well for about two years you've never seen anything like. welcome to break it is said below so today's the birthday of one of the world's most well known revolutionaries. all those born to well off family as a young man she had traveled across latin america where he was exposed to the realities of poverty across the continent struggled with the acknowledgment that the u.s. corporate interests were defined by two priorities cheap resources and low wages funny how that hasn't changed much in over sixty years well his disgust for u.s. corporate imperialism was only reaffirmed while visiting guatemala enraged by the u.s. back to taper ship of carlos. his urge for revolution was only further fueled this was what brought him to cuba after meeting with castro who had already led a failed attempt at an overthrow of the government together the to lead

a revolutionary war that would eventually topple the state making castro the country's new leader became an international figure and never stop pushing his radical ideas ideas that would evolve throughout latin america into a new movement and a series of social changes that would give the entire continent a new identity now there's no doubt that chair was a divisive figure in history but long after his death his face remains a symbol of resistance against oppression and imperialism all over the world so regardless of how you or i view him his legacy has a has had a lasting impact on the world and on that note we say for. now let's break this up . a little where you are going to be like. folks recently had the opportunity to attend new york city's annual left forum the event itself is the largest and broadest convention of progressive activists

academics public figures and left organizers of its kind anywhere in the country so over the years this conference has attracted notable guests including dr cornel west michael moore naomi klein but this year's conference was as compelling as ever among the speakers were academy award winning filmmaker all over stone as well as dr noam chomsky both of whom we've interviewed right here on break in the set also at the event was bolivian vice president. was a fortunate i was fortunate enough to speak to you we discussed everything from war to the decades long movements that have reshaped modern latin america and i first asked him what it was that drew him to the left for him in the first place now this is what he had to say check it out. of course the up in medicine because you really do you think you know sort of in the first this was an invitation i mean that invitation i received by the event organizers. and i think the second is that i want to learn i want to learn what the left in the united states is debating about

the place i want to understand what the currents are the lectures the perceptions of the academic world and. that's but the radical community the unique community of a military community that exists in the united states and one will meet that how they see their country. or what society is reading if i lead to better understand the united states i don't condone what i felt from needles ca important sir outside of forums like the one we're at today here in the united states the word socialism is a concept just the idea of socialism has become a sort of taboo in this country why do you suppose the united states has taken such a strong opposition against the development and rise of socialism especially in latin america when all i could. so a lot a lot of us will see in these what you will you must take into account many about the word socialism in the united states and in

a large part of latin america the weight of at least forty years of cold war forty years of a silent and death struggle that sought to stigmatize it with and demonize the morning that word that for the elites here like in latin america represents well we i mean the adversary the hard lined enemy and. love it so it's been thirty five forty years of a misinterpretation of that beautiful concept of a single quoting associating it with something bad like the devil like what we shouldn't be a so nobody knows what socialism is no one you know but they all know that it's bad right now if you thought it. all it's a prejudice a mild a prejudice constructed politically from the top down in authoritarian way we were

and now we'll its true meaning must be reestablished. yawa we must give dignity to this concept that is nothing more than equality and justice the god in comes that book if someone entered in a dictionary equality plus justice the result should read to you while socialism. that we have so said however to reestablish its true meaning we must counter with in our move these prejudices of more than thirty years of cultural and political tarnishing of the word that the being. without a chime to a race that. it's time to dignify up a lot if the input and get away if the employee be forgotten. when discussing the bowl of varian movement and chevy small as it's come to be called if there are those who say that you can't have a chevy smalls and if you don't have to have president what chad is do you think that there could be another leader in latin america that had the same unifying

effect and that same integrating effect that president chavez once had and if so when who would be that leader chavis chavez and they thought this would be that he can at the now in the history of his country and that of latin america this will cause he's beyond his charisma his leadership went out of his character enveloping radiant city and buying it at the end when one mentions charge as one mentions the sovereignty of a continent. and that he was a leader who with his virtues. and his limitations like any human being neither like any world leader said we can build a continent in which latin americans can define our own destiny but you don't need it. today charged as is not here and we're saddened by his loss in

like you and we will miss him until the day we die his presence but what he meant. what he meant to the continent is here you know the public's who doesn't want to live in a country where you can define your own destiny and not at all in power if you go you cannot from the north or from abroad so. if there is a person in brazil if you know where argentina you know well they think that most or in colombia or in bolivia so that has this but i see even when i say we saw in countries must define our destiny nice if we can you. will see that as charlie's probably donald only if you need literally thena if. a little rain president you mentioned colombia and i want to get your take on the news that colombia might be interested in joining nato president ever modalism bolivia has

already expressed concerns the defense ministry sent a letter to sort of which is the nato equivalent for the south american region to get the letter reads any form of nato presence in south america or latin america implies a risk to peace in the region so i'm hoping you can elaborate on what these implications could mean by a set of mine and i like it would i pick it up and i didn't want to colombia is our neighbor the man to whom latin america owes a great deal to for the history of a mancipation in the nineteenth century. it is a country that has lived through a long in terrible war. one more than seventy thousand dead. more than one hundred thousand dead your families destroyed a long civil war he won and today it's seeking peace out on what all of you know olivia president evo he has assumed and has value and has convened to work for

peace many thought and the fark assume the struggle for power over the state through a democratic avenue. if colombia is doing this paradoxically in contradictory they are simultaneously seeking in alliance with a military corporation with a band that's you know that nato they've anything is not a charity organization on a. nato is not a club for countries to exchange cultures. with with without me nato is the result of a military bloc to confront the warsaw pact and and to confront socialism in the soviet union but even with any and eastern europe. militarily confront me it is a military corporation to make war that we've convened a meeting by you on

a sore and its defense ministers that they think that it went and i also understand that in recent days the colombian ambassador has given the necessary explanations to the many latin american countries that the o.e. summit in guatemala and they give the impression that there is a step of being taken back on ordinals a healthy step back in part of colombia who has taken in abrupt action a troubling and abrupt action. i would never the less it has been the colombian people that i look at that who have pressured their authorities to reflect a little bit and retract a thought but it is what's best and what is correct that i don't pass what us sound is going to seem to be some of us and i want to talk about the forum again mr vice president i notice you talking to a lot of academics you were talking to dr noam chomsky today intellectuals filmmakers activists you were talking to all over stone as well i'm wondering what

you think is going to be the big takeaway from this conference and what you're hoping to share with the people back in bolivia when you go home this weekend media will probably be. a take back with me because you and the profound introspection that is happening here going on that the sharpness and analysis within a global context. and also the framing of a governing structure that explode predates energy in the experience people's dreams and in the many ways that the time and energies of a society are channeled in fragmentary ways that tears apart community fact i mean that is what i will show you. that i take with these experiences as what should not be done there in the decisions must be taken to prevent society from breaking down into micro particles separated from one another and each one wagering to their own benefit before them tossing aside the commons meaning so i take back

with me many experiences of the power of the governing apparatus and i bring with me a humble experience. that is powerful as an operetta us maybe there is always a spinning peg top full that spins beneath the earth slowly until the powerful machine someday breaks down. thank you for that i take with me teachings and bring teachings as well you can i will picking up things and not the thought of a bolivian vice president got to see me netta thank you so much for your time which i thank you very much. all right guys don't go anywhere we'll be right back with what socialism means for activists right here in the u.s. that's coming up next.

i would rather i asked questions from people in positions of power instead of speaking on their behalf and that's why you can find my show larry king now right here on r.t. question more. highway bill some the bones of its make it's the winds through one of the wildest and most beautiful regions of russia a place that's home to less than a million people and to keep this the great frosts. join me james brown as i

travel to the coldest inhabited place in the world. and meet some of the toughest people ontologies thomas on the planet. just make sure that you keep your eyes on the road runner. race to the poll of polls only on o.t. .

folks this program is a platform for alternative thoughts and voices we've discussed the changes and ideas that are sweeping latin america but those same ideas are incubating right here in the u.s. people are beginning to turn to alternatives to the establishment politics that dictate the direction of this country and the rest of the world and establishment that seeks to demonize alternatives like socialism you've probably seen this rhetoric being peddled in the media over the last few years here take a look. you start to wonder whether in fact the word socialist is becoming a code word whether or not socialist is recovering the new in word for frankly for so. angry upset bertha's and others are used kind of throw the word socialist and marxist around that are not necessarily i think in definitions of socialism and

marxism so given that they absolutely are joe biden calls higher taxes patriotic. joe the plumber said it sounded day here like socialism. doesn't help to have a frugal socialist that's really what we're talking about is managing socialism and trying to be a frugal socialist what we need to do is to just say you because i have a feeling that's a headline did did you just say that newt gingrich is a socialist what i'm saying is that i'm saying a frugal socialist yes. case you didn't catch that last one was michele bachmann calling newt gingrich a frugal socialist so it's not just the liberals apparently neo cons are socialists two guys but in all seriousness these are the people that are distracting us from a much more meaningful dialogue that we should be having in this country and that's why today i want to look back at some of the conversations we've had on break in

the present in alternative voice the voice behind a socialist movement gaining momentum right here in the u.s. now take for example pay to lindsay a young leader who ran for president back in two thousand and twelve under the party for socialism and liberation or p.s.l. at the time she was only twenty eight years old in a running mate wasn't even a u.s. citizen so with absolutely no chance of winning the election abby asked her exactly why she what she was trying to accomplish and it was actually a lot more than you might big have a look. at the party for socialism in liberation as a party of activists we believe that it's the people and not the politicians who make real change. so we're really concerned if you look at everything that working people are oppressed people have wanting that it states every single right that we have won for women's rights to civil rights for african-americans to labor rights in the eight hour work day those are not gifts of any politician right those are things that millions of people thousands of people in every community school workplace fought for and won so we're primarily concerned with building the

struggle so to that extent you know we have been leaders in the movement for a long time you know we've been leaders in demonstrations against the war against racism against bigotry against racist police brutality and we see the elections as one more venue through which to fight for the things that working people and oppressed people need. and just answering the question of eligibility you know it's funny people forget that there's a time in our history when i wouldn't been eligible because i'm a woman or because i'm african-american but the only reason that those things change the only reason that we're now able to participate in the political process at all is because people who refuse to be marginalized because of women because african-americans got out there and fought for it so you know we're saying if you look at the problems that are for. you see our country today unemployment a huge problem and youth unemployment is the highest incident began recording those statistics right on the massive massive student loan debt being carried by so much of the population well the class of two thousand and eleven had the highest student loan debt in history and if you look at the issue of the war in afghanistan for example you know under the constitution that congress is supposed to be able to

clear war while the average age of a congress person is like sixty and the average age of a soldier who's actually fighting in afghanistan is nineteen so the people who declare these wars are more than three times as old as the people who actually have to go and fight them and they're well protected from ever having to fight you know because of that fact so we're saying that you know given that you know young people are so disproportionately suffering under these policies of this government why then is it ok to systematically disenfranchise us to exclude us from the government and keep us out of our role in making these policies so we're fighting for our right to be included in the political process and also like as you know you know as i was saying earlier we believe that it's the movement that makes changing believe it's moving in the streets and historically young people have always been at the very front of those movements always been leaders in those movements so we respect the leadership of young people who are out there trying to recruit you know we're talking to people of all ages but why not let young people get out there represent themselves interesting point thanks for explaining in two thousand to travel to cuba with a group called pastors for peace was that the turning point for you when you were there to embrace this activism in the movement. now absolutely you know cuba is

a very important a very important country and it really is really impressive what they've been able to do you know with the society that's organized to meet human needs you know they have very little resources because of the cruel and inhuman blockade of the united states but with what resources they have with the society they have they managed to do so much and give so much to the world but i actually began organizing much much much much earlier in my life and i was an organizer with the philadelphia student union when i was twelve years old and we organize a two thousand student walkout to demand more money for public schools you know we had realized that the surrounding school districts receive two thousand dollars more per student in the philadelphia. public schools did you know our district was majority low income our district was majority black and so we saw this is you know this is a struggle against racism this is a struggle against class oppression you know it's working class kids went to the schools rich kids not go to those schools and we had to fight for our own class interests so that's really when i began this kind of organizing you know fighting for the things that working people need when i began fighting for philadelphia

public schools and i want to talk about your party platform a little bit what solutions you're offering to americans right now are your first point is making a job a constitutional right and even raising the minimum wage twenty dollars an hour how exactly would work. well we have to isn't how to do this you know fundamentally what we're saying is that you know the massive wealth society should be the mass of all society was created by the working class it was created by the working people in the society so we should be using that wealth to fund the things that working people need and one thing that working people need right now are jobs we need jobs more than anything our second point is you know free education free housing free health care this is the richest country in the world we can absolutely afford to provide these things to people one way we would do it is by immediately ending the war the war in afghanistan cost three hundred thirty million dollars a day you know these massive bases all over the world that are just there to protect us imperialist interests are just there to protect us domination of those markets you know so we want to end that system by which the u.s. has this massive military dominance all over the world bring the troops home and

use that money to fund the things that people need you know the pentagon spending is something like one trillion dollars a year that's one trillion dollars it could be going to jobs could be going to schools could be going to housing and health care and the things that we actually need and you know instead of going to the slaughter of working people abroad you know people who are just like us another way is to seize the banks you know it's the banks that cause the economic crisis it's the banks that caused the situation where you know millions of people became unemployed millions of people became foreclosed on and not one banker was jailed you know not one banker was held accountable in fact the exact opposite happened you know the u.s. government gave these bankers seven hundred billion dollars of our money if our tax money overnight no strings attached you know they have yet to disclose what they did. with the money and that's considered perfectly ok to be going to that money justice system of course i mean it's undeniable i mean weapons are number one export our country runs pretty much on warfare i mean that's a lot of the jobs that are happening right here so what would you do to shift jobs over to be sustainable to not be based on the warfare to me. well that's how you

know that's why that the entire program is so important because we're saying that we also want to develop you know free education for example so that anyone could be at school be retrained for completely free and be entered into these other fields if we want to provide health care for example we have to build a lot more hospitals we have to set up a lot more medical facilities those are construction jobs those are nursing jobs you know if we want to if we want more education any more schools right now the u.s. infrastructure like our roads our bridges in the last survey they received a d. grade like it's all crumbling so we need engineers you know we need people with those skills to get out there and build the infrastructure right here so there are tons of things that people could do in terms of things that people could be retrained to do in our society to create these jobs. guys that was paid to lindsey isn't it amazing to think of what we could accomplish if we could just genuinely reexamine the state of perpetual warfare or by taking a look at this country's mega banks the institutions that are too big to fail while propagating c.e.o.'s that are too big to jail but paid is not alone in the call to

give the people the decision to set the priorities for allocating these this country's resources there are many other there are many others like anti-war activists eugene puryear who joined us on the show for a debate on alternative ideologies that's where he made the case that principles of socialism are what are needed to narrow the growing wealth gap in america check it out. if you want to help the poor in america we have to break the power of the capitalist class i mean you know corporations in the united states have over a trillion dollars that they refuse to invest you know a small tiny elite of people this is the sense of capitalism and this is what we've seen over the past thirty years or so that inequality has actually increased so the rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten poorer and it is relative because wealth is relative you can't measure wealth based on some abstract principle from somewhere else but on the abundance of your own society and i think what we see here is the vast majority of wealth accrues to a small amount of people and i think ultimately we have to ultimately eliminate the capitalist class and allow the broad masses of people to yes rely on themselves and

through democratic south practice work together to decide what the priorities are and use the massive productive in the abilities of our country to meet those now there is of course the argument that competition is inherent within all human beings that progress relies on acting on rational self-interest furthermore a rational question would be in a system of socialism how can we promote innovation if innovation is not rewarded this is a question we asked michael prysner iraq war veteran and co-founder of the activist group march forward this is what he had to say. i think that creating amazing things is in human nature you know this idea that socialism would stifle innovation and development i mean it work. expected to believe that if every single person and young person and child and child in this country was given the opportunity to pursue their dreams to pursue what they're passionate about to go to college for whatever they want to pursue the arts to pursue culture if they were given that

opportunity and also had all their basic needs met so they don't have to worry about if they are going to eat they don't have to worry about if they're going to be a victim they don't have to worry about if they're going to go bankrupt from a doctor's bill we're expected to believe that if all these basic needs were met and all this opportunity was given to every single person in this country all of things which can happen today with the wealth that we create in this society we're expected to believe that that would somehow stifle innovation in fact quite the opposite which stifles innovation is this system that says millions of young people cannot go to college simply because they cannot afford it i don't think that the majority of people who become artists are become scientists or who become doctors are doing so because they want to make money but because they truly feel that these are things they want to pursue and develop but right now under this system people do not have the opportunity to do those things only a small privilege sector can pursue all those things that i just mentioned while really that majority millions and millions of people in this country do not have

those opportunities and so i think a society that's based on equality and allowing every single person to go to college and pursue the things that they love and are passionate about that will result in much more human potential guys the point is not to say that socialism is the solution but rather to say that it's simply an alternative after all that's what we all strive to do on this show every day to implore you to consider alternatives and consider the options around us. arc as if you like what you see check us out on hulu at hulu dot com slash breaking the set there you can watch the latest episode of breaking the set like yesterday's show which featured abby's interview with heather bennett on the cuban five you can also scroll through and watch every show since the middle of december so favorites and comment on how we're doing at hulu dot com slash breaking the set that's all for us from d.c. for now it's my birthday somebody go ahead and have a great weekend you guys do the same.

the highway bill some the bones of its makers the winds through one of the wildest and most beautiful regions of russia a place that's home to less than a million people and the keepers of the great frosts. join me james brown as i travel to the coldest inhabited place in the world. and meet some of the toughest people and hardest time a man on the planet. just make sure that you keep your eyes on the road. race to the poll of polls only on the.

polls. the street. you know. her. mother. loses his sleeve good. luck. a little.

turkish police use water cannons and tear gas on protesters in istanbul's taksim square just hours after the prime minister threatened to use force to move the. moderate cleric hassan rowhani takes almost a fifty one percent of the vote to become iran's new president elect made questions over whether he will change the country's nuclear ambitions. and syria calls america's claims that it used chemical weapons fabricated while russia which is also unconvinced condemns washington's decision to arm the rebels as an undermining of peace efforts.