2008 Woodie Awards
ISO defends its cause
By Kelli Plasket
Issue date: 4/18/07 Section: News
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The meeting was opened with one of its members, Phil Dreher, freshman philosophy major, giving a speech on the case for socialism.
"Capitalism has created a world in which there is enough food to provide every human being 4,000 calories per day, but 4,000 children die every hour of starvation," Dreher said, referring to capitalism as an "unjust system."
He also pointed out that 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day and that the wealth of the three richest people in the world exceeds the wealth of the 48 poorest nations.
"But capitalism, we are told, is the best practical system and (that) we must live with it, even given the price," Dreher said.
Dreher acknowledged that socialism is not a utopia. "Mistakes will be made and problems will happen, but these problems will not stem from a system which is fundamentally cruel and unjust."
With the floor open to questions and comments, some students questioned aspects of the socialism revolution. "Groups of people are extremely inefficient at self-assessing and self-correcting. I think that people themselves, when they know their explicit desires, are fine at it, but I don't think groups of people are, especially when they are busy leading their lives," Chris Geddis, sophomore philosophy major, said. "When you have people who are going to be in control of the means of production, it does make sense to have people who are trained and experienced."
Other students posed questions to the members of ISO. "You've told me why everything else won't work. Why will socialism work? How will it work?" Alex Fuchs, freshman biology major, asked.
"I see talking about the present society and talking about the ideal society. I really don't see enough discussion about how the transition is going to take place," Chris Hohmuth, sophomore communication studies major, said. "You talk about a revolution, but I still fail to see how that revolution is possible."
Capitalism will create its own crisis, as it has previously led to crises like the Great Depression and wars, replied Matt Hoke, freshman English major. He said ISO's goal as an organization of "the workers who have figured things out" is to provide the solution. "We've got to centralize into an organization that will overcome the state instead of letting everything collapse."
ISO has six members at the College, Dreher said. The organization, which consists of mostly freshmen, died out at the end of last year when many of its starting members graduated. It started back up late last semester.
Some of the freshmen were in the same Freshman Seminar Program (FSP) this past fall, ISO member Kelly Cahill, freshman elementary education/English major, said. The FSP was "Radicals and Rabble-Rousers," through which they took a field trip to a socialism convention. The class was taught by Nagesh Rao, professor of English.
"I think that students care (about society), but they just think they can't make a difference. Socialism makes me feel like I can make a difference," Cahill said.
Melissa Boo, freshman political science major, said she came to the meeting to observe. "I thought it was interesting. I thought it got a little personal, and a lot of it went over my head, but it was interesting," she said.
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