Letters of October 29

Earth and Workers Over Bosses and Profits
I attended the people’s climate march in NYC on September 21. More than 400,000 people came out on the streets to demand immediate action from the U.N. The misleaders of the march called for all-class unity, saying that the rulers and workers are all in it together. But we aren’t. Climate change is a class issue, and it is another failure of the capitalist system. But it is important not to dismiss this movement as boss-led and “middle class.”
Many workers and youth at the march did understand class issues. Most placards were hand-made, not the printed ones of the march misleaders who are capitalists and politicians. Marchers raised signs calling for “System Change, Not Climate Change,” “Stop Corporate Greed.” A huge mannequin of a greedy boss with a cigar was labeled “CEO.” Chants attacked Obama and the U.N. Others had the blame-the-people line that walking or riding bicycles can stop global warming.
The anti-capitalists and radicals were kept in the last staging area (namely the back) of the march, so that their posters wouldn’t get on TV. Most participants hoped for immediate action from the world’s leaders at the UN. This can’t happen because the world’s leaders serve the capitalist class. We have an opportunity to build the revolutionary movement by reaching out to those who understand that the problem is the system, not ignorance or the bad habits of workers.
The march was multi-racial but had few black workers. While the march was sponsored by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the strategy was to demand action from the world’s rulers. We must rely on the working class to effect change. There was little understanding that the only way the oil industry will relinquish their huge profits would be by revolutionary force. That said, there is a great deal of hate for the oil bosses, and concern that our children’s future is being robbed from them, opening the door to discussions and struggle with anti-climate change activists  about the nature of the capitalist system.
The earth is being poisoned by carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH3), and is warming up to unprecedented levels. Global warming is entirely caused by carbon and methane emissions and deforestation, resulting from the short-term and long-term profit goals of major industries. This is not a natural cycle, but a disaster resulting from the energy system set up by the oil, coal and gas industries, and supported further by the auto industry and governments. The system has forced workers into automobiles so that they would use oil and create profits for the oil industry. The emissions from automobiles, coal and oil-based power plants, and even cattle raising (methane) have raised the levels of greenhouse gases so that the oceans are warming, and the Earth’s ice caps are melting.
The oil bosses run the show worldwide. They fight wars for oil in the Middle East, murdering and dislocating millions of workers. If there’s a war, to find the cause, find where the oil is. It is a mystery how the oil bosses can justify the destruction of the earth to themselves, but it doesn’t matter. They are out of control and are destroying the habitability of the earth for humans.
Anti-Capitalist Marcher
Banking on EBOLA, and AIDS  
In the early 1980s, I first became aware of Ebola about the time I was first paying attention to the looming AIDS crisis. I was teaching Biology at a southern university and must admit that AIDS was more of a concern because it was here in the U.S. and Ebola was an ocean away. The AIDS crisis diminished as people became more aware of how to prevent it and the scientific community developed “high tech” drugs to deal with it.
Ebola became quite unmanageable by the mid-1980s. I remember reading an article about how the disease was out of control and how European doctors had fled the continent and left the African doctors to deal with it. The article went on to describe how the African doctors drew the blood of the survivors (there are always survivors of all infectious diseases) and extracted the serum. They gave the serum to those infected and crisis was averted. This was a “Low Tech” means to deal with the problem.
When the new outbreak of Ebola occurred I assumed that they would take the same approach as the one that was successful in the past. They didn’t seem to utilize this technique. When two U.S. doctors were stricken with the disease they used “High Tech” medicines to cure them. There were only three doses of this medicine and the U.S. doctors got the last two doses. When a Liberian man came into the U.S. with the disease, they didn’t use the High Tech medicine on him and he died. Soon after the African man died, the U.S. doctor who survived volunteered his blood to save a U.S. cameraman. Was it to spin down the blood and produce serum high in antibodies for the Ebola virus? The details weren’t given.
AIDS and Ebola have a lot in common; both are affecting the continent of Africa with devastating consequences. The medicines produced for both of these diseases are far too expensive to have a real affect on the spread of these diseases. AIDS is rampant in Africa!
Capitalism requires expensive “High Tech” solutions for all maladies that confront mankind! If the rich Pharma/healthcare bosses can’t make a buck on it they will allow a whole continent to perish!
Under communism we will utilize the best strategies to confront challenges to our health. This was done after the Chinese revolution when the people eradicated all disease-carrying flies in Shanghai! They also eradicated syphilis by education and penicillin. Only a health system driven by the need to prevent disease and not by the need to produce profits will serve the working class!
Red Prof
Students United in Anti-racist Struggle From NY to Boston
This was the first time I took part in a panel or went to Boston. I felt very pressured when I first walked in the room at the community college. There were about 20 people from the Pizza and Politics club waiting to hear about our Petraeus struggle at CUNY. I spent the whole bus ride writing about what I would say at the panel.
I didn’t expect to be as scared as I was, but when I started speaking all the nerves got to me. I spoke about the rallies we had, how we gained supporters and how the struggle affected me. The next stop we made was at a university where the outcome wasn’t as big. We spoke to this student who seemed to really be intrigued. He said he would show the College Conference fliers to his friends. We returned to the community college to participate in an event about Ferguson.
Boston has a lot of colleges and doing some sight-seeing was cool. I liked hearing about the history of Boston’s struggles. I learned how PLP really impacted Boston from different events like beating up the KKK. I saw Harvard University and realized most students there were white and those at the community college were mostly black. I enjoyed my time in Boston and my first time being on a panel. For my first time, I think I did good and I look forward to other panels.
★ ★ ★ ★
  I was lucky to be one of the comrades chosen to visit Boston from New York on Sept 25. At first, I was reluctant to go. It ended up being a delightful and inspiring experience. Initially, I was intimidated at the prospect of speaking on the Petraeus campaign we conducted at CUNY: I wasn’t sure what I would say, or how I would say it and whether it would be interesting or helpful to folks there. But our comrades went out of their way to engage and accommodate us. On top of that, their work in the colleges is going well and their members and friends were no different.
To learn from and engage with other comrades is always a good experience. To give and take leadership from the working class is always a good idea. Only by doing these activities will we ever gain experience for class struggle. What we shared can only make our practice stronger, our ideas sharper. Our friends at the community college told us of their struggle against armed police on campus, and how they fought back against administrative repression. They encouraged us to be bold in our actions and to move forward; to always fight to win. We emphasized the importance of building ties and organizing within a Party.
We also learned from veteran comrades and learned the history of Boston and PLP. It was a humbling experience. Particularly interesting was the Party’s experience in 1975 in fighting fascists and racists at Beacon Hill. PLP had a significant influence on Boston, by fighting for workers and against racism. This influence will never be acknowledged by the bosses, so it was good to hear our side. All in all, Boston is in good shape, and I know we will be hearing more good news from them in the future. I will treasure the connections I made and experiences I had. I will move forward as a renewed comrade!
Hahvahd Yahd