Interesting Debate About Meaning of Socialism

My friend—not the one who thinks the media is liberally biased—and I had a very interesting exchange via instant messenger today. Here's the transcript:

My Friend (2:31:55 PM): you might be interested in going to this chat in JP. I'm going
My Friend (2:31:57 PM): Alternative Radio's David Barsamian:
What We Say Goes:
Afghanistan, Pakistan & the War On Terror

6pm Thursday
September 11th
Jamaicaway Books
676 Centre Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Whether it's the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, threats against Iran, the conflict in Georgia, the overthrow of Musharraf in Pakistan, or the ongoing struggle for Palestine, most of the news we receive comes from the same corporate media that lead the charge to war. As the award winning founder and director of Alternative Radio, the independent weekly series based in Boulder, Colorado, David Barsamian has used this forum to speak out against US imperialism. His interviews and articles appear in The Progressive, The Nation, Z and other journals and magazines.

David Barsamian is the author of numerous books with Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Eqbal Ahmad, and Edward Said. His latest books are What We Say Goes with Noam Chomsky and Targeting Iran.

Sponsored by the International Socialist Organization
isoboston@yahoo.com
www.socialistworker.org
Me (2:37:50 PM): I am curious about that. A little wary of the International Socialist Organization, but it does look interesting.
My Friend (2:38:39 PM): haha. i think they'd be more honest with the material than a mass media enterprise
My Friend (2:42:23 PM): i'm going to be meeting a friend there and think the speaker will be powerful. i thought you might want to come and ck it out. if you decide it's not your thing you can always just walk the few blocks home
Me (2:43:03 PM): I'll go b/c I think you're right about the speaker, and I am very interested in the topic.
Me (2:43:44 PM): but I'll remain skeptical of anyone advocating international socialism at this point. Too much like international capitalism, if you ask me. Not enough democracy involved.
My Friend (2:44:20 PM): i thought you might be interested in the topic as well cause i know you're exploring the media feeds you've been reading.
Me (2:44:48 PM): yeah, for sure
My Friend (2:44:58 PM): interesting take. i'll more readily take the socialist pill than the "democracy"
Me (2:45:31 PM): I somehow doubt you'd say that if you had lived in a socialist country.
Me (2:46:10 PM): but I agree that this country's democracy definitely deserves quotes around it.
My Friend (2:47:34 PM): what was happening in your wife's country in her lifetime was as much socialism as what's now happening in China is Communism. They're warped.
Me (2:49:42 PM): that's probably true, but I do think we have to be very, very careful whenever we give allow very powerful institutions to run our lives, whether they are corporations or Communist parties or whoever else may want to be in charge.
Me (2:50:46 PM): I just want to live in a society where individual rights are respected while not ignoring the needs of the larger society.
Me (2:50:58 PM): there needs to be some balance
My Friend (2:51:45 PM): wholly agree, but my point is that you were a little turned off/treading cautiously when you saw who was putting on the talk yet we live in fascism now and we all eat it up like pudding
Me (2:52:02 PM): I sure as hell don't!
Me (2:52:35 PM): I think I had better go to this thing (I think I can) so we can have a more informed discussion about it afterwards.
Me (2:53:14 PM): let's just see what these "socialists" have to offer.

Readers: What do you think? Do socialists have anything to offer in this day and age? Given their record in the 20th century, is there any reason to expect that socialism could "work"?

Travelers' Laptops May Be Seized Without Cause

The Washington Post has some of the most chilling U.S. political news to come along in actually quite awhile. And that's truly saying something, given the proclivity of our government to run roughshod over the Constitution and those of us who used to enjoy basic rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to keep our damn private lives private. Anyway, the latest bit of crap disguised as reasoned policy is that "Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed." In case you missed it, there's a crucial clause in there: without any suspicion of wrongdoing. Apparently, it would be too much bother to actually have to come up with a valid reason for taking a citizen's private property for however long one of these DHS hacks sees fit. Remember when the government at least pretended to care about such anachronisms as due process and warrants? Most likely, those affected will just look like they might have something sweet on their laptops such as Grand Theft Auto IV or the entire Jonas Brothers collection. You know, something a DHS bozo might want to inspect, burn, and then return. But really, what's to stop these criminals from targeting anyone who appears to have a political agenda not sanctioned by the regime in power? I'm thinking about peace activists, political bloggers, and other "subversives." Let's see how quickly those folks have their computers snatched. If he were alive now, George Orwell never would have been able to finish 1984 before some clown with a badge would have "accidentally erased" his hard drive.