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NEWS & LETTERS, July-August 2005Readers' ViewsContents:
It is a measure of the depth of their collective guilt that every sector of the American political class--including the executive, legislative, and judicial branches at both the federal and state levels, Democrat and Republican alike--weighed in on the Terry Schiavo case. Politicians thought they could redeem themselves by creating a spectacle of feigned concern over one human life even as they snuffed out the lives of dozens, hundreds, millions of others. The war in Iraq made politicians desperate to divert attention from that carnage. From time to time, individuals appear whose dire situation exposes the manifold ugliness of this capitalist world in excruciating detail. In so doing, they provide an awakening of consciousness for those who choose to open their eyes and see. This is the precious gift I saw Terry Schiavo giving us. Terry Schiavo has finally died. May she rest in peace. Now it is time to pull the feeding tube from comatose capitalism. --Ex-Postal Worker, Michigan * * * May I recommend a book--BURY THE CHAINS by Adam Hochschild, Houghton Miflin Company. A history of the anti-slavery movement with much of interest, not least of which is the very small number of dedicated men and women who fought for freedom for all, and the speed with which they were successful. One of the many interesting facts cited states that (only) 200 years ago some three-quarters of the earth's population was in bondage in some form or another--from the serfs of Russia, to the crofters of Scotland. Slavery still exists today, and we must fight against it. But the scale and the acceptance of it is very different indeed. I cite all this because I think there is relevance to those of us who want to live in a different world. There is a fight to be won. And it is do-able. --Longtime supporter, Vancouver * * * Stories of violent death, devastation and terrorism are now an indelible part of the collective human memory. In July 1995, in Srebrenica, a Bosnian silver-mining town only a few hours drive from major European capitals, Serbian forces killed nearly 8,000 men, women and children in the presence of UN peacekeepers charged with protecting them. Ten years later genocide continues to echo through an often complacent world. Since Srebrenica, we have witnessed genocide in East Timor, Rwanda, Congo, Sudan, the Middle East and elsewhere. We see new resistances rise while the old fall away but the fundamental problems of ethnic hatred and state-sanctioned murder remain. We have to answer: how do we respond to genocide in a world that continually emphasizes and exploits differences between varied groups and deals with crisis by scapegoating certain groups and allowing violence against them. This is the theme of the art exhibit dedicated to the victims of Srebrenica at the Gallery of Links for International Promotion of the Arts. --LIPA Gallery, 410 South Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60605 * * * Acoss the country, universities and state legislatures are finally taking action to divest from companies operating in Sudan. These initiatives send a message to the Sudanese dictator, General Bashir, and will place a significant strain on his ability to buy weapons and airplanes used to carry out genocide within Sudan. Illinois has just become the first state to pass Sudan divestment legislation, which prohibits Illinois from investing in companies doing business in Sudan. It joins both Harvard and Stanford University already on record in this kind of divestment. The drive is now on to get other universities and states to follow suit. Information on how to support the work can be found at www.SudanActivism.com/divestment.html --Jesse Sage, American Anti-Slavery Group * * * To think it is impossible for women to lose the right to abortion is to ignore the ruthlessness of Christian fundamentalism and the fanaticism of the anti-abortion movement. Both these movements are founded on an antihuman philosophy that sees women as less than human. So do any politicians who would trade away our abortion rights in the hope of getting elected. --Abortion rights supporter, Tennessee * * * Good news for reproductive rights comes from New York State, where the legislature passed a law giving women greater access to emergency contraception (the "morning after" pill). The law would allow pharmacists and nurses to obtain blanket prescriptions for the pill and dispense them to any woman who asks for them, saving the need to first see a doctor. Since emergency contraception is more effective when taken within 24 hours, the new law would prevent thousands of unwanted pregnancies. Unfortunately, Governor Pataki still has to approve the measure and has remained silent about it as of the first week of July. --Women's Liberationist, New York * * * In the many important points Kevin Anderson made in his article on the new Pope's anointing religious fundamentalism (N&L May-June 2005), one of the most important was his quoting Polly Toynbee that "No one can compute how many people have died of AIDS as a result of [the Pope's] power, how many women have died in childbirth needlessly, how many children starved in families too large and poor to feed them." We can add to this that what HAS been computed is how many women have died each year because of unsafe and butcher abortions, carried out in countries where it is illegal. The estimates run from 45,000 to 100,000. I tend to think the higher number is the most accurate because so many of these deaths are covered up, unknown, or subsumed under the label of "maternal deaths." --Women's Liberationist, Memphis * * * MARX'S HUMANISM AND A NEW ECOLOGY The majority of those offering an ecological critique of society who are not part of the Left advocate a "return to nature" or, as Peter Hudis put it in his essay in the May-June issue of N&L, "surrender the notion that economic development, industrialization, and modernization can in any way be considered 'progressive.'" Not only does this view ignore the real human needs of billions of the world's population, it ignores two other important points. First, Marx's concept of labor, expressed in CAPITAL, as "the universal condition for the metabolic interaction between (hu)man and nature, the everlasting nature of human existence" is borne out 150 years later by a wealth of studies of human evolution, anatomy and physiology. Not only did humans evolve from highly social tool-making ancestors, but many human ailments stem from abnormal (read: factory-imposed repetitive motions) human activity or the lack thereof. Second, advocating a "return to nature" places a theoretical false dichotomy between humans and "nature." What is natural is that organisms in nature interact and thereby change their environment, for better or worse. Human impacts have drastically altered the "natural" environment. What is new is the degree to which capitalism invades every aspect of human interaction with the environment. Engineered agriculture with patented seeds and genetically modified food is a quantitative leap from the old-fashioned methods of domestication and breeding and drastically increases the power and control over the world's food supply, gene pools and agricultural product. The increase in biology-for-profit robs the world of anything that doesn't make money--Viagra is more important than wiping out HIV. Environmentalists may think they are experts on the environment, but the truth is that workers were the first environmentalists, protesting the pollution and inhuman conditions of factory work. There is so much in Marx that can show this, notably his writings on the working day. Perhaps as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of N&L we could bring out some of the workers' and columnists' voices, along with Marx's, in this context. --Susan Van Gelder, Detroit * * * It was recently noted in N&L that some peace groups have put women's issues on the backburner. Here in New York a recent debate has arisen over whether peace and justice and other anti-war organizations should take a stand on race issues and talk about how war affects people of color. One argument for keeping a narrow focus on the war was that narrowing it that way would bring a "broader constituency." But addressing the effects of war on people of color is what would bring in more people. We need to think about who we really want in this movement--and the answer to that is that we want everyone. --Andy, New York * * * It is good to see that a critical attitude to the reactionary elements of the Iraqi "resistance" seems to be gaining ground in the anti-war movement. A year ago N&L seemed like a lonely voice in the movement. Now more and more on the Left are adding their voices to denounce the Ba'athist/fundamentalist killings of labor organizers, oppression of women, and so on. The Campaign for Peace and Democracy, for example, is asking anti-war activists to sign a Statement Condemning Attacks on Iraqi Trade Unionists. It is important to support this trend by publicizing it. --Anti-war activist, Memphis * * * The War Resisters League has been circulating an important leaflet aimed to help in organizing a youth-led counter-military recruitment movement as a key part of ending, not just the war in Iraq, but the spread of militarism and violence in our society. They are urging youth to organize their friends to demand "equal time" to hear both sides if military recruiters are allowed into their schools. They're letting students know that it's a Federal law for public schools. The flier they are circulating deals with the many myths the military recruiters have been peddling vs. the real truths about college funding, job opportunities, and benefits for vets. Those interested can download them from www.warresisters.org/youth.htm. --WRL supporter, Chicago * * * When I was young I was part of a street gang. We thought we were tough, patrolling our little neighborhood and looking for trouble, but when the police, came we would run. Who's the real gang here? We call ourselves gangsta's but the real "G" men are gang banging on a world scale, not a street scale. They make rules and break them in the same sentence--now that's gangsta! They charge every working stiff taxes to be in this country and take it off your check before you see it--that's gangsta! They even tell you that these taxes are for domesticated purposes but when you get a loaf of bread you get taxed again--that's gangsta! You hear about an astronomical deficit the government owes, to what?--when it makes its own money. That's really gangsta! As I see it, all of us who think we're gangsta better think again about who's the real gang here. --Prisoner, Susanville, California * * * It's bad enough to have to do time for whatever reason, but for women their punishment is triple jeopardy. They say the state takes care of us, but if you have an illness the nurses and doctors treat you like an off-brand cow that's about to be butchered. People on the outside don't understand and have left the majority of women in prison for dead. It's OK for them to work us like mules mentally and physically, seven hours a day, five days a week for 30 cents an hour. If I had a sweat shop in downtown L.A. not paying minimum wage the state would close me down. How is it that women of America get so much time in prison but so little help? Is that what they mean when they say it's a woman's world? We're being stripped of our identities and everything that connects us to the outside world. Is anyone listening? --Woman prisoner, Chowchilla, California * * * The Texas State legislature recently voted to reduce further the state prisoners' daily meal caloric content to 1,800. One thoughtful guard at the Hughes prison near Gatesville, genuinely concerned that prisoners would become malnourished, distributed "Eat twice" passes which allowed prisoners to go through the serving lines twice at prison dining halls. "In my 11 years as a guard, I've never seen the prisoners' food this bad," he said. --Prisoner, Gatesville, Texas * * * Memphis lost a vital peace and justice activist when Gerard Vanderhaar--co-founder of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center--died in June of pulmonary fibrosis. Gerry's passion was non-violence and peace. He taught it, wrote about it, and lived it. His retirement in 1996 from a position as Professor Emeritus of religion and peace studies at Christian Brothers University meant only that he had more time to give the movement. His books include BEYOND VIOLENCE: IN THE SPIRIT OF THE NONVIOLENT CHRIST; WORDS OF PEACE; and WHEN GOOD PEOPLE DO BAD THINGS. Gerry believed in "respectful dialogue, in the interest of searching for a more complete truth." It was evident in his ability at meetings to bring an argumentative discussion back to what was important. His philosophy of nonviolence created an optimistic activist who believed that "The story of the human race is characterized by efforts to get along much more than by violent disputes, although it's the latter that make the history books. Violence is actually exceptional. The human race has survived because of cooperation, not aggression." Gerry was one of those rare individuals who lived his ideas. His death was a tremendous blow to the peace and justice movement in Memphis--not because Memphis is small, but because Gerry was so very large and important to the movement. --Terry Moon * * * You can find News & Letters at these bookstores.... Sabo's Infoshop Leftofcenter Bookstore |
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