Letters of April 6

Haiti Comrades Weigh In on Iran Deal
Comments from comrades in Haiti for our readers to think about regarding “Iran Deal Signals War Prep” editorial (CHALLENGE, 2/10):
First, nuclear power is an economic asset, a source of profit for the Iranian bosses. It’s also a weapon to inspire fear in other exploiters, who would want some of the profits and benefits of Iranian nuclear energy.
Second, the U.S. seeks to fracture and destabilize the relationships between its main rivals Russia and China and their allies. One way is to enter into pseudo-friendships with the allies of their rivals. The Iran nuclear deal is a kind of pseudo-friendship with Iran, offering relief from sanctions and renewed trade with the U.S. and its European allies as incentives.
Another U.S. destabilization strategy is trying to convince regional bosses like Iran — allied with the Russian and Chinese imperialists — that these alliances will hurt Iran’s bosses in the long run. The U.S. bosses want Iran’s bosses to think they’re getting a better deal by breaking away from Russia and China. That explains why the U.S. and Europe were willing to brave the anger of their allies Israel and Saudi Arabia, to show Iran’s bosses that the deal was serious.
Upon the 1979 Islamist overthrow of the murderous U.S.-backed Shah government, Russia and China developed deep political and economic ties with Iran’s bosses. After 1979, Iran’s new bosses launched a long period of hostility with the U.S. and Europe. The political ties with Iran’s bosses strengthened Russia’s and China’s bosses and included Iran’s membership in the key political and military alliance of NATO’s rivals, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The economic ties include key gas supplies and pipelines.
Third, it is inter-imperialist wars that are responsible for the economic crises, the nightmares of migration, the upsurge in racism everywhere, and the shocking barbarity now haunting the planet. The victim of all this is the working class. The biggest bosses and the capitalist nation-states do not lose at all by this horror. They prepare for the clashes with their rivals on the backs of the working class.
They will try to intensify racism and nationalism among the workers to get them to participate in these barbaric wars. The bosses benefit from this horror: for them the misery of countries which they have long kept in wretched poverty simply becomes favorable terrain for future exploitation — think of Haiti and several countries on the African continent.
Lastly, we can draw some inspiration from the rebellions and uprisings of the popular masses against imperialism, and especially against the illusion of democracy and its farcical elections as a way to win power for the workers in these small capitalist countries. Haiti is an example of such rebellions. PLP is seizing the opportunity of such rebellions to advance our communist political ideas. Soon many of those who have taken part in these struggles will have joined our ranks.
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Racist Speech Is the First Punch
Let’s put yet another nail in the coffin of the ruling-class against the concept of free speech. The line that capitalist ideology draws between speech and violence is an arbitrary one. Many well-intentioned and anti-racist people believe this lie.
Let’s face the fact that the punch thrown by anti-racists at Klansmen, Nazis, and other members of that fascist collection is not the first punch. It is actually thrown in self defense and defense of our class. Racist speech is the first punch, whether it occurs in an unorganized context or in the context of a hate rally where the speaker is immediately exhorting others to attack Black, Latin, Muslim, immigrant, gay or any other targeted group.
The imaginary line between speech and violence is a false one. Racist speech in any context is a first punch and is just as violent as a physical punch, and even more so as it strikes millions at once.
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