Liberation News (Internationalist)

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Liberation News (Internationalist) or usually just called Liberation News was first established in 1996 as a radio program on Free Radio Santa Cruz. Liberation News has since been transformed into a socialist / Luxembourgist print newspaper that appears irregularly as well as a regular online newsletter, edited by Steven Argue.

Steven Argue is a former leader of the socialist California Peace and Freedom Party. He split from that group citing opposition to their support for the capitalist Democratic Party (United States) and Green Party (United States) in local elections as well as differences on the issue of the UN in Iraq. Steven Argue said no to any kind of occupation of Iraq, putting forward the slogan “US Out, UN Stay Out”, while Peace and Freedom Party State Chair, Kevin Akin, argued that the issue was not so simple.

Liberation News describes itself as standing for “the liberation of humanity and a ravaged planet from the scourge of capitalism and its wars”. They explain the need for an alternative news source coming from the need to counter the propaganda of the mainstream corporate media.

Staunchly socialist the group rejects both the Democrat and Republican Parties as capitalist parties of war, racism, union busting, sexism, homophobia, environmental degradation and corporate exploitation. They instead seek to build a movement of revolutionary socialism as the working class alternative.

In explaining their opposition to the Democrats they state, “In contrast to the Democratic Party, including its most left wing, we stand in firm opposition to all US wars. We understand that the US wages wars for one reason: empire and arms sales that equal corporate profit. The working class interests we represent are those that do not want our sons and daughters to be sacrificed on the alter of war for corporate profit and who want our tax dollars to be spent on social programs at home. In addition we want the people of the world to live in freedom from the terror and exploitation of U.S. imperialism.”

To achieve these ends they call for a “socialist revolution in North America and the world to end the dictatorial power of the wealthy, for a redistribution of the wealth, and for a planned economy run to meet human and environmental needs.”

In addition to socialist revolution the group promotes the Trotskyist theories of Political Revolution and Permanent Revolution. While being in agreement with many Trotskyist-Leninist theories the group also agrees with Rosa Luxembourg's criticisms of Lenin and Trotsky on the question of the need to establish real workers democracy in a revolutionary socialist society.

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[edit] References: Liberation News Articles