Between The Lines’ Sponsored Panel Discussion
Panel discussion with Les Leopold, author of “Runaway Inequality: An Activist’s Guide to Economic Justice” and co-founder and director of the Labor Institute in New York City. Co-chairs: Scott Harris and Richard Hill, Between The Lines Radio Newsmagazine.
Listen to the discussion and view the PowerPoint presentation: “How Do We Build a Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?” May 20, 2016
Plenary speeches:
“Capitalism and Militarism – At Humanity’s Peril: Organizing Our Power” May 20, 2016
The regime of capitalism today is characterized by massive and increasing inequality: wealth and power accumulates at one pole while misery, austerity, and ecological degradation explodes at the other. It is no wonder that militarism in the U.S. and abroad is exploding. We see it in the U.S., in the way local police forces are armed with surplus military weapons; in the use of public funds to procure mercenary corporate security forces and enlisted people to fight in yet another war in the name of democracy; in the deployment of fear generating security state surveillance practices and the inflammatory rhetoric of terrorism, to try to terrify a domestic population into acquiescence. Moderator: Laura Flanders, executive producer and host of The Laura Flanders Show. She is currently a contributing writer to The Nation and a regular contributor to MSNBC.
Speakers:
- Chris Hedges is author, critic and was a Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for The New York Times, as well as The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor and National Public Radio. He is the author of the bestsellers “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America,” “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy, the Triumph of Spectacle” and “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning.” He is a senior fellow at The Nation Institute and writes an online column for Truthdig.
- Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of the women-led peace group CODEPINK and the co-founder of the human rights group Global Exchange. She has been an advocate for social justice for more than 40 years.
- Tariq Ali is a British Pakistani writer, journalist, and filmmaker. He is a member of the editorial committee of the New Left Review and Sin Permiso, and contributes to The Guardian, CounterPunch, and the London Review of Books. He read PPE in University of Oxford.
See additional information on this plenary session.
Panel sessions:
“What’s next for the Movement Behind Bernie?” May 21, 2016
The Sanders campaign has drawn tens of thousands into massive, enthusiastic rallies for “a political revolution against the billionaire class”. Grassroots organizations like “Labor for Bernie,” “People for Bernie” and “#Movement4Bernie” swelled around the country. How do we continue the fight against the billionaire class after the primaries? Do we need a new party for the 99%? Can this be a step towards revitalizing the labor movement? Come discuss these questions and more with leaders of the movement.
Speakers: Bryan Koulouris (at right), chair, Socialist Alternative’s national organizer; Charles Lechner, (3rd from right) People For Bernie; Philip Locker, (2nd from left) Socialist Alternative’s national spokesman and Seattle Councilwoman Kshama Sawant’s former political director for election and re-election campaigns; Mika (2nd from right), Labor for Bernie, longtime labor union activist; Kshama Sawant (far left) is an activist who brings a passion for social justice to her work. As a member of the Seattle City Council, now in her second term, she has been a voice for workers, youth, and the oppressed.
“The Transformation of American Health Care – For Whom By Whom,” May 21, 2016
- Organizational issues: “From Empires to Health Systems (organized for and by whom?)” Oli Fein, practicing general internist and professor of clinical medicine and public health at Weill Cornell Medical College, where he also serves as associate dean and is responsible for the Office of Affiliations and the Office of Global Health Education. He is chairman of Physicians for a National Health Plan’s NY Metro Chapter, former president of national PNHP, and former vice president for the United States of the American Public Health Association.
- The Future of Health Care Work Force: “The Role of Primary Care,” – Mary O’Brien practiced medicine in New York City for the past 30 years—doing my residency at Presbyterian and then working for ten years as director of St. Luke’s ER. Now I work at Columbia Student Health Services. For the past nine summers, I have volunteered in a rural clinic in the Mississippi Delta where I have seen more severe and entrenched poverty and ill health than I have ever seen in New York City. I joined PNHP to work more actively for universal health care.”
- Insurance issues: “For-profit Health Insurance vs. Single Payer: for the people, not profit!” – Annette Gaudino is statewide coordinator for the Campaign for New York Health and organizer, Physicians for a National Health Program-NY Metro Chapter. She previously worked as a speech and swallowing therapist, and has over 25 years of activist experience in the LGBTQ, HIV/AIDS, and harm reduction movements.