“Mass Movement Building in the Obama Era” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on June 10, 2010. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.
Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from the main political report delivered to the Communist Party USA’s 29th national convention, held in New York city on May 22. Sam Webb chairs the CPUSA. The full report, titled “A way out of the deepening crisis,” can be found at CPUSA.org
What a difference between now and five years ago when we convened in Chicago!
“Eight Rough and Random Thoughts on Socialism” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on April 22, 2010. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.
(1) Socialism has its material roots in the inability of capitalism to solve humanity’s problems. Working people gravitate toward a radical critique of society out of necessity, out of a sense that the existing arrangements of society (people don’t necessarily call it capitalism) fail to fulfill their material and spiritual needs. It is no coincidence that around the time of the economic meltdown last fall, public opinion polls showed growing support for socialism.
“The Communist Party: A Work in Progress in a Changing World” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on July 31, 2009. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.
Editor’s note: This is an excerpted version of a speech delivered to the Chautauqua Conference, New York, July 21, 2009. Sam Webb chairs the Communist Party USA.
No organization or institution can long exist in a condition of stasis; organizations in general and political parties and social movements in particular have to adjust to new conditions.
And the reason is simple: change is constant and organizations and institutions must, if they want to remain relevant, change in the face of changing conditions.
“The Right’s Last Dance: 2008 Elections” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on July 25, 2009. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.
Report to the CPUSA National Committee, July 7, 2007
To begin, I want to acknowledge that more than my fingerprints are on this report. Many comrades in discussions and by email gave me ideas and suggestions that I believe give the report more depth and range. I want to thank the comrades who took time out to convey their thinking.
The report focuses on some aspects of the current situation. It doesn’t try to span the entire country or the globe. Its aim is less ambitious. I will make an assessment of the Bush administration and the people’s struggle against its policies. Then the report will look at the 2008 elections and some of the main questions that will frame them. Finally, some aspects of our party’s work will be considered.
“Change is Here, Change is Coming” first appeared on PoliticalAffairs.net on July 3, 2009. Read it on PoliticalAffairs.net.
Editor’s note: Excerpted from remarks by Sam Webb, national chair of the Communist Party USA, to the national committee of the Communist Party, June 20.
I make no attempt to be comprehensive in these remarks. My aim is much more modest, as you will see.
Let me begin with a simple observation: If the last 30 years were an era of reaction, then the coming decade could turn into an era of reform, even radical reform. Six months into the Obama presidency, I would say without hesitation that the landscape, atmosphere, conversation and agenda have strikingly changed compared to the previous eight years.
I'm a long-time socialist and activist, but new to the blogging world, to which I aim to bring a different perspective on politics, sports, culture, and Marxism. I also teach online classes, but leave plenty of time for swimming, hiking, ESPN, music, reading, drinking good beer, and, not least, my family and friends. I wish I could play basketball, but my knees ruled out that possibility long ago. I was the national chairperson of the Communist Party, USA from 2000 until 2014. While I grew up in Maine and currently live in New York City, my politically formative years were spent in Detroit during the 1970s and 1980s. I graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia (where I played basketball) and received my MA in economics from the University of Connecticut.
