www.newsandletters.org
|
|
NEWS & LETTERS, May 2002
Feature: Readers' Views
TURNING THE U.S. INTO
'JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER' The question about whether the
U.S. should be the "policeman of the world" was answered by George
Bush by using the events of September 11 to turn the U.S. into the "judge,
jury and executioner of the world." The present U.S. administration claims
it has a God-given right to overthrow unsympathetic regimes or leaders, whether
in Iraq or Venezuela, and to interfere in any country's internal affairs if they
feel U.S. corporate interests might be jeopardized. "You are with us or you
are against us" makes it simple to declare anybody guilty of harboring a
terrorist. According to this theory, by harboring, training, and even decorating
Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma bomber, the U.S. itself qualifies as a terrorist
state. Giorgio Bush called for Sharon to
voluntarily "show restraint" while he did everything possible to
enable Sharon to continue his criminal blitzkrieg against the Palestinians. It
reminded me of his calls for industry to "voluntarily" study the
problem of worker safety while workers continue to get hurt by the thousands.
Like with his father's "thousand points of light," there's as much
"voluntarism" in corporate America and in Sharon alike as there is in
a werewolf's hunger to devour everything in its path. Hospital worker The Catholic hierarchy took the position that the mission of their institution was more important than the lives sacrificed when a pedophile priest is moved to another parish. Politically, it would be easy for the U.S. justice system to indict and convict criminal priests. But when the U.S. is on a mission like getting rid of Hussein, our government sacrifices untold lives to further it. If it is wrong for the Church to sacrifice lives for its aims, it's just as wrong for institutions like nations. Jan In the April 20 demonstrations
in D.C. that brought out tens of thousands, I liked that the issues were
diverse—globalization of capital, Palestine, nuclear weapons, the School of
the Americas and more. The demonstrators moved from signs and speeches about one
issue to another, learning new things from each other and how the issues
intersect. It stimulated people to feel we can accomplish something. George TERROR IN ISRAEL AND
PALESTINE After what happened in Jenin, I
thought it would replace Lidice as a horrible example of collective punishment.
But when I reminded my brother, who lives in Tel Aviv, of this, he forbade
me to ever speak to him again on politics in Israel. What I wanted to know was
how even a hundred suicide bombers could justify the destruction of the whole
Jenin refugee camp, home of 14,000 Palestinian, killing hundreds of men, women
and children. How can the so-called "civilized" Jews justify not
letting ambulances take care of the wounded, cutting off water and electricity,
and keeping hundreds of thousands of Palestinians locked for weeks under curfew?
Bush keeps repeating the word "terror" as if it applied only to the
Palestinians. He doesn't speak of the state terror committed by the Israelis. Outraged Jew The archives column in the
April N&L, dealing with the past and present of the Palestinian situation,
disclosed the unchanging terrorist character of Ariel Sharon. However, although
Dunayevskaya declared that the world will never forget the horror of the Shatila
massacre and Sharon's responsibility for it, it would appear that too many
Israelis did forget, or Sharon would not be in the position he holds today,
betraying the grand vision of Israel's founders. Old Radical I do not have any disagreement
with what the April editorial said. My problem is with what was left unsaid.
There was no critique of the suicide bombings. These have for the most
part been directed not at military targets in Israel, but at civilian
populations—buses, a restaurant, shopping centers. A so-called culture of
terror cannot represent any kind of emancipatory alternative. Yes, the main
critique should be against Sharon, but to remain silent on these suicide attacks
is wrong, in my view. Teacher Many of Israel's actions were
designed to humiliate the Palestinians. I read that they drew the star of David
on the walls of houses in Ramallah with a number written in the center of the
star. It made me only more determined than ever to fight against both
imperialism and fundamentalism everywhere. Supporter I ran into a large group of
pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Dearborn, home to many Middle Easterners, and
had an impulse to stop and pass out the last issue of N&L. But I decided
against it because the crowd was very emotional and the possibility of being
attacked seemed very real. I was frustrated because I thought many would be
receptive to the paper. Subscriber Reading Raya
Dunayevskaya's 1982 "Stop the slaughter of the Palestinians" and then
the editorial on "Israel-Palestine at boiling point," in the April
issue showed how philosophy can give action a direction. Dunayevskaya's insight
that "Begin-Sharon are out to destroy the very idea of Palestinian national
self-determination" set the ground for the editorial in the same issue. Terry Moon PUNISHING THE POOR Some reality is needed to
challenge Bush's lies and distortions regarding welfare. The whole emphasis on
marriage as the solution to child poverty is built on a distortion. While it's
true that statistics say children with both a mother and father do better,
that's because those kinds of families usually have two incomes and thus more
money. Statistics also show that children of single moms with good incomes do
just as well as children from two-parent families. Of course, that's not the
only thing wrong with Bush's punitive plan. Women's Liberationist LOSING OUR RIGHTS Attorney General Ashcroft's
arrest of New York attorney Lynne F. Stewart is really frightening. A noted
defender of unpopular criminal defendants, Stewart and her translator were
charged with providing material support for terrorism by allegedly passing
messages from a client who had been convicted of planning terrorist activities
to his supporters. Ashcroft made up this nonsense after secretly taping their
conversations in the client's jail cell. After September 11, when the
government moved to deprive immigrants of any rights or civil liberties, U.S.
citizens were not immediately affected. Now we had better realize that we have
all lost the right to confidentiality with our attorneys. This harassment of
attorneys can be the slippery slope to the loss of many more of our rights. Scared John Alan's column in the April
N&L was really interesting. Black culture did not just enrich the American
culture. It enriched the idea of freedom. If it wasn't for the Black movement,
white America wouldn't have all the civil rights they are now struggling to
defend. Iranian exile WORKERS' CONCERNS At the end of your article on
the "Piqueteros" in Argentina (March N&L) one worker is
quoted as saying that "everything is still divided, the movement hasn't yet
united, we still go out only for our own individual battles." I thought of
this when I read about how Chinese workers in Liaoyang, having been booted out
of formerly state-enterprises that were converted to private enterprise, are
organizing all laid-off workers across diverse industries as one unit. One
worker says he doesn't have illusions that the demonstrations will necessarily
produce jobs but wants to emphasize that "we exist and want work."
They are struggling for something beyond only jobs. American worker Thanks for your support during
our very successful Truth Tour in March. As you know, the struggle for dignity
and fairness in the fields continues. We hope all who can will join us for a
full day of action on Thursday, May 16, in Louisville, KY for the annual
stockholders meeting of Tricon, Taco Bell's parent company. We plan to greet the
shareholders in the morning, to educate them about Tricon's role in the
continuing poverty and exploitation of Immokalee farmworkers and propose
solutions they can take with them inside. In the afternoon we will be marching,
singing, leafleting, and talking with folks at several Taco Bell restaurants in
the Louisville area. We will conclude the day in a joint event with Kentucky
Jobs with Justice. You can be back on the road by early evening. Email us at
TBTruthtour@aol.com for specific details and directions and meet us in
Louisville. Coalition of Immokalee Workers I know you don't often mention
the Labor Party concept but campaign "finance reform" seems to require
that it be considered. It is more than an abstract issue of constitutional
rights, namely the First Amendment. Last September Oklahoma passed a
"right-to-work" law, which was partially touted as limiting political
contributions from unions to "liberal causes" such as PAC, abortion
rights, and so forth. So far, the only effect of the "right-to-work"
legislation is to keep public school teachers' salaries among the lowest in the
U.S. Allan Mui MULTIPLE HATE CRIMES The beautiful murals on the
Women's Building in San Francisco, which hosts several nonprofit activist
groups, were vandalized by being spray-painted with the words "Kill
Arabs" in foot-long letters. The mural is a pastiche of famous women
throughout history including Georgia O'Keeffe and Rigoberta Menchu. The original
muralists invited the community to come help them begin repairs. Women's liberationist For the first time, the 1994
Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act is being applied to a case of violence
based on sexual orientation. It is the only federal law that addresses violence
against lesbians and gay men that takes place on federal property. It also
increases the severity of the crime and allows for the introduction of
additional types of evidence, including motive. The anti-human side of this is
that the Attorney General has stated that this law makes it easier to request
the death penalty. It will be used against a man accused of killing two women
hikers in the summer of 1996 in the Shenandoah National Park. The indictment
states that Julianne Marie Williams and Laura Winans, both in their 20s, were
intentionally targeted because of the man's hatred of women and homosexuals. Suzanne Rose HOMELESSNESS The article on homelessness
(N&L April 2002) took me on an imaginary trip. It's important to understand
that even when you're out of work you have a full time job just surviving. It
may look like you're trying to milk the system when you're trying to just
survive. This writer is working hard but losing the fight. I tended to
look at homeless people as the result of a horrible system that makes people who
are only a little better off their source of survival. You can't give money to
everybody who asks without going broke. Those who are the most responsible for
creating the situation don't ever have to run into these people. The problem is
a lot deeper than just getting active to feed people. David ALTERNATIVES TO CAPITALISM Activist-thinker (N&L April
2002) sees the left's problem as "knocking down the ruling ideology of
capitalism." This is part of the problem. Having convincing alternatives is
essential. But there are material difficulties which must be solved on both a
theoretical and practical level as well. One of these was posed by Engels in his
1891 Introduction to Marx's THE CIVIL WAR IN FRANCE, where he described a class
of professional politicians organized to "dominate and plunder"
society. He saw this could only be bettered by measures proposed by the Paris
Commune with delegates elected by "all concerned," subject to recall
at any time and paid the same as ordinary workers. Among the problems to overcome
today are what to offer the large number who have a vested interest in the
present system. Another is whether genuine democracy can start alongside the
present system or whether it is necessary to "capture" the state
machine to transform it. That takes us to questions of power and force, on which
history has taught us much. Let's have readers' ideas on these questions. R. F. Price I wish N&L had more
discussion of the way forces like the Zapatistas in Chiapas have sought to go
beyond the traditional concept of the seizure of power. Political power is a
corrupting force and history shows we have to avoid the tendency of radical
projects to get sucked into it. Latin American solidarity
activist HARDT, NEGRI AND 'THE
MULTITUDE' I think the essay on Hardt and
Negri in the April N&L was too kind to them. I find their work full of
postmodernist jargon. What is the point of using words like "the
multitude" to define mass struggles? It effaces the differences between
different revolutionary subjects. Activist Capital has invaded every
aspect of everyday life and the struggle against it has become universal as
well. That's why I find the concept of "the multitude" attractive. It
gets us away from the old notion of there being one privileged revolutionary
subject ("THE proletariat") without giving up on the working class. Bob I've been wondering if books
such as Empire could be used by Marxist dialecticians to put things in
perspective in the world. Lenin, like any serious revolutionary, often
emphasized the need to read others to clarify one's own views. This time maybe
the U.S. is the weakest link in the chain, as Lenin would say, opening the way
to social revolution. Revolutionary There seems to be an assumption
in Hardt and Negri's book that Marx was Eurocentric. How can they say that in
light of all the work Marxist-Humanism has done over the past two decades to
bring out the writings from Marx's last decade on Third World societies? Are
they unaware of all this, or are they just pretending not to know? Teacher The biggest problem with Negri
and Hardt, in my view, is that they do not discuss the problem of the failed
revolutions of the 20th century. In their eyes the revolutions succeeded simply
by virtue of proving the power of "revolutionary subjectivity." But
unless we confront the reasons for the failure of the 20th century revolutions
to get beyond capital, we'll keep on repeating their mistakes. It's fine to sing
paeans to "subjectivity" but the key question remains—what
happens AFTER the revolution? P. W. WOMEN FIGHTING TERROR AND
WAR I must point out one error in
the excellent Lead article on "Women fight terror and war in South Asia and
the Middle East" (N&L March 2002). Current conditions in Afghanistan
are not "beginning to wear away the confidence of Afghans in the ability of
the interim government to move the country toward democracy" because people
never had any confidence in that Northern Alliance-dominated, U.S.-imposed
government. They experienced the same men in power prior to the Taliban and know
them to be just as guilty of abusing the population. Women explain that is why
many have not abandoned the burka. They don't feel safe. The Revolutionary
Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) has consistently advised the world
that the new government is not to be tolerated. In addition to all the
countries Maya Jhansi discussed, women's groups are active in combating the
repression being imposed in the name of "fighting terrorism" further
east. In the Philippines women's groups predominate in opposing the recent
re-institution of U.S. troops in their country. In Aceh, Indonesia, women are
very active in the independence movement and oppose the government's recent
imposition of religious law and dress code police. Women's Liberationist THE BRITISH SCENE A thousand attended a socialist
alliance conference here. A revival in the unions would be welcome but it
remains a defensive reaction. New ideas and new ways of doing things are long
overdue. But the most reactionary ideas remain a powerful current as can be seen
in the efforts here to generate a strong law and order debate. The main winners
in this at the moment are the far right and the new-fascist groups. Patrick The Marxist-Humanists of the
London Corresponding Committee were the only tendency at the Socialist Alliance
conference connecting the question of organization to the abolition of capital
and creation of a new society. The others did not even get beyond disaffiliation
from New Labour and creation of a new organization! The conference raised more
questions than answers, although the attendance of a thousand was reflective of
the general resurgence in union struggle which has brought the connection of the
unions to New Labour to the forefront. Marxist-Humanist HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS This is how the World of Haves and Have-nots is divided. The Haves: More necessities, more leisure time, more chance to go to any schools, more places to travel willingly. The Have-Nots: Less necessities, virtually no leisure time, barely a chance to go to one school, barely allowed to stay where they are now. Conclusion: The world has a
recipe with the needed ingredients to set the world on fire literally and
physically. The only question left is when? George Wilfrid Smith Jr. Caught in a spiral of violence
today are the civilians of the West Bank and Israel. The accelerating terrorism
began one and a half years ago when Sharon, protected by his army, visited an
Islamic mosque and provoked all the violence that followed. Yet where is there
discussion of the fundamental causes of the clash—the vast disparity of daily
living conditions between the haves and have-nots. It is not only between
Israelis and Palestinians but throughout the whole Middle East between the
rulers and the people. The class differences exist in all countries, yet the
media focuses only on religious, racial or cultural differences. Asian American PRISON VOICES The Illinois Department of
Corrections is so corrupt that I cannot figure out why the federal government
does not touch them. Now they claim they cannot give prisoners raises on the
details (jobs) they do, because of the state pay freeze. But if you look at the
law, you will see that profits on sales from commissary stores are expended by
the department for special benefit of committed persons, "which shall
include but not be limited to the advancement of inmate payrolls." So how
could any budget crisis stop the prisoners' pay increase when it has nothing to
do with the state budget? I would like to read up on revolutionary history but
have no funds for books. Thanks to the donor who paid for my sub to N&L I do
know what is going on today. Prisoner Editor's Note: All contributions to our special Donor's Fund are used to send N&L and requested copies of our pamphlets to prisoners who have no funds of their own. Can you help out? |
|
Home l News & Letters Newspaper l Back issues l News and Letters Committees l Dialogues l Raya Dunayevskaya l Contact us l Search Published by News and Letters Committees |
