Saturday, June 23, 2007

Durham BORDC meeting Saturday at Stanford Warren

The Durham Bill of Rights Defense Committee's June meeting is today at 3pm at the Stanford Warren Library, on Fayetteville St.  I think the main agenda items will be the ongoing campaign against the NC connection to rendition of prisoners for torture and tabling at July 4th events. 
 
Also, this is the second day of the Friends of the Durham Library's summer booksale.  They have a range of books, most going for $1 dollar hardcover and 50 cents paperback.  I found most of my Marxist books in the philosophy section and sometimes in the history section, along with books on the histories of the "socialist bloc" countries.
 
I think the renovations downtown are also being officially unveiled Saturday, with the festivities starting at 10am.  It would be nice if the editors of UNC's Daily Tar Heel and others who are hard on Durham's image would take notice.  Though we could use some new trees downtown to replace the ones cut for street work.  
 
If the Grass Roots Impeachment Movement meeting Sunday at 5:30 is open to the public, I assume it is announced at www.impeachbushcheney.net.     

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excuse me but, have you ever been for more than 15 days to a communist country?

This is a serious question. Thanks

Patrick Meagher (southplumb) said...

Since it is "a serious question" - I have not been to a country led by a communist party. It is not a trivial distinction to point out that there has never been a communist country, only countries led by communists and claiming to be socialist.

If the ruling parties of any of the current "Socialist Bloc" countries are overthrown, I predict their standards of living will decline like that of the former USSR. That said, I have doubts that any of these countries are actually socialist and in many ways policies of the USSR at its end and China today make mockeries of Marxist socialism. This doesn't mean socialism doesn't work, but it does mean there are lessons to be learned, other than any problems that were inherited, such as lack of industry prior to revolution and leaders who aren't really committed to socialism. Whatever kind of economy the USSR, had, it worked well enough that it lasted decades, defeated the fascist attacks, and created a superpower.

I assume you have been to a communist country? I expect you will say something negative, but as I said, communist theory and practice is not static and American socialism can't copy socialism from other countries and I wouldn't want it to import solutions from different contexts.