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 152 DECEMBER 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. END GENDER OPPRESSION THROUGH REVOLUTION!
IMPERIALIST PATRIARCHY DOMINATES MEXICAN WIMMIN
2. NEW STALKING REPORT SHOWS STRENGTH OF PATRIARCHY
3. LETTERS
4. PIGS CELEBRATE SETTLER HOLIDAY BY ATTACKING ACTIVISTS
5. WHITE NATIONALISTS CLAIM LABOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH
6. MUMIA UPDATE: HANGING JUDGE SABO FORCIBLY RETIRED
7. EAST COAST ROUNDS-UP PARENTS
8. MICHIGAN SCHOOLS TO OUST YOUTH
9. IMPERIALISTS MILITARIZE GULF TO FEED AMERIKAN PARASITISM
10. DOES THE UNITED SNAKES HAVE POLITICAL PRISONERS IN ITS
GULAGS?
11. ARIZONA JAIL TORTURES INMATES
12. IMPERIALIST-LED GROWTH STRATEGY COMES HOME TO ROOST:
ASIAN CRASHES BRING MORE MISERY TO THE MASSES
13. INTENSIFIED MILITARIZATION OF THE FILIPINO COUNTRYSIDE
14. ENVIRONMENTALISM WITHOUT ANTI-IMPERIALISM SERVES
OPPRESSION
15. SO-CALLED DIVERSITY IN ACADEMIA SUBVERTS LIBERATION
16. LAZY USE OF STATS DOESN'T ADVANCE FEMINIST REVOLUTION
17. UNDER LOCK & 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
* * *
END GENDER OPPRESSION THROUGH REVOLUTION!
IMPERIALIST PATRIARCHY DOMINATES MEXICAN WIMMIN
Some maquiladores in Mexico demand proletarian wimmin to
present their sanitary pads each month as proof that they
have not become pregnant. This humiliating act is used to
ensure that the company does not have to pay maternity
leave. If the wimmin do not submit to this dehumanizing
intrusion or if the company doctors are not satisfied with
the results of merely inspecting the pads, the doctors and
nurses feel the workers' abdomens with their fists to
confirm that the wimmin are not pregnant.
This practice has been publicized in Amerikan bourgeois
press in one particular factory, Macopel, but many companies
partake in this very sick practice. Macopel initiated this
practice because it did not want to pay the three months
maternity leave that was company policy. They started
checking sanitary pads after one womyn protected herself to
avoid discrimination. She had told Macopel that she was not
pregnant when she was hired. But it was difficult to
disguise the pregnancy and she was eventually given paid
maternity leave.
After that case, Macopel mandated pregnancy tests on all
female workers. Marcopel made 28-day work contracts, the
average period of wimmin's menstrual cycle. If a womyn
became pregnant during that contract time, it would not be
renewed.
Macopel is now defunct, but Amerikan corporations continue
this revolting practice. Zenith Electronic Corp. and General
Motors admit their practice of pregnancy screening.
Additionally, the comprador regime of Mexico enforce the
imperialist-led control of wimmin's reproduction in other
sectors. Petty-bourgeois wimmin in the sectors of the press
(La Reforma), department stores, supermarkets and the
secretary of public education are subjected to pregnancy
screenings.
Some people will argue that the womyn who becomes pregnant
is to blame because she has access to contraceptives. In
fact contraceptives are not widely available to poor wimmin
in the Third World. Instead, Third World wimmin have
repeatedly been used as guinnea pigs only for the benefit of
contraceptive advances for First World wimmin. But even when
contraception is available, forcing wimmin to use birth
control is one tactic of imperialist genocide. This case
shows what type of "freedom of choice" exists under the
alleged Mexican democracy that is propped and led by
imperialism.
Apologists for imperialism try to explain away these forced
pregnancy tests by arguing that wimmin have legal recourse
if they don't want to submit to the tests. Rather than be
examined by doctors, allegedly the wimmin can protest the
practice under the labor agreement of NAFTA. The trade act
states that corporations must respect the labor laws of each
country. The law of the reactionary Mexican state allegedly
considers the practice a violation of wimmin's rights as it
states that there can be no discrimination based on
biological sex. The Mexican Constitution prohibits this
discrimination, but the simple fact that lackeys in the
government remain aloof while this practice is common in
their country lets us know whose interests they truly
represent. The Mexican comprador regime represents the
interests not of the oppressed, but of the imperialists and
the foreign corporations who don't pay for maternity
benefits to keep their production costs down.
The so-called labor regulations of NAFTA that the bourgeois
press believes should be upheld in Mexico are a dirty joke.
The press places the blame of labor violations exclusively
on the shoulders of Mexican government pimps. The National
Association of Democratic Lawyers, the International Labor
Rights Fund, and Human Rights Watch accuse the Mexican
government of not enforcing the labor laws of their country.
Under NAFTA, the signatories (Canada, u.s., and Mexico) are
all required to uphold their own labor standards.
But the reality of history shows us that Mexico's labor
standards have always been a piece of trash. Although it is
important to demonstrate the hypocrisy of all these
governments by holding them to their own treaties and words,
it is poisonous not to give valid solutions to the problem.
Saying that Mexico is to blame for these practices for
having a corrupt government is limiting because it does not
show the yankee influence, as well as the influence of
imperialism in general. The government of Mexico is corrupt
because it is a servant of Amerikan imperialism. It is
trapped in its own contradictions and its principal
intention is subservience to U.S. imperialism.
So-called human rights activists believe that the problem is
exclusively a national one, meaning that it is only the
product of a corrupt government and by extension of people
whose culture is inferior. By confusing the people with
their protests to parliamentary bodies such as the U.N. and
the NAFTA labor commission and giving the people false
hopes, they objectively support imperialism.
REVOLUTION IS ONLY SOLUTION TO GENDER OPPRESSION
Without a job and with a baby in their arms, what are a
womyn's options? In a country that does not give
unemployment services there is little recourse for these
wimmin. The puppet state is not going to be reformed into
eliminating the patriarchy: they have a strong material
interest in perpetuating the patriarchy in service to their
imperialist masters. The only solution is revolution. The
Mexican masses need a protracted people's war led by a
vanguard Maoist party to defeat the imperialists. This means
a national liberation struggle unifying all forces willing
to fight u.s. reaction.
In this case there is an overlap of the three strands of
oppression of class, nation and gender. The principal strand
of oppression at this stage is national oppression by yankee
imperialism and its running dogs. In the case of pregnant
wimmin losing their jobs, it is important to promote
communist-led national liberation with the struggle for
feminist liberation an integral part of this revolutionary
battle. In more just systems without the motivation of
capitalist gains, factories would not worry about giving
wimmin free leave of maternity. Under socialism in China
(from 1949-1976) wimmin were allowed rest during pregnancy
without risk of losing their jobs.
MIM and RAIL urge sympathizing people in the u.s. to expose
the brutality of imperialism and the parasitism of the white
settler nation. Work with MIM and RAIL to prepare the coming
of revolution inside the united snakes, so in that way we
can better help the Mexican masses and the entire world in
the fight against Amerikan imperialism.
NOTES: "It's pregnancy tests-or else- in Mexico", San
Francisco Examiner 16 November 1997, p.A-26.
* * *
NEW STALKING REPORT SHOWS STRENGTH OF PATRIARCHY
One in 12 wimmin in the u.s. are stalked according to a
telephone survey conducted by the National Institute of
Justice. Researchers contacted 8,000 wimmin and 8,000 men
and defined stalking as "a course of conduct directed at a
specific person that involves repeated physical or visual
proximity, nonconsensual communication, or verbal, written,
or implied threats."
8.1% of wimmin surveyed and 2.2% of men reported that they
had been stalked at least once. Among the wimmin, 59% said
their stalkers were either husbands, boyfriends, or people
they had lived with. 80% reported they were assaulted by the
stalker.
These statistics underscore the importance of eliminating
the patriarchy so that we can do away with unequal power
relations between people based on gender. This report also
highlights problems with romantic relationships under
patriarchy and how cultural differences can lead to one
person perceiving harassment. Our patriarchal culture trains
both men and wimmin in the ways to approach romantic
relationships and this leads people to eroticize power
differences. But people also have different views of the
perfect romantic relationship based on different cultural
backgrounds. Some wimmin may find aggressive, dominating men
attractive while others consider this behavior harassment.
Similarly, some men have been socialized to believe that
they deserve any wimmin they want and will pursue those
wimmin until they win.
Some so-called feminists go with whatever wimmin feel to
label behavior. But this subjective approach only means that
cultural differences will be the basis for defining rape and
harassment. Consequently, the current disproportionate
lockup of Black and Latino men for raping and harassing
white wimmin will only get worse. Even the statistics
reported in this article demonstrate that most rape and
harassment is done between people already in relationships.
Since the vast majority of relationships are between the
same nationality, it is clear that the pseudo-feminist
method of catering to white wimmin's subjective fears of
stranger rape or harassment will only further national
chauvinism, and not effectively combat the problem of rape
or stalking..
The fact that the definition used in this study has much
room for subjective interpretation should be a good
indication of the problems inherent in measuring gender
oppression. MIM takes a more scientific approach than the
government and the pseudo-feminists. We are clear that all
romantic relationships under the patriarchy involve power
inequalities and these make consent impossible. For this
reason we call all sex rape and we then move on to the task
of fighting the patriarchy.
MIM does see different degrees of rape and harassment and we
look to the day when we can expand our work to serve wimmin
dealing with domestic violence, rape, and stalking so that
they will have a safe place to go and the opportunity to
turn their pain into an attack on the cause of gender
oppression: the patriarchy. Such Maoist-led programs for
wimmin are necessary as the current domestic violence and
rape programs only perpetuate patriarchy and the myth that
wimmin are helpless. These same programs serve as enemies of
the people when they call for more cop protection, hence
intensified national oppression. (MIM Theory #2/3 addresses
these issues, send $5 to MIM for a copy.)
NOTES: Boston Globe 14 November 1997, p.A18.
* * *
LETTERS
GREETINGS FROM EUROPE
DEAR MIM: A lot of revolutionary greetings from
Paris/France/Europe!
We are a group of communists which produce a paper XY. It
deals with Maoism, autonomy of the working class, political
prisoners, social fights, and what we call triple
oppression--capitalism, patriarchy, racism. We have very
good contacts with the revolutionary groups from
Turkey/Kurdistan and some of them gave us your MIM Theory #6
(about psychology) and MIM Notes #138 (15 of May, 1997).
It seems very interesting! The fact that you deal with
genders, racism, that you see that the white working-class
is not revolutionary, all what we saw in the two papers
sounds great. The only thing that is strange to us, is that
you see "armed struggle in the imperialist countries" as "a
serious strategic mistake." The only people in Europe that
are not anarchists or Trotskyists are revolutionary because
they see the militant fights in the 70/80s as very
important. . . . The real revolutionaries in Europe don't
say that, thinking of the political prisoners (52 in Spain,
500 from the Basks, 80 in Italy, etc.)
We can't speak about U$A, even if we think that it must be
terrible for you in the heart of the beast, but revolution
was possible in Europe in the '70s, and so, if you wanna
make a revolution. . . you know that power comes from the
barrel of the gun.
About us: we are pretty young comrades: the Maoist movement
died in France in the early '80s. You maybe know the book
from autonomedia about it ("the Maoist and Trotskyist
movements in France"; there are some errors and some things
missing but it's ok). So your production is very interesting
for us, to learn Maoism!
With the great hope that you answer soon, and that we can
learn from you in the future, "hasta la victoria siempre"!
-- French comrades November, 1997
MIM REPLIES: We were delighted to hear from you. We hope to
become fraternal organizations united in theory and
practice.
The question of armed struggle is not a cardinal question
for MIM, and obviously at some point, for communism to come
about, there must be an armed struggle in the imperialist
countries. However, we point you to the Selected Works of
Mao, volume II, "Problems of War and Strategy," in which Mao
says very clearly that the imperialist countries should not
launch armed struggle except in times of war and fascism or
if the bourgeoisie is "really helpless." At this time, we
must do our share of the work as a contingent doing legal
but semi-underground work behind enemy lines in France and
other imperialist countries.
The Basques are not imperialist countries. Maybe Spain is
imperialist, but it had fascism until recently. In
imperialist Italy we do not agree with launching the armed
struggle, except to stop fascists from seizing power. We
only say no armed struggle in the imperialist countries
without fascism.
We look forward to hearing from you again.
MASS CONTRIBUTES TO TIBET DEBATE AND QUESTIONS PARASITISM
DEAR MIM NOTES: I read the last article by the PIRAO chief.
When s/he refers to a situation where someone had very poor
judgment as to where to put their money, s/he nearly exactly
describes something very stupid I did not too long ago. I am
going to be thinking about that for a while.
I also think s/he is exactly correct in pointing out what we
are capable of achieving in the rear areas, as long as we
can stop acting like we are insignificant. I am also going
to be thinking on that for a while. My head is busy today.
This article also made me want to study Nkrumah. I do not
know very much about this guy. But it seems like there are
some very applicable ideas to be pulled out of his head. Is
there anyway I could get some help in finding some of his
writings?
I also have something to say about the Tibetan movie
article. The author is very correct on the significance of
Harrer's membership in the SA in 1934 and SS by 1938. But I
am not certain the author realizes how significant this is.
The SA was founded by Hitler early on as an unprofessional
armed organization that was completely the creation of the
nazis and its purpose was to spread the nazi ideology and
protect the nazi leaders as well as to fight the enemies of
fascism. Originally the SS was an elite segment of the SA.
The leader of the SA was Ernst Rohm. Rohm was the only real
challenge to Hitler's leadership of the nazi party. In 1934
Rohm and his closest associates were purged by Hitler and
the SS in an incident known as the Night of The Long Knives.
Harrer was obviously sympathetic to the Rohm faction and
only went to the Hitlerite faction when Rohm was dead and
the SA had little purpose. As far as I know, in 1938 there
were no conscripts in the SS as it was considered to be the
elite of the German military and had the same mission as its
predecessor the SA, except that the SS by 1938 was a very
professional fighting force.
The differences between Rohm and Hitler are hard to
understand because they are two slightly different concepts
of fascism which is vile no matter how it is interpreted.
But one point that they differed on significantly was gun
control. Hitler believed that only the Third Reich and its
organs of state power should have the right to bear arms.
Rohm thought it would be better to arm the entire German
population in the service of national socialism. See any
parallels in contemporary settler politics? Rohm was NRA all
the way.
Harrer was obviously just a German redneck. It is highly
unlikely that he would have supported the Dalai Lama, an
Asian, without ideological reasons. In other words Harrer
saw obvious similarities between the ideals of German
fascism and Tibetan Bhuddism, like the idea that it is
perfectly ok for one group of pigs to live in extreme
leisure because another group of human beings is enslaved
and is harshly repressed. No wonder the Red Army found it
necessary to destroy the Dalai Lama's power.
Vive Le Guillotine! They should have done it French
Revolution style because then there would never have been an
exiled [Tibetan] nobility to start a bunch of shit in this
fucked up country where the real slogans had ought to be
"Free Puerto Rico," " Free the Seneca Nation," "Free
Hawaii," "Free Guam," you get the idea by now and I don't
have all day to list them all.
-- a friend in the Midwest, November 1997
MIM REPLIES: We are glad that activists are looking to take
up the financial struggle seriously, and that some are able
to recognize and accept correct criticisms of their
financial practice. This letter writer is correct in
pointing out that activists in the United Snakes must take
their own financial responsibilities more seriously if we
are to be victorious in the struggle for socialism.
We also appreciate this comrade adding to the discussion on
Tibet. But MIM does not raise the slogan "Vive Le
Guillotine!" because this slogan is a bourgeois one and runs
counter to the principles of proletarian justice which say
that every human life has intrinsic value, if it can find a
place in the struggle for socialist revolution. It is true
that the Chinese Communist Party did support some executions
in cases where the people demanded death as the penalty for
crimes against the masses. But Mao also said that "People's
heads are not like leeks. When you cut them off, they will
not grow again."(1)
In some instances, the masses in Tibet may have demanded
retribution in blood from the nobility, and MIM would not
condemn this. But we must consistently guard against the
idea that a reactionary class can be destroyed simply
through the killing of its members.
NOTE: Chairman Mao Talks to the People, P. 78.
* * *
PIGS CELEBRATE SETTLER HOLIDAY BY ATTACKING ACTIVISTS
On what the white settler nation calls Thanksgiving Day,
hundreds of First Nations members and supporters gathered
around the statue of Massasoit in Plymouth Massachusetts
overlooking Plymouth Rock for a Day of Mourning.
Earlier in the day, a group of Amerikan settlers reenacted
the alleged first Thanksgiving. This is an annual white
nationalist event called Pilgrims Progress which was
canceled last year in the face of First Nation protest.
But when the Day of Mourning participants, led by the United
American Indians of New England, attempted to march down the
same street, they were met with police violence and arrest.
The pigs sprayed mace pepper spray directly into several
people's eyes. Twenty to 25 people were arrested.
One protester warned RAIL that the cops take any disruption
of their white nationalist propaganda event very seriously.
According to the Associated Press, Plymouth Police, State
Police and the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department were
used against the protesters.
In settler mythology, Thanksgiving is a story of cooperation
between the settlers and the First Nations. The dominators
and exploiters perpetuate this myth to obtain cooperation
from the oppressed today and prolong the collapse of the
oppressive system. Progressives must expose these
imperialist fairy-tales for the snow job they are rather
than perpetuate the myth that Amerikan wealth was not built
off the backs of the oppressed.
NOTES: CNN 28 November 1997, Springfield Union-News 28
November 1997, p. B5.
* * *
WHITE NATIONALISTS CLAIM LABOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH
The latest figures on the bourgeois concept of labor
productivity prove once again that the role of white-collar
work in the economy is hype. The July-September quarter of
1997 showed U.$. labor productivity as measured by the
capitalists, up 4.5 percent as an annual rate.
However, within that 4.5 percent growth, white-collar work
played almost no role even by bourgeois calculations. The
gain was 9.8 percent in manufacturing which led the
productivity growth as a whole.
The U.$. Government and bourgeois economists measure
"productivity" as dollar of product (not unit of product in
physical terms) divided by the number of hours worked by
U.$. workers. It does not count the contributions of foreign
workers. Hence, as the trade with the Third World expands as
it has been in recent decades, the composition of output
changes. While the imperialist country workers don't change
at all, they can appear to be more productive by bourgeois
standards, because of the changes in use of inputs from the
Third World.
In the last 15 years, surplus-value sucked out of East Asia
by imperialism has exploded. The bourgeois economists and
media propagandists focus their attention on the growth of
computer-use throughout the economy, because of the white
nationalist myth that workers here must be getting more
productive. Yet even the bourgeois statistics show again and
again that computer use has not resulted in increases in
productivity. "The October leap reignites hopes productivity
gains will resume rising 2.5% a year, ending a mystifying
10-year era of puny 1% annual gains in worker output per
hour."
NOTE: USA Today 14 November 1997, "U.S. workers'
productivity jumps 4.5%," p. b1.
* * *
MUMIA UPDATE: HANGING JUDGE SABO FORCIBLY RETIRED
A tactical advantage may have been realized by the defense
for Black revolutionary on death row Mumia Abu-Jamal. The
blatantly biased Judge who presided over Mumia's trials and
his so-far unsuccessful appeals is being forcibly retired on
December 31 for budgetary reasons. Mumia was framed for the
righteous killing of a Philly cop engaged in an act of
police brutality in 1981.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that Philadelphia must
reduce its number of Senior Judges from 14 to 10. Senior
Judges are judges past the mandatory retirement age of 70,
but are allowed to work part-time for $324 per day. Sabo and
three other judges (one recently dead) were given the ax. No
reason was given for the selection of Sabo was given, and
there are older judges being allowed to remain. MIM sees no
reason to support mandatory retirement programs, but we can
celebrate the removal of particularly dangerous pigs by
whatever means brings about their removal.
Sabo is responsible for sending more people to death row
than any other. Judge. Sabo is known as the "hanging judge"
and a prosecutor once referred to Sabo as "a prosecutor in
robes." His extreme bias against Mumia is one of the key
aspects of Mumia's appeals.
It is possible that the people responsible for selecting
which judges to forcibly retire found Sabo's courtroom
antics embarrassing to the charade of fairness in the
Injustice system. It is also possible that some other
factors were involved. Regardless, MIM hopes if further
appeals hearings at the lower court level are required, that
Mumia's defense can use a different judge to their tactical
advantage.
NOTE: Prison Activist List 26 November 1997.
* * *
EAST COAST ROUNDS-UP PARENTS
Fed up with a growing number of parents who are thousands of
dollars in arrears in their court-ordered child support
payments, Maryland, Virginia and D.C. officials are
organizing to arrest people across usual jurisdictional
boundaries. Nearly 200 people (mostly dads, but some moms)
were dragged off in handcuffs the week of November 3, 1997
when this initiative began.
It used to be that crossing the state lines meant that you
could not be arrested for failure to pay child support.
Several men arrested said they never got any papers telling
them they had a court date.
MIM doesn't want to see people -- mostly young Black men --
who are underemployed be arrested for failure to pay child
support. MIM believes that it is incorrect for individual
parents to be solely responsible for their children. We also
see that the solution to ensuring that children have
adequate care is putting an end to patriarchy and poverty.
While wimmin are left to take care of children, going out
and arresting the fathers is not going to change the
fundamental reason for inadequate care of children.
Additionally, the way that child support is currently
calculated, children of poor parents are not taken care of
adequately anyway - the amount of child support is figured
based on parents' income. Under socialism the state will
take responsibility for children, including providing
communal daycare and basic necessities so all children are
provided for, and parents can go to work without getting
arrested for failure to pay child support.
NOTES: The Washington Post 8 November 1997 p. B1.
* * *
MICHIGAN SCHOOLS TO OUST YOUTH
October 22, the Michigan state Senate passed legislation
which approves the expulsion of students who allegedly
assault teachers or school employees. The Senate also passed
a bill which will allow prosecutors to seek tougher
penalties against students who allegedly vandalize schools
or allegedly assault school personnel. This is one small,
typical part of the growing war against youth.
First, the education system is not interested in teaching
youth the true history of Amerika. The youth who are most
affected by Amerika's miseducation system are oppressed
nation youth. Black youth don't learn about the way that it
was their nation that built the wealth of this kountry
through slavery. First Nation youth don't learn the history
of genocide against their peoples. Latino youth do not learn
that it is super-exploitation of masses' labor that has made
Latin America poor. Oppressed nation youth also are not
taught by the Amerikan education system that the Black
Panther Party, the Young Lords Party, the Brown Berets and
the American Indian Movement were leaders of proud struggles
against oppression. Instead, oppressed nation youth learn
about white slave owner's and Christopher Colombuses.
Learning lies and mythical explanations for why your people
are poor and oppressed are not compelling reasons for
oppressed nation youth to sit quietly by in schools.
Second, prosecuting youth with harsher sentences assumes
that the youth actually committed an assault or vandalized
property. There is no basis for MIM to agree with that
assumption considering that teachers and principles and
parents are not systematically stopped from raping,
assaulting, abusing and teaching lies to youth. Instead,
adults are typically seen as infallible and normally are
considered correct in a dispute between youth and parents.
By working diligently to imprison more youth instead of
helping youth become productive members of a more equal
society, the Amerikan values of patriarchal power over youth
and power grabbing are taught well. By ousting more youth
who are challenging adult power or worst, are just charged
by adults of committing crimes, the Michigan school system
is denying more youth equal education and opportunities.
This does not surprise MIM, but it's one of the reasons that
we consistently hold educational events and provide the
people with information. We must build a better system that
meets the needs of the people, including youth. Through
doing this there will be more students able to go to school,
more who are willing and interested in learning and those
who are not will be dealt with rationally instead of just
thrown out and thrown into a life with little opportunity.
* * *
IMPERIALISTS MILITARIZE GULF TO FEED AMERIKAN PARASITISM
by MC53 and MC44
MC45 contributed to this article
written 27 November 1997
***In what the bourgeoisie and its media has called a
provocation for war, Iraq ordered all Amerikans working for
the United Nations arms inspection team out of the country
within one week of October 29,1997. Since that date, the
United States of Imperialism has militarized the Persian
gulf and worked diligently to build support for another
invasion of Iraq. As MIM Notes #152 goes to press, the
United Snakes is preparing yet another U-2 spy mission
thereby pushing military conflict and the Iraqi people are
preparing to defend their nation.***
Following a u.s.-led UN resolution which threatened further
penalties and sanction against Iraq, Iraq's Parliament
recommended on October 27 that Iraq suspend its cooperation
with the United Nations Special Commission (Unscom) until
the UN set a clear timetable for the lifting of the deadly
economic sanctions.(1)
The embargo against Iraq reportedly will only be lifted
after the imperialist's weapons inspectors state that Iraq
has relinquished all of its long-range missiles and
destroyed any facilities that could produce chemical,
biological or nuclear weapons as well as destroy any of
these weapons currently existing.(2)
The government of Iraq initially demanded that Amerika halt
all U-2 flight spy missions. The flights were temporarily
suspended during the first week of November. The u$
officially reports that it spends $26.6 billion annually on
spying to ensure Amerikan hegemony. In part, this spying
continues the war against the Iraq people and is an attempt
to stop the people from arming and defending themselves from
imperialist attack.(3)
On November 4, Iraq stated that any flights which took place
over Iraqi territory would be attacked. Despite this
declaration, the United Snakes responded by saying that it
would not even temporarily halt the spy missions, knowing
full well that if shot down, the U$ could easily justify its
desire to attack. The U$ insists that Iraq's ability to
successfully shooting down a U-2 is very low. Out of its
other mouth, the u.s. uses Iraq's threat in propaganda to
build the myth that Iraq is a severe enemy and needs to be
stopped militarily.
The United $tates has increased its military presence in the
Persian Gulf to emphasize to Iraq and UN imperialists that
Amerika is prepared to use military force to protect its
interests. Before even allowing Iraq to diplomatically
address the Security Council, the U$ placed a formidable
arsenal in the Persian Gulf including 20,000 troops, two
aircraft carriers, "dozens of warships capable of launching
cruise missiles into Iraq, two cruisers, four destroyers,
three frigates and an attack submarine. There are also more
than 200 fighter aircraft stationed aboard the Nimitz or at
bases in Saudi Arabia."(4) In addition, the US has sent more
F-16s to Turkey to militarize the north territory.
On October 30 and November 2, Iraq barred the entrance of
additional Amerikan inspectors. Sent by the UN, a delegation
then went to push Hussein to permit Amerikan involvement in
Unscom inspections. The UN delegation explicitly emphasized
imperialist demands and pushed for 100% compliance from
Iraq. Democrat and Republican leaders of the House and
Senate said they supported an invasion of Iraq before the
negotiating team even landed on Iraqi soil, yet Amerika
portrays Iraq as the warmongering nation. The Amerikan
imperialists wanted to push the UN Security Council to agree
that Iraq was in a "material breach" of the 1991 cease-fire
because that declaration is a green light for military
action.
The UN envoys returned without the concessions they had
wanted. Instead Iraq sent a letter back saying that Iraq
should be allowed to have talks with the security council.
Iraq attempted to use the standoff as a chance to address
the UN directly. If the imperialists truly wanted to deal
with the problem peacefully as they claim, they would allow
Iraq to participate. Instead the imperialists only wanted to
back Iraq down to the situation prior to October 29. In that
situation, Iraq had little leverage to defend its nation and
people.
On November 12, the UN voted to stiffen economic sanctions
against Iraq. Seeing that the UN, led by Amerikan
imperialism, sought no peaceful resolution and had no
intentions of talks to end sanctions against Iraq, Iraq
expelled the Amerikan members of Unscom on November 13. The
UN then halted remaining Unscom activities in a gesture of
loyalty to Amerikan domination. Following the expulsion,
Amerikan imperialism bolstered support for military attack
and claimed that Iraq was in the process of creating more
weapons while Unscom activities were halted.
Amerika even used the Iraqi people's preparation for defense
against attack as propaganda to further dirty the image of
Hussein. The military of Iraq placed all units on maximum
state of alert and prepared the troops to defend against an
attack. Massive anti-imperialist demonstrations were held by
the Iraqi people. Yet Amerikan reporters said these
demonstrations were staged and that Hussein was "hiding
behind the skirts of wimmin and children." What imperialism
mocks will lead to its demise: anti-imperialism will be
fought successfully because of the power of the people
despite the massive imperialist war machine.
After three weeks of potential imperialist attack, on
November 22, Amerikan weapons inspectors/spies returned and
Unscom resumed documentation of Iraq's defense capabilities.
The resumed investigations came after Russia negotiated with
Iraq to advocate that the UN declare Iraq nuclear free and
closer to meeting weapons restrictions. "But the United
States is expected to oppose any certification that Iraq has
met the requirements to have sanctions lifted, and it has
the power to veto action by the Security Council." (5)
The United Snakes of Imperialism plans to go back to square
one, saying that more monitoring is needed because of the
possibility that Iraq created more weapons during the halted
inspections. It is similar speculation which the United
Snakes used to justify stronger sanctions against Iraq back
in October. These sanctions lead to the death of Iraq
masses.
MASSES SUFFER FROM CRUEL U.$. SANCTIONS
Earlier in 1997, Iraq was allowed by the imperialists to
start trading only $2billion every six months for food and
medicine for civilians. The bourgeois press reported that
this "only whetted Baghdad's appetite for larger oil
sales."(2) MIM argues that it is important to look at the
toll ravaged against the masses of Iraq to see that Iraq's
demand to end economic sanctions is a necessity as sanctions
are a form of economic warfare targeted at the poorest
classes of Iraq by the imperialists. Iraq is merely fighting
to regain control of its economic power which has been
choked by Amerikan imperialism. The press of the
imperialists portray the struggle to end economic sanctions
as an Iraqi maneuver to unleash a dangerous animal. MIM sees
the demand to end economic sanctions as a just call to help
end the suffering of the people. In addition, we would like
to see the development of Maoist revolutionary economic
strategies which would better enable the Iraqi people meet
their own needs.
Current estimates of the direct death toll from sanctions
imposed on Iraq after the 1990 war, resulting in a severe
lack of medicine and food, run as high as 1.5 million people
-- the majority of whom are children under five years
old.(6) "According to UNICEF, about 4,500 Iraqi children
have been dying each month from a variety of illnesses,
compared with 600 a month before the Gulf War." (7)
Since the impositions of the economic embargo against Iraq,
"health experts report 4 fold increases in some types of
cancer, and the reappearance of diseases eradicated 30 years
ago [by a relatively advanced government-run health care
system sustained by the once-healthy oil economy].
Malnutrition effects most of the population and water born
infections are rampant. This is happening at the same time
that medicines are unavailable." (8)
As has historically been the case with third world countries
ravaged by imperialism (Cambodia, Vietnam, Nicaragua, e.g.)
-- the aggressors claim that the Third World leaders are
responsible for the peoples' suffering. In November, the
U.N. Commission on Human Rights had the audacity to report
that "despite some improvement in Iraqi citizens' access to
food and health care, human rights abuses have continued in
Iraq over the past year." (9) Particularly hypocritical is
the U $ - U.N. claim that the Iraqi criminal justice system
is "arbitrary." MIM knows that the United Snakes couldn't
care less about arbitrary imprisonment -- it leads the world
in incarceration and police, prosecutorial and judicial
brutality.
IRAQI ECONOMY & U.$. IMPERIALISM
According the the CIA, oil exports, which used to account
for 95% of the foreign exchange earnings in Iraq, are now at
less than 5% of their pre-1990 levels. "Consumer prices more
than doubled in both 1994 and 1995 because of the economic
embargo."(10)
"Iraq's national oil company (INOC) ranked second in the
world in oil reserves in 1995. ... 'INOC (Iraq) appears to
have 350 years of oil the ground. [compared to Kuwait's 120
year supply]'"(11) With U.$. imperialists invested in Saudi
Arabia and Kuwait -- including a joint venture between Exxon
and the Kuwaiti state oil company -- they are interested in
destroying the Iraqi government and economy in order to take
it, and its oil supply, over.
Although the U.$. only imports about 10% of its oil from the
Persian Gulf,(12) Iraq's oil industry, the U.$. imperialists
argue, if it were allowed to fully function, would seriously
affect the world market price for oil, and the U.$. needs to
protect its investments in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
IMPERIALISTS PROTECT PARASITIC INTERESTS IN IRAQ
During the middle of November a CNN poll reported that over
half of Amerikans agreed with attacking if Iraq decided to
shoot down Amerikan spy planes which are in themselves an
attack and invasion of Iraq. In the same poll, over 40% of
Amerikans supported an Amerikan invasion even before Iraq
took any actions against Amerikan spy missions.
Amerikan public opinion supports imperialist domination over
the people of Iraq because of material economic interests.
Yet the material interests are disguised as concern that
Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction. If the
imperialists and the Amerikan majority were truly concerned
with weapons of mass destruction, they would be talking
about the death toll inflicted against the Iraqi people in
1991 and since.
Through perpetuating the mythological threat posed by Iraq,
Amerika hides the fact that more than 200,000 Iraqis were
murdered during the Gulf War by the Amerikan led death
machine, of which the Red Crescent Society of Jordan
estimated that 60% were children. In addition, approximately
10-20,000 residential dwellings and thousands of vehicles
were destroyed and 80% of oil refineries, 26,000 facilities
and vast sections of the Iraqi infrastructure were
demolished. (13)
The forty-two day military bombardment during 1991, almost
seven years of death-causing economic sanctions, continued
imperialist intervention and spying and now increased
militarization of the Persian Gulf are all part of
imperialism's war to increase imperialist nation profits and
imperialist and labor aristocrat standard of living.
The majority of the people in the world are dominated by
imperialist nation economic, political and military control.
This contradiction becomes more acute and closer to its end
as the majority of the world's people organize for national
liberation and socialism. MIM looks forward to the day when
the Iraqi people take up the study of Mao and build a
revolutionary, Maoist anti-imperialist struggle. Until that
day, MIM supports the Iraqi people in their struggle against
imperialism, principally u.s. imperialism.
We organize in the United Snakes of Amerika to expose the
atrocities committed by the illegitimate white settler
nation government and build public support in favor of anti-
imperialist struggle. This is a formidable task considering
that the majority of Amerikans support the massive
imperialist death machine. Join us to expose and oppose the
murder of the masses by the guns of a few.
NOTES:
1. The New York Times 28 October 1997, p.A5.
2. The New York Times 30 October 1997, pp. A1 & A9.
3. The New York Times 16 October 1997, p. A17.
4. The New York Times 8 November 1997, p. A1.
5. The New York Times 22 November 1997, p. A6.
6. "Behind the U.S. War Threats Against Iraq: Who Gets Rich,
Who Dies?" International Action Center, November 17, 1997.
7. Associated Press, August 1, 1996.
8. "Health Care May Be Up For Sale in Iraq," http://www.al-
bushra.org/iraq/health.html
9. "Iraq human rights situation still unacceptable,
Rapporteur says," US Information Agency (USIA), November 12,
1997 http://www.reliefweb.int
10. CIA World Fact Book For 1996,
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/nsolo/factbook /iz.htm
11. www.shell.com
12. "In Focus: U.S. Oil Policy in the Middle East,"
http://www.zianet.com/infocus/mideoil.html
13. For more information on Amerika's crimes against Iraq,
see War Crimes: A Report on United States War Crimes
Against Iraq by Ramsey Clark et al Maisonneuve Press: 1992.
Also, ask MIM for back issues of MIM Notes during 1990 and
1991, $1 each.
* * *
DOES THE UNITED SNAKES HAVE POLITICAL PRISONERS IN ITS
GULAGS?
***The following letter was printed in a university
newspaper after that paper ran a relatively honest article
covering a Prisons Awareness Week (PAW) organized by MIM and
RAIL at that university. The parts cut out are attacks on
the history of Maoist and non-Maoist revolutionary
struggles. While these are worthwhile criticisms to address,
there is not sufficient space here to go into these
criticisms. Interested readers can look for the complete
letter and a more thorough response in the next issue of MIM
Theory. MIM's response follows.***
The issue of "political prisoners" is, and always has been,
quite a complex issue simply because of the fact that it
involves the incarceration of an individual based on his or
her ideology.
At this point, I must strongly disagree with organizations
such as the Maoist Internationalist Movement on their
interpretation of what is a "political prisoner" based on
their "goals."
First of all, the goal of ending all oppression by building
"public" opinion to seize state power through armed struggle
smacks of "think like us or suffer the consequences"
mentality, the same mentality which led to China's so-called
"Cultural Revolution" - in which "intellectuals" (the same
people the Khmer Rouge had a problem with), some of whom
even helped the late Chairman Mao seize power, were treated
as common criminals simply for possessing the potential to
express an opposing point of view. With this said, we now
come to MIM's criticism of the U.S.' current prison system
when it comes to the treatment of "political prisoners."
Much worse charges can be leveled at any Marxist-Leninist-
Maoist state.
Now, here in the U.S. you don't get jailed for ideology as
one would in a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist state, and the fact
that organizations such as MIM exist prove this. However,
you can be arrested for committing actual physical crimes
which involve theft, endangerment or hurting and/or killing
someone.
Stockpiling illegal weapons and explosives, or acts of
assault, are illegal acts - regardless of ethnic or racial
background or political belief - and there's a consequence
for those actions: jail. Based on the charges leveled at the
U.S. prison system by groups such as MIM and the
Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League, it would seem that
most of the complaints are based on the fact that someone
got caught doing something physically illegal and then tried
to explain the act as supporting their ideology.
Practices involving the incarceration of "draft dodgers,"
the only true "political prisoners" in recent U.S. history,
have stopped with the end of the Vietnam war, and one fine
book on this subject that I can recommend for anyone to read
is Going to Jail(Grove Press Inc.) by Dr. Howard Levy and
David Miller, both true political prisoners. In this book
they describe the experiences they faced as political
prisoners in the U.S. jails as a result of their beliefs.
One point they make extremely clear, though, is that while
it does suck to be thrown in jail for espousing a certain
ideology, incarceration in a U.S. prison is MUCH better than
prison in another country, especially a Marxist-Leninist-
Maoist state. You can almost equate MIM and RAIL's view to
that of a freshman bitter at the police because he or she
got an MIP while walking down the street with an open
container - but this would be making a petty issue of the
cause of true political prisoners throughout this world.
They do exist, unfortunately. It would be so nice if we
didn't need police, judges, sentences, jails and prisons,
but unfortunately we do have real criminals in human
society, so what to do?
If you truly do care about the issue of political prisoners,
then get involved with Amnesty International, because they
stand for ALL political prisoners of conscience everywhere.
Don't use the plight of real political prisoners to fuel a
long-dead ideal. Yes, it's true that the U.S. justice and
the prison system are not the best, but there's much worse,
and some of the worse ones hold more political prisoners
than real criminals (murderers, rapists, thieves, and
thugs), and in most cases the political prisoner doesn't get
a fair trial, if one at all.
One aspect of the U.S. prison system that does make it a
hellhole is the treatment of prisoners by prisoners, but I'm
sure that's a topic that the Prison Awareness Week covered,
as well as abuses by guards who are no better than the
criminals they police... but then would we need them if
there was no crime?
In any case, my only request of organizations such as MIM
and RAIL is to please refrain from considering someone who
has committed a physical crime, such as shooting a police
officer in "self-defense," a prisoner of conscience. There's
simply no comparison, since an act is deadlier than an idea,
even if the idea follows the "goals" of MIM.
-- Idealist critic
THE TRUTH ABOUT POLITICAL PRISONERS:
OUR IDEALIST CRITIC MISSES THE POINT
Our idealist critic claims that "here in the U.S. you don't
get jailed for ideology." This is just not true, as our
idealist critic would have learned if s/he had attended any
of the PAW events. For example, Geronimo JiJaga Pratt, a
former leader in the Black Panther Party, spent twenty-five
years in prison on trumped-up murder charges. Despite the
fact that the average sentence served for murder in the u.$.
is 4 1/2 years, Pratt was consistently denied parole,
because, in the words of LA Assistant District Attorney
Dianne Vanni, "[Pratt] is still a revolutionary man."
Pratt's conviction was recently overturned because the main
witness against him was a paid FBI informant, a fact which
was hidden by the prosecution during Pratt's trial.
Furthermore, here in the u.$. your ideology can not only get
you jailed, it can get you killed. Dozens were killed by the
FBI's infamous COINTELPRO program in the late sixties and
seventies. Chicago police gunned down Fred Hampton,
chairperson of the Chicago Black Panthers, while he slept.
And this extra-legal violence is not a thing of the past.
Within the last decade, the FBI bombed environmental
activist Judy Barri and then had the nerve to say that Barri
blew herself up.
Our idealist critic is at best naive if s/he thinks that the
u.$. government is going to admit that it imprisons people
on the basis of their politics. No, it imprisons political
activists on alleged civil crimes, or it ignores the legal
system and covertly "neutralizes" the activists.
Another example. There are currently scores of Puerto Rican
activists in u.$. prisons because of their belief that
Puerto Rico should be a free and independent, and not a u.$.
colony. Many of these prisoners are kept in so-called
control units, a particularly brutal from of solitary
confinement condemned by many international human rights
agencies - including our idealist critic's cherished Amnesty
International. True, some of these prisoners were charged
with acts of violence or weapons possession; so by our
idealist critic's allegedly objective criteria, if they are
guilty, they belong in prison. But our idealist critic's
claim that s/he is not taking sides breaks down.
Evidently it was OK for George Washington and his gang to
pick up guns against an oppressive colonial power, but it's
not OK for Puerto Rican independistas to do the same.
Evidently it's OK for the u.$. to seize and control Puerto
Rico by force of arms, but when the people of Puerto Rico
respond to armed occupation by taking up arms themselves,
it's a crime.
But MIM also believes that many non-activists imprisoned for
social crimes are also political prisoners._
Why? Let me give an example. The amount of powder cocaine
needed to trigger a mandatory 5-year minimum sentence is 500
grams, while the amount of crack cocaine needed to trigger a
mandatory 5-year sentence is only 5 grams. Now thanks to
uneven police enforcement 90% of those arrested for crack
cocaine use are Black (despite the fact that 53% of crack
users in 1994 were white), and at the same time 75% of those
arrested for powder cocaine use are white. The result is
that Blacks are disproportionately receive harsher sentences
for drug use. Now the fact that the laws against crack and
powder cocaine differ, the fact that enforcement and
prosecution differ between whites and Blacks, and the fact
crack cocaine is readily available in poor Black
neighborhoods - these are results of the current political
situation in the u.$. On a deeper level, why does simple
possession crack cocaine carry a sentence of five years,
while the CIA can mastermind the shipment of tons of cocaine
(and heroin etc.) into inner cities with impunity? Politics.
As other speakers besides MIM and RAIL pointed out at PAW
events, the u.$. prison system is not about deterring or
rehabilitating criminals; it's about the social control of
oppressed people in general and making profits (via the
exploitation of prisoner labor). This is the best
explanation of why Black men are seven times more likely to
end up in jail than white men, and why one-third of all
young Black men are on probation, in prison, or on parole.
If our idealist critic attended any of the PAW events maybe
s/he wouldn't have misrepresented MIM's position on this
question. MIM does recognize that rape, murder, drug-
pushing, and theft are crimes against the people, and that
people who commit these crimes need to make amends. But MIM
contends that the u.$. injustice system is unfit to judge
these crimes and does nothing to combat the social roots of
these crimes.
Our idealist critic's typical anti-Communist rantings to the
effect that commies will lock up everybody who doesn't dress
like they do are also indicative of our idealist critic's
naivete. (If our idealist critic ever read MIM's
publications, s/he would know that we devote considerable
space to our critics). Lenin, Stalin, and Mao were honest
about the fact that the dictatorship of the proletariat was
indeed a dictatorship - a dictatorship of the majority over
the minority of former oppressors who wanted to restore
oppression. But the bourgeoisie cloaks its current
dictatorship (dictatorship of the minority of oppressors
over the majority of oppressed) in so-called democracy - a
pathetic joke considering that even in the u.$. only the
rich have access to the mainstream media or can afford to
run for office.
Indeed, MIM believes that in practice Chinese society during
the Cultural Revolution was the most democratic modern
society. For example, people who attended the screening of
the film "Breaking With Old Ideas" saw how the Cultural
Revolution was able to give everybody access to higher
education, not just the rich or the elite.
Finally, it is worth stressing that although MIM does
recognize that anti-imperialist revolution ultimately
requires armed struggle, MIM does not engage in or advocate
armed struggle in the u.$. at this time. To do so now would
only give the u.$. government an excuse to lock us up or
worse with the blessing of the likes of our idealist critic.
Our struggle now is purely a legal one.
MIM invites all people, communist or not, to get involved in
the struggle to increase public awareness around the issues
of explicitly political prisoners and prisoners in general.
* * *
ARIZONA JAIL TORTURES INMATES
by a friend of RAIL
Phoenix AZ -- Progressive people know that Amnesty
International, which claims to be a non-partisan human
rights group, often furnishes imperialist propaganda against
progressive third world regimes, as was most shamefully done
prior to the Gulf War. When Amnesty International turns
against its imperialist masters, we know something must be
seriously amiss.
In June of 1996, an inmate of the Maricopa County Jail,
Scott Norberg, died of asphyxiation while tied to a
restraining chair. This incident prompted an investigation
into conditions at the Maricopa County Jail by Amnesty
International.
Some of the conclusions of the recently released report
following the investigation are ridiculous, including one
that the inmates are "not guarded well enough". Other
conclusions are obvious, including that the inmates in the
tent city endure excessively hot conditions (a no-brainer
for anyone familiar with summer weather in south-central
Arizona).
Some conclusions were more rational and useful, however.
Amnesty International condemned the excessive use of
restraint chairs, pepper spray and stun guns by guards, and
also documented 12 cases of excessive use of force during an
18 month period, including one incident that sparked the
riot of November 17 1996. Amnesty also criticized the chain
gang as "a publicity stunt with no penological value."
Sheriff Joe Arpaio was angered by this overly mild criticism
of his policies and reminded Amnesty International of its
primary duty to support imperialism, oinking, "Go sniff
around countries that really need your attention, like North
Korea, Iraq and Iran before you unleash your rabid
propaganda on this Sheriff's Office."
It is worth noting that the inmates enduring this cruelty
are not even felons labeled by the injustice system as
dangerous criminals. Instead, the people enduring this abuse
include those awaiting trial and those convicted of
misdemeanors, many of whom are homeless people arrested for
the "crime" of finding a place to sleep. Norberg died after
being arrested for disorderly conduct. His death came to
public attention because he was white and his parents are
wealthy. Consider how many third world people have had their
suffering in the county jail unnoticed by the media.
NOTE: The Arizona Republic 9 October 1997.
* * *
IMPERIALIST-LED GROWTH STRATEGY COMES HOME TO ROOST:
ASIAN CRASHES BRING MORE MISERY TO THE MASSES
by MC12
The real news out of crashing Asian economies should be the
incredible increase in the hardship coming to the majorities
in such countries as the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia,
and Malaysia. The news should be focused on the women
working in a Taiwanese factory in Vietnam, making Nike
sneakers 65 hours a week for $10 -- that's $0.15 per hour --
while being exposed to carcinogens, dangerous work materials
and poor air quality.(1)
In fact, across Amerika in November, kitchen table
conversation did briefly turn to Asia -- and the quick sells
by mutual fund managers to bring home huge profits
accumulated over the last few years. Amerikans are earning
this money the old fashioned way: by sitting on their asses
while oppressed nation workers do the hard work of the
world.
The economic crises in Asian countries illustrate the greedy
economic interests of the Amerikans and other imperialists
in the region, as well as the role of the comprador
corporate leaders and political puppets who run these
countries. The currency crashes in a number of countries
mean huge real losses for the masses and hard times to come.
The imperialist response, organized by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), is predictable: the "aid" is more debt,
and the conditions for this "aid" are lower wages paid in
money that is worth less -- to produce more exports. At the
same time, the crisis helps show the potential for
revolution in the region, and the fearful looks in the eyes
of the Asian paper tigers.
RAKING IT IN ON THE CRASH
Sixty-three million U.$. residents are invested in mutual
funds -- group stock-ownership plans -- including those
invested indirectly through pensions. The number of
households that own mutual funds directly increased from 5
million in 1980 to 37 million in 1997. From 1992 to 1996
alone, the assets of U.$. mutual funds just in retirement
plans tripled, to $1.24 trillion. Only 10% of U.$. mutual
funds are directly invested in Third World country stock
markets; so fund managers have the flexibility to move their
money around if the going gets tough in any one country.(2)
Most mutual fund money is in Amerikan corporations, many of
which operate in Third World countries, instead of in Third
World companies. In this system, tens of millions of
Amerikan families can sit back and watch the money roll in
at the expense of others -- for now.
The crash of Asian economies reflects their vulnerability to
the whims of the imperialist economies, built up over years
of development based on foreign capital and control. For
example, from 1980 to 1996, the combined foreign investment
in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia rose from $18 billion to
$121 billion. Don't be fooled: the concept of return on
investment means the imperialists only invest on the
condition that they get back more than they put in. And that
hit home this year. In the first nine months the value of
these stock markets fell 42% (Indonesia), 52% (Malaysia) and
53% (Thailand).(3) That reflects a sell-off, a profit-taking
for all that imperialist investment. The sell-off hit south
Korea as well: in October alone, foreign investors sold off
more than $1 billion worth of stocks there. To try to bring
back investment, the government increased the amount of
local companies that could be owned by foreigners from 23%
to 26% in November, the second increase in the limit this
year.(1)
Their debts are huge. South Korea has $110 billion in
foreign debt, but they are in better shape than other ASEAN
countries, who average external debts of almost 60% of their
economic output per year.(1) Because they borrow money in
dollars or other imperialist currency, but take in money in
local currency, when the local currency falls they can't
afford to make their loan payments.
The graph shows the collapse of local currencies that has
taken place this year. From the south Korean won, which fell
22% from 1 January to 19 November, to the Thai baht, which
fell 55%, the value of the local money has almost vanished.
That hurts their central banks, and also local companies. As
the Washington Post reported, "the decline in currencies
such as the Thai baht and Indonesian rupiah is adding
enormously to the debt burdens of companies in those
countries, many of which borrowed large amounts of dollars
on overseas markets in recent years."(4) Because companies
can't make their payments, banks start going out of
business, too.(3) Bad loans in Southeast Asian banks could
peak at $73 billion.(4) That quashes the possibility of the
national bourgeoisie gaining its own strength and
independence, and it increases the dependency of the
comprador bourgeoisie at the same time.
The "good" news -- for imperialists, is that "a cheaper
currency can help boost a nation's exports by making its
products more competitive."(4) "More competitive" just means
real wages are lower, as foreign companies can pay the same
wages in local currency for a fewer dollars, and real prices
rise, especially for imports, which have to be paid at
dollar levels. One cause of the current crash is the "more
competitive" industries in capitalist China, where new
factories have lower wages than those in Thailand, for
example.(5)
This is how the currency crisis makes things worse for the
masses; it leads to unemployment as companies close, pension
and welfare cuts as governments try to meet IMF conditions,
and higher prices all around.(6)
For Thailand, manufacturing activity shrank 5% in August,
the first contraction in six years.(4) Toyota stopped
production at its two car plants in Thailand at least for
the rest of 1997.(7) Automobile sales in Thailand were down
more than 70 percent in August and September from the
previous year (4, 7); Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi cut
production, and most laid off workers; figures on
unemployment will soon show these increases.(7)
The grotesque myth perpetrated in the bourgeois media is
that the crisis reflects a "problem of over-building and
over-investment [that] afflicts a wide range of industries -
- semiconductors, cars, high-rise office buildings, among
others."(7) This means that in Bangkok, for example, "You
have roughly 300,000 empty residential units," according to
an analyst in Hong Kong."(4) This "over-production" just
means the people can't afford to buy what's there -- MIM is
sure these empty apartments in Bangkok could be put to good
use in a country that poor, if the economy were run in a
rational fashion for the benefit of the people. The
irrationality means that these empty buildings and factories
decline in value, and the companies that own them have to
fire people and spend all their money paying off their
debts. The fired workers can't buy as much, and the cycle
deepens.
'AID': MORE DEBT AND MORE EXPORTS
Fortunately for the international bourgeoisie, they have a
plan. They say "a painful period of eliminating excesses
will be required."(4) These "excesses" include the
starvation wages paid in the export industries across
Southeast Asia.
International bourgeois spokesman Jeffrey Sachs, whom the
international proletariat remembers for his inventions of
"shock therapy" and "stabilization" of Third World
economies, has spoken out on the current crisis. He said it
was inevitable that the Asian countries would run into
competition from lower-wage factories. "It became clear that
if the Asians were going to compete, their currencies would
need to fall against the dollar so their costs of production
would be lower." In other words, they had to lower wages. He
says the governments there need to "let the Asian currencies
float downward, so that these countries' exports will be
cheaper and therefore more competitive."(8)
The comprador-lackey regimes don't have much choice.
Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and now south Korea
have run to the International Monetary Fund for "bailouts" -
- more "aid" to further enslave themselves. And the
conditions will be set to meet Sachs' "advice." To get their
"bailout," in August Thailand prepared an "austerity plan"
and "complete revamp of its financial sector" before getting
an IMF pledge for $17.2 billion worth of chains around their
necks.(3) Indonesia followed in October and south Korea in
November.
THE FUTURE: REVOLUTION
The plight of the masses might be ignored in the mainstream
U.$. media, but the bourgeoisie and the lackey governments
know the trouble this leads to. According to the Far Eastern
Economic Review euphemisms, Asian governments face "a new
struggle -- to maintain political and social stability in
the face of economic dislocation." They need increased
repression to ram the IMF plans down the masses throats.
Their first example is the Philippines, which brought in
more foreign investment in the last five years than in the
previous 20. There, "20,000 marched on the presidential
palace in late October to protest -- with communist-style
slogans -- 'the people's hardship due to the government's
imperialist- dictated economic policies.'" Now Ramos has to
worry that "his legacy of economic liberalization could be
eroded by a populist-led backlash against globalization,
already apparent across the country." As strikes hit Manila
and Mindanao, none of the politicians running for president
will even say the word "globalization" any more.(1)
In a poll of top executives from the Philippines, 96%
acknowledged the inequality from the government's sell-out,
answering "no" to the question: "Have the benefits of
economic globalization been equitably distributed among all
sections of society in your country?" In the same survey,
more than three-quarters of executives from Thailand, the
Philippines and Indonesia said "yes" to the question: "Is
economic globalization contributing to social tensions in
your country?" The imperialists are worried, too: "The World
Bank, for instance, has said that while reforms have seen
the rise of a small, mainly urban, lower-middle class and of
a tiny super-elite, there has also been an increase in the
ranks of the 'poorest of the poor.'"(1)
Resistance is well organized in the Philippines, led by the
National Democratic Front, the Communist Party of the
Philippines, and the armed resistance of the New People's
Army. But there is trouble for the imperialists in other
countries, too. On 11 November, for example, 40,000 workers
struck for higher wages in an Indonesian cigarette
factory.(1)
The imperialists know they can only complete their greedy
schemes as long as the masses are repressed and excluded
from decision-making. At an elite social function, two
diplomats were talking about Indonesia. "'Don't quote me,'
said the Western ambassador, looking around
conspiratorially, 'but thank God this place isn't a
democracy."(1)
The people of the oppressed nations of Asia need not only
democracy but also national self- determination and
socialism, if they are to break the billions of dollars
worth of chains paid for by imperialist "aid" and
investment, by lackey-comprador regimes at the beck and call
of the Imperialist Monetary Fund, and by the parasitic
masses of the imperialist-country labor aristocracies, who
wear the clothes, eat the food, buy the sex, and watch the
TVs produced by the oppressed nations in Southeast Asia and
around the world.
NOTES:
1. Far Eastern Economic Review 20 November 1997.
2. Washington Post 9 November1997, p. C1.
3. Washington Post 12 October 1997.
4. Washington Post 3 November 1997.
5. Washington Post 24 October 1997, p. A34.
6. Washington Post 22 November 1997, p. C1.
7. Washington Post 6 November 1997; p. D01. 8. Jeffrey
Sachs, New York Times 3 November1997, p. A27.
* * *
INTENSIFIED MILITARIZATION OF THE FILIPINO COUNTRYSIDE
***This is the second half of an by the New People's Army
(NPA) of the Philippines. MIM printed the first half, which
described the expansion of NPA forces and actions, in the
last issue of MIM Notes. This half provides further details
of the continuing anti-people violence in the countryside
conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines(AFP).
Readers should keep in mind that the Philippine military is
funded and trained by the u.$. More than 80% of the budget
for the AFP comes from u.$. aid, and virtually every high-
ranking officer in the AFP has undergone advanced training
in the united $tates. For example, the current president of
the Philippines, General Fidel Ramos, graduated from West
Point and served under the u.$. in both Korea and Viet Nam.
He designed the current "total war" being waged in the
countryside with the help of his u.$. advisors. "Total war"
attacks the NPA by attacking their base of support -- the
peasantry -- and involves forced relocation of entire
villages, as well as assassination and intimidation. (Note:
"Support the National Democratic Front of the Philippines,"
RAIL Pamphlet, p. 3)***
The AFP intensified its national campaign, "Oplan Unlad-
Bayan," by launching fascist violence and bigger military
operations. It also launched "special operations" of the
special unit of the AFP and PNP [Philippine National
Police].
October 8 -- Governor Rudolfo Agbayani and the provincial
board members of Nueva Vizcaya formed a committee to
investigate the killing of Marlon Fernandez (Ka Pepsi). He
was betrayed by the mayor of Dupax del Norte to the enemy
troopers and subsequently "salvaged" (summary execution),
contrary to the report of Col. Tutanes of the 54 IB that Ka
Pepsi was killed in an encounter on September 24 in Barangay
Belance, Dupax, Nueva Vizcaya.
October 1 -- One soldier went berserk and killed 3 of his
fellow soldiers in the HQ of the 29th CAFGU Cpy. in Barangay
Tawa, Balbalan, Kalinga. This is a manifestation of the low
morale and lack of discipline of government soldiers in the
field. [The CAFGUs or Civilian Armed Forces Geographical
Units are paramilitary units infamous for their savage
attacks on the people, especially political activists. -
MIM]
September 23-25 -- The 8th Scout Ranger Cpy. of the army
arrested and tortured 5 farmers in Sito, Tibonong,
Kabangkalan. They were forcefully used as guides in their
military operations between the town of Moises, Padilla and
Guihilingan, Negros.
September 16 -- The troopers of 72 IB occupied two sitios of
"Lumads" (indigenous Filipinos) in Natanpud and Butay,
Barangay St. Nino, Talaguinod and drove 25 families further
into the forest.
August 22 -- The PNP in Bataan arrested 8 farmers in
Barangay Balut, Pilar, Bataan [who] were accused of being
members of the NPA.
July 12 -- More than 81,000 Moro people evacuated their
homes and land during the 12 day military offensive "Oplan
Tugis." The division-size operation was launched by the AFP
and the PNP against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
in the surroundings of Liguasan Marsh in the towns of Pikit-
Carmen, Maguindandoao and North Cotobato last July.
In this 12 day battle in Central Mindanao, the MILF reported
killing 130 AFP troopers, destroyed 6 armored personnel
carriers and other military vehicles. The AFP used artillery
and mortar shelling and air bombings to attack what they
called Raja Muda which is a barrio in Pikit, Maguindanao.
The NDF Southern Mindanao castigated the US-Ramos regime in
its desire to clean up the surroundings of the 53,000
hectare marsh lands to explore oil of the PNOC in Liguasan
Marsh. The NDF also lambasted the mining operations of
Western Mining Corporation, an Australian Co., and the
parallel military operations of the AFP in Sultan Kudarat-
North Cotobato, Davao del Sur-Saranggani.
April-May -- Intensified brigade sized military operations
were launched by the 1st Army Division in the four towns of
Zamboanga del Norte to protect the Toronto Venture Inc.
(TVI), a mining company operating in the towns of Siocon,
Balaguian, Saraway, Sebuco. The military used the issue of
MILF and the Abu Sayyaf activities to justify their
operations. But the truth is that they are trying to scare
the Subanon tribe to protect the Canadian Mining
Corporation.
February-April -- The 6 IB in Aklan and 6th Special Force
Battalion were moved and replaced by a whole Negros Island
Police Task Force (NIPTF) with 3,000 troopers of the 1st
Special Action Force Brigade that is composed of seven
companies of PNP, HQ Camp Krame. The Regional Mobile Force
Battalion and another 3,000 CAFGU in the island of Negros
were also placed under the 1st Special Action Forces
Brigade.
March-July -- The 4 ID and PNP launched brigade operations,
"Oplan Unlad-Bayan." The 401 Brigade and PNP Regional
Command (RECOM 13) attacked Barangay Buhisan, San Agustin
and Barangay San Isidro, Lianga, all of Surigao del Sur. The
troopers of 67 IB destroyed the homes of the farmers and
looted their belongings.
March-June -- The 703rd Brigade and PNP RECOM 3 launched
Brigade operations between Pangasinan and Zambales-Bataan
and other parts of Bulacan against the NPA. The 68 IB
launched bombing operations and mortar shelling and
hamletted farmers in Barangay Ocupan, St. Cruz, Zambales.
They also put up military camps in suspected NPA military
areas like Mayantoc in Tarlac.
New People's Army October 14, 1997
* * *
ENVIRONMENTALISM WITHOUT ANTI-IMPERIALISM SERVES OPPRESSION
RC35
At the end of October, imperialist bureaucrats met in
Germany for preliminary discussions of the United Nations
Convention on Climate Change, scheduled for December 1 in
Japan. The talks reportedly are aimed at revising the 1992
standards to reduce greenhouse gases. The imperialists argue
that it is these gases, from unregulated industrial
production, which cause global warming. MIM reminds people
that it is the global mode of production -- imperialism --
which contributes the greatest amount of damage to the
people's earth.
Amerika wants to require industrialized countries to reduce
emissions to pre-1990 levels.(1) This is a change from the
treaty signed in Rio at a U.N. previous conference. That
treaty called for voluntary reduction to pre-1992 levels.(2)
Amerikan carbon output is estimated to be 23% of the world's
total. Because of massive energy consumption, Amerika carbon
output has risen 2.8% since the Rio conference. Amerika has
larger per capita output than China and Japan combined,
ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively.(2) This shows the gross
resource hoarding and environmental destruction by Amerikan
imperialism. Individualist Amerikan ownership of every
resource available, mainly by stealing from other nations,
leads to overconsumption, massive pollution and waste. While
Amerika boldly talks about reducing emissions, it only
mouths false promises. Imperialists are incapable of
stopping environmental destruction because it is
specifically in imperialist interests to reap profits from
the masses and hoard and consume natural resources.
Some imperialists argued that if industrialized countries
are required to reduce their emissions while developing
nations are allowed to put off such controls, the U$ economy
would suffer.(2) Since emissions from Third World nations
have risen 30% since 1990,(2) U$ capitalists fear that
unchecked emissions would allow these nations to out-compete
regulated imperialist nation production.
Imperialists conceal the fact that competition between First
and Third World nations is vastly more complicated than
environmental regulation policies. The export of capital to
Third World nations for imperialists' profit investment
denies Third World national industrialization on a broad
scale. Comprador lackey governments allow cushy imperialist
investment which disable Third World capitalists from
competing. Comprador policies push cash crop economies which
benefit only the comprador class and imperialists.
Denied the development of national industrialization and
agriculture in the interests of the oppressed nation's
people, Third World capitalists also face the wrath of
imperialist policies under the pretense of environmentalism.
The imperialists hoard and limit newer, more environmentally
friendly technologies from Third World use. Also because of
profit motive and a continuous need to quiet Amerikan
consumers with new so-called green products, old products
fall out of use which then are shipped to the Third World
for sale. The Third World is left with out-of-date and
environmentally harmful technologies.(4)
MIM argues that without addressing imperialism, any talk of
saving the environment is just carte- blanche for
imperialist domination. It is necessary to put the
environment into a framework that serves the majority of the
world's people, not a selected few in the imperialist
countries. This means working for self-determination of all
nations by forcing out imperialism in places like the
Philippines where over 80% of the companies' earnings are
repatriated to the U$, and whose greenhouse gas emissions
are growing at a faster rate than any other country's.
Under socialism when the means of production are controlled
by the oppressed, people can develop new technology and
focus on production for necessity -- not profit -- and serve
the needs of the people.
NOTES:
1. The New York Times 1 November 1997, p.A7
2. http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/est/97/nov/nations.htm l
3. MIM Theory #12 pp. 20-24.
4. MIM Theory # 12 "On the issue of the environment in the
world and in the Philippines." by the Communist Party of the
Philippines.
Also see RAIL's Philippines packet for $1 available at the
address on page 2.
* * *
SO-CALLED DIVERSITY IN ACADEMIA SUBVERTS LIBERATION
On November 14, Stefan Kossinsky spoke at Harvard
University. Kossinsky is one of seven gay Holocaust prison
camp survivors to be identified by a Los Angeles agency that
seeks out survivor stories. Kossinsky wrote a book and
lectured about his first love: a Nazi soldier who occupied
his home town of Torun.
Instead of focusing on atrocities committed under fascism,
Kossinsky lectured about a love relationship with a
murderer.
College campus administrations have plunged into the task of
defeating righteous progressive and nationalist student
struggles. One of the primary ways of doing this is by
preaching so-called diversity and multiculturalism. These
serve to equate all forms of oppression. In the process,
subjectivism and integrationism throw out all debate of
truly ending the oppression of groups of people by other
groups. Administrators and pseudo-feminists, pseudo-gay
rights activists and pseudo-environmentalists only end up
sponsoring and funding talks given to confuse the real
issues at hand. These groups aim for so-called diversity
education because it serves each and every subjective
interest as opposed to working for real change by defining
the principal contradictions.
Kossinsky's lover was likely actively involved in the
search, round up, deportation to concentration camps and the
execution of Jews in the area. He was a police officer, and
one of their main duties was the implementation of genocide.
Most police officers were volunteers and participated in the
genocidal activities willingly. (See Hitler's Willing
Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust) Kossinsky
does not address what should be his main point: the terror
and genocide committed by the Nazis.
When the lover was sent to the Russian front, a letter from
Kossinsky was intercepted by the Nazis and Kossinsky was
arrested. After the War, Kossinsky searched archives in
Germany, Austria and Poland but found no trace of his lover.
"In Nazi Germany, homosexuality was punishable by up to 10
years in prison, and love letters could be considered
evidence. Homosexuality among German police officers was
punishable by death."
William Stetson is making a film about Kossinsky's story,
but what he told the Boston Globe shows he's missing the
real story as well. He said, "It's an extremely compelling
love story that happens to be about gay men." The story here
should not be about Kossinsky's life without his lover, or
his guilt that his love letters may have cost the lover's
life, but the fact that Kossinsky's lover was a Nazi who
conquered Poland.
NOTE: Associated Press in [Springfield, MA] Sunday
Republican 16 November 1997, p. A15.
* * *
LAZY USE OF STATS DOESN'T ADVANCE FEMINIST REVOLUTION
On November 6, the Daily Collegian, the student newspaper at
UMass, published an article by the editor of the Women's
Issues Page that asked "How safe are women on campus?" In
the first paragraph, it answered: "According to statistics
compiled by the Everywoman's Center Counselor/Advocate
Program, not very."The article summarized statistics from
the Everywoman's Center report. However, the facts did not
support the position of the editorial. This article served
to fan the flames of fear on the predominantly white campus
while misrepresenting the reality of crime. The end result
of such pseudo-feminism is a call for greater police
presence to protect supposedly helpless white wimmin. This
means increased national chauvinism which is not an advance
for feminism.First, crime reports to the police and social
service agencies are highly subjective and therefore not
necessarily indicative of what is actually happening. All
that can be generalized from this report is what things
students report. For example rape is reported ten times more
than attempted rape, while it would seem likely that rape --
by the bourgeois definition -- is attempted more often that
completed. But statistics on rape are also subjective
because they are based on the individual's definition of
rape. Most wimmin do not report incidents of coerced sex
because that does not fit the patriarchal definition.
According to the Collegian, there were 241 reports of gender
crime against wimmin reported in response to a survey. Of
these, 197 were "first time reports" (meaning that they were
not reported to UMass before). But the article fails to
explain that almost half (47%) of these first time reports
were about incidents that occurred before the previous year.
Assuming that the 17 year olds were not in college and that
all 18 year olds were, at least 25% of these previous
reports are from before the wimmin students arrived at
UMass. Even that number is too low, as it assumes that all
older students, faculty, and staff who reported previous
incidents were reporting things that happened while they
were affiliated with the University or doing things that the
school had any control over anyway. Of assaults in the last
year, 27% were not on UMass property. Only 3% of past
assaults occurred on UMass property, although 16% didn't
answer the question. It is very irresponsible to use these
statistics to generalize about the state of crime on campus.
There are almost 12,000 wimmin students at UMass, plus
thousands of wimmin on the faculty and staff. Such reports
are highly subjective, meaning that they represent only what
people want to report, not what actually happens.The
Collegian article ended with a lot of questions: "What do
these statistics mean? ... What must be done? ... What is
UMass doing? ... What can women do to protect themselves
from attacks on campus?" It is important for activists to
look at what statistics mean before using them. At least 50%
of these assaults occurred where UMass had no jurisdiction.
The most common types of assault reported were obscene phone
calls (28%), rape (20%), and voyeurism (15%). The patriarchy
wants college women to think of themselves as residents of
the Warsaw Ghetto, and so equating an obscene phone call
with rape helps to generate scarier statistics.Even if all
this crime actually occurred on campus, there is little the
police could do about it anyway, since the great majority of
the most dangerous violence--physical violence--occurs
between people who know each other. The authors of this
report, and the Collegian writer who followed their lead,
are trying to whip up fear amongst the predominately
privileged students. This fear is useful to the patriarchy
because it keeps wimmin from taking control of their own
lives by giving that power to the police--who have no
interest in ending sexual assault.The Collegian wrote of
assaults committed in the last year: "more than half (57
percent) occurred in residence halls. Alarmingly 36 percent
of reported assaults occurred in the Southwest residence
area alone." Actually, there is nothing alarming about this
as Southwest is the largest residence area and houses 47% of
the students. If this survey was 100% accurate measure of
sexual assault, we could expect 47% of the 57% that occurred
in residence halls, or 27% to be in Southwest. For such a
small unscientific survey, that's statistically the same as
36%. What MIM suspects is behind the Collegian's
"alarmingly" is the pseudo-feminist idea that some social
cultures in Amerika are patriarchal while their own sexual
relations are coercion-free. Southwest is generally
considered to be the "party" residence area with a lot of
drinking.. MIM concludes from the statistics in the survey
conducted by the Everywoman's Center that the patriarchy is
alive and well in Amerikan society. Wimmin on college
campuses are relatively safe compared to the majority of the
world's wimmin who fight against the violence of starvation,
violence at the hands of employers, and lack of health care.
But wimmin everywhere will always face the danger of
patriarchal assault until we eliminate the patriarchy. This
assault takes the form of billboards telling wimmin to
starve themselves to be beautiful, unwanted sex, and murder
at the hands of jealous partners. All of these forms of
gender oppression make the world unsafe. The most important
question is how to fight it. First world women must
recognize the ways in which they benefit from imperialism
and patriarchy, and not make the mistake of confusing their
position with that of Third World women living under the
constant threat of death.The only solution that can liberate
the wimmin of the world is overthrowing the patriarchy. In
this struggle we take inspiration from our wimmin comrades
in the world's greatest feminist revolutions, including the
Chinese Revolution, in which women went from foot-binding
and suffering under the open ownership by their parents and
spouse's family to being 23% of the highest governing body
in the country.The fight against the patriarchy will not be
won overnight but by educating people and building a
revolutionary movement eventually the people will
succeed.Notes: Massachusetts Daily Collegian 6 December
1997, p. 9. Total student population from Office of
Institutional Research. Housing capacity by residential area
from Housing Assignment Office.
* * *
UNDER LOCK & KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND PRISONS
WHY NO STATE OF EMERGENCY NOW?
I am sitting here reading the July 20, 1997 of a
Revolutionary Worker. And as I read about the struggles of
my brother Geronimo Ji Jaga -- something he stated in which
he asked the people, took me with such force and emotion
that I have to ask the same question -- "Why isn't there a
state of emergency right now?" Yes! Our Black Nation of
children is being locked up under this white man's Amerikkka
system of injustice; and the People are sitting around like
a bunch of punks while this great injustice continues.
... I welcome any and all responses from the readers out
there. My intention is to build dialog on this subject that
we can unite together and start doing something about this
great injustice. I have done my part holding myself
responsible for the crimes I have committed against myself
and my people out of my ignorance. I have gone one step
further by starting a non-profit organization/corporation
for our children. Now I need help from my brothers and
sisters in Michigan and across the states to help me build
my programs up for the children. I need people to give their
time and experiences to the cause and struggle we all face
in the threat to our children's future.
... I am sick and tired of their lies and injustice and that
I've committed the rest of my life to expose and do
something about their evil and wicked injustice. Every
conscious person in Amerikkka of color should be organizing
to stop prison incarceration of our men, women, and
children. White America is making a profit off of our
oppression and imprisonment. It's SLAVERY on a new level.
Until the next time, I am forever raising to struggle in
unity with all my brothers of struggle of all colors.
-- A Michigan Prisoner
MIM RESPONDS: The imperialists declare a state of emergency
when the masses are organized in rebellion. The masses in
the United Snakes do not yet have sufficient political and
ideological unity to pose a strong, organized threat to the
imperialists.
But MIM does argue that World War Three -- the war of the
imperialists against the oppressed nations - - is ongoing.
In the United Snakes, this war is being carried out in part
through the proliferation of prisons, and the militarization
of the oppressed nation territories with more police.
Maoists maintain that the contradiction between imperialism
and oppressed nations is principal.
Part of building the solid foundations for a successful
attack against the white settler nation, and national
liberation in general, is to build political unity through
struggle. You mentioned that you read about Pratt in the
RCP's Revolutionary Worker.
First, remember that there are people organizing on the
outside to rewrite the history of the Black Panther Party.
These revisionists portray the Panthers as reformist charity
workers -- rather than the Maoist, proletarian revolutionary
nationalists and internationalists that they were in their
years as vanguard of the Black nation in the late 1960 and
early 1970s.
We strongly suggest starting a study group with prisoners to
understand the history and legacy of the Maoists of the
1960s and 1970s -- namely the Black Panther Party, the
Puerto Rican Revolutionary Workers Organization/Young Lords
Party. MIM has a free revolutionary Books for Prisoners
Serve the People Program which can help you set up prisoners
with relevant reading materials.
Second, we strongly encourage you to study the differences
between the RCP and MIM. For starters, check out MIM Theory
1 and 11, which focus on the white labor aristocracy and the
material interests of the white nation in Amerika. MIM
argues that the white working class is not revolutionary at
this time and in fact benefits from imperialism and settler
nation colonialism. We argue that it is necessary to end the
flow of super-profits which benefit not only the
imperialists, but also the labor aristocracy.
This is the path through which the masses will achieve
national liberation -- a claim the RCP denies in favor of an
opportunistic integrationist line that panders to the
majority of settler Amerika. By contrast, MIM and RAIL work
toward genuine national liberation -- struggling without
compromise against imperialism and against the
integrationist line as one component of the system of
oppression.
TOBACCO BAN CREATES TENSION
... I am writing to inform MIM that the racist prisonkrats
have taken away the tobacco from all the inmates and staff
here a Pendleton.
We are currently on a 30 day institutional lockdown because
the new warden got scared that a major uprising was about to
occur after all the inmates walked off their jobs Oct 15,
1997.
I don't know what's going on in their minds but right now
everything here at P-Town is very shaky. Official are scared
and in turn many prisoners are paying the price.
I don't know why they've taken all of the tobacco products
but something's got to be done before someone's really hurt.
Offenders are extremely violent right now. Some are even
scared for their own lives. You should see the tension here
not to mention the extortion. A can of tobacco, 1 buglar
regularly $3.30 is now going for $150.00 - $200.00 dollars.
If they've ever done anything to oppress the people and
upset the staff this is it. Could you please give some
advice?
-- an Indiana Prisoner, 19 October 1997
MIM RESPONDS: The entire prison system is a tool to
perpetuate oppression and social control. To further control
prisoners, prisoncrats implement policies which restrict
privileges. Smoking stinks and kills, but prisoncrats are
not attempting to help prisoners kick addictions, they are
exerting control to anger prisoners and instigate fighting
between prisoners.
We encourage you to organize others to study Maoism and to
develop support for genuine anti-imperialism. Studying
Maoism will show that under socialism, the prison system is
used to truly make society better, it is not used to
oppress.
Likewise, when the people have the power, capitalists are no
longer allowed to create industries which profit off deaths
of the people. Socialist revolution will smash the economic
basis for such death industries and the power of the people
under socialism will help to eradicate addiction. Under
socialism, the people are encouraged to kick addictions for
the betterment of themselves and society. China was able to
smash addictions by creating a productive society in which
the people's needs were met and participation and creativity
were promoted.
Until the people smash Amerikan domination, MIM and RAIL
work with comrades to kick addictions, though on a limited
basis at this stage. We direct comrades to use their time
and money to promote revolution and engage in productive
mass work.
We urge you to struggle with other prisoners to develop the
understanding that the target is imperialism and white
settler nation domination, not one another. Ask other
prisoners to write about the lockdown. Prisoners' articles
which expose the pigs' justifications for lockdown and the
conditions under lockdown will help to educate people on the
outside. Urge other prisoners to use their creativity in
organizing the people to smash oppression.
HERB LAWSUIT UPDATE
The Arizona Prison officials are not allowing members of
First Nations to use specific herbs in their ceremonies. For
more information about the below see MIM Notes Issue #146.
... Well I guess the suit of the herbs is coming along slow.
We still need money and information to show that cedar,
sage, and sweetgrass are not in any way toxic. We know they
aren't but the pigs ain't going to hear us. They like
fucking with us skins. If any readers have information of
the importance of these herbs and on the non-toxic smoke,
please send typed notarized statements to: [Send to MIM,
we'll forward to this prisoner].
-- An Arizona Prisoner, 16 October 1997
HIS NAME WAS BREEDLOVE, MAY HE REST IN PIECE
One April 28, 1997, I was awakened from sleep by the
constant sounds of c/o's [correctional officers] attempting
to awake Prisoner Breedlove. The c/o's failed, which
resulted in the shift supervisor entering Breedlove's cell,
in an attempt to get physical movement from him.
This unsuccessful attempt brought the supervisor to call the
medical department. Approximately 10 minutes later, medical
personnel arrived to the unit with a stretcher. As they
exited, Breedlove appeared to me, not to be moving,
breathing, nothing.
Approximately 30 minutes later, a c/o entered the unit with
yellow crime scene tape and places it across Breedlove's
cell. ... it was obvious to conclude that Breedlove had
passed on...
Since April 18, 1997, Breedlove complained of
lightheadedness, nausea, stomach pains, and throwing up -
all resulted in no professional response from staff. ...On
April 28, 1997, Inmate Breedlove died as the result of the
system of [the] neglectful state whose employees strive
(past and present), using their oppressive, suppressive and
repressive method toward mental and physical destruction of
the inmates who occupy the $tate run dungeons.
I personally did not know Breedlove, but we did share on
thing in common. We were both locked up and witnessed the
atrocities going on within Northern Correctional
Institution's walls. And then Breedlove feel victim to the
cruelty. I witnessed the sounds of cries, coming from the
mouths of Breedlove, Brothers, people, boys. Those shedding
tears in frustration and rage. Hardened individuals praying
to false gods to open these cells. Knowing if that false god
sprung those cells, the c/o's on the tier would go straight
to hell.
Four months later, Breedlove is not forgotten. There is not
a day that goes by that I wonder when it is gonna happen to
me. And [you] can't tell me others don't think this way. How
hard can it be to kill us off? Shit, we're locked in a cell.
They can mess with the food, mess with the air vents, etc.
Northern C. I. is the only Connecticut SuperMax, which
opened in 1995. We're locked down 23 hours a day,
[recreation] in full restraints (leg, hands behind back) and
we shower ... in full restraints. Those who want to shower.
Well, Breedlove, you're not suffering any more. These devils
can't mess with you. You take it easy and R.I.P.
"All men must die, but death can vary in significance."
-- A Connecticut Prisoner, 28 August 1997
THREE YEARS OF DENIED CARE
... About 3 years ago, i was infected with a fungus that
infected 3 of my finger nails to the point where the nail
have been infected into the core and are rotten with a green
and black discoloration. There are two reasons why i need
legal support: 1) Because of the cause of the infections. 2)
Because medical staff willfully and deliberately denied me
treatment.
(1) THE CAUSE OF THE INFECTION
Because of my struggle, my political stand against The
System, I have been oppressed with every method and tactic
by these corrupted servants of the system. They have used
every measure to break me, and if physically necessary
destroy me through various means.
One example is the physical break down of my health and
hygiene. After an inmate's spirit has been broken, the
inmate could result to stooping down so low by playing with
his own feces. Thereby spreading his feces all over his
cell: on the walls, door, window, air vent, heat vent and
the floor.
After this sick deed was done the wicked prison staff
removed the inmate from the cell. And for retaliation
purposes against me they would move me into the cell with
the stinky, nasty smell of feces smeared everywhere! Thereby
forcing me to live under unsanitary health hazard
conditions. Refusing me sanitary cleaning supplies. Causing
me to live like this or to clean up another mans stink, with
no gloves, no supplies, nothing. My requests for such
supplies were constantly denied. Therefore i had no choice
but to clean it up, as i was only able. As a result, i
became infected with fungus of the fingernails.
CAUSE (2): The willful and Deliberate Denial of Medical
Treatment. For the last 3 years, I have been infected with
this fungus. Medical staff joined the wicked servants of the
(MDOC) to further oppress me by denying me treatment. Only
very little but inadequate and ineffective treatment was
provided in the early stages. For the last full calendar
year no treatment whatsoever has been provided.
The fungus has rotted way into the core of my nails. Medical
staff have falsified my medical files and made it clear to
me that they will not give me any treatment. I have written
letters and grievances all the way to the MDOC director's
office in lansing, michigan. But all of my complaints and
requests were denied. I have copies and return responses of
medical kites, grievances.
I don't know anything about litigating my lawsuit. i'm poor,
and don't have any money or family support to afford a
lawyer. Everyday, i am forced to live with this fungus
infection, with not way of treating it. Because these devils
are doing their best to make sure i don't get any treatment.
They think I will never have the proper support i need to
sue them and put each and everyone of them out of work.
That's what the devils do best: Take advantage of the
helpless and support-less. But i never fail to pray everyday
that some day support and help will come my way. ...
-- A Michigan Prisoner, 29 July 1997
"LOCK 'EM UP" ADVOCATE GETS A TASTE
Just a succinct letter apprising you that the Arizona
Department of Corrections (ADOC), had been allowing your
periodicals in with no problems, and I have been promptly
receiving them. Ever since I filed that suit and won, they
have given me your publication. Though the case did not go
to court, the authorities conceded and gave me the
periodical. That is all I basically requested in the suit. I
did not ask for financial compensation.
I did suffer some repercussions behind the suit but the
repercussions are hard to prove. I did not pursue a
retaliatory suit. Now I'm in a different prison and they
have not bothered me, yet. I put nothing past ADOC.
A couple of weeks ago Fife Symington, former Governor of
Arizona, was found guilty of seven criminal counts. He
stepped down from his position and will be sentenced on
November 10th of this year, supposedly. While it is
unfortunate that anyone must come to prison, the prisoners
of Arizona are ecstatic over Symington's demise and look at
as a sort of poetic justice.
Here is an ex-governor whose advocacy of locking them up,
taking everything away from them while they are in prison,
and throwing away the key, will be going to prison. The
unjust ramifications of his conviction are: (1) He gets to
take an extensive vacation before sentencing (money). (2) He
will not go to a federal penitentiary or federal
correctional institution but probably a federal camp. The
exclusiveness of the camp will not privy him to a true
prison experience like the one he advocates. (3) He will
probably get less time than I did ... even though he stole
over 25 million dollars. (4) Though he has been replaced,
things remain the same and will probably continue to get
worse as they did under Symington.
I did not include my sentence for sympathy, I am just using
it as a comparative point. I did not steal millions but was
caught with millions in contraband. ...
Don't think I condone my former line of work. I don't. I did
not need to sell drugs. I am a college graduate who was
about to procure a Master's. I was just not enthusiastic
about working nine to five making someone else rich. So I
threw the karmic dice and lost. I thought I had an agenda,
which if correctly implemented, I could have provided for my
family until my death.
Anyway, Symington threw the dice and lost but in the end he
still wins...
-- An Arizona Prisoner, 13 September 1997
MIM RESPONDS: Congratulations on your censorship victory
and thank you for your continuing coverage of Fife
Symington.
While, it is true that Symington is a criminal, just because
he is being charged with crimes does not mean that the
Amerikan Injustice system goes after all or even a
significant section of imperialist criminals. Even if he
were sent to a federal penitentiary, his conviction in no
way vindicates the Amerikan system.
It may be gratifying to see him get a small taste of his own
medicine, but we agree with your assessment that things will
not change after his conviction. He will only be replaced by
another imperialist who will continue to oppress the masses.
This is proof that revolutionary work is essential and that
reforms or targeting of one or two imperialist crimes is not
going to serve the interests of the masses.
With regard to the rest of your letter, MIM discourages
people from selling drugs because it is harmful to the
masses and distracts people from the revolution. We also
struggle against individuals committing illegal acts because
we need revolutionaries on the outside, not under direct
control of the pigs. Selling drugs can be profitable, but as
with other ventures under the current system, profits are
made off the backs of the masses. Instead, it is much more
valuable to build Maoist revolution and people's liberation.
UNRELENTING ABUSE AT GULF
I am an incarcerated inmate at Gulf Correctional Institution
in Florida. Inmates are being abused and our mail is being
discarded and no one is concerned. I have written DOC, Fed's
and the Civil Rights Justice division in Miami, Florida and
received no reply or assistance.
I have been physically abused by an officer here. Other
inmates here have been and are still being abused as well.
I was just introduced to an old issue of "Under Lock & Key"
and decided to write this brief notation so is could be
printed. The untold story is as cruel as they come, and it's
really ruff in the Gulf. A little assistance would be a
great deal of help to us abused inmates that have none at
all.
Where is the justice when the law is being broken by their
own kind? They make it so they can brake it, until the right
assistance comes along.
-- A Florida Prisoner, 12 October 1997
DENIED MEDICATION IN MISSOURI
I am your comrade in the struggle against imperialism. I am
writing you in regards to my plight here at the Cross Roads
Prison Facility. I am suffering from a lack of medical
attention. I am being denied my high blood pressure
medication which was prescribed for me at another prison
unit. My medical situation is such that if I miss taking my
medication for a long period of time it is a possibility
that I will suffer kidney failure, have a stroke, or heart
attack.
I've not had my medication in 18 days and I am vomiting
blood. I also saw traces of blood in my urine and
defecation. I can not file a prison grievance because the
warden of this prison unit does not allow the prisoner in
administrative segregation to have grievance forms.
I am not allowed ink pens, writing paper, or envelopes to
write the courts. I am not allowed to have stamps or access
to any legal material. I am not allowed to have any law
books or assistance from any paralegal. I was fortunate to
borrow this ink pen and paper from a prison guard who
sympathized with my conditions.
I have civil rights complaint already prepared for the
courts, but my problem now is purchasing stamps and
envelopes. I am not allowed to purchase the things from the
prison canteen that I need to contact a judge or magistrate.
I need some outside support in dealing with this issue. My
voice alone will never be heard by the medical staff or
prison personnel. These are the people who need to be
contacted:
Dona Schrino, Prison Director, Missouri Department of
Corrections, 2729 Plaza Drive, PO Box 236, Jefferson City,
MO 65102, phone: (314) 751-2851
Governor Moe Cornahan, State Capital Building, Jefferson
City, MO 65102 phone (314) 751-3222
-- A Missouri Prisoner, 15 September 1997
PEPPER SPRAY ATTACK
I am a Prisoner in the Texas Penitentiary. Several months
ago I was assaulted by an officer on another unit for
refusing to house in a dorm with other inmates. What I mean
by assaulted, I was sprayed with pepper gas four times,
covering most of my body. Then carried to the dorm where I
refused to go. The reason I refused is because I am a
minimum-security inmate and the dorm I was in was assigned
to all medium security inmates.
What is so sad about the whole thing, is the officers had
the balls to video tape the whole thing. One officer
spraying me with the chemical agent and three more in full
riot gear escorting me to the medium custody dorm.
Needless to say I was moved from that unit. I've filed
several grievances. Internal Affairs is supposed to be
investigating the matter. It's been nine months now and no
answer. I've also filed a federal lawsuit. But I'm not too
good with civil action suits....
-- A Texas Prisoner, 18 October 1997
BRUTAL SHOWER ATTACK
... I am a Prisoner of War her in one of the many Texas
prisons, called the "Wynne Unit". Since I've been kidnapped
from society and brought through this racial judicial
system, I have witnessed and fell victim to some of the
atrocious ways of these korrectional officers, in both
mental and physical aspects.
On March 5, 1995, I was being escorted from a shower by two
Ad Seg [Administrative Segregation] Officers (Ricky Nelson
Timothy Skeide). And for no apparent reason at all, Officer
Nelson grabbed me from behind and threw me to the ground and
I was then physically assaulted!
So, as usual, I was given a major case (disciplinary report)
for "threatening" an officer, placed on level III and I lost
good time credits. But to my surprise, another officer (Co.
III P. Perry) had written a statement on my behalf stating
that officer Nelson has planned to "slam" me when I returned
from the shower. And that she witnessed the entire incident.
But nevertheless, I was still found guilty at the
disciplinary hearing by Captain Boyd. Even though I had an
officer speaking of my innocence! This is just an example of
the true meaning of the Texas Department of Criminal Just-Us
System!
-- A Texas Prisoner, 15 October 1997
* * *
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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