> WW News Service Digest #202 > > 1) Gloria La Riva: Explain the causes of capitalist crisis > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 2) Tere Gutierrez: Victory to Colombian guerrillas > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 3) Monica Moorehead: Put fight against racism front and center > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 4) Fred Goldstein: Election morass shows need for Marxism > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 5) Imani Henry: Communist program fights all oppressions > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 6) Elijah Crane: Learning how to make a revolution > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Dec. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >OUR TASK: EXPLAIN THE CAUSES OF CAPITALIST CRISIS > >[Excerpts from a talk by Gloria La Riva at the Workers World >Party Conference Dec. 2-3] > > > >We live in the richest society that has ever existed. The >wealth of the United States far surpasses that of any >earlier empire. And inside this richest society in history, >25 percent of all children--50 percent of all African >American children--live in poverty. Millions go to sleep >without their most basic needs met. > >Here we are in the pinnacle of capitalism, and millions are >hungry and homeless. Almost 50 million have no health care >at all and an equal number have health coverage that's so >bad that for all practical purposes they have none. > >And this is in the big boom, the most prolonged capitalist >boom ever, as the financial experts never tire of boasting. >Unemployment, they say, is 4 percent. Forget about the 2 >million people in prison who aren't counted, not to mention >others who aren't counted at all. > >Twenty-five percent of all the world's prisoners are in the >United States, which has just 4 percent of the world's >population. Leaving aside the brutal military interventions >all over the world, from looking at the domestic scene in >the best of times we can say with certainty that capitalism >is a doomed system. > >The "best of times" has left 40 percent of the 11 million >people in Los Angeles County living in poverty. The boom is >looking more than a little frayed. > >A TV station in San Jose, in the heart of Silicon Valley, is >running an ad for a news series. It shows a young man riding >a city bus. The voice-over says, "A month ago you were a 28- >year-old millionaire. Today you're just a 28-year-old. >Inside the dot-com bust." > >In San Francisco, the landlords and developers are jacking >up the rents sky-high. The lowest rent for a newly vacated >apartment is $2,000 a month and rising. That's in the poor >areas. A new study of the Bay Area shows that a person needs >a $28-an-hour job to live comfortably there. The minimum >wage in California is one-fifth of that. > >What will a downturn, even a relatively mild one, mean under >these circumstances? How will workers understand and >interpret what is happening? > >This is where the Party comes in. As Lenin explained, we >don't control the tempo of economic development or of >spontaneous mass movements. But we do have a critical role. >And that is to explain the root causes of unemployment, war, >racism, sexism, lesbian, gay, bi and trans oppression, and >environmental destruction. > >We have to explain how to organize a mass movement, a >revolutionary movement, that not only fights back and >resists, but fights to overturn this system. > >There is a growing movement that is rightly denouncing these >crimes of capitalism and even naming the illness: capitalist >greed. But what they propose as a solution is a milder form >of capitalism. > >It's not so much because they like capitalism, but because >they don't believe capitalism can ever be eliminated. If you >talk to many of these activists, they aren't against >socialism. But to them it seems like a dream, an >impossibility. > >The truth, which we proclaim here today as we have >throughout our Party's existence, is this: Socialism is the >only alternative for humanity. > >With all the laws against monopolies that were passed in the >United States at the turn of the last century, during the >rise of imperialism and industrial capital, was the furious >pace of monopolization of oil, auto, steel, the military, >the banks, slowed down at all? > >There are all kinds of laws against monopoly practices, but >there are now 457 billionaires. > >We are so involved in the movement that we sometimes forget >that the average person knows nothing about socialism >because they've never been exposed to it except in the most >minimal way in school. The average person doesn't know that >any socialist parties exist in the United States. > >Most people don't even know the profound history of >struggles of workers and oppressed peoples in the United >States, or the potential and necessity of struggle today. > >The question is not whether workers are open to Marxism. Our >biggest concern should be that they haven't been exposed to >Marxist ideas. And yet they instinctively understand their >relationship to the bosses, to the government. They view the >authorities they live under with mistrust and cynicism. > >Once most workers learn or get involved in the struggle, it >opens their eyes to the truth. > >Today the possibilities are endless. We have a duty to >organize and reach out and meet people across the country. >It's the only way that Marxism and our Party will get a >hearing and grow. > >- 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: <010001c063d1$8d7d7ce0$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Tere Gutierrez: Victory to Colombian guerrillas >Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 19:22:02 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Dec. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >VICTORY TO COLOMBIAN GUERRILLAS > >[Excerpts from a talk by Teresa Gutierrez at the Workers >World Party Conference Dec. 2-3] > >The exploitation, domination and intervention of U.S. >imperialism against the people of Latin America and the >Caribbean are becoming more critical every day. Is it any >wonder therefore that Latin America is a hotbed of >resistance today? There are many countries in the region >that are heroically carrying out important and significant >struggles against imperialist policies. > >Puerto Rico--Vieques--is one of those. The Cuban Revolution, >after 40 years of a cruel economic blockade, continues to >remain a steadfast beacon of resistance. It continues to be >an inspiration to all of us who yearn to remove the shackles >of imperialism. > >One of the most important and decisive struggles raging in >Latin America today is in Colombia. I just had the privilege >of visiting there this past week as part of an International >Action Center delegation. > >I got to see first hand how the FARC--the Revolutionary >Armed Forces of Colombia--is battling for liberation. > >The guerrilla movement in Colombia today is strong. It is >dedicated. It is firm. It is committed. > >And it is ready. It is very ready to turn Colombia into a >nation free of imperialist domination. > >We had the honor of spending the night at a guerrilla >encampment of the FARC. > >There, Ramsey Clark, a founder of the IAC who headed our >delegation, had a very important meeting with Commander Raul >Reyes, one of the top FARC leaders. > >Commander Reyes was thoughtful and sober as he discussed the >current situation in Colombia. He explained how Plan >Colombia is a plan of war. The plan was hatched and written >not by the Colombian bourgeoisie but by the Pentagon. In >fact the Colombians had a hard time getting a copy in >Spanish. > >Plan Colombia is a plan to exterminate the guerrilla >movement. Plan Colombia aims to make sure that Wall Street >can continue its super-exploitation of labor and the natural >resources of the country. > >Plan Colombia has absolutely nothing to do with fighting >drugs. We have to say this over and over because the "drug >war" is the main propaganda tool imperialism is using to >dupe the people in this country into supporting the plan. >There is not a single news account that does not describe >the FARC as narco guerrillas or narcoterrorists. > >But the real narcoterrorists are the cops in every single >police precinct in this country. The real narcoterrorists >are in the White House and in the Pentagon. > >It is the U.S. Army and the Immigration and Naturalization >Service that deal in drug trafficking. And it is the banks >and the corporations that gain billions of dollars from this >lucrative industry. > >Plan Colombia is also a plan for all of Latin America. First >stop: Colombia. Next stop: Venezuela. Or so they think. > >We have so much work to do here to stop Plan Colombia. We >want all of you who are going back home to other cities to >arrange for members of the IAC delegation to come to talk >about the trip--on campuses, at unions, churches and in >every community. And we will have a video--a very moving and >exciting video. > >We all need to be in Washington for the counter-inaugural >protest on Jan. 20. Tell whoever is president, whether it is >President Death or President Death: Down with Plan Colombia! >Victory to the guerrilla movement in Colombia! > >- 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: <010401c063d1$af70e4e0$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Monica Moorehead: Put fight against racism front and center >Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 19:23:00 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Dec. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >PUT FIGHT AGAINST RACISM FRONT AND CENTER > >[Excerpts from a talk by Monica Moorehead at the Workers >World Party Conference Dec. 2-3] > >Who could have imagined that three weeks after the election >there would still be no president-elect? This means that the >Jan. 20 mobilization against the inauguration of the next >president will be even more highly scrutinized by the media, >the progressive movement and the world. > >But besides the timing, there is also the political >motivation for the counter-inaugural. The motivation is >reflected in the main slogans that really help to popularize >the Party's political program. > >The Jan. 20 mobilization is attempting to take the anti- >globalization struggle to a higher political level. How? By >elevating the struggle against racism and national >oppression. This includes showing solidarity with those who >are heroically resisting the political and military hegemony >of U.S. imperialism in Colombia, Vieques and Palestine. > >Putting the struggle against racism and national oppression >right up front has been a glaring omission from the anti- >globalization program. > >If the struggle against racism is not a conscious and >integral part of your political orientation, how can you >expect to be taken seriously by people of color in >particular and the workers in general? When I spoke as the >presidential candidate of Workers World Party about the >relationship between racism and national oppression and the >class struggle, I stated that if you are serious about >getting rid of capitalism, opposing racism and national >oppression has to be the number-one priority. > >In fact, you really can't talk about what's wrong with >capitalism without mentioning in the same breath the >strategic role that racism plays. As a Party, we don't take >a strong position against racism solely on the basis of it >being morally repugnant or a violation of human rights. We >take a Marxist stance against racism because it is so >interwoven within the very fabric of capitalist society. It >is the biggest obstacle that we face in terms of forging >unity within the multinational working class to prosecute >the class struggle. > >Our Party has consistently pointed out to white workers that >it is in their interest to unite with their super-exploited >sisters and brothers of color to fight racism, in order to >fight their class enemy--the ruling class. At the same time, >it is important for anti-racist whites and all communists >and progressives to support and defend the Leninist view of >the right to self-determination of the oppressed peoples in >recognition of the reality that inequality based on one's >nationality does exist within the working class. > >During the 19th century, when U.S. capitalism was in its >early competitive stage of development following the >overthrow of Southern slavery, the big question on the minds >of many Marxists was: Would capitalism move in a more >progressive direction in terms of bringing about real >equality? > >The capitalist class certainly had the economic and >political material means and opportunity to rid this society >of racism. For instance, suppose the former slaves had won >full social rights during the Reconstruction period >following the Civil War. Instead Reconstruction was >tragically cut short when the U.S. military and the >government abandoned the Black masses and left them at the >mercy of extra-legal terrorist organizations like the KKK. >This unfinished revolution ushered in almost 70 years of >legalized apartheid in the Deep South. > >This is why we must pay a lot more attention to the growing >demand of the Black community for reparations to address the >legacy of slavery and Jim Crowism. We must find ways to >intervene in the most helpful way. > >In 1984 Sam Marcy, the late chairperson of Workers World >Party, summarized how a working-class party must >consistently connect the struggle against racism and >national oppression with the class struggle. > >"A working-class party such as Lenin tried to build should >promote every right that a Black person is deprived of that >a white one has achieved," he wrote. "We promote and must >propagate the right to self-determination, but which road to >take for liberation must be decided by the oppressed nation >itself. > >"A revolutionary working-class party promotes class >solidarity irrespective of which option an oppressed nation >chooses. The neutrality of the party in this respect is the >strongest pillar of working-class multinational solidarity >in the struggle against capitalism and imperialism. > >"The bourgeoisie denies and closes the road to both _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for geopolitics. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
