This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
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THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT
MIM Notes 120 AUGUST 15, 1996
MIM Notes speaks to and from the viewpoint of the world's
oppressed majority, and against the imperialist-patriarchy. Pick
it up and wield it in the service of the people. support it,
struggle with it and write for it.
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. NETHERLANDS THREATENS TO EXPEL LEADER OF FILIPINO STRUGGLE
2. REVOLUTIONARY TURKISH PRISONERS WIN HUNGERSTRIKE
3. LETTERS
4. AMERIKAN TERRORISM ON THE RISE: FEDS WANT MORE
REPRESSIVE POWERS
5. INDONESIAN MASSES PROTEST REPRESSION
6. ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION CANNOT BE STOPPED THROUGH
ELECTORALISM
7. ENGLER DEPORTS INCARCERATED YOUTH: ACLU FIGHTS BACK,
QUICKLY WINS PARTIAL VICTORY
8. PETTY-BOURGEOIS SQUABBLE OVER PROFITS FROM UMASS SLOGAN
9. UNDER LOCK & KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND PRISONS
10. ON PROLETARIAN LEADERSHIP IN THE IMPERIALIST COUNTRIES
11. LAKOTA SEEK CONTROL OVER REPRODUCTIVE CHOICES 12. ON ANY OFFER
OF POSITION FROM THE MANILA GOVERNMENT
13. MAOISTS KNOW SPEECH ISN'T "FREE" BUT DOLE WHINES ABOUT
FUNDING PROBLEMS
14. AMERIKAN CULTURE: LALLAPOOLOZA '96: MIM GOES TO LALA LAND
AND INDEPENDENCE DAY 1996
15. MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM ONLINE
* * *
WHAT IS MIM?
The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is a revolutionary
communist party that upholds Marxism- Leninism-Maoism, comprising
the collection of existing or emerging Maoist internationalist
parties in the English-speaking imperialist countries and their
English-speaking internal semi- colonies, as well as the existing
or emerging Spanish-speaking Maoist internationalist parties of
Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of the U.S. Empire. MIM
Notes is the newspaper of MIM. Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the
Spanish- speaking parties or emerging parties of MIM.
MIM is an internationalist organization that works from the
vantage point of the Third World proletariat; thus, its members
are not Amerikans, but world citizens.
MIM struggles to end the oppression of all groups over other
groups: classes, genders, nations. MIM knows this is only possible
by building public opinion to seize power through armed struggle.
Revolution is a reality for North America as the military becomes
over-extended in the government's attempts to maintain world
hegemony.
MIM differs from other communist parties on three main questions:
(1) MIM holds that after the proletariat seizes power in socialist
revolution, the potential exists for capitalist restoration under
the leadership of a new bourgeoisie within the communist party
itself. In the case of the USSR, the bourgeoisie seized power
after the death of Stalin in 1953; in China, it was after Mao's
death and the overthrow of the "Gang of Four" in 1976. (2) MIM
upholds the Chinese Cultural Revolution as the farthest advance of
communism in human history. (3) MIM believes the North American
white-working-class is primarily a non-
revolutionary worker-elite at this time; thus, it is not the
principal vehicle to advance Maoism in this country.
MIM accepts people as members who agree on these basic principles
and accept democratic centralism, the system of majority rule, on
other questions of party line.
"The theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is universally
applicable. We should regard it not as dogma, but as a guide to
action. Studying it is not merely a matter of learning terms and
phrases, but of learning Marxism-Leninism as the science of
revolution."
-- Mao Zedong, Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 208
NETHERLANDS THREATENS TO EXPEL LEADER OF FILIPINO STRUGGLE
by MC206
On July 18, the Dutch Ministry of Justice notified Prof. Jose
Maria Sison that it had decided to expel him and gave Prof. Sison
four weeks to leave the country.(1) Prof. Sison is currently the
chief political advisor for the National Democratic Front of the
Philippines (NDF) in its negotiations with the Republic of the
Philippines and was the founding chairperson of the Communist
Party of the Philippines (CPP). He has lived in exile since 1988.
The Dutch Ministry of Justice called Prof. Sison a "terrorist" and
accused him of several crimes he supposedly committed while being
held in solitary confinement by the Marcos government. These vague
and untrue charges are based on falsified and secret "evidence"
supplied by the Amerikan and Philippine governments.(2)
The decision by the Ministry of Justice contradicts earlier
decisions by the Dutch Council of State, which gave Prof. Sison
"political refugee" status. Prof. Sison is currently appealing the
expulsion order, and his appeal effectively suspends the order.(3)
After the expulsion order was announced, Philippine president
Ramos stated that Prof. Sison was welcome to return to the
Philippines and offered him a place in the legislature.(4) Ramos
is one of the main architects of the U.S.-sponsored "low intensity
war" against the CPP, NDF, and the people of the Philippines.
Prof. Sison rejected both offers and called them "psychological
warfare" (see press statement page 9). The U.S.-Ramos regime is
vainly trying to move the negotiations with the NDF from the
Netherlands to the Philippines, where it can more effectively spy
on and harass the NDF negotiators. MIM also doubts the sincerity
of Ramos' promises of safety for Prof. Sison, since the U.S.-Ramos
regime already violated safety and immunity agreements it had
signed with the NDF when it arrested Sotero Llamas last year. The
Dutch Council of State also refuses to extradite Prof. Sison to
the Philippines "for humanitarian reasons."(4)
Ramos' offers also inadvertently contradict the charges by the
Dutch Ministry of Justice: Surely a "terrorist" would not be
offered a seat in the legislature? Prof. Sison was arrested,
heavily tortured, and detained for almost ten years by the Marcos
dictatorship. President Aquino released Prof. Sison in 1986, but
she canceled Prof. Sison's passport while he was abroad on a
speaking tour in 1988. He applied for asylum in the Netherlands
shortly after.
Send letters protesting the unjust decision of the Dutch Ministry
of Justice to: The Ministry of Justice, Postbus 30127, GC S-
Gravenhage, The Netherlands.
* * *
REVOLUTIONARY TURKISH PRISONERS WIN HUNGERSTRIKE
by MC234 & MC206
On July 27, agreement was reached between hunger striking
prisoners and the government of Turkey for improved prison
conditions. Two thousand Turkish revolutionaries and 4,000 Kurdish
took part in the hunger strike, and over 200 prisoners had pledged
to hunger strike until death.(1) Twelve prisoners died in the 69-
day strike, and at least a hundred are in comas or critically
injured. All demands of the prisoners were met.
Hunger strikers were protesting the transfer of roughly 100
political prisoners to Eskisehir prison, 125 miles west of
Ankara.(1) Prisoners also demanded an end to torture and beatings,
and better access to legal defense and medical treatment.
Eskisehir prison is a weapon of the Turkish state against the
political organizing of prisoners. As one revolutionary Turk wrote
on the Marxism list (an Internet discussion group): "Political
prisoners actually control much of what goes on inside the wards.
Yes, there is torture, there is indiscriminate killings. But,
still the political prisoners continue to live a collective,
political existence inside the prisons. They learn, they educate
and teach to and from each other. In the words of the Minister of'
Justice, Kazan, 'Prisons are Terrorist Education Institutes.' He
went from interview to interview today, explaining: 'If we give in
to their demands, they will just remain as militant, and they will
continue to inflict all the prison population. If we don't move
them all to the 'anti-terrorism' Prison in Eskisehir, we are just
letting the next generation to take root. So, we have to stop
them. We will intervene'.
"Now, intervention is no easy thing. They will kill hundreds if
they intervene. The prisoners have barricades inside the prisons.
For example, Bayrampasa Prison, the center of attention, has a
350m corridor that is 7m wide that all the doors of the wards of
political prisoners open to. They can't enter that corridor now.
They will not be able to enter it without a big fight. This means
more deaths, these people have been on a hunger- strike for 68
days. The Minister claims 'They have cell-phones, faxes, their own
medicine. They have their own rule book of how to behave, and they
have their own representation system. They elect their own
administrators, and they run the prisons. How do we let this go
on?'
"Eskisehir is designed to put a stop to that. Single-cell layout
is designed just for that. It has been about six years now they
are trying to move prisoners into that prison. Each attempt has
met with fierce resistance. They never managed it. They had to
back down each time. This time they were really determined, but
the prisoners were just as determined. This is about the most
collective resistance since probably early 1980s, during the
military coup. Many died then, but not a leaf was moving outside.
Even the news wasn't getting out. Now, it affects everything."
TURKISH STATE RESPONDS WITH FORCE
Demonstrations in support of the prisoners were held across
Turkey. According to the Anatolia News Agency, Kurdish
revolutionaries set fire to a bus after emptying it of passengers
in solidarity with the hunger striking prisoners.(1) The Turkish
revolutionary on the Marxism list wrote: "The numbers in
demonstrations reached a low in the third day after the deaths,
because so many had been detained. Now, they are growing real
fast. So, they detain thousands? Tens of thousands? Declare
Martial Law?" He argued that the struggle of the political
prisoners had a broad politicizing effect upon the masses while
also bringing together different revolutionary organizations.
In response to the struggle by the revolutionaries, the government
increased repressive measures against people both inside and
outside the prisons. There have been reports that the Turkish
government tried to chain prisoners hospitalized from the hunger
strike in spite of a previous agreement that prohibited this
action. The prisoners are well aware that they will have to
continue their efforts to expose government treachery as they
build up their revolutionary power.
AMERIKA'S ROLE
Turkey is a neo-colony of Amerika and Germany, and the struggle of
the Turkish and Kurdish masses is not just against their
government, but against these imperialists. Germany is Turkey's
largest trading partner, accounting for 15% of Turkey's exports
and 18% of its imports. German tourists alone account for almost
1% of Turkey's GDP.(2)
The Amerikan government spent about $500 million in military aid
to Turkey each year from 1988 to 1991. In 1988 Germany gave Turkey
$45 million in military aid.(3) That's on top of Turkey's own
military budget of $2-3.5 billion per year.
Turkey has one of the highest military spending rates of the
countries in NATO, despite being one of the poorest.(2,3) NATO
likes to think of the Turkish armed forces as "buffers" (read:
cannon fodder).
Turkey occupies an important strategic position close to both the
Middle East and the ex-Soviet Union. During the "Cold War," the
United Snakes stationed nuclear weapons in Turkey and based much
of its intelligence services there. There are listening posts near
the center of Turkey-occupied Kurdistan, for example.(3) Now these
military facilities are used to enforce the "new world order" in
the Middle East.
Turkish fascism and militarism have been alternately encouraged
and overlooked by these imperialist powers seeking to protect
their interests. MIM hails this blow by the
revolutionaries against the lackeys of imperialism running the
government of Turkey. The mass mobilization needed to achieve this
victory and the ability of the revolutionaries to mobilize these
people are both lessons and inspiration to our struggle.
NOTES:
1. Associated Press July 27, 1996.
2. World Economic Data, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1991, pp. 206-
207.
3. Turkey Newsletter 3/89.
Also: DHKC information bureau Amsterdam
This story was written on July 31. Reliable
information was several days older than this date.
* * *
LETTERS
MIM READER OPPOSES GAMBLING, MIM DOESN'T
Concerning the article: "Ojibwe protest sham election: Tribal
dictator responds with violence." This is an excellent article
about the dangers of casino gambling in any area of the country.
Every American would surely want to know the results of this
experiment. Is it working or not? If it's not working, then the
government should put a stop to it, and not simply side with the
profiteers!
-A reader in the East July 13, 1996.
MIM RESPONDS: Please see the correction in MIM Notes 119. MIM
wrote a self-criticism for taking sides within the Ojibwe nation
and portraying this struggle as the principal contradiction
instead of exposing Amerikan imperialism. But we can address here
why your conclusion that we oppose gambling is not correct. We
have written extensively about gambling and its potential for
economic self- sufficiency for First Nations. Much of it is summed
up in MIM Theory 7: Proletarian Feminist Revolutionary
Nationalism, available for $6.
While gambling does not produce any value and its very
profitability is a measure of its decadence, MIM does not oppose
the First Nations setting up casinos on their land and inviting
whites in to lose their money. Why does MIM support this First
Nation capitalism, given that we are communists? First Nation's
must build independent economic institutions. If gambling enables
First Nations to achieve this type of independence the decadent
nature of gambling turns into a method to strip the parasites of
wealth once stolen from the First Nations. It would be reactionary
to oppose national bourgeois development since First Nations exist
in overwhelming capitalist encirclement and must build self-
reliance and independence from the
imperialists by any means. First Nation capitalism builds
independent power and thus is progress. The national bourgeoisie
can then be allies in the struggle against Amerikan imperialism.
As the articles in MIM Theory show, whether or not to open casinos
is a bitter struggle within many First Nations. In particular, the
contradiction is between the money brought in by casinos and the
possibility that the nation will not have direct control of the
profits from the casino or decisions made regarding it. How the
casinos are run, and what type of casinos is a part of this
struggle. We encourage you to read this journal and struggle with
us over it.
We disagree with your conclusion that if gambling "is not working"
that "the government," presumably the Amerikkkan government,
should "put a stop to this." The First Nations should make their
own decisions about how to develop, in whichever ways they see
fit. Amerika has no more right to decide whether First Nations run
casinos than it does to decide whether Germany does.
PSEUDO-LEFT NATION POKES FUN AT MIM
The June 10 issue of The Nation magazine, "In Fact..." section
reprinted a correction MIM Notes ran in our February issue:
..."Correction. On page 11 of MIM Notes 108 (January 1996) we
wrote that MIM [Maoist International Movement] 'requires forever
monogamy of our members.' This is incorrect. MIM upholds
asexuality as the most advanced sexual practice under capitalism.
We also have policies regarding divorce for spousal abuse." --"MIM
Notes" 109 (February 1996).
MIM RESPONDS: The Nation credited this brilliant reporting to
Marion Banzhaf, "MIM watcher". Any good "MIM watcher" wouldn't
have lost the "ist" in Internationalist..
We took a while to notice this item in The Nation because the
supposedly "left" weekly has become so meaningless to those who
are still serious about progressive, radical change. It uses this
blurb to mock us, presumably for taking sex seriously as part of
gender and feminism, or for suggesting that the social relations
of sex have a certain character under capitalism. (Or was it just
so funny to have communists talking about sex?)
If Banzhaf or The Nation would like to try a more developed
criticism of our gender line-or if they wish to argue that
analyzing gender is unnecessary- the pages of MIM Theory are open
to their submissions. Write us at PO Box 3576, Ann Arbor MI 48106-
3576 or mim@nyxfer.blythe.org.
ELECTION FAN TEARS DOWN MIM'S SPEECH
I'd just like to say I just ripped one of your signs off of a tree
and I had a good laugh looking at it and then I had a very
enjoyable long walk down the main street in Cambridge and ripped
all the signs and threw them away and I noticed someone else had
done that already on the other side of the street. Why don't you
people take this whole thing seriously and listen to the debate?
Have you paid any attention to the Weld/Kerry debate? You'd find
out the honest truth about the man instead of hanging up your
garbage all over the place. And if you have this meeting this
coming week and no body shows up... [cut off by machine]July 17th,
1996
MIM RESPONDS: This message was in response to our poster "Don't
vote for injustice" announcing an event which exposed the two
Massachusetts candidates for US Senate, Weld and Kerry, as equally
bad options on the questions of criminal injustice. The poster
contained a lot of factual information about both Weld and Kerry's
stands on prison issues. Weld, as governor, has obliterated
education in prison and passed a $500 million bond issue for
prison expansion. Kerry, as senator, voted for the 1994 Crime Bill
which guts the rights of death row inmates to appeal and extends
the death penalty from two to 58 offenses (while posing as anti-
death penalty).
MIM does not support either of these "choices" because we don't
support imperialism or the criminal injustice system that supports
it. Instead we work for justice for the oppressed of the world. We
recognize that voting in one imperialist supporter or another will
not change the system, imperialism has to be overthrown and this
can only be done through revolution. Right now in this country we
need to educate people and organize them to build independent
power of the oppressed.
We are forced to put posters on poles (we don't put them on trees)
because we don't have access to advertising or bourgeois
newspapers that come out daily so this is the only way we can
inform people about our events. It is no surprise to us that
someone who supports this democracy for the bourgeoisie, which is
really a dictatorship over the proletariat of the world, would not
even pretend to believe in free speech. Free speech in Amerika is
only for those who can afford to buy it. This is why we need
independent media and other independent institutions of the
oppressed.
Someone who thinks they know the "honest truth" about Weld and
Kerry is afraid of the facts in a MIM poster exposing their
reactionary stands on the prison system and they are afraid of
other people learning these facts and more by coming to our event.
If the supporters of the bourgeoisie findour work so dangerous
that they have to remove even the farce of free speech, we take
this as encouragement that we are doing a good job of attacking
and exposing our enemies.
TOUR BETWEEN CIRCLES OF HELL
**MIM received this letter describing the transfer of a prisoner
from one prison to another**
Hey MIM, Gosh did I have a terrible bus ride. It was torture! I
was paired off with this religious fanatic who would go into these
fuckin' fits everytime we passed a cemetery. He'd start stampin
his feet (mind you my right leg is chained to his left leg)
chanting and praying in Spanish and English, crossing his heart,
kissin his rosary beads, clappin his hands and carrying on. I
tried to let him know how annoying that shit is, and is there
anyway he could keep that to himself, especially since our legs is
cuffed to one another and every time he stamps his feet the leg
cuffs cuts into my ankle and that shit hurts like hell.
All I said was in vain. The next cemetery we passed he began one
of his fits again. So I bent down and yanked the shit out of his
leg chain. Now that shut him up. It's like I yanked him right out
of his fit. He just stared at me like I committed the worst sin on
the planet.
I thought that was the end of it, but I was wrong. Me and my
bright ideas got me into some deeper shit. He pulls out his pocket
bible and begins to read it in a low voice. He closes it and looks
at me and starts tellin' me how I need Jesus and God in my life
and I need to get rid of the bad spirits within me. I tell him I'm
not interested but he keeps on. So we gets into a big argument. I
cuss his ass out along with God, Jesus, that slut the "Virgin"
Mary, Moses, Adam, Eve, Matthew, Mark, Luke and everybody else I
could think of that's in the bible.
So he pulls out his bible and starts reading real loud "Devil get
thee behind me". Now I'm pissed off beyond explanation and I knock
the bible out of his hand onto the floor and starts spitting and
stompin it. As soon as we get off the bus I snuff the shit out of
him and we start fighting. They break us up and separate us. Thank
goodness! But just my luck I get paired off to this other nasty
muthafucka! He smell like he shat on himself. He tried to speak to
me and his breath was awful. I just held my breath and nodded my
head. I thought he was gonna shut up but he just kept right on. I
finally told him "Listen money, you don't smell like the sweetest
thing on the planet and your breath ain't exactly roses, I'd
appreciate it if you said nothing to me". I felt sorry for him and
I felt bad tellin' em this. But I had to.
I guess he gets highly offended and starts yelling and shit and
his funk is growing stronger by the minute. I'm not even arguing
back because I'm scared to breath around him. So I tell's him
"just open that window, you could beef with me all you want, just
open that muthafuckin' window, quick!" So he tells me "You open
it, muthafucka. You the one complainin'" So I leans over him to
open the window and while I'm doing, he starts pullin' all on my
chain. I fell right back in my seat and we get in a chain pullin
match.
The bus stops and the bus driver (a C.O.) tells me and my mate to
step off the bus. When we step off the bus driver starts yelling
at ME! he says "What's your problem, boy!? Everybody we shackle
you to you have a problem with!" I'm like "First of all I ain't
your boy! Second of all I'M not the problem. The PROBLEM is
everyone you shackle me to." The driver's like "You're a wise ass,
huh?" I say nothing.
Anyway they unshackle me from my mate and put me in single seat
all the way up front all by myself. As soon as we get here I get
called out to see the shrink. I go in her office and sit down,
wondering what's all this about. Finally after staring at me for a
while she says "We've a report from the bus officers that you
display an anti-social behavior pattern. Are you on meds? Or do
you have anything to say about this?" Me: "Nope." I couldn't
believe these people was actually serious! On top of that, all my
property, well almost all of it, is gone. I still have all of the
position papers you sent me and 2 of Lenin's books "State and
Revolution" and "War and peace". All of my MTs are gone, all my
Stalin books including "Another view of Stalin" and "Arms and
Empire" I had notes all up in the margins of those books too....
-a New York Prisoner
* * *
AMERIKAN TERRORISM ON THE RISE: FEDS WANT MORE REPRESSIVE POWERS
by MC12
With every terrorist act against Amerikans, the state seizes the
opportunity to increase its power. After the bombing of TWA Flight
800 in July, and the bombing of the Olympic park shortly
afterward, President Clinton jumped at the chance to justify more
powers for the Federal government.
He proposed requiring explosive materials to be chemically
"tagged" for forensic identification. He wants to allow wiretaps
to be "roving," which means they follow a person instead of
staying fixed on designated phone lines. He wants to increase the
FBI's ability to collect hotel and telephone records, and storage
site records. He also wants to be able to prosecute accused
terrorists under broad racketeering laws.
Looks like there is a Federal wish list of repressive measures,
and with each perceived crisis they try to bring them on. At such
times, there is more public support. A CBS News poll released on
July 30 showed that 80% of those polled agreed that "government
should have more authority to investigate terrorists." On the
question of wiretapping, there is less support. Only 52% agreed
the Feds should have more wiretap authority.(1)
The catch with all of these laws is that when it comes to expanded
permission to repress based on terrorism, it is only the Federal
government that decides who is a potential terrorist-so they set
limits and then enforce them on themselves. As we reported in MIM
Notes 118 (July 15, 1996, p. 10), the secret court that approves
"national security" wiretap requests from the FBI has never
rejected a request, while approving thousands.
In the forthcoming MIM Theory 11, we report that Federal wiretaps
in criminal cases are increasing rapidly along with those for
"national security," and Federal wiretaps are becoming a greater
and greater proportion of all wiretaps.(2)
WHO GAINS FROM THE ARMORED WITCH HUNT?
So, the state benefits from terrorism in one way: it gets greater
legitimacy in its quest for more power. Private companies also
benefit. In MIM Theory 11 we also report that private security
firms such as Borg Warner and Wackenhut have seen big jumps in
stock prices after such incidents as the World Trade Center and
Oklahoma City bombings.
Wackenhut, the world's largest private security company, also got
a boost from the June 17 TWA bombing. The company's stock, which
had fallen more than 40% since the second week of June, jumped 12%
in two days, from June 16 to June 18. The turnaround brought the
price of Wackenhut stock up to its highest level since the
beginning of April.(3)
The Atlanta bombing might help the state win political battles
with its militia-type factions, who oppose some expansion of
wiretapping and chemically tagging explosives. White-nut type
bombings help undermine NRA opposition to such measures. There are
tactical splits among the bourgeoisie on security questions, some
of which revolutionaries can use to good advantage. The militia
types oppose wiretaps, for example, and with their powerful
political base the government has to move slowly against them.
Likewise, some big corporations oppose things like Internet
surveillance and restrictions on encryption technology-also
putting them tactically on the side of the people. We contribute
our part to deepening these divisions and trying to get good
results out of them.
Some would-be revolutionaries believe terrorist violence, outside
of an organized armed struggle, brings on state repression in a
way that turns more people against the state. History does not
support this theory, however. When such acts of violence do not in
themselves accomplish anything positive for the oppressed,
revolutionaries have little ammunition with which to challenge
increased repression in the battle for public opinion.(4) It is
our job to expose the hypocrisy of such repressive measures, but
in the current conditions the oppressed do not gain from such
incidents.
HYPOCRISY REAKS FROM THE CORE OF AMERIKA
Reactionary ideologues are also seizing the moment to push their
agendas. "How Do You Explain It to a Child?" asked the headline
over David Broder's Washington Post column on July 30, about the
Atlanta bombing. "How do you explain terrorism to a child?" he
wrote. "Or violence? Or the presence of evil in the world?" Broder
went on to compare his opposition to terrorism to Martin Luther
King's opposition to white supremacist violence.
Broder's six-year-old daughter is the victim of miseducation
geared toward destroying her very humanity before she has a chance
to figure things out for herself. With a real education, she would
learn that a bomb disrupting the Olympic party is not an isolated
act of "evil in the world." She would learn that her own
privileged situation-in this case watching the Olympic party from
the 7th floor of a nearby hotel-is a gift from the most evil and
oppressive system ever known to humanity: imperialism. And she
would learn that Daddy's columns prop up this system behind a
guise of liberal humanism.
In a parallel act of hypocrisy, New York Times columnist A. M.
Rosenthal has used the TWA bombing to repeat his call for bombing
the countries whose governments he says support "terrorism." He
also wants trade sanctions against such countries (presumably he
means Syria, Libya, Iran, Sudan, etc.). Both of these measures are
thinly disguised attempts at increasing Amerikan imperialism's
economic and military hegemony in the Middle East, a permanent
goal unaffected by terrorism.
MIM believes that most international terrorism directed against
Amerikan targets is a
strategically misplaced reaction to Amerikan imperialism, and thus
may be blamed on imperialism itself. We do not support these
attacks at present, but we continuously point out that imperialism
is the greatest system of state-sponsored terrorism of all time.
Militia-type terrorism, on the other hand, reflects insurgent
white nationalism, angered by the internationalist approach (in
the oppressive sense) of the big bourgeoisie and government. While
there may be some divisions to exploit here, these white
supremacists are vicious enemies of the people and their growth is
a challenge to us to get moving! At present, we attempt to turn
state repression into political victories for the oppressed
through increased popular consciousness.
NOTES:
1. CBS Evening News, July 30, 1996.
2. MIM Theory 11, "Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial," $6 from MIM,
order now.
3. Stock information from http://networth.galt.com, a free stock
quote service.
4. Order "What Is MIM?" for $2 to read an essay on the pitfalls of
focoism.
* * *
INDONESIAN MASSES PROTEST REPRESSION
by a RAIL Comrade
On Saturday July 27, protests broke out in the streets of Jakarta,
Indonesia's capitol city. The protest size and intensity surpassed
that of previous demonstrations. It was spawned by the
government's raid of the Indonesian Democratic Party's
headquarters. The headquarters were home to supporters of Ms.
Megawati and the Indonesian Democratic Party. Megawati was ousted
from her position as head of the Democratic Party by the
government last month. Her supporters refused to leave the party
headquarters, when the military warned them. Police raided the
office at 7:00am Saturday morning and forcibly evicted 150 people.
Police raids of opposition political parties and spontaneous mass
protests for political reform are unheard of in Amerika. In the
heart of imperialism, citizens enjoy bourgeois legal rights and
most are complacent enough to ignore politics. MIM reports on
these Indonesian protests to remind Amerikans of the gross
hypocrisy of their own government, which self-righteously mouths
off about democracy while supporting repression in its neo-
colonies. The Amerikan-supported comprador regime in Indonesia is
well-paid for ensuring imperialist access to Indonesian labor and
resources.
THE OPPOSITION: COMPRADOR WITH A DIFFERENT FACE
The Indonesian government engineered the replacement of Magawati
with a man more supportive of the overtly repressive policies of
the Suharto government. This is a case of a conflict between a
repressive dictatorship and a slightly kinder face on an
imperialist neo-colony. The slightly kinder face, Magawati and the
Democratic Party, are not even allowed to remain in the
government, exposing the so-called democracy for the farse that it
really is. This democracy is just a dictatorship of the
bourgeoisie which is making sure to crush even minor
disagreements. Although opposition parties exist in Indonesia, the
current president, Suharto, has never had an opponent run against
him in his eight victorious elections in the past 30 years.
Megawati is the daughter of Sukarno, the founder of so- called
independent Indonesia. Indonesia is not independent from
imperialist exploitation and control. The current president,
Suharto, seized power from Sukarno in 1966. Suharto, Sukarno and
Megawati are all part of the imperialist state that Indonesia uses
to rule over it's people as well as the people of East Timor while
giving up the resources and labor power to the imperialists and
their multinationals.
It is the genuine desire for peace and liberty that has caused
many people in Indonesia to turn to Megawati as an alternative to
the repressive practices of the Suharto regime. Putting a kinder
face on imperialism will not get rid of imperialism or the brutal
repression that goes along with this system.
According to the New York Times, masses in the streets chanted
Megawati's name and protested military repression-this includes
chants opposing repression in East Timor. They also shouted "The
military are killers!" and "Hang Suharto!" People threw rocks at
the pigs and at one point launched a coordinated attack causing
the military to temporarily retreat.(1)
Democratic reforms in Indonesia could definitely improve the lives
of the Indonesian masses and the East Timorese. However, attaining
real independence for Indonesia and for the East Timorese will
require more than reforms. The U.S. and other imperialist powers
have an interest in keeping the current government-or an equally
subservient government-in power. Imperialist exploitation of the
Indonesian land, labor and resources is essential for maintaining
U.S. and other imperialist support-both military and economic. In
exchange for Amerikan approved loans from the World Bank, the
Indonesian economy has transformed to an export-led economy and is
used for First World profit. The imperialists will not allow this
to change without a fight. That is why independent power-
political, military, and economic-are necessary to gain real
independence for the masses. The overthrow of Suharto by a
bourgeois democratic party might bring some facelift improvements,
but revolution is necessary for true and permanent change.
The United Snakes has provided Indonesia with a total $641 million
in arms sales. In 1994, Klinton signed a $40 billion trade
agreement with president Suharto, which included juicy contracts
for General Electric and Exxon.(2) Putting pressure on the
Amerikan government through exposing its role in supporting
oppression and murder can make the imperialists' job more
difficult. But pressure through exposure alone will not stop the
profit- seekers. Most likely it would force them to support
Indonesia covertly. Imperialism must be overthrown forcefully to
prevent its continuation and growth. How about" "Imperialism must
be overthrown forcefully by a party capable of maintaining self-
sufficiency and defending against imperialist attacks." An
estimated four to seven people were killed in the rebellion and
about a hundred were injured. Eight banks were also looted and
burned as were other buildings. With tension high in the
aftermath, the military prevented further protests by threatening
to shoot protesters on sight.(3)
Most countries in the world do not allow the bourgeois freedoms
which are generally allowed in Amerikkka. This comes as a result
of the solid support for imperialism within U.S. borders. But
don't let that fool you into thinking Amerika is 'free.' So-called
freedom in Amerika comes at a price-which is paid by the majority
of the world's people. Slavery brought a few people (comparatively
speaking) the freedom to be parasites and now imperialism allows
for whole countries to be parasites. It is our duty to exploit the
bourgeois freedom of speech in Amerika to expose Amerika. Help MIM
and RAIL build independent media of the oppressed. Write for,
distribute and subscribe to MIM Notes and RAIL Notes.
NOTES:
1. New York Times July 28, 1996. p.5.
2. The Washington Post Jan. 10, 1995. p. C10. 3. New York Times
July 31, 1996. p. A6.
In addition: The British Broadcasting corporation reported that
the government blames the Democratic People's Party for
orchestrating the unrest. The BBC analyzed this an attempt by the
government to instill terror on the masses who remember the
massacres of communists in 1965. MIM is interested in learning
more about the DPP or other
revolutionaries within Indonesia, please send information to the
address on page 2. [cite: BBC World Service, Newshour, July 31
1996.]
* * *
ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION CANNOT BE STOPPED THROUGH ELECTORALISM
The Salvage Rider, a policy tacked on to a budget appropriations
bill which legalized the destruction of protected forests and
habitats, was signed into law by President Clinton on July 27,
1995. One year later, MIM hosted a talk by an activist from anti-
logging struggles in Oregon. MIM drew the connection between
capitalism and the destruction of the environment while pointing
out that both the Republicans and the Democrats are a part of the
problem so the solution can not be found in electoralism.
The activist, a supporter of the Cascadia Forest Defenders, showed
a short video on the recent removal of logging protections. The
video exposed the government propaganda that it is necessary to
cut down and remove trees before they burn as a lie. The video
pointed out that burning is part of a natural ecological process
but human destruction of the environment is not. The logging
operations undertaken as a result of the Salvage Rider have
produced cheap timber for logging companies and the destruction of
vast stands of forests.
The speaker pointed out that timber companies give huge amounts of
money to politicians. The history of the spotted owl is a good
example of companies' power. In 1991, a judge stopped the sale of
forests which were spotted owl habitats because the owl is an
endangered species. Between 1991 and 1994, the timber industry
paid off politicians until in 1994 Clinton introduced his forest
plan that allowed much more cutting of forests, removing previous
protections. The timber industry opposed this license to destroy
while holding out for a carte blanche. It got that in 1995 with
the Salvage Rider.
This point about pay-offs led to a discussion of what it will take
to stop the destruction of the environment. One person suggested
that we need to make it profitable to save forests. Others
saidthat we're not able to fight the logging companies dollar for
dollar. The speaker said that the timber companies are not looking
for alternatives to cutting trees. MIM said, instead we need
people organizing and seizing control of the resources of the land
away from the capitalists and using these resources for the good
of the people with an eye towards the future. History shows us
that this can only be done through communist revolution.
Some asked why it was possible to get protective legislation
passed in 1991 under a Republican president while in 1994 and 1995
it was repealed under a Democratic president. Others suggested
that this was a result of the environmental activism in 1990 and
the focus of this activism on one cute little owl. The discussion
brought out the problems with electoral activism. Politicians can
proclaim to be environmentalists (like Clinton) yet continue to
take money from the logging industry and further the interests of
the bourgeoisie. People at the event pointed out that the few
protective legislative changes that have been made resulted from
activism and not lobbying.
Another important point raised by the speaker was the inefficient
use of trees and the anarchic nature of logging under capitalism.
He explained how the logging companies are currently exporting
wood to Japan. Japanese capitalists store it in anticipation of
the soon-to-arrive day when Amerika will run out of trees to cut
down. When that happens Amerikans will need to import more wood
for the paper industry and Japanese capitalists can then make a
profit. MIM pointed out that problems like this can only be solved
by social planning where both production and distribution are run
by a state that is run by the people.
MIM raised the importance of not seeing the environmental movement
just in the context of Amerika. We want to broaden people's
understanding to include multinationals that destroy the
environment. We emphasize the importance of righteous struggles
waged by the people. In the Philippines, people are laying down
their lives to enforce a logging ban to save forests on which
their lives depend.
While the speaker pointed to the Earth First! tactics of civil
disobedience to stop logging immediately, MIM emphasized that we
can't just consider First World forests and we can't just think
short term. Several audience members agreed that the system is the
problem and this is not merely an issue of a few bad logging
companies or a few bad bills being signed into law.
One recent victory in the struggle to save forests in Amerika was
achieved just a few days prior to the event. The government cut a
deal with activists who had enforced a 300+ day road block at
Warner Creek forest in Oregon to stop the logging. The government
was so embarrassed by this situation and afraid of even greater
activism that they agreed to leave the forest alone. This is a
victory that is possible in the First World while activists in the
Third World would be killed by the government before it considered
negotiating.
The speaker also pointed out that some of the forests being
destroyed are the homes and sacred lands of First Nations. The
government breaks treaties with First Nations in order to
strengthen Amerikan corporations. Broken treaties regarding land
and the environment expose the opposing interests between First
Nations and the white nation.
The issue of education and Earth Day was raised in the discussion.
The corporate curriculum for Earth Day that teaches consumerism
that is "friendly" and argues that we should purchase one kind of
product over another is only an attempt to co-op the environmental
movement while encouraging the decadent consumerism possible in
Amerika. People agreed spreading information about environmental
and anti-imperialist struggles is very difficult and that events
like this are important. In addition, environmentalist struggles
are not covered by the main stream media. As one person pointed
out, radical coverage is not profitable for the media because
companies would cease
advertisement in publications that expose environmental
destruction.
This event was well-received by those in attendance because they
learned a lot about the concrete things going on in the Pacific
Northwest, as well as the analysis of both the speaker and of MIM.
We encourage other activists looking for a forum to contact your
local RAIL or MIM branch. Ideas won't be presented without Maoist
analysis along side it, but we can all gain from the discussion.
* * *
ENGLER DEPORTS INCARCERATED YOUTH: ACLU FIGHTS BACK, QUICKLY WINS
PARTIAL VICTORY
by a RAIL Comrade
Governor Engler of Michigan, potential running mate of Bob Dole,
was hit with a law suit by the ACLU in May. The state illegally
transferred incarcerated youth from Michigan to detention
facilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Colorado, and Texas. One-
hundred youth were transferred out of state, some of whom had no
prior criminal record. The state admitted that it erred by not
holding required hearings before the youth were deported and
agreed to hold hearings before transferring more. The suit was
filed by the ACLU on behalf of four youth who were moved and their
parents.
Others were shipped out of state without their parents' knowledge.
None were given hearings to determine whether the move was in
their best interest. Being held in captivity is not in the
interests of these young people. Nevertheless, the bourgeoisie
creates the pretense that Amerika is not a perverse prison empire
maintaining social control through force and that prisoners are
held in a humane manner. The bourgeoisie will not make decisions
based on the interests of these youth, but should be exposed when
they inflict further brutality against prisoners. In addition to
determining what is in the best interest of the prisoner, the
legally required hearings for out-of- state placement are supposed
to ensure that the move does not impose undue hardship and that
there are no other adequate facilities within the state.
Lutz exposed Republican Party "pro-family" hypocrisy. She argued
that families should be part of rehabilitation and thus youth
should stay close to their families. She asked "...what kind of
family values are these?" It's true that youth should have the
opportunity to see their family (if they want) and being close to
them is a possible advantage. In fact it is often family members
that mobilize to pressure the system to give proper medical care,
etc. to their loved ones.
As a revolutionary Party, MIM does not support the patriarchal
family structure, which treats children as the personal property
of their parents. We also recognize the contradiction in the
injustice system deciding what is in the best interests of the
oppressed. The best interest of the oppressed is revolution, but
you won't see prison hearings suggest that. But in this case,
Engler is in trouble for skipping the rubber-stamping. It is a
positive step to expose contradictions within the current system
to illustrate the true interests of the bourgeoisie. It is
progress to win better conditions for the oppressed even if they
are limited under imperialism.
ACLU attorney Sharon Lutz stated that overcrowding in Michigan
juvenile facilities was a "manufactured crisis.." Manufacturing
overcrowding in prisons can help expand prisons in a state, as
Governor Weld of Massachusetts proved with his shipment of 299
prisoners to Texas due to "overcrowding." In return, he received
almost half a billion dollars to expand Massachusetts prisons (see
MIM Notes 112). Detention centers may fall into a different
category for state funding, but the actions show there was a
motive beyond lack of space. The lawsuit brought some successes
almost immediately. Two weeks after the lawsuit was filed, 68 beds
were reopened at facilities in Michigan.
Exposing the state for violating its own guidelines is useful in
mobilizing people to stop trusting the state. While the state does
not have the interest of the youth in mind, transfer hearings
would make trampling incarcerated youth's lives more difficult.
Such winnable battles strike blows against imperialism in addition
to creating favorable public opinion for the oppressed in the
process. For liberation youth need revolution to change their
position in society.
* * *
PETTY-BOURGEOIS SQUABBLE OVER PROFITS FROM UMASS SLOGAN
University of Massachusetts basketball coach John Calipari
recently left UMass to coach the New Jersey Nets. He took the
profitable "Refuse to lose" slogan, which he had borrowed from the
UMass football team while still at UMass, with him. Calipari now
hopes to profit from licensing the slogan. According to one of his
agents, Calipari is now negotiating a $1.5 million deal with
Champion, a maker of athletic t-shirts and sweatshirts. The fact
that some jock can make millions off owning the rights to a slogan
without lifting a finger to produce anything of value highlights
the parasitic existence of the petty- bourgeoisie in Amerika.
Besides not coming up with the slogan, Calipari wasn't even the
first person to try to get the slogan trademarked. A small
sportswear company owner named Hyden came up with the idea in
1988. Hyden produced only small quantities of t-shirts with the
slogan because he was afraid someone would steal it. In four
years, he made a thousand dollars and got the slogan trademarked.
When Calipari started to market the slogan, Hyden cited his own
earlier use of the slogan and demanded some piece of the
profiteer's pie. Calipari's lawyers successfully argued that
because Hyden wasn't using it enough commercially compared to
Calipari, the trademark on the slogan should belong to Calipari.
Not able to compete with Calipari's high-powered lawyers, Hyden
sold the trademark for $3,500.
MIM doesn't care which petit-bourgeois collects more, since all
these profits are stolen from the Third World proletariat. We do
see this as yet another indictment of imperialism that the
imperialist-country bourgeoisie and petit- bourgeoisie waste time
and money haggling over dumb slogans while their government
concerns itself with pursuing exploitation internationally.
Neither Hyden nor Calipari is claiming to have earned money by
producing any sportswear. Their argument was over who should
profit from selling gear made by other people who work sewing
machines. This case simply illustrates the role of the state in
aiding First World individuals in their parasitic pursuits.
UMass, a state institution, doesn't mind that its former coach is
making a bundle off of something associated with the University.
The school only wants payment for 200 long-distance phone calls
the basketball team's academic advisor made while running the
marketing campaign for the slogan out of UMass offices. This case
also illustrates the ridiculous nature of ownership of ideas. Laws
protecting individuals' ownership of their ideas needlessly slow
the development of new ideas, and this hurts the international
proletariat. Harm done to the proletariat is not immediately
apparent in this case, because the slogan is useless. But these
types of laws also apply to technical innovations such as
efficient car engines which are impounded by competitors.
Under socialism, we will eliminate the ownership of ideas. While
individuals of the petty-bourgeoisie squabble to gain profits off
of old ideas, the proletariat continues its struggle to destroy
capitalism and build a society in which innovative ideas will be
shared. The masses will use innovative technologies to improve
their own standard of living, and use innovative ideas to
overthrow the governments which help parasites like Calipari to
profit from the ownership of ideas.
NOTE: Boston Globe July 18, 1996, p. A1, A23.
* * *
UNDER LOCK & KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND PRISONS
ALABAMA CHAIN GANGS KILL YOUNG BLACK MEN
Dear MIM Notes: No one can say that Governor Fob James has not
kept his promise that chain gangs will decrease the prison
population and curb overcrowding. It is simple and guaranteed to
work. Just arm prisoners with deadly weapons and chain them
together, and if they don't kill each other fast enough, not to
worry, the guards will simply shoot them down where they stand.
On Wednesday, May 15,1996, one of the chain gang prisoners here in
Alabama was shot and killed by one of the guards. This shooting
took place at Staton Correctional Facility near Montgomery,
Alabama. The DOC has already "determined" that the murder of this
prisoner was "justified".
No one will ever know what actually happened, but the official
story is pretty straight forward. Two prisoners began fighting.
One of the prisoners had a bush ax. The prisoner with the bush ax
went after another prisoner who was unarmed at the time. The guard
fired a warning shot, but the prisoner with the bush ax kept going
at the unarmed prisoner. The guard then shot the prisoner with the
bush ax supposedly to protect the other unarmed prisoner.
A bush ax is a tool with a handle similar to, and about the same
length as a shovel handle. There is a curved knife-like steel
blade on the end of the handle. However, the steel blade is about
eighteen inches long and five inches wide. You could easily slice
a person's head off with one swing of it. Each prisoner on the
chain gang is usually given a bush ax or some other weapon just as
deadly.
Common sense leads to the conclusion that it was unnecessary to
shoot to kill this prisoner. The guard was armed with a piston and
a shotgun, and was at close range, within ten or fifteen feet of
the prisoners. The guard could have just as easily shot the
prisoner in the lower body to wound him instead of just murdering
him. They have "justified" this murder but the real reason for it
was a sadistic desire to kill.
This will not be the last murder to take place on the chain gang.
Fights are routine on the chain gang between the prisoners there.
Whoever heard of giving prisoners deadly weapons and chaining them
together, and then thinking everything is alright? Things are not
alright. Will the guard simply gun down both prisoners the next
time there is a fight and both prisoners are armed instead of just
one of them being armed? It sounds like something from the days of
the Romans and the reign of Caesar. This practice is medieval in
the worst way.
The DOC had previously been considering extending the time that a
prisoner spends on the chain gang to one year from its present,
six months. However, a couple of week before this recent murder
they were already considering reducing the time spent on the chain
gang to three months.
If the DOC does decrease the amount of time a prisoner must spend
on the chain gang, it will not stop these kind of murders from
happening. It will only increase each prisoner's individual chance
of not being murdered on the chain gang because he will be there a
shorter period of time.
Nevertheless, someone will be on the chain gang and someone will
be murdered again and again, for just as long as the chain gang
continues, for just as long as prisoners are chained together and
given deadly weapons in such a medieval practice.
Ironically, the name of the mascot for the Limestone Correctional
Facility's sports teams is the Gladiators. The DOC is making this
pretty realistic by arming these prisoners with deadly weapons and
chaining them together. They are Gladiators in every sense of the
word and they will continue to be murdered in one way or another
until the chain gangs are stopped.
By condoning the murder of prisoners on the chain gangs in
Alabama, Governor Fob James tells us that it is a time to kill.
This summer in Alabama is the season for killing young Black men
on the chain gangs. We are left to wonder: When will be a time to
heal.
-an Alabama prisoner, May 20, 1996
VICTORY OVER CENSORSHIP IN CALIFORNIA
From: Inmate Appeals, PBSP (Pelican Bay State Prison)
Subject: The enclosed publication has been GRANTED by Second Level
decision. Please return the publication to the inmate.
"MIM NOTES" (Sep. 95)
Please return the enclosed memorandum with the inmates signature
to the Appeals Office. Thank You.
-J. Briddle, CCII, Appeals Coordinator, June 11, 1996
Greetings- I wrote you a couple of letters over a year ago
offering some debate on several issues such as National Socialist
Revolution, "anti- racist" contractions of National Liberation,
etc. I don't know if you received my letters or publish any
replies. The pigs were prohibiting your papers, but I just
received the September 1995 issue with the enclosed notice
[printed above - MIM].
I want you to know, I would like to continue receiving MIM Notes
and MIM Theory, and I am open to further correspondence and debate
with MIM.
Nationalist Revolution is the only solution! Our race is our
nation! Self-Determination for all! -A California Prisoner, June
25, 1996.
WASHINGTON STATE PRISONERS, ACLU SUE OVER CENSORSHIP
Dear MIM, I hope this finds you well. As you know, the pigs
continue to reject MIM Notes. I did recently receive the latest MT
[MIM Theory] though. Anyways, the ACLU is going to litigate the
matter. They just sent the snout director a six page letter on the
censorship of PLN [Prison Legal News] and MIM Notes, with a
February 29, 1996 deadline to resolve the problem....
I think it's unlikely the pigs will back down at this point. So
litigation is pretty much assured....PLN's publisher will be a
plaintiff. With me as a party to the MIM censorship we should do
just fine. I have litigated and won the communist literature issue
twice before in this state. So it looks like the snouts just want
to give me more money. On the last one I settled for $300 and
expungement of the infraction. I donated $50 of it to the PFLP
[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine] in Damascus, which
really got the snouts going. (smile) Anyways, we will eventually
make Washington safe for communism. So far no political
publications other than MIM Notes and Black Autonomy have been
affected....
Needless to say, keep sending me MIM Notes and we'll see what
happens. I am sending the rejected issues on to the ACLU after the
snouts deny my appeals....
In struggle,
-a Washington state prisoner, Feb. 11, 1996
SOUTH CAROLINA CENSORS MIM NOTES
Dear MIM, Please remove may name from your mailing list. This
institution has a "S.T.G. Policy" All mail is open and read- both
outgoing and incoming. I attempted to return all the newspapers
and the MIM Theory and the book by John Reed, but they have all
been confiscated.
Thank you for understanding.
-a South Carolina prisoner, May 31, 1996 Letters of protest can be
sent to: SCDC, PO BOX 2951202, Bennettsville, SC 29512.
MIM Adds: In addition the K.C.I./M.S.U. (Kirkland Correctional
Institution / Maximum Security Unit) in Columbia, South Carolina
has been rejecting all MIM correspondence in recent weeks,
claiming they are unauthorized items. This includes MIM Notes,
Maoist Sojourner, Notas Rojas, MIM Theory, censorship letters and
political books.
Letters of protest can be sent to: K.C.I./M.S.U., 4344 Broad River
Rd, Columbia, SC 29210.
THREE ILLINOIS MAXIMUM PRISONS ON INDEFINITE LOCKDOWN
Comrade, Received June issues of MIM Notes today. Still on
lockdown, since January 12. All three max joints (Pontiac,
Stateville and Menard) in Illinois are on indefinite lockdown
under direct order of Illinois Governor faggot-ass Jim Edgar. The
elections are November 2 and his coward-ass know what time it is
when ever they roll these doors.Keep them comin' (MIM Notes).
In Struggle
-An Illinois Prisoner, July 16, 1996.
MIM adds: MIM agrees with the thrust of the prisoner's letter, but
disagrees with the prisoner's use of faggot as an epithet. There
is nothing wrong with being gay. In contrast, there is something
wrong with being a fascist pig and making prisoners' lives more
hellish in exchange for more political power.
EFFECTIVE GRIEVANCE SYSTEM "TEXAS TERROR"
As an inmate here in the Texas Prison System. Living in oppression
each and everyday after I was ordered by Co III Officer Barry
Goins to come with him to the unit infirmary to sign a refusal for
medical care, all in the wee hours of April 13, 1995. As the
officer and I were walking toward the infirmary on said date, my
life took a drastic change. Within the next thirty to forty-five
minutes, it was conspiracy, deception and "terror" because my use
of the Prison Grievance Procedure her in "Texas". I was brutally
beaten, kicked and smashed by Sargent Kirkendall, Sargent Tomlin,
Officer Goins, Officer L. Asher, and Officer Bearden. I was beaten
for utilizing the Greievance on Sargent Kirkendall on the 7th day
of April 1995. All said officers retaliated with a major use of
force that was totally unneccessary. All above stated pigs were
white. After they depensed the physical pain, the mental torture
was seeing a Black female (reject) official with the video camera
and she didn't even bother to turn it on to witness the beating.
Her name is officer Shaawanna Allison. I never got a chance to
sign a refusal, but I did make it to the infirmary, after
experienceing Texas Terror. Revolution is the only Solution.
-A Texas Prisoner, June 10, 1996.
CALIFORNIA VISITING RIGHTS REPEAL
The California State Legislature has repealed large portions of
Penal Code section 2601, removing statutory protections afforded
prisoners. The provisions deleted include rights to workers
compensation, to make a will, and to receive personal visits.
Workers compensation has proven to be an important protection. It
has provided at least some measure of relief for prisoners who are
seriously injured on prison work assignments. However, the biggest
impact of the bill is the deletion of the right to visit.
Visitation has never been recognized as a constitutional right.
However, California law has long-protected it. Under former law,
visits could only be restricted as required by prison security or
public safety needs -- and the prison had to use the least
restrictive alternative. (This alternative could include full body
searches or noncontact visiting as less restrictive than complete
suspensions.) The new law will reduce visiting to a privilege. The
Department will be free to restrict visits as long as it is not
done in an arbitrary fashion. This could have enormous impact on
friends and families of prisoners throughout the state.
SB 1221 is now before Governor Wilson, who is expected to sign it.
-Prison Law Page, http://www.wco.com/~aerick/ July 1, 1996
MICHIGAN DIVIDE AND CONQUER
Recently the administrators within the death kkkamp at the Charles
Egeler Correctional Facility, placed a fellow comrade in a
perilous situation by attempting to have him "labeled" as a
"snitch" among the prisoner class. These
administrators/officials made a claim that a comrade made a
statement accusing another prisoner of giving him drugs. However,
the comrade who have been accused NEVER made such a claim. The pig
who created this "lie" made this statement in writing and the
prisoner ended up receiving a copy of this pig's statement, thus
placing this innocent comrade's life in (possible) danger and
ruining his name and reputation.
PPWVC (Political Prisoners of War Vanguard Coalition) condemns
this type of cowardly act of "divide and conquer" tactics being
employed by pig- shit administrators.
Not long ago we recall when the FBI and their COINTELPRO acted in
such a manner to destroy the Black Panther Party and other
revolutionary/progressive liberating, militant groups,
organizations, and individual comrades from speaking out against
the government. Some of the acts regarding COINTELPRO were/are:
(1) Prevent a coalition of political groups, especially those of
black nationalist; (2) Prevent the rise of a powerful spokesman
who could unify and electrify a coalition of groups/movements; (3)
Prevent violence on the part of coalition groups, black
nationalist and other political movements.
(4) Prevent coalition groups, black nationalist and movement
leaders from gaining respectability by discrediting them; (5)
Prevent the long-range growth of coalition groups, black
nationalist, an other movements, especially among the youth; The
national COINTELPRO program adapted various tactics to
destroy/neutralize the BBP and discredit them among the "liberal"
whites, and among Afrikans, as well. (This is still going on today
with mostly, if not all, revolutionary groups and individuals on
political paths. I should be mentioned that many people fell for
this type of intelligence attack and are still falling for it, as
one of our comrades have been targeted by the administrators of
the Michigan Department of KKKortuptions at the Egeler
KKKroruptional Facility in Jackson, Michigan.
Comrades, we need to be careful of this and not allow pigs to put
out lies on another so that "you" will act upon their lies and do
their dirty work, i.e. "assassinate". Be mindful that the tricks
of government (whether state or federal) are always trying to
disrupt, confuse and destroy.
-a Michigan Prisoner, May 21, 1996.
NAZI FOOD POLICY IN TEXAS
Dear MIM, Enclosed find the latest crock of administrative
bullshit being inflicted upon us prisoners at the new wave bus'em
in "state of states prison" [printed below - MIM]. Down here in
the South the oppressors have appropriately named its system to
Texas department of criminal justice -- institution division.
Which means the criminal acts carried out here are always
justified no matter what, at the institution divisions. The latest
is on your knees, hands locked behind your head (Hitler
assassination style) or no food will be served to your been-slot,
Plexiglass covered cell (all administrative segregation cells).
My personal defiance against the oppressors have resulted in
delaying, tampering and intercepting my personal mail. This
doesn't faze me. It's a compliment of accomplishment that can not
be stopped.
Staying down 4 Revolution
-A Texas Prisoner, Jun 26, 1996.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice: Institutional Division
Inter-Office Communication May 28, 1996
To: Captain R. Tarver, Ad Seg Captain, Stiles Unit Thru: Lt. B.
Forrest From: Sgt. C. Perrio Re: In Cell Feeding Revised: June 7,
1996 Effective June 1, 1996, During feeding procedures, all
offenders assigned to Level III status in Administrative
Segregation will be required to do as follows: 1) Officer will
instruct the offender to retrieve his cup, face the back of his
cell, back up to the cell door, kneel down and cross his feet,
place his cup in front of him, and place his hands behind his
head, interlocking fingers and not to move.
2) Officer will open food tray slot and move back a safe distance
(3 feet minimum).
3) Officer will instruct the offender to place his cup in the food
tray slot (while still kneeling down).
4) Officer will place the food tray in the food tray slot and
serve the beverage. The officer will then step back a safe
distance (3 feet minimum).
5) Officer will instruct offender to pick up his tray and cup and
place it on his table in the cell.
6) Officer will instruct offender to pick up his tray and cup and
place it on his table in the cell.
7) Once the offender is in the prior position, Officer will then
step up, close and secure the food tray slot.
8) After slot is secured, the Officer will instruct the offender
to move as the Officer proceeds to the next cell.
Retrieving the food tray:
1) Officer will instruct the offender to retrieve his food tray,
face the back of his cell and back up to the cell door, kneel down
and cross his feet, place his tray in front of him, and place his
hands behind his head, inter-locking fingers and do not move.
2) Officer will open the food tray slot and step back a safe
distance (3 feet minimum).
3) Officer will instruct offender to place his tray in the food
tray slot (While still kneeling down.)
4) Officer will instruct the offender to assume the prior position
(face the back of his cell and back up to the cell door, kneel
down, hands behind head, inter-locking fingers.)
5) Officer will then step up and retrieve the food tray, close and
secure the food tray slot.
6) After the slot is secured the Officer will instruct the
offender to move as he proceeds to the next cell.
Each offender who is to be served a meal the Officer will repeat
steps 1 thru 8. At any time an offender fails to comply with any
instruction of the above steps given by an Officer during the
feeding procedure the offender will automatically FFP-Failure to
Follow Procedures, thus terminating feeding and result in a
disciplinary action, the Officer will go to the next cell.
These procedures will be enforced, no exceptions. Failure to
adhere to will result in Disciplinary action.
PRESSURE IN COLORADO PRISONS LEADS TO MURDER AND SUICIDE
Revolutionary Greetings,
ŠOn June 16th of this year, a fellow prisoner was murdered. The
circumstances surrounding this incident is still being
investigated. Also I've just been informed that another prisoner
committed suicide in the seg. [segregation] unit. This happened
June 23, 1996. From what is being passed on is that this
individual could not take the pressure of being locked in the seg.
unit.
Pressure is being placed on the inmate population on all sides.
There is no release an some units take the pressure that is being
placed on them by this fascist establishment. Most inmates will
not strike out against those who are applying the pressure,
instead this is turned on other inmates or themselves. Such is the
case of the two deaths that have occurred (my thoughts). We have a
new warden here who has turned this institution upside- down. I
believe this guy supports the ideology of Wisconsin's Governor and
his prison reformation system. Many of the things that he says are
already being instituted here in the Feds [Federal Prisons]. If a
weight is broken it is taken off the yard, never to be replaced.
In October, Prisoners (we) will lose cable television. At one time
the inmate population had videos, no longer do we have these here
at FCI Florence [Federal Correctional Institution at Florence,
Colorado] And the population is becoming more violent. Instead of
making this joint better it is becoming the worst.
I get into many debates with other prisoners over the issue of
what means a revolution should take place in this country. Some of
these Dudes profess to have an understanding of this country and
its political system. Yet I don't think they know the history of
this country or how it became so powerful because they say that
change in this country can not come about through the barrel of a
gun, yet that is what they use to keep the people suppressed. I
believe in what Malcolm X believes, the ballot or the bullet, but
in different word usage, (the ballot and the bullet). I believe it
is going to take armed struggle as well as a diplomatic process to
bring about a true government for the people by the people, that
represents all the people in this country....
-A Colorado Prisoner, June 24, 1996.
RCG1 responds: Your letter clearly demonstrates how prison is used
as social control. The pressure builds up and prisoners can become
violent toward others and themselves. It seems that political
study and the study of revolution has become a positive outlet for
you, instead of lifting weights or watching television. We suggest
you continue your study of politics and start a study group to
help others deal with the pressure of prison. In Struggle. July
27, 1996.
REAFFIRM, RECOMMITT, REDEDICATE, REVOLUTION: IN REMEMBERANCE OF
ZIYON YISRAYAH (TOMMIE SMITH)
i'm getting letters this week from folks caged in Indiana asking
me how i was feeling last wed/thurs during Ziyon's murder and i
want to tell them that it re-lit a dying flame - did it? will it?
i cried on wednesday night for Ziyon, but more for Our collective
inability to see him again on the weekend. i was able to see Ziyon
a few days before they murdered him - he's alive and strong - his
hands were solid and firm as he clasped with mine thru black-boxed
cuffs behind his back.
i got a letter today that reads in part: "you know man, We can
never allow Ourselves to forget days + times like these. Days like
these are a time for reflection, introspection and reaffirmation
as well as action (when one is in a position to engage in such) As
my days have been filled with Ziyon. i have also been thinking
about you and other folks out there. Wondering what yall are
thinking right now, doing, feeling, etc. On one hand i feel
powerless and on the other i know i've got power. why else would
men with bombs, guns and clubs be so freaked? Feel so
threatened?...." REAFFIRM RECOMMITT REDEDICATE REVOLUTION "don't
stand by my grave and cry, i'm not there i never died" ZIYON IS IN
THE AIR ABOUT YOU AJAMU IS IN THE AIR ABOUT YOU rev love,
-a BCAC (Brew City Anti-Authoritarian Collective) Activist, July
23, 1996.
NEW NEWSLETTER FOR PRISONERS: DAILY MAIL
We have started a prison pen pal organization and would like your
help in spreading the word. We are a pen pal service for
prisoners. We are writing organizations like yours to let you know
we are a new newsletter published quarterly, dedicated to
information and enrichment and to helping prisoners help
themselves receive daily mail. Seeking prisoners who would like a
copy of our newsletter or prisoners who would like an application
to place a free ad in our newsletter. For a free newsletter or an
application for an ad in our newsletter, please send us a Self-
Addressed Stamped Envelope, (SASE) If you want both a newsletter
and an application to be in our newsletter send two SASE's.
--Daily Mail, 8139 Sunset Avenue, Suite 190, Fair Oaks, CA 85628.
MIM REPLIES: We are happy to print items like the above which
advertise services provided for the benefit of prisoners. We
occasionally get requests to print similar-appearing items from
organizations which describe their work as a service for
prisoners, but which in fact are clearly aiming to profit off of
prisoners and their plight. The difference between providing free
or low-cost services to prisoners like the above and selling
similar "services" to prisoners is the difference between serving
the people on the one hand and being an "imprisonment pimp" or
profiteer on the other.
* * *
ON PROLETARIAN LEADERSHIP IN THE IMPERIALIST COUNTRIES
MIM reaffirms its support for its 1995 Congress Resolution called
"Reject the Outdated Idea of an Emerging International Center."
Already in the past year, the application of that resolution in
struggle has proved fruitful in varied and numerous circumstances.
The reorienting of the international communist movement on the
basis of Maoism and its unification within those parts that
already uphold Maoism turns on questions of varying degrees of
universal significance.
Those questions of absolutely universal
significance include Deng Xiaoping, Hoxhaite, Khruschevite,
Brezhnevite, Gorbachevite and Hua Guofeng revisionism. Also, the
earlier generations of revisionism and social-democracy including
Trotskyism in the imperialist countries remain of absolutely
universal significance. Regardless of national or local
conditions, Maoist party members must be unanimous in their
opposition to Chinese and ex-Soviet revisionism. MIM refers to
this as a matter of its first two cardinal questions, one each for
the Soviet Union historically and the Cultural Revolution in
China. We refer to these questions as absolutely universal because
they do not vary by national conditions.
As Mao explained, there is no Marxism-Leninism that is not
integrated with national conditions. Hence, it will not suffice to
be fully Maoist by taking the correct stand on questions of
universal historical significance within the international
communist movement. The first two cardinal questions are a very
important first step to make and likewise, those comrades most
able to integrate Maoism with national conditions are more likely
to have the stand on the first two cardinals correct.
Restating Mao, the Peruvian Maoists employ the concept of "Guiding
Thought" as a convenient phrase to refer to the integration of
Marxism-Leninism- Maoism with concrete national conditions. While
comrade Gonzalo was still free, the PCP Central Committee wrote:
"Thus, each revolution must specify its own Guiding Thought,
otherwise there is no application of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, nor
development of a revolution." MIM's third cardinal on the white
working class of the imperialist countries is an example of
"Guiding Thought." At the first level, the question of class
formation is a universal one. All Maoists must use the same
definitions of classes. However, in the end, the breakdown of
classes in a society and what to do with them is a question for
the formation of a Guiding Thought.
In Volume One of the Selected Works, Mao sets forth definitions of
the classes he will analyze in Chinese society in the first essay.
The second essay in Volume one is already the application of those
definitions in an analysis of Chinese society.
Such questions as the breakdown of society into classes, the
existence of a class as opposed to scattered elements of a class,
the particular class content of the national question, whether or
not a society is still semi-feudal--these are matters of the
Guiding Thought and cannot be answered by way of quotation from
the classic works of Marxism- Leninism-Maoism. As an example where
attention to particular detail is necessary, we can point to
Ancient Rome, where Marx said there was a still- born property-
less proletariat. Likewise in Ancient China of almost 1000 years
ago, there was a manufacturing sector and a proto-capitalist
class. Yet though the definitions of proletariat and capitalist
might apply to some elements of society in Ancient Rome or China,
we cannot really say that the proletariat as a class existed,
especially in the way we understand that term scientifically as a
class today. That is a matter of integrating Marxism-Leninism-
Maoism with the concrete conditions.
In the imperialist countries, there is not a single organization
other than MIM that seeks to apply the definitions of proletariat
and semi-proletariat. Hence, there can be no question as yet as to
whether any but MIM is a Maoist organization in the imperialist
countries. There is no point over arguing which Guiding Thought is
correct for which imperialist country when there is no
organization other than MIM starting from definitions appropriate
for the era of imperialism that Lenin analyzed and named.
We can name the major obstacles to taking up the universal aspects
of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism in the imperialist countries. In order
of declining importance they are bourgeois democratic prejudice,
post-Modernism, hegemonic dogmatism and populism.
The significance of bourgeois democratic prejudice is that many
who set out to conduct a scientific analysis of classes in the
imperialist societiesrecoil when they learn that the proletariat
can only be a tiny minority in the imperialist countries. They
then turn around and alter the definition of proletariat or take-
up outright social-democracy in order to achieve a "majority" as
the vehicle for progress within imperialist countries,
conveniently by omitting the question of opening borders to obtain
a majority of
proletarians or former peasants. Social-democracy has not vanished
as a trend in the world today, principally because it is based in
an actually existing class, the semi-proletariat. Over time, the
task of separating from the social-democracy of the Second
International in the imperialist countries has become more urgent
and more difficult, not less.
The second major obstacle seen is post-Modernism, which is often
mushed together with bourgeois democratic prejudice. Where post-
Modernism is not merged together with bourgeois democratic
prejudice, it does not seek a majority for its own sake, but it
takes advantage of Marx's process of defining the proletariat to
redefine the proletariat to include white-collar workers, "pink-
collar" workers and other such inventions of the intelligentsia
including those related to environmentalism, feminism and anti-
racism. Such post-Modernist attempts to change the definition of
proletariat are anti-Leninist in that they deny that imperialism
is an historical era that we are still in and that the definition
of proletariat remains unchanged since Lenin's day. Post-modernism
is also counter to the MLM understanding of the world as divided
into nations, and the fact that today the principal contradiction
is between imperialism and the oppressed nations--a contradiction
of utmost violence and not just a matter of language reform or
tolerance psychology instruction for instance.
Hegemonic dogmatism is the third obstacle to a correct development
of Maoism in the imperialist countries. Dogmatists take up
quotations from the classics of MLM without regard to concrete
conditions. They quote Mao on the united states and other
societies in a way that Mao abhorred. They escape an analysis of
concrete conditions by quotation. Such dogmatism by itself is
nothing new, but gains dangerous force when backed by the prestige
of Maoist revolutions not in the imperialist countries. Hegemonic
dogmatism is then the denial of the need for a study of concrete
conditions combined with the denial of a need for a Guiding
Thought.
Finally, there is populism as a roadblock to development of Maoism
in the imperialist countries. Often indistinguishable from
bourgeois democratic prejudice, it becomes distinguishable when
those comrades who define and apply the definitions of the classes
correctly, nonetheless never seek to mention them again. Instead,
such populists always speak of the "people" and their just demands
via the environment or education, where there might be a
congruence between the interests of the proletariat and the
middle-classes combined which form the people. In practice, this
is a way to lead comrades into being swamped by middle-class
concerns and drag us back to the Second
International. The way to separate from populism right now is to
put the principal emphasis on setting up the proletarian pole in
the imperialist countries. That entails as its corollary the
destructive side of attacking revisionism and social- democracy as
principal over allying with the middle-classes- -until that time
we can be sure there are Maoist parties with the four cardinals
set up in the imperialist countries. This does not mean we do not
"walk on two legs," but we must be sure to ensure proletarian
leadership by carrying out the destructive phase of clearing out
revisionism and social- democracy as a higher priority for us now
than allying with the middle classes.
-Unanimously adopted at 1996 Congress
* * *
LAKOTA SEEK CONTROL OVER REPRODUCTIVE CHOICES
In response to Indian Health Service (IHS) disregard for First
Nation women's interests, health care workers on the Cheyenne
River Reservation are calling on the tribal council to ban birth
control that has had bad effects on women there. The idea is
currently being investigated by the tribal council, and brings up
sovereignty issues. The council seems to be able to ban Norplant
and Depo-Provera, but the federal government could decide to
overrule that and distribute them anyway.
According to Charon Asetoyer, executive director for the Native
American Women's Health Education Resource Center, the IHS does
not usually inform women of the drawbacks of Norplant and Depo
Provera. Side effects include: hair loss, prolonged and irregular
menstrual cycles, weight gain, depression, and severe headaches
and stomach aches. Risks include: increased chance of breast
cancer, osteoporosis, and cervical cancer. Serious side effects
are ignored as the products are recommended uncritically. On
paper, women who want either Norplant or Depo- Provera are
required to take a pregnancy test and sign a consent form. In
practice, First Nation women are not tested for pregnancy. And,
according to Asetoyer, the IHS assumes that any woman who shows up
at the clinic shows her consent.
Women on the reservation who want to have their Norplant devices
removed are "strongly encouraged" by IHS workers to leave them in.
Some First Nation women have been refused treatment when they go
to the clinic, and are told by the IHS that the government has
their best interests in mind. But, as Asetoyer points out, "You
don't give a healthy woman a drug that will make her unhealthy and
say you have her best interests at heart." The heart of the issue
is reproductive choice as a reality for First Nation women.
According to Colleen Brown Wolf, tribal health educator at
Cheyenne River, "When it comes to birth control, women don't
really have a choice. I think women should be able to control
their reproductive freedom." While the Lakota at Cheyenne River
cannot control their own health care for now-only those with
Medicaid or private insurance can even get Norplant or Depo-
Provera from HIS-they are doing what they can to prevent harmto
First Nation women. First Nations should be able to decide for
themselves which drugs present too high a risk, and not just be
subjected to the federal government policies.
Notes: News From Indian Country, July 22-29, 1996, pp. C1, C3.
* * *
ON ANY OFFER OF POSITION FROM THE MANILA GOVERNMENT
Press Statement by Jose Maria Sison July 27, 1996
I cannot accept any offer of position from the Manila government
for the simple reason that to accept it is to violate my
principles and my firm position to stand for the people's struggle
for national liberation and democracy.
Such an offer is insulting and is a vain attempt at psychological
warfare. However, those officials of the Manila government who
make such an offer unwittingly run counter to the Dutch justice
ministry which tries to depict me in the most unflattering terms.
As I have earlier pointed out, my asylum case in the Netherlands
is quite strong because of the February 21, 1996 decision of the
Dutch council of state that I am a political refugee and that I
cannot be sent back to the Philippines. It is a negative decision
of the Dutch justice ministry that is baseless and weak. Thus, I
have the confidence to fight it in court.
It is a matter of duty for me to stay on for a while in the
Netherlands, if only to pursue the asylum case to its conclusion.
Were I to give up this case, then I would be allowing the false
claims and arguments of the Dutch justice ministry to go unopposed
and look as if they were true.
Another strong reason why I must stand my ground is that I must
frustrate the scheme of the Manila government to separate me from
the NDFP negotiating panel and then to lure the panel to Manila.
I observe that some of those who express the wish that I return to
the Philippines have long tried to demonize me. These few elements
do not really wish me to return to the Philippines. They think
that they have found one more occasion to make snide remarks
against me and against what I stand for.
Let me remind everyone that the revolutionary movement and its
collective leadership in the Philippines are steadily
strengthening themselves, especially because of the rectification
movement. That is why the Manila government is compelled to
negotiate with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
RAMOS REGIME MUST NOT RIDE ON UNJUST DUTCH JUSTICE MINISTRY
DECISION
Press Statement by Luis Jalandoni Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating
Panel July 24, 1996
The Ramos regime dishonors its own signature by seeking to ride on
the unjust decision of the Dutch justice ministry re Prof. Jose
Maria Sison's asylum application and attempting to draw the GRP-
NDFP peace talks to the Philippines.
On February 24, 1995, the GRP and NDFP negotiating panels signed
the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG),
which stipulates that formal meetings between the two parties
shall be held in a neutral foreign venue. This was approved by the
principals of the two panels, Mariano Orosa for the NDFP and Fidel
Ramos for the GRP, in April 1995. This latest attempt of the Ramos
regime to undermine the JASIG under the pretense of welcoming
Prof. Sison and the NDFP Panel is most condemnable.
The NDFP has consistently upheld the significance of a neutral
foreign venue for the formal meetings of the GRP- NDFP peace
negotiations. Our experience in the 1986-87 peace talks with the
GRP, wherein General Ramos and Ileto boasted they had greatly
increased their "intelligence stocks", proves the importance of a
neutral foreign venue. Moreover, the NDFP has opposed the GRP's
attempt to depict the 27-year-old civil war as a mere internal
police problem. The NDFP has upheld its status as a co-
belligerent in a civil war, whose prolonged character and
intensity necessitate the application of the Geneva Conventions,
the Protocols additional thereto and other international
humanitarian law.
The Dutch justice ministry decision is unjust and self-
contradictory. It admits that Prof. Jose Maria Sison has the right
to thestatus of political refugee according to the Geneva
Convention on Refugees, as the Dutch Council of State declared in
its decision of Feb. 21, 1995. Yet it denies him the right of
entry as refugee and stay in The Netherlands. Its accusations
against Sison have already been declared unfounded by the Dutch
Council of State. The NDFP stands firmly behind Prof. Sison's
appeal, confident that his strong legal position will be upheld.
In the meantime, the appeal effectively suspends the Dutch justice
ministry decision.
This unjust decision to expel Prof. Sison if carried out will have
enormously negative effects on the GRP-NDFP peace talks. Since
1989 up to June 1996, there have been fifteen formal and informal
meetings between the GRP and NDFP. In all these meetings, which
have resulted in the signing of five agreements and one additional
document, Prof. Sison has played a crucially important role.
Moreover, his presence in the Netherlands, where the NDFP
Negotiating Panel is based, is essential to the peace talks.
Twelve of the fifteen GRP-NDFP meetings have taken place in The
Netherlands. The resumption of the formal meetings in the GRP-NDFP
peace talks, after a one-year disruption due to the GRP's
unilateral suspension, was in fact held in The Hague. It was
officially hosted by the Dutch Foreign Ministry.
*** DID YOU KNOW? ***
*.. that the Philippines has been a colony or a neo-colony of the
United Snakes for the last 100 years?
*.. that the Amerikan military supplies
intelligence, training, and supplies to Armed Forces of the
Philippines, which are waging an anti-people "low intensity war,"
which has displaced more than one million people?
*.. that U.S. puppet regimes in the Philippines kow-tow to
Amerikan and other foreign monopoly capitalists, encouraging them
to exploit Filipino workers and allowing them to produce goods for
export while the majority of Filipinos live in poverty and hunger?
*.. that the peoples of the Philippines have a long history of
resistance to oppression, culminating in the protracted people's
war being led by the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines?
NO? Well isn't it about time you found out? READ: "Support the
National Democratic Front of the Philippines," an 8 page RAIL
pamphlet. $1.
"The Philippine Revolution: The Leaders View," by Jose Maria
Sison. $10.
"Philippine Society and Revolution," by Armado Guerrero. Classic
application of Marxism-Leninism- Maoism to the Philippine
including an excellent brief history of Amerikan imperialism in
the Philippines. $7.
All available from: MIM Distributors, PO Box 3576, Ann Arbor, MI,
48109-3576.
* * *
MAOISTS KNOW SPEECH ISN'T "FREE" BUT DOLE WHINES ABOUT FUNDING
PROBLEMS
MIM knows all about having limited access to distribution of our
speech because we lack the funds. Republican presidential
candidate Bob Dole doesn't. He said: "I'm the only person in
America who's denied my First Amendment rights." He claims that
because he does not have enough money, he cannot get his message
out. Actually, he is using every trick in the book in order to get
around the hurdles of campaign spending limits and in the meantime
absolutely inundating Amerika with his garbage.
For decades, progressive people who believe in electoralism have
been pushing legislation to limit the amount of money used in
political campaigns. They think that if the government tinkers
with the way campaigns are financed, the senators won't be as
beholden to corporate interests and will not have large
disparities between amounts spent on campaigns. The limits are
also intended to allow folks with less money in their coffers to
run for office, presumably to change the world.
These progressive groups have successfully enacted policies that
provide public funds for campaigns and limit the spending of those
who accept those funds. The policies are rife with loop-holes,
which is only logical when you understand that the people in power
have no interest in limiting their own speech, even as they
accepted sham laws purporting to do so. All they do is prop up a
pretense of equal-access democracy.
MIM and the international proletariat know that whatever money is
spent by candidates-Republican, Democratic or Independent-in
imperialist elections it is meant to bolster public opinion for
imperialist Amerika. The millions of dollars spent on Amerikan
election campaigns are plundered from the Third World proletariat,
and whoever is elected will continue to uphold imperialist
policies that devastate the Third World.
Campaign finance policies were established in the face of strong
judicial support for the idea that since political speech deserves
the highest protection under the constitution, it should not be
regulated by laws limiting the money one can spend on making
speech. In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled in Buckley v. Valeo that
money is a form of speech when it struck down a law limiting
campaign expenditures. It said that amount of money you spend
spreading your speech around cannot be limited by the government.
Dole is lying about being forced to limit his pre- convention
spending to $37 million. He only has that limit imposed because he
is accepting federal matching funds-$10 million for now, $62
million plus to come after the Republican convention-to pay for
his campaign. That aside, by charging all sorts of TV time and
travel to organizations other than his campaign (for example, the
Republican National Committee), he is spending several times more
than he is "in theory" limited to.
Dole thinks he is shortchanged relative to Clinton because Clinton
also gets $10 million from the federal matching funds before the
convention, despite the fact that Clinton has no real primary
challengers. So Dole spent lots of dough defeating Buchanan,
Forbes, et al., while Clinton gets to aim all his attacks at Dole.
He thinks he should be able to both get federal funds and raise
more than Clinton, a combination which he is not allowed to do
openly because of the pretense of campaign finance controls.
Of course, Clinton and Dole are spending all this money saying the
same thing. The cash comes from a combination of the imperialist
federal government and imperialist corporations and individuals,
and is spent propping up imperialism.
Dole has probably never heard of MIM. We can challenge neither his
reactionary agenda nor that of Clinton on TV. We criticize both of
them instead in media we can afford: newspapers, fliers, and
talks. We are still building for the day when the people can watch
MIM TV to learn about what's going on in the world from a Maoist
perspective. We gladly rely on the people's finance to spread our
messages, including "Don't Vote! Smash Imperialist Capitalist
Patriarchy!". So MIM readers, give generously: we're up against
some big opposition.
NOTE: Boston Globe, July 14, 1996, p. 7.
* * *
LALLAPOOLOZA '96: MIM GOES TO LALA LAND
POWNAL, VT-July 9 MIM expected Lollapalooza would be reactionary,
but not quite as bad as it was. Lollapalooza is an annual tour of
an all-day musical outdoor concert. Once part of the "alternative"
music scene, Lollapalooza has gone mainstream and started
attracting an even more decadent crowd than usual.
One driver en route to the show pledged to run over an elderly
womyn if she wasn't out of the road when the light turned.
Obnoxious disregard for other people should be expected at
gatherings of large numbers of Amerikans. Despite this, MIM
attends concerts or other opportunities with large crowds to raise
funds for political work and spread revolutionary propaganda to
young people. We'd like to win a few away from the escapism of
drugs and alcohol and to convince white nation youth that they
should side with the international
proletariat. While we did make a significant amount of money, the
masses were so hostile and dangerous, MIM would think twice before
going again.
The crowd was disproportionately white males. MIM counted nine
Blacks the entire day, and one of those was in police custody. (We
saw no whites under police custody.) The people at Lollapalooza
were explicitly anti-communist and patriarchal as well. Many
people yelled at MIM for being communists, and the two
distributors-a man and womyn-had vastly different experiences. The
womyn had many more positive encounters and made five times as
much money as the man in the same time period. The man received
threats he considered serious enough to decline ideological
struggle. The masses made it explicit that the womyn was getting
money because she was "cute" and a "chick" but that the male
distributor should be killed or tossed in a dumpster or river.
Both distributors had a difficult time getting the attention of
the men away from a womyn who was conducting a strip tease for
money on top of a car.
A surprisingly high number of people objected to the cover graphic
on MIM Notes 117, which pictured a collage of Tweedledum and
Tweedledee Clinton and Dole in front of an Amerikan flag with a
Klansman where the stars used to be and a sign saying "Don't
Vote." As expected, there was objection to MIM insulting Amerika
by calling it one with the Klan. A picture serves a thousand words
and so the graphic was useful. But we weren't prepared for so many
people to object to MIM Notes by expressing open support for the
Klan.
At one point a confederate-bandanna-wearing-white male started
waving his arms and yelling derogatoryremarks at one of the
distributors after finding out that MIM was against the Klan. Many
other masses objected to the Black nationalism expressed in a t-
shirt about the Amerikan lockdown a distributor was trying to
sell. One distributor tried selling only t-shirts and sold a "Fuck
the Vote" t-shirt to a man who turned out to be some kind of white
power fascist, judging by the cassette tape he gave the seller.
In spite of the incredible amount of alcohol, and soft and hard
drugs, MIM did manage to have some good conversations. Some of the
best of those conversations centered on exposing the decadence in
Lallapooloza and the hypocrisy of the Amerikan justice system. One
person started to agree with MIM on all sex being rape, but the
conversation ended early when a large drunk male jumped off his
truck and pushed the distributor out of the way saying "We don't
want to hear any of your shit!" This shows just how far the
patriarchy will go, attacking anything or anyone trying to take
that sexual power away. At other times the paternalist attitude of
the white males toward the female distributor manifested itself
through asking personal questions about her own sex life. One man
even offered to buy all the MIM Notes in her hand for a kiss and a
beer! Though she didn't take up his offer and was completely
bombarded by patronizing remarks, she collected large sums of
money from the sexist pig population to fund political work.
MIM however did find some unity with people by explaining the
inherently political and nationally oppressive nature of
incarceration. Blacks and Latino communities are under incredible
surveillance and are sent to prison in
disproportionate numbers to their population or even their drug
use. But whites can smoke or get high in the suburbs, the
bathrooms of Wall Street or at outdoor concerts and be totally
immune because they are not targeted by the state.
One group of people-who turned out to be law enforcement officers
from Maine-agreed with this contradiction. One thought the
situation was purely military, that the young people would riot if
the cops stopped the drugs. Had the Vermont State Police set up a
roadblock at the entrance, they could have cut down significantly
on the illegal drugs and alcohol consumption at the concert. But
the Vermont State Police were not interested in hassling white
youth. This is in sharp contrast to the road blocks and pig
surveillance present in Black, Latino and First Nation areas.
The other officer said that he thought it was wrong for police
officers to hassle young people for partying and hanging out-
especially if it was because they were not white youth. He said
that even a simple arrest or police citation can ruin a person's
life by staying on their record. Therefore, it's not fair to
punish people for life for having fun for one evening. He implied
that he didn't target minority youth for such harassment, but
readily agreed that the allocation of police patrols and police
priorities is beyond his individual control and in the control of
the system. While we don't think we made any change in this
person's consciousness, the conversation has given MIM a useful
example about how the unjust political system directs the actions
of individual cops and it doesn't matter if they are liberal.
MIM didn't make as much progress with a man who turned out to be a
guard in the Massachusetts Korrectional System. He thought that
Blacks and Latinos were naturally hostile to whites for no reason.
He thought it was unbelievable that Blacks at his college would
object to him calling them "Boy" when he sees Black students call
each other that, or even "nigger." He strongly argued that Blacks
commit more crimes. MIM had this man all caught up in his
contradictions, but he ran from them by turning on the air
conditioning and raising the window to his car.
We hoped to make progress with his drunk female friend who argued
that we should stop concerning ourselves with Clinton, Dole, and
prisoners and instead focus on ourselves. We were trying to
explain that there was no difference between Clinton and Dole and
the parasitism inherent in such individualist analysis when the
conversation with this friend of a correctional officer was
interrupted by her need to approve a cocaine sale.
Overall MIM's experience can be summed up in the catch phrase of
the concert, "We're going to la la land!" In essence that is
exactly what Lollapalooza was, a total escape from the reality the
rest of the world has to live in everyday. The decadent lifestyle
inherent to today's "alternative" culture was in full
concentration and completely unwilling, and most of the time too
drugged up to be able, to struggle over any political issues
facing the imperialist affected world. Most agreed with how "good"
we have it here as compared to the rest of the world, but believed
Amerikan's deserved it. Those few who thought this whole system
should be changed thought sitting on their butts, like good
bourgeois imperialists, was all they should/could do.
MIM would have to say that Lollapalooza is just an example how
fully the imperialists have bought off today's youth. Until
imperialism and the bourgeois ideology that runs with it is
overthrown, decadent culture will be an absolute and a breeding
ground for future world oppression. If you want to end the power
of groups over groups, reject bourgeois culture and work with MIM
to create a society and culture that serves the masses of people
and not solely the interests of the police, drug dealers,
pornographers and oppressive white nation.
* * *
INDEPENDENCE DAY 1996
The movie Independence Day contains surprisingly little flag
waving and relatively large amount of internationalism. That is,
once the principal contradiction had shifted from imperialism vs.
Third World to Planet Earth vs. The Space Aliens, a lot of old
enemies saw themselves working together against the new enemy. Of
course, in typical Amerikan chauvinism, this Hollywood, made in
Amerika movie makes it clear that the Amerikans are the smart ones
who have to lead the fight against the space aliens, figure out
how to destroy them, and do most of the work.
This movie opens up the interesting question for proletarians of
what strategy to pursue in a situation of war like this. Sometimes
inter- imperialist rivalries provide the proletariat with the
opportunity to ally with one imperialist to overthrow their
principal enemy before turning the struggle against other
imperialist forces. The same could be true of the struggle between
the world's military forces (controlled by imperialist or neo-
colonialist powers) and the invading space aliens.
But in this movie, the aliens are clearly bent on the annihilation
of all humans and are not willing to negotiate with anyone over
anything less than complete destruction. In this situation, the
proletariat will need to ally with the imperialists (and with all
humans) against the principal enemy: the space alien invaders.
Proletarians with fighter planes at their disposal should join in
the air war against the space invaders rather than trying to use
this opportunity to turn against the imperialists. Turning against
the imperialists when defeating the space aliens, which is the
principal contradiction, would be the same counter revolutionary
strategy that Trotsky advocated when he called for the overthrow
of the socialist Soviet state on the eve of the invasion of
Hitler.
Once the aliens are defeated, the principal contradiction would
likely again return to that existing between the imperialists and
the oppressed nations. This may be a potential revolutionary
opportunity because the space aliens in ID4 focused all their
forces on the major cities of the world as well as the military
bases. This would have decimated most of the imperialist military
forces and infrastructure clearing the way for communist
revolution.
While it was correct for proletarians to unite with the Earth
imperialists under this circumstance of space alien invasion, we
should ask: Who wrote this scenario? Right now, aliens are
imaginary cultural beings created by the bourgeoisie to serve
their ends. If this was a movie written with proletarian politics,
technically advanced aliens would likely be communists, not evil
imperialist scum. Or in a different-as yet unwritten revolutionary
alien attack movie-the aliens are potentially good, and the
proletariat unites with the space aliens behind the bourgeoisie's
back. Then, at the crucial moment, when the bourgeoisie is totally
committed in one direction, they realize they have been outflanked
by the combined forces of the space aliens and the proletariat.
Then, the aliens and what's left of humanity peacefully coexist.
While we support the message of ID4 about the principal
contradiction, we aren't willing to concede the potential of
proletarian imagination producing revolutionary culture. MIM hopes
to see revolutionary film makers put out ID4 part 2 where the
proletariat seizes power from the imperialists and achieves
independence for the oppressed of the world. But they won't do
this because the film makers are just bourgeois internationalists.
Under their bourgeois internationalist system of imperialism, it
will take a super space alien invasion to bring unity, including
unity of the proletariat with the bourgeoisie. That's the only way
that imperialist system can bring peace to all peoples. By itself
this is a strong damnation of the system we live in, which profits
again and again from militarism, including this movie which broke
the record for grossing $150 million in the shortest amount of
time since release.
The bourgeois internationalists are dreaming of such unity under
their leadership and no doubt their professional opportunists are
scheming the equivalent of super alien hoaxes to get the
proletariat to go along with bourgeois
internationalist rule. Under socialism, we won't need an invasion
of superior space aliens to bring about unity.
* * *
MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM ONLINE
INMATE CLASSIFIED--PIMPS PROFITING OFF OF PRISONERS' MISERY
by MC49 & MC44
In the Under Lock and Key section (pages 6&7), we responded to an
item with the following comment: "We are happy to print items like
the above which advertise services provided for the benefit of
prisoners. We occasionally get requests to print similar-appearing
items from organizations which describe their work as a service
for prisoners, but which in fact are clearly aiming to profit off
of prisoners and their plight. The difference between providing
free or low- cost services to prisoners like the above and selling
similar 'services' to prisoners is the difference between serving
the people on the one hand and being an 'imprisonment pimp' or
profiteer on the other." An example of an outfit which pimps off
of prisoners is Inmate Classified: http://www.inmate.com, 9710
Zelzah Avenue, Ste. 105, Northridge, CA 91325, 818-829- 1250. We
received a letter from this organization asking us to print
something about their "service", along with a pamphlet describing
their work.
The pamphlet reads in part, "INMATE Classified is a World Wide Web
site dedicated exclusively to publishing prison inmates['] home
pages on the Internet....
"You can use your home page to: publicize your case look for a pro
bono lawyer look for new friends that can either write you
directly or mail electronically (E-mail) to your private E-mail
box advertise your skills to potential employers that might want
to hire you upon release publish your writings or art work ...the
only limitation is your imagination....
"E-mail contents (if any) are printed and mailed to you once a
week....
"Circle your selection Plan A. Price: $70.00. Plan B. Price:
$95.00.
"Please include one picture or art work and text of your Home
Page. (for additional text, art work or photos ask for a quote)"
This price gouging itself should tell the reader that Inmate
Classified is not a "service", despite its claims to the contrary.
But it was by refusing to live up to the agreement in its own
pamphlet that Inmate Classified earned public exposure here in MIM
Notes. The pamphlet reads: "E-mail contents (if any) are printed
and mailed to you once a week." But it turns out that this only
applies to e-mail that Inmate Classified chooses to send. We tried
to send copies of the electronic version of MIM Notes to the
prisoners whose e-mail addresses we found at Inmate Classified's
website. But instead of forwarding them on, Inmate Classified's
webmaster John started the following
exchange:
John: If you want to send your newspaper to inmates please do so
by regular mail. You can get their addresses from their home
pages.
MIM: Our newspaper is available electronically, and we would
prefer to send it that way if possible. Is there a limit to the
size of the messages that prisoners can receive at this site? Will
the first issue we sent be forwarded to them? John: Inmates don't
have access to Internet. Once a week we download their e-mail
boxes and send the contents via regular mail, and that is max 3
pages. We did not forward the first issue. You'll have to do it by
mail. Also, we don't forward advertising ... only personal
messages.
[MIM adds: None of the above caveats are mentioned in the pamphlet
advertising the "service."] MIM: Precisely because the prisoners
do not have independent access to the Internet, we think your
policy of censoring their mail by denying them free literature or
an advertisement for our free literature is deplorable. Are you
willing to defend this policy in public? Because we plan to write
a story about "services" like yours.
John: What is deplorable is your attitude. If you really want to
send your message across the prison system do it in a professional
manner with a professional mail package. But, it looks to me that
you are too cheap to do that so I won't waste my type responding
to any of your messages.
MIM happily takes webmaster John up on his offer to let us get in
the last word. For the past decade, MIM Notes has sponsored free
subscriptions for prisoners who request them. We also run a free
Books for Prisoner program, sending as much free political
literature to prisoners as our resources will allow. We publish
"Under Lock & Key"- news from prisons and prisoners twice monthly.
Each issue contains two pages worth of writings by prisoners and
about their struggles. Finally, we run a web server including much
of this material electronically. We do all this for free and with
donations of stamps or cash from prisoners and individuals
sympathetic to their struggles. Compare that to webmaster John and
his homepage plus 12 pages of e-mail per month for $70 and tell
us: who's cheap and who's the imprisonment pimp?
* * *
WORLD WIDE WEB REVIEWS
AFRIKAN FRONTLINE NETWORK
http://www.webcom.com/nattyreb/network.html
The Afrikan Frontline Network(AFN) is a "not for profit collective
of communicators working to utilize today's resources to provide
accurate, timely, and uncensored information to tomorrow's
leaders." Full color, interactive and graphical, the AFN site is
hard to access without a 28,800 baud modem or other high-speed
Internet connection. If you can get such access, it is well worth
a visit for up to date information on important struggles of the
Black nation.
The page has a strong collection of Black anti- imperialist
articles, cultural reviews and statements from organizations like
the Malcolm X Grassroots Coalition and MOVE. Frontline news
articles denounce police brutality and the expansion of the prison
system, among other things.
African symbolism and a large photograph of Marcus Garvey decorate
the red, green and yellow homepage- putting cultural nationalism
out front. Garvey's enduring appeal as a symbol of Black
nationalism is his success in mobilizing, by some counts, millions
of Blacks to build institutions and economic independence from
white Amerika. But as a communist Party supporting revolutionary
nationalism, MIM struggles to move forward with the most advanced
examples of activism which supersede Garvey. MIM takes its lessons
from the Maoist vanguard of the Black nation of the 1960s-the
Black Panther Party, not the capitalist Garvey.
The AFN's electronic newsletter, Dread Times, is updated weekly.
The issue we review here included an article about the July Mumia
events (see MIM Notes 119 for our coverage), the formation of the
Los Angeles Coalition Against Racist Child Experimentation
(LACCARE)-which is confronting a research study in which oppressed
nation children were injected with deadly experimental measles
vaccines. Other articles encourage people to participate in
protests against the Olympics which take place in a city with a
high homeless population, massive policy brutality and in a region
with growing prison populations, low wages and disproportionate
infant mortality. Dread Times is a current and informative
resource that includes important agitation material.
A portion of the site is dedicated to efforts around the defense
of Mumia Abu-Jamal, including announcements of upcoming activist
events and reports on recent legal news. This aspect of the site
shows most clearly the coalition approach of the AFN-which
enthusiastically reports the participation of "Pan Afrikanists,
Animal Rightists, Ecologists, Liberals, Friends, Social Reformers,
etc." in the pro-Mumia camp. The site also provides a link to
Amnesty International with no criticism of that organization.
Maoists believe in uniting all who can be united against
imperialism, and we welcome the participation of liberals around
clearly defined goals, but leadership means asserting the most
correct path, which means criticizing the pro-imperialist aspects
of Amnesty's work.
The AFN also provides information about the cases of and activist
efforts around Eddie Conway, Khalfani Khaldun, Leonard Peltier and
Sundiata Acoli "because we have to save the lives of our
warriors." MIM agrees wholeheartedly with proletarian defense of
revolutionary warriors in prison-but not to the exclusion of the
important work of organizing all prisoners. We do not agree with
the AFN, for example, that there are only about 150 political
prisoners in the United Snakes. We see more than one million and
growing, since we see that all prisoners, no matter what the crime
they've been convicted of, are political prisoners of
imperialism.(Stay tuned for MIM Theory 11, Amerikkkan Prisons on
Trial. Order now, $6, from the address on page 2.)
There are other resources for prisoners in general, such as the
proposal from the Prison Issues Desk calling for the formation of
the New Afrikan Prisoners Militia Network (NAPMN). The NAPMN
proposes to monitor legislation and protest anti- prisoner bills-
with the reformist aim of ridding the criminal injustice system of
specific individuals who draft and vote for repressive
legislation. The injustice system cannot be reformed. Small
victories can and should be fought for, but we cannot settle for
anything less than revolution to bring justice to Amerikkka's
imprisoned. MIM builds public opinion and independent power on the
outside and organizes support among prisoners to smash imperialism
and its prison system altogether.
NOTE: http://www.webcom.com/nattyreb/network.html
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