Click on the headline to link to the Veterans For Peace website for the latest news.
Re-posted From American Left History- Thursday, November 11, 2010
*A Stroll In The Park On Veterans Day- Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S. Troops From Iraq and Afghanistan!
Markin comment:
Listen, I have been to many marches and demonstrations for democratic, progressive, socialist and communist causes in my long political life. However, of all those events none, by far, has been more satisfying that to march alongside my fellow ex-soldiers who have “switched” over to the other side and are now part of the struggle against war, the hard, hard struggle against the permanent war machine that this imperial system has embarked upon. From as far back as in the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) days I have always felt that ex-soldiers (hell, active soldiers too, if you can get them) have had just a little bit more “street cred” on the war issue than the professors, pacifists and little old ladies in tennis sneakers who have traditionally led the anti-war movements. Maybe those brothers (and in my generation it was mainly only brothers) and now sisters may not quite pose the questions of war and peace the way I do, or the way that I would like them to do, but they are kindred spirits.
Now normally in Boston, and in most places, a Veterans Day parade means a bunch of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) or American Legion-types taking time off from drinking at their post bars (“the battle of the barstool”) and donning the old overstuffed uniform and heading out on to Main Street to be waved at, and cheered on, by like-minded, thankful citizens. And of course that happened this time as well. What also happened in Boston this year (and other years but I have not been involved in previous marches) was that the Veterans For Peace (VFP) organized an anti-war march as part of their “Veterans Day” program. Said march to be held at the same place and time as the official one.
Previously there had been a certain amount of trouble, although I am not sure that it came to blows, between the two groups. (I have only heard third-hand reports on previous events.) You know the "super-patriots" vs. “commie symps” thing that has been going on as long as there have been ex-soldiers (and others) who have differed from the bourgeois party pro-war line. In any case the way this impasse had been resolved previously, and the way the parameters were set this year as well, was that the VFP took up the rear of the official parade, and took up the rear in an obvious way. Separated from the main body of the official parade by a medical emergency truck. Nice, right? Something of the old I’ll take my ball and bat and go home by the "officials" was in the air on that one.
But here is where there is a certain amount of rough plebeian justice, a small dose for those on the side of the angels, in the world. In order to form up, and this was done knowingly by VFP organizers, the official marchers, the bands and battalions that make up such a march, had to “run the gauntlet” of dove emblem-emblazoned VFP banners waving frantically directly in front of their faces as they passed by. Moreover, although we formed the caboose of this thing the crowds along the parade route actually waited as the official paraders marched by and waved and clapped at our procession. Be still my heart. But that response just provides another example of the ‘street cred” that ex-soldiers have on the anti-war question. Now, if there is to be any really serious justice in the world, if only these vets would go beyond the “bring the troops home” and embrace- immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all U.S./Allied Troops from Iraq and Afghanistan then we could maybe start to get somewhere out on those streets. But today I was very glad to be fighting for our communist future among those who know first-hand about the dark side of the American experience. No question.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
The Latest From The British Leftist Blog-"Histomat: Adventures in Historical Materialism"-Colin Sparks on the English Republican tradition
The Latest From The British Leftist Blog-"Histomat: Adventures in Historical Materialism"
http://histomatist.blogspot.com/
Markin comment:
While from the tenor of the articles, leftist authors featured, and other items it is not clear to me that this blog is faithful to any sense of historical materialism that Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin or Leon Trotsky would recognize I am always more than willing to "steal" material from the site. Or investigate leads provided there for material of interest to the radical public-whatever that seemingly dwindling public may be these days.
************
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Colin Sparks on the English Republican tradition
The classic 1977 Stuff the Jubilee Badge - order your replica ones (plus mugs!) from Bookmarks
[With the kind permission of Colin Sparks and Socialist Review, Histomat is proud to republish Sparks's article 'The English Republicans' which appeared in Socialist Review, July 1981 in this jubilee year -this article followed another timely article also republished on this blog entitled The horrible history of the House of Windsor].
Scottish, Welsh and, especially, Irish republicans are ten a penny. The English, on the other hand, are allegedly inflicted with some genetic mental defect that makes them cower before crowns and thrones and leap to attention and bare their heads at the sound of the opening bars of the National Anthem. There is, unfortunately, a lot of truth in this: royalism has a deep hold on English thinking and penetrates well into the labour movement. From Ramsay MacDonald to Harold Wilson, Labour Prime ministers have displayed a quite sickening devotion to whichever crowned clown happens to be sitting at the top of the mall. That is not all of the story, though. There is a long and stubborn republican tradition in England. Colin Sparks looks at it.
There have been at least two periods in which republicanism has commanded mass support. On both of these occasions, the leading republican thinkers were the ideological representatives of the bourgeoisie, but in both cases the bourgeoisie itself, once it saw the consequencies of consistent republicanism, backed down and made its peace with royalty. It was left to the plebian, and later proletarian, inheritors to keep up the struggle.
The first mass flourishing of English republicanism was during the English Revolution of 1641-60. For a long time, the leaders of the Parliamentary forces comforted themselves with the notion that they were actually fighting for the King, and only against his advisers who had misled him. A consequence of this was that they did very badly, suffering defeats and missing opportunities for victories. But the dynamic of the war was already forcing new men to the fore, who had far fewer illusions in the King and were determined to beat him.
The best known of these was Oliver Cromwell. He told his troops:
'I will not deceive you nor make you believe, as my commission has it, that you are going to fight for the king and parliament: if the king were before me I would shoot him as another; if your conscience will not allow you to do as much, go and serve elsewhere.'
Once the king had been beaten, there was the problem of what to do with him. The compromisers still wanted to do deals with him, but Cromwell and his independent party controlled the armed forces and suitably intimidated the opposition, telling the special court that: 'We will cut off his head with the crown upon it.'
Charles Stuart was duly judged as a 'tyrant, traitor, murderer and enemy to the country'. Cromwell himself wrote out the death warrant, and on 30th January 1648 the King was beheaded in Whitehall. The regicides had their theoreticians. The best known was the foreign minister and poet, John Milton. Less than two weeks after the execution he published a book justifying it called: The Tenure of Kings and magistrates; proving that it is lawful, and hath been held so through all ages, for any, who have the power, to call to account a tyrant, or wicked king, and after due conviction, to depose, and put him to death.
Milton broadened his ideas to a general statement of republican principles, which he publised as The Readie and Easie Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth, and the Excellence thereof compar'd with the inconvenience and dangers of readmitting kingship in this nation, just before the Restoration of 1660. In this, he argued:
'People must needs be mad or strangely infatuated that build the chief hope of their common happiness of safety on a single person... The happiness of a nation must needs be firmest and certainest in a full and free Councel of their own electing, where no single person, but reason only sways.'
By then, there were few to listen to Milton. Cromwell's own generals
negotiated and arranged the restoration of monarchy. Among their reasons was the dangerous implication of the arguments that Milton was using. If the revolution had been led by landlords, merchants, even great nobles, much of the hardest fighting had been done by working men from the towns and fields and, in the course of the war, they developed their own, radical ideas.
The Leveller, Overton, wrote:
'It is naturally inbred in the major part of the nobility and gentry to oppress the persons of such sort that are not as rich and honourable as themselves, to judge the poor but fools and them wise... It is they that oppress you, insomuch that your slavery is their liberty, your poverty is their prosperity.'
Another group of Levellers went even further:
'We were before ruled by Kings, Lords and Commons, now by a General, a Court Martial and a House of Commons; we pray you, what is the difference? ... We have not the change of kingdom to a commonwealth; we are only under the old cheat, the transmutation of names but with the addition of new tyrannies to the old ... and the last state of this commonwealth is worse than the first.'
To the left of the Levellers stood the Diggers, who had a clear idea as to the origin of all this misery and a theory and a programme for righting it.
Diggers and Levellers alike were crushed by the generals, shot at Burford Church for refusing to serve in Ireland or driven from St George's Hill by soldiers. But the idea was there still, rooted in the brain of the common people and rooted in the brain of the rich. It was this that the elegant arguments of Mr Milton led to. Better by far to forget the ideals of republicanism, compromise with a rotten king and a rotten court, lest in the struggle against them there was a loss of all power and privileges.
The next great outburst if popular republicanism was at the end of the eighteenth and the start of the nineteenth century. The monarchy was widely hated on all sides, and new sections of the rich were emerging, an industrial bourgeoisie who wanted their place in the system which the existing set-up denied them. The upsurge was crystallised and given form by the journalist Thomas Paine.
In 1776, Paine published a pamphlet Common Sense, which was an immediate best seller and made him a famous man. The pamphlet is a justification of the American Revolution, but in his argument Paine raised more general questions.
Paine asked what was the origin of kingship:
'... It is more than probable, that could we take off the dark covering of antiquity, and trace them to their first rise, that we should find the first of them nothing better than the principal ruffian of some restless gang, whose savage manners or pre-eminence in subtilty obtained him the title of chief among plunderers.'
And if kings in general owed their origins to a robber band, the King of England in particular held his title purely by that
right:
'England, since the conquest hath known some few good monarchs, but
groaned beneath a much larger number of bad ones, yet no man in his senses can say that their claim under William the Conqueror is a very honourable one. A French bastard landing with an armed banditti, and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives, is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original. It certainly hath no divinity in it. That William the Conqueror was an usurper is a fact not to be contradicted. The plain truth is, that the antiquity of the English monarchy will not bear looking in to.'
The American Revolution echoed across the Atlantic. When the British
general Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, he ordered his band to play a tune called 'The World Turned Upside Down'. Before long that choice proved very apposite. In 1789 the people in Paris stormed the Bastille and the French Revolution had begun.
Having seen the birth of two free nations, Paine wished to see the birth of a third - that of Britain.
He wrote The Rights of Man, which became an instant best seller. In this book Paine repeated and developed his ideas about the origins of kingship, and was particularly savage about hereditary monarchy:
'Hereditary succession is a burlesque upon monarchy. It puts it in the most ridiculous light, by presenting it as an office which any child or idiot may fill. It requires some talents to be a common mechanic; but, to be a king, requires only the animal figure of man - a sort of breathing automaton.'
For Paine, the spread of republican principles was the guarantee of a new and better world:
'Never did so great an opportunity offer itself to England, and to all Europe, as is produced by the two revolutions of America and France ... When another national shall join France, despotism and bad government will scarcely dare to appear. To use a trite expression, the iron is becoming hot all over Europe. The insulted German and the enslaved Spaniard, the Russ and the Pole, are beginning to think. The present age will hereafter merit to be called the age of reason, and the present generation will appear to the future as the Adam of a new world.'
The movement which Paine had done so much to inspire met savage repression and was broken. But the ideas of republicanism continued to have widespread circulation. The poet Keats, for example wrote in 1815 a poem On 29 May: the Anniversary of the Restoration of Charles II:
Infatuate Britons, will you still proclaim
His memory, your direst, foulest
shame?
Nor patriots revere?
Ah! while I hear each traitorous lying
bell,
"Tis gallant Sidney's , Russell's, Vane's
sad knell, That pains my wounded ear.
(Sidney, Russell and Vane were condemned to death by Charles II for having voted for his father's execution.)
But, though many capitalists and intellectuals were distanced from the idea of monarchy, active republicanism was more and more a prerogative of the newly emerging working class movement. Paine himself had always been a defender of private property, believing that this was the way to establish freedom, equality and plenty.
But the arguments that he used against the idea of monarchy and hereditary government were ones which had dangerous consequences. Consider his crushing demolition of Burke's argument for hereditary legislators:
'The idea of hereditary legislation is as inconsistent as that of hereditary judges, or hereditary juries; and as absurd as an hereditary mathematician, or an hereditary wise man; and as ridiculous as an hereditary poet-laureate.'
That is a fine and irrefutable argument, but it is open for some wage slave to take it a lot further. What answer comes if we ask what basis there is for any sort of hereditary social power - for example the private ownership of the means of production? By Paine's own logic, the answer is a socialist one.
It is thus that the republican tradition has, since then, been almost exclusively a proletarian one. There have been bourgeois republicans since, and probably many of the capitalists even today consider the monarchy a quaint and outdated institution. Even an editor of The Economist, Bagehot, considered it as 'decorative' rather than 'efficient'. But it was the illegal and working class newspaper The Republican which denounced the Peterloo massacre in 1819, and it was in Julian Harney's The Red Republican of 9 November 1850 that a lead article Manifesto of the German Communist Party, by a certain K. Marx and F. Engels, appeared.
The tradition continued with William Morris. The name of his paper Commonweal harks back to Milton, and it was there that the denunciation of the 1887 Jubilee appeared:
'Socialists feel of course that the mere abolition of the monarchy would help them little if it only gave place to a middle-class republic... Nevertheless, now the monstrous stupidity is on us - one's indignation swells pretty much to the bursting point. We must not, after all forget what the hideous, revolting, and vulgar tomfoolery in question really
means nowadays...'
The modern revolutionary movement is proud to claim to stand in this republican tradition. Of course, the real power of the English crown is feeble today. Charles III will be no despot like Charles I. He will do
exactly what his capitalist masters tell him to do. He will be, in substance, little more than an enormously expensive parasite upon the backs of the working people. But the monarchy is more than substantial
importance; it also carries an enormous symbolic weight. It is one of the key pins of the ruling ideology. The struggle against the monarchy is an important part of the ideological struggle for socialism.
It is a struggle which only socialists can now wage. In previous epochs, like the ones we have glanced at, the monarchy represented the interests of classes, or parts of classes, which were at odds with important sections of property owners. Some of them were prepared to fight the king in their own interests, and others were happy to denounce him. That is not true today. The English throne is linked by chains of gold to the capitalist order. The only class which has an interest in the overthrow of the monarchy is the class which has an interest in the overthrow of capitalism: the working class.
The last words belong to that great republican Thomas Paine. When he wrote them, they were not yet exactly true and he certainly could not foresee what their future meaning would be. But today they are precisely right:
'Monarchy would not have continued so many ages in the world, had it not been for the abuses it protects. It is the master-fraud, which shelters all others.'
http://histomatist.blogspot.com/
Markin comment:
While from the tenor of the articles, leftist authors featured, and other items it is not clear to me that this blog is faithful to any sense of historical materialism that Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin or Leon Trotsky would recognize I am always more than willing to "steal" material from the site. Or investigate leads provided there for material of interest to the radical public-whatever that seemingly dwindling public may be these days.
************
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Colin Sparks on the English Republican tradition
The classic 1977 Stuff the Jubilee Badge - order your replica ones (plus mugs!) from Bookmarks
[With the kind permission of Colin Sparks and Socialist Review, Histomat is proud to republish Sparks's article 'The English Republicans' which appeared in Socialist Review, July 1981 in this jubilee year -this article followed another timely article also republished on this blog entitled The horrible history of the House of Windsor].
Scottish, Welsh and, especially, Irish republicans are ten a penny. The English, on the other hand, are allegedly inflicted with some genetic mental defect that makes them cower before crowns and thrones and leap to attention and bare their heads at the sound of the opening bars of the National Anthem. There is, unfortunately, a lot of truth in this: royalism has a deep hold on English thinking and penetrates well into the labour movement. From Ramsay MacDonald to Harold Wilson, Labour Prime ministers have displayed a quite sickening devotion to whichever crowned clown happens to be sitting at the top of the mall. That is not all of the story, though. There is a long and stubborn republican tradition in England. Colin Sparks looks at it.
There have been at least two periods in which republicanism has commanded mass support. On both of these occasions, the leading republican thinkers were the ideological representatives of the bourgeoisie, but in both cases the bourgeoisie itself, once it saw the consequencies of consistent republicanism, backed down and made its peace with royalty. It was left to the plebian, and later proletarian, inheritors to keep up the struggle.
The first mass flourishing of English republicanism was during the English Revolution of 1641-60. For a long time, the leaders of the Parliamentary forces comforted themselves with the notion that they were actually fighting for the King, and only against his advisers who had misled him. A consequence of this was that they did very badly, suffering defeats and missing opportunities for victories. But the dynamic of the war was already forcing new men to the fore, who had far fewer illusions in the King and were determined to beat him.
The best known of these was Oliver Cromwell. He told his troops:
'I will not deceive you nor make you believe, as my commission has it, that you are going to fight for the king and parliament: if the king were before me I would shoot him as another; if your conscience will not allow you to do as much, go and serve elsewhere.'
Once the king had been beaten, there was the problem of what to do with him. The compromisers still wanted to do deals with him, but Cromwell and his independent party controlled the armed forces and suitably intimidated the opposition, telling the special court that: 'We will cut off his head with the crown upon it.'
Charles Stuart was duly judged as a 'tyrant, traitor, murderer and enemy to the country'. Cromwell himself wrote out the death warrant, and on 30th January 1648 the King was beheaded in Whitehall. The regicides had their theoreticians. The best known was the foreign minister and poet, John Milton. Less than two weeks after the execution he published a book justifying it called: The Tenure of Kings and magistrates; proving that it is lawful, and hath been held so through all ages, for any, who have the power, to call to account a tyrant, or wicked king, and after due conviction, to depose, and put him to death.
Milton broadened his ideas to a general statement of republican principles, which he publised as The Readie and Easie Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth, and the Excellence thereof compar'd with the inconvenience and dangers of readmitting kingship in this nation, just before the Restoration of 1660. In this, he argued:
'People must needs be mad or strangely infatuated that build the chief hope of their common happiness of safety on a single person... The happiness of a nation must needs be firmest and certainest in a full and free Councel of their own electing, where no single person, but reason only sways.'
By then, there were few to listen to Milton. Cromwell's own generals
negotiated and arranged the restoration of monarchy. Among their reasons was the dangerous implication of the arguments that Milton was using. If the revolution had been led by landlords, merchants, even great nobles, much of the hardest fighting had been done by working men from the towns and fields and, in the course of the war, they developed their own, radical ideas.
The Leveller, Overton, wrote:
'It is naturally inbred in the major part of the nobility and gentry to oppress the persons of such sort that are not as rich and honourable as themselves, to judge the poor but fools and them wise... It is they that oppress you, insomuch that your slavery is their liberty, your poverty is their prosperity.'
Another group of Levellers went even further:
'We were before ruled by Kings, Lords and Commons, now by a General, a Court Martial and a House of Commons; we pray you, what is the difference? ... We have not the change of kingdom to a commonwealth; we are only under the old cheat, the transmutation of names but with the addition of new tyrannies to the old ... and the last state of this commonwealth is worse than the first.'
To the left of the Levellers stood the Diggers, who had a clear idea as to the origin of all this misery and a theory and a programme for righting it.
Diggers and Levellers alike were crushed by the generals, shot at Burford Church for refusing to serve in Ireland or driven from St George's Hill by soldiers. But the idea was there still, rooted in the brain of the common people and rooted in the brain of the rich. It was this that the elegant arguments of Mr Milton led to. Better by far to forget the ideals of republicanism, compromise with a rotten king and a rotten court, lest in the struggle against them there was a loss of all power and privileges.
The next great outburst if popular republicanism was at the end of the eighteenth and the start of the nineteenth century. The monarchy was widely hated on all sides, and new sections of the rich were emerging, an industrial bourgeoisie who wanted their place in the system which the existing set-up denied them. The upsurge was crystallised and given form by the journalist Thomas Paine.
In 1776, Paine published a pamphlet Common Sense, which was an immediate best seller and made him a famous man. The pamphlet is a justification of the American Revolution, but in his argument Paine raised more general questions.
Paine asked what was the origin of kingship:
'... It is more than probable, that could we take off the dark covering of antiquity, and trace them to their first rise, that we should find the first of them nothing better than the principal ruffian of some restless gang, whose savage manners or pre-eminence in subtilty obtained him the title of chief among plunderers.'
And if kings in general owed their origins to a robber band, the King of England in particular held his title purely by that
right:
'England, since the conquest hath known some few good monarchs, but
groaned beneath a much larger number of bad ones, yet no man in his senses can say that their claim under William the Conqueror is a very honourable one. A French bastard landing with an armed banditti, and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives, is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original. It certainly hath no divinity in it. That William the Conqueror was an usurper is a fact not to be contradicted. The plain truth is, that the antiquity of the English monarchy will not bear looking in to.'
The American Revolution echoed across the Atlantic. When the British
general Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, he ordered his band to play a tune called 'The World Turned Upside Down'. Before long that choice proved very apposite. In 1789 the people in Paris stormed the Bastille and the French Revolution had begun.
Having seen the birth of two free nations, Paine wished to see the birth of a third - that of Britain.
He wrote The Rights of Man, which became an instant best seller. In this book Paine repeated and developed his ideas about the origins of kingship, and was particularly savage about hereditary monarchy:
'Hereditary succession is a burlesque upon monarchy. It puts it in the most ridiculous light, by presenting it as an office which any child or idiot may fill. It requires some talents to be a common mechanic; but, to be a king, requires only the animal figure of man - a sort of breathing automaton.'
For Paine, the spread of republican principles was the guarantee of a new and better world:
'Never did so great an opportunity offer itself to England, and to all Europe, as is produced by the two revolutions of America and France ... When another national shall join France, despotism and bad government will scarcely dare to appear. To use a trite expression, the iron is becoming hot all over Europe. The insulted German and the enslaved Spaniard, the Russ and the Pole, are beginning to think. The present age will hereafter merit to be called the age of reason, and the present generation will appear to the future as the Adam of a new world.'
The movement which Paine had done so much to inspire met savage repression and was broken. But the ideas of republicanism continued to have widespread circulation. The poet Keats, for example wrote in 1815 a poem On 29 May: the Anniversary of the Restoration of Charles II:
Infatuate Britons, will you still proclaim
His memory, your direst, foulest
shame?
Nor patriots revere?
Ah! while I hear each traitorous lying
bell,
"Tis gallant Sidney's , Russell's, Vane's
sad knell, That pains my wounded ear.
(Sidney, Russell and Vane were condemned to death by Charles II for having voted for his father's execution.)
But, though many capitalists and intellectuals were distanced from the idea of monarchy, active republicanism was more and more a prerogative of the newly emerging working class movement. Paine himself had always been a defender of private property, believing that this was the way to establish freedom, equality and plenty.
But the arguments that he used against the idea of monarchy and hereditary government were ones which had dangerous consequences. Consider his crushing demolition of Burke's argument for hereditary legislators:
'The idea of hereditary legislation is as inconsistent as that of hereditary judges, or hereditary juries; and as absurd as an hereditary mathematician, or an hereditary wise man; and as ridiculous as an hereditary poet-laureate.'
That is a fine and irrefutable argument, but it is open for some wage slave to take it a lot further. What answer comes if we ask what basis there is for any sort of hereditary social power - for example the private ownership of the means of production? By Paine's own logic, the answer is a socialist one.
It is thus that the republican tradition has, since then, been almost exclusively a proletarian one. There have been bourgeois republicans since, and probably many of the capitalists even today consider the monarchy a quaint and outdated institution. Even an editor of The Economist, Bagehot, considered it as 'decorative' rather than 'efficient'. But it was the illegal and working class newspaper The Republican which denounced the Peterloo massacre in 1819, and it was in Julian Harney's The Red Republican of 9 November 1850 that a lead article Manifesto of the German Communist Party, by a certain K. Marx and F. Engels, appeared.
The tradition continued with William Morris. The name of his paper Commonweal harks back to Milton, and it was there that the denunciation of the 1887 Jubilee appeared:
'Socialists feel of course that the mere abolition of the monarchy would help them little if it only gave place to a middle-class republic... Nevertheless, now the monstrous stupidity is on us - one's indignation swells pretty much to the bursting point. We must not, after all forget what the hideous, revolting, and vulgar tomfoolery in question really
means nowadays...'
The modern revolutionary movement is proud to claim to stand in this republican tradition. Of course, the real power of the English crown is feeble today. Charles III will be no despot like Charles I. He will do
exactly what his capitalist masters tell him to do. He will be, in substance, little more than an enormously expensive parasite upon the backs of the working people. But the monarchy is more than substantial
importance; it also carries an enormous symbolic weight. It is one of the key pins of the ruling ideology. The struggle against the monarchy is an important part of the ideological struggle for socialism.
It is a struggle which only socialists can now wage. In previous epochs, like the ones we have glanced at, the monarchy represented the interests of classes, or parts of classes, which were at odds with important sections of property owners. Some of them were prepared to fight the king in their own interests, and others were happy to denounce him. That is not true today. The English throne is linked by chains of gold to the capitalist order. The only class which has an interest in the overthrow of the monarchy is the class which has an interest in the overthrow of capitalism: the working class.
The last words belong to that great republican Thomas Paine. When he wrote them, they were not yet exactly true and he certainly could not foresee what their future meaning would be. But today they are precisely right:
'Monarchy would not have continued so many ages in the world, had it not been for the abuses it protects. It is the master-fraud, which shelters all others.'
From The "Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives" Website- The Alba Blog
Click on the headline to link to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archive blog page for all kinds of interesting information about that important historic grouping.
Markin comment:
This blog had gotten my attention for two reasons: those rank and filers who fought to defend democracy, fight the fascists and fight for socialism in Spain for the most part, political opponents or not, were kindred spirits; and, those with first-hand knowledge of those times over seventy years ago are dwindling down to a precious few and so we had better listen to their stories while they are around to tell it. More, later.
Markin comment:
This blog had gotten my attention for two reasons: those rank and filers who fought to defend democracy, fight the fascists and fight for socialism in Spain for the most part, political opponents or not, were kindred spirits; and, those with first-hand knowledge of those times over seventy years ago are dwindling down to a precious few and so we had better listen to their stories while they are around to tell it. More, later.
The Latest From The SteveLendmanBlog-Fragging in Afghanistan?
The Latest From The SteveLendmanBlog
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/
Markin comment:
I am always happy to post material from the SteveLendmanBlog, although I am not always in agreement with his analysis. I am always interested in getting a left-liberal/radical perspective on some issues that I don’t generally have time to cover in full like the question of Palestine, the Middle East in general, and civil rights and economic issues here in America and elsewhere. Moreover the blog provides plenty of useful links to other sources of information about the subject under discussion.
*********
Fragging in Afghanistan?
by Stephen Lendman
Email: lendmanstephen (nospam) sbcglobal.net (verified)
29 Mar 2012
Fragging in Afghanistan?
by Stephen Lendman
If it's happening, it's not reported. Washington wants no mention or suggestion of what plagued Vietnam. More on that below.
Writing about the Russian Revolution, Leon Trotsky said:
"The moral condition of the army was hopeless. You might describe it by saying the army as an army no longer existed. Defeats, retreats, and the rottenness of the ruling class had utterly undermined the troops."
War in Vietnam affected US soldiers that way. Until 1967, order was well maintained. After Tet in late January/February 1968, things changed. Mutinies forced the Pentagon to disguise them with language like "combat refusal."
Soldiers disobeyed orders. Most were search and destroy missions. They were put in harms way against formidable enemies. At times, entire companies defied commanders. As fear of punishment faded, incidents mushroomed. So did fragging.
Wikipedia calls "attacking a superior officer in one's chain of command" with intent to kill. Fragmentation grenades were usually used. Hence, the term fragging. No fingerprints were left behind.
As frustration and anger grew, so did fragging incidents. They became the price extracted for being ordered in harm's way against enemies refusing to quit.
After Tet, they became widespread. At least 800 incidents occurred, perhaps 1,000 or more. Precise numbers are unknown because army officials stopped counting. Judge Advocate General Corp officers believe only 10% of attempts were reported. Other estimates suggested they occurred at five times official figures. Officers shot by their men were excluded. They were listed as wounded or killed in action.
Army officials admitted they couldn't account for over 1,400 officer and noncom deaths. Perhaps as many as one-fourth occurred at the hands of subordinates. The Army was at war with itself. It was unprecedented, but didn't reflect revenge. It was about opposing search and destroy missions. Soldiers wanted them ended. Refusal had its price.
Officers were often warned in advance. Smoke grenades were left near their beds. Tear gas grenades or grenade pins followed if warnings went unheeded. Fragmentation grenades punished the stubborn. Soldiers weren't playing games. Everyone was the enemy. Officers at times fragged troops they suspected of planning to target them.
In one battalion, the commander refused to distribute arms. He feared he and other officers would be shot. Congressional hearings in 1973 estimated around 3% of officer and NCO deaths from fragging. Other methods included handguns, automatic rifles, booby traps, knives, and bare hands.
In 1971, Col. Robert Heinl, Jr. said:
"The morale, discipline and battleworthiness of the US Armed Forces are....lower than anytime in the century and possibly in the history of the United States."
"By every conceivable indicator, our Army that remains in Vietnam is in a state of approaching collapse, with individual units avoiding or having....refused combat, murdering their own officers and NCOs, drug-ridden and dispirited when not mutinous."
The longer America's wars continue, the closer a similar state approaches critical mass because of declining moral, repeated deployments, combat stress, battle fatigue, and what Vietnam vet Steve Hesske called the "negative universals in all warfare."
They include "Lousy nutrition. Cramped, dirty, awful living conditions. Terrible weather. Unreasonable, often senseless, demands made by superiors. And what Michael Herr describes in DISPATCHES (as) 'long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror.' "
In his book titled, "Fragging: Why US Soldiers Assaulted Their Officers in Vietnam," George Lepre said similar assaults occurred in earlier US wars, but not like in Vietnam.
Drug use, low morale, a quagmire conflict, formidable enemies, and ranks filled with below-standard troops to meet manpower needs contributed to explosive incidents.
Fraggers were mostly young, immature, poorly educated, Black, and mediocre performers. Most weren't draftees, and no evidence suggests anti-war sentiment was involved.
"It was no accident that the fragging phenomenon occurred during an unpopular war," said Lepre. A host of contributing factors led to America waging war on itself. It didn't end until Washington's humiliating April 30, 1975 Saigon embassy rooftop exit.
Perhaps Kabul, Baghdad, and Tripoli repeats will follow. For millions affected, it can't happen a moment too soon. Their struggle continues to assure it. Afghanistan most reflects it. An acknowledged unwinnable war persists, but how much longer before what can't go on forever, won't.
Afghanistan's Unwinnable War
Afghanistan reflects Vietnam. Whether or not fragging's occurring isn't known. However, if frustration grows and morale and discipline deteriorate, it may arrive full force.
Known incidents involve Afghan, not US forces. However, cover-up and denial may conceal unreported incidents, perhaps more than imagined.
On February 1, Medill on the Hill, a project of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism headlined, "Insider attacks on US troops by friendly Afghan forces on the rise," saying:
A March 2011 Kandahar Province attack killed two US soldiers and wounded four others. An Afghan security contractor was responsible - "a hired gun paid for by the US-led coalition."
It wasn't an isolated incident. Since May 2007, Afghan security forces launched at least 45 attacks. About 70 or more NATO troops were killed and hundreds more wounded.
Friendly force attacks are increasing. Most came in the past two years, despite careful recruit screening. NATO ranks number 130,000, including 90,000 US troops.
As of October 2011, Afghan National Security Forces numbered 312,000. However, distrust, poor training, corruption, and growing desertions erupt in violence against a hated occupier.
On March 1, the Christian Science Monitor headlined, "Afghan troops keep killing US troops," saying:
An Afghan soldier and civilian employee "murdered two US soldiers at a base near the southern city of Kandahar today. That brings the total so-called green on blue killings in Afghanistan to six since an Afghan witnessed US soldiers dumping Qurans into a burn pit at Bagram Air Base a week ago."
At issue is America's decade-long failed war. Incidents are increasing. Frustration and anger define them. Afghans want Americans out. Anger causes attacks. Many others sympathize and perhaps plan their own.
They belie official progress and growing stability reports. Conditions have never been worse. At 124 months and counting, Afghanistan is America's longest war. Vietnam lasted 103 months. Polls show declining public support. Obama duplicitously claims:
“The overwhelming majority of Afghan troops have welcomed and benefitted from the training and partnering that we’re doing. When you think about it, the same was true in Iraq.” By end of 2014, “Afghans will have capacity just as Iraqis to secure their own country.”
In fact, violence wracks Iraq. Incidents occur regularly. On March 20, over 30 bomb attacks struck cities and towns across the country. At least 52 were killed and about 250 injured. It was Iraq's bloodiest day in a month. Police checkpoints and patrols were mostly targeted.
Army and police are often attacked. Al Qaeda and other insurgents claim responsibility. March 19 was the war's 9th anniversary. Violence rages daily. Afghanistan gets most attention, but Iraqis want Americans out as much as Afghans do. Fighting will rage until they're gone, and the same's true for Libya.
Arab street anti-American sentiment is visceral. Anything's possible against a hated occupier and complicit satraps. A recent Kabul attack involved assassinating a US colonel and major inside the Afghan Interior Ministry headquarters.
The gunman was reportedly an intelligence service driver infuriated by US comments mocking Koran protests and the Koran itself. Other incidents involve Afghan troops killing US soldiers. In populated areas, civilians die with them in cases where car bombs, grenades, or other explosive devices are used.
In 2012, over a dozen US troops were killed. Around fivefold that number were wounded, many seriously. Cover-ups likely conceal others, and when injured soldiers die, only their families are told.
Nothing will stop these and similar incidents until America's occupation ends, and Afghans run their own country. Until then, US soldiers will be targeted are killed.
Perhaps they'll wage war on themselves like for years in Vietnam. Given similarities between the conflicts, it may be just a matter of time.
A Final Comment
During his March Kabul visit, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was targeted. Reports said a man drove a bomb-laden vehicle onto the runway where his plane landed.
An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) statement confirmed the incident, but downplayed it. Panetta's visit went on as planned. Afghans want no part of him and US forces he represents.
Even they can't be trusted. Panetta ordered US troops meeting with him in Helmand Province disarmed. In a tent where they gathered, around 200 marines were told to lay down automatic rifles and 9mm pistols. A sergeant was told to clear all weapons outside.
It's significant because typically troops remain armed when the defense secretary addresses them.
The official explanation given about wanting to be "consistent with the Afghans" didn't wash. At issue is trust and perhaps fear that anger in the ranks may erupt against visiting US officials. Why not when multiple deployments put ground forces in harm's way.
America may again wage war on itself. Given the similarities between Southeast Asia and Afghanistan, it may indeed be just a matter of time.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen (at) sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
See also:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com
This work is in the public domain
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/
Markin comment:
I am always happy to post material from the SteveLendmanBlog, although I am not always in agreement with his analysis. I am always interested in getting a left-liberal/radical perspective on some issues that I don’t generally have time to cover in full like the question of Palestine, the Middle East in general, and civil rights and economic issues here in America and elsewhere. Moreover the blog provides plenty of useful links to other sources of information about the subject under discussion.
*********
Fragging in Afghanistan?
by Stephen Lendman
Email: lendmanstephen (nospam) sbcglobal.net (verified)
29 Mar 2012
Fragging in Afghanistan?
by Stephen Lendman
If it's happening, it's not reported. Washington wants no mention or suggestion of what plagued Vietnam. More on that below.
Writing about the Russian Revolution, Leon Trotsky said:
"The moral condition of the army was hopeless. You might describe it by saying the army as an army no longer existed. Defeats, retreats, and the rottenness of the ruling class had utterly undermined the troops."
War in Vietnam affected US soldiers that way. Until 1967, order was well maintained. After Tet in late January/February 1968, things changed. Mutinies forced the Pentagon to disguise them with language like "combat refusal."
Soldiers disobeyed orders. Most were search and destroy missions. They were put in harms way against formidable enemies. At times, entire companies defied commanders. As fear of punishment faded, incidents mushroomed. So did fragging.
Wikipedia calls "attacking a superior officer in one's chain of command" with intent to kill. Fragmentation grenades were usually used. Hence, the term fragging. No fingerprints were left behind.
As frustration and anger grew, so did fragging incidents. They became the price extracted for being ordered in harm's way against enemies refusing to quit.
After Tet, they became widespread. At least 800 incidents occurred, perhaps 1,000 or more. Precise numbers are unknown because army officials stopped counting. Judge Advocate General Corp officers believe only 10% of attempts were reported. Other estimates suggested they occurred at five times official figures. Officers shot by their men were excluded. They were listed as wounded or killed in action.
Army officials admitted they couldn't account for over 1,400 officer and noncom deaths. Perhaps as many as one-fourth occurred at the hands of subordinates. The Army was at war with itself. It was unprecedented, but didn't reflect revenge. It was about opposing search and destroy missions. Soldiers wanted them ended. Refusal had its price.
Officers were often warned in advance. Smoke grenades were left near their beds. Tear gas grenades or grenade pins followed if warnings went unheeded. Fragmentation grenades punished the stubborn. Soldiers weren't playing games. Everyone was the enemy. Officers at times fragged troops they suspected of planning to target them.
In one battalion, the commander refused to distribute arms. He feared he and other officers would be shot. Congressional hearings in 1973 estimated around 3% of officer and NCO deaths from fragging. Other methods included handguns, automatic rifles, booby traps, knives, and bare hands.
In 1971, Col. Robert Heinl, Jr. said:
"The morale, discipline and battleworthiness of the US Armed Forces are....lower than anytime in the century and possibly in the history of the United States."
"By every conceivable indicator, our Army that remains in Vietnam is in a state of approaching collapse, with individual units avoiding or having....refused combat, murdering their own officers and NCOs, drug-ridden and dispirited when not mutinous."
The longer America's wars continue, the closer a similar state approaches critical mass because of declining moral, repeated deployments, combat stress, battle fatigue, and what Vietnam vet Steve Hesske called the "negative universals in all warfare."
They include "Lousy nutrition. Cramped, dirty, awful living conditions. Terrible weather. Unreasonable, often senseless, demands made by superiors. And what Michael Herr describes in DISPATCHES (as) 'long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror.' "
In his book titled, "Fragging: Why US Soldiers Assaulted Their Officers in Vietnam," George Lepre said similar assaults occurred in earlier US wars, but not like in Vietnam.
Drug use, low morale, a quagmire conflict, formidable enemies, and ranks filled with below-standard troops to meet manpower needs contributed to explosive incidents.
Fraggers were mostly young, immature, poorly educated, Black, and mediocre performers. Most weren't draftees, and no evidence suggests anti-war sentiment was involved.
"It was no accident that the fragging phenomenon occurred during an unpopular war," said Lepre. A host of contributing factors led to America waging war on itself. It didn't end until Washington's humiliating April 30, 1975 Saigon embassy rooftop exit.
Perhaps Kabul, Baghdad, and Tripoli repeats will follow. For millions affected, it can't happen a moment too soon. Their struggle continues to assure it. Afghanistan most reflects it. An acknowledged unwinnable war persists, but how much longer before what can't go on forever, won't.
Afghanistan's Unwinnable War
Afghanistan reflects Vietnam. Whether or not fragging's occurring isn't known. However, if frustration grows and morale and discipline deteriorate, it may arrive full force.
Known incidents involve Afghan, not US forces. However, cover-up and denial may conceal unreported incidents, perhaps more than imagined.
On February 1, Medill on the Hill, a project of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism headlined, "Insider attacks on US troops by friendly Afghan forces on the rise," saying:
A March 2011 Kandahar Province attack killed two US soldiers and wounded four others. An Afghan security contractor was responsible - "a hired gun paid for by the US-led coalition."
It wasn't an isolated incident. Since May 2007, Afghan security forces launched at least 45 attacks. About 70 or more NATO troops were killed and hundreds more wounded.
Friendly force attacks are increasing. Most came in the past two years, despite careful recruit screening. NATO ranks number 130,000, including 90,000 US troops.
As of October 2011, Afghan National Security Forces numbered 312,000. However, distrust, poor training, corruption, and growing desertions erupt in violence against a hated occupier.
On March 1, the Christian Science Monitor headlined, "Afghan troops keep killing US troops," saying:
An Afghan soldier and civilian employee "murdered two US soldiers at a base near the southern city of Kandahar today. That brings the total so-called green on blue killings in Afghanistan to six since an Afghan witnessed US soldiers dumping Qurans into a burn pit at Bagram Air Base a week ago."
At issue is America's decade-long failed war. Incidents are increasing. Frustration and anger define them. Afghans want Americans out. Anger causes attacks. Many others sympathize and perhaps plan their own.
They belie official progress and growing stability reports. Conditions have never been worse. At 124 months and counting, Afghanistan is America's longest war. Vietnam lasted 103 months. Polls show declining public support. Obama duplicitously claims:
“The overwhelming majority of Afghan troops have welcomed and benefitted from the training and partnering that we’re doing. When you think about it, the same was true in Iraq.” By end of 2014, “Afghans will have capacity just as Iraqis to secure their own country.”
In fact, violence wracks Iraq. Incidents occur regularly. On March 20, over 30 bomb attacks struck cities and towns across the country. At least 52 were killed and about 250 injured. It was Iraq's bloodiest day in a month. Police checkpoints and patrols were mostly targeted.
Army and police are often attacked. Al Qaeda and other insurgents claim responsibility. March 19 was the war's 9th anniversary. Violence rages daily. Afghanistan gets most attention, but Iraqis want Americans out as much as Afghans do. Fighting will rage until they're gone, and the same's true for Libya.
Arab street anti-American sentiment is visceral. Anything's possible against a hated occupier and complicit satraps. A recent Kabul attack involved assassinating a US colonel and major inside the Afghan Interior Ministry headquarters.
The gunman was reportedly an intelligence service driver infuriated by US comments mocking Koran protests and the Koran itself. Other incidents involve Afghan troops killing US soldiers. In populated areas, civilians die with them in cases where car bombs, grenades, or other explosive devices are used.
In 2012, over a dozen US troops were killed. Around fivefold that number were wounded, many seriously. Cover-ups likely conceal others, and when injured soldiers die, only their families are told.
Nothing will stop these and similar incidents until America's occupation ends, and Afghans run their own country. Until then, US soldiers will be targeted are killed.
Perhaps they'll wage war on themselves like for years in Vietnam. Given similarities between the conflicts, it may be just a matter of time.
A Final Comment
During his March Kabul visit, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was targeted. Reports said a man drove a bomb-laden vehicle onto the runway where his plane landed.
An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) statement confirmed the incident, but downplayed it. Panetta's visit went on as planned. Afghans want no part of him and US forces he represents.
Even they can't be trusted. Panetta ordered US troops meeting with him in Helmand Province disarmed. In a tent where they gathered, around 200 marines were told to lay down automatic rifles and 9mm pistols. A sergeant was told to clear all weapons outside.
It's significant because typically troops remain armed when the defense secretary addresses them.
The official explanation given about wanting to be "consistent with the Afghans" didn't wash. At issue is trust and perhaps fear that anger in the ranks may erupt against visiting US officials. Why not when multiple deployments put ground forces in harm's way.
America may again wage war on itself. Given the similarities between Southeast Asia and Afghanistan, it may indeed be just a matter of time.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen (at) sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
See also:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com
This work is in the public domain
Out In The 1920s Jazz Age Blues Night- Blind Lemon Is In The House- A CD Review
Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of Blind Lemon Jefferson holding forth on one of his signature blues tunes, Black Snake Moan.
Blind Lemon, Blind Lemon Jefferson, 1978
Yah, I know it is hard to keep the names of all these blind blues singers straight. Blind Willie, Blind Lemon, Blind Blake, etc. but there are differences. It is interesting that so many of these blind black singers, probably otherwise unemployable, gave the blues (and sometimes their root music, gospel, also) a tryout on the streets and seemingly thrived on this market niche. The just mentioned gospel roots of many of these performers shows the tension between the godly church music of their youth and the ‘devil’s’ music of their maturity and I believe added to the authenticity of the music. This compilation, although technically not the best due more to problems with the old time recording material than anything else, highlights Blind Lemon’s most enduring songs. The classic Black Snake Moan is included here. Not included here but a must listen for anybody interested in this music is another Jefferson classic See That My Grave is Kept Clean that has been covered by many, many artists, including Bob Dylan.
Blind Lemon, Blind Lemon Jefferson, 1978
Yah, I know it is hard to keep the names of all these blind blues singers straight. Blind Willie, Blind Lemon, Blind Blake, etc. but there are differences. It is interesting that so many of these blind black singers, probably otherwise unemployable, gave the blues (and sometimes their root music, gospel, also) a tryout on the streets and seemingly thrived on this market niche. The just mentioned gospel roots of many of these performers shows the tension between the godly church music of their youth and the ‘devil’s’ music of their maturity and I believe added to the authenticity of the music. This compilation, although technically not the best due more to problems with the old time recording material than anything else, highlights Blind Lemon’s most enduring songs. The classic Black Snake Moan is included here. Not included here but a must listen for anybody interested in this music is another Jefferson classic See That My Grave is Kept Clean that has been covered by many, many artists, including Bob Dylan.
***Out In The Ageless Blues Night- Alberta Hunter Holds Forth- A CD Review
Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of Alberta Hunter performing Nobody Knows You When You Are Down And Out.
Alberta Hunter, Greatest Hits, 1978
As I noted in a recent review of Memphis Minnie one of the interesting facts about the development of the blues is that in the early days the recorded music and the bulk of the live performances were done by women. That time, the early 1920’s to the 1930’s, was the classic age of women blues performers. Of course, when one thinks about that period the name that comes up is the legendary Bessie Smith. Alberta Hunter came into prominence at the tail end of that period. Although there were periods of quiescence Ms. Hunter had a long career as a classic blues torch singer.
This compilation produced by the legendary John Hammond and, therefore, technically good has a nice run of songs that made Ms. Hunter’s mark. Her phrasing on Always is interesting. Her heartfelt sorrow in A Good Man Is Hard To Find comes through. Sweet Georgia Brown is just so fine. And the plaintive My Handy Man Ain’t Handy No More says it all. If you like torch singers this is for you.
Alberta Hunter, Greatest Hits, 1978
As I noted in a recent review of Memphis Minnie one of the interesting facts about the development of the blues is that in the early days the recorded music and the bulk of the live performances were done by women. That time, the early 1920’s to the 1930’s, was the classic age of women blues performers. Of course, when one thinks about that period the name that comes up is the legendary Bessie Smith. Alberta Hunter came into prominence at the tail end of that period. Although there were periods of quiescence Ms. Hunter had a long career as a classic blues torch singer.
This compilation produced by the legendary John Hammond and, therefore, technically good has a nice run of songs that made Ms. Hunter’s mark. Her phrasing on Always is interesting. Her heartfelt sorrow in A Good Man Is Hard To Find comes through. Sweet Georgia Brown is just so fine. And the plaintive My Handy Man Ain’t Handy No More says it all. If you like torch singers this is for you.
The Latest From "The National Committee to Free the Cuban Five" Website -Free The Five Ahora! -The Defense Of The Cuban Revolution Begins With The Defense Of The Cuban Five
Click on the title to link to the website mentioned in the headline for the latest news and opinion from that site.
Markin comment (re-post from July 26, 2011):
On a day, July 26th, important in the history of the Cuban revolutionary movement it is also important, as always, to remember that the defense of the Cuban revolution here in the United States, the "heart of the beast", starts with the defense of the Cuban Five.
Markin comment (re-post from July 26, 2011):
On a day, July 26th, important in the history of the Cuban revolutionary movement it is also important, as always, to remember that the defense of the Cuban revolution here in the United States, the "heart of the beast", starts with the defense of the Cuban Five.
The Latest From The "National Jericho Movement"- Free All Our Class-War Prisoners
Click on the headline to link to the National Jericho Movement website for the latest news on our brother and sister class-war political prisoners.
Markin comment:
Free Mumia, Free Lynne, Free Bradley, Free Hugo, Free Ruchell-Free all our class-war prisoners
Markin comment:
Free Mumia, Free Lynne, Free Bradley, Free Hugo, Free Ruchell-Free all our class-war prisoners
The Latest From The "Leonard Peltier Defense Committee" Website-Free Leonard Peltier Now!-Free All Our Class-War Prisoners!-An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!
Click on the headline to link to the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee website for the latest news on our class-war political prisoner brother, Leonard Peltier.
Markin comment:
Long live the tradition of the James P. Cannon-founded International Labor Defense (via the American Communist Party and the Communist International's Red Aid). Free Leonard, Free Mumia, Free Lynne, Free Bradley, Free Hugo, Free Ruchell-Free all our class-war prisoners!
Markin comment:
Long live the tradition of the James P. Cannon-founded International Labor Defense (via the American Communist Party and the Communist International's Red Aid). Free Leonard, Free Mumia, Free Lynne, Free Bradley, Free Hugo, Free Ruchell-Free all our class-war prisoners!
The Latest From The Lynne Stewart Defense Committee- Free Lynne Stewart And Her Co-Workers Now!
Click on the headline to link to the Justice For Lynn Stewart Defense Committee for the latest in her case.
Markin comment:
Free Lynne Stewart and her co-workers! Free Grandma Now!
Markin comment:
Free Lynne Stewart and her co-workers! Free Grandma Now!
From The Archives-The Struggle To Win The Youth To The Fight For Our Communist Future-A Liberal's View Of Leon Trotsky -A Biography
Markin comment on this series:
One of the declared purposes of this space is to draw the lessons of our left-wing past here in America and internationally, especially from the pro-communist wing. To that end I have made commentaries and provided archival works in order to help draw those lessons for today’s left-wing activists to learn, or at least ponder over. More importantly, for the long haul, to help educate today’s youth in the struggle for our common communist future. That is no small task or easy task given the differences of generations; differences of political milieus worked in; differences of social structure to work around; and, increasingly more important, the differences in appreciation of technological advances, and their uses.
There is no question that back in my youth I could have used, desperately used, many of the archival materials available today. When I developed political consciousness very early on, albeit liberal political consciousness, I could have used this material as I knew, I knew deep inside my heart and mind, that a junior Cold War liberal of the American For Democratic Action (ADA) stripe was not the end of my leftward political trajectory. More importantly, I could have used a socialist or communist youth organization to help me articulate the doubts I had about the virtues of liberal capitalism and be recruited to a more left-wing world view. As it was I spent far too long in the throes of the left-liberal/soft social-democratic milieu where I was dying politically. A group like the Young Communist League (W.E.B. Dubois Clubs in those days), the Young People’s Socialist League, or the Young Socialist Alliance representing the youth organizations of the American Communist Party, American Socialist Party and the Socialist Workers Party (U.S.) respectively would have saved much wasted time and energy. I knew they were around but not in my area.
The archival material to be used in this series is weighted heavily toward the youth movements of the early American Communist Party and the Socialist Workers Party (U.S). For more recent material I have relied on material from the Spartacus Youth Clubs, the youth group of the Spartacist League (U.S.), both because they are more readily available to me and because, and this should give cause for pause, there are not many other non-CP, non-SWP youth groups around. As I gather more material from other youth sources I will place them in this series.
Finally I would like to finish up with the preamble to the Spartacist Youth Club’s What We Fight For statement of purpose:
"The Spartacus Youth Clubs intervene into social struggles armed with the revolutionary internationalist program of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky. We work to mobilize youth in struggle as partisans of the working class, championing the liberation of black people, women and all the oppressed. The SYCs fight to win youth to the perspective of building the Leninist vanguard party that will lead the working class in socialist revolution, laying the basis for a world free of capitalist exploitation and imperialist slaughter."
This seems to me be somewhere in the right direction for what a Bolshevik youth group should be doing these days; a proving ground to become professional revolutionaries with enough wiggle room to learn from their mistakes, and successes. More later.
************
A LIBERAL’S VIEW OF LEON TROTSKY
BOOK REVIEW
TROTSKY-An Appreciation of His Life, JOEL CARMICHAEL, ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, NEW YORK, 1975
ALL HONOR TO THE MEMORY OF THE GREAT RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONARY
As readers of this space may know I make no bones about being an admirer of the work of Leon Trotsky (see archives). I also believe that the definitive biography of the man is Isaac Deutscher’s three-volume set. Nevertheless, others have written biographies on Trotsky that are either less balanced than Deutscher’s or come at it from a different angle with a different ax to grind. Joel Carmichael’s is a standard liberal democratic take on Trotsky’s life and work. Mr. Carmichael, as others before and after him like Irving Howe, takes on the huge task of attempting to whittle down one of the big figures of 20th century history against the backdrop of that mushy Cold War liberalism that retarded the intellectual development of even fairly critical Western minds in the post-World war II period. That standard academic response invokes admiration for the personality and intellectual achievements of Trotsky the man while abhorring his politics, especially those pursued as a high Soviet official when he had political power. In the process Mr. Carmichael tries to account for Trotsky’s ‘fall’ from power in the psycho-biographic parlance that was popular in the 1970’s. In short, Mr. Carmichael concludes essentially that if only Trotsky was less of a loner and a better Bolshevik Party infighter his personal fate and history may have worked out better. Hell we, Trotsky’s admirers, have been screaming about his very important failure to lead the 1923-24 fight against the Stalinization of the Bolshevik Party (also known following the French revolutionary example as the Themidorian reaction) struggle for years. All without benefit of pseudo-Freudian analysis, by the way. In the end Mr. Carmichael’s take on Trotsky demonstrates more about the weakness of the liberal psycho-biographical method than a serious examination into Trotsky’s politics. There are some chasms that cannot be breached and this is one of them.
In classic fashion Carmichael, as others have done as well, sets up Trotsky’s virtues early. Thus he recognizes and appreciates the early romantic revolutionary and free-lance journalist in the true Russian tradition who faced jail and exile without flinching; the brilliant, if flawed, Marxist theoretician who defied all-comers at debate and whose theory of permanent revolution set the standard for defining the strategic pace of the Russian revolution; the great organizer of the revolutionary fight for power in 1917 and later organizer of the Red Army victory in the Civil War; the premier Communist literary critic of his age; the ‘premature’ anti-Stalinist who fought against the degeneration of the revolution; the lonely exile rolling the rock up the mountain despite personal tragedy and political isolation. However, my friends, Carmichael’s biographical approach tries to debunk an intensely political man by one who plainly is a political opponent of everything that Trotsky stood for. I only wish he had been more honest and open about it rather than use psycho-babble as a screen. Thus, all Carmichael’s patently obvious and necessary recognition of Trotsky as one of the great figures of the first half of the 20th century is a screen for taking Trotsky off of Olympus.
And here again Carmichael uses all the wearisome formulas in the liberal democratic handbook; the flawed nature of Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution as applied to Russia in 1917 and also to later semi-colonial and colonial countries; the undemocratic nature of the Bolshevik seizure of power in regard to other socialist parties; the horrors of the Civil War which helped lead to the degeneration of the revolution; Trotsky’s recognized tendency as a Soviet official to be attracted to administrative solutions; his adamant defense of the heroic days of the Bolshevik party and the Soviet Union, even in its degenerated state, against all comers until the end of his life; his weakness as a party political organizer in the fierce intra-party factional struggles and later in attempting to found new communist parties and a new international.
Of course the kindest interpretation one can make for Carmichael’s polemic, like that of Irving Howe who approached Trotsky’s life from the social-democratic perspective, is that he believes like many another erstwhile biographer that Trotsky should have given up the political struggle and become- what? Another bourgeois academic or better yet an editor of Partisan Review or The Nation? Obviously Mr. Carmichael did not pay sufficient attention to the parts that he considered Trotsky’s virtues. The parts about the intrepid revolutionary with a great sense of history and his role in it. And the wherewithal to find his place in it. Does that seem like the Trotsky that Carmichael has written about? No. A fairer way to put it is this. Trotsky probably represented the highest expression of what it was like to be a communist man, warts and all, in the sea of a non-Communist world. And that is high historical praise indeed. Let future biographers take note.
One of the declared purposes of this space is to draw the lessons of our left-wing past here in America and internationally, especially from the pro-communist wing. To that end I have made commentaries and provided archival works in order to help draw those lessons for today’s left-wing activists to learn, or at least ponder over. More importantly, for the long haul, to help educate today’s youth in the struggle for our common communist future. That is no small task or easy task given the differences of generations; differences of political milieus worked in; differences of social structure to work around; and, increasingly more important, the differences in appreciation of technological advances, and their uses.
There is no question that back in my youth I could have used, desperately used, many of the archival materials available today. When I developed political consciousness very early on, albeit liberal political consciousness, I could have used this material as I knew, I knew deep inside my heart and mind, that a junior Cold War liberal of the American For Democratic Action (ADA) stripe was not the end of my leftward political trajectory. More importantly, I could have used a socialist or communist youth organization to help me articulate the doubts I had about the virtues of liberal capitalism and be recruited to a more left-wing world view. As it was I spent far too long in the throes of the left-liberal/soft social-democratic milieu where I was dying politically. A group like the Young Communist League (W.E.B. Dubois Clubs in those days), the Young People’s Socialist League, or the Young Socialist Alliance representing the youth organizations of the American Communist Party, American Socialist Party and the Socialist Workers Party (U.S.) respectively would have saved much wasted time and energy. I knew they were around but not in my area.
The archival material to be used in this series is weighted heavily toward the youth movements of the early American Communist Party and the Socialist Workers Party (U.S). For more recent material I have relied on material from the Spartacus Youth Clubs, the youth group of the Spartacist League (U.S.), both because they are more readily available to me and because, and this should give cause for pause, there are not many other non-CP, non-SWP youth groups around. As I gather more material from other youth sources I will place them in this series.
Finally I would like to finish up with the preamble to the Spartacist Youth Club’s What We Fight For statement of purpose:
"The Spartacus Youth Clubs intervene into social struggles armed with the revolutionary internationalist program of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky. We work to mobilize youth in struggle as partisans of the working class, championing the liberation of black people, women and all the oppressed. The SYCs fight to win youth to the perspective of building the Leninist vanguard party that will lead the working class in socialist revolution, laying the basis for a world free of capitalist exploitation and imperialist slaughter."
This seems to me be somewhere in the right direction for what a Bolshevik youth group should be doing these days; a proving ground to become professional revolutionaries with enough wiggle room to learn from their mistakes, and successes. More later.
************
A LIBERAL’S VIEW OF LEON TROTSKY
BOOK REVIEW
TROTSKY-An Appreciation of His Life, JOEL CARMICHAEL, ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, NEW YORK, 1975
ALL HONOR TO THE MEMORY OF THE GREAT RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONARY
As readers of this space may know I make no bones about being an admirer of the work of Leon Trotsky (see archives). I also believe that the definitive biography of the man is Isaac Deutscher’s three-volume set. Nevertheless, others have written biographies on Trotsky that are either less balanced than Deutscher’s or come at it from a different angle with a different ax to grind. Joel Carmichael’s is a standard liberal democratic take on Trotsky’s life and work. Mr. Carmichael, as others before and after him like Irving Howe, takes on the huge task of attempting to whittle down one of the big figures of 20th century history against the backdrop of that mushy Cold War liberalism that retarded the intellectual development of even fairly critical Western minds in the post-World war II period. That standard academic response invokes admiration for the personality and intellectual achievements of Trotsky the man while abhorring his politics, especially those pursued as a high Soviet official when he had political power. In the process Mr. Carmichael tries to account for Trotsky’s ‘fall’ from power in the psycho-biographic parlance that was popular in the 1970’s. In short, Mr. Carmichael concludes essentially that if only Trotsky was less of a loner and a better Bolshevik Party infighter his personal fate and history may have worked out better. Hell we, Trotsky’s admirers, have been screaming about his very important failure to lead the 1923-24 fight against the Stalinization of the Bolshevik Party (also known following the French revolutionary example as the Themidorian reaction) struggle for years. All without benefit of pseudo-Freudian analysis, by the way. In the end Mr. Carmichael’s take on Trotsky demonstrates more about the weakness of the liberal psycho-biographical method than a serious examination into Trotsky’s politics. There are some chasms that cannot be breached and this is one of them.
In classic fashion Carmichael, as others have done as well, sets up Trotsky’s virtues early. Thus he recognizes and appreciates the early romantic revolutionary and free-lance journalist in the true Russian tradition who faced jail and exile without flinching; the brilliant, if flawed, Marxist theoretician who defied all-comers at debate and whose theory of permanent revolution set the standard for defining the strategic pace of the Russian revolution; the great organizer of the revolutionary fight for power in 1917 and later organizer of the Red Army victory in the Civil War; the premier Communist literary critic of his age; the ‘premature’ anti-Stalinist who fought against the degeneration of the revolution; the lonely exile rolling the rock up the mountain despite personal tragedy and political isolation. However, my friends, Carmichael’s biographical approach tries to debunk an intensely political man by one who plainly is a political opponent of everything that Trotsky stood for. I only wish he had been more honest and open about it rather than use psycho-babble as a screen. Thus, all Carmichael’s patently obvious and necessary recognition of Trotsky as one of the great figures of the first half of the 20th century is a screen for taking Trotsky off of Olympus.
And here again Carmichael uses all the wearisome formulas in the liberal democratic handbook; the flawed nature of Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution as applied to Russia in 1917 and also to later semi-colonial and colonial countries; the undemocratic nature of the Bolshevik seizure of power in regard to other socialist parties; the horrors of the Civil War which helped lead to the degeneration of the revolution; Trotsky’s recognized tendency as a Soviet official to be attracted to administrative solutions; his adamant defense of the heroic days of the Bolshevik party and the Soviet Union, even in its degenerated state, against all comers until the end of his life; his weakness as a party political organizer in the fierce intra-party factional struggles and later in attempting to found new communist parties and a new international.
Of course the kindest interpretation one can make for Carmichael’s polemic, like that of Irving Howe who approached Trotsky’s life from the social-democratic perspective, is that he believes like many another erstwhile biographer that Trotsky should have given up the political struggle and become- what? Another bourgeois academic or better yet an editor of Partisan Review or The Nation? Obviously Mr. Carmichael did not pay sufficient attention to the parts that he considered Trotsky’s virtues. The parts about the intrepid revolutionary with a great sense of history and his role in it. And the wherewithal to find his place in it. Does that seem like the Trotsky that Carmichael has written about? No. A fairer way to put it is this. Trotsky probably represented the highest expression of what it was like to be a communist man, warts and all, in the sea of a non-Communist world. And that is high historical praise indeed. Let future biographers take note.
From The Pages Of "Workers Vanguard"-Bourgeois Hypocrisy on Women’s Equality
Click on the headline to link to the International Communist League website.
Workers Vanguard No. 998
16 March 2012
Bourgeois Hypocrisy on Women’s Equality
(Quote of the Week)
When the U.S. launched its occupation of Afghanistan in 2001, feminists joined government spokesmen in covering this imperialist depredation with cynical platitudes concerning Afghan women who are horribly oppressed by Islamic fundamentalist forces. Those forces were themselves recipients of U.S. money and arms in the 1980s. Bolshevik leader V.I. Lenin punctured such bourgeois hypocrisy in an article marking the advances made toward women’s emancipation in the two years following the October Revolution of 1917.
In words bourgeois democracy promises equality and freedom, but in practice not a single bourgeois republic, even the more advanced, has granted women (half the human race) and men complete equality in the eyes of the law, or delivered women from dependence on and the oppression of the male.
Bourgeois democracy is the democracy of pompous phrases, solemn words, lavish promises and high-sounding slogans about freedom and equality, but in practice all this cloaks the lack of freedom and the inequality of women, the lack of freedom and the inequality for the working and exploited people.
Soviet or socialist democracy sweeps away these pompous but false words and declares ruthless war on the hypocrisy of “democrats,” landowners, capitalists and farmers with bursting bins who are piling up wealth by selling surplus grain to the starving workers at profiteering prices.
Down with this foul lie! There is no “equality,” nor can there be, of oppressed and oppressor, exploited and exploiter. There is no real “freedom,” nor can there be, so long as women are handicapped by men’s legal privileges, so long as there is no freedom for the worker from the yoke of capital, no freedom for the labouring peasant from the yoke of the capitalist, landowner and merchant.
—V.I. Lenin, “Soviet Power and the Status of Women,” November 1919
Workers Vanguard No. 998
16 March 2012
Bourgeois Hypocrisy on Women’s Equality
(Quote of the Week)
When the U.S. launched its occupation of Afghanistan in 2001, feminists joined government spokesmen in covering this imperialist depredation with cynical platitudes concerning Afghan women who are horribly oppressed by Islamic fundamentalist forces. Those forces were themselves recipients of U.S. money and arms in the 1980s. Bolshevik leader V.I. Lenin punctured such bourgeois hypocrisy in an article marking the advances made toward women’s emancipation in the two years following the October Revolution of 1917.
In words bourgeois democracy promises equality and freedom, but in practice not a single bourgeois republic, even the more advanced, has granted women (half the human race) and men complete equality in the eyes of the law, or delivered women from dependence on and the oppression of the male.
Bourgeois democracy is the democracy of pompous phrases, solemn words, lavish promises and high-sounding slogans about freedom and equality, but in practice all this cloaks the lack of freedom and the inequality of women, the lack of freedom and the inequality for the working and exploited people.
Soviet or socialist democracy sweeps away these pompous but false words and declares ruthless war on the hypocrisy of “democrats,” landowners, capitalists and farmers with bursting bins who are piling up wealth by selling surplus grain to the starving workers at profiteering prices.
Down with this foul lie! There is no “equality,” nor can there be, of oppressed and oppressor, exploited and exploiter. There is no real “freedom,” nor can there be, so long as women are handicapped by men’s legal privileges, so long as there is no freedom for the worker from the yoke of capital, no freedom for the labouring peasant from the yoke of the capitalist, landowner and merchant.
—V.I. Lenin, “Soviet Power and the Status of Women,” November 1919
From The Pages Of The Socialist Alternative Press-Political Crisis and Resistance - Perspectives for Struggle in 2012
Click on the headline to link to the Socialist Alternative (CWI) website.
Political Crisis and Resistance - Perspectives for Struggle in 2012
Mar 18, 2012
By Socialist Alternative
This document analyzing the historic struggles of 2011, particularly the Occupy movement, and putting forward perspectives for struggles in 2012, was unanimously agreed by the National Committee of Socialist Alternative, which met February 18-20. It has been slightly updated and amended since then to reflect new developments.
1.Over the last year a sea change in both U.S. and international politics took place. Faced with a spiraling capitalist crisis, and with the traditional political parties of the “left” and “right” offering only deeper misery as their “solution,” tens of millions of ordinary people forced their way onto the stage of history in bold and desperate attempts to change its course. Early last year, the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt gave confidence to the workers and youth of Wisconsin, who consciously emulated their tactics of continuous protests and occupations. Then, the mass revolts across Europe - in Greece and Spain in particular - directly inspired the Occupy Wall Street movement, which in a few short weeks dramatically changed the face of U.S. politics, ushering in a new era of protest and open class conflict.
2.The Occupy movement gathered together the pre-existing activist layer in U.S. society while simultaneously birthing a new and self-confident generation of activists, thereby laying the basis for new upsurges of struggle and radicalization in 2012 and beyond. The Oakland “General Strike” and port shutdown on November 2, the December 12 West Coast Ports Shutdown, and the preparations for a showdown at the Longview, WA port between the ILWU and EGT underscore the growing militancy and political development of the Occupy movement, as well as its impact within the ranks of organized labor.
3.Working out clear perspectives for how Occupy and wider struggles will develop in 2012 is difficult, particularly with the complications created by the elections. In part, perspectives hinge on the economic crisis now engulfing Europe and China, which threatens to send the entire world into a new recession and reverse the feeble economic recovery in the U.S. Renewed recession would dramatically sharpen class tensions but, whether the economy slumps or not, the experiences of the last year have educated the activists, alongside the wider working class and youth, laying the basis for even more advanced class battles in the coming period.
4.Political attitudes underwent a transformation in 2011, as popular consciousness began to catch up with the reality of an enduring social, political, and economic crisis of capitalism. After the sweeping victory of Tea Party Republicans in the 2010 midterm elections, many on the left, especially apologists for the Democratic Party, placed the blame on “apathetic” workers and predicted a sustained right-wing shift in U.S. society. However, we explained the election mainly reflected an anti-incumbent “throw the bums out” attitude toward Obama and the Democrats after two years of broken promises, pro-corporate policies, and failure to resolve mass unemployment. We anticipated that new events and the experience of having the Republicans in power would rapidly undermine support for the Republicans and provoke fresh struggles. The February “Battle of Wisconsin,” provoked by Governor Walker’s attacks on the trade unions, confirmed our perspective more rapidly and thoroughly than even we anticipated.
5.Now the Occupy movement has compelled everyone, including all the presidential candidates, to respond to issues of class inequality and corporate domination. Obama and the Democrats have attempted to co-opt the movement and the language of the 1% vs. the 99%, but their deep ties to Wall Street do not go unnoticed. Meanwhile, the Republican candidates are forced to argue against class ideas, denying even the existence of the 1% or class divisions in society. In the run-up to the New Hampshire primaries, Rick Santorum blasted Mitt Romney for using the term “middle class,” saying he preferred saying “middle income,” while Gingrich enraged Republican strategists by successfully painting Romney as a “vulture capitalist” and soundly defeating him in the South Carolina primary.
6.Meanwhile, a Pew Research poll released in January shows a rapid rise in class tensions, with 66% of Americans now saying there are “strong conflicts” between rich and poor, which is a significant rise since 2009 when only 47% saw “strong conflicts.” While we cannot yet speak of widespread class consciousness in the Marxist sense (i.e., understanding of the potential power and historic role of the working class), the rapid growth in “class feelings” creates fertile ground for class consciousness to develop. Already in the last year, the idea of a general strike has twice been seriously posed in actual struggles in the U.S.: first in the Wisconsin struggle, when our organization played a key role in popularizing the idea of a one-day public sector general strike, then in Oakland, when Occupy’s call for a “general strike” brought tens of thousands into the streets, including important contingents of organized labor.
7.Parallel with rising class anger, sympathy for socialist ideas is also on the rise. Half of young people aged 18-29 view socialism positively, according to a Pew poll in December. This is six percentage points higher than 20 months ago. Meanwhile, support for capitalism continues to decline, with 47% having negative views of the system. At present, of course, understanding of socialism remains quite low, with many vaguely looking toward more regulation, social democratic reforms, or a “mixed economy” rather than a planned economy under democratic workers’ control.
8.Nonetheless, levels of socialist sympathies this high are significant, especially given the nearly universal condemnation of socialism by the corporate media and both parties, backed up by deep reservoirs of anti-communism built up in the Cold War era. The poll further underscores the growing objective space for building a mass socialist movement in the U.S., even if the subjective factor – organized Marxist forces – remains extremely weak.
9.A central factor impacting mass consciousness and perspectives for struggle is the fate of the U.S. economy. Headlines in December and January announced the economy was “gaining steam” based on fresh job creation and corresponding declines in the unemployment rate. From October through December, the U.S. economy grew at 2.8 percent, the highest rate since the second quarter of 2010, but overall GDP growth in 2011 was just 1.7 percent.
10.The fourth quarter growth prompted many to once again begin celebrating a sustained recovery. However, more serious analysts point to recurrent weak spots in the U.S. and world economies, including the anemic housing market, persistently high unemployment, continued budget cuts and layoffs by federal, state and local governments, threats from the eurozone debt crisis, the slowdown in China, and so on. The conclusion of serious capitalist strategists is that the U.S. economy remains extremely vulnerable to fresh economic shocks, both internal and external.
11.Even if some level of anemic economic growth continues through 2012, budget cuts, layoffs, foreclosures, and growing inequality will also continue. For working people, there remains no recovery. It is worth remembering that many times in history, including in the U.S. in the 1930s, the periods of economic upswing following recessions provided more breathing space and confidence for workers to fight back. However, if a new global recession sets in this year - a widely discussed possibility in the business media - the impact on consciousness and struggle could be explosive. The U.S. and world working class now have the experience of 2011 under their belt, and they will not be in a mood to quietly submit to even deeper miseries.
Perspectives for Occupy
12.Following the mass movement in Wisconsin, we explained that the dam had broken and that we had entered a new era of struggle. However, our main perspective was for defensive battles against budget cuts, attacks on unions, layoffs, foreclosures, or fresh attacks on immigrants, women, or LGBT rights. Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was something different. While resting on mass anger at class inequality, corporate corruption, and economic anxieties, fundamentally Occupy was a generalized struggle against the elite and the system as a whole. Rather than taking a defensive posture on this or that single issue, the ideas and rhetoric of Occupy boldly raised the need for a radical reorganization of our economic and political system. This feature, also seen in the youthful uprisings worldwide, captured the imagination of millions, “changed the conversation,” and put the ruling class on the defensive.
13.Although the movement has clearly been weakened by police evictions and winter weather, it is by no means defeated. On the contrary, much of the activist layer born out of Occupy emerged from police repression more confident of their political power, while the mayors, police chiefs, and federal authorities who conspired to coordinate the repression find their legitimacy and political authority further undermined.
14.Nowhere is this clearer than in Oakland, where the occupiers were twice able to shut down the nation’s fifth largest port in retaliation against police repression, while divisions within the mayor’s office and police officials played out publicly. Similarly in New York, Bloomberg’s cynical lies and brutal methods were exposed and his credibility damaged. More recent confrontations between police and organized ultra-left trends in Occupy Oakland gave city officials the opportunity to paint occupiers as bent on bedlam but, in general, ruling class attempts to discredit Occupy has met limited success.
15.While the situation varies across the country, in many areas it’s clear that Occupy activists are regrouping for the next phase of the struggle. From the start of this movement, we have urged turning outward to draw larger numbers into activity, to develop a working-class orientation, and to build campaigns around concrete demands. Making clear demands and fighting for specific reforms is not a contradiction - as some trends in Occupy argue - with a more general critique of the system. The “transitional method” developed by genuine Marxism is the art and science of building the link, through a program of fighting “transitional demands” and proposals for struggle, between the immediate burning problems facing working-class people and the need for the socialist transformation of society. It is a method of demonstrating through the practical experience of struggle that capitalism is incapable of meeting our needs, and it outlines the concrete strategic tasks to bring about system change in direct relation to the living struggle and current consciousness.
16.In fact, on the basis of experience, the most serious activists in the Occupy movement, attempting to resolve this same problem, are increasingly turning toward campaigns on immediate issues facing working-class communities and youth. The national “Occupy Education” day of action on March 1 appears to be gathering momentum, as does the idea of mass non-payment of student debts. After the experience of almost a million people participating in “Bank Transfer Day” last fall, we must be prepared for this kind of struggle taking off.
17. With developments like “Occupy the Hood” and neighborhood assemblies in many areas, activists are shifting focus to take up immediate struggles in working-class communities. The “Occupy Homes” fight against foreclosures is gaining momentum in a number of cities, and more nationally coordinated action is being prepared. Occupy-inspired campaigns against budget cuts to crucial social services are also gaining some momentum in various cities. As of yet, the new campaigns being taken up by various circles of Occupy activists have not managed to rebuild the scale of protests and national momentum the movement had last fall, but the potential for new upsurges exists.
18.Adbusters, credited with initiating OWS, put out a call to action for 50,000 people to occupy Chicago starting on May 1 to protest the G8 summit (originally scheduled for Saturday, May 19 – Sunday, May 20) and the NATO summit (still scheduled for May 21 - 22). The mobilization appears to be gaining steam, and the Obama administration – fearing disruptions – moved the G8 meeting to Camp David. However, the NATO summit protest will still likely attract tens of thousands and be the central flashpoint of resistance for Occupy activists in the spring.
19.Across the country, Occupy and immigrants’ rights activists are building for May 1 demonstrations, which could be large in some areas, though calls for a May 1 national “general strike” will fail to gain much traction among workers. The protests against the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida in August and, to a lesser degree, the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte in September will also be important rallying points for the movement.
Confused Consciousness
17.The Occupy movement is characterized mostly by the raw anger of young people and their determination to struggle. The idea that one-off days of protest are not enough, that constant resistance is necessary, is a huge step forward. Most importantly, the idea that a radically different economic and political system is both possible and necessary was at the heart of the Occupy movement.
18.At same time, consciousness generally and among those actively involved in Occupy is starting from a very low level. This echoed our experience and analysis of the huge struggle in Wisconsin earlier in the year. Still, despite the low consciousness and the lack of organized political forces (and in some ways because of these factors), there is widespread openness to and interest in anti-capitalist and socialist ideas in both these movements, especially among youth.
19.Deep confusion prevails about the way forward, what approach can mobilize wider layers, and what a viable alternative to capitalism might look like. In the early stage of Occupy Wall Street, this ideological vagueness allowed it to attract all manner of support, with each political trend projecting its own ideological stamp onto the movement. However, this approach rapidly hit limitations as the size and potential power of the movement developed.
20.The ubiquitous debate within the Occupy movement over adopting demands revealed some of these limitations. Virtually nowhere was the movement able to concisely put together a basic fighting program or set of rounded out demands. Yet the most serious activists everywhere recognized the practical need to adopt fighting demands on issues facing working-class communities, and in practice certain demands were adopted. Focused protests to stop budget cuts, foreclosures, tuition increases, and union busting forced the movement to adopt demands, though these demands were often framed in weak, muddled, and limited ways as a concession to the prevailing “no demands” consciousness.
21.This sort of stumbling, pragmatic, empirical development of consciousness is a window into how ideas will continue to be clarified as wider struggles erupt in the U.S. The fact that the active elements in Occupy Wall Street were disproportionately middle class youth - with the core heavily influenced by anarchist ideas - was not an accident of history, but rather a necessary stage through which consciousness had to pass. When the winds of history blow, “the tops of the trees move first,” as Trotsky put it when referring to the role of the middle-class youth of Russia in the early stages of their revolutionary movement.
22.Now, circles of left activists based around clear political trends, including organized socialist and anarchist groups, are partially filling the vacuum of ideas within Occupy in a whole number of cities. In some cases this has been a healthy influence, encouraging a more working-class orientation and bringing the experience of basic community organizing methods into the movement. But sometimes, in combination with these positive influences, some left and anarchist forces have encouraged ultra-left and adventurist methods which are causing problems and reinforcing the “anti-political” mood.
Danger of Ultra-Leftism
23.As the Occupy movement wanes in numbers and influence, there is a danger that ultra-left ideas will grow more prominent. This is a clear pattern in history: following the peak of every serious social movement, mistaken tactics can grow out of moods of impatience, frustration, and isolation. The most energetic layer of activists who, in the period of the movement’s rise, grew self-confident with the wind of popular support at their backs, suddenly feel their hard-won influence and power slipping from their grasp. Attempts to regain the initiative through overly bold or confrontational actions can gain support, especially among freshly radicalized youth who have not experienced the ups and downs of the class struggle.
24.An important example that is provoking national debate within the Occupy movement is the January 28 clash between Oakland police and several hundred occupiers equipped with shields, firecrackers, and other projectiles, alongside the subsequent break-in and vandalism in Oakland City Hall. Their attempt to turn an empty building into a community space was overshadowed by the violent clash, and police used the incident to justify the arrest of 400 people later in the day at a separate peaceful march. Learning nothing, some of the organizers issued a public statement threatening “to make your lives miserable” and shutting down the airport if police continue to prevent the liberation of the abandoned building.
25.While the severe repression deepened public anger at the Oakland police, the incident will almost certainly further isolate Occupy Oakland from the wider working class, reducing most ordinary people to the role of bystanders. Attempts by media and politicians to paint Occupy activists as “terrorists” will be laughed off by most thinking workers, but at the same time they will be far more hesitant to participate if such actions become the new face of the movement. Occupy achieved massive public sympathy, but to turn passive support into an active mass movement the organizers must adopt campaigning demands that connect with consciousness and methods of struggle that inspire the widest possible participation.
26.Similarly, calls for a May 1 “general strike,” while well-meaning, are a completely premature ultra-left tactic that will not result in widespread workplace strikes. Despite the experience of Wisconsin, OWS, and other important steps forward in the last year, class consciousness, labor militancy, and strike activity remain at historic lows in the U.S. This, combined with Occupy’s lack of any real base in the unions or workplaces, means very few worker activists will take their call seriously, undermining the authority of Occupy activists urging the general strike. Of course, we cannot rule out a few workplaces (ILWU Local 10 in Oakland, immigrant truck drivers, etc.) taking strike action and some students, especially immigrant students, organizing walkouts, but all these could be accomplished without the discrediting effect of calling for a full “general strike.” The main dynamic of the “general strike” will most likely be large protests on May 1 by Occupy and the immigrants’ rights movement in a number of cities.
27.The rise of ultra-left moods in the Occupy movement highlights the vital importance of building a genuine Marxist organization to equip the best workers and youth who want to overthrow the system with the necessary ideas, strategy, and tactics to be effective. If a strong socialist force with correct tactics is not built, it is inevitable that some of the best activists will be lost to various dead-end and self-isolating political trends, or to the opportunist forces that can grow in response to this.
Occupy and the Unions
28.The Occupy movement inspired the active ranks of the labor movement and challenged conservative union leaders. At the same time, for the Occupy activists the problem of how to relate to the unions is causing substantial political debate. On the West Coast especially, both the conservatism of union leaders and the ultra-leftism of sections of the Occupy movement is on full display. It’s worth taking a closer look at the conflict between the leadership of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Occupy activists because it provides the best window into this broader process.
29.Following the major police crackdown on Occupy Oakland in October, a 2,000-strong general assembly called for a “general strike” and a march to shut down the huge Port of Oakland on November 2. With widespread sympathy for Occupy among union ranks, many labor leaders were pushed further than they wanted to go, officially supporting the action, which was respected by the longshore workers. In reality, there were very few actual workplace strikes, but many workers took personal or sick days, students walked out, and longshore workers didn’t cross the mass community pickets set up at the Port of Oakland. Estimates range from 15,000-30,000, making it the biggest Occupy protest outside of NYC. This excellent mass action, while not a general strike, dramatically boosted the confidence and authority of Occupy Oakland. At the same time, through a positive example of what is possible, it exposed the shameful failure of labor leaders to organize similar actions of their own against Corporate America.
30.For this reason, the subsequent West Coast Port Shutdown on December 12 and actions called by Occupy groups to defend the Longview ILWU in their dispute with EGT met with public denunciations from leaders of the ILWU and other union tops. Union officials bitterly complained that Occupy groups failed to get agreement through official union channels when they called for the December 12 shutdown or the subsequent call to shut down the Longview port when the EGT ship docked to be unloaded with scab labor. But with important sections of ILWU ranks supporting the actions – particularly in Longview, where the labor dispute was centered – it’s clear the leadership’s attitude flowed from fear of losing authority and having their conservative, law-abiding, failed methods of struggle challenged.
31.At the same time, mistakes conditioned by ultra-left political trends within Occupy handed unnecessary opportunities for union leaders, the corporate media, police, and government officials to isolate the port shutdown actions. Rather than dismissively avoiding direct negotiations with union leaders, Occupy activists - including left-wing rank-and-file longshore workers - should have clearly proposed joint action for the West Coast Port Shutdown through official union channels. Even if this had been rejected, the union leaders would not have been able to hide behind the issue of democratic process.
32.Similarly, when Occupy activists connected with the “Black Orchid Collective” organized a solidarity meeting in Seattle for the ILWU Local 21 workers in Longview, WA, they did so without seriously attempting direct dialogue with ILWU leaders. Conservative elements within the ILWU seized on this mistake to disrupt the solidarity meeting, promoting a statement by the ILWU president arguing against Occupy plans to shut down the Longview Port when the EGT ship docked to be unloaded by scab labor. Despite the presence of rank-and-file ILWU members speaking at the meeting in favor of the shutdown tactic, ILWU leaders tried to portray Occupy as a completely outside group imposing their approach on the workers. The pro-leadership group broke up the solidarity meeting by yelling and shoving other activists.
33.The next day, the Black Orchid Collective issued a statement correctly denouncing this undemocratic and disruptive behavior. However, their statement also attempted to portray the Occupy movement as a budding new leadership for the working class, in effect attempting to substitute Occupy for the unions. While many workers are sympathetic to and inspired by Occupy, with some unionists taking an active part, this energy should be used to help left oppositionists transform - not replace - the unions. The International Socialist Organization published articles correctly criticizing the Black Orchid Collective for attempting to bypass the unions but scandalously failing to criticize the union leaders’ right-wing offensive against Occupy and the rank-and-file militancy of the ILWU!
34.Despite these political weaknesses and divisions, the mass solidarity and militancy of the ILWU and the Occupy movement still succeeded in scoring a major victory, forcing EGT to concede on the key issue of the ILWU’s right to operate the grain terminal in Longview and on other issues. It appears the Obama administration did not want to take the heat this election year for using the U.S. Coast Guard, a branch of the U.S. military, to bust the ILWU and, instead, arranged behind the scenes for Washington State Democratic Governor Gregoire to force EGT to make a number of important concessions. The Democrats would never have done this, however, if it were not for the militancy and mass mobilizations of the ILWU and Occupy.
35.Of course, struggles in 2012 will not be limited to the Occupy movement. The continuing budget cuts and attacks on trade union rights could provoke fresh waves of working class resistance, particularly in the public sector, which remains the most densely unionized sector of the U.S. labor movement. The Occupy movement stirred up renewed confidence and a mood to fight within the union ranks and among some union leaders.
36.At the same time, many labor leaders used support for Occupy to cover up a year of defeats and concessions. The Wisconsin movement, initiated from below, was derailed by union leaders’ sabotaging the general strike campaign and channeling the struggle into their electoral recall strategy. This failed strategy flows from their deep ties to the Democratic Party as well as their generally timid, conservative outlook. Even if unions succeed this year at replacing Governor Walker with a Democrat, workers should not expect a Democratic Wisconsin governor to reverse Walker’s budget cuts or all of his attacks on union rights.
37.Big business and politicians have continued their attacks on unions since their victory in Wisconsin. We should not forget that even Democrats initiated major anti-union legislation last year, most notably in Illinois and Massachusetts, underscoring how the frontal assault on U.S. labor is part of an overall capitalist offensive, not simply a right-wing Republican agenda. Unions in Ohio were able to reverse anti-labor legislation through a big referendum victory in November. The vote reflected the popular swing against right-wing anti-worker propaganda. It also showed that unions can reach out and unite broad layers of workers when they want to. However, most labor leaders only know how to mobilize for elections, and as long as they remain tied to the Democrats, this means marching unions into their grave.
38.The Indiana legislature, dominated by Republicans, just delivered another severe blow to organized labor. The January passage of a “right to work” law banning closed-shop union workplaces makes Indiana the 23rd “right to work” state, with most others concentrated in the South and other mainly rural, low union density states. Indiana’s traditionally strong unions organized boisterous but small rallies at the state house to support the Democrats’ stall-tactics on the bill, but had no serious mass movement strategy to defeat it. There should have been a major national mobilization and a bold class appeal to non-union workers to organize Wisconsin-style mass protests and, this time, coordinated strikes and mass direct action.
39.The defeat of Indiana’s traditionally strong labor movement gives confidence to other state legislatures – most ominously in Michigan – to consider similar “right to work” legislation. Given the history of labor militancy in Michigan and the economic desperation of many workers there, such an attack could provoke a major backlash. As in Wisconsin, the corporate juggernaut pushing austerity and attacks on workers will inevitably spur fresh resistance struggles. To bring these struggles to victory, however, will require building a new class struggle union leadership to replace the existing privileged bureaucracy.
40.The ascent, in recent years, of more fighting elements into the leadership of several unions is an important development. Opposition groups now control several key teachers’ union locals which, despite setbacks, remain a pole of attraction. The leadership of the National Nurses Union played an excellent role in Wisconsin, and the new president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, a former Labor Party member, has adopted a more fighting stance. The leadership of the ILWU, facing pressure from below and a tradition of left-wing militancy, also remains one of the most militant unions despite their recent attacks on Occupy activists and left-wingers within the union.
41.Important weaknesses remain, politically and in terms of rank-and-file activity and consciousness. This was most vividly revealed when the new left-wing Chicago Teachers Union leadership initially agreed to horrible anti-union legislation last year. And as of yet, none of these left trends has gained national prominence. However, in the context of a generalized upsurge of struggle, the small pockets of left union militancy can rapidly emerge as a leadership capable of mobilizing broad groups of workers. Especially where they can achieve important victories through mass mobilizations, they can set the national tone and become centers of gravity for the labor movement, exerting pressure on conservative union leaders.
42.As we repeatedly explained in our material on Wisconsin, the weakness of the organized left gave the Democratic Party and their allies in the union bureaucracy a free hand to derail the movement. But we can draw inspiration and lessons from imagining what would have been necessary for victory. With a stronger organized left within the union movement, the widespread if diffuse support for a “general strike” could have been organized into a cohesive campaign to force the labor leaders to call a one-day public sector work stoppage. Combined with an escalating campaign of mass actions, it’s very possible Walker could have been defeated. In turn, a victory in Wisconsin would have electrified workers everywhere, showing that determined mass action combined with political independence and defiance of anti-union laws can win victories. If new mass struggles break out in areas where healthy socialist and left union leaders have established positions, this “subjective factor” could have a major impact and act as a catalyst for new developments.
Right-Wing Threat
43.The failure of the left and the labor movement to build an independent political alternative or offer a fighting program to resist the capitalist crisis means the space for right-wing populism is left wide open. The Tea Party and Ron Paul, while partially encouraged by sections of big business for use as battering rams against the unions and social movements, are also a warped expression of popular anger arising from below. They tap into working people’s legitimate frustrations and anxieties, but their solutions amount to racist, sexist, and homophobic scapegoating alongside simplistic appeals for small government and traditional values. Since the crisis began, populist attacks on women, immigrants, the LGBT community, and the unions have gone way up.
44.Following the 2010 Republican congressional victories, an unprecedented assault on women’s rights occurred in 2011. A record 135 legislative attacks on women’s rights in 36 states passed, an increase from 89 in 2010 and 77 in 2009. This included 92 new restrictions on abortion access, breaking the record of 34 abortion restrictions in 2005, according to the Guttmacher Institute. These statistics provide one snapshot of the fiercely stepped-up right-wing offensive against all the historic gains won by past social movements. Attacks on LGBT rights, on immigrants and African Americans, and on the trade unions are part of the same right-wing juggernaut, funded by sections of big business and promoted by Fox News and other corporate media outlets. With pressure from the right wing dominating the Republican primary debate, and given the need of party leaders to whip up their base for the elections, we should anticipate a new round of attacks in 2012.
45.We should also anticipate a fight-back. The rise of the Slutwalks in cities across the country and around the world is, in part, a direct reaction by tens of thousands of young women to right-wing attempts to push them back into traditional roles. Like Occupy, the Slutwalks were characterized by youthful activists self-organizing independently of the traditional women’s organizations. While we correctly criticized the tactic of reclaiming the word “slut” and the very limited class appeal and program of the protests, it is nonetheless an important, positive indication of things to come.
46.2012 could prove to be a watershed year for LGBT rights. The February 7 ruling of a federal appeals court that California’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court. Subsequently, Democratic controlled legislatures in Washington State, Maryland, and New Jersey legalized same-sex marriage, although the Republican governor in New Jersey vetoed the legislation. In Washington and Maryland, just the seventh and eighth states to legalize gay marriage, right-wing groups have vowed to launch a ballot initiative this year to reinstate the marriage ban. Already, in Minnesota and North Carolina referendums are up for a vote this November to enshrine a ban on same-sex marriage into the state constitutions, and the issue could flare up in several other states this year.
47.In 2004, ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage passed in 11 mostly rural, conservative states, supported by 60-70 percent of voters. Since then, support for LGBT rights has surged, with 53 percent now believing “same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriage,” according to a May 2011 Gallup poll. Republicans have long used LGBT people as scapegoats and devised ballot initiatives on marriage to rally their conservative base to the polls, while Democrats have largely ducked the issue. This year, however, it appears that Democrats in several states are similarly choosing fights on same-sex marriage to rally voters from their own bases, many of whom have been angered by budget cuts and other pro-corporate polices by the Democratic Party. While we need to recognize that the Democrats are only using the same-sex marriage struggle to promote their narrow electoral interests, we will clearly campaign for marriage equality, explaining the historic importance and victory it would represent if in 2012 voters in several states for the first time approve same-sex marriage, as is quite possible.
48.After the Prop 8 marriage ban passed in California in 2008, a youthful LGBT rights movement erupted. Notably, its fresh leaders took a very critical approach toward Obama, exposing his hypocrisy and placing clear demands on his administration at a time when few prominent left voices were prepared to directly attack Obama. With no support from the mainstream LGBT rights groups, they organized one of the biggest LGBT rights demonstrations in U.S. history, drawing 150,000 to Washington, D.C. in October 2009. With the battle playing out in the courts, the legislatures, and the electoral arena this year, we could see a revival of the movement, especially if a bold lead is provided by conscious left forces.
49.The situation facing undocumented immigrants is increasingly intolerable. Obama has carried out approximately 30% more deportations than occurred during President George W. Bush's second term and about twice as many deportations as during Bush's first term. Workplace raids, often aimed at unionized companies, are also increasing. With the economic crisis, racist appeals against immigrants “taking jobs” and “leeching off social services” are gaining a wider echo among more backward sections of the U.S.-born working class. On this basis, a number of states - most prominently Arizona, Georgia and Alabama - have passed draconian anti-immigrant laws denying undocumented workers social services and instructing law enforcement to aggressively profile immigrants. Arizona also recently banned ethnic studies.
50.These attacks amount to a reign of terror in many communities. After the Georgia law passed, a mass exodus of undocumented immigrants from the state devastated the economies of immigrant-dominated towns and industries. In a historic sense, this stepped up repression must be seen, in part, as a ruling class response to the 2006 mass uprising of immigrant workers, similar to the massive growth of police repression in African-American communities following the black rebellion of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
51.The national movement in solidarity with immigrants in Arizona in 2009 was followed by continuing youth direct actions, walkouts, and protests demanding access to education. While it remains difficult to anticipate when new outbreaks of mass struggle will take place, especially given our organization’s limited presence within the Latino community, such outbreaks are inevitable. May Day demonstrations will probably be larger this year than the last couple years and offer an important opportunity for socialists to intervene and build support. Given the atmosphere of fear and repression, additional upsurges in the immigrant rights movement will likely erupt suddenly as a result of this or that provocation, as they did in 2006.
52.The economic crisis, including unemployment and foreclosures, impacts African Americans at much higher rates, while attacks on social services and public education target black communities. Despite high hopes, life under the first black president has only worsened for African Americans and the poorest sections of U.S. society. Brutally unequal incarceration rates, police profiling and repression continue in the black community. The Georgia prison strike in 2010 and the California prison hunger strike in 2011 underscore the continuing potential for struggle against the criminal injustice system. The entire social, economic, and political situation is ripe for struggle, but as in the wider working class, the crisis of leadership also holds things back among specifically oppressed sections of the population.
53.What is notable, however, is the growing section of African-American intellectuals and political leaders, notably Cornel West, who now sharply attack Obama. The development of “Occupy the Hood” in many cities indicates the potential for building a new multi-racial left as struggles continue to develop. Any serious move toward building an independent working-class political challenge to the two parties of big business will find important points of support among communities of color.
54.Another major flashpoint could develop out of the new war clouds developing over the Middle East. The U.S. and its allies, particularly the Israeli ruling class, are hypocritically worried that if they do not take out Iran’s nuclear facilities by June, Iran could develop the capability to build a nuclear bomb. The Republicans and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu are beating the war drums, but Obama prefers the economic sanctions that the U.S. and Europe have imposed as a more stable tactic for maintaining imperialist dominance over the region. The region is already an extremely volatile tinderbox, gripped by popular political revolutions. Israel could very well launch air strikes on Iran by June. If Iran fires missiles back, it could engulf the entire unstable region in another bloody war. The U.S. and Europe could launch air and naval strikes, and Iran may also shut off the Straight of Hormuz, which would send the price of oil up by possibly $50 a barrel and weaken the global economy.
56. Any military attacks on Iran would be met with protests around the world, especially in the Middle East. The people of Iran have the right to defend themselves from imperialist attacks, including armed resistance. At the same time, socialists are opposed to nuclear weapons, which ultimately can only guarantee "mutually assured destruction." We advocate eliminating all nuclear weapons, starting with the huge arsenals hypocritically held by the big powers, like the U.S., Britain and France, as well as Israel's arsenal. We must call for international solidarity, based on the workers’ movement worldwide, to stop imperialist aggression against Iran. A renewal of the revolutionary movements in North Africa and the Middle East, including possible revolts of the oppressed Palestinian masses and new upsurges of social protests and strikes in Israel, would be a powerful counterweight to Israeli and imperialist aggression and military interventions.
55.For the environmental movement, the Keystone XL Pipeline project is currently the key battleground. The proposed 1,711-mile pipeline would be the longest oil pipeline outside of Russia and China. It would carry heavy oil from oil tar sands in Canada across the Great Plains to the Gulf Coast to be exported abroad, exacerbating the climate change crisis. In August, 1,253 people were arrested as part of an historic two-week sit-in at the White House. Demonstrations spread throughout the fall, with protesters confronting Obama at nearly every public campaign stop and 12,000 protesters surrounding the White House on November 6. This unprecedented civil disobedience by the environmental movement, which is challenging the Republicans as well as Obama and the Democratic Party over a year after the BP oil spill, is an important step forward for the movement. Notably, several unions - including TWU and ATU - came out against the project even though it will create some jobs temporarily.
Elections and Struggles
56.While our broad perspectives and approach to the 2012 elections are outlined in a separate document, here it is necessary to warn how the elections will complicate perspectives for struggle. Historically, presidential elections have sucked the energy out of social movements, isolating them and pushing them further to the margins of U.S. politics. The logic of lesser-evilism, as we have repeatedly explained, means most social movement organizations mute all demands aside from those acceptable to the Democratic Party and effectively channel their bases into get-out-the-vote efforts. Mass protests and other methods of struggle that open democratic space for criticism or exposure of the Democratic Party’s pro-corporate politics are avoided in order to prevent the “greater evil” Republicans from being elected.
57.The experience of the antiwar movement especially shows the disaster of lesser-evilism. While Obama won limited political capital for withdrawing most U.S. troops from Iraq, he tripled the number of troops in Afghanistan, increased the use of drone attacks, and militarily intervened in Libya to derail the revolutionary movements of that country and region. Yet the antiwar movement, so boisterous and prominent under Bush, has virtually disappeared under Obama. The threat of military conflict with Iran is now on the agenda, but no serious protest movement has met Obama’s dangerous saber rattling.
58.For those on the left, including many Occupy activists who understand the corporate character of both parties, the challenge will be to prevent the elections siphoning off both activists and attention from the ongoing community, workplace, and student struggles. This task would be massively assisted if a genuine workers’ party existed, or at least a strong independent left presidential candidate to give expression to workers’ struggles in the electoral arena, but it seems unlikely even the latter will materialize.
59.However, Obama’s 2012 campaign will be far different than it was four years ago. In 2008, mass illusions were built up that change could be achieved through the electoral arena. Obama helped reestablish the tattered democratic credentials of American capitalism. But for the youth especially, these illusions are largely shattered. Anger at both parties and the sham system of “democracy” is at unprecedented levels. While the movement has not yet reached the stage of building its own unifying political voice, tens of millions of workers and youth have wised up to the reality of corporate political domination.
60.In fact, especially for the radicalized youth, healthy disgust with the existing political establishment means, on the one hand, calls to instead build real movements on the ground and, on the other hand, a simplistic rejection of “politics” in general. On the positive side, this mood could provide added energy for struggles to develop in 2012 even amidst the pressures of the Democratic Party election machine. In Spain, for example, at the height of their election frenzy, the youth responded to their fake no-choice election with the mass “indignados” movement. We should encourage a similar response to the U.S. elections.
61.At the same time, the anti-political ideas in Spain acted as a barrier to the indignados, preventing them from constructing a viable political force that could defeat capitalist policies. Similarly, here in the U.S. we must counter the anti-political mood. Anarchist ideas against voting or any participation in elections reinforce and appear to give intellectual weight to the broader anti-political mood. While taking a sympathetic attitude, we have to firmly argue against this ultra-left approach.
62.The 2012 elections will dominate the entire political life of the country. With increasing intensity up through November, it will be the main topic of political conversation for tens of millions of working-class people. Attempting to ignore or abstain from the elections, to just “focus on building real movements” is a formula for self-isolation. The Occupy movement and the left will be far more relevant if they intervene in the election debate with a clear, independent analysis and program. Slogans like “Occupy the Elections” can be a starting point to explain the pressing need to break from the Democratic Party and build left and anti-cuts electoral coalitions, and for a new party to represent the 99%. Even though we will not, in most areas, be in a position to run candidates or have serious left independent campaigns we can support, arming ourselves with a clear program and explanation of what is needed will help us maintain a dialogue with wider layers of working people and youth.
Historic Tasks
63.History books will record 2011 as a decisive turning point in the world situation. We are clearly going through another prolonged crisis of global capitalism. Now the menacing threat of further economic collapse exists alongside a rising tide of social upheaval. The battle in Wisconsin and the Occupy movement are symptomatic of the deeper crisis. The workers’ revolt in Wisconsin represented the opening act of a sweeping drama of class conflict being prepared in U.S. society. The social upheavals and class battles ahead will be the most intense in generations.
64.While Wisconsin revealed most clearly the raw class tensions boiling under the surface, just months later the Occupy movement revealed a political awakening which shook U.S. society. It was the first open expression since the crisis began of an initial, though confused, anti-capitalist consciousness developing among important sections of workers and, particularly, youth. At the same time, Occupy provided a wider outlet for the accumulated class anger, which will only deepen alongside the overall capitalist crisis.
65.The obstacles to the development of consciousness and mass struggle are huge. The U.S. working class is emerging from a historic low point in terms its political and class consciousness and its level of independent class organization. Therefore, the living memory of past struggles for use as a reference point and source of lessons has been broken for the bulk of the class. At the same time, unlike their European counterparts, U.S. workers and youth are less weighed down by the experience of devastating betrayals on the part of former mass socialist and workers’ parties. In this sense, socialism appears to most in the U.S. as almost a new, fresh idea.
66.In the context of the deepening crisis and the processes of revolution and counter-revolution around the world, broad left-wing and socialist ideas in the U.S. could grow quite rapidly, taking up some of the gaping political vacuum on the left. We are faced with an historic task. The new interest in socialism greatly outweighs our limited organizational capacity to consolidate it and develop it into active participation. The whole situation demands a serious, creative discussion on the measures that must be taken to fully mobilize, develop, and grow our still small forces. At the same time as building our own organization, Marxists must struggle to rebuild mass organizations of the working class. Only by combining a correct analysis and program with a new enthusiasm and energy to win fresh forces to Marxism, to deepen our political understanding and theoretical level, can we successfully build the movement for socialism in the coming period.
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Political Crisis and Resistance - Perspectives for Struggle in 2012
Mar 18, 2012
By Socialist Alternative
This document analyzing the historic struggles of 2011, particularly the Occupy movement, and putting forward perspectives for struggles in 2012, was unanimously agreed by the National Committee of Socialist Alternative, which met February 18-20. It has been slightly updated and amended since then to reflect new developments.
1.Over the last year a sea change in both U.S. and international politics took place. Faced with a spiraling capitalist crisis, and with the traditional political parties of the “left” and “right” offering only deeper misery as their “solution,” tens of millions of ordinary people forced their way onto the stage of history in bold and desperate attempts to change its course. Early last year, the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt gave confidence to the workers and youth of Wisconsin, who consciously emulated their tactics of continuous protests and occupations. Then, the mass revolts across Europe - in Greece and Spain in particular - directly inspired the Occupy Wall Street movement, which in a few short weeks dramatically changed the face of U.S. politics, ushering in a new era of protest and open class conflict.
2.The Occupy movement gathered together the pre-existing activist layer in U.S. society while simultaneously birthing a new and self-confident generation of activists, thereby laying the basis for new upsurges of struggle and radicalization in 2012 and beyond. The Oakland “General Strike” and port shutdown on November 2, the December 12 West Coast Ports Shutdown, and the preparations for a showdown at the Longview, WA port between the ILWU and EGT underscore the growing militancy and political development of the Occupy movement, as well as its impact within the ranks of organized labor.
3.Working out clear perspectives for how Occupy and wider struggles will develop in 2012 is difficult, particularly with the complications created by the elections. In part, perspectives hinge on the economic crisis now engulfing Europe and China, which threatens to send the entire world into a new recession and reverse the feeble economic recovery in the U.S. Renewed recession would dramatically sharpen class tensions but, whether the economy slumps or not, the experiences of the last year have educated the activists, alongside the wider working class and youth, laying the basis for even more advanced class battles in the coming period.
4.Political attitudes underwent a transformation in 2011, as popular consciousness began to catch up with the reality of an enduring social, political, and economic crisis of capitalism. After the sweeping victory of Tea Party Republicans in the 2010 midterm elections, many on the left, especially apologists for the Democratic Party, placed the blame on “apathetic” workers and predicted a sustained right-wing shift in U.S. society. However, we explained the election mainly reflected an anti-incumbent “throw the bums out” attitude toward Obama and the Democrats after two years of broken promises, pro-corporate policies, and failure to resolve mass unemployment. We anticipated that new events and the experience of having the Republicans in power would rapidly undermine support for the Republicans and provoke fresh struggles. The February “Battle of Wisconsin,” provoked by Governor Walker’s attacks on the trade unions, confirmed our perspective more rapidly and thoroughly than even we anticipated.
5.Now the Occupy movement has compelled everyone, including all the presidential candidates, to respond to issues of class inequality and corporate domination. Obama and the Democrats have attempted to co-opt the movement and the language of the 1% vs. the 99%, but their deep ties to Wall Street do not go unnoticed. Meanwhile, the Republican candidates are forced to argue against class ideas, denying even the existence of the 1% or class divisions in society. In the run-up to the New Hampshire primaries, Rick Santorum blasted Mitt Romney for using the term “middle class,” saying he preferred saying “middle income,” while Gingrich enraged Republican strategists by successfully painting Romney as a “vulture capitalist” and soundly defeating him in the South Carolina primary.
6.Meanwhile, a Pew Research poll released in January shows a rapid rise in class tensions, with 66% of Americans now saying there are “strong conflicts” between rich and poor, which is a significant rise since 2009 when only 47% saw “strong conflicts.” While we cannot yet speak of widespread class consciousness in the Marxist sense (i.e., understanding of the potential power and historic role of the working class), the rapid growth in “class feelings” creates fertile ground for class consciousness to develop. Already in the last year, the idea of a general strike has twice been seriously posed in actual struggles in the U.S.: first in the Wisconsin struggle, when our organization played a key role in popularizing the idea of a one-day public sector general strike, then in Oakland, when Occupy’s call for a “general strike” brought tens of thousands into the streets, including important contingents of organized labor.
7.Parallel with rising class anger, sympathy for socialist ideas is also on the rise. Half of young people aged 18-29 view socialism positively, according to a Pew poll in December. This is six percentage points higher than 20 months ago. Meanwhile, support for capitalism continues to decline, with 47% having negative views of the system. At present, of course, understanding of socialism remains quite low, with many vaguely looking toward more regulation, social democratic reforms, or a “mixed economy” rather than a planned economy under democratic workers’ control.
8.Nonetheless, levels of socialist sympathies this high are significant, especially given the nearly universal condemnation of socialism by the corporate media and both parties, backed up by deep reservoirs of anti-communism built up in the Cold War era. The poll further underscores the growing objective space for building a mass socialist movement in the U.S., even if the subjective factor – organized Marxist forces – remains extremely weak.
9.A central factor impacting mass consciousness and perspectives for struggle is the fate of the U.S. economy. Headlines in December and January announced the economy was “gaining steam” based on fresh job creation and corresponding declines in the unemployment rate. From October through December, the U.S. economy grew at 2.8 percent, the highest rate since the second quarter of 2010, but overall GDP growth in 2011 was just 1.7 percent.
10.The fourth quarter growth prompted many to once again begin celebrating a sustained recovery. However, more serious analysts point to recurrent weak spots in the U.S. and world economies, including the anemic housing market, persistently high unemployment, continued budget cuts and layoffs by federal, state and local governments, threats from the eurozone debt crisis, the slowdown in China, and so on. The conclusion of serious capitalist strategists is that the U.S. economy remains extremely vulnerable to fresh economic shocks, both internal and external.
11.Even if some level of anemic economic growth continues through 2012, budget cuts, layoffs, foreclosures, and growing inequality will also continue. For working people, there remains no recovery. It is worth remembering that many times in history, including in the U.S. in the 1930s, the periods of economic upswing following recessions provided more breathing space and confidence for workers to fight back. However, if a new global recession sets in this year - a widely discussed possibility in the business media - the impact on consciousness and struggle could be explosive. The U.S. and world working class now have the experience of 2011 under their belt, and they will not be in a mood to quietly submit to even deeper miseries.
Perspectives for Occupy
12.Following the mass movement in Wisconsin, we explained that the dam had broken and that we had entered a new era of struggle. However, our main perspective was for defensive battles against budget cuts, attacks on unions, layoffs, foreclosures, or fresh attacks on immigrants, women, or LGBT rights. Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was something different. While resting on mass anger at class inequality, corporate corruption, and economic anxieties, fundamentally Occupy was a generalized struggle against the elite and the system as a whole. Rather than taking a defensive posture on this or that single issue, the ideas and rhetoric of Occupy boldly raised the need for a radical reorganization of our economic and political system. This feature, also seen in the youthful uprisings worldwide, captured the imagination of millions, “changed the conversation,” and put the ruling class on the defensive.
13.Although the movement has clearly been weakened by police evictions and winter weather, it is by no means defeated. On the contrary, much of the activist layer born out of Occupy emerged from police repression more confident of their political power, while the mayors, police chiefs, and federal authorities who conspired to coordinate the repression find their legitimacy and political authority further undermined.
14.Nowhere is this clearer than in Oakland, where the occupiers were twice able to shut down the nation’s fifth largest port in retaliation against police repression, while divisions within the mayor’s office and police officials played out publicly. Similarly in New York, Bloomberg’s cynical lies and brutal methods were exposed and his credibility damaged. More recent confrontations between police and organized ultra-left trends in Occupy Oakland gave city officials the opportunity to paint occupiers as bent on bedlam but, in general, ruling class attempts to discredit Occupy has met limited success.
15.While the situation varies across the country, in many areas it’s clear that Occupy activists are regrouping for the next phase of the struggle. From the start of this movement, we have urged turning outward to draw larger numbers into activity, to develop a working-class orientation, and to build campaigns around concrete demands. Making clear demands and fighting for specific reforms is not a contradiction - as some trends in Occupy argue - with a more general critique of the system. The “transitional method” developed by genuine Marxism is the art and science of building the link, through a program of fighting “transitional demands” and proposals for struggle, between the immediate burning problems facing working-class people and the need for the socialist transformation of society. It is a method of demonstrating through the practical experience of struggle that capitalism is incapable of meeting our needs, and it outlines the concrete strategic tasks to bring about system change in direct relation to the living struggle and current consciousness.
16.In fact, on the basis of experience, the most serious activists in the Occupy movement, attempting to resolve this same problem, are increasingly turning toward campaigns on immediate issues facing working-class communities and youth. The national “Occupy Education” day of action on March 1 appears to be gathering momentum, as does the idea of mass non-payment of student debts. After the experience of almost a million people participating in “Bank Transfer Day” last fall, we must be prepared for this kind of struggle taking off.
17. With developments like “Occupy the Hood” and neighborhood assemblies in many areas, activists are shifting focus to take up immediate struggles in working-class communities. The “Occupy Homes” fight against foreclosures is gaining momentum in a number of cities, and more nationally coordinated action is being prepared. Occupy-inspired campaigns against budget cuts to crucial social services are also gaining some momentum in various cities. As of yet, the new campaigns being taken up by various circles of Occupy activists have not managed to rebuild the scale of protests and national momentum the movement had last fall, but the potential for new upsurges exists.
18.Adbusters, credited with initiating OWS, put out a call to action for 50,000 people to occupy Chicago starting on May 1 to protest the G8 summit (originally scheduled for Saturday, May 19 – Sunday, May 20) and the NATO summit (still scheduled for May 21 - 22). The mobilization appears to be gaining steam, and the Obama administration – fearing disruptions – moved the G8 meeting to Camp David. However, the NATO summit protest will still likely attract tens of thousands and be the central flashpoint of resistance for Occupy activists in the spring.
19.Across the country, Occupy and immigrants’ rights activists are building for May 1 demonstrations, which could be large in some areas, though calls for a May 1 national “general strike” will fail to gain much traction among workers. The protests against the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida in August and, to a lesser degree, the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte in September will also be important rallying points for the movement.
Confused Consciousness
17.The Occupy movement is characterized mostly by the raw anger of young people and their determination to struggle. The idea that one-off days of protest are not enough, that constant resistance is necessary, is a huge step forward. Most importantly, the idea that a radically different economic and political system is both possible and necessary was at the heart of the Occupy movement.
18.At same time, consciousness generally and among those actively involved in Occupy is starting from a very low level. This echoed our experience and analysis of the huge struggle in Wisconsin earlier in the year. Still, despite the low consciousness and the lack of organized political forces (and in some ways because of these factors), there is widespread openness to and interest in anti-capitalist and socialist ideas in both these movements, especially among youth.
19.Deep confusion prevails about the way forward, what approach can mobilize wider layers, and what a viable alternative to capitalism might look like. In the early stage of Occupy Wall Street, this ideological vagueness allowed it to attract all manner of support, with each political trend projecting its own ideological stamp onto the movement. However, this approach rapidly hit limitations as the size and potential power of the movement developed.
20.The ubiquitous debate within the Occupy movement over adopting demands revealed some of these limitations. Virtually nowhere was the movement able to concisely put together a basic fighting program or set of rounded out demands. Yet the most serious activists everywhere recognized the practical need to adopt fighting demands on issues facing working-class communities, and in practice certain demands were adopted. Focused protests to stop budget cuts, foreclosures, tuition increases, and union busting forced the movement to adopt demands, though these demands were often framed in weak, muddled, and limited ways as a concession to the prevailing “no demands” consciousness.
21.This sort of stumbling, pragmatic, empirical development of consciousness is a window into how ideas will continue to be clarified as wider struggles erupt in the U.S. The fact that the active elements in Occupy Wall Street were disproportionately middle class youth - with the core heavily influenced by anarchist ideas - was not an accident of history, but rather a necessary stage through which consciousness had to pass. When the winds of history blow, “the tops of the trees move first,” as Trotsky put it when referring to the role of the middle-class youth of Russia in the early stages of their revolutionary movement.
22.Now, circles of left activists based around clear political trends, including organized socialist and anarchist groups, are partially filling the vacuum of ideas within Occupy in a whole number of cities. In some cases this has been a healthy influence, encouraging a more working-class orientation and bringing the experience of basic community organizing methods into the movement. But sometimes, in combination with these positive influences, some left and anarchist forces have encouraged ultra-left and adventurist methods which are causing problems and reinforcing the “anti-political” mood.
Danger of Ultra-Leftism
23.As the Occupy movement wanes in numbers and influence, there is a danger that ultra-left ideas will grow more prominent. This is a clear pattern in history: following the peak of every serious social movement, mistaken tactics can grow out of moods of impatience, frustration, and isolation. The most energetic layer of activists who, in the period of the movement’s rise, grew self-confident with the wind of popular support at their backs, suddenly feel their hard-won influence and power slipping from their grasp. Attempts to regain the initiative through overly bold or confrontational actions can gain support, especially among freshly radicalized youth who have not experienced the ups and downs of the class struggle.
24.An important example that is provoking national debate within the Occupy movement is the January 28 clash between Oakland police and several hundred occupiers equipped with shields, firecrackers, and other projectiles, alongside the subsequent break-in and vandalism in Oakland City Hall. Their attempt to turn an empty building into a community space was overshadowed by the violent clash, and police used the incident to justify the arrest of 400 people later in the day at a separate peaceful march. Learning nothing, some of the organizers issued a public statement threatening “to make your lives miserable” and shutting down the airport if police continue to prevent the liberation of the abandoned building.
25.While the severe repression deepened public anger at the Oakland police, the incident will almost certainly further isolate Occupy Oakland from the wider working class, reducing most ordinary people to the role of bystanders. Attempts by media and politicians to paint Occupy activists as “terrorists” will be laughed off by most thinking workers, but at the same time they will be far more hesitant to participate if such actions become the new face of the movement. Occupy achieved massive public sympathy, but to turn passive support into an active mass movement the organizers must adopt campaigning demands that connect with consciousness and methods of struggle that inspire the widest possible participation.
26.Similarly, calls for a May 1 “general strike,” while well-meaning, are a completely premature ultra-left tactic that will not result in widespread workplace strikes. Despite the experience of Wisconsin, OWS, and other important steps forward in the last year, class consciousness, labor militancy, and strike activity remain at historic lows in the U.S. This, combined with Occupy’s lack of any real base in the unions or workplaces, means very few worker activists will take their call seriously, undermining the authority of Occupy activists urging the general strike. Of course, we cannot rule out a few workplaces (ILWU Local 10 in Oakland, immigrant truck drivers, etc.) taking strike action and some students, especially immigrant students, organizing walkouts, but all these could be accomplished without the discrediting effect of calling for a full “general strike.” The main dynamic of the “general strike” will most likely be large protests on May 1 by Occupy and the immigrants’ rights movement in a number of cities.
27.The rise of ultra-left moods in the Occupy movement highlights the vital importance of building a genuine Marxist organization to equip the best workers and youth who want to overthrow the system with the necessary ideas, strategy, and tactics to be effective. If a strong socialist force with correct tactics is not built, it is inevitable that some of the best activists will be lost to various dead-end and self-isolating political trends, or to the opportunist forces that can grow in response to this.
Occupy and the Unions
28.The Occupy movement inspired the active ranks of the labor movement and challenged conservative union leaders. At the same time, for the Occupy activists the problem of how to relate to the unions is causing substantial political debate. On the West Coast especially, both the conservatism of union leaders and the ultra-leftism of sections of the Occupy movement is on full display. It’s worth taking a closer look at the conflict between the leadership of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Occupy activists because it provides the best window into this broader process.
29.Following the major police crackdown on Occupy Oakland in October, a 2,000-strong general assembly called for a “general strike” and a march to shut down the huge Port of Oakland on November 2. With widespread sympathy for Occupy among union ranks, many labor leaders were pushed further than they wanted to go, officially supporting the action, which was respected by the longshore workers. In reality, there were very few actual workplace strikes, but many workers took personal or sick days, students walked out, and longshore workers didn’t cross the mass community pickets set up at the Port of Oakland. Estimates range from 15,000-30,000, making it the biggest Occupy protest outside of NYC. This excellent mass action, while not a general strike, dramatically boosted the confidence and authority of Occupy Oakland. At the same time, through a positive example of what is possible, it exposed the shameful failure of labor leaders to organize similar actions of their own against Corporate America.
30.For this reason, the subsequent West Coast Port Shutdown on December 12 and actions called by Occupy groups to defend the Longview ILWU in their dispute with EGT met with public denunciations from leaders of the ILWU and other union tops. Union officials bitterly complained that Occupy groups failed to get agreement through official union channels when they called for the December 12 shutdown or the subsequent call to shut down the Longview port when the EGT ship docked to be unloaded with scab labor. But with important sections of ILWU ranks supporting the actions – particularly in Longview, where the labor dispute was centered – it’s clear the leadership’s attitude flowed from fear of losing authority and having their conservative, law-abiding, failed methods of struggle challenged.
31.At the same time, mistakes conditioned by ultra-left political trends within Occupy handed unnecessary opportunities for union leaders, the corporate media, police, and government officials to isolate the port shutdown actions. Rather than dismissively avoiding direct negotiations with union leaders, Occupy activists - including left-wing rank-and-file longshore workers - should have clearly proposed joint action for the West Coast Port Shutdown through official union channels. Even if this had been rejected, the union leaders would not have been able to hide behind the issue of democratic process.
32.Similarly, when Occupy activists connected with the “Black Orchid Collective” organized a solidarity meeting in Seattle for the ILWU Local 21 workers in Longview, WA, they did so without seriously attempting direct dialogue with ILWU leaders. Conservative elements within the ILWU seized on this mistake to disrupt the solidarity meeting, promoting a statement by the ILWU president arguing against Occupy plans to shut down the Longview Port when the EGT ship docked to be unloaded by scab labor. Despite the presence of rank-and-file ILWU members speaking at the meeting in favor of the shutdown tactic, ILWU leaders tried to portray Occupy as a completely outside group imposing their approach on the workers. The pro-leadership group broke up the solidarity meeting by yelling and shoving other activists.
33.The next day, the Black Orchid Collective issued a statement correctly denouncing this undemocratic and disruptive behavior. However, their statement also attempted to portray the Occupy movement as a budding new leadership for the working class, in effect attempting to substitute Occupy for the unions. While many workers are sympathetic to and inspired by Occupy, with some unionists taking an active part, this energy should be used to help left oppositionists transform - not replace - the unions. The International Socialist Organization published articles correctly criticizing the Black Orchid Collective for attempting to bypass the unions but scandalously failing to criticize the union leaders’ right-wing offensive against Occupy and the rank-and-file militancy of the ILWU!
34.Despite these political weaknesses and divisions, the mass solidarity and militancy of the ILWU and the Occupy movement still succeeded in scoring a major victory, forcing EGT to concede on the key issue of the ILWU’s right to operate the grain terminal in Longview and on other issues. It appears the Obama administration did not want to take the heat this election year for using the U.S. Coast Guard, a branch of the U.S. military, to bust the ILWU and, instead, arranged behind the scenes for Washington State Democratic Governor Gregoire to force EGT to make a number of important concessions. The Democrats would never have done this, however, if it were not for the militancy and mass mobilizations of the ILWU and Occupy.
35.Of course, struggles in 2012 will not be limited to the Occupy movement. The continuing budget cuts and attacks on trade union rights could provoke fresh waves of working class resistance, particularly in the public sector, which remains the most densely unionized sector of the U.S. labor movement. The Occupy movement stirred up renewed confidence and a mood to fight within the union ranks and among some union leaders.
36.At the same time, many labor leaders used support for Occupy to cover up a year of defeats and concessions. The Wisconsin movement, initiated from below, was derailed by union leaders’ sabotaging the general strike campaign and channeling the struggle into their electoral recall strategy. This failed strategy flows from their deep ties to the Democratic Party as well as their generally timid, conservative outlook. Even if unions succeed this year at replacing Governor Walker with a Democrat, workers should not expect a Democratic Wisconsin governor to reverse Walker’s budget cuts or all of his attacks on union rights.
37.Big business and politicians have continued their attacks on unions since their victory in Wisconsin. We should not forget that even Democrats initiated major anti-union legislation last year, most notably in Illinois and Massachusetts, underscoring how the frontal assault on U.S. labor is part of an overall capitalist offensive, not simply a right-wing Republican agenda. Unions in Ohio were able to reverse anti-labor legislation through a big referendum victory in November. The vote reflected the popular swing against right-wing anti-worker propaganda. It also showed that unions can reach out and unite broad layers of workers when they want to. However, most labor leaders only know how to mobilize for elections, and as long as they remain tied to the Democrats, this means marching unions into their grave.
38.The Indiana legislature, dominated by Republicans, just delivered another severe blow to organized labor. The January passage of a “right to work” law banning closed-shop union workplaces makes Indiana the 23rd “right to work” state, with most others concentrated in the South and other mainly rural, low union density states. Indiana’s traditionally strong unions organized boisterous but small rallies at the state house to support the Democrats’ stall-tactics on the bill, but had no serious mass movement strategy to defeat it. There should have been a major national mobilization and a bold class appeal to non-union workers to organize Wisconsin-style mass protests and, this time, coordinated strikes and mass direct action.
39.The defeat of Indiana’s traditionally strong labor movement gives confidence to other state legislatures – most ominously in Michigan – to consider similar “right to work” legislation. Given the history of labor militancy in Michigan and the economic desperation of many workers there, such an attack could provoke a major backlash. As in Wisconsin, the corporate juggernaut pushing austerity and attacks on workers will inevitably spur fresh resistance struggles. To bring these struggles to victory, however, will require building a new class struggle union leadership to replace the existing privileged bureaucracy.
40.The ascent, in recent years, of more fighting elements into the leadership of several unions is an important development. Opposition groups now control several key teachers’ union locals which, despite setbacks, remain a pole of attraction. The leadership of the National Nurses Union played an excellent role in Wisconsin, and the new president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, a former Labor Party member, has adopted a more fighting stance. The leadership of the ILWU, facing pressure from below and a tradition of left-wing militancy, also remains one of the most militant unions despite their recent attacks on Occupy activists and left-wingers within the union.
41.Important weaknesses remain, politically and in terms of rank-and-file activity and consciousness. This was most vividly revealed when the new left-wing Chicago Teachers Union leadership initially agreed to horrible anti-union legislation last year. And as of yet, none of these left trends has gained national prominence. However, in the context of a generalized upsurge of struggle, the small pockets of left union militancy can rapidly emerge as a leadership capable of mobilizing broad groups of workers. Especially where they can achieve important victories through mass mobilizations, they can set the national tone and become centers of gravity for the labor movement, exerting pressure on conservative union leaders.
42.As we repeatedly explained in our material on Wisconsin, the weakness of the organized left gave the Democratic Party and their allies in the union bureaucracy a free hand to derail the movement. But we can draw inspiration and lessons from imagining what would have been necessary for victory. With a stronger organized left within the union movement, the widespread if diffuse support for a “general strike” could have been organized into a cohesive campaign to force the labor leaders to call a one-day public sector work stoppage. Combined with an escalating campaign of mass actions, it’s very possible Walker could have been defeated. In turn, a victory in Wisconsin would have electrified workers everywhere, showing that determined mass action combined with political independence and defiance of anti-union laws can win victories. If new mass struggles break out in areas where healthy socialist and left union leaders have established positions, this “subjective factor” could have a major impact and act as a catalyst for new developments.
Right-Wing Threat
43.The failure of the left and the labor movement to build an independent political alternative or offer a fighting program to resist the capitalist crisis means the space for right-wing populism is left wide open. The Tea Party and Ron Paul, while partially encouraged by sections of big business for use as battering rams against the unions and social movements, are also a warped expression of popular anger arising from below. They tap into working people’s legitimate frustrations and anxieties, but their solutions amount to racist, sexist, and homophobic scapegoating alongside simplistic appeals for small government and traditional values. Since the crisis began, populist attacks on women, immigrants, the LGBT community, and the unions have gone way up.
44.Following the 2010 Republican congressional victories, an unprecedented assault on women’s rights occurred in 2011. A record 135 legislative attacks on women’s rights in 36 states passed, an increase from 89 in 2010 and 77 in 2009. This included 92 new restrictions on abortion access, breaking the record of 34 abortion restrictions in 2005, according to the Guttmacher Institute. These statistics provide one snapshot of the fiercely stepped-up right-wing offensive against all the historic gains won by past social movements. Attacks on LGBT rights, on immigrants and African Americans, and on the trade unions are part of the same right-wing juggernaut, funded by sections of big business and promoted by Fox News and other corporate media outlets. With pressure from the right wing dominating the Republican primary debate, and given the need of party leaders to whip up their base for the elections, we should anticipate a new round of attacks in 2012.
45.We should also anticipate a fight-back. The rise of the Slutwalks in cities across the country and around the world is, in part, a direct reaction by tens of thousands of young women to right-wing attempts to push them back into traditional roles. Like Occupy, the Slutwalks were characterized by youthful activists self-organizing independently of the traditional women’s organizations. While we correctly criticized the tactic of reclaiming the word “slut” and the very limited class appeal and program of the protests, it is nonetheless an important, positive indication of things to come.
46.2012 could prove to be a watershed year for LGBT rights. The February 7 ruling of a federal appeals court that California’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court. Subsequently, Democratic controlled legislatures in Washington State, Maryland, and New Jersey legalized same-sex marriage, although the Republican governor in New Jersey vetoed the legislation. In Washington and Maryland, just the seventh and eighth states to legalize gay marriage, right-wing groups have vowed to launch a ballot initiative this year to reinstate the marriage ban. Already, in Minnesota and North Carolina referendums are up for a vote this November to enshrine a ban on same-sex marriage into the state constitutions, and the issue could flare up in several other states this year.
47.In 2004, ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage passed in 11 mostly rural, conservative states, supported by 60-70 percent of voters. Since then, support for LGBT rights has surged, with 53 percent now believing “same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriage,” according to a May 2011 Gallup poll. Republicans have long used LGBT people as scapegoats and devised ballot initiatives on marriage to rally their conservative base to the polls, while Democrats have largely ducked the issue. This year, however, it appears that Democrats in several states are similarly choosing fights on same-sex marriage to rally voters from their own bases, many of whom have been angered by budget cuts and other pro-corporate polices by the Democratic Party. While we need to recognize that the Democrats are only using the same-sex marriage struggle to promote their narrow electoral interests, we will clearly campaign for marriage equality, explaining the historic importance and victory it would represent if in 2012 voters in several states for the first time approve same-sex marriage, as is quite possible.
48.After the Prop 8 marriage ban passed in California in 2008, a youthful LGBT rights movement erupted. Notably, its fresh leaders took a very critical approach toward Obama, exposing his hypocrisy and placing clear demands on his administration at a time when few prominent left voices were prepared to directly attack Obama. With no support from the mainstream LGBT rights groups, they organized one of the biggest LGBT rights demonstrations in U.S. history, drawing 150,000 to Washington, D.C. in October 2009. With the battle playing out in the courts, the legislatures, and the electoral arena this year, we could see a revival of the movement, especially if a bold lead is provided by conscious left forces.
49.The situation facing undocumented immigrants is increasingly intolerable. Obama has carried out approximately 30% more deportations than occurred during President George W. Bush's second term and about twice as many deportations as during Bush's first term. Workplace raids, often aimed at unionized companies, are also increasing. With the economic crisis, racist appeals against immigrants “taking jobs” and “leeching off social services” are gaining a wider echo among more backward sections of the U.S.-born working class. On this basis, a number of states - most prominently Arizona, Georgia and Alabama - have passed draconian anti-immigrant laws denying undocumented workers social services and instructing law enforcement to aggressively profile immigrants. Arizona also recently banned ethnic studies.
50.These attacks amount to a reign of terror in many communities. After the Georgia law passed, a mass exodus of undocumented immigrants from the state devastated the economies of immigrant-dominated towns and industries. In a historic sense, this stepped up repression must be seen, in part, as a ruling class response to the 2006 mass uprising of immigrant workers, similar to the massive growth of police repression in African-American communities following the black rebellion of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
51.The national movement in solidarity with immigrants in Arizona in 2009 was followed by continuing youth direct actions, walkouts, and protests demanding access to education. While it remains difficult to anticipate when new outbreaks of mass struggle will take place, especially given our organization’s limited presence within the Latino community, such outbreaks are inevitable. May Day demonstrations will probably be larger this year than the last couple years and offer an important opportunity for socialists to intervene and build support. Given the atmosphere of fear and repression, additional upsurges in the immigrant rights movement will likely erupt suddenly as a result of this or that provocation, as they did in 2006.
52.The economic crisis, including unemployment and foreclosures, impacts African Americans at much higher rates, while attacks on social services and public education target black communities. Despite high hopes, life under the first black president has only worsened for African Americans and the poorest sections of U.S. society. Brutally unequal incarceration rates, police profiling and repression continue in the black community. The Georgia prison strike in 2010 and the California prison hunger strike in 2011 underscore the continuing potential for struggle against the criminal injustice system. The entire social, economic, and political situation is ripe for struggle, but as in the wider working class, the crisis of leadership also holds things back among specifically oppressed sections of the population.
53.What is notable, however, is the growing section of African-American intellectuals and political leaders, notably Cornel West, who now sharply attack Obama. The development of “Occupy the Hood” in many cities indicates the potential for building a new multi-racial left as struggles continue to develop. Any serious move toward building an independent working-class political challenge to the two parties of big business will find important points of support among communities of color.
54.Another major flashpoint could develop out of the new war clouds developing over the Middle East. The U.S. and its allies, particularly the Israeli ruling class, are hypocritically worried that if they do not take out Iran’s nuclear facilities by June, Iran could develop the capability to build a nuclear bomb. The Republicans and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu are beating the war drums, but Obama prefers the economic sanctions that the U.S. and Europe have imposed as a more stable tactic for maintaining imperialist dominance over the region. The region is already an extremely volatile tinderbox, gripped by popular political revolutions. Israel could very well launch air strikes on Iran by June. If Iran fires missiles back, it could engulf the entire unstable region in another bloody war. The U.S. and Europe could launch air and naval strikes, and Iran may also shut off the Straight of Hormuz, which would send the price of oil up by possibly $50 a barrel and weaken the global economy.
56. Any military attacks on Iran would be met with protests around the world, especially in the Middle East. The people of Iran have the right to defend themselves from imperialist attacks, including armed resistance. At the same time, socialists are opposed to nuclear weapons, which ultimately can only guarantee "mutually assured destruction." We advocate eliminating all nuclear weapons, starting with the huge arsenals hypocritically held by the big powers, like the U.S., Britain and France, as well as Israel's arsenal. We must call for international solidarity, based on the workers’ movement worldwide, to stop imperialist aggression against Iran. A renewal of the revolutionary movements in North Africa and the Middle East, including possible revolts of the oppressed Palestinian masses and new upsurges of social protests and strikes in Israel, would be a powerful counterweight to Israeli and imperialist aggression and military interventions.
55.For the environmental movement, the Keystone XL Pipeline project is currently the key battleground. The proposed 1,711-mile pipeline would be the longest oil pipeline outside of Russia and China. It would carry heavy oil from oil tar sands in Canada across the Great Plains to the Gulf Coast to be exported abroad, exacerbating the climate change crisis. In August, 1,253 people were arrested as part of an historic two-week sit-in at the White House. Demonstrations spread throughout the fall, with protesters confronting Obama at nearly every public campaign stop and 12,000 protesters surrounding the White House on November 6. This unprecedented civil disobedience by the environmental movement, which is challenging the Republicans as well as Obama and the Democratic Party over a year after the BP oil spill, is an important step forward for the movement. Notably, several unions - including TWU and ATU - came out against the project even though it will create some jobs temporarily.
Elections and Struggles
56.While our broad perspectives and approach to the 2012 elections are outlined in a separate document, here it is necessary to warn how the elections will complicate perspectives for struggle. Historically, presidential elections have sucked the energy out of social movements, isolating them and pushing them further to the margins of U.S. politics. The logic of lesser-evilism, as we have repeatedly explained, means most social movement organizations mute all demands aside from those acceptable to the Democratic Party and effectively channel their bases into get-out-the-vote efforts. Mass protests and other methods of struggle that open democratic space for criticism or exposure of the Democratic Party’s pro-corporate politics are avoided in order to prevent the “greater evil” Republicans from being elected.
57.The experience of the antiwar movement especially shows the disaster of lesser-evilism. While Obama won limited political capital for withdrawing most U.S. troops from Iraq, he tripled the number of troops in Afghanistan, increased the use of drone attacks, and militarily intervened in Libya to derail the revolutionary movements of that country and region. Yet the antiwar movement, so boisterous and prominent under Bush, has virtually disappeared under Obama. The threat of military conflict with Iran is now on the agenda, but no serious protest movement has met Obama’s dangerous saber rattling.
58.For those on the left, including many Occupy activists who understand the corporate character of both parties, the challenge will be to prevent the elections siphoning off both activists and attention from the ongoing community, workplace, and student struggles. This task would be massively assisted if a genuine workers’ party existed, or at least a strong independent left presidential candidate to give expression to workers’ struggles in the electoral arena, but it seems unlikely even the latter will materialize.
59.However, Obama’s 2012 campaign will be far different than it was four years ago. In 2008, mass illusions were built up that change could be achieved through the electoral arena. Obama helped reestablish the tattered democratic credentials of American capitalism. But for the youth especially, these illusions are largely shattered. Anger at both parties and the sham system of “democracy” is at unprecedented levels. While the movement has not yet reached the stage of building its own unifying political voice, tens of millions of workers and youth have wised up to the reality of corporate political domination.
60.In fact, especially for the radicalized youth, healthy disgust with the existing political establishment means, on the one hand, calls to instead build real movements on the ground and, on the other hand, a simplistic rejection of “politics” in general. On the positive side, this mood could provide added energy for struggles to develop in 2012 even amidst the pressures of the Democratic Party election machine. In Spain, for example, at the height of their election frenzy, the youth responded to their fake no-choice election with the mass “indignados” movement. We should encourage a similar response to the U.S. elections.
61.At the same time, the anti-political ideas in Spain acted as a barrier to the indignados, preventing them from constructing a viable political force that could defeat capitalist policies. Similarly, here in the U.S. we must counter the anti-political mood. Anarchist ideas against voting or any participation in elections reinforce and appear to give intellectual weight to the broader anti-political mood. While taking a sympathetic attitude, we have to firmly argue against this ultra-left approach.
62.The 2012 elections will dominate the entire political life of the country. With increasing intensity up through November, it will be the main topic of political conversation for tens of millions of working-class people. Attempting to ignore or abstain from the elections, to just “focus on building real movements” is a formula for self-isolation. The Occupy movement and the left will be far more relevant if they intervene in the election debate with a clear, independent analysis and program. Slogans like “Occupy the Elections” can be a starting point to explain the pressing need to break from the Democratic Party and build left and anti-cuts electoral coalitions, and for a new party to represent the 99%. Even though we will not, in most areas, be in a position to run candidates or have serious left independent campaigns we can support, arming ourselves with a clear program and explanation of what is needed will help us maintain a dialogue with wider layers of working people and youth.
Historic Tasks
63.History books will record 2011 as a decisive turning point in the world situation. We are clearly going through another prolonged crisis of global capitalism. Now the menacing threat of further economic collapse exists alongside a rising tide of social upheaval. The battle in Wisconsin and the Occupy movement are symptomatic of the deeper crisis. The workers’ revolt in Wisconsin represented the opening act of a sweeping drama of class conflict being prepared in U.S. society. The social upheavals and class battles ahead will be the most intense in generations.
64.While Wisconsin revealed most clearly the raw class tensions boiling under the surface, just months later the Occupy movement revealed a political awakening which shook U.S. society. It was the first open expression since the crisis began of an initial, though confused, anti-capitalist consciousness developing among important sections of workers and, particularly, youth. At the same time, Occupy provided a wider outlet for the accumulated class anger, which will only deepen alongside the overall capitalist crisis.
65.The obstacles to the development of consciousness and mass struggle are huge. The U.S. working class is emerging from a historic low point in terms its political and class consciousness and its level of independent class organization. Therefore, the living memory of past struggles for use as a reference point and source of lessons has been broken for the bulk of the class. At the same time, unlike their European counterparts, U.S. workers and youth are less weighed down by the experience of devastating betrayals on the part of former mass socialist and workers’ parties. In this sense, socialism appears to most in the U.S. as almost a new, fresh idea.
66.In the context of the deepening crisis and the processes of revolution and counter-revolution around the world, broad left-wing and socialist ideas in the U.S. could grow quite rapidly, taking up some of the gaping political vacuum on the left. We are faced with an historic task. The new interest in socialism greatly outweighs our limited organizational capacity to consolidate it and develop it into active participation. The whole situation demands a serious, creative discussion on the measures that must be taken to fully mobilize, develop, and grow our still small forces. At the same time as building our own organization, Marxists must struggle to rebuild mass organizations of the working class. Only by combining a correct analysis and program with a new enthusiasm and energy to win fresh forces to Marxism, to deepen our political understanding and theoretical level, can we successfully build the movement for socialism in the coming period.
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From The "Harvard Crimson"- The Fight Against Library Lay-Offs- Victory To The Harvard Library Workers!
Markin comment:
Yes, I know, I not usually use "The" Harvard Crimson as my source for labor news but there you have it.
Protesters Speak Out Against Layoffs
By Samuel Y. Weinstock, CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Published: Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Approximately 45 protesters gathered in front of the Science Center on Tuesday with signs and a megaphone for a “Speak-Out Against Layoffs at Harvard.” The event, which was organized by the No Layoffs Campaign, the Student Labor Action Movement, and Occupy Harvard, featured short speeches from workers, students, and faculty opposing the layoffs of Harvard Library workers.
The speak-out is the latest in a series of protests and rallies regarding library layoffs following Harvard University Library Executive Director Helen Shenton’s Jan. 19 announcement that the library’s reorganization would include staff reductions.
Library assistant Geoff P. Carens, who introduced many of the speakers, said that events like these have “definitely raised awareness” about the situation facing library workers. He called the “speak-out” format “more of an opportunity to reach out to the broader community in a more conversational way.”
Library assistant Jeffrey W. Booth also attended the event and said he was pleased with how it went. He said that each group of the library’s stakeholders were represented by a speaker, including union representatives, undergraduates, graduate students, alumni, and faculty.
The speakers focused on the arguments that layoffs would be unfair to the workers and negatively impact the quality of the library system. A No Layoffs campaign leaflet distributed at the event alleged “damage already inflicted on Harvard’s libraries by layoffs, out-sourcing, automation, and excessive reliance on student workers.” The handout listed problems such as minimal and inaccurate bibliographic records, faulty ordering and claiming processes, and thousands of books being shipped to the Harvard Depository without cataloging.
In response to the claims of the protesters, a University spokesperson wrote in an email that the library’s reorganization will actually enhance access to the Library’s holdings.
“The new organizational design unifies functions that occur within all libraries—Access Services, Technical Services, and Preservation and Digital Imaging Services,” the spokesperson said. “The shared services will enable greater focus on the needs of the user community.”
SLAM member William P. Whitham said that he thought that the “four or five” protest actions that SLAM has been involved in regarding library layoffs have been effective in spreading knowledge of the situation to the community.
“I think it’s having an impact,” Witham said. “The main purpose of these has been to inform people what’s going on.”
Whitham mentioned a variety of actions that SLAM has taken, including rallies, attending University President Drew G. Faust’s office hours, and contacting members of the administration.
“We’re going to do whatever it takes,” Whitham said. “We’ve tried so many tactics.”
—Staff writer Samuel Y. Weinstock can be reached at sweinstock@college.harvard.edu.
Yes, I know, I not usually use "The" Harvard Crimson as my source for labor news but there you have it.
Protesters Speak Out Against Layoffs
By Samuel Y. Weinstock, CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Published: Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Approximately 45 protesters gathered in front of the Science Center on Tuesday with signs and a megaphone for a “Speak-Out Against Layoffs at Harvard.” The event, which was organized by the No Layoffs Campaign, the Student Labor Action Movement, and Occupy Harvard, featured short speeches from workers, students, and faculty opposing the layoffs of Harvard Library workers.
The speak-out is the latest in a series of protests and rallies regarding library layoffs following Harvard University Library Executive Director Helen Shenton’s Jan. 19 announcement that the library’s reorganization would include staff reductions.
Library assistant Geoff P. Carens, who introduced many of the speakers, said that events like these have “definitely raised awareness” about the situation facing library workers. He called the “speak-out” format “more of an opportunity to reach out to the broader community in a more conversational way.”
Library assistant Jeffrey W. Booth also attended the event and said he was pleased with how it went. He said that each group of the library’s stakeholders were represented by a speaker, including union representatives, undergraduates, graduate students, alumni, and faculty.
The speakers focused on the arguments that layoffs would be unfair to the workers and negatively impact the quality of the library system. A No Layoffs campaign leaflet distributed at the event alleged “damage already inflicted on Harvard’s libraries by layoffs, out-sourcing, automation, and excessive reliance on student workers.” The handout listed problems such as minimal and inaccurate bibliographic records, faulty ordering and claiming processes, and thousands of books being shipped to the Harvard Depository without cataloging.
In response to the claims of the protesters, a University spokesperson wrote in an email that the library’s reorganization will actually enhance access to the Library’s holdings.
“The new organizational design unifies functions that occur within all libraries—Access Services, Technical Services, and Preservation and Digital Imaging Services,” the spokesperson said. “The shared services will enable greater focus on the needs of the user community.”
SLAM member William P. Whitham said that he thought that the “four or five” protest actions that SLAM has been involved in regarding library layoffs have been effective in spreading knowledge of the situation to the community.
“I think it’s having an impact,” Witham said. “The main purpose of these has been to inform people what’s going on.”
Whitham mentioned a variety of actions that SLAM has taken, including rallies, attending University President Drew G. Faust’s office hours, and contacting members of the administration.
“We’re going to do whatever it takes,” Whitham said. “We’ve tried so many tactics.”
—Staff writer Samuel Y. Weinstock can be reached at sweinstock@college.harvard.edu.
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