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Volatile imperialist order fosters fascism worldwide
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- 20 April 2018 347 hits
As Progressive Labor Party mobilizes and marches for communism in over 20 countries across the globe on May Day, capitalism is moving headlong into crisis. In a time of global economic turbulence, extreme inequality, and intensifying inter-imperialist conflict, the international system that established U.S. dominance and governing norms after the Second World War is beginning to implode. Richard Haass, president of the main-wing U.S. bosses’ leading think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations, is lamenting “the fading liberal world order” (cfr.org, 3/21).
Liberal institutions, from “free” media to an “independent” judiciary, are under attack in one-time “democratic” strongholds in Central Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Writing in the New York Times to promote her new book, Fascism: A Warning, Madeleine Albright, the bloodthirsty U.S. Secretary of State under arch-racist President Bill Clinton, declared that “fascism—and the tendencies that lead to fascism—pose a more serious threat now that at any time since the end of World War II” (NYT, 4/6). Two days later, the ruling coalition led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his racist, anti-immigrant, hyper-nationalist Fidesz party swept their national elections to a two-thirds supermajority in Parliament. They are poised to tighten state control over “the media, central bank, constitutional court and nongovernment organizations. European Union leaders have warned those laws would undermine the country’s democracy” (cnn.com, 4/8).
Two faces of capitalist dictatorship
Capitalism is by definition an absolute dictatorship of the capitalists, the ruling class that holds state power—for now—in every country in the world. The bosses control every institution, from the schools to the unions to the cops to cable TV news. When they have a choice, they prefer to rule through liberal “democracy,” which conceals the true nature of their system: ruthless exploitation, murderous racism and sexism, genocidal wars for profit. (Albright is most infamous for asserting it was “worth it” to kill half a million children in Iraq with U.N. sanctions after the first Gulf War.) Phony elections and fake “freedoms” veil the rulers’ daily atrocities. Liberal democracy fosters the illusion that workers have a say in how things are run, and that capitalism can be reformed to serve workers’ needs. It is designed to mislead and pacify our class.
Fascism is a form of capitalism in crisis, when the capitalists can no longer rule in the old way. It typically gains sway when the balance of power among the top imperialists grows unstable—in this case, as a declining U.S. desperately tries to hold onto its shrinking empire against its authoritarian, state capitalist rivals, an aggressive Russia and a rapidly rising China. With ever-wider wars in store, the big powers’ bosses need to impose greater discipline on their own class (see CHALLENGE editorial on Facebook, 4/18). At the same time, they must squeeze workers to fund their war efforts—and to enlist the foot soldiers they’ll need for the coming global conflict. Seeing their vital interests at stake, the dominant imperialist bosses seek to crush resistance by both rogue capitalists and their most dangerous enemy—the working class. Meanwhile, smaller-capitalist bosses do the same as they scramble to find new alignments and protect their tenuous toeholds.
In such a period, the capitalists cast off their liberal mask and reveal the naked brutality of their system. “Democratic” institutions are discarded. The “rule of law” no longer applies. Racism and sexism—always essential to capitalism—become more codified and extreme, and yoked to the poisonous ideologies of nationalism and patriotism.
But while rising fascism and inevitable global war have devastating implications for the workers of the world, they also present our class—and our revolutionary communist Party—with a historic opportunity. They reflect the unsolvable contradictions of capitalism and the essential weakness of the old order. They set the stage for the possibility of a new world. Out of the fascist onslaught of the 1930s and 1940s, the communist revolution in China—one of the two greatest political advances in history—was born. Communist ideas triggered a wave of anti-colonial rebellions in Africa and Asia; a mass communist movement flourished in the United States. Though these advances were eventually compromised and lost in a reversal to capitalism, they point the way to a communist future, when the world will be run by and for the working class. This May Day, we will march to symbolize our commitment to and our confidence in that future. We have a world to win!
Central Europe: return of the Eastern Bloc?
The landslide re-election of Hungary’s Viktor Orban—the champion of “illiberal democracy” and an open admirer of strongmen like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Erdogan—signals the rise of fascist policies in this front-line state between Russia and Western Europe. Orban’s program includes the destruction of liberal institutions, an executive-controlled judiciary, and the scapegoating of immigrants and refugees. Similar policies are being embraced by the Czech Republic, Poland, and some of the Balkan states (Washington Post, 4/12)—all members of the Soviet bloc during the Cold War. No less ominous to the U.S. bosses are pro-fascist opposition mass movements in Western Europe, notably Alternative for Germany, Golden Dawn (Greece), the National Front (France), and the League (Italy).
U.S. politicians are concerned that Central European allies are abandoning both liberal democracy and the orbit of U.S. imperialism as they seek better deals with U.S. rivals: “ Hungary sits right on the edge of a declining European Union and a resurgent Russia….Centralizing power will improve Budapest’s negotiating position for what Orban sees as an inevitable opening to the East” (Stratfor, 10/11/13). The Russian state-owned company Rosatom, chosen without competitive bidding, has been engaged by Orban to expand Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant, with Putin extending a $€10 billion loan to facilitate the project (Politico, 2/1/2017).
In January, after President Milos Zeman was re-elected in the Czech Republic, Putin “praised Zeman’s ‘authority,’ and Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the [two countries’] ‘strategic partnership’….[In]the coming years Zeman will concentrate on sealing strategic business deals with Russian and Chinese state-owned entities” (dw.com, 1/31).
In Asia, U.S. bosses losing ground to Russia, China
The U.S. has dominated the Philippines’ economy and political system since granting independence to the Pacific regional power after World War II. Now, with Chinese and Russian imperialists seeking leverage in the South China Sea, President Rodrigo Duterte is welcoming Russian hardware to shore up his repressive regime. In October 2017, during the first-ever visit by a Russian defense minister, the two countries signed a military logistics deal. A leading military figure noted, “We still prefer U.S. and Western equipment but they are very expensive. If the Russians and Chinese equipment can be comparable in quality, then they can be excellent alternatives” (Reuters, 11/10/17). China has been even more assertive in wooing the Filipino ruling class. When Duterte visited Beijing in October 2016, he was gifted with a $24 billion business deal (ASEAN Briefing, 4/10/2017).
Turkey, poised on the edge of the Middle East conflagration, is also pivoting toward Moscow. Despite its strong trade ties to the U.S. and European Union, half of Turkey’s gas resources come through the Blue Stream pipeline from Russia across the Black Sea, with a second pipeline already approved. Meanwhile, Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) is set to build a $20 billion nuclear power plant in southern Turkey, to be operational by 2023 (Brookings, 10/4/2017). Despite threatened penalties, Erdogan has flouted U.S. sanctions by purchasing Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system. Since the S-400 cannot be integrated into NATO’s common defense system, it represents a potential fracture of NATO’s military coordination (Reuters, 4/4).
Liberal fascists the greatest danger
While the likes of Putin and Viktor Orban—or Racist-in-Chief Donald Trump—are obvious harbingers of fascism, the greatest danger to the working class has historically come from the liberal fascists who mislead our class to slaughter. In France, for example, Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron has vowed to tighten state control over the internet “to protect [our] democratic life” (rt.com, 1/4). His regime has decimated the country’s labor protections. In the name of anti-terrorism, it has installed a surveillance state with expanded police powers that would be the envy of the National Front (Financial Times, 10/2/17).
In the U.S., such “friendly faces” as Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Elizabeth Warren are capitalizing on Trump’s unpopularity to usher disaffected workers back into the Democratic Party. But beware: These are the same figures who will strive to unify and mobilize the population for war and fascsism in the interests of imperialism. As revolutionary communists, we have a different job. Our task is to expose the liberal misleaders and prepare our sisters and brothers to turn the guns around. As world war draws closer, our challenge is to prepare for class war against racism, imperialism, and the bosses’ fascist crimes.
R. Palme Dutt, a prominent communist theoretician in the 1930s, argued that as a global capitalist crisis destabilizes society, there can only be one of two outcomes: socialism (communism) or a descent into barbarism. Around the world, that descent is well underway. This May Day, join PLP to fight for workers’ power instead!
Happy May Day to the international working class! May Day is the working class’s international holiday celebrated by tens of millions of workers worldwide. It’s a day when workers around the globe march for their common demands, signifying international working-class solidarity. It was born out of — and honors — the Chicago workers’ historic struggle for the eight-hour day on May 1, 1886. Many of those labor leaders not only fought for better working conditions, but also to end the capitalist system. The Progressive Labor Party (PLP) marches on May Day to celebrate workers everywhere who fought back and continue to fight back against the bosses’ exploitation.
We also celebrate May Day to not only remember that we are the products of a long history of class struggle, but to keep the red flag flying as we carry on that struggle for a better world - a communist world. There is plenty of reason to celebrate this May Day. Under the clouds of increasing war and fascism, our international revolutionary communist party continues grow and fight back against the bosses. This year’s theme - “One World, One Class, One Party” reaffirms our commitment to smash all borders and fight for a communist world.
Stalingrad shows what’s possible
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad—the turning point of World War II (see Challenge 2/8). Forced to face the Nazi army alone, the Soviet Union’s chances of winning looked slim to many around the world. However, the communist leadership in the Soviet Union and the working class around the world didn’t have a choice. Millions bravely fought to defeat the Nazis in Stalingrad and eventually win the war. It showed us that the political ideas of communism, when realized by millions, can help defeat any capitalist army.
There certainly are differences between now and 1945. For example, nowhere in the world does the working class hold state power. Communist consciousness is relatively low compared to that period. And while there were errors made by the old communist movement that caused the full restoration of capitalism around the world, examples like Stalingrad show us that even when the odds may seem to be against us, the working class - under communist leadership - can win. We march on May Day for the fighters of Stalingrad and other battles of World War II who heroically gave their lives to smash fascism.
Fascism and war
For many workers the idea of an egalitarian society seems like a far off vision. In the world today over 40 million people were forced to leave their home due to war. While the major powers like the United States, China, and Russia are not fighting each other directly, the world is at war. From Syria to Somalia, North Korea to Venezuela, the imperialist powers are putting their pieces in place in anticipation for another world war and the working class has been paying the price.
This rivalry continues to move the world today, affecting all aspects of life. The U.S. capitalist class fights with each other over individual interests while millions of workers continue to drink unsafe water, undocumented workers and students live in fear of deportation, and police murder continues to take the lives of Black, Latin, and all workers. One thing they do agree on, however, is that they must continue to push racism to divide and conquer the working class.
As the bosses march towards war, fascism is the order of the day. The ruling classes of China and Russia shed the cloak of liberal “democracy” by jailing, torturing, or killing capitalists that put their own interest before those of their class. In Saudi Arabia, we are also seeing this out in the open under the new Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Many of our comrades, from Pakistan to El Salvador, have been living under these conditions for decades. However, this is becoming more obvious amongst the major capitalist countries. We march on May Day for the millions of workers and students who continue to live under war and fascism, knowing one day that millions will join us in raising the red flag in the Middle East, Africa, and all over the world.
Liberal politicians lead the way to fascism
The U.S. imperialist rulers are still attempting to solve their problems without open murder or torture. They are using the Robert Mueller investigation and elections to discipline Trump and the domestic capitalists behind him. Whether it is gun violence or sexism, the liberal rulers are trying to position themselves as the champions of the working class.
It is no different for workers in countries like Mexico or France. In Mexico, liberal politicians try to trick the working class by creating alliances with China rather than the U.S. In France, politicians like Emmanuel Macron win workers by not being as openly racist as his opponents. This is one reason why PLP says that liberals are the main danger (see editorial, page 2). Trump may win white workers to the gutter racism portrayed by the Nazis, but liberals attempt to win a larger, more multi racial portion of the working class to war and fascism by coming off as anti-racist or anti-sexist. Their policies, however, will inevitably leads to the deaths of millions around the world. We march on May Day to expose these liberal politicians and win workers to fight for communism.
Fight Back
Our Party started as a small group of revolutionaries who came out of the Communist Party USA over 50 years ago. Since then, our Party has not only grown in size, but our line has changed to reflect the lessons learned from the old communist movement. One of the biggest advances we have made as a party is our fight against nationalism. While it drew a lot of criticism when we first fought for this line (and still does today), history has proven it correct.
Today PLP spans five continents and 27 countries. Members and friends from all over the world are fighting and struggling over the same line. It is this communist leadership that allows PLP to continue to give communist leadership to workers around the world even in these tough times. Under the right conditions, the ability of the working class to fight back, even if they seem like small steps, can turn into giant leaps towards communist revolution. Here are some examples of class struggle happening around the world.
In the United States workers and students are fighting back against police murders. The recent murder of Stephon Clark by Sacramento police set off a new wave of protests.
Workers in Haiti led by mainly women workers, are fighting back against low wages and terrible working conditions.
Construction workers in Colombia have gone on strike and shut down production over back pay.
Healthcare workers in Mexico have shut down hospitals as the bosses continue to layoff workers and lower wages in healthcare.
Students in Tanzania continue to fight back against deadly housing in their dormitories on campus.
Workers and students in Israel have organized multi-racial fight back against the racist deportation of Black workers in Israel.
In China, Marxist study groups are organized to win workers and students to expose the current capitalist government and win workers to fighting for a communist world
In Pakistan, workers continue to organize strikes and other forms of class struggle even if that means being imprisoned under their “anti terrorism” laws.
Members of the Progressive Labor Party are involved in some of these struggles and attempt to give communist leadership while also learning from the workers and students in these struggles. History has shown us that the past two world wars have lead to communist revolutions (Soviet Union and China). This happened because communists in these areas organized for communism, even under the most oppressive conditions.
As the bosses prepare for World War III, we must also do our best to win workers and students to see the need to turn these struggles into communist schools. We march on May Day to highlight these struggles spread our communist message “One World, One Class, One Party.”
Capitalism kills off workers with racism, sexism and war. We are reminded of this when we discuss the destruction going on in Yemen, Haiti or Puerto Rico. However, capitalism also kills workers without the open viciousness of war, racism or sexism. Day after day it also kills workers based on class.
This sometimes goes unnoticed. We can explain how Shantel Davis was killed by a Black cop in the name of racism. We can say that the lack of a response or fightback for any woman killed by the racist police system is a product of sexism. We can describe the deaths that are happening in Yemen, supported by U. S. money and military equipment. But sometimes it’s just the bottom line taking over and killing. The need for bigger profits ultimately leads to the death of many workers.
Track worker murdered by MTA
That’s exactly what killed 23-year-old St Clair Zaire Richards Stephens of Transit Workers Union (TWU) local 100. Profit margins killed him.
He was a track worker of the NYC subway system, run by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and held together by bandaids. On March 20, he fell to his death because of lousy management and a subway system where the MTA bosses place profit over safety. They make rules for the workers that produce death on the job. The bosses know what’s safe and what’s not safe but if it doesn’t make sense, they let it ride until a worker gets killed. It’s a reactionary system. Nothing changes until someone gets hurt.
Bosses blame the dead for dying
The union bosses are also in bed with this plan. One mouthpiece of the bosses, also known as the New York Post, pointed out the weight of St. Clair, as if his death was his own fault, and the union leadership pushed the same line. “He was a big worker,” said Union President Utano. No one asked about the working conditions that led to the death of St. Clair.
The management organizes stand-downs to discuss what happened when track workers die. They use these to cover up the underfunded transit system and blame the workers. At the stand-downs these bosses pushed the same line. “He was a big worker” was the phrase of the day. They also reminded all track workers that there’s a rule against leaning on the handrails. There was no mention of why wood handrails were still in use. They did nothing to stop St. Clair from falling to his death. Wood handrails were supposed to be phased out decades ago.
Subway delays
The subway delays are also the product of capitalism. The bosses don’t care how the wage slaves get to work; they better just get there. The workers pay when the rich decide it’s time for cutbacks. They will pay with fare hikes. The Governor of New York took $60 million from the MTA’s budget. That budget does more than pay the union workers. It takes cares of repairs. The riding public are second-class citizens. Many believe the workers are the reasons for the delays but the MTA bosses hide the real truth. The MTA bosses pay their loan payments to the banks before they make repairs or pay workers. The banks milk the system in the name of profit. The union leadership doesn’t point this out and this puts it’s union dues paying members on the wrong side of the ridership’s anger. The New York Daily News recently reported about the MTA bosses fudging data for over 10,000 subway delays (3/27).
Ask anyone who works for the MTA and they will explain the delays. The bosses don’t care about moving the poor working class around the city. They only react after a delay. The system has been left to rot for decades and now we are seeing the results.
Worker-rider unity needed
Basically rank and file transit workers and riding workers have to pull together and fight for any improvements in the transit system. Both suffer the effects of a capitalist profit-driven system. United the two groups could fight against the billionaire bosses and their management stooges. We should fight to improve both the working conditions and the riding conditions for the entire working class. However, like every reform the bosses will eventually push back and so we would have to organize and fight again.
We need a system run by the workers for the workers. The ultimate response to these poor conditions is communism. Only then will workers have good working conditions and be able to help improve our society while getting to their location on time.
GARY, INDIANA—Over 30 multiracial and multi-generational women and men gathered today in downtown Gary, Indiana, to protest racist police terror and the capitalist injustice system that protects it.
A local Black Lives Matter (BLM) group, with Progressive Labor Party members and friends organized the action to support the family of Kemonte Cobbs, a 15-year-old Black student killed by police on August 1, 2017. We marched through the city’s downtown area, calling for an end to racist police terror, and for the murderous cop in question, Justin Hedrick, to be fired and arrested.
KKKops and courts work hand-in-hand
Kemonte was allegedly involved in the robbery of a cellphone store earlier in the day that he was murdered, but instead of allowing him “due process” and to be tried by a “jury of his peers,” he was executed, shot in the top of his head.
Immediately following the murder, cops and hospital officials began the process of withholding information from Kemonte’s mother, Tasheena Brooks, while also pressuring her for information to find her son’s alleged partners in the robbery.
Three local police departments were on the scene of the incident, and they withheld their detailed reports from Tasheena and the public. Three months after his death, his mother had to take the police departments to court because she still hadn’t received the reports and video from the killing.
Finally, Tasheena was given three different police reports. One stated that he was running while shot, another saying he was “lying in wait” to ambush police, and the last claiming he charged at officers with his gun drawn. At first they told her no weapon was recovered near Kemonte. A week later, they called her back to inform her that “a weapon was recovered near his body.”
Despite the police story’s incoherence and lack of evidence, the county prosecutor, Bernard Carter ruled the murder justified. This is the same Black prosecutor who is notorious for locking up Black and Latin youth. Most infamously, Carter fought to get legislation passed to fine and possibly arrest youth for “sagging pants,” a racist law that would be used disproportionately to profile and criminalize Black youth.
Taking the fight back to the kkkops
The first stop of the rally was the Gary Police Department, home base for racist kkkop and proud #BlueLivesMatter thug Justin Hedrick. We formed a picket line and chanted for them to stop hiding Hedrick and other racists like him. Fired up in spite of the freezing Midwest weather, we next marched on to Kemonte’s school.
At the school his friends spoke up for him. The story they told contradicted the vile racist image the police and media have tried to present, that of a hardened criminal at age 15. His friends spoke about how much of a generous person Kemonte was, and how he would go without so his friends and family would be okay. Upon leaving the school, we marched to our final destination: Gary City Hall.
At this time, a PL’er called out the profit system of capitalism as the real culprit that emboldened Hedrick to murder Kemonte. She stated capitalism has enabled countless racist killer cops and vigilantes alike to murder and maim working-class people around the world.
At City Hall, a member of Black Lives Matter read the press release and demands, culminating with the demand to fire Justin Hedrick. The rally was finalized with a heartfelt speech from Tasheena, a fighter who, in spite of police intimidation, a county prosecutor who justified her son’s death, and a stalling lawyer, has chosen to stand up and fight.
Black workers are key in the struggle for revolution, and Tasheena’s courage further highlights that Black women workers are an essential aspect of that force.
Reform must build toward communist revolution
The capitalist bosses are more than ready to unleash their police attack dogs on workers, because their system can only be profitable when the majority of workers are so weakened through intimidation, division, and violence that they can’t organize to fight back.
And alongside this developing fightback here, we can’t be content with just getting Hedrick fired. Building an electoral campaign to oust county prosecutor Bernard Carter cannot be the end of the tunnel either. Until we destroy capitalism, someone else will replace these two fascists in the role of suppressing Black and Latin working class youth. No matter what face capitalism uses—Obama’s or Trump’s—the result is exploitation of our labor, unemployment, racism and war for our class.
Deepening our ties with workers everywhere, sharing leadership and experience as we challenge our enemies, provides our class and its Party with the skill and confidence that we can and will win. Together through constant struggle we will crush this racist, sexist profit system and build an egalitarian communist world that meets the needs of all workers and youth.
Brooklyn, ny—Saheed Vassell was a 34 year old Black man widely known on the block where he was gunned down on April 4th by a New York Police Department (NYPD) hitsquad with no questions asked. This racist killing shows “community policing” as a liberal farce meant to cover up the true nature of the cops. Community policing is portrayed as helpful, friendly and in tune with the needs of the residents. In reality the cops shot and killed Saheed within seconds of arriving on the scene.
The bosses’ racist media presented Saheed to the world as “crazy” and “homeless” in the days since this racist murder. But neighborhood residents described him as “a friendly man who was mentally ill.” He was helpful and did odd jobs for neighborhood businesses.
A man who knew him for years said, “He’s harmless. A very willing guy, a very nice guy, a good guy.” (New York Times, 4/4).
The local cops knew him. That’s how community policing is supposed to work. But witnesses at the scene said that the kkkops fired immediately with no warning. Just that quickly community policing is exposed as a liberal cover to hide the true role of the police. Their job is to terrorize the working class to protect the profits and property of the capitalists. “These officers are trained to kill Black and brown people” explained a speaker at the rally the next day.
Close to 50 people gathered at the scene of the killing just hours after it happened. The next day a multiracial crowd of several thousand rallied and marched to the 71st precinct. Speakers at the rally suggested “Stop calling 911.” The Progressive Labor Party maintained a vigorous zone of chanting in this integrated march. We interspersed familiar chants to “Shut it Down!” and tagging the NYPD as the KKK. We also called for “the only solution is communist revolution” and “liberal misleaders you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!”
Meanwhile Mayor Bill de Blasio apologized for and defended his kkkops by repeating the excuse that they were responding to 911 calls of a man with a gun. This was a setback for the model of community policing that he promotes. The bosses want to direct the multi-racial anger this case has sparked into a renewed push for community policing.
Our connections with other families in the fight for justice against police murder position us to take the politics of this latest outrage beyond the fake ’solutions’ of elections and ‘better’ community policing. “Stop calling 911” is a slogan pregnant with revolutionary implications. It means workers have to rely on ourselves to solve our problems. We can’t be calling on the cops to help.
Relying on ourselves means building a mass, multiracial movement against racism and sexism, and also for communism. We don’t need the bosses murderous system or the cops who prop it up. May Day is the opportunity for us to redouble our efforts to win anti-racist fighters to this understanding that only communist revolution can bring and end to racist police murder.
