El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico

A review of their performance in Philadelphia

A few weeks ago Judi and I attended a performance of the Salsa band El Gran Combo at the Verizon Hall in the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.  I’m a fan of the musical style known as Salsa, but was not aware of this group or its history.  My ignorance of El Gran Combo might sound strange, since the group has been performing for over 50 years and has sold over 100 million recordings.

The language used in this concert was mostly Spanish, as it should be.  My Spanish isn’t very good, but the music transcended any difficulty in understanding the words.  The audience waved Puerto Rican flags throughout the performance.  However, we discovered that nations throughout Latin America were represented. 

While I was unaware of the songs El Gran Combo performed, the audience frequently sang along with the band.  The overall atmosphere in the concert hall, I can only describe as electric, with people frequently dancing in the isles.

After attending the concert, I asked myself a basic question.  Why was I completely unaware of this group that had sold over 100 million recordings?  Another question I asked was, why was I completely unaware of the name Hector Lavoe before seeing the film about his life titled El Cantante, starring Marc Anthony in the title role?

The Latin Tinge

I began to answer this question by reviewing a book a read a while ago titled The Latin Tinge – The impact of Latin American music on the United States, by John Storm Roberts.  This book looks at how Latin music has been influencing the music in this country for over 100 years. 

Roberts argues that the nation most influential to Latin music has been the sister island to Puerto Rico, which is Cuba.  Roberts goes so far as to argue that the Argentine Tango was influenced by Cuban musical styles. 

Here in the United States the band known as Machito’s Afro-Cubans influenced both Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie.  Machito (Frank Grillo) and his band-leader Mario Bauza invented a style of music known a Cuban Jazz.  For about twenty years Machito’s Afro Cubans rocked New York City at a dance club known as the Palladium.

We might also consider that the music of Cuba and Puerto Rico has inspired dynamic dance styles.  People growing up on these islands routinely dance with a style designed to flow with the music.  Many people in this country can learn much about dancing from the people who were raised on these islands.

Back in the 1940’s Black Jazz musicians from this country didn’t openly identify their music with Africa.  Machito’s Afro-Cubans not only identified with Africa, but they introduced the African conga drums to this country.

The premiere recording of Cuban Jazz was titled Tanga.  When Dizzy Gillespie first listened to this music he was blown away.  At the time, Gillespie felt that the Jazz rhythms he was familiar with were rather monotonous.  This changed when he listened to the Cuban rhythms.  Mario Bauza introduced Gillespie to Chano Pozo, a Cuban percussionist.  Pozo had an important influence on Gillespie and they collaborated to write the music for Gillespie’s composition Salt Peanuts and Manteca. 

Bo Diddley was one of the pioneers of the music we know as Rock and Roll.  When we listen to Diddley’s music, we hear the basic Son, which is the beat that drives Cuban music.

Recently there was a film produced by Fernando Trueba titled Calle 54.  This film documents recent developments in Latin Jazz.  Many of these relatively new voices come from the Bronx, in New York City. 

While many people in this country are ignorant of Latin music, this history demonstrates that the Latin Tinge has always been a part of the musical styles of this country.  While other musical groups might be paid a lot more, my opinion is that El Gran Combo is clearly equal to some of the best groups I have seen.  Seeing this group introduces many to the same rhythms that have inspired some of the most influential musical artists.

                         

Capitalism and Alienation

When we speak of the idea of alienation in the capitalist world we might start with a somewhat graphic quotation from Charles Bukowski taken from his novel Factotum published in 1975.

“How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 6:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?”

My experience is that most workers don’t usually talk about these ideas.  Most of the time, we would prefer to talk about ideas that appear to be positive, since much of our lives are dedicated to the reality Bukowski wrote about.  This blog doesn’t attempt to dwell on the problems we face, but to look at the causes of those problems.

In a documentary about the life of Charles Bukowski he mentioned that the single person who inspired his writing was his father.  Bukowski’s father made no attempt to create a nurturing environment, and routinely brutalized his son.  In this atmosphere, Bukowski began to think creatively to mentally escape from the horrendous reality he faced.

Then, Bukowski got a job sorting mail for the Post Office.  While he eventually became an internationally respected author, Bukowski had difficulty meeting the production quotas the Post Office demanded.  He initially became a prolific writer in an attempt to escape his need to work for the Post Office.

There are other artists who endured abusive fathers to become outstanding artists.  Two of these artists were Marvin Gaye and James Baldwin.  In his song Trouble Man Marvin Gaye had this to say:

“There’s only three things that’s for sure

Taxes, death, and trouble

This I know baby, this I know sugar”

While the ideas of Marvin Gaye and Charles Bukowski might appear to be extreme to some people, the problem of alienation in the capitalist world is quite normal.  We see this on the college campuses where there is pervasive use of drugs and alcohol.  Students feel the need to indulge in these drugs at a time when they are paying exorbitant prices for the so-called privilege of receiving an education that supports the ideals of capitalism.

After a demanding workweek, what worker doesn’t want to sit down and have a drink?  The accumulated stress of working in a capitalist environment is enough to cause anyone to go to the bar for a few cold ones.

Alienation and capitalism

The question to be asked is: Why is life so alienating in the capitalist world? 

Clearly life before the advent of capitalism was extremely difficult.  While the Native Americans had difficult lives, they didn’t experience the alienation of today’s world.  This was because everyone contributed to the wellbeing of the entire tribe. 

Red Cloud was a leader of the Lakota people and was an extremely efficient hunter.  He frequently had more game than he could use and made sure that those who were in need had enough.  Red Cloud was typical of many Native American leaders who made the needs of their people their top priority.

We can contrast this reality to the one we face today in the capitalist world.  Today, about eighty percent of the population of the United States owns no more than six percent of all financial wealth.  A mere 50,000 individuals own the lion’s share of wealth in this country.  This reality is what Charles Bukowski talked about when he said that we go to work at, “a place where you essentially made lots of money for somebody else.”   

Today, we might contrast the priorities of government officials in the United States, to Red Cloud’s efforts to care for all the Lakota people.

Something happened during the 2008 Presidential election campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain.  Large banks in this country went bankrupt.  Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asked the Congress to give about $700 billion to the banks to prevent an economic collapse in this country.  The Congress initially voted against this bailout.  Apparently Congress didn’t think that the people of this country would understand why the government was giving an obscene amount of money to some of the most affluent people in the world.

Both Obama and McCain interrupted their campaigns and went to Washington to essentially beg congress to reverse their vote.  Congress did reverse their vote.  Since that time unemployment has increased dramatically, municipal governments have had outrageous cutbacks, and school systems throughout the country have seen their budgets slashed to the bone.  However, the banks would eventually receive trillions of dollars in government aid.

Red Cloud might have never imagined the technological developments that took place since the time when he lived.  However, Red Cloud would fully understand the obscene inequality of the capitalist world.

In fact, the primary reason why the United States government carried out a genocidal war against Native Americans was because their lifestyle was incompatible with the capitalist system.  After the military defeats of the Native Americans, the government worked diligently to force Native American children to forget every aspect of their culture.  While Native Americans experienced extremely difficult lives in the past, they shared everything they had.    

Today, eighty percent of the population owns a mere six percent of the financial wealth of this country.  The above example demonstrates that government officials make it their top priority to enrich the most affluent, while the majority, who create all wealth, experience a deteriorating standard of living.

Arrogance and it’s alternative

This is the essential reason why there is alienation in the capitalist world.  Politicians, journalists and the defenders of capitalism argue that if we have problems, this is because of an insufficient individual effort.  They want us to organize our individual lives so we might be successful.  This argument negates the fact that the overall standard of living has been deteriorating for the overwhelming majority of the population.     

Along these lines there is a defender of the capitalist system who illustrates the thinking of many of his co-thinkers.  His name is Francis Fukuyama and he is the author of a book titled, “The End of History.”  This book argues that capitalism is the last political economic system humanity will experience.  Therefore the current reality will be, more or less, the best humanity can hope for.

This argument means, that while humanity has the potential to eliminate poverty, today hundreds of millions of people routinely experience hunger, and lack direct access to electricity and running water.  For Fukuyama, this is about the best humanity can hope for.

When we think of this argument, we can also think of the word arrogance.  The Merriam Webster dictionary gives the following definition of the word arrogance: 

“An insulting way of thinking that comes from believing you are better, smarter, or more important than other people.”  In other words, the word arrogance defines one of the core values of the capitalist system.

In the course of our history we’ve seen people who developed a new way of thinking and dedicated themselves to the liberation of humanity.  Some of those people were Malcolm X, Eugene Debs, Mother Jones, Fannie Lou Hammer, and Ida Wells.  Debs once argued:

“While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.”

Those who attempt to rationalize this system need to be arrogant.  Is it any wonder that people become alienated from those who feel they are better than the majority? Malcolm X, Eugene Debs, Mother Jones, and Ida Wells worked to bring about a world where working people would enjoy the fruits of our labor.

I will conclude this column with a quotation from James Baldwin that I believe gives us a sense of the future.

“Power, then, which can have no morality itself, is yet dependent on human energy, on the wills and desires of human beings.  When power translates itself into tyranny, it means that the principles on which that power depended, and which were its justification, are bankrupt.  When this happens, and it is happening now, power can only be defended by thugs and mediocrities––and seas of blood.  The representatives of the status quo are sickened and divided, and dread looking into the eyes of their young; while the excluded begin to realize, having endured everything, that they can endure everything.  They do not know the precise shape of the future, but they know that the future belongs to them.  They realize this––paradoxically––by the failure of the moral energy of their oppressors and begin, almost instinctively, to forge a new morality, to create the principals on which a new world will be built.” 

Veronica & The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal

As told by her sister Valery Jones

Forward and Commentary by Mumia Abu Jamal

Legal Afterward by Rachael Wolkenstein

A review of the book

Much has been written about the frame-up of the prominent journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal.  The book Veronica & The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal gives a fresh new perspective to this clear frame-up.  In order to gain an appreciation for this book, we need to look at the outlines of the life of Veronica Jones.

Veronica Jones was born and raised in Yonkers, New York.  At an early age her home was destroyed by fire and the family moved to Camden, New Jersey.  She excelled in track and had a chance to compete in the Junior Olympics. 

Veronica learned that a neighbor needed a new kidney and didn’t have the funds for the operation.  Veronica organized a fund raising drive to raise money for this operation.  She received an award for her effort to attempt to save the life of her neighbor. 

Then, at the age of thirteen she was sexually molested.  Because of this and other events, Veronica’s self esteem deteriorated.  She had three daughters by the time she was twenty.

In order to support her family, she turned to prostitution.  Unlike other prostitutes, Veronica refused to give money to a pimp.  She learned why prostitutes pay pimps when two police officers raped her and took her money.  In fact, the FBI investigated the connection between the police in Philadelphia’s 6^th District and prostitution rings.

Veronica Jones reported to her sister that she was having a sexual relationship with Officer Daniel Faulkner.  Mumia Abu Jamal is serving a life sentence in prison because he was framed up for Faulkner’s murder.  Veronica also happened to be at the scene of Faulkner’s death that was caused by gunshot wounds.

Veronica reported that two police officers threatened to charge her with crimes that might have put her in prison for ten to fifteen years.  They argued that the only way for her to avoid this sentence would be to testify that Mumia Abu Jamal murdered Officer Faulkner.  They said that they had already made a similar deal with Cynthia White, who was the main prosecution witness against Mumia.  These officers also said that because of White’s testimony, the police would not harass her for being a prostitute.

Years after Mumia’s conviction Veronica testified that she lied at Mumia’s trial because police officers threatened her.  During her testimony in Philadelphia, Judge Sabo allowed police from New Jersey to arrest Veronica on charges that were 600 days old.  This confirmed the fact that when Veronica testified in a way the police did not approve of, they were fully prepared to send her to prison.  This story caused Veronica to become and ardent supporter of the cause to free Mumia Abu-Jamal.        

Veronica Jones passed away at the age of forty-eight shortly after telling her story to her sister.

Our history and a wild dream

When we look at the life story of Veronica Jones we see that the government in this country never had an interest in defending her rights as a human being.  Understanding this, we might look at her story from a different perspective.

The United States government was also completely indifferent to the needs and desires of the people of South Africa when the apartheid system was the law.  This is why the U.S. labeled the African National Congress as a terrorist organization. 

It was the Central Intelligence Agency of this country that organized the arrest of Nelson Mandela, who would serve twenty-seven years in prison.  An international movement forced the apartheid government to release Mandela.  He became the President of South Africa.

Mumia Abu Jamal was in his late twenties when the city government of Philadelphia framed him for the murder of Officer Faulkner.  Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were about thirty-nine and forty when they were assassinated.  Veronica Jones only lived to the age of forty-eight.

When we look at the case of Nelson Mandela, we can see that it is possible for someone who was once considered a fugitive, to become the President of a nation.  Perhaps this is only a dream, but the history is there and it won’t go away. 

When we look at the case of Mumia Abu Jamal as well as all the problems we face, we might keep this in mind.     

Imagine Living in a Socialist USA

A review of the book

The book Imagine Living in a Socialist USA immediately caught my attention.  I also wrote a novel titled Looking Back From 2101 where I imagined what a socialist world would look like.  My novel is a work of fiction where my characters look back from the perspective a future socialist world and discuss how and why the political transformation took place.  The book Imagine is a work of non-fiction that is divided into three parts.  Several authors wrote about what is wrong with the capitalist system, what a socialist USA would look like, and how the transformation might take place.

James P. Cannon – What Socialist America Will Look Like

James P. Cannon was a leader of the Socialist Workers Party in the United States.  Cannon understood the necessity of differentiating the communist movement from the Stalinist betrayal of the Russian Revolution.  In this effort, the members of the SWP became leaders of a 1934 teamsters strike in Minneapolis, Minnesota that was a pioneering battle for the labor movement in this country.

Cannon spoke about why he felt it was useful to imagine what a socialist world might look like in a speech he gave titled What Socialist America Will Look Like.  This speech as well as several others is published by Pathfinder Press and included in Cannon’s book Speeches for Socialism.

“The new generation of youth who will come to our movement and dedicate their lives to it will not be wiling to squander their young courage and idealism on little things and little aims.  They will be governed by nothing less than the inspiration of a great ideal, the vision of a new world.”

Cannon understood the difficulty in imagining a socialist world because it would be completely different from the one we live in today.  In today’s world, we need to accomplish numerous goals just to be able to have the basic means to live.  We need to work long hours at one or more jobs.  We might study a so-called advanced education in order to get one of the better paying jobs.  We need to seek out a job that will give us adequate health insurance as well as education for our family.  We need transportation as well as a home and maintenance of that home.  These are just some of the numerous expenses that we work endlessly to attain. 

James Cannon argued that in a socialist world, after a transition period, every worker might receive all of her or his necessities by doing a job for one to two years during the course of their lives.  This idea deserves repeating.  In a socialist world workers might only need to go to a job for one to two years during their entire lives.

Cannon argued that during its first days, a socialist government would work to do away with all forms of discrimination.  However, he made special mention of the discrimination against women.  In today’s world, women not only receive a lower salary than men, in most cases, they need to hold down a job, shop for groceries, prepare meals, clean the home, and care for the children.  Cannon argued that in its first days a socialist government would work to give women more leisure time.

Cannon’s point of view appears to be so inconceivable, given the present reality, that we might understand why critics of socialism label it utopian.  However, Cannon correctly understood that the material resources have existed for quite a long time to make the idea of socialism a reality.  The only real obstacle to making this a world where human needs are more important than profits is the fact that the political movements of the past have not achieved this goal.

The book: Imagine Living in a Socialist USA

So, from this perspective, we can now look at the book Imagine Living in a Socialist USA.  Clearly this book outlines many of the faults of capitalism.  The discrimination against women, Blacks, and immigrants as well as the destruction of the environment are just of few of the problems the book outlines. 

At this point we might look at a quotation by Karl Marx who is quoted extensively in the book Imagine.  This is the first sentence in Marx’s analysis of capitalism titled Capitol. 

“The wealth of those societies in which the capitalist mode of production prevails, presents itself as an immense accumulation of commodities.” 

Why is this sentence so significant?  This sentence means that the wealth of capitalist society comes from “an immense accumulation of commodities.”  In other words, wealth doesn’t directly come from money.  Money is only a means of exchange used to purchase the things that have value, commodities.  While capitalists have vast amounts of money, workers are the ones who produce all the commodities that represent all wealth in the capitalist world.   

Michael Steven Smith wrote a chapter of the book Imagine titled Law in a Socialist USA.  In this chapter Smith argues that the legal system of capitalism came from the feudal regimes of kings and queens.  Capitalism replaced those regimes with corporations of mass production industries.  The legal system of capitalism has always been about rationalizing the theft of wealth from the working people who create all wealth.

Dianne Feeley wrote another chapter in this book titled The Capitalist Road:  From Chinese Sweatshops to Detroit’s Decay.  Dianne Feeley and I both worked in the auto industry.  For many years the auto industry was the primary industry in the United States.  Much of the investment capitol in this country was initially derived from autoworkers that produced millions of automobiles.  Understanding these facts, we might conclude that in a rational world autoworkers would be given the respect that we deserve. 

However, today the city of Detroit that was once the center of auto production is now bankrupt.  Dianne Feeley wrote about Kevin Orr, a bankruptcy lawyer who was assigned the task of dealing with Detroit’s manufactured financial problems.  This is what Orr has to say about the Detroit autoworkers that created much of the wealth in this country: “for a long time the city was dumb, lazy, happy, and rich.”  Clearly, Mr. Orr never worked in an auto factory where the bosses demand increased production every second of the workday.  No, Mr. Orr has made a career of living off of the wealth created by working people.

This statement by Mr. Orr reflects the total bankruptcy of the political system known as capitalism.  We might also see how Orr’s statement also demonstrates the extreme limitations of the educational system in this country.  The idea that working people create all wealth needs to be taught to students in elementary school.  The fact that Mr. Orr never came to grips with these basic facts means that he has chosen to live a life of self imposed stupidity.

Are we the 99%?

This brings us to the two basic limitations of the book Imagine.  All or most of the writers of this book agree with the political agenda of the so-called Occupy movement.  Occupy argued that one percent of the population controls much of the wealth in this country.  The book Imagine argued that only about 50,000 people are the ones who have controlling interests in the major corporations.  Occupy argues that they represent the 99% of the population that doesn’t have this immense wealth.

Clearly, Occupy is correct in arguing that only a tiny percentage of the population owns the immense wealth of this country.  The problem is that working people rarely, if ever, come in direct contact with this tiny minority.  Understanding this, if our problems were merely a matter of the one percent versus the ninety-nine percent, these problems would be easier to deal with.

If working people feel that the distribution of wealth is unfair, we could have a vote and that relationship would change.  If working people feel that human needs are more important than profits for a tiny minority, we could have another vote and that would change.  Clearly this isn’t happening because of something the Occupy movement hasn’t looked at.                     

Today, there are tens of millions of people who have dedicated themselves to advancing the capitalist system who are not a part of the most affluent one percent.  These people would include: politicians, managers, editors of the pro-capitalist news media, corporate lawyers, judges, the police, as well as the officers in the military.  While workers rarely have contact with the most affluent one percent, we routinely come in contact with these representatives of the super-rich.

Understanding this reality, we begin to see why Karl Marx saw the working class as having the potential to liberate humanity.  This is an idea that many people have difficulty in visualizing.  We are talking about the workers who toil to manufacture and distribute all commodities.  We are talking about autoworkers, garment workers, farm workers, refinery workers, miners, as well as truck drivers and many more.  Since these are the workers who bear the brunt of the capitalist system, these are the people who will be most open for a change.

However, the facts are that unionization in this country has been on the decline for several years.  This state of affairs doesn’t change the fact that there have been moments of history where the masses of workers have mobilized and prepared to do what was necessary to make a change.

In fact, the United States was born as a result of a political revolution.  Another revolution took place during the Civil War where slave owners lost their political power in this country.  Other revolutions or rebellions took place in the labor movement, the civil rights movement, and the movement against the U.S. war against Vietnam.  What makes us feel that another revolution will erupt in this country?

The Achilles Heal of capitalism – The decline in the rate of profit

Oftentimes we will listen to the television or read the newspapers reporting on stories about how well corporations are doing.  These stories might report that sales and profits are up and the economy is improving.  The problem with these stories is that they only report on a part of what is going on.

The facts are that a constant feature of capitalism is that the percentage of profit on investment tends to decline.  How do capitalists deal with this decline in the rate of profits?

They have created investment schemes called derivatives that are bets on how the market will perform. Today these derivatives are valued at hundreds of trillions of dollars.

They also need to sell more and more commodities.  Then, they need to demand that workers become more productive.  Then, they use several methods where they lower their production costs.

The have moved factories overseas where the wages of workers are less.  They raise prices higher than wage increases which, in effect, cuts the buying power of workers wages.  They have also eliminated hundreds of millions of jobs and replaced them with lower paying jobs.  They do this while all politicians argue that they are working to create more jobs.

However, in the year 2008 the rubber met the road.  The book Imagine argued that the 2008 financial meltdown happened because the real estate market collapsed.  This was only the straw that broke the camel’s back of the capitalist economy. 

Banks had invested more heavily in real estate because the decline in the rate of profits effected their investments in other enterprises.  In the past banks invested heavily in manufacturing enterprises in this country.  Many of those factories left and set up shop where wages were lower.

All of this meant that the banks were poised to shut their doors because their investments no longer had value.  The only reason why these banks didn’t shut down was because of a massive government bailout plan that amounted to trillions of dollars.

For a moment we need to step back and understand that this crisis did not happen because of a natural disaster.  No, human beings created this crisis and human beings can resolve it.

The government bailout is only a temporary fix to this problem, and sooner or later the banks will have no choice but to shut their doors.  Clearly working people will not sit back while we loose our basic ability to make a living.  This gives us an idea of why a political revolution is possible in this country.

What is surplus value?

I believe that is important to keep in mind that while the percent of profit on investments declines, the overall amount of surplus workers produce continually increases.  My opinion is that there are about eight goods and services that working people need and want.  These world include: food, clothing, housing, education, health care, transportation, communication, and exposure to cultural activities such as music, dance, film, art, the theater, etc.

When we look at the architecture of the cities of this country we see a collection of skyscrapers.  Most of these skyscrapers house enterprises that in no way contribute to the production of the goods and services we need and want. These enterprises include, corporate headquarters, banks, insurance companies, advertising agencies, corporate law firms, and stock brokerage houses.  While these enterprises do not directly contribute to the supplying us with the things we want, when we pay for any commodity the costs of all these enterprises is factored into the prices we pay.

Understanding this reality gives us a clue as to why a profound improvement in the standard of living is possible when working people gain control of the means of production.  

The necessity of a vanguard party

One chapter in the book Imagine is titled Alternatives to the Present System of Capitalist Injustice written by Mumia Abu Jamal and Angela Davis.  These authors quoted a 1971 study by the American Friends Service Committee. 

This report argues that it is the government that commits the majority of murders in its wars or by the police.  The report also looked at the fact that the government effectively kidnapped over 100,000 Japanese in internment camps during the Second World War.  The largest forceful acquisitions of property in the history of this country were when the government effectively stole large tracts of Native American land through treaties.

Vladimir Illyich Lenin wrote about these kinds of criminal acts in his pamphlet titled State and Revolution.  Lenin argued that the idea of the state was specifically invented to serve the capitalist system.  The state, in effect, organizes the theft of wealth created by working people and hands it over to the capitalist class.  This is why Lenin called the state a “special repressive force.”

Understanding this reality of capitalism Lenin felt that the only way for workers to gain political power would be with a vanguard party.  This party would need to be disciplined, and always advance the interests of the international working class.  History has shown that the only examples where working people managed to take power was with the existence of a vanguard party.  These examples consist of the Soviet Union before the betrayal of Joseph Stalin and the revolutionary government of Cuba.     

While the book Imagine devotes an entire section on how there will be a transition to socialism, the book never mentions the name Vladimir Illyich Lenin.  The book argues that there could be many different ways that working people might come to power.  Unfortunately history has shown that this approach has not been successful.

Thanksgiving 2077?

Terry Bisson wrote a chapter in the book Imagine titled: Thanksgiving 2077: A Short Story.  In this chapter Bisson uses fiction to imagine what a Socialist world might look like.  His characters don’t seem to be very happy and Bisson’s characters have a rule at the Thanksgiving table that there would be no complaining. 

The idea of alienation comes from the theft of wealth from workers.  In a world that will be built on new foundations this theft will no longer exist.  My opinion is that a future socialist world would be a genuinely inspiring place to live.  Working people would not only produce everything of value, but we would have complete control of the environment where we live.

Given the present reality, I believe that working people will have the opportunity to take state power and to transform the world as we know it.  However, we need to learn the lessons of history that will give us insight as to how the struggle will unfold.  There is no better way to live one’s life that to work to make this kind of world a reality.