N.J. Racist Cuts: Death for Unemployed, $3 Billion to Bankers

On June 29, N.J. Governor Christie signed the budget passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature. In addition to $1 billion in education and student aid cuts (hitting urban districts especially hard) and $450 million less in aid to cities, the budget puts a 2.5% cap on salary increases for all local government workers, terminates state health insurance for 12,000 immigrants, cuts $9 million from legal services to the poor and cuts state payments to households with a disabled person.

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Gaza Flotilla Episode Marks U.S. Bosses’ Decline

Recently a flotilla of ships bringing humanitarian aid to Palestinians trapped in Gaza behind a fascist Israeli blockade was boarded and attacked by Israeli commandos on the high seas. On one ship, the Mavi Marmara, the commandos encountered resistance, opened fire, and killed nine of the travelers. 

Videos showed that the passengers fought militantly and bravely against the commandos, succeeding in disabling several and knocking some off the ship into the water. This action helps to dispel the “myth of invincibility” surrounding the Israeli military and its own CIA, the Mossad. They can be fought and beaten with boldness and militancy, even if they ultimately succeeded in gaining control of the ship.

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Central Asia: Workers Need Communist Revolution — Rulers’ Battleground Becomes Workers’ Bloodbath

With the continuing war in Afghanistan spilling into Pakistan and the country of Kyrgyzstan falling into chaos, the U.S. media again rolled out its tired myths of “ancient ethnic rivalries” leading to conflict. Meanwhile, they gloss over the absence of these “innate” ethnic tensions during the Soviet era. Many news sources have even blamed Stalin (now dead for almost 60 years) for the current chaos in Central Asia.

But it is inter-imperialist rivalry among the U.S., Russia and China for control of valuable natural gas reserves and pipeline real estate that is driving the political disorder, social unrest and wars in the area, strategically located between Russia, China and the Middle-East.

The current crisis in Kyrgyzstan that toppled the government and killed thousands of civilians dates back to 2001, not centuries. Using the 9/11 attacks and the war in Afghanistan as a pretext, the U.S. began pushing for bases in Central Asia. Eventually it received Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan for a measly $17 million/year.  Russia, incensed by U.S. encroachment in “its” backyard, made a similar deal in 2003 for a base only 12 miles from Manas. 

The U.S., upset by the Kyrgyz drift towards Russia, financed the “Tulip Revolution” in 2005, toppling the Kyrgyz government and installing a pro-Western dictator.  In 2009, Russia paid the new Kyrgyz government $2.4 billion to evict the U.S. from Manas Air Base, forcing the U.S. to assemble a $200-million aid package, increasing the base’s rent to $60 million. 

The Kyrgyz government, fearing Russian retaliation, gave the Russians a sweetheart deal on a second base near the Uzbek/Tajikistan border.  Now a new spate of rioting has again toppled the Kyrgyz government, plunging the country into chaos, with many suspecting Russian involvement after the opposition made closing Manas Air Field its primary demand.  

Since the Soviet Union’s collapse, the U.S. has sought greater involvement in the critical Central Asia region, which holds some of the world’s largest energy and uranium reserves. With its 1992 Freedom Support Act, the U.S. has openly funded pro-Western political movements in the post-Soviet states.

Increased military involvement in Central Asia is, a goal which the ruling class’s Hart-Rudman Commission and Project for a New American Century reports listed as critical to containing Russian and Chinese influence. 

In 2002, Russia countered, creating the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. After Uzbekistan evicted the U.S. from its base in 2005, Russia granted the country significant aid packages, inviting it to join the CSTO in 2006.  In 2007, Russia built a base there, adjoining the Novi uranium mining and enrichment plant.  Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia also helped secure an important Russian military outpost in the region, countering the U.S.-financed 2003 “Rose Revolution” which installed U.S. lackey Mikheil Saakashvili as president. 

China, not to be outdone, has been flexing considerable muscle in Pakistan, much to the dismay of the U.S. In 2001, dictator Perez Musharraf declared Pakistan an ally in the U.S. “war on terror” after receiving significant contributions in aid and military equipment.  China then began courting Musharraf by promising to fast-track the heavily-Chinese-financed Gwadar Deep Sea Port construction project. 

By 2006 Musharraf was publicly denouncing the U.S. and its “bullying” of Pakistan.  A year later terrorist attacks against Chinese workers on the port project led Musharraf to declare a state of emergency in Pakistan. Many believed the CIA was behind the attacks.  

This past March, Pakistan brokered a deal with Iran and China to build the Iran-Pakistan (IP) pipeline. This endangered U.S. plans for the larger Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline as well as the Nabucco pipeline connection in the Caspian Sea.

The U.S. has increasingly been moving military operations into Pakistan under the cover of “attacking terrorist hideouts.”  In response, groups connected to the Pakistani intelligence agency (ISI) have launched terrorist attacks in India (a key U.S. ally) and Afghanistan. The U.S. military is now saying withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan may have to be delayed.

Russia, with its declining population, has no better opportunity than now to seriously counter U.S. power in the region. The U.S., with its faltering economy, needs to seize these resources to contain Chinese growth, while China has the money and opportunity to secure its energy future.

The world’s imperialist powers are moving closer to war with each other. Only communist revolution can free workers from the bloodbaths that capitalist crisis and competition inevitably bring. J

Sources:

[1] AOL News, “Why All the Violence in Kyrgyzstan? Blame Stalin,” 6/16/10; The Economist, “Stalin’s Latest Victims,” 6/17/10; The Age, “Ethnic Fault Lines of Stalin Era Implode,” 6/19/10.

[1] NYT, “US is Building Up its Military Presence in Afghan Region,” 1/9/02; NYT, “In Reversal Kyrgyzstan Won’t Close a US Base,” 6/24/09.

[1] NYT, “Russia to Deploy Air Squadron in Kyrgyzstan Where US has Base,” 12/4/02.

[1] NYT, “US Helped to Prepare the Way for Kyrgyzstan’s Own Uprising,” 3/30/05.

[1] Challenge, “Afghanistan Center of Imperialist Dogfight Over Oil, Gas,” 2/25/09; San Francisco Chronicle, “Why is Russia Bribing Kyrgyzstan?” 2/22/09; Eurasianet, “US Armed Forces to Remain at Airbase for Afghan Supply Operations,” 6/22/09; NYT, “In Reversal Kyrgyzstan Won’t Close a US Base,” 6/24/09.

[1] AP, “Russia Signs Deal to Open Second Base in Kyrgyzstan,” 8/1/09.

[1] AP, “Kyrgyz Opposition Controls Government Building,” 4/7/10; Eurasia Daily Monitor, “Historical Context for Regional Response to Recent Events in Kyrgyzstan,” 5/3/10.

[1] Mahir Ibrahimov and Erjan Kurbanov, “Getting it Wrong in the Caucasus,” Middle East Quarterly, Vol. I No. 4, December 1994.

[1] Asia Times, “US Scatters Bases to Control Eurasia,” 3/30/05; US Commission on National Security/21^st Century, Phase I: Report on the Emerging Global Security Environment for the First Quarter of the 21^st Century, 9/15/1999, p 76; The Project for the New American Century, Rebuilding America’s Defenses, 9/2000, p 47, 35, 18-19.

[1] AFP, “Ex Soviet States Discuss Joint Military Force to Counter NATO,” 7/31/09

[1] Reuters, “Uzbekistan Evicts US from Air Base,” 7/31/05; BBC, “Last US Plane Leaves Uzbek Base,” 11/21/05; Radio Free Europe, “What Does Closure of US Military Base in Uzbekistan Mean?” 8/1/05.

[1] Eurasianet, “An Uzbek Air Base: Russia’s Newest Achievement in Central Asia,” 1/10/07.

[1] NYT, “Georgia-Russia Fight Endangers U.S. Oil Goals,” 8/14/08; The Daily Mail (UK), “The Pipeline War: Russian Bear Goes for West’s Jugular,” 8/10/08; Eurasianet, “Looking Back at the Rose Revolution,” 12/29/09.

[1] New Statesman, “There is No War on Terrorism,” 10/29/01; Center for Public Integrity, “Pakistan’s $4.2 Billion Blank Check for US Military Aid, After 9/11, Funding to Country Soars with Little Oversight,” 3/27/07.

[1] The New Nation (Bangladesh), “Emerging Pakistan-China Relations,” 9/11/08.

[1] USA Today, “Musharraf’s Book Says Pakistan Faced US ‘Onslaught’ if it Didn’t Back War on Terror,” 9/26/06.

[1] Asia Times, “Balochistan is the Ultimate Prize,” 5/9/09; The News (Pakistan), “US Told Not to Back Terrorism Against Pakistan,” 8/5/08.

[1] Asia Times, “Pipelinestan Goes Iran-Pak,” 5/29/09.

[1] NYT, “CIA to Expand Use of Drones in Pakistan,” 12/4/09.

[1] NYT, “Militant Group Expands Attacks in Afghanistan,” 6/15/10; NYT, “Report Says Pakistan Intelligence Agency Exerts Great Sway on Afghan Taliban,” 6/13/10.

[1] NYT, “Setbacks Cloud US Plans to Get Out of Afghanistan,” 6/14/10.

France: While Union Hacks Try to Save System 2,000,000 Marchers Hit Pension Cuts

PARIS, July 3 — On June 24, nearly 2,000,000 workers protested the bosses’ government’s pension “reform” which will cut pensions by up to 40% over the next 40 years and raise the minimum age for a partial pension to 62 as well as the minimum age for a full pension to 67. The 1.9 million demonstrated in 201 rallies and marches across France. In Paris, 130,000 marched.

Thousands struck — almost 20% of civil servants, 16% of local government workers, and 12.5% of hospital workers as well as half the Finance Ministry workers. These figures doubled the number striking during the previous May 27 action.

Polls reported two-thirds of the country supported the June 24 actions and 56% oppose the government’s retirement “reform.” Half of those opposing the reform said they would fight it.

Pushing back the legal retirement age will especially penalize the working class, most of whom don’t attend college and consequently begin working earlier.

The CGT union leaders who called the demonstrations were surprised that twice as many turned out as they had forecast. The campaign will continue throughout the summer, including holding protest rallies at stops of the Tour de France bicycle race.

The French cabinet is to approve the retirement “reform” on July 13. Demonstrations and another 24-hour strike are planned for Sept. 7, when the French parliament will debate the issue.

But the trade unions remain firmly attached to capitalism. They denounce the pension cuts as a “brake on consumer consumption” which will stall any recovery from capitalism’s economic crisis. Instead of worrying about saving the profit system which constantly attacks the workers, the working class needs to destroy capitalism and its exploitation with communist revolution. 

Bangladesh: Garment Strikers Shut Shops, Roads; Hurl Bricks at Cops

In Bangladesh, some of the most exploited workers in the world are militantly fighting back and are beginning to come together as a class. Since June 13, tens of thousands of garment workers (85% of whom are women) have closed down 700 factories, shut down main roads to Dhaka (the capital), erected barricades and lobbed bricks at the police who have tried to tear gas and beat the workers. Large demonstrations of workers have divided up into smaller groups and visited factories and brought the workers there out into the streets.

Three million textile workers toil for less than $25 a month. They work in 4,500 factories turning out garments for Walmart, Levi Strauss, H&M, Zara and Carrefour, who sell them for many times what the workers are paid. Besides receiving pennies an hour in wages, the workers work long hours, and are often not paid on time.

The workers are demanding that their wages be tripled. The big retailers like Walmart have made a fortune off the low-paid labor of women workers in Asian countries. But workers in Bangladesh, Vietnam (where 10,000 shoe factory workers recently went on strike), China and other Asian countries are demonstrating once again that exploitation engenders class struggle and some day, revolution. 

France: Immigrants’ Strike ‘Over’ But Strikers Keep Up Fight

PARIS, June 29 — The strike is not over for all of the 6,769 undocumented workers who struck here since last October. On June 27, their delegates decided to maintain their action against all bosses who have not yet signed a “promise to employ.” This document (called a Cerfa in French), is required for “legalization.” But many bosses must be forced to sign them. And there are many details to be followed to obtain “legalization.

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1,011 Billionaires Steal $3.5 TRILLION From World’s Working Class — That’s Capitalism

Three and one-half TRILLION dollars….That is the net worth of the 1,011 billionaires in the world today! The wealth of these 1,011 capitalists is probably enough to feed, house and clothe all the billions who live in poverty. But that’s not the way capitalism works.

These blood-sucking bosses accumulated that wealth on the backs of all those who are ill-fed, ill-housed and ill-clothed. It could take care of all the so-called “deficits” afflicting hundreds of millions of workers today.

But again, these bosses’ drive for maximum profits — the cornerstone of the capitalist system — is what puts tens of millions out of work, cuts budgets for schools, forecloses houses, all growing out of the nature of the profit system. When every president, finance minister, governor and mayor says “we” have to “share the sacrifice” of the crisis of capitalism, they represent the interests of these rapacious billionaires. And in cases of politicians like NYC’s billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg, they are one and the same person, cutting budgets for schools, mass transit and all social services.

A recent Forbes Magazine reports all these gory details: the average net worth of these 1,011 is $3.5 billion (multiplying those two figures produces the above $3.5 trillion). The richest is Mexico’s Carlos Slim, with $53.5 billion, slightly ahead of Bill Gates. The U.S. has 403 on that list; China has 64; Russia has 62.

A system that produces such exploitation of the world’s working class is begging to be destroyed, to be replaced by a system — communism — where our class which produces all that wealth will share it according to need.

Disproving the Hero Theory of History

The “Black Jacobins,” published in 1989, has the complete title “Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution.” But the author, C.L.R. James, points out Toussaint’s (known leader of the Haitian Revolution) grave political weaknesses. He proves that other less-known leaders and the masses themselves were the true movers of Haiti’s revolution against France and for freedom from slavery. This book is an important account of a massive fight against imperialism.

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Obama Setting New Record for Racist Deportations

As part of the ruling class’s plan to step up racist terror against all workers, Barack Obama — whose election as the first black President supposedly signaled an era of a sharp decline in racism — has set a goal of deporting 400,000 immigrant workers in 2010, an all-time high. This increase in ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) terror represents a steady trend over the last eight years — a 132% increase in spending on immigration enforcement and a 142% increase in deportations. That totals over 2.6 million racist deportations, two thirds of which (1.7 million) were non-criminal deportations.

Representing the clearest form of U.S.-style fascism, these raids are designed to intimidate Latino workers, both documented and undocumented, in order to drive down wages and further disorganize the working class. In one brazen example of the anti-working class nature of these raids ICE thugs — spurred on by the company — raided Smithfield Pork’s North Carolina plant in 2007 to break a workers’ unionizing drive. To drive the point home, seven months later they raided the local neighborhoods. Since then workplace and neighborhood raids have been common. Prior to the 2010 immigrants’ rights march in Washington, D.C., Obama had ICE raid D.C. area restaurants and neighborhoods to intimidate Latino workers.

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PLP Serves Notice on Aryan Racists: ‘Death to the Fascists!’

GETTYSBURG, PA, June 19 — “We brought these gutter racists our message — there will be no free passes for them! We will stomp on them like roaches!” So spoke a comrade after our inspiring and militant demonstration here against the Aryan Nation fascists.

It was an exciting day as our group — a multi-racial, multi-generational group of teachers, students and workers — travelled to the site of the National Park museum dedicated to the history of the Civil War battle at Gettysburg. Not surprisingly, over the years this museum has become less anti-racist in character and more of an “objective” museum that shows “both sides” of the Civil War, exemplified by the displays of the Confederate flag, the hated symbol of racism and slavery.

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