WORKERS YOUTH GREET PLP'S RED IDEAS, EXPOSE AFL-CIA HYPOCRISY
BOSSES' TRADE RIVALRIES SPELL WAR
WORKERS' SOLIDARITY MUST FLATTEN GIULIANI'S FASCIST JAILING OF HOMELESS
WELFARE WORKERS REFUSE TO IMPOSE SANCTIONS
STEEL UNION CHIEF HIDES BEHIND ANTI-WTO POSE WHILE SCREWING KAISER STEELWORKERS' STRIKE
IT'S NOT WTO OR ANTI- WTO, BUT CAPITALISM OR NO CAPITALISM
HS PLP'ER TURNS WTO PROTEST INTO SCHOOL FOR COMMUNISM
UNAM STRIKER'S CALL FOR REVOLUTION INSPIRES STUDENTS AT HARVARD AND QUEENS COLLEGE
BEWARE OF AFL-CIA PRO-BOSS STUDENT SCHEME
"YOU MUST READ THIS PAPER!" SAYS SALVADORAN SWEATSHOP WORKER
DC ANTI-RACISTS APPLAUD FIERY ANTI-KLAN FIGHTER
BRASS WORRIED THAT RACIST MILITARY WILL TURN TROOPS FROM DYING FOR OIL
BOSSES' WAR PLANS UNDERLIE ALASKAN OIL SQUABBLE
LETTERS
WORKER SAYS THERE'S TRUTH TO JACKSON'S ROLE
CONFRONTING LIBERAL FASCIST SHARPTON
ASBESTOS WORKERS HATE CANCEROUS UNION HACKS
THE (CAPITALIST) WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
SEATTLE, Nov. 30 - About 40,000 workers and activists marched here today under the banners of the AFL-CIO and environmental groups-to oppose the WTO. But they were being organized into a narrow movement that mixes workers' rights and environmental protection with a nationalist agenda, protecting U.S. jobs. It's like the mix in Germany in the 1930's of socialism and nationalism, which developed a mass fascist movement.
PLP made its presence felt all day. Starting with rallies in the morning as workers marched into the Memorial Stadium, we put forward a constant theme: the WTO is a creature of capitalism. Capitalism is in crisis and more wars are coming. We pointed out that New York City Mayor Giuliani is arresting the homeless and Boeing CEO Phil Condit was making millions employing prison labor at Boeing right here in Seattle. These are milestones in the development of fascism. We need communist revolution.
Several times, longshoremen from the ILWU, machinists and aerospace workers from the IAM and steelworkers from the USWA stopped in their tracks, listened, gave their names and took our literature. Our exposure of prison labor especially grabbed their attention. Later we took our banner into the stadium filled with 12,000 workers. We went down to the field and marched around the stadium with the banner for all to see. Many workers took our flyer or bought CHALLENGE. A sympathetic union functionary distributed 350 communist fliers and some 30 CHALLENGES. And when Sweeney got up to speak, the stadium emptied!
While this was exciting and positive, we must also understand this was the AFL-CIO's day. This protest against the WTO is a triumph for the main wing of the ruling class. Speaker after speaker sang the praises of "democracy and fair trade." Calling for a slightly higher minimum wage was touted as heroic. And scum like Becker for the Steel Workers was cheered when he put out the lie that, "For the WTO, people don't count. But this is America and in America people count." Not a word about opposing prison labor or Workfare, or imperialist wars.
Later, at a meeting for steel workers, Party members discussed the huge need for steel worldwide to re-build bridges in Central America after Hurricane Mitch, homes in Turkey after the earthquakes and bombed bridges in Yugoslavia. But the profit system won't allow it. Many steel workers, including those locked out of Kaiser, were very angry to hear that prisoners at the Monroe Reformatory in Washington State were now working sheet metal. They agreed when we said, "You don't have to go to China to find prison labor and fascism."
Throughout the week, Party members and friends distributed 7,000 CHALLENGE WTO flyers and sold about 1,000 CHALLENGES, many at the march. But there were some 40,000 marchers. We cannot be satisfied. This demonstration is a wake-up call. The masses are being mobilized to defend U.S. bosses. They are not yet clearly in the camp of fascism, but that's the direction this movement is headed. On the other hand, workers and youth are open to revolutionary communist ideas. We have a window of opportunity, and, as one comrade said, a great responsibility.
To many people the possible collapse of the WTO (World Trade Organization) raises the hopes of a "victory," especially in the light of the clashes in the streets of Seattle that were led by anarchists and included radical environmentalists and others. In no case would this collapse be a victory for the working class. Its failure would only be a victory for the nationalist coalition led by the AFL-CIO.
The dominant sections of the U.S. ruling class, as well as the bosses worldwide, understand that the general crisis of capitalism is sharpening the contradictions among themselves, and between the bosses and the working class. The storm clouds are gathering.
Neither international collaboration between bosses, nor increasing U.S. domination is the main trend. Ever since the collapse of the Asian markets in 1997, the three main regional blocs-the U.S., Europe and Asia-have been heading their separate ways. This is a dangerously unstable trend for capitalism. Stratfor (an Internet news service) says this period is similar to the "inter-war period [between World Wars I and II] from 1920-1930....The inability to develop even an agenda (at least initially) for the WTO is not accidental. The Asian countries held an ASEAN [Association of South East Asian Nations] meeting over the weekend that was much more important than anything going on in Seattle."
This economic instability has given rise to a determined political push by the main wing of the US ruling class to build a mass movement around nationalism and "democracy."
Using the offices of the AFL-CIA and leading NGO's (non-governmental organizations), a non-integrated coalition of environmentalists, human rights activists, and trade unionists have been brought together to fight for the lie that what's good for U.S. bosses is good for U.S. workers.
PLP fought for communist politics at the WTO events in Seattle. Every day we participated in some of the anti-WTO workshops and activities. The second day, a young PLP'er made a breakthrough. A panelist said he wasn't against the accumulation of wealth, but wanted "a better distribution." The young comrade calmly explained that he WAS against accumulating wealth. Under capitalism, each capitalist is forced to compete with others. This leads to greater exploitation and, sooner or later, war between capitalists. Therefore, he concluded, the accumulation of wealth under capitalism isn't a good thing and we need a revolution to destroy it. These comments drew the biggest applause of the night, and at first shook up the panelists. But they recovered and the Global Exchange organizer came out for "cool capitalism." But communists understand it's not good enough to be anti-capitalist. One must show how communism is the solution to capitalist exploitation.
The next day we attacked a panelist who called for a stronger nation-state and said communism was too simplistic. Large sections of the crowd of about 400 were won to applaud communism. Our speaker held up a copy of the New York Times Sunday Magazine that praised Joe McCarthy. He warned that the rulers are desperately fighting to eliminate the communist solution from this movement. We spoke about the failure of the old communist movement and the need to build a new system without wages or commodity production.
Unless communism is presented openly, the bosses will still win. Until PLP, no party has ever advocated the development of a mass working-class party ruling society directly.
Mobilizing workers and students for action to fight prison labor and Workfare helps bring life to the fight for communism. This is the way workers can get out of the box the social fascists want to keep us in, and can be won to be fighters for communist workers power.
Politics are entering a period of greater mass activity. This is a process. The unions and NGO's put scores of full time organizers in the field for months concentrating on building this anti-WTO demonstration. This presents a new challenge: to present a communist message in a mass way. The Seattle events demonstrate these ideas are well received, especially by industrial workers. (See accompanying articles.)
The communist principles of criticism and self-criticism, comradeship and commitment will help the communist-led masses grow to meet the challenge. A more vigorous fight is needed in the unions and NGO's against the bosses' fascism and to present a revolutionary alternative. Communist politics emerged in many ways at this event. There is a window of opportunity at all these events, but improved practice must open it wide.
The bosses took advantage of the anarchist-led fight, ordering their cops to attack, installing a curfew and calling on the National Guard. This was a small taste, a dress rehearsal, of how they intend to deal with any serious worker militancy in the future. Such militancy is necessary. Masses of workers, led by communists, can learn to handle anything they can throw at our class.
The WTO is the successor to GATT (the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). It emerged as the dominant forum for trade matters after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Rockefeller gang hopes the WTO would usher in the New World Order of U.S. imperialism's dominance of the world. They also want to use it as a tool against their domestic enemies in the U.S. Congress. But today the capitalist world is wracked by economic and political crises and the WTO is another battleground of inter-imperialist rivalry.
NYC Mayor Giuliani's recent attacks against homeless people serve as a barometer of rising fascism in the United States. Two weeks ago, he ordered his cops to begin arresting people for sleeping in the streets, as though poverty were a felony.
Giuliani's new policy is a response to an assault on a young woman, whom an apparently homeless man bludgeoned in the street with a brick on November 16. But Giuliani's real agenda is to serve his masters at Citicorp, who rake in fortunes from booming real estate values. The presence of homeless people on the streets threatens the endless rise of housing prices and mortgage profits for the banks. So the homeless have to be criminalized.
Unleashing the cops in this way on the most oppressed, defenseless members of the working class only seems to contradict Giuliani's previous blow against the homeless. In early November, he ordered the administrators of homeless shelters to evict residents who refused to work for their housing. Now these same people are exposed to double punishment: first Giuliani kicks them out; then he has them arrested for "living" on the street. Some system. Are gas chambers next?
But this is capitalism. To make profit for a handful of billionaires, it grinds workers down, throws them out and then blames them for their poverty. Giuliani's latest crimes are just the cutting edge of a move toward mass terror by the entire ruling class. Giuliani's a Republican. But other big city mayors, Republican and Democrat, have duplicated his iron-fisted rule. Cops from coast to coast have received and carried out shoot-to-kill orders, particularly against black and Latin workers. Slave labor Workfare is a national policy, not just Giuliani's brainchild. Child labor is on the rise, particularly in the agricultural industry and among migrant workers. Prison slave labor for rates as low as 23 cents a day is enjoying a boom. Bosses in the "democratic" U.S.A. have the legal right to lock out and permanently replace striking workers (see recent report on labor conditions in the U.S. by the Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions).
Yes, Giuliani's a Republican, but all this is happening under the presidency of liberal Democrat Clinton. Despite their tactical differences, and Hillary Clinton's electoral criticism of Giuliani's policy toward the homeless, all the big bosses and their politicians agree that their class, not ours, should hold power. Mass terror is their main weapon for keeping it. In fact, Giuliani's an amateur compared to Clinton, who in less than eight years' time, has bombed, shot, starved, and poisoned millions of workers around the world to defend U.S. imperialist profits.
Have no illusions about the future the rulers and their political stooges have in store for us. When Giuliani kicks homeless workers onto the street, arrests them, and takes away their children, we must act on the side of these workers under attack.
We should win shelter workers to refuse to process eviction orders. Mass demonstrations should attack racist arrests of homeless people by the cops. Strikes should be organized against child labor, prison labor and slave Workfare.
None of these actions will bring capitalist oppression to an end. Only communist revolution can do that. But our Party and the mass struggle for communism grows best only in the heat of class struggle. We must not sit idly by while Giuliani & Co. destroys our class brothers and sisters. Right now, the need for militant, revolutionary working class solidarity all over the world is more crucial than ever. Our Party must organize it.
NEW YORK CITY - "You should be ashamed of yourself, I won't sanction anyone." That was the response of a veteran child support worker to training on new procedures calling for the sanctioning of welfare clients who fail to meet new minimum "standards of cooperation." A sanctioned client is removed from the family assistance budget and the resulting NYC budget cut is 25% from its already puny levels.
Under a common sanctioning scenario, a mother who for some reason misses a family court appearance would be "sanctioned" until she kept a future court date. If no new court date was scheduled, she could "sanctioned" forever. Child support workers are angry about this procedure. They are finding ways to not sanction clients in bringing this procedure to their union in an effort to fight the continuing trend of fascistic attacks on welfare clients and the homeless.
SEATTLE, Nov. 30 - The genie is out. Politics are in the air. Workers are becoming political. On a bus ride downtown the bus driver and workers riding were talking politics and open to our revolutionary communist perspective.
On Sunday November 28 about 600 workers met in Tacoma to learn about the World Trade Organization (WTO) before protesting its policies here on Tuesday. George Becker, the USWA (steelworkers' union) president and the politicians and speakers he invited were trying out different themes to hook the workers into staying loyal to U.S. capitalism.
Instead of blaming capitalism, the WTO was brought up as the culprit, the scapegoat. There was no mention of the militant steel strikers in South Korea who are not taking it on the chin but violently fighting back and taking over factories. Also, there was hardly any mention of the Kaiser Aluminum strikers who have been striking for over a year while scabs are allowed to work, and other USWA Locals are told to keep working. They say, "an injury to one is an injury to all," but where is the action to back it up? Becker and the others stayed away from questions like these.
One of Becker's comments stood out. He said, "We are the ones who fight the wars." The bosses he represents believe the workers will not line up behind the bosses for the next war unless they believe they are fighting for, and protecting, decent standards of living. They pushed for "free" trade unions.
Their hypocrisy is clear. Becker condemns child and prison labor overseas but does nothing about it right here in the USA. They show how badly workers are treated by greedy bosses, but offer no strategy except blaming the WTO.
But a striking Kaiser worker from Spokane was tired of the corporate style "strike" that he has been on for over a year. Scabs are running his mill. He said that if the guys at the head table called out all steel workers in solidarity with their strike, it would be settled promptly. That might not be true, but it would definitely intensify the contradiction between the workers and the bosses. That's why the union leaders won't do it. We got his name for further discussions, and to support these workers.
It's our job to stay active in our locals and to keep driving home in every way possible that it's the capitalist system heading for fascism that we are facing and building a mass communist PLP can bury its ugly face forever.
Red Steward
SEATTLE, Nov. 29-"I talked about communism and hundreds of hands reached out for CHALLENGE." That's how a young PLP'er recalled tonight's events.
Organizers of an anti-WTO (World Trade Organization) conference tried to win the hearts and minds of masses of youth protesting the WTO here by holding a "People's Gala," with bands, pro-"fair trade" speakers and Michael Moore, the host of TV Nation. It drew nearly 2,000, mostly youthful protesters. But Progressive Labor Party turned hundreds of young people in a leftward direction by boldly putting forward communist politics.
PLP distributed around 400 special CHALLENGE WTO flyers and 100 newspapers. We ran out of literature in 40 minutes. As hundreds, mainly youth, enthusiastically stormed into the arena, four PLP youth began handing out our literature and discussing our Party's ideas. Many were tremendously interested in reading our communist paper.
A PLP member went around the entire auditorium giving speeches to hundreds at a time. He held up the paper as he spoke, saying "The Progressive Labor Party is passing out our revolutionary paper, CHALLENGE, and everybody should get one, if not today then tomorrow at the march. PLP wants to smash both the WTO and capitalism. The debate must not be WTO or anti-WTO but capitalism or no capitalism. Both free trade and fair trade are for profit and both are impoverishing the world's working class. The system of commodity production, producing for profit, is producing wars, fascism, genocide and the murder of our class. Our response must be to rebuild the international communist movement to destroy capitalism and replace it with a worker-led society-communism." The speaker was applauded as he went around and was interviewed by a French TV station interested in our international outlook.
At one point nearly 300 people had CHALLENGE open and were reading it. The good response we were given as communists taught us the importance of boldly putting forward our ideas and having confidence that thousands are open to them. Increasingly we must show the working class why communism is the solution to the capitalist hell we live in.
SEATTLE, Nov. 30 - Today was the so-called "protest of the century," by more than 40,000 people against the World Trade Organization (WTO). Most were white. But the 10 or so black and latin youth that came from my school, Franklin H.S., was the reason the march was successful for me. That morning we held a rally outside Franklin where we openly called for the students to walk out of class against capitalism and for communism. Quite a few students came out to support us and to listen to what we had to say. From that, a multi-racial group of students joined us at the larger students' and workers' rallies that afternoon. On the ride down to the demonstrations, there was a great discussion in the car about capitalism and communism. The students were very interested and asked a lot of good questions. Later on in the march they were interviewed by a radio DJ, rapped on the bullhorn, led our chants, and gave us their phone numbers. During all of this it was clear to me that they understood this system and the concepts we discussed. I was proud to march with them.
This result was an outgrowth of quite a few struggles occurring in classes and around school for the last few weeks. Discussions have filled meetings and classes. One such discussion in my Family Relations class yesterday was particularly helpful. At the beginning of class I was discussing the WTO with a friend of mine when my teacher called me to her desk. I thought I was in trouble for "talking" during class, but it turned out she wanted me to lead a discussion on the WTO situation. The whole class period from then on was a very involved discussion on imperialism, capitalism, commodity production, communism and a lot more. As a result, two people from that class joined us in walking out this morning.
This has been a great basebuilding opportunity for me. I have met many Franklin students interested in PLP's ideas that I would not have met otherwise. Though we made a few mistakes during this struggle, we have done the most important thing exceptionally well-building the Party.
CAMBRIDGE, MA, Nov. 19 - Tonight 30 people came to hear a PLP supporter involved in leading the mass student strike at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico). The student spoke on the history of the strike, and the need to end capitalism with communist revolution! We organized this event by winning an endorsement of the forum from the Harvard chapter of La Raza, a Latin student group which helped advertise it with leaflets and posters. We also announced the event in our classes, as well as in other organizations we belong to.
At the forum, we introduced the striker by connecting the attacks on working class students in Mexico to the racist financial aid cuts, tuition hikes, standardized tests, elimination of affirmative action, etc. in the U.S.
The student explained that the fight opposed the introduction of tuition at UNAM, and the other attacks on students and workers, aimed at driving working class students out of UNAM. She said the striking comrades are building a worker-student alliance, stressing collective work, and struggling to win students to the need for revolution. At her high school (UNAM includes prep high schools), eight students had joined PLP, and 30 more became closer to the Party. However, some strikers were won to Mexican nationalism as being the "lesser of two evils," and saw U.S. imperialism as the greatest evil in the world.
QUEENS, NYC, November 22 - At Queens College 15 students and a professor came to hear the UNAM striker speak about the struggles at the university and high schools. They listened attentively as she described the conditions the strikers were living under and their spirit of collectivity that has allowed them to stay strong amidst immense attacks. She also put forward that the only solution to these increasingly fascist attacks was communist Revolution. Students asked how they could help support the UNAM strikers and build international solidarity. Others showed their support by donating a few dollars. This has had a great affect for those that attended. Many of them have asked for updates in the strike and for copies of CHALLENGE. We at Queens College would like to thank the Mexican comrade for coming. KEEP UP THE FIGHT!!!
ITHACA, NY, Nov. 14 - This past weekend, about 100 students and workers attended a conference on rebuilding connections between the two groups. One of the key conference leaders was the AFL-CIO, and the presence of very few rank-and-file workers reveals something about that leadership. These AFL-CIO bosses preach the need for workers' rights in order to become their leaders and then win them to support U.S. imperialism. The AFL-CIO and the U.S. ruling class worry about winning students and workers to fight for the "greater good of the nation"-that is, the interests of U.S. capitalists. That worry is behind the recent media reporting on student activism, even as they promote restoration of the draft. They want students at elite universities such as Georgetown, Duke or Harvard serving in the military because they feel these students would be more ideologically committed to U.S. imperialism.
At the conference, PLP provided the one consistent voice raised against these liberal fascist misleaders. We pointed out that AFL-CIO leaders like Sweeney and Trumka were helping the US ruling class by trying to win workers and students ideologically to support the bosses' plans for fascism and war, as shown by their support of fascist programs like Workfare and prison labor. During the panel on fighting the World Trade Organization, we asked why Sweeney supported the WTO. This CHALLENGE put the AFL-CIO representative on the spot. His only "answer" was that Sweeney was "misrepresented" and that the WTO could be made to work for workers. This only further revealed the overt pro-capitalist nature of the AFL-CIO.
During the conference, PLP members exposed how racism (and the lie that there is such a thing as "race") is one of the main ideological weapons of capitalism, showing that ALL workers suffer from racism. We pointed out how racism not only divides workers, allowing the bosses to make hundreds of billions in extra profits, but more importantly, prevents the working class from seizing state power. We distributed leaflets describing PLP's recent actions against the KKK in New York, as well leaflets supporting the student strike at UNAM Mexico City, calling for international working class unity. Most importantly, we raised the need to get off the unending treadmill of reform, and to fight to eliminate capitalism with communist revolution.
We made at least 10 contacts, including one auto worker. We also worked with Anti-Racist Action members at the conference (struggling with them around the issue of anarchism vs. communism). During the welcome speech, boss Raynor of the garment union (UNITE) accurately described the U.S. as a sick society. Capitalism is the sickness which must be cured with the medicine of communist revolution! Building ties with these contacts and learning from our mistakes will ensure that this prescription is filled!
LOS ANGELES, CA, Nov. 21 - Two garment workers from El Salvador spoke here as part of their U.S. tour against sweatshop conditions in factories that produce clothing for fancy labels to be sold in the U.S. One of the speakers, who called herself an organizer for the FMLN (the former El Salvador guerrilla movement now turned electoral party), spoke about the key role women workers play in all struggles and asked for support for their struggle against "maquilas" (sweatshops) bosses and the government authorities who support them. The other worker from El Salvador mentioned, among other things, that one of the problems was capitalism.
An LA garment worker at the meeting got up and said, "What you call maquilas in El Salvador are called sweatshops in LA." She pointed out that garment workers in LA are also super-exploited. She also said that there is no union organizing garment workers in LA, exposing the hypocrisy of the UNITE garment union hacks, and their friends in CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) who were sponsoring the tour.
A PLP member also spoke, agreeing that capitalism and its crisis of overproduction are the cause of the super-exploitation of workers. When one of the Salvadoran speakers saw that this comrade had CHALLENGE in her hand, he asked for one and raised it and told everyone in the room, "This paper is very important, you must read it."
CHALLENGE is indeed an important weapon in the international struggle of the working class for its liberation from capitalism. When we least expect it, we are surprised and inspired by how its communist politics can influence workers all over the world.
WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 20 - "All of you in this room are heroes." Thus began the speech by one of the anti-Klan demonstrators arrested in New York City on October 23. The occasion was the 14th Annual Thanks-For-Fighting-Racism Feast held in the DC area. Over 40 people ranging in age from 16 months to over 60 years and spanning the globe came together in fellowship and anti racist struggle. We collected over $300 to help pay the legal costs of the three anti-Klan fighters who punched out the Klan and were arrested in New York City on October 23. The total came from a raffle, from a $5 dinner donation and from $40 returned by the Metro transit worker who won the raffle.
Short talks were made by various anti racist fighters. One spoke about leafleting against the racist murder of Mr. Hubbard by the Baltimore cops. Another attended the Anti-Hate Demonstration at the University of Maryland, College Park campus. Several gave the highlights of their victories at the American Public Health Association (APHA) meetings in Chicago.
The best was saved for last. The 62-year-old comrade who had punched out the Klan spoke movingly, pointing out that everyone who attended this dinner was a hero because they had stood up to racism in some way. Otherwise, he said, why bother to attend? He showed a video of the news broadcasts of the KKK being attacked and of the fierce anti-racist sentiments of the crowd. But he was most effective when talking about how this action affected the students in his English class.
He had been reassigned to this school the week before and knew no one. The Monday after the KKK rout, 150 students showed up in his class, overflowing into the hall. The need now is to convince people not only to join us the next time, but to win them to organize others to join.
The dinner drew friends from Howard University, Metro , APHA and book discussion clubs. Folks return every year and new folks come, making this event larger each time.
A survey conducted with the Pentagon's blessing has exposed what many soldiers already know: the military is racist. In this survey of over 40,000 troops, black soldiers overwhelmingly said they felt the military didn't care much about racism in its ranks.
This isn't new. There's a long history of racism in the military. Segregated black units were the order of the day from the Civil War through World War II. Black sailors who rebelled after their comrades were killed by Navy racism in Port Chicago were jailed. Black soldiers were the most likely to die in Vietnam. Rebellions by black soldiers rocked the U.S. Army in Germany during the '70s and early '80s.
The military is worried about racism now because they need black soldiers to die willingly for the U.S. bosses. And who wants to die for a racist system? On the other hand, the military has always used racism to convince soldiers to kill other workers around the world. Racist cadences against Vietnamese, Arab or Russian workers have been part of basic training for the last 30 years.
The military has tried to resolve this contradiction of uniting soldiers around a racist mission, by separating life in the military from what the military does-kill other workers. They could have you out in the morning at PT (Physical Training) singing kill, kill, kill. Then in the afternoon you're in some "race relations" meeting talking about the military like you were working for a department store. "How do you get along with your supervisor, your co-workers," etc., etc.
The brass (high commanding officers) is mainly concerned about getting soldiers to follow orders, particularly black soldiers who make up a disproportionate part of the military. When the draft existed, people with money and privilege could keep their sons out. Few black workers were able to avoid forced military service. When they switched to the All Volunteer Force, black youth were forced in by an economic draft-with fewer jobs for black youth in civilian society, more enter the military. Brought in under these racist conditions, and faced with racist officers and NCO's (non-commissioned officers), black soldiers have a history of rebelling, and leading white soldiers to rebel with them. It was black soldiers who politicized many white soldiers-and led many of the rebellions-during the Vietnam War.
This latest attempt by the military to unite soldiers is part of preparing soldiers to die in the next war. The U.S. is fighting for oil in many parts of the world. The Balkans, the Middle East, the Caspian Sea and now North Africa all look like anyone could be the next hot spot. The military brass are realizing they won't be able to avoid heavy U.S. casualties.
One strategy is to put more black officers into combat units. This won't reduce the number of more openly southern racist officers who currently dominate the combat arms units. The few black officers are concentrated in the support and administrative units.
The military is also trying to recruit soldiers on a more political basis. They've dumped the slogan, "Be all that you can be" even though it is one the most recognized advertising slogans ever and started a series of commercials that portray the Army as "serving humanity" and defending Americans. The first shows "ordinary" people, black and white, men and women, young and old, thanking soldiers for feeding the hungry, defending the weak, keeping them free and so on. The final shot is of a young black boy saying, "You're my hero."
The military wouldn't be making all these changes if they didn't have a lot of problems to solve on their way to war. The brass has little confidence that today's soldiers, recruited on the basis of getting job training and attending college or "getting away from home," will fight to win while sustaining heavy casualties. They know black soldiers will be a high proportion of those casualties, and they want soldiers to keep fighting even after they see their buddies killed.
All this amounts to creating the kind of smokescreen used to win support for the war in Yugoslavia-obscuring the real mission of the military as a bosses' tool to secure oil routes and other strategic interests while murdering workers. Only unlike the Yugoslav war, where they bombed from 15,000 feet, they now want U.S. soldiers to die for their oil.
Preparations for war, both short-range for control of oil and for long-range imperialist world war, are heating up. This is reflected in the increased maneuvering between the dominant Rockefeller forces (Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, etc.) and their chief competitor, BP Amoco.
Rising oil prices have made Alaska-where pumping crude is costly-profitable for the oil bosses again. By gobbling up Arco, BP Amoco had hoped to boost its stranglehold on Alaskan production from 50% to 70%. But Clinton's Federal Trade Commission is holding up the deal to make sure it doesn't harm the West Coast operations of Rockefeller's Chevron. And in late October, Alaska Governor Tony Knowles forced BP Amoco to sell off 13% of its North Slope projects. Expected bidders include Chevron and domestic oil firms, Rockefeller competitors.
The oil price hike depends on a shaky agreement to curb output among the leading oil exporting nations, led by Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Mexico. With worldwide capacity for overproduction at 7 million barrels a day, widespread cheating has already begun. However, what really caused the renewed focus on Alaska was Clinton's partial opening last year of the National Petroleum Reserve, in which Arco (now part of BP Amoco) acquired major stakes.
In August 1998, the Clinton Administration announced it would sell exploration rights to one-fifth of the reserve's 23 million acres. The move represents a significant step in the Rockefeller wing's efforts to put the U.S. economy on a war footing. This Reserve "is regarded under Federal law as a resource to be tapped only in compelling circumstances." (New York Times, 8/5/98) Clinton had to act because, although the world is now awash in oil, a U.S. war in the Mideast or a larger conflict with Russia or China could quickly choke off supplies. Bringing the Alaskan fields to full production will take at least ten years.
Clinton is walking a tightrope. He needs to bring BP Amoco on board in preparation for future oil wars, and eventually world war. But Clinton must also please his Rockefeller masters by not giving too much away to their rivals and by seeming to uphold the Rockefeller policy of environmentalism while planting oil rigs in the Alaska wilderness. Environmentalism is simply a Rockefeller ploy to preserve natural resources for long-term exploitation for the bigger bosses and keep them out of the hands of smaller rivals. On the eve of the National Petroleum Reserve sell-off, the New York Times, a major Rockefeller mouthpiece, urged the White House "to seek permanent wilderness protection for the two most sensitive areas coveted by the oil companies, Teshekpuk Lake and the Colville River corridor" and to maintain the ban on exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (8/5/98). Clinton followed this advice to the letter.
All this ruling class maneuvering for profits and ability to wage imperialist war spells disaster for working the class. Only building a mass PLP and fighting for communist revolution can end the blood baths being prepared by the world's bosses.
Priming Alaska's oil pump is just one step. To wage a major war, the main wing of U.S. capital also must paper over its differences with domestic rivals and try to cook up at least the pretense of an international alliance. So Clinton cuts BP Amoco in as a potential war profiteer in Alaska but restricts its scope there. He did the same thing last year for the notoriously anti-Rockefeller Hunt brothers when he sold part of the Elk Hills oil reserves to their Occidental Petroleum and kept the rest for Chevron. At the end of the war in Kosovo, Clinton brought together pro-Rockefeller and pro-BP forces, including the British government, to hammer out plans for a massive ground war. (New York Times, 11/7/99) The joint land invasion against Milosevic never materialized. The strategy targets Iraq more than Yugoslavia.
Another sign that BP Amoco is coming on board came in October, when energy secretary Bill Richardson finally got the firm to support Clinton's plan for an oil pipeline from Baku on the Caspian Sea to Ceyhan in Turkey. BP Amoco had been relying on Russia, in which it is the biggest foreign investor, to export its Caspian crude. But BP Amoco has lost billions to the crooked Russian bosses. Ceyhan happens to be the outlet for Iraq's main export pipeline. Clinton's project now makes Ceyhan a "vital interest" and provides another excuse for U.S.-British intervention against Iraq, with Turkey as a springboard.
If you're looking for a laugh-out-loud movie that cuts up organized religion and buries it, don't bother seeing Dogma. It's a dog. There are a few funny lines and a couple of zany moments, but it's mostly boring. What's worse, it ends up defending god and faith. You might think that a movie that was condemned by the Catholic Church must be good. Not true. Dogma's digs at organized religion are superficial. They talk about the Church supporting religious wars and turning its back on the Nazi genocide of Jews and others. But the movie embraces the core of the Christian faith, like Jesus Christ being the son of god. etc.
It's young talented stars put in a good effort. But they can't overcome the writer's failure to seriously CHALLENGE faith. The story goes like this: two angels-played by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon-have been banned from Heaven for eternity for their sins. They find out that the Catholic Church is holding a ceremony re-dedicating a famous cathedral where the Cardinal will be giving away Indulgences. Indulgences bring forgiveness for all your sins. The angels realize that if they walk through the Church, all their sins will be forgiven and they will be allowed back into Heaven. But getting back means that god was WRONG when he banned them for eternity. If god is WRONG, that creates an impossible contradiction, and this contradiction will destroy earth and "all of creation."
An innocent woman is chosen to head off the angels and stop them. Along the way she recruits some screwy characters, like Chris Rock as an apostle that the bible left out because he's black, and a heavenly muse, played by Salma Hayek. This motley crew has to stop the renegade angels before they get their Indulgence.
Sound familiar? We've seen this end-of-the-world story a million times, in Ghost Busters, Star Trek, etc. It's an old science fiction/horror tale of good vs. evil, with the fate of the universe hanging in the balance. This worn out plot never catches fire; we don't care who wins in the end, and the jokes stop being funny half-way through. But the cardinal sin of the movie is that while it claims to make digs at organized religion, deep down it accepts and promotes faith in god, religious rapture, life after death and an immortal creature who judges us for our sins.
The movie is a lot like the liberal criticisms of the capitalist system. They point out a few superficial shortcomings while they make the core values of capitalism look noble and just. More specifically, the film advocates individualism: worship god in your own way. This is right in line with the current trend of liberalism in which the bosses try to win workers to think they have a stake in the current system regardless of their differences.
As a wise philosopher once said, "there is nothing new under the {capitalist] sun." If you are looking for an answer to the idealist philosophy of religion, we suggest reading the PLP pamphlet Jailbreak, which explains the revolutionary philosophy of dialectical materialism, our tool to end the living hell of capitalism.
Undogmatic Red
I went to Decatur, Illinois, with other comrades and friends to spread a communist understanding of, and to protest the racist expulsions of the six students. The trip was inspiring, particularly the spirit of our young comrades and the workers who came down the side streets, black and white together, to view the march and support us.
But best of all for me was the bus trip. I was sitting next to a worker like myself, with grown children and experience in fighting racism. I was not sure how she would respond to our leaflet criticizing Jesse Jackson for his cooperation in the racist attacks on students in Chicago public schools. But when she got to that part of the leaflet she said, "There is a lot of truth in that."
On the trip to Decatur we talked about the difficulty of explaining to young people how important it is to fight racism and to reject the racist ideas that youth are "gangbangers and thugs." On the way back I could tell her the inspiring role our youth played during the march.
I just got off the phone with her. She would like to keep receiving CHALLENGE and to come to one of our meetings. We shared stories of raising ideas that seem to "go against the tide" and the pleasure we get when someone responds positively. I seem to have a new friend.
Chicago Teacher
I am a high school student who attended the anti-KKK rally down at the New York City Court House. I went with one of our teachers and another classmate. There we met and interviewed other anti-KKK protesters. We stayed for most of the rally, but one of us felt ill so we decided to call it a day.
As we drove along the FDR Drive returning to our East Harlem neighborhood, we saw two police cars with three mini-vans sandwiched between them moving at very high speeds.
As they began to pass us, we peered inside the vans. There were some very frightened Ku Klux Klansmen in there. I raised one of the signs we made for the rally to the window. It said, "KKK, Nazis, NYPD, What's the Difference?" The Grand Dragon and his cronies looked terrified. Without their NYPD protection, they would have never dared to appear.
NYC High School Student
At the anti-KKK rally on October 23 in Manhattan, a cop who was protecting the Klan was injured by a battery thrown by someone in the crowd. My first reaction to that report was to think that the cops are the enemy at events like this-they protect the fascists, just like they protect strike-breakers, and whoever threw the battery knew who the enemy was.
My wife is not in the Party, and hates the fascists. She was glad we and 8,000 other people were out there opposing the Klan. However, she thought it was a mistake for someone to throw a battery at the cops. They were just workers doing their job, probably reluctantly. She felt most of them (certainly the black cops, of which there were many, couldn't have been happy about defending the racist fascists.
I said their feelings were really irrelevant. Maybe many weren't pleased to have been there. BUT THEY WERE THERE, and that's the point. Reluctantly or not (and they certainly didn't act reluctant when pushing people back from the barricades), their presence-all 1,000 of them-allowed the Klan to hold its rally. They would never give us or any anti-fascist group that kind of protection, just like they always defend strike-breakers, but never strikers. They're making a choice-they could have become firefighters or sanitation workers for the same pay and benefits, but instead they became cops.
She saw the point, but was still reluctant to condemn all cops as necessarily being the enemy (although she sees the fascism in racist police terror like the murder of Amadou Diallo, killed by four cops firing 41 bullets at an unarmed, innocent man). To her, it's not so clear-cut-maybe we should struggle with some cops who she thought might be open to our ideas. Her reaction was shared by some people at the rally that day. There were people in the crowd who tried to reason with the cops, who spoke to some black and female officers, asking them why they were defending the fascists
But many people don't see the cops as necessarily having a class role to play. Most cops are recruited from the working class. One big response from the ruling class to the charges of racist police terror is to try to guarantee more minority and female cops. It plays to the idea that black cops will be less brutal than white cops, female cops less brutal than men, etc. But class allegiance has little to do with the individual-the rash of black mayors elected in the '60s and '70s didn't improve things for workers in the cities, and anyone who has had a female boss or landlord knows the fallacy of hoping they'll be "more humane" than a man in the same position. Some decent individuals can sneak into positions of power, or become cops, but it doesn't change their role-black or white, the cops were out there defending the Klan and arresting those who came to fight the fascists. "Integrating" the ruling class, or those who serve them, doesn't change the nature of capitalism, or of their role to protect it. That was clear to many of us who fought the Klan. But many others don't think that way. It takes struggle-and sometimes seeing the cops in action-to win people over.
Brooklyn Anti-Fascist
Just wanted to say that the paper keeps getting better and better and I always look forward to reading it and passing copies to others to show them articles. The recent one with the Rage review will interest some people for sure. Thanks and I hope that I can make a good contribution to the paper.
Road Runner RR
On November 22, 100 students came to a Harvard forum against racial profiling. The featured speaker was Al Sharpton, the liberal defender of the KKK (and who was also-and may still be-an FBI informer). PLP'ers were there to expose and denounce Sharpton as an enemy of the working class.
PLP'ers distributed leaflets to most of the students attending the forum. They revealed Sharpton's defense of the KKK's supposed "right to speak," as well as his support of the Nazi cops who mocked the lynching of James Bird, Jr. last year. The leaflet exposed Sharpton as a servant of the biggest fascists of all, the liberal Rockefeller wing of the ruling class and its call for community policing. The leaflet discussed Sharpton's undermining the struggle of black workers. From his days as an FBI informer to his current moving of rallies from the site of police atrocities and calling on workers to vote, etc., he has worked to thwart rebellion and/or to win workers to the system. In doing so, he and others like Jesse Jackson, serve as today's equivalent of the Judenrat. The latter were Jewish community leaders who helped the Nazis by leading Jewish workers to their slaughter.
Sharpton was introduced by Harvard professor KKKornel (Cornel) West. West praised Sharpton as "one of the greatest leaders of our generation," how he had won increasing percentages of the vote "with no support from the Black establishment." Sharpton said workers needed to rely on the federal government to "get justice." He took full credit for leading workers away from rebellions toward voting, and put forward the liberal Nazi lie that "Giuliani wants to start a riot so he can implement fascism."
After his speech, a PLP'er called on students to join the struggle against racist/fascist police terror and the capitalist system behind it. After describing the history of the KKK, he then demanded to know how Sharpton could be a friend of workers and students when he backs the KKK's right to speak and organize its fascist movement. Sharpton said HE had organized the anti-Klan rally, and had defended their right to speak because "Giuliani would use blocking the Klan as a precedent for blocking 'progressive movements.'" But our leaflet further exposed his lying by describing PLP's punching out the Klan in NYC.
Harvard Red
Union leaders are supposed to represent and defend workers but instead do the opposite. The other day I met with an asbestos worker from Queens, NY, who had read a copy of CHALLENGE and contacted PLP.
Francisco Vega, Business Manager/Secretary Treasurer of Asbestos Workers of America, Local 12A, and the local's new union president are hated by many of its members. A letter sent by several workers to the union's International leadership in Washington, DC, stated that "Mr. Vega does not provide us with adequate representation or work nor does he fight for our rights as union members." They accused him of favoritism (in awarding jobs), ridicule, disrespect and not fighting unemployment in the entire asbestos industry.
Working with asbestos is very dangerous, and these union leaders only aggravate this situation. The workers' letter stated: "Medical coverage is critical....It is the main reason many people join the union. Needless to say that, as asbestos handlers, it is imperative that we receive preventive medical care. Which is why we struggle to meet the eligibility quota, but it is difficult to obtain due to lack of work. Even after the quota is achieved, receiving the medical coverage is still a problem. [In addition]... is the increase of hours for eligibility which will make it virtually impossible to obtain medical coverage...."If so many members are uninsured, where is the money going?"
These workers want the international to change the Local 12A leadership. But that's a very temporary solution, and in the long run things will get worst. The more conscious workers must build a struggle committee inside their un0ion and fight for their rights. Better yet, these workers should continue reading CHALLENGE and learn not only how to fight for their own rights but also for the only system that can guarantee their liberation and that of the entire working class, communism.
NYC Comrade
Fancy cars (do you like rocket-firing BMW's?), exotic locales like the Caspian Sea and Istanbul, a bevy of beautiful women, petroleum, James Bond and...Whoa Now! Stop! Did we say Caspian Sea and petroleum? Intrigue, double crosses, gambling and...Whoa Now! I said! Russia and the West...this movie claims wants what...? Boat chases on sea and land (Yes, don't believe me? See the movie. Otherwise keep reading!) I said stop! Damn it!
Why? Well It seems the writers of the latest 007 flick have been reading CHALLENGE. Or what?
Yes, Go see the latest James Bond movie and get the lowdown on the current moves of international capital and imperialism. That is, if the viewer could pick up a few pieces of the puzzle happening now in the world from this movie. However, if you didn't bring a strainer to uncover the few nuggets in an otherwise typical, but revo1ting, Bond movie, how could anyone connect the Caspian Sea, petroleum and imperialism and coming world war?
Simple: Read CHALLENGE. Better; subscribe to CHALLENGE. Better still; do the first two AND become a communist by joining the PLP.
Why sit through the mindless violence, racism and sexism and other forms of capitalist exploitation? CHALLENGE has, and continues to, publish the entire analysis of this issue and its connection to capitalism and imperialism. If you accept this analysis as true, check out PLP. How else could we organize workers in Kazakhstan, Istanbul, Russia, Europe, and...well, you get it!
Only the working class, led by a communist party, the PLP, could stop the devastation and wars resulting from the machinations of capitalism. And more importantly, begin the long overdue process of building a classless society based on egalitarianism. (Then we would have heard and seen the last of 007,finally!)
Westchester Red