CHALLENGE December 2, 1998

Saddam Hussein beat Clinton one more time. The failure to bomb Iraq again exposes crucial strategic weaknesses of U.S. imperialism. Their political weakness creates the opportunity to put our class on an offensive that will eventually turn the guns around for communist revolution. We can take advantage of the bosses’ problems, and grow significantly in the coming period. That’s the main conclusion we should draw from the latest debacle of Clinton, whom Wall Street Journal columnist Ralph Peters describes as, "a country boy facing a card shark." (11/17)

War is coming, make no mistake about it, if today, then tomorrow or the day after. The U.S. Eastern Establishment simply can’t allow its competitors to wrest control of Middle East oil supplies away from Exxon. It can’t sit by while Saddam Hussein develops the muscle that would make Iraq and its French and Russian pals the dominant powers in the region. But even as The New York Times (11/17) says that the U.S. will "inevitably" bomb Iraq, the rulers understand that bombing will not solve their problems. Oil can only be controlled on the ground. U.S. imperialism will murder millions to defend their greasy empire. Bombing is only a prelude to a massive invasion, and occupation if necessary, to install a pro-U.S. government in Iraq.

Let’s briefly review some of the main problems facing U.S. bosses:

• International Isolation: Clinton & Co. made a big deal about the pro-bombing "consensus" among the main imperialists. This "support" lasted about 24 hours, until Saddam Hussein promised to readmit the UN weapons inspectors. Clinton backed down when the Russians and French told him not to bomb.

Saudi rulers, faced with growing anti-U.S. internal splits, refused to grant U.S. planes access to Saudi air space or airstrips for the bombing. The day after Clinton called off the bombing, the Russians demanded that the sanctions against Iraq be lifted. The Russian and French rulers want to begin collecting the billions of dollars in debt owed them by Iraq, which can’t happen until Iraqi oil returns to the market.

Only the British rulers were ready to join the U.S., and even that support is shaky. A growing number of forces within the British ruling class are talking about hitching their fate to the euro rather than the dollar.

• The worldwide economic crisis: The top investment strategist for a big Wall Street firm says that over-investment and over-capacity are becoming major problems for the U.S. economy. The trouble isn’t just in Asia. The other shoe is about to drop: "Retailers and financial institutions have added capacity faster than Americans can either spend or save…. Industrial production rose 25 percent in the past five years, yet the percentage of manufacturing capacity that is actually being used is flat." (Charles Clough, New York Times, 11/17)

The world is awash in overproduction of everything from cars to steel to semiconductors to telephone service providers. One of the biggest gluts is oil. In this kind of crisis, whoever controls the cheapest supplies can dictate the market. This will force U.S. bosses to wage war on Iraq, even if they have to do so from a position of weakness.

• Splits among U.S. bosses. As Challenge pointed out last week, the recent election was a victory for the Rockefeller forces against their New Money domestic Oil Patch rivals. But, as the latest Iraq fiasco showed, the main wing of U.S. rulers has sharp internal divisions as well. These splits were reflected in the disagreements among Clinton’s top advisors over whether or not to bomb. Apparently, Gore, Albright, and Defense Secretary Cohen wanted to bomb, even if it wouldn’t have a big strategic effect. Security Advisor Berger persuaded Clinton to back off. This arguing among politicians is a symptom of much deeper rifts among the biggest rulers. This disunity in the enemy’s camp should give us some confidence. A working class fighting for communism can defeat these murderers.

• The U.S. working class hasn’t bought into the rulers’ plans for ground war. This is the bosses’ nightmare. No matter what they say, they still haven’t licked "Vietnam Syndrome." They are moving quickly to develop the military hardware for their next Middle East invasion. Preparing the population for it is a different story. Some of the pro-Rockefeller strategists, like the Brookings Institution’s Richard Haas call for "months or even years of intermittent but regular attacks on Iraq" to prepare for the invasion (Washington Times, 11/10). Haas adds: "It will be demanding militarily and diplomatically…But…the only thing worse than not acting would be to start and not see it through." By "seeing it through," he means landing an army capable of installing and defending some pro-U.S. lackeys.

The rulers may have temporarily won a significant section of the working class to support bombing Iraq. However, it’s a big step from there to a mass base for an invasion bigger than the 1991 Gulf War, with no allies, and far greater casualties than the first time around. Yes, Saddam is a fascist butcher. But that doesn’t mean that workers are ready to kill and die for Rockefeller and Exxon.

We are sharpening the struggle against the warmakers and strikebreakers. We are raising our revolutionary communist politics and where we work, live, and go to school. The pages of Challenge show that our Party is linking the next oil slaughter to a growing number of immediate class battles. This positive trend can and must increase to win workers, soldiers, and youth to join PLP and overthrow a system that needs war to guarantee profits. On to May Day 1999 and a lifetime of building PLP to smash the imperialist warmakers!

Transit Workers Prepare For War And Revolution

OAKLAND, CA, Nov 15 — "I’m sorry I went to Vietnam…My son is not going to fight any war for oil companies!" One morning a Muni driver said this in a discussion among drivers about the situation in Iraq as we were picking up our schedules and transfers. The discussion lasted about five minutes—not long enough to develop the Party’s overall outlook about war in the Middle East and the need for communist revolution. But last week’s Challenge editorial does just that. Our job is to get the paper to these drivers, which we did. We sent out a larger Challenge mailing than usual, and distributed it hand-to-hand on the job. Now we have to put these ideas into practice.

Our goal is to break the grip of the reformist Sweeney union leadership, who support a war for U.S. oil interests, just as they supported the war in Vietnam. Our Muni collective must have a long-range plan for building and spreading the anti-war sentiment among our co-workers, as well as influencing more workers with our communist analysis. We have to mobilize workers, like the Muni driver who spoke about his son, who already see that an oil war is not in their interest and who are anti-capitalist due to their life experiences, especially minority workers. They understand that patriotism, and anything good for big business, is bad for them.

Bring Communist Ideas To Our Co-Workers

We must expose and defeat the rulers’ hypocritical lies about "weapons of mass destruction," "Iraqi-sponsored terrorism," and "the need for weapons inspections and sanctions." Patriotism and identifying with the bosses’ "national interests," will lead workers down the path traveled by German workers who followed Hitler.

Explaining the history of U.S. involvement in the Middle East, and the U.S. rulers’ need to control the flow of oil, goes a long way to undermine these arguments. Saddam used to be considered "pro-U.S." when he was fighting Iran; and Israel has more weapons of mass destruction than any country in the area. Some think that U.S. control of oil will mean cheaper gas prices for them. But only the bosses would put a price on the lives of our children and Iraqi children who will be sacrificed in war. Only with communist revolution, when workers control the oil, will it be pumped for the needs of our class, not the profits of the bosses.

We are using Challenge, the New York Times, other mass media, and current world events, to activate workers. We plan to raise and pass an anti-oil war resolution to take to the TWU International Convention next year. This means waging a political campaign among the workers, and winning many to go to union meetings, which seldom have a quorum. The November meeting will be small, but we can begin approaching those activists who do come, especially those who read Challenge.

Two months ago we started a PLP study group, using dialectical materialism to study the battle over oil and the rapid movement towards world war. Our study group is planning a forum to reach out and activate workers and friends. We are trying to involve more workers, to give workers ideological understanding, and help develop their commitment, to carry this struggle on inside the union.

LTV Workers Won’t Stand For Bosses

GARY, IN, Nov. 17 — "The crisis is here and now," said United Steel Workers’ (USW) president George Becker. "The industry is on the verge of a catastrophe that will almost certainly dwarf the steel disasters of the ’80s." Here at LTV Steel, and throughout the steel industry, the company and the union are pushing the "Stand up for Steel" campaign as the answer to the worldwide crisis of over-production.

Millions of tons of steel are flooding into the U.S., and the union wants workers to unite with "our" bosses against the "foreign competition." So we have the spectacle of Becker going to the White House, along with the heads of LTV, USX, and Bethlehem Steel, to beg Clinton to impose tariffs on foreign steel—if he can take his mind off killing Iraqi workers. This patriotic crap of wrapping ourselves up in the flag of the bosses is suicide. It won’t save one job, and will eventually lead to war. We should be gearing up for strikes next year when our contracts expire.

But many workers we talk to are not "Standing Up for the Steel Bosses." "It’s just a trick to get us to take concessions at contract time," said one. Another said, "They cry ‘imports,’ but they’re importing foreign slabs at cut-rate prices." One LTV worker said, "Sure, we’ve lost jobs, because of automation and the bosses’ greed, not imports," while another added cynically, "U.S. bosses probably own half the overseas mills anyway." Still another said, "What BS. The bosses imported millions of dollars of technology from Japan and Germany to cut our jobs. They love free trade when they can screw us."

These comments are good, but not enough. The crisis is real. Global capitalism (imperialism) is in a deep crisis because of overproduction. The bosses are squabbling over markets and resources, and "Stand Up for Steel" is part of their scheme to get us to fight for their system. "Today it’s a trade war. Tomorrow your kid will be fighting in Iraq to defend the profits of Big Oil, or in Korea for Big Steel," said a worker with a kid in the army. War is how the rulers ultimately resolve their crises.

The flip side of imports and cheap steel is millions of workers in Asia and Russia out of work and practically starving. Our friends and allies are the workers of Russia, Korea and Indonesia, not LTV boss Pete Kelly or the head of USX. Russian steelworkers never laid us off, and Korean steelworkers never killed us in mill explosions. Our fight is against the bosses, and anyone like Becker, who stands with them.

Becker and the bosses are preparing for war to save their stolen billions. PLP is preparing auto, steel, and aerospace workers for the seizure of power with communist revolution. It doesn’t matter to us one bit which set of bosses owns what percent of the market. We have to prepare for a major contract battle next year, along with hundreds of thousands of GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Boeing workers. We are the ones at the heart of the U.S. profit system, and its war machine. We have to unite with these other industrial workers, and with steelworkers around the world, in one movement from Gary to Jakarta, from Detroit to Stuttgart. Let the bosses kill each other, but not us.

CTU Contract... ‘Labor Peace’ Means Bosses’ Wars

CHICAGO, Nov. 14 — Members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted 58 percent to 42 percent to accept a new four-year contract. Far more teachers than usual refused to support the union leadership. The PACT ("loyal opposition") caucus organized teachers to "Vote No," and teachers responded favorably to PLP members working in this campaign. Equally important, PLP teachers are beginning to make struggles in our union a "school for communism."

No contract can fix the problems that capitalism creates for teachers and students. Still, this contract is a victory for the bosses. "A true ‘win-win’ situation," brayed top school boss Paul Vallas. "Labor peace is a vital key to the restoration of confidence in our public schools," crowed CTU president Tom Reece. This "labor peace" is a big step into the bloody swamp of fascism.

Many teachers are angry because our raise will be less than 3 percent a year. When the worldwide economic crisis hits the U.S. with greater intensity, this will be even more worthless.

"You should strike," one high school student told his coach. He was right. When workers strike, we can learn more about how to fight, and eventually take power away from the capitalists. We’re all for a raise, but more important is that this fascist contract pits teachers against teachers and teachers against students. PLP explained this in leaflets, in speeches at union meetings at our schools, and in many conversations. One PLP comrade put it this way, "The school system wants to bribe teachers into doing their dirty work but they can’t even offer a decent bribe."

"This contract is the last nail in our coffin," groaned an angry union delegate. As the large "No" vote showed, teachers aren’t dead yet. Far from it, most teachers also voted in this past statewide and local elections. The CTU organized a mass campaign around the Illinois gubernatorial race and some key Congressional contests. We should have been more involved with our base who were participating in this activity. This would have given us another way to launch a mass political struggle among teachers, who were voting for better schools, but were going to end up getting another Middle East oil war instead. We didn’t understand this, and missed an opportunity.

Similarly, we should be more involved in the PACT caucus, and should have distributed their "Vote NO" leaflets in a mass way. This would have had us working among dozens, if not hundreds of teachers, and presented more opportunities to engage them in political struggle while fighting side by side.

"Who would want to strike behind Tom Reese?" one teacher asked. He has a point. We need communist leadership, and not the leadership of social-fascists like Reese who have us voting on contracts, voting for politicians, voting our way into fascism and war. By getting more deeply involved in all aspects of the class struggle, a mass PLP can emerge as the revolutionary leadership that teachers, students, and workers call their own.

Fascist School Reform, Chicago-Style

The worst thing about the new four-year contract, ratified 10 months before the old contract expires, is exactly what Vallas and Mayor Daley like best. "Labor peace" smoothes the way for Chicago school reform, frequently featured in talks by Clinton as a national model. School officials from around the country recently visited Chicago.

Education issues are part of a major battleground where competing capitalists fight for workers’ loyalties. Clinton (acting in the interests of Rockefeller, Inc.) promotes public schools with increasing federal control under the banner of "national standards." This means intensified use of schools to prepare young people for war. "There are Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps programs in more than half of our high schools," brags Chicago School Board president Gery Chico, "and next year the CPS will open the new Bronzeville Armory JROTC academy." Funded in part by $10 million in U.S. Defense funds, and in part by Ameritech, teachers will have retired military officers as "partners."

It also means school uniforms, more emphasis on discipline, metal detectors and police searches, the new structured curriculum (especially in social studies), the push for character education, and mandatory "community service."

"Standards" and new promotion policies are part of Daley’s racist plan to kick poor people out of Chicago and move in middle-class suburbanites. Schools with high test scores will help accomplish this. Eighth-graders who test poorly are held back or shunted into "transition schools" where there isn’t even a pretense of education. Sophomores must pass at least 10 different tests before being promoted. Meanwhile, the schools already expel thirty times as many students as before, while cops wait to snatch them up.

As postal workers’ contract negotiations near deadline, Capitalists Compete For Control of Postal Service Profits

It should be noted that all revenues of the United States Postal Service (USPS), and all capitalist companies—public and private—are based on the labor of the workers. The union leaders function strictly within the framework of capitalist laws, basically to negotiate the degree of exploitation of workers by the bosses. For workers, this strategy has proven to be inadequate, at best. As long as capitalists have political and economic power we workers will get the short end of the stick. Workers’ only viable alternative is to get rid of the bosses and their capitalist system and seize power over all aspects of society. This means we need communism.

NEW YORK CITY, Nov. 11 — Contract negotiations for over 500,000 postal workers are shrouded in a blanket of silence, erected by postal bosses and union leaders. The current contract expires in two weeks. Key issues include money (top salary for a clerk or carrier is about $37,000) and contracting out. Not talked about, yet lurking in the shadows, is the apparent battle between different sectors of the capitalist class for control of profit-making businesses, of which the USPS is a big one.

The USPS is a "non-profit" mail service administered by the federal government. Without any subsidies from the federal budget, the USPS has netted over one billion dollars profit in each of the past four years! With about $58 billion in assets, the USPS is high on the list of Fortune 500 companies. USPS profits have been funneled into new automation and (unearned) bonuses for supervisors. There are some in the ruling class who would like to get their hands on profitable parts of this moneymaker.

For over a decade there have been various bills raised (and defeated) in Congress to privatize the USPS. At issue, among other things, are potential profits and huge pension funds, which could be invested for the benefit of one or another group of bosses. Thus far the "pro-big government" Eastern Establishment seems to have been winning. For some of their competitors, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

In 1997 the USPS Board of Governors contracted with Emery Air Freight to operate 10 USPS Priority Mail Centers, allegedly for "greater efficiency." Emery uses a largely non-union workforce with even lower wages and benefits than the hundreds of replaced postal workers. Obviously, the real issues are costs and who makes the profits.

On August 30th, the Board of Governors announced it had reached preliminary agreement with a private company, Mail Boxes, Etc., to accept certified mail, insured parcels, etc., thus threatening to reduce the number of USPS window clerk positions. Again, the real issues are costs and who makes the profits. (It is interesting that a USPS competitor, the United Parcel Service, own about 30% of Mail Boxes, Etc.)

On August 31st, at the National Postal Forum, a convention of businesses that deal with the USPS, Postmaster General (PMG) William Henderson said the Postal Service "needs to be deregulated, commercialized."

Rarely talked about is the use of prison labor. In a letter to the union dated July 7th, PMG Henderson revealed that the USPS has used Federal Prison Industries (prison labor) for years to manufacture and repair mail bags! The letter was a response to a union complaint that a new postal sub-contractor, New Breed Leasing, will perform work at the USPS Mail Transport Equipment Center in Greensboro, NC. New Breed is a non-union company accused of extensive unfair labor practices and discrimination based on race, gender and national origin. It may very well be using prison labor.

All of the above, from contracting-out to the fascist use of prison labor, reveal once again that bosses have no interest in improving workers’ standard of living. For postal workers the difference between one or another group of bosses is like being in a hot frying pan or in the fire. Even if we get a 2 or 3 percent raise each year, the new contract will not get us out from under the heal of these bosses. We urge you to discuss the issues and ideas raised in this and other articles in Challenge with the Progressive Labor Party member nearest you.

Teachers, Students, Parents Say No Way! No to Racist Experiments Means No to Fascism

NEW YORK CITY, Nov. 16 — The crisis of capitalism is growing so rapidly that issues literally fall in our laps. A communist teacher of four 9th grade classes wanted to teach the students how to understand and change the world. He developed a unit on controversial issues including the fascist experiments being conducted that look for the "biological roots of violence." Students were shocked to learn that these experiments targeted black and Latin youth in their own neighborhood. They read about how a drug used in these experiments could cause heart and brain damage. They learned how the NYC Court System’s Probation Department and the Board of Education helped the researchers by providing names of "violent-prone" students. Some students also saw the connection between this research and the jail-like conditions at the school: "That’s why they lock us in these classrooms all day, with guards and fences all around; they treat us like criminals."

Although students learned to debate by studying the pros and cons, all but two students emphatically opposed the research and rejected the argument that people can be "born bad." The final project was to write a letter to a group that opposed the experiments.

But a funny thing happened while students were writing their letters. Teachers received a memo that a "survey" would be conducted among all freshmen by the school’s health clinic, which is run by one of the main hospitals that conduct these experiments on violence. The survey’s purpose was to "target those freshmen who may be at risk for negative behaviors." It also stated that on the day of the survey, "those at highest risk will be called down to the clinic for assessment." The next day students got a letter to their parents that raised even more suspicions. Although the parent letter guaranteed confidentiality, we already knew they were lying by planning to march students to the clinic that same day in front of other students, teachers, and administrators. Additionally, although teachers were told the clinic would get parental consent, the letter to parents asked parents to sign if they DIDN’T want their child to participate, thereby guaranteeing that most students and parents would be fooled into participating. The letter ominously mentioned that one of their "negative behaviors" was "violence." They also wanted teachers present during the administration of the survey, making us complicit in their data gathering.

The memos—combined with communist leadership—kicked off many discussions in the teacher’s workroom. Teachers were alarmed when they heard about the experiments, and most suspected the clinic would use the information against the students. Their suspicions show that they don’t trust the system, and that they would unite with students against the administration. Some teachers disagreed with the survey based on the lack of parental consent or the interruption of classroom time, but most objected because they didn’t want to be complicit in anything with racist overtones. Some also saw the survey as part of a general attack on students, akin to putting cops in the schools.

A flurry of activity followed. One teacher who reads Challenge contacted a neighborhood group, while another faxed the memos with a strongly worded message to the teacher’s union headquarters calling for an investigation into these "highly suspicious" memos. Somebody contacted another organization in the area which leafleted the school later in the week, alerting still more students and parents to the dangers of the survey.

Students on their own understood the significance of the survey and saw it as an attack. "Don’t worry, we threw away those letters!" students in one class announced in unison. Their mistaken but well-meaning act of defiance led to a discussion about the importance of learning to read well in order to understand and defeat fascism. After reading the letter carefully, students vowed to educate their parents to sign their refusal to participate in the survey. One of the two students who originally supported the experiments changed her mind, and reported to the class about the mass leafleting. Several parents were also grateful to be informed in home visits about the dangers of this survey and the fascist experiments in their neighborhood.

Our broad efforts resulted in a modest victory—the school was forced to postpone the survey. But teachers want to continue the struggle. We are now in the process of drafting a statement by teachers criticizing the survey and condemning the experiments. We want to bring this issue to the union’s Delegate Assembly to warn other schools. Writing this statement will entail introducing communist politics with a broader group of teachers, emphasizing the rise of fascism and war, cops in the schools, the lie of higher "standards."

There has not been much recent class struggle in this school due both to the open fascist attacks by the administration and a lack of a clear political understanding on the part of the teachers. This victory shows that there are two sides to class struggle and workers can win! Teachers who are coming forward during this short struggle are being introduced to the Party and our newspaper. We have been arranging social activities to deepen our ties among teachers. The working class is advancing. The big will not stay big; the little won’t stay little. The night has twelve hours; the red dawn is red.

Behind the News By Red Inquirer
Stokely Carmichael and the Crisis in Africa

Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), 57, died of prostate cancer at the age of 57 at his home in Conakry, Guinea. The last political confrontation PLP had with Stokely was in 1996 when he spoke at Rutgers University during a meeting about Pan-Africanism. We exposed his black nationalist ideology as a dead-end for all workers, particularly black workers and youth who want to fight racism.

Stokely went from being a militant student leader fighting segregation in the South (he spent 49 days at Parchman Prison in Mississippi, called by its inmates as being worse than slavery). As head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Stokely became famous after his "black power" speech. He left SNCC in 1967 in disagreement over the question of racial integration and linked up with the new Black Panther Party (BPP). But he soon broke with the BPP over its links with white radical youth. He finally moved to Africa and founded the All African Peoples Revolutionary Party, and supported African nationalist regimes like Nkrumah of Ghana and Sekou Toure of Guinea. He advocated for blacks in the U.S. to return to Africa to build a Pan-African society.

Like all nationalists, isolated from the working class, his dreams were based on classless illusions. Today, Africa is in the middle of the worst crisis in recent history, ravaged by wars caused by the rivalry between France, the U.S. and other imperialists, and by the greed of local black rulers who care more about their own profits than the lives of the masses. AIDS and other diseases are devastating many African countries, in some areas greatly reducing the population.

Sometimes, nationalism might sound revolutionary and militant, but like all forms of capitalist ideology, it is deadly for workers, no matter what the color of their skin, or where they are born. This is the legacy left by Stokely Carmichael.

Part II: Organized Chaos: Two Faces of Fascism Capitalist Crisis and Fascist Philosophy

(In last week’s issue of Challenge, we outlined how the Pope issued a major statement (encyclical) criticizing three cultural ideas. We discussed extreme anti-scientific Fundamentalism and scientific materialism. This week we discuss nihilism/post-modernism and how it strengthens fascism.).

The third set of views the Pope criticizes in his encyclical is sometimes called nihilism (pronounced: nye-uh-lizm) or post-modernism. These views claim to reject both religious faith and science. They lead to the selfish view: people can do whatever feels good at that moment. These ideas grow rapidly when capitalism is in crisis and people see capitalist society falling apart around them. They see capitalism dying, but since capitalism is the only world they know, they think the whole world is dying. So they only live for the moment. Communists understand that we need to destroy the old world of capitalist selfishness and create a new world free from exploitation. We have confidence that the working class will create that world.

Although it is the processes of capitalism itself that lead to this disorder, most big capitalists want the working class to believe in the capitalists and support their "Order" rather than be too selfish. This is especially true of older, established capitalist groupings (such as the ones represented by the Roman Catholic Church) which have the most to lose by continuing disorder. That is why the Pope criticizes the philosophy of nihilism.

But being exploited and oppressed leads more and more people to distrust the capitalists. So some capitalists conclude that if we won’t believe them, they would rather have us believe nobody. They definitely don’t want us to trust and rely on the working class and have a scientific materialist outlook that points the way to communism. Capitalists don’t need the support of 100% of the people to hold onto fascism. They can hold onto power with a small minority of support, as long as almost everyone else is passive, caught up in their own problems or their own pleasure to try to drown out their problems.

The Nazis didn’t get most of their power from their fanatical supporters. They held onto power because too many people had no confidence in the working class and just drifted along with the Nazis, taking each day at a time. Furthermore, the communist movement was unprepared politically and militarily to deal with the rise of the Nazis.

All around us we see more and more of the philosophy of nihilism, which says that we should believe in nothing. These ideas are especially pushed on young people through mind-numbing music, dozens of different drugs and a culture that says, "Just live for the moment." This sets us up to tolerate worse oppression and be passive as fascism intensifies.

Post-Modernism: How Liberalism Strengthens Fascism

In some artistic and intellectual circles there is a version of nihilism that pretends to be "liberating." Post-Modernism (POMO) claims that looking at the development of the world as a series of connected events leading to progress is too narrow. Some liberals claim that such a view of progress gives power to the capitalist intellectual establishment who ignores the experiences and insights of oppressed groups, such as racial-ethnic minorities and women. There is some truth in this, but it is more fully explained with dialectical materialism, the philosophy of communism. Dialectical materialism realizes that all of our knowledge is limited, both by our perspectives and standpoints and also that reality is always changing. POMO goes to the extreme of denying all knowledge.

In culture, dozens of films like the Batman series show old-fashioned cars and clothing styles mixed in with futuristic science fiction weapons. Post-Modern architecture, art, literature, films, videos and music intentionally combine images, stories and sounds in ways that are so unfocused that the audience is left feeling there is nothing concrete in the world. It is true that challenging traditional perspectives can sometimes help people be more open-minded. But the main effect is to tell us to give up trying to understand anything and just treat every event as if it were the script of a movie—just go with the flow and have fun.

Of course, a materialist analysis of this philosophy of POMO exposes its own underlying meaning: if there is no center, no focus, then each person is supposed to be his or her own universe. While pretending to oppose narrow-mindedness and dogmatism, it actually promotes the most narrow-minded, dogmatic philosophy of all, by telling each person that their own Truth is all that matters. (Different POMO writers sometimes try to soften this conclusion, but ultimately, while POMO undermines some capitalist philosophy, it mainly focuses on attacking communism.)

POMO in general is a reflection of the same pro-fascist trends that strengthen nihilism. The liberal version of POMO also diverts serious rebels away from fighting to destroy capitalism and leads instead to selfish kinds of reformism such as so-called "Identity Politics," where people are supposed to have their highest loyalty to whatever group they feel most comfortable with (based on capitalist culture, however), such as by so-called "race," or ethnicity, or sex, or even sexual activity. It is no accident that POMO became more widespread after the 1960’s, when so many youth and university people were in rebellion against capitalism. Multi-culturalism weakens the fight against racism; feminism weakens the fight against sexism; and Identity Politics in general not only weakens the struggle against capitalism, it becomes a strong force for fascism. The logic of Identity Politics is Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam and Hitler’s Nazi Party!

(Next issue, the conclusion: Organized Chaos: T he Capitalist Balancing Act and the Answer of Communism.)

Seeds of Destruction: Biotechnology and World Hunger

Many people believe that while capitalism may be cruel, at least it helps develop science and technology. But as Marx pointed out, the drive for profits actually destroys constructive science. Nowhere is this more true than in agriculture. We read about famine and are told that it is because of natural disasters or because local people are not educated. But it is the development of international capitalism that holds back food production and destroys millions of lives.

The agricultural revolution began about ten thousand years ago when the first farmers accidentally dropped wild seeds and discovered that they grew into wheat. Now it seems that capitalism has reversed this discovery. Monsanto Corporation, the world’s largest biotechnology firm, is taking over Delta and Pine Land Corp. in order to acquire its patented Technology Protection System (Terminator) seed technology. During the 1980’s, Monsanto biotechnicians genetically engineered crop plants to be resistant to Monsanto’s weedkiller, Roundup. This was great for Monsanto profits because farmers could be persuaded to buy their patented seeds and then to spray their fields with Roundup. One loophole remained for small farmers hooked on Roundup: in following years they could replant seeds from their herbicide-resistant crops, cutting into Monsanto’s profits.

Monsanto now intends to close this loophole by incorporating Terminator technology (originally developed for cotton) for soybeans, wheat and rice. The ultimate commodity, Terminator seeds are engineered with three bacterial genes that make seeds from the resulting plants sterile, so farmers can’t save harvested seed for replanting in following years. Instead they’ll have to buy them every year from Monsanto. This Terminator is designed to reap maximum profits for Monsanto in the world market; patents are being sought in 30 countries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is co-owner of the technology and provides political muscle for Monsanto’s global expansion. However, in Europe, Latin America, and Asia, Terminator seeds have become a powerful symbol of U.S. corporate arrogance, and opposition has galvanized around them. How do we analyze the line-up of forces?

Big fish and bigger fish

Capitalism in crisis is characterized by corporate mergers, in which the biggest companies swallow up their competitors. St. Louis-based Monsanto has become one of the most successful sharks, gobbling up smaller companies on an almost monthly basis. In 1997, Monsanto sold its chemicals division, in order to expand its more profitable biotechnology operations. Last May Monsanto acquired DeKalb Genetics, a leading producer of corn seed, for $4 billion, as well as Delta Pine and Land, the biggest cotton seed producer, for $1.9 billion. In June, Monsanto swallowed Cargill’s international seed operations for $1.4 billion. Based in Minneapolis, Cargill develops plants for the global seed market, particularly Latin America and other tropical climates. Also in June Monsanto briefly merged with the giant conglomerate American Home Products, a deal which recently fell through. (Like other greedy capitalists, Monsanto over-reached itself, counting on the merger to bail it out; it is presently having a mini-financial crisis and is laying off workers.) In the global seed market, Monsanto now faces off against only two other giant competitors, the Swiss Novartis and a new alliance of Pioneer Hi-Bred and DuPont. According to Monsanto’s president, "the potential for our existing biotechnology traits outside North America is roughly double the acreage potential within North America."

The Coming Trade Wars

Monsanto’s Roundup Ready plants, especially soybeans and corn, have swept U.S. agribusiness—27 percent of U.S. soybeans are now genetically modified to be herbicide resistant. Their newer insect-resistant varieties are equally successful. However, even before the Terminator battle, genetically modified plants were meeting with a lot of resistance in the European Union (EU). Unlike the U.S., the EU requires labeling of genetically modified foods. A 1998 poll found that 77 percent of people in the United Kingdom (UK) favor the banning of genetically modified crops, opinions typical of Europeans in general. Limited bans have been enacted in Norway, Austria, and Luxembourg. Experimental plots with genetically engineered plants were trashed by UK protestors, and the Swiss electorate recently voted on a national referendum that would have banned all genetic manipulation (it was defeated only after a massive government/industry campaign). Some opposition is grassroots, based on environmental concern, support for small farmers or consumer preference for locally produced food. Environmentalists worry that the uniformity of genetically engineered plants will lead to destruction of an entire country’s crop by a single resistant pest. Some opposition stems from Europe’s Green parties (pro-ecology, anti technology), which have recently allied with Germany’s and France’s ruling parties. But the most organized opposition seems to be from big European and Asian capitalists, who are angry at the way U.S.-based biotech corporations are bullying their way into the global food market.

Recently, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, a research outfit sponsored by the United Nations, the World Bank and various foundations, condemned Terminator technology and banned it in their projects. M.S. Swaminathan, India’s foremost advocate of previous genetic technology, has also denounced it as destructive of small farmers. The collision over seeds may well shape up as worldwide trade wars, which are preparatory to real wars. According to Tim Galvin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s foreign service, testifying at the British House of Lords, "our biotechnology industry has expressed considerable frustration at the cumbersome and unpredictable procedures in the [EU]...unless Europe can sort out its review processes, we could see a trade war developing."

Hunger and technology

There’s bitter irony to this tale. When they first developed Roundup-resistant plants, Monsanto’s Public Relations agents boasted that they were going to feed the hungry world by increasing agricultural productivity in developing countries. Now they’ve developed seeds that poor farmers could never use, even if they could afford Roundup. Under capitalism, new technology always benefits the biggest fish and widens the gap between rich and poor.

The development of hybrid corn in the 1920’s was driven by capitalism’s desire to turn seed into a commodity. Breeding programs could have taken a different direction and developed inbred varieties, from which seed could be replanted. In contrast, hybrid corn owes its vigor to a combination of genes from parent stocks; seed from hybrid plants can never breed true so farmers must buy new seed every year. Dependence on expensive seed changed Midwestern agriculture from small farms to agribusiness conglomerates. Similarly, the biotech explosion echoes the so-called "green revolution" of the 1950’s and 1960’s, when geneticists developed high-yielding rice and wheat varieties by conventional plant breeding. Green revolution plants required high capital input-fertilizer and machinery sold by the multinationals. The outcome for regions like India’s Punjab was that big, corporate farms swallowed up small farms, driving poor farmers off the land and into the cities. Developing countries became ever more dependent on foreign exchange and the IMF. Far from remedying hunger, the green revolution caused massive unemployment, dislocation and hunger, as well as ecological disaster.

Capitalism perverts science. Biotechnology has great potential—under communism we would experiment with genetically modified crop plants alongside traditional ones, to see how we could best feed everyone. But the creativity of Monsanto scientists and their university sidekicks is harnessed entirely for profit and can lead only to mass starvation and war. Destroying the profit system and creating a communist world would put an end to this horror and allow the working class to develop science in constructive and creative ways. The rhetoric of the Terminator debate recalls a wonderful passage at the end of Emile Zola’s novel Germinal. Zola compares the bodies of coal miners murdered by the owners to seeds planted in the ground: There they will lie until the sun of the next century allows them to germinate, crack the soil, and grow into a revolution!

Sources: Williams, N. (1998) Agricultural biotech faces backlash in Europe. Science 281: 768-770

Service, R.F. (1998) Seed-sterilizing "terminator technology’ sows discord. Science 282: 850-851

Feder, B.J. Monsanto set to acquire Cargill’s foreign seed unit. NY Times, June 30, 1998

Lambrecht, B. Critics vilify new seed technology that Monsanto may soon control. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov. 1, 1998

Lapp�, F.M., and J. Collins (1979) Food First: Beyond the Myth of Scarcity. Houghton Mifflin (NY)

Berlan, J.-P., and Lewontin, R. C. The political economy of hybrid corn. Monthly Review July-Aug. 1986: 35-47

LETTERS

Who Are The Real Terrorists?

Dear Challenge:

PLP held a forum in Los Angeles November 15^thabout terrorism. We pointed to the LAPD, the Migra and the U.S. bombing and murder of over 500,000 Iraqis in 1991, hundreds of workers in Chiapas and thousands in Central America as examples of the terrorism of the U.S. bosses. We said that compared to them, Hussein and bin Ladin were small terrorists, although also enemies of the workers of the world. All of them want to control oil profits. Only by organizing for communist revolution will we end the rule of these terrorists once and for all. We made plans to have rallies against the preparations for war in the Middle East.

LA Comrades

Door To Door Communism

Dear Challenge:

On October 24th, our PLP Club decided to leaflet on my college campus. We went door-to-door in the freshman men’s dormitory. We distributed a leaflet on the Violence Initiative and Challenge. Everyone we talked to was friendly and took a leaflet. Some took Challenges and gave donations. One self-criticism is that we only leafleted half the building. One good thing is that we kept the communist politics up front. This is the biggest distribution of communist literature on this campus so far.

Maryland Comrade

Greetings And Thanks From Ukraine

Dear Challenge:

Many thanks for publishing Challenge and other PLP material. These are very important for us, because class struggle is international.

Our organization, RCY, has been functioning since 1994. We are the only real proletarian Marxist-Leninist organization in Ukraine. During 1956-57 years capitalism was restarted in the Soviet Union. But workers’ class struggle will win! There are sections of RCY in several cities of Ukraine. We are organizing actions of protest, conducting active propaganda among workers and in workers’ movements, as well as among students and youth. We are publishing our own information bulletin, Worker’s Information Service, two issues a month in Russian, and also a factory bulletin, Worker‘s Action.

Can you read our materials on e-mail in Russian? Our English is not that good, sorry.

Long live Marxism-Leninism!

Bureau of Revolutionary Communist Youth (RCY)

Working In A Mass Organization At WSU

Dear Challenge:

I attend Washington State University (WSU) in the Eastern part of the state. As you all probably know, this state recently passed an initiative that will ban affirmative action programs here. There had been fairly significant opposition to this initiative from a variety of sources. Many of us were surprised by the outcome, but then again, not, given the current rise of fascism in this country.

In comparing the movement here with the one in Seattle we can draw some conclusions which may be helpful in other states as this conservative movement makes its way from West to East. Make no mistake, the initiatives here and in California are just the beginning of a nationwide movement to take back all the gains made by the working class during the Civil Rights movement. These campaigns are campaigns of deception and misinformation, and with revolutionary leadership they should be easily defeated.

However, some of the pro-affirmative action organizations are themselves engaged in a form of deception. For instance, the movement here in Eastern Washington took on a grassroots form, with many students involved in the fight. They tended to organize the working class, both students and local workers. Their tactics included phone-banking, rallies on campus, door-to-door canvassing and bringing in speakers ("professional organizers") to speak on community organizing. This was, perhaps the better way to go about it. They received funding from the "No on I-200 Campaign," but were removed geographically from the source of that money. The efforts in Seattle, on the other hand, were far more controlled. They did not attempt to involve students and the organizing effort was aimed exclusively at professionals. The tactics used at WSU seemed to be more effective, and even if they weren’t, at least they were aimed at the real victims.

Why the difference in tactics? Our analysis suggests that the closer the organization to the money, the more control was exerted over the tactics and direction of the campaign. The monetary sponsors of this "anti" campaign seemed to want to lose, or maybe they just couldn’t understand where the real power was, or maybe they were scared to tap into that power fearful of the monster it could create.

Here at WSU this campaign has been a springboard for a larger campaign for "social justice". They have begun building the foundation for a mass movement, and the opportunities for the Party abound. This is a prime opportunity to be involved at the ground level in the formation of a mass organization. Currently the movement has been somewhat limited to non-white students, and is certainly fighting an uphill battle against years of racist indoctrination in this part of the country. (It’s not so far down the road from the Aryan Nation Church.) This segregation can be intimidating. I am beginning to distribute Challenge and raise revolutionary ideas in the meetings. I plan to work hard to build the Party in some form here. My first move will be to organize a Challenge reading/study group.

Communist Student

Most Elderly Not As Fortunate As John Glenn

Dear Challenge:

On November 16th, thousands of people cheered John Glenn, 77, during a ticker tape parade in NYC honoring his second space trip. His trip on the space shuttle has served several purposes—publicity for NASA, building patriotism and generating illusions about aging under capitalism as the new millenium approaches. I want to talk about the last one.

While it is good to break the stereotype of senior citizens as being enfeebled or befuddled, the reality is very different for 99 percent of elderly people. The day after John Glenn’s ticker tape parade, the NY Times reported how cutbacks by HMO’s like Oxford’s Medicare coverage "strand thousands of clients." On November 2nd, Oxford informed 26,601 clients in 23 counties in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania that as of December 31st, they wouldn’t be covered. Many of them just won’t get the special medical coverage they need.

Also, the John Glenn syndrome covers up the reality of growing old in America for black, Latin and women workers. A recent study reported by the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that the death rate among the poorest Americans is three times that of others of the same age—but not because they lead significantly less healthy lives. Rather, says Meredith Mikler of the University of California-Berkeley, poverty has "weathering" or cumulative effects. According to an article in US News and World Report (11/16) titled, "John Glenn’s Mixed Message On Aging," "A woman who spends her life on her feet as a waitress or in some other physically demanding job—and then maybe also cares for her grandchildren—winds up in worse health than someone whose white collar job lets her pay for membership in a health club."

Indeed, as we grow old, we should be as fortunate as Senator Glenn, but it is not possible under a racist capitalist society. We need communism to really enjoy our golden years.

A Red Babyboomer

Capitalist Bookstores Exploit Workers, Suppress Revolutionary Knowledge

Dear Challenge:

I work for Barnes and Noble, the biggest bookseller in the U.S. They have just bought Ingrams, the biggest book distributor, who delivers not only to Barnes and Noble’s books, books to Amazon.com, and to independent booksellers. The low cost of shopping on the Internet has been undermined by the high cost of book deliveries and by buying Ingrams, Barnes and Noble will have a big edge on all competitors.

What does this mean for Barnes and Noble workers in their bookstores? The answer is speedup and downsizing and midget or no wage raises. The pay starts at $6.75 per hour and no one works full-time. Lunches are 30 minutes; breaks are one-a-day of 15 minutes. Workers are watched at all times and the supervisors have their spies whom they allow to get away with favors.

What will this mean generally? Writers will get less, printers will get less, and many booksellers will go out of business. Barnes and Noble will grab more of the general profit while producing less of the surplus value. Capitalists in other industries will lose part of their share of the general profit, causing more layoffs in other industries.

Will we be able to get more and better books? No. The control of what we read will be even more controlled by the biggest bosses since Barnes and Noble is more and more controlled by Old Money. Will we be able to read Another View of Stalin by Martens, or Marx’s Civil War in the U.S., or his Theories of Surplus Value or his Letters to Molotov or The History of the PLP, or any book with a communist point of view that deals with the dictatorship of the proletariat? Of course not!

Under communism books would be distributed much faster than today. The people who would come in for books or get them on the Internet would not need to have money. And when there is a way to better distribute books or anything else all of us would gain, not just Leonard Riggio, the head of Barnes and Noble and his flunkies, his friends in the New York Times, Bertellsman and a few speculators

Bookseller Worker