by the National Action Committee, Socialist Party USA

On this International Workers Day, the majority of the workers find themselves in a great dilemma. It is obvious that free trade and deregulation have caused millions to lose their jobs. Even the United States, once the major economic power of the world, is in the process of an economic collapse. Today, more than ever, is a time to consider casting off the chains of capitalist crisis.

The truth is that the majority of the workers understand very well the economic depressions are a permanent part of capitalism. The majority of the workers are intellectuals in an organic way. Without any type of formal economic education, they know what is going on because they are forced to live capitalist economics. It is irritating to hear so many socialist intellectuals pontificate that all workers have to do is realize that they are being exploited and it will light their revolutionary fire. Workers understand that they are being exploited, what is lacking is the organizational means to ignite the spark.

Creating socialism will not be easy. It will take much sacrifice. An egalitarian society will not arise in one day. Only a determined class struggle can bring about the kind of fundamental changes we need. We must first learn to abandon the trinkets and small concessions that capitalism offers us. We must create a vision of the society we want to live in and fight for it.

For the Mexicans and other Hispanics in the United States that work as undocumented workers, the economic crisis will bring great difficulties. President Barack Obama promised some type of amnesty, but you can be assured that this will not happen immediately. When it does it will come at great economic cost for the applicants and will have many complications. .Meanwhile, immigrants will be made into scapegoats as racist conservatives circulate the notion that they are stealing “American” jobs. Violence by racist groups has already begun and may
continue to grow. Immigrant workers will find allies in socialists because we understand that labor knows no borders – all workers are a part of our class.

This crisis presents opportunities to reestablish and enlarge the power of the unions and rebuild mass socialist political parties. But that decision to take action is yours as workers. You know socialism is the path to create a better society. You know there is a history of successful socialist political parties throughout the world. Socialism can once again deliver what working people need so desperately – a world of prosperity, justice and freedom!

Long Live the Workers!
Long Live Revolution!
Long Live the First of May!

Editorial, The Socialist, May 2009

There is a new feeling this May Day. Though not exactly a haunting specter, there is sense that the world may be on the brink of something new and significant. In one short year, we have witnessed the near total collapse of a global financial system once so dominant that it motivated calls for “the end of history.” Capitalism is failing – drowning in a sea of its own debt, unable to direct the monumental strands of individual greed and unwilling to submit itself to the kind of emergency surgery it underwent in the 1930s. And now it is May Day again, a day for the victims of capitalism to gather strength through their free association and common desires for justice.

The severity of the economic crisis can be measured by the outburst of discussion about socialism on a nearly daily basis in the mainstream media. Much of this has been fueled by Conservatives who have creatively discovered socialism inside of every movement of the Federal Government no matter how wasteful. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has led this charge by tagging Barack Obama “the world’s best salesman for socialism” and hailing the creation of “the Union of American Socialist Republics.” B-movie actor Chuck Norris boasted of thousands of right-wing cells preparing to curtail the march toward socialism.

In progressive circles, conversations have been less bombastic but equally searching. The Nation presented the choice as either “Reforming Capitalism” or “Re-Imagining Socialism” and took some tepid steps away from their electoral support of Obama. Newsweek took a more direct approach declaring that “We are all Socialists Now.” However, their version of socialism amounted to little more than state intervention fueled by a non-descript “populist rage.”

Thankfully, May Day is about something besides the speculations of pundits. On this day workers who directly suffer under the worst impositions of capitalism claim public space to speak out about their common condition. This tradition was born as a commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket massacre in Chicago. From this point forward, the holiday served as a symbolic means to link working people across national borders in a common struggle to cast aside the social and economic limitations enforced by capitalism. Gatherings big and small – in jails, public squares and city streets – have pronounced the simple truth that working people are prevented from reaching their full human potential by a parasitic employer class.



This year, more than any in recent memory, there is much to speak out about. Our analysis always begins with the simple fact that we live in a society where 5% of the population controls 85% of the wealth. Even this is not enough for the employing class. The lure of super-profits through speculation has drawn them, and de-facto much of the world’s population, into a massive economic crisis. Humanity is left to deal with the consequences. In February alone, employers sent more than 500,000 workers in America to the unemployment line. The ILO estimates that as many as 230 million people will be put out of work by the end of 2009. Consequently, the UN estimates that more than 100 million more people could be forced into the deep poverty of less than $2 a day.

Employer class spokesmen will respond by crying poverty and demanding “shared sacrifice.” May Day is the perfect moment to cut through such false declarations. As a result of the economic crisis, the shortfall between what could possibly be produced and what is produced amounts to $7 trillion. Tax structures throughout the world continue to unevenly favor the wealthy thereby allowing trillions more to be funneled into private hands. Banks and financial corporations who hold the immediate responsibility for polluting the global economy with “toxic assets” have also mostly escaped punitive taxation or nationalization to clean up their mess. There is plenty of wealth which could be put to work productively. Only the profit-motive of capitalism is preventing this.

There is, however, a political and economic option available to the millions who will spill out into the streets this May Day. Democratic socialism offers the greatest hope for humanity to live in a world in which resources are used in rational productive ways to enhance the development of each individual. All of those things which make us human – good health, food, shelter, education – should become inalienable human rights. It is time to trade in our credit cards for union cards – to make demands for more wages, better working conditions and jobs in productive enterprises. Socialism will allow working people to take hold of their lives and become active creators of the future.

Every day should be directed by the fighting spirit of May Day. By marching, organizing, and extending bonds of solidarity we can create socialism for the 21st century from the bottom-up. Such a movement will be built to last since it rests upon the timeless truth that it is workers who create all that is valuable in this society.

Editorial, El Socialista

Hay un nuevo sentimiento este Primero de Mayo. Tal vez no es exactamente un amenazante fantasma, pero hay un sensación que el mundo esta al borde de algo nuevo y significante. En menos de un año se ha visto casi el colapso total del sistema financiero mundial, que alguna vez parecía tan dominante que llamaba por el “fin de la historia”. El Capitalismo esta fallando—se ahoga en un mar de deuda, incapaz de dirigir las monumentales fibras de la avaricia individual y se niega a someterse a una cirugía de emergencia como sucedió en los años 30s. Y ahora es el Primero de Mayo otra vez, un día para que las victimas del capitalismo reúnan fuerza a través de la libre comunión y deseos comunes de justicia.

La profundidad de la crisis económica puede ser medida por el resurgimiento del socialismo en el discurso público y mediático. Esta palabra es arrojada de lado a lado a diario por los medios de comunicación. Casi todo esto ha sido encendido por los conservadores quienes continúan con un estilo paranoico de hacer política, creativamente descubren socialismo en todo los movimientos del gobierno federal. El antiguo gobernado Mike Huckabee ha llevado esta campaña, llamando a Barack Obama ‘el Mejor Vendedor del Socialismo del Mundo’ o aclamando la creación de la ‘Unión American de Repúblicas Socialistas’. El actor de películas, Chuck Norris da alarde de que miles de grupos milicianos de derecha están listos para acortar la marcha hacia el socialismo.

En círculos progresistas, conversaciones han sido menos explosivas pero igualmente visibles. The Nation presentó la opción de o ‘Reformar el Capitalismo’ o ‘Reinventar’ el socialismo. Barbara Ehrenreich y Bill Fletcher fueron convocados para defender la causa del socialismo y tomaron tibios pasos del apoyo electoral que la habían dado a Obama. Newsweek tomó un acercamiento más directo, declarando que ‘Todos somos ahora Socialistas’. Pero su versión del socialismo solo es un poco más de intervención del gobierno motivada por un ´coraje populista’.

Menos mal, el Primero de Mayo es sobre algo más allá de las especulaciones de los ‘expertos’. En este día los trabajadores, quienes han directamente sufrido las peores imposiciones del capitalismo, reclamaron el espacio público para protestar por el estado común de su condición. Esta tradición nació como parte de la conmemoración de la masacre de Haymarket en Chicago en 1886. Desde este punto en adelante, la fecha ha servido como una manera simbólica de unir trabajadores de todas las nacionalidades en una batalla común para combatir al capitalismo. Estas reuniones, pequeñas o grandes—en cárceles, plazas públicas y calles—han producido la simple verdad que los trabajadores son prevenidos de alcanzar su máximo potencial humano por una clase parasítica de empleadores.



Este año, más que en cualquier año que se recuerde, hay mucho sobre que protestar. Nuestro análisis simplemente comienza con el hecho de que vivimos en una sociedad donde 5% de nuestra población controla 85% de la riqueza. Aun esto no es suficiente para la clase empleadora. La atracción por las súper ganancias a través de la especulación los ha llevado, con el resto de la población mundial, a una crisis económica mundial. A la humidad se le deja sola para lidiar con las consecuencias. Solo en febrero, empleadores despidieron más de 500,000 trabajadores en los Estados Unidos. La Organización Internacional del Trabajo estima que más de 230 millones de personas perderán sus trabajos a finales del 2009. Como consecuencia, la campaña Millenium de las Naciones Unidas estima que más que de 100 millones de personas podrán estar en la más profunda pobreza, viviendo con menos de $2 al día.

Los voceros de la clase empleadora responderán con gritos de pobreza, demandando un ‘sacrificio compartido’. El Primero de Mayo es el momento perfecto para cortar a través de tales falsas declaraciones. Por ejemplo, el economista Joseph Stiglitz estima que, como resultado de la crisis económica, la diferencia entre lo que se produce y los que se puede producir llega a los 7 trillones (casi el PIB de la China). Los impuestos a través del mundo continúan favoreciendo a los más ricos, de esta manera permitiendo que más trillones sean destinados a las manos de unos pocos. Los bancos y las corporaciones financieras, quienes tienen la mayor responsabilidad por contaminar la economía mundial con ‘activos tóxicos’, han escapado sanciones fiscales o nacionalización para limpiar su desastre. En corto, hay suficiente riqueza y potencial para riqueza que podría ser usada productivamente. Solo el deseo de lucro del capitalismo esta impidiendo
esto.

Hay, a pesar de todo, una opción política y económica disponible para todos los que salgan a la calle en Primero de Mayo. El Socialismo Democrático ofrece la más grande esperanza para la humanidad para vivir en un mundo en el cual los recursos son para el uso racional y productivo, que estimula el desarrollo de cada individuo. Todas estas cosas que nos hacen humanos—salud, comida, refugio, educación—deberían derecho humanos inalienables. También es hora de que cambiemos nuestras tarjetas de crédito por tarjetas de sindicatos, para comenzar las demandas por mejores salarios, mejores condiciones de trabaja y mejores trabajos en negocios productivos. El socialismo le permitirá a la clase trabajadora toma control de sus vidas y ser más activos creadores de su futuro.

Entonces, hoy, Primero de Mayo, nosotros celebramos acciones tales como las que tomaron los trabajadores de Republic Doors and Windows. Enfrentados con la posibilidad de que el empleador cerrase la planta sin reembolso e indemnizaciones, estos trabajadores del sindicato United Electrical Workers, ocuparon la fábrica. La ocupación y las acciones de solidaridad nacional forzaron al empleador a cumplir sus promesas. Este acto de audacia expresa el poder social y creativo de la clase trabajadora.

Los socialistas piensan que cada día debería de ser dirigido por el espíritu de lucha del Primero de Mayo. Marchando, organizándose, extendiendo los lazos de solidaridad, nosotros podemos crear un socialismo del siglo 21 desde abajo hacia arriba. Tal movimiento será construido para perdurar desde que reside en la inmortal verdad que son los trabajadores quienes crean todo lo que tiene valor en esta sociedad.

by E. V. Debs
from Marxists.org

Written: February, 1898
First Published: The New Time, February, 1898
Transcribed/HTML Markup: John Metz for the Chicago Socialist Party & David Walters for the Marxists Internet Archive Debs Archive

The century now closing is luminous with great achievements. In every department of human endeavor marvelous progress has been made. By the magic of the machine which sprang from the inventive genius of man, wealth has been created in fabulous abundance. But, alas, this wealth has been created in fabulous abundance. But, alas, this wealth, instead of blessing the race, has been the means of enslaving it. The few have come in possession of all, and the many have been reduced to the extremity of living by permission.

A few have had the courage to protest. To silence these so that the dead-level of slavery could be maintained has been the demand and command of capital-brown power. Press and pulpit responded with alacrity. All the forces of society were directed against these pioneers of industrial liberty, these brave defenders of oppressed humanity—and against them the crime of the century has been committed.

Albert R. Parsons, August Spies, George Engel, Adolph Fischer, Louis Lingg, Samuel Fielden, Michael Schwab and Oscar Neebe paid the cruel penalty in prison cell and on the gallows.

They were the first martyrs in the cause of industrial freedom, and one of the supreme duties of our civilization, if indeed we may boast of having been redeemed from savagery, is to rescue their names from calumny and do justice to their memory.

The crime with which these men were charged was never proven against them. The trial which resulted in their conviction was not only a disgrace to all judicial procedure but a foul, black, indelible and damning stigma upon the nation.

It was a trial organized and conducted to convict—a conspiracy to murder innocent men, and hence had not one redeeming feature.

It was a plot, satanic in all its conception, to wreak vengeance upon defenseless men, who, not being found guilty of the crime charged in the indictment, were found guilty of exercising the inalienable right of free speech in the interest of the toiling and groaning masses, and thus they became the first martyrs to a cause which, fertilized by their blood, has grown in strength and sweep and influence from the day they yielded up their lives and liberty in its defense.

As the years go by and the history of that infamous trial is read and considered by men of thought, who are capable of wrenching themselves from the grasp of prejudice and giving reason its rightful supremacy, the stronger the conviction becomes that the present generation of workingmen should erect an enduring memorial to the men who had the courage to denounce and oppose wage-slavery and seek for methods of emancipation.

The vision of the judicially murdered men was prescient. They saw the dark and hideous shadow of coming events. They spoke words of warning, not too soon, not too emphatic, not too trumpettoned—for even in 1886, when the Haymarket meetings were held, the capitalist grasp was upon the throats of workingmen and its fetters were upon their limbs.

There was even then idleness, poverty, squalor, the rattling of skeleton bones, the sunken eye, the pallor, the living death of famine, the crushing and the grinding of the relentless mills of the plutocracy, which more rapidly than the mills of the gods grind their victims to dust.



The men who went to their death upon the verdict of a jury, I have said, were judicially murdered—not only because the jury was packed for the express purpose of finding them guilty, not only because the crime for which they suffered was never proven against them, not only because the judge before whom they were arraigned was unjust and bloodthirsty, but because they had declared in the exercise of free speech that men who subjected their fellowmen to conditions often worse than death were unfit to live.

In all lands and in all ages where the victims of injustice have bowed their bodies to the earth, bearing grievous burdens laid upon them by cruel taskmasters, and have lifted their eyes starward in the hope of finding some orb whose light inspired hope, ten million times the anathema has been uttered and will be uttered until a day shall dawn upon the world when the emancipation of those who toil is achieved by the brave, self-sacrificing few who, like the Chicago martyrs, have the courage of crusaders and the spirit of iconoclasts and dare champion the cause of the oppressed and demand in the name of an avenging God and of an outraged Humanity that infernalism shall be eliminated from our civilization.

And as the struggle for justice proceeds and the battlefields are covered with the slain, as Mother Earth drinks their blood, the stones are given tongues with which to denounce man’s inhumanity to man—aye, to women and cellar, arraign our civilization, our religion and our judiciary—whose wailings and lamentations, hushing to silence every sound the Creator designed to make the world a paradise of harmonies, transform it into an inferno where the demons of greed plot and scheme to consign their victims to lower depths of degradation and despair.

The men who were judicially murdered in Chicago in 1887, in the name of the great State of Illinois, were the avant couriers of a better day. They were called anarchists, but at their trial it was not proven that they had committed any crime or violated any law. They had protested against unjust laws and their brutal administration. They stood between oppressor and oppressed, and they dared, in a free (?) country, to exercise the divine right of free speech; and the records of their trial, as if written with an “iron pen and lead in the rock forever,” proclaim the truth of the declaration.

I would rescue their names from slander. The slanderers of the dead are the oppressors of the living. I would, if I could, restore them to their rightful positions as evangelists, the proclaimers of good news to their fellowmen—crusaders, to rescue the sacred shrines of justice from the profanations of the capitalistic defilers who have made them more repulsive than Augean stables. Aye, I would take them, if I could, from peaceful slumber in their martyr graves—I would place joint to joint in their dislocated necks—I would make the halter the symbol of redemption—I would restore the flesh to their skeleton bones—their eyes should again flash defiance to the enemies of humanity, and their tongues, again, more eloquent than all the heroes of oratory, should speak the truth to a gainsaying world. Alas, this cannot be done—but something can be done. The stigma fixed upon their names by an outrageous trial can be forever obliterated and their fame
be made to shine with resplendent glory on the pages of history.

Until the time shall come, as come it will, when the parks of Chicago shall be adorned with their statues, and with holy acclaim, men, women and children, pointing to these monuments as testimonial of gratitude, shall honor the men who dared to be true to humanity and paid the penalty of their heroism with their lives, the preliminary work of setting forth their virtues devolves upon those who are capable of gratitude to men who suffered death that they might live.

They were the men who, like Al-Hassen, the minstrel of the king, went forth to find themes of mirth and joy with which to gladden the ears of his master, but returned disappointed, and, instead of themes to awaken the gladness and joyous echoes, found scenes which dried all the fountains of joy. Touching his golden harp, Al-Hassen sang to the king as Parsons, Spies, Engels, Fielden, Fischer, Lingg, Schwab and Neebe proclaimed to the people:

“O king, at thy
Command I went into the world of men;
I sought full earnestly the thing which I
Might weave into the gay and lightsome song.
I found it, king; ’twas there. Had I the art
To look but on the fair outside, I nothing
Else had found. That art not mine, I saw what
Lay beneath. And seeing thus I could not sing;
For there, in dens more vile than wolf or jackal
Ever sought, were herded, stifling, foul, the
Writhing, crawling masses of mankind. Man!
Ground down beneath oppression’s iron heel,
Till God in him was crushed and driven back,
And only that which with the brute he shares
Finds room to upward grow.”

Such pictures of horror our martyrs saw in Chicago, as others have seen them in all the great centers of population in the country. But, like the noble minstrel, they proceeded to recite their discoveries and with him moaned:

“And in this world
I saw how womanhood’s fair flower had
Never space its petals to unfold. How
Childhood’s tender bud was crushed and trampled
Down in mire and filth too evil, foul, for beasts
To be partaken in. For gold I saw
The virgin sold, and motherhood was made
A mock and score.

I saw the fruit of labor
Torn away from him who toiled, to further
Swell the bursting coffers of the rich, while
Babes and mothers pined and died of want.
I saw dishonor and injustice thrive. I saw
The wicked, ignorant, greedy, and unclean,
By means of bribes and baseness, raised to seats
Of power, from whence with lashes pitiless
And keen, they scourged the hungry, naked throng
Whom first they robbed and then enslaved.”

Such were the scenes that the Chicago martyrs had witnessed and which may still be seen, and for reciting them and protesting against them they were judicially murdered.

It was not strange that the hearts of the martyrs “grew into one with the great moaning, throbbing heart” of the oppressed; not strange that the nerves of the martyrs grew “tense and quivering with the throes of mortal pain”; not strange that they should pity and plead and protest. The strange part of it is that in our high-noon of civilization a damnable judicial conspiracy should have been concocted to murder them under the forms of law.

That such is the truth of history, no honest man will attempt to deny; hence the demand, growing more pronounced every day, to snatch the names of these martyred evangelists of labor emanicapation from dishonor and add them to the roll of the most illustrious dead of the nation.

by Walter Crane
from Marxists.org
Written: April 13, 1894 for The Workers Maypole cartoon;
Published: Justice, 1894;

World Workers, whatever may bind ye,
This day let your work be undone:
Cast the clouds of the winter behind ye,
And come forth and be glad in the sun.

Now again while the green earth rejoices
In the bud and the blossom of May
Lift your hearts up again, and your voices,
And keep merry the World's Labour Day.

Let the winds lift your banners from far lands
With a message of strife and of hope:
Raise the Maypole aloft with its garlands
That gathers your cause in its scope.

It is writ on each ribbon that flies
That flutters from fair Freedom's heart:
If still far be the crown and the prize
In its winning may each take a part.

Your cause is the hope of the world,
In your strife is the life of the race,
The workers' flag Freedom unfurled
Is the veil of the bright future's face.

Be ye many or few drawn together,
Let your message be clear on this day;
Be ye birds of the spring, of one feather
In this--that ye sing on May-Day.

Of the new life that still lieth hidden,
Though its shadow is cast before;
The new birth of hope that unbidden
Surely comes, as the sea to the shore.

Stand fast, then, Oh Workers, your ground,
Together pull, strong and united:
Link your hands like a chain the world round,
If you will that your hopes be requited.

When the World's Workers, sisters and brothers,
Shall build, in the new coming years,
A lair house of life--not for others,
For the earth and its fulness is theirs.

Thanks to Thom Good at Next Left Notes, we have a video of the Socialist Party USA panel at the Left Forum 2009. The panel was titled "Not Our War: Afghanistan and the Global Peace Movement." It featured Jonas Sjostedt of the Swedish Left Party, David McReynolds of the SP-USA and War Resister's League and Adele Welty of Sept. 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. The panel was chaired by NYC Local Chairperson Kristin Schall. Enjoy!











Please Visit Next Left Notes for more Left Forum 2009 Coverage!

from Solidarity Zine

BREAKING NEWS: On April 16, by a 2-1 vote, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Troy Davis' petition.

The Court extended Davis' stay of execution for 30 days to give him a chance to file a habeas corpus petition with the US Supreme Court.

More information on the court's decision and case background
Take Action!

» Participate in the Global Day of Action for Troy Davis!

The larger the numbers, and the louder the voices, the better chance we have of achieving justice for Troy Davis. We are encouraging solidarity actions on Tuesday May 19. Please come out on May 19, and organize as many people as you can to join you.

» Download and print the May 19 Atlanta rally flyer

» Urge Governor Perdue to exercise leadership on behalf of Troy Davis

» Download and print the petition to help gather more signatures.

» Visit GFADP to see what activists are doing in Georgia.

» Clergy and Religious Leaders: Add your name to Amnesty International's sign-on letter.

» Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. It's quick and easy using the ACLU's website.

» Text "TROY" to 90999 to help spread the word with your cell phone.

Please do not contact the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles directly right now, as doing so could be detrimental to Troy's case. Instead, we encourage you to contact Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue.

by Doug Henwood
from LBO News from Doug Henwood

In the course of a pretty wonky piece on CDOs, Felix Salmon points out that the modern financial environment weakens the political position of creditors. Back in 1975, when New York City was on the verge of default, its bonds were uninsured, and held mostly by the city’s rich and its biggest banks. Both sets of bondholders were relatively few in number and invested in the city’s long-term survival. The creditors were able to come together and speak with one voice to force wage cuts and layoffs on the unions and service cuts on city residents. Today, bondholdings are dispersed around the world, so it’s hard to imagine a similar workout in 2009.

There’s an interesting parallel with Argentina’s deliberate default early this decade (a default which followed the script laid out in this LBO article “How to default.”). Because Argentina’s debts were held mostly by bondholders all over the place, many with rather small holdings, the creditors were in a very weak bargaining position. The contrast with the debt crisis of the early 1980s was stark. Then, a dozen bankers, backed by the IMF, could face down a finance minister in a conference room and demand the concessions for which neoliberalism became famous. But that was no longer possible in a world dominated by bond finance.

And in today’s securitized, derivatized world, mortgage holders often don’t know who their creditors are. In fact, it could even be easier for debtors in a single neighborhood to organize than their creditors, who could be anywhere from Frankfurt to Abu Dhabi.

by Katja Kipping
from ZBNet

Right now we experience a time in which fast changes are possible. Several Demands, Proposals or political aims, which were condemned by the ruling elites in politics, are now taken over by the ruling elites. Just some examples for this phenomenon from the German parliament:

- When the Left Party was demanding more cash for children in the poorest families, we were blamed for wasting money. But now, the Federal Government itself has launched an educational support package for those children.

- Until recently, our motions for an upper limit on managers' salaries were rejected, but now the CDU and the SPD have discovered this issue as well.

- For decades it was unthinkable to the ruling political and media elite that there might be other acceptable forms of ownership apart from private companies. But now, the Federal Government has agreed an expropriation law (to take over private banks hit by the global financial crisis)

As we can see, the crisis opens a window of opportunity. This window implies the opportunity that as a result of the crisis we could come closer to the practice of democratic socialism. However, it also includes the risk, that as a result of the crisis anti-democratic, reactionary and authoritarian forces will be strengthen, while democratic, left-wing-forces will be weakened. Therefore there is no reason for left-wing activist to become complacent.

What we need now is a thorough-going analysis and a debate about the left agenda in times of crisis. For this agenda I will outline six proposals in the following.

1. Calling the crisis by its real name/ Telling it straight.
Even now, the official narrative is that the crisis was caused by a few peoples' greed and excess. We have our own alternative narrative to set against this interpretation, however. Our job is to tell it straight: this crisis - and we are still only seeing the tip of the iceberg - is not just a financial crisis; it is a crisis of real existing capitalism.

The fact is that financial-market-driven capitalism is reliant on constant growth - but as this growth outgrew its real productive base long ago it inevitably caused a virtual financial bubble which was bound to burst sooner or later. So the reason for the crisis is determined by the system and not by a few peoples' greed.

Since the ruling political class refuses to commit to this simple fact, their response to the crisis is similar to the "headless chicken" approach: a lot of action, but little result and obviously no solution. They shy away from tackling the roots of the problem. Ultimately they have nothing to show for it but symbolic policies.

2. Preventing arsonists from being put in charge of the fire brigade
Unfortunately, the German Federal Government is still receiving good marks from the public, for its supposedly efficient handling of the crisis. However, the figure Mr. Tietmeyer alone shows the Federal Government's supposed crisis management in its true colours.

The Chancellor announced to the Bundestag that she was planning to appoint Mr. Tietmeyer as the chief advisor of the crisis. Let me just remind you: Tietmeyer was one of the leading architects of the global financial casino. It was him who cheerfully announced to the World Economic Forum that from now on, politics would be controlled by the financial markets. This appointment failed due to the protest of the Social-democrats. Nevertheless it is symptomatic for dominant staff-policy.

That is like putting arsonists in charge of the fire brigade. Any mayor who appointed a notorious pyromaniac as the head of the voluntary fire service would expect to be drummed out of office. And yet that is exactly what the Federal Government is doing: the very people who caused the crisis are now in charge of crisis management.

3. We don't pay for your crisis
All the bank bail-outs and economic packages have to be paid - one day. I am sure, we all here would agree in the demand that the bill should be paid by those who caused the crisis. This seems so logical. Nevertheless, our proposals for a special taxation of millionaires or for a Tobin-tax are still rejected by the majority of the German parliament. Therefore we have to face the possibility, that the ruling political class - finally - is expecting the pensioners, the workers and the unemployed to foot the bill.

In Germany the countdown to the next bundestag elections is about to start, so harsher social policy measures are unlikely to be announced at present. But the signs are already there: young hotheads of the CDU who respond to the crisis by urging pensioners to make sacrifices. And yet it was the cuts in statutory pension which forced increasing numbers of people to invest in private funds in order to save for retirement.

These funds were compelled to generate profits, thus intensifying the pressure on the global financial casino. Still, after this experience, calling for pension cuts now? Anyone who does so has learnt nothing - absolutely nothing - from the crisis.

Besides the attack on pensions, an attack on social benefits is looming, as well. To prepare the ground for that, right-wing politicians are already starting to drum up resentments against the unemployed. The chairman of the youth section of the Conservative party announced, for example, that increasing the standard benefit rate is tantamount to a stimulus for the tobacco and drinks industry. This comment is an extreme expression of an idea that others are airing more subtly.

Whenever even a minor increase in the social benefits is mooted, the established politicians remind us of the armies of employed who work from morning till night and still have very little to show for it. Thereby they convey the impression, that the poorness of a hairdresser or the low wage of a skilled worked is caused by the social benefit for the poorest.

We, being familiar with Marxist theory, know, if workers aren't earning enough, it's because their labour has to generate value added and profits as well. It is certainly not because we are giving everyone a stake in society from our tax revenue.

In essence, it is the familiar old tactic by the ruling elites: play off those who have little against those who have nothing. We should recognise this ploy for what it is: class warfare from top down. Not only in times of crisis, we should give this playing off against each other no chance and stand together, employed and unemployed.

4. Anticyclical reform measures for the poorest
If there is a single reform strategy which could cushion - not solve but cushion - the crisis, it is anticyclical financial policy. In other words, the state has to invest money - as even the government has recognised. But unfortunately, it is the wealthy, who are benefiting most from the economic packages. The unemployed and the low earners are receiving a paltry two percent under the second national economic stimulus package.

But if we are serious about kick-starting the economy, we need to ensure that people on low to middle incomes have more money at their disposal. Studies on saving patterns clearly show that if a wealthy person is given more money, he or she tends to spend it for a further share certificate. People on lower incomes, on the other hand, tend to spend the money straight away on the many things they have needed but haven't been able to buy before.

An effective economic stimulus package should therefore be targeted towards people on low incomes, pensioners and benefit claimants. Left-wing keneysian solutions such as a future investment programme and an increase in benefits can cushion the impacts of the crisis. But left-wing policy needs to go further. It means fighting for control over production conditions and for self-determination over our own lives.

5. The issue of ownership
In that respect we are well advised to raise the ownership issue. After all, we only have half a democracy as long as there is no democratic control of the economy. However a purely formalistic approach to nationalization, which really just means that instead of some of the managers, a handful of ministerial officials have a seat on the supervisory board, is not much of an improvement.

When it comes to the issue of ownership, the yardstick which should always be applied by democratic socialists is to what extent the control over production conditions or the right of disposal improves for the people directly affected.

For dealing with this topic, I would like to highlight the difference between the two terms nationalization and socialization. Dealing with the question of the right of disposal, in my speech the term "nationalisation" stands for putting something under the centralized control of the states bureaucracy. While the term "socialization" stands for putting something under democratic and public control, under the control of those people, who are affected.

There are two ways for socializations, I'd like to advocate. Firstly, in the interests of economic democracy, higher codetermination and workers participation are essential. Ultimately codetermination must extend to the issue of what is produced, and how it is produced.

In the future, for example, it should not be the shareholders who decide on whether to relocate production. Rather, the workers and the local community should be given the option of taking over the factory. If the workforce votes in favour of this option, then the entire production plant - including all the means of production, customer data and all the contracts should stay where it is.

Secondly, forms of solidarity-based economic management such as cooperatives must be promoted. These alternative forms are the physical embodiment of our conviction that capitalism is not the end of history. The already existing solidarity-based economic enterprises are a practical demonstration that alternative forms of economic management and consumption are possible.

6. A referendum about the future of the banks
At present, the ownership issue has mainly arisen in the public debate about the banks at risk from bankruptcy. The mere fact that the German Federal Government has agreed the nationalization of the Hypo Real Estate Bank as an emergency measure shows that when it comes to the bank, the call or simple nationalization is not necessarily a pure left-wing solution.

However, the question mark over the banks' future offers a good opportunity to hold a nationwide referendum about the future form of ownership for the banks. I suggest, that the people, who are the sovereign power in a democracy, decide on the future form of ownership for the banks. Unfortunately, the German constitution does not comprise such a nationwide referendum, yet. But we live in challenging times. And challenging times demand for challenging measures.

Such a referendum would of course encourage debates about the different forms of ownership. And in these debates we could lobby for socialization of the banks. (That means putting them on the same footing as the saving banks or as solidarity-based cooperative banks, which have proved to be a rock of stability in the current crisis.) If we call in our different countries for such a referendum, we take up an old idea from Rosa Luxemburg: "The only way to the practice of socialism is the school of public life itself, the most unlimited, the broadest democracy and public opinion."

To sum up, a left agenda in the time of crisis consist of:

1. calling the crisis by its real name - crisis of the real existing capitalism;
2. showing that the very people who caused the crisis are now in charge
of crisis management;
3. Giving no chance to the playing off employed against unemployed and saying together: We don't pay for your crisis;
4. fighting for economic stimulus packages, which are targeted towards people on low incomes, pensioners and benefit claimants;
5. Raising the issue of ownership and advocating the idea of socialization of the production and
6. calling for a referendum about the future ownership for the banks.

Doing so, we have a good chance in using the window of opportunity for coming closer to socialist practice.

Katja Kipping is a member of Die Linke (The Left Party, Germany). She presented this paper as an opening plenary talk at the Left Forum, New York, April 17, 2009

from Wikipedia:
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American composer, pianist, and bandleader.

Duke Ellington was known in his life as one of the most influential figures in jazz, if not in all American music. His reputation increased when he died including a special award citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board.[1]

Ellington called his music "American Music" rather than jazz, and liked to describe those who impressed him as "beyond category."[2] These included many of the musicians who served with his orchestra, some of whom were considered among the giants of jazz and performed with Ellington's orchestra for decades. While many were noteworthy in their own right, it was Ellington who melded them into one of the most well-known orchestral units in the history of jazz. He often composed specifically for the style and skills of these individuals, such as "Jeep's Blues" for Johnny Hodges, "Concerto for Cootie" ("Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me") for Cootie Williams and "The Mooche" for Tricky Sam Nanton. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan" and "Perdido" which brought the "Spanish Tinge" to big-band jazz. After 1941, he frequently collaborated with composer-arranger Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his alter-ego.

from the Socialist Review:

Ellington never quite forgot his radical past. During the 1960s he played benefit concerts for the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) and donated money to the civil rights movement. In 1963, the 100th anniversary year of the Emancipation Proclamation which ended slavery in the US, Ellington was commissioned to produce a composition to mark the celebrations--My People was the result. His famous Black, Brown and Beige suite, first released in 1943, was the backbone of the set. But the climax was two pieces--King Fit the Battle of Alabam and What Colour is Virtue? King Fit was a celebration of the civil rights struggle in Birmingham, Alabama, led by Martin Luther King. The lyrics make Ellington's support for the struggle crystal clear.

'Bull turned the hoses on the church people, church people, ol' church people,
Bull turned the hoses on the church people,
And the water came splashing, dashing, crashing.
Freedom rider, ride, Freedom rider, go to town,
Y'all and us gonna git on the bus,
Y'all aboard, sit down, sit tight, sit down!'

The concert shocked the establishment. But when Ellington was asked by Martin Luther King to join the march on Washington, he refused, saying, 'I'd love to go, but I've got sore feet. I can't walk that far.' Ellington's ambiguous answer shows that his commitment to civil rights only stretched so far. Ellington remained the toast of the rich and famous...He was even made a musical ambassador for the US government and played personal concerts for Presidents John Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

by Billy Wharton

To start, I admit to being a thick-skinned New Yorker. After nearly forty-years here, there is little that this city can offer which would evoke even an emotion. This is particularly true in the New York City subways. Rats run across the subway tracks. People commit any number of lewd and crude public acts on a daily basis. Just a month ago, a drunken fellow passenger decided to convert the subway car into a urinal. I fled with other passengers who seemed to revel more in the spontaneous camaraderie of the experience rather than disgust in the offensive act. Things changed during a recent ride on the 6 train.

For the past few months, there has been a noticeable difference in the homeless population I have encountered above and below ground. Most New Yorkers, myself included, have become accustomed to the city created during the violent regime of New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Intent on enforcing his “quality of life” agenda, Giuliani used the police to drive the homeless out of public view. The severity of the economic crisis is reversing this. The homeless are back in New York City. There are more homeless, many more – new people with fewer of the habits and appearance of hardened street people.

On Friday, April 3rd, I was riding the 6 train downtown to participate in a protest against Wall Street. A woman entered at 42nd street. She was in her late 20s, neatly dressed with all appearances of a sturdy working class person. Noticeably pregnant, her jacket was clean, shoes relatively new and hair neat – all signs that she had been recently well tended to. As she sat down, I and others noticed a hand-written note paper clipped to her bag. “I have a six-year old girl. I am pregnant. We have been forced into a homeless shelter. Please, God help.” She sat with a hand out meekly looking for donations.

But, the role of a public beggar was too much for her to handle. After a few moments, she began to sob. She cried deeply – the kind of crying normally reserved for the most intense, private, moments in your life. Tears streamed down her cheeks. I and others in the car were witnessing the destruction of another human being’s self-identity – her self-respect poured out one tear at a time. Passengers tried to help by placing dollar bills in her hand or offering a tissue to wipe her face. But, dollars and tissues could not solve this problem.

I sat across from her paralyzed. Sure, I was off to a demonstration to condemn the banks at the heart of an economic crisis that likely forced her and her children into the street, but what could I do immediately. I was quite shaken when I exited the train. As the train pulled off I turned to catch a final glance of the woman slumped in hey seat, still crying with no possible relief in sight.

This woman is not alone. Homelessness is clearly on the rise in New York City. The Department of Homelessness has reported a more than 20% increase in requests for housing. Food pantries throughout the city are reporting high demand and declining donations as the economic crisis deepens. Scheduled budget cuts will simply accelerate the problem. Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to cut a program that offers mediation between distressed tenants and landlords to prevent homelessness. To make things even worse, Bloomberg also proposes to cut the cleaning products provided to people exiting the shelter system.

No need for a socialist sermon here. The condition this woman has been put in is a clear illustration of the inhumane capacities of capitalism. Destroying her self-identity and endangering her children, born and unborn, does nothing to improve society. It de-humanizes us all by forcing us to rationalize things like human suffering brought on by homelessness.

There are however, those of us who refuse to see something rational or inevitable in this woman’s condition. So, for this woman on the 6 train I dedicate my mind, my hands and my heart to building a democratic socialist society in which she can enjoy guarantees to things like housing, healthcare and useful work. This would be a new social basis of freedom – a solid base from which to build a self-identity. In the meantime, the economic crisis will produce many more instances of human degradation. The choice is ours - thicker-skin or more justice.

Billy Wharton is the editor of The Socialist magazine. His recent article “Obama is No Socialist. I Should Know.” was published by the Washington Post and run in several other newspapers.
billyspnyc@yahoo.com

from Next Left Notes

Left Forum - Adolfo Matos


Left Forum - Laura Whitehorn


Left Forum - New Frontiers Panel Q&A

by Raimondo Chiari
from Upside Down World

A dirt road leaves the city of Apartado, in the region of Urabá, in the Northwestern Colombian province of Antioquia, making its way up into the mountains. The surrounding land hosts banana plantations as far as the eye can see, owned by subsidiaries of the Chiquita, Del Monte and Bonita brands, as well as plantations of African Palm, which have recently made their way as a lucrative cash crops. The road enters a deep emerald forest, crossing small villages with wooden houses, farm animals roaming in the mud and heavily guarded military check points.

Urabá has been major theater in Colombia’s forty years long and ongoing armed conflict. All armed actors are present in the region: the Colombian army, left-wing guerillas and, since the mid 1990s, ultra-right wing paramilitaries. The arm carriers are not only fighting for these fertile lands, but also for the control of this strategic corridor to Panama and the Pacific region of Chocó, indispensable to international drug traffic. Stuck in the middle, thousands of civilians have been killed, disappeared and displaced, stripped of their lands, accused of or forced into collaboration with one or another group. In this sea of violence however, there is an attempt to create an island of calm.

Proceeding for one hour up the bumpy road, an opening in the tropical vegetation reveals a small group of houses surrounded by hills and a river. This is where the Peace Community of San José de Apartado begins. At its entrance, barbwire keeps animals in, and a sign decorated by children’s art work spells out:

The Community freely: participates in communal work, says no to injustice and impunity, does not participate in war directly or indirectly and does not bear arms, does not manipulate or provide information to any of the actors in the conflict.

The peace community of San José de Apartado was created in 1997 by five hundred displaced villagers from seventeen different towns in the wider region, following a wave of massacres perpetrated mostly by paramilitary groups. While forced out of their homes, these farmers were determined that they would not give up their lands. The only way to do so, they resolved, was through self organization and refusing to take part in the conflict in any way.

The community is based on the principles of transparent dialogue, respect of plurality, solidarity, resistance and justice; it demands that all the parties to the conflict not enter the boundaries of the community, respect residents’ right to life and decision of not participating or collaborating with any of the arm bearers, and to recognize their status as non-combatant civilians. Their courageous decision has lived on.

Today, the community counts nearly 1500 members, and has been able to slowly re-conquer portions of land of which they were illegally expropriated.



In order to join, new members must first agree with the principles, and then they are provided with a portion of land to cultivate. After a trial period of three months, the newcomers can decide to stay or leave by consensus basis with the community. While each farmer is responsible for his or her own plot, a community fund deals with the commercial aspect of the agricultural products, working towards nutritional self-sufficiency and to export organically certified cocoa, juice and jam as cash crops to Europe.

The community also autonomously provides education, water and sanitation, conflict-resolution mechanisms, food for single mothers and the elderly, and sports and cultural activities. In 2004, it created the Universidad Campesina de la Resistencia (the Farmers University of Resistance), to promote traditional and ecological agriculture as well as forms of civil resistance, bringing together other peace communities world wide to share strategies and lessons learned.

The Community’s plans for the immediate future include the creation of a medical center with community health workers, as well as strengthening political projects against impunity and violence.

San Josè de Apartado has become a model, symbolizing that alternative, peacefully communities are possible outside the zero sum “with us or against us” game imposed by armed groups.

“In their eyes, not buying into this culture of death, so integrated in Colombia, means being crazy” explained Jesus Emilio, one of the community leaders who was displaced with his family two decades ago and since has survived multiple assassination attempts. “Well, we insist on being crazy. And the only possible path for our survival is international recognition.”

Jesus Emilio is not only referring to the economic and social projects implemented with non-governmental organizations such as Oxfam, Doctors of the World, Swiss cooperation, TAMERA or Kitchens Without Borders, but also the physical protection provided by Peace Brigades International and Fellowship of Reconciliation. These policies of international presence as deterrence, non-armed escort and pressure on political and diplomatic agents, have indeed made murder and intimidation harder. Unfortunately, it has not made them disappear.

Despite the symbolic power and the international attention that the Peace Community of San José de Apartado has been able to garner, 176 of its members have been assassinated since its foundation twelve years ago. A monument honoring their memory is placed in the center of the village of San Josecito, and their names are also written on the external wall of the school.

This alone should give an idea of the overall level of impunity and lawlessness that takes place daily in thousands of rural communities throughout Colombia. According to UNHCR, with between 2.5 and 4.3 million internally displaced citizens, Colombia hosts one of the world’s largest Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) populations in the world. Mathematically, that means that, on average, for the past 40 years, over 300 people have been displaced every single day. Furthermore, according to the International Displacement Monitoring Center, the first semester of 2008 recorded the highest level of forced displacement in twenty-three years.

Forced displacement is just one of several methods used as political means and/or to the economic ends of land occupation. “There are multiple strategies do divide us: legally, militarily, economically” explained Jesus Emilio, inside the wooden guesthouse reserved for international workers and visitors, bearing the Peace Brigades International flag at the entrance. “They do their best to foster internal division, to degrade us from being human beings, with intimidation, pay offs. For example, new mining projects for coal and copper by South Korean and Brazilian companies are under discussion, for an area of over sixty-thousand hectares. This would mean the end of our community.”

It is uncertain what the future will hold for the Peace Community of San José de Apartado. On the one hand, it has the potential of furthering its role as a symbol and an alternative model for conflict resolution outside the state structure, just like the other fifty peace communities that have sprung up in Colombia. On the other hand, however, these courageous people who have rebuilt and created a new life after having been displaced might be forcefully displaced yet again.

“We feel tired,” Jesus Emilio confessed. “It’s so complicated and exhausting, especially when you don’t know that things will get better. But despite the repression and all the obstacles, we have to insist; we have no other choice.”

by Eric Stoner
from The Indypendent (New York)

With little public scrutiny, robotics is quickly revolutionizing not only how war is fought, but who fights in war. While the U.S. military first began to experiment with remote-controlled weapons during World War I, the Pentagon had no robots on the ground when it invaded Iraq in 2003, and only a handful of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the air. Today, according to P.W. Singer, author of Wired for War and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, the U.S. military has some 7,000 UAVs in operation - more than double the number of manned aircraft in its arsenal - and more than 12,000 robots on the ground in Iraq alone.

Predator drones armed with laser-guided Hellfire missiles have regularly bombed Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years, and their use is skyrocketing. In 2008, 71 Predators flew 138,404 combat hours - a 94 percent increase over the year before, according to a recent presentation by U.S. Air Force Col. Eric Mathewson. And over the last year, drones flown largely by the CIA have launched missile attacks inside Pakistan more than 40 times. Rather than reconsider this deadly policy, President Obama has become an enthusiastic backer. Since his inauguration, he has authorized 11 such attacks that have collectively killed over 145 people, many of them civilians, and sparked large protests within Pakistan.

UAVs are also increasingly being used inside the United States. The Department of Homeland Security has deployed unarmed drones to monitor the borders with Mexico and Canada. Police departments in Los Angeles, Houston and Miami have been testing drones for surveillance purposes in their cities. And according to the Washington Post, activists have even reported seeing insect-sized spy drones at antiwar rallies in Washington and New York.

In Iraq, there are at least 22 different unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) in operation. While they are used primarily for reconnaissance and to help soldiers defuse roadside bombs, the first armed ground robot was deployed south of Baghdad in May 2007. The Special Weapons Observation Remote Direct-Action System, or SWORDS, stands three feet tall and rolls on two tank treads. It's currently fitted with an M249 machine gun that can be swapped for other powerful weapons and controlled with a modified laptop. More sophisticated UGVs - such as the MAARS and the one-ton Gladiator - are currently being developed and tested and will likely see combat in the near future.

Congress has helped spur this revolution. In 2001, the Defense Authorization Act stated that one-third of the military's deep strike aircraft should be unmanned within 10 years, and that one-third of the ground combat vehicles should be unmanned within 15 years. And in the Defense Department's 2007 budget, Congress ordered the Pentagon to show "a preference for joint unmanned systems in acquisition programs for new systems."

Congressional backing and the increasing popularity of these systems within the military have fueled a booming robotics industry. The Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, for example, has 1,400 member companies and organizations from 50 countries looking to cash in on the future of war.

WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

While robots spell big money for weapons contractors, they will make the work of antiwar activists far more difficult. In all likelihood, as the proponents of military robots claim, the number of U.S. soldiers who are killed on the battlefield will decrease. This has been the trend with continual advances in military and medical technology and as the Pentagon has turned to mercenaries and civilian contractors who are not included in official death tolls.

For example, more than 58,000 U.S. soldiers were killed in Vietnam. Today, after six years of fighting in Iraq, fewer than 4,300 U.S. soldiers have died in combat. And in Afghanistan, about 1,100 soldiers from Western countries have been killed. The use of robots is partly responsible for this dramatic reduction in U.S. casualties. As unmanned systems are deployed in greater numbers, that figure will drop.

This may sound like a positive development, but its potential downsides are profound. At the same time that the number of soldiers killed in war has dropped, the percentage of civilian casualties has steadily risen. In World War I, less than 10 percent of casualties were non-combatants; in World War II , the percentage of civilian casualties was roughly 50 percent, and today over 90 percent of those killed in wars are civilians. In Iraq, one detailed study estimated that more than 600,000 Iraqis had been violently killed by June 2006. By allowing soldiers to kill from greater distances, which makes it easier to pull the trigger, robots may take this trend a step further.

There is already evidence that the use of aerial drones is disastrous for civilian populations. The Sunday Times of London recently reported that as many as one million Pakistanis have fled their homes "to escape attacks by the unmanned spy planes as well as bombings by the Pakistani army."

Some argue that military robotics will also increase the threat of terrorism. "If people know that they are going to be killed by these robots," argues Fr. G. Simon Harak, director of the Marquette University Center for Peacemaking, "then why would they not therefore retaliate against civilian centers in the United States? It only makes military sense that they'll find where we are vulnerable."

More than anything else, the prospect of U.S. troops dying on some far-off battlefield limits public support for military force. Therefore, if the number of soldiers coming home in body bags can be significantly reduced, then the public will probably pay even less attention to foreign policy and future wars. This will in turn make it easier for politicians to start wars.

For instance, John Pike, the director of GlobalSecurity.org, recently wrote in the Washington Post that robots would allow the United States to intervene militarily in Darfur or other hot spots where politicians are currently reluctant to send flesh-and-blood soldiers.

Robots will also affect the counter-recruitment movement. Whereas each SWORDS is controlled by at least one soldier, progress in the field of artificial intelligence may allow a soldier to control multiple robots simultaneously. James Canton, chief executive officer of the Institute of Global Futures and an expert on military technology, predicts that future military units may consist of 150 humans and 2,000 robots. Such a development would allow the government to go to war with far fewer humans.

GROWING RESISTANCE

While a robotized military presents new challenges for antiwar activists, it also creates new organizing opportunities. Many weapons builders that develop unmanned systems, such as iRobot and Northrop Grumman, are publicly traded companies. That exposes them to potential shareholder resolutions and makes them more sensitive about their public image.

Some military contractors also make consumer products. For example, iRobot manufactures both the PackBot, a bomb-disposal robot that can be armed with a shotgun, and the popular Roomba vacuum cleaner. As the market for personal and service robots - which was valued at $3 billion in 2008 - continues to grow, boycotting corporations that make both consumer and military robots is potentially an effective tactic for activists.

With nearly 350 colleges and universities reportedly conducting research for the Pentagon, another possible target is robotics research funded by the Department of Defense. On March 2, 2007, activists with the Pittsburgh Organizing Group blockaded the National Robotics Engineering Center at Carnegie Mellon University, one of the largest academic military contractors in the country. Fourteen activists were arrested in the action, which successfully shut down the robotics lab for the day and garnered considerable media attention.

Finally, activists are beginning to protest at military bases where the drone pilots work. At Nevada's Creech Air Force Base - one of the locations where controllers use Predator and Reaper drones to bomb Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan - protesters who participated in the Nevada Desert Experience's annual Sacred Peace Walk kept a presence outside of the base for 10 days, and 14 were arrested in an act of civil disobedience on April 9.

When it comes to killer robots, the stakes are high. If activists don't work to stop this robotics revolution in its tracks, science fiction has warned us about our potential fate.



A longer version of this article is published in the April 2009 issue of WIN Magazine.

from Wikipedia
The Easter Rising (Irish: Éirí Amach na Cásca), was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing an Irish Republic. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798.

Organised by the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Rising lasted from Easter Monday 24 April to 30 April 1916. Members of the Irish Volunteers, led by schoolteacher and barrister Patrick Pearse, joined by the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly, along with 200 members of Cumann na mBan, seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic independent of Britain. There were some actions in other parts of Ireland but, except for the attack on the RIC barracks at Ashbourne, County Meath, they were minor.

The Rising was suppressed after seven days of fighting, and its leaders were court-martialled and executed, but it succeeded in bringing physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics. In the 1918 General Election, the last all-island election held in Ireland, to the British Parliament, Republicans won 73 seats out of 105, on a policy of abstentionism from Westminster and Irish independence. This came less than two years after the Rising. In January 1919, the elected members of Sinn Féin who were not still in prison at the time, including survivors of the Rising, convened the First Dáil and established the Irish Republic. The British Government refused to accept the legitimacy of the newly declared nation, leading to the Irish War of Independence.

by Kristin Schall
from CommonDreams.org

In an April 2009 poll conducted by Rasmussen, respondents were asked "which is a better system-capitalism or socialism?" Just 53% of adult Americans prefer capitalism, 20% of respondents favor socialism and 27% responded not sure. These figures suggest that Americans' attitudes toward alternatives to capitalism may be shifting and that we are living in a time that holds the potential to mark a radical change in the landscape of American politics.

The Rasmussen poll was conducted during one of the greatest economic crisises in the history of capitalism. The resulting pressure is forcing Americans to begin to think critically about ideas that they had previously accepted as given. With more and more people facing the prospect of losing their jobs, houses, healthcare, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the inequalities and injustices of capitalism. What this has translated to is people becoming more open to ideas about alternative visions for structuring society. In short, socialism is back.

In addition to the economic crisis, the right wing's accusation of Obama being a socialist appears to be backfiring. Conservatives were attempting to cash in on a well established strategy of 20th century American political life. These attacks have unintentionally served to get socialism into heavy rotation in the mainstream media, thereby increasing the public's interest and curiosity. Fear mongering and the paranoid style seem to be offering declining political returns.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of this poll is the response from people under thirty. The statistics indicate that 66% of this demographic are actively questioning capitalism as a system. This makes clear that the Cold War fear of socialism, created to shape the American mindset, is withering away. It is being replaced by a political openness to new ideas about how to organize society. This means there is a space for socialists where a serious dialogue can begin, which can connect Americans to grassroots organizing.

The limitation of the poll is that it does not define socialism. Socialists themselves need to carry out this task. The Socialist Party-USA is interested in finding out how people conceive of socialism and in meeting them where they are. Our conception of socialism is a democratic society where people have access to what they need in order to live a full life. Human needs are always put before private profits. This includes healthcare, education, access to jobs, and a clean environment. Socialists hope that the moment for polling will soon be past, and we will find ourselves in a moment of action for radical social and political change.

Kristin Schall is the chairperson of the Socialist Party USA, NYC Local.
kristinspnyc@gmail.com

War at Home Committee, Socialist Party USA

In this period of rising unemployment and economic turmoil, an increasing number of people are being drawn to radical concepts and are ready to consider radical strategies for social change based on the link between the severe problems we face at home, the actions of the U.S. military world-wide, and the destructive nature of global capitalism.

Clearly, what we face right now are not only wars abroad, but also a war at home. In both cases, masses of people are living under siege as a result of actions by the U.S. government to perpetuate the inhumane capitalist system. In both cases, a collective, activist, response is called for: a response consisting of energetic, grassroots organizing based on a coherent analysis, a radical program, and internal democracy rooted in socialist feminist principles and practice.

To move forward, we must develop a plan of action along the lines of the pre-9/11 anti-globalization/anti-capitalist movement, but with the added perspective of the global economic meltdown, and with the will to act independently of the Obama agenda.

Our demands should be inclusive, to reflect the interdependence of the local, national, and international crises we currently must deal with. These include the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, full-funding for domestic programs by taxing the rich and slashing the military budget, social and economic equity and justice, human rights and civil liberty guarantees, socialized health care, nationalization of the financial sector, and political independence from the Democratic Party.

As we proceed with this agenda, we need to be guided by the fact that women and people of color are disproportionately affected by wars, occupations, economic crises, and assaults on human rights and civil liberties.

These are bad times for increasing numbers of women—as workers, as caregivers, and as members of minority and immigrant communities. Due to the disastrous state of the economy, women face extra stress on the job and in the face of lay-offs. Besides that, they are even more responsible than usual for the social service needs of friends and family due to the budget cuts—and to Federal spending that continues to prioritize the costs of war and domestic surveillance and intimidation over the needs of people for housing, healthcare, education, and jobs. Indeed, due to foreclosures and lack of affordable housing, many women are struggling just to keep a roof over their heads.

These circumstances just worsen the underlying problems of gender inequality and ethnic and racial bigotry. Activism organized around “wars abroad and war at home” acknowledges this, while recognizing how strong and resourceful women and families have been, and continue to be, in the face of exploitation, discrimination, and harassment.

As we build our movement for fundamental social change, we must honor women’s strengths, demand women’s rights, and fight against those aspects of society that perpetuate oppression.

Women’s Commission, Socialist Party USA
May Day 2009