Letters of October 19

Mexico PL Project Inspires International Spirit

I had the chance to participate in the Summer Project in Mexico for a couple of weeks along with several other comrades. We stayed in the Federal District and in Mexico State. This was a very enriching and exceptional experience for me because I learned so much from the comrades there, about their struggles and the ways they expand the base of the Party in the places we visited.

We had “marathon” days, getting up very early in the morning and as a group we visited the homes of comrades, friends of the party and readers of CHALLENGE. In these visits, we had the opportunity to learn how whole families participated in the “discussions.” That way, we presented mostly the Party line, as well as whatever was relevant to the struggle we were then involved in. We also answered questions and doubts that were generally asked by people we visited.

I returned to New York very moved by this experience. I had the chance to spend time with very humble working people who have the same problems of the working class around the world: must confront poverty, the economic crisis, unemployment, exploitation, bosses’ abuses and politicians’ promises in their daily lives. In Mexico, I realized that we truly need a communist revolution to put an end to capitalism and its profit system.

A fighter

Anti-Wall Streeters Open to Red Ideas

I had the pleasure of attending the rally at One Police Plaza in NYC on Friday, September 30, called to protest police brutality against the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) demonstrators and to show solidarity with OWS. I arrived at 5:30 and soon there was a picket line of some 100 people in the plaza in front of NYPD headquarters. Most of the 100 protestors were from unions, such as the UAW, the UFT and my union, the PSC, representing CUNY faculty and staff. One of the demands of the protest is the firing of Deputy Inspector Bologna — the police official who pepper-sprayed a half dozen or more demonstrators — and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who has authorized the arrest of hundreds of non-violent demonstrators. 

I hung out with some friends. A little after 6 PM, the OWS march arrived at the Plaza. It was an electrifying moment as about 2,500 marchers streamed into the Plaza with chants of “They Got Bailed Out, We Got Sold Out!” and “Whose Streets?, Our Streets!” The crowd surged toward the NYPD building as the police scurried to erect barricades in front, looking very nervous as they did. One of the popular chants was, “We Are All Sean Bell, NYPD Go to Hell!”

There is a mixture anti-capitalist radicalism and liberalism at these events. Two professors gave speeches that were largely civil libertarian, and one exclaimed that “concentrated wealth is corrupting our democracy” — as though U.S. in 1711, 1811, and 1911 was any more democratic than in 2011 — and implying that political corruption can be stemmed, or reversed, under capitalism. The reality is that the capitalists have always used, and always will use their great wealth to control government.

The large crowd was mostly college and graduate students, some from other parts of the country. Some of the protestors have come from other states and are sleeping in the park at night. They’ve come for weeks of political activity and have been willing to risk arrest (700 were arrested marching on the Brooklyn Bridge) and police assaults. I admire their convictions and willingness to act. Many of the OWS participants recognize that their own futures and those of others are dim under capitalism. The big divide is between those who think that capitalism needs to be abolished and those who think it can be reformed and “our democracy restored.”

Another issue is that of non-violence. Many of the OWS demonstrators believe that the movement must be non-violent, which expresses the admirable sentiment that disagreements among people be handled through discussion and example. Unfortunately, capitalists rule by force and their system is one of extreme violence: hunger, homelessness, disease and brutal wars for profit — all of which kill millions each year. It would actually save lives to overthrow such a system, and no matter how much we wish it were otherwise, that can’t be done without armed revolution.

Self-critically, when OWS began, I thought about going down and then didn’t, thinking it would be small and not attract many workers. I was wrong; it’s not so small, workers are beginning to show up, and many of the protestors are critical of capitalism and open to a revolutionary perspective.

Red teacher

Libya A U.S. Proxy War

CHALLENGE’S analysis (10/5) of the current situation is very good (“U.S. Rulers Still Need Greater Fascism, More War”). But the editorial fails to analyze the recent Libyan war in depth (Feb. 15 – Aug. 28). The war produced a re-division of Libya’s oil wealth, with China, Italy and Russia losing and France and the U.K. winning.

Most of the fighting was done by the French and British and their Libyan “rebel” allies. But the confidential 14-page Royal United Services Institute report on the war says victory depended on U.S. aerial intelligence, surveillance and support. And the report by U.S. General Abrial underlines the key role played by U.S. aerial tankers, drones and laser-guided bombs. (See Le Canard enchaîné, 9/28)

In short, the Libyan war is a perfect example of a U.S. proxy war fought to lock up hydrocarbon sources. The editorial would have been stronger had it analyzed the Libyan war in more detail.

A friend

‘Soviet Jargon’ Rhetoric or Class Concepts?

I’m reading your paper from time to time and, overall, I like it. Though I disagree with some of your opinions, I agree with many of your ideas and I’d like more people to hear about you and what you have to offer.

I think that part of your rhetoric is drawn from the Soviet jargon. While you criticise “communist” Russia, where the revolution turned into its opposite, you adopt its rhetoric. While it is possible that part of the expressions are drawn from the fathers of communism, such as Marx, the world associates these expressions to the negative legacy of the USSR. For example, the Dictatorship of the Proletariat reminds me of the totalitarian Soviet regime of the 1960’s, where many of its citizens were repressed or even murdered. Expressions such as the “Red Army,” and your red flag, immediately remind me of all that was wrong in the Soviet experience.

In my opinion you should dissociate yourselves from this rhetoric. After all, you want to convince new people of your ideas, and I feel that your rhetoric is, in many cases, an obstacle to this. Which is a shame, as you have a bright future to offer to the working class.

S.G., Kiryat Tivon, Israel

CHALLENGE comment — Thank you for your letter. We welcome you as a reader of our paper.

While the world’s media, virtually all controlled by capitalists, is viciously anti-communist and therefore attempts to distort and disparage communists and our ideas, expressions such as “Red Army” and “red flag” have historically been hailed by tens of millions of workers internationally. During World War II, the working class looked to the heroic Soviet Red Army as its savior in smashing the Nazis. The fact that the capitalist media has downplayed and/or ignored its role hasn’t prevented millions of workers from marching with the red flag (originally bed sheets with the blood of revolutionary workers) on May Day for over a century. So we look at “red,” the “red flag” and the Red Army as symbols of the best that our class has produced and don’t bow down to the rulers’ disparagement of it.

As for the “Dictatorship of the Proletariat,” as you intimate, it was first coined by Marx as the answer to the dictatorship of the capitalists. It expresses a class understanding of the role of the state and who controls it on whose behalf. We have often explained this when using the term. While the ruling class likens capitalism to “democracy,” and therefore contrasts it to dictatorship, the profit system does not express the will of the people, and is itself a vicious dictatorship of the capitalist class. A working-class dictatorship is a dictatorship over the former ruling class and is used to prevent it from returning to power and overturning a workers’ communist society.

We do not regard these words as “Soviet jargon,” nor do we shy away from using them just because the rulers strive mightily to lie about them. They have lied about the word “communism” for 160 years and tried to make it a dirty word (because they realize it means their end), but we would not omit that term from the masthead of our front page. It is a term deeply imbedded in the history of working-class struggle.

Again, thank you for your letter and hopefully we can continue our mutual exchanges through the pages of CHALLENGE.

Letters of October 5

‘Uncle Joe will save us...’

This past week my students and I discussed the importance of the Soviet Union in World War II and to the world’s working class. I explained that workers in the U.S. demanded Milt Rosen support for the Soviet Union as they struggled to fight German fascism. As we were talking, I remembered a speech given by PLP’s late chairperson Milt Rosen and told them that U.S. soldiers in World War II used to say “Uncle Joe will save us yet.” I explained that these workers didn’t think that Stalin personally would save them, but that it was meant to convey the idea that the politics of the Soviet people were being put in action to stamp out the threat fascism posed to the entire world.

We never had the opportunity to meet the first chair of our Party, but we are saddened by our collective loss. But more than sad, we are grateful for the work he and many others undertook to advance communist struggle. The Party has changed our lives and given them new meaning along with new struggles and challenges.

Today we are working to put into action the politics which are based on the political struggles of our founders. We honor Milt, and in doing so we honor the struggle of workers everywhere. “Uncle Milt will save us yet” conveys our revolutionary optimism for the power and strength of our communist movement and the international working class. Long live the PLP! Fight for communism!

Seattle Comrades

Sexism Hurts Entire Working Class

On August 13, ten PL’ers and friends took part in the Washington, D.C. SlutWalk to raise anti-sexist politics. SlutWalk is an international anti-rape movement that began after a Toronto cop told women that, if they don’t want to be raped, they should not dress like “sluts.” At SlutWalk marches and rallies, women and men wearing everything from lingerie to jeans to burkas, make it clear that rape is an act of violence and dominance, not a reaction to someone’s idea of inappropriate clothing. 

At this event, survivors told their personal stories, and others spoke about a global “rape culture.”  PLP created a flyer explaining that rape and all forms of sexism hurt the entire working class. Sexism exists because of the historical development of class society. Capitalism exploits and super-exploits women as wage workers and unpaid household workers, while keeping the entire working class divided against itself. We found other participants were very receptive to the flyer, and members of our group were excited to hand it out. 

Several people who are involved with the anti-sexist and anti-racist struggle for Latina housekeepers at the University of Maryland attended. This enabled us to see this struggle as part of a broader movement.  We made good contacts and strengthened our own commitment to talking about sexism with our friends.  One has joined a PL study group, and another asked to receive information about it.  This turned out to be a great opportunity to talk to workers we wouldn’t ordinarily reach, and to clarify my own thinking about sexism.

D.C. fighter

Chile : Reformers Set Bosses’ Trap

The fight for access to capitalist education in Chile is a reformist one. Even though the politicians (listed below) have tried to hide their support of the bosses system. They have not been able to hide their reformist claws. This is a fight to reform the access and administration of the education system. The reformers have been erroneously using irresponsible forms of fighting like hunger strikes. The capitalist education and its reforms will never  be able to satisfy the workers’ needs.

The majority of the young leaders in the education movement belong to some of the political parties in the system (Socialist party, Party for Democracy, Christian Democrat Party, Chilean Communist Party [PC], etc.) and, evidently, they obey its respective political lines. No doubt about it! These parties form center-left coalitions, abandon Marxist politics, and run on a nationalist line of compromising within capitalism.

--- Though the PC calls itself communist, it has always been revisionist (uses bosses’ politics) and played its cards to its own political benefit.

The reformists and revisionists control the official “opposition” politics in Chile, and its evident fundamental aim is to recover the power that they lost by the fascist regime of Pinochet’s dictatorship.

In Chile, the parties continue supporting wrong strategies similar to the ones that helped to generate the disaster of Pinochet’s military coup of 1973, which ended Allende’s revisionist rule. Nationalism, not class, continues to play a fundamental role, and the erroneous reformist leadership frequently generates ambiguous situations for the workers.

Under capitalism, the education system is designed to keep the system running in the interest of the bosses. So, compromise between bosses and workers will not be able to change really anything. The real fight must be to transform the economy to satisfy the workers’ needs. The change must be TOTAL, not partial.

The only real solution is the communist revolution and only PLP fights for this change.

A friend

Letters of September 21

Vets Indict Obama for War Crimes but Lack Class Outlook

The Vets for Peace (VFP) Convention in Portland, Oregon was held at Portland State University recently. Having been to a number of VFP conventions, I want to share some observations.

VFP was founded in 1985 by mostly Vietnam-era vets and some from the Korean War and even World War II. Its emphasis was on healing, pacifism, and not forgetting the holocaust that was Vietnam.

In 2005-06, VFP sponsored/assisted the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). Thus, there was some optimism that a veteran-led movement could influence active-duty military personnel and even inspire revolts in the ranks. Sadly, within a year or two, that moment was lost.

The civilian anti-war movement subsequently was undermined by Obama’s electoral campaign in 2007-08. IVAW purged its leadership ranks of the most left people (often black and Latino). The Winter Soldier testimonials in Washington D.C. (2008) saw some vibrant anti-capitalist moments.

But there was much censorship of words like “genocide” and “imperialism.” Some Iraq vets in Los Angeles were so incensed, they boycotted LA’s Winter Soldier. Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) allied itself with VFP/IVAW. Now a new organization, Afghanistan Veterans Against the War (AVAW), is being formed.

All these anti-war groups represent mass organizations that are led by liberal careerists with anti-left credentials. They have potential among their members.

This year, there was talk about Wisconsin, Arab Spring, and the Palestinian/Zionist conflicts. In the workshop on support of the Palestinians against Israeli fascism, two resolutions were rejected: one called for a two-state solution and one for a Palestinian state that failed to rule out a Muslim state.

The resolution that passed emphasized “self-determination,” the nationalist line that ignores class politics. It was clear that sponsoring authors understood that Palestinian militancy would be necessary. However, they neglected to include Arab/Israeli worker solidarity.

Generally, imperialism was widely noted, even more than in past VFP conventions, but they didn’t connect imperialism to capitalism. The resolution to impeach Obama based on war crimes emphasized him as a war criminal. However, it did not link his wars to class conflict or inter-imperialist rivalries.

Still, it was amusing that at the closing Saturday evening dinner, VFP leadership openly criticized the passed resolution as a mistake. That is, VFP rank and file is to the left of VFP leadership. Another observation was that VFP leadership stressed pacifism more than usual. They fear the potential militancy in the air.

Much criticism of democracy was heard, but elections were still viewed as viable. A few years ago, Dennis Kucinich was the favored politician; now the liberal consensus is more with Cynthia McKinney.

Bradley Manning’s case spearheaded by Courage to Resist, located in Oakland, has energetic leadership and a successful fund-raising effort. While defense committee activism has political limits, the fact that Manning faces many years in prison (potentially the death penalty) for being a whistleblower of war atrocities, strikes a chord among people. When videos of these horrors are shown to audiences, as they have been on college campuses, in communities, and in churches, it stuns people and brings the war into sharper focus.

With the economy leaving millions jobless and homeless, we could expect a growing number of active-duty soldiers to question their mission.

Finally, as I was leaving Portland I stopped at a local restaurant. I mentioned the VFP convention, and a middle-aged waitress stated emphatically, “They should bring them all home immediately. My son is on his fifth tour.” When will the break come? When will a massive rejection of the imperialist slaughter among the ranks of soldiers and marines erupt? When will the wars and the economy be linked to develop a full-fledged anti-capitalist movement? Much needs to be done. And it is up to us.

Red Vet

Article on Japan’s Nuclear Disaster Errs on Dangers

The 9/7 article, “Japan’s Nuclear Disaster,” is good politically, but it uncritically accepts the media’s anti-nuclear position. It’s capitalism that kills the world’s working class, not nuclear energy.

The Fukushima meltdowns are a “disaster” for TEPCO [Japan’s electric company] but the supposed dangers to workers in and around the plant are highly exaggerated.  Also the linkage of nuclear energy with nuclear weapons is no more valid than a linkage of steel with tanks.

One cannot base an attitude toward nuclear energy on who stands to profit, because all energy sources produce profit, the greatest coming from fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas).  The two authors of this letter (including a physicist and radiation worker) have been studying, giving talks, and writing about energy sources for over three years (with no energy investments).  

Humans have evolved in a sea of natural radiation, from ground and sky.  Low levels of radiation actually have been found to reduce cancer rates and prolong life, called “hormesis,” due to defenses, including our immune systems and cell repair.  Hormesis is little known due to a decades-long denial by nuclear regulatory agencies, as well as by the media, who ignore or ridicule the concept.  Coal/oil profits no doubt pay for this ridicule, but the point is whether or not it’s true.

The government, admitting there is no evidence for it, relies on the linear-no-threshold (LNT) approach, which denies a threshold below which radiation is protective of health, though above which it sickens and kills.  They ignore more than 2,000 studies in the world scientific literature, compiled over decades, by hundreds of laboratory workers and epidemiologists that prove that LNT is false at low levels and that radiation hormesis is real. 

Given the actual exposures, it is unlikely that any Fukushima workers or local inhabitants, let alone in other countries, will be harmed by the radiation.  But tens or hundreds of thousands were either killed or still suffer immensely from the April 6 quake and tsunami.

In contrast, coal and oil kill an estimated twp million people annually around the world (about 50,000 in the U.S.) from toxic exhaust, waste, and mining “accidents.”  Wind and solar, pushed by venture capitalists and most environmentalist organizations as the solutions to global warming, are so intermittent and so spread out that they are entirely dependent on another energy source for baseload (the 24/7 provision of energy).  And the only choices for that baseload are either deadly coal and natural gas or nuclear.  Interruptions in baseload electricity guarantee huge loss of life, whether from loss of air conditioning, loss of air controller communication, or absence of hurricane warnings, or hundreds of other scenarios.

CHALLENGE mentions a million deaths from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.  This invented figure comes from the Ukraine that is now suing Russia for compensation.  Even the World Health Organization projects a total of 4,000 deaths, but they rely on the LNT falsehood.  Today’s reactor designs make a repeat of Chernobyl impossible.  Chernobyl’s main damage was from FEAR that fostered an estimated 100,000-200,000 voluntary abortions and over 1,000 suicides in Europe.  Exaggeration of danger is deadly.

No energy source controlled by capitalists mainly serves the working class, but nuclear has been the cleanest and safest source, and continues to improve through the efforts of nuclear workers.  When revolution rids us of capitalism, nuclear energy, in our opinion, will prove to be the only way to safely and sustainably satisfy all our energy needs for food, shelter, and other necessities of life, and at the same time reverse the developing climate disasters due to global warming from fossil fuels.

The authors will provide an article on energy in general, in far more depth, for THE COMMUNIST magazine in the near future.

Two long-time comrades

Illinois Workers Attacked; Union
Leaders Role? Mislead

Union-busting is not only happening in Republican Wisconsin, but also in Democratic Illinois. The Governor here called off the raises of many government workers. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union contributed thousands of dollars to the campaign of this Governor.

The Chicago Mayor also plans to cut the benefits of the workers. The labor unions had acceded to furlough days for employees. This has not satisfied the bosses’ politicians.

The Chicago school board reneged on the contract it made with the teachers union. These union leaders responded by asking to “have talks” with the board members.

In the Cook County hospital, the government workers and patients are under attack. This hospital serves the indigent working class.

Court actions, political campaigns and halfhearted demonstrations will not achieve much for the working class. We must have militant actions. PL correctly tells us that it is not only the Republicans that are to blame; all politicians are instruments of the bosses.

The time of union misleadership has passed. We need Progressive Labour Party leadership. Forward to workers power!

Red senior

Letters of September 7

‘No Shortcuts...Struggle is the essence of life...’

The feeling I’ve experienced [during this Summer Project] has been invigorating. I see strength in the hope that the inequality in our world, caused solely by the power of money, would one day disappear for good.

I see so much suffering and am unable to do anything immediately, for I myself am empty-handed and feel that ideological work is not enough. I wonder if there is a shortcut. But history grounds me: for revolution to succeed, we must do profound ideological work following PLP’s red line. Those foundations should be solid within each of us.

As Marx wrote, “struggle is the essence of life,” and therefore, one shouldn’t rely only on theory, but should dare to help our class fulfill their needs through practice. That way, one day, we’d fully understand the needs of the proletariat.

I should admit that although I am afraid, it’s an honor to open my house to great comrades from Mexico and other parts of the world; I never imagined I’d be sharing the same roof with them. I won’t see many of them again. But, I’m certain that every word, every CHALLENGE or flyer that we distribute, is contributing to the weakening and fall of those responsible for so much misery and pain.

A communist worker

‘Great road ahead...good to journey with PLP’

The first day of activities was very satisfying and encouraging. Twelve of us participated in a meeting, in which ten were members and two were CHALLENGE-reader friends who will be asked to join the Party.

The first part of the activity was a discussion of the work we’ll be involved in during the Summer Project, as well as a brief report of the work each of us carries out in the Party and the length of our involvement. We also discussed the purpose of our Party, its final goal, and our politics. We shared our struggle against nationalism, sexism, racism, and the importance of building the base and CHALLENGE.

We shared the struggles in our “home countries.” The importance of PLP is its internationalism. We benefit from the experiences of our class sisters and brothers. It’s important to learn that in spite of the distance and borders, the condition of workers is the same, because the system under which we live is the same.

A young participant shared his experience in the Haiti Summer Project. It’s important to organize these activities because of the enthusiasm and commitment they generate.

This is the first Summer Project in which I have participated and it gave me the energy to keep on building the Party; there is a great road ahead and it’s good to journey with PLP.

A comrade

Pizza with a ‘Communist Topping’

Throughout the fight at Brookdale Hospital, our PLP club has been struggling with CHALLENGE distribution and the ideas in “Build a Base in the Working Class,” and Lenin’s “What Is To Be Done?” A recent incident illustrates that even while building long-term ties, there are plenty of opportunities to expand our CHALLENGE readership!

While visiting with Brookdale workers at their homes to discuss CHALLENGE, I stopped to grab a slice of pizza in the mostly black and Latino working-class neighborhood of East New York. I, a white-skinned worker who was deliriously hungry, walked into the store and failed to notice all the young black workers’ eyes on me.

While staring at the menu, I heard one of the workers behind me ask, “what’re you doing in here, slick? What business you got being in here? What’s your deal?” I turned my head and realized he was talking to me. “What, you a rookie undercover [cop]?” I nervously laughed and answered, “no man, I’m not undercover.”

The police maintain an armed occupation of East New York, as in every other black and Latino neighborhood. There’s no shortage of plainclothes KKKops walking around as if they rule the place. He — and apparently the other black workers in the store, judging by the number of folded arms standing around me — sized me up again. “So, Transit [cop]?” Then, remembering the several dozen CHALLENGEs in my bag, I said, “Actually, I’m a communist in the Progressive Labor Party.” The look on everyone’s faces was a unanimous, “who the hell is this guy?”

I handed out CHALLENGEs to all the workers and began an impromptu speech — starting with the Brookdale bosses’ viciously racist attack on workers in East New York and Brownsville. Several were born at Brookdale, and were unaware of the hospital’s dire condition.

Those who were hoping for an entertaining confrontation walked outside, but two of the workers (including the one who asked if I was a cop) remained to talk politics.

As they leafed through the paper, commenting on the photos of the Harlem Rebellion in the article about Comrade Milt, I explained that PLP is not just another political party, but a revolutionary communist party organizing all workers to fight the racist attacks. The international PLP is trying to organize workers worldwide to fight for communism. We believe that millions of workers must fight for armed revolution and smash the entire racist, sexist, imperialist capitalist system.

“Word?” He asked. “Yes! Armed revolution of millions of workers, against capitalism. The only way to smash racism.” (I especially emphasized this not only to keep politics primary, but also in case there were any lingering suspicions about me being a cop.)

One of the workers, Aaron, has been a truck driver for a milk company for six years. We spoke about our respective jobs and union issues. I asked him if he’d like a CHALLENGE subscription mailed directly to his home, and we exchanged contact information. After he told me he hangs out with many of the workers in that store regularly, I promised to send him several copies to distribute.

As I walked out with my pizza slice to continue my home visits, Aaron called out “you better start sending me those papers!” That day, visiting and building stronger ties with our fellow workers at Brookdale was a step forward for our Party, for sure; but this was a bonus!

Red Pizza

Debating the Road to Revolution

Revolution was definitely in the air at the 2011 annual summer institute of the MLG (Marxist Literary Group). Partly because of PL’s presence last year, this year’s theme of revolution attracted nearly twice as many participants as the year before despite the scarcity of academic celebrities. Interest in radical politics is definitely gaining credibility among instructors and students. Communism is no longer an unmentionable word: a recent poorly-advertised UK academic conference on “the idea of communism” drew over a thousand attendees. 

While most MLG contributors consider themselves to be Marxists, few are communists. Many of those present this year included anarchists, socialists, anticommunist Marxists as well as a contingent of revisionists (fake leftists).  Although our twenty-five years of work in the MLG have led to only a few people actually joining the PLP, we have maintained a left analysis of the various versions of Marxism popular at the MLG. 

We have consistently criticized the impact of identity politics, postmodernism, neo-Marxism, and post-Marxism upon the study of history and culture.  We have fought the anticommunism — specifically in relation to distorted conceptions of Soviet and Chinese history — that prevails even among academics who consider themselves to be anti-capitalist radicals.  We have put forth the need to rely on the working class and to make the fight against racism and sexism an essential part of revolutionary struggle.

The PL papers this year that criticized the two-stage theory to establish socialism before moving to communism, were well received, despite these ideas having sparked skeptical or hostile responses at preceding conferences. 

The present moment offers significant opportunities for the Party’s membership and influence to grow among radical academics in the humanities.  PL members in the MLG — as our comrades in the public schools are doing — need to seize all possible opportunities to make our voices heard.

Red intellectuals

Comrade Milt Rosen: No Retreat from Working-Class Communist Revolution

The remembrance for a great communist leader, comrade Milt, in CHALLENGE was both moving and inspiring.  Milt, along with Mort, Wally and others, provided the leadership for rebuilding the international communist movement at a time when most had abandoned the revolutionary content of the ideas of Marx, Engels and Lenin.

A small group of revolutionaries split from the CPUSA and joined with a ragtag group of anti-racist, anti-imperialist students, of whom I was one, to form PLP.  Milt was instrumental in welding us all together in a fighting party that put principle first, last and always.

 Milt seemed to be at least one step ahead in analyzing the political ideas and strategy necessary to build a working-class party, but he also was the most patient in listening to, and learning from, the input of each and every comrade. Milt would sometimes not speak at a meeting until after everyone else had contributed their often-conflicting ideas.  He would then summarize the discussion with an analysis that would often lead to everyone thinking, “why didn’t I see it that way?”  Criticism and self-criticism came naturally to Milt, and democratic centralism became a live process to even the most individualistic students (as I certainly was).

Another of Milt’s crucial contributions to PLP’s growth was his insistence on honesty in our political line.  This had not always been the practice of the international communist movement.  Industrial and agricultural workers had been approached with reformist ideas, with communism reserved for the “right” time.  Milt always said, “we can’t trick our way to communism.” When PLP criticized the politics of the Vietnamese comrades that were fighting U.S. imperialism to the death, it didn’t make us popular in many quarters.  However, in the long run, it enabled PL and our friends (and eventually many others) to see the consequences of compromises with our class enemy.

Milt was a gentle soul when struggling with us all to make whatever contribution we were capable of, but he showed no tolerance for any retreat from the politics of working class communist revolution.  Attacking racism, sexism (and eventually nationalism) was not just a tactic — they were the essence of our communist politics.

Our recent international growth is a result of the PLP’s unwavering commitment to communist revolution in the face of the retreats of the old movement.  It is a testament to the leadership of Milt and many others.  We can honor their memory by continuing the struggle until the working class rules the world. Comrade Milt, we will miss you.     

Old time NYC red

Capitalism’s Unemployment Spawns Suicide

I am a 29-year-old student about to finish my masters’ degree. My spouse is 26 years old and finished a bachelor’s degree in biology two years ago, but has not been able to find a job since. Unemployment is a tremendous problem for young people. This wrecked her spirit since she faced ever-dwindling savings and did not receive unemployment insurance. In the last two years she deteriorated from a young, energetic science student to a bitter, angry woman crushed under the wheels of the job market.

A year ago she had enough. After not finding a job for a year, she was an emotional wreck. In desperation, she tried to kill herself to avoid being a burden to me or her mother. She almost succeeded, and was hospitalized for several days in an intensive-care unit with acute poisoning. After this suicide attempt, she was diagnosed with depression and began receiving anti-depressant treatment. She also started receiving a small disability benefit due to her depression.

However, this is not a personal mental illness like the system tries to say. This is not her fault. She does not want to be unemployed and receive a disability benefit. She wants a full-time job to earn a living. The capitalist system cannot provide her with a job and blames her for her anger and bitterness.

A system that can’t provide everyone with a real job has to go. A system which drives so many workers to desperation has to be replaced by a new system that will allow everyone to work for the benefit of all and receive an equal share of the bounty produced by society. Both of us have joined the Progressive Labor Party and are now fighting for a future free from the horrors of unemployment and poverty.

 Red Student

LETTERS of July 06

PLP Active in El Salvador May Day

We’re starting to see the results from our political work here, having recruited new CHALLENGE readers and developing a base amongst Salvadorian workers. 

We’ve been discussing PLP’s politics in comparison with the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front) which negotiated and handed over the struggle of super-exploited Salvadorian workers to the bosses. Our struggle has been to hoist high our communist PLP flags and not abandon our revolutionary ideology as did the old communist movement in Russia and China where the workers had power and were betrayed by phony revisionists who allied with the bosses.   

On this May Day, we workers in El Salvador commemorated the 125th anniversary of the courageous battle of Chicago’s workers out of which May Day was born. PLP members were part of the demonstration, distributing more than 1,500 of our Party’s fliers, in which we exposed the atrocities of the capitalist system and the need for a communist revolution.   

We also called on workers to unite with us to build an international communist Party that can deepen the organization of the world’s working class. For this CHALLENGE is essential.

It’s necessary for PLP to participate in the class battles of workers against bosses, to motivate the workers to take on the struggle with strength and courage towards a global communist revolution. 

Comrade from El Salvador

FMLN: The Guardian of Capitalism

This May Day workers, farmers, students, teachers and their unions were present in the principal streets of San Salvador to celebrate the heroism of Chicago’s workers repressed by the capitalist system which tries to still the voices of oppressed people. But their struggle broke the chains the bosses put on the workers. That’s how the 8-hour work-day was achieved.

Thousands chanted “Long Live the Workers of the World”; and “The Workers, United, Will Never be Defeated.” PLP’s 1,500 fliers called upon the workers to organize ourselves to fight against capitalism and build a society based on social equality.

We mocked the security forces of FMLN and the state which tried to control the demonstration. They didn’t want us to bring our message to the May Day marchers, which was the opposite of their’s. While we are small, our consistent work will win recruits among soldiers, workers, students, farmers and future generations to the PLP. We also distributed CHALLENGES and made various contacts, especially among veterans of the FMLN.

Comrade from El Salvador 

LA PLP Plans Summer Project; Expose Union ‘Deal’

Here in Los Angeles, we are closing out the school year and getting ready for summer. As such, we are doing some activities to try to build towards the Summer Project, to build student leadership and to strengthen our ties to the young people we have been working with all year. Last weekend, we had a study-action group. A student selected our reading and led the discussion. He chose the CHALLENGE letter about the situation in the Inglewood school district.

This led us to discuss the new “deal” that the teachers union made with the L.A. Unified School District. The union accepted almost 2,000 layoffs and four to six unpaid furlough days. Teachers at all of our schools thought this action was a sell-out of the younger teachers. The union however did not allow much discussion; it pushed the deal to a vote one day after it was announced. At one of our schools, there was a quick lunch-time meeting where a comrade was able to raise the need to reject the deal and fight for working-class unity, no layoffs, no pay-cuts. At another school, the union did not even have a meeting, just the vote.

The discussion then transitioned to how to get out our ideas, especially through CHALLENGE. Since we were going to a CHALLENGE sale afterwards, we talked about how to distribute the paper and how to encourage workers to read and contribute to their paper. There was even a short role-play. Afterward, we went to a neighborhood supermarket and talked with the workers there, who were mainly Latino. We were able to get out 76 papers and raise about $10.

Our student-leader was able to overcome some hesitancy and got out CHALLENGE to newcomers. He found that workers are interested in PLP’s ideas and willing to talk to communists. This was a good beginning in our transition to summer work but we hope to build on it and win more students to an upcoming “Summer Project Orientation.”

Teacher in Los Angeles