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Welcome to ClassWars, the home of Activist Radio, a weekly program for all Americans who are not in the wealthiest one percent of the US population. Class wars have been going on since the beginning of recorded history. As societies become more powerful and wealthy, they often become more corrupt. Towards the end of each cycle, a few rich families own practically everything and rule with an iron fist. Imperial wars for empire and military over-expansion are other trademarks of a debased and undemocratic society. Empire often brings about great poverty and suffering not only in the occupied and exploited lands, but at home as well. Class wars is a dirty term in our media, which always implies that America is above such crudeness. But the very rich are not above that at all. They have been waging an especially intense attack on working people since the 1970s, and have accumulated immense wealth and power at the expense of the rest of us. Of course, America's class wars are not fought with tanks and bombs, but with crooked politicians, right wing think tanks and corporate owned media. For the very rich to maintain and increase their share of the national wealth, they have to fool you. How else could one percent of our population call the shots for the other ninety-nine percent? Well, there is another way. The very rich can bankroll a fascist demagogue who then uses racial fears and hatreds to overcome any form of worker resistance. Mussolini and Hitler are examples of how this was done in the 1930s. Trump is, of course, the most dangerous demagogue of the 21st century. To understand how he has gotten this far, check out: "The Unspoken Spread of Fascism." Activist Radio will attempt to show you how the few richest of our citizens lie to the rest of us to expand their power and wealth. They are sick with greed, of course. But so far, the rest of us are what might be worse, and that is stupid. None of the information presented is particularly new or really very hard to find, although you won't read it in the mainstream press or see it on TV. If that is what you are relying on for news, you are being suckered, my friend. I don't know how to put it any nicer. So sit back, relax, and listen to Activist Radio streamed live: Thursdays from 5 - 6 pm ET STREAM ACTIVIST RADIO FROM WVKR Sundays from 5 - 6 pm ET STREAM ACTIVIST RADIO FROM PRN.LIVE Activist Radio can be heard: Thursdays 8-9 am on KBOO 90.7 FM in Portland, OR; Thursdays 11-12 noon on WRFA 107.9 FM in Jamestown, NY; Thursdays 5-6 pm on WVKR 91.3 FM at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY; Thursdays 7-8 pm on WBDY 99.5 FM at The Bundy in Binghamton, NY; Fridays 3-4 pm on WEFR 1700 AM in Fairmont, WV; Saturdays 7-8 am on WOZO 103.9 FM in Knoxville, TN; Sundays 4-5 pm from WIOF 104.1 FM in Woodstock, NY; Sundays 5-6 pm from the Progressive Radio Network at PRN.live; Mondays 11-12 noon on WCAA 107.3 FM in Albany, NY; Mondays at 10-11 pm on KWSI in Grand Junction, CO;  Tuesdays 1-2 pm on WESU 88.1 FM at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT; and finally Wednesdays 4-5 pm on WERU 89.9 FM in Bangor, ME. Past programs are available as a podcast, or anytime on the web at ClassWars.org.  Recent stories on Activist Radio may have you thinking about some important issues. Put another way, you could be wondering if most of what we say is totally made up, since you probably haven't seen it on TV. But here are some links to stories we have done recently. Fantasyland Media News fashioned by the people in charge, the corporations and your government. Each week, we cover the stories that are just left out of the US propaganda machine. Trump's mental health Just like the McCarthy Era Back to the Stone Age Hidden warnings on carcinogenic pesticides Torture and murder no longer covered Nothing good about Nicaragua ever covered Columbia students sue university Did US kill Patrice Lumumba? Germany Pulls Legal Support for Israel How to exit a war it cannot win Attack on Iran poorly planned Denounced the United States and Israel US and Israeli missiles have hit schools Massacre Was Double-Tap Strike Pro-Palestinian Pastor Wins Primary Attempts to target, arrest, and deport students AI war games end with nuclear Armageddon UK punishment for criticizing Israel  Stealth AIPAC Meddling Death Penalty Bill Targets Palestinians Leader who will fight the super-rich AOC is the person to do it Arundhati Roy withdraws from Berlin Embargo a violation of international law Reporting starvation as a war crime A bedouin in cyberspace a warm spot for nuclear power plants Arab and Jewish protesters in Tel Aviv PBS is hiding the other view of China Epstein was cooperating with prosecutors Fred Nagel is a Vietnam Era veteran and political activist whose articles have appeared in CounterPunch, Global Research, LA Progressive, Mondoweiss, Peace & Planet News, Popular Resistance, and Z Magazine. He also hosts a show on Vassar College Radio, WVKR (classwars.org). #Candles4Assange Eli wishing Assange a Happy Birthday Eli and Fred "take a knee" for racial justice while Jimi Hendrix goes out over the airwaves. Reporting from the veteran's encampment at Standing Rock Fred at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, standing with a vigil for Julian Assange Dave, Heather, Fred and DJ James Poe at WABG - AM 960 in Columbus, MS Dahr Jamail and Gary Fred and Gary with Pete Seeger Kathy Kelly and Gary Thanks to Martha for this time on the set of Democracy Now. Fred and Gary on the air In memory of Jordan Taylor, Black Lives Matter organizer and former Activist Radio co-host The late 19 Century had its very own Gilded Age. Milton Friedman, guru of deregulation and self interest, made millionaires into billionaires by robbing everyone else. Feeding the Empire's war machine.

Thanks for listening I have been doing this program for about 20 years. That's a lot of guests and a lot of history you didn't learn in high school. There has even been a number of co-hosts too, as well as other radio stations that carried Activist Radio. On a good week, we had between 15 and 25 stations downloading our program. For access to a large number of past shows, go to Tune In. When I started the show, the word fascism meant Adolf Hitler. It was about half way through the twenty years when I could see the real danger to our democracy. The slaughter of the Palestinian people is another story that I followed more and more as the years went by. I refuse to be complicit in the American Genocide. History is a complex interaction. There are no easy answers to explain the relationship between corporate dominance, military expansionism, racism and human greed. That is what makes an informed discussion of these issues so thought provoking. I hope that Activist Radio has achieved that standard, at least in some shows. I probably won't keep this page updated. I will continue posting to Fantasyland Media and to our ClassWars blog. Both pages have a substantial number of readers each week. And I simply like to write. I have certainly enjoyed our weekly cyber relationship. Thanks for listening! Fred April 9 GUEST: Harriet Malinowitz, professor, activist and author of Selling Israel: Zionism, Propaganda, and the Uses of Hasbara, talks about the lies that glorify the apartheid state of Israel. Mondoweiss interview Book review for Selling Israel SONG: Paul Robeson sings to Scottish miners (1949) SONG: MACKLEMORE - HIND'S HALL 2 April 2 GUEST: David Dayen, Executive Editor of The American Prospect and author of Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power, talks about how to overcome the Epstein class of billionaire grifters. Peace and Planet News The American Prospect SONG: Arthur Johnstone ... H-Bomb Thunder SONG: Liam Horse ... Ran From War March 26 GUEST: Miko Peled, former soldier in the Israel Defense Force, author, speaker, and Director of Palestine House of Freedom talks about how to bring human rights to all people of the Middle East. Palestine House of Freedom Israel's End Game SONG: Creedence Clearwater Revival ... Fortunate Son SONG: Billy Bragg ... Hundred Year Hunger March 19 GUEST: Laurie Kirby, antiwar activist, professor emeritus of mathematics at CUNY's Baruch College, and member of The Princes of Serendip singing group, talks about exposing the weapons manufacturers in one's own community. Woodstock weapons manufacturer Ametek Rotron in Woodstock  SONG: Holly Near with Emma's Revolution ... Sing to Me the Dream March 12 GUEST: Larry Wittner, American author and historian who has written extensively on peace movements, foreign policy, and economic inequality, talks about how this age of billionaires paves the way for fascism. Larry Wittner Should Billionaires Have It All? SONG: The Princes of Serendip, Seed-Maid ... Shadow of a Wall SONG: Country Joe McDonald ... Fixing To Die Rag March 5 GUEST: A recently naturalized citizen from Northern Africa talks about how he is resisting the US colonial exploitation of his country of birth. Settler colonialism in the Middle East Israel as a Settler-Colonial State SONG: Brother Yusef ... Freedom Train Blues SONG: Brother Yusef, Back At The Crossroads Project ... Blues is My Story February 26 GUEST: Miko Peled, author, writer, and former soldier in the IMF talks about advocating for Palestinian human rights in the United States. (repeat interview) Holy Land Foundation Voice calling for justice in Palestine SONG: Wyclef Jean ... Justice (If You re 17) Tribute for Trayvon Martin SONG: Eiiza Gilkyson ... Dark Ages February 19 GUEST: Arron Kirshenbaum, CODEPINK's "War is Not Green" campaigner and East Coast organizer, talks about AI and its effect on internationalist climate justice and Palestinian rights. Resource wars and AI data centers The War Machine Loves AI SONG: Bruce Springsteen ... Streets Of Minneapolis SONG: Lucinda Williams ... Punchline February 12 GUEST: Michael Ansara, author,  former 1960s activist, and leader of the SDS in Boston, talks about his latest book, The Hard Work of Hope. The Hard Work of Hope Michael Ansara SONG: Tasha Cobbs Leonard ... Lift Every Voice and Sing SONG: Eliza Gilkyson ... Soldier of Fortune February 5 GUEST: Coleen Littlejohn, retired development economist who has lived in Nicaragua for over 40 years, talks about Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children Canada and the World Bank in West Africa. Nicaragua and Palestine A different pandemic strategy SONG: Bruce Springsteen - Live ... The Promised Land - Dedicated to Renee Good SONG: Lucinda Williams, World's Gone Wrong ... Freedom Speaks Take a minute to rate Activist Radio Click Icon: Once in Apple Podcasts Preview, click on "Listen on Apple Podcasts." Then click "Ratings and Reviews" and leave your opinion by clicking "Write a Review" right under "Customer Ratings." Sorry Apple made several steps to leaving a review, but we would appreciate it if you did! We often use Peacebutton's calendar to do our History of Social Struggle each week. Check them out at www.peacebuttons.info Some Favorite Lies of the Very Rich Class wars don't exist in America, the land of the free. (The very rich have taken the rest of us to the cleaners, especially since the mid 1970's. Democracy in America has become little more than a useful fiction.) The two party system promotes the will of the people. (Both parties are paid for by the major corporations, leaving the people with very little power to change domestic or foreign policy.) Multinational corporations encourage free enterprise. (They spend most of their time getting handouts from governments while trying to eliminate workers' rights and environmental regulations through "free" trade.) The billions spent on defense contracts make Americans safer. (Most defense contracts are no-bid, billion dollar scams. Of the first world countries, only America spends so much on weaponry that there is nothing left over for the poor and middle class: no education, no health care, and no housing.) High drug costs are necessary to pay for research. (Most drug profits go towards advertising and CEO stock options. Other first world countries, like Canada, control drug prices.) Charter schools increase the quality of the nation's education. (Charter schools allow corporations to control what students learn, while draining dollars from public schools.) US foreign policy is used to spread democracy and to make the world a safer place. (Most US policy is military action aimed at countries that threaten corporate profits. In America, the poor fight the wars, the middle class pays for them, and the very rich make out like the bandits they are.) Free health care, daycare, and college tuition for all are simply unaffordable. (The most successful capitalist countries provide their citizens with all these benefits and much more.) Social Security needs reform to save it. (Social Security is good for another 40 years, and with a little more paid by top earners, good forever. That is if we can keep Wall Street thieves from getting their hands on it.) It's all Trump's fault! Vote for the Democrats to change the system. (If you believe that whopper, you are part of the problem.) The Hidden Verses to This Land Is Your Land Was a high wall there that tried to stop me A sign was painted said: Private Property, But on the back side it didn't say nothing -- This land was made for you and me. One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple By the Relief Office I saw my people -- As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if This land was made for you and me. WOODY G. (Feb. 23, 1940) Workers of the world, awaken! Beak our chains, demand your rights. All the wealth you make is taken By exploiting parasites. Shall you kneel in deep submission From your cradles to your graves? Is the height of your ambition To be good and willing slaves? JOE HILL (1910) One blue sky above us One ocean lapping all our shore One earth so green and round Who could ask for more And because I love you I'll give it one more try To show my rainbow race It's too soon to die. -Pete Seeger We have been added to Progressive Radio Voices and can be heard every Sunday from 5 - 6 pm ET on prn.live Selected as one of PlayerFM's Best Activism Podcasts We Could Find Listen as a podcast on Spotify Crony capitalists have always been with us. Here is Boss Tweed of New York's Tammany Hall sometime in the 1860's. The policy of the American Empire since World War II.

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I see in the future a crisis approaching that fills me with anxiety. As a result of the war, corporations have become enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow. The money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its rule by preying upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is concentrated in a few hands and the Republic destroyed. Abraham Lincoln

And above all Fascism denies that class-war can be the preponderant force in the transformation of society. Benito Mussolini

The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is Fascism - ownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. Franklin D. Roosevelt

A revolution is a class struggle. It was one class - the oppressed, and that other class - the oppressor. Fred Hampton

Surely, in the history of lies told to the population, this is the biggest lie. In the history of secrets, withheld from the American people, this is the biggest secret: that there are classes with different interests in this country. To ignore that--not to know that the history of our country is a history of slaveowner against slave, landlord against tenant, corporation against worker, rich against poor--is to render us helpless before all the lesser lies told to us by people in power. Howard Zinn

The clinical definition of "fascism' is when private concentrated economic power takes government away from the people, turns government into a guarantor, a subsidizer, a covering of corporate power. Ralph Nader

There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning. Warren Buffet

This [$700 billion bailout] was the largest single act of class warfare in the modern history of this country. Dennis Kucinich

I think this has been a class war waged by the rich against the poor, and I think that they won. And I think the poor are fighting back. Naomi Klein

The solution is revolution, first in the spirit of the gospel; Jesus could not accept people going hungry. It is a conflict between classes, rich and poor. My role is to preach and organize. Jean-Bertrand Aristide

The effect of the [European Central Bank] policies is to weaken the welfare state measures and to reduce the power of labor. That's class war. It's fine for the banks, for financial institutions, but terrible for the population. Noam Chomsky

The US has a highly class-conscious business class. If you read the business literature, it's like reading Mao's "Red Book." The values may be inverted, but the terminology is the same. They're fighting a bitter class war constantly. They never relax for a minute. Noam Chomsky

The breakdown [of American society] is not caused by economic laws. They are policies, a kind of class war initiated by the rich and powerful against the working population and the poor. This is what defines the neoliberalism period, not only in the United States but in Europe and elsewhere. Noam Chomsky

For 45 years there has been a war in this country waged by the corporate elite against the working class of America. Bernie Sanders

If there is going to be class warfare in this country, it's about time the working class won that war. Bernie Sanders

The theft of public resources for the military and militarism domestically and abroad represent a one-sided class war waged on the working class in the U.S. The 6 trillion dollars spent on U.S. wars since 2003 are resources that could have been directed to address the increasing desperate plight of workers and poor people in the U.S. Ajamu Baraka

You look at the reality, neoliberalism translates as bitter class war. That's the meaning of it, everywhere you look, every component of it. Noam Chomsky

Now I'm finding out there's just one kind of war. It's the one going on 'tween the rich and the poor. I guess that I don't know a lot about class, But the upper and middle can all kiss my ass. Utah Phillips