PARIS, March 6 — The fascist National Front (FN) is continuing its seemingly irresistible rise to power and now may very well be the biggest party in France as the March 22 first round of departmental elections approaches.
Bosses’ Racist Agenda
Unemployment and racism are two of the major factors the FN is using in attempting to influence workers to vote for the fascists. The FN claims immigrants “are responsible for unemployment” because they are supposedly “willing to work for lower wages,” hiding the fact that it is capitalism’s “boom-and-bust” system of depressions and recessions that actually throws workers on the streets.
There were 5,879,000 jobless workers in France in December 2014 in a labor force of 28.6 million — an official unemployment rate of 20.6 percent, including over two million unemployed youth. According to a November OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) report, unemployment will continue to increase here.
The FN’s racist anti-immigrant appeal to the working class says that “immigration is used by the plutocrats and the big bosses to lower wages and welfare rights for French workers.” It would cut “legal” immigration by 95 percent and outlaw “demonstrations by undocumented workers or those in support of undocumented workers.” It would force employers and jobs agencies to always favor French citizens in hiring. Unemployed “foreigners” would be deported and child welfare would be reserved for “French children” only.
In addition to its racist anti-immigrant, anti-worker stance, the FN’s program includes preparing French rulers for future imperialist wars. It wants France to leave the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which would enable France to freely jockey for position among its inter-imperialist rivals. It wants to boost military spending by 25 percent and increase the size of the armed forces by 500 percent. The FN also wants to roll back decentralization of government and reinforce the power of the central government while imposing a wage freeze on all government workers. It plans to hold a referendum on re-introducing the death penalty.
This is the “visible” part of the FN’s program. It gives an idea of all the measures the FN might take but is currently keeping secret.
In the March 22 elections for departmental counselors the FN is fielding candidates in 1909 of the 2054 cantons (election districts), more than any other party. The FN also leads in fielding candidates in all of the cantons of a department, giving the FN a much denser net over the whole of France.
IFOP (French Institute of Public Opinion) polls show the FN as the probable leading party, ahead of the right-wing UMP, the Socialists and the Left Front (which includes the phony “left” French “Communist” Party). Since fewer than half the registered voters are expected to vote, it would increase the proportion of the FN vote even more, because the fascist supporters are more motivated to go to the polls.
This means that in the second round of the elections, on March 29, there would be a run-off between the FN and either the Sarkozy-led right-wing UMP or the Socialists. No matter which party wins in elections, all serve the bosses. The Socialists present a greater threat to workers, for they aim to exploit workers’ aspirations for equality and use it to pacify workers into accepting crumbs. (“There is still racism but at least the socialists are in power.”) There is only one way to end racism once and for all: communism. Fascism cannot be defeated at the ballot box, but only through armed revolution by masses of workers.
The FN will likely become a powerful minority in practically all the departmental councils and may win outright control in some. These councils are responsible for the building, maintenance and equipping of junior high schools and managing the non-teaching staff. They’re also responsible for child protection, aid to families facing financial problems, aid to the handicapped, aid to the elderly and other welfare programs. They also run the libraries, museums and archives in the département.
The FN will use these elections as a springboard for the 2017 presidential elections. It will employ the power and patronage it gains to create an even more powerful fascist movement, either by winning the presidency outright or at least obtaining key ministerial positions in a coalition government with the right-wing UMP. Shades of Hitler’s rise to power in Nazi Germany!
French Socialists = Social Fascists
As CHALLENGE has reported, the Socialists have pursued the same racist anti-worker policies as the UMP, while the French “Communist” Party has degenerated into an electoral machine whose only purpose is to guarantee a job for its elected officials. An IFOP opinion poll shows 50 percent of blue-collar workers and 41 percent of white-collar workers intending to vote FN, far more than the figures for the Socialists and the UMP combined. Thus the working class — the only class that can block the FN fascists in their electoral bid for state power — is demobilized.
The FN’s rise resembles in many respects the seizure of power by Hitler’s Nazis in 1930s Germany. The last election in the Weimar Republic showed the Nazi Party leading with 40 percent of the vote and the rest divided between the Social Democrat and Communist parties. The president of the Republic then appointed Hitler as Chancellor. The Nazis immediately began instituting anti-worker laws, thus “legislating” fascism, followed by open fascist terror which established fascism outright.
The FN’s road to power appears to be following that scenario, using unemployment and racism much as the Nazis did. Only communists can smash fascism, as demonstrated by the then-red Soviet Union’s defeat of the Nazis. The absence of true communist leadership of the working class in France is the missing ingredient to combat the FN, the Socialists, and all other ruling-class parties. We call on CHALLENGE readers and friends of PLP in France and worldwide to guarantee that such leadership emerges.

PAKISTAN, March 11 — Pakistan has been a frontline of imperialist rivalry since the late 1970s, when U.S. and European bosses started to organize working people in the name of religion to fight against their imperialist rival, the Soviet Union, who at the time had an allied government in neighboring Afghanistan. The bosses in Pakistan began training and sending terrorist from all over the world into Afghanistan on the instructions and financing of the U.S., Saudi and Israeli bosses. Most of the terrorist mujahideen sent there were from religious schools where they received free religious education, shelter and food provided by the Pakistani bosses as “charity.”
Now, it is “blowing back,” and these terrorists are now unleashed in Pakistan. The Pakistani judicial system, which is used to suppress poor workers for the better interests of the capitalists, has failed. Now in increasing desperation, the bosses are hoping to contain the terror they created by amending the country’s constitution to allow military courts, where anyone considered an opponent, terrorist or not, can be tried.
Inter-imperialist rivalry exploits the opportunity to use these well-trained groups for its own benefit. These terrorists are spreading fear and horror among the working class so that this oppressed and exploited group won’t fight back. Innocent school children, women workers, low-sector workers and professionals are their targets. About 50,000 people have been killed in this bosses’ war.
These terrorist groups are here to protect the interest of bosses of one country or another. For example, U.S.-China rivalry over the markets and resources of the world is mirrored Pakistan. Pakistani bosses are trying to work with both U.S. and Chinese bosses, but these imperialist rivals have conflicting interests.
The terrorists are also used to eliminate political opponents. Different religious, nationalist and racist parties have their own militant groups to get extortion money, terrorize their political opponents and steal the so-called votes. We in PLP are striving to let workers know that “democracy” means voting for oppressors so they will exploit you more vigorously. We need a workers’ dictatorship which can make a world based on collectivity and fulfill our needs.
U.S.-China Bosses Fight Over Profits in Pakistan
Pakistani bosses, under the leadership of big capitalists, are trying to invest more in Pakistan so that they can exploit more people. They succeeded in convincing the capitalist class in China to invest 32 billion US$ in Pakistan. But U.S. bosses, embarrassed, managed to have two political parties they funded to stage a sit-in in the capital city of Islamabad to discourage the visit of the Chinese Premier and to block the investment. Afterwards, the Pakistani Premier rushed to Beijing to sign different agreements. In the end, U.S.-led efforts to keep the Chinese away from the Pakistani market resulted in the Chinese bosses increasing their investment from 32 to 42 billion US$.
The “Pak-China Economic Corridor” is a huge and long-term program for the Chinese bosses to make big money. It will help the Chinese bosses to get rail and road access to the Gwadar Port, which has strategic and economic importance for the Chinese bosses. It is situated in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan, which has vast minerals, natural gas, coal, gold and other resources. It shares its boundaries with the strategically important countries of Iran, Afghanistan, and through the Arabian Sea, India, United Arab Emirates, and Oman.
Connecting China’s northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang with Gwadar Port in southern Pakistan via highways, railways and pipelines to transport oil and gas will serve as a primary gateway for trade between China and the Middle East and Africa. In particular, oil from the Middle East could be offloaded at Gwadar and transported to China. Such a link would vastly cut the 12,000-kilometer route that Middle East oil supplies must now take to reach Chinese ports.
Earlier, the contract had been given to a Singaporean company. But in February 2013, the control of Gwadar was transferred to China’s state-owned China Overseas Ports Holding. Gwadar Port will also be used by the growing Chinese navy (which some military observers believe will be the largest navy in the world after 2020) for their strategic interests as well. China is gaining control over the Pakistani market. Almost everywhere in Pakistan, different Chinese companies are busy  making profit. In the Baluchistan province, the site of Gwadar Port, many Chinese engineers and professionals were attacked by nationalist insurgents backed by U.S., India and other imperialist forces.
China Facing Terror Attacks
China has been facing terrible terrorist attacks within its borders as well such as in Kunming and Yunnan, with unrest in the primarily Muslim Xinjiang region. Tourists have been massacred in a mountainous region of Pakistan near the Chinese border. China asked Pakistan to take adequate actions to keep these terrorists from entering China; it is assumed that these terrorists got training in Pakistan by CIA-led jihadis. The bosses are are fighting over the “bone” and they will keep fighting everywhere, whether it is in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria or Haiti.
Saudi and Iranian bosses are also using their puppets in Pakistan to create instability and chaos by spreading sectarianism and fundamentalism. Sunni and Shia terrorists respectively are being supported by these bosses to protect their interests in Pakistan and to keep Pakistan dependent on them. These bosses are encouraging their puppets to slaughter each other on the streets and in the mosques.
India also desires to increase its influence in the region by supporting nationalist, racist and religious terrorist groups to maintain unrest in Pakistan. India is feeling the threat from rising Chinese capitalist bosses so the Dalai Lama (Tibetan Buddhist religious leader) is being supported by the Indian bosses as a strategic asset. Indian bosses are trying to contain Chinese bosses by taking markets in Afghanistan and Iran. The thirst to make more profits is sharpening contradictions among China, India and Pakistan, which threatens even bigger wars.
The working class has been brutalized, silenced, and exploited by capitalist terrorism in the region, which spreads fear and chaos. About 400 workers were burned alive in a garment factory in Baldiya Town, Karachi, just because the owner of factory refused to give 20 million in Pakistani rupees as extortion to a racist political party of Karachi.
No political party raised its voice against this inhuman and brutal act except PLP. It is only PLP which organized the families of victims and workers to hold a demonstration against this horrible act of terrorism amid threats from racists and extremists. PLP is striving for a better future for the working class through international communist revolution!

Ruth was born in 1935 and grew up in the South Bronx, one of four daughters of a furrier and a garment worker. Ruth was close with her three sisters, Millie, Florence and Dottie growing up. As a kid and teenager she was known as a ferocious handball player, often playing and beating older boys and young men.
Her parents, like many of the families she knew, were involved in the old communist movement. Ruth became politically active in her late teens and was particularly influenced by her oldest sister Millie and brother-in-law Leon who were active in the movement.
After high school Ruth worked several jobs, including in a plant that made circuit boards where she eventually was asked to become an organizer for the union. Around that time she became a member of the Young Communist League and then the Communist Party. She met her husband-to-be Bert at a YCL party.
Ruth and Bert stayed in the CP through the McCarthy years, often having FBI agents come to the house and harass them on the street. By 1960 they felt that the Soviet Union had lost its way and was no longer leading the movement towards a communist future.
When they heard about a meeting to discuss a new direction in the communist movement they went and eventually became part of the group that established the Progressive Labor Movement and then the Progressive Labor Party. She became active in this new communist movement, including helping to organize the trip in 1963 that broke the government’s travel ban to Cuba.
While doing this, Ruth had two children, worked and went to school in the evenings to get a teaching degree from Hunter College. As a teacher Ruth worked in an elementary school in the housing projects near her and Bert’s apartment on 106th street.
In 1968, the teachers’ union launched a racist walkout against parental control of schools. Ruth and other teachers in and around the PLP joined with Black and Latin parents to cross the racist picket lines, breaking into the schools and setting up freedom schools with anti-racist teachers and volunteers. This including sending her own kids across the lines in the face of the worst kinds of gutter racism.
Throughout her long teaching career Ruth was always an anti-racist fighter for those students the system didn’t want to teach. Working in the heavily tracked schools in her neighborhood and in Harlem, as part of a group of PL teachers in upper Manhattan, she always chose the classes the school deemed the bottom of their grade and fought like hell to have the school care about those kids.
She was removed from schools several times for standing up to the administration, including organizing a boycott of a racist competency test the Board of Education was giving that was increasing the dropout rate of Black and Latin students.
After retiring Ruth continued her political activity, helping produce CHALLENGE newspaper, organizing Kids against Racism to introduce her grandchildren and others elementary school kids to the ideas of PLP, and trying to bring communist ideas into the struggle against Israeli fascism.
Most of all, Ruth was a fighter for the working class who never lost confidence that even with all the ups and downs of the communist movement, victory will come.

March 8 was International Women’s Day (IWD), symbolized by the 1908 New York City march of 15,000 women demanding better pay and shorter hours. In 1910, the Socialist Second International held the first International Women’s Conference and established International Women’s Day. It has since celebrated many women’s struggles — including the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the women’s march to the municipal Duma (council) in Czarist Russia in early 1917, which helped spark the Bolshevik Revolution.
Internationally, workers will commemorate this month and day to honor the struggle against the special oppression of working-class women — sexism — and the capitalist system that promotes it, although the bosses and their media will use it to pay lip-service. We must recognize that this special oppression is an integral and necessary part of capitalism, which must be fought every day, not just on International Women’s Day or during Women’s History Month.
To Smash Capitalism, Smash Sexism
Exploitation of women hasn’t always existed nor have conditions become better; it has simply changed in form. In primitive communal society men and women’s labor was valued equally. In early class society, women were primarily unpaid domestic workers. As capitalism’s needs shifted during industrialization, super-exploitation of women in factories began. The ruling class uses the special oppression of women — like racism and nationalism — as a tool to oppress the entire working class.
There are many ruling-class ideologies that claim to be anti-sexist, such as feminism, which blames men for sexism and wants women workers to unite with their female bosses. The bosses misdirect many women workers’ anger against the ruling class and towards men, a divide-and-conquer strategy. For men, instead of fighting sexism and revolting against the bosses, they’re taught to take their anger out on women.
Unpaid and Waged Labor of Women = Double Profits for Bosses
Today, women are super-exploited globally, attacked by the U.S. racist destruction of welfare (especially Black and Latin women); paid $2 a day in China’s vast manufacturing economy and in Mexico’s maquiladoras. Women already make up more than half of the super-exploited sub-contracted manufacturing jobs in the U.S., while remaining the principal childcare givers. Women are still paid 70 to 80 cents to every dollar male workers for similar work, keeping all workers’ wages lower. The majority of women workers receive no wages for their work. Unpaid labor  — cleaning, shopping, cooking, and child-rearing — is essential to producing the generation of workers, the labor power that creates profits for the bosses. Because this work is done in the home and is seen as “natural” for women, it is not seen as profitable for the capitalists. This divide between paid and unpaid labor is central to class society.
In addition to being super-exploited, women arespecially oppressed. They subjected to mass rapes in the Congo’s wars for diamonds and resources; targets of blatant sexism of religious fundamentalists; and murdered, raped and forced into prostitution in the U.S.-led imperialist war in Iraq. In India, a woman is raped every twenty minutes.
Capitalist culture — music, poetry, movies, television — is more profitable because it perpetuates capitalist sexist gender roles that help maintain the system. “Successful” women in entertainment like singer Rihanna and singer Shakira promote near-nudity and sexual availability as qualities of powerful women. In Rihanna’s video for her song “Hard,” she wears a Kevlar and an open shirt with tape covering her breasts, straddling tanks, and ordering soldiers to fire their weapons in the desert, presumably the Middle East. The idea is that imperialist war and women-controlled sexism are something to be proud of.
The special oppression of women divides the working class, and dehumanizes women, and men. Economic exploitation makes women a commodity, leading to degrading them as sexual objects and prostitutes, victims of physical violence, rape and enslavement worldwide. We must ensure more woman — especially as soldiers and workers — take the lead in the effort to destroy the system that created and maintains sexism, racism, and its exploitation of all workers.
As communists, we fight in our everyday efforts to rid the world of capitalism. Women are at the forefront of these struggles against healthcare cuts, against capitalist education, and racist police murders.
Only by Black, Latin, Asian and white women and men workers uniting can the entire working class end the oppression of capitalism. Communism is the only system that values women as equals and allows all workers to reach their full potential. JOIN US!