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As promised, here's the rundown of tracks from my entry in the CDP's CDP Worldwide Mix-Tape Trade 8. The title of my mix CD is "For Malachi Ritscher." You can read more about Ritscher here and you can read about the history and theme of the mix here.
1. "Ban the Game" by Men Without Hats (from the album Rhythm of Youth) Not many people would use the word "poignant" when referring to Men Without Hats. For most folks, the band's name evokes images of midgets at a Renaissance fair. But "Ban the Game," the first track on their 1982 debut album, is quite the poignant tune and I thought this was a good way to introduce the program.
2. "The Mob Rules" by Black Sabbath (from the soundtrack to the film Heavy Metal) Although Ozzy-era Sabbath is laden with political themes, this was seldom the case with their Dio-era material. "The Mob Rules" is something of an exception. The idea that "when you listen to fools, the mob rules" is a reminder that mass hysteria generally yields the worst of what the world has to offer. In the wake of 9/11, this kind of polarized groupthink brought our worst prejudices to light and ultimately led us to the invasion and occupation of two countries. (I used the Heavy Metal edit because on Mob Rules, there's about half a second of the song "E150" that bleeds into the beginning of "The Mob Rules" and it's pretty much impossible to edit out. I wish the sound quality of this particular track was a little better.)
Allen Ginsberg
3. "The Sunflower Sutra" by Allen Ginsberg (from the album Howl and Other Poems) Both for his own time and well beyond, few voices of protest and activism are as thought-provoking and insightful as that of Allen Ginsberg. Laden with vivid imagery and ethereal symbolism, "The Sunflower Sutra" is a work that evaluates and celebrates self-awareness while chronicling his personal struggle to make the world a better place. (Had I not been going for the whole "three word title" pattern, I might've included "America," which is one of my favorite Ginsberg works.)
4. "No Fucking War" by 7 Year Bitch (from the album Sick 'Em) 7 Year Bitch was one of the most underrated punk bands of the 1990's. They were heavy as hell and something of a standout from the "riot grrrl" and grunge ensembles of their time. Selene Vigil belted out songs with the bulldozer-like ferocity of a female Cronos (and that, friends, is the highest of compliments from yours truly)."No Fucking War" was 7 Year Bitch's song of protest against Operation Desert Storm, but the lyrics became even more relevant during America's second foray into the Persian Gulf. With George W. Bush leading the new charge, the line "Bush, pull out like your father should have" (originally aimed at George HW Bush) turned a simple double entendre into an irony that was profoundly unfortunate.
5. "Two-Sided Politics" by Suicidal Tendencies (from the album Suicidal Tendencies) Some Cold War-era musings on alienation and injustice going on here: I'm not anti-Reagan, Reagan's anti-me /And I'm not anti-government, government's anti-me/And I'm not anti-politics, politics is anti-me/And I'm not anti-anything, I just wanna be free. Well…It still rings true, doesn't it?
6. "Pen Cap Chew" by Nirvana (from the box set With the Lights Out or possibly from the Pay to Play bootleg) It's not so much of a pacifist's anthem, but there's definitely some political awareness in the line "Kill a politician and then wear his clothes." Part Robin Hood, part Bolshevik revolutionary….all Cobain. The spoken word lead-in is an outtake I pulled from side four of the LP version of From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah. It's not really relevant to the song, but it's funny because Bob Larson is a yutz. I originally spliced these tracks together for another mix CD many years ago.
7 Year Bitch
7. "Levi Stubbs' Tears" by Billy Bragg (from the album Talking with the Taxman About Poetry) So beautiful and so sad, all at the same time. This song is about trudging through life despite the worst kinds of trouble and tragedy: "When the world falls apart, some things stay in place."
8. "The Call Up" by The Clash (from the album Sandanista!) Sandanista! should make each and every list of the greatest rock albums of all time, now and forever. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that this album is still woefully underappreciated despite innovation, musicianship and content (both artistic and political content) of the highest caliber. Think of "The Call Up" as something like the punk equivalent of Phil Ochs' much-celebrated draft evasion anthem "Draft Dodger Rag."
9. "Canons of Christianity" by Phil Ochs (from the album Phil Ochs in Concert) Phil Ochs is not just one of my favorite artists; he is one of my favorite human beings. I think a lot of people believe Phil ultimately took his own life because he lost his sanity. I prefer to think that Phil stayed sane while the rest of the world went crazy. "Canons of Christianity" nicely sums up the problems wrought by religion's best of intentions.
10. "Over the Edge" by The Wipers (from the album Over the Edge) If you've never heard any stuff by The Wipers, do yourself a favor and buy the 3 CD box set that includes is This Real?, Youth of America, and Over the Edge. This is a great song for those days when you feel like everyone is pushing your damn buttons. (I had hoped to include the song "Youth of America" in this mix and then use the Hole cover of "over the Edge" but with "Youth" clocking in at almost 10 minutes, I wouldn't have been able to contain this collection in a single disc.)
11. "Cult of Personality" by Living Colour (from the album Vivid) My head almost exploded when I first saw Living Color perform on Saturday Night Live back in 1989. I still remember seeing how annoyed my mom was with the performance and pretty much deciding right then to go buy their album. She was less than thrilled when I brought it home. I think I missed the whole point of the song "Cult of Personality" back then but as I've grown older, I can appreciate it in a different context. Any way you look at it, this song is tremendous.
12. "Worried Man Blues" by Woody Guthrie (from the album Muleskinner Blues: The Asch Recordings Vol. 2) The quintessential poet and songwriter of the American Left, Woody fought for a better world and shared his vision far and wide. His voice and music remain the heart and soul of the continuing struggle against corruption and injustice. it was one of my favorite moments as a parent thus far when I heard baby Z. -- at about the age of 2 years old -- singling along with Woody's "Muleskinner Blues."
13. " Ένα το χελιδόνι" ("Ena to helidoni" or "A Solitary Swallow") by Mikis Theodorakis (from the YouTube video "ΝΟΕΜΒΡΗΣ 1973-ΠΟΛΥΤΕΧΝΕΙΟ") The YouTube video collage "November 1973 – Polytechnic" chronicles the 1973 uprising by students of the Athens Polytechnic in opposition to the fascist dictatorship of Greece's military junta. "Ena to Helidoni" was originally written during the Greek Civil War of 1946-1949 but it became symbolic of the struggle against the junta during the years of the dictatorship. The voice at the beginning of this track is Maria Damanaki, who was a leading voice of the students during the uprising (Damanaki has long since given up radical politics in favor of a career with ruling-class organizations and institutions). In the excerpt included in this track, Damanaki proclaims, "Everyone united in the struggle for democracy and national independence; Long live the people's struggle!" The gunshots immediately following the song are taken from audio of the junta's brutal suppression of the students on 17 November. My friend Anthony once described the juxtaposition of the song with the sound of gunfire as "chilling" (or words to that effect." I edited the audio a bit to bring these elements closer together. Thanks to Anthony for the translation help.
14. "Commerce of Grief," an excerpt from a presentation by Arundhati Roy In her September 18, 2002 talk "Come September, writer and activist Arundhati Roy commented on the dangers of jingoism and militarism that flourished in the wake of the September 11 attacks. In this particular excerpt, she explores the hypocrisy of killing innocent people to avenge the deaths of other innocent people.
15. "Search and Destroy" by The Stooges (this version from the soundtrack to The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou) I wish I had a coherent explanation for including this song, but I have to settle on the explanation that it just felt right. All of this talk of death and destruction probably brought this tune to my mind.
16. "Gimme Some Truth" by John Lennon (taken from the soundtrack to The U.S. vs. John Lennon) John Lennon, much like the rest of us, wanted the one thing that's the hardest to get.
The great Phil
Ochs
17. "Ringing of Revolution" by The Weakerthans (from the album Return of the Read Menace) Somebody gave me a compilation of stuff by the Weakerthans some years ago and to be totally honest, I never got past this song, which was the first track. This is a dynamite cover of the epic tune by Phil Ochs (without Phil's cinematic, spoken-word prologue, mind you) and after hearing this, I figured the bar was set too high and that I wouldn't appreciate anything else by Yhe Weakerthans on the level that I loved this particular performance.
18. "Black Wind Blowing" by Billy Bragg and Wilco (from the album Mermaid Avenue, Volume 2) The Mermaid Avenue albums, collections of Woody Guthrie's heretofore unpublished lyrics, contain some of the best music ever recorded. The song "Black Wind Blowing" reminds me of something that I often say about the state of the world today: "Things have to get a whole lot worse before they ever get better."
19. "Power to the People" by Huey P. Newton (excerpted from a public address) Brother Huey, much like Paul Robeson, Phil Ochs and so many others like him, had a brilliant vision of a better world that was compromised and marginalized through sustained campaigns of repression and harassment from elitists and their proverbial "running dogs." He was the epitome of the doctrine of revolutionary suicide: "I, we, all of us are the one and the multitude."
20. "Until the End" by The Nightwatchman (from the album One Man Revolution) I used to refer to Phil Ochs as the last great songwriter of the American Left… Then I heard Tom Morello's material from his "The Nightwatchman" project.
21. "for Malachi Ritscher" (original composition) This is an original "sound collage," created using my Epiphone Les Paul, Karera bass guitar and the keyboard simulator from Apple GarageBand. The spoken content was performed by K. and Z. (Z.'s line took about 37 takes.)
The following article was written for publication by WPI in the early January 2009 edition (issue number 98) of their official Farsi-language magazine, Kargare Kommunist.
The continuing struggle in Greece
On the night of December 6, 2008 at around 9:00 PM, 15 year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos was gunned down in the Exarchia district of Athens, Greece. He was murdered in the street without mercy and without cause, the victim of a government which regularly exercises wanton force with relative impunity in an effort to suppress dissent and maintain the prevailing social order of the day. The executioner in this case was a police officer, 37 year-old Epaminondas Korkoneas, who, with the aid of one or more accomplices, arbitrarily and unilaterally imposed a death sentence on an unarmed and defenseless boy. Perhaps Korkoneas and his cronies thought his position as a cop placed him above suspicion and outside of the bounds of human decency. It’s possible that he believed that the death of one free-spirited teenager would be lost among the cumulative brutality of everyday life on the streets of one of Europe’s most populous cities. Maybe he thought his actions would be well-concealed by the nighttime darkness. But people would soon know the truth of the matter. The police on the scene tried to justify the shooting by claiming they were defending themselves against an attack. But the witnesses on the scene contradicted the claims made by the cops in their cover story and as the witnesses came forward to tell the truth of the matter, a grieving and angry public took notice.
Alexandros "Alexis" Grigoropoulos (1993-2008)
The gun blast that killed young Alexis was truly a shot heard ‘round the world.
As news of the murder of Alexis spread throughout Athens, the righteous anger of the Greek people gave way to collective opposition and mass action. On December 7, students took to the streets to demonstrate against police and government abuses. The murder of Alexis was the breaking point for thousands upon thousands of students who were already angry about government corruption, budgetary excesses and a campaign to privatize higher education. The massive outcry against all sorts of new and old repression in Greece was met with fear and aggression on the part of the Greek government, who acted quickly in their attempts to suppress dissent. Through the use of provocation and extreme force, the police forces hounded and attacked demonstrators, escalating the conflict and inciting violence in the streets of Athens.
The Greek people showed their solidarity with the students in Athens by taking to the streets throughout the country. In Thessaloniki, Naupolio, Patras and numerous other cities, students and workers engaged in empathetic demonstrations against a government which has marginalized itself through its own incompetence and arrogance. Such expressions of support were not just confined to Greece, as citizens marched in solidarity with the Greek people through the streets of Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands. Even the people of Turkey – whose government is historically at odds with that of Greece – organized demonstrations in support of the people of Greece in their struggle against injustice.
The bourgeois media has been all too selective in their coverage of the events in Greece. Mainstream television newscasts are certainly happy to show buildings and cars ablaze, but they seldom show footage of the police conduct which precipitates such events. Even on the day of the funeral of Alexis Grigoropoulos, police harassed mourners as they walked peacefully in the boy’s funeral procession. Moreover, recent photographic evidence suggests that police agents – some armed with truncheons – have infiltrated demonstrations posing as students on more than one occasion, subsequently inciting unrest and violence from within the demonstrations themselves, thus providing the government the opportunity to portray demonstrators as reckless and unruly.
The real story unfolding on the streets and in the universities of Greece is being told through progressive and independent media outlets and through user-generated Internet forums and networks. It is, of course, unfortunately true that violence has occurred in the streets of Athens since the murder of Alexis, but whenever people rise up to challenge their oppressors, it is seldom an orderly or gentle affair. It has been said time and again with complete accuracy that “a revolution is not a dinner party.”
Contrary to the wishes of government officials, the demonstrations in Athens and throughout Greece have not subsided even in the face of police suppression and a government-sponsored anti-student propaganda campaign. A general strike against police and government abuses was initiated on December 10, allowing workers across the country to show solidarity with the students in defiance of the floundering Greek government. The student unions acted as a vanguard in this particular area, taking on the effort to plan and organize the strike. Teachers struck for two days and university lecturers for three days. Even the union of white-collar workers at the Commission of Competition (a service of the Finance Ministry) staged a three-hour strike on December 9. As of December 18, protests continue with sustained fervor throughout Athens, from the historic Acropolis to the gates of the Greek Parliament.
Over the course of the last century, the Greek people have endured repression and brutality in the most extreme forms imaginable, and in each instance they have triumphed through indomitable spirit and resolute determination. From the brutal years of the Metaxas dictatorship to the invasions and occupations by fascist armies during the Second World War to the draconian rule of the Military Junta, the Greek people – led by workers and students – have resisted tyranny, meeting force with force and fighting injustice and exploitation at every turn. The present situation, which originated in Athens and has spread throughout Greece with the might of a prairie fire, is a bold new chapter in the ongoing struggle of the Greek people.
Mike B. resides in the Midwestern United States. He maintains regular contact with many family members and friends throughout Greece. Mike has been an administrator for the Marxists Internet Archive (http://www.marxists.org) since 2001.
Thousands of protesters have attacked banks and shops in Athens and Greece's northern city of Thessaloniki, angered by the police's killing of a teenager.
[...]
After a lull in the fighting on Sunday morning, youths left the National Technical University of Athens, known as the Polytechnic, and joined thousands of leftist demonstrators and anarchists on a march towards the police headquarters on Alexandras Avenue.
They passed close to where 15-year-old Andreas Grigoropoulos was shot dead on Saturday. One banner called the police "murderers".
One protester told the BBC he had been greatly angered by the actions of the police.
"It's not the first time. They always kill people - immigrants, innocent people - and without any excuse," he said. "They murdered him in cold blood."
The unrest, the worst in several years, has spread throughout the country
"I think [the violence] is justified. Peaceful demonstrations cannot get a solution to the problem."
The scene inside a long, low-slung factory on this city’s North Side this weekend offered a glimpse at how the nation’s loss of more than 600,000 manufacturing jobs in a year of recession is boiling over.
The company, which was founded in 1965 and once employed more than 700 people, had struggled in recent months as home construction dipped, workers said.
Workers laid off Friday from Republic Windows and Doors, who for years assembled vinyl windows and sliding doors here, said they would not leave, even after company officials announced that the factory was closing.
Some of the plant’s 250 workers stayed all night, all weekend, in what they were calling an occupation of the factory. Their sharpest criticisms were aimed at their former bosses, who they said gave them only three days’ notice of the closing, and the company’s creditors. But their anger stretched broadly to the government’s costly corporate bailout plans, which, they argued, had forgotten about regular workers.
“They want the poor person to stay down,” said Silvia Mazon, 47, a mother of two who worked as an assembler here for 13 years and said she had never before been the sort to march in protests or make a fuss. “We’re here, and we’re not going anywhere until we get what’s fair and what’s ours. They thought they would get rid of us easily, but if we have to be here for Christmas, it doesn’t matter.”
[...]
At a news conference Sunday, President-elect Barack Obama said the company should follow through on its commitments to its workers.
(M)ore than 4000 students protested at Tehran University. Their chants included "Ahmadi-Pinochet, Iran will not become Chile!", "Death to the dictator", "Free all political prisoners!", "University is the last barricade", "Students die but will not be humiliated" and "Mr. President, the student movement will stand until the end!" A large number of students from other universities and colleges in the capital, including Polytechnic (Amirkabir), Industrial University, Abbaspour, Science and Technology and Rajai joined the protest.
Read more: "Students Rally For Democracy In Iran" from CBS News This link is especially for the American "progressives" who have asserted to me that Students' Day doesn't exist because they have never seen the mainstream media cover it.
In commemoration of 'Οχι Day, we present the text of the October 31, 1940 "Open Letter of the General Secretary of the KKE" by Nikos Zachariadis. The English and Greek editions of this text were transcribed by my pal Panos Fidis. We worked together on the footnotes to create these documents for marxists.org. Μου λείπεις, my friend!
Open Letter of the General Secretary of the KKE [A],[B] to the People of Greece
Nikos
Zachariadis
Mussolini's fascism backstabbed Greece in a murderous and immoral way in order to occupy and enslave Greece. Today all the Greeks are fighting for our freedom. our honor, our national independence. The struggle will be very hard and very tough. But a nation that desires to survive must fight defying the dangers and the sacrifices. The people of Greece are fighting a national liberation war against Mussolini's fascism. Alongside with the main front, EVERY ROCK, EVERY HILLSIDE, EVERY CITY, HOUSE BY HOUSE MUST BECOME A FORTRESS OF THE NATIONAL LIBERATION STRUGGLE. Every agent of fascism must be exterminated mercilessly. In this war which is led by the government of Metaxas, all of us must offer all their efforts without doubts. The reward for the working people and the capstone of today's struggle will be a new Greece of work and freedom liberated from any foreign imperialist dependence with a true popular culture. Everyone to the struggle, each one to his position, and the victory will be a victory of Greece and the Greek people. The workers of all the world are on our side.
Athens, 31 of October 1940. Nikos Zachariadis Secretary of the Central Comitee of KKE
B. The KKE had been banned in 1936 by the Metaxas regime. As such, much of the KKE leadership had been imprisoned by the onset of Italian aggression toward Greece. Zachariadis wrote this letter from jail, urging unity with the Metaxas government the effort to defeat the common enemy of the Greek people.
Ανοιχτό γράμμα του Γενικού Γραμματέα του ΚΚΕ Προς το λαό της Ελλάδας
Ο φασισμός του Μουσολίνι χτύπησε την Ελλάδα πισώπλατα, δολοφονικά και ξετσίπωτα με σκοπό να την υποδουλώσει και εξανδραποδίσει. Σήμερα όλοι οι Έλληνες παλεύουμε για τη λευτεριά, την τιμή, την εθνική μας ανεξαρτησία. Η πάλη θα είναι πολύ δύσκολη και πολύ σκληρή. Μα ένα έθνος που θέλει να ζήσει πρέπει να παλεύει, αψηφώντας τους κινδύνους και τις θυσίες. 0 λαός τής Ελλάδας διεξάγει σήμερα έναν πόλεμο εθνικοαπελευθερωτικό, ενάντια στο φασισμό του Μουσολίνι. Δίπλα στο κύριο μέτωπο και Ο ΚΑΘΕ ΒΡΑΧΟΣ, Η ΚΑΘΕ ΡΕΜΑΤΙΑ, ΤΟ ΚΑΘΕ ΧΩΡΙΟ, ΚΑΛΥΒΑ ΜΕ ΚΑΛΥΒΑ, Η ΚΑΘΕ ΠΟΛΗ, ΣΠΙΤΙ ΜΕ ΣΠΙΤΙ, ΠΡΕΠΕΙ ΝΑ ΓΙΝΕΙ ΦΡΟΥΡΙΟ ΤΟΥ ΕΘΝΙΚΟΑΠΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΩΤΙΚΟΥ ΑΓΩΝΑ. Κάθε πράκτορας του φασισμού πρέπει να εξοντωθεί αλύπητα. Στον πόλεμο αυτό πού τον διευθύνει ή κυβέρνηση Μεταξά, όλοι μας πρέπει να δώσουμε όλες μας τις δυνάμεις, δίχως επιφύλαξη. Έπαθλο για τον εργαζόμενο λαό και επιστέγασμα για το σημερινό του αγώνα, πρέπει να είναι και θα είναι, μια καινούργια 'Ελλάδα τής δουλειάς, τής λευτεριάς, λυτρωμένη από κάθε ξενική ιμπεριαλιστική εξάρτηση, μ'εναν πραγματικά παλλαϊκό πολιτισμό. Όλοι στον αγώνα, ο καθένας στη θέση του και ή νίκη θα 'ναι νίκη τής Ελλάδας και τού λαού της. Οι εργαζόμενοι όλου του κόσμου στέκουν στο πλευρό μας.
About a month ago, I visited a local antiquarian bookseller and, among other things, I picked up a book called The Socialism of To-day. The book was published by Henry Holt and Company in 1916 by members of a committee of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society and purports to be “the first international and comprehensive source-book dealing with the Socialist movement in any language.”
An appealing feature of this volume is the fact that it was published just a year before the Russian Revolution and my natural inclination was to flip immediately to the section entitled “Russia and Finland” (Part I, Section II, Chapter VI) and review the authors’ assessment of Lenin and company on the eve of the birth of the USSR. It is actually Kerensky and not Lenin who dominates the 7½ pages devoted to Russia, the latter of whom is referred to only in passing on page 98 through the collective reference of six deputies of the Duma known as the “Lenin followers.”
The movement in America garners extensive coverage in this book. Entire sections are devoted to the efforts of American socialist organizations in addressing vital topics of the day such as the then-burgeoning tensions involving immigrant workers and racial and ethnic minorities. The narratives therein clearly show the care and attention that America’s radical left was willing to devote to these matters many decades before the American government offered anything other than relative indifference and complete disregard. Eugene Debs and Daniel De Leon are mentioned in these sections, highlighting their integral roles in the organization of American workers and activists.
Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht and Otto Bauer feature prominently in an extensive section of the book entitled “The Proposed General Strike for the Equal Suffrage in Prussia” (Part II, Chapter II). Included here are addresses and resulutions by Luxemburg, et al. and and editorial summary from Vorwaerts (Vorwärts).
I was pleasantly surprised to find material dedicated to the movement in Greece as part of the chapter entitled “Roumania, Bulgaria and Greece” (Part I, Section I, Chapter IX). The piece chronicles the struggles of the early socialist movement in Greece, highlighting the work of Dr. Dracoules. Eleftherios Venizelos merits only a passing mention in the piece, although the two decades following the publication of this volume would see the political career of Venizelos in a succession of high highs and low lows...often to the collective detriment of the the Greek people.
Reproduced below are pages 188 through 190 of The Socialism of To-day in their entirety. This text has been reproduced in accordance with Fair Use provisions.
GREECE
Greece has experienced a rapid industrial development during the last 15 years. As far back as the year 1885, Dr. Dracoules began with his propaganda work. In 1893, as leader of the Greek Socialist Party, he secured 4,000 votes in Athens, and in 1901 he was elected to the Greek Parliament, where he served several years.
Προλετάριοι όλων των χωρών ενωθείτε!
Attempts have often been made during the past few years to establish a consolidated economic or political organization, but up to the present without any satisfactory results. This regrettable state of affairs may be attributed to the fact that emigration is increasing day by day, and it is just the most skilled and intelligent workers who are driven from their homes on account of their unfortunate political and economic conditions. At any rate, the constant agitation of a more progressive body has already had a great influence upon public opinion, and it is to-day generally recognized that the present conditions are untenable.
It was in 1909 that the military arose and swept away the existing government. The movement was supported by a great mass of the people, because an improvement in their conditions was hoped for as soon as new members were elected to the government. The new government relied to a certain extent upon the Socialist or semi-Socialist elements which had arisen from the Dracoules propaganda, and had developed a program "of struggle against the plutocracy." Venizelos, the skillful prime minister, succeeded in turning a part of the movement to his purposes, at the same time that he was building up the Balkan League against Turkey inspired by the idea–launched by the Socialists–of a confederation of all the nations of the peninsula.
The government also succeeded in serving their own financial interests under the cloak of a propaganda campaign against modern capitalism. The people were forced to put up with this because they were helpless and disunited. The new political power offered brutal opposition to any attempt on the part of the workers to organize. Dr. Dracoules, in 1912, secured 12,000 of the 48,000 votes of Athens, and was almost elected in another district where he was also candidate. Nevertheless, the propaganda and the rising number of votes for the new movement resulted in a small progressive group in Parliament pushing forward with the labor laws.
In the meantime a Socialist weekly paper was established for the purpose of furthering the propaganda and organization work systematically. This was the first necessity–having regard to the great disruption in the existing groups. There is a very mixed "Labor Federation of Athens and Piraeus," to which 17 industries belong, whilst 1 yellow organization has compromised 14 groups since 1910. Some 15 organizations, which are naturally still weak, both numerically and financially, belong to a third tendency. They represent no unity, it is true, but there are hopes of building up modern organizations with these as a basis. The followers of Dracoules created a labor league in 1909, which comprised two separate organizations–one Socialist Party and one trades-union center. This league has organizations in several towns. It propagates an understanding between the workers of the other Balkan States, hoping to put an end to the race hatred which exists.
The Youth of the
Democratic Army at Inspection Photo detail from
The Youth of
Greece: The Heroic Struggle of
EPON, also available from the Greek Civil War Subject Archive at marxists.org
Written prior to the critical events of 1949, this work by Olive Sutton casts a critical light on British and American intervention in Greece following the formulation and execution of the Truman Doctrine. Sutton's piece places special emphasis on the horrors of the "White Terror" in Greece, a period rife with the execution of political prisoners and the starvation and murder of many Greek civilians. Murder Inc. is indeed a candid chronicle of the marriage of imperialist intervention and capitalist exploitation in post-WWII Greece. [Thanks to Mike B.]
Excerpt from the Introduction toMurder Inc. in Greece:
MOST of the seats in the auditorium were filled by bright-faced youngsters—boys just old enough to borrow their father's ties, and girls the age of trying out lipstick and piled-up hair.
They listened wisely when the speaker mentioned Hitler and Mussolini. But when he recalled "Guernica, Barcelona, Granada, the battle of the Ebro, the fight for the Spanish Republic," they widened their eyes and looked at each other, puzzled.
They didn't know the story of the Spanish Republic the first European battleground against fascist aggression, where World War II could have been prevented. They didn't know Hitler's first blow was struck in Spain ten years ago, and they grew a little restless as the meeting wore on.
It wouldn't have mattered at all if, leaving the meeting, you could think: They don't have to go through that again. But you couldn't.
You could only think: These kids may have to learn the meaning of other names, other battles…Salonika, Larissa, Sparta, Corinth, Athens…They must learn these names now, before they become the names of lost battles.
We've already fought one war so that one generation could grow up in peace. But in Greece, children die of disease and starvation and stray bullets. Bullets made in America. Those bullets endanger American children, too.
My good friend Zdravko Saveski recently translated the Wikipedia biography of Pandelis Pouliopoulos into Macedonian for the Marxists Internet Archive. When I expressed an interest in posting portions of Zdravko’s new translation on our website – alongside Greek and English translations of the biography of Pouliopoulos – Zdravko kindly agreed to write an introductory text for greeklish.org. Solidarity between the Greek Left and the Macedonian Left is alive and well!
Pandelis Pouliopoulos
Introductionby Zdravko Saveski Nationalists in every nation build idealistic and inflated versions of the history of their people and country. In doing so, they perceive the neighbour peoples and countries as enemies that have, throughout the history, conspired against the nationalists' people and country. The purpose of the leftists, who are internationalists by definition, is to overcome the ethnic prejudices, to present the real instead of romanticized view on history and to build bridges among peoples.
Macedonian nationalism and Greek nationalism were both recently resurrected by the redundant "name dispute". Paradoxically, the Greek nationalists help Macedonian nationalists to increase its support in the Republic of Macedonia, and vice versa. To counteract the influence of Macedonian nationalists, I have started to popularize the stances of the Greek leftists who have friendly attitudes towards Republic of Macedonia and Macedonians so the Macedonian public can see that "all Greeks aren't bad." Among others, I have written the biography of Pandelis Pouliopoulos for the Macedonian section of the Marxists Internet Archive and for the Macedonian Wikipedia, and I want to thank Mike for supporting my efforts. The Greek Left is much stronger than Macedonian Left and I am looking forward to future cooperation with our Greek comrades. Excerpt from the biography of Pandelis Pouliopoulos from the new Macedonian translation by Zdravko Saveski: Пантелис Пулјопулос (10 март 1900 година – 6 јуни 1943 година) е грчки троцкист, некогашен генерален секретар на Комунистичката партија на Грција и основач на троцкистичкото движење во Грција. Ги бранеше правата на етничките малцинства, вклучително и на македонското, во Грција и тоа беше една од причините за судирот со КПГ.
Во 1919 година Пулјопулос се запишува на Универзитетот во Атина, каде студира право. Истата година се приклучува кон Социјалистичката работничка партија на Грција (претходник на Комунистичката партија на Грција). Во 1920 година, за време на Грчко-турската војна 1919-1922, е регрутиран во грчката војска. Во 1922 година е уапсен за антивоено делување, но со крајот на војната е ослободен. Во периодот 1923-1925 година е активен во движењето на воените ветерани, а во 1924 година е избран и за претседател на Панхеленската федерација на ветераните. (full text) Excerpt from the biography of Pandelis Pouliopoulos in Greek, provided by Nikos Loudos: Ο Παντελής Πουλιόπουλος (10 Μαρτίου 1900 6 Ιουνίου 1943) ήταν έλληνας κομμουνιστής και ο πρώτος γενικός γραμματέας του Κομμουνιστικού Κόμματος Ελλάδας (ΚΚΕ). Υπεράσπισε το διεθνιστικό και επαναστατικό χαρακτήρα του κομμουνιστικού κινήματος. Είναι ο ιδρυτής του τροτσκιστικού κινήματος στην Ελλάδα.
Γεννήθηκε στη Θήβα το 1900 και το 1919 πήγε στην Αθήνα για να σπουδάσει νομικά στο Πανεπιστήμιο. Την ίδια χρονιά, εντάχθηκε στο Σοσιαλιστικό Εργατικό Κόμμα Ελλάδος (ΣΕΚΕ), τον πολιτικό πρόγονο του ΚΚΕ. Το 1920 επιστρατεύθηκε για να πολεμήσει στον ελληνοτουρκικό πόλεμο του 1919-1922. Το 1922 συνελήφθη για αντιπολεμική δράση, αλλά απελευθερώθηκε με το τέλος του πολέμου.
Από το 1923 ως το 1925 έπαιξε ηγετικό ρόλο στο κίνημα των βετεράνων του πολέμου και το 1924 εκλέχτηκε πρόεδρος της Πανελλήνια Ομοσπονδία Παλαιών Πολεμιστών και Θυμάτων Στρατών..., η οποία κυκλοφορεί την εφημερίδα "Παλαιός Πολεμιστής" με κυκλοφορία που φτάνει τα 20 χιλιάδες φύλλα. Excerpt from the English language Wikipedia biography of Pandelis Pouliopoulos: Pandelis Pouliopoulos (10 March 1900-6 June 1943) was a Greek communist and onetime general secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He stood for the internationalist and revolutionary character of the communist movement. He is the founder of the trotskyist movement in Greece.
Born in Thiva, Greece, Pouliopoulos enrolled at Athens University in 1919 to study law. In 1919, he joined the Socialist Labour Party of Greece (SEKE), the forerunner of the Communist Party of Greece.
In 1920, he was conscripted to fight in the Greek-Turkish war of 1919-1922. He was arrested in 1922 for anti-war activity, but was freed with the end of the war.
If
it's the first weekend after Labor Day and the heat index is in the
mid-nineties, then it must be time for the annual Greek Festival.
Despite the heat, we had a good time visiting with friends, eating and
watching the dancers. I am kind of surprised at how much Greek
memorabilia bears the label "Made in China" these days. Did Greece
grant China "Most Favored Nation" trade status or do the Chinese just love Greece?
It
was nice to see that in lieu of tip jars, festival workers were
collecting donations for relief funds to benefit victims of the
wildfires in Greece. Assuming that the cash ultimately gets where it
is needed, this seems like a great idea. As we have some good friends
from Pelopónnisos, we have heard some firsthand tales of how horrible the situation has been in recent weeks. My understanding is that the Red Cross of Greece
is still one of the best places to donate money for relief right now.
The bureaucracy of the Red Cross is often criticized, but the
organization remains one of the best centralized points for the
collection and disbursement of aid for major disasters worldwide. At
any rate, I have already received at least one chain letter for an
allegedly "genuine" ad hoc relief effort that is almost assuredly fake
and I am sure there are more to come. I would rather give to the Red
Cross and know that at least some of the money is getting through as
opposed to having a fly-by-night scam keep my cash for themselves.
On
a completely unrelated note, I have to mention the most interesting
t-shirt that I saw at the festival today. To be clear, the shirt in
question was worn by a female festival attendee and not a festival
worker or anyone affiliated with the church (as far as I could tell). The message on the shirt
read, "Hustle for Jesus." Nice.
Anyway, we have uploaded some photos of the Evzonakia Dancers in a new, off-site photo gallery. (username & password required)
My good friend Zdravko Saveski recently penned an article for the July/August 2007 issue of the Canadian journal Relay (download the complete PDF here). The article, entitled "Socialist Organizing in Post-Communist Macedonia,"provides analysis of the main problems facing the Macedonian left through discussion of specific and unique domestic and regional issues.
Included in the article is a short piece on the so-called "naming dispute," in which Zdravko accurately describes the dispute as a "preoccupation with ethnic issues, so easily aroused by the nationalist political parties and other organizations." This is, in fact. a profound statement, succinctly characterizing the nature of this significant distraction for the working classes of Macedonia, Greece and Bulgaria.
Additionally, Zdravko discusses the problem of "nostalgia for the communist past" in the former Yugoslavia, noting:
The social standards were high in the former Yugoslavia, the repression – low, and the communist leader, Josip Broz Tito, very popular. Comparing the present with the former system, the common people are ignoring the issue of democracy-dictatorship and tend to concentrate on the social issues.
Zdravko's intriguing perspective and his level of insight are characteristics which are difficult enough to come by in many publications by the international left, to say nothing of the shortcomings of the mainstream (bourgeois) press. The issues facing the left in the Republic of Macedonia are a series of complexities which include dynamics and conditions that are unique to the region itself. These problems are an addition to the myriad of more general problems faced by progressives and the radical left throughout the world. Should the Macedonian working class rise to these challenges and ultimately present a strong, unified, and sustainable movement, perhaps the working people of the world will share in the optimism of Koco Racin and proclaim, "As you have prevailed, we'll prevail as well!"
Kalliope finished her first year of Greek School tonight and we are absolutely amazed with the results of her final exam! She got 113 out of 116 possible points plus 8 extra credit points! That's 121/116! It's an A++!
