The Progressive Compass Volume 2 Issue 5

What’s New

REAL PROGRESSIVES is always progressing. Here’s what’s new for us lately and what we’re working on.

Finance Plans to Profit Off the Pandemic – How We Can Stop Them

Our guest speaker for May is Emma Caterine, a consumer attorney, board member of Modern Money Network, and member of Democratic Socialists of America. She will give us an overview of how the financial industry plans to profit during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the coming recession. She’ll also talk about organizing and look at what needs to be done by and for working people to be freed from financial exploitation and the debt trap.

Emma’s presentation is for everyone. There will be no complicated jargon or math — just the plain truth of Wall Street’s aggressive class war against the people and both short and long term ways to fight back.

May 20th, 9pm EDT/6pm PDT

Click here to register for this meeting or copy and paste the URL below: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0ode6qqTgqE9cGeAq4HtaA1VzPHi85j0Ps

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on joining the meeting.

Last month’s national outreach call with Nathan Tankus on The Fed’s Response to the Coronavirus Depression is now available here.

Real Progressives Endorses Lauren Ashcraft!

Real Progress in Action proudly endorses Lauren Ashcraft, Democratic candidate for US Congress in New York’s 12th District. She is a Democratic Socialist and a proponent of MMT. Lauren’s passionate support of a progressive agenda goes above and beyond that of many candidates. (Listen to our podcast interview with Lauren, posted in the Real Progressives Media Library, below)

Update from the PMO

After migrating to the Microsoft Office suite we are continuing to build our workspace on Teams, making for a more organized and well-oiled machine. We have also seen an influx of fantastic new volunteers that we are onboarding. If you would like to volunteer as well, please see the bottom section of the newsletter for information on how to join our efforts!


Progressivism After Bernie

It is imperative that we continue our struggle. This movement was never about Bernie – it was always about us. So where do we go from here?

The Future of the Bernie Sanders Movement

ARTICLE: As the dust begins to settle on the 2020 Democratic primary, there is a grim reality laid bare – but there is also hope. Steve’s open letter to Progressives everywhere is a message of tactics and strategy moving forward in the post-Bernie era. Here is what we should have learned and what we need to understand about how we move our movement forward.

Now That Biden Is The Nominee, How Do We Save Democracy?

ARTICLE: It is time to acknowledge that Joe Biden is the Democratic Party’s candidate for president. Now we must decide what to do in November. Replacing him at the convention is not on the table, and wasting time with anti-democratic fantasies won’t help our movement.

Afterberner: The Progressive Path Forward with Jamarl Thomas

PODCAST: The progressive movement is still coming to terms with the suspension of Bernie Sanders’ campaign and his endorsement of Joe Biden. Here Steve Grumbine checks in with Jamarl Thomas with the Progressive Soapbox to discuss what went wrong. Did Sanders go to war against a powerful enemy with no powder in his gun? Should Sanders have taken off the gloves? And what comes next?

Revolutions and Reconciliations: The Bernie Sanders Movement with Ryan Grim

PODCAST: Ryan Grim is The Intercept’s D.C. Bureau Chief and author of the book We’ve Got People: From Jesse Jackson to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the End of Big Money and the Rise of a Movement. This interview took place a few days before Bernie Sanders suspended his presidential campaign, but the writing was already on the wall. We all know that the movement still has work to do, but we’re faced with different possible strategies now that we no longer have Bernie to shine a light and bring media attention to it. Steve and Ryan discuss where to go from here.


In Case You Missed It: COVID-19 Resources

Real Progressives is particularly well-positioned from an MMT perspective to address the current Covid-19 Crisis and we want you to have this information .

Real Progressives Has Created a Live Online System for Gathering Local Support Links for Our Followers!

Do you have access to any helpful resources in your area? Help us build the list by filling out our short survey form using the links below or the QR codes in the graphic above.

Are you looking for a local support group in your area to offer support for or to get help from?

Check our growing lists for a mutual aid group near you!

Real Progressives’ Media Library

In case you missed them, here are four recent episodes of our Macro n Cheese podcast.

Exposed: A Serial Whistleblower’s Story with Bill Black

PODCAST: April was the 33rd anniversary of the Keating 5 Savings & Loan scandal, so we brought back our favorite former bank-regulator, Bill Black, to talk about it. It turns out that Bill has been involved in a documentary series about banking fraud and suggested that we should also hear from the directors, Patrick Lovell and Eric Vaughan. He calls them “the Coen brothers of documentaries.”

Supply Chains and Pandemics with Steve Keen

PODCAST: In January Professor Steve Keen he spoke of the inevitability of disastrous climate crises. Now here we are, a few months later: different crisis, same chaos, inescapable tragedy. Keen believes that during a crisis — climate or pandemic — we need a centralized authority to take over and maintain civilization. But we are deep on our slide into deregulation, privatization, and globalization – letting the market take control. This ideology ignores the crucial fact that the economy exists inside the ecology; without the ecology, there is no economy. Without the ecology, there are no humans. This conversation features an interesting and lively debate about imports and exports.

Ground Zero with Lauren Ashcraft

PODCAST: This is a bit of a departure for us. We don’t usually interview political candidates but we are putting this special podcast out because we just endorsed Lauren Ashcraft, who is also a stand-up comedian, a Democratic Socialist, and an ardent proponent of MMT – with a compelling life story that informs her perspective. This interview shows exactly what a good political candidate looks like.

Savage Joy with Writer Nathan J. Robinson

VIDEO: Joy talks with Nathan J Robinson, Editor of Current Affairs, about the resurgent left and his recent book, “Why You Should be a Socialist.” They ask what it means that the leaders of the Democrats – supposedly the opposition party – are openly opposed to bold policies for resolving the climate crisis and providing healthcare for all. Joy and Nathan look back at the campaign, look forward to the coming election and our future politics – yet they manage to find things to laugh about.

Green Provisioning (GISP Green New Deal Series Ep. 4)

VIDEO: In this episode in our Green New Deal series, Professor Mathew Forstater discusses ways that a Green New Deal might transform the structure of the economy, by incorporating green provisioning processes. He discusses industrial ecology parks, recycling, reconditioning, repair for reuse, and urban landscaping and rooftop gardens. A Green New Deal could encourage that new and old products shift to these more sustainable patterns of production, use, and reuse.

Larry Summers? Mitch McConnell? States Bankrupt? WTF?

VIDEO: The hits just keep on coming as Joe Biden pulls in king neoliberal Larry Summers, the master of austerity; McConnell suggests states should go bankrupt.

Modern Monetary Theory and COVID-19

VIDEO: We need to understand the power of our currency when it comes to crises such as #Covid19. The quicker we learn, the faster we can pressure politicians into doing our will!

Planet of the Humans: Documentary Critique by Mike Ewall

“Planet of the Humans” (produced by Michael Moore) paints a bleak – and incomplete – picture of humanity’s future as regards climate change. Mike Ewall analyzes this production carefully to point out its flaws and what it’s left out – such as identifying groups that are doing good work – some of whom are losing funding for their positions. This is only Part 1 of the overall interview – more is on its way!


Book Review: Apocalypse Drift by Joe Nobody

Quarantine is a good excuse to get back into reading books! Here’s some great recommended fiction.

Are you looking for something relaxing to read to take your mind off the world having gone mad during the pandemic lockdown? Then this isn’t the book for you.

Follow one man and his family as they navigate the collapse of the US economy and take-down of our weak and aging infrastructure by an unseen foreign attack. The strike plan against the US is simple, yet insidious and more than believable. Most of the action takes place in current day Kemah, TX, but it’s easy to imagine this work of fiction being scarily close to reality anywhere in the country. You might even pick up a few valuable survival tips!

Written by a former government insider under a pen name to protect his identity and sources, this book is sure to educate as much as entertain.

Also available on audiobook for all you multi-tasking doomsday preppers out there.


Meme of the Month


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