US Social Forum Detroit 2010

[jeanofarc]

Hey just want to see what the Detroit yes posters feel about the US Social Forum coming to town or who wants to know or what would you like to know?

I joined on to head a committee that I call the hosting committee and we are networking to see that everyone that arrives has a chance to stay somewhere.
Please read the following notice and pass on to your other local forums, facebook, anywhere. seriously there are still many who are seeking housing or camp space.

REQUEST FOR HOUSING FOR THE VISITORS TO THE US SOCIAL FORUM 2010

This June 22nd through the 26th, the second ever US Social Forum will be held in downtown Detroit. Community organizers and concerned citizens from all over the country will be coming together to brainstorm about how to unite their movements with us on issues that plague the country and most of all Detroit, which is why they are coming here, to have a dialogue with us.

Many can not afford to come without our hospitality and we are putting out a call for more housing. There are many advantages from getting to know the visitors and what better way to do that than to host a few. Ask for a donation if you wish, and let folks camp if your house is full. There is a message board where you can offer space and communicate with folks who want to attend the forum- http://talk.alliedmediaconference.org/message-boards/ There will also be a message board posted up at Scripps Park at Grand River and Trumbull.

There are groups that will be serving meals at Scripps Park, at the corner of Grand River and Trumbull and we could use more help and food donations.

There will be message boards on the street in front of the Trumbullplex and Scripps Park for last minute communication or call/text Jean @ 313-377-4203 to volunteer or for more information.

To find out more about the US Social Forum, go to http://www.ussf2010.org/about.

Surviving, Adapting, Connecting, Organizing, Growing and Thriving

U.S.S.F. Detroit: June 22-26, 2010.
http://www.ussf2010.org
Another world is possible! Another U.S. is necessary! Another Detroit is happening!

[DetroitDad]

This intrigues me, I think I will be attending!

[English]

Hey, I'll be there too.

[Hypestyles]

getting closer.. who's going, and does registration pay for all the days of the conference?

[oldredfordette]

Going, yes it will cover the whole shebang.

Labor types might be interested in the Great Labor Arts Exchange, beginning June 18-21, at the AFSCME building. A nice tie in to the forum.

[sherryrazor]

Come support the US Social Forum 2010 and enjoy the music of The Insurgency live on the Pyramid stage at Hart Plaza, Detroit, Michigan.Thursday, June 24, 2010
Time:9:00pm - 10:00pm Locationetroit, Michigan - Hart Plaza - Pyramid Stage

June 22-26, 2010 • Detroit, Michigan, USA Another World Is Possible! Another US is Necessary!Detroit to Host 20,000 Activists The USSF will take place June 22-26, 2010 at Cobo Hall and Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit. Other workshops and community art and culture programs will take place across the city. The USSF will convene social movements from across the United States and globally. Organizers are reaching out to young people, people of color, unionists, laid off and unorganized workers, welfare recipients, veterans, persons with disabilities, indigenous people, freedom fighters, collectives, and many others.

[Jimaz]

This World Wide Web thingy doesn't work as well without links.

US Social Forum 2010

[maxx]

This person has some nice things to say about Detroit though not about government.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/2...rum_to_be_held

[dtowncitylover]

Did anyone care to read Nolan Finley's scathing editorial on the Forum? YIKES! It was like reading an article from the 50s! haha

My aunt is hosting 3 [[+1 child) Vancouverites and a Peruvian woman this week who are attending.

Even if this is a "leftist" convention, it's nice to see 20,000 people from all over the world visit Detroit.

[Det_ard]

Finley's opening was funny:

The late state Sen. Joe Mack once said of the downstate backpackers who thought they knew more about what was best for his Upper Peninsula district than he did: "They come up here with a $5 bill and a pair of underwear and never change either one."
Up that to $20 to account for inflation and it pretty well describes the crowd thronging to Detroit this week for the 2010 U.S. Social Justice Forum.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100...#ixzz0rWVIIUFI

[Detroitnerd]

Hahaha. Finley is such a hack.

[dtowncitylover]

And the fact it's officially called the US SOCIAL FORUM, and not the Social JUSTICE Forum.

Cause apparently Social Justice=socialism/communism/hippies. Then in that case the Catholic Church is a socialist organization.

[DetroitDad]

The Veteran's Memorial Park at the Northwest corner of Woodward Avenue and Temple Street has turned into a young tent village, complete with security and restricted access.

There is a sign that says it is for the social forum.
Attachment 6477

[maxx]

RE: Nolan Finlay's editorial

Obama is a socialist president! Grab the women and children and head for the hills!

"...You can bet had Barack Obama not been elected president, he'd be in Detroit this week teaching a community organizing class.."

[Yes, we can't have anyone organizing the poor people and telling them they too can have a voice in this country.]

"...If we don't come to our senses in November, this is what the whole country will look like soon.."


[Evidently, Finlay has never been to parts of the US where people wait by the hundreds in the elements to see a doctor through the auspices of Remote Medical International. Wendell Potter of CIGNA did, and it radically changed his viewpoint.

Finlay should read Bill Moyers's interview with Potter online.]

[Jimaz]

Finlay should read Bill Moyers's interview with Potter online.

Bill Moyers's interview with Potter

[DetroitPole]

Finlay is a monster. I will never forget the article someone posted on here about how he wrote about how bad Detroit had gotten - because he had to get off some freeway exit somewhere and ended up in the hood. What insight he has.

This rotten pile of human garbage starts his article essentially stating how they're coming here with a few bucks in their pocket - though tongue-in-cheek - and then slams everyone involved for not worshipping the sacred cow of capitalism.

What is lost on this old impotent fuck is that while limp dicks like him don't spend time or money in the city, these people are spending weeks, and cumulatively tens of thousands of dollars right here in Detroit. Capitalism at its finest.

Anecdotal, but factual: I rented my old house out for $150 to some kids staying here for the forum. You can bet I'll spend every last dime here in my hometown. They had a bunch of people there for the fireworks and bought booze and food at city establishments. We're greasing the wheel of the local economy. Repeat this a few thousand times. Not to mention, these people will go back to their far flung reaches of the universe and talk about how cool Detroit is. Free marketing.

Shouldn't that make dipshit Finlay happy?

[barnesfoto]

Nolan Finlay is a low-level member of America's sickest cult, The Republicans.
They have not introduced any successful policies in decades, thus the only ideas that they have are fear-based, and used tired old catch-phrases to whip up emotions surrounding problems which have actually have roots in their own conservocrite policies.
[[ILLEGAL! TERRORIST! SOCIALIST!).

[Ravine]

Nolan Finlay is a low-level member of America's sickest cult, The Republicans.
They have not introduced any successful policies in decades, thus the only ideas that they have are fear-based, and used tired old catch-phrases to whip up emotions surrounding problems which have actually have roots in their own conservocrite policies.
[[ILLEGAL! TERRORIST! SOCIALIST!).

Yeah; folks use the term, "socialist," as though it represents something which is inherently evil and Bad For You.
As re: words & their meanings [[by definition or implicitly,) I'm starting to think that "illegal" should no longer be thought of as meaning something necessarily all that bad. I suppose that it should, but now we hear folks referring to "illegal aliens" simply as "illegals," with the result being that while the former term specifies the illegality without implying anything truly heinous about the individual, shortening it to the latter term slyly conveys the implication that the person is, well, a fucking criminal, a goddam nogoodnik.
Ah, the power of language.

[BShea]

Speaking as a Detroit resident ...

Nolan Finley and I get some of the same USSF fan mail. We're both accused of being small-minded reactionary McCarthyite fascists for pointing out what USSF is [[based on its own information).

Soclialists? Keep in mind, an unabashed hardcore communist organization -- the League of Revolutionaries for a New America -- is one of the backers and national planning committee members of the USSF. Socialists are the least radical of the participants at USSF. The self-proclaimed anarchists-communists are coming, too.

The social forum claims to embrace diversity, tolerance and open minds, yet its organizations, sessions and backers are quick indulge in an orgy of insults and to portray Republicans and conservatives as sick and evil.

This event, while it has some level-headed useful discussions planned, is primarily an anti-capitalist fringe happening of the Far Left. That is a stone-cold fact, and there's nothing wrong with that ... this portion of the ideological spectrum has every right to speak up, hold public discourse and offer up its ideas. That's the American way. But embrace it for what it is. Let's not pretend this represents mainsteam USA. It doesn't.

It is coming off as absolutely every bit as closed minded and bigoted, in its own way, as a hardcore Tea Party gathering of Birchers, the Moral Majority, Opus Dei with the Hell's Angels playing bass. That is the mirror opposite of the USSF on the political spectrum. And such a gathering would be fair game for being called out for what it us. Neither Left or Right can fairly claim, in these circumstances, any relationship to mainstream America. We're dealing with the frings, and that's fine.

A lot of people participating in USSF claim to want discussion of all viewpoints, and then are shocked to discover there are viewpoints other than their own. Then the hateful, spiteful vitriol begins. It's on full display here. Finley providers a viewpoint, and then it's savagely assaulted. That's the American way, too, but the Left looks grossly hypocritical when doing so. You can't claim tolerance and then abuse those that don't share your viewpoints.

Charging the homeless $10 to participate is epic hypocrisy, too. The event is so nakedly anti-capitalist that corporate underwriting/sponsorship is impossible, so the poor are being asked to hand over their limited cash for this event. That's rich.

I'm all for 20,000 people coming to town to spend money, be it a Left or Right gathering. That said, I would be delighted to read on here the explosion of anger, insults and shock if a similar Right-wing event came to town.

[the rock]

Great article, Nolan. Right on the money and only topped by Mitch Albom's article on Detroit's irresponsible Fathers in the same edition.
Some times the truth really hurts.

[Ravine]

BShea, a big thumbs-up for posting something rarely seen here on DetroitYES!: a blunt statement of opinion, undisguised by PC euphemism, and backed by a fairly thorough explanation of the reasoning behind that opinion.


I don't have to pick a side in order to recognize a point well-made.

[maxx]

BSHea: Nolan Finley and I get some of the same USSF fan mail. We're both accused of being small-minded reactionary McCarthyite fascists for pointing out what USSF is [[based on its own information).

"The forum is a hootenanny of pinkos, environuts, peaceniks, Luddites, old hippies, Robin Hoods and urban hunters and gatherers."

maxx: The USSF describes themselves that way?
"In other words, a microcosm of the Obama administration."
And that's just a low blow and inaccurate. I bet Finlay couldn't write that with a straight face given how centrist Obama is.

Soclialists? Keep in mind, an unabashed hardcore communist organization -- the League of Revolutionaries for a New America -- is one of the backers and national planning committee members of the USSF. Socialists are the least radical of the participants at USSF. The self-proclaimed anarchists-communists are coming, too.

Well, they didn't take over Porto Alegre after the first World Social Forum. And they didn't burn it down, so I think Detroit is safe.

The social forum claims to embrace diversity, tolerance and open minds, yet its organizations, sessions and backers are quick indulge in an orgy of insults and to portray Republicans and conservatives as sick and evil.

I don't doubt that there will be some fringey people there. But considering the mess the neocons left us in, I think there is some cause for criticism. It'll be nice to see some outrage expressed as long as it is contained. My one fear is that it'll just be an opportunity for the "little people" to vent their spleens and nothing more. I imagine there will be a lot of idealistic young people there who don't have a lot of political sense about how to frame their ideas.

But embrace it for what it is. Let's not pretend this represents mainsteam USA. It doesn't.

If it did, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in today given that this crowd doesn't trust capitalists very much.

It is coming off as absolutely every bit as closed minded and bigoted, in its own way, as a hardcore Tea Party gathering of Birchers,..

Yes, bigoted against the naked greed that put us close to a second great depression. That sort of bigotry I can live with.

A lot of people participating in USSF claim to want discussion of all viewpoints, and then are shocked to discover there are viewpoints other than their own.

Nice strawman. I'm quite sure they are aware of the other side's position. You can hear it on TV and radio any hour of the day.

You can't claim tolerance and then abuse those that don't share your viewpoints.

Why should there be tolerance of unmitigated greed?

Charging the homeless $10 to participate is epic hypocrisy, too. The event is so nakedly anti-capitalist that corporate underwriting/sponsorship is impossible, so the poor are being asked to hand over their limited cash for this event.

Don't worry about the poor. They will be represented. All those evil community organizers, ya know.

I'm all for 20,000 people coming to town to spend money, be it a Left or Right gathering. That said, I would be delighted to read on here the explosion of anger, insults and shock if a similar Right-wing event came to town.

Oh, gee. Maybe they would race their Lamborghinis through downtown Detroit. We could all bask in their good fortune and, of course, superior intelligence which made them so rich. They might even throw us a few crumbs.

[admin]

Think of this as the tea party of the left and things will fall into balance. Both movements have core values and objectives. As a result both attract the tin-foil hat fringes of both extremes. Being open organizations neither have a lot of control over this. Thus both then become vulnerable to being characterized by their opponents by the minority of ultra-extremists in their organizations.

Nolan Finley falls into this 'argument by anecdote' trap but I don't think it is any surprise to anyone here. As a result it becomes predictable, even propagandistic. Those who like that and those who don't will praise or fume. Most will just skip over him.

I think both organizations push the envelope in their own ways and therefore help balance the political landscape. Both have valid points. We have runaway debt but we also have runaway Wall street corporatism. In doing what they do both benefit democracy and our freedoms of expression. The only, and very slight, danger is that either should actually get the reins of government.

I am just happy they are spending their dollars in Detroit and therefore welcome both.

[dtowncitylover]

I'm all for 20,000 people coming to town to spend money, be it a Left or Right gathering. That said, I would be delighted to read on here the explosion of anger, insults and shock if a similar Right-wing event came to town.

You're very much correct Mr. Shea that it is indeed a hypocrisy to charge admission for the homeless, but if this were a corporate sponsored, far-right winged Social Forum, I can bet safely that the homeless would not even be welcomed. Their smell might ruin the $250 plate dinner.

[BShea]

You're very much correct Mr. Shea that it is indeed a hypocrisy to charge admission for the homeless, but if this were a corporate sponsored, far-right winged Social Forum, I can bet safely that the homeless would not even be welcomed. Their smell might ruin the $250 plate dinner.

But they wouldn't put themselves in a position to be accused of hypocrisy.

The United States always has been, and always will he, a free-market capitalist nation [[and yes, I understand that it's technically mixed market, and that we indulge in the common-sense socialism of fire departments, etc.).

Any event that advocates moving away from capitalism and free markets to something else -- and the 'something else' that I sense is some sort of fantasy of forced wealth redistribution along egalitarian lines to correct perceived social injustices -- is simply an academic exercise in dangerous intellectual frivolity and little else.

And to maxx's point, I'd say that is this crowd was in charge, we'd be in a far, far more terrible mess than anything that can come out of capitalism. The history of the Far Left is filled with blood-thirsty monsters, gulags, secret police, mass killings, starvation and the tragic failure of collectivist economics [[just like the Far Right, but w/o the collectivism). For every Right-wing tinpot dictator such as Hitler there is Lenin, Mao, Stalin, Geureva, Pol Pot, etc., on the Left.

Self-interest and incentives are what drive successful economics.