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Understanding the Imperialist System Changed My Life - Gar Alperovitz on TRNN (part 2 added)
Last edited Fri Jan 24, 2014, 08:00 PM - Edit history (1)
Mr. Alperovitz tells TRNN Senior Editor Paul Jay, that the Vietnam War made it clear there was no way to a more rational capitalism and there had to be fundamental change - January 23, 2014
Transcript over at TRNN.
JAY: And did you have some hope that some real reform was possible from the inside?
ALPEROVITZ: At that moment, the 89th Congress, the House had changed 76 votes because of Goldwater, and the Senate was very pro-Democrat. You could pass--he passed Medicare, he passed Medicaid. You could pass progressive legislation, water bills. It was an amazing moment. And for a moment I thought that was possible. And, of course, after the next election it disintegrated. We went back to the norm. But at that particular moment it--and that's a very odd two years in the U.S. Senate. And I happened to be running a legislative shop. And we could pass all kinds of legislation at that point, including legislation to set up community ownership and to pass--we did a bill in those days, 33 senators, including half liberal Republicans, to set up community-owned industry. And they put it in--it's actually, if you look carefully, it's in the party platforms of both parties, 'cause we wrote it into the platforms. And that all went away after the election of nineteen sixty--ninety-six. And then, of course, the Vietnam War took it all back to what was the norm. So there was a brief moment, but it was an aberration, and I realized it was an aberration.
ALPEROVITZ: At that moment, the 89th Congress, the House had changed 76 votes because of Goldwater, and the Senate was very pro-Democrat. You could pass--he passed Medicare, he passed Medicaid. You could pass progressive legislation, water bills. It was an amazing moment. And for a moment I thought that was possible. And, of course, after the next election it disintegrated. We went back to the norm. But at that particular moment it--and that's a very odd two years in the U.S. Senate. And I happened to be running a legislative shop. And we could pass all kinds of legislation at that point, including legislation to set up community ownership and to pass--we did a bill in those days, 33 senators, including half liberal Republicans, to set up community-owned industry. And they put it in--it's actually, if you look carefully, it's in the party platforms of both parties, 'cause we wrote it into the platforms. And that all went away after the election of nineteen sixty--ninety-six. And then, of course, the Vietnam War took it all back to what was the norm. So there was a brief moment, but it was an aberration, and I realized it was an aberration.
4 replies
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http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11380
Will send you a PM when more segments air - if my old brain tags along.
I check TRNN every day, so I won't miss it. Hadn't really heard of him, except once in a joint speech about cooperatives, together with Richard Wolff. Didn't know of that book, so thanks for the pointer.
Will send you a PM when more segments air - if my old brain tags along.
I check TRNN every day, so I won't miss it. Hadn't really heard of him, except once in a joint speech about cooperatives, together with Richard Wolff. Didn't know of that book, so thanks for the pointer.