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NEWS & LETTERS,
January-February 2003
Readers’ Views
FIGHTING THE DRIVE TO WAR AS 2003 BEGINS The very first sentence in the article by a young Iraqi
woman in the December issue--"If one learns anything from living under a
totalitarian system it is how to decipher the news and sift through official
propaganda"--made me think that I don't live under totalitarianism but I,
too, have to sift through the news. We're supposed to have a free press, but
it's hard to figure out whether what you're getting from the press is real. I
could relate to her in many ways. She was born in 1981 and I was born in 1982.
But she says her childhood always involved the Iran/Iraq war, while I can't
imagine spending my childhood like that. I haven't had to consider war in that
way until now. Anti-war activist, Memphis When Congressman Charles Rangel said he was for bringing
back the Selective Service, he just wanted the rich to have their chance to be
drafted, instead of the poor who always fight most wars. I agree, but what I
want most is for all those in the current administration from the
Commander-in-Chief to his Vice-President, to be drafted first. Nouveau Toussaint, Chicago Marching in D.C. on Jan. 18 was a protester's dream come
true. Heaven is a river of marching people with signs and chants meant to set
the government straight. I think we ran Bush out of town. Who believed he was at
Camp David for jogging? Veteran anti-war protester, Tennessee It was a surprise to me to see so many Michigan
church-sponsored buses carrying thousands to Washington, D.C. to protest the
administration's drive to war against Iraq. It is a welcome counterpoint to the
war-mongering Christian fundamentalists who are practicing their religion by
demanding that the blood of innocent Iraqi people be spilled on madman Bush's
altar of war. One woman spent $3,000 of her own money to rent one of those buses
hoping there would be a decent number responding to the appeal to join the
protest. Happily, not only was the bus filled, there was also a waiting list. Old radical, Detroit What needs more discussion in the anti-war movement is
thinking through what the ultimate outcome may be. I am confident that as
Americans see more and more atrocious breaches of civility at the hands of their
government, they will hop on the bandwagon of the anti-war movement. The big
question is, where will that bandwagon take us and how do we keep it from
falling apart over the long haul? Anti-war youth, California It seems clear that many Americans are in no rush to go
to war. I am suspicious of the motives of the ANSWER coalition that organized
the D.C. march, because of its affiliation with the International Action Center,
Ramsey Clark's defense of Hutu and Bosnian war criminals, etc. The important
thing is that thousands of people came from all over the country to march in the
freezing cold, not because of ANSWER, but to stand up against Bush and his push
for war. J.P., Connecticut Let's see if I've got this right. Because the Iraqi
dictator either does or doesn't possess weapons of mass destruction, the U.S.
has to wage war against Iraq. And because the North Korean dictator possesses
even more dangerous weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. has to engage North
Korea diplomatically. So the reason why a nation has to be attacked by a
pre-emptive strike is the reason why a nation has to be engaged diplomatically.
Hey, that makes sense! Bewildered, Spokane It was good news to learn that Afghanistan acceded to
the International Criminal Court, which opens the way for the extradition and
trial of the notorious warlords who have been accused of human rights abuses in
that country. This is what the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan
(RAWA) has been demanding for a long while. It means that Afghanistan is now
closer to the world community on this subject and more progressive than the U.S. RAWA supporter, New York I've lived through a lot of presidents, beginning with
Hoover, and some of them were pretty bad for workers and their families, but the
worst of all is President Bush. More people are being laid off than for a long
time and there are no jobs out there anymore. But it's not only the messed up
economy that makes Bush so much worse. It's the idea that we could just go into
Iraq with tanks and bombs and kill a lot of people. We've never done anything
like this before in my lifetime. Retired GM worker, Bay City, Michigan The year 2002 has come and gone but the madness of the
Bushites and the reluctance of the Democrats to oppose it continues. On our own
political and personal levels we must continue the struggle because there is no
such thing as a plateau in sociology or politics. To stand still is to move
backward. Black feminist author, Virgin Islands The growing instability in the world's political and
economic systems is killing ordinary people in greater numbers. Assuming the
overthrow of the Iraqi regime, what is the objective of inflaming one of the
world's most volatile areas? The Roman Empire lasted a thousand years; the
British 200 years. The new world order? Short and brutish, it seems to me. Patrick, England A new study at the University of Sussex in Britain found
that people who were involved in campaigns, strikes and political demonstrations
experienced an improvement in psychological well-being that helped them overcome
stress, pain, anxiety and depression. In short, protesting may be good for our
health--as well as for our very survival. Protester, California VOICES FROM WITHIN THE PRISON WALLS: WHAT IS
'TERRORISM'? We have young Black, Brown and Red men out there in the urban streets slaughtering each other like wild beasts, poisoning their communities with drugs and automatic machine guns. We have shiploads of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and other drugs permeating the American border to be found later in the Black and Latino ghettos. All this is terrorism right at home, yet George Bush gives us the impression that terrorism can only come from the Middle East. Instead of investing revenue on educational facilities for the troubled inner-city youth, the Bush administration has devoted millions to build more penitentiaries. Instead of joining the fight against AIDS, the Bush administration will spend billions on military aid designed to engender war instead of preventing it. Unemployment is terrorism but George Bush would rather watch youth being put in desperate situations to justify enslaving them. Sexism, misogyny, discrimination, domestic violence -- all of it constitutes terrorism right here at home. They care nothing about Saddam Hussein being a dictator or he would have been dethroned long ago. As President Bush plans and plots to wage war on a people who are already suffering oppression and injustice in Iraq we should be planning and plotting a positive solution as a weapon against the evil that is now enslaving the minds of our youth and the nature of our communities. Crime, HIV/AIDS, poverty, starvation, alcoholism, capitalism, imperialism, police brutality, the death penalty, injustice -- this is the terrorism we as human beings have to wage war against. For it's quite clear that the Bush Administration has no intention of ever doing so. Revolutionary Prisoner in Solitary, Wisconsin ISSUES OF WOMEN'S LIBERATION I'm a big Adrienne Rich fan and the part that interested
me most in Terry Moon's review of her ARTS OF THE POSSIBLE, in the December
issue, was discussing how Rich rejects "personal narrative" and
"private solutions ... devoid of political context or content." That
put a lot of Rich's other work in perspective for me. Her prose, especially, is
imbued with social and political content but I had not until now seen the clear
relation to capitalism. Young lesbian feminist, Memphis The article about abortion in Peru (December N&L)
was amazing. What a powerful slogan to demand: "Contraception in order not
to abort; legal abortion in order not to die." The refusal to "permit
retrogression or limitation on our human rights" speaks to what we need to
be doing in the U.S. today. Young male revolutionary, USA The "In Memoriam" for Alina Pienkowska made me
see that she must have been an amazing woman. It was awesome for her to say:
"Here in the shipyard I stopped being afraid and became a real
person." It shows what Marx meant when he wrote that we are
"individualized through the process of history." College student, Tennessee ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT The decision of the Central Elections Committee to ban
the Arab Knesset members, Azini Bishara and Ahmad Tibi, from running in the
upcoming Knesset elections has to be bitterly denounced. The way the right
extremist wing united against the Arab representatives in the Knesset is an
example of how they are trying to intensify the hatred and conflict between the
Israelis and Palestinians. It shows the kind of national discrimination toward
the Arab citizens that has continued since the creation of Israel. As the head
of the Committee for Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, I had to denounce the
decisions as racist and unjust and hope the Israeli High Court will cancel it
and rule according to Israeli law. Latif Dori, Tel Aviv UNCOVERING THE HIDDEN NEWS The South African revolution was betrayed, but all is
not lost. The people are regrouping again and a new leadership is emerging from
the grass roots. The agents of imperialism are scared. It is why there is so
little news on South Africa these days, even after events like the UN's World
Summit was held in that country last August. South African revolutionary, Michigan The ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL published a recent letter from me critiquing the way they cover news about unions, which is consistently unprofessional and unfair. I was especially angry at their cartoon stereotype of longshore workers as anti-patriotic brutes, and I sent them a cartoon by an artist friend of mine that expressed my feeling about their bias, hoping they would run it as part of my letter. They did not. Since editorial cartoons are all some people read I thought it would have been equal time to run the one I sent. But my letter to them was a rear guard action. What I want to know is when organized labor will develop a program to monitor labor coverage? Stan Rosen, Santa Fe, New Mexico CONTINUING WAR ON THE POOR I feel as if I am in the '60s all over again. Last week I joined a protest at DTE Energy (the merged electricity and gas companies in Detroit) because a 30-year program to assist the poor with heat and water bills has been ended. Just under 10,000 households have already had gas or electricity shut off and the coldest months are just beginning. DTE Energy did restore some service but Michigan Welfare Rights Organization has put out a flyer warning, "No water, no heat, no lights? No Peace!" to announce continuing demonstrations. So here we are, back at the need to "organize, organize, organize" all over again. Civil Rights Movement veteran, Detroit U.S. copyright laws may be the ultimate weapons of mass destruction. I refer to the latest U.S. policy that threatens the lives of more than 40 million people afflicted by HIV-AIDS, malaria, or tuberculosis, denying them access to cheaper generic drugs in order to defend the high profits of U.S. drug companies by hiding behind the U.S. copyright laws. At the end of December the BBC reported that the U.S. had blocked an international agreement that had been signed onto by 143 countries, which would allow poor countries to buy cheap goods. The U.S. claimed that the deal would allow too many drug patents to be ignored, and has extended the U.S. patents and copyrights to 20 years. How many millions of people could have been saved by then if the greedy pharmaceutical companies ever put human interests ahead of their criminally high profits? Giorgio, Canada FINDING A WORD FOR IT? I have tried to think of a good word to concisely describe the objective reality of our times. Superficialization of culture and society might be such a word. What do you think? N&L Supporter, Wisconsin FOR JOE STRUMMER (1952--2002) It was sad to see the passing of Joe Strummer of the
Clash. His work with that band introduced a generation to the imagery and
history of the revolutionary movement, from the general strike to the Spanish
Civil War. The beat shook the cobwebs off a lot of books. While Joe Strummer
never seemed to develop his views of Marxism or anarchism very much, as a
bohemian artist that really wasn't his point. What he found in Black
music--American blues, Jamaican reggae, calypso, rap--was nothing less than a
Promethean grammar of the modern world. "Watch when Watts town burns again,
the bus goes to Montgomery...." His best work with the Clash embodied this
concept. It is an achievement that will stand despite the use of their music in
television commercials. Gerard Emmett, Illinois POSING KEY QUESTIONS--WITH ANSWERS? As Mitch Weerth correctly points out in his article "Mass unrest inspired Lula's victory in Brazil" (December 2002 N&L), Brazil's affect on the political climate of the South American continent is significant. Yet there has been little to no coverage about Lula's victory in the mainstream press. I enjoyed Weerth's analysis of the process by which Lula came to power. It remains to be seen if the compromises made in order to get elected will prevent him from accomplishing significant reforms. But when the political situation seems so dreadful in the U.S., it is encouraging to hear that the Left is achieving victories elsewhere. Steve Tammelleo, Memphis I appreciated the method and the facts presented in the article on Lula's victory in Brazil. It posed some key questions, ending with "Is there a way out?" But as is so often the case in N&L, you provide no answers to that question, which translates into "What is to be done?" While the final lines about "whether the next four years will be only about a struggle for higher wages or about the need to restructure production and life in accordance with the goal of human self-development rather than the self-expansion of capital" do point to the larger question, they offer no suggestions for action--neither a program of concrete goals nor a strategy to attain them. This seems to flow from your rejection of "vanguardism," which I infer you interpret as rejecting the "Leninist" path of coming up with goals and strategies to fight for them. You seem to think this will come from teaching Hegel's philosophy (as interpreted by Raya Dunayevskaya). While I find useful ideas in your columns, this is no substitute for drawing concrete conclusions and pointing out the path forward. All effective organizations of struggle do this, from all classes, castes, races, gender-based struggles and nationalities. In 2000, Bush ran on tax cuts, privatizing social services and the conservative social agenda. His team utilized the state apparatus of Florida and the Supreme Court. That's effective leadership. Representing exploiting class interests they utilized elitist methods of struggle just as did the perpetrators of the attacks in New York on 9/11. The Bolsheviks mobilized for "Peace, Land, and Bread" in World War I. They won the active support of the masses. That too was leadership. Just because the Russian Revolution failed and its later supporters became a drag on the struggle for liberation doesn't mean we should abjure leadership. N&L throws out the baby with the bathwater when you refuse to draw concrete lessons from philosophy, economics and the history of class struggle, as this otherwise fine article does. It reduces your contributions to being commentators rather than leaders. Earl Silbar, Illinois EDITOR’S NOTE: Marxist-Humanists do not object
to "drawing concrete conclusions and pointing the path forward." At
issue is HOW to do so. Our aim is not to lecture people from afar regarding what
they "ought" to do, but to single out and make explicit the movement
for a new society that is immanent to their praxis. In the case of Brazil, the task today is to lay out the facts of Lula's stance and the response of the masses, so that the tendencies immanent to their struggles can be discerned. Lula has just come to power and it is surely too early to jump to conclusions regarding where all this will lead. To propose at this point a formula for action on their behalf would not only be pointless, but counterproductive. That does not make us mere commentators. For example, for years we insisted that the Left support the Bosnian and Kosova struggles for self-determination, that the arms embargo against them be lifted, and that the movements there oppose any effort at ethnic partition. Likewise, we argued after 9/11 that the anti-war movements needed not only to oppose Bush AND bin Laden but also solidarize with those victimized by reactionary Islamic fundamentalism overseas. It was shown in our work on behalf of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. As can be seen from our statement, "Why the Anti-war Movement Needs a Dialectical Perspective," that is one crucial way in which to draw concrete lessons from philosophy. GEORGE RYAN & THE CRIMINAL INJUSTICE SYSTEM George Ryan has been accused of giving clemency to the Death Row prisoners in Illinois only because of the scandal that dirtied his office over issuing licenses to unqualified drivers which resulted in the horrifying deaths of six children. I don't forgive his responsibility for the corruption on his watch that led to those deaths, but I think he got a lesson from it on death and responsibility and became a different man. That should be respected just as should punishment for his previous wrongdoing. Americans must learn that our death penalty makes us criminal justice pariahs throughout the world. Anti-Death Penalty activist, Chicago I thought you would like to know the kind of discussion raised in Germany by Governor Ryan's lifting of over 160 death sentences on the last day of his governorship. The most widely read regional newspaper, KOELNER STADT-ANZEIGER, began its report with his statement "now I can sleep again comfortably." After detailing the spectacular miscarriages of justice, extorted confessions and sentencing of innocent people that had led to worldwide protests, the paper described the "lonely/personal as well as controversial" way Ryan had "drawn the final curtain of this dark chapter" this way: "That the Governor, from now on, can rest quietly has got to do not only with his pardoning of those on death row, but also with the fact that he is going to leave his office and end his political career." The next day the paper carried three long articles about capital punishment in the U.S. and in the individual states, including a large nationwide map. The great attention the event received was echoed in papers all over Europe. Correspondent, Germany Governor Ryan is the first governor to commute so many on Death Row at one time. The question that remains is whether any other governor will be willing to do the same. N.T., Chicago The five teenagers convicted of the Central Park violence 13 years ago were finally found innocent and that event does not stand alone. Philadelphia had a similar case wherein five Puerto Rican teenagers were convicted in a case where a young man was found drowned in a fountain near the art museum and his girl friend was found unconscious. At the time, efforts were being made to gentrify the largely Latino community and the incident was exploited by real estate developers and the District Attorney, Arlen Spector. At the court hearing for the five youth, their families and neighbors believed they were to be released but the judge set a distant date for another "hearing" and it took several more "postponements" before they were quietly released. The now-Senator Spector had to have known the case was a frame-up. One of the boys was even in a hospital at the time of the incident. The formerly Latino neighborhood is now completely gentrified, and Senator Spector's record as a DA was never publicly questioned. H.L., Philadelphia Ramona Africa in Chicago Ramona Africa, the sole survivor of the Philadelphia police's attack on the MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia in 1985, was imprisoned for seven years. She has been a tireless fighter for the rights of political prisoners, particularly those of the MOVE 9, who were wrongfully convicted in 1978 of murdering a police officer, and Mumia Abu-Jamal, wrongfully convicted of shooting a policeman in 1982. Then-Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, now Director of the Office of Homeland Security, achieved acclaim among conservatives by persecuting MOVE as well as Mumia, who ended up on Death Row. In Chicago, Ramona Africa will speak: |
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