Today in Labor History August 25, 1968: The Battle of Lincoln Park occurred during the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Roughly 10,000 demonstrators battled approximately 11,000 riot police, 6,000 National Guard, 7,500 US army troops and 1,000 FBI, CIA & army/navy intelligence services agents. The Democratic Convention riots occurred in the wake of a year of unrest. In April, there were riots in over 100 U.S. cities, after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy was assassinated in June. The incumbent president, Johnson, was so unpopular that he dropped out of the race rather than face the humiliation of coming in 3rd. Mayor Daley vowed that no radicals would be allowed to protest in his city. SDS leader Todd Gitlin warned, “If you come to Chicago, be sure to wear some armor in your hair,” stealing a line from the infamous flower child song, “If You Come to San Francisco.” Yippie leaders, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, threatened to spike the water supply of the International Amphitheatre with LSD and send in studs to seduce the wives of Democratic Party delegates. They also released a pig at Civic Center Plaza, who they nominated to run as the Democratic nominee for president.Police, FBI and even the CIA had infiltrated virtually every activist group participating in the demonstrations. After four days riots, 668 people had been arrested, 425 were treated at temporary medical facilities, 200 were treated on the spot, 400 had been given first aid for tear gas exposure and 110 went to hospital. A total of 192 police officers were injured. Afterward, 8 activists were tried on conspiracy charges in the infamous Chicago 7 trial (Black Panther Bobby Seale was the 8th defendant, but his case ended in mistrial, after he’d been gagged and dragged from the courtroom), leaving 7 other defendants. #workingclass #LaborHistory #chicago #riot #democrat #AbbieHoffman #blackpanthers #lsd #policebrutality #police #cia

Proof that cats don't need intact boxes. A piece of one will do just fine. #caturday #catsofmastadon

US Military High Command is worried about the emergence of a "Warrior Caste" of soldiers, coming primarily from low-income communities in the South and rural small towns, and the growing divide between their culture and ideology and that of the top brass, as well as the fact the fewer and fewer Americans have any connection to the military at all anymore, as recruitment drops, resulting in fewer Americans with friends and relatives who serve. The report alludes to concerns about potential political unrest in the U.S.--likely a reference to the military personnel involved in the Jan 6, 2021 capital insurrection and fears of even worse occurring in the wake of the upcoming presidential election.

USAWC Press

2024 Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment

The 2024 Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment will be posted soon.

#workingclass #military #fascism #uselection #Jan6 #capital #insurrection #trump

USA: Greatest nation in earth? Certainly not by life expectancy. Not even close.

Today in Labor History August 18, 1812: Lady Ludd led the Luddite Corn Market riot of women and boys in Leeds, England. Luddites also rioted in Sheffield against flour and meat sellers. England was suffering huge food shortages and inflation at the time, in part because of the War of 1812, which had started in June, and the ongoing Napoleonic wars. Additionally, new technological innovations were allowing mill owners to replace many of their employees with machines. In response, Luddites would destroy looms and other equipment. To try and get control over these worker protests, the British authorities made illegal oath-taking punishable by death in July 1812. They also empowered magistrates to forcibly enter private homes to search for weapons. And they stationed thousands of troops in areas where rioting and looting had occurred over the summer. There are numerous parallels between that period and today. Like then, we have new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, that could reduce the amount of dangerous and tedious toil for the working-class, giving them higher wages and reduced hours. Instead, the technology is being used by the bosses to cut jobs and further enrich themselves. Like then, we are funding numerous wars and genocides, paid for through austerity that has been imposed on the working-class. And like then, governments are planning and implementing new repressive laws and police powers to undermine working-class protest. Charlotte Bronte’s second novel, “Shirley” (1849), takes place in Yorkshire, 1811-1812, during the Luddite uprisings. It was originally published under the pseudonym, Currer Bell. The novel opens with a ruthless mill owner waiting for the delivery of new, cost-saving equipment that will allow him to fire many of his workers, but Luddites destroy the equipment before it reaches him. As a result of the novel’s popularity, Shirley became a popular female name. Prior to this, it was mostly a male name. #workingclass #LaborHistory #luddite #england #inflation #genocide #ukraine #palestine #gaza #hunger #freespeech #fiction #novel #author #writer #books @npub1wceq...lzu8

Today in History August 18, 1977: Steve Biko was arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act No. 83 in King William's Town, South Africa. He later died from injuries received during this arrest. Biko was a socialist and an anti-apartheid activist. He was 31 at the time of his assassination. He was influenced by the teachings of Martinican philosopher Frantz Fanon and the American Black Power Movement. His death brought international attention to South Africa's apartheid policies and helped launch the modern anti-apartheid movement. Biko was a leading figure in the creation of the South African Students' Organisation (SASO) in 1968, which was formed to give people of color the leading voice in the anti-apartheid movement which, until then, was dominated by white liberals. SASO was one of the first South African anti-apartheid groups that was open only to people of color (he used the term “blacks” to refer to Bantu-speaking people, as well as “coloureds” and Indians, who were also persecuted under Apartheid). “Hillbilly Nationalists,” by Amy Sonnie and James Tracy, talks about a similar dynamic in the U.S. Civil Rights movement of the sixties. In the U.S., this conflict helped to spur the organization of white radical working-class groups, like the Young Patriots, who worked in solidarity with groups like the Young Lords, and the Black Panthers, who, in turn, influenced Biko’s politics. #workingclass #LaborHistory #stevenbiko #Biko #southafrica #apartheid #racism #police #terrorism #policebrutality #policemurder #socialism #blackpanthers #younglords #YoungPatriots #books #nonfiction #hillbillynationalists #BlackMastadon @npub1wceq...lzu8