Progressive Compass Volume 2, Issue 6

What’s New

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

Real Progressives Endorses Lacy Watson!

Although news outlets in West Virginia “inexplicably” failed to report his historic nomination, Real Progressives is proud to endorse Lacy Watson (D), the first African-American candidate for West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District. Lacy is greatly recognized for his work in the community as well as social justice initiatives across the state.

National Outreach Call, June 24: Community QE, Digital Greenbacks, and the Expansion of Democracy

Real Progressives and Real Progress in Action invite you to our June National Outreach Call with special guest Robert Hockett. Hockett is the Edward Cornell Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, Visiting Professor of Finance at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, and Senior Counsel at Westwood Capital, LLC.

In the upcoming National Outreach Call, he will talk about his work developing plans for cities and states to make use of new Fed facilities and how this work can help communities recover from economic crises. He’ll also tell us about his work developing a public payment platform called the “digital greenback” and explain the idea that Treasury-issued currency constitutes a “democratic dollar.” There will be Q&A after the presentation, so bring your questions!

The event is on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, at 9pm EDT/6pm PDT. Click here to register for the call on Zoom. After registering you will receive an email with instructions for joining the meeting.

Under The Hood

We will soon begin using Crowdcast as our Webinar platform and Captivate for podcasts. Crowdcast is especially exciting as it will allow us to host webinars, panels, debates, classes, and conferences. We will be able to educate and build relationships with progressive political candidates and activists as well as increase our connections with academia.

We recently began using Rokfin to help us monetize our video content. Rokfin is a platform for creators and content owners to bundle their offerings in a subscription, and will allow us to gain a new audience for both our audio and video content. Instead of subscribing to individual channels, subscribers pay $10 a month for access to all content on the platform (as of now, there are 25 “free-thinking” media channels and loads of sports).

Finally, we’re getting ready to launch our beautiful new websites for Real Progressives and Real Progress In Action for a much more user-friendly experience. There will be a number of compelling new features!


Knowledge Area Spotlight: Equality with Justice

Real Progressives focuses on seven knowledge areas. In honor of Pride Month and the BLM movement, we are spotlighting Equality with Justice.

Trans People at High Risk for Unemployment, Study Shows

The issues facing the transgender community are complex and require robust,creative, people-centered political solutions. These solutions may scare those people who believe in keeping government spending low; but they are necessary to protect not just transgender Americans but all Americans.

Racism, Socioeconomic Terrorism, and Revolution

VIDEO: Steve Grumbine delves into the multifaceted systemic oppression facing minorities in the US today and throughout the history, focusing on the devastating economic impacts. There will be no justice for anyone until there is economic justice for everyone. We must break the cycle of economic ignorance, unite with our marginalized sisters and brothers (rather than punching down at them), and take the fight to our real enemies.

The Long Overdue Call to Abolish Predatory Policing Policies

Calls to defund the police have some in a panic as they envision a lawless society. In reality, this is a simple call to fix bad budgeting priorities; and a hammer isn’t the right tool for every job. Choosing a posture of rehabilitation over authoritarian punishment is not just cheaper – it’s more ethical and more effective as well.

Peace Is Not the Result of Violent Repression

Pain is an essential function that calls attention to a problem; the worse the problem, the worse it hurts. As this pain deepens and becomes more consequential in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, demands for peace and order directed at demonstrators are clearly made in bad faith. The underlying condition must be addressed before it will stop causing pain – without justice, there can be no peace.

Case For a Livable Wage

Capitalism’s most fundamental rule is that if workers have no money then business has no customers. Today, with our economy at a practical standstill and federal politicians more interested in serving their donors rather than the people, this is more true than ever before. This sad reality is slammed into all our faces as we wade through this Covid-19 pandemic.

Disband The Police

Minneapolis just voted to disband their police department. Now begins the hard task of starting fresh and finding solutions that meet the complex needs of the community.


MMT Spotlight

MMT is the cornerstone of the Real Progressives movement. As such it is imperative that the concepts are clearly explained and defended.

We Can Prevent Another Great Depression; It’ll Take $10 Trillion

In this article in The Atlantic, Derek Thompson lays out a plan on how we can prevent a Great Depression for 2020. He writes about the legislation already passed and then puts together a new plan to cover those areas not covered by the CARES and HEROES acts.


Real Progressives’ Media Library

In case you missed them, here are five recent episodes of our Macro n Cheese podcast and a recording of last month’s National Outreach Call.

Revolution H’20: A Discussion with Green Party Presidential Candidate Howie Hawkins

PODCAST: Are we already living in a command economy courtesy of corporate “private tyrannies?” In this interview, Green Party Presidential candidate Howie Hawkins joins Steve Grumbine to discuss a
variety of topics, including command economies vs. democratically planned economies.

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

DISCUSSION: Our May National Outreach Call featured Emma Caterine, a consumer attorney, board member of Modern Money Network, and member of Democratic Socialists of America. She presented an overview of the financial industry’s scheme for profiting during the COVID-19 pandemic and during the coming recession. She also talked about organizing and what needs to be done by and for working people to be freed from financial exploitation and the debt trap.

Nationalizing Payroll & The Right to a Job with Pavlina Tcherneva

PODCAST: Dr. Pavlina Tcherneva of the Levi Institute discusses why it’s critical for Congress to ensure that all workers are paid a living wage during the COVID-19 pandemic using a nationalized payroll, how to transition to a Federal Jobs Guarantee while using this payroll system, and how to address the lack of imagination that is preventing these things from becoming reality.

Labor Pains with Tschaff Reisberg

PODCAST: Tschaff Reisberg is not only an early proponent of MMT, but also a union representative with extensive experience with real-world struggles between workers and employers. His story – and that of the flight attendants’ union – is instructional for anyone fighting for fundamental change.

A Legal Framework for a Digital Future with Rohan Grey

PODCAST: In the midst of the pandemic, people are living with unprecedented financial insecurity. There is no real sense of when they’ll be able to return to work or whether there will be jobs awaiting
them! Rohan worked with Rep. Rashida Tlaib on her COVID-19 emergency assistance act, which is far more generous than any other coronavirus stimulus bill to this date.

Reframing Marx through MMT with Nathan Tankus

PODCAST: Marx devoted himself to studying and developing a theory of capitalism. He left a huge body of work, some parts of which contradict others. There’s a strand of Marxist tradition that influenced Post-Keynesians, Chartalists, and MMTers, so it’s hard to make the case of incompatibility. Steve also brings up the specter of capital flight, which Nathan describes as a non-Marxist issue that Marxists argue about. This interview is packed with important ideas and facts.


Meme of the Month

 

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