The bosses' economy is in crisis because of increased competition with other capitalists. Their solution is to make more goods with fewer workers, so they lay-off workers by the tens of thousands. The workers that remain are forced into overtime and speed-up, while millions of others are forced into low wage, part-time jobs. This increased competition leads to layoffs and ultimately to war, as it has already in Haiti, Somalia, and Kuwait.
The politicians of both parties say they can't afford social programs, but they cover-up where most taxes come from and where they really go. Since 1964, the bosses have reduced the tax rate for the super rich from 70% to 36%. Corporate taxes now account for less than 10% of Federal revenue, down from 25% in 1960. The politicians tax the workers, and spend our money on the banks, the army, cops, prisons, and pay raises for themselves.
Both the Republicans and Democrats are blaming the victim by claiming that poor people on welfare, especially minority women, are "lazy" and don't deserve benefits. Cutting-off benefits and forcing welfare recipients to work for slave wages will only create more homelessness and poverty. It will also drive down wages for all workers, as the bosses gain another source of cheap labor.
Proposition 187 in California is cutting services, like schools and hospitals, from undocumented immigrants, including 40,000 children. Like the welfare cuts, this racist scapegoating is then used to justify cutbacks and layoffs of teachers and public workers. It tries to get American-born and legal immigrants to turn in their working class brothers and sisters, instead of us all uniting to fight cutbacks.
On college campuses all over the country, this book pushes the racist and anti-working class lie that the rich deserve their wealth and power because they are supposedly "more intelligent". The politicians are using these lies to justify their cutbacks. These same kind of lies fooled many Germans into passively supporting Nazi atrocities in the 1930's.
The solution of the Progressive Labor Party and the International Committee Against Racism is radically different, because we have no profits, no property, no national interest to protect. We fight to protect the future of our class.
This is the only way to create millions more jobs at the expense of the bosses, not the working class. We don't have to settle for constant layoffs and wage cuts. May Day was born from the struggle to get the 8 hour work day.
Borders exist only to divide the world for profit making. Patriotism and nationalism are used to get workers to side with the bosses in their country instead of uniting with the working class throughout the world.
The public disputes between the Democrats and Republicans are meant to divert us from building a working class movement that could liberate us from the profit system. Both parties are pushing the attacks on workers. Elections and working within the system cannot change capitalism. We need to eliminate this system. Workers produce everything of value, not the parasite bosses. We can build a society where the collective wealth is shared and the working class makes the decisions.
For over 100 years, all over the world, workers have marched on May Day for their class demands. Naturally, the bosses in this country have tried to keep us ignorant of this holiday, which started right here in the U.S. They use conditions in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Cuba and China to make us cynical about fighting capitalism and building a true communist system. We don't have to accept this greedy and corrupt system. We can fight back. Reject capitalism's unemployment and misery. March on May 6.
Saturday, May 6, 1995
Washington, D.C.