Alternative Visions - What is Socialism + Updates on Brexit and US-China Trade Deal

Dr. Rasmus provides an update on the Brexit UK Parliamentary election vote yesterday and on Trump’s announcement to delay and reduce tariffs on China imports as part of the US-China phase 1 mini trade agreement. Why Boris Johnson and the Conservatives won an overwhelming victory and why Labour was trounced. What was the role of short term electoral strategies and tactics; and what was the longer run role of the rising tide of manipulated nationalist appeals and decline of Social Democracy. Plus, why Trump caved in to China’s demands and agreed to reduce tariffs in order to get an agreement before the December 15 deadline. Dr. Rasmus for the remaining 45 minutes of the show then welcomes Michael Albert, a well known progressive writer and advocate of socialism and participatory democracy in the workplace, to begin a discussion on what is this thing called Socialism and why now a majority of millennials in the US say they would prefer Socialism to the current form of US capitalism. Both Rasmus and Albert agree the importance why a vision of an alternative to capitalism is important, but perhaps disagree somewhat on the composition and elements emphasized in that alternative vision. (For more of Michael Albert’s view, check out his articles on the blog, ZNET, at zcomm.org).