Word of the Left

I'm having a bit of a hiatus, which is why I haven't kept up to my normal speed on this blog. Tommorow however, there is going to a major nationwide protest against the criminal war in Iraq. All major Anti-War groups will be there and if you can make it I suggest you go. The rally starts at 11am between 3rd and 7th streets at the National Mall. More info can be found at the united for peace & justice website (yes I know, they aren't revolutionary but we should be willing to unite broadly to get our message out). Here is an op-ed written by the Revolution Newspaper editorial staff in light of the event. I'll try to get a real post in soon as well as check out what's new on everyone else's blog.

It's a nightmare you can't just wake from...

Last November tens of millions went to the polls and did what they've been told their whole lives to do to change what their government is doing: they voted.

They voted in an attempt to end an immoral war on Iraq that has sent hundreds of thousands to early graves. They voted out of disgust with a President who believes he is above the law and a Congress that has gone along with his shredding of habeas corpus, his dragnet wiretapping, and his legalization and widespread use of torture. They voted out of fear for the world if Bush is not stopped before crusading into yet another country, his lies and brutality sanctified by a fascist Christian fundamentalism.

But what they got was just the opposite.

Over mass graves, inhuman degradation, and unrelenting horrors, Bush promised more of the same. He announced a major escalation of the war.

More troops and more carnage in the streets of Baghdad and in western Iraq. More war crimes and more torture as Bush lifts the "restrictions" he claims have tied the hands of U.S. forces. More gasoline on the flames of religious slaughter in Iraq and beyond as millions more get trapped between the intolerable choices of the U.S. juggernaut of war or the Islamic fundamentalist movement that’s fueled by it. More and wider war as Bush openly threatens Iran and Syria, moves ships into the Gulf region, and provocatively assaults Iranian diplomats within Iraq. More power to sustain the killing—an expanded Army—to support a long-term escalation of these wars without end.

This is, quite simply, unacceptable. This president must be stopped! His crimes must be halted! He and his criminal regime must be driven from power!

Anything less—any idea of waiting for two years until the next election, while the carnage and crimes continue and get devastatingly worse—is unconscionable.

The Paralysis of the Democrats

Many still hope the Democratic congress will step up. And in fact many Democrats are expressing serious reservations and even opposition to Bush’s escalation. But let’s look at what they’re actually saying and promising.

Hillary Clinton revealed something the other day when she said that she has a “responsibility gene” that prevents her from cutting off funding for the war, or even proposing a withdrawal of the troops. In fact, the whole Democratic Party has this same “gene.” The question is, responsible to whom and what?

Responsible to the Iraqis? Dick Durbin, in his official Democratic response to Bush's announcement of an escalation, put it this way: "We have given the Iraqis so much... it is time for the Iraqis to stand and defend their own nation." As if Iraq somehow invited the U.S. to come in and destroy their infrastructure, provoke a sectarian civil war, and steal the lives of hundreds of thousands! As if this were a gracious and magnanimous favor for which the Iraqis are being ungrateful and somehow making greedy demands for more of!

Responsible to the millions who voted for them, in the hopes that they would stand up to Bush? Ted Kennedy admitted in advance that by the time a vote comes on his bill to cut the funds for escalation, "The troops will already be there. And then we'll be asked, are we going to deny body armor to the young men and women over there?" And Nancy Pelosi has backed him up: "Democrats will never cut off funding for our troops when they are in harm's way."

This is even after Bush has publicly sworn that he won't listen to or be stopped by Congress! Asked on 60 Minutes whether he thought being commander-in-chief gave him "the authority to put the troops in there no matter what the Congress wants," Bush snarled, "Yeah... they could try to stop me from doing it. But I made my decision, and we're going forward."

So to whom and what are these big politicians responsible? When they talk about “redeploying American troops” in the region around Iraq to protect “our interests”—whose interests are being protected? Where is the major Democratic politician who has come out and called this war what it is—an illegal and immoral war that was launched to protect imperial interests in the Middle East? Who would show how those interests are NOT those of the people in Iraq, or the Middle East more broadly, or the majority of people within the U.S.?

If you open your ears and listen, you will hear that all the debate being allowed is over how to defend and extend the military strength, global reach, and interests of the U.S. system. How best to maneuver the U.S. ship of state through the tumultuous waters of global upheaval and reconfiguration in the wake of the Cold War and the massive migrations of people, factories, and capital caused by the turbo-paced capitalist globalization. How best to hammer people in this society into an even more repressive morality and legal system. And how to do it all while intensifying U.S. political domination and global exploitation and the terrible toll in needless human suffering that goes with it.

At the same time, there ARE real differences at the top. This war is going badly. Talk of a possible constitutional crisis echoes even into the halls of Congress. But as long as this remains a struggle over how best to defend and expand empire in a debate conducted by the empire’s politicians in the empire’s chamber, these differences will never go anywhere good. Without a massive upheaval from below, based on the interests and demands of the overwhelming majority of people here and around the world, the paralysis of the Democrats will continue to enable Bush to commit his crimes.

Needed: More--and More Determined--Protest and Resistance

The whole situation and direction and options "up for debate" are intolerable!

The paralyzed Democrats at the top have made clear that they, on their own, will not stop this. This whole situation can only be changed for the better by millions standing up, protesting and resisting this whole course.

But, yes, we need a different kind of protest. Not protest pleading with those who rule over us to "do the right thing," followed by a return to the routine . . . but protests that make clear to all that until these crimes are halted we will not rest. Protest that challenges those in society sitting on the sidelines to join in. Protest that aims at nothing less than actually stopping this juggernaut, and that does not flinch at the upheaval that could entail. When has any major change for the better come without upheaval and struggle??

Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, has spoken of the kind of spirit we need:

“It’s not merely a matter of letting the people in power know that we don’t like what they’re doing. It is saying that this course they’re on is one that will bring disaster to people all over the world, and we not only don’t support this but are going to act—to build massive political mobilization—to stop it. In this people can draw lessons, and draw inspiration, from those parents of U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq, and who have come out in opposition to that war—and some of whom have come out in opposition to the whole disastrous direction of things, joining in with World Can’t Wait. These people have changed their whole lives. They’re not just saying, ‘I’ll put a bumper sticker on my car to show I’m opposed.’ Bumper stickers with progressive sentiments, statements in opposition to the war and other crimes of this regime—that is good—but these ‘bumper sticker people’ should be challenged: what are you gonna do about it.” [Bob Avakian, “On the Importance of World Can’t Wait...” Revolution, 62]

Without this spirit, there will be no good change. With it, a world of possibility can open up.

A Call to the Students and Youth

During the ’60s, the youth and students demanded and debated over the truth, and they fought for it. These youth, Black and white and all nationalities, dared to say “this system of racial segregation and oppression, this war in Vietnam, these institutions based on suppressing women...these are outrageous and they are immoral, and they can no longer be tolerated...for another minute.”

These youth put their bodies on the line for those beliefs. They broke free of the calculus of imperial interests and shell-game elections and they went to the people and took to the streets. And in doing so, they changed the face of a society.

This generation faces an even sharper challenge. It can no longer rest content with detesting Bush, while retreating into the cop-out of worldly wise cynicism. Calculations about school grades and career plans no longer apply for Iraqis whose streets have become killing fields. . . and they can no longer apply for those of us living in the society that has unleashed these horrors. The education needed above all in times like these is one that teaches and inspires debate over how to stand up for a whole different world . . . not how to find a future operating within the nightmare descending over this one.

Think about it. The Bush regime has encountered big troubles in butchering their way toward what Condoleezza Rice calls "a new Middle East." Even as the regime responds to these troubles by further throwing down the gauntlet, it confronts a political situation in this country of massive disaffection. The world is waiting for you—asking for you and wondering when you will finally rise to the mission that is on you to stop this--and galvanize the whole of society when you do.

There needs to be ferment and protest and political struggle taking over the campuses, where those of you who see what is going on challenge your friends, your teachers, your families and all of society with an uncompromising stand.

And everyone else throughout society, especially those who lived through the liberating struggles of the sixties and those who have a platform to speak from, need to share the responsibility to inspire and compel the youth of today at the same time as they raise their own voices once again to the whole of society saying: There's no one else to rely on. We are the ones, in our millions, who must bring this to a halt!

Discussion, Debate and Unity

There is a debate that has been ruled out of order, and that needs to be pried back open; it is a debate over how the world has gotten to this place, what must be done to change it, and what revolution has to do with all that. This kind of debate is not only urgently needed in its own right, it is key in fueling and inspiring forward a movement powerful and determined enough to halt the horrific trajectory of today.

Critical to that whole discussion is Bob Avakian’s revolutionary vision of a truly liberating society. This issue of our paper features an article that gives a basic sense of how Bob Avakian has re-envisioned the communist project, and of his method and approach to understanding reality and how to change it. If you are seriously concerned about the future—and who cannot be? — then you need to engage what he’s saying. And we strongly encourage you to go to Bobavakian.net and listen to the talk “Why We’re in the Situation We’re in Today. . . And What to Do About It: A Thoroughly Rotten System and the Need for Revolution.”

Today tens of millions are agonizing over what can be done. We must take to them the discussion of the big questions of history and morality and change that are joined in this moment, and we must at the same time move together to rouse them from the sidelines and onto the playing field of history. We put it to you: wrangle with this newspaper and then put it in the hands of others. And as you do, check out and get with and help build groups like World Can't Wait—Drive Out the Bush Regime and others that are daring to lead millions to stop and drive out this regime.

After four years of a gruesome war, let us not say we have learned to live with this carnage or with the unbearable acts of torture being committed even as we march. Let us tell ourselves that a "symbolic" protest is no more conscionable than a "symbolic" vote against this murderous escalation. Unless we resist and go forward to mobilize millions of others in mass, independent historical action, then we will bear the responsibility for the perpetuation of the very crimes thousands have come to Washington, D.C. to oppose.

The stakes for humanity cannot be overstated. The future is riding on how we live in these next months. We must make this the year the regime is driven out.

Link

Labels: Activism, Anti-War

In honor of Martin Luther King weekend, and Pottawatomie Creek's call for leftist bloggers of all political strata to post about white supremecy and discrimination this upcoming weekend, I want to talk about the situation we're in today regarding discrimination, nationalism, and rascism in general. Martin Luther King had a dream, but has his dream been fulfilled decades later? The answer, in my opinion, is no. Rascism is alive and well, and will continue in a system that was built on the blood, sweat, and forced labor extracted from it.

So how is Rascism Alive in America?

Immigration

Nationalism and patriotism has, for some reason, always been something honorable, and as of the past year, so has immigrant bashing in the name patriotism. The vigilante 'minutemen' group, which is predominantly white and which has captured headlines with its patroling of the borders in nothing new. In fact, they are merely a KKK front group which is following in the footsteps of the "Klan border patrol".

Police Brutality

When was the last time you heard about the shooting of an unarmed white person? In the past years New Yorkers have witnessed the killings of Anthony Baez, Amoudou Diallo, and most recently Sean Bell who was murdered in cold blood hours before he was going to get married and start a new life. The worst part about this is that these are only the most publiscized murders. The October 22nd Coalition has started the Stolen Lives project in which they track, and have so far tracked, over 2000 people murdered by cops, and yes, you guessed it; you'll be hard pressed to find a white guy on that list.

School Segregation

According to a Harvard Study, re-segregation of schools is a growing trend. White students are attending higher quality schools, while Blacks are attending the shitty ones. To add insult to injury, Ohmaha schools are now racially segregated by law

Poverty

Blacks continue to be forced to live in the worst of the worst inner-city neighborhoods in greater numbers than whites. 33% of black children are in poverty while only 13% of white children live in poverty. This is just another reflection of the failure of the education system as well as the poverty trap that capitalism has created for minorities.

What Steps Can be taken to fulfill Martin Luther Kings dream?

In reality, undere this perverted and obscene system, rascism will live on. Even today decades after institutionalized rascism was ended, we see that black people and white people in general live in two completely different worlds. Strict Affirmative Action quotas for minorities (and woman) is a must to truly create a society where there is no racial, or sex discrimination, and eventually, make the idea of race disapear from our heads. Unfortunately, that will most likely never happen in a world where conservative, religious, traditional, and so called "family values" are treasured in the way they are.

Under Socialism...

People are encouraged to challenge all and every capitalist class norm. For example, in Maoist China, woman were told to rise up against institutionalized male superiority, arranged marriage, and fuedal practices like foot binding, while in Marxist-Leninist Soviet Union, raids and slaughters of Jewish villages were suddenly halted as well as abortion legalized. Socialism would create a radically different world where people would live as equals.

In Conclusion, sadly, MLK's dream has not been fulfilled. Blacks and Whites do not live together in harmony, in fact, they usually live one above the other (guess which one?) economically. That said much progress has been made thanks to the work and struggle of Civil Rights leaders like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. They will always be remember by millions as heroes fighting for freedom in an oppressive system. Happy MLK weekend everybody, and make sure to spend it remembering MLK's accomplishments for all people!

Venezula is currently at a very critical point in its history. In the years Hugo Chavez has been president of the Republic of Venezula, the number of households in poverty have decreased from 40% to 30% in less than 10 years. In the years Hugo Chavez has been president of the Republic of Venezula, workers have come together to reopen closed down factories and have formed over 70,000 worker co-ops where the workers in control of their workplace and make business descisions through a democratic process. Most recently, Chavez has announced plans to re-nationalize utilities so that the profits go to the people and things like healthcare and education, not to the pockets of the bourgieousie as well as start an advance towards the 'socialist republic of Venezula'.

In the years Hugo Chavez has been president Venezula has pulled itself out of the disasterous situation it was in and become a rally point for anti-imperialism. Chavez was elected and re-elected on his promise for a more radical "socialist" program, and while progressivbe steps towards socialism have been taken, we won't be able to see socialism unless there is armed struggle. No state in the world has created socialism through the ballot box, and I don't see Chavez as being the exception. Still, as an anti-imperialist and a progressive, we on the left should support Chavez and hope that what he has done so far, isn't even the top of the iceberg.

Link

CARACAS, Venezuela - Invoking Christ and Castro as his socialist models, President Hugo Chavez began his third term Wednesday by declaring that socialism, not capitalism, is the only way forward for Venezuela and the world.

His first stop: Nicaragua, where leftist ally Daniel Ortega was returning to power with his own inauguration hours later. Chavez can now count on remaining president until 2013 — or later if he gets his way with a constitutional amendment allowing him to run again.

At the apex of a resurgent Latin American left, Chavez has been emboldened to make more radical changes at home after winning re-election with 63 percent of the vote, his widest margin ever.

His next moves include nationalizing electrical and telecommunications companies, forming a commission to oversee constitutional reforms and asking the National Assembly, now entirely controlled by his supporters, to allow him to enact "revolutionary laws" by presidential decree.

His right hand raised Wednesday, Chavez declared in words reminiscent of Fidel Castro's famous call-to-arms: "Fatherland, socialism or death — I swear it." He also alluded to Jesus: "I swear by Christ — the greatest socialist in history."

In a speech, he said the central aim of his term will be "to build Venezuelan socialism."

"I don't have the slightest doubt that is the only path to the redemption of our peoples, the salvation of our fatherland," Chavez told lawmakers to applause.

This post is a reprinted post (at the author's permission) from revleft.com written by the Abhay, author of the Naxal Revolution Blog.

A Spectre is haunting India, the Spectre of Communism!







Above: Maoist Cadre training

Report and updates on the developing revolutionary situation in India

The revolutionary situation in India today stands at a crucial juncture and events in the next few years could very well decide it's success or failure. India is country with a population close to 1.1 billion but what many don't know is that it is also one of the two countries in the world to have an estimated 100-120 million workers in trade unions and as members of communist organizations. (China being the other one)

They are extremely fragmented, divided and opposed to each other but nonetheless have immense potential. With the rise of the CPI-(Maoist) there is now hope that many of these organizations could consolidate.

Who are the Naxalites?

Naxalite or Naxalism is an informal name given to revolutionary communist groups that were born out of the Sino-Soviet split in the Indian communist movement. The term comes from Naxalbari, a small village in West Bengal, where a leftist section of Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) led by Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal led a militant peasant uprising in 1967, trying to develop a "revolutionary opposition" in order to establish "revolutionary rule" in India.

Father of the Indian revolution - Comrade Charu Mazumdar

Majumdar greatly admired Mao Zedong of China and advocated that Indian peasants and lower classes must follow in his footsteps and overthrow the government and upper classes whom he held responsible for their plight. In 1967 'Naxalites' organized the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR), and broke away from CPI(M). Uprisings were organized in several parts of the country. In 1969 AICCCR gave birth to Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). After the internal revolt led by Satyanarayan Singh in 1971 and the death of Majumdar in 1972, the movement was fragmented into many competing factions.

Since then in the last three decades the movements have witnessed splits,petty ego clashes,recombinations and what has remained constant throughout is the brutal state repression.

Today, there exists a large number of political organizations whose roots are in the AICCCR/CPI(ML). Some maintain and develop Majumdar's concept of armed revolution, whereas others have condemned the excesses of the sectarian epoch. The organizations belonging to the latter category have established legal overground structures (trade unions, student groups, etc.) and started participating in elections.

People's War

The Maoists have spread and grown rapidly from

55 districts in 9 States in 2003 to
105 districts in 13 States in 2004 to
170 districts in 15 States in 2006.

India is divided into 28 states and seven union territories,
and has approximately 600 districts



The above map mainly shows the areas where the CPI(Maoist)
is waging People's War.

-They have around 10,000 armed cadres with 50,000 active supporters and
15 to 20,000 weapons of all makes including AK-47's and INSAS rifles.

-There are 1500 illegal arms manufacturing units in Bihar alone and an
indeterminate number in dense forests of other States.

-A recent study by Amnesty International and OXFAM estimated that out of 75 million illegal arms worldwide, 40 million guns were in central India. The annual budget is approximately Rs 200 crore supported by taxations amounting to Rs 250 crore.

-It is estimated that they run 80 training camps and train 300 Maoists at any one time.

-The people's militia which is currently untrained and does not possess
many weapons easily runs into a couple of millions.

Government of India Response

The ruling classes have been gripped by panic and paranoia.They have unleashed large scale repression. Since the last one year a brutal anti-maoist campaign called Salwa Judum is being carried out in the state of Chhattishgarh
the strong hold of Maoists.

An estimated 75,000 people have been moved out of their villages and are being held in concentration camp like conditions.
Most of these people were formerly maoist sympathisers. Chairman Mao had said the guerilla is a fish in an ocean of people. The Indian government is trying to empty the ocean.

Hundreds have been killed in the last one year alone by government forces

Blazing Trail

As of today civil war like conditions exist in large parts of the country. The state repression is immense and Maoist sympathisers have been jailed and killed in fake encounters,prison cells. Thousands of students have jumped into the movement and slowly the flame shall engulf the entire country. The path of the Indian revolution has been long,
painful and torturous. But the struggle carries on.....

Blazing Trail Documentry