Welcome to Gaia! ::

[Hands out red star cookies] See, the red star of Socialism tastes pretty good, doesn’t it? The rest of the industrialized world seems to think so. Perhaps the good old USA should have a taste as well. Why, under Socialism, the expensive book for this class, even the class itself would be free. Still think Commies are bad eggs? Just wait a minute; the 8-hour workday, child labor laws, the minimum wage, Social Security, we’re all glad these are in place, right? Well all these things we can thank Socialists for. But what is Socialism? Socialism is a system in which the public owns and operates businesses as a group, as opposed to one large Boss with underlings. I am very qualified to talk to you about this topic, for I have been studying Socialism for years, reading everything from Marx to Mao, from Lenin to Luxemburg. I’m here to show you the errors of Capitalism, break you of your conditioned response to Socialism, and persuade you to vote in Congressional elections this November.
In order to change history, we must know our enemy, [PowerPoint picture of child show shiner] Capitalism. I have seen the ravages of this economic system. We all have. I’m sure many of you have had a job at some point, and I’m sure at some point you thought you deserved more, well you do! Socialism would be glad to help, if you’d only let it. You know those benefits, be it dental, healthcare, or maternity leave, that most jobs have? That’s Socialism, comrades. And I guarantee you that institutions didn’t always have those benefits, a Labor Union more than likely brought them into existence.
Let us begin by looking at the fickle US economy. The business cycle fluctuates from boom to depression and back again, and Capitalism is the culprit. Let me explain. Demand for an item goes up, so companies produce it in force without regard for how much demand there actually is. Hence why Wal-Mart throws away at least 20 lbs of chicken at the end of each day. Ask anyone in the deli, they’ll tell you. Well eventually, the demand subsides, and companies have to sell their excess product to make a profit. Regretfully they end up cutting wages, benefits, and retirement funds merely because they were too irresponsible and made as much as they possibly could. But not Socialism, no no! Socialism works on a planned economy, where things are made with a limit in mind, according to the actual need of the public, determined by extensive planning and past history of the region. This cuts down on waste, and thus on expenses to get rid of this waste, which keeps us from getting pay cuts.
Now What if I wre to collapse right here on the floor today? Ok, I would get dragged right over there to Sacred Heart. But lets say I don’t have any health insurance? How on Earth am I to pay my bills? The US Census of 2004 stated that 15.7% of Americans have no health insurance at all, and 60% of the people that do, only do because their employer provides it for them. But what happens if a company goes bankrupt? Well then, so does its healthcare system, and more are left to fend for themselves. We need a foolproof plan, and I suggest healthcare provided by the government. For those of you thinking state-sponsored healthcare is too expensive, let me show you something. [PowerPoint of healthcare costs of industrialized nations] As you can plainly see, the USA spent more on healthcare than any other industrialized nation in 1998. These other nations, I might add, have universal healthcare programs. Why don’t we have it then? Because its not in the insurance companies best interests. Socialism would provide for it, though. All races, colors, and creeds would be covered 100 percent. Perhaps if we cut some of our tax breaks to the wealthiest 1% of this country, we’d be able to afford this program just fine.
This is just a sample of what would be our newfound freedoms. No more racism, women freed from their household prisons: in summary, no more exploitation of man by man. As the Communist Party USA states in the preamble to its constitution, it is central to the fighting unity of the working class to provide for full economic, political, and social equality.
Finally, over the past century, the United States has entered what Lenin liked to call Imperialism, which he claimed was the last stage of Capitalism. Imperialism is the maintaining or controlling of foreign territory for resources, thus creating an empire. The USA has added two off shore states, 5 territories, and had wars with Korea, Vietnam, and currently Iraq, not to mention two world wars, and that’s only about the past 100 years. We claimed we were fighting against Communism and Terrorism: Indeed, we fought them: for their resources. Once again, our friend Socialism has come to save the day! Under our new economic system, our centuries of unjust and horrific wars will finally be over. We will still have a military, don’t get me wrong, but only for defense. With hostile countries still out there, it would be foolish to abolish the military altogether. But money previously used to build bombs would now be used for buying books.
(Transition: I’ve only scratched the surface of Capitalism. I could go on and on about how every day we have worse living conditions than we should, worse lives than we should even. But there is hope for this backwards society we live in, and I’m going to tell you how we can bring it about)
Why, through none other than our democratic process. This is an especially relevant time to be speaking of change, for Congressional elections are this November. We cant just sit around and wait for change, we have to bring it about ourselves! We must vote! Now The Communist Party USA endorses the Democratic candidates; although they are Capitalist in nature, the CPUSA sees them as a lesser of two evils. Perhaps through them, Socialists can run as Democrats and not be seen as demonic Commies who want to destroy America. But before we think national, we have to think local. By spreading the good word through posters, pamphlets, and lovely persuasive speeches, we can make a change. Maybe in our lifetimes we’ll even see a Socialist in Congress.

Debate Question
Now, how many agree its time to bring Socialism to America?

Now we can all choose to be exploited, if we want. I would just prefer otherwise. Through reforms in most areas of this government, we can one-day shape it to truly serve us, instead of major corporations interests. (20) You have seen and currently live the Capitalist nightmare, but I have shown you the light, and the glory of Socialism. So I ask you please vote in November, for a better America. The Socialist cookie is just waiting to be eaten.

that was for my persuasive speech is Fundamentals of Oral Communication (its really just a speech class, dont tell anobody)

we shall see....although thats probably the outcome, I'd personally liek to try it through the democratic process first

it happend in venezuela but there is still revolution going on. Although wen chavez was first brought to power he was not a marxist or anything like that only a reformer but unlike other reformers he did not back down to the big corporations when he tried to issue the reforms. This is what started it all. Chavez since then has underwent reading marxist works and trotsky aswell he even recomends people to read the transitional program.

People who don't take a stance on Venezuela really should reconsider, esspecially since it has sparked the fire of socialism throughout latin america again.