Word of the Left

If you've been following the situation in Oaxaca, by now you should have heard about the two major events that have incurred there in the past few days. The first, was the murder of Brad Will, an Indymedia journalist and videoblogger who was down in Oaxaca covering the situation. He was known to have supported the protestors and their cause. On October 27, Brad was shot in the torso from long range by cops and/or local government officials. Both independent media (who have been covering this democratic popular uprising from the beginning) and corporate media (who have ignored it until now) have covered this incident. The irony of it is that incidents like these are the exact reason why this uprising started.

The other major event that happened is that thousands of police armed with automatic rifles, riot shields, tear gas, armored vehicles, and helicopters have invaded Oaxaca and pushed back protestors through sheer force. The protestors, who only demand better wages and workplaces and the resignation of the oppressive and extremely corrupt governor of Oaxaca, have vowed to make their stand in the town center and won't budge until their demands are met. The Mexican people are tired of the corruption and poverty this system has brought them. This and the popular uprising in Mexico City earlier this year where thousands upon thousands of people stood up for justice are examples of how fed up the Mexican people are with their government. The workers, farmers, teachers, and students are willing to fight to the end. Long Live the Oaxaca Commune!

Recently, a fellow socialist blogger, Red Dave, wrote an article titled 'The Merits of Revolution' which basically outlined his problems with the idea of a popular uprising, or a revolution. I thought this was a good topic. One of the major disagreements I often have with other socialists is exactly this; what will better accomplish our end goal? Reformism or Revolution? So I decided to outline my beliefs on Democratic Socialism.

First, the positives. Obviously one of the benefits of socialism through the ballot box is that there are no casualties. Another is that it is more respected as it is constitutional and 'democratic'. These are what attract a lot of socialists to democratic socialism, and they are good reasons for that. Another reason is revolutionary socialism's haunting past where socialism basically became state capitalism with purges and other events which would scar socialism for decades to come.

Now the negatives and my arguement for revolution. First, I personally believe socialism can come in no other way than by starting over on a blank page. This is because socialism calls for such radical change that capitalist constitutions will not allow those changes to proceed 'constitutionally'. Why? Because the 20th century taught capitalist countries to make their constitutions safeguards against socialism, often times banning socialist parties or throwing communists in prison. Thus a revolution which is by the workers and masses of society is needed. Second, even if we were too accomplish such change legally, capitalism would always be there and present. All of our reforms could be undone when a new congress or parliament is voted in. Third, socialism cannot be 'voted in' under capitalist so called "democracy". These "democracies" are crafted to exclude small parties that have no or little money. Campaigning is all about money. Everything on the campaign trail costs. A socialist party, which is often small and based in the working class, does not have the same type of funds as the Republican Party or Democrat Party which get massive donations from celebs and businessmen. Thus since they can't campaign, they can't get their voice heard and usually will not even end up on the ballot.

In sum, Democratic Socialism has it's perks but it also has it's problems. Revolutionary Socialism has it's perks and problems too but in terms of reaching pure socialism, revolutionary socialism is more effective.

I'm looking forward to responses from Democratic Socialists on this topic. I want my points to be rebutted mainly because I think this is an important topic that all socialists should deal with and learn from each other about.

Today I was walking home when I realized that this is October and October was when the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government and established the world's first socialist state. when I got home, I went online, and coincidently, on October 23, 1917,* The Bolshevik revolution kicked off with a revolt in Talinn, Estonia. On October 25*, Lenin led his revolutionaries in an uprising in Petrograd (St. Petersburg), which was the capital of Russia at that time, and in a near bloodless battle, took control of various government buildings. On October 26*, the Red Guard stormed the Winter Palace and in about 6 hours, took control of the palace which was guarded by Cossacks.

A revolution is impossible without a revolutionary situation; furthermore, not every revolutionary situation leads to revolution.

- Vladmir Ilych Lenin

This event was not only crucial because of how the newly formed USSR would effect every aspect of 20th century history, but also because this event established the world's first worker state and in my opinion, the only one which really put the power in the hands of the workers. In the end, the USSR would give into outside pressure, Stalinist State-Capitalism, and eventually Free Market Capitalism, but at least for some time the workers and producers of society shook the world and took control of their country.

*October 23 by Julian Calendar, November 5 by Gregorian Calendar.

Today mortar shells and bicycle bombs went off in a market in Mahmoudiya, Iraq. Between 18 and 20 were killed and up to 60 were wounded. That brings this month's death toll to 907 civilian war related casualties. The UN claims that at least 100 Iraqis are kiled daily. Three and a half years into the war, almost 2800 American soldiers have died and according to a recent study, 655,000 civilians have died.

October, with a week left, has already been marked as the bloodiest month in the war since April 2005. The recent death estimates mixed with the ongoing civil war in Iraq have prompted some officials like a top British General recently, to claim it's time to leave.

My opinion has from the begining been that this war will lead us nowhere and that it is extremely bloody. The worst part is that Iraq was better under Saddam then it is now. There is fucking ethnic cleansing going on between two groups who simply disagree on who succeeded Mohammed. What will be interesting to see now is how we'll deal with Iran and North Korea now. President Bush has successfully, gotten us into the middle of a civil war, tied up our troops in Iraq, and thus now cannot deal with the real threats. It's almost like some twisted and tragic comedy where everything has gone insanely wrong!

Every year on "Teacher's Day" in Mexico, teachers hold a rally at Oaxaca City, Mexico. Teachers are payed low wages in poor conditions in an education system which quite frankly, sucks ass. Usually the teachers get a small raise and return to work but this year they decided they were fed up with all the bullshit they've dealt with.

On June 14, The governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, backed by the government attacked the protestors at dawn with tear gas and riot gear and by beating the protesters with clubs, they forced the strikers to flee out of the city. The teachers returned with students, farmers, and workers to the city and after a long bloody battle, took the city and forced the police out with only stick, stones, and old fashion proletariat strength!

Since then, the workers, farmers, teachers, and students who occupy Oaxaca have taken over the radio airways and government buildings, barricadded the streets, armed themselves, and set up a completely democratic government body called the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, or the APPO.

In recent weeks, the government has stepped up it's actions against the commune, and President Fox and his regime claim that it is their number one goal to end the APPO occupation of Oaxaca before he leaves office.

Why am I posting this now? Well mainly to spread awareness. The only way the Oaxaca has a chance at surival is through pressure on the Mexican government from the outside. Protests and Rallies are a start. Two weeks ago, the Free People's Movement organized a rally here in New York which was pretty successful. It is of the utmost importance to spread awareness about the situation. I have provided two links for those who want to find out more about the Oaxaca Commune.

This weekend, the Black Panther Party will be holding a reunion in Oakland where they plan to hold various workshops on current issues like Hurricane Katrina.

The Black Panther Party was formed in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale as a Militant civil rights movement group. The Black Panther Party was perhaps the most revolutionary party in American history to this date. They are famous for monitoring police activity in black neighborhoods while armed. They also are famous for violent shoot-outs with cops.

They also accomplished alot within black communities. They set up free health clinics and were very good at keeping money in the neighborhood thus strengthening the local economy.

One of the lesser known facts about the Black Panther Party is that they were Marxists and Leninists who saw themselves as a vanguard party for a socialist revolution. They also were greatly inspired by Mao Zedong. This was apparent in their 'Ten Point Program'

1.) We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our black and oppressed communities.

2.) We want full employment for our people.

3.) We want an end to the robbery by the capitalists of our black and oppressed communities.

4.) We want decent housing, fit for the shelter of human beings.

5.) We want decent education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent american society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in the present-day society.

6.) We want completely free health care for all black and oppressed people.

7.) We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people, other people of color, all oppressed people inside the united states.

8.) We want an immediate end to all wars of aggression.

9.) We want freedom for all black and oppressed people now held in u. S. Federal, state, county, city and military prisons and jails. We want trials by a jury of peers for all persons charged with so-called crimes under the laws of this country.

10.) We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, peace and people's community control of modern technology.

In sum, the Black Panthers were more than just a blip on the screen of history. Even though they had only 5000 members at their peak, they inspired thousands if not millions and was the first organization to really pose a threat to the government and institution. The Black Panther Party left a significant mark on the 20th century.

Full Article

More info on the Black Panthers

A new study estimates that some 650,000 innocent Iraqis have been killed as a consequence of US imperialist actions in Iraq. This study is much higher than Bush's random guess and General Casey, one of the leading generals in Iraq, who estimate that it is 30,000.

This study is already receiving critiscism and is being called "politics" by the corporate media. This test does have validity however, because it was conducted scienctifically. No one knows exactly what the number is and the reason is that the numbers are so high, no one can really make an accurate count. Sources go as low as 30,000 to as high as now 650,000.

This all is quite convenient for the Bush regime considering that because it's all speculation, no one knows the body count in Iraq. Thus the regime gets no pressure from the public on this particular issue. The president of course, was quick to say that these figures "weren't credible." It's kind of ironic coming from him as most people don't think of him as "credible".

Monday is Columbus day here in America and many will get the day off from school and work. While at face value it seems reasonable to celebrate the man who discovered America, it really is not if you consider some of the actions he took which changed the course of the future, for the worse. I would like to devote this entry to exploring the reasons why Columbus was a tryrant who should not be celebrated.

First, a little background info. Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. He was hired as a cabin boy at age 14 and became a captain by age thirty. In 1476, Columbus became a citizen of Portugal and started to consider launching a expedition to reach Asia by going west. He believed that the world was almost 5,000 miles smaller than it really is, and that the Americas didn't exsist. At the time, the was normal as the New World had only been seen once before, and that was by the scandanavian sailor Leif Erikson. Most people of the time new nothing of Erikson. In 1482, Columbus asked the King of Portugal to fund the expedition. He was turned down. Columbus than went to Spain. Spain at first was hesitant, than they agreed and provided 3 ships and eighty-something crew. On October 12, 1492. Columbus landed on the Bahamas. He met the Arawaks who he named, the Taino because they came to him saying "taino" which meant "peace."

Columbus claimed the land for Spain, and on that day, European sentiment towards Native Americans were set in stone for the next 400 years. How is that so? Well it has to do with Columbus's observations and thoughts and attitude in general. He wrote in his diary that the natives could be easily converted and "subjugated." He also wrote that the lands were resource rich and that they could be of much profit to Spain. And finally he stated that the Natives could be easily intimidated and taken advantage of. It was this which led Europeans to rape and exploit Native American culture and society and land.

Columbus also encouraged the plundering, rape, of the Arawaks and their villages. Diesease also took it's toll, and if the Arawaks resisted, they were slaughtered by the European's advanced weaponry. in 1494 alone, some 50,000 Arawaks perished.

In short, celebrating Columbus is celebrating a tyrant. It was Columbus who set the stage for the next 400 years which would be 400 years of diesease, death, starvation, genocide, and mass murder.

I haven't updated in a couple of days because I simply have had nothing to write about, but today, I attended the World Can't Wait to Drive out the Bush regime's rally here in New York City. I'll admit that I kind of cheated since I was supposed to skip 'business as usual' in order to go to the rally, but I didn't. I came relatively late to the protest which was at Union Square here in New York and started at four, but I was there in time to here some great speakers. It was interesting to see the range of speakers who each represented different political ideologies. Organizations that were present ranged from the Revolutionary Communist Party to the 'Progressive' Democrat party to Code Pink. The people present were mostly radical liberals but there was some people from the RCP and some Black Nationalists. In retrospect, the rally was small with maybe 500 or so people but that was only one of the many rallies nationwide and citywide. Perhaps the most humorous moment of the protest was seeing a cop shake his head and spit in disapproval as a speaker representing the October 22nd Coalition Against Police Brutality come to the stage.

This is a very good piece which explains the basics of communism. This piece is relativly old, however it's something worth taking a look at. I thought some of my socialist viewers would enjoy it as well as those who are new to marxism andare curious to learn about it.

What is Communism?
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Without a doubt, you’ve probably heard about communism. And, also without a doubt, you’ve probably heard all sorts of horror stories about it — from your teachers, from the media, from politicians, even from your church pastor or preacher.

They tried to scare you. They want to keep you from finding out for yourself. If you asked one authority figure for a second opinion, they usually told you to ask another authority figure. And if that didn’t satisfy you, then they told you to read the history books they wrote for you.

Do you see a pattern here? The one person they will never tell you to talk to, however, is a communist. Why? Because a communist might go “off script” and tell you something they don’t want you to hear.

So, what is communism? Well, there is communism, the theory, and communism, the society. Let’s first deal with communism, the society.

To begin with, communism is a society without bosses or servants, without superiors or subordinates, without masters or slaves — in short, communism is a society without classes and the stress, conflict and antagonisms that go with the existence of classes. Contrary to the history they teach you, classes are a relatively new thing in the human experience, having been around for only about 25,000 of the last 5 million years of human existence.

“But,” someone might say, “there are a lot more people alive today than there were back then.” That’s true. What’s also true is that we are smarter, more conscious of our world and more technologically advanced than our ancestors. We really don’t need someone standing over us, telling us what to do and when to do it. If necessary, we can work that out together, in common.

Because it is a society without classes, communism is also a society where all aspects of society are developed and administered in common. That means not only the political system, but the economy, culture and social relations too. Can you imagine, having an equal voice, along with your co-workers, in deciding how conditions at your job would be determined? Or, having a say, along with your neighbors, in shaping how the city’s budget will be spent?

Democracy is a key element in the development of communism — but not the stale, formal “democracy” we are taught about in school; we are talking about democracy as a practice, a real-world tool that works for those who work.

As well, communism is a society without a state. Now, when we talk about a “state,” we are not talking about councils and assemblies that debate issues and adopt policy. When we say “state,” we mean the armed organizations that enforce “order” (the rulers’ “order,” that is), like the police and military.

“No police?!” Yes, no police. What are the police really for? Well, when you live in a society where goods and services are restricted to a few, you end up with the many in need. When you have so many in need, you need to maintain order. However, if you live in a society where the needs of everyone in society are met, what need is there for police? If everyone’s basic needs — good food, decent housing, worthwhile education, etc. — are met, what basis is there for most of the crime in society?

Sure, there may be times here and there that may require some kind of investigation or enforcement unit, but those times would be relatively few and far between, and could easily be handled as they come up.

It is also the case that communism is a society without money. “Without money?!” Yes, without money. Why does money exist? Basically, it was invented so that one group of owners wouldn’t get screwed by another set of owners. But, if you have a society where the factories and workplaces are owned in common, and we can sit down and plan out three months, six months or even a year in advance what we have to produce to provide all that we need, what point is there to having money?

Also, if we’re all working together to produce what we need and administer our own affairs, we can cut out a lot of things we don’t need. For example, we don’t need all those layers of managers and officials that we pay (through our labor and the profits it creates) to tell us to work harder. Similarly, we don’t need all of those professional politicians and bureaucrats in the government who do everything they can to convince us that our future should be in the hands of “professionals” who have no clue what we deal with on a daily basis. For that matter, we don’t need all those worthless professions that exist only because we live in a profit-driven society, like advertising, marketing, business management, etc. The resources poured into those jobs can be put to better use.

And we can do all of this while working less and enjoying life more. Because a communist society produces for our needs and well-being, and not for creating more profits for the bosses, we can reduce the amount of working time each of us has to do. For that matter, depending on how well we can use technology to our advantage, we have the ability to calculate how much working time each of us will have to do in our lives in order to provide for all our needs throughout our lives.

Think of it! Retiring at age 40 and not having to worry about where your next meal is coming from, because you’ve already put in your share for society! Think of what you can do with all that time! If you wanted, you could go back to school and become a doctor, or learn how to paint or sculpt, or see the world. For that matter, you could spend your summers in moderate weather and your winters in warm areas. Why should the birds be the only ones with the sense to migrate when the weather changes?

Finally, we should point out that communism is a world system and society. We live in a world that is more and more unified by economics, culture and our own common interests. Communism looks to bring all of those who work for their living together in a common struggle to liberate ourselves from this rotten system. But, unlike those who call themselves “boss” and want to control the world, communism looks to join the people of the world together as brothers and sisters to build a better future for ourselves and our children.

So, does this sound like something you’d like to see? Well, that brings us to communism, the theory ... and the movement. Communism doesn’t come about without the help of all of you. Because we have to sweep away a lot of garbage from this sick society, we need the help of millions to make it happen. “I get all of that,” you might say, “but no one else will go for it.” Really? Ask your friends, your neighbors and your co-workers what they think about what we say above. Chances are they would like to see this kind of new society, too.

How you choose to get involved is up to you, of course. There are all sorts of ways to help bring this society about. If you’re not sure of what you can do, ask one of us. We can sit down and talk about what’s possible. The important thing is that you get involved somehow. That’s what communism is about: being an active part of creating your own future. Represent yourself! Join the fight for a communist future!

Communist League

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