Voice of the People: Radio by and for the 99% will look at democratic socialism. Our word of the week is “socialism.” We explore the commonalities of all of the varieties of socialism and we look at the US largest socialist organization the Democratic Socialists of America or DSA. And we explore how socialism is already working in the US and what it might look like if working people democratically ran both the economy and society. And we reveal some of the history of Missoula when socialists were a majority and ran the city government. In the first hour we also discuss items in the news, continuing to cover the pandemic and the economic catastrophe for the 99% allowed to happen by Congress, while billionaires grow even richer. We take a closer look at the catastrophic national unemployment figures, the huge number of small business closures, the overwhelming fact that over half of the public are having trouble paying utility bills and the failure of Congress to effectively fix the pandemic-induced depression. Not everyone is taking this lying down as the graduate students go on strike at the University of Michigan, the Little Rock, AR school teachers refuse to work in hazardous conditions, US Postal Service workers resist on the job the dismantling of the USPS. We end the first hour with a portent of what may be in store for us as the neoliberal Conservative government in Great Britain orders schools to not use resources from organizations that advocate for the end of capitalism or teach about those organizations in the schools.
In the third half hour we interview Zeth Stone, a Bozeman resident who is a member of the Bozeman DSA and recent head of his union at the Montana Department of Revenue. Zeth tells his story coming from a union family, dealing with poverty as an elite university athlete, and how a college class lead him to democratic socialism.
Then for the last part of the show we have a great conversation with sound sound guy Jim Gillan. We discuss how life could be better for the average working person, and how debt forgiveness, like the year of Jubilee spoken about in the Christian Bible, is essential to create a society that works for the 99%.
Join us in our social distancing by listening from Noon to 2 pm on Saturdays in Missoula, Montana on 105.5 FM or streaming worldwide on 1055kfgm.org. And please join our Facebook Group (Voice of the People: Radio by and for the 99% on 1055KFGM.org Group) to access scripts of this and previous shows and other contact information.
