Khavaran, a graveyard where thousands are buried in unmarked mass graves/City Boy
20 October 2008. A World to Win News Service. The twentieth anniversary of the massacre of political prisoners in Iran was marked by meetings and demonstrations in many cities on 11 October. Among them were activities organized by the 8 March Organization of Iranian and Afghan women. A rally in London’s Trafalgar Square was combined with mass leafleting and a photo exhibition directed at the tens of thousands of people of all nationalities who pass through there on a Saturday. Passers-by were encouraged to take part in a debate about religious rule as well as the danger of war. Paris saw a political meeting held in cooperation with the Turkish Workers Association, including a documentary film and a report on a recent hunger strike by Kurdish prisoners in Iran. Demonstrations also took place in The Hague, Bremen (Germany), Finland and, during the summer months (when the 1988 massacre began), Toronto.
Following are excerpts from an article in the September issue of Haghighat, organ of Communist Party of Iran (MLM). It was taken from a document that circulated earlier within the party regarding the preparations for commemoration activities. The comments in parentheses are by AWTWNS.
On the 20th Anniversary of the Massacre of Iran’s Political Prisoners
In its brutality and breadth, the 1988 massacre in the Islamic regime’s prisons was one of the most horrible crimes against revolutionaries that the Iranian ruling class has ever committed in its entire history. Even the Pahlavi and Qajar dynasties did not commit crimes of such magnitude. (The Pahlavi dynasty, from 1925-1979, ended with the revolution that was eventually hijacked by the Islamic fundamentalists. The Qajar dynasty, 1796-1925, was also extremely cruel.)
Soudabeh Ardavan, artist, former political prisoner
Iran: “There is a period when youth become extremely conscious and brave” – A Survivor Speaks
20 October 2008. A World to Win News Service. Following are excerpts from a speech by Anahita Rahmani at a meeting commemorating the 20th anniversary of the massacre of Iranian political prisoners held in Toronto (Canada) on 3 August 2008. Rahmani was a political prisoner in Iran during those years. The text has been edited for publication.
Hail to the thousands of political prisoners who gave their precious lives for the goal of a world without oppression and exploitation and the emancipation of humanity! Salute those who gave their lives and did not give their secrets to the enemy!
This is “Kasama Post #2″ by Bill Martin. In September Kasama published Bill’s Going forward from here (Kasama Post #1), describing his break with the RCP. The essay generated great interest and lively commentary. Now, Bill offers his responses to that discussion.
Eric Mann (of the LA Community/Labor Strategy Center). is a well known veteran activist who advocates a strategic engagement with American elections. Jed suggested we post this because it represents a coherent statement of this position that is being widely distributed among radical activists.
“Obama is a Black man running for president in a white settler state. Regardless of how much or little he chooses to campaign on race or against racism—and in my view it is far more than some of his critics think—Obama is Black. Everyone knows he is Black and the Republicans are making it a referendum against Blacks and for white supremacy.
The election of a Black president in a country built on conquest and slavery is almost unimaginable. And it cannot be imagined without the foundational work of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman, Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. DuBois, Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King, Jr. Huey P. Newton, and Malcolm X. Obama is running as a Black man at a time when one million Black people are in prison. He is Black at a time when the Black community is on the defensive and under siege, Black when many of its most gifted and dedicated organizers are tired, not discouraged, but exhausted from the assaults of the reactionary decades from Reagan to Clinton to Bush. Obama is Black as opposed to white, as in white supremacy, white racism, white chauvinism, white xenophobia, white fascism, white racist mobs, white McCain and white Palin.”
This is an interview of John Bellamy Foster for Norwegian Daily, Klassekampen. John is editor of Monthly Review, and has been published in by MR. This interview was conducted on 15 October 2008 and is provided here in full.
Klassekampen: Is the credit crisis a symptom of overaccumulation of capital? It seems to me that investments worldwide, but especially in the United States, were funneled into the traditionally “safe” housing market following the bursting of the dotcom-bubble. This overinvestment in turn generated a new bubble, thus causing today’s havoc. Is this correct?
JBF: Yes, I agree that this is due to what might be called an overaccumulation of capital in a number of senses: an overbuilding of productive capacity (physical capital) in relation to a demand constrained by monopoly within what economists call the “real” (as opposed to financial) economy, an over-amassing of profits and wealth at the top of society, and a hypertrophy of financial claims to wealth. In terms of the financial crisis itself, there has been a massive, highly leveraged expansion of money claims to wealth, creating a huge debt overhang, and forcing, at this moment, a massive devaluation of capital. All of this is related, however, to the breakdown of the capital formation process, accumulation proper, in an increasingly stagnant real economy. These are contradictions of what I have called the phase of “Monopoly-Finance Capital” (Monthly Review, December 2006).
The bursting of the dot.com or New Economy bubble in 2000 resulted in what has been dubbed “the great bubble transfer” whereby the bursting of the New Economy bubble compelled the Federal Reserve to lower the main interest rate it controls (the Federal Funds rate), leading to a new and more massive bubble based in home mortgages, the dangers of which were apparent early on (see “The Household Debt Bubble,” Monthly Review, May 2006). This involved an enormous expansion of consumer debt despite the fact that real wages had been stagnant in the United States since the 1970s creating an unstable situation. It also involved the need on the part of capital to book ever increasing profits from finance, achieved through securitization of every form of what had previously been individual debts — especially home mortgages. This in turn led to the extension of mortgage financing to riskier and riskier customers under the theory that new “risk management” techniques had devised the means (hailed — bizarrely — by some as the equivalent of the great technological advances in the real economy) with which to separate the weaker from the stronger debts within the new securities. These new debt securities were then “insured” against default by such means as credit-debt swaps, supposedly reducing risk still further. This was the ideology behind the housing bubble. (See “The Financialization of Capital and the Crisis,” Monthly Review, April 2008.)
The following article appeared in the New York Times, speaking to the rising tension between Somali and Latino factory workers in Grand Island, Neb. a
A Somali Influx Unsettles Latino Meatpackers
by Kirk Semple
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Like many workers at the meatpacking plant here, Raul A. Garcia, a Mexican-American, has watched with some discomfort as hundreds of Somali immigrants have moved to town in the past couple of years, many of them to fill jobs once held by Latino workers taken away in immigration raids.
Mr. Garcia has been particularly troubled by the Somalis’ demand that they be allowed special breaks for prayers that are obligatory for devout Muslims. The breaks, he said, would inconvenience everyone else.
This is “Kasama Post #2″ by Bill Martin. In September Kasama published Bill’s Going forward from here (Kasama Post #1), describing his break with the RCP. The essay generated great interest and lively commentary. Now, Bill offers his responses to that discussion.
Because of its length and richness, we will be dividing Bill’s “Kasama Post #2″ into five parts — and are publishing one part a day. The titles of each part and all subheads were inserted by Kasama.
The following is Part 5 — the final segment of this series.
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“There are many good ideas that came from Bob Avakian and from the RCP, but often these are undeveloped and, ironically, not taken seriously enough. This idea of ‘the end of a stage, the beginning of a new stage’ is perhaps one such idea.”
“If we really need a new synthesis—I agree that we do—then surely this will also mean a rethinking of the idea of the party, or of organization, as well—and I could develop a number of themes related to this. Wasn’t there a different conception of organization in every previous synthesis?”
“…an argument could be made that the fact that the RCP really does not need the work of any extra-party critical intellectuals (and I would say especially in the field of philosophy, and it doesn’t need anything from the whole history of philosophy) is itself indicative of the exhaustion of this party’s project.”
“That Obama is an imperialist is true and important to say to people who don’t already know it, but its not interesting…. What IS interesting, and desrving of much more discussion, is the shift that has taken place within the ruling class. Undoubtedly this is interesting to people who are just trying to figure out how to nudge things along, but it should also be interesting to revolutionaries because they are playing with some of the central features of their rule in ways that could blow up in their faces. A fascinating statement on both the implications of Powell’s endorsement and the depths of the crisis in which it is occuring comes from Zbigniew Brzezinski.”
The following is an excerpt from a piece that appeared on Dissident Voice. It was originally entitled “Hitler Endorses Obama.”
by Joe Mowrey (Oct. 20th, 2008)
Oh, and for those of you who may have forgotten who Colin Powell is (history is so boring, isn’t it?) let’s take a moment to highlight some of his stellar qualifications as a supporter of the Left.
Powell is the guy who, as a bright young 31 year old Army Major, did his level best to keep information about the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam from becoming public. Specifically, he was charged with investigating a letter from a whistle-blowing soldier giving detailed accounts of many of the atrocities committed by U.S. military personnel in Vietnam under the auspices of the Phoenix Program. That program was a lovely little package of war crimes intended to “identify and neutralize (via infiltration, capture, or murder) the civilian infrastructure supporting the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (the Viet Cong).” In other words, it was a U.S. and South Vietnamese death squad operation which rampaged through the country side slaughtering civilians and burning down entire villages. You know, capturing the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people.
Please help us post and circulate this essay wherever it can reach Spanish-language readers.
Los ojos puestos en el Moabadi:
4 Razones por las cuales La Revolución Nepalí es importante
Mike Ely
Algo extraordinario está pasando. Una generación entera de personas nunca había visto un movimiento revolucionario laico radical, levantarse con apoyo popular. Y sin embargo hoy en día existe aquí en el Nepal actual. Este movimiento ha destituido al odiado Rey nepalí Gyanendra y ha abolido la monarquía medieval. Ha creado un ejército revolucionario que se mide con el ejército del Rey. Ha construido por una década un poder político paralelo de guerra de guerrillas en remotas áreas rurales, debilitando tradiciones feudales como el sistema de castas. Ha reunido un amplio apoyo popular y ha emergido como la fuerza líder de una Asamblea Constituyente sin precedente. Y todo esto lo ha hecho bajo la ideología radical comunista Maoísta, defendiendo un fresco intento al socialismo y a una sociedad sin clases alrededor del mundo.
El pueblo Nepalí llama a estos revolucionarios el Moabadí.
The RCP is publicly accusing the Kasama proect of being counter-revolutionaries and of helping police destroy revolutionary organization. We have posted this new statement by the RCP, entitled: “What is Counter-Revolution?“
In keeping with the RCP’s current style, they mention no names, but clearly this is intended to smear people who created our Kasama site, and also smear the many people who post here.
We urge everyone reading this to speak out against the false charge and its disturbing subtexts.
Four questions:
1) What thinking person can look over our Kasama site and believe this is a launching pad for “vicious attacks” on communists and for police activity?
2) Can we allow this kind of accusation to once-again poison the political culture among revolutionaries and progressive people?
3) Will the RCP publicly assert that this new charge of”counterrevolutionary” is not intended as a justification for violence against their critics?
4) Will the RCP find some appropriate means of sharing specific evidence of their unsubstantiated charge that their organization’s security is being harmed?
Revolution is a serious matter. It is not something to be played at.
Exactly because revolution means bringing to an end the power held by the capitalist-imperialists over the lives of billions, those who hold that power will oppose it in every way they can—via direct representatives of the state and working with other “freelance” operatives. There will also be organized reactionary forces who uphold the system and are threatened by the possibility of revolutionary change—they too will actively work against revolution and revolutionary organizations. This is to be expected. Revolution will bring counter-revolution. But then there is another type of counter-revolution—people who emerge from within the camp of opposition to the present order and pose as revolutionaries, but whose sole, or essential, purpose and reason for existence is to destroy genuine revolutionary organizations and revolutionary leaders—leadership that is necessary if there is to be a revolution.
To be clear, then, counter-revolution means active opposition to revolution, with the intent to destroy the revolution, revolutionary group, or individual.
Those serious about making revolution must set and insist on standards for the revolutionary movement that favor revolution and oppose all forms of counter-revolution.
There is a very important distinction that must be made between struggle, even sharp struggle, carried out in a principled way over differences in line and approach as opposed to wrecking activity which is objectively counter-revolutionary. Carrying out principled struggle is very different from efforts centered on spreading lies, innuendos, provocations which not only do not bring clarity but are designed to spread confusion and derail revolution—and can only benefit the state.
Sophie wrote the following as a comment on Bill Martin’s recent critique of Bob Avakian’s book, Away With All Gods. It brings out the question of what Avakian and the RCP are trying to accomplish by launching their anti-religious campaign — i.e. what is its connection to their theory of “solid core with a lot of elasticity” and their belief in the immediate danger of Christian Fascist theocracy.
Part of Bob Avakian’s synthesis is the conclusion that to lead society through a series of changes and stages of communist revolution there must be a far broader section of the masses who enter into the early stages of that struggle with a much fuller, if not full, ideological affinity to a communist worldview and methodology, including becoming atheists. It is part of Avakian’s approach in the face of the defeat of revolution in China and some of the major problems the revolutionaries faced in their ability to mobilize the broad masses.
Bill Martin suggests checking out this song in todays final part of his “Kasama Part #2).
“We need something new, something perhaps as yet unforeseen—and yes, this is where it is hard to entirely blame the RCP (as in, “what could the RCP done anyway?”). It’s a little bit like blaming an artist for his or her failure to make a creative breakthrough beyond one of the reigning paradigms.
“And yet, to return to the previous analogy, even if there might still be some good symphonies to be written in the style of Beethoven, and some good blowing to be done in the style of Coltrane, and some good songs written in the style of the Beatles (check out “Sewing the Seeds of Love” by Tears for Fears, for instance—it uses pretty much every late Beatlesism, and it’s a lot of fun), we also need a new song and a new symphony.”
This is “Kasama Post #2″ by Bill Martin. In September Kasama published Bill’s Going forward from here (Kasama Post #1), describing his break with the RCP. The essay generated great interest and lively commentary. Now, Bill offers his responses to that discussion.
Because of its length and richness, we will be dividing Bill’s “Kasama Post #2″ into five parts — and are publishing one part a day. subheads were inserted by Kasama.
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“AWAG! is a ‘good book’ in a world where there are “discussions on epistemology” and even an ‘epistemological break’ with no sense that some others might have worked on the problem—it is a world without Wittgenstein or Russell or Carnap or Quine or Davidson or Husserl or Heidegger, and on and on, and without Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, etc., the rest of the bourgeois crap from which we can learn nothing, especially when there are truly great books on religion or epistemology being, um, ‘written.’”
This is “Kasama Post #2″ by Bill Martin. In September Kasama published Bill’s Going forward from here (Kasama Post #1), describing his break with the RCP. The essay generated great interest and lively commentary. Now, Bill offers his responses to that discussion.
Because of its length and richness, we will be dividing Bill’s “Kasama Post #2″ into five parts. This is the third part. Subheads and the titles of the various parts were inserted by Kasama.
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“It may be the case that there is a social base for “Christian fascism,” as conceived by various political and “moral” leaders (for “traditional values,” etc.) and that they have a good deal of power… but in that case wouldn’t we want to try to see how this works with the idea that, in the end, it is the dictatorship of the imperialist class that calls the shots? Clearly there are significant differences between the “classical fascists” of the first half of the twentieth century (and beyond in the case of Spain and Portugal), the way that fascist currents have been working in the United States since the Bush regime was installed. We need to understand these things — or try to understand, and this is one of my issues with Bob Avakians’s work…”
“It does appear to me that the Nepal revolutionaries are on completely new terrain, and that they will have to create their own new synthesis and not fall back on formulas… Undoubtedly there can be, at least at times, a thin line between going forth boldly and audaciously, and just trying to bullshit everyone, including oneself, and this is probably even more a danger on the terrain of theory and especially in attempting to theorize developments in distant lands.”
This is the second installment of a series of articles written for the Kasama site. For part 1 and part 3 click the links.
By Eddy Laing
Part 2: Waiting for the other shoe to drop
“In times of a squeeze, when credit contracts or ceases entirely, money suddenly stands as the only means of payment and true existence of value in absolute opposition to all other commodities.”(Capital, Vol. 3. “Money-capital and real capital, III”)
While bourgeois economists argue over the precise meaning of the word ‘recession’, the debt crisis is transforming itself into a much broader production crisis which will undermine not only individual banks but entire economic sectors. Within the global hierarchy – and global anarchy – of the imperialist economy, sectorial crises can easily become multinational economic crises. As the current crisis grinds on, destroying huge amounts of social surplus, the various national systems are being pushed into sharper contention with each other, competing over supplies, markets, and opportunities to expropriate surplus value.
But capital is not a collection of things, it is a process; a matrix of social relations. (1)
Taking this view, we can better understand and explain the real nature of the current debt crisis, recognize its transformation into a more general economic crisis, and see how its international scope may compel the crisis toward specific forms of resolution.
