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 185 May 1, 1999
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. IMPERIALISM IS PREDATORY AND VIOLENT
OPPOSE U$-NATO BOMBINGS AND BUILD REVOLUTION
2. STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE FOUGHT IN THE STREETS
DON'T RELY ON AMERIKA'S KANGAROO COURTS
3. LETTERS
4. GREETINGS FROM RAIL FRANCE
5. GREETINGS FROM NEW ORLEANS RAIL
6. FILIPINO WIMMIN'S MOVEMENT LEADER, IN LOS ANGELES, SPEAKS
AGAINST THE VISITING FORCES AGREEMENT
7. EX-VICE MAYOR JOINS FILIPINO REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT
8. SPECTRES OF CAPITALISM: A CRITIQUE OF CURRENT INTELLECTUAL
FASHIONS
9. MASS SUPREME COURT WEIGHING PRISONER DNA DATABANK
10. CAPITOL PROTEST DRAWS IMAGINARY LINE BETWEEN POLICE AND
BRUTALITY
11. CONFUSED POSITIONS OF MANY ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS FALL SHORT
12. AMERICAN MUSLIM COUNCIL SUPPORTS NATO
13. STOP US AND NATO WAR OF AGGRESSION (Communist Party of the
Philippines and National Democratic Front of the Philippines
Statement)
14. KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY WELCOMES NATO
15. KOSOVO'S ALBANIAN PRESIDENT APPARENTLY DENOUNCES NATO
16. OPPOSE U$ AND NATO AGGRESSION IN YUGOSLAVIA! (RAIL statement)
17. MATRIX HELPS DEMONSTRATE MATERIALISM AND DIALECTICS
18. FIGHT IMPERIALISM AND JOIN UP FOR REVOLUTION
19. COURT TO CONSIDER RESTRICTING POLITICAL USES OF STUDENT FEES
20. UNDER LOCK & KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONS AND PRISONERS
21. FACTS ABOUT U.$. IMPRISONMENT
22. MIM ON PRISONS & PRISONERS
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
* * *
IMPERIALISM IS PREDATORY AND VIOLENT
OPPOSE U$-NATO BOMBINGS AND BUILD REVOLUTION
As this issue MIM Notes goes to press, the u.$. and NATO war of
aggression against the peoples of Yugoslavia has continued for
several weeks and is expanding. The imperialists themselves admit
that they are bombing civilian targets and Yugoslavian civilians
are dying. Imperialist mouthpieces such as the Washington Post and
Los Angeles Times promote the invasion and occupation of parts of
Yugoslavia.
Although the imperialists still claim they are not willing to
commit ground troops, they now openly speak about establishing a
NATO protectorate in Kosovo. This would serve imperialist
interests by solidifying their political and military presence in
eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Albanians - the people the
u.$. and NATO say they are helping - are leaving their homes in
Kosovo, apparently as a result of Serbian relocation campaign and
increased pressure from NATO bombings. The elected Kosovar
Albanian president has come out against the u.$. and NATO war in
Yugoslavia (see article on page seven).
This war is unjust and predatory and should be opposed -- but the
opposition should be based on proletarian internationalist
principles. Some of the anti-war protesters here in the u.$.
incorrectly support Amerikan intervention in the Balkans, just not
the current bombing campaign. Others tail the bourgeois Yugoslav
government headed by Slobodan Milosovic (see article on page six).
MIM knows that despite the "humanitarian" pretext, the u.$. and
NATO war is mainly an outgrowth of the imperialist nature of the
u.$. and its NATO allies. The peoples of Yugoslavia and the
Balkans have the right and the ability to solve their own
problems. There is nothing about these problems that will be
solved by U$ military aggression, or political and economic
dictatorship.
Other stories inside this issue about the war in Yugoslavia:
* Kosovo Liberation Army embraces NATO
* Kosovo's Albanian pacifist president
apparently denounces NATO
* Statement by the Communist Party of the Philippines and National
Democratic Front of the Philippines
* Confused positions of many anti-war protesters fall short
* RAIL's statement: "Oppose u.$. and NATO aggression!"
* * *
STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE FOUGHT IN THE STREETS
DON'T RELY ON AMERIKA'S KANGAROO COURTS
Geronimo ji Jaga (Pratt) won a big victory on February 17, with
the announcement by Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti
that he will not be retrying Geronimo.
Geronimo was framed and convicted in the early 70s for a murder he
did not commit. He spent 27 years in prison before the Orange
County Superior Court overturned his conviction in May 1997. After
his release, District Attorney Garcetti aggressively pursued a
retrial. Of course Garcetti still won't admit that Geronimo is
innocent of the charges. Nonetheless, the decision not to retry
Geronimo is a victory won because of fervent activism.
Over the decades, mountains of evidence documented Geronimo's
innocence. In the end, the court had to admit that a key witness
against Geronimo lied about being a police informant. This final
straw forced a new trial. The real credit goes to the
revolutionaries in the streets who built a strong movement for
Geronimo's freedom.
Mumia Abu Jamal has spent 18 years on death row in Pennsylvania
for a crime he did not commit. Like Geronimo, Mumia was targeted
by the police because of his revolutionary politics.
Mumia is an outspoken advocate and leader of the Black nation. He
was a Minister of Information for the Black Panther Party, and
later a radio journalist. Mumia was hated by the Philly police and
government for his work exposing police brutality. Years ago, the
mayor of Philadelphia singled Mumia and his outspokenness out at a
press conference with this ominous warning: "Someday you'll pay
for what you've done."
What Mumia Abu Jamal did do, was raise the consciousness of the
Black nation about its colonization by white settler Amerika.
In a January speech, Mumia's chief lawyer Leonard Weinglass laid
out the legal side of the struggle including new evidence
uncovered by defense investigation.
Many opponents of the Amerikan death penalty are familiar with the
Baldus study which shows that Blacks are more likely to be
executed if their victim was white. Baldus has recently conducted
a study of Philadelphia district attorneys, showing that Blacks
are 5.2 times more likely than whites to be thrown off juries. In
Mumia's case, 11 Black jurors were removed, thereby denying Mumia
a true jury of his peers.Internationally renown ballistics expert
Peter De Forrest reports evidence that the bullet that killed the
officer may have been switched. A former Philly police officer has
told the defense that bullet switching was common.
The pig's defense to charges of politically persecuting Mumia is
to argue that the officers at the scene didn't know him -- so they
couldn't have been biased. That has been proven false. It's
already known that the highest ranking officer at the scene knew
Mumia. Additionally, their personal knowledge of Mumia says
nothing about their biased against outspoken revolutionaries
fighting police brutality and oppression.
However, the defense can now prove that the officer who found
Mumia's gun at the scene also knew Mumia.
The police admit to having huge files on Mumia, but refuse to turn
them over. This evidence could force the courts to require the
police to share these records with the defense.
Attorney Weinglass also reported evidence on the police
suppression of another suspect who was later found to be in
possession of a weapon capable of firing a copper-jacketed bullet.
Neither Mumia's gun nor the officer's were capable of firing such
a bullet, but one was found at the scene. The illegal police
suppression of this evidence should be grounds for a new trial.
We don't advocate prosecution of the person who did kill the cop.
When the killing happened, the cop was engaged in an act of police
brutality against Mumia's brother. Somebody stopped this illegal
violence with other violence. That's a far cry from murder.
Weinglass reported in January that the legal team would be filing
an appeal before the Supreme Court specifically to deal with the
issues of Mumia's physical exclusion from the initial trial and
the Judge's denial of Mumia's right to represent himself. Attorney
Weinglass doesn't expect the Supreme Court to side with Mumia on
this question, and he expects a decision in April 1999.
This negative ruling would likely trigger a death warrant signing
by Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Ridge. This would not give the
defense much time to bring an appeal of the October 1998
Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling to Federal District Court. This
Court could rule by Summer or Fall 1999.
Making matters much more difficult for Mumia and justice, is the
1996 "Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act." This law
restricts the Federal Courts from examining the findings of fact
made by the State Courts. Unfortunately for Mumia, the findings of
fact and other State Court actions are precisely the issue.
The judge at Mumia's original trial and his appeals was Albert
Sabo. Known as the "Hanging Judge", Sabo has earned the label
"judge beyond reason" from American Lawyer Magazine, and his bias
at Mumia's trial was severe enough to merit criticism from the
prosecution! Since Sabo declared himself "unbiased" during the
initial appeals, the Federal Courts are restricted to maintaining
that assumption.
With the Effective Death Penalty Act and the transition into the
much quicker federal court system, Mumia's case has an exceptional
urgency. We agree with Attorney Weinglass that the real power to
free Mumia exists not in the courtroom but in our ability to build
a movement in the streets. (See June 1 MIM Notes for coverage of
the upcoming ŒMillions for Mumia' march in Philly.)
Mumia's care demonstrates the nature of the repressive injustice
system, which itself is a tool of social control and national
oppression. We must continue to build support for a new trial and
subsequent release of Mumia and carry on the struggle to build
revolution to end systematic oppression.
Note: Jamal_News Service on 2/06/99 on pan.afrikan.net/
dcforum97n/forum2/93.html
* * *
LETTERS
OPPOSE BOMBING OF YUGOSLAVIA
I'm shocked by the news of US and NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, an
independent, sovereign nation. There must be some sort of protest/
demonstration being planned for Ann Arbor, Michigan? Do you know
of anything? Is RAIL going to make their voice be heard around
town? (the country, even?) There must be something we can do.
Please, if you know of any protest, could you notify me so I can
go? I hope RAIL keeps doing what it has been for a long time now,
showing foreigners like myself that not all americans are
imperialists and fascists. Showing us that some people can still
THINK. thank you.
-- a supporter in Michigan
MIM responds: Both MIM and RAIL have been out on the streets
since the bombings of Yugoslavia started, protesting u.s.
imperialist attacks and putting forward information to help people
wade through the lies fed to them by the imperialist press.
Unfortunately, this latest attack by the u.s. has confused many
activists who generally oppose imperialist intervention around the
world.(see article on page six) We've heard otherwise staunch
anti-imperialists question whether this might really be a
humanitarian action by the u.s. And some so-called communist
parties like the Workers World party and many activists are taking
the simplistic position of supporting Milosevic and claiming that
all negative information about him is just imperialist propaganda
just like the propaganda against the communist party during the
Vietnam war.
The unfortunate reality of the situation in the Balkans is that
there is no leading communist party fighting imperialist
aggression. The lies that the Kosovo Liberation Army is Marxist
are just an attempt to scare the people in imperialist countries
using a convenient label. After a speaker at a rally to oppose the
u.s. bombings quoted the state department saying that the KLA is
communist, one Serbian high school student said: "that label has
got to be the most incorrectly an overused term."
The only correct position on this recent manifestation of World
War III is to oppose all u.s. (including North American Terrorist
Organization - NATO) intervention in the Balkans. This is a war
over control of the Balkan region which only benefits small
cliques of local reactionaries and the foreign imperialists who
back them. Humanitarianism is a mere pretext for the imperialist
aggression. It's a real tragedy for which blame belongs on the
imperialists and the capitalist system and which the people
themselves have to resolve - not NATO.
We encourage all activists to take up this correct position on the
bombings of Yugoslavia and work with MIM and RAIL to protest these
actions and educate people about what is really going on.
OCALAN'S ARREST SHOWS HYPOCRISY OF CLINTON'S "NO FLY ZONE" POLICY
Dear MIM,
Kurdish rebels are claiming that the U.S. and Israel played a part
in the arrest of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. Enraged Kurds
have held protests throughout Europe and the Middle East since the
arrest. In one instance Israeli security guards killed three Kurds
who forced their way into the Israel consulate.(1) Turkish
officials have helped fuel the violence by releasing a videotape
of Ocalan in handcuffs with his eyes tapes shut.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put his diplomatic
missions on alert after a news report claimed that Israel's Mossad
intelligence agency helped Turkey track Ocalan (1). U.S. Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright called for Abdullah Ocalan to be
handed over to the Turkish regime. The U.S. considers Abdullah and
the Kurdish PKK to be "terrorists".
Turkey has invaded Northern Iraq and killed Kurds numerous times
(2). Ankara sent 10,000 troops to the Syrian border and said that
it was prepared to attack PKK bases just as it does in Northern
Iraq.(3) The U.S. has long provided satellite information to help
the Turkish military carry out these massacres of Kurdish people
in Turkey and Northern Iraq.
In exchange Clinton uses Turkish bases to launch his "No Fly Zone"
attacks against the Iraqi people. The hypocrisy here is obvious.
Our government claims that it is enforcing these zones in order to
protect Kurdish rebels from the Iraqi government and yet it is
aiding Turkey in their slaughter.
When Turkey killed Kurds in Northern Iraq a while back, political
apologists on the McGluaghin Group tried to make the distinction
between "good Kurds" and "bad Kurds". The good Kurds are those
small factions that the U.S. is covertly arming and encouraging to
blow up buildings like Timothy Mcveigh did. The bad Kurds are the
ones our allies are slaughtering and the ones who are dying from
disease and starvation (along with the rest of the Iraqis) because
of the U.S. imposed sanctions.
After bombing Iraq for the last two months, U.S. officials are
acting outraged that Iraq is threatening the base in Turkey from
which U.S. attacks originate. Heaven forbid that the Iraqis fight
back. They're just supposed to sit back and let the U.S. and the
Turks slaughter them. I will continue to work with Peace groups
who are trying to lift the sanctions on the Iraqi people. However,
if Iraq does launch an attack on the base in Turkey, I will not
fall back on the following line: "We oppose the attack on the
Turkish base and the U.S. bombing campaign." I fear that many
people will.
‹An Activist in the East
Notes:
1. Springfield Union News, Feb. 18, 1999.
2. The Progressive July, 1997 Pg 8-9.
3. The Progressive December, 1998 Pg 22.
KAPITALIST GOONS ATTACK MAN FOR HO CHI MINH POSTER
MIM, It's 1 March 99, over the past couple of weeks I got to
witness on national TV, "the great whore Amerika" and its
injustice system at work, against a communist supporter. It all
took place in Westminster California, in its predominantly Asian
part of the city, which is named Little Saigon.
A store owner hung a poster of "Ho Chi Minh" (a communist leader
of North Viet Nam from 1954-69). Along with the North Viet Nam
"red" communist flag on his store wall. The kapitalist
reactionaries, which were other Asians, held rallies and protests
day after day. The first day that I saw it on the news, the
kapitalist reactionaries beat our comrade up in front of the pigs!
The pigs didn't let the reactionaries kill our comrade, but I also
didn't hear of no arrests either. After all this our comrade was
quickly escorted out to an ambulance. The kapitalist reactionaries
held their so called friendly non-violent protest. The kapitalist
supporters showed up by the hundreds! From what I saw most were
Asian descent.
Vietnamese/Amerikan singers showed up and sung for our
adversaries, our opposition called the pigs by their proper names
"pigs" while yelling at them why do they (the pigs) let our
comrade hang up those pictures when the pigs' fathers died with
their Vietnamese fathers in the Viet Nam war against communism.
All this and more took place during the last two weeks!
Comrades we already know the pigs, media and government work hand
in hand. The media supported the protest by airing it as much as
they could, and calling it friendly, even non-violent while
showing the kapitalist supporters assaulting our comrade!
The always no good pigs didn't make any attempt to stop the
protest, but over the pig's radio the devilish swine were making
racial epithets! And the punk ass bureaukratik kapitalist's
(government) probably called the local enforcers of injustice and
told them let the protest carry on, because it misleads the masses
about communism and it promotes our injustice!
The kapitalist reactionaries said, "they don't like communism
because it is not for freedom."
Our comrade went back to work [...] and again some supporters of
kapitalism spit on him, and threw an egg at him! Our comrade was
literally carried out of the area by the pigs! While he was
yelling and screaming that he'll be back! Don't forget the media
"friendly-non-violent protest." Our comrade told the media he will
never take down the poster and flag! And that he will return!
The United Snakes and its supports saw the opportunity to promote
this "travesty" they are doing under the cloak of freedom, and
they did just that. Comrades we need to re-educate the workers and
teach them the truth about Marxism-Lenin-Mao, to all you
kapitalist supporters cast away illusion! Revolution, socialism,
communism is the real path to uhuru (freedom).
Our comrade in Westminster knows he has nothing to loose but his
chains of kapitalism! And a world to win!
Our comrades in this struggle on the streets need to go out there
and help our brother! We should never let one of our comrades
fight alone against kapitalism, revisionism, imperialism or any
other forms of oppression!
This is an appeal to the comrades on the streets of this unjust
society in the United Snakes from the comrade X in the California
gulags. It's time for rebellion, along the (M-L-M) line!
From your faithful mwenzi (comrade) in the western gulags!
-- a California prisoner
MIM adds:: According to bourgeois media reports as well as sources
sympathetic to anti-imperialism, the store owner who displayed the
poster of Ho Chi Minh and the flag of the Democratic Republic of
Viet Nam is not himself a communist, but is inspired by the
Vietnamese people's heroic struggle to liberate itself from
Amerikan imperialism. He also advocates closer relations between
the Vietnam and the u.$.
Anti-communist death squads linked to the groups which organized
the protests in Westminster murdered journalists and other
intellectuals in the u.$. Vietnamese community who had views
similar to those of the store owner (see e.g. "Little Saigon's
Invisible Enemies" in the OC Weekly, 5 Mar 99 and the March issue
of Change Links). As our prison comrade points out, despite the
supposed right to free speech, those who speak out on important
issues face harassment from reactionaries of all sorts. On top of
that, the bourgeois media in this country will distort and twist
everything to fit its lies. This underscores the necessity of the
independent media of and for the oppressed like MIM Notes, as well
as the importance of taking our enemies seriously on a tactical
level, while having strategic confidence in our ultimate victory.
MIM opposes economic sanctions and embargoes placed on countries
like Viet Nam, Cuba, Iraq, etc. etc. as acts of aggression
designed to impose the will of the u.$. imperialists on sovereign
peoples. At the same time, we know that it takes a strong
socialist state to ensure that such trade serves the people and
the building of socialism. The current Vietnamese state is
socialist in name, but capitalist in deed, and therefore in not
able to defend the hard-won self-determination of the Vietnamese
people - witness the well-documented super-exploitation of
Vietnamese workers by Nike, for example.
PRISONER UPHOLDS SPIRITUALITY
Dear MIM, I respectfully disagree on your view about spirituality
not being concrete enough to help convicts. I believe you meant it
don't help inmates. A real convict is naturally rebellious plus
not all of us real cons use spirituality as a crutch. If it wasn't
for my faith I wouldn't have the courage to keep fighting the
oppressors.
--An Illinois prisoner,
10 February, 1999
MIM responds: It is true that different people use different
definitions of spirituality. When we said "Spirituality is not
going to help prisoners, or oppressed people anywhere, to fight
the imperialist system that is oppressing them" (MIM Notes 175),
we followed it up with: "When everything is up to a higher power
it is much easier for people to be complacent and just pray rather
than take action against oppression."
There are also people who do not use what they think of as
spirituality in this way. Under conditions of oppression, people
draw personal strength from many sources. MIM's point is that we
focus on developing the ideological basis for revolution. In
providing revolutionary political leadership, this is the correct
choice. Some people do use what they call spirituality to help
focus themselves on the fight against the oppressors. We warn
against spirituality detracting from concrete matters, and we
argue that revolutionaries have to keep our eyes on the earthly
prize if we are to be successful.
Many revolutionaries are sustained by a faith in the masses of
people who will overthrow imperialism and create a just society
where no group of people oppresses any other. This is a
materialist faith and the one which we encourage all activists to
take seriously whether or not you support spirituality in other
forms.
* * *
GREETINGS FROM RAIL FRANCE
Dear Comrades!
RAIL France extends its fraternal greetings to the 1999 Congress
of the Maoist International Movement (MIM) and wishes it success.
Let this Congress become a major milestone on the road to
fulfilling MIM's principal goal--building a united proletarian-led
front within the borders of the citadel of world imperialism, the
U$A.
A correct line is essential to ultimate victory in a protracted
people's struggle. MIM's line is strong - and correct. A united
front built upon incorrect principles is a house of cards. MIM's
choice to place correct line before illusory unity is thus
correct.
Every victim of capitalism is a potential revolutionary. The false
victories of the oppressor must be seen as such and will be so
demonstrated and eventually reversed in this protracted struggle.
Proletarians and oppressed nations of all countries, unite!
Long live Marxism-Leninism-Maoism!
* * *
GREETINGS FROM NEW ORLEANS RAIL
To the Central Committee of the Maoist Internationalist Movement:
Revolutionary greetings, comrades!
The New Orleans chapter of the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist
League sends profound regards to our compatriots of the Maoist
Interrnationalist Movement and hails the commencement of MIM's
1999 Spring Congress.
Under MIM's leadership New Orleans RAIL has firmly planted the red
flag of revolutionary anti-imperialism in the $tate known as
louisiana, where Angola Prison shadows the landscape as a monument
to national oppression and the white settler masses salivate for
David Dukkke. This bloody parasite imperialism will be ended!
As part of the MIM-led united front against imperialism, New
Orleans RAIL continues to draw strength for this struggle from
MIM's resoluteness of purpose in defeating imperialism and
continues to advance the struggle through reliance on MIM's
revolutionary practice concentrated as theory.
New Orleans RAIL hails the Maoist Interrnationalist Movement 1999
Spring Congress with revolutionary confidence in MIM's proven
ability to determine and set forth the tasks of genuine anti-
imperialism to defeat the beast that seeks to devour the oppressed
peoples of the world. Forward with the struggle!
* * *
FILIPINO WIMMIN'S MOVEMENT LEADER, IN LOS ANGELES, SPEAKS AGAINST
THE VISITING FORCES AGREEMENT
On March 16th, Liza Maza, Secretary-General of GAB-RIELA -
Philippines, spoke against the proposed Visiting Forces Agreement
(VFA) between the u.$. and the puppet Government of the Republic
of the Philippines (GRP). The VFA would give u.$. ships and troops
access to 22 ports throughout the Philippines and would give u.$.
soldiers protection from prosecution for crimes committed while on
duty in the Philippines, among other provisions. The VFA would
effectively reverse the victory the Filipino people won in 1991,
when the two huge u.$. military bases in the Philippines were shut
down because of the Filipino people's broad and persistent
protests. The Philippine senate will vote on the VFA in April or
May.
GABRIELA - Philippines is a legal wimmin's organization in the
Philippines which opposes imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat
capitalism.
According to Maza, some bourgeois municipal leaders have joined
militant workers, peasants, and urban professionals in opposing
the VFA - even the Catholic Church of the Philippines has come out
against the agreement. But at the time of her talk, only three
Philippine senators promised to vote against the VFA.
Pro-VFA forces argue that the agreement will defend the
Philippines against foreign aggression. Critics point out that
(other than the u.$. itself) the Philippines faces little or no
foreign aggression. In fact, u.$. bases in the Philippines during
World War II made the islands a target for Japanese invasion, and
the u.$. abandoned its bases with little fight.
The VFA will violate provisions in the constitution of the GRP
which declare the Philippines to be nuclear free. This is because
of the u.$. armed forces' policy to "neither confirm or deny" that
they are carrying nuclear weapons. Already pro-VFA forces have
suggested that they will try to change the anti-nuke and other
provisions in the constitution which get in the way of the VFA.
Reactionaries in the Armed Forces of the Philippines now openly
say that VFA will aid their war against the New People's Army,
which is fighting a protracted people's war to liberate the
Philippines from imperialism and domestic reaction.
The VFA clearly goes against the interests of the Filipino people,
and only serves the u.$. imperialists' need to militarily defend
their interests in the Philippines and East Asia. But even if the
puppet GRP foists the VFA on the Filipino people, Maza declared
that "the Filipino people will always find a way to voice its
opposition to the VFA."
VFA and prostitution
Maza argued that the VFA will also lead to an increase in
prostitution in the Philippines, as wimmin and children are drawn
into the sex trade that surrounds u.$. military bases. There are
already over 500,000 prostitutes in the Philippines. Wimmin turn
to prostitution because the crisis-ridden Philippine economy
offers them little or no economic alternative. Unemployment for
wimmin rose from 12% 1997 to 15% 1998.
Some people argue that u.$. military bases provide income to the
hosting communities. In fact, the majority of the income for the
cities surrounding the former u.$. bases came from the rest and
recreation industry - a euphemism for prostitution. So those GRP
and local officials who advocate military bases as a way to kick
start the local economy are pimping the wimmin of the Philippines
to Amerikan soldiers.
Aside from degradation and exploitation that prostitution entails,
it also poses a health risk to the sex workers involved - and
eventually all Filipinos. According to Maza, the first AIDS cases
in the Philippines were discovered among prostitutes near the old
u.$. bases. Now imperialist agencies such as the U$AID and the
Ford foundation fund AIDS studies in the Philippines - principally
in the area of former u.$. bases. The implication is clear: The
imperialists only care about AIDS in the Philippines to the extent
that it might affect Amerikan soldiers.
MIM supports the struggles of legal organizations like GABRIELA
against Amerikan imperialism and for true self determination. MIM
especially supports the efforts of organizations engaged in armed
struggle against the reactionary puppet regime, such as the
National Democratic Front and the New People's Army, which are led
by the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines. The National
Democratic Front is currently building a government which truly
serves the people in its liberated areas. Contact MIM for more
information about the Filipino peoples' struggle against foreign
imperialism and domestic reaction.
* * *
EX-VICE MAYOR JOINS FILIPINO REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT
National Democratic Front
of the Philippines
National Council
25 March 1999
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) warmly
welcomes Vice-Mayor Jaime Decasa who has decided to join the ranks
of the revolutionary movement to fight for justice. From being an
official of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines
(GRP) as Vice-Mayor of the municipality of Batuan, Bohol, Ka Jaime
Decasa has become one of the many thousands of Filipinos carrying
out a national democratic revolution with a socialist perspective.
Former Vice-Mayor Decasa's decision is a sharp indictment of the
corrupt justice system of the reactionary government. Those who
fight for justice and dare to expose the injustices inflicted on
the peasants, workers, and other exploited and oppressed sectors
of the population, are charged, convicted and imprisoned.
In contrast, the biggest criminals such as the Marcoses,
Cojuangcos, Tans and regional and local kingpins go scot-free and
are even showered with privileges and benefits.
Ka Jaime himself personally experienced this injustice. In 1994,
he and his family were harassed after he filed a case of graft and
corruption against ex-Mayor Bebe Dumagan and nex-Treasurer
Primitivo Degamo of Batuan. Last January he was subjected to grave
threats when he was being framed after a murder. He was issued a
warrant of arrest on January 13, 1999.
The corrupt justice system is merely a part of the entire rotten
ruling system that serves the interests of the foreign monopoly
capitalists and the local exploiting classes of big comprador
bourgeoisie and landlords. This rotten ruling system intensifies
the exploitation and oppression of the toiling masses and other
sections of the Filipino people. To get rid of this rotten system,
the Filipino people have been waging a thirty-year-old
revolutionary struggle.
We welcome Ka Jaime Decasa into the revolutionary movement to
fight for justice, for genuine land reform and national
industrialization, for genuine freedom and democracy.
This welcoming of Ka Jaime is the implementation of a longstanding
policy of the revolutionary movement to accept officials and
members of the reactionary government and its armed forces who
sincerely desire to leave the service of the reactionary
government and join the revolutionary movement. Under this policy,
Lt. Crispin Tagamolila, General Raymundo Jarque and some members
of the Armed Forces of the Philippines were accepted into the
revolutionary ranks.
[...]
‹Luis G. Jalandoni Member, NDFP National Executive Committee
* * *
SPECTRES OF CAPITALISM: A CRITIQUE OF CURRENT INTELLECTUAL
FASHIONS
by Samir Amin
Monthly Review Press
reviewed by MC5
Samir Amin is the director of the Third World Forum in Dakar,
Senegal. Trained as an economist, his work is relatively close to
Maoist political economy compared with other academicians. This
particular book is a collection of theoretical observations that
would be difficult to understand outside the ivory tower. We can't
recommend it across-the-board, even though we agree with most of
it.
The irony of this book is that if Samir Amin had been in an
Amerikan university, he would have been seen as another token,
just another voice of relative truth. Here in this book we have
Samir Amin rejecting tokenism and the philosophical underpinnings
of it called post-modernism. Oh horror of horrors when the would-
be tokens reject anti-scientific philosophies of thought.
Postmodernism
As might be expected with an author with which we have a
relatively high degree of unity, we fully agree with Samir Amin's
attacks on current intellectual fashions including postmodernism
and neo-liberalism. In fact, we take the title of the book to
refer to the way postmodernism leads to neo-liberalism. If all the
existing nationalities, sexual orientations and genders etc.
tolerated each other what would we have? Capitalism still.
"Postmodernism is a wayward conceit expressing disconcertedness at
foresight, will, and consequential action, which is distinguished
by distrust for systematic thought, in the place of which it puts
what Gianni Vattimo aptly terms Œflaccid thought,' ready to accept
anything since all theories are equally [in]valid and nothing is
objectively true." (p. 113)
Postmodernism is the intellectual equivalent of MTV. We agree with
Amin that imperialism's academy has done some things with
postmodernism that it would not have otherwise done, but on the
whole the result is still just a reflection of the crisis
capitalism puts academic research in.
Underdetermination
Something we like about this book is the idea of
"underdetermination." We find it a nice contrast to
"overdetermination." Readers who have read MT will recall that
overdetermination is most known in its popular form that "it's all
one system" and more importantly therefore, "it doesn't matter
which oppression is principal." Some alleged Marxists mean for
this concept to be an olive branch to pseudo-feminism in
particular.
In contrast, Samir Amin puts forward the idea that the various
social logics of class, nation, gender etc. result in
"underdetermination." This means there is a role for struggle to
tip the balance in some situations while some logics become
subordinate to others. (pp. 49-56)
Economics
The economic theory aspects of this book would be especially rare
in public discussion. Suffice it to say that we agree with Amin on
many points as usual:
1) Capitalism did overcome its alleged "general crisis" after
World War II, (p. 25) which is not to say that capitalism
benefited the majority of people. There is no denying capitalism's
economic growth, only its distribution and usefulness to the
people and side-effects.
2) "The law of value governing really existing capitalism
(globalized capitalism) is not the law of value as deduced from
the capitalist mode of production considered in abstraction, but
is what I term the globalized law of value. This latter form
brings about a systematic distortion by virtue of the fact that
workers in the peripheral countries are paid at a lower rate than
equally productive workers in the metropolitan centers. The global
price system, which constitutes the reference point for rational
capitalist economic calculation, is thus the result of a double
transformation of value."(pp. 77)
3) Some of the current criticism of "globalization" and "neo-
liberalism" is in fact reformist Liberalism of another kind.
Indeed, Samir Amin disagrees with the people talking about
"globalization" as bringing about a leveling that turns the United
$tates into another Brazil.(p. 88) Discussion of "globalization"
is something that David Duke, Pat Buchanan, Ross Perot and others
like them agree with. It is no substitute for talking about
capitalism and imperialism.
What is new in what Samir Amin is saying is a new set of principal
contradictions that he believes we should talk about 1) the
environment 2) economic alienation 3) class polarization globally.
Without saying so, we also believe Samir Amin is starting to cast
doubt on the labor theory of value. Like Huey Newton in his later
years, Samir Amin is talking about "citizenship" rights or rights
to distribution regardless of work.(p. 89)
* * *
MASS SUPREME COURT WEIGHING PRISONER DNA DATABANK
In August, we reported that Superior Court Judge Isaac Borenstein
had struck down the Massachusetts law requiring the pigs to create
a database of prisoner DNA. With 2,500 samples already stolen from
prisoners, a hearing was held on March 1 before the Supreme
Judicial Court on the issue.
All 50 states have laws requiring the police to create DNA
databanks for at least some types of prisoners. Not all states
have yet implemented the laws, and the federal government has not
yet started.
The Massachusetts law was struck down in the name of "privacy
rights" in the Fourth Amendment. Judge Borenstein argued in August
that "[r]egardless of the state's compelling interest, an
unjustified random bodily intrusion without any indication of
individualized suspicion is unreasonable and intolerable."
Typically privacy "rights" are reserved for those with power and
prestige to protect. We emphasized the word "rights" because
unlike the bourgeoisie, we don't pretend that there are certain
rights that people have. Rather, we believe, as Mao Zedong said,
that "there are no rights, only power struggles." The only thing
that we can count on in this world is what the masses themselves
can fight to gain and retain.
The Bill of Rights in the U.$ Constitution claims to speak for all
citizens, even though it is rarely that way in practice. But it is
a good tactic for progressive lawyers to try and get the Bill of
Rights to apply to everyone, especially prisoners
The government argued that "if the state can collect a criminal's
fingerprints, why not their DNA?"
The suing prisoners responded that fingerprints are used for
identification purpose, while here the government wants to take
all prisoners' DNA without any individualized suspicion.
Note: Daily Hampshire Gazette, 2 March 1999. Thanks to Prison
Connections for the clipping.
* * *
CAPITOL PROTEST DRAWS IMAGINARY LINE BETWEEN POLICE AND BRUTALITY
Several thousand people marched in Washington, D.C. on April 3 to
protest police brutality. The march and protest were prompted most
recently by the murder of Amadou Diallo, a West African immigrant
attacked and murdered by four New York police in February. (See
MIM Notes 182) Throughout the rally, families spoke about the
murder of their loved ones because of police brutality.
We're glad to see the masses gathered in protest of police
brutality and the general increase of organized outrage against
state-sponsored terrorism. However, the rally lacked a clear and
cohesive stance against police.
On one hand, one Asian speaker correctly identified police
brutality as "state sponsored terror against the oppressed," other
organizers took a considerably softer line. Al Sharpton was quoted
by the Washington Post as saying, "We are not anti-police; we are
anti-police brutality." MIM saw one person with a sign that called
for mandatory drug testing of cops -- diverting the issue of who
the police represent with implications that drugs are at the root
of their violence against the oppressed. Finally, the inclusion of
the National Black Police Association as one of the endorsers and
speakers served to confuse the struggle of the people. It gives
the impression that there is a meaningful difference between so-
called good and bad cops.
MIM does not believe that police brutality is the problem of rogue
cops or bad apples. Police brutality is part and parcel of a
police state. Amerikka's police state functions uphold the system
of inequality and to smash revolutionary struggles of the
oppressed.
Sensitivity training is not the answer. Neither is the answer the
current tactic in New York: having Black cops instruct citizens
on how to behave when stopped by the pigs to lessen chances of pig
reacting violently. The oppressed in Amerika will only cease to be
victims of police brutality when there is national liberation and
peoples are free to police themselves and construct laws and
courts which serve the needs of the masses.
The demands of the organizers were watered-down and not in the
context of building genuine change. Specifically, the organizers
called for attorney general Janet Reno to intensify "Justice"
Department investigations into communities with a high incidence
of complaints about police brutality. In addition, they called for
the attorney general to collect accurate national statistics to
identify such areas in the first place.
MIM calls these demands watered down because they are reforms
within a system that inherently thrives off of oppression and
exploitation. It is not possible to reform the capitalist system
into one that adequately meets the needs of the people and treats
them fairly. We welcome the reporting of more information and
would certainly use such statistics to continue exposure of
imperialism. However, the investigation and release of such
information will a) be tallied by the very people interested in
repressing the truth; b) be reported mostly by the media not
interested in fundamental social overhaul; c) be answered with
token reforms to make Amerika look nice; and d) be used by some to
justify the reformist road and not the revolutionary path.
So, the release of information is fine, but making such calls on
the current white nation government and leaving it at that is like
asking the slavemaster to count the frequency of beatings and then
go and tell his plantation neighbors how frequently they occur. It
was continuous rebellion and contradiction which led to the demise
of slavery as a mode of production. The same is true for
capitalism. We cannot ask the slavemaster to nicely give up the
plantation.The rally and march were organized by the Center for
Constitutional Rights and endorsed by several other organizations.
Many in the crowd -- mostly older Black people -- were friendly to
the distributors of MIM Notes. We encourage all those who read
MIM's newspaper to struggle over the need for revolution as they
work with us in achieving winnable gains and build public
opposition now to Amerika's system of national oppression and
imperialism. We encourage those looking for justice to take the
question seriously instead of merely accepting the white nation's
self-legitimizing methods of reforming the system. (Send $2 for
MIM's literature list to arm yourself with the historical proof
and science to fight for justice.)
Notes: Washington Post, 4 April 1999 page C3.
* * *
CONFUSED POSITIONS OF MANY ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS FALL SHORT
Protests against u.s. bombings of Yugoslavia reveal confusion
among the people in the u.s. about what is really going on and
what position is really correct. Over the past few weeks MIM has
attended a number of demonstrations against u.s. bombing
Yugoslavia. There are a number of positions represented at these
rallies, none of which takes on imperialism in a thoroughgoing and
correct way.
Pro-imperialist reformists
First there are the people at the rallies who oppose the u.s.
bombings but believe that u.$./NATO intervention in a less overtly
violent way is necessary and even progressive. These people
correctly point out the hypocrisy of the bombings which never gave
a peaceful settlement of the conflict a fair chance. But what
these people fail to recognize is that it is capitalism that
created the situation in the Balkans in the first place.
Imperialist intervention is not going to solve these problems and
leave the people with an opportunity for national self-
determination. Those who believe that the u.$./NATO could act
entirely in humanitarian interests need to study history a little
further to understand that this is not possible.
As Noam Chomsky wrote in a document entitled "The Current
Bombings" released recently: "We may also bear in mind a truism:
the right of humanitarian intervention, if it exists, is premised
on the Œgood faith' of those intervening, and that assumption is
based not on their rhetoric but on their record, in particular
their record of adherence to the principles of international law,
World Court decisions, and so on... Consider, for example, Iranian
offers to intervene in Bosnia to prevent massacres at a time when
the West would not do so. These were dismissed with ridicule (in
fact, ignored); if there was a reason beyond subordination to
power, it was because Iranian Œgood faith' could not be assumed. A
rational person then asks obvious questions: is the Iranian
record of intervention and terror worse than that of the US? And
other questions, for example: How should we assess the Œgood
faith' of the only country to have vetoed a Security Council
resolution calling on all states to obey international law? What
about its historical record? Unless such questions are prominent
on the agenda of discourse, an honest person will dismiss it as
mere allegiance to doctrine."
ŒRadical' apologists for the Serbian bourgeoisie
Another group protesting u.s. bombing of Yugoslavia claims that we
must support Milosevic and the Serbian government, even to the
extent of upholding their military actions in Kosovo. For example,
Gary Wilson of the International Action Center (which is led by
the Trotskyist Workers' World Party) wrote, "The Yugoslav
government's policy of defending its own country from attack, both
internal and external, cannot be characterized as different from
what any other government in the world would do under similar
circumstances. A civil war, abetted from abroad, has broken out in
Kosovo. As in any civil war there have been casualties, some of
them involving innocent people. War is terrible, but it is not
genocide."(1)
Yes, there is evidence that NATO powers have played a role in
arming certain factions among the Kosovar Albanians but that
does not negate the right of the people of Kosovo to pursue self-
determination, nor does it excuse Serbian attempts to violently
suppress those who wish to exercise that right.
Some foolish people even go so far as to say that this situation
is just like Viet Nam. These people put forward the ridiculous
claim that Milosevic is actually ruling in the interests of the
Yugoslavian people and that any claims to the contrary are just
imperialist lies.
But Milosevic does not deserve our support in the same way that
the National Liberation Front in Viet Nam deserved anti-
imperialist support. For starters, Milosevic has a proven track-
record of inciting chauvinism for political benefit and in fact
received u.s. aid when he first came to power (see "Kosovo's
Albanian pacifist president apparently denounces NATO," in this
issue).
As MIM has written repeatedly, the current civil war in Yugoslavia
and the recent wars in the Balkans are all examples of wars of
oppressed and exploited people against other oppressed and
exploited people. They cannot be justified by any rationale
communists consider important. Gary Wilson and other of his ilk
get lost in bourgeois legalisms about sovereignty and end up
picking sides in an essentially bourgeois conflict which serves
no purpose other than to confuse and mislead anti-imperialists.
Serbian bourgeois nationalists
Alongside these activists are a number of Serb nationals within
u.s. borders, many of whom appeal to Amerika to see Serbia as an
ally. They also take up strong nationalist rhetoric about the
right of their country to control of Kosovo and the oppression of
the Serbian people at the hands of everyone else. These
nationalists provide a service to u.$. activists by educating them
about the history of the region. They point out that Yugoslavia
lost 10% of its population fighting the Nazis. But they turn
around and accuse the Kosovo Liberation Army of being "Marxists
funded by drug money" (a ridiculous assertion, see "KLA embraces
NATO" in this issue), grasping at rhetoric that will turn public
opinion in their favor and against the KLA.
The Serb activists correctly point out that "it is not Serbia
destabilizing the Balkans, it is the u.$. government." But they go
on to make claims of perfection and persecution on behalf of the
Serbian people and their government that are chauvinist rather
than revolutionary.
ŒAmerika-first' settler boneheads
Finally, there is the least progressive group in the u.$. opposed
to the bombings: The Amerikans who just don't want their tax
money used to "help" people in other countries. These people
believe the imperialist rhetoric about a humanitarian mission and
argue for national chauvinism, calling for spending of money at
home.
Organizations like the Workers' World Party play right into the
hands of this chauvinism with the slogan "Stop the Bombing of
Yugoslavia! Money for Jobs and Education, Not War!" This slogan
and the accompanying rhetoric call for spending at home as the
alternative to bombings abroad. While it correctly opposes
imperialist attacks on other countries, this slogan pretends that
the people within u.s. borders deserve more booty from the
exploitation and super-exploitation of the Third World. So this
rhetoric fans the flames of Amerikan chauvinism instead of
explaining the truth about the capitalist system and the stake
u.$. workers have in preserving it and the real,
internationalist reasons they should oppose it.
The anti-imperialist position to take
The bombing of Yugoslavia by the u.$. and its NATO allies is an
unjust act of aggression and should be opposed. U.$. and NATO
sanctions and other forms of intervention are also unjust in the
Balkans and should be opposed.
U.$. claims of "humanitarianism" should be exposed as
hypocritical, given u.$. crimes in Iraq, Panama, Viet Nam and
countless other places and u.$. support for brutal regimes in
Indonesia, Chile, etc. etc. U.$. intervention serves imperialist
ends: It strengthens u.$. political hegemony in the Balkans and
Europe and gives it a stronger military presence in eastern
Europe.
The recent wars between different oppressed nationalities in the
Balkans are clearly exacerbated by imperialist intervention.
Oppressed nations must unite to smash imperialism and move forward
along the road that has been proven most effective and successful
in ending oppression: Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. (Send $15 to the
address on page two for Mao's Selected Readings and learn the
necessary tools to achieve national liberation from imperialism
and socialist victory.)
Notes:
1. International Action Center, www.iacenter .org.
* * *
AMERICAN MUSLIM COUNCIL SUPPORTS NATO
The American Muslim Council (AMC) issued a statement supporting
the U.$. and NATO attack against Yugoslavia. AMC is dedicated to
the political empowerment of Muslims in the U.$. Whether they are
angling for integration into imperialist Amerikkka or whether
their desire to help fellow Muslims is clouding their judgement is
unknown without more struggle.
"AMC's leadership applauded the President's address to the nation
and his emphasis on America's obligation to take action in the
face of brutality when inaction invites more brutality. "The right
to self-determination is an inalienable right to Kosovars as well
as others. It is my hope that the President's action today will
establish a pattern of consistency when dealing with this
issue."(1)
Iraq is 95% Muslim (and 5% Christian), but there was no mention of
Iraq that we could find on the American Muslim Council web
page.(2)
The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is an
organization that fights Amerikan discrimination of Muslims. The
statement on their web page was less reactionary, not endorsing
NATO bombing but calling for the arming of the Kosovo
Albanians.(3)
CAIR did condemn Operation Desert Fox in December, 1998, and
called the sanctions a "humanitarian disaster". In February, 1998,
CAIR said the sanctions had risen "to the level of a weapon of
mass destruction"(4)
The February 1998 statement about Iraq subtlety criticized
Amerikan hypocrisy: "Democracy and respect for human rights apply
to all people, not just those who are currently in favor with any
particular administration."(4)
This is precisely the problem.
But CAIR is part of the 17-member KOSOVA TASK FORCE, USA, which
issued a statement supporting the continued bombing until Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic agrees to an independent Kosovo.(5)
There is a third explanation to the mainstream Muslim support for
NATO and the relative-to-complete silence on the U.$.-sponsored
genocide in Iraq: self-interest for the tenuous political
position of Muslims in Amerika. We found this in the February 1998
Iraq statement from CAIR:
"If this crisis had lead to military action, the American Muslim
community would have faced the same backlash felt during the Gulf
War, and after tragic incidents such as the bombing in Oklahoma
City and the downing of TWA Flight 800."
But such timidity will not end religious chauvinism in Amerika,
nor will it end genocide against Muslims. As one Muslim student
activist told MIM Notes in response to the AMC press release:
"What, are you kidding? Amerika doesn't care about Muslims."
Notes:
1. http://www.amermuslim.org/medias/Release/ mr032599.html
2. The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1993, Pharos Books, p. 765
3. http://www.cair-net.org/alerts/98/alert203.htm
4. http://www.cair-net.org/presses/98/press022498.htm
5. http://www.cair-net.org/presses/98/press032499.htm
* * *
STOP US AND NATO WAR OF AGGRESSION
Central Committee Communist Party of the Philippines;
National Council National Democratic Front of the Philippines
March 26, 1999
The Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic
Front of the Philippines hereby condemn in the strongest terms the
war of aggression being carried out by US imperialism and its NATO
allies against the sovereign people and country of Yugoslavia.
The US and its imperialist allies are utterly monstrous in seeking
to impose foreign occupation forces on Yugoslavia for the purpose
of further dismembering this country and, after the Yugoslav
refusal to accept such occupation forces, to undertake the
cowardly bombing of Yugoslavia.
Humanitarianism is a mere pretext for the imperialist aggression.
It initially shows sham sympathy for the Albanian people in Kosovo
but it is aimed at carrying out hegemonism, giving free rein to
imperialist barbarism and victimizing the people of Yugoslavia,
including the Albanian people in Kosovo.
The airstrikes being undertaken by the United States and its NATO
allies are causing a new wave of refugees far greater than those
caused by previous fighting between the Yugoslav army and the
Kosovo Liberation Army. The air strikes are thus creating a more
serious humanitarian disaster than what Clinton and his allies
publicly proclaim they want to prevent. US and NATO officials
themselves have admitted that it is impossible to prevent what
they euphemistically call "collateral damage", meaning civilian
casualties.
Sham humanitarianism is real hegemonism of the imperialist
aggressors. The objective is not to help any people but to rain
down destruction on people, set people against each other and to
prevail with the tactics of divide-and-rule.
The Rambouillet "peace plan" of the imperialists is chiefly to
introduce occupation forces under the guise of "peacekeeping" in
Kosovo and further dismember Yugoslavia with imperialist and
puppet forces. An "independent" Kosovo is intended as one more
outpost of US imperialism in the strategic region of the Balkans.
There are now thousands of US troops in Bosnia and thousands more
in Macedonia.
At the same time, German imperialism has continued to instigate
and take advantage of troubles in the former and current
Yugoslavia to revive German militarism, to gain ground in the
Balkans with German troops as in Bosnia and use German planes to
conduct bombing raids. The local forces of fascism have revived
themselves in the former Yugoslavia and the entire Balkans.
We have always recognized the right of nations to self-
determination and in this regard have manifested our sympathy for
the Albanian people in Kosovo for a long time. But we cannot
support any reactionary force that is merely a tool of US and
European imperialism and is dependent on imperialist patronage and
military supplies from US bases in Macedonia and from the
reactionary Sali Berisha network in Albania.
The US and NATO forces must stop their brutal air raids and must
cease their scheme to deploy foreign troops in Kosovo and
Yugoslavia. The people of Yugoslavia, Kosovo and the rest of the
Balkans must unite to fight for their own national sovereignty and
defeat the foreign aggressors as they did against the fascists in
World War II. The revolutionaries must put forward their own
revolutionary line to arouse, organize and mobilize the people. In
this regard, they can be certain of abundant and abiding support
of the people of the world.
* * *
KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY WELCOMES NATO
by MC5
The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) has a web site--www.zik.com.
It is worth noting that as of April 1, the translations into
English only reach till the end of 1998 and the German
translations reach until January 1999.
The communiques released in English show that the KLA has looked
to NATO and northern Europe in particular to be a positive factor
for achieving Albanian independence in Kosovo.
Communiques claim that the KLA always releases Serb prisoners, but
the Serbs carry out ethnic cleansing. It is clear that some of the
KLA position has been adopted by NATO, but not without efforts by
the KLA to deny that it is equal to the Serbs in fault.
With regard to Albania, the KLA continuously calls for unity and
names the fighting there a plot possibly instigated by Serbia.
Denouncing a "Slav-communist" clan in Kosovo, the KLA also stands
for elections in Albania. "Slav" is a term referring to the
Serbians and it also holds an important position in the Russian
"soul" historically even before Lenin's Marxist revolution of
1917.
If the Kosovo Albanians reunite with Albania or if they maintain a
separate republic, MIM will not complain about that aspect of the
war. We hope the Albanians will respect the aspects of Serb
history and culture in Kosovo. As the clear majority of the Kosovo
territory, Albanians deserve respect for their desire for self-
determination.
Nonetheless, we find nothing exciting or encouraging in the KLA
web site. We cannot claim to have investigated Kosovo on the
ground, but we see no signal that the KLA will rise above
capitalist militarism.
* * *
KOSOVO'S ALBANIAN PRESIDENT APPARENTLY DENOUNCES NATO
by MC5
Serb television showed scenes of Serb President Slobodan Milosevic
meeting with Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova on April 1. President
Rugova had apparently called for the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) bombing to stop.
Although some Western diplomats denied that the footage was real,
others said Rugova acted under "duress." He appeared to be under
Serb police protection on March 31.
Rugova has a reputation of being a pacifist. Thus his criticism of
NATO bombing would be in character. Rugova is also known as a
militant nationalist. In a bourgeois sense, he is the elected
leader of the Kosovo people. Nonetheless, the Kosovo Liberation
Army denounced him as a traitor once the Serb footage came out
April 1.
Slobodan Milosevic is a former member of the Yugoslavian
"Communist Party." While Yugoslav leader Tito was alive, Milosevic
managed to keep himself under control, but in 1987 he started
complaining about Albanian control of Kosovo, and he ignited
Serbian chauvinist flames.
From 1389 to 1912 the Turks ruled Kosovo. During World War I it
changed hands and Yugoslavia ended up having control -- but not
without a fight by Albanians. Milosevic is famous for invoking the
loss of Kosovo to Turkey in 1389 600 years later in 1989 and he is
using such memories now against NATO.
We at MIM believe that civil war over historical relics is silly.
At the same time, we must counsel pacifists that they should have
no illusions about Milosevic or any other bourgeois politicians
with a proven track-record of inciting chauvinism for political
benefit. The task of Albanians to achieve their self-determination
without massive killing amongst oppressed and exploited people is
very difficult.
Prior to the Serbian television footage, speculation fueled by
U.S. Government officials arose to the effect that Uncle Sam would
drop its recognition of Rugova and in fact install Albanian
leaders more amenable to U.S. tactics. Uncle Sam has a long
history of installing whatever government leaders it wants. Such
considerations are always in play under the current imperialist
system and they distort the actions of all the people involved.
The conflicts of the capitalist countries of the Balkans are made
worse by the conflicts imposed by imperialism.
Source: http://www.oneworld.org/news/reports/special/kosovo.html
* * *
OPPOSE U$ AND NATO AGGRESSION IN YUGOSLAVIA!
Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League statement
The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL) strongly condemns
NATO's attacks on Yugoslavia and opposes all forms of NATO
intervention in the Balkans. The u.$. and its allies in NATO
hypocritically claim that the bombing promotes democracy in
Yugoslavia and protects the Kosovar Albanians. In fact such
intervention has only brought increased suffering, while
furthering the Western imperialists' political and economic goals
- and enriching arms merchants.
In the past, the u.$. claimed to be intervening on behalf of the
people of Korea, Viet Nam, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, etc. etc. But
u.$. aggression in these countries killed literally millions and
served only to incite greater resistance to u.$. imperialism
abroad and at home.
The u.$. is allegedly bombing Yugoslavia because of the "ethnic
cleansing" in Kosovo. But "ethnic cleansing" was fundamental to
the foundation of the u.$. itself - the u.$. drove hundreds of
millions of First Nation people off of their ancestral lands,
slaughtering many in the process. The u.$. has backed death squad
regimes all over the world and carried out genocidal wars in
Korea, Viet Nam, and Iraq.
The recent wars in the former Yugoslavia are indeed tragic. They
have been wars of oppressed and exploited peoples against other
oppressed and exploited peoples, largely orchestrated by Germany,
the u.$., and other NATO powers. These bloody wars have done
nothing to move the peoples of the former Yugoslavia forward.
Intervention by Western imperialists will not solve the problems
of the peoples of the Balkans, because this intervention is itself
one of their biggest problems. The peoples of the Balkans
themselves must unite to solve their own problems. The Yugoslavian
peoples' struggle against German imperialism in World War II
showed that the bloody machinery of modern imperialist militarism
cannot prevail against the determined resistance of oppressed and
exploited peoples.
The political and economic system of imperialism makes war
inevitable. The imperialists insatiable thirst for profits drives
them up against the sovereignty and well-being of entire peoples
and pits them against each other. Achieving a world without war
requires that we destroy imperialism.
Join RAIL in opposing NATO intervention in the Balkans and
exposing NATO's false "democratic" and "humanitarian" rhetoric!
Join RAIL in the protracted struggle to overthrow imperialism!
* * *
MATRIX HELPS DEMONSTRATE MATERIALISM AND DIALECTICS
The Matrix
1999
reviewed by MC5
Larry and Andy Wachowski have directed a Hollywood film of
tremendous value -- a great gift to the revolutionary movement on
par with that of "Reds" politically and done artistically as well
as can be with special effects. This is not a "B" grade
indoctrination and it touches on many important areas of
revolutionary thought.
The Excite search engine review says the following before linking
to the official Hollywood "The Matrix" web site, (which by the way
is a waste of time because of programming errors nearly inevitable
in trying to present as many graphics as a movie): "In the near
future, a computer hacker named Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that
all life on Earth may be nothing more than an elaborate facade
created by a malevolent cyber-intelligence, for the purpose of
placating us while our life essence is "farmed" to fuel the
Matrix's campaign of domination in the "real" world. He joins
like-minded Rebel warriors Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and
Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) in their struggle to overthrow the
Matrix."
Dialectics
After the year 2000 breakthroughs in artificial intelligence
resulted in the creation of mechanical beings that eventually took
over the world in a series of wars. The war was so brutal that the
humyns do not even know exactly how it started or proceeded by the
time we come upon the humyn heroes of the movie.
The humyn resistance thus faces two dialectical truths: 1) It must
struggle to know its own history or be kept in the dark by the
oppressor. 2) Moments of triumph like the application of
artificial intelligence give rise to unexpected destruction and
change.
The process of unexpected birth of change is almost the definition
of dialectics.
Mode of production
Humyn-beings both dead and alive are tended by machines in
gigantic mechanical farms where they are used as batteries for the
various kinds of heat and electricity that they produce. 99
percent of humyns are farmed this way, while a few escape and join
the resistance.
The new "battery mode of production" has elements similar to
slavery and capitalism. Because the machines keep the humyns
physically constrained there is an element of slavery. The
difference with both slavery and capitalism is that the humyns no
longer labor. They are sustained and tended by the machines of the
Matrix and just by existing feed their energy to their masters
with artificial intelligence. The fact that the humyns do not even
know they are slaves is part of the superstructure created by
capitalism just before the Matrix took over.
In fact, the Matrix has worked on perfecting the mind control of
humyns. Neo becomes aware of the Matrix at least partly through
being a hacker, and someone interested in entertainment programs
as drugs. It becomes difficult to separate computer game
simulations from drugs because the programs become biologically
integrated into humyns.
While they sit in these farms under the influence of drugs and
other biological influences, the humyns are mechanically fed
through tubes into their bodies all the sensations of being in
Amerika of 1999. Hence, the 99 percent of humyns are complacent
and unaware of their physical captivity in the 22nd century.
Usually they attack the resistance trying to save them. The Matrix
knows exactly scientifically how to produce the dream-state stupor
of the masses through the use of computer programming.
Not idealism
Philosophers focussing on dream-states are often what we Marxists
call "idealists." However, "The Matrix" is not saying that life is
all a dream.
Rather in the future, science has advanced to the point where it
becomes more and more possible to simulate dreams. First there are
computer games. Then there are simulations and holograms. Finally,
computer programs develop where they can deliver the electrical
and chemical stimulation to the brain directly to create a dream
state or receptivity to education or any other function of the
brain. The heroes simply insert computer programs into the back of
their necks for edification or entertainment.
The trippy "Alice in Wonderland" aspects of the movie make it the
stuff of Hollywood, but the script-writer turned it into a bold
stroke of materialism. Not only does the script-writer uphold
materialism as the existence of an external world independent of
the subject (humyn mind), but also the script-writer shows us how
science will conquer and make everything knowable including
dreams.
Not anarchist individualism
Usually activists and cultural workers focussing on "mind control"
are anarchist individualists. At the beginning, Neo is a prime
candidate for anarchist individualist. When he gets into trouble,
the organized, hierarchical resistance saves him -- right down to
telling him how to escape police step by step.
Finally he gets to meet the resistance, but when he does, the
resistance holds a gun to his head and asks him to take off his
shirt. The resistance is correct that it must go to extreme
measures to protect itself. Indeed, Neo turns out to be bugged, so
the resistance has to remove the device. All of this seems highly
coercive to unconscious anarchist individualist Neo--partly from
what he does not know about the war of liberation going on.
Hence, Neo nearly makes the anarchist individualist mistake of
ending the meeting with the resistance. When he gets out of the
car to leave, Trinity tells him he does not want to do that
because he knows where that "road goes."
Neo gets back in the car and he finally meets the military leader
of a unit of the resistance. Morpheus tells Neo he can learn the
truth, which only gets deeper and deeper and is not necessarily
pleasant at all or he can leave "and go on believing whatever you
want to believe." The choice is simple: truth or anarchist
stupor. Neo had to give up on the idea that he is in control as an
individual and accept that he might not be.
The moment of truth comes when Neo finally understands that he is
a battery in a farm controlled by a computer program. When he
learns this he moves to attack Morpheus, the messenger that told
him no, Neo was never in control as an individual. Neo gets
unplugged from the computer program where he learned the truth and
we get the sense that he would have killed everyone in that unit
of the resistance if he hadn't fallen unconscious first.
MIM recognized this moment. Unfortunately, more often than not MIM
is unsuccessful at that moment. Most imperialist country people
refuse to accept science, the notion of materialism and the idea
that the individual is not free. They violently and irrationally
attack the messenger and cling to pre-political lifestyle
moralism.
Morpheus's resistance is better than MIM's, because once the
recruit accepts the pursuit of truth, Morpheus can show people
mechanically how their brains work. It becomes a matter more like
learning to drive a car than one of years of study.
Not only is there military hierarchy in the resistance, but a
traitor arises within the resistance who blames Morpheus for
teaching him the truth and who says he's still not free because he
only follows Morpheus's orders. The anarchist-individualist sells
out to the Matrix for steak, wine and a future computer program
where he is famous and wealthy. Thus after achieving a relatively
high level of scientific consciousness, the traitor says he is
"tired" and actually kills his one-time compatriots before being
killed before he could be re-absorbed by the Matrix.
Drawbacks
There are a few drawbacks to this film. It has the mandatory
Hollywood minimum of violence. The violence is righteous, but of
course even the perfect film will be misconstrued in the current
capitalist context. The choreographing of violence to music makes
it more akin to dance.
Morpheus is Black and the "Oracle" who predicts the future is a
Black womyn, but there is a slight incongruity in speaking of an
"Oracle" and "fate" when it is clear that science has advanced so
far. Fate should not be used as a metaphor for forces beyond
individual control.
Romance is kept down to a minimum, but the film ends with a
classic (and borrowed) heterosexual charge. The last fight scene
is as a result the most trippy of all, but we do not believe the
romance or the superpowers involved in the last fight will
overshadow the step-by-step progression in science that people
went through in the movie up to that point. If there is a sequel,
we may learn even more about what happened, so that the viewers
are left with no mystical residues.
On the whole, MIM could not have asked for more in a two and a
half hour Hollywood movie. We can use the movie to educate people
about dialectics, modes of production, Lenin's book "Materialism
and Empirio-Criticism" and the drawbacks of anarchism and
individualism.
* * *
FIGHT IMPERIALISM AND JOIN UP FOR REVOLUTION
RAIL (Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League) -- the basic
organization for beginners to fight imperialism and also for
people on their way to party membership. RAIL builds public
opinion against imperialism and for liberation of the people. This
MIM-led mass organization organizes various campaigns to achieve
gains now, like stopping the transfer of prisoners out of state or
ROTC recruiting on campuses or independent media, while
maintaining a general focus on the need for anti-imperialist
revolution.
PIRAO (People's Internationalist Rear Area Organization) -- the
unarmed MIM-led army that accepts the greatest discipline and does
infrastructure work, not public opinion work. Books for Prisoners
is a project of the PIRAO. Medical, technical and finance work is
done in this organization.
MSG (MIM Supporters Group)--for people with some major difference
with the party but who choose to work in MIM orbit and not the
orbit of a revisionist or bourgeois party. MSG members do not
belong to other organizations listed here, but they may assist
them.
USW (United Struggle from Within) -- mass organization of anti-
imperialist prisoners united to fight for justice for all humans -
- including prisoners. USW unites prisoners of various
perspectives i.e. members of revolutionary nationalist, pro-
prisoner rights, spiritual organizations or individuals who are
not Maoist. USW is led by MIM and works from an internationalist
perspective.
Party member (MIM)--people chosen for membership by the Central
Committee based on their proven ideological and practical support
for the four cardinal principles.
Central Committee (MIM)--people who have leadership roles and
uphold party regulations.
* * *
COURT TO CONSIDER RESTRICTING POLITICAL USES OF STUDENT FEES
On March 29, the U.$. Supreme Court said it would decide "whether
public universities can use mandatory student activity fees to
subsidize campus groups that pursue political goals."
A federal judge and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (Southworth
v. Grene (1998)) barred the University of Wisconsin from using
mandatory fees to fund political groups. The Court has required
the University of Wisconsin to allow students to opt-out of
funding groups on a pro-rated basis. Southworth v. Grene arose
from conservative students' protest against the funding of 18
organizations identified as left-wing by conservatives. Now, UW
students can individually choose not to fund specific
organizations with which they disagree.
The Supreme Court could uphold or reverse this ruling. Supreme
Court agreement with the ruling would further lessen students'
exposure to ideas that challenge national oppression,
heterosexism, economic inequalities, gender oppression, US world
hegemony and injustice in general. Already challenges to the
current system that is rooted in inequalities are a small portion
of the influences on students.
The implementation of this ruling could very well lead to the
halting of all or most support for student organizations in
general. We suspect the ruling is a stepping stone to stop the
collection of fees to support student organizations.
Afterall, what is considered political? Certainly organizations
that fight for the rights of gays and lesbians -- as was decided
in the recent ruling -- are political. Certainly organizations
that hold educational forums about US sanctions against Iraq could
not be considered apolitical. Groups that provide a speaking forum
for family members of beaten and abused prisoners to speak against
torture in prisons is quite political. But what about the
organizations which hold forums saying that the murder of Mathew
Sheppard and the murder of 250 Iraqi children a day and the
Œaccidental' deaths in prison are all part of life -- or not
something that is worth protesting? Are the organizations which
promote political apathy apolitical? We'd argue that they are
political. It is just that those which are politically apathetic
support the politics that exist in mainstream society and do not
need to be active on campus for their views to be heard.
We support the flow of information, generation of debate and
activism on college campuses. If the ruling is upheld by the
Supreme Court, debate and subsequent rational analysis would be
seriously threatened.
RAIL and other MIM-led organizations will continue to organize on
various college campuses and continue fundraising as usual.
Unfortunately, funding cuts would mean that time spent finding
funds would be taken from time spent researching, developing ideas
and organizing on the streets.
The potential for decreased activism from student organizations
that might whither away as a result of the funding rule would also
hurt our work and that of building the ground for revolution in
general. Though we're not going to spend the people's resources
building liberal or reformist organizations, many of them are
beneficial to the development of debate, struggle and public
opinion against injustice.
The legal bologna
In 1995, the Supreme Court ruled that if a school creates a
"public forum" for student groups, it cannot refuse to subsidize
some groups based on political views. This decision was ruled in a
suit by a student Christian magazine against the University of
Virginia.
Conservative students have used the 1995 ruling to argue: since
groups can't be denied funds, students shouldn't be Œforced' to
pay for the funds for student groups in general. Across Amerika,
conservative students are being aided by the Alliance Defense Fund
to sue their universities over the use of mandatory fees.
The Republican and Objectivist Clubs at the University of Michigan
refuse [read: don't bother writing grant proposals] to take
student government money. They say this is a way to make the point
that students should not have to subsidize politics they don't
support. These groups can easily get money in a country where the
population overwhelmingly supports US military, economic and
political hegemony. These groups should have no problem finding
funding in a country that ignores poverty and locks up the poor.
These groups have plenty of support because they represent all
that is Amerikan: capitalism and white national chauvinism. They
should find easy ways to fund themselves compared with RAIL which
funds free books to prisoners.
While RAIL starts businesses to fundraise and stands around town
collecting donations from people, there is a white nationalist
movement to fund conservative student organizing. For example,
Morton Blackwell's Leadership Institute has launched a $5 million
campaign to "wage war on the liberal bias in education." Many
other foundations heavily support conservative student newspapers
while progressive papers spend valuable time raising funds via
advertising or groveling before conservative student governments.
While the Supreme Court is reviewing the University of Wisconsin's
policy from the 7th Circuit Court, the 9th Circuit Court just
ruled in favor of the University of Oregon. On February 23, the
9th Circuit Court of appeals defended the University of Oregon's
fee system that gave some money to the Oregon Student Public
Interest Research Group.
The contradiction between the 9th Circuit and the 7th could be why
the Supreme Court decided to take up the case. The 9th Circuit
ruled in 3 areas:
* Because the funding group doesn't claim all students as members
or claim to speak for all students, funding it is not "compelled
speech" or "compelled association" under First Amendment
principles.
* "It is of the utmost significance that the organizational speech
issue occurs in an academic settings for "it is the business of a
university to provide that atmosphere which is most conducive to
speculation, experiment and creation." The gay-rights group Lambda
Defense Fund argued in a friend of the court brief that the
lawsuit "confuses payments to construct a stage with being forced
to speak upon it or fund an organization that uses it." This is
legal hair splitting, but an important argument. Lambda Defense
Fund is arguing that the student activity fees are not funding
specific organizations but are fostering a climate of debate, just
like building a stage would help all students.
* Since the University's mission says that extracurricular
activities are "a critical part of campus life", OSPIRG's
activities are germane to the school.
Unfortunately, this 9th Circuit decision applies only to OSPIRG's
role and its funding and is not directly applicable to other
issues. According to Infusion, this ruling is the first time a
court has ruled in "neutral forums", that there is no "compelled
speech."
The real deal
The legal arguments provide little help to understand society and
organize people outside of the court room.
Inside the court, it makes sense for Patricia Logue of the Lambda
Legal Defense and Educational Fund to say: "We look to the
Supreme Court to stop this narrow-minded assault on a neutral
system for supporting campus dialogue."
But outside the court when can say the truth: The student
activity fee system is not a neutral system regardless of how the
funds are distributed ON campus because of the social realities
that make up the campus itself and the larger society. Even if
funds were distributed "equally" on campus, that's no compensation
for the fact that pro-system views are aided by CNN, MSNBC and the
White House.
The biggest problem with the attack on funding for student groups
is that it confuses the forest for the trees. The U.$. government
spends its tax dollars as it sees fit. More than half goes to the
military in one form or another. A chunk goes to support the
prison-industrial complex.
Even within universities... Can students opt out of funding white
chauvinist classes that teach that pilgrims were friendly folk and
those ŒIndians' were saved by Columbus? Can students opt out of
funding the salaries of rent-a-cops allegedly around to protect
students, but in practice around to harass and arrest the
homeless?
Of course they can't. But here we have a legal battle because the
pigs are pissed that left-wing students are getting a tiny piece
of the pie and using it so efficiently to fight for justice. In
Amerika, that kind of thing can't go long without the majority
whining that it is somehow oppressed.
Notes: Associated Press March 29; Infusion, March/April 1999, pp.
14-15, Center for Campus Organizing 165 Friends St #1, Boston MA
02114.
* * *
UNDER LOCK & KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONS AND PRISONERS
Automatic classification
I am a prisoner here at MCI Walpole male jail. I want to share
with you what the piece of shit DOC is doing. Well first if you
are Hispanic they want to put you in a gang block right away so
they could get federal funds. I want to know if anyone in your
organization have any law experience so they could help me fight
these pigs and everyone involved with them. I can't send you money
or stamps because I don't have one cent flat broke but I should be
released by year 2000 and I will like to meet you people*
‹a Massachusetts prisoner,
October 1998.
MIM responds: Within the last year, MIM has been working with
prisoners to develop the Prisoners' Legal Clinic, part of the
anti-imperialist organization of prisoners United Struggle from
Within. The PLC's development needs a lot of help from paralegals
and jailhouse lawyers. Though its development has had some bumps
and its resources will not soon be as deep as imperialist legal
apparatuses, the purpose of the PLC is to help prisoners fight
winnable battles against repression within the context of building
for anti-imperialist liberation. MIM suggests that prisoners like
the above document the key problems at the institution.
Pinpointing systematic problems played out at one institution can
help us to find information that will be most useful to ULK
readers.
Unification of prisoners increases
Ever since I have come into contact with MIM, the unification of
the people in this plantation has increased 10 fold. My brothers
are no longer fighting each other. We have come together to
destroy [imperialism]. We now have study groups everyday of the
week for two hours ranging from topic to topic. We are now
focusing on bringing more alike minds to the group. First the
group was two, then five, then ten, now twenty brothers strong.
Our membership goes from young to old, We're really starting to
make ground. Brothers, it was your paper and numerous incidents
that gave us the push to start. On a final note, I'm very anxious
to receive the next issue of MIM Notes and the two books I've
ordered*
Power to the people.
‹a Pennsylvania prisoner, 17 March 1999.
MIM adds: We'll keep the information and books going. One of the
next undertakings of United Struggle from Within is to add to the
study of prisoners the essay "On Practice" by Mao. If you're a
part of USW or want to get involved, write MIM for a copy of the
essay and use it to tie together your study and practice together
for more solid organization against oppression.
Neglect in Connecticut
Letter sent to a senator and the media which never received a
response and is now being sent to MIM Notes:
Dear Ms Johnson, I have a grave issue to discuss with you, and
that issue is of "Life and Death". People are needlessly dying
because of the neglect, and unprofessionalism of the Department of
Corrections officers and the medical staff here at Northern
Correctional.
Here at this facility we have what is called a medical emergency
button consisting of an intercom in the cells of inmates to be
used in an emergency. Here where I am housed there are
approximately 80 inmates, and at any given time 10 or more inmates
are pressing this intercom button all day until the shift ends, so
you can imagine the frustration on the part of these officers. As
a matter of fact these officers get so aggravated and frustrated
that they shut the intercom off! At other times (officers) tell
you that they have called medical when in fact they did not! The
reason the officers don't call medical is because they take it
upon themselves to determine what's an emergency or not! Being an
officer is not a doctor or nurse they can not and should not make
that decision, but they do. The reason I say this is because I've
explained all the above. I've also witnessed my cell partner
suffer with a back injury because of the neglect of officers and
medical department.
It is because of such neglect and unprofessionalism on the part of
the DOC and the medical staff that EVERETT BREEDLOVE needlessly
lost his life. Ms. Johnson, November 3, 1997 another man has lost
his life because of the same neglect. God knows how many more!
‹a Connecticut prisoner.
Virginia locks 'em up and shoots
Dear comrades: Peaceful greetings to all and my highest of wishes!
* First of, I want to inform you that I've been sent to one of
these new "Supermax" Dungeon called Sussex State Prison. It's in
tune with that "Red Onion" prison. The same things go on here as
well. Shootings, beatings, and all the unnecessary excessive force
and brutality. You can check more into our last shooting by
contacting the Richmond Times Dispatch or the Channel 6 news.
"Prisoner was shot on Feb. 21, 1999 at Sussex State Prison."
That was the last one that made the media. But it was not the last
prisoner to be shot for no real reason. It's like these people
really get off on abusing us prisoners.
You had asked numerous questions on some first hand information on
education [programs], how much and at what level do they exist?
Well it's a good front they put on for the public. Due to the fact
that they have teachers and classrooms. But only a few students!
Last I saw it was six per class.
Library: There is one. But only can be used by the students. The
other 994 prisoners can't use it.
Law Library: There is no law library. If law cases are needed, one
has to write a request to grievance coordinator and wait a month
or better before receiving a reply.
This place is really outrageous. As for prisoners, [guards] really
push that paperwork at them. [Guards] set them up with bogus
infractions so you will be placed in segregation. Then most of the
time all of one's paperwork in your property will be lost. So as
you can see we don't have no real wins. Not from this standpoint.
You also spoke of release. I was sentenced to [more than] 17 years
* for second degree homicide*. They have given me 6 turn downs for
parole. All for the same reason: serious nature of the crime.
Which will never change. So how can one make any progress in their
parole hearing? I see that's it's about "keep Œem locked up" as
long as possible.
‹A Virginia Prisoner, February 1999.
MIM responds: Most prisoners that write to us explain the lack of
educational and legal resources in prison. For this reason, MIM
started sending out MIM Notes free to prisoners several years ago
to help educate about current events and revolutionary analysis.
MIM later formalized the Serve the People Free Books for Prisoners
Program. For the most part, we send history and political books.
RAIL also works with us on the outside to collect donated books
that are not MIM's must read books, but nonetheless helpful for
education. Prisoners should find out what the policy for getting
literature is. If the policy is typically draconian, write MIM and
work up a plan to legally fight prison policies which censor
educational and political material. If you can receive material
without much problem, write to MIM and let us know what your
general interest is.
MIM's Serve the People Books for Prisoners Program is not a
charity program. The reason that we're doing this is because the
current system does NOT meet the needs of the people ‹ and
therefore the people must build independent institutions and
programs which do it better than capitalism does. All comrades
must push to educate themselves and others so that we build a
solid base to effectively fight against the system that
perpetuates violence against the people.
The program has been rapidly increasing and we need help from
outside sources willing to fund the cost of mailing the literature
to prisoners.
Amerika imprisons and throws key away
I am a 18 year old black male. I came into prison as a Juvenile,
although I'm not sentenced. I've been waiting for court,
incarcerated for 16 months. Recently I was assaulted by a white
correctional officer [when] this officer entered my cell [and]
stated I have big balls and grabbed me and we began to fight. I
was given another disciplinary since I'm already in the hole for
arguing with a different officer and getting in his face
expressing how I felt about him.
I beat the Disciplinary because the Officer came into my cell
which is a restricted area because I'm in the hole and must be
handcuffed and shackled before contact with an officer. So
therefore I'm pressing a lawsuit on the Warden and officer because
they didn't follow the care and control policy. Also I'm pressing
criminal charges on the officer because he tried to ease me up so
I'm giving him a dose of his own medicine. I've been studying real
hard and received my GED now. I'm studying law material which is
doing well. The officer and Warden will be served with the suit in
a few days. I just wanted to state to you a little justice has
been served do to help with black men joining together to defeat
their enemies mentally * Black Power!
‹a Pennsylvania prisoner, 19 February 1999.
MIM responds: The Amerikan prison system is designed to imprison
and control the oppressed. Even when individuals commit crimes
that warrant rehabilitation and re-education, the Amerikan system
only warehouses them in hostile and abusive environments. MIM
builds for revolution so that the people, after seizing state
power, can control their destinies. This includes control by the
masses of the legal, judicial and prison systems of each nation.
In the hands of the masses developing socialism, as was the case
in China from 1949 to 1976, prisons can be used as a tool to
better society and push individuals to make positive
contributions. This is not the case of Amerikan prisons.
MIM urges prisoners to spend their time learning history and
materialist analysis to understand and change present conditions.
We don't expect that people sit idly by as they are beaten by
their oppressors, but we do advocate that prisoners attempt to
prevent confrontations with the pigs.
The current court system and lack of support for prisoners' rights
in general mean that it will be the guard who is seen as acting
correctly in most situations. So, when confrontations are
avoidable, avoid it and work with your comrades under lock and key
to build study groups and methods of exposing the conditions of
the gulags and imperialism in general. With solid tools, it is
more possible to achieve victories against the oppressor ‹ like
fighting for reasonable treatment ‹ but without solid
organization, legal battles are even more likely to be won by the
pigs.
Racism: The real pedophile in South KKKarolina prisons
This is not an individual outcry of dissatisfaction. This is a
collective voice against the senseless wrong that is perpetrated
day by day beyond the watchful eye of a preoccupied society. We
pray that once you read this, you will be motivated to take
collective action to assist our efforts to redress these wrongs.
Ask yourself, what is prison? What is this thing that is
conveniently called the criminal justice system? What exactly are
the taxpayers paying for? Prison, by any name, is an economic tool
created to employ a rural white, unemployed populace. Here in the
state of South Carolina, former governor, David Beasley, has
installed a policy that supports a global movement of white
supremacy in the disguise of the criminal justice system. This can
be seen on a daily basis, all one must do is visit any court house
or prison and you will see an overwhelming and an astonishing
amount of African people of color being persecuted. It is also
astonishing that people of color seem not to even be concerned
about the present form of racism in this state. But yet, we have
the nerves to ask why we as a nation of Afrikans in Amerikkka can
not get ahead.
It was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said "We've lost our
religion, our culture, our god, and many of us. By the way we act,
we've even lost our minds." It is foolish and politically retarded
for you to claim that what has happened in the past does not echo
on the present day. Ra
It was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said "We've lost our
religion, our culture, our god, and many of us. By the way we act,
we've even lost our minds." It is foolish and politically retarded
for you to claim that what has happened in the past does not echo
on the present day. Racism in the form of white supremacy, is like
a pedophile, so would you argue that a man who was a pedophile as
a youth won't grow up with those same urges, irregardless of
whether or not he attacks a child again?
In this case of racism of the white ruling class and those amongst
the white population foolish enough or ignorant enough to go along
with the program, the Œpedophile' [white supremacy] continues to
rape the child [the Black community] who still suffers from the
mental conditioning reinforced by previous attacks. Pain and
mental illness, like genetic coding are passed from generation to
generation. Not only has this pain of slavery been passed on in
Afrikan people, racism and white supremacy is passed on to whites.
Prison is designed by the white racist days of slavery. Any black
man or woman in South Carolina prisons that even attempts to study
Afrikan culture is considered a threat to institutional security.
Most institutions in this state have even implemented policies
that would not even allow prisoners to receive books, bibles or
the Holy Qu'ran. And a prisoner that is striving to educate the
oppressed masses to this racism is herded off to solitary
confinement.
In solitary confinement, these prisoners are repeatedly beat,
gassed and demoralized until he/she develops that same fear and
self-hatred that was instilled in the slaves by slave masters.
They take you miles away from your family and won't even allow
these prisoners to have visits or call to talk to his family and
children.
Now, those of you who know the history of slavery in Amerikkka* Do
you not see it in our prison system today? Of course, we see it.
So what are we going to do about it? Well, my brothers and
sisters, you've taken the first steps when you turned out to the
voting polls. Now, you much contact the governor elect, Jim
Hodges, you must contact your respected representative and demand,
not ask, demand that your hard earned tax money be used to correct
the problems in our criminal justice system and our prison system.
Prisoners at Kirkland Maximum security Unit in Columbia, SC are on
a letter writing campaign and ask that the general public join in
and support our fight against cultural repression and
institutional racism. To hold your tongue about these issues is to
condone the pedophile [white supremacy] and to promote self-hatred
and Afrikan nothingness.
‹by B.S., a South Carolina prisoner.
MIM responds: We have much unity with what the comrade writes,
particularly in the comparison to modern herding of Blacks into
prisons with slavery. The Amerikan prison system locks up members
of oppressed nations at a far higher rate than members of the
white settler nation.
This is a result of a system built on slavery and a system
thriving from settler nation hegemony and continued extraction of
wealth from oppressed nations. Prisons serve the interests of the
white settler nation because they warehouse those most likely to
organize for revolution against Amerikan imperialism from within
the belly of the beast.
MIM fully recognizes the similarities between slave plantations
and prison complexes. Furthermore, the Amerikan prison system is
the most fascistic element of Amerikan society. Increasingly
through Amerikan prisons, the government and capitalists cooperate
directly, repressing the masses to extract profit. This repressive
apparatus multiplying in Amerika hits oppressed nationals most.
But in doing so, Amerika continues to plant the seeds for its own
destruction.
A basic tenant of Marxism is the understanding that each
oppressive mode of production ‹ i.e. feudalism, slavery,
capitalism ‹ contains contradictions within it that bring about
its destruction. MIM seeks to push this process along faster by
building the ground for revolution. There is a historical basis
for seeing that the change from imperialist domination to national
liberation to socialism can be achieved. Similarly, there is no
other path historically that has liberated the people from
imperialism and all of its oppressive mechanisms.
So, while we agree in part with this comrade, we disagree that
petitioning and voting help to eradicate oppression faced by
prisoners. Politicians and the entire Amerikan state apparatus
serve to perpetuate capitalism and national oppression. The
politicians cannot be coaxed into working in the interests of the
masses. That is diametrically opposed to their purpose. Dumping a
million bags of letters on their desks might help them to tokenly
address some minority issue when covered on ABC, but it will not
persuade them to end repression against prisoners.
Similarly, the white settler nation's politicians ‹ including
comprador Blacks like Collin Powell and Jesse Jackson ‹ are
specifically elected because they represent the majority interests
in Amerika. They know who is paying for their salaries and it is
the white settler taxpayers who have a vested interest in national
oppression ‹ and prisons. (Get a copy of MIM Theory #10 -$6- for
more on the reasons that the white settler nation's tax dollars
are not hard earned and why it supports imperialism.)
Supermax conditions kill
As far as the conditions for this supermax held here in Somers,
Connecticut the struggle we go through is not even necessary. So
far 3 in mates have died because of these so called officers and
medical staff and also because the way how they spray large
amounts of "mace" and beat up inmates with their so called cert
team. We are locked down 23 hours a day. We are allowed to take a
shower only 3 times a week. They play with people's mail, spit in
people's food. We are only allowed 7 books and 7 magazines. These
people really take things very serious and will beat you down for
no reason at all just because you won't put your hands through a
door. They give that as an explanation but all of us are being
strong holding it down. ‹ a Somers, CT. supermax prisoner,
February 1999.
Incompetent wise guys?
Dear MIM:
So can anyone tell me who the wise guy is in your organization
that can't seem to read my letters? I have written to you on
1/22/99 and again about 2/12/99 to inform you of my
transfer/address change. Yet, as you can see by the enclosed,
someone is simply acting like the incompetent and unprofessional
person that they are by not recognizing the change. It's a wonder
that I still get MIM Notes* LATE. Nevertheless I get it.
‹ A Cherokee nation prisoner in Kalifornia, 16 March 1999.
MIM responds: Glad you got the papers, many comrades have a hard
time specifically because they face the problems of pigs censoring
their mail. A couple things to make clear to our comrades in
prisons ‹ there are more prisoners interested in revolution than
there are active people on the outside. Why? Because people on the
outside are not living under the same draconian conditions. Of
those interested in change, not all care about prisoners'
struggles. So, it is a constant push to organize effectively
enough to address prisoners' basic concerns with limited labor and
resources.
Another is that even when we are effectively achieving basic
goals, like getting the paper out for free, publishing and filling
literature orders and addressing pressing concerns, there are too
many times to count that the pigs delay or confiscate mail.
Recently, other comrades have complained about lit not arriving,
later to find out that the pigs were holding it without telling
the comrade.
Most importantly brought up in this letter is the understanding of
some of the steps that are necessary in organizing. Practically,
there's no way that this comrade's letters would have told us with
enough advance notice to change the address for the February
mailing.
The reason for publishing this letter is to generally make
comrades aware of the complex undertaking building for revolution
is. MIM is pushing for USW and other prison comrades to take on
organizational work. We urge those who have practical criticisms,
to take on tasks that increase our collective strength and unity.
For instance, many comrades write about what MIM needs to do to
expand the Prisoners' Legal Clinic. Under the system of
imperialism, there are endless legal battles to fight that involve
oppression of the people. But what we must do to be effective is
pick the winnable battles and the ones that will help create a
more fertile ground to organize for the ultimate remedy. We're
currently pushing for the focus against censorship. Without that
focus, articles pertaining to legal fights against brutality will
increasingly not even reach prisoners.
On all fronts, we absolutely encourage prisoners to take up some
of the practical organizing tasks of building for revolution. This
helps individuals learn what day to day work entails, helps
everyone build necessary skills and most importantly contributes
to revolutionary development.
* * *
FACTS ABOUT U.$. IMPRISONMENT
The facts about imprisonment in the United $tates are that the
United $tates has been the world's leading prison-state per capita
for the last 25 years, with a brief exception during Boris
Yeltsin's declaration of a state of emergency.(1) That means that
while Reagan was talking about a Soviet "evil empire" he was the
head of a state that imprisoned more people per capita. In
supposedly "hard-line" Bulgaria of the Soviet bloc of the 1980s,
the imprisonment rate was less than half that of the United
$tates.(2,3)
To find a comparison with U.$. imprisonment of Black people, there
is no statistic in any country that compares including apartheid
South Africa of the era before Mandela was president. The last
situation remotely comparable to the situation today was under
Stalin during war time.
The majority of prisoners are non-violent offenders(4) and the
U.S. Government now holds about a half million more prisoners than
China; even though China is four times our population.(5)
The rednecks tell MIM that we live in a "free country." They live
in an Orwellian 1984 situation where freedom is imprisonment.
Notes:
1. Marc Mauer, "Americans Behind Bars: The International Use of
Incarceration 1993," The Prison Sentencing Project, 918 F. St. NW,
Suite 501, Washington, DC 20004 (202) 628-0871 Reference: SRI:
R8965-2, 1994.
2. Ibid., 1992 report.
3. United Nations Development Programme, "Human Development Report
1994,:" Oxford University Press, p. 186.
4. Figure of 51.2 percent for state prisoners there for non-
violent offenses. Abstract of the United States 1993, p. 211.
5. Atlantic Monthly December, 1998.
* * *
MIM ON PRISONS & 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.
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