Baltimore: no kings, no ICE, no bosses!

A mulitracial group of PL’ers and friends attended a No Kings rally in Highlandtown. There is a large Latin population here  and organizations have held multiple rallies and marches in this area. The rally was very small. It had 30 participants, and most were white. We  brought CHALLENGE newspapers and signs. We had multiple signs that said melt ice and called out police as enemies against workers. The event occurred at the same time as a marathon race through Baltimore City, so the march ended at a sidewalk closed off for the racers. We saw many residents outside of their houses and along sidewalks. Most were happy to read the newspaper in English and Spanish. 
We heard speeches where groups emphasized that ICE is not welcome anywhere in Baltimore and that immigrants deserve to be here. They called out U.S. imperialism and that we need to unite across borders to fight back. Three comrades modified the chants as we marched. Instead of: The people united will never be defeated, we used the word “workers”. Another chant started with: Biggest threat in the world today, and ended with: Donald Trump and the USA. We pushed back and said capitalism is the biggest threat. Most chants and speeches did not address capitalism or fighting for a working class movement, so our collective talked with many people about our need for communism to end all terror against workers. We need revolutionary communist leadership and workers everywhere to commit to organized fightback against ICE, police, and racist terror. That is how we will end this capitalist nightmare!
*****

Blue wave no victory for workers

I attended a mass march on November 7, ahead of the midterm elections, with my mass organization, Make the Road. It was called by big-tent mass organizations and Democratic Party organizations under the banner “March for Our Democracy,” win or lose. The march went down all of Seventh Avenue, from 42nd Street to 14th Street. Large numbers of young people and people of all races were there, celebrating what has been called the “blue tsunami.” People carried many signs: some called for the abolition of ICE, others condemned the war and demanded it end, others condemned Israel and the United States for the genocide of the Palestinian people, and others ridiculed Trump. In short, it was a thoroughly reformist movement.

Nevertheless, some very militant slogans were heard, and I had the opportunity to distribute 50 copies of CHALLENGE to my friends and working class siblings. It was a great opportunity to take part, with my community organization, in this massive march of reformists because it shows how important it is to remind people that we need revolution.

Even though the Democratic Party won by a wide margin, that doesn’t mean the problems of the working class and our immigrant community will change at all. What won was the people’s discontent: no to war, no to the state of the economy, and no to the abuses of the ICE agents who terrorize our immigrant brothers and sisters, detain them, and take them to concentration camps, where they are mistreated, humiliated, and, in numerous cases, killed.

It was not a victory against war, since both parties have waged numerous wars and interventions around the world throughout this country’s history. The war in Ukraine and the genocide in Palestine began under the Democrats during the Biden administration, and the current war in Iran was started by the current administration, which continues to support Israel in the massacre and extermination of the Palestinian people. This administration is also donating millions of dollars in nearly every election in Latin America to keep the so-called leftist parties from winning, and in many of those countries racist, fascist, far-right parties allied with Trump have won.
Nor was it a victory against ICE, because ICE continues doing what it does under every government in this country, whether red, blue, or any other color: persecuting and raiding our immigrant brothers and sisters, who have come here for different reasons and are not criminals, as these damned capitalists want people to believe. Nor was it a victory against the racism, sexism, and fascism inherent to the system under any government. It was only a movement for reforms that will not solve the problems of the working class anywhere in the world.
We will only be truly safe, and real change will only come throughout the world, when a communist revolution triumphs, led by our PROGRESSIVE LABOR PARTY: REVOLUTIONARY, INTERNATIONAL, AND MASSIVE. But I understand that we have to do our work as PLP members: win people to our base, invite them to our study groups, and get them to become members of our party.
*****

Casino workers go all in on strike 

A group of Progressive Labor Party members joined the picket line at the Encore Casino in Everett, MA, where 1,350 workers have been out on strike for almost two months. The workers are demanding higher wages from their boss, Steve Wynn, a predatory multibillionaire international investor in casinos and luxury resorts who produces nothing of social value. Instead, his casinos prey on workers’ weaknesses, promoting gambling addiction and escapism. The international and militant workforce, who voted almost unanimously to strike, enthusiastically welcomed our leaflet and CHALLENGE and thanked us for being there. We were inspired one and all!
One comrade handed out the leaflet saying, “Striking is great, but we need a revolution”, and a large number of workers agreed! PLP members should always actively support strikes as well as organize for this in their unions and mass organizations. Strikes are the most advanced form of class struggle, short of revolution. When workers withhold their labor it strikes at the heart of capitalist exploitation. For both the striking workers and the supporters, strike support builds solidarity and class consciousness. “Workers of the world unite, Same enemy, same fight.”  
*****

Democracy for who? 

Democratic Socialists of America — Whose democracy? What socialism?

The Democratic Socialists of America are celebrating wins by six House candidates they endorsed in the midterm elections, added to the two they had. But where is socialism?

“Democratic socialism” and “social democracy” are often used interchangeably, but they are two different ideas. In a democratic socialist economy, most of the means of production are publicly owned. It is supposed to be the opposite of capitalism. Democratic socialists rule out communism or postpone it forever. The “democratic” part ignores the basic question: democracy for which class? They are opposed to the dictatorship of the working class, which you absolutely need for real democracy – workers running things, not voting for the officials of a capitalist regime.  Democratic socialism has never been achieved. When Chilean president Salvador Allende took a few steps toward it in 1973, the military slaughtered thousands and installed the Pinochet fascist regime.

Social democrats accept a capitalist economy. “I don’t believe the government should own the means of production,” says Bernie Sanders (Time, Dec. 13, 2023). Social democrats want programs that soften the exploitation of labor power. Universal healthcare, free education from pre-school through college, full employment, affordable housing, and retirement security would be financed by heavy taxes on both capitalists and workers.
Sweden and a few other European countries maintained social democratic versions of capitalism for several decades. That is no longer possible. Post-industrial capital accumulation does not allow for broad prosperity. Capitalism has entered its final phase of decay (The Hollow Colossus).

The more election victories DSA enjoys, the more that people ask, what is DSA’s socialism? DSA gurus offer democratic socialist models, but they just hang a cloak on capitalism, a cloak they call “market socialism.”

DSA has moved rightward in practice. Several years ago many members engaged in local struggles, like the Chicago teachers’ strike of 2019. DSA then moved to partnership with union bureaucrats. When Shawn Fain became president of the UAW, he hired DSA’ers for his staff. They orchestrated Fain’s 2023 selective “Stand Up Strike” that let production and profits roll for the auto corporations.

Today the national leadership puts DSA’s money into election campaigns and urges members to canvas for endorsed candidates. Its next project is to help Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez run for president, or maybe for senator while a symbolic candidate runs for president. DSA wants the

Democratic party to resemble European social-democratic parties. These parties gave up pretending to be democratic socialist decades ago.

Parties either accept capitalism or go for communism. There is nothing in between. DSA is the illusion of humanized capitalism; PLP is the struggle for communism. DSA is the illusion of change by voting; PLP is the commitment to revolution.
*****

The Good Fight showcase fighter vs Spanish fascism

Four comrades and friends went to a small theater in Queens, NY one evening to watch the 1984 documentary, The Good Fight, which is about the American volunteers who fought against fascism in the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939). This was a pivotal moment in world history, when the liberal democracies stood by and watched a fascist coup — led by General Franco — topple the Spanish Republic, encouraging Hitler to invade Poland only months later.

The film, which came out in 1985, is very good. The Communist International (Comintern) organized the International Brigades, which included the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, organized by the Communist Party in the U.S. The Lincoln Brigade was composed mainly of workers, including nurses. The film contains terrific interviews with communists like Bill Bailey and Milton Wolff, who fought bravely in Spain and came back to the U.S. and led class struggles. Many members of the Lincoln Brigade died fighting in Spain. The film describes how Stalin and the Soviet Union provided military aid and advisors to the Spanish Republic, while FDR and the other bourgeois democracies helped the fascists win by imposing an arms embargo, arguing for noninterference in the domestic affairs of another country. Meanwhile, Hitler and Mussolini had no problem sending large numbers of German and Italian troops, advisors, tanks, guns and bombers to help Franco win the civil war.
The Good Fight is available at Prime Video for rental for $2.99.

For young and old comrades, this is one of several documentaries that everyone should watch. One gains a deep appreciation of the Comintern, which organized 35,000 fighters from 52 countries to covertly travel to Spain to take up arms against fascism. Two other documentaries comrades would benefit from watching are Russia: The Unknown War (a series available on Prime Video), and Korea: The Unknown War (available on YouTube). Both have extraordinary footage and were written by left historians.
*****