Socialists, Tea Party debate at N.E. leftist conference

It is a rare sight to see anti-war activists, socialists and Tea Party members all in one room.

However, Saturday’s fourth annual New England Socialist Conference brought them all together under the same roof.

The conference, entitled “We Won’t Pay for Their Crisis,” was held at University of Massachusetts-Boston and featured a number of prominent socialist speakers, as well as a debate between a member of the Socialist Alternative and a right-wing writer well-known for his role in the Tea Party.

The Socialist Alternative is a national organization that aims to promote goals such as free universal health care, a raise of the minimum wage, high-quality public education and an end to budget cuts, providing an alternative to the solutions of the Republican and Democratic parties, according to its website.

“Socialism is more than a way to share wealth, it is a rational organization of society,” said speaker Bryan Koulouris. “Capitalism is not working: today, the 225 richest people in the world have more money than the 2.5 billion poorest.”

Koulouris, who spoke on the topic “Socialism: Why We Need It,” responded to the common criticism that without the monetary reward, people would no longer be motivated to work.

“Human beings become motivated by intellectual challenges, by working for the benefit of society,” he said. “Still, capitalism will not end itself. The most powerful people are not willing to give up their privileges.”

Koulouris called for international solidarity and small-scale community organization to encourage people to draw anti-capitalist conclusions.

The conference also featured Cindy Sheehan, who received a standing ovation as she took hold of the microphone.

Sheehan became a prominent anti-war activist after her son was killed in the Iraq War. In her speech, she reflected on her time as a member of the Democratic Party during the Bush administration.

“I came to realize that none of the corporate parties are anti-war,” Sheehan said. “The anti-war movement during the Bush administration was smart, but now they are accepting the same things they hated when Bush was president just because Obama took over.”

Sheehan went on to retell her experience running for Congress against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in the 2008 election, calling it “traumatic.”

“I learned that they do not want our voices, they do not want someone who has had to struggle, be it financially, socially or politically,” she said. “They do not want a real person in politics.”

Sheehan expressed her support for socialist ideas such as universal health care and housing as a right, not a privilege. She divided American Capitalist society into two classes, the “robbed” class and the “robber” class.

“We are led to believe that if we work hard enough, we can move from the robbed to the robber class,” she said. “This is what we call the American Dream, and it is a myth.”

Finally, Sheehan rejected the accusations of Obama being a socialist, instead calling him “a militarist, a fascist and a corporatist.”

Another key part of the conference was the debate between Tea Party member and “Free Market Warrior” Loren Spivack and socialist campaigner Jesse Lessinger.

Lessinger heavily criticized free market competition, saying the current system breeds “sexism, xenophobia, environmental destruction and racism” in the pursuit of profit.

He called for public ownership as a solution.

“Society needs to be taken out of the manager’s hands. You do not give small children sharp tools,” he said.

He differentiated between Stalinism and socialism, emphasizing that socialism does not need be “totalitarianist.”

Spivack responded by sympathizing with socialist ideology, saying he finds many of the ideas to be appealing and noble. However, he claimed socialism ignores fundamental aspects of the human nature.

“People are greedy and lazy, not just bank-owners, but everyone,” he said. “Capitalism counteracts this laziness and channels the greed, creating a social dynamic that encourages what we want.”

Spivack added that capitalism stimulates innovation and progress by creating “islands of wealth” that can form individual sponsors that invest in new ideas.

“In a socialist world, only the majority can decide this, preventing potentially great but unpopular ideas from going through,” he said.

“Socialism stems from arrogance. It is saying, I’m smarter than the six billion people in the world, and I want to impose my system on them,” Spivack said, provoking jeers from the audience.

Those debating went on to discuss the difference between voluntary and involuntary cooperation, the role of the corporate media and racial divisions in society. The debate was then opened to members of the audience.

“We have a lot of common ground with the Tea Party,” said UMass-Amherst student Chris Shores after the event. “We both have legitimate concerns about Obama’s administration. I think this debate highlighted fundamental issues in our society from both a capitalist and a socialist viewpoint.”

The overall response to the conference was positive, with many guests already involved in the socialist movement and glad to find a place to come together.

“I loved Cindy’s speech and the simple way in which she explained things,” said attendee Meghan Halilsen. “Being in the health care industry, I can particularly relate to the importance of free, universal health care.”

“It is great to hear about Cindy’s experience &- how she started out being involved in the basic social movement but then progressing and drawing conclusions about society, how it is organized and the fundamental changes that it needs,” Lessinger said in an interview.

Guests got the chance to participate and share their own opinions and experiences. Many called for organized action.

“We, as citizens, need to physically stand up for our own rights,” said attendee Lynn Mays. “We need real action, not symbolic action.”