideology

As the Biden administration continues to seek the extradition of Julian Assange, new details have emerged about the Trump administration's secret war against Assange and his organization, Wikileaks. Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News discusses his team's explosive reporting on the CIA plot to surveil, kidnap, and even kill Assange -- all overseen by Michael Pompeo. 

Isikoff and Aaron Maté also debate Russia's role in the Assange controversy, particularly the allegation that Russia stole Democratic Party emails in 2016 and gave them to Wikileaks.

Guest: Michael Isikoff, chief investigative correspondent for Yahoo News. 

"Kidnapping, assassination and a London shoot-out: Inside the CIA's secret war plans against WikiLeaks."
https://news.yahoo.com/kidnapping-assassination-and-a-london-shoot-out-inside-the-ci-as-secret-war-plans-against-wiki-leaks-090057786.html

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Inside the CIA plot to kidnap, kill Julian Assange

In this September 2021 patrons-only seminar, Brian and the crew discuss the how socialism can be achieved in the United States and how  revolutions happen, how to organize against imperialist war including from within the ranks of the military, and the internal contradictions of the U.S. government that are preventing Congress from addressing the dire needs of the people. Check out the preview now and subscribe at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to hear the rest!

Brian Becker Seminar #9: Socialism is Possible in the US, Resisting Imperialism, & More (Preview)

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss Indigenous People's Day and the  true history of colonization and how healthcare industry capitalists are seeking to sabotage measures that would cut into their profits as they continue their war on the poor, the elderly and the sick. They also discuss how the far right has set its sights on education, pushing for bans on the teaching of the history of racism in America and on COVID safety precautions in its latest efforts to stir up baseless controversy, the death of war  criminal General Ray Odierno, protests against the Line 3 pipeline, and new CIA efforts to target China.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

This is War Against the Elderly and the Poor: What's Going on in Congress Fight

On today's episode Prof. Richard Wolff joins the show to discuss major developments in the labor movement as workers grow increasingly assertive of their rights. Members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees voted almost unanimously to authorize a strike that would shut down Hollywood, Kellogg’s factory workers are on strike, and workers at Nabisco recently wrapped up a successful strike action. Will this trend continue?

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can check out his work at rdwolff.com.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

Labor Movement Surge: Workers Unite Against Inequality

Abby Martin talks to Alan MacLeod of MintPress News about how the Pentagon has written and edited scripts for hundreds of movies and TV shows over the last 20 years.

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How The Pentagon Runs Hollywood

(Patreon-only Rose McGowan interview here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/rose-mcgowan-57953217)
Labor journalists Alex Press (https://twitter.com/alexnpress) & Jonah Furman (https://twitter.com/JonahFurman) discuss the labor movement, strikes, John Deere and what it has to do with Alec Baldwin's deadly shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Alex Press is a writer and editor at Jacobin Magazine, whose latest article is "Halyna Hutchins’s Death on the Set of Rust Was 'Not a Freak Accident'."Jonah Furman is a labor movement organizer and writer for Labor Notes (https://twitter.com/labornotes), the media and organizing project that since 1979 has amplified the voice of workers and labor militants. He is also a frequent contributor to The Intercept.

Alec Baldwin Shooting 'NOT a Freak Accident' With Alex Press & Jonah Furman

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss the Glasgow climate summit and  Biden's capitulation to the right wing on his social program budget. The Glasgow summit is underway, and yet again the U.S. government has failed to meet the challenge -- coming up with only the woefully inadequate measures contained in Biden’s social spending “framework” agreement.

The following articles are referenced in this episode:

The Laughing Stock of the World: Why the world pities us and fears us
https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/the-laughing-stock-of-the-world

Warnings of violence before Jan. 6 precipitated the Capitol riot
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/warnings-jan-6-insurrection/

The Demand for Money Behind Many Police Traffic Stops
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/us/police-ticket-quotas-money-funding.html

Why Many Police Traffic Stops Turn Deadly
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/us/police-traffic-stops-killings.html

Before the Final Frame: When Police Missteps Create Danger
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/10/30/video/police-traffic-stops-danger-video.html

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

Capitalism Fiddles While the Planet Burns

Since 1959, the Cuban Revolution has been a main target of the CIA and the entire U.S. government. Before the Revolution, Cuba was a de facto colony or semi-colony of the United States. Today, efforts to carry out counter-revolution are intensifying. Cuba is in the crosshairs -- what’s at stake? Listen to our inaugural episode as part of BreakThrough News!

Brian is joined by Manolo De Los Santos, Founder & Co-Director of The People’s Forum and a researcher with the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

Cuba in the Crosshairs of Imperialism -- What’s at Stake?

In the suffering of the Global South, the brutality of capitalism lies bare. In a footnote toward the end of Capital, Marx wrote that the colonized subject reveals “what the bourgeois makes of itself and of the labourer, wherever it can, without restraint, model the world after its own image”. The forms of primary accumulation he articulates there were in their most naked form in the colonies. Contrary to liberal and academic misreadings, Marx paid great attention to the relationship between colonialism and capitalism. Marx came to argue that colonialism was the backbone of capitalism, and that anti-colonial movements could even be the key to global capitalism’s overthrow. This is why anti-colonial struggles have long been guided to victory by Marxist theory.

Read the full article here: https://liberationschool.org/09-what-is-imperialism-html/

What is imperialism? An introduction

The US Navy has poisoned the largest water supply in O'ahu, Hawaii. Nobody knows how long residents have been drinking toxic water, how big the chemical leak is, or how many it will impact. But instead of urgent action to save lives, the Navy is engaging in a cover up. 

For more details on this case listen to our hour-long podcast on this #RedHill disaster here or any streaming platform: https://soundcloud.com/empire-files/redhill

Support our work covering US military pollution at https://earthsgreatestenemy.com

#SHUTDOWNREDHILL

Hawaii Emergency: Navy Poisons Drinking Water

News and views about the world for those who want to change it, with Brian Becker

Cuba in the Crosshairs of Imperialism -- What’s at Stake?

The Socialist Program with Brian Becker

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