00:00:00 – Intro (Carlos Martinez)
00:07:40 – Margaret Kimberley
00:19:30 – Lowkey
00:36:40 – Luna Oi
00:50:56 – Carlos Ron
01:06:38 – Pawel Wargan
01:16:46 – Calla Walsh
01:27:37 – Ju-Hyun Park
01:39:44 – Mohammad Marandi
01:48:22 – Ben Norton
02:03:00 – Conclusion
About this Event
Biden‘s attempts to consolidate a ‘democratic’ alliance are part of the escalating US-led New Cold War. Labelling socialist and anti-imperialist states as ‘authoritarian’, the US ruling elite seeks to consolidate a military, economic and political bloc on the basis of its own narrow interests, and to build popular support for its rising hostility towards China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, the DPRK, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Syria, Eritrea, Zimbabwe and other countries in the crosshairs of imperialism.
The US and its allies are seeking to universalize the Western model of so-called liberal democracy. This narrative provides valuable cover for the fundamentally plutocratic nature of neoliberal capitalism, whilst simultaneously asserting that all other models of democracy – such as China‘s whole-process people’s democracy – lack legitimacy.
Held to coincide with Biden‘s Summit for Democracy 2023, this counter-summit will: expose the hegemonic reality behind the US’s talk of a ‘rules-based world order’; explore alternative models of democracy; denounce US-led attempts at ‘decoupling’ and incitement of division; promote an emerging multipolar, multilateral model of international relations; and call for global cooperation to solve the vast problems collectively faced by humanity.
Moderator
Carlos Martinez
Speakers
Margaret Kimberley (Executive Editor, Black Agenda Report)
Lowkey (Musician and activist / Journalist with MintPress News)
Luna Oi-Nguyen (Vietnamese blogger and broadcaster – Marxist/Leninist popular educator and Youtuber)
Carlos Ron (Venezuela’s vice minister of Foreign Affairs for North America)
Pawel Wargan (Coordinator of the International Secretariat, Progressive International)
Calla Walsh (Co-Chair of the National Network on Cuba)
Ju-Hyun Park (Organizer and writer with the Nodutdol collective)
Seyed Mohammad Marandi (Professor, University of Tehran)
Ben Norton (Editor, Geopolitical Economy Report)
Organizers
This The Counter-Summit For Democracy webinar is jointly organized by Friends of Socialist China and the International Manifesto Group. The following groups/publications are co-sponsors:
Geopolitical Economy Report
Geopolitical Economy Research Group
Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War
Hampton Institute
International Action Center
La Città Futura
Nodutdol
Pivot to Peace
Peace, Land, and Bread
Popular Resistance
Qiao Collective
Veterans For Peace – China Working Group
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Comment
@philipwong895
The US version of democracy has utterly failed its people, resulting in a laundry list of chronic domestic problems. The country’s massive national debt of over $31 trillion, economic inequality, inflation, stagnant wages for the last forty years, costly healthcare, expensive education system, student loan debt totaling $1.7 trillion with an average balance of $38,000, racial inequality, mass incarceration, the militarization of police, deteriorating infrastructure, housing affordability, homelessness, the opioid epidemic, and gun violence are all direct consequences of misguided government policies. Shockingly, no other developed country has such severe and widespread issues.
Both of the country’s political parties are hostile to each other and deeply divided, yet they point fingers at other countries as the source of their problems. The US has the audacity to promote its flawed version of democracy to other countries, despite being mired in problems and controversies at home. They have started an astronomical 201 wars since WWII, overthrown 36 foreign leaders, killed or attempted to kill 50, dropped bombs in 30 countries, interfered in 86 foreign elections, and established a staggering 800 overseas military bases. To make matters worse, they are the world’s largest arms exporter, far surpassing the combined exports of the next nine countries.
In the name of democracy, the US has caused the deaths of tens of millions of people in their conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria. The CIA was also involved in covert operations that led to mass killings of communists in over 22 countries, and more than 500,000 Indonesian civilians disappeared in 1965-1966.
The Chinese military has not been involved in any war or used its weapons to kill a single person outside its territory in the last forty-four years. Despite having a per capita GDP one-sixth that of the US, China is enthusiastically expending an enormous amount of its resources to assist in the development of other countries.
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