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Thanks to Tim Davenport of the Early American Marxism web archive for his guidance in the preparation of this piece. Source: Ludwig Lore, Louis C. Fraina, and Eugene V. Debs (eds.) The Class Struggle, Brooklyn, v. 3, no. 1 (Feb. 1919), pp. 1-4 Upon his release from the Kaiser's bastille–the doors of which were torn from their hinges by the proletarian revolution–Karl Liebknecht, heroic leader of the rising hosts, exclaimed: "The Day of the People has arrived!" It was a magnificent challenge to the junkers and an inspiring battle cry to the aroused workers.
From that day to this Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg and other true leaders of the German proletariat have stood bravely at the front, appealing to the workers to join the revolution and make it complete by destroying what remained of the criminal and corrupt old regime and ushering in the day of the people. Then arose the cry that the people were not yet ready for their day, and Ebert and Scheidemann and their crowd of white-livered reactionaries, with the sanction and support of the fugitive Kaiser, the infamous junkers and all the Allied powers, now in beautiful alliance, proceeded to prove that the people were not yet ready to rule themselves by setting up a bourgeois government under which the working class should remain in substantially the same state of slavish subjection they were in at the beginning of the war.
And now upon that issue–as to whether the terrible war has brought the people their day or whether its appalling sacrifices have all been in vain–the battle is raging in Germany as in Russia, and the near future will determine whether revolution has for once been really triumphant or whether sudden reaction has again won the day.
In the struggle in Russia the revolution has thus far triumphed for the reason that it has not compromised. The career of Kerensky was cut short when he attempted to turn the revolutionary tide into reactionary bourgeois channels.
Lenin and Trotsky were the men of the hour and under their fearless, incorruptible and uncompromising leadership the Russian proletariat has held the fort against the combined assaults of all the ruling class powers of earth. It is a magnificent spectacle.
It stirs the blood and warms the heart of every revolutionist, and it challenges the admiration of all the world.
So far as the Russian proletariat is concerned, the day of the people has arrived, and they are fighting and dying as only heroes and martyrs can fight and die to usher in the day of the people not only in Russia but in all the nations on the globe. In every revolution of the past the false and cowardly plea that the people were "not yet ready" has prevailed. Some intermediate class invariably supplanted the class that was overthrown and "the people" remained at the bottom where they have been since the beginning of history. They have never been "ready" to rid themselves of their despots, robbers and parasites. All they have ever been ready for has been to exchange one brood of vampires for another to drain their veins and fatten in their misery.
That was Kerensky's doctrine in Russia and it is Scheidemann's doctrine in Germany. They are both false prophets of the people and traitors to the working class, and woe be to their deluded followers if their vicious reaction triumphs, for then indeed will the yokes be fastened afresh upon their scarred and bleeding necks for another generation.
When Kerensky attempted to sidetrack the revolution in Russia by joining forces with the bourgeoisie he was lauded by the capitalist press of the whole world. When Scheidemann patriotically rushed to the support of the Kaiser and the junkers at the beginning of the war, the same press denounced him as the betrayer of socialism and the enemy of the people. And now this very press lauds him to the heavens as the savior of the German nation! Think of it! Scheidemann the traitor has become Scheidemann the hero of the bourgeoisie. Could it be for any other reason on earth than that Scheidemann is doing the dirty work of the capitalist class?
And all this time the prostitute press of the robber regime of the whole world is shrieking hideously against Bolshevism. "It is worse than Kaiserism" is the burden of their cry. Certainly it is. They would a thousand times rather have the Kaiser restored to his throne than to see the working class rise to power. In the latter event they cease to rule, their graft is gone and their class disappears, and well do they know it. That is what we said from the beginning and for which we have been sentenced as disloyalists and traitors.
Scheidemann and his breed do not believe that the day of the people has arrived. According to them the war and the revolution have brought the day of the bourgeoisie. Mr. Bourgeois is now to take the place of Mr. Junker–to evolute into another junker himself by and by–while Mr. Wage Slave remains where he was before, under the heels of his master, and all he gets out of the carnage in which his blood dyed the whole earth is a new set of heels to grind into his exploited bones and a fresh and lusty vampire to drain his life-blood.
Away with all such perfidious doctrines; forever away with such a vicious subterfuge and treacherous betrayal!
The people are ready for their day. THE PEOPLE, I say. Yes, the people!
Who are the people? The people are the working class, the lower class, the robbed, the oppressed, the impoverished, the great majority of the earth. They and those who sympathize with them are the people, and they who exploit the working class, and the mercenaries and menials who aid and abet the exploiters, are the enemies of the people.
Rosa Luxemburg
That is the attitude of Lenin and Trotsky in Russia and was of Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg in Germany, and this accounts for the flood of falsehood and calumny which poured upon the heads of the brave leaders and their revolutionary movement from the filthy mouthpieces of the robber regime of criminal capitalism throughout the world.
The rise of the working class is the red specter in the bourgeois horizon. The red cock shall never crow. Anything but that! The Kaiser himself will be pitied and forgiven if he will but roll his eyes heavenward, proclaim the menace of Bolshevism, and appeal to humanity to rise in its wrath and stamp out this curse to civilization.
And still the "curse" continues to spread–like a raging conflagration it leaps from shore to shore. The reign of capitalism and militarism has made of all peoples inflammable material. They are ripe and ready for the change, the great change which means the rise and triumph of the workers, the end of exploitation, of war and plunder, and the emancipation of the race. Let it come! Let us all help its coming and pave the way for it by organizing the workers industrially and politically to conquer capitalism and usher in the day of the people.
In Russia and Germany our valiant comrades are leading the proletarian revolution, which knows no race, no color, no sex, and no boundary lines. They are setting the heroic example for world-wide emulation. Let us, like them, scorn and repudiate the cowardly compromisers within our own ranks, challenge and defy the robber-class power, and fight it out on that line to victory or death!
From the crown of my head to the soles of my feet I am Bolshevik, and proud of it.
I have recently received an update from our friend in Iran regarding the mounting censorship and political repression in that country. The "Islamic Republic" is now attempting to block Internet access to the Marxists Internet Archive (http://www.marxists.org) within Iran. When an Internet user attempts to access MIA though Google or by directly typing the main URL, the following message is received:
The requested material is filtered according to Islamic Republic of Iran rules & regulations. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you.If the requested URL is incorrectly blocked, please submit for further considerations.
Now, as I understand it, Iran's effort to "filter" MIA is rather short-sighted and it is relatively easy to circumvent the censorship in its present form. For example, MIA can still be viewed when the site is entered via a page other than the main URL, such as the "Library" index located here: http://www.marxists.org/archive/index.htm. Additionally, Internet users within Iran can access MIA via site mirrors such as the German mirror located at http://marxists.catbull.com.
The yoke of Political Islam continues to weigh heavily on the people of Iran. Political Islam, by and through its very nature, will drive the ruling clique of the Islamic Republic to further censor and suppress dissent with greater force as they cling to power through any and all means. History, however, is on the side of the workers, activists and dissidents who carry on the struggle for equality and freedom.
Please note: Bloggers, activists, organizers and like-minded individuals and groups are encouraged to share the above tips on how to circumvent Iran's efforts at censoring marxists.org. Additional information will follow as it becomes available.
Many thanks to "K." for his continued efforts. Aluta continua!
So, here is my true confession: I went to Wal-Mart today.
Okay, there's more to it...I actually bought something there.
It wasn't so much of a necessity as it was a last resort. I got some new eyeglasses earlier in the week and I was told by the lady at the optical center that a sunglasses clip-on was not available for my frames. She also was quite frank in her assertion that I probably wouldn't find a clip-on set for the frames anywhere else. At the time, I had guessed she was blowing smoke because she was also pushing me to buy a set of prescription sunglasses. My regular set was expensive enough (even with my eye plan discount and the fact that I was buying my glasses from Sears), so I decided to go with the frames that I had selected and hope I could find some clip-ons somewhere else.
I quickly found that I was in for a long search. None of the retailers or drug stores that I visited had anything that would fit my new frames. I was pretty well resigned to the idea that I would have to either buy some giant, Elvis-sized "over glasses" shades or get used to squinting. But then my sister-in law said the dreaded two words — or maybe it's just one dreaded hyphenated word — either way, she said it: Wal-Mart. Apparently, they have a really good selection of clip-on shades. Aargh.
I have complained about Wal-Mart a lot in the past. No need to go into all of that again, I suppose. As recently as a few months ago, I got kind of salty when I found out that a friend of mine had bought a gift for me from a Wal-Mart store (Of course, she explained rather bluntly that I needed to just accept the gift and shut the hell up and I was quick to do so in an effort to avoid bodily injury.) The point is, I was getting desperate enough to check it out. I actually stopped at one more place before venturing into Wal-Mart, and I even had a huge-ass set of "over glasses" shades in my hand, but I couldn't bring myself to pay $19.99 to look that bad. Besides, I didn't have a white belt and white shoes to complete the outfit. So I stopped into Wal-Mart. I had a lot of stuff swirling in my head during the walk in...I especially thought of my pal Greg Goodlander and his essay "Waging War with Wal-Mart" from back in 2004. I also thought about the documentary "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices" and the film's candid presentation of the retail giant's business and labor practices. And I thought about the first time that my wife took our relatives from Greece to Wal-Mart (the Notorious HDG claims that it was a Meijer store) and Thia Lena looked around and exclaimed, "Who in the hell is going to buy all of this shit?!" Union-busting, institutionalized discrimination and sexism...Yep, Wal-Mart has it all.
It had been at least three years since I had even set foot in a Wal-Mart and I hadn't bought anything because I was so uncomfortable. Wal-Mart stores have a surreal, circus-like feeling to me and I remember well the last conversation I overheard when I visited Wal-Mart several years ago. A kid of about seven or eight years of age had picked up a package of colored markers and he showed them to his mom:
Kid: These look very useful. Mom: Everything you say is stupid and I'm getting tired of it.
Wow. Way to go. The "Supermom" t-shirts are in aisle six between the giant metal canisters of caramel popcorn and the floral print Bible slipcovers, lady. I left the store empty-handed after overhearing that exchange that day. When I went back today, that conversation was still ringing in my ears. I hoped that nobody that I knew would see me there. Of course, I did run into someone there and we had a brief, obligatory exchange. I had also kind of hoped that I would come up empty-handed on my search for a decent clip-on despite the fact that I was already tired of squinting from the bright summer sun. But I didn't leave empty-handed this time.
The long and short of this story is that they had clip-ons that were a perfect fit. And they were far cheaper than the gigantic spot-welding goggles at the drugstore. So, I bought them. I'm not proud, but I can now see comfortably when I'm outside.
The other day, I checked the main page at CNN.com for a quick news update and I noticed a link to an article entitled, "Nancy Reagan: People need to know about 'Ronnie'" . The article provided a summary of Larry King's recent interview with Nancy over her decision to publish her late husband's diaries. In the interview, she said, "I just thought that there was so much in this diary that people didn't know about Ronnie, and that they really should know about Ronnie." Well, Nancy...For once, I actually agree with you. But I don't think they need to rush out and buy a copy of "The Reagan Diaries." That's just not what I have in mind.
Shortly after "Ronnie" died, I came across an essay called "How Ronald Reagan changed my life." The piece was an obituary of sorts and it was penned by a fellow named Greg Butterfield. During a time in which America's ruling elite and the big media were engrossed in an frenzied rush to beatify the fallen "Gipper", Greg had the guts to paint an honest picture of the man behind the legend. And it wasn't so much of a "warts and all" picture as it was simply all warts. So when I read Nancy's statement about the "Real Ronnie," Greg's essay was the first thing that came to mind. Yes, Nancy, I do agree with you. People should know the "real Ronnie." And with that in mind, here's an excerpt from Greg Butterfield's 2004 essay, "How Ronald Reagan changed my life."
The truth about Reagan and his legacy must be told.
Ronald Reagan was a scab. His political career began when, as a leader of the Screen Actors Guild in Hollywood, he ratted on fellow union members and others before the McCarthyite House Committee on Un-American Activities.
Ronald Reagan was a racist. As governor of California in the 1960s and 1970s, he joined the FBI in waging war against the rebelling African American community and those heroic advocates of Black liberation, the Black Panther Party. He was responsible for the deaths of many young Black freedom fighters. Only a worldwide movement saved his personal nemesis, Angela Davis, from unjust imprisonment. In the 1980s, his administration was responsible for CIA-sponsored drug running in Black communities to fund the contra war against Nicaragua.
Ronald Reagan hated the poor. He knew that capitalism creates armies of poor and unemployed workers, and that they constitute the greatest threat to the profit system. Over decades, first as governor of California and then as president for eight years, he missed no opportunity to wage war on the poor—their image in society as well as their material well-being. He was a prime mover in the post-civil-rights-era rollback of public perceptions of the poor as less than human. He was an early champion of the "Cadillac welfare mother" myth, and continued to use it throughout his career. Reagan blazed the trail for none other than Democratic President Bill Clinton, who smashed the federal welfare system in 1996.
Ronald Reagan also hated gays, lesbians, bi and trans people—and he promoted a vicious homophobia to characterize AIDS as a "gay disease" and stigmatize people with AIDS, a disproportionate number of them people of color. Reagan blocked funding for AIDS education, prevention, treatment or care, here and in other countries. The AIDS crisis exploded during the Reagan presidency. He let it. The president now being lauded as a swell fellow, a kind, good-hearted, decent guy you just couldn't help but love, was in fact a callous killer. He is directly responsible for the HIV/AIDS deaths of tens of thousands of people then—and millions around the world since.
Ronald Reagan was a union buster. He broke the PATCO air controllers' strike in 1981. This act, at the beginning of a reactionary period in world history, dealt a body blow to the labor movement from which it is still struggling to recover. Workers in the United States pay the price every single day when they face off with the boss on the job, when they collect their paychecks, when they are told they must pay for their health benefits or lose them.
Ronald Reagan was a warmonger. The idea of people being free of U.S. imperialist domination was anathema to him, especially if they were people of color. His war crimes—from the funding, arming and training of some of the very forces today called "terrorists" to wage war on the pro-socialist revolutionary government of Afghanistan, to the invasion of tiny Grenada—are too many to list. But mention should be made of the death squads his regime promoted in El Salvador, and the reactionary contra army and invasion threats that undermined the Nicaraguan Revolution.
Ronald Reagan was a bitter enemy of all poor and working people. What is it that the media and political establishment are celebrating as Reagan's "legacy"?
It is his role in helping to destroy the Soviet Union, the great achievement of the workers' and peasants' revolution of 1917, and setting back the world movement for socialism. The unrelenting nuclear arms buildup and aggressive threats that were the hallmark of his presidency laid the groundwork for the USSR's demise.
The USSR's existence for over 70 years had the effect of challenging imperialist aggression in many areas of the world. The existence of a major alternative economic and political system helped countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America to achieve a measure of independence from the former colonial powers. In the Western imperialist countries, it helped the labor and civil-rights movements win and hold onto hard-fought gains, because workers knew there was another system that guaranteed jobs, food, housing and health care for all people.
There are many other crimes that bear Reagan's stamp: the continuing rollback of women's right to choose, the war on immigrants, the speech at a Bitburg, Germany, cemetery honoring Nazi SS troops, and so many more.
The history of the last decade-plus is Reagan's real legacy: more war, more occupations, a return to openly colonialist methods and ideology, more racism, more vicious attacks on women and the lesbian/gay/bi/trans communities, fewer rights and falling living standards for workers, more people hungry and homeless with no safety net.
That, friends, is the real "Ronnie." It's probably not what Nancy had in mind, but it is an unflinching and accurate picture of the man and his legacy, nevertheless.
When I first read Greg's article, I sent him a personal note to congratulate him on a job well done. Shortly thereafter, I was pleased to receive a note back from Greg in which he indicated he had received similar kudos from many others. Almost three years later, the piece still rings true. And "Ronnie"—the Great Communicator himself—couldn't have possibly said it better.
"If you are born a worker in Iran, you will remain a worker for the rest of your life."
-- Roza Javan
The above sentence was the first statement I had ever read by champion of workers' and women's rightsRoza Javan. I first read of Roza in an article entitled "With the hard disk full of socialism" which was featured on the web site "In Defence of Marxism" a while back. The original authors of the piece (from the Swedish magazine Arbetaren) wrote vividly of Roza's dedication to the workers' movement, beginning with her account of her father's struggles under the Khomeni regime:
When Roza was nine years old, her father was sacked from the factory in which he had worked for eight years.
"He had refused to fight in the war and he always talked back at the foreman. But when he got fired he shouted "I shall get my job back!" at the foreman. When nothing happened, he took his case to a court in the city. The judge offered him a small lump sum to compensate him, but he refused to accept any money other than his wages. After six months of struggle, he finally got his job back. Then the foreman decided that he had had enough and quit."
Roza Javan continues to talk about her father and says that he always used to come home and curse the company. Since the company was owned by the state, his curses would also be directed against the state and the "Imam" which was Khomeini's honorary nickname.
"When I heard him swear, I used to tear out pages from my notebook and use them to make leaflets bearing the slogan "marg bar Jomhourie Islamie Iran": down with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Then I would put them under the neighbours' doors, ring the doorbell and run away. I have been political since I was a child. Here in Iran, children of the poor always talk about politics in school and at home, watch and follow the news and try to read the newspapers."
Roza's account of the dark days of her childhood and her early radicalization are told with such passion that the article's authors suggested she possessed "more energy and charisma than anybody else we met in Iran." Indeed, her incredible story of struggle and activism in the face of severe repression and any number of socio-political barriers is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
Roza Javan's story is now included in the new book Iran on the Brink: Rising Workers and Threats of War by Andreas Malm and Shora Esmailian. I have not had the opportunity to read the book yet, but Louis Proyect has included a two-part review of the book on his incomparable blog "The Unrepentant Marxist" (Part One | Part Two). While I have not gotten around to ordering my copy of Iran on the Brink just yet, someone was kind enough to share excerpts from the work which chronicle Roza's continued struggle against Political Islam and the repression of women and workers:
At home, by her bed, she gingerly lays out the books she has been able to buy: Capital in Farsi, Mandel's Introduction to Marxist Economic Theory, a bulky volume on the history of the Tudeh party. They are in mint condition:
They were so expensive I don't dare to make any notes in them. I use a notepad instead, and reading Marx is very difficult, so I do what I used to do in chemistry: I set up formulas. When I had first become a socialist, I wanted to get the message out, I wanted all my student mates to know. I touted the books, scribbled slogans in the toilets, pasted a picture of Marx on my folder so it would be clearly visible for anyone passing by in the corridor... until my mentor told me: “Are you mad? Don't you know that being a socialist carries the death punishment in Iran? Are you not aware that the regime executed thousands of Leftists in the 1980s?' I decided to be more discreet."
In the early months of 2004, word of a planned May Day demonstration in Tehran was circulating. On a blog, Roza had come across some like-minded students in her city and they decided to go....Some of her high hopes were, however, quickly dashed. Enrolling in Komiteye Hamahangi, she was challenged by men and their patronising attitudes: "'Who are you, are you a real worker?', they would say. And when I asked about the revolution they would not respond. I would ask 'What do you mean by "abolishing wage labour", what is it supposed to look like in real life? Either one works and gets some money for it, or one works and gets a bag of rice and a chicken - what is it that you want?' They didn't specify."
After her encounter with organised feminism and socialism in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Roza took up writing herself. Her computer is now filled with Marxist classics downloaded from the Farsi-language division of the Marxist Internet Archive, as well as her own short stories, essays and commentaries on subjects ranging from the Khatonabad massacre to the merits and demerits of Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi. No money to buy a printer, her eyes ache from all her onscreen work.
Probably the most remarkable consideration here is to gauge the courage of a writer and activist like Roza Javan against the relative dearth of progressive and radical leadership in the west. Imagine — amidst the looming omnipresence of the Iranian theocracy, a movement for women's equality, workers' rights, peace and socialism continues to grow.
The threat of repercussions is palpable and all too real to Iranian workers and activists. The recent arrest of Mahmood Salehi provides yet another example of the ongoing struggle within Iran. On April 9, Salehi, one of Iran's leading labor activists, was arrested "on charges of organizing May Day strikes and demonstrations" in 2006:
Salehi who was at work at the time was taken during his lunch break by armed security forces to the public prosecutor’s office regarding his bail on charges of organizing May Day strikes and demonstrations last year. Later at the public prosecutor’s office, a revised court verdict was read to him summarily sentencing him to one year imprisonment and 3 years suspended sentence.
He was immediately transferred to the city of Sanandaj prison. Clearly this is an attempt to intimidate and attack the labour movement both in Iran and internationally. Last Year Manhood Salehi was bailed under immense international pressure from trade unions, and labour and progressive organizations internationally. (full story)
What do we have in the way of such political action in the West — in America, the land of "freedom of expression" and "freedom of assembly" — in comparison the the brave women and labor leaders of Iran? Where are our May Day demonstrations and workers' movements? Where is our collective demand for peace, tolerance and equality? Where is our solidarity with such struggles in other nations? What is our excuse for our inaction and our indifference?
Our friend "K." who occasionally writes us with information regarding the workers' movement in Iran advises me that repression within the country remains stifling. Confirming reports in the Western press, K. recently shared that Iranian women are now required in many places to wear veils — veils which he describes as "stricter" than the traditional forms of these garments. Also, in addition to the fact that men are being penalized for sporting "Western" haircuts, K. shared that young men and boys are also facing penalties for wearing short sleeve shirts. And yet the movement forges ahead in Iran, growing in strength thanks to many brave Iranians.
Iranians — and the working people of the world — need more leaders like Roza Javan.
“Street graffiti in Venezuela” From South America to the Middle East and beyond, marxists.org is making a difference!
Thanks to all who contributed to this article, both directly and indirectly, including: Louis Proyect, "K.", Maarten (for the photo) and — of course — Roza Javan.
May 1st is May
Day,
which is also known as International Workers Day. This holiday is
observed in many countries and locales, in recognition of the
achievements of the working people of the
world.
May 1st also
marks the anniversary of the beginning of the 1886 nation-wide strike
in support of the eight-hour workday. In Chicago, a mass
meeting
in support of the workers' movement ended tragically with the
"Haymarket Massacre" on May 4.
“Primo Maggio, il sole dell’ Avvenire” – May First, the sun of tomorrow! as our Italian comrades so beautifully it, is here again. It links ancient traditions, these modem times, and the future. Always a people’s natural holiday, since time immemorial it was the occasion for the gathering of the of the poor and lowly for one gala day of festivity. For the last fifty-five years it has been universally recognized and cherished by workers around the world as an International Labor Holiday. It is actually the only holiday celebrated internationally. It obliterates all differences of race, creed, color, and nationality. It celebrates the brotherhood of all workers everywhere. It crosses all national boundaries, it transcends all language barriers, it ignores all religious differences. It makes sharp and clear, around the world, the impassable chasm between all workers and all exploiters. It is the day when the class struggle in its most militant significance is reaffirmed by every conscious worker.
The
text was written in 1913 during a rather critical time in the
development of the Russian economy, so some of the facts in the work
are obviously rather dated, to say the least. It is a sure sign
of the times when Lenin quotes statistics of his day regarding oil
production: “In 1900 Russia and America together produced over
nine-tenths of the world’s oil and in 1910 they produced over
eight-tenths.” Compare this to the figures
regarding the top oil producers for 2004 and you’ll find that Russia is
presently still in the position of the second-largest producer behind
Saudi Arabia, although it is important to note that prior to its
disintegration, the USSR was consistently the number one producer for
an extended period. The United States ranked third in annual production in 2004. (source)
But while the facts of Lenin's text may be somewhat dated, the key concepts and rhetoric of the piece deserve a closer look.
In
Lenin’s piece, he notes, “America now extracts three times more
oil...(than Russia)” but he also stresses that it was Russia who
felt the pinch of the “‘world-wide’ phenomenon of price increase” much
more so than the United States. The U.S. was still the largest
consumer of oil in 2004 (for non-OPEC countries), using 20.5 million
barrels per day. Russia was ranked fifth, behind China, Japan and
Germany. The difference in daily consumption between the U.S. and
Russia was a difference of almost 19 million barrels per day. (source)
There
is, of course, a new worldwide phenomenon of price increase and each
record high oil price is somewhat of a predictable surprise, so to
speak. But the imbalance of the market remains the same – The US
produces less, uses more and pays less than much of the rest of the
world. And while the US feeds its ravenous “oil hunger,” developing
nations survive on crumbs to curb their own pangs of hunger.
Although
Lenin’s work was written almost a century ago, certain passages still
accurately describe the current global superstructure which guides and
shapes world petroleum production and supply. Consider Lenin’s
mirror-image “portrait” of the Duma’s Markov the Second, drawn from the
very image of the Russia’s oil tycoons and millionaires. He
describes the tension between the two sides as “a quarrel between two
plunderers of the people’s property.” How similar is this image
to the scene earlier this year when the heads of US oil companies were
before a government inquiry to explain their record profits? And
what, exactly, was the explanation that was provided by the
magnates? Does anybody remember? The mantra of the day for the US oil companies back in
March 2006 was that a significant proportion of their profit went back
into “research and development.” Very clever.
That’s
all good and well for the American companies (if you really
believe
it), but evidently, research and development is does not extend to oil
industry infrastructure for British-owned BP. BP’s decision to
close the Prudhoe pipeline is purportedly necessary due to extensive
corrosion...caused by years of neglect and disrepair, to be more
precise. BP claims that the poor timing of this issue is simply
an unfortunate coincidence (with respect to recent surges in oil prices
due to wars and the 2005 hurricane season) and that the necessity of
the closure is
somewhat of a surprise. But perhaps Lenin’s words from 1913 still
ring true, both for the American oil companies and BP:
What lies at the bottom of the oil question?
First
of all it is the shameless inflation of oil prices by the oil kings
accompanied by the artificial curtailment of oil-well and refinery
productivity by these “knights” of capitalist profit.
May 1st is May Day,
which is also known as International Workers Day. This holiday is
observed in many countries and locales, in recognition of the
achievements of the working people of the world.
May 1st also
marks the anniversary of the beginning of the 1886 nation-wide strike
in support of the eight-hour workday. In Chicago, a mass meeting
in support of the workers' movement ended tragically with the "Haymarket Massacre" on May 4.
Rise like lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you–
Ye are many–they are few.
This May 1st, the US will also experience the first ever "A Day Without
An Immigrant" strike. Events are being organized nationwide to
protest the recent wave of anti-immigrant rhetoric and the push for anti-immigrant legislation in
the United States. Clickherefor much more information.
Ohio's U.S. RepresentativesDeborah PryceandTed Stricklandboth supported theHR4437proposal. Both are running for office this year. Pryce is
seeking reelection and Strickland is running for Ohio Governor. Ohio voters: Remember this when you go to the polls!
Our
friend “K” has provided a firsthand report on International Women’s Day
in Iran, written especially for our site. His article is
presented below in its entirety, starting with his translation of a
hymn that was sung at the March 8 demonstration in Tehran.
Thou! woman the presence of life,
the time of slavery is finished.
The freedom of women is possible,
our effort is constructing it.
This voice is the voice of freedom,
This call is the outburst of consciousness.
Another world is possible,
This movement is engendering it.
At 5 P.M. on March 8, around 1000 people, mainly the young, gathered in a park in Valie Asr street in Tehran, singing the above hymn. There were people of all ages and sexes, but the
number of women and girls was high. A lot
of activists from workers' and university movements also participated in the demonstration. As
soon as they started singing, the security forces began speaking
through the loudspeaker saying, "Since this get-together is illegal, you
must leave the area."
Noticing that the people seemed to be indifferent as to what was said, one of the officers said, "You
will be given 5 minutes, after that you will be treated differently." At
the same time, one of the girls who was asking the public to be silent started
reading a declaration. Now the officers and civil forces, forgetting
what one of their officers had announced, behaved ridiculously and
started attacking the people.
They beat the people violently, no matter how old they were. Simin Behbahani, a
very famous Iranian poet aging above 70 was attacked while the others
tried to let their bodies be the barriers between the batons, kicks and
the lady. They tried to scatter the crowd, but some young girls sat there and let their bodies be run over by the soldiers and officers while singing the above hymn.
Others, instead of
leaving the area, just turned around. A lot of people being followed by
the guardians had to go through a current of water and left in wet pants and
shoes as a result. The crossroad was blocked for more than an hour. The
crowd was scattered at about 7, while the police did not let anybody
stand in that street or the streets nearby.
It may be interesting and perhaps incredible for many people living in different countries to know that in Iran that Internet sites have been widely filtered as to the word WOMEN and everything related to International Women's Day.
We
again extend our sincere gratitude to “K.” for his assistance in
helping us to understand and appreciate the difficult conditions in
Iran. Further Reading Iran: Police Attack Women's Day CelebrationReuters 09 Mar 2006 Simin BehbahaniBiography and poetry from the Iranian Chamber Society
More on the state of the Iranian labor movement from LabourStart.org:
Beginning
on Friday, 27 January, security forces in Iran began arresting hundreds
of striking bus workers in Teheran, including the leadership of the
union. Workers are also being intimidated into signing pledges to give
up strike and protest actions or risk being fired. The management of
the company and the company's Islamic Council worked hand in hand with
the security forces to help identify the workers and assist in the
arrests. Union officials said the brutality of the security forces was
indescribable. The wives and children of some union executive members
were also arrested, but later released. They were taken out of bed and
beaten up during raids on Friday night. The beatings continued in
detention. On Saturday, as the workers arrived at the picket lines,
they were rounded up. Many were verbally abused, threatened and beaten
up to force them to drive the buses. Those who refused were taken away.
The majority of the detainees are now in the high security Evin Prison,
which is notorious for the torture and execution of thousands of
political prisoners. (full article)
Our friend “K” provides further information regarding some recent developments in the bus drivers' strike:
This
morning of February 4 at 10 P.M., about one hundred persons gathered in
front of the so-called Islamic Court on Moallem Avenue in
Tehran after being told by the authorities that it was not possible for
them to see the judge. The group carried a placard on which it was
written: "Release The Bus Drivers!"
There were relatives of the detainees, university
students, and members of the committees trying to form workers'
organizations among the persons in the gathering.
The detainees' family members mentioned different
reasons for the relatively small number of the participants in the
gathering; namely, the fact that they have been intimidated, their
having lost touch due to their husbands being imprisoned, their
having to go to work and so on.
They were expecting the organizations, societies
and people from other layers of society worldwide to help
their relatives to be released. The gathering continued
until about midday.
From that day to this Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg and other true leaders of the German proletariat have stood bravely at the front, appealing to the workers to join the revolution and make it complete by destroying what remained of the criminal and corrupt old regime and ushering in the day of the people. Then arose the cry that the people were not yet ready for their day, and Ebert and Scheidemann and their crowd of white-livered reactionaries, with the sanction and support of the fugitive Kaiser, the infamous junkers and all the Allied powers, now in beautiful alliance, proceeded to prove that the people were not yet ready to rule themselves by setting up a bourgeois government under which the working class should remain in substantially the same state of slavish subjection they were in at the beginning of the war.
I have recently received an update from our friend in Iran regarding the mounting censorship and political repression in that country. The "Islamic Republic" is now attempting to block Internet access to the 
