Some additions.
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@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Police are the armed enforcers of the owning / capitalist class, in the US havin
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Instead of solving thefts of personal property for working class people, they are themselves active thieves, generating over [$12B USD / year in "civil forfeiture"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States), and even more profit through traffic offenses and court costs. You can call them to come stand around and scratch their heads for an hour (if they don't decide to shoot you), but more likely they'll be at a protest being active agents of the [US police state](https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/us_atrocities.md#pervasive)([pic](https://i.imgur.com/KRbulxR.jpg)), where they collect a massive amount of data on "troublemakers" using [facial recognition](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/how-facial-recognition-became-routine-policing-tool-america-n1004251), and [military grade equipment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarization_of_police), ([pic](https://i.imgur.com/9wj0OG4.jpg)) against the citizens they occupy.
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Oh but who will imprison the rapists? Not the police: Less than [0.5% of rapists are in prison](https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system), despite [1 out of every 5 women being raped in the US](https://www.nsvrc.org/about-sexual-assault). Perpetrators of sexual violence are *less likely* to go to prison than for any other crime, such as non-violent drug offenses. Police, when not [abducting and raping women themselves](https://twitter.com/rontkim/status/1130889246162804737), [or beating their wives and kids in high numbers](https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/09/police-officers-who-hit-their-wives-or-girlfriends/380329/), have been shown to [protect high-status sex traffic rings](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/26/jimmy-savile-given-free-rein-to-sexually-abuse-60-people-report-finds), and famous, well-connected predators.
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Oh but who will imprison the rapists? Not the police: Less than [0.5% of rapists are in prison](https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system), despite [1 out of every 5 women being raped in the US](https://www.nsvrc.org/about-sexual-assault). Perpetrators of sexual violence are *less likely* to go to prison than for any other crime, such as non-violent drug offenses. Police, when not [abducting and raping women themselves](https://twitter.com/rontkim/status/1130889246162804737)(over [1200 formally charged incidents over a 9 year period, many of them during traffic stops](https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/19/us/police-sexual-assaults-maryland-scope/index.html)), [or beating their wives and kids in high numbers](https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/09/police-officers-who-hit-their-wives-or-girlfriends/380329/), have been shown to [protect high-status sex traffic rings](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/26/jimmy-savile-given-free-rein-to-sexually-abuse-60-people-report-finds), and famous, well-connected predators.
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[Cops have a long history of murdering workers organizing for better conditions. ](https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/us_atrocities.md#workers-and-the-poor) They imprison the poor in [huge numbers](https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/us_atrocities.md#prisoners), [1 out of every 5 black men](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs), and 1 / 7 Latino men are kidnapped at some point and thrown in a cage, mostly for nonviolent drug-related offenses. [Cops kill over 1000 ppl a year in the US.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/police-shootings-2019/)
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@ -3,30 +3,35 @@
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Lets unpack the idea that "Capitalism works". In the US, the most developed Capitalist country, the richest country in the history of the world:
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- [1 out of every 7 US citizens needs to visit food banks to survive](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/17/hunger-study-food/14195585/), despite having enough food to feed [10 billion people.](https://www.oxfam.ca/there-enough-food-feed-world) Half of all food produced is [thrown away by retailers.](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/13/us-food-waste-ugly-fruit-vegetables-perfect) [Food waste in 2018 enough to feed world's hungry 4 times over.](https://reliefweb.int/report/world/food-waste-enough-feed-world-s-hungry-four-times-over)
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- [UNICEF](http://www.unicef.org/sowc06/pdfs/sowc06_chap1.pdf), [RESULTS](https://web.archive.org/web/20080527011602/http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=241), and [Bread for the World](http://www.bread.org/hunger/global/facts.html) estimate that **15 million** people die **each year** from preventable poverty, of whom 11 million are **children under the age of five**. [2](http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/08/crimes-against-humanity-01-poverty-murder-over-400-million-people-since-1995-more-than-all-wars-in-recorded-history.html).
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- [UNICEF](http://www.unicef.org/sowc06/pdfs/sowc06_chap1.pdf), [RESULTS](https://web.archive.org/web/20080527011602/http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=241), and [Bread for the World](http://www.bread.org/hunger/global/facts.html) estimate that **15 million** people die **each year** from preventable poverty, of whom 11 million are **children under the age of five**. [2](http://archive.is/2CvOW).
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- In the US alone, [20-40k deaths every year](http://obamacarefacts.com/facts-on-deaths-due-to-lack-of-health-insurance-in-us/) because of lack of health insurance / care. On average, that's 300k over the last decade.
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- [Empty homes outnumber the homeless by 6 to 1](http://archive.today/2014.05.23-032153/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-skip-bronson/post_733_b_692546.html). Bank foreclosures and housing speculators have left 18.9 million empty homes. [2.5 million **homeless children**, or ~1 / 30](https://www.newsweek.com/child-homelessness-us-reaches-historic-high-report-says-285052). In the UK, [there are 10x more empty houses than homeless families](http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/ampp3d/housing-crisis-10-empty-homes-5008151).
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- Rising Housing prices from real estate speculation have skyrocketed to the point that an epidemic of [hidden homeless](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/los-angeles-hidden-homeless-priced-out-cbsn-originals/) has arisen: families who live in their cars, or on the street, but who still work. In most US cities, such as LA, it's illegal to sleep in your car overnight. 1/3rd of all renters pay half their income towards landlords. Even mid-size cities like Boise Idaho are experiencing a [surge of homelessness as of 2019](https://www.kivitv.com/news/state-of-208/affordable-housing-crisis-leading-to-rise-in-first-time-homelessness-in-boise).
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- [80% of US workers live paycheck to paycheck](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/29/us-economy-workers-paycheck-robert-reich), 40% cannot cover a [$400 emergency.](http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/federal-reserve-more-than-4-out-of-10-americans-do-not-even-have-enough-money-to-cover-an-unexpected-400-expense)
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- [The bottom half of US citizens have a combined negative net worth.](https://www.timesunion.com/technology/businessinsider/article/One-brutal-sentence-captures-what-a-disaster-13882763.php) [Average US household carries ~$140k in debt. Median household income only $60k](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2017/11/18/a-foolish-take-heres-how-much-debt-the-average-us-household-owes/107651700/), [40% of millenials live with their parents.](http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/goodbye-american-dream-the-average-u-s-household-is-137063-in-debt-and-38-4-of-millennials-live-with-their-parents)
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- [The bottom half of US citizens have a combined negative net worth.](https://www.timesunion.com/technology/businessinsider/article/One-brutal-sentence-captures-what-a-disaster-13882763.php) [Average US household carries ~$140k in debt. Median household income only $60k](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2017/11/18/a-foolish-take-heres-how-much-debt-the-average-us-household-owes/107651700/).
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- [40% of millenials live with their parents.](http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/goodbye-american-dream-the-average-u-s-household-is-137063-in-debt-and-38-4-of-millennials-live-with-their-parents) Younger generations, with dwindling opportunities, feeling disposable and unwanted under late capitalism, suffer from a [burnout epidemic](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/millennials-burnout-generation-debt-work). Many have [stopped pursuing romantic relationships](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/20/young-people-japan-stopped-having-sex). [2](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/hikikomori-japan),
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- [~ 1/4th of US workers are trapped in the gig economy as of 2019.](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/02/gig-economy-us-trump-uber-california-robert-reich)
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- [8 men control as much wealth as half the worlds population.](https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/meet-the-8-men-who-control-half-the-worlds-wealth.html) Anyone wanna take a guess at how this game of monopoly ends?
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- [8 men control as much wealth as half the worlds population.](https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/meet-the-8-men-who-control-half-the-worlds-wealth.html). Anyone wanna take a guess at how this game of monopoly ends?
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- [Capitalist monopolies in media, food, energy, and transportation, mostly controlled by ~200 powerful shareholders.](https://imgur.com/a/xgnEp)
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- [Billionaires made enough money in 2017 to end poverty 7 times over.](https://www.newsweek.com/billionaires-money-end-poverty-report-786675)
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- [US Life expectancy peaked in 2015, is on the decline, and is now lower than in China.](https://www.businessinsider.com/china-boasts-that-its-healthy-life-expectancy-beats-the-us-is-correct-2018-5)
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- Suicide rates have leaped more than [33% in the last 20 years.](https://politsturm.com/american-suicide-rate-up-33/) [2](https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/07/health/suicide-report-cdc/index.html), [3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/06/07/u-s-suicide-rates-rise-sharply-across-the-country-new-report-shows/?utm_term=.18c1060e6b2f)
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- [Committed countless atrocities](https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/us_atrocities.md), killing millions directly and indirectly across the globe. Imperialist network of [800 military bases in 70 countries.](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/us-military-bases-around-the-world-119321)
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- [Most prisoners per capita AND by total](https://www.statista.com/statistics/262962/countries-with-the-most-prisoners-per-100-000-inhabitants/). Makes sense, since prison is Capitalism's boarding house. [Runs least 54 agricultural slave labor camps.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_farm#In_the_United_States_.28partial_list.29). [34,000 *undesirables* imprisoned in over 500 immigrant prison
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- [Most prisoners per capita AND by total](https://www.statista.com/statistics/262962/countries-with-the-most-prisoners-per-100-000-inhabitants/). Makes sense, since prison is Capitalism's boarding house.
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- [Runs least 54 agricultural slave labor camps.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_farm#In_the_United_States_.28partial_list.29).
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- [34,000 *undesirables* imprisoned in over 500 immigrant prison
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camps.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement#Detention_centers)
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- [More here.](https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/us_atrocities.md#workers-and-the-poor)
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Capitalist hegemony has short-circuited people into buying wildly illogical and ridiculous propaganda like: "*Lift yourselves up by the bootstraps*" (which shows the almost religious power of capitalist propaganda, that the impossible can become possible), or "*Communism doesn't work*", when in fact **Communism did work extremely well.**
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Examples from [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/86tqdd/but_socialism_doesnt_work_s/dw7qco0/) by /u/bayarea415, and [Stephen Gowans - Do publicly owned, planned economies work,](https://gowans.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/do-publicly-owned-planned-economies-work/) about the USSR specifically:
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Examples from [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/86tqdd/but_socialism_doesnt_work_s/dw7qco0/) by /u/bayarea415, [Stephen Gowans - Do publicly owned, planned economies work,](https://gowans.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/do-publicly-owned-planned-economies-work/), and [Ian Goodrum](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1136693839526223872.html) about the USSR specifically:
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- [USSR had more nutritious food than the US (CIA)](https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP84B00274R000300150009-5.pdf). [Calories consumed surpassed the US](https://artir.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/compar1.png?w=640). Ended famines.
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- [USSR had a more nutritious diet than the US, according to the CIA](https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP84B00274R000300150009-5.pdf). [Calories consumed surpassed the US](https://artir.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/compar1.png?w=640). Ended famines.
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- Productive forces were not organized for capital gain and private enrichment; public ownership of the means of production supplanted private ownership. It was illegal to hire others and accumulate personal wealth from their labor.
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- Had the [2nd fastest growing economy of the 20th century after Japan.](https://artir.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/captura-de-pantalla-de-2016-05-26-10-15-23.png) The USSR started out at the same level of economic development and population as Brazil in 1920, which makes comparisons to the US, an already industrialized country by the 1920s, even more spectacular.
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- [Free Universal Health care, and most doctors per capita in the world.]( https://www.marxists.org/archive/newsholme/1933/red-medicine/index.htm ) 42 doctors per 10,000 population, vs 24 in Denmark and Sweden, 19 in US.
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- [Had zero unemployment, continuous economic growth for 70 straight years.](https://homepages.warwick.ac.uk/~syrbe/pubs/FarmtoFactory.pdf) The "continuous" part should make sense – the USSR was a planned, non-market economy, so market crashes á la capitalism were pretty much impossible.
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- [Free Universal Health care, and most doctors per capita in the world.]( https://www.marxists.org/archive/newsholme/1933/red-medicine/index.htm ) 42 doctors per 10k population, vs 24 in Denmark and Sweden, 19 in US.
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- [Had near zero unemployment, continuous economic growth for 70 straight years.](https://homepages.warwick.ac.uk/~syrbe/pubs/FarmtoFactory.pdf) The "continuous" part should make sense – the USSR was a planned, non-market economy, so market crashes á la capitalism were pretty much impossible.
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- [All education, including university level, free](http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/PubEdUSSR.htm). [2]( http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/anglosov.htm)
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- [99% literacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likbez).
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- Saved the world from Fascism, [Taking on the majority of Nazi divisions, and killing 7 out of every 10 fascist soldier. Bore the enormous cost of blood and pain in WW2, with the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Front_\(World_War_II\)#Casualties). An estimated 70% of Soviet housing was destroyed by Nazi invasion. Nazis were in retreat after the battle of Stalingrad in 1942, a **full 2 years** before the US landed troops in normandy.
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@ -34,11 +39,14 @@ Examples from [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/86tqdd/but
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- [End sex inequality](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_\(1977,_Unamended\)). Equal wages for men and women mandated by law, but sex inequality, although not as pronounced as under capitalism, was perpetuated in social roles. Very important lesson to learn.
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- [End Racial inequality.](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/shortcuts/2016/jan/24/racial-harmony-in-a-marxist-utopia-how-the-soviet-union-capitalised-on-us-discrimination-in-pictures)
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- Feudalism to [space travel](https://i.imgur.com/pe0tg2y.jpg) in 40 years. [First satellite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_space_program), rocket, space walk, woman, man, animal, space station, moon and mars probes.
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- Soviet power production per capita in 1990 was more than [the EU, Great Britain, or China's in 2014.](https://i.imgur.com/7HIm6qi.png)
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- Housing was socialized by localized community organizations, and there was virtually no homelessness. Houses were often shared by two families throughout the 20s and 30s – so unlike capitalism, there were no empty houses, but the houses were very full. In the 40s there was the war, and in the 50s there were a number of orphans from the war. The mass housing projects began in the 60s, they were completed in the 70s, and by the 70s, there were homeless people, but they often had genuine issues with mental health.
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When it is claimed that a system *works*, we should ask, **who it works for**. Capitalism benefits a tiny number of rapacious capitalists, to the detriment of the rest of us, while Socialism works for the masses.
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---
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Now let's take a look at what happens after the USSR collapse:
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Now let's take a look at what happens after the USSR collapsed, and what came with capitalist privatization:
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- [Life expectancy decreases by 10 years](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Russia#Life_expectancy ). [2. ](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Fj8E.png) [7.7 million excess deaths in the first year](http://www.academia.edu/1072631/Review_Red_Plenty_by_Francis_Spufford ). [2](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC259165/)
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- [40% of population drops into poverty]( https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2003/07/unpo-j28.html).
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@ -49,23 +49,25 @@
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+ [Is the DPRK a Fascist Monarchy?](#is-the-dprk-a-fascist-monarchy)
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+ [Further reading](#further-reading-3)
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* [On Venezuela](#on-venezuela)
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* [Other Topics](#other-topics)
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+ [Why are socialists against bitcoin mining?](#why-are-socialists-against-bitcoin-mining)
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* [People](#people)
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+ [Whats so bad about Elon Musk?](#whats-so-bad-about-elon-musk)
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+ [Whats so bad about Bill Gates?](#whats-so-bad-about-bill-gates)
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+ [What's so bad about George Orwell?](#whats-so-bad-about-george-orwell)
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+ [John McCain](#john-mccain)
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+ [What about the new atheists? (Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens)](#what-about-the-new-atheists-sam-harris-richard-dawkins-christopher-hitchens)
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+ [Gandhi](#gandhi)
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+ [Did atom bombs really end WW2?](#did-atom-bombs-really-end-ww2)
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+ [What's wrong with Bernie Sanders?](#whats-wrong-with-bernie-sanders)
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+ [What's wrong with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?](#whats-wrong-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez)
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+ [What's wrong with Elizabeth Warren?](#whats-wrong-with-elizabeth-warren)
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+ [Kamala Harris](#kamala-harris)
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+ [Biden](#biden)
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+ [Others](#others)
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* [Other Topics](#other-topics)
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+ [Why are socialists against bitcoin mining?](#why-are-socialists-against-bitcoin-mining)
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+ [Did atom bombs really end WW2?](#did-atom-bombs-really-end-ww2)
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+ [What about overpopulation / unsustainability?](#what-about-overpopulation--unsustainability)
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+ [Why don't socialists support a UBI / Universal Basic income?](#why-dont-socialists-support-a-ubi--universal-basic-income)
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+ [Others](#others)
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+ [Others](#others-1)
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<!-- tocstop -->
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@ -99,7 +101,7 @@
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* [What is Stalinism?](http://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/15g4xo/what_is_stalinism/)
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* [Looking for reference to types of communism.](http://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/1fcc6o/looking_for_reference_to_types_of_communism/)
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* [What was Engels Contribution to Marxism?](https://necessityandfreedom.wordpress.com/2017/04/16/without-engels-there-would-be-no-marxism/)
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* [Were the nazis socialist? What about national socialism, the national socialist movement (NSM), and the national front?](https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/09/05/were-nazis-socialists/), [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/Socialism_101/comments/79kvin/what_is_the_difference_between_socialists_here/), [3](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/wiki/index#wiki_the_nazis_were_socialists.2C_communists_or_leftists)
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* [Were the nazis socialist? What about national socialism, the national socialist movement (NSM), and the national front?](https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/09/05/were-nazis-socialists/), [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/Socialism_101/comments/79kvin/what_is_the_difference_between_socialists_here/), [3](https://www.reddit.com/r/therewasanattempt/comments/cblf1y/to_commit_a_hate_crime/ethf3t8/), [4](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/wiki/index#wiki_the_nazis_were_socialists.2C_communists_or_leftists)
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* [What is Fascism?](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/)
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* [Did Karl Marx use "socialism" and "communism" interchangeably?](http://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/2msa39/did_karl_marx_use_socialism_and_communism/)
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* [What is Luxemburgism?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/bzl9iu/luxemburgism/eqtbcxe/)
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@ -333,6 +335,7 @@
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* [A China misinformation Megathread.](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/c2b6z5/china_megathread_everything_controversial/)
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* [Is modern day china communist? Is it staying true to communist values?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/91liw2/how_is_china_staying_true_to_communist_values/e2z3kzu/), [2](https://medium.com/@leohezhao/the-long-game-and-its-contradictions-8ff92823cf68?postPublishedType=repub&fbclid=IwAR1jAfUSH39nEKCkTAD7GK8ayR9YVekX6Ht6hWU7x7iKPVUK_fLdA5OlPV4)
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* [Is the CCP committed to communism?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/c9ee36/why_do_i_see_so_many_people_on_the_communism/esxapi2/)
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* [Is China a democracy?](https://www.quora.com/What-kind-of-democracy-does-the-China-have/answer/Godfree-Roberts?share=0ac8c628&srid=JMzz)
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* [How does China’s political system work?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu4QTxl9GVw)
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* [Are capitalists allowed in the communist party? No](https://medium.com/@leohezhao/the-long-game-and-its-contradictions-8ff92823cf68?postPublishedType=repub), [pic](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2087/1*A-SuzTx-HlyvrIPKaOTOHA.jpeg)
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@ -359,12 +362,13 @@
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### What's going on with the Uyghurs?
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- [No, the UN did not report China has ‘massive internment camps’ for Uighur Muslims]( https://thegrayzone.com/2018/08/23/un-did-not-report-china-internment-camps-uighur-muslims/).
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- [US fuels terrorism in China: “1 million Uyghurs never verified”]( https://journal-neo.org/2018/10/24/us-fueling-terrorism-in-china/)
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- [China’s Xinjiang Problem – Made in USA](https://journal-neo.org/2015/11/10/chinas-xinjiang-problem-made-in-usa/).
|
||||
- [The Truth About China’s Uyghur Problem]( https://21stcenturywire.com/2018/12/14/the-truth-behind-chinas-uyghur-problem/).
|
||||
- [Religious freedoms in China explained]( https://twitter.com/isgoodrum/status/1004884261051092993?s=21).
|
||||
- [What's going on with the Uyghurs / Xinjiang province?](https://medium.com/@gmochannel/the-truth-about-uyghurs-and-xinjiang-e970992f63f1)
|
||||
- [A Pakistani Diplomat given full access to “re-education camps” and this is what she found](https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/422970-pakistani-diplomat-narrates-visit-to-chinas-xinjiang).
|
||||
- [No, the UN did not report China has ‘massive internment camps’ for Uighur Muslims](https://thegrayzone.com/2018/08/23/un-did-not-report-china-internment-camps-uighur-muslims/).
|
||||
- [US fuels terrorism in China: “1 million Uyghurs never verified”](https://journal-neo.org/2018/10/24/us-fueling-terrorism-in-china/)
|
||||
- [China’s Xinjiang Problem – Made in USA](https://journal-neo.org/2015/11/10/chinas-xinjiang-problem-made-in-usa/).
|
||||
- [The Truth About China’s Uyghur Problem](https://21stcenturywire.com/2018/12/14/the-truth-behind-chinas-uyghur-problem/).
|
||||
- [Religious freedoms in China explained](https://twitter.com/isgoodrum/status/1004884261051092993?s=21).
|
||||
- [EU rejects China offer of Xinjiang tour](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3003217/eu-rejects-chinas-offer-xinjiang-tour-says-its-open-one-later).
|
||||
- [If China Is Anti-Islam, Why Are These Chinese Muslims Enjoying a Faith Revival?]( https://time.com/3099950/china-muslim-hui-xinjiang-uighur-islam/)
|
||||
- [More sources debunking this here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XiHrkJ_zudQZP1hBIBCgJKKAfAILxEG0cmQGrNH8pIU/mobilebasic).
|
||||
@ -470,11 +474,7 @@
|
||||
- [The U.S. Has Venezuela in Its Crosshairs](https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-u-s-has-venezuela-in-its-crosshairs/)
|
||||
- The Venezuelan government [invited the UN](https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuela-plea-un-send-observers-election-211445340.html) to send observers to monitor the 2018 elections, but the opposition [opposed](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-un/venezuela-opposition-asks-u-n-not-to-send-observers-to-may-vote-idUSKCN1GO2J0) this move and [directly petitioned](https://twitter.com/ADemocratica/status/973345076490457088) the UN not to accept the invitation. [Maduro's May 2018 Election were declared fair by over 1500 international observers](http://journalcontent.mediatheoryjournal.org/index.php/mt/article/view/65/56).
|
||||
- [On the 2019 Venezeulan coup attempt.](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/aj46d1/breaking_trump_recognizes_venezuelan_opposition/eesnkhm/) [The Trump administration discussed Coup plans with the plotters shortly before.](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/world/americas/donald-trump-venezuela-military-coup.html)[The US pushing regime change.](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/18/venezuela-protests-us-support-regime-change-mistake) [Venezuelans march to oppose regime change](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/ajd64i/maduro_supporters_enraged_about_the_current/). The hand-picked right wing successor, is a [US puppet.](https://grayzoneproject.com/2019/01/29/the-making-of-juan-guaido-how-the-us-regime-change-laboratory-created-venezuelas-coup-leader/amp/)
|
||||
|
||||
## Other Topics
|
||||
### Why are socialists against bitcoin mining?
|
||||
- [A single bitcoin transaction wastes as much energy as your house uses in a week.](https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ywbbpm/bitcoin-mining-electricity-consumption-ethereum-energy-climate-change)
|
||||
- [Bitcoin mining consumes more electricity per year than all of Ireland.](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/27/bitcoin-mining-consumes-electricity-ireland)
|
||||
## People
|
||||
|
||||
### Whats so bad about Elon Musk?
|
||||
- [Crushes unionization attempts at tesla factories, promising free frozen yogurt in return.](https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/musk-slams-union-drive-in-email-to-employees)
|
||||
@ -533,10 +533,6 @@
|
||||
- [Gandhi - The jews should've killed themselves instead.](https://izquotes.com/quote/mahatma-gandhi/hitler-killed-five-million-jews-it-is-the-greatest-crime-of-our-time-but-the-jews-should-have-231149)
|
||||
- [Red Phoenix - Pacifism - How to do the enemy's job for them](https://theredphoenixapl.org/2011/08/11/pacifism-how-to-do-the-enemys-job-for-them/). [Youtube Audiobook](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxrO7p-6w_k&list=PL0-IkmzWbjoZ5IIhnzFBOImzySh827FyK)
|
||||
|
||||
### Did atom bombs really end WW2?
|
||||
- [No, the entrance of the USSR into the war against Japan was the cause of Japan's surrender, which the US fully knew about since they were intercepting Japan's communications. The Atom bombing of Japanese civilians was in reality a display of military power against the USSR, and the first act of the cold war.](http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/30/the-bomb-didnt-beat-japan-stalin-did/) [Audiobook](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0-IkmzWbjoaLP3G2HGj-O5JTepm0Kjt-),
|
||||
[Summary](https://www.reddit.com/r/Socialism_101/comments/bd615l/perspectives_on_ww2/eky36vp/?context=3)
|
||||
|
||||
### What's wrong with Bernie Sanders?
|
||||
- [Supports US imperialism](https://leftistcritic.wordpress.com/2017/01/31/bernie-sanders-an-imperialist-worth-despising/). [2](https://www.alternet.org/election-2016/bernie-sanders-troubling-history-supporting-us-military-violence-abroad)
|
||||
- [Voted for US intervention](https://i.imgur.com/HCvaDLp.jpg) in the following nations: Afghanistan, Lebanon, Libya, [Somalia](http://votesmart.org/bill/2732/7934/27110/bernie-sanders-voted-yea-passage-with-amendment-s-j-res-45-authorization-for-use-of-%20us-armed-forces-in-somalia#7934), Syria, Yemen, [Yugoslavia](http://www.libertyunionparty.org/?page_id=363),[2](http://votesmart.org/bill/2808/7948/27110/bosnia-troop-deployment-resolution#.Ve5QZkvJyhG), Bosnia, Haiti, Congo, Liberia, Sudan, and Ukraine.
|
||||
@ -579,6 +575,26 @@
|
||||
### Biden
|
||||
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seRaSRZKo2U
|
||||
|
||||
### Others
|
||||
- [What's so bad about Winston Churchill?](http://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/comments/80sxhj/-/duy08zm) , [2](https://crimesofbritain.com/2016/09/13/the-trial-of-winston-churchill/)
|
||||
- [What about Jordan Peterson?](https://www.reddit.com/r/Socialism_101/comments/85cuay/thoughts_on_jordan_petersons_criticism_of_marxism/dvwnd25/)
|
||||
- [What about Beyonce / Black Capitalism?](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/beyonces-ivy-park-sportswear-line-denies-claims-its-clothes-were-produced-by-sweatshop-workers-a7035926.html)
|
||||
- [Is Christianity / the Bible Communist?](https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/comments/9b7gsw/joel_osteen/e515qdb/)
|
||||
- [Was Mark Twain a socialist?](https://socialistworker.org/2010/04/21/the-twain-they-didnt-teach)
|
||||
- [What's so bad about Ronald Reagan?](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/comments/ce2v7l/rpolitics_straight_up_creaming_their_pants_over/etydg3l/)
|
||||
- What's so bad about [Barack Obama?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/cdamsp/what_are_your_opinions_on_obama/etswenc/) Also this [List of US Atrocities](https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/us_atrocities.md)
|
||||
- [What about Tulsi Gabbard?](https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/05/tulsi-gabbard-president-sanders-democratic-party)
|
||||
- [What's going on with the finnish bolshevik being accused of a rape fantasy?](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/comments/8aobas/this_is_the_finnish_bolshevik_with_a_minor/dx09v07/)
|
||||
|
||||
## Other Topics
|
||||
### Why are socialists against bitcoin mining?
|
||||
- [A single bitcoin transaction wastes as much energy as your house uses in a week.](https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ywbbpm/bitcoin-mining-electricity-consumption-ethereum-energy-climate-change)
|
||||
- [Bitcoin mining consumes more electricity per year than all of Ireland.](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/27/bitcoin-mining-consumes-electricity-ireland)
|
||||
|
||||
### Did atom bombs really end WW2?
|
||||
- [No, the entrance of the USSR into the war against Japan was the cause of Japan's surrender, which the US fully knew about since they were intercepting Japan's communications. The Atom bombing of Japanese civilians was in reality a display of military power against the USSR, and the first act of the cold war.](http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/30/the-bomb-didnt-beat-japan-stalin-did/) [Audiobook](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0-IkmzWbjoaLP3G2HGj-O5JTepm0Kjt-),
|
||||
[Summary](https://www.reddit.com/r/Socialism_101/comments/bd615l/perspectives_on_ww2/eky36vp/?context=3)
|
||||
|
||||
### What about overpopulation / unsustainability?
|
||||
|
||||
* [Agricultural economist refutes overpopulation myths. ](https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/12/12/16766872/overpopulation-exaggerated-concern-climate-change-world-population)
|
||||
@ -594,20 +610,15 @@
|
||||
- [Could Basic income "save" Capitalism?](https://www.reddit.com/r/Socialism_101/comments/92qgzn/realistically_could_universal_basic_income_save/)
|
||||
- [Its supported by, and benefits, silicon valley billionaires.](https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-rushkoff-universal-basic-income-silicon-valley-20170721-story.html)
|
||||
- [Its used to allay elite fears of revolution.](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/87es0k/mrw_i_cite_to_my_libertarian_friend_a_nobel/)
|
||||
|
||||
### Others
|
||||
- [What's so bad about Winston Churchill?](http://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/comments/80sxhj/-/duy08zm) , [2](https://crimesofbritain.com/2016/09/13/the-trial-of-winston-churchill/)
|
||||
- [What about Jordan Peterson?](https://www.reddit.com/r/Socialism_101/comments/85cuay/thoughts_on_jordan_petersons_criticism_of_marxism/dvwnd25/)
|
||||
- [What is Antifa? (Olly)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgwS_FMZ3nQ)
|
||||
- [Whats so bad about UBI (universal basic income)?](https://thenewinquiry.com/universal-basic-bullshit/),[2](https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/false-promise-universal-basic-income-andy-stern-ruger-bregman),[3](https://youtu.be/J10jKdPRN9A)
|
||||
- [Why are socialists against Israel / Zionism?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT5L4YU_Fl4&feature=youtu.be)
|
||||
- [Do most US troops come from poor neighborhoods? (Yes, debunking the heritage foundation debunkers)](https://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/poor-and-uneducated-like-we-thought/Content?oid=933196)
|
||||
- [Why communists do not participate in anti-russia hysteria, pushed by the democrats.](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/90i5yp/why_the_marxist_left_is_opposed_to_and_does_not/), [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/comments/9vaw8f/-/e9b1kxr)
|
||||
- [What about Beyonce / Black Capitalism?](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/beyonces-ivy-park-sportswear-line-denies-claims-its-clothes-were-produced-by-sweatshop-workers-a7035926.html)
|
||||
- [Is Christianity / the Bible Communist?](https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/comments/9b7gsw/joel_osteen/e515qdb/)
|
||||
- [Was Mark Twain a socialist?](https://socialistworker.org/2010/04/21/the-twain-they-didnt-teach)
|
||||
- [Why don't communists call trump treasonous? Aren't Putin and Trump collaborating and meddling in US elections?](https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/comments/a9tgff/lsc_insulted_some_democrats/ecmcel1/)
|
||||
- [What's going on with the finnish bolshevik being accused of a rape fantasy?](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/comments/8aobas/this_is_the_finnish_bolshevik_with_a_minor/dx09v07/)
|
||||
- [What about Tulsi Gabbard?](https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/05/tulsi-gabbard-president-sanders-democratic-party)
|
||||
- [Why can't you acheive socialism through voting in our current democracies?](https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/comments/a9tgff/lsc_insulted_some_democrats/ecmjyjs/)
|
||||
- [What about black-on-black crime (Insert racist thing here)?](https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/nov/23/donald-trump/trump-tweet-blacks-white-homicide-victims/)
|
||||
- [Why doesn't X minority just lift themselves up by the bootstraps out of poverty? Response by MLK. ](https://streamable.com/eafqq)
|
||||
- [To what extent is modern day Vietnam Socialist?](https://medium.com/@otelocarvalho/socialism-today-in-vietnam-ac22ce2edf47)
|
||||
|
||||
@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ Notes :
|
||||
- In 1959, following the [US occupation of Haiti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti), The U.S. military helps ["Papa Doc" Duvalier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Duvalier) become dictator of Haiti. He creates his own private police force, the [Tonton Macoutes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonton_Macoute), who terrorize the population with machetes. They kill over 100,000 during the Duvalier family reign. The U.S. does not protest their dismal human rights record.
|
||||
- In 1958, The United States supported the [Batista dictatorship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgencio_Batista) in Cuba. Batista aligned with the wealthiest landowners who owned the largest sugar plantations, and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans. Eventually most of the sugar industry was in U.S. hands, and foreigners owned 70% of the arable land. As such, Batista's increasingly corrupt and repressive government then began to systematically profit from the exploitation of Cuba's commercial interests, by negotiating lucrative relationships with both the American Mafia, who controlled the drug, gambling, and prostitution businesses in Havana, and with large U.S.-based multinational companies who were awarded lucrative contracts. To quell the growing discontent amongst the populace—which was subsequently displayed through frequent student riots and demonstrations—Batista established tighter censorship of the media, while also utilizing his Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities secret police to carry out wide-scale violence, torture and public executions; ultimately killing anywhere from hundreds to 20,000 people. After the [Cuban revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Revolution), the CIA launched a long campaign of terrorism against Cuba, training Cuban exiles in Florida, Central America and the Dominican Republic to commit assassinations and sabotage in Cuba. These include the [cuban embargo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_embargo_against_Cuba), and [over 638 failed assasination attempts on fidel castro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_attempts_on_Fidel_Castro). <sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgencio_Batista)</sup>
|
||||
- In 1954, the CIA overthrows the democratically elected Guatemalen [Jacobo Árbenz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobo_%C3%81rbenz) in a [military coup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Guatemalan_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat) in [operation PBSucess](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_PBSuccess). Arbenz threatened to nationalize the Rockefeller-owned United Fruit Company, in which CIA Director Allen Dulles also owns stock. Arbenz is replaced with a series of US-backed right-wing dictators whose bloodthirsty policies will kill over 100,000 Guatemalans in the next 40 years, until 1996. The coup has been described as the definitive deathblow to democracy in Guatemala.<sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Guatemalan_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat)</sup>
|
||||
- In 1953, A 2011 release of British intelligence files revealed that [US and British MI5 forces overthrew the government of Cheddi Jagan](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/26/mi5-files-coup-british-guiana), the elected leader of British Guyana. They showed how British spies kept up intense scrutiny on Cheddi Jagan and his wife Janet, who together founded the People's Progressive party (PPP) to campaign for workers' rights and independence from British rule for the sugar-producing colony in northern South America. Churchill and the US feared that the Jagans were communists, although MI5 found no foreign ties. Churchill dispatched a warship, HMS Superb, and brought hundreds of troops by air and sea to secure key sites. An outraged Cheddi Jagan appealed by telegram to Britain's opposition Labour party for help. Leader Clement Attlee replied curtly: "Regret impossible to intervene."
|
||||
- In 1941, the US used its contacts in the Panama National Guard, which the U.S. had earlier trained, to have the government of Panama overthrown in a bloodless coup. The U.S. had requested that the government of Panama allow it to build over 130 new military installations inside and outside of the [Panama Canal Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_Zone), and the government of Panama refused this request at the price suggested by the U.S.
|
||||
- In [Smedley Butler's](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler#The_Banana_Wars) (A former US general and medal of honor recipient) 1935 pamphlet, [War is a Racket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Is_a_Racket), he recounted his experience as being an agent of American Imperialism: “I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.”<sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler#The_Banana_Wars)</sup>
|
||||
- In 1928, the Columbian army killed ~800-3000 striking workers in Cienaga, Columbia, after the US threatened to invade with [U.S. Marine Corps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps) troops if the Colombian government did not act to protect the [United Fruit Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Fruit_Company)'s interests, in the [Banana Massacre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_massacre). The banana plantation workers were demanding written contracts, eight-hour work days, six-day work weeks and the elimination of food coupons. The troops set up their machine guns on the roofs of the low buildings at the corners of the main square, closed off the access streets, and after a five-minute warning opened fire into a dense Sunday crowd of workers and their wives and children who had gathered, after Sunday Mass, to wait for an anticipated address from the governor. <sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_massacre)</sup>
|
||||
@ -329,11 +330,12 @@ Notes :
|
||||
|
||||
### Women
|
||||
|
||||
- In May, 2019, Alabama lawmakers [banned abortion](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/alabama-senate-passes-nations-most-restrictive-abortion-law-which-makes-no-exceptions-for-victims-of-rape-and-incest/2019/05/14/e3022376-7665-11e9-b3f5-5673edf2d127_story.html?utm_term=.3f5e8c23ff60) in the state, providing no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. Those caught performing abortions will face up to 99 years in prison. The bill is part of a larger effort to overturn *Roe vs Wade*, a long-standing supreme court decision affirming a woman's right to choose. Alabaman women seeking abortions are now forced to travel across state lines, and hide everything about the procedure from friends and family, in order to avoid legal repercussions from their home state. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a [federal suit](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/planned-parenthood-aclu-sue-over-alabama-s-extreme-abortion-ban-n1009651) against the state.
|
||||
- US police officers routinely commit sexual assault and rapes: most go unreported, but over [1200 incidents, including over 400 rapes were committed over a 9 year period from 2005-2013.](https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/19/us/police-sexual-assaults-maryland-scope/index.html)
|
||||
- In the period following WWII, the US capitalist-controlled media, advertising, and consumer products industries propagandized and glorified the ideal of the housewife-consumer, in order to sell products, make labor space for returning soldiers, take advantage of women's unpaid labor in the home, and to help build a new workforce and potential army to combat the soviet union. This sparked an era of regression with respect to the feminist victories of the previous 50 years, and caused psychological damage and demoralization to an uncountable number of women. Women who remained in the labor force were primarily only allowed in subordinate positions such as secretaries, cleaning women, elementary school teachers, saleswomen, waitresses, and nurses. This is chronicled in the [Feminine Mystique](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Feminine_Mystique).
|
||||
- From the 1880s onward, many US states (27 + Puerto Rico in 1956) operated a system of [forced sterilization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization#United_States) of women, rooted in white supremacy. The principle targets were the mentally ill, Native Americans, and blacks. For example, in [Sunflower County Mississippi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower_County,_Mississippi), 60% of black women living there were sterilized without their permission. An estimated 3,406 Indian women were sterilized.[[63\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_in_the_United_States#cite_note-Lawrence-63) California eugenicists in 1933 began sending their literature overseas to german scientists and medical workers, sparking the beginnings of Nazi Eugenics. In the end, over 65,000 individuals were sterilized in 33 states, in all likelihood without the perspectives of ethnic minorities. 148 female prisoners in two California institutions were sterilized between 2006 and 2010 in a supposedly voluntary program, but it was determined that the prisoners did not give consent to the procedures. In [Madrigal vs. Quilligan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrigal_v._Quilligan), many unsuspecting women were coerced to sign paperwork to perform sterilization, while others were told that the process could be reversed. None of the women were fluent in English. 10 latina women were sterilized, and the doctor was found innocent. <sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization#United_States),[2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization#cite_note-71),[3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrigal_v._Quilligan)</sup>
|
||||
- US elites in the 18th and 19th centuries pushed a narrative of *domestic purity*, or the *cult of true womanhood*, for women as a way of pacifying her with a doctrine of "separate but equal"-giving her work equally as important as the man's, but separate and different. Inside that "equality" there was the fact that the woman did not choose her mate, and once her marriage took place, her life was determined. One girl wrote in 1791: "The die is about to be cast which will probably determine the future happiness or misery of my life.... I have always anticipated the event with a degree of solemnity almost equal to that which will terminate my present existence." Marriage enchained, and children doubled the chains. One woman, writing in 1813: "The idea of soon giving birth to my third child and the consequent duties I shall he called to discharge distresses me so I feel as if I should sink."
|
||||
---
|
||||
- In May, 2019, Alabama lawmakers [banned abortion](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/alabama-senate-passes-nations-most-restrictive-abortion-law-which-makes-no-exceptions-for-victims-of-rape-and-incest/2019/05/14/e3022376-7665-11e9-b3f5-5673edf2d127_story.html?utm_term=.3f5e8c23ff60) in the state, providing no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. Those caught performing abortions will face up to 99 years in prison. The bill is part of a larger effort to overturn *Roe vs Wade*, a long-standing supreme court decision affirming a woman's right to choose. Alabaman women seeking abortions are now forced to travel across state lines, and hide everything about the procedure from friends and family, in order to avoid legal repercussions from their home state. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a [federal suit](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/planned-parenthood-aclu-sue-over-alabama-s-extreme-abortion-ban-n1009651) against the state.
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- On November 25, 2017, Yang Song died after falling from a 4th floor balcony during a targeted police raid. Her personal messages revealed that in 2016, [she was raped at gunpoint by an undercover police officer, and was subsequently harrassed, threatened with deportation, and then likely murdered by the NYPD.](https://t.co/CMBpgv7MwB)
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- In the 1830s, The [Lowell Mill Girls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Mill_Girls) were female workers who came to work in industrial factories in [Lowell, Massachusetts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell,_Massachusetts), during the [Industrial Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution), and who despite living in cramped boarding houses and working from 5am-7pm every day, developed a culture of defiance against the factory owners, and created reform associations, and began strikes in 1834 and 1836. <sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Mill_Girls)</sup>
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@ -343,6 +345,7 @@ Notes :
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- US authorities have a [long history of murdering striking workers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_deaths_in_United_States_labor_disputes) fighting for better conditions, dating back to the 1800s, up to the present day. According to a study in 1969, the United States has had the bloodiest and most violent labor history of any industrial nation in the world, and there have been few industries which have been immune.<sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_deaths_in_United_States_labor_disputes#cite_note-1)</sup> A long list of these deaths and disputes can be found [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_deaths_in_United_States_labor_disputes), and [this article on the Labor History of the US](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#Organized_labor_1929.E2.80.931955).
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- US conservatives and authorities have systematically dismantled labor unions over the past few decades, and by 2011 fewer than 7% of employees in the private sector belong to unions. The number of major work stoppages fell by 97% from 381 in 1970 to 187 in 1980 to only 11 in 2010.<sup>[129](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-129), [130](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-130)</sup> The accumulating weaknesses were exposed when President Ronald Reagan—a former union president—broke the [Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Air_Traffic_Controllers_Organization_%281968%29) strike in 1981, dealing a major blow to unions.<sup>[131](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-round-131)</sup> Union membership among workers in private industry shrank dramatically, though after 1970 there was growth in employees unions of federal, state and local governments.<sup>[132](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-132),[133](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-133)</sup> The intellectual mood in the 1970s and 1980s favored deregulation and free competition.<sup>[134](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-Derthick218-134)</sup> Numerous industries were deregulated, including airlines, trucking, railroads and telephones, over the objections of the unions involved.<sup>[135](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-135)</sup> Republicans, using conservative [think tanks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank) as idea farms, began to push through legislative blueprints to curb the power of public employee unions as well as eliminate business regulations.<sup>[128](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-Carter_A._Wilson_2013_256.E2.80.9357-128),[136](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-136)</sup> Union weakness in the [Southern United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_United_States) undermined unionization and social reform throughout the nation, and such weakness is largely responsible for the anaemic U.S. [welfare state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_state).<sup>[137](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-137),[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#Unions_since_1955)</sup>
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- In addition to artificial housing crises, the US has high numbers of homeless, despite the fact that there are, [~6 houses for every homeless person](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-skip-bronson/post_733_b_692546.html). Instead of human planning and intelligent distribution of resources, the US ruling class upholds the market as the "the most efficient way of allocating resources".
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- Rising Housing prices from real estate speculation have skyrocketed to the point that an epidemic of [hidden homeless](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/los-angeles-hidden-homeless-priced-out-cbsn-originals/) has arisen: families who live in their cars, or on the street, but who still work. In most US cities, such as LA, it's illegal to sleep in your car overnight. 1/3rd of all renters pay half their income towards landlords. Even in mid-size cities like Boise Idaho are experiencing a [surge of homelessness as of 2019](https://www.kivitv.com/news/state-of-208/affordable-housing-crisis-leading-to-rise-in-first-time-homelessness-in-boise).
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- Although the US economy produces more than enough food to feed those in poverty, [UNICEF](http://www.unicef.org/sowc06/pdfs/sowc06_chap1.pdf), [RESULTS](https://web.archive.org/web/20080527011602/http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=241), and [Bread for the World](http://www.bread.org/hunger/global/facts.html) estimate that **15 million** people die **each year** from preventable poverty, of whom 11 million are **children under the age of five**. In addition, The US has a comparatively terrible social support system to fight poverty and prevent deaths: "approximately 245,000 deaths in the United States in the year 2000 were attributable to low levels of education, 176,000 to racial segregation, 162,000 to low social support, 133,000 to individual-level poverty, 119,000 to income inequality, and 39,000 to area-level poverty" ([sources](https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/how-many-us-deaths-are-caused-poverty-lack-education-and-other-social-factors)). That is 2 million people every 10 years in the US alone.<sup>[1](http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/08/crimes-against-humanity-01-poverty-murder-over-400-million-people-since-1995-more-than-all-wars-in-recorded-history.html)</sup>
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- In the modern day, [20,000 to 40,000 people die every year](http://obamacarefacts.com/facts-on-deaths-due-to-lack-of-health-insurance-in-us/) because of lack of universal health care or health insurance. On average, that's 300,000 over the last decade. <sup>[1](http://obamacarefacts.com/facts-on-deaths-due-to-lack-of-health-insurance-in-us/)</sup>
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---
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@ -352,6 +355,7 @@ Notes :
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- On December 24th, 2017, Police officers [shot and killed an unarmed suspected car thief, Amanda lee jones, and a 6 year old boy, Kameron Prescott](http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/kameron-prescott-anger-police-bullet-kills-child-171224091628070.html), in Bexar County Texas. Kameron Prescott is the youngest and 957th person killed by US police in 2017. Bexar County Sheriff Salazar is quoted as saying, “Right now, what I’m dealing with is a tragic accident that led to the death of this young man.” Young man was used instead of 6 year old boy.<sup>[1](http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/kameron-prescott-anger-police-bullet-kills-child-171224091628070.html),[2](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/six-year-old-shot-dead-accident-texas-kameron-prescott-a8127551.html)</sup>
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- On August 15th, 2017, [Police arrested 7 anti-racist activists for toppling a confederate statue in Durham, North Carolina](http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/14/us/confederate-statue-pulled-down-north-carolina-trnd/). From New York to California, demonstrations have been organized since the death of [Heather Heyer](http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/16/us/heather-heyer-memorial-service/index.html), who was protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Many demonstrators connected with each other through public Facebook events. <sup>[1](http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/14/us/confederate-statue-pulled-down-north-carolina-trnd/)</sup>
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- On July 19th, 2017, [Police arrested 155 demonstrators](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/police-arrest-155-health-care-protesters-at-us-capitol/2017/07/19/c6a04286-6cd4-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html) on capitol hill, for protesting a republican-lead health care dismantling initiative by Mitch McConnell, by occupying republican offices. Authorities said demonstrators were warned “to cease and desist with their unlawful demonstration activities” before police made arrests. Police arrested 80 people for the same charge on July 10th. <sup>[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/police-arrest-155-health-care-protesters-at-us-capitol/2017/07/19/c6a04286-6cd4-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html)</sup>
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||||
- In January 2017, LA county sherriff Neil Kimball, assigned to investigate a sexual assault against a 14 year old girl, [tied up and raped the victim](https://thefreethoughtproject.com/child-rape-victim-goes-to-police-for-help-and-is-tied-up-and-raped-by-her-detective/), then attempted to intimidate the witness and the family from coming forward, even threatening them at some point during the horrific ordeal. He faces a maximum of only 3 years in prison, and will likely serve less.
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- In January, 2016, Philip “Mitch” Brailsford, a police officer in Mesa Arizona, [killed Daniel Shaver](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Daniel_Shaver), after someone called in a report of him holding a gun (which turned out to be a pellet gun), out of a hotel window. Brailsford was charged for second-degree murder, and acquitted by a jury a year later. After his acquittal, the court released the [graphic bodycam footage](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/12/08/graphic-video-shows-daniel-shaver-sobbing-and-begging-officer-for-his-life-before-2016-shooting/?utm_term=.2980e371cc0e) showing Daniel Shaver crawling on his hands and knees and begging for his life before he was brutally murdered. After giving contradictory commands, such as telling Daniel to cross his legs, put his face down in the carpet, put his hands behind his head, and crawl towards them, the officer said, "I’m not here to be tactical and diplomatic with you. You listen. You obey... If you move, we’re going to consider that a threat and we are going to deal with it and you may not survive it".<sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Daniel_Shaver), [2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/12/08/graphic-video-shows-daniel-shaver-sobbing-and-begging-officer-for-his-life-before-2016-shooting/?utm_term=.2980e371cc0e)
|
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- In March 2015, former US Marshal and DEA agent Matthew Fogg reported in an interview that [DEA agents were instructed not to enforce drug laws in richer, white areas.](https://bennorton.com/dea-agent-we-were-told-not-to-enforce-drug-laws-in-rich-white-areas/) His superior state, “You know, if we go out there and start messing with those folks, they know judges, they know lawyers, they know politicians. You start locking their kids up, somebody’s going to jerk our chain.” He said they’re going to call us on it, and before you know it, they’re going to shut us down, and there goes your overtime. <sup>[1](https://bennorton.com/dea-agent-we-were-told-not-to-enforce-drug-laws-in-rich-white-areas/)</sup>
|
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- In 2014 in [Flint, Michigan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint,_Michigan), the city [exposed over 100,000 residents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis) to high levels of [lead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead) in the drinking water due to insufficient [water treatment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_treatment) in the [Flint Water Crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis). A federal state of emergency was declared in January 2016 and Flint residents were instructed to use only bottled or filtered water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and bathing. At least six have died from [Legionnaires disease](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionnaires%27_disease) from the poisoning. As of 2017, the crisis is ongoing. Residents are instructed to continue to use bottled or filtered water until all the lead pipes have been replaced, which is expected to be completed no sooner than 2020. <sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis)</sup>
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