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 150 NOVEMBER 15, 1997
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. WELFARE REFORM CREATES NIGHTMARE FOR OPPRESSED CHILDREN
2. FORCED ASSIMILATION MOVEMENT GAINS GROUND IN CALIFORNIA
3. LETTERS
4. AMERIKAN IMPERIALISM IN PERU: ECONOMY GROWS -- BUT NOT
FOR MASSES
5. U.S. ALLOTS ANOTHER $50 MILLION TO SUPPRESS COLOMBIAN
REBELS
6. MASSACHUSETTS PASSES DEATH PENALTY
7. SO-CALLED ALTERNATIVE PAPER ALLIES WITH CAMPUS PIGS IN
PHONY CRIME HYPE
8. ANOREXIA ON THE RISE IN ASIA
9. PIRAO STUDIES KWAME NKRUMAH'S EXPERIENCE
10. STATE DEPARTMENT PUBLISHES LIST OF TERRORIST
ORGANIZATIONS-- REVOLUTIONARIES BEWARE!
11. NIGERIAN MILITARY IN SIERRA LEONE:
DOING IMPERIALISM'S DIRTY WORK AT A HIGH PRICE
12. CHUCK D. SPEAKS: "DON'T BE SHEEP!"
13. TWO LONG HOURS OF HISTORICAL REVISIONISM:
SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET MOVIE REVIEW
14. CAMBRIDGE CENSORS THE MASSES' INFORMATION
15. PAPERS TIGERS
16. UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND PRISONS
* * *
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
* * *
WELFARE REFORM CREATES NIGHTMARE FOR OPPRESSED CHILDREN
by MC44
A couple of weeks before the much-hyped White House
conference on child care in October, the Washington Post ran
a long investigative report about the disgusting, unsafe
state of subsidized day-care centers in the District of
Columbia. Private day care facilities that operate with
government money are going to be ex-welfare recipients' only
choice for child care when they are forced off welfare to
look for poorly paid service jobs in the vicious scheme to
move people "from welfare to work." In the next few months,
welfare reform is going to send about 4,000 District
children into these centers.(1)
Clinton's new plan calls for a small amount of federal
money, $250 million over five years, to be used to allegedly
improve the child care. The plan would include a scholarship
program for providing better training and higher wages for
child care workers and a system of criminal background
checks for people working in child care facilities. The
average child care provider earns $6.89 an hour.(2)
Typically, this program is pitched with an anti-crime spin
and aims to improve the quality of child care for middle
class families. It is supposed to address recent studies
which indicate that poor quality child care is widespread.
What the new plan does not address, in D.C. or anywhere, is
the lack of child care available to ex-welfare recipients,
the people who need it most, or the structural reasons that
D.C.'s centers are in the miserable shape they're in.
Operating with an expired license is among the problems in
D.C. day care centers cited by the Post. The Post estimated
that 180 centers in D.C. were in this situation and that no
licenses have been revoked for any reason in the last couple
of years. Another problem the Post cited was "overcrowding,
infestation by roaches and rats, inadequate adult
supervision, [and] filthy cots and kitchens."(1)
Imperialists always blame their neo-colonial puppet
governments for the suffering of the oppressed. This kind of
report about failing city services is routine in Washington,
D.C. Like with other neo-colonial governments, MIM has no
interest in defending the D.C. government except to say that
the bigger problem is national oppression: in this case the
political domination of the city's oppressed-nation
residents as well as the inadequate resources the U.$.
provides to the D.C. government. In the welfare reform case,
the more the federal government creates an incentive for
corrupt poverty pimps to profit off the poor, the more the
imperialist media will complain that the oppressed are
unable to govern themselves.
D.C. has long had a system for using tax money to support
care for poor children. But with welfare reform, these
already inadequate facilities are going to be in more demand
without being better funded. "For more than a decade, the
city government has not increased what it pays subsidized
day-care centers. For instance, the District pays $21.10 a
day per infant -- less than half the metropolitan average.
Many centers refuse to take 'DHS' kids." (so-called because
"the Department of Human Services is responsible for
selecting the centers that get public money for poor
children.")(1)
A recent study found that while "the average family [in the
United Snakes] spends 8% of its income on child care," poor
families, those who earn less than $14,000 a year, spend
about 25%. This is "despite the federal government's $3
billion a year in block grants to states to subsidize child
care for the poor."(3) Even with the block grant money, the
study showed that "only one in 10 children who are eligible
for those funds is receiving them, leaving many states with
thousands of families on their waiting lists."(2)
Post reporters described numerous child care facilities in
Washington, operating without licenses, in which children
were underfed and where chipped paint and mouse feces
littered the walls and floors, adult caretakers were absent,
and one case in which a three-year-old was almost poisoned
to death from chemicals he apparently ingested in the
accessible and unsupervised laundry room.(1) Defending their
paltry fines of these centers, city administrators insist
that their only other choice would be to close the centers
in violation -- thus cutting back even further on the amount
of available space for D.C. kids to go.
Now money that used to go directly to welfare recipients
from the Federal government is supposed to go to locally
administered child care facilities that are dangerous to the
health and well-being of oppressed children. It wasn't
enough money as welfare, and it's not enough money as state
block grants for subsidized child care.
This transfer of responsibility from federal to local is a
classic case of neo-colonialism, and underscores the need
for independent institutions of the oppressed and national
liberation struggle for the Black nation. Welfare reform
promises to create a new industry for poverty-pimps --
collecting insufficient government money to operate sub-
standard child care. The Post quoted one day-care center
director saying that she has been getting calls from
"aspiring day-care providers. ... 'What with welfare reform,
they've heard you can make some money.'"(1)
The Washington Post story concludes with a "success" story
of a womyn who, disgusted with the center that was available
to her through city subsidy, raised money through a
scholarship to an expensive private facility in a rich white
neighborhood. The reporter "admires her tenacity" and
implies that with all the structural and savage inequality
in the city, mothers who really care will make it work out
for their kids -- all 15,000 currently in the system and all
4,000-plus of them that will enter the D.C. child care
market in the next few months as a result of welfare
reform.(1)
Welfare has always cornered wimmin into making choices
between even relatively-low paid jobs that price them out of
the public assistance market, or collecting welfare. Welfare
reform has extended that so-called choice to teenage wimmin
living at home -- which is now a requirement if they want to
collect assistance checks. But they are now ineligible to
collect if their mothers make too much money. This is
supposed to strengthen family bonds. MIM recognizes this
tactic by the oppressors as collective punishment.
Under socialism, children will be raised in a collective,
publicly-supported environment, and the class background of
their parents will not affect the quality of care they
receive. The twin forces of gender and national oppression
will not force wimmin to make choices between unemployment
or working illicit jobs while raising children on a measly
government subsidy -- and having to work in the capitalist
market while sending their children to unsafe day care.
NOTES:
1. Washington Post, October 6, 1997, p. 1, 12.
2. Washington Post, October 22, 1997, p, 1
3. CNN Interactive, Oct. 23, 1997.
* * *
FORCED ASSIMILATION MOVEMENT GAINS GROUND IN CALIFORNIA
by MC12
California voters next spring will vote on a ballot
initiative that will virtually ban Spanish language
instruction to hundreds of thousands of Latino students in
public schools. Almost everyone thinks it's good for
children to learn English, as does MIM, but the question is
whether young children will be in classrooms where English
is the language spoken by teachers and other students.
Critics of the proposal, and MIM, believe that taking away
Spanish language instruction makes it harder for Spanish-
speaking Latino children to learn, and worsens their chances
of graduating and getting good jobs.
MIM adds that taking away Spanish instruction is also
forcing assimilation, dividing children from their parents,
communities, and national identities, and weakening the
capacity of Latinos to organize for self-determination. We
also think English-speakers, especially children, should
learn as many other languages as possible.
The proposal, which will probably be on the ballot in June
1998, reads in part: " all children in California public
schools shall be taught English as rapidly and effectively
as possible. All children in California public schools shall
be taught English by being taught in English. In particular,
this shall require that all children be placed in English
language classrooms." The proposal allows exceptions, but
makes these very difficult. If children already do well on
English tests, or they are older than 10, or they have
"special needs," then and only then can individual parents -
- only by visiting the school to fill out forms -- request
Spanish instruction for their children. Then, if there are
less than 20 such parents in a school, the school can
transfer them instead of providing a Spanish classroom.(1)
The bill's sponsor, Ron K. Unz, a multi-millionaire
capitalist in the software industry and a former Republican
candidate for governor, says parents will be able to get
waivers if they want them (2), but proponents, including
reactionary columnist George Will, say the law would
"virtually end" bilingual instruction, which is exactly what
they want.(3)
MIM has two arguments for Spanish instruction.
First, making children learn all subjects outside their
native language puts them at a disadvantage. This is the
same issue as with the Black English debate. The children
from oppressed nations have to learn two things at once,
which is more difficult. Opponents of bilingual education
say that high drop-out rates for Latinos prove that
bilingual education doesn't work, but MIM counters that all
forms of oppression in Amerikan society work against Latino
children, so you can't pin their problems on one particular
policy. As the National Committee for Language Rights says,
"The fact is Bilingual Education works if implemented
properly but it has been sabotaged by entrenched 'English
Only' elements that dominate California's public educational
system."
Second, taking away Spanish weakens Latino prospects for
national self-determination. And that's exactly the point of
the proposal's proponents. George Will, who calls bilingual
education the tool of "anti-American Americans," says it is
part of the "multicultural" agenda, which is "the doctrine
that a common culture is 'oppressive,' and that Americans
should be disaggregated into groups, each cultivating its
cultural distinctiveness, resisting assimilation in the name
of 'diversity.'"(3) Will picks on the liberal version of
multiculturalism, but he is right that bilingual education
leaves open the door for anti-Americanism, which MIM and
proponents of national liberation for Amerika's oppressed
nations support. MIM does not support "multiculturalism" per
se, but rather we argue that strong national identity is
necessary for national liberation struggles of the kind
needed to end national oppression at the hands of Amerika.
The Los Angeles Times has conducted a poll that found more
than 80% of people support English language instruction,
including more than 80% of Latinos.(4) MIM doesn't know how
the poll was conducted, but organizers against the measure
say those numbers will change once people find out the
details of the proposal. That seems likely, but MIM is not
surprised to see that a large number of Latinos in
California support assimilation. The forces pushing in that
direction are strong: getting into the Amerikan middle
class is a dream for many people. And some have succeeded:
in 1996, 3.8% of families classified as "Hispanic" had
incomes over $100,000 (compared to almost 12% of whites).(5)
However, many more are poor, especially immigrants,
farmworkers, and other workers in the jobs the whites won't
do for themselves.
Those who support national self-determination for oppressed
nations need to try to persuade as many of their compatriots
as possible that national liberation is better than
assimilation. At the same time, we have to be prepared to
lose many members of oppressed nations to assimilation, and
instead make alliances with other oppressed nations,
especially those around the world who are even more likely
to oppose Amerikan imperialism.
MIM opposes the "English for the Children" campaign with its
intent of forced assimilation for Latinos in California.
More information about the campaign is available from the
National Committee for Language Rights, Comite Nacional Pro
Derechos de Idioma, at http://www.aztlan.net/Bilingual/ or
P.O. Box 4282, Whittier, California 90607.
NOTES:
1. http://www.aztlan.net/Bilingual/
2. Los Angeles Times 29 Oct. 1997.
3. Washington Post, 26 Oct. 1997.
4. L.A. Times, 26 Oct. 1997.
5. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports,
pp. 60-197, Money Income in the United States: 1996. U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1997.
* * *
LETTERS
WRITER CRITICIZES MIM'S LINE ON KENYA
Dear Comrades,
"No investigation, no right to speak" -- Mao Zedong
I have read with grave concern your recent article on the
situation in Kenya (October 1, 1997, p.5). Of the nine
quotes listed at the end of the article, all are from
bourgeois sources based in the USA. Not one Kenyan source
was directly quoted. No attempt was made to obtain objective
information. What makes you so certain these sources are
telling the truth about Moi's regime? Don't these sources
hand an interest in making imperialism's allies look good
and imperialism's enemies look bad? Is it your view that any
movement that cloaks itself in the banner of "democracy" is
progressive? Surely you remember how less than ten years
ago, scoundrels under this banner disbanded the Soviet Union
and placed eastern Europe firmly in the grip of Western
Imperialism (whether or not it was state-capitalist before
is beside the point, it would certainly not exonerate these
"democrats")! Surely you know that this multiparty nonsense
in Kenya was only started in 1992 when the American and
German ambassadors threatened to cut off aid to Kenya if it
were not done!
If the imperialists supported establishing a multiparty
system in Kenya in the first place, if they now threaten to
freeze a $220 million loan unless Moi "cleans up his act",
and if the press repeatedly prints stories of Moi's alleged
atrocities, it seems likely that the imperialists are
supporting a multiparty system.
If the imperialists are supporting this multiparty system,
and if Moi is resisting the imperialists, then whatever kind
of son-of-a-bitch Moi is, he's our son-of-a-bitch! If MIM
insists upon taking positions without access to objective
information, it should instinctively take the position that
is opposed to that of the imperialists, not the one whose
support is drummed up in the media. History has shown that
Communists and imperialists are almost never on the same
side of an issue. So, either take heed of Mao's advice and
keep your mouth shut unless you do an investigation (a real
investigation, not gathering a collection of bourgeois
lies), or take Engels' advice and consider what stupid thing
you have done when the bourgeoisie expresses agreement with
you.
You have done the same thing in opposing the government of
Myanmar, and so join the bourgeoisie and its liberal allies.
At best this is irresponsible pandering to liberals, at
worst it is turning Maoism into its opposite for the sake of
popularity on campus.
Comradely yours,
-- a friend in the southwest October, 1997
MIM RESPONDS: We firmly believe that without investigation
we do not have the right to speak and for that reason we did
extensive investigation for the article in MIM Notes on
Kenya. It is true that the only sources cited are bourgeois
sources, but in fact we also sought information from Kenyan
sources and from the leftist press. And we stand by the
conclusions we reached based on the information at hand.
The information we obtained, even from the bourgeois press,
makes it very clear that Kenya receives a tremendous amount
of foreign aid from the imperialists. As the article stated,
over the past decade this has totaled more than $8 billion.
This is not a sign of a government that opposes imperialism.
In fact, Kenya is dependent on imperialist financial
support.
It is a common practice of the IMF to demand that countries
receiving aid comply with certain conditions. In the case of
Kenya, the article pointed out that these demands are not
about opposing Moi's political control of the country but
about creating even better conditions for imperialist
financial development in the country by making it easier for
foreign businesses to operate in Kenya.
While this letter writer is correct that those demonstrating
for so-called democracy will not always be on the side of
the people, and will frequently just be calling for free
market capitalism, the oppressed people's genuine desire for
peace and democracy should not be ignored. In China under
Mao, there were no large demonstrations against the
government for being too repressive and undemocratic. This
is because the people recognized that the government was
acting in their interests. Only after Deng Xiaoping took
power did we see these large demonstrations for democracy
(much of which was a rally for free market capitalism and
dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.) In the Kenya article, MIM
was very clear that the protests going on now are just aimed
at reforming a corrupt system rather than overthrowing
imperialism, but MIM does not support the imperialist puppet
Moi against the people.
We invite this letter writer or any other reader to provide
us with some evidence that Moi is not a member of the
comprador bourgeoisie, working for the imperialists,
controlling his country through military dictatorship and
offering its resources and people up to the capitalist
corporations for profit.
MOTHER THERESA NOT A SAINT OF THE PEOPLE
Dear MIM: I was told that mother Theresa was a good person
who eased human suffering. Upon her deathbed, those silent
about her in life have set in motion the wheels to stop her
from achieving sainthood. The best article (i.e. most in
depth) I've seen so far is on the MIM site at
. It is
imperative, as Satanists, that we be armed with a backpack
full of mud to anyone who would try and set up that mythical
"Ideal Christian." Good work, MIM, on exposing one of Baby
Doc's (Haitian Dictator) many friends.
--A Midwest Satanist writing to friends including MIM
October, 1997
MIM RESPONDS: While MIM is not a Satanist organization, we
do agree with this attack on the mythical ideal Christian.
There is a related article in this issue of MIM Notes
following up on the reactionary policies of Mother Theresa.
It is a Maoist materialist analysis that allows us to come
to these correct conclusions and we urge all who agree with
our analysis on issues like this one to struggle over larger
issues of Maoist theory: it is only armed with a correct
theory that we will arrive at a correct analysis and
practice.
* * *
AMERIKAN IMPERIALISM IN PERU:
ECONOMY GROWS -- BUT NOT FOR MASSES
by MC206
In 1994, the Peruvian economy was "the fastest growing
economy on the planet."(1) The Fujimori regime likes to use
this statistic to praise its economic development plans,
which amount to luring in foreign investors through massive
privatization, allowing more profits to be taken out of the
country, etc. However, once we look beyond the bourgeois
paper economic indicators, the reality is that very little
development has taken place in Peru. Foreign investment may
be up, but foreign investors -- principally large monopoly
firms -- are investing mostly in short term projects or
projects which involve resource extraction.
For example, the Yanacocha gold mine made an estimated $317
million in 1996, but less than $4 million of that went back
into the communities surrounding the mine -- and most of
that $4 million was spent on roads leading to the mine.
Yanacocha is run by an Amerikan firm, Newmont, in a joint
venture with the Peruvian company Buenaventura.(1)
If local communities did not see much in the way of returns
from this foreign investment, they did see a fair amount of
environmental destruction. The Yanacocha mine uses a process
called heap-leaching, a form of strip mining which involves
large amounts of lethal cyanide. Local rivers, once full of
fish, are now dead. A local resident claims that several
people died after drinking water from plastic containers
used by the mining company.(1)
Newmont is also buying up land around the mine, and in some
cases, outright stealing it. Newmont paid as little as $42
per hectare of land to some farmers, despite the fact that
speculation has driven the price of land around the mine up
to $2000 per hectare.(1)
More than half of Peru's foreign income comes from mineral
exports such as gold and oil. Imperialist-run organizations
like the United Nations and the World Bank (which insures
Newmont's profits in case of a mining disaster but does not
insure the local communities (1)) claim that the export- and
debt-driven economies they press on Third World nations are
part of "sustainable development."(2) But an economy based
on extraction of local resources by foreign firms for
foreign markets is not sustainable and develops nothing.
The existing Peruvian state is a puppet for its foreign
masters. The Fujimori regime has welcomed the foreign
monopoly capitalists with open arms, and given them every
possible encouragement to invest in Peru. But the poverty,
hunger, and unemployment persist in Peru. Only a state truly
controlled by representatives of the basic masses in Peru --
the workers and peasants -- can provide the opportunity for
economic development which truly serves the people. Only
such a state can prevent the imperialists from dominating
the economy.
The people of Peru, led by the Communist Party of Peru (PCP,
or Sendero Luminoso, as it is often called in the bourgeois
press), struggle daily against the Fujimori puppet regime
and its u.$. masters. For the last 17 years they have waged
armed struggle to topple that reactionary government and put
in its place a revolutionary government led by workers and
peasants. MIM does not claim to represent the PCP or its
line -- instead we exercise our internationalist solidarity
with the PCP and the people of Peru by exposing the crimes
of u.$. imperialism.
NOTES:
1. Covert Action Quarterly, Spring 1997, pp.11 - 17.
2. See "U$ capital feeds on Peru," MIM Notes 147, 1 Oct 97.
* * *
U.S. ALLOTS ANOTHER $50 MILLION TO SUPPRESS COLOMBIAN REBELS
by MC17
In October the United Snakes approved sending more than $50
million in equipment to help Colombia's military fight
guerrillas who are waging armed struggle against the
government. Approval for the aid came through special
presidential authority and is contingent on confirmation
that the units getting the material have not been accused of
violating human rights.(1) The military will provide this
confirmation itself. This means that to get extra money from
the U.$., the Colombian military only has to promise that it
is not violating human rights. This is how seriously the
United Snakes takes investigation into human rights abuses
by its allies. The only true accounting of the crimes of the
military can be made by the people, not by the imperialist-
fed lackey military. For this reason MIM fights for national
self-determination of all peoples.
U.$. military assistance to Colombia supposedly ended in
1994, after the General Accounting Office found that such
aid had gone to units accused of violating human rights and
that it was being used to fight guerrillas instead of drug
traffickers. But it is clear that the Amerikan government is
not genuinely concerned with the Colombian military's
brutality; if it were, an assurance of respect for human
rights from that same military would not be good enough to
reinstate aid. Whether or not the 1994 aid cut was a farce
to publicly distance U.$. imperialism from drug-tied
Colombian President Samper is of little importance to MIM.
While we watch the imperialists' public relations stunts and
are wary of their lies, we are much more concerned with
their bank rolls, as monetary investment and armed force
tell the true story of imperialism. Clearly the fact that
the Colombian military can now promise to be good in
exchange for $50 million means that any so-called aid cut-
offs have nothing to do with concern for the Colombian
people or for democracy. The united snakes is happy to have
the Colombian military attacking the Colombian people and
their rebels, so long as imperialist business continues as
usual.
More recently, Colombia was not certified as a drug war ally
by the United Snakes, supposedly making the South American
country ineligible for aid. Drug war certification is used
by the u.s. to increase its control over various Third World
colonies by manipulating them politically. But even this
certification is not financially meaningful since most U.S.
aid to Colombia is for drug eradication and seizure, and
that money--$70 million--is exempt from the ban on aid.(2)
To beef up Colombia's war on drugs the United Snakes donated
12 Bell UK-1H helicopters, worth $20 million, to Columbia
earlier this year. Also this year, Amerika gave Colombia
$120 million in arms aid. This move appears to be aimed at
convincing other countries in Latin America to advance the
so-called war on drugs and gain more aid from the United
Snakes.(3) In real life, the war on drugs is an excuse to
use bigger and more dangerous weapons against the people of
the Third World, as a means of forcing them to submit to and
to allow their countries to be subjected to imperialist
exploitation.
ELECTIONS A FARCE OF DEMOCRACY
On 26 October, regional elections were scheduled in
Colombia. People were supposed to choose state and local
officials across the country, but tens of thousands of
Colombians sat out the elections in response to a call for
an armed boycott by the two largest rebel organizations in
Colombia: the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Mainstream media reported that in the weeks leading up to
the election roads were bombed, dozens of candidates killed
and thousands more were scared into withdrawing. It appears
that the general strategy of the rebels was not to kill the
candidates but instead to persuade them to withdraw, by
either ideological or physical force. Many candidates were
kidnapped, taken to the countryside, and then lectured by
the rebels who attempted to persuade them not to participate
in the system. The National Liberation Army kidnapped two
election observers from the Organization of American States
on 23 October. The OAS sent 35 officials to monitor the
election in regions that have had increased violence
surrounding the elections.(4)
More than 200,000 police guarded the voting stations, but
they were unable to convince the people to show up to vote.
Police said road traffic was down 80 percent all over
Colombia on election day.(4) Mainstream press is claiming
that people boycotted the election only out of fear but this
ignores the reality of the conditions for the majority of
the people in Colombia. With poverty rampant and
particularly bad outside the cities, support for the rebels'
program has a strong material basis. The ELN and FARC
control over 40% of the countryside.
At least one million Colombians, of a total population of 36
million, had nobody to vote for on Sunday because so many
candidates pulled out of the elections in fear of the
rebels. Even if people in some regions had wanted to vote,
all the candidates for their areas had pulled out of the
race. (5)[Please tell me if this second sentence is not what
you meant.] This is no real difference between having no
candidate to vote for and choosing among candidates whose
only differences are in the names of the parties they
represent. But the lack of elections in some places led to
international condemnation of the rebels among people who
think that choosing among exploiters in an election
represents real democracy.
There are no real differences between the two major parties
in Colombia's elections--the Liberals and the Conservatives-
-even the bourgeois press reports admit this. In areas where
elections are canceled, the government plans to appoint a
military mayor, further evidence that this mockery of
democracy only an attempt to fool the people into thinking
they were participating in politics.(5) All candidates
pulled out of the elections in more than 120 towns, so all
of these towns will have military mayors appointed as
well.(6)
In their stiffest challenge to the government in more than
30 years of fighting, the guerrillas badly embarrassed
President Ernesto Samper's comprador government. "I hope
Colombians exercise their right to preserve democracy," the
president said after voting in Bogota. "Ballots are the guns
of democracy and votes are the bullets." But there is no
real democracy in Colombia under the dictatorship of
imperialist puppet Samper. His military's bullets are very
real and are used to kill those opposed to his government as
well as the people who support the rebels. Samper is a
lackey both to imperialism and to the drug traffickers. He
was elected in 1994 with $6 million in contributions from
the Cali drug cartel, so clearly he is beholden to the
interests of the drug lords whose aim is to exploit the
people of Colombia as they get rich serving drugs to wealthy
buyers in the First World.(4) U.$. economic and military aid
are further proof that no elections under Samper or his
cronies will be free and fair. Amerika gives aid as a means
of securing its rights to labor and raw material extraction.
The aid the U.$. government gives to Samper and his military
hounds is a contract for the exploitation of Colombia's
people and natural resources.
Both the ELN and the FARC are waging armed struggle against
the imperialist-backed Colombian government. MIM supports
genuine struggles of the people waging wars of national
liberation. From the literature that MIM has read by and
about them, both organizations appear to be focoist.
Focoists follow the incorrect line of sensational military
actions rather than waging People's War; the focoists expect
to gain adherents through military inspiration instead of
building independent power and support among the population.
But MIM can not make a complete analysis of the forces
fighting the government in Colombia without further study of
their theoretical writings and strategies. We can say with
conviction that we oppose imperialism, and particularly
United Snakes imperialism, in Colombia and we support the
peoples right to self-determination. Armed struggle is the
only way the people will bring down the imperialist-
supported government and we stand with the Colombian people
in their struggle for true democracy.
NOTES:
1. San Jose Mercury News 25 October, 1997.
2. CNN US News 1 March, 1996.
3.
http://www.eurosur.org/rebelion/internacional/colombregalos.
htm 26 May, 1997, Estados Unidos regala armas a Colombia.
Bogot. Agencia Informativa Plsar/Adolfo Mena. Rebelin.
4. Associated Press 26 October, 1997 14:49.
5. SunSpot, Baltimore MD 20 October, 1997.
6. Tampa Tribune 25 October, 1997.
* * *
MASSACHUSETTS PASSES DEATH PENALTY
On October 29th, the Massachusetts House passed a law making
the death penalty an option for juries in a wide range of
murder cases. The Senate had already passed the law, as it
had three times since 1994. Acting Governor Paul Cellucci
has promised to sign the bill. The passage of this bill was
inspired by the anti-crime frenzy that followed a recent
spate of brutal murders, including that of a 10-year old
boy.
There is no evidence that the death penalty or any other
action by the capitalist state affects the crime rate. The
state representative who cast the deciding vote, Nancy
Flavin of Easthampton, admits this: "I know it's not going
to deter crime, I know it's not going to be equal
justice.... I know in my heart of hearts it's not going to
change or reduce crime in Massachusetts...."
Massachusetts has not formally used the death penalty since
1947, and now joins 38 states in having a death penalty.
This law passed by a vote of 81-79, despite last minute
efforts by death penalty opponents to create a "tough on
crime" alternative to the death penalty.
The alternative would create life sentences with no
possibility of commutation by the governor (parole has
already been eliminated for people convicted of first-degree
murder) and require that the prisoner do this time in a
maximum security prison. It would also mandate victim
restitution, the requirement that prisoners somehow pay the
victims or families of victims for their crimes. Usually
this means forcing the prisoners to work in the prison for
slave wages which are then taken and given to some victim
restitution program.
Public opinion polls show that a majority of Amerikans
support the death penalty for murder, but they also support
guaranteed life-long torture. So long as there is some form
of severe torture involved, Amerikans don't care whether an
alleged criminal's life is ended in an electric chair of in
a cage for the rest of his/her life. But public pressure for
the death penalty by activists taking advantage of the
recent murders in Massachusetts had a strong influence on
this vote in the Massachusetts House.
Massachusetts has had the death penalty off and on since
1947, but no one had been formally executed in that time.
Massachusetts is the same state that executed Italian
Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti for a 1927 murder they didn't
commit. In the 1980s, Governor Dukakis offered a
hypocritical apology, but that doesn't do any good for
Sacco, Vanzetti or the radical anarchist movement they
organized.
MIM strongly disagrees with many of the opponents to the
death penalty who support life-long torture instead of
execution. These death penalty opponents -- who include
legislators and much of the mainstream anti-death penalty
movement -- disagree with one type of repression and want to
see a different one used. Such a position is no friend of
the oppressed except as a possible temporary ally against
the death penalty. But such an alliance is very dangerous,
because these positions still fan the flames for settler
revenge.
These opponents of the death penalty stress that murders are
"savages" and "less than human." While most murders are of
acquaintances and romantic partners, the crimes that get the
settlers all riled up are the much rarer stranger murders.
Focusing on cases such as men luring away a young boy to
kill and then rape him distracts from the much more common
killings that occur within the family itself. This
misdirection is led by and protects the patriarchy, where
the rule of the family is supreme. Furthermore, such a focus
ignores the larger systemic murder and genocide that the
Amerikan government carries out on Third World nations and
the internal colonies each day.
We must recognize that the death penalty in Amerika is used
as a symbolic act of retribution and revenge in high-profile
cases and as a weapon of terror in Amerika's war against the
Black, Latino and First Nations within its borders. MIM is
not a pacifist organization and we recognize that there will
be violence even under socialism as we struggle to eliminate
all violence. For this reason we do not dismiss the possible
use of a death penalty under socialism when dealing with
enemies of the people. But we must oppose the use of the
death penalty by the imperialist state as part of our
struggle against the injustice system itself.
NOTE: Boston Globe 20 October 1997; Springfield Union-News
20 October 1997.
* * *
SO-CALLED ALTERNATIVE PAPER ALLIES WITH CAMPUS PIGS IN PHONY
CRIME HYPE
The September 18 Valley Advocate newspaper launched a pig-
inspired attack on oppressed nation students, accusing them
of gang involvement. The Advocate is a self-labeled
alternative paper published in western Massachusetts. The
president of the Hampshire College campus police, Alan
Lambert, recently went to the Advocate with stories that the
college administration was covering up rising crime and not
properly equipping the cops. Lambert is also peddling
stories of gun-toting and drug-dealing gang members invading
the campus and recruiting. Lambert wants to increase campus
police and expand its powers. His rhetoric lays the basis
for a later campaign to arm the campus police. Hampshire
College pigs are currently not armed.
The anti-gang rhetoric of Lambert and the Advocate
criminalizes the oppressed. It builds reactionary public
opinion for further repression of oppressed nation students
on the Hampshire campus. If the white students and their
parents are afraid of Latino students, then the cops will
have a freer rein. A Hampshire student reported other
Lambert incidents, including a rumor -- confirmed by the
director of Public Safety -- that two years ago Lambert was
watching oppressed nation students inside their rooms with
his car's spotlight. Lambert wasn't disciplined, but
apparently he thinks Hampshire pigs should be doing this on
a regular basis.
On September 30, the Dean of Students office organized a
meeting to discuss the Advocate articles and Lambert. The
first administrator gave a speech pledging a "commitment to
diversity" and issued a vague promise to increase the
numbers of "minority" students beyond the current 10-11%.
(Currently, about 20% of Massachusetts high school students
are oppressed nationals.)
Demanding increased enrollment of oppressed nationals is a
positive reform that MIM supports. Of course, MIM recognizes
that such a reform will not end national oppression, and it
can be taken away at any time, as long as the revolutionary
movement remains weak.
The administrators also said that they don't want to see
cops have guns on campus, and students cheered. Again MIM
agrees that cops on campuses should not have guns, and
encourages students to organize independent of the
administration against the arming of campus cops.
Some students at the gathering put forward demands for
sensitivity training or for more cops "of color." MIM argues
these are dead-end reforms because the problem with the
police is the social role pigs play systematically.
Different pigs' tactics or social origin do not change the
role that individual pigs play in systematic national
oppression.
There is also plenty of evidence to suggest such programs do
not work. Amerika has picked up on this demand for more
Black representation in police departments around the
country, and it has not made a substantial difference in
police violence against oppressed nationals or changed the
fact that oppressed nationals are imprisoned at higher rates
than whites.
Most campuses in North America are relatively over-policed
considering the amount of bourgeois-defined crime that
happens on the campuses. Hampshire College is a quieter
campus than most, having only 1200 students in a rural part
of Amherst. But its part-time police force is the same size
as the full time force of Smith College, a wimmin's college
of twice as many students in the nearby city of Northampton.
The over-policing of campuses serves two roles. First,
campus pigs can be called on to repress a politically
volatile population, especially the oppressed nation
students. Second, the campus cops serve as public relations
for white students' parents. White parents expect their
daughter or son to be perfectly safe.
There is no evidence that police levels have any effect on
the crime rate. For example, where have cops ever stopped
sexual assault? The great majority of sexual assailants are
wimmin's sexual partners -- not strangers in the bushes.
Cops -- with or without guns -- can do nothing about this
problem endemic to patriarchal society. The solution is in
struggling to end the patriarchy, not in giving 9mm Glocks
to campus pigs.
* * *
ANOREXIA ON THE RISE IN ASIA
SMASH PATRIARCHY TO END ANOREXIA
The prevalence of anorexia in south Korea increased
dramatically recently and is close to the prevalence in the
united $tates. Anorexia was "unheard of in Korea a decade
ago." In 1990, 7 out of every 1000 south Korean college
wimmin were anorexic. Experts estimate that the rate has
risen since then. The rate for wimmin ages 18 to 35 in the
u.$. is about 10 per 1000.
Anorexia can be fatal, and intense dieting by teenagers can
weaken resistance to disease and can increase the risk of
certain diseases (such as osteoporosis) later in life.
"Over the past five years, the self-starvation syndrome has
spread... to Seoul, Hong Kong, and Singapore... Cases have
also been reported -- though at much lower rates -- in
Taipei, Beijing, and Shanghai. Anorexia has even surfaced
among the affluent elite in countries where hunger remains a
problem, including the Philippines, India, and Pakistan."
Anorexia was first documented in Japan in the 1960s, and the
incidence of anorexia among Japanese wimmin today is about
the same as among Amerikan wimmin.
The increase of anorexia in east Asia is correlated with the
growth of relatively prosperous middle classes and the
arrival of western-style advertising and decadent consumer
culture. In Singapore, a hot selling designer t-shirt bears
the following words: "I've got to get into that dress. It's
easy. Don't eat... I'm hungry. Can't eat breakfast. But I
ought to... I like breakfast. I like that dress... Still too
big for that dress. Hmm. Life can be cruel." In south Korea,
the most fashionable clothes are often "made in only one
size that is the equivalent of an American size 4." "They
make it just one size so only skinny girls will wear it and
it will look good," said Park Sung Hye, editor of a Korean
fashion magazine.
Alongside the fashion industry, the diet and weight-loss
industry profits from and promotes the craze to be skinny.
"In Hong Kong, 20 to 30 types of diet pills are in common
use, including variations on the 'fen-phen' combination of
[drugs] that was banned in the United States last month for
causing heart damage..."
Patriarchy is profitable, so any attempt to advance a
country's economy through capitalism will reinforce and
expand patriarchy. All of the countries listed above --
China since 1976 included -- are firmly on the capitalist
path. In the case of the Philippines, India, and Pakistan,
capitalist development has been a failure all-around. In the
case of the so-called four tigers -- south Korea, Taiwan,
Hong Kong, and Singapore -- capitalist development remains
tenuous. Even among the middle classes of these countries,
who have arguably benefited from their exceptional
development, capitalism and imperialism sow seeds of
discontent. Middle class young wimmin and men from these
countries will rebel against the culture and system which
teaches them to be passive and seeks to keep them that way.
Many will link up with the proletariat in their country,
recognizing that the proletariat is leading the struggle to
change the system oppressing them all.
Socialism has proven to be the most effective weapon in
combating patriarchy. We can see this by looking at the
experience of China. Under socialism, there was no
prostitution, no money was wasted on decadent and anti-
wimmin fashion advertising, and wimmin held leading roles in
the economy and the state. Today, after more than twenty
years of capitalist restoration, prostitution has returned,
fewer wimmin hold high-level political positions, and even
the practice of wife-selling has returned in the
countryside.
NOTES: Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct 97.
* * *
PIRAO STUDIES KWAME NKRUMAH'S EXPERIENCE
by PIRAO chief
Kwame Nkrumah considered himself a military leader evolving
into an ever better party leader and Marxist scientist of
Pan-Africanism. We studied his posthumous letters to an
assistant of his named June Milne based in England. The
letters were published in Kwame Nkrumah: The Conakry Years
His Life and Letters.
Although June Milne was based in the imperialist countries,
it is clear she played an indispensable role to Nkrumah, who
made her the owner of all his written work through his Will
upon death.
Milne played no direct military role herself, but she was a
concrete example of many things that the people of the
imperialist countries can do to speed up the advance of
communism. She arranged food and medical supplies for
Nkrumah. Above all she saw to the publication of his works.
The posthumous letters of Nkrumah are an eye-opener in
several regards to the MIM-led People's Internationalist
Rear-Area Organization (PIRAO). Above all, PIRAO learns to
have a materialist view of Nkrumah, not as a hero of
incredible and thereby magic powers but someone who had
concrete problems to solve like our own. For instance,
although he liberated the first Sub-Saharan country from
colonialism and then served as president of Ghana, none of
the major western publishing houses would publish his books!
In fact, left-leaning or revisionist publishing houses such
as International Publishers or Lawrence & Wishart occupied
much of Nkrumah's and Milne's attentions in his final years
in exile. Milne did much of the work to edit Nkrumah's work
and collect up galley proofs for Nkrumah to give his final
approval to. Then Milne spent much time chasing around
progressive publishers for money and deals to publish the
books and then bookstores to sell them. Nkrumah set up his
own independent institution of the oppressed, the PANAF book
publishers. It is now an imprint of Zed Books which
published the book of which we speak in 1990.
Eye-opening is the fact that Nkrumah's publishing efforts
all had very humble beginnings. During his life, he never
managed to sell more than a few thousand copies of any of
his books. 1,000 to 3,000 were common numbers of discussion.
Some governments took it upon themselves to publish his
works; the Chinese for instance translated his works into
Chinese for the Chinese people. However, in terms of the
French and English-speaking world, Nkrumah's efforts were
humble. The youth of the 1990s who think that the 1960s were
just incomparably different and better should realize that
they too could match and surpass the institution-building of
the 1960s, and it would not be an impossible feat.
This shows that PIRAO's own efforts may seem small to some,
but in actuality, the independent publishing efforts that
PIRAO can support can easily rival those of Nkrumah. People
in the imperialist countries can at least support
independent publishing if properly challenged and if they
realize that no one else is doing the work.
Nkrumah himself quoted Napolean on the reason for his
military successes: "Someone asked Napolean the reason for
his war successes. He replied: 'First money; second, money;
third, money.'"(p. 199) People in the imperialist countries
who think they cannot do anything to advance the
independence of nations and the cause of communism just
because they are not at the front-lines are obviously wrong.
People from all walks of life can make unlimited
contributions to the revolution. They can build the
infrastructure we call the independent institutions of the
oppressed and often they do not have to leave their
professions to do so.
MIM's third cardinal principle on the labor aristocracy is
especially useful in PIRAO's struggle to contribute to world
revolution. While he spent much time criticizing those he
felt initially too attracted to capitalism such as Stokely
Carmichael, and he insisted on putting class above race,
Nkrumah also believed like MIM that the working classes of
Amerika and western Europe are embourgeoisified.
Furthermore, he also opposed the Peace Corps and managed to
kick them out of part of Africa. This is an important
combination of thoughts for PIRAO.
We refer to these facts, because we have crossed paths with
many who would like nothing better than to be Peace Corps
volunteers with Marxist rhetoric. Many of these people end
up in Non-Governmental Organizations or sitting around
waiting for some large hand-out to carry out their idealist
programs. The well-meaning intentions of these cloudy-minded
people in the imperialist countries is at root parasitism.
People who are or could easily be petty-bourgeoisie end up
sucking in salary for some cause in which the money should
be going to Third World revolutionaries. This would not be
so bad except that there is no easier place to be self-
supporting than in the imperialist countries. If we in the
imperialist countries are not self-reliant and contributing
to the struggle internationally, then we just are not doing
our jobs in the international scheme of things. Too many
comrades or allies are would-be Buddhists or Quakers fearing
involvement in the dirty-work of PIRAO and they restrict
themselves to spiritual discussions.
Recently, a comrade wrote to PIRAO to inform it that a large
donation intended for PIRAO was diverted through parasitic
politics. Originally the donation had internationalist
intentions, but someone claimed that someone locally within
U.$. borders was oppressed and more deserving of the money.
Hence, PIRAO did not receive the money intended for it.
The revolutionaries of the world including Nkrumah are and
were defamed by the imperialist press in newsprint by the
ton. We in the imperialist countries have not yet done our
share to counteract just the propaganda onslaught.
We in the imperialist countries are not in an effective
place to contribute blood to the struggle, but that does not
limit the possibilities of overall contribution to
revolutionary struggle. PIRAO is here to challenge the
imperialist country masses to take up a special
understanding of self-reliance and contribute their share to
the advance of worldwide communism.
It is not that we want an exaggerated share of people's
earnings to go to revolution either. That is not the point
anymore than pure ascetic spirituality is. Idealists may be
idealists for making no concrete contributions while only
talking or they may be idealists for trying to give away all
their worldly possessions. The point is to learn to create
and expand independent institutions of the oppressed so that
concrete contributions to revolutionary struggle always
increase each year.
* * *
STATE DEPARTMENT PUBLISHES LIST OF TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS--
REVOLUTIONARIES BEWARE!
by a comrade
On October 8, 1997 the united snakes' state department
published a list of 30 foreign terrorist organizations,
pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act of 1996. (See sidebar for list.)
Groups as varied as Aum Shinrikyo and Kahane Chai and the
Communist Party of Peru are on the list of designated
terrorist groups. The state department did not designate the
IRA, presumably because Sinn Fein and the government are
currently in so-called peace negotiations. Since the list
can always be amended, we can assume the IRA will be back on
if the negotiations break down.
Amerikan citizens are exposed to a fine and/or ten years in
prison for giving any material aid to any of these groups
(except for medicine and religious materials).
Non-u.s. citizens are subject to deportation, largely on the
basis of secret evidence, without an opportunity to defend
themselves. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act works in conjunction with the new Illegal Immigration
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) to deal
especially harsh punishment to settler-labeled illegal
immigrants. The IIRAIRA makes many misdemeanors and petty
crimes deportable offenses -- even if they were committed
years ago and the person has already served prison time!
These people are now subject to deportation proceedings, and
this could very well include people who have connections to
foreign imperialist-labeled terrorist organizations.
Also, banks must freeze all funds known to belong to any of
the listed organizations. The law further provides that the
banks (based on their belief) can freeze the assets of
individuals (including u.s. citizens) if the bank believes
that such individual is an agent of any of the listed
groups.
MIM and other revolutionaries must be vigilant about keeping
informed of any changes to the list, and actions taken by
the government under the Anti-Terrorism Act. MIM supporters
must realize that if MIM is designated as an "agent" of any
foreign terrorist organization, MIM's assets could be frozen
and our revolutionary work would be seriously jeopardized.
Amerika's list of alleged terrorist groups:
Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
Armed Islamic Group (GIA)
Aum Shinrikyo (Aum)
Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA)
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine-Hawatmeh
Faction
(DFLP)
HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement)
Harakat ul-Ansar (HUA)
Hizballah (Party of God)
Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group, IG)
Japanese Red Army (JRA)
al-Jihad
Kach
Kahane Chai
Khmer Rouge
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front Dissidents (FPMR/D)
Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO)
National Liberation Army (ELN)
Palestine Islamic Jihad-Shaqaqi Faction (PIJ)
Palestine Liberation Front-Abu Abbas Faction (PLF)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General
Command
(PFLP-GC)
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17 November)
Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)
Revolutionary People's Struggle (ELA)
Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL)
Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA)
* * *
NIGERIAN MILITARY IN SIERRA LEONE:
DOING IMPERIALISM'S DIRTY WORK AT A HIGH PRICE
by MC45
written 28 October 1997
In late May of this year, the elected government of Sierra
Leone was displaced by a military coup. Shortly following
the coup, Nigeria sent troops into Sierra Leone in an effort
to reinstall President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. Nigerian troops
are in Sierra Leone to make Africa safer for imperialism. As
MIM Notes goes to press, the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) has reached an agreement with the
Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), the group which
seized power in Sierra Leone, to restore power to Kabbah.
While this agreement may resolve the current fighting, it
does nothing to alleviate the relationship between
imperialism and west Africa, specifically Sierra Leone.(1)
General Sani Abacha's military government in Nigeria carries
on a diseased relationship with U.$. imperialism in which
Amerikan monopoly capital steadily invades Nigeria while
arming the Nigerian police forces to defend monopoly
interests, and sanctioning Nigerian military actions against
neighboring African countries. Amerika wants the military
coup leaders out of power in Sierra Leone because this
instability is bad for imperialism and because the coup
leaders' criticisms of Kabbah's corruption may indicate that
they will strike at U.$. interests in Sierra Leone.
In situations like this one where there is no clear
proletarian pole, the masses suffer most as a result of the
fighting and they have little or nothing to gain from its
outcome. The only possibility is to turn this instability
into a revolutionary opportunity, one in which a force which
genuinely holds the people's interests at heart can gain
power while the factions of the bourgeoisie are fighting
each other. MIM believes that only through genuinely
independent proceedings will the peoples of both Sierra
Leone and Nigeria resolve their governmental conflicts and
the economic problems that go with them. We focus on the
U.$. role because it is our responsibility to rally people
within United Snakes borders to support an end to
imperialism in Sierra Leone and Nigeria. This is our most
effective means of supporting the peoples of these countries
in expelling imperialism from their borders.
NIGERIANS STAY POOR WHILE U.$. MONOPOLY GETS RICH
As a neo-colony of England, Nigeria is a poor country with
overall poor living conditions for its people, but Nigeria's
military government is profiting tremendously from the
imperialist sponsorship that comes with opening the
country's oil resources to foreign extraction. For this
reason, the comprador government is willing to do a great
deal to ensure the stability of imperialist control of its
part of the African continent -- up to and including
invasions and military action in neighboring and nearby
countries.
The CIA World Factbook describes the Nigerian economy as
"oil-rich" but this is only a statement on the proportion of
the Nigerian economy which revolves around oil, not on the
income oil provides to the people of Nigeria. The infant
mortality rate there, which is an important measure of the
people's health, is 72.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, which
is more than ten times the U.$. rate of 6.7 per 1,000.(5)
People living within u.$. borders should not support the
unequal economic relationship between these two countries
and the disparities in standard of living it creates.
Even while Nigeria's military pays tribute to Amerikan and
European imperialism by intervening in countries all over
Africa, Nigeria's people are suffering in poverty just as
the peoples of the countries invaded by the Nigerian
military are suffering.
$HELL IN NIGERIA
Nigeria's oil economy made big headlines when the Ogoni
people, led by martyred activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, forced $hell
Oil to close operations in Ogoni land. Saro-Wiwa's brother,
Dr. Owens Wiwa, pointed out at a talk in Boston last Spring
that the Nigerian government has stepped up repression of
the Ogoni since $hell stopped operations in Ogoni territory.
He also pointed out that in spite of her progressive veneer
in domestic politics, U.$. Senator Mosley-Brown supported
Abacha's dictatorship in a visit to Nigeria.(2)
The managing director of $hell Petroleum Development
Corporation of Nigeria ($PDC) claims that "Shell Nigeria
remains committed to the long-term future of the country and
its people," and that "[$hell] believe[s its] most crucial
role is helping Nigeria overcome its economic problems and
creating wealth that will give the people of Nigeria a
better living standard and open up for them more options for
progress and development."(3)
But these nice-sounding sentiments have little to do with
the reality of a multi-national corporation (MNC). Because
$hell's focus is on making profits and expanding the
company's production, it cannot hold improving the Nigerian
economy as a priority. Advancing the Nigerian economy would
have to include some level of self-sufficiency -- production
aimed at feeding the people of Nigeria rather than exporting
natural resources to bring in great monetary wealth. The
presence of $hell and other MNCs in Nigeria, the direct arms
of imperialist intervention, keeps the Nigerian economy in a
subservient position.
$hell's involvement in Nigeria extends beyond pure
economics. Observing the common practice of MNCs operating
in Nigeria, $hell regularly buys weapons for the
Supernumerary Police (commonly known as the "spy") force of
Nigeria, so that the spies can "guard the company's
residential, office and industrial areas and major
production centres and provide escort duties in areas of
high risk."(4)
$hell Nigeria's director has complained about his company
being singled out among multi-nationals when all foreign
companies operating in Nigeria employ the same practice of
arming the spy force to protect their exploitation of
Nigeria's natural resources. MIM opposes this practice
generally as a direct and specific manifestation of the
brutality of imperialism. While we agree that there is no
reason to single $hell out in principle, because monopoly
capitalism and imperialism are generally bad for the
proletariat, we do find it convenient that $hell has
suffered particular attention. $hell's responses to attacks
on its practices in Nigeria have brought out additional
details of imperialist workings in Nigeria and this is good
for MIM because it provides more material direct from the
exploiters on why Amerikans should organize to oppose U.$.
imperialism.
$hell justifies arming the spy force saying that "crime in
Nigeria frequently involves the use of arms" and that its
company guest houses are often robbed.
MIM does not see these incidents as proof that $hell needs
military protection, but as proof that $hell has no business
extracting Nigerian oil. If MNCs and their high-level staff
are victimized more than the general population, it is
because they are so much wealthier than the general
population and so robbing them is more lucrative than
robbing the average Nigerian citizen. $hell executives are
so wealthy because they are involved in the direct
extraction of wealth from Nigeria. MIM supports long-term
reparations and self-reliant rehabilitation for the long-
term. But in the short term, we cannot mourn the loss of
cash and jewelry from thieves who have stolen their riches
from land that isn't theirs. Our sorrow is that such minor
incidents as these are clearly not sufficient to convince
$hell to leave Nigeria entirely, and these thefts only give
$hell rationale to further arm itself against the masses.
U.$. OUT OF SIERRA LEONE
Sierra Leone, with a population much smaller than Nigeria's
-- an estimated 4.8 million people in 1996 -- is in even
worse shape from the perspective of the people's health. The
infant mortality rate there was estimated at 135.6 deaths
per 1,000 live births in 1996 -- compared to a rate of 72.4
in Nigeria, while the life expectancy was only 47.5
years.(5) With two-thirds of Sierra Leoneans employed in
agriculture, and most of that sector being devoted to
subsistence farming, the population cannot get enough to eat
to keep one-tenth of babies alive through their first
birthdays.
In true neo-colonial fashion, Sierra Leone's principal
industries are mining, light manufacturing (beverages,
textiles, cigarettes and footwear) and petroleum refining.
Minerals make up 87% of the country's exports, while Sierra
Leone imports food (38%), machinery and equipment (44%) and
fuels and lubricants (18%). MIM says this is a true neo-
colonial-style economic structure because the manufacturing
Sierra Leone does do is inadequate to support its production
needs, and even though two-thirds of the people farm, they
are unable to produce enough food to feed the country.(5)
Neo-colonialism creates an unequal dependent relationship in
which the imperialists suck out raw materials to increase
wealth in the First World, and the colonized country is left
importing food and the very machinery it needs to help
imperialism extract raw materials.
Regardless of the intentions of either the elected or
current military rulers of Sierra Leone, the people of this
country will not be helped by continued foreign
intervention. Cessation of fighting is a good thing if it
means that the masses will no longer be victimized by the
crossfire, but anti-imperialists must continue to oppose all
continued U.$. and U.$.-proxy interference in Sierra Leone.
NOTES:
1. U.S. Information Agency 24 October, 1997.
2. MIM Notes 135 1 April, 1997.
3. "Operational Information," $hell Nigeria,
http://www.$hellnigeria.com/ab$hell/ops.html
4. "Firearms--the $hell position," $hell Nigeria,
http://www.$hellnigeria.com/news/prl12.html
5. CIA World Factbook.
* * *
CHUCK D. SPEAKS: "DON'T BE SHEEP!"
Chuck D., rap artist and political speaker, gave a lecture
at Harvard University on October 20 concerning issues in his
new book, Rap, Race, and Reality. The focus of his talk was
on attacking mass media and the control that it gives
corporate Amerika over the people in the u.s. Unfortunately,
his ideas and criticisms weren't as revolutionary as some of
his lyrics with Public Enemy.
A main point of the lecture was that corporations can
dictate reality through the media. The images that are
portrayed on TV and in ads have a great affect on Amerikan
culture and what people in the u.s. aspire to be.
"Corporation shave such a robotic hold on the minds of not
only Americans, they are now dictating reality." He
criticized Amerikans for their individualist view of the
world that allows them to separate themselves from reality
and live in their own world, which is justified by
corporations. This effect plays a role in the pacification
of the imperialist nation. Part of this analysis by Chuck D
suggests that the masses in Amerika are stupid and this is
why they don't see through the mass media. But this ignores
the reality of Amerikan imperialism which has created a huge
labor aristocracy that has an interest in supporting
imperialism because it materially benefits the labor
aristocracy as well as in the imperialists.
Chuck also spent time talking about the history of the Black
community in relation to music and the media. He pointed out
that individual black communities within the u.s. were
isolated from each other through the late 80's, resulting in
separate cultures. He said that the unity became widespread
after rap music hit the mainstream, and Blacks began to
appear in music videos. But he was clear that this was only
a positive opportunity for the first couple of years when it
was coming straight from the clubs. Modern mainstream rap
has taken on the characteristics of all mainstream media
with its focus on profit, unconcerned with any negative
effects it has on society. He spoke of race and acknowledged
that this concept was created by the racist ruling power and
has no basis in reality. It is curious that he chose to use
the term in the title of his book.
Apparently Chuck is now working for a major TV network and
sees "hijacking" the video screen as a means of getting his
message out. Though it would be ideal to be able to use
television to propagate the revolutionary message, as long
as it is controlled by the enemy they will not allow us to
speak the truth. In fact, Chuck is a good example of this:
he pitched a political late night talk show to Paramount who
responded by saying that they liked his star quality but he
had an agenda they didn't want to put on TV. We must resort
to independent media, which has a much smaller base, but
which we can control fully. Chuck took an opportunist line
in saying that fliers will accomplish nothing in opposition
to the powerful media of television. But history shows us
that when the message is right, and the people are willing
to support it, it doesn't matter that the opposition has
millions of dollars more.
Chuck D. has been a revolutionary voice of the Black nation
for almost a decade. But the radical ideas that justified
Public Enemy's self-proclaimed name were somewhat lacking in
this recent talk. He merely hinted at the fact that Blacks
in Amerika are worse off than the white majority, ignoring
the true nature of the system of oppression. So although he
provided good information on the negative results of
corporate controlled media, he failed to link it back to the
system of imperialism that it is serving. Chuck D. failed to
define the enemy and to put his topic in the light of the
grand scheme. As a result, his suggestion for action is to
write letters to station groups if you don't like what they
are saying. This is where a lack of clear analysis leads:
ineffective action. To fight the power, we must recognize
who we are fighting and we must learn from history to take
the most effective actions against that enemy.
* * *
TWO LONG HOURS OF HISTORICAL REVISIONISM
SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET MOVIE REVIEW
Seven Years in Tibet is the sanitized and romanticized film
version of the self-promoting memoir of an elite Nazi who
became a tutor and advisor to the spiritual and political
leader of one of the last slave societies on the planet
Earth. The elite Nazi is Heinrich Harrer, played by Brad
Pitt, and the slave master is the Dalai Lama. It comes as no
surprise to MIM that the Dalai Lama would embrace a Nazi,
nor that Hollywood would use fascism and slavery to concoct
an attack on communism.
The most important problems with this film are that it
practically ignores of the role of Nazism and slavery and
that it fabricates the positions and actions of the Chinese
People's Liberation Army. Most bourgeois reviews of this
film have focused on the fact that Harrer wasn't a good guy
(abandoning his wife, engaging in frequent prison breaks
from a British POW camp that jeopardized the escape plans of
the other fascist POWs) or for turning the film into
psychological thriller about Harrer's love for his abandoned
son.(1)
After the film was completed, Harrer's Nazi past was
revealed and few voice-overs in the film were changed to
suggest that Harrer joined the Nazi party reluctantly to
further his career, and that his sojourn in Tibet made him
realize that Nazism is bad. Actually, Harrer joined the SA
in 1933, and the SS in 1938. Harrer is no Schindler, but
instead someone who joined a voluntary elite Nazi
organization and held a rank the equivalent of sergeant.
Harrer's memoir makes no mention of his Nazi past.(1)
Seven Years in Tibet shows Tibet as a peace-loving, non-
violent society, when it was in fact a brutal society of
high lamas owning hundreds of thousands of serfs. The Dalai
Lama's family alone owned 4,000 people.(2) As one former
serf told journalist Anna Louise Strong on life before
liberation: "I was not much different than a yak."(3)
Amongst the few correct things about this film is that it
shows how isolated the high lamas were from the people, as
we see the young Dalai Lama constantly watching his people
from his palace with a telescope, and his advisors
criticizing him for doing so. His advisors wanted the Dalai
Lama to be even more cut off from the people.
Prior to 1949, Tibet had been considered a part of China.
According to Strong, "No foreign power in seven hundred
years has recognized Tibet as a separate nation or sent an
ambassador to Lhasa."(4) While Tibet relatively autonomous
in the period immediately prior to 1949, so was most of
imperialist-weakened China as it had broken up into
different pieces run by warlords.
In the film we see three Chinese People's Liberation Army
generals fly to Lhasa to meet with the Dalai Lama. These
generals are rude to everyone, and kick over a religious
symbol created by a monk as a sign of peace and friendliness
towards the generals. After the meeting, the lead general
tells a Tibetan minister "Religion is poison."
Religion is used by ruling classes to justify oppressive
systems and get the people to believe that they deserve
their conditions. In the case of Buddhism, adherents are
told that if they tolerate their position in society well
enough, they may do better in another life. Religion is a
reactionary idea that Communists should propagandize
against, but the methods used by the People's Liberation
Army in the film are not only historically inaccurate but
proven ineffective at destroying superstition.
As Mao instructed in "Report on an Investigation of the
Peasant Movement in Hunan" written two decades before the
time covered in the film and a thousand miles from the
location of Tibet, the Communists should "Draw the bow
without shooting, just indicate the motions." As a footnote
to this article explains: "This reference to archery is
taken from Mencius. It describes how the expert teacher of
archery draws his bow with a histrionic gesture but does not
release the arrow. The point is that while Communists should
guide the peasants in attaining a full measure of political
consciousness, they should leave it to the peasants' own
initiative to abolish superstitious and other bad practices
and should not give them orders or do it for them."(5)
Mao also explained that the nobility would otherwise use
this alienation of the peasants' current ideology to rally
them against the Communist Party and the revolution. But
with careful political work the peasants will become
impressed by the honest ways of the Communists and take up
the revolutionary science of Marxism that puts the faith in
the masses' own actions and not in gods or the location of
their ancestors' graves.
The film portrays a surprise attack by PLA forces on the
Tibetan forces in 1950. The reality was portrayed in an
article about Tibet in MIM Theory 8: "The PLA entered the
city of Chambdo in 1950. This area plagued by fighting
between Tibetan and Szechwan warlords, was not, according to
most maps, part of Tibet. In 1950, however, the population
was majority Tibetan. The PLA entry was anticipated by the
Dalai Lama, so Tibetan troops were sent to meet and fight
the PLA. The PLA quickly defeated the Dalai Lama's army in
Chambdo. Many Tibetans, including some of the leadership of
the Tibetan army, went over to the PLA side. The PLA was
able to win support by explaining their intentions and
through sharing what was happening in [other parts of]
China.
"The PLA did not advance into Tibet until 1951, when an
agreement between the Dalai Lama and the Central Government
for the 'Peaceful Liberation of Tibet' was signed. The
agreement set the terms of the transition for Tibet back
into being a functioning part of China.
"Claiming the support of the Tibetan people, the Dalai Lama
also claimed to support the agreement, in which China was to
'leave unchanged the political structure, the powers of the
Dalai Lama, the income of the monasteries' and was not to
'use compulsion for reform.' Instead reform was left in the
hands of the local governments and monasteries, who had
agreed to begin reforming themselves." These agreements
included things like abolished debts the serfs had owed for
generations to the monasteries.(6)
Unlike what was portrayed in the text after the film, the
Dalai Lama and the nobility dragged their feet at the
reforms, especially land reform, and staged a number of
rebellions. After a 1959 nobility-led rebellion, the Dalai
Lama fled to exile in India. With the self-removal of the
bulk of the nobility and their invalidation of the 1951
agreement, serfdom was officially abolished and land reform
was carried out in earnest.(6)
This nobility in exile serves as the nucleus of the "Free
Tibet" movement. MIM of course does not support the state-
capitalist fascism of Deng Xiao-ping and Jiang Zemin, but we
see it as preferable to a return to serfdom under the Dalai
Lama. A better option would be a capitalism free of China's
current fascism, and the best option would be for the
genuine Maoists remaining within Tibet to lead a communist
revolution against China and for an independent, socialist
Tibet.
NOTE:
1. The "Hero" of Seven Years in Tibet, Holocaust,
http:holocaust.miningco.com/library/weekly/mcurrent.htm.
Citing: Dallas Morning News 12 Oct 1997, C3 and Julia
Ferguson, "Dalai Lama's Austrian Tutor Says Was in Nazi
Party," Reuters North American Wire 28 May 1997.
2. Great Changes in Tibet, Foreign Languages Press: Peking
1972. p. 22.
3. Anna Louis Strong, Tibetan Interviews. New World Press:
Peking 1959, p. 30.
4. Ibid, p. 74.
5. Mao Zedong, Selected Works Volume I, Foreign Languages
Press, 1965. p. 46, 58(n).
6. MIM Theory 8. "The Liberation of Tibet: Revolutionary
Advances and Counter-Revolutionary Claims" pp 92-95. $6 from
MIM. This section cites Strong's Tibetan Interviews and
Strong's When Serf's Stood Up in Tibet, New World Press,
Peking 1960.
* * *
CAMBRIDGE CENSORS THE MASSES' INFORMATION
Under Mayor Sheila Doyle Russell, Cambridge, Massachusetts
has hired employees to tear down posters in Cambridge around
the clock. MIM spoke with these employees on the street and
verified that they were indeed City employees.
Priding itself on its unshakeable liberalism, Cambridge has
proved that liberalism does not stop gentrification and
sterilization of cultural life. The hiring of employees to
tear down posters and write letters opposing postering shows
that the City Government is right in line with the prison-
state economy of the country as a whole.
Contrary to bourgeois propaganda, in contrast, in the
Cultural Revolution in China (1966 to 1976) under Mao, the
government paid for the paper for people to put up posters
("dazibao") on city walls. Such is necessary for real
political life by the masses. Even in a rich country like
the U$A, the people cannot afford to buy television and
newspaper ads, so posters are a necessity. The Cambridge
crackdown hits only those with no great financial means. It
is thus a typical class struggle of the rich against the
poor. The only time the poor will be allowed to speak is
when they are told what to say in the rich man's
publications with the rich man's editor checking up on it.
* * *
PAPER TIGERS
FIRST BRAIN DRAIN, NOW ARM CHARM?
by MC5
A Cuban baseball pitcher named Livan Hernandez is in the
news. The U$ newspapers are making big hay, because he
defected from Cuba in 1995 to play for the Florida Marlins.
He has in the process won Most Valuable Player award in the
1997 National League Championship for pitching two wins.
Cubans everywhere are proud and the bourgeois media wants to
capitalize on that somehow.
Various papers call the defection of Livan Hernandez a
victory of capitalism over socialism. We find this a
ridiculous accusation, not just because Cuba is not
socialist, but state-capitalist.
Cuba was a poor country before Fidel Castro, and it would
not have been able to keep Livan Hernandez either. So it has
nothing to do with capitalism or socialism. A poor
capitalist country can't compete either.
The founder of USA Today himself could not resist making
propaganda, but while doing so he says that the Marlins gave
Hernandez a four-year $4.5 million contract while
ballplayers in Cuba get $20 a month. That has nothing to do
with socialism versus capitalism. That has to do with a
lower standard of living, something prevalent in the vast
majority of other capitalist countries too.
In the U$A, even the pro-sports teams have salary caps and
attempts at "parity," because they know the teams with the
money win. If Castro had $4.5 million to offer Livan, would
Livan have left Cuba? At least there would be a more even
competition.
If anything, all the baseball and boxing success in Cuba
shows that Castro has mobilized some capitalist success
stories of his own. The important question is not how Cuba
compares with a country that was always bigger and richer,
but how it compares with old free-market Cuba.
Today, the U$A is so full of itself that it sends the
professional athletes making millions a year to compete
against athletes with much fewer training resources at their
disposal. For example, the basketball Dream Teams sent to
the Olympics showcase what can be done with a large
population to draw recruits from and lots of money.
For every one Livan Hernandez, there had to 1000 pitchers
not so great in Cuba. Cuba raised and trained Livan --
feeding and clothing him and others like him who failed
while playing baseball. Now what does Cuba get for its
success story? U$ propaganda. All Third World countries that
have suffered the brain drain face a similar issue. It is
not a capitalism versus socialism issue.
NOTE: USA Today 24 October 1997, p. 15a.
HOWARD STUDENTS WIN IMPORTANT VICTORY
Washington, DC -- The administration at Howard University
applied to local authorities to take ownership of public
streets in its vicinity. In the face of student resistance,
the Mayor Marion Barry withdrew the university request.
The Advisory Neighborhood Commission and the General
Assembly representing students also opposed it. "Students
have voiced concerns that if Howard controlled the streets,
it would erect a fence and institute check-points."
MIM agrees with the students that giving the city or the
university all the power is not a good idea. The students
also worried that Howard University administrators would
gain power to arrest demonstrators on what used to be public
property.(1) On the other hand, at the same time that the
students were fighting Howard University, DC cops were
arresting graduate students for drinking beer on their
porches.(2)
Universities across the country have ignorantly and
irrationally fallen into anti-crime hysteria -- hiring
police and locking themselves away from the public. Thus,
the university has become a microcosm of the U$A as a whole
which is the world's leader per capita in imprisonment, when
the university should be the one place where crime is viewed
scientifically.
NOTES:
1. The Hilltop: The Nation's Largest Black Collegiate
Newspaper, 3 October 1997, p.1 .
2. The InTowner September, 1997, pp. 1, 9.
MILLIONS DIE EACH YEAR FROM TREATABLE DISEASES
by MC206
"Waterborne and sanitation-related diseases [such as cholera
and typhoid] kill well over three million annually and
disable hundreds of millions more, most of them younger than
five years of age," according to the November 1997 issue of
Scientific American.
"Bacterial and viral diseases contracted by drinking
contaminated water include... childhood diarrhea ailments,
infectious hepatitis and poliomyelitis..."
"Around the world a billion people lack access to safe
water, and 1.8 billion do not have adequate sanitary
facilities. According to one estimate, providing safe water
and decent sanitation facilities for all human beings would
cost $68 billion over the next ten years -- an enormous sum,
but equivalent to only one percent of the world's military
expenditures for the same period."
On the one hand, this is yet another example of the enormous
waste of imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. On
the other, it is an indication of the wonders that can be
accomplished once imperialism is vanquished and economic
resources are allocated by a state which acts in the
interests of the majority of humanity.
Even without getting a share of the imperialists' military
budgets, an oppressed nation which liberates itself from
imperialism could allocate its own resources -- which
otherwise would have gone into ephemeral projects designed
to boost imperialist profits -- to solve basic problems like
sanitation or health care. That is why the life expectancy
in socialist China doubled from 1949 to 1976.
CINCINNATI ANGLES FOR REACTIONARY FIRST PLACE
by MC5
Cincinnati is building a reactionary name for itself. A
voter initiative put through by determined chauvinists
forbids Cincinnati from protecting homosexuals against
discrimination. According to a USA Today article, this makes
Cincinnati unique in the U$A, because in other cities the
bigots have tried and failed.
Cincinnati has also been in the news in recent years for the
baseball team owner Marge Schott who makes Nazi comments
about Blacks and Jews and supporting Hitler from time to
time.
We also remember Cincinnati for the Vincent Chin jury. The
jury refused to convict a white of murdering a Vietnamese
man despite witnesses and a confession.
MIM points this out, because such people are not inclined to
change without armed revolutionary struggle. In some
Amerikan cities, they attempt to put on a facade of
integration and there is an effort at dialogue. However, we
have to look at the labor aristocracy as a whole, and the
places that we do not hear about are the ones like
Cincinnati -- actively and consciously reactionary.
NOTE: USA Today 24 October 1997, p. 3a.
PROFITS BEFORE PEOPLE: FALLOUT FROM FALLOUT
"Kodak discovered in the early 1950's (sic.) that some film
was fogged before use, and it traced the problem to fallout
from atmospheric nuclear tests." Ever busy to serve the
capitalists, the U.$. Government warned Kodak of this
problem, but it did not warn the public about the corn or
milk also contaminated.
The National Cancer Institute estimates the fallout caused
10,000 to 75,000 extra thyroid cancers between 1951 and
1958.
NOTE: New York Times 30 September 1997, p. a18.
MOTHER THERESA OVERSAW GENOCIDE OF POOR
As we said in MIM Notes 147, Mother Theresa was no saint.
More details are coming out.
Mother Theresa opposed having doctors diagnose her wards for
curable diseases. She told Dr. Robin Fox, the editor of The
Lancet -- a famous medical journal -- that she opposed
materialism, which meant opposing medical science. She
received millions in contributions for her work but refused
medical facilities for her patients, while she herself went
to the finest medical facilities in the West.
As a result, the Mother Theresa facilities meant death for
those with easily curable diseases.
She also spoke against the Sandinistas while supporting
death-squad government in Guatemala and Haiti.
Mother Theresa gained so much support for sweeping the poor
under the rug into heaven that she started her own franchise
which went beyond India. In New York City, she canceled a
project for the poor to avoid having New York City pay for
an elevator for the handicapped.
Mother Theresa said in speeches that she regarded the
suffering of the poor as "beautiful" and something we should
all learn from. Such is the role of religion. Mother Theresa
struggled mightily to get the poor to accept their fates and
came up with excuses for not struggling for material
betterment of the poor. For this she received money from
convicted swindler Charles Keating and other like-minded
capitalists. In the case of Keating, she asked the judge for
mercy in view of his gift to her work.
As long as people believe those who suffer the most end up
in heaven, the ruling class is safe. That is why Mother
Theresa received so much support.
NOTE: The Prism, PO Box 16025, Chapel Hill, NC 27516,
October, 1997, p. 11.
* * *
UNDER LOCK & KEY
PRISONER CHALLENGES CENSORSHIP AND WINS
I did receive the MIM Notes and RAIL Newsletter that were
sent to me a couple of months ago. Originally, the Nazi
rejected it stating that is advocated violence and
insurrection. They did this becauz the front page headline
on one issue said something about PIGS.... Eventually they
gave it to me, but not before I challenged the rejection.
...Right now I am suing them becuz I was raped by a kop last
year. Evidently this is part of my sentence. It took a
year's worth of letters, threats and bitching just to get
the pig arrested. They tried to cover it up, intimidate me
into silence, the jackboot routine. It wasn't until I found
an attorney that they have given me some air.
They are gonna let the kop plead guilty to a lesser charge,
and close the case quietly. This is the last thing I want,
becuz unless and until the public is made aware of the
brutal and dehumanizing conditions that exist in
"correctional" facilities, the status quo will remain....
-- A Michigan Prisoner, 7 August 1997
COLORADO PRISONERS BATTLE CENSORSHIP
I am writing to inform you that the administration has had a
change of mind. I am aware that the minions of the beast are
a mindless lot, and that from now on they are going to
review each issue of MIM Notes before deciding if it will be
censored or not. While this is not a big victory, it is
encouraging that this gulag is on notice: That we/I will
fight for our/my rights.
The material you sent via your letter on how to fight the
prison censorship was very helpful. I plan to make copies
and pass the information on to other comrades in the
struggle within the beast....
-- A Colorado Prisoner, 17 August 1997
CENSORSHIP VICTORY IN WASHINGTON STATE
...There have been several complaints filed in the various
federal courts concerning Washington prisons censoring
political, religious, bulk mail, non-profit mail, etc. One
complaint filed in the Eastern District of Washington won
big time....
Another complaint is pending in the Western District of
Washington. I am of one the named plaintiffs in that suit
and my chief issue is not being allowed the MIM Notes.
I'll keep you posted on the above. [This prison] is the pits
which should be par for prison life.
In Struggle,
-- A Washington Prisoner, 6 September 1997
PENNSYLVANIA PRISONERS CONTEST CENSORSHIP
I am writing to let you know that MIM is being censored here
at SCI Greene. Because the Incoming Publication Committee
states, it advocates violence, insurrection or guerrilla
warfare against the government and institutions, which
creates a present danger within the context of the
correctional institution. I'm appealing this decision and it
would be helpful if you contact the superintendent.
SCI Greene, Superintendent, Ben Varner, 1040 E. Roy Furman
Hwy, Waynesburg, PA 15370-8090
Sincerely,
-- A Pennsylvania Prisoner, 8 August, 1997
In July 1997, my MIM Notes were censored. SCI Greene is the
most Super Max prison in Pennsylvania. This is the first
time they ever censored my MIM Notes....
...At this very moment I'm in the process of appealing this
unconstitutional censorship to the warden. I'm still waiting
for a response ... Without a doubt, the warden is sure to
uphold this diabolical decision of his subordinates.
This is just another tactic that the agents of the United
Snakes "Porky Pig" brigade uses. Preventing the oppressed
people from receiving essential information of pure facts
... I also sent the appeal I filed....
-- Another Pennsylvania Prisoner, 17 July 1997
PRISONER CHALLENGES CENSORSHIP AND DOC CAVES
I'm writing you in reference to MIM Notes that I was once
receiving. Well as I wrote you before letting you know that
the institution I'm in wouldn't allow your publication
because it advocates the violent overthrow of the united
snake government.
I filed a complaint with the department of corrections and I
threatened to go public with them violating my
constitutional rights and told them that I will "sue" the
hell out of them.
So once again, they turned over my September issue of MIM
Notes today. I was somewhat shocked that they gave in so
easy, but then I was glad that I didn't have to take anymore
measures. So please forward MIM Notes to me once again.
Thank you,
-- A Third Pennsylvania Prisoner, 8 October, 1997
FEDERAL PRISONER FACES CENSORSHIP
Please find enclosed herein a Publication Rejection letter
from ADX [Administrative Max] warden and Publication
Rejection Notice from ADX inmate systems manager where in
they state their Fascist reasons for intercepting my MIM
Notes. Due to ADX's Draconian-Orwellian denial of my MIM
Notes, I elected this request that you remove my name from
you mailing list.
I will not ask your readers to write to the warden or
politicians regarding the denial of MIM Notes in ADX, as MIM
Notes has done in the past in other similar incident.
As far as I am concerned, Fuck writing to wardens and
politicians. What I want is the right to vote, so we can
bring about change. That is why I support the Boycott
Wisconsin Campaign, which you could care less about.
You also told your readers to refrain from voting, and then
with a twisted logic you told your readers to write to
certain government around the world.
What also makes me suspicious of MIM Notes is that none of
the staff members have printed their names and photos in MIM
Notes as though you refuse to put your head on the chopping
block.
I still believe that MIM Notes is doing some good, but as
far as I know the MIM Notes could be printed and distributed
by the CIA.
Thank you very much for hitting my hand with MIM Notes for
the past few months! And for enlightening me on many
matters!
In Struggle,
-- A Federal Prisoner, 30 July 1997
MIM RESPONDS: The censorship of MIM Notes is one way that
Pig Oppressors attempt to further dominate prisoners. This
is a way the pigs prevent prisoners from educating and
organizing themselves. We have sent you a letter with tips
to combat censorship and have honored your request to be
taken off our mailing list. Often prisoners working with MIM
fight and win legal battles to end or delay censorship.
Organized legal battles that are led by the proletariat can
be fought to free up organizing space. These reformist
battles are tools that we utilize to reach the masses. For
instance, we are organizing to build support for armed
revolutionary struggle to achieve socialism. If we cannot
reach people, we can not complete larger tasks. So, if it is
possible to use the oppressor's laws to free space for
organizing for revolution, we do it. We fight winnable
battles so that the resources of the masses are not flushed
down a toilet. And as we fight winnable reformist battles
which we decide to wage, we use that as an opportunity to
point out the hypocrisy of Amerika's dictatorship of the
bourgeoisie.
Currently, voting in the United $tates government elections
is a vote of confidence in a thoroughly unjust repressive
system. This government, created by capitalist oppressors,
serves their interests at the detriment of the majority of
the world's people. True democracy necessitates self-
determination of oppressed nations. Leading the masses to
vote and spend resources on voting campaigns is a waste.
Activists before have taken on this reformist battle, and we
have learned from them. Either they degenerated, lost or
wasted resources. IF it were possible, the end result of
voting in a candidate from MIM means there is one rational
materialist in a sea of bureaucrats working only in the
interests of imperialism and settler nation domination.
Even though both practices are reformist, we make a
distinction between winnable battles as described above and
battles which do not aid in the struggle to build support
for revolution. The end result of stopping censorship is 1)
that people of Amerika's hypocritical contradiction with
regard to freedom of speech and 2) we will then be able to
send literature and information. The end result of voting
would make us broke and only allow a candidate or two to be
battling from within.
We will not end oppression or even make a dent in
imperialism by voting. In fact, voting will just help to
legitimize the system by telling people we believe it can be
fixed from within. On the other hand, writing letters of
protest are small battles that we can win within the system,
while always putting this in the context of the need for
revolution.
So instead of voting, MIM advocates working for revolution.
Revolution is the development of independent institutions of
the oppressed to build a society in the interests of the
oppressed and the seizure of state power through armed
struggle. We would not go to such lengths if there were
historical or material basis for winning power for the
people without the loss of proletarian soldiers' lives.
The Maoist Internationalist Movement exposes the crimes of
imperialists and helps build independent institutions of the
oppressed. This is a more effective way to create real
change and end the oppression of the world's proletariat.
The articles in any issue of MIM Notes should allay anyone's
fears that MIM is really with the CIA. The work that we do
speaks clearly to the contrary. And our political line is
very much counter to the interests of the government and in
the interests of the international proletariat. The only
possible defense that any organization can have against such
an accusation is their line and practice. After all, the CIA
is perfectly capable of coming up with a few pretty faces
and names to print if they wanted to.
One last comment about security, MIM and RAIL do not print
names because we have learned from the history of past
revolutionary groups, like the Black Panther Party, who was
fiercely attacked by the FBI's COINTELPRO. There is no
reason to make it easier for the pigs to destroy the
people's revolutionary struggle. In this anonymity there is
accountability. The entire Party takes credit for and is
held accountable for the political line and practice of the
Party.
PRISONER FACES RETALIATION FOR FILING GRIEVANCES
... I have recently received 6 infractions within 24 hours,
false charges of course, for retaliation of filing
grievances. This facility is run and operated by a classic
group of people as described in your zine. I continue to
circulate all publications received by you to various
prisoners. ...
-- A Florida Prisoner, 19 September 1997
ALMIGHTY VICE LORD NATION FIGHTS FOR JUSTICE
... I recently read a piece in the Under Lock and Key
section regarding oppression by the South Carolina D.O.C.
[Dept. of Corrections], against prisoners representing a
segment of the religious and political organizations
considered an off branch of the NOI [Nation of Islam] called
the 5%ers.
Here in the State of Iowa, we as representatives of the
Almighty Vice Lord Nation [AVLN], who conform to the
Nation's Teachings and religious/political views, are also
subjected to unjust policies and procedures. The [DOC's]
Internal Affairs has openly targeted the top three
Representatives [of the AVLN]. They have isolated one from
general population under the label of Close Management.
Another was transferred to another facility.
The vocal leader was kidnapped and given 3 years
Administrative Segregation. The corrupt internal affairs
department alleged that a confidential informant told them
that "his group assaulted another inmate for disrespecting
the Almighty V/L Nation", yet ample evidence clears him of
being anywhere near the location of the alleged assault.
The Department of Corruption has not sanctions these
atrocities, but has also designed a system to now target all
Vice Lords incarcerated throughout the Iowa Penal System....
-- An Iowa Prisoner, 22 July 1997
PRISONERS UNITE VS. SOUTH CAROLINA PIGS
Now that the newly, once Texas Warden, has become the
commissioner of SCDC [South Carolina Department of
InCorrections], numerous confrontations between the general
populations and the administration have taken place, both on
a mental and physical level. All blame the commissioner and
his newly implemented white supremacy agenda and polices.
Many strange alliances have been formed in an effort to
combat the oppressive forces and implementations of Michael
Moore.
The 5% Percent Nation has a consolidated class action civil
suit being litigated in the courts against SCDC, as do the
Native Indians, Muslims, and Rastafarians. There are
countless individual state and federal suits as well,
challenging SCDC on a variety of get tough on prisoner
policies.
Riots and escapes have dramatically increased at various
institutions, bringing forth the implementation of control
movement and a host of other policies. The policies are, in
many cases, designed to break the resistance of various
groups and prisoners in general. People of color and their
individual religions, way of life, and their cultural
practices are discouraged, attacked and labeled anti-
christian and anti-european, which is illegal.
KCI-MSU (Alias SUPER Max) is full of political/Religious
prisoners of the aforementioned groups. Yes, it is
institutionalized white supremacy at its height. But surely
in the only state that flies the accused diversionary rebel
flag atop the state house dome, one could expect no less....
-- A South Carolina Prisoner, 23 July 1997
NEW CLOSE MANAGEMENT UNIT IN FLORIDA
... I am one of 1200 prisoners in Florida who have been
leased to Privatization Prison (Wakenhut). (South Bay
Correctional Facility).
A Close Management Unit has just been opened.
The food here sucks. The cops of Wakenhut security have
lousy attitudes (95% of them). Clothes come back from the
laundry wet and dingy. Counts last two hours. Telephones are
owned by a Wackenut Corp. and are ripping off families,
loved ones and attorneys. There is no warm water in the
cells, no cold water fountain in dorms, just tepid water.
Canteen prices are street prices or more. Medical is
tantamount to no medical treatment. A lot of cops aren't
certified. Food is served cold. Dish washers are not at
correct temperatures per regulations, etc. These bad points
definitely override the soft toilet paper and air
conditioning in this dungeon for dollars.
... Keep up the struggle for true freedom.
-- A Florida Prisoner, 19 August 1997
RAPID EXPANSION OF TEXAS PRISONS
My last thought concerns the vast expansion of TDCJ (Texas
Department of Criminal Justice) in less than tree years from
60,000 prisoners in 60 prisons to 130,000+ prisoners in 109
prisons. These men and women are forced to work for free in
the production of prison-made goods shipped to the other 49
states. 42USC 1994 makes peonage, the forced labor of a
person in payment of debt such as food and shelter a felony,
yet Texas convicts mush work for free. 18USC 1781 prevents
prison-made goods from shipment our of the state they were
produced in to stop unfair competition with private
businesses who have higher labor costs and must charge more
for their products.
By Amendment, Texas is the only state permitted to legally
break this law. New York to California taxpayers must
support the growing Texas prison system with their federal
tax money and by permitting Texas' unfair business
competition. I believe the purpose of the law was violated
by Texas. Repeal this amendment! Help keep Texas prison-made
goods inside Texas. Write to your newspaper and US
Congressmen citing this law and ask why must your state
support 109 Texas Prisons?
-- A Texas Prisoner
EXPOSING TEXAS HARASSMENT TACTICS
Hey I'm writing you this letter to give you all a big scoop
on my unit (Stiles) in Beaumont, Texas. A lot is being
violated here such as low portions of food.
...Also they have this system that Level 3's must get in a
Dog position as the pigs call it "Feeding Procedure". We get
on our knees with hands braced to the back of our head,
while the pigs laugh and etc. Now they will refuse your food
for not doing such a thing.
They have started making management cells, July 97, on 4
sections, about 8 cells or more, for people who these pigs
feel they need to retaliate on, and put them away with
nothing.
Also they started gassing first before running in the cells
of an inmate upon who they retaliate. These, redneck, all
these pigs, wear black gloves, like if they're supposed to
intimidate an inmate.
... So it has been pretty fucked up since they moved a lot
of decent rank. Now they retaliate, by messing with your
cells in unnecessary shakedowns, while they scatter
everything everywhere on the floor, especially for inmates
of the struggle....
-- A Texas Prisoner, 10 July 1997
POETRY
WANTING TO BE FREE
Locked away from society, living in a cell twenty-two hours
a day, it's every man's hell.
Expected to be strong and not to shed a tear, wondering if
love will survive is my only fear.
My mind keeps on struggling to keep itself sane, but this is
hard to do while dealing with misery's pain.
So I removed myself from the present and don't dwell upon
the past, but pray for the future and hope it will come
fast.
Until it does arrive and I can once again be free. I'm just
another number wanting to be free.
-- A Pennsylvania Prisoner 11 August 1997
THOUGHTS OF A PRISONER
Endless days that count the years, no longer can I hold back
the tears. Serving time behind a wall, with no one to visit,
no one to call. Like a wild animal locked inside a gate,
waiting patiently for my parole date. No reason to feel any
sorrow, all I do is pray for tomorrow. Then one day the
gates will swing wide, that boy that's now a man steps
outside. As he leaves he looks behind, seeing the same wall
holding his own kind. The broken promises, the empty dreams,
the sorrow is stitched between the seams.
-- A Pennsylvania Prisoner 11 August 1997
MIM NOTES: THE MOST CENSORED NEWSPAPER IN THE U$A
We at MIM Notes are the most censored newspaper in the U$A,
because so many prisoners ask for our paper and they cannot
obtain it, because of prison administrations that forbid it.
Prison administrations often cite the coverage of prisons as
the reason they give, but they have other bogus reasons they
give. They deny us outside prison the free speech to address
prisoners and they deny prisoners reading material, often in
cases where prisoners do not find anything else very
inspiring to read. For our efforts paying for literacy
improvement in prison, MIM gets its literature including
books thrown out by prison officials all the time. It only
underscores the suspicions of people outside the walls that
the real reason people end up in prison is not conforming to
the white bread views of mainstream Amerika.
In order to firmly expose the agents of repression,
prisoners, make sure you let us know of prison policies and
practice of censorship. We are compiling a list of these
nasty hypocritical prisoncrats that censor the news of the
masses.
WANTED: PRISONERS TO WRITE REVIEWS OF BOOKS
MIM has a lot of non-revolutionary but political books that
have been donated to our Books for Prisoners program. These
books are worth reading and reviewing for MIM Theory. We
have a range of topics and if you are interested in reading
and reviewing one (or a few), feel free to specify your
areas of interest. Along with these books we can often
provide you with related information from past issues of MIM
Theory to help with the reviews.
* * *
MIM ON PRISONS AND PRISONERS
MIM seeks to build public opinion against
Amerika's criminal injustice system, and to
eventually replace the bourgeois injustice system
with proletarian justice. The bourgeois
injustice system imprisons and executes a
disproportionately large and growing number of
oppressed people while letting the biggest mass
murderers - the imperialists and their
lackeys - roam free. Imperialism is not opposed to
murder or theft, it only insists that these crimes
be committed in the interests of the bourgeoisie.
MIM does not advocate that all prisoners go free
today; we have a more effective program for
fighting crime as was demonstrated in China prior
to the restoration of capitalism there in 1976. We
say that all prisoners are political
prisoners because under the dictatorship of the
bourgeoisie, all imprisonment is substantively
political. It is our responsibility to exert
revolutionary leadership and conduct
political agitation and organization among
prisoners - whose material conditions make them an
overwhelmingly revolutionary group. Some prisoners
should and will work on self-criticism under a
future dictatorship of the proletariat in those
cases in which prisoners really did do
something wrong by proletarian standards.
***WHAT NON-PRISONERS CAN DO TO SUPPORT
PRISONERS***
*1. Struggle with, work with, finance and join
MIM. The best way to support prisoners is to overthrow
the system under which capitalists profit from the
exploitation of prisoners. History shows that the
best way to do this is to build a Marxist-
Leninist-Maoist party. The oppressors will not give up
their power without a fight.
*2. Finance MIM's prison work. Our biggest bill
each month is postage. Most of the prison comrades
who read MIM Notes have no way of paying for it.
So if you have money, send what you can afford. Every
cent helps, and stamps are as good as cash to us.
*3. Distribute MIM Notes and Notas Rojas. Bring
the voices of prisoners and their supporters to as
large and wide an audience of people as possible.
Contact MIM for bulk rates and distribution tips.
*4. Start or join a prison support group. MIM can
provide advice and resources to help you build
public opinion for prisoners and their struggles.
*5. Fight censorship, beatings, torture and other
fascist outrages. Under Lock and Key often
features the addresses of prisoners' friends and enemies.
Work with the friends and let the enemies know
you're watching. (Don't expect to win the fascists
to the side of humanity, however. See #1 in this
list).
*6. Stay in touch. Keep us informed of pro-
prisoner work you do. Our readers might find it educational
or inspirational.
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