How would you respond to that . Have been there. In 2009, i get the anger. I think some people arent different stages than i am because everyone starts at some point. I mean, we are setting up a political battle that our kids and grandkids will be fighting, so thats a privilege of living in a free society is that you must constantly attended to this. We are just getting to the next level. This wont be decided in our lifetime. Its just not how it works. Its a generational battle. Evers as a result i think some people are at a different point in this marathon than others. When i first got involved in politics it was before 2001, and i was not for george bush. I was raised in a family of hardcore democrats. I was prolife and ive always been unequivocally prolife because i come from a ive been protected. Second amendment for the non biography to a . Exactly. So, i guess the more educated i got in the more mature i became in the eyes opened a bit more and i realized the need for responsibility. I threw myself into it and i was angry i was angry because i felt i had been betrayed by the ideology that brought me up. You might even remember this, i mean, as you know host i do. Guest i think some of the people that are out there right now are where i was eight years ago. They are exactly where i wasnt because of that want to give them grace because they will see in time. Thats kind of the ray it is i remember absolutely unrelenting and going after some of these are elected elected officials. I organized people to phone a bomb them. Then, i think, the longer you are doing it and you realize there are better ways to go about this, maybe more calculating ways to even go about this you just grow into it and i think that is what some of these people are experiencing. As a result of that, i give them grace because i have been given grace and there are a lot of people out there who have everything in the world and have every reason to hate me because some of the things i let against them eight years ago and yet they dont, so i think that comes with it. Host many conservatives traditional hardcore conservatives will agree with a lot of the content of flyover nation. In the 22nd sales pitch why should someone who might be what you sort of disdain as a coastal elite lefty who doesnt get it, why should they buy and read the book . Guest if they want to win eight election or debate the need to get this book so they understand the people they need to convince them where theyre coming from, what issues these people prize and why they feel the way they do about these issues and how you can talk to these people without condescending to these individuals and you can also find Common Ground because i do get into that in the book. They might actually have Common Ground and you can build a lot of stuff off of Common Ground. Thats building a coalition, so thats why they need this book is. Host flyover nation thank you so much. Guest think you. Appreciate it. Cspan, created by americas cabletelevision companies and brought to you as a Public Service by your cable or satellite provider. This is the tv on cspan2, television for serious readers. Hears her primetime lineup for the sending it. Beginning at 7 45 p. M. , former president ial advance man josh kane talks about his experiences. His book is authors crypt. On our weekly afterwords program at 9 00 p. M. Eastern time, Seymour Hearst describes the killing of osama bin laden. At 10 00 p. M. , reports on water scarcity and climate change. We wrap up our sunday evening primetime lineup at 11 00 p. M. With a look at the life of robert f kennedy. That all happens tonight on cspan twos book tv. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] that evening. Good evening. Can you hear me . All the way the back . All right. You can all be seated. We have a few strikers coming in, but thats alright. My name is stephane, representative of the board and is my job to welcome you. Thank you all for coming. We are sure this will be a wonderful form. I attended my first forming 2010, like many of you as a spectator. It was amazing form. I saw doctor cornell west and i knew it was something i wanted to be a part of from that moment, so during 2011 i started my doctorate id joined up and back then we were talking about occupy wall street. 2016, we are talking about a democratic socialist gaining millions of votes throughout the country. Times are definitely changing. One thing that has deftly changed, maybe not for the better is that prices in new york city continue to ravage the working class. Back in 2011, when i was an intern we were completely unpaid when people asked what my compensation was i said infinite supply of pretzels, to his lawyers marxist advice. That unfortunately is still the condition we are in today, so all of you have been given some difference envelopes on your seat and that is as cast in you to open your hearts, mind and your wallet to contribute to the form. We know that fundraising is difficult. You need to be innovative, creative. I am forcefully for you all am neither of those things, so im going to blatantly rip off a very Successful Grassroots Campaign fundraising scheme right now that goes like this. The left forum does not accept contributions from millionaires and billionaires. We have no super pack, we are relying upon millions and that when i say millions, i mean, dozens of Campaign Contributions from folks just like you. In all sincerity, those contributions go to wonderful things and i will share a bit of a left forum costs up with you. I make good source of gossip because if that growing influence of the form we have been approached from activism leaders across the nation asking us if they can form in their city, so we are sincerely talking about extending the left forum outside of just new york in addition to the conference we have here to other east coast cities. In fact, there is even the conversation of bringing left form of the way to californias golden coast. We consider these things great successes, but you can only do them depending on the contributions from all of you folks. Enough about money, to capitalist for me. I went to kick this off with a bit of fun and that is going to start with a revolutionary poet from los angeles california. He has been featured in the la times. [applause]. So, a rage rebellion revolution; right . Thats the theme . Here we go. Washington redskins, confederate flag, sort, the dollar canon the scholar, the kenyan, the ivy league history. The ways and means of victors, keep their victims on the state of virginia asked prevention, clark smith wesson, wagon, bloodshed, the crown of public, housing covenants, to davey crockett, were drugs is a whirring young bloody christmas. 15 to to life, west baltimore, plymouth rock, jamestown in the rio grande, stolen lives, stolen land. Heres the nation, package complete, please, escorts, skinhead, klansman, hate down public streets. Very same police quote us to meet cannon fire on black boys in hoodies and mexican kids with shaved heads. They are killing our kids. Half the nation applauds because they think, they think that a white womans a purse has more value than a black boys life. Heres the nation, hellbent, 1 , genocide, pipeline, underfunded schools to overcrowded prisons for nothing but a life in and out of the systems system stripped of innocence. Children, suspects before students, young girls, boys before victims. Heres a nation that eats its young. Not a democracy. This is not a republic. This is an openair prison industrial scale plantation, anything and everything you have ever gotten from the system at mathematical assessment. Cost of doing business, hands moving, stomachs zooming, job description, genocide build on slavery by thieves posing as messiah, thomas jefferson, mission accomplished. Picked by brick, grade by grade, slayed by slave, heres a nation, keep you in place with power over fear. National defense, which if you would stand against it. Whose side are you on . [inaudible] [inaudible] this is the state of the union killing our children. We are at war. [applause]. [applause]. Thank you. Of course, the left forum would not be able to be here today if it wasnt for the good folks lobbying on our behalf. So, everyone we will bring up jared markovich , a distinguished Professor John j college and the criminal justice who received his doctorate from the department of history from the university of wisconsin and has been teaching at john jay since 1970 and a written extensively about the Way Corporation have undermined that environment and workers in our community. [applause]. It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you on half of the students, faculty, staff and Even Administration of John Jay College of criminal justice. Of course, you know we are part of the great City University of new york and yes. Who is you youre from the City University, alumni, students, faculty . Yes, way to go and you know and all of you know that we are in the midst of a war against public higher education. This is a war that we are engaged in. We are fighting back again and we are winning some of the battles, but the work is on. And we have to really emphasize that when the state is not fund public higher education, this is not a economic decision. Of this is a political decision that is a reflecting on our students. They are making this political decision because our students are predominantly students of color, students of the workingclass, students who are immigrants or children of immigrants and we are in the midst of a tremendous fight back against that. Part of that fight back has been successful. The students and the professional staff, congress, our union was successful in stopping any tuition increase this year by the state legislature. [applause]. But, the faculty and staff have been working without a contract for six years now. Working without a raise for six years. And just this past week, the union had a vote of its membership or whether we should authorize a strike to be called by the union leadership. I am proud to announce that 92 of those who voted, voted for strike authorization. [applause]. But, we need your help. We need your solidarity. We need you to join us in this defense of higher public higher education. Thank you very much. [applause]. Thank you much, professor. Last and not least, your host for the evening, a woman who needs practically no introduction. Executive producer and host of the Laura Flanders show. Her books include bush women, tales of a cynical species and true democrats take back politics from the politicians. Please give a warm welcome to ms. Laura flanders. [applause]. Thank you. Lets hear it for all of the organizers and participants of left Forum Opening plenary 2016. Thats you. We are here to take on one particular parts of the conversation at the left to form this weekend, capitalism and militarism at humanities parol. Now, i would say when we have a former Nobel Peace Prize winner, barack obama awarding a distinguished Public Service award to henry kissinger, our humanity is more than not parol and it tells you a thing or two about the nobel prize. But, there is other news to discuss as well. We have the first muslim mayor elected in london. [applause]. We have 2. 4 Million People contributing to the Bernie Sanders campaign. [applause]. A man who has not force one the use of drones. When donald trump proving in case anyone wondered why supremacy white male patriarchal supremacy is live well and deadly and we have an election on our hands. While we try to build a movement that will move beyond this electoral plan. I dont need to tell you that capitalism today is characterized by massive and increasing inequality, in case you forgot. Earlier this year, it was reported 62 people on the same wealth as half of the world, 3. 6 billion. Only nine of those 62 are women. Wealth and power accumulates at one pole while big misery exploded together. Having exploded native land and insulate people , now it seems to be worn empire that are keeping capitalism on life support. Thank you for the poem at the beginning. We see it in the us and the rise of racism and fear the way local Police Forces are armed with surplus military weapons in the use of public fund to pick your mere scenario forces and invest workingclass people to fight each other. Goateed on here and internationally by divided conquers surveillance techniques and inflammatory rhetoric of white supremacy. On my program, but Laura Flanders show which you can see on our podcast, people regularly at request about when we come to. Most recently, jeremys cahill, no stranger to all of you considering the legacy of peace activists recalled her movements have become increasingly separated, Racial Justice and economic justice. War and peace from wages and migration drain. From the times cahill recalled when black power activists spoke and called him the most dangerous white and why. Weve come a long way. Howre we now to understand the connection and i think that is the challenge of this evenings planner he is trying to understand the connection between, for example, extreme policing and mass incarceration and extreme pilfering and profiteering and resource extraction. Most important way we will talk about where the cracks are in the system, what Peace Movements, peace and Justice Movements are developing and tackling empire. What kind of leverage, both in and beyond the military Industrial Complex, the workers and others actually have to disrupt the onslaught of militarization and where is this leverage being used to build alternatives. On my show every week we look not just at whats going wrong, but what is going right. We call it the show, the place where the people who say it cant be done take a backseat to the people who are doing it. I can tell you that we will hear from three people who we have pretty often on the program and i know they are not just perfect when it comes to talking about the onslaught that we are up against, but also when it comes to talking about the opportunity and how and where people are grabbing them. We will get substantive presentation by each of our speakers and then have a little conversation amongst ourselves and then release us all to engage one another in oneonone conversations or clustering groups, if you prefer. Our first ticket today is going to be chris hedges a pulitzer prizewinning journalist most recently on wages of rebellion. He was a National Book critic circle finalists for his book, war is a parsec is as meeting. He has taught it columbia, nyu, princeton Amity University of toronto and teaching courses at Rutgers University to prisoners at a correctional facility in new jersey and he is about to launch a new television show, chris hedges. [applause]. Way, way, i will introduce everyone pick i just wanted them to applaud you. Medea benjamin is the cofounder of the women led peace group and cofounder of the cumin rights group formal exchange, author of eight brooks books including drone warfare and her articles appear regularly in outlets such as huffington post, the other world. Her forthcoming book is on saudi arabia. Medea benjamin. [applause]. Finally, tariq ali, my colleague where he hosts a weekly program. He was born and raised and came of age in london as the opponent of the vietnam war and today he is editorial director of the lender Publishing House london Publishing House. Hes the author of too many books to mention, fiction, nonfiction, essays in the most recent is the extreme center. Lets start with chris hedges. [applause]. Thank you very much. So, when i came in i was handed a broad sheet that pulled it cloak on the half of quote that i made and so since i want to talk about the nature of power during this Electoral Campaign i will finish the quotes. Did indeed say, it is not our job to take power, but it did not end there. Its our job to make the power all frightened of us. That is what movements do. Movements keep power in check. As any good anarchist will tell you, power is always the problem no matter who holds it. This is a realization that karl popper made in the open society and its enemies where he wrote that it is not the job to get good people to rule. That he says is the wrong question, how do we get gold people to rule. Rather, it is to create a system where those in power are frightened of us. Yes, we certainly want to push forward into power those who will listen, but without those movements, without the power of movements to keep the powerful and check, all power becomes despotic and this was an understanding that julia benda had in his great book, the treason of the intellectual, where he set out as care to create a society based on justice, a society that takes care of the vulnerable in the week among us, that expresses compassion argument choice between choosing two sets of ideals. Privilege and power or justice and truth, but as bend that rights, the more we make concessions to those who serve privilege and power, the more we diminish the capacity for justice and truth. We just finished a session on Rosa Luxemburg, who i think of all revolutionary theorist probably understood this best. It is important that we revealed these movements. Now, movements that have been destroyed cautiously in the name of anti communism, especially at this crisis moments within the american political and Economic System where we are teetering on the brink of a very frightening form of proto pashas and. One of the mistakes that Bernie Sanders makes, a mistake but i have called him out on the parking of this campaign was the decision to run within the embrace of the Democratic Party. We are now watching Bernie Sanders supporters and i think arguably sanders himself confront the fact that this has been