Political Dharma

Alan describes what politics and power involve, the forms of power and the internal contradictions of political power, and the implications of all this for political practice.

Alan explains why the profit-seeking incentive of businesses in a capitalist economic system is socially destructive. He discusses Marx's ideas about the exploitation of labor in his critique of classical economics, and then he makes the case that profits are mostly obtained by unequal bargaining power and the use of political power to back it up. He finishes by talking about the culture of a political movement, using Gandhi as an example.

Alan goes through the basic ideas of Karl Marx as presented in Engels' "Socialism: Utopian and Scientific." At the same time he critiques these ideas, pointing out their strong and weak areas.

Alan talks about his encounters with Marx's ideas over the decades, his  attitudes toward them, and some ways he would revise them going forward.

Alan gives simplified pictures of neo-liberal capitalism, progressive democratic socialism, state socialism, and market socialism, comparing who decides where resources will be invested for what purposes, who controls the work enterprise, and how basic necessities of life are distributed. He makes the case that a form of market socialism is better than the other two forms of socialism in solving problems of capitalism.

Alan reviews Bernie Sanders' new book, "Its Okay To Be Angry About Capitalism."

Final of three parts. Alan talks about how the study of Christian and  Eastern religious scriptures in 19th century Europe and America changed  views about religion. Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., were  influenced by these trends toward religious unity and social activism.  Alan then draws a few lessons for the future of socialism.

Alan discusses the development of socialism, focusing on ideas of  democracy, an intelligensia creating a science of social engineering,  and workers' resistance to early industrial capitalism. These all came  together in the clashing ideas of Karl Marx and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,  including their views of the value of religion. In closing Alan lists  some of the problems that socialism later encountered in the same areas  of democracy, science, and workers as the prime movers of socialism.

To address skepticism that a socialist vision is realistic, Alan delves into the the question of whether human beings are capable of living together cooperatively without the need of coercion from government. He ties modern insights into spirituality to the possibilities of developing capacities such as empathy and intuition, and discusses how this would require revision of Marxist ideas of the relation of economics to a cultural "superstructure" of ideas, ethics, religion and the like. He ends by contrasting the views of human nature and democracy held by American founders James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. In Part 2 he will trace these threads into the beginnings of the socialist movement and how the understanding of religion and spirituality has changed since the days of Marx.

Alan addresses three aspects of building a political party: beginning  it, creating a functional organizational core, and reaching a mass  public.

Alan outlines a program for his proposal to create a new political party. He talks about why a new party is necessary and possible, what the strategic orientation of organizing could be, and four essentials elements to be included in this program.

Alan explains his reasons for changing strategy to the creation of a new  political party. He discusses a strategy for establishing a new party  within our two-party system and his preference for an ideological  position between Marxist democratic socialism and anarchist socialism.

Alan wraps up the show for 2022 and gives a preview of his plan for it in 2023.

Alan discusses a new political strategy encompassing electoral politics,  the need for a unifying vision on the left, what spirituality can offer  socialism, and why this may be his final episode of the show.

Alan discusses the push to get progressives to adopt a New Economic Bill  of Rights as a rallying cry, and some of the pros and cons of this.

Alan reflects on ditching the libertarian socialist label, dogmatic Marxism, political activities he's been involved in lately, the fecklessness of the national Democratic Party, optimism about political change, and other random topics.

Alan continues his comparison of progressivism and socialism. He discusses the effects of the neo-liberal turn of the 1980s on the Nordic nations such as Norway, Denmark and Sweden and draws some lessons for a model of socialism in the U.S.

Alan differentiates progressivism and socialism in the stories they tell about how we got here and how how fundamentally capitalism needs to be changed. He discusses how the profit motive has affected international financial arrangements and the turn toward conservative politics since the 1980s.

Alan discusses the problems of trying to advance a political agenda through political parties in the United States. He then suggest some ways to deal with these problems.

Alan discusses the problems of electoral politics and some ways to address them. He explains that tactics are dependent on each state's electoral rules, and that the counterweight to money in politics is to have independent electoral organizations not tied to particular candidates.

Alan explains the new title of the show, "Political Dharma," and  discusses his five-point agenda for social reconstruction. He also gives  a preview of his ideas about how to actually bring the agenda into  being.

Alan discusses the ethical organization of social relations, focusing on the political and economic aspects of social life. For governance he defends the creation of a true democracy with limits on government protect individual rights. For economic organizations he defends the right of workers to act collectively without government permission and the restriction of corporate privileges only to organizations that are non-profit or worker-controlled.

Alan explains the importance of ethical concepts in working for social change, and focuses on what an ethical system of property relations could look like.

Alan compares the role of the U.S. in the current crisis in Ukraine with its use of power in the war in Vietnam over a half century ago. He  talks about the two "faces" of power, one obvious and one more hidden, and what we can learn from the latter about governance and politics.

Alan  explains his concept of "small-government socialism," and how it  differs from the strategies of Marxist socialism on one side and  libertarian socialism on the other.

Alan talks about the political implications of calls for the government  to reduce inflation. He assesses some of the causes of current  inflation, the remedies proposed for it, and the power dynamics behind  these proposals.

Alan talks about the ongoing process of social collapse in the U.S., the  three possible outcomes of this, and what could be done about the  situation. (Slightly edited recording of episode livestreamed Saturday,  Feb. 5, 2022.)

Alan reveals some upcoming changes for this show: a name change, live episodes Saturday mornings on YouTube, and moving from presenting ideas to finding ways to act on them.

Alan sums up Season 1 of this podcast and talks about political strategy for creating a better world: avoiding binary choices, our lack of control over the future, and the spirituality of political action.

Alan interviews Marco Dondi, the author of the new book "Outgrowing  Capitalism." They talk about Modern Monetary Theory, the idea that public spending "crowds out" private investments, tools for managing the money supply, a Universal Basic Income's effect on the money supply, whether economics is a science, and other topics. (Part 2 of  two.)

Alan interviews Marco Dondi, the author of the new book "Outgrowing Capitalism." They talk about Marco's proposal to fund a basic income with newly-created money, the problems with debt-backed money creation, the concept of "permanent" money and how it could be used for other social purposes, countering inflation, and other topics. (Part 1 of two.)

Alan talks to Mark Frohnmayer, the person principally responsible for  developing the STAR Voting concept and turning it into a growing  movement. They discuss a 2014 voting reform conference at which the idea for STAR Voting came together, the building of interest among voting reform advocates in Oregon, the first STAR Voting initiative campaigns, the obstacles to reform, and signs of hope going forward.

Alan talks to Mark Frohnmayer, the person principally responsible for developing the STAR Voting concept and turning it into a growing movement. They discuss the electoral defeat of Mark's father in his run for Oregon governor due to the split vote problem, Mark's initial interest in ranked choice voting, why he switched to supporting a unified primary, and finally how his further reflections led to the creation of STAR Voting.

Alan discusses the anger at the election system in the U.S., what is behind it, and what can be done to develop a real representative democracy.

Alan interviews Professor Corey Dolgon about his forthcoming book, "American Fascism." They discuss the features of fascism; how U.S. racism influenced the Nazis; the role of masculinity in fascism; the use of violence; how to fight fascism; and other topics.

Alan interviews Professor Corey Dolgon, the author of "Kill It To Save It: An Autopsy of Capitalism's Triumph Over Democracy," about his forthcoming book "American Fascism." (First of two episodes.)

Alan explains how hope is a practice and describes some experiences that gave direction to his hope for a better world.

Alan discusses the semantics of the term "libertarian socialism," a few of his life experiences that led him to his views, and his ideas of a general strategy to work toward a libertarian socialist society.

A brief review of the history of democratic socialism and some of the lessons that can be drawn from this history.

Alan compares ranked choice voting to STAR Voting and gives reasons why he thinks STAR Voting would be a better replacement for our current voting methods.

Alan returns to the subject of a guaranteed basic income and discusses its economic and political feasibility. He adds his thoughts on how a basic income could be financed.

Alan interviews Jacob Trewe, who was a delegate the to August national convention of the Democratic Socialists of America. They discuss the DSA's new platform, their relationship to the Democratic Party, voting method reform, tenant organizing, and enhancements to the DSA's organizational infrastructure.

Alan looks at some of the pros and cons of instituting a guaranteed basic income, as well as the pros and cons of a guaranteed jobs program. He also talks about whether such programs would be inflationary and how he would fund them.

Alan talks with Patty Rose of the "Spent the Rent" podcast about libertarian socialism, government power over our lives, how we came to our political views, and issues including defunding the police, a universal basic income, and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Alan reviews the policy ideas he presented in earlier episodes and clarifies his comments about workplace democracy. He then talks about how credit unions and public banks can help support economic democracy.

Alan talks about the rights of labor in the distribution of income and control of the workplace.

Alan answers a listener's question about property rights and democracy in James Madison's Federalist #10, then discusses the impact on the founders of John Locke's ideas about the right to private property. He critiques Locke's ideas and shows why a legally sanctioned right of property would require a universal basic income as compensation to the whole community.

Alan explains why the U.S. founders' belief that democracy should be limited by property rights was mistaken, and proposes to strengthen democracy in the U.S. by adopting an alternative voting method. He evaluates the vote-for-one plurality method, top two, proportional representation, approval voting, ranked choice voting, and STAR Voting.

Democracy in the U.S. is currently under numerous threats: voter suppression, designs to overturn elections, big money choosing which candidates get to the ballot and so on. Alan looks at the origins of the idea of democracy, why the men who wrote the U.S. Constitution didn't create a democracy, and how the U.S. got to this moment of crisis.

What's wrong with the two party system, why do we have it, and what can we do about it?

Climate change is accelerating yet the U.S. political system seems incapable of responding. How does policy change? What processes are at work and how can we contribute to change? Alan discusses these topics, drawing on his background in political science.

Many of our ideas about capitalism are myths, or things we tell ourselves to define ourselves as a community and justify the way we do things. Alan talks about this, as well as the importance of culture and the vast inequality of wealth ownership in the United States.

In this introductory episode Alan presents an overview of his ideas  about the "big picture" of how U.S. politics works, how the U.S. is a  "partial-democracy," why socialism is not necessarily about big  government, the two-party system, and some items for a policy platform to move toward a better society.