Statement on Terrorist Attack

Statement of sadness about recent terrorist attack in specific location.

Statement of methodology used.

Statement of horrific outcome.

Statement of sadness about victims.

Statement of anger about terrorism.

Statement about futility of government response.

Statement about how this would have never happened if the western nations respected a different culture and helped to foster real democracy in nation that people who committed terrorist act originated from.

Statement about how real socialist policies would prevent further attacks.

Statement on how capitalism is unwilling to give up power without a struggle.

Statement on how we have to fight for real socialism.

Lather.

Rinse.

Repeat.

Where have all the flowers gone?

At War with Words

We need to watch our words and how we use them. George Lakoff in “Don't think of an elephant” gives excellent lessons on this and how to fight back against people who manipulate and twist words.

This came to my mind as I was reading the Sunday Buffalo News article called “Right's call public education in Kansas 'government schools.'”

In their ever continuing war against a government that they can not and do not control, conservatives are using the ever unpopular word “government” on programs that they dislike. It's a case of Alice in Wonderland where they want to be able to define the words that are used in public discourse and everyone has to go by their definition rather than a definition based in reality.

In reality, the schools are public schools. We own them. We pay for them with our taxes. Plain and simple there.

The fact of the matter is that the conservatives (avoid calling them anything that uses the word “right” because that word has a second dangerous “subliminal definition” - that being “correct.” ) forces are going by the libertarian Grover Norquist idea of shrinking government down to a size where it can be drowned in a bathtub.

We need to be armed and ready on this issue. We need to remind the conservatives that President (sic) GW Bush is responsible for all the testing that we have in schools today. No Child Left Behind is the government law that Bush signed that mandated yearly testing in Language Arts and Math from grades 3-8 and other testing in grades 9-12. So all this testing is a creation of conservatives in Texas. (Remind them that GW Bush is a Republican and that NCLB is based on his legislation as Governor (sic) of Texas.)

Sick of Common Core and all that over reach by President Obama? Repeal NCLB and Obama's agenda goes out the door with it.

While we're at it – since the government is overtaxing us – an often heard complaint of the fiscal tightwad conservatives – I shouldn't have to pay school taxes. I don't have any children that attend the local school, so why am I paying school taxes? Let the people who are sending their children to school foot the bill for the education of their children. Now, I understand that because of the cutoff of funds programs like extracurricular sports is going to be eliminated. That's correct. No more football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer, etc. But those are luxuries and not necessities. We need to ask the real purpose of education and address funding that, not having college educated people playing overpriced babysitters. (Please read and say that with a note of sarcasm.)

And at that – private education, like charter schools and religious schools, should never be receiving our tax dollars. They are private and it is not the responsibility of the taxpayer to guarantee their profitability and survival. (This is the government really overstepping its bounds.)  After all, they are private institutions. Remember – capitalism is premised on survival of the fittest and the government is supposed to keep its nose out of private institutions. These private schools are exactly that – private and need to find their own funding. 

And while we are attacking the government, there are other notable government failures that we need to discuss and de-fund.

Let's talk about government policy in the Middle East. The government has failed, in a dramatic way, to create any form of a stable government in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. Furthermore, government policy is literally giving arms to ISIS – know those people that are supposedly attacking us with assault weapons in bars and at rallies? Guess who's training them and giving them weapons? Our government. We need to totally cut the government aid to those countries and get out of the Middle East.

And did you know that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are the two largest supporters (both with money and weapons) of Islamic terrorist organizations? We need to stop giving them money too. That's our tax dollars being used by those countries to indoctrinate and arm terrorists to attack us. In fact, Saudi Arabia is the largest funder of ISIS. Seriously, we need to look at the failure of government policy in the Middle East. (They hate it when I bring all this up.)

And while we are talking about government spending – did you know that the F-35 is over budget, behind schedule, and still can't be used in combat? And that much less expensive Chinese and Russian fighters can get the best of it in combat? Seems to me that's a ton of wasted money. 

 We need to eliminate all these government weapon systems that are over budget, behind schedule, and fail to work as advertised. The littoral combat ships fall into that line as well. So does the “Star Wars” anti-missile system. It can't even hit a missile and even if it did, it can't stop the warhead from detonating. Oops.

Did you know that the “Stealth” bomber and fighter can be detected with weather satellites and FM radios? Billions of dollars spent on weapon systems that an be located with free and cheap technology. (Avoid the use of the word defense at all costs – Defense is a positive word.)

And then there are those state governments that are trying to stick their nose into women's health care. These “big government” types want to stick their noses into a private conversation (private is always a positive word in conservatives' eyes) between a woman and her doctor about her choice of medical treatment. Remember President Obama's government “death panels?” This is the same thing where the government is overstepping its bounds in a woman's health care choices and we need to get the states to honor a woman's right to choose. (Choose is always a positive word for some reason. Avoid the word abortion. Negative and one of their push buttons.)

Your homework? Tax subsidies for private businesses. Public-Private partnerships. And what else can you think of that is sacred to fiscal and social conservatives? (LBGTQ marriage is too easy but way fun. Are we going to put a policeman in every bedroom? Who is going to pay for that? Or are we gong to put in cameras? Government mandated porn?)

The Edward Sowden, Chelsea Manning revelations about the security state and the total failure of the military to defend us on 9-11 and the NSA's total failure to detect, let alone stop how many attacks in the US? Seems like government surveillance isn't doing what it claimed it can. We'll have to cut its funding.

Seems like the conservative government can't do anything right.

I'll settle for a walk in my public park to calm myself down.

Third Party Hit Piece

In this season of presidential campaign chaos the Buffalo News is getting a little brave by carrying a story on the Libertarian Party candidate – former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson – and how he could affect the Republican chances.

Basically the article was a hit piece on so called “third party” candidates.

The article went off on the 2000 election where many want to believe that Green Party candidate (and political opportunist) Ralph Nader cost the Democratic Party the presidency rather than focusing on the voter purges, the screwy ballot, and the “Bush Family” mafia that controlled the Florida governor's office and appointments thereof.

Note on Ralph Nader: He has done some excellent work on highlighting corporate abuse and corporate power and its effects on the working class and the environment. He needs to stick with that rather than running for office. At one time he accepted a run for office on a conservative capitalist party line that was way out of line with what I think he actually believes. He does some good work highlighting the abuses of capitalism. The solution to these abuses is socialism.

The impact of Johnson's influence would be in the southwest (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and possibly California. If he's lucky, Texas, though I doubt the Libertarian party's liberal social views and non-interventionist foreign policy would go over well in that state.)

The article also touches on Dr Jill Stein of the Green Party and how she and the Greens might impact the campaign for the White House.

Sad thing is that the article is a complete and total waste because it does not talk about the policies or ideas of either party at all or how they compare to the two main capitalist parties that are vying for the prize.

There's a reason for that: The corporate owned media doesn't want us to know or care about these parties because it would cost them more money to cover the parties and their candidates. Also the parties do not fit into the dominant world view that the corporate controllers want people to hear, see, and think about.

And Europeans just scratch their heads when they look at our politics.

So if the capitalist press isn't going to cover the Libertarian party – which is very pro-capitalist and wants even less regulation than the Republicans want – and won't cover the Green Party which promotes a semi-social democratic social and economic program and pretty much capitalism with an environmentally friendly face, I know that they are not going to cover a socialist party candidate at all.

Actually, if they were to cover a socialist party candidate it would be through a Cold War lens of Stalinism versus the capitalist west or some nightmare story out of Maoist China. Their coverage of Cuba is pretty horrific as well. So I know that they would not give any socialist candidate a fair shake.

This is why America needs media reform. This is why we need an independent press that reports to the citizenry the information and allows the citizen to decide. Robert McChesney and John Nichols write several books on media reform and some pretty interesting proposals on how to address it. Personally I believe that the media in a community should be owned by community members and run as not-for-profit organizations.

This is also why we need electoral reform. We have gerrymandered congressional districts that give the capitalist party in power the ability to maintain control and exclude other parties from even gaining a voice at the table.

We need to have proportional representation in the House of Representatives (at the federal level) and in the Assembly (or equivalent) at the state levels. If a party receives 5% or more of the vote, they receive that many representatives in the House or Assembly and have the responsibility of having offices available around the state in order to have their representatives accessible.

Parties in Europe also have the responsibility of helping register voters. Could you picture the Republicans helping an African American register to vote? Given that their party has -in recent history- worked overtime to deny African Americans their Constitutional right to vote? Democrats have a long history of suppressing the African American vote or swaying into candidates that talk a good talk and then do nothing.

I found the article interesting in as much as it did give a small amount of coverage to third parties. Now if the Buffalo News and other media would take the tine to actually cover third parties and their policies then maybe we could start seeing an electorate that is actually interested in politics.

And given the popularity of socialism among the 18-30 year olds and the increase in interest in socialism in 30-50 year olds, if they covered socialist parties, their candidates, and their policies, imagine what that would do for the declining readership that they are fighting tooth and nail to hang onto.

That being said, since the Buffalo News won't cover Socialist Action, go to the Socialist Action website and learn more about us, our policies, and our candidates for office – Jeff Mackler for President and Karen Schraufnagel for Vice President.

Check out our campaign site for information and updates to the campaign and like us on Facebook.

Last of all – joinus in our fight for democracy – real democracy for all – in America.

If you live in Western New York – send an e-mail. Let's get together & build a chapter here.

You have nothing to lose but your chains.

Celebrating the ability to oppress?

I recently heard an LGBTQ teen proudly saying that they could openly serve their country without the fear of being dishonorably discharged.

I wondered: Why would they want to?

The first thing that came to my mind were all the LGBTQ service members that were expelled before or during the illegal invasion of Iraq. The next disaster that befell the military was that they did not have enough interpreters of the Arabic language and its various dialects. An already bad war went worse because we lost the people that could communicate with the people we were oppressing.

Then President Obama struck down the Clinton era “Don't ask, don't tell legislation” and made it harder to remove LGBTQ individuals from the service.

Big deal.

Now they can openly serve without fear at all.

And why is this important?

We already have boots on the ground in Syria. A contingent of special forces and trainers is already working with the Syrian opposition. And Obama is clearly setting the stage for the next president to go into a full scale war against the Assad regime and put in power a comprador pro-western capitalist government that will be as bad and as oppressive as the current regime is.

And the US military is currently “broken” from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The combat units are not up to strength and the next president is going to need to do something to get them up to strength so that the boots can be on the ground.

So I expect to see more aggressive recruiting in impoverished school districts – BTW these tend to have higher levels of African and Hispanic populations. The very populations that are oppressed by “stop and frisk” policies and “shoot now and manipulate the media” later policies. Right. The military is sworn to protect Americans against all enemies. Foreign and domestic. When will the military step in to defend African Americans and Hispanics against police brutality and racist laws written by racist politicians? I'm not going to hold my breath.

I expect to see a more aggressive recruiting of women. In spite of the fact that women face sexual violence rates in the military that make civilian violence rates look like nothing. I would like (and the women that serve in the military even more so) would like to see them defend women against the criminals that commit sexual crimes against them in and out of the service. Again, I'm not going to hold my breath.

Look at the violence that has been (and still is) perpetrated against LGBTQ individuals in this society. They are still, even though it is legal, fighting for acceptance as married couples, I believe a couple just won the right to adopt, there is the violence that occurred in Florida and the daily physical violence that is committed against them. And the military is going to defend them against this? I'm not going to try holding my breath.

But go into the countries of our so called “allies” and see how they treat LGBTQ individuals. Look at Saudi Arabia and other socially conservative countries where being caught living as an open LGBTQ individual can carry a death sentence. And look at the fates of LGBTQ individuals in Honduras and other Central and South American countries where the US military has influence and a presence. Nothing to write home about there because the military is upholding the regime that makes those crimes possible and unpunishable.

And this student is proud and celebrating because they can openly serve in the military.

Doing what, exactly?

Dishing out the same oppression that they suffered under all these years?

That is worth celebrating?

Please.

Give me a break.

And I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for that one either.

New Orleans. St Paul. Dallas. WTF?

All I could say as I heard the news about what has happened this week is: WTF?!?

New Orleans was police brutality. No questions asked. The men involved do not even deserve to be called police officers.

St Paul was horrific. That man deserves to be behind bars. 

All three men do.

Dallas was … I'm short of words for what happened.

I've read about what the police say was the motive. I can understand where the shooter is coming from. I can sympathize with his anger.

I will *never* justify his actions.

The actions of the gunman will be used by capitalist and conservative forces as a need to further repress African American citizens rather than trust them and give them more freedom.

By the same token, the actions (deliberate at that) of the three men that are responsible for the deaths Philando Castile and Alton Sterling belong behind bars – not relieved of duty or on any sort of salary – behind bars. If I did what they did, that's where I would be.

Why do we have one set of rules for civilians and another set of rules for police and law enforcement?

This country needs to come to terms with how it treats African Americans.

From what I have heard the shooter in Dallas was an African American. A former Army National Guardsman. So he was trained in administering violence. He served a tour in Afghanistan and who knows what he saw and did over there.

Question: Did he suffer PTSD from serving in a war zone?

Why do we not provide better mental health and support services for our soldiers when they come home form war and after they leave the military?

Why do we as a nation glorify violence and see violence as a solution to every problem we have?

And then when it comes home to roost we stand back in total shock and disbelief.

So many questions. 

So much pain.

I work forward to the day when we do have socialism in power and we use war only as a last resort rather than the first and only solution.

I work forward to the day when men and women see the military as a last resort for a career rather than the only option or way for them to receive career training or a way to pay for college.

I work forward to a day when this country stops seeing African Americans as second class citizens and treats them as equals in democracy and society.

I work forward to the day when I turn on the news and I'm not greeted by stories of murder and violence but instead have some good news to report.

I look back to build understanding.

I work forward to build the society that I want to live in.

Say their names.

All of them.

All of them: Victims of ignorance and anger.

We can and need to do better than this.

$175,000 a life

Tonawanda Coke was fined $175,000 for murder.

A worker was killed when proper safety training and procedures were not provided and followed. As a result, a worker's jacket was caught in a coke elevator shaft and he was killed.

If I run over or hit someone with my car while I am being negligent I get a fine and jail time. (Unless I am very wealthy and can afford a really good lawyer.)

As a result of the failure of the company to follow safety protocols a number of times the company is being fined a measly $175,000 which it can probably get reduced or dismissed if its lawyers get their say.

And that is the sorry state of capitalism in our community, state, nation, and world.

Do something that harms a worker or community member and get a slap on the wrist.

Threaten Wall Street profits and you have problems.

Then again we need to look at a larger picture. Tonawanda Coke produces coke that is used in smelting and other industrial processes. In this production it produces pollution that injures people in the communities around where the production occurs.

A further step out – Tonawanda Coke produces pollution that leads to global warming and other climate damage. (Go up to the northern Adirondacks. Seriously. There are ponds of all sizes that have no fish or birds because the water is that polluted from acid rain. )

And we are keeping this plant open because? 

Aren't there better ways to work with metals that are less damaging to the environment?

Aren't there better ways to produce goods that are less dangerous to the communities around the plants?

Aren't there better ways to produce products that are less dangerous to the workers?

Why are we using an ancient technology in such an advanced society?

Or perhaps we are not as advanced as we think we are.

Or perhaps capitalism isn't doing the job it claims it can do.

Socialists demand safer working conditions for all workers.

Socialists demand environmentally better ways of producing metals that our society needs for manufacturing.

Socialists demand environmentally better ways of producing the things that our society needs.

Socialists also demand justice for workers injured and killed on the job when the company fails to follow common sense safety practices.

A human life is worth more than $175,000.

Symptom or System Change?

In a little over a week and a half will be the coronation of the “Donald” as the Republican Party presidential candidate.

For all practical intents the media has coronated him though there apparently is an opposition group forming against him and willing to support another candidate.

There will be protests against the “Donald” to be sure. I wouldn't be surprised to see the military involved to keep Cleveland in peace as well as in one piece. Then again, neo-nazi groups have said that they will be in Cleveland to protect the “Donald.”

Honesty, If work allows, I would love to go and protest and (hopefully) meet up with other members of Socialist Action.

In August the Democrats will be appointing (and anointing) Hillary as their candidate. Again, the media has already put the title of nominee on her even though Bernie has not dropped out and is still fighting for the nomination (in some capacity).

Again, there will be protests against Hillary and the Democrats. Philadelphia is much farther away than Cleveland, so I doubt that I will be able to male that.

And the various groups will be protesting against the two parties' economic plans, foreign policy plans, and so on. The “Donald” and the Republicans will hear it about their social policies (anti-LGBTQ, anti immigrant, etc.) And Hillary and the Democrats will hear it about how their plans don't go far enough.

And I'm thinking – many of these protesters are protesting symptoms of the system. Many of the protests are against problems that are systemic and endemic to capitalism.

It's not enough to protest against a problem and demand that the two faces of capitalism do something to make that part of the system much friendlier. Face it – capitalism needs these problems in order to exists. Be it prejudice against immigrants or LGBTQ individuals, or unemployment (or underemployment for that matter), or homelessness. These are symptoms that the system needs to control the population.

The same goes for militarism. There is no real difference between the Democrats and Republicans on foreign policy. And yet the left (parts of it) give the Democrats and President Obama a pass on that policy when Obama has killed via drone strike more people than President (sic) GW Bush and has expanded the “War on terrorist tactics” in more countries than Bush.

The protesters need to be led to understand this and change their stance from protesting to reform some characteristic of capitalism to fighting for socialism.

Let's face the facts: And reform of the capitalist system can be undone. Look at the war on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other forms of public assistance. The two capitalist parties have been salami slicing these reform programs down to nothing.

If they want to save these programs, end the persecution of immigrants and LGBTQ individuals, and stop these mindless wars that we are in and work to save the planet and our species – they need to work to change the system from capitalism to socialism.

Anything else is just a waste of time.

We have a choice and Rosa Luxembourg said it so well when she gave us the choice between socialism and barbarism.

I choose socialism as the solution.

Do you?

Vote Socialist Action in 2016.

Summer Reading

It is summer time and to augment my less than stellar teacher's salary I have taken a position in a local public library branch as a summer job. And I was assigned the position of “Summer Reading Coordinator.”

Thrilling. I received a copy of the local school's summer reading list, made sure we had all the books (or told the Librarian which ones they needed to order for the students to read) and proceeded to help with all the summer gift bags, prizes, and summer programming that is part of the job.

Fun? Wow. Some of the books are fairly decent, interesting, and slightly progressive. And then there is that dreadful “classic literature” like Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte that has the honors students wondering why they got into the program. (Yes, it's that dreadful to read and I've heard that from female students. Jane Eyre is often referred to as “Jane Error” - meaning it was an error to write, let alone have someone read.)

A side part of the program is the “Adult” reading program. Adults read books and then are required to post reviews of the books in an on-line site that the library system manages.

Why bring this up?

What a perfect place to post positive reviews of socialist and other left wing literature? We don't have to pay for it (actually we already do via our taxes) and it is there for others in the system to read.

Let us remember – In the 18-30 age range socialism is more popular than capitalism and in the under 50 range it is running almost equal with capitalism as a system. These are the age groups that are least impacted by the disaster that was known as the “Cold War” and view that era as long gone and past.

This is an easy way to reach out to people that may be interested and want to know more but may not know where to turn. And the site we are using allows books, e-books, and pamphlets or novellas (short novels – usually less than 100 pages) to be reviewed.

Now I'm not going to use every posting that I make on the system about a blatantly socialist book. But there are a few that I can see reading and posting on that I think others in the area and region might be interested in.

We, as socialists, need to find a variety of ways to get our message out to the public.

Why not use the public forums that the community is using to our advantage?

And for what it is worth – From what I have been told by a school book vendor – the Communist Manifesto is on the NYS reading list as recommended books.

Can you picture that getting into the hands of today's activist minded youth?

I can. Put it on a summer reading list and watch the gears turn.

On July 4th

The Declaration of Independence states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Granted, it needs some rewording, especially in the area of gender, but I ask you the following -

At the ballot box – Are African American, Hispanic, and poor people treated the same as the rich and wealthy? Are they equal?

Women, who have the same qualifications as their male counterparts and sometimes better, are paid 5% less right out of college and over time only 78% of what their male counterparts are paid. Is this equal?

Farm workers can work 50-60+ hour work weeks and are denied the opportunity to organize unions or be paid overtime. And retirement is their responsibility. Is this equal? (And to be truthful, farmers in general get screwed over by the system. Capitalist agricultural companies are the ones making the money.)

And the list could go on.

Do African American, Hispanic, or LGBTQ people feel safe walking the streets of America or in prison when arrested (often for offenses that white people are let go on) feel free? Do they have the liberty to go out without fear of being stopped for being a person of color? Or “different” from the accepted norm?

Are men and women that have suffered punishment in the prison industrial complex free to find employment after they leave? Or do they suffer because they have to check a box that states they have a “criminal record.” Are they free from their past? Or must they wear it like an albatross around their neck for the rest of their lives?

Are LGBTQ individuals free to be themselves in public without being shamed for the life they live?

Are children that live in poor communities free to attend high quality schools that are as well funded as their suburban counterparts? Or must they attend decrepit schools with broken windows, leaky ceilings, lavatories that don't work, overcrowded classrooms, and more?

And this list could go on.

And the pursuit of happiness? Seriously?

Are people that work two minimum wage jobs in order to provide for their families free to pursue their dreams of being something other than a wage slave?

Are college students free to pursue their dreams of being … whatever it is they choose … without having the burden of debt over their heads? To the tune of $1.3+ Trillion?

Are the children in our underfunded and over tested schools free to dream about the future rather than having nightmares about how they did on the last mandated exam they took?

Let's add those that are free from serving in prison.

Let's add the women and LGBTQ in the workplace.

Let's add the immigrants among us that are being exploited in fields and factories providing our needs while the owners walk away with millions and more.

Who has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

If all do not have it, the the Declaration of Independence has another statement that we, the people, must stand on and by. And it states:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We, the people, have many causes – more than listed here – to sever the connections with the capitalist economic and social system that was imposed upon us 240 years ago by wealthy, white, wig-wearing males.

We,the people, have every reason to, by all means possible and necessary, to put socialists in the position of power at every level. And I mean in government – local, state, and federal – and in the economic system – big business,  Wall Street,  and more.

We demand that we receive and be able to live these “God given unalienable rights” that the Constitution of the United States gives us a citizens and that anyone that works consciously and directly to deny us these right lose the very rights that they are trying to deny us and be tried as traitors to the Constitution, country, and mankind as a whole.

We demand that these same rights be given to all humanity across the world. In every country and on every continent.

And note the word “given.”

2017 will be the 100^th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution.

To paraphrase Malcom X, we will receive them either by the ballot – free and equal democratic elections – or we will receive them by the bullet – revolution.

We will receive them in the course of human events.

My question is:  What will those events be?

Say Yes to what?

“Say Yes” to college is getting front page coverage in the Buffalo News. “Say Yes” is a privately funded college aid program that helps cover college tuition for those that graduate and head off to college. What it coves is the part of college costs that is not covered by state and government aid.

Interesting note: It says nothing about that other great college killer – the cost of textbooks. I remember shelling out $50 - $60 for textbooks. My friends that were in the sciences , engineering, and mathematical fields shelled out way more for a textbook that was not even good for one year. I could buy used books. Their textbooks editions changed every year.

So, on the outset, this program sounds good because it mostly helps minorities (African Americans, Hispanics, and others) with the ever rising college costs (someone has to pay for all those sports scholarships and coaching jobs).

And helping with college costs is important because the greatest threat to a person's economic success is college debt. Right now the total owed college debt is somewhere in the range of $1.3 - $1.4 million. And that debt is just crushing people and their hopes.

Why?

There are no jobs for the graduates. Say Yes is great for opening the doors of opportunity. But the other big problem facing graduates is that there are no jobs for graduates when they get out of college, so they are taking positions in retail and service areas that they didn't need the degree for and struggle to pay off the money that they do owe.

Here's the bigger question: Why is this supposedly great country saddling students with college debt at all? Scandinavia has college tuition covered by the state (paid for by higher taxes) – but that removes a heavy burden from the college student because they aren't worried about the debt hanging around their neck like an albatross. It is good for businesses too because the workers hired are focusing more on their careers rather than the crushing debt hanging over their heads.

So why is the US not doing something about all this college debt?

Because the banks and corporations that provide college loans don't want anything done about it. It's how they make their profits – by burying people in debt with high interest rates.

Never mind (for them) that this is bad for the economy because these graduates are moving into their parents homes and living in a hand to mouth existence buying only what they need instead of digging themselves into deeper debt. I know of several people that are doing this or have done this in order to survive. They work two jobs and use almost all their money on paying off debt. This means they are not helping the economy by spending, which further threatens the capitalists prosperity.

They (the capitalists) don't see it this way. They are looking at the short term, here now today bottom line and what looks good. If college debt gets too high and the students were to not pay back the debt that they owe, the world economy could go into a crash worse than the 2007-8 disaster that President (sic) G W Bush handed us.

Socialists know this, understand this, and demand that action be taken. 

Total debt forgiveness would be ideal. 

If not that, then lower the interest rates (retroactively) to prime only with a recalculation of the debt based on payments.

Then again, we are talking about education here and no person should be forced to pay interest on their dreams, so college loans really shouldn't have interest on them at all.

Buffalo may have said yes to college for its students, but tell me what is the future for these students when they leave college?

In a capitalist economic and social system, not much.