> WW News Service Digest #168 > > 1) Soaring costs, profits trigger S.F. housing crisis > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 2) Soaring costs, profits trigger S.F. housing crisis > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 3) Cohen's trip to Indonesia: 'Human rights' or a mission for Wall Street? > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 4) Workers around the world: 9/28/2000 > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 5) Gov't report shows death penalty is racist > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 28, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >SAN FRANCISCO: SOARING COSTS, PROFITS TRIGGER HOUSING CRISIS > >By Saul Kanowitz >San Francisco > >In the San Francisco Bay Area, the struggle to find and >afford adequate housing has reached a crisis point. Soaring >rents and home prices signal a campaign to drive low-income >renters and working-class homeowners out of the area. Many >longtime working-class neighborhoods--such as San >Francisco's Mission District--have been targeted for >gentrification. > >The conversion of rental apartments into condominiums and >live/work lofts--aimed at filling the needs of the >capitalist boom--is pushing poor people out of the city. >Landlords have used a state law called the Ellis Act to >evict tenants and convert entire buildings into high-priced >condos. > >In 1999, 209 Ellis Act evictions were filed in San >Francisco, affecting 881 apartments. That compares to 116 >evictions affecting 291 units the year before. > >As landlords kick out tenants, fewer and fewer apartments >are available for rent, creating a dramatic housing >shortage. This shortage has pushed the median rent for a two- >bedroom apartment in San Francisco to nearly $2,000 per >month. > >HOUSING BECOMING UNAFFORDABLE > >A recent report by the California Budget Project, "Locked >Out: California's Affordable Housing Crisis," puts some hard >numbers on the crisis working and poor people experience >daily. > >The CBP report states that between 1989 and 1998, the cost >of housing rentals in the Bay Area rose 38 percent, while in >Los Angeles it rose 14 percent. During this time the median >income of renter households rose just 9.6 percent. > >The median income for renter households in 1998 was $27,401-- >less than half the annual income required by banks to >purchase a home. > >The Federal government defines affordable housing as costing >30 percent or less of a household's income. In 1999, if your >household included a full-time janitor and a part-time food- >service worker in San Francisco, your household income was >about $24,900. > >Affordable housing for this family should cost $623 a month. >But according to the CBP report, the median price of a two- >bedroom apartment in 1999 was $1,939. > >Even in rural counties where housing costs less, the average >two-bedroom apartment was $483 per month. For this to be >considered affordable housing, a full-time worker would need >to be earning $9.28 per hour--that is, 161 percent of >California's minimum wage. > >For tens of thousands of farm workers working on >California's huge agribusiness plantations, and many other >workers, $9.28 an hour is not an easily obtainable wage. > >A COMMODITY UNDER CAPITALISM > >How has this startling disparity between expenses and wages >arisen? > >Like everything else in capitalist society, housing is a >commodity. The sale of housing is no different than the sale >of food, clothing or TVs. > >Housing is built and placed on the rental or sales market to >make profits. Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels wrote in the >Communist Manifesto in 1848, "No sooner have the laborers >received their wages in cash, escaping exploitation by the >manufacturer, than they are set upon by the other portions >of the bourgeoisie, the landlord, the shopkeeper, the >pawnbroker, etc." > >As long as human relations are based on capitalist property >relations, housing will be built primarily for profit, not >for habitation. If it is more profitable to build single- >family homes and condominiums, that's what the bosses and >landlords will build--even if what is really needed is >multifamily dwellings. This is what Marxists call the >anarchy of production. > >The CBP report states: "During the 1980s, for example, >California added an average 91,682 units of multifamily >housing per year, 45 percent of new housing built. Between >1990 and 1999, the state added an average of 28,089 units >per year of multifamily housing, just 25 percent of total >housing built during the decade and a 69-percent drop from >the levels of the 1980s." > >This shift away from multifamily dwellings to individual >units is a result of the massive cuts in federal money spent >on public housing. During the Reagan administration, the >federal government reduced annual spending on construction >and maintenance of public housing by 80 percent, from $32 >billion to $6 billion. > >Money spent on public housing represented a concession from >the ruling class to the working class--a form of "social >safety net" for poorly paid or unemployed workers. Public >housing, the minimum wage, unemployment insurance, social >security, welfare benefits and public education were >conquests of the union struggles of the 1930s and the civil- >rights movement of the 1960s. > >With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern >European socialist countries, and labor's retreat at home, >the U.S. bosses no longer felt the need to protect >themselves by offering this safety net to counter the >benefits guaranteed workers in the socialist countries, such >as affordable housing, free healthcare and education for >all. > >RESISTANCE ON THE RISE > >Resistance to the housing crisis has taken several forms in >San Francisco. Artists have waged creative protests upon >eviction from practice studios. Rallies have been held at >government agencies responsible for approving building >permits. A referendum, Proposition L, was put on the >November ballot, aimed at slowing the gentrification >process. Prop L seeks to put teeth into existing legislation >meant to protect renters from greedy landlords and >developers. > >At the moment the real estate investors, bankers and >landlords seem to have the upper hand. Over 70 percent of >San Francisco residents are renters--the overwhelming >majority of them workers. The social weight of the working >class has not yet been felt in this struggle. > >A citywide mass march of renters demanding an end to >evictions and conversions and a rent-rollback could help >make capitalist politicians enforce existing laws and write >some new ones. > >Eviction defense squads comprised of hundreds of >neighborhood residents, mobilized to prevent sheriffs from >putting people on the street, would quickly dampen the real- >estate speculators' zeal. > >As long as the private property rights of landlords, real- >estate investors and banks hold great social and legal >weight, unaffordable, substandard housing and homelessness >will be realities of daily life for the working class. But >it doesn't have to be that way. > >The workers and peasants of Cuba, for example, outlawed >landlords and bosses. The 1959 socialist revolution there >guaranteed housing for every resident. No Cuban pays more >than 10 percent of her or his income for housing--a truly >affordable amount. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > >Message-ID: <009e01c02513$9030d6a0$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Soaring costs, profits trigger S.F. housing crisis >Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 00:01:53 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 28, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >SAN FRANCISCO: SOARING COSTS, PROFITS TRIGGER HOUSING CRISIS > >By Saul Kanowitz >San Francisco > >In the San Francisco Bay Area, the struggle to find and >afford adequate housing has reached a crisis point. Soaring >rents and home prices signal a campaign to drive low-income >renters and working-class homeowners out of the area. Many >longtime working-class neighborhoods--such as San >Francisco's Mission District--have been targeted for >gentrification. > >The conversion of rental apartments into condominiums and >live/work lofts--aimed at filling the needs of the >capitalist boom--is pushing poor people out of the city. >Landlords have used a state law called the Ellis Act to >evict tenants and convert entire buildings into high-priced >condos. > >In 1999, 209 Ellis Act evictions were filed in San >Francisco, affecting 881 apartments. That compares to 116 >evictions affecting 291 units the year before. > >As landlords kick out tenants, fewer and fewer apartments >are available for rent, creating a dramatic housing >shortage. This shortage has pushed the median rent for a two- >bedroom apartment in San Francisco to nearly $2,000 per >month. > >HOUSING BECOMING UNAFFORDABLE > >A recent report by the California Budget Project, "Locked >Out: California's Affordable Housing Crisis," puts some hard >numbers on the crisis working and poor people experience >daily. > >The CBP report states that between 1989 and 1998, the cost >of housing rentals in the Bay Area rose 38 percent, while in >Los Angeles it rose 14 percent. During this time the median >income of renter households rose just 9.6 percent. > >The median income for renter households in 1998 was $27,401-- >less than half the annual income required by banks to >purchase a home. > >The Federal government defines affordable housing as costing >30 percent or less of a household's income. In 1999, if your >household included a full-time janitor and a part-time food- >service worker in San Francisco, your household income was >about $24,900. > >Affordable housing for this family should cost $623 a month. >But according to the CBP report, the median price of a two- >bedroom apartment in 1999 was $1,939. > >Even in rural counties where housing costs less, the average >two-bedroom apartment was $483 per month. For this to be >considered affordable housing, a full-time worker would need >to be earning $9.28 per hour--that is, 161 percent of >California's minimum wage. > >For tens of thousands of farm workers working on >California's huge agribusiness plantations, and many other >workers, $9.28 an hour is not an easily obtainable wage. > >A COMMODITY UNDER CAPITALISM > >How has this startling disparity between expenses and wages >arisen? > >Like everything else in capitalist society, housing is a >commodity. The sale of housing is no different than the sale >of food, clothing or TVs. > >Housing is built and placed on the rental or sales market to >make profits. Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels wrote in the >Communist Manifesto in 1848, "No sooner have the laborers >received their wages in cash, escaping exploitation by the >manufacturer, than they are set upon by the other portions >of the bourgeoisie, the landlord, the shopkeeper, the >pawnbroker, etc." > >As long as human relations are based on capitalist property >relations, housing will be built primarily for profit, not >for habitation. If it is more profitable to build single- >family homes and condominiums, that's what the bosses and >landlords will build--even if what is really needed is >multifamily dwellings. This is what Marxists call the >anarchy of production. > >The CBP report states: "During the 1980s, for example, >California added an average 91,682 units of multifamily >housing per year, 45 percent of new housing built. Between >1990 and 1999, the state added an average of 28,089 units >per year of multifamily housing, just 25 percent of total >housing built during the decade and a 69-percent drop from >the levels of the 1980s." > >This shift away from multifamily dwellings to individual >units is a result of the massive cuts in federal money spent >on public housing. During the Reagan administration, the >federal government reduced annual spending on construction >and maintenance of public housing by 80 percent, from $32 >billion to $6 billion. > >Money spent on public housing represented a concession from >the ruling class to the working class--a form of "social >safety net" for poorly paid or unemployed workers. Public >housing, the minimum wage, unemployment insurance, social >security, welfare benefits and public education were >conquests of the union struggles of the 1930s and the civil- >rights movement of the 1960s. > >With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern >European socialist countries, and labor's retreat at home, >the U.S. bosses no longer felt the need to protect >themselves by offering this safety net to counter the >benefits guaranteed workers in the socialist countries, such >as affordable housing, free healthcare and education for >all. > >RESISTANCE ON THE RISE > >Resistance to the housing crisis has taken several forms in >San Francisco. Artists have waged creative protests upon >eviction from practice studios. Rallies have been held at >government agencies responsible for approving building >permits. A referendum, Proposition L, was put on the >November ballot, aimed at slowing the gentrification >process. Prop L seeks to put teeth into existing legislation >meant to protect renters from greedy landlords and >developers. > >At the moment the real estate investors, bankers and >landlords seem to have the upper hand. Over 70 percent of >San Francisco residents are renters--the overwhelming >majority of them workers. The social weight of the working >class has not yet been felt in this struggle. > >A citywide mass march of renters demanding an end to >evictions and conversions and a rent-rollback could help >make capitalist politicians enforce existing laws and write >some new ones. > >Eviction defense squads comprised of hundreds of >neighborhood residents, mobilized to prevent sheriffs from >putting people on the street, would quickly dampen the real- >estate speculators' zeal. > >As long as the private property rights of landlords, real- >estate investors and banks hold great social and legal >weight, unaffordable, substandard housing and homelessness >will be realities of daily life for the working class. But >it doesn't have to be that way. > >The workers and peasants of Cuba, for example, outlawed >landlords and bosses. The 1959 socialist revolution there >guaranteed housing for every resident. No Cuban pays more >than 10 percent of her or his income for housing--a truly >affordable amount. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > >Message-ID: <009f01c02513$9a2caf80$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Cohen's trip to Indonesia: 'Human rights' or a mission for Wall >Street? >Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 00:02:49 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 28, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >COHEN'S TRIP TO INDOENSIA: "HUMAN RIGHTS" OR A MISSION FOR WALL STREET? > >By Deirdre Griswold > >U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen flew to Indonesia >Sept. 17 to warn the government of President Adburrahman >Wahid that it risked "isolation" if it didn't cooperate with >Washington on the issue of East Timor. Two days earlier, >four U.S. Navy ships, including the USS Bunker Hill and the >USS Tarawa, arrived off East Timor carrying aid for the >beleaguered population. > >At least, that's the official line. That's what is being >told on prime time TV and in the mass circulation >newspapers. > >However, there's another, very different side to this story. >In addition to some material aid, those military ships were >carrying 2,000 marines and 2,000 sailors. And while Cohen >might be talking tough to the press about human rights and >democracy, he's talking tough to the Indonesian government >about something else. > >The ostensible reason for Cohen's trip is the climate of >terror in East Timor created by paramilitaries orchestrated >by the Indonesian generals, who are trying to hold onto >influence in this small territory despite a referendum last >year in which the people opted for independence. Not only do >these fascist thugs continue to murder, beat and starve the >population at the behest of the Indonesian military, but >they have attacked some United Nations personnel stationed >in the area, killing four of them in recent weeks. > >This provides a very convenient cover for Cohen to come and >lay down the law to the government in Djakarta--a reform >government that replaced General Suharto and his cronies a >year ago after mass protests but is reminded every day that >the military still control the guns. > >Cohen and the rest of the Clinton administration are >involved in a monumental charade, pretending to care so much >about the people of the small territory of East Timor that >they are willing to alienate Indonesia, the fourth most >populous country in the world with over 200 million people. > >BEHIND THE PIOUS TALK, CRASS INTERESTS > >The real reason for Cohen's trip, however, is to bear down >heavy on this new government on behalf of U.S. corporate >interests. > >Wall Street Journal analyst Jay Solomon must know that the >transnational CEOs and the big investors don't care any more > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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