Editorial #1
Last week's "Wye Accord" between Arafat and Netanyahu will sharpen every major existing conflict between local Middle Eastern rulers, as well as among the main imperialists. War, not peace, is on the horizon. Workers must learn to see through the baloney of politicians' promises and draw correct conclusions for our class. Capitalism can never lead anywhere but to the mass slaughter for profit. Our fight is for communism. The bosses will start their wars. We must finish them by turning the guns around and seizing political power. The growth of the Progressive Labor Party provides the key to winning this long-range goal.
The Wye deal reveals the deep decline and desperation of U.S. imperialism. Years ago, Rockefeller & Co. could count on Israeli bosses and Iran's fascist Shah to defend Exxon's Middle Eastern oil empire. This is no longer true. Israeli bosses are reluctant vassals; Iran is now a major strategic rival of U.S. bosses; and Arafat can't control the Palestinian masses. The backbone of the Wye arrangement is Clinton's "promise" that the CIA will act as a foreign legion to enforce "security" among Palestinian workers. This means a reign of terror openly sponsored by U.S. imperialism.
Arafat's main competitor, the Hamas nationalist clique, opposes Wye and threatens more terrorist attacks. Syrian bosses have condemned the pact and vowed to keep fighting against both Israel and Arafat (Palestinian Liberation Organization). The level of repression in Palestine, from Israeli fascists and Arafat's cops, is at an all-time high. The CIA's presence can only increase it and provoke more rebellion.
Calling attention to the CIA's role as a goon squad for U.S. rulers is an invitation to U.S. imperialism's enemies. Clinton is virtually daring them to launch a new wave of attacks on U.S. embassies and installations in the Middle East and elsewhere. Despite appearances, provoking such attacks may well be a big part of the Wye deal's hidden agenda. As the recent circus around Clinton's presidency proves, U.S. rulers are in a sharp internal dogfight over many questions. However, the main wing of the Eastern Establishment understands that sooner or later, a massive ground war will become necessary to defend Rockefeller's shaky Middle Eastern oil interests. From the sinking of the Maine in the Spanish-American war to the Gulf of Tonkin incident in Vietnam, U.S. imperialists are past-masters at concocting provocations to justify their military adventures for profit.
There can be no doubt that preparations are already well under way for a U.S. invasion several years down the road. In a July/August 1997 issue of the Rockefeller mouthpiece, Foreign Affairs, General William E. Odom called for deploying U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf. He demanded that the Navy focus less on aircraft carriers and more on "sealift capacity," the ability to transport huge numbers of troops and supplies. Odom understands that control of oil requires the occupation of land. He and his bosses know that the first Persian Gulf War only added to Rockefeller & Co.'s oil problems.
Well, despite the dogfight among the rulers, Odom's plan is now being carried out. According to the Navy's Public Affairs division, the U.S. military needs 19 new strategic sealift ships, for both attack transport and pre-positioning. Five of these ships came from private industry. The other 14 will be built from the keel up. The first new one, the "Bob Hope," was finished in 1997. The rest are slated for completion by 2001. Most of the U.S. military's existing U.S. cargo ships are stationed in the Persian Gulf or at Diego Garcia, a Indian Ocean Island just outside the Arabian Sea. The planned armada will dwarf the troops used in the 1991 Gulf War.
In this context, you might consider the Wye follies a gambit by U.S. imperialism to buy time until the rulers think they're ready for the invasion. First of all, they need the hardware, and they're obviously getting it. Then they need the right political conditions, both internal and external. That's the hard part. The Clinton presidency hasn't exactly mobilized the U.S. ruling class or working class around a major oil war. The Rockefeller gang understands this and are stalling in the hope of turning things around. So they push for "peace" in Israel, retreat on their threat to bomb Iraq (although they keep hinting at the possibility), and flirt with the so-called "moderate" Iranian rulers.
But sooner or later, they'll have to invade the oil fields. Control over oil supplies and prices is a life-and-death question for U.S. imperialism. On the other hand, the U.S.'s international strategic position is weakening every day. Internally, despite many resources at their command, the bosses' ability to win an enthusiastic mass base for their war plans is hardly a done deal. They may have to launch their slaughter without it. This contradiction can lead to a spurt of revolutionary growth and struggle.
We may not be able to prevent the next Middle Eastern oil war or the world war that will eventually grow out of it, but the bosses' political weakness provides our class and our Party with a tremendous opportunity to advance in the coming period. As long as the bosses continue to rule society, they can exploit us and murder us wholesale in their wars. Communist revolution--the seizure of political power by the working class and its Party--alone can get us off capitalism's murderous treadmill. The looming Middle Eastern bloodbath should fill us with determination to build the Progressive Labor Party and smash worldwide imperialism.
EDITORIAL #2
Add Turkey and Cyprus to the list of flashpoints for bosses' war. Cyprus is a strategic island in the Eastern Mediterranean. Greek and Turkish Cypriot nationalists have been fighting over it for nearly 50 years. And not so far in the background lurk the major imperialists:
* The Greek Cypriot nationalist rulers have ordered a deadly anti-aircraft missile system from Russia. These missiles are due to target the 30,000-strong Turkish army stationed in Northern Cyprus. They can also threaten Turkey's coastal air bases. The Greek Cypriots are also completing a nearby naval base.
* Turkish rulers threaten to attack these missiles if they are installed. Russian imperialists have warned that they will treat any attack on the missile complex as an attack against Russia.
* Turkey is also threatening to annex Northern Cyprus if the missiles are put in place.
* Greek and Syrian rulers have signed a deal allowing the Greek air force to use Syrian bases on the Mediterranean coast.
* Backed by the U.S., Turkish rulers have been strengthening a strategic alliance with their new Israeli pals. The Israelis have decided that this alliance allows them to break off negotiations aimed at returning the Golan Heights to Syria.
Add to this poisonous mix, the splits within the Saudi ruling class, the near civil war in Iran, U.S. rulers' determination to keep Iraqi oil off the market the ongoing civil war in Kosovo--and you can see that the Balkans, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the entire Middle East could blow up at almost any time, eventually provoking a head-to-head confrontation between U.S. and Russian imperialists. Capitalism and war are inseparable.
SAN YSIDRO, CA, Oct. 24 -- "This border is set up to divide Mexican and U.S. workers. It stands for racism, murder and super-exploitation. The bosses make huge superprofits off this border by paying workers less on both sides. This border must be torn down with communist revolution." These words blasted through the bullhorn at today's border rally.
Over 50 workers and students brought a strong militant message of the necessity to unite, not only Mexican and U.S. workers, but workers across the world to build a communist revolutionary movement that will ultimately tear down these artificial divisions. "Same Enemy, Same fight, U.S. and Mexican Workers Unite," we chanted as we marched towards the actual border wall. As we drew closer Mexican workers raised their fists in support and applauded, especially when we attacked the border patrol by chanting, "Migra, Cochina, Racista y Asesina," and "Este Puño Si Se Ve--Los Obreros Al Poder." One woman raised her fist, and holding her child's hand, spontaneously joined the march.
Then we marched to a spot in the fence where we could see workers on the other side. They got Challenge and leaflets. A speaker pointed out that, because of this wall and the beefed-up border patrol, over 400 workers have died trying to cross the border since "operation gatekeeper" began, and said, "This wall is the Berlin wall of U.S. imperialism."
The younger people that came were very enthusiastic about the rally. They had made the connection between the LAPD's recent murders and the border patrol's attacks on immigrants. They understood that both serve the same capitalist masters. To the young people this rally represents a way of getting back at the system.
Overall, the rally was a great success. Hundreds of leaflets were handed out and over 200 Challenges/Desafios were distributed. On the way to San Ysidro, comrades spoke about the nature of the borders, and how nations were created by the bosses to oppress workers and to fool us into being loyal to one group of bosses over another. The only solution is workers' internationalism, and one international PLP. On the way back some students expressed how the bosses take us more seriously than they had thought--by bringing out not only the San Diego cops (on foot, motorcycle, and horses), but the border patrol with helicopter as well. Some high school students who came to this action became more committed to passing out fliers and distributing Challenges in front of their school.
We had hoped to bring more people with us to the border demonstration and saw that we have a long way to go in struggling with our friends over the urgency of confronting the bosses' fascism by building PLP to turn the bosses' attacks and growing fascism into a fight for communist revolution.
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 22 -- Hundreds of people, from many different organizations, marched on the streets of LA to protest police murders and brutality. Dozens of families showed pictures of their brothers, fathers, and children, who have been murdered by the police. Many people were very angry, and asked for "justice".
The march was organized by the October 22 Coalition, a group led by liberal leaders, church groups, and revisionists. An LA representative of the group, Joey Johnson, said "Police brutality, repression, the criminalization of a generation must end." A minister called on all religious leaders to form a coalition against police brutality because "we need to reform the system." A letter sent by the ACLU and read at the march said, "We need more black, Latino, and women police." Many workers see through this. Brian Preston, the cop that murdered 76 year old Joe Joshua was black. He has a history of brutality against black and Latin youth in South Central LA. The workers at the demonstration who called the cops the blue Ku Klux Klan are absolutely correct.
Police murders are part of the development of fascism in the U.S. The global economic crisis of overproduction has put the U.S. bosses into a life-and-death battle against other imperialists. They need an obedient, terrorized working class. This is the role of the police. This system cannot be reformed to end racist police terror. It must be destroyed. We don't need more police--of any color. We cannot build the illusion among workers that reform will make the capitalist system nicer. We need more communists who organize within the liberal mass movement to fight to destroy the whole capitalist system.
PLP participated in this march, passing out hundreds of communist leaflets, selling Challenge and making contacts. The majority of the marchers were youth who hate the police and the judicial system, and can be won to see the need for communist revolution. Many of them came with community groups. To reach them, we plan to be more involved in these organizations and begin the process of struggle and change. The only way to end police terror is by destroying the root of the problem, the racist profit system, through a communist revolution. As the crisis of capitalism deepens, more people can see that either the bosses' fascism will destroy us, or we will destroy the bosses!
VALENCIA, Spain, Oct. 28 --On October 22nd, 7,000 Ford workers stage a 24-hour strike the Almussafes plant to demand a "decent contract." The workers rejected Ford's latest offer of a 2.6% wage hike. According to a statement by the unions "We want a contract which clearly guarantees our jobs, a shorter workweek and wages according to our efforts." During the protest, workers chanted, "Misery no, contract yes," "More jobs and less overtime." They also attacked Juan José Ubaghs, Ford Vice-President in Spain.
The next day, Ford responded with threats. David Thursfield, Ford VP for world operations, from Detroit met via satellite with the plant committee representing the Almusaffes workers saying that "if they do not accept the latest company offer, the future of the plant is in danger, and the company will begin to shift work to other places." A day later, Ford announced the layoff of hundreds of temporary workers because of sales loss of the Kia model.
The unions met afterwards, and with a split vote, decided not to call for new mass mobilizations for a week as a sign of goodwill, so that Ford could return to the negotiation table. The different unions at Almussafes (CCOO, UGT and CGT) are divided over what to do. The UGT doesn't want any more strikes or workers' mobilizations to show Ford they are willing to be "serious" about an agreement.
None of these unions have an answer to Ford's attacks because they are reformist to the core, that is, they believe that capitalism can be made to serve workers. Auto bosses of the world, during this period of the growing crisis of auto overproduction, are saddled with enough factories to produce 70 million vehicles a year, at least 20 million more than the world can consume. In Southeast Asia alone, auto sales are expected to fall from 1.3 million last year to 450,000 in 1998. Already, Spain's exports to Southeast Asia will go down by 50 percent because of the economic crisis.
What Ford workers need from Valencia to Detroit to Cuautitlán to Dangheman in England, is not the illusion of a "decent contract" but the building of a revolutionary international movement to fight for a society without Ford, GM, VW or any bosses, and their crises. We need a society based on workers' needs and where workers rule: communism. This is what PLP is fighting for. Join Us!
Tennessee, whose authorities are proud of calling itself, "America at its best," really hit it on the head with that slogan, although not in the way they wanted. It is not noble to be the "best" in a country in deep crisis, where followers of the different groups of capitalists in sharp rivalry are carrying out a "low intensity" war.
This "war" between followers of the Christian Coalition/New Money fascists and the followers of the Old Money/Liberal fascists who control state power took another life last week in Tennessee.
Byron Low Tax Looper has joined the list of well known people from Tennessee, like Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton, Al Gore. Mr. Low Tax Looper (yes, three years ago he changed his name officially to Low Tax to reflect his beliefs in that the government shouldn't tax the masses) shot State Senator Tommy Burks. Low Tax was a Conservative Republican candidate running against Burks in the Novemeber elections. Burks was way ahead in the polls and Low Tax decided to close the gap, by getting rid of the opposition.
Els Borst, Minister of Health of Holland, has just announced that the authorities will create a network of legal, ethical and technical experts to support doctors who practice euthanasia ("mercy killings")on terminally ill patients. The program, begun at the Medical School of the Free University of Amsterdam, where half of the 450 doctors consulted the euthanasia legal experts one or more times before practicing euthanasia on patients, aims to help these doctors feel less isolated. Even though euthanasia is not legal in Holland, it is tolerated by the law. In 1997, there were 1,927 official cases of euthanasia, plus another 1,000 which were not reported.
Although Holland is supposed to be one of the "most progressive" capitalist countries in the world, there is nothing progressive about euthanasia. The official condoning of euthanasia will eventually lead to its use as a genocidal political weapon to kill "undesirables," as the Nazis did during the Third Reich.
All contributions to this column are welcome. Please send them c/o Challenge, 150 W. 28 St., New York, NY 10001 or e-mail them to PLCD@Compuserve.com
GARY, IN, Oct. 24 -- "Jesse Jackson is the U.S. Ambassador to Africa. Capitalism has failed millions of black workers there. You look around Gary; capitalism and the greed of the steel bosses have failed thousands of workers who have lost their jobs in the steel mills here. We can't fall for their lies." A Gary comrade spoke on the bullhorn just as Jesse Jackson ended his support rally for local Democratic Party politicians. As the crowd dispersed we sold Challenge and explained why voting is no solution, that only communist revolution can destroy the mass devastation of capitalism.
Twenty PLP members and friends held our rally in Gary as part of our Party's campaign to win steelworkers to communism--the only solution to the bosses' economic crisis of overproduction. Our leaflet attacked the United Steel Workers of America (USWA) leadership's fascist solution that says, "unite with the steel bosses in their Stand Up For Steel campaign-to stop imports, to save jobs, American jobs." The 350,000 jobs lost in the crisis of the '80s were not due to imports, but to the drive for maximum profits of the U.S. bosses.
The crisis is spreading; already workers in steel and auto are being laid off as a result. But there's worse to come; trade wars like Stand Up For Steel lead to shooting wars, where workers are slaughtered to protect some bosses' profits.
We sold 200 Challenges even though the mill was on a reduced schedule. This weekend the Party has planned another visit to people we met who work in the steel mills. The bosses' crisis is our Party's opportunity to win key industrial workers in the U.S., Mexico, Germany, India, Africa and Asia to build an international communist Party to rise up and destroy capitalism once and for all.
According to the Financial Times, 10/23: "Oversupply in the world steel industry threatens to ignite a trade war with serious consequences for relations between the US and Europe.
"The world's basic manufacturing industry is in crisis. Overcapacity, export dumping, plunging prices--name a problem, steelmakers say they have it..."
The U.S. is threatening anti-dumping measures against Brazil, Russia, and Japan.
Asian producers are also targeted for "investing in too much capacity" in the face of global surplus.
One conclusion that could be drawn: given the threat to U.S. steel production, controlling the oil supplies becomes even more urgent as a weapon to use versus the competition. Therefore, the likelihood of U.S. land invasion of the Middle East becomes even greater given this situation.
CHICAGO, Oct. 25 -- "This is no less than a form of genocide against our youth" said an angry parent at the Bogan HS PTA meeting. The Illinois law that bans electronic beepers in public schools is being used to arrest and criminalize thousands of black and Latin youth. During the fascist sweeps that are conducted in most public high schools ("gifted" schools are exempt), police occupy the school for hours. Students are herded like criminals through metal detectors and backpacks are hurled onto scanners.
The largest contraband confiscated by the cops and school administrators are beepers. Ten years ago, State Representative Monique Davis introduced the Beeper Law supposedly to put a halt to drug sales in the high schools. This was about the same time the CIA was dumping crack cocaine onto Los Angeles' black neighborhoods to fund the Contras. This also coincided with the U.S. government's "War on Drugs," which has the prisons overflowing with young black men and women
The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have adopted this law with a vengeance in their fascist "Zero Tolerance" discipline code. The mark of "Zero" immediately sends students over the age of 16 to jail. Students 16 and under are processed by cops right inside the school, assisted by school administrators, until their parents pick them up. The cops keep the beepers, the CPS suspends the students from school for ten days and the students get a record and a date to appear in court. The parents get fed the same old lie that the CPS are looking out for our children's best interest, providing a "safe, drug-free environment.
That's what Davis put forward when she spoke at the PTA meeting. She started out explaining why she introduced the law. The daughter of a PTA member asked, "What do beepers have to do with guns and knives?" Davis went on to say that last year she tried to repeal the law because she got calls from angry parents. However, she got so much opposition from other politicians, she dropped it. She spent the rest of the evening trying to justify why it is necessary for parents and students to follow the law. A PLP teacher from Foreman HS spoke about last year's raid at the school, and how this law criminalizes the students. She told how the Student Council tried to fight back by organizing a petition campaign against the Beeper Law, and how the principal squashed it. But students at the meeting weren't buying Davis's arguments. A PLP student challenged her: "Following the law killed 13-year-old Kevin Searcy when he lay outside the door of Ravenswood Hospital last Summer." "You have to use common sense," she blasted back. She told parents that the CPS was not using common sense when they suspended students for 10 days, so we as parents must fight against this, however she was not going to change the law.
Self-critically we in the Party have not clearly linked "Zero Tolerance" to the bosses' plan of building fascism and war. Capitalism's economic crisis is behind the sharpening attacks against high school students. Davis is helping the bosses carry out these attacks--she also introduced legislation for students to wear uniforms. The meeting helped the PTA president, a member of PLP, discuss these ideas with parents. This struggle inside the schools presents a big opportunity to raise the Party line. Our PTA is now developing a plan to involve more parents and students in the fight against the Beeper Law. We're taking the struggle to the Local School Council (LSC) meeting. The next step is to win parents and students to write a resolution to present at the Illinois State PTA convention. However, the most important phase at every step of the way is to win parents to understand that capitalist education can only offer our children a future of racism, fascism and war. Only communism will destroy their racist laws. Only communism will destroy the bosses' education system--which is based on the needs of the rich--and transform it into the collective property of the working class for our needs.
Towns like Longbridge have been powerful arguments against revolution. Longbridge, near Birmingham in England is--maybe we will be saying "was"--the home of a Rover auto plant, a subsidiary of the German-owned BMW.
For decades since World War II, its 18,000 plus workers have been making a living that seemed to prove Karl Marx wrong. It amounted to an everyday argument that capitalism looked after its own workers more than exploiting them. These days, towns like Longbridge are turning into powerful arguments for communist revolution. Day in day out, they show us proof that capitalism in crisis is hell-bent on attacking the working class. Last July 1,500 workers were axed at Longbridge. Today 3,000 more are being shown the door and maybe, says BMW, the whole plant will be closed.
In Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, the whole plant will be closed. Volvo plans to shut down its small plant there. And on October 14th, 30 workers replied by occupying the plant and demanding better severance pay (Volvo had offered 40 weeks' pay per worker). About 100 other Volvo workers rallied outside the plant in their support.
Go anywhere in the world where there are auto plants and we will find layoffs, plant closures, cutbacks and speedup. In Korea Kia and Hyundai have seen mass layoffs. At Hyundai, 6,000 workers replied by occupying the plant and demanding no layoffs. In South America, Daimler and GM in Brazil and Ford in Argentina are laying off workers. In North America, Ford in Cautitlán in Mexico is laying off while GM in Vancouver, Canada is shutting down like Volvo in Halifax. And in Europe there are even more layoffs at Ford in Dagenham, England, and Valencia, Spain.
This worldwide wave of cutbacks was predictable, as is the wave that will follow it. At the heart of the matter is the economic crisis of capitalism, the crisis of overproduction. In May 1997 The Economist magazine predicted that the gap between the productive capacity of the world's 630 auto plants and the demands of the market meant that 80 plants would have to be destroyed (shut down). Destroy an auto plant and thousands more lose their jobs in the glass, steel, rubber and electronics industries that supply them. A geometric progression of job destruction sweeps through the economy, making the working class poorer. Poorer communities mean less demand and a new wave of plant closures. The crisis is relentless.
And the question it poses is urgent. Will workers at, say, Rover in England, Volvo in Canada or Hyundai in Korea turn to revolution or reform? Will they restrict their demands to defending "their" jobs? If they do they will be demanding that their plants survive the crises at the expense of the other autoworkers of the world. Or will they see that the heart of the problem lies with the capitalist system and not the other workers of the world? Instead of flying the Union Jack over the Town Hall in Longbridge or the Maple Leaf in Halifax, will they raise the Red Flag of communist revolution? The answer lies in the abilities of the Progressive Labor Party to grow. Support the Volvo workers in Halifax, Canada and Ford workers in Valencia, Spain! Expand the contacts with autoworkers the world over! Fight for communist revolution!
EL SALVADOR, Oct. 26 --The pouring rain couldn't dampen the anger and militancy of the thousands of teachers who came from all over El Salvador, filling the streets and rallying in front of the Ministry of Education, to attack the Minister.
The rally marked the end of the national teachers' strike that shut down schools and institutes on October 13th and 14th. Their actions were similar to the first militant demonstrations of teachers in the 1970's. More than 30,000 educators are suffering under the attacks of capitalism. The high cost of basic foods and health care means that they are denied the most necessities.
One teacher said, "We have to get sick on the first of the month, because that's the only day that medicine is available in the pharmacies of the teachers' Healthcare Plan."--medicine that is also certainly of the lowest quality. The teachers' Healthcare Plan charges a monthly fee of 3 percent plus 8.25 colones against the wages of the teachers, which represents an annual income of 5 million colones for the government.
The Ministry of Education idea, with the backroom "OK" of the top leadership of the National Association of Salvadoran Educators (ANDES) (the oldest and biggest teachers' union), is to create a new HMO for teachers, independent of the government. This will be a serious blow to the teachers, since the rate of dues will be sharply increased as their wages would go down even more, creating more profit for the bosses. The proposed HMO service different from the current one in terms of the actual care of patients. In a communist society, the workers won't have the problems of wages and the lack of medicine and medical care. Through their communist Party, workers will guarantee that we have what we need, when we need it and in adequate amounts.
In analyzing these problems, teachers have a great opportunity to build a consciousness among their students to expose the reality of this rotten system that brings so much poverty and pain for the working class. Students should not fall into the trap of simply being producers for the capitalists. Every classroom should be platforms where teachers win their students to the need for communist revolution. Teachers organizing with PLP have the job of winning our students and fellow teachers to see that the secret negotiations between the union and the Ministry will only mean more exploitation of our labor power. As educators, we have the mission of analyzing the reality of the beast of capitalism that is killing us little by little, and to teach that the solution to these attacks is communist organization.
We have to understand that the only solution is to organize in a Party that defends the working class and will never betray our class. This is the Progressive Labor Party (PLP). Let's fight to build a communist society, making the most important decision of our lives and joining PLP.
The torture-murder of Matthew Shepard, an openly homosexual Wyoming student, has thrown a spotlight on two apparently opposing movements--gaybashing and gay rights. Both movements are growing with the encouragement and support of conflicting sections of the U.S. capitalist class. And both movements are dangerous to the working class.
The thugs who tied Matthew to a fence, beat him brutally and left him to a slow death took their cue from openly fascist politicians like Jerry Falwell and Trent Lott. These bosses want to win the support of masses of workers who are rightly disgusted with the decadence that passes for "culture" in the U.S. today. They will never put the blame where it belongs: on the crisis of capitalism itself.
Instead, the American ayatollahs scapegoat homosexuals when they are not too busy attacking black people, immigrants, Jews, and women workers. Their true goal is to mobilize a mass movement that will help New Money capitalists challenge their enemies in the Rockefeller-Wall Street-Big Oil camp that has long dominated the U.S. government.
But the liberal politicians who publicly mourn Matthew's death are no friends of the working class, either. The mass vigils, marches, and memorials attended by tens of thousands across the country were not simply "spontaneous outpourings of grief" as the media would have us believe. They were organized and coordinated by the same band of clergy and other so-called "progressives" who have built the "gay rights" movement for years.
This pro-gay movement ignores the social roots of homosexuality, which lie in the sexism built into class society. Instead it brings the "free market-place" ideology of capitalism into the sphere of human relations: "Buy or sell whatever you like, do whatever you want, it's all individual choice," this line goes.
The "free-to-be-me, be-all-you-can-be" ideology is very appealing to many, especially youth, who hate the divisiveness and inequality of capitalism. But to see what it means in the real world, look at Sri Lanka, Thailand and other Asian countries impoverished by the imperialist bosses. There, tens of thousands of young boys (according to UNICEF estimates) have been forced into prostitution for the use of wealthy homosexual sex tourists from the West. And tens of thousands of young girls are also forced into prostitution to serve rich heterosexual Western tourists. Where are the marches and vigils for these boys and girls?
These liberals are behind Clinton's hiring of 100,000 more cops to brutalize black and Latin youth. The U.S. now has jailed almost two million workers because of the war cops are waging against these workers and youth. They are also behind Clinton's Justice Dept. militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, resulting in the death of over 300 immigrants (See article above). This is the program put forward by the same liberals crying crocodile tears over the murder of Matt Shepard.
Behind the liberals stand the Rockefeller-led Old Money capitalists. They are using "gay rights," along with multiculturalism, feminism, nationalism, and other reform movements, to rally support, especially among the youth, in the face of New Money opposition. These bosses hypocritically cry for Matthew while planning to send hundreds of thousands of youth to kill and die for U.S. capitalism in a Mideast oil war. They organize campaigns against "hate crimes" while promoting pro-war propaganda movies like "Siege" that slander Arab people.
Those who mourn Matthew Shepard's death must understand that capitalism set him up as a target and capitalism pulled the trigger. Conservatives preach "traditional values," tying workers to capitalism's long tradition of inequality and exploitation. Liberals promote "tolerance" but capitalism is intolerable for billions of workers around the globe. The New Money-inspired gay-bashing movement and the Old Money-inspired gay-rights movement only seem to be opposites. They are both faces of fascism, of capitalism in crisis, of a deadly and dehumanizing system that the working class can and must destroy.
Dr. Barnett Slepian, an obstetrician who also provided abortion services, was killed on October 23rd by an anti-abortion sniper in Buffalo, New York, as he returned from synagogue. This was the fifth such attack in the area, and the third such assassination in the U.S. in the last five years.
The anti-abortion group "Operation Rescue" issued a statement saying it "neither condoned nor condemned" the murder. Past protests have targeted Dr. Slepian's home and office, notably on the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah. The anti-semite overtones of the murder are obvious.
"Operation Rescue" is a major force in the "conservative Christian" movement that is building a mass base for New Money around social issues such as homosexuality and abortion. A few years ago, it organized mass "pro-life" protests that blockaded abortion-providing clinics across the U.S. Thousands were arrested. The rise of anti-abortion assassination may represent an escalation of this process, even preparation for civil war if splits within the U.S. ruling class sharpen further.
"An act of terrorism!" declared Gov. Pataki. "Evil terrorism!" said the leader of Planned Parenthood Federation. "I'm outraged!" said President Clinton. So Dr. Slepian's slaying is twisted into another bit of propaganda for the so-called "war on terrorism." Don't be fooled! The "war on terrorism" has two faces. The first is preparing workers and youth to support and fight a Mideast oil war. The second is to suppress the biggest bosses' enemies at home, whether rival capitalist factions or rebellious workers.
The global capitalists led by the Rockefeller family have killed tens of millions of babies through malnutrition, war and preventable diseases. Their police forces and armies are the major terrorists against workers.
As the struggle between rival capitalist factions sharpen, workers must not take sides with either group of fascists. Organize now to bury them all with communist revolution!
Dear Challenge:
Regardless of what one's personal opinion on homosexuals maybe, I believe that it is necessary to take a strong stand against the brutal killing of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man, by a couple of fascist goons, the same kind of goons who tied James Byrd to the back of a pick-up truck and killed him by dragging him along a road.
In the case of Matthew Shepard, the thugs tied him to a fence, burned him, and beat him with a pistol. Then they left him to die in the freezing temperatures. It is reported that after doing this, the goons attacked two Hispanic males.
Let us not forget that many homosexuals were placed in Hitler's death camps. E. Kogen, in his book on the death camps, The Theory and Practice of Hell, claims that homosexuals received some of the worst treatment in these camps.
At the local protest against the killing of Matthew Shepard, the local black community, which is small, all showed up to protest against the crime. Communists should also know that the thugs who killed this gay man would gladly put communists in a pit and shoot them. To make matters even more obscene, a gang of fascists, many of them from Texas, showed up at the funeral of the young man to protest against gays carrying signs stating, "There are No Christian Fags" and "AIDS cures Fags." What kind of scum would do such a thing? The kind of scum who should be given a cigarette, a blindfold, and told to relax for a minute up against a nearby wall.
Also, it should never be forgotten that the Jesus Nazis of the Christian Coalition such as Pat Robertson, Ralph "Boy Scout" Reed, who is probably a closet homosexual himself, and Jerry Falwell have been banging the drums for years against gay people in an attempt to set them up as scapegoats for the problems of the degenerate capitalist-fascist order. Death to the killers of Matthew Shepard! Death to Fascism!
Red Rocker
Dear Challenge:
The last eight weeks have been very demanding for me. The words "exercise" and "push up" have taken a whole new meaning. It's no longer as hard for me to wake up at 4:30 in the morning as it was before I joined the Army. Basic training (aka boot camp) has finally come to an end for me. I must point out that the word "war" is a clearer term for me now. More clear than I had ever imagined. The seriousness of my position and the current status of world politics have made me realize how important the work in the military is for the Party and our future plans. I am at the heart of war which is the tool of the ruling class to oppress workers around the world. More and more the instability of capitalism is being exposed for the world to judge. And the ones who judge will be us, the daily wage slaves, the oppressed, the brutalized and the soldiers who come from a corrupted society into a more oppressive one.
One day a drill sergeant was giving us a routine breakdown on how the Army works and I found his speech very disturbing, He stated that as soldiers we are no longer part of the civilian way of living. We are to go through a process of soldierization here in basic training. "The army is an authoritative society," he said, "and the chain of command is to be respected at all times." And, oddly, after that, he stated that as soldiers we are to be prepared at all times to defend "democracy".
The first weeks were hard for me to accept because there were so many lies and patriotic brainwashing that was being taught to us. I was beginning to think that they were successfully winning soldiers to think the way they want us to. I needed to know what soldiers really thought about being "protectors of the greatest nation on earth," as they said. I wanted to know if soldiers believed in the value of loyalty "to bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution and the Army unit."
I got to talk to three soldiers who I straight out seriously asked if they are willing to die for this country. All three responded with "NO!" I haven't got many opportunities to talk politics with many soldiers, but this question gets down to the point, and their answers say a lot. I began to feel better. Finally, I got the courage to take it further and add our politics to my conversation. I have talked to two soldiers about politics, and their responses were real good. I will keep in contact with these two people. I haven't yet brought out the Party as much a I want to--but a process sometimes takes some patience--I will keep up my communication with these two soldiers as well as talking to others. A lieutenant told us one day that as soldiers we are to be prepared at all times with high morale to defend democracy.
But I am not here to fight for U.S. imperialism, and its fake, corrupted and filthy "democracy." I am here to organize against it. I am here to organize our fellow class brothers and sisters to fight for communist revolution. When I am out in the field learning and practicing battle techniques and war skills, I am not envisioning myself "patriotically serving my country" but solely as a red soldier, along with the international working class, fighting for our needs.
I have repeatedly wondered how situations will develop in the future. What will our position be 20 years from now? Imperialist war is definitely around the corner, and I will find myself on the other side where I belong, along with my fellow comrades, organizing for revolution. This should be our position, and that's why I can't stress enough the importance of having comrades in the Army, of developing a strong collective of soldiers dedicated to building the Party. This is our responsibility as a class.
We are on the right track. We need to make the Party stronger and build a massive cohesive Party that will fight to the death for communism. We need to serve the working class, where the servers are the workers themselves. And one morning, we'll find ourselves in search of our oppressors. Our red army will triumph with communist revolution. Soldiers and workers of the world, unite!
Red Soldier
(The following letter was sent to the Party by a friend from India)
Dear Comrade:
It was nice to hear from you. I have been getting Challenge regularly. The Party has figured out the gut of fascism well. The crisis of capitalism is global, but its social, cultural and political manifestations differ from country to country. If it were not so, the world would have been too simple.
In a large underdeveloped country like India, the chaotic part is stronger than the organisation. Capitalism here has not been able to channelise and order the social life into a machine, the way it has been able to do in Europe and the U.S. The Hindu right wing has been trying lately to do that, but I do not think it will rise up to the task. The ruling capitalist class may be happy with the things as they are, they have little option. The middle classes are in the same boat as the capitalists, and are not interested in rocking the boat too much. The only social force capable of organising social life are the working people.
About the second note you sent, it seems to me that in economics, the liberal ideology may be our new enemy after neo-classical economics. The Nobel award to Amartya Sen may be the beginning of the ascendancy of liberalism in economic policy. After the recent global financial crisis, it is again becoming fashionable to talk about capitalism with a human face. We should challenge liberalism both politically and intellectually. If "the human face" is just a mask which capitalism takes off and wears as it finds convenient, then should we humans think about destroying the animal which wears this mask on-and-off, instead of pleading with it to keep the mask permanently? On the plane of intellectual debate, we should dig holes in the liberal argument.
Red Friend
Dear Challenge:
Last week in Paris, France, 500,000 students took to the streets. They were marching for smaller class sizes, more teachers, and more tools to further their education. (That education is controlled by the capitalists, however, and they shouldn't have any illusions about that.) A couple of days later the government of France met their demands. These students joined together and that made the ruling class tremble.
What these working class youth did was show the strength, power and leadership young people can possess, all qualities the bosses don't want us to know we have, because if we think that they are strong and we are weak then we will never defeat this rotten system. They say that it's becoming a tradition that every three to four years students go on strike, so we see that reform struggles only change things for a minute, but if you want to change the system and the conditions affecting you, you need to fight for communism. So now we need to put a Challenge into every one of these student's hands.
Red Bengal
Dear Challenge:
In reference to the recent article in Challenge about Puff Daddy--what the heck is going on? Life and liberty for everyone? (What a joke!) How do you become rich? Do you conform to the capitalist system? Sing about money, drugs, property, and sex, or on the other hand, is there a "rent-to-own" solution to the government, where you put so much in every week and eventually you MAY own something?
Being that I am of the working class, I believe I have just as much right to "America's piece of the pie," or is there any left for the working class? Puff Daddy doesn't even own Puff Daddy! His riches are leased to him through the capitalist system. But how much do you sell of yourself until you lose the lease to your house--your own self? This gives a new meaning to the words: "Sell Out." Stop the Madness.
A PLP Member who sings professionally and knows what's going on
Dear Challenge:
The article in last week's Challenge on Kosovo was confusing. It said that the main conflict was between the U.S. and Germany, with Germany supporting the Albanians (true) and the U.S. supporting the Serbs (more of a question.) Some might say that a more pressing contradiction is the U.S. versus Russia, with Russia supporting the Serbs and the U.S. wanting to undercut Russian influence in the region. There certainly is the U.S./German contradiction and that it could become a major one, up to and including a shooting war someday, but the article was too definite in describing the current Serb leadership as close allies of the U.S.
None of us are experts on this, especially because the situation is so unstable, but it looks like the U.S. is trying a balancing act, since all four groups in the area have the potential to be allied against the U.S.: the Serbs with the Russians; the Muslims in Bosnia with Turkey and/or Iran, which might be friendly to U.S. or might also ally with Russia; the Albanian Muslims allied with Turkey also, and now apparently, with Germany, and the Croats, also close to Germany. The situation is still developing, but the main trends seem to be towards less U.S. capitalist influence in the area.
Of course, various U.S. interests are also tied to each of these groups, but those ties tend to be weaker, based mainly on business relationships, while the powerful forces of geography (and to some degree political-religious culture) as well as long-term business ties among those groups work against the U.S. So the U.S. government is trying a balancing act. Balancing acts are great when everything works out just right; but they are basically unstable and eventually collapse, often in a very big way.
Midwest Red Professor
Dear Challenge:
I think NYC comrade who wrote the "To be or not To Be A Capitalist" letter in Challenge (10/28) should re-read the letter he/she criticized which said "We must learn to smash liberal thinking and never explain reality using the language of our class enemy." NYC comrade attempts to equate Shakespeare with Marx, each as a contributor to his own period of history. This is like comparing a mouse that scurries under the rulers' tables for scraps to one of the great movers of history. Let's compare their histories. Shakespeare lived in a revolutionary time of great suffering for peasants and workers who made up 90% of the population. There was the Great Inquisition which burned alive many of the rulers' critics; there was the Peasant's War against brutal landlords who forced them to be bonded serfs; the Thirty Years War for colonies began which wiped our a good deal of the population of Europe (a frequent saying among colonists of that period was "Money is the sinews of war"); European colonists went to Asia, Africa, India and America to enslave the people there for their profits; there was the great Poor Law of 1601 that threw workers into debt so that they could be sold to the colonists and there was the great African Slave Trade that enslaved and murdered tens of millions. In the midst of all this horror, genocide and disaster Shakespeare rose to the heights of the bourgeois artist who achieved personal salvation by denying the world around him. The value of history is not only recording it, but also reacting to its lessons and trying to change society for the better.
Compare Shakespeare's impact on the suffering masses of this period to Marx's impact on not only his own but future times. Marx was a critic of the ruling capitalist and aristocratic classes and an organizer of revolutionary workers' groups. He was expelled from his own country but continued to organize the oppressed masses of many other countries to fight for a system that answered their needs--communism. That fight continues to this day. I think what sums up this discussion best comes again from the comrade whose letter was criticized. He/she said, "...commitment to our class is what determines our actions."
Shaken up