We're taught that the dictatorships around the world that claim to be socialist or communist was what Marx advocated for, authoritarian top down societies, "Socialism from Above". When Marx spoke of Socialism, he meant the widest most democratic form of working class participation in running society, not one party dictatorships that ruled in the name of the working class. The real tradition of Marxism spoke of a democratic society in which the working class, through its self emancipation, could establish a truly democratic society run for and by working people organized together. From the recent struggles between Workers and the Wealthy in Spain, Greece and other parts of Europe to Worker's struggles here like the impending Teacher's Strike in Chicago in the Fall and the Con-Ed Worker's Lock Out in NYC, the discussion on what a truly democratic society would look like is an important one. Join us, the Queens International Socialist Organization, for a presentation by Sam Farber* on what this Socialism looks like, Socialism from Below.

Date: Tuesday July 31 at @ 7:00pm
Location: Queens Pride House (76th street & 37th Ave, 7 Train to 74th Street Station/Jackson Heights)

Samuel Farber is a longtime socialist born and raised in Cuba and received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1969. He has written numerous books and articles on Cuba including Revolution and Reaction in Cuba, 1933-1960, The Origins of the Cuban Revolution Reconsidered, and most recently, Cuba Since the Revolution of 1959: A Critical Assessment published by Haymarket Books

Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/359441147462799/

This talk is based on Hal Draper's pamphlet on The Two Souls of Socialism, a pamphlet that goes through a short history of socialism and it's two different interpretations and interpreters, socialism from above vs our tradition of self activity of the workers, socialism from below.

Organized by the: Queens International Socialist Organization