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         THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT

  MIM Notes No. 46                    November 1990

MIM Notes speaks to and from the viewpoint of the 
world's oppressed majority, and against the 
imperialist-patriarchy. Pick it up and wield it in 
the service of the people. support it, struggle 
with it and write for it.


IN THIS ISSUE:
1.  REVOLUTIONARY ENVIRONMENTALISM
2.  WAR MACHINE MARCHES ON IRAQ
3.  APARTHEID ISRAELI STYLE
4.  POLICE AND COURTS ATTACK GREENSBORO BLACKS
5.  NOT A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN
6.  LETTERS
7.  CORRECTIONS
8.  MASSACRE IN THE HOLY CITY
9.  SEXUAL HARASSMENT REPORTED AT INS DETENTION CENTER
10. CONGRESS PLAYS "LET'S MAKE A DEAL" WITH EL SALVADOR
11. MANDELA PUSHES INTEGRATION OF U.S. AFRICAN AMERIKANS
12. LOCAL JOURNALIST TIPS OFF THE COPS: BORDER PATROL RAIDS SOUTH  
    TEXAS SHELTER
13. BOOT-LICKING NICARAGUAN CAPITALIST REGIME DECAYS
14. SECTARIAN REVIEW: WORKERS VANGUARD; BULLETIN; PEOPLE'S DAILY WORLD; 
    OFF OUR BACKS
15. UNDER LOCK & KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONS AND PRISONERS
16. MUSIC REVIEWS: PUBLIC ENEMY; ICE CUBE; MAZZY STAR, 
17. MOVIE REVIEWS: GOODFELLAS
18. MASS ADVERTISING: CAPITALISM WANTS TO SWALLOW US WHOLE. 
19. LET THE FREE MARKET CENSOR IT
20. POWER GAMES


The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is a 
revolutionary communist party that upholds 
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, comprising the collection 
of existing or emerging Maoist internationalist 
parties in the English-speaking imperialist 
countries and their English-speaking internal 
semi-colonies, as well as the existing or emerging 
Spanish-speaking Maoist internationalist parties 
of Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of 
the U.S. Empire. MIM Notes is the newspaper of 
MIM. Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the Spanish-
speaking parties or emerging parties of MIM.

MIM is an internationalist organization that works 
from the vantage point of the Third World 
proletariat; thus, its members are not Amerikans, 
but world citizens.

MIM struggles to end the oppression of all groups 
over other groups: classes, genders, nations.  MIM 
knows this is only possible by building public 
opinion to seize power through armed struggle.

Revolution is a reality for North America as the 
military becomes over-extended in the government's 
attempts to maintain world hegemony.

MIM differs from other communist parties on three 
main questions: (1) MIM holds that after the 
proletariat seizes power in socialist revolution, 
the potential exists for capitalist restoration 
under the leadership of a new bourgeoisie within 
the communist party itself. In the case of the 
USSR, the bourgeoisie seized power after the death 
of Stalin in 1953; in China, it was after Mao's 
death and the overthrow of the "Gang of Four" in 
1976. (2) MIM upholds the Chinese Cultural 
Revolution as the farthest advance of communism in 
human history. (3) MIM believes the North American 
white-working-class is primarily a non-
revolutionary worker-elite at this time; thus, it 
is not the principal vehicle to advance Maoism in 
this country.

MIM accepts people as members who agree on these 
basic principles and accept democratic centralism, 
the system of majority rule, on other questions of 
party line.

"The theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is 
universally applicable. We should regard it not as 
dogma, but as a guide to action. Studying it is 
not merely a matter of learning terms and phrases, 
but of learning Marxism-Leninism as the science of 
revolution."
-- Mao Zedong, Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 208

* * *

REVOLUTIONARY ENVIRONMENTALISM
by MC12

Class society is society which produces more than is actually 
needed--an advance made possible by technology. Classes are the 
mechanism for deciding who gets to have the extra commodities, and 
who will toil to produce those luxuries. Under a class system--
whether it is slavery, feudalism, capitalism or imperialism--
production is based on the desire for profit, not on actual human 
needs.

Beyond perpetrating the direct oppression of working people, the 
class system also develops an unsustainable relationship with the 
environment, as natural resources are drained from the earth to 
fuel the ruling classes increased consumption of luxuries. There 
is no evidence that resources were used at an unsustainable rate 
before class societies emerged.

Class societies have developed into a system of world capitalism 
and imperialism. The science of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong 
Thought has shown that only the truly oppressed have both the will 
and the strength to overthrow the systems of capitalism and 
imperialism and begin building a classless society under the 
leadership of the proletariat.

Marxists realize that classless society--the end of production for 
profit--can only be a product of class struggle resulting in the 
victory of the proletariat over the bourgeoisie.

Environmental movements have flourished in the First World for 
more than 20 years. After billions of dollars and years of fierce 
struggle for reform, some small victories have been won. During 
this time, environmental conditions have grown immeasurably worse 
for the vast majority of the world's land and population--the 
Third World and oppressed internal nations.

Out of all that effort the people and the environment of the world 
have suffered a net loss. And the worst environmental problems--
soil erosion, deforestation, overpopulation, starvation, and the 
causes of the greenhouse effect--remain worst in the Third World, 
though they are caused by imperialist greed.

MIM does not mean to tell First World environmentalists that more 
efficient cars or pollution control devices are bad; less 
pollution is a good thing. And environmentalism has increased our 
understanding of the relationship between humanity and ecology. 
But with no active understanding of the root causes of, and 
solutions to, environmental problems--and no revolutionary 
practice to bring about real change--it remains an ineffective 
movement and a First World fetish.


* * *

WAR MACHINE MARCHES ON IRAQ

by MC12
Oct. 28--With cold calculation, the United States is marching 
deliberately toward all-out war with Iraq--preparing a massive 
attack force for a show-down which may be expected at any time. At 
press time, war has yet to break out.

More than 210,000 U.S. troops are already in the area known as the 
Persian Gulf, most near the Saudi Arabian border with Iraq and 
Kuwait, and now the government has announced that as many as 
100,000 more will be shipped in.(1)

As war becomes more certain, members of the U.S. Congress are 
demanding the privilege of declaring war on Iraq, while the Bush 
administration insists it won't ask permission from anyone before 
ordering a strike.(2) Now military analysts are pushing for 
action, saying the best weather conditions in the Saudi and Iraqi 
deserts are from November to February.(3)

The first signs of discontent with the war among the Amerikan 
people are emerging. A wave of anti-war protests was held on Oct. 
20, with protests in more than a dozen cities, including 
Washington, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San 
Diego, Chicago, Birmingham, Honolulu, Houston, Portland, Seattle 
and Minneapolis. The biggest was in New York, where organizers 
said 15,000 marched, chanting, "Hell no, we won't go. We won't 
fight for Texaco!"(4)

The war for more

The original public goal--to drive Iraq's invading forces out of 
the tiny oil country of Kuwait--is disappearing amidst the Bush 
administration's foaming desire for a big war--a real war--with a 
more thorough military victory and longer-lasting shifts in power 
relations.

William Webster, the director of the U.S. Central Intelligence 
Agency (CIA), explained that he has "no real confidence that that 
area will ever be secure again," as long as Iraqi President Saddam 
Hussein is still there, unless there is a "countervailing force 
present in the area" or Saddam is "disassociated with his 
instruments of mass destruction."(5)

"If we are to have stability in the gulf, we need more than just 
Iraq's withdrawal," said one "senior U.S. official." And England's 
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a key ally in the military 
effort, agreed, insisting that the allies need to "get him out, 
make him pay and see that he is never in a position to do these 
things again."(6)

Iraq now has 430,000 troops ready in Kuwait and Southern Iraq, 
according to the Pentagon, while allied forces and U.S. troops 
combined are nearing 400,000 troops.(7)

The contributions of allied forces are picking up, especially from 
Britain and Syria, who have both committed hundreds of tanks to 
the Saudi desert.(8)

Further, the demand for war comes from the realization that the 
economic blockade is not yet forcing Iraq to quit Kuwait. The CIA 
says the embargo isn't hurting the Iraqi military enough, and 
Webster is disappointed the United States hasn't been able to 
better infiltrate Iraq to control former-puppet President Saddam 
Hussein. "We had all that in place in Panama," but not in Iraq, he 
moaned.(9)

The United States is so bent on war that it's been squelching any 
possibility of a compromise. After word got out that Iraq might be 
prepared to get out in exchange for two Kuwaiti islands, which 
would give formerly landlocked Iraq port access to the Gulf, Bush 
said: "I am more determined than ever to see that this invading 
dictator gets out of Kuwait with no compromise of any kind 
whatsoever." And the United States rushed to insist that Saudi 
Arabia not consider any compromise; by now the so-called mission 
to protect Saudi Arabia, at its request, has been largely 
dropped.(10)

Problems at home

In addition to the still-small outspoken protest among Amerikan 
activists, new polls are showing more concern over the course 
toward war.

A Wall Street Journal poll showed 69% of voters still approve of 
Bush's course of action so far, but that number is down from 78% 
in September.(11) Newsweek did a poll which showed that support 
had dropped from 77% in early August to 61%.(3) These still show 
majority support among those polled for the course toward war, and 
Newsweek further found that 21% favor military action now. The 
Journal also reported that 48% predict war will occur, and 47% say 
the United States should initiate it if Iraq doesn't leave Kuwait.

But we must keep in mind the different reasons for opposing the 
war. The most popular reason given is that the war will become 
"another Vietnam," in the sense of a major loss for the United 
States--diverting resources from "domestic needs" and throwing 
away the "peace dividend."

The truth is that the war could have damaging effects on the U.S 
empire--including the big bourgeoisie and the white labor 
aristocracy--especially if it loses. But the essential drive 
behind the war--to maintain U.S. control over the international 
oil market, preserve the Third World for U.S economic expansion 
and consolidate control over weaker allies--is in the interest of 
all those in Amerika who currently benefit from U.S. imperialism.

This does not prevent the emergence of disagreement over tactics 
in the Middle East--even the far right wing is split over whether 
or not direct attack will be profitable--but the convergence of 
interests must be kept in mind. (See Sectarian Review, p. 8 for a 
discussion of the various forms of opposition.)

Economic pressures mount

The current recessionary trend in the U.S. economy is putting 
increased pressure on the government to produce a profitable 
outcome from the war. The best response to recession is 
international expansion.

In the meantime, the war buildup and crisis is having a negative 
effect on the economy, which was already slumping. Inflation was 
up to an annual rate of 9.5% in September, mostly as a result of 
higher oil and gas prices.(12) Orders for durable goods--an 
important indicator of long-range economic growth--dropped by 1.7% 
in September, the second monthly drop in a row.(13) In all, 
500,000 industrial sector jobs have been lost since January 
1989.(14)

Some major economic trends are apparent in a recent earnings 
report for Sears, Robuck & Co., which reported a 30% drop in net 
income for the third quarter of this year, as compared to the same 
time last year. Sears is a major multinational corporation with a 
diverse spread of investments.

The worst hit division was real estate (Coldwell Banker), which 
had a drop in earnings of almost 98%. The insurance division 
(Allstate) also lost 14%. And the company had to stash away an 
extra $50 million in expectation of people defaulting on credit 
card loans.

But when international operations and charge card profits were 
included, the Sears produced a 7.6% increase in net income, 
overall. So real estate was down, insurance was down; but credit 
usage was profitable (though dangerous), and international 
operations were essential in turning a total profit.(15)

The defense industry also plays an important part in the economic 
cause and effect of war. In the last four years, for example, 
General Dynamics stock has fallen in value by 75%--but now people 
are buying it cheap as war looms. Despite the fall in stock 
prices, the company has produced profits of $7-$9 per share for 
the last four years; so one millionaire, who's planning to buy 
more General Dynamics stock--has been "earning" $7-$9 million per 
year on the million shares he owns. This company produces the very 
profitable M-1 tank, Trident submarine and F-16 fighter jet.(16)

The importance of the war in the economy is further underscored by 
the wild fluctuations in the various international markets since 
the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The price of oil on commodities 
markets has risen from below $30 to $41.15, and fallen back below 
$30 before climbing up again toward $40.(17)

The vulnerability of these markets to the crisis--although very 
little has happened to change any real conditions for Amerikan 
companies--shows both the artificial character of the definitions 
of value under capitalism, and the importance of economic 
expansion and international control to the future of imperialism.

Short term economic impact is perhaps greatest on Third World 
countries which are deeply dependent on imported oil. But the 
agents of imperialism are there to help pick up the pieces, as 
both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are 
prepared to issue new loans for eternal dependency, especially to 
those puppet states who are trying to attract investment from the 
capitalist core countries.

Michel Camdessus, managing director of IMF, said the new aid was 
"to insure that in all cases courageous growth-oriented programs 
are not interrupted because of external economic shocks."(18)

Suffering in the Middle East

Of course, the crisis has produced grave consequences for the 
masses in the Middle East. Besides the hundreds of thousands of 
migrant workers who have been forced to flee Iraq and Kuwait--
cutting off family incomes which had been crucial in communities 
from Palestine to Pakistan--the fallout has spread to workers 
outside of the direct conflict as well.

Saudi Arabia, angry at the Yemeni government for sticking up for 
Arab unity against the United States, has kicked 500,000 Yemenis 
out of the country, and is moving to boot another 1.5 million. 
These workers (including many bourgeois professionals) send $2 
billion per year back to neighboring Yemen, making that Yemen's 
largest single source of income.(19)

One consequence of shifting power relations in the Middle East has 
been the reassertion of control over Lebanon by Syria. At a cost 
of at least 750 lives, including 200 civilians, Syria beat the 
rebellious Gen. Aoun out of East Beirut last month. Aoun was an 
ally of Saddam Hussein, who has been in perpetual conflict with 
Syria--the only Arab country to openly support Iran against 
Iraq.(20)

Representing the new U.S. interest in Syria's control, the State 
Department said that after the invasion, it hopes Lebanon "can now 
move toward reconciliation and the rebirth of a united, sovereign 
and independent Lebanon."(21)

Some independence. Syria still has at least 40,000 troops in 
Lebanon. One of Aoun's reasons for turning against his government 
was his insistence that Syria leave; the Lebanese government in 
turn asked Syria to bomb him to hell.(22) Despite massive loss of 
life, Aoun himself skipped out and at press time is still alive, 
though one of his close allies, Dany Chamoun, was 
assassinated.(23)

Increased backlash against pro-U.S. governments is also on the 
rise, especially in Egypt, where Speaker of the Parliament Rifaat 
al-Mahgoub, was assassinated, on Oct. 12.(24)

Outbursts against imperialism

MIM welcomes efforts by those Amerikans opposed to the war in the 
Middle East, and urges all those who are truly concerned with the 
plight of the oppressed the world over--not just the living 
standards of relatively rich Amerikans--to study the roots of 
world war, and organize to put a stop to imperialism in all of its 
forms, including the capitalist imperialism of the United States 
and the state capitalist social-imperialism of the Soviet Union.

MIM recommends the following readings for a better understanding 
of the roles of imperialism and world war:
Arms and Empire, by Richard Krooth. CITE? AMY TOOK OUR LAST COPY. 
Available from MIM for $7, postage paid.
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, by V. I. Lenin. CITE 
Available from MIM for $2.00 postage paid.
Send only cash or check with name section left blank.
For a complete MIM reading list, send a .45 cent stamp to MIM 
Distributors, PO Box 3576, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-3576.

Notes:
1. New York Times 10/26/90, p. A1.
2. NYT10/18/90, p. A1.
3. Newsweek 10/29/90.
4. L.A. Times 10/21/90, p. A10.
5. Wall Street Journal 10/26/90, p. A14.
6. Newsweek 10/29/90, p. 29.
7. NYT 10/26/90, p. A6.
8. L.A. Times 10/21/90, p. A9.
9. NYT 10/26/90, p. A6.
10. NYT 10/23/90, p. A6.
11. WSJ 10/26/90, p. A1.
12. Detroit Free Press 10/19/90, p. E1.
13. WSJ 10/25/90, p. A2.
14. DFP 10/25/90.
15. WSJ 10/25/90, p. A4.
16. WSJ 10/25/90, p. C1.
17. NYT 10/26/90, p. C6.
18. NYT 9/17/90, p. C7.
19. NYT 10/26/90, p. A7.
20. NYT 10/19/90, p. A1.
21. AP in Ann Arbor News 10/14/90, p. A12.
22. AP in AAN 10/21/90, p. B2.
23. NYT 10/22/90, p. A3.
24. NYT 10/13/90, p. A1.

* * *

APARTHEID ISRAELI STYLE

by MC44 and MC12

On Oct. 8, Palestinians demonstrating against the rumored 
destruction of both the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 
Jerusalem were massacred by "unprepared" Israeli police forces. 
The government then reacted to the international outcry by closing 
Jerusalem to Palestinians from the Occupied Territories, sealing 
off the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The body count--from the bloodiest single incident since the 
outbreak of the intifada in December 1987--has been debated and 
finally set at 21 killed, and over 150 wounded. One thousand 
Palestinians were arrested for either organizing or participating 
in the riots. Among them was Faisal al-Husseni, a moderate 
representative from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Much has been made of who or what initially incited the violence--
whether Palestinians had premeditated an attack on Jewish 
worshippers at the nearby Wailing Wall, thus provoking the police, 
whether the attack was planned for the Israeli police themselves 
and not the worshippers at all, or whether the Israelis themselves 
were the provocateurs.

Among the factors that account for consistent undercounting of 
dead and wounded in Palestine are the unreported martyrs who are 
immediately taken by their families who don't want the authorities 
to "confiscate" them, which appears to be the case in this 
incident.

A prominent Israeli daily newspaper, Ha'aretz, originally reported 
the police propaganda as news. The paper said that the the PLO and 
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein planned the riot as a joint action 
to deflect world attention from the Gulf crisis and bring the 
Palestinian uprising back to the front pages of the media. Later, 
the paper rescinded that position, and instead contended that only 
the demonstrations against the destruction of the mosque were 
planned, but the violence was a spontaneous response to the 
actions of the Israeli fundamentalist group Temple Mount Faithful, 
placing Palestinians on the defensive.(1) 

Temple Mount Faithful is an organization of settlers who want to 
rebuild the Jewish Temple (last destroyed in 70 A.D.) on the site 
of the third holiest place in Islam, the Dome of the Rock. The 
government radio of Israel also suggested that the violence and 
rioting were provoked by the police.(2)

Police reacted to the Palestinians' stones and bottles with live 
ammunition, rubber and plastic bullets, and tear gas. The 
government reacted to the incident at large by imposing immediate 
and total curfews in the Gaza Strip and much of the West Bank, and 
by closing the city of Jerusalem to any incoming Arabs. During a 
curfew, people who leave their homes can be shot. This is the 
first time since the 1967 seizure of Jerusalem that the city has 
been closed.(3)

The world responds

The PLO drafted a resolution to the United Nations--formally 
proposed by Yemen on Oct. 9--which condemned Israel's brutality in 
the Jerusalem massacre. The resolution emphasized the use of live 
ammunition in a crowd and demanded a U.N. delegation to Palestine 
to monitor and report human rights abuses. The delegation would 
not be limited to gathering facts on this isolated incident, but 
would serve as a permanent presence in the formally occupied 
territories and eventually have a role in "bringing about a peace 
process."(4) 

The United States immediately drafted a counter proposal which 
condemned Israel's excessive use of violence and called for a U.N. 
delegation which would investigate this incident only. The counter 
proposal also included a condemnation of the violence against the 
Israeli setters at the Wailing Wall.(5)

The PLO's proposal posed a significant threat to the alliances 
that the United States has made with some Arab countries--
especially Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria--over the use of military 
force against Iraq. As the United States buys greater influence in 
the Arab world through economic incentives to participate in the 
Gulf effort, its need for the Israeli iron fist may diminish, the 
Israeli government fears. The United States has walked a tightrope 
in the region recently, with a strategy which has hinged on Israel 
keeping a low profile--thus allowing the sell-out Arab governments 
to go on pretending that taking aid from the United States to help 
put down another Arab country does not represent a betrayal of 
Arab unity against Israel.

As far as the allegations that Israeli agents incited the violence 
on Oct. 8, it is not hard to identify their interest in fracturing 
these U.S.-Arab alliances. Similarly, in order to debunk the 
analogy between the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait and the Israeli 
occupation of Palestine, Israel needs to provide reasons why the 
Palestinians are a hostile force and not innocent victims, as in 
Kuwait. 

PLO Information Office Director Jamil Hilal called the United 
States out on its hypocrisy: "The United States got three 
resolutions on Iraq out of the Security Council in five days, and 
it spent five days obstructing a Palestine proposal."(6)

Israel responds to the world

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir and his cabinet announced 
that Israel would not cooperate with any delegation from the 
U.N.(7) In further defiance, Housing Minister Ariel Sharon 
announced a new housing plan which would settle Soviet immigrants 
in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a more overt, direct manner 
than the United States wants to publicly endorse. He told 
reporters that in order to strengthen Israel's political position 
he would need to "strengthen the Jewish population" in 
Jerusalem.(8) Israel had previously agreed that the $400 million 
housing loan from the U.S. earlier this year would not be used to 
settle Soviet immigrants in either the West Bank and Gaza Strip or 
East Jerusalem.

Notes:
1. Detroit Free Press 10/12/90.
2. AP in Ann Arbor News 10/18/90.
3. AP in Ann Arbor News 10/9/90.
4. Detroit Free Press 10/22/90.
5. New York Times 10/12/90.
6. New York Times 10/18/90.
7. AP in Ann Arbor News 10/15/90.
8. New York Times 10/16/90.

* * *

POLICE AND COURTS ATTACK GREENSBORO BLACKS

by MA20

B.J., a 17-year-old African American of Greensboro, NC, was 
convicted last month of misdemeanor assault charges, disorderly 
conduct and resisting arrest. This is one more example of the 
oppression that Black people in the United States face today. 

This particular trial is significant because of the incident that 
led up to it. On Saturday, July 23, 1990 Lorna Johnson, B.J.'s 
mother, came home after receiving a call from her son that her 
home was on fire.

No one was in the house at the time the fire started, but the fire 
inspector, William Williams, said things to B.J. that made him 
think that he was being accused of setting the blaze. Plus, B.J. 
was distraught after witnessing his house burning. (It sustained 
$25,000 worth of damage.)

A friend, Michael Stimpson, who had comforted B.J. prior to the 
arrival of the fire and police departments, came into B.J.'s house 
after the fire department inspector began to talk to B.J. and his 
mother. Michael took B.J. outside again to comfort him.

Two white Greensboro cops, K.B. Nabors and J.A. Hafkemeyer, saw 
B.J. and Michael. The cops then rushed B.J. and "pushed him to the 
pavement and began beating him with a nightstick and spraying mace 
in his eyes...."(1)

"Angry neighbors of Lorna Brown Johnson said... that (she) was 
only trying to protect her 17-year-old son... from an unwarranted 
beating when police dragged her in handcuffs to a police car.... 
Johnson's 12-year-old daughter, Amanda, was handcuffed after 
grabbing her mother."(1)

"The only crime she committed was being a mother,"(1) Beulah 
Sharpe said. "They weren't showing any compassion to them, and 
their house had just burned down."(1)

The city dropped the charges of assault and obstructing an officer 
against Lorna Johnson during the trial, after a motion was made by 
her attorney. The judge, Thomas G. Foster, chided B.J. for 
"behavior and language and overall demeanor (that) gave rise to 
getting us here today."(2)

In essence, the judge told B.J. and other African Americans that 
they have no right to defend themselves against police attack. 
After the trial, MIM learned that Greensboro cop K.B. Nabors 
reportedly maces all people he arrests.

The assault on the Johnson family catalyzed the Black community to 
recall incidents that they or friends had faced at the hands of 
the Greensboro Police Department. It also rekindled memories of 
how the police and the federal intelligence agencies helped the 
KKK murder five Communist Workers Party members in 1979. The 
Klanspeople were never convicted on state or federal charges.

The trial outcome also made it clear that the courts routinely 
clear police of any wrongdoing. No charges were ever brought 
against any of the cops involved in the beating of the Johnsons. 
The Greensboro police internal affairs division cleared all the 
cops of any wrongdoing in the Johnson beating incident.

Since the June incident, the Greensboro NAACP has been demanding 
that the local city council institute a civilian police review 
board to investigate incidents of brutality by police on people. 
The city and the police are opposed to this proposal, but on Aug. 
28 a hearing was held at Greensboro's city hall to voice people's 
comments about the police.

During the Aug. 28 hearing, 19 of 21 speakers who spoke came out 
forcefully against the Greensboro Police. Beatrice Paschal, who is 
white, told the council that after she was injured in a wreck with 
a police car Sept. 5, 1989, an officer dragged her to a squad car 
despite severe rib and foot injuries.

John Pollard, who is Black, told the council that after his car 
rolled downhill and struck a gas meter September 1989, he was 
handcuffed and his wife, Tamara Robinson, was brutalized by 
officers when she protested. Officers "were kicking her, shoving 
her by the hair, about to tear the girl apart," he said.

Romallus O. Murphy, Johnson's lawyer, who is Black, told the 
council that about 11 a.m. Monday, his wife was stopped near the 
Morningside Homes public housing community and ordered to open her 
trunk. When she did, he said officers emptied her Avon samples 
onto the street and then said, "Are you one of those who're going 
to shout 'police brutality?'"(3)

From the Johnson trial and the city council hearing and from other 
events that have occurred, it is clear that the Black community 
has a determined foe in the Greensboro Police Department. Their 
actions clearly show that they are not friends, but are hired 
thugs whose job it is to serve and protect the rich, white folks 
and keep the Black people in check.

No matter what anti-crime or anti-drug messages or programs the 
police might organize, their true nature is exposed in incidents 
like these.

The only solution to this problem is to organize against police 
brutality. The police, as an institution, do not and cannot have 
the people's interest at heart, since they are representatives of 
the capitalist-imperialist local government.

Undoubtedly this will take much work and effort, but it is work 
that is well worth the task, since police attacks are a 
fundamental pillar of the oppressive apparatus used against the 
Black people as a whole and against the Black progressive 
movements in particular.

 Unfortunately the reformist demand for a police review board will 
not give African Amerikans in Greensboro adequate or even useful 
control over the police. The principle of accountability behind 
such a practice--that citizens be able to direct their own police 
and military--is a sound one but cannot be implemented by the same 
system of injustice which brutalizes the Black community. Without 
a revolution lead by a Maoist party, these demands will result in 
elegant propaganda for the police. Mechanisms whereby the Bull 
Connors of the world can say, "Of course we don't discriminate. We 
have police review. The citizens sanction the police."

Notes:
1. Greensboro News and Record 7/24/90.
2. Greensboro News and Record 10/9/90.
3. Greensboro News and Record 8/29/90.

* * *

NOT A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

by MC44

On Wednesday, Sept. 26, students of the University of District 
Columbia (UDC), Van Ness campus, seized the administration 
building in a successful effort to shut down the school. The 
administration building was actually the second building to come 
under student control, after Building 38, which contains the 
campus radio station. Students from the campus radio station and 
the school newspaper were key organizers in the protest.(1)

Holding the University Board of Trustees accountable for the 
history of instability of the 13-year-old university, students 
called for the resignation of 11 of the 15 board members and the 
student representative, who they say, had not kept them adequately 
in touch with the administration. Specific demands included 
extending the school library hours beyond 9:00 p.m. and 
reinstating funds for the athletic department, out of which the 
football, women's basketball, and volleyball programs had been cut 
without consultation with coaches or teams.(2)

  The other major point of contention was the university's 
acceptance of a piece of artwork called "The Dinner Party" which 
some members of Congress have labeled "obscene." Students were 
objecting not to obscenity perse, but because renovations to house 
the artwork would cost the  $1.6 million from the university's 
existing budget. This would further threaten their academic 
programs.(2)

Students also felt that due to the rapid turnover of university 
presidents and general instability at the top, UDC's accreditation 
was impaired. After meeting with the protesters (and classes had 
been closed for two days), Washington D.C. Mayor Marrion Barry 
agreed to "urge two key trustees"--including the student 
representative--to resign. Barry claimed he didn't have the 
authority to fire the Board members, only to appoint them.(2)

In addition to the slogans that read "No Justice, No Peace," 
students carried signs that said, "This Is Not A Political 
Campaign, This Is A Revolutionary Struggle." Students and youth 
everywhere should recognize their historical role in revolutionary 
struggle. Said Chairman Mao of students, "If we do not unite in 
order to attend to our own 'self-instruction,' then what are we 
waiting for?"(3)

Notes:
1. The Hilltop 9/31/90.
2. The Washington Post 9/31/90.
3. Mao Zedong, "The Great Union of the Popular Masses," translated 
in The China Quarterly, Jan.-March 1972, No. 49.

* * *

LETTERS

100 FLOWERS (AND WEEDS), BUT NO CULTURAL REVOLUTION IN ALBANIA

Dear MIM:

I just finished reading the news article in MIM Notes 45 by MC5 
entitled "Albania and Soviet Union normalize relations" and 
thought I'd write you a brief letter on it and some of Enver 
Hoxha's views on Mao and The People's Republic of China.

First, I would suggest that you read Enver's four booklets of 
diary entrances, Reflections on China. Although these booklets 
were mentioned in your news article, it left the reader with the 
impression that these booklets were written after the death of 
Mao.

A thorough reading of them will show that years before Mao's death 
or the Cultural Revolution in China, Enver began compiling his 
thoughts and views on what was actually taking place in China: the 
class struggle.

In his subsequent booklet, "Eurocommunism Is Anti-Communism" 
(published in 1980), Enver said Mao's call upon the party for "the 
blossoming of a hundred flowers and contention of a hundred 
schools of thought" was in theory and practice advocating a hybrid 
state, rather than the dictatorship of the proletariat. And that a 
hybrid state is something that idealists, social-democrats, etc., 
etc. champion.

In addition, Enver stated that Mao was an eclectic. In his 
Reflections on China, he stated that the Cultural Revolution was 
anti-Marxist-Leninist because it relied upon the students to smash 
and retake the state from the capitalist-roaders and revisionists, 
instead of the working class. Hence, he said this is why the 
Cultural Revolution failed and Deng Xiaoping and company were able 
to seize power after the death of Mao and initiate a process of 
dismantling the progress of the revolution.

--Southern reader
October 1990


MC5 replies:

The letter writer is a Hoxhaite, someone who claims to uphold 
Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Albania's late leader Enver Hoxha. The 
Hoxhaites are closer to Maoism than most trends on the "left" both 
because they uphold Stalin and because at least during the 
Cultural Revolution, they upheld Mao.

The writer is correct that the diary entries at least appear to be 
from before the death of Mao. What the article I wrote pointed 
out, however, was that it's one thing to write a diary. It's 
another to publish official documents.

All the public documents from Albania before Mao's death backed 
the Cultural Revolution and Mao Zedong. So why did Hoxha's public 
position change? Was it just that China's revisionists cut-off his 
aid?

Did Hoxha have another set of diaries to uncover in case China 
restored the aid? However, supposing the Hoxhaites just took a 
while to realize that they had erred in supporting Mao, what does 
their theory amount to?

MIM believes that without a Cultural Revolution and the theory 
developed by the Gang of Four, the society in Albania inevitably 
turns state capitalist. Soon we may see Albania go publicly for 
free market capitalism. Already business interaction with the West 
is increasing as are political ties with the Soviet Union. To the 
extent that Albania has not blatantly moved into Western 
dependence and free market capitalism, it is a credit to the 
popular power of the initial Albanian revolution during World War 
II.

As for the "flowers" argument, the Maoists always distinguished 
between "flowers" and "weeds." In fact, after his "flowers" 
statement, Mao had thousands of rightists executed, deported to 
outer regions and marked for life in security files. It is ironic 
for the Hoxhaites, who like to pose as the strict upholders of 
repression of the bourgeoisie, to oppose the anti-Rightist 
campaign.

Finally, MIM has numerous books on its literature list detailing 
the concrete role of workers in the Cultural Revolution. Mao 
simply observed that in China, as in Russia's case, students 
initiated the revolution. Mao did not wish that truth, just 
observed it. Hoxhaites, however, have a hard time separating 
reality from wishful thinking.


CENSORED PRISONER ASKS FOR BLACK PANTHERS SPEAK

Dear MIM:

I am an African American doing twenty years for striking a blow 
against the powers that be. I would very much like a copy of the 
book The Black Panthers Speak.

I do consider myself a non-religious socialist; however, I am not 
a member of any particular organization. I am interested in 
learning more about a number of organizations such as the Black 
Panther Militia, Radical Student Union, etc. and, of course, MIM.

I would like to know the primary reason of their existence. 
Although I order from many groups because of the institution I'm 
in, I usually don't receive the literature and when I do it is 
screened.

I have over ten copies of the Revolutionary Worker sitting on the 
assistant warden's desk right now.  I sort of stand out because 
most inmates aren't interested in socialism, rather racial 
supremacy, gang banging, drugs, pimping or other self-genocidal 
practices that are capitalist in nature.

Although I am insolvent right now, I can at least disseminate 
information. But the people will have to be receptive of it; 
otherwise, I will be wasting both our time, and my time is 
valuable to me, even in here.

--Prisoner
September 1990


1,500 DEAD SINCE 1984 CRISIS AT MEXICAN BORDER

Dear MIM:

Is the "crisis" in Saudi Arabia or on the border? The Border 
Commission on Human Rights claimed last March that 1,500 people 
have been killed on the border by bandits, vigilantes, the Mexican 
police, and the U.S. Border Patrol since 1984. (Harpers, August 
1990) We can better help Iraq if we struggle against colonial 
violence here within the political borders of the united states.

Since the KKK/Nazis have advocated "race war" on the border we 
need to remember that the struggle against border violence is the 
struggle against colonial violence. The struggle against colonial 
violence is the struggle for Mexican national liberation 
revolution which the KKK/Nazis and the U.S. government recognize 
as the number one threat to "national security." To combat border 
violence is to "reunify" Mexico--not calling for border patrol 
sensitivity training or asking the oppressor that immigration laws 
be humanely enforced. (Direccion Nacional, Fall 1990)

It's a question of uniting or dividing the Mexican nation. 
Anything and everything short of this concept around border 
violence such as to identify it as "separatism" within the 
amerikkkan context is evidence of the settler (colonial) 
mentality. No two ways about it.

--Study and Struggle
98 Wadsworth Blvd. Ste. 127-170
Lakewood, CO 80226


USE MIM REPRINTS TO DEVELOP UNDERSTANDING OF MAOISM

Dear MIM:

Generally it has been impressive to have received the study 
material from MIM. The reprints have been quite helpful in 
developing a better understanding of MIM and Maoism.

These documents, plus the MIM articles, "Myths about Maoism," 
"What Is a Pig Question?" "Internationalism vs. Single-issue 
Solidarity Work," "Notes on Leadership," "Who Is a Maoist," "Who 
Is a Communist," "Ideas vs. History -- The Materialist 
Method," "Superexploitation in Europe" and "Facts on Prison," have 
done a great deal to develop my political understanding and helped 
me better understand a few political things that I did not 
understand before.

I do think that the core Latino and Black masses make up a 
proletariat in the United States. I here include migrant and 
undocumented workers.

In a previous letter I discussed the need for quoting sources. I 
appreciate your method better now. My only concern is that we not 
use the lies and mis- and half- truths put out by the imperialist 
press as gospel.

I am enclosing donation.
--MA20
October, 1990


MC5 replies:

The writer refers to theoretical discussion articles available 
from MIM for $1 a month. They will come out every 2 weeks starting 
in about December and come out sporadically right now.


USE MN40 TO CLARIFY STALIN

Dear MIM:

We appreciated the article by MC11 in MIM Notes 44 "Imperialist 
Countries: English-only upheld."

Our scientific communism study group has finished Marx's "Economic 
and Philosophic Manuscripts" and now we are bogged down with 
"Preface to the Critique of Political Economy" where Marx writes 
"ideological forms in which 'men' become conscious of this 
conflict (relations of production) and fight it out."

We will distribute MIM Notes 40 to clarify and debunk some myths 
on Stalin in one of our "political science" classes after viewing 
the anti-Bolshevik video "Czar to Stalin."

--MA21
September 1990


INDIVIDUALS KEY TO SOCIALISM

Dear MIM:

The most favorable conditions and opportunities offered the 
individual are insufficient for a practical realization of the 
socialist way of life. An important role here belongs to the 
individual's own qualities, their world outlook, value orientation 
and convictions.

The socialist society helps the working masses to develop a 
scientific world outlook, with the Marxist-Leninist theory as its 
basis. In our quest for the meaning of life, the individual is 
sometimes unable to find the right reference point in view of 
their erroneous notions about the world. That prevents us from 
"rising to our full stature," impedes our activity, or channels it 
along a false road.

Marxism-Leninism is the compass which points the way to a 
satisfying life filled out with great social content. There is a 
direct connection between the individual's world outlook and 
nature of their activity. Those who want to live a vibrant and 
interesting life should study revolutionary theory and take part 
in the struggle to liberate all the working people, for peace and 
social progress. For this the would be educators must be educated.

A study of the theory of scientific communism helps us to 
understand the ways and means for a practical transformation of 
reality, for the establishment and further progress of a new 
world. But the formation of a scientific, communist world outlook 
is not only the result of theoretical studies and analysis. It 
cannot take shape without the individual's vigorous involvement in 
socio-political activity. Actual struggle for the new system 
promotes the individual's ideological advance. The United States' 
social scientists must play an important role here.

In spite of the old world's resistance, the new system has been 
steadily developing in a number of European, Asian and Latin 
American countries. The main goal of socialism is the new human 
being. Existing socialism, which has asserted itself on one-sixth 
of the planet, convinces people that it is the system of the 
future, that socialism implies a peaceful and happy life, a life 
of creative quests and possibilities. But such a life should be 
fought for. The forces of the old, exploitive world will not leave 
the historical scene of their own accord, and people should remove 
them by taking joint, international action. While we are students 
attempting to "study and struggle," we need to remember that 
education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in 
their hand and at whom it is aimed. The weapons we plan to use are 
the continuation of the video program, distributing the Study and 
Struggle leaflet, and to start a scientific communism study group. 
Let all oppressors tremble at the thought.

--Study and Struggle
August 1990

MC5 replies:

 MIM disagrees with the author because MIM believes Marxism-
Leninism without Maoism is not Marxism-Leninism at all. In 
particular, history has shown that class struggle continues under 
the dictatorship of the proletariat (socialism). Without such 
struggle, and even with such struggle sometimes, the result is a 
restoration of capitalism. This capitalism has existed in the 
Soviet Union since about 1956 and since 1976 in China. We can no 
longer boast that socialism covers one-sixth of the planet, but we 
have had valuable experience relevant to theory that must be 
retained, refreshed and applied again.


JUSTIFY LIBERATION OF A STATE WITHOUT A PROLETARIAT

Dear MIM:

MC5 may want to clarify to readers that the people of Kuwait 
should be distinguished from the feudal emir, when she/he goes on 
record saying "MIM would support a boycott of Iraqi oil." [MIM 
Notes 44] Now I am not aware of a proletariat in Kuwait, and in 
the face of such racist anti-Arab propaganda bullshit being 
shoveled down our throats by the Amerikan press concerning Saddam 
(some of which is true, but the white world didn't care when he 
mustard gassed the Kurds in his own population a few years 
back.... but then again, he (being now the Hitler of 1990) was 
opposing the Hitler of 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini.

I feel that MC5 could fill us in on one, who to support, two, if 
there are Maoist elements in the region and three, if MIM believes 
Maoism can surface in such a fundamentalist area of the world, in 
the foreseeable future.

I think I've covered everything that I needed to say. MIM Notes 44 
was superb, as usual.

--MC16
September 1990


MC5 replies:

Another writer wrote in about the issue of supporting Kuwaiti 
self-determination. This other writer thought that Kuwait was not 
a legitimate country anyway and was not worthy of any existence.

In MN #44, in the context of an article on anti-militarism, I said 
that MIM should support a boycott of oil from Iraq if Kuwaitis 
organized a movement for self-determination and asked for a 
boycott.

I stand by that position with the following explanations. First, 
it is typical Trotskyist or anarchist reasoning to deny the 
reality of all nationalism because it is the Trotskyist-anarchist 
goal to reach a world without nations in one gigantic leap.

This Trotskyist reasoning is flawed because if one scratches 
beneath the surface, there isn't a nation in the world that was 
not created out of some fraud or fiction. For example, the Mohawk 
Nation is a nation with an internationally recognized and morally 
unassailable claim. Yet, even the Mohawk Nation is a creation of 
geopolitical reality under imperialism. Without imperialism, the 
Mohawks would not have the concept of nation that it is now forced 
to accept to survive.

As Stalin pointed out, if a group of people has a common language, 
culture, territory and economic system, there is a certain reality 
to its existence as a nation, no matter how much deceit and force 
came into play in its origins. Kuwait fits this definition of 
nation.

Secondly, beyond the issue of the place of nations and nationalism 
under imperialism is the fact that a boycott of Iraqi oil does not 
require any involvement of the U.S. state any more than a boycott 
of environmentally unsound products. Boycotts are not the same as 
military-enforced embargoes.

Thirdly, there have been Maoist contenders in the Mideast region. 
For awhile, it appeared that Maoists even had a shot at unseating 
the Shah instead of Khomeini. To this day, Maoist elements exist 
within Iran and the Kurdish nation embedded in Iran, Iraq and 
elsewhere. In Iran, they continued to wage armed struggle through 
the 1980s. (See MIM literature list.) 

Right now it appears that some of the Kurdish armed struggle has 
lost its bearings and moved in a Hoxhaite or other supposedly 
Marxist-Leninist direction. We don't have good information on 
that, but the Marxist-Leninist Party is doing slideshows on that 
situation, which it finds encouraging.

Still, the goal of the communists is a world without borders and I 
think MC16 raises a good question. If a country does not have a 
proletariat, do we care about its liberation? Does such national 
liberation help the cause of communism?

Would the liberation of Kuwait really deliver any blows against 
imperialism? I think MIM circles should discuss this some more.

When Lenin and Stalin wrote about national self-determination, 
they did not say, "only in countries with a proletariat." Maybe 
they should have.

Another closely related issue is that some think MIM should 
support the defense of Iraq, not just anti-militarism and anti-
imperialism. I disagree because I don't think it helps the anti-
imperialist cause to support bourgeois regimes. It confuses the 
class reasons for opposing wars between bourgeois governments.

* * *
CORRECTIONS:

MIM Notes 43

MIM writers made the following errors in their translation of the  
interview with Communist Party of Peru Chair Comrade Gonzalo from 
the newspaper El Diario. The interview appeared in MIM Notes 43.

First, the phrase "popular war" should read "people's war."

Second, comrade Gonzalo did not say "identifying bureaucratic 
capitalism with monopoly capitalism of the state is a revisionist 
concept of our party." Instead Gonzalo said, "This interpretation 
of identifying bureaucrat capitalism with state monopoly 
capitalism is a revisionist concept and in our party it was 
supported by the liquidationism of the left."

The thrust of these comments is that in Peru phony Marxists 
advocate seeing state monopoly capitalists as progressive. Gonzalo 
is struggling against bureaucrat capitalism as a reactionary 
phenomenon.

MIM Notes 45

In MIM Notes 45, the first paragraph of the story on China 
incorrectly cited 1979 as the date capitalism arose in China. 
Rather, where it says 1979, it should say 1976.

* * *

MASSACRE IN THE HOLY CITY

by MC44 and MC12

On Oct. 8, Palestinians demonstrating against the rumored 
destruction of both the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 
Jerusalem were massacred by "unprepared" Israeli police forces. 
The government then reacted to the international outcry by closing 
Jerusalem to Palestinians from the Occupied Territories, sealing 
off the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The body count--from the bloodiest single incident since the 
outbreak of the intifada in December 1987--has been debated and 
finally set at 21 killed, and over 150 wounded. One thousand 
Palestinians were arrested for either organizing or participating 
in the riots. Among them was Faisal al-Husseni, a moderate 
representative from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Much has been made of who or what initially incited the violence--
whether Palestinians had premeditated an attack on Jewish 
worshippers at the nearby Wailing Wall, thus provoking the police, 
whether the attack was planned for the Israeli police themselves 
and not the worshippers at all, or whether the Israelis themselves 
were the provocateurs.

Among the factors that account for consistent undercounting of 
dead and wounded in Palestine are the unreported martyrs who are 
immediately taken by their families who don't want the authorities 
to "confiscate" them, which appears to be the case in this 
incident.

A prominent Israeli daily newspaper, Ha'aretz, originally reported 
the police propaganda as news. The paper said that the the PLO and 
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein planned the riot as a joint action 
to deflect world attention from the Gulf crisis and bring the 
Palestinian uprising back to the front pages of the media. Later, 
the paper rescinded that position, and instead contended that only 
the demonstrations against the destruction of the mosque were 
planned, but the violence was a spontaneous response to the 
actions of the Israeli fundamentalist group Temple Mount Faithful, 
placing Palestinians on the defensive.(1) 

Temple Mount Faithful is an organization of settlers who want to 
rebuild the Jewish Temple (last destroyed in 70 A.D.) on the site 
of the third holiest place in Islam, the Dome of the Rock. The 
government radio of Israel also suggested that the violence and 
rioting were provoked by the police.(2)

Police reacted to the Palestinians' stones and bottles with live 
ammunition, rubber and plastic bullets, and tear gas. The 
government reacted to the incident at large by imposing immediate 
and total curfews in the Gaza Strip and much of the West Bank, and 
by closing the city of Jerusalem to any incoming Arabs. During a 
curfew, people who leave their homes can be shot. This is the 
first time since the 1967 seizure of Jerusalem that the city has 
been closed.(3)

The world responds

The PLO drafted a resolution to the United Nations--formally 
proposed by Yemen on Oct. 9--which condemned Israel's brutality in 
the Jerusalem massacre. The resolution emphasized the use of live 
ammunition in a crowd and demanded a U.N. delegation to Palestine 
to monitor and report human rights abuses. The delegation would 
not be limited to gathering facts on this isolated incident, but 
would serve as a permanent presence in the formally occupied 
territories and eventually have a role in "bringing about a peace 
process."(4) 

The United States immediately drafted a counter proposal which 
condemned Israel's excessive use of violence and called for a U.N. 
delegation which would investigate this incident only. The counter 
proposal also included a condemnation of the violence against the 
Israeli setters at the Wailing Wall.(5)

The PLO's proposal posed a significant threat to the alliances 
that the United States has made with some Arab countries--
especially Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria--over the use of military 
force against Iraq. As the United States buys greater influence in 
the Arab world through economic incentives to participate in the 
Gulf effort, its need for the Israeli iron fist may diminish, the 
Israeli government fears. The United States has walked a tightrope 
in the region recently, with a strategy which has hinged on Israel 
keeping a low profile--thus allowing the sell-out Arab governments 
to go on pretending that taking aid from the United States to help 
put down another Arab country does not represent a betrayal of 
Arab unity against Israel.

As far as the allegations that Israeli agents incited the violence 
on Oct. 8, it is not hard to identify their interest in fracturing 
these U.S.-Arab alliances. Similarly, in order to debunk the 
analogy between the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait and the Israeli 
occupation of Palestine, Israel needs to provide reasons why the 
Palestinians are a hostile force and not innocent victims, as in 
Kuwait. 

PLO Information Office Director Jamil Hilal called the United 
States out on its hypocrisy: "The United States got three 
resolutions on Iraq out of the Security Council in five days, and 
it spent five days obstructing a Palestine proposal."(6)

Israel responds to the world

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir and his cabinet announced 
that Israel would not cooperate with any delegation from the 
U.N.(7) In further defiance, Housing Minister Ariel Sharon 
announced a new housing plan which would settle Soviet immigrants 
in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a more overt, direct manner 
than the United States wants to publicly endorse. He told 
reporters that in order to strengthen Israel's political position 
he would need to "strengthen the Jewish population" in 
Jerusalem.(8) Israel had previously agreed that the $400 million 
housing loan from the U.S. earlier this year would not be used to 
settle Soviet immigrants in either the West Bank and Gaza Strip or 
East Jerusalem.

Notes:
1. Detroit Free Press 10/12/90.
2. AP in Ann Arbor News 10/18/90.
3. AP in Ann Arbor News 10/9/90.
4. Detroit Free Press 10/22/90.
5. New York Times 10/12/90.
6. New York Times 10/18/90.
7. AP in Ann Arbor News 10/15/90.
8. New York Times 10/16/90.

* * *

SEXUAL HARASSMENT REPORTED AT INS DETENTION CENTER

by MA10

A number of female security guards at the U.S. Immigration and 
Naturalization Service Bayview detention center reported that male 
guards are sexually harassing both female guards and detainees. At 
least three former female guards reported that their supervisors 
had sexually harassed them. One guard said that the supervisors 
used the camp "as their own supermarket for sex from the detainees 
or from the guards."(1)

The Bayview guards are employed by the United Inter Investigative 
Services Company, which supplies the detention center with 130 
guards. While the recent allegations concern supervisors who work 
for the security company, the female guards suspect that INS 
officers are also involved. 

Several women reported that they were dismissed for objecting to 
sexual advances. The issue is not a new one: in May, two Central 
American women detained at the Brownsville INS center accused 
guards there of sexual harassment.(2) The Bayview incident has 
been referred to the INS internal investigations department, and 
"is being investigated."(1)

Notes:
1. Brownsville Herald September 1990.
2. Valley Morning Star (Harlingen) 5/31/90.

* * *

CONGRESS PLAYS "LET'S MAKE A DEAL" WITH EL SALVADOR

by MA10

On Oct. 19, the U.S. Senate voted to cut military aid to El 
Salvador in half, withholding $42.5 million of the $85 million 
designated for El Salvador in 1991. 

What's the catch? The first amendment to the legislation, 
introduced by Senators Christopher Dodd and George Leahy, insures 
that President George Bush retains the power to reinstate the full 
amount of aid if he determines that the Farabundo Mart’ National 
Liberation Front (FMLN) "is walking out of peace talks that are 
under way or mounts an offensive that jeopardizes the survival of 
the Government."(1) The FMLN is the guerilla group fighting 
against the U.S.-backed government of El Salvador under Alfredo 
Cristiani.

A second amendment, not voted on as of MIM press time, would add 
another condition requiring the FMLN and the Salvadoran government 
to accept a United Nations supervised cease-fire within 60 days of 
the time the bill goes into effect.(1)

That Democrats and Republicans have been arguing over this issue 
for months, describing it as a major partisan conflict, is 
laughable. To pretend that the Dodd-Leahy amendment creates 
conditions for any resolution of the war in El Salvador is naive 
at best. Still, most El Salvador solidarity groups--particularly 
the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador 
(CISPES)--place great confidence in the congressional cut-off of 
aid, rather than self-reliance of the people in El Salvador.

The most recent round of talks between the FMLN and the Cristiani 
government ended on Sept. 19.  The talks failed to result in their 
goal of a Sept. 15 cease-fire. The only agreement they reached was 
to meet again sometime before November 4. (2) 

The FMLN recently issued a new economic model and political 
platform statement.  MIM is withholding comment on the new 
platform at this time, in anticipation of further information.

Notes:
1. NYT 10/20/90, p. 3.
2. NYT 9/19/90, p. 3.

MIM's response to FMLN

by MC44

It may appear that the Christopher Dodd-George Leahy plan in the 
Senate expects the FMLN to abide by a stipulation which directly 
contradicts its expressed purpose. Some observers may think that 
mounting an offensive which would jeopardize the government is 
exactly what the "revolutionary" movement in El Salvador has been 
striving to do for the past ten years. MIM disagrees.

The FMLN, strongly influenced by the Communist Party of El 
Salvador (PCS), has long supported negotiations with the 
Salvadoran government. Back in 1982, the FMLN's plans for 
conciliation with the government affirmed the legitimacy of the 
military by taking the position that guerillas could eventually 
reform the existing army by cleaning out its membership and 
joining it themselves. There was no precondition for the 
withdrawal of U.S. troops before the talks could begin.(1) The PCS 
answers politically to the Soviet Union, which is currently 
aligned with the U.S. to issue a joint statement to the government 
and the FMLN. The statement calls for the intensifying of their 
peace talks and a negotiated settlement.(2)

MIM supports all struggles to overthrow imperialism, but denies 
that the reformist tactics of the FMLN and the PCS will ever 
achieve this goal. Anything that comes out of negotiations with 
Cristiani's fascist Arena party is unlikely to seriously address 
the plight of the oppressed Salvadoran people, and the FMLN should 
not be wasting its time.


Notes:
1. "Central America: Imperialism and Revolution," pamphlet of the 
Central American Solidarity Committee, p. 36.
2. NYT10/19/90, p. A3.

* * *

MANDELA PUSHES INTEGRATION OF U.S. AFRICAN AMERIKANS

by MA20

Nelson Mandela has come and gone. Through his tour in June 1990 
Mandela was able to rouse probably the largest number of Afro-
Americans  since the Black Movement of the 1960s to rally in 
support of a Black issue (an African issue at that). This 
indicates that the Black American population is clearly opposed to 
apartheid and, contrary to popular opinion in the Black community, 
is not hostile to Africans or African issues.

Also, there was the chance for politicians of all stripes to wrap 
themselves in Mandela. Whether it was a socialist group selling 
its pamphlets or a liberal U.S. Congress representative applauding 
Mandela, the Mandela trip was the time for political grandstanding 
of the highest order.

Mandela even received support from a number of capitalist sources 
such as the U.S. government's National Endowment for Democracy. 
"One of the conditions for this money would be a suspension of 
violence in the context of negotiations. About $32 million has 
already been allocated by Congress and $10 million more would be 
available to the South Africans if they meet the conditions."(1)

Should the ANC continue this policy and not promote and organize 
for a worker's controlled and managed state, the plight of Black 
workers in South Africa will continue.

Message to the United States

The good feelings Mandela inspired aside, hewas unable to provide 
revolutionary leadership to the African-American people as to 
their national tasks inside "the belly of the beast."

It is difficult to make criticisms of the ANC and a leader such as 
Mandela. The freedom fighters in South Africa are under the gun. 
And many South African conservatives, Afrikaners, and even some 
Blacks (i.e. Inkatha) oppose the freedom fighters in their work to 
end apartheid. The U.S. government itself helped to capture 
Mandela 28 years ago. So, any criticism of Mandela is made with 
respect and with the understanding that all of us make political 
errors, and we should be open to receive constructive suggestions 
and criticisms if we want our strategy for revolution to be 
successful.

Mandela claimed that Afro-Americans do not live under "the grip of 
white supremacy."(2) Nothing could be further from the truth. 
Mandela "preferred not to discuss the social and economic status 
of Blacks in the United States."(3) However, he did make a general 
statement supporting the Native struggle.

Mandela and the ANC's implicit message to Black Americans was 
that, while it is very helpful to support the anti-apartheid 
struggle, Black Americans should follow a strategy of achieving 
civil rights and strive to integrate into the U.S. capitalist 
society.

Malcolm X, the progressive Black nationalist murdered in 1965, 
told the Black masses an opposite message. Malcolm X called for 
African-Americans to oppose U.S. imperialism.

The ANC's implicit strategy vis-a-vis Afro-Americans is wrong. In 
an unbelievable statement in Los Angeles, Mandela said that, 
"having met President George Bush and Secretary of State James 
Baker we would like to say that they are also a part of the anti-
apartheid forces of this country." (4)

Nonsense. Bush and Baker want to end sanctions and act against the 
interest of the freedom fighters. This is plain in both in the 
U.S. moves at the United Nations and the policies of the U.S. 
Congress.

Mandela had a golden opportunity during his U.S. tour to encourage 
the Afro-American people to oppose U.S. imperialism at home and 
abroad. Instead, he took what could at best be called naive and 
uninformed or at worst an opportunist posture in his U.S. tour by 
limiting his call for Americans to continue to oppose apartheid.

It is somewhat useless to speculate as to what the reasons are for 
the ANC's tactics on this question. Was it to protect its access 
to U.S. donations? Was it to keep its relations with the U.S. 
government smooth, not wanting to "interfere in the internal 
affairs of another country"? (That is what sanctions are though.) 
Is it all just political maneuvering, using the Macheavellian 
strategy of "the ends justifying the means"?

The support for the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa 
(Azania) must continue. We, in the United States, must continue to 
support freedom for Nelson Mandela. We must support the demand for 
an end to the state of emergency. We must support the release of 
the 1,000 political prisoners and the return of 20,000 political 
exiles that the ANC has made to the South African government.

We must oppose the hypocritical demand that the U.S. government 
makes that the Black South Africans stop their armed struggle, 
while the U.S. government arms contra armies and 
counterrevolutionary governments worldwide.

Notes:
1. New York Times 6/26/90.
2. AP 7/28/90.
3. AP 7/12/90.
4. AP 7/20/90.

* * *

LOCAL JOURNALIST TIPS OFF THE COPS: BORDER PATROL RAIDS SOUTH 
TEXAS SHELTER

By a comrade

On Thursday, Sept. 27, Border Patrol agents raided Casa Romero, a 
Catholic Church-sponsored shelter for Central American refugees in 
the Rio Grande Valley. The Valley is that 100 mile stretch of 
Southern Texas which extends up from the Rio Grande River. 
Operating under the pretense of national security, the Border 
Patrol claimed that they were in search of Iranian or "Iraqi-
connected terrorists."(1)

The Border patrol did not find the persons they were supposedly 
looking for, but took the opportunity to arrest 35 other 
immigrants, mostly Mexicans and Central Americans. The five 
Indians and two Pakistanis arrested were taken to the county jail 
in Brownsville, while the others were taken to the Bayview 
detention center of the Immigration and Naturalization Service 
(INS).(2)

This marks the first time that Casa Oscar Romero, named for the 
Salvadoran Archbishop murdered by the Salvadoran army in 1980, has 
been raided. The shelter, established in San Benito Texas in 1982, 
moved to Brownsville in 1987.

Local TV reporter Bill Young said he received a tip that there 
were 37 Indians at Casa Romero. He went to the shelter and 
videotaped interviews with "individuals at Casa Romero who 
identified themselves as Indian nationals illegally in the United 
States."(2) Young then took the video to the Border Patrol "for 
comment."

Young said that the Border Patrol agents watched the interview 
tape, and "Something they saw in the tape set them off, they left 
right away," he said."(2, p. 10) Young then returned with the  
Border Patrol to the shelter, and covered the raid itself. A 
virtual create-your-own-story coup.

The Patrol arrived at the shelter with a warrant for 22 Indians. 
Unable to locate any persons of Indian descent, they proceeded to 
arrest Central Americans at random. "It's hard to tell the 
difference, so we talked to anybody who looked like they might be 
Indian," said Jerry Hicks, deputy chief for the McAllen Border 
Patrol.(2) In addition to the arrests, the Patrol stole records 
from the shelter, including I.D. records of the refugees and a 
roster of the shelter residents.

Shelter director Sister Pimentel described the agents' treatment 
of the refugees: they "were very rough, violent. They would grab 
them, push them, in some cases grab their hair and push them 
forward...."(1, p. 10)

Notes:
1. Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, TX) 9/29/90, p. 1.
2. Brownsville Herald, 9/28/90,  p. 1.

* * *

BOOT-LICKING NICARAGUAN CAPITALIST REGIME DECAYS

by MA10

fter 10 years of war in Nicaragua between the Sandinista Party, 
which overthrew the Somoza dictatorship in 1979, and the U.S.-
backed contras (counterrevolutionaries), it appeared that the 
economic situation couldn't get much worse. But the first five 
months of President Violeta Chamorro's National Opposition Union 
(UNO) government proved that it could. Nicaragua now faces perhaps 
its worst economic crisis of the last decade.

UNO's main goal after its victory in Nicaraguan elections last 
February was to privatize the economy and convince the United 
States to lift the long-standing trade embargo of the country. The 
economy was in bad shape before Chamorro came to power and now 
appears to be getting worse.

The contras, made up of remnants of Somoza's national guard, were 
created under the Reagan administration to fight the Sandinista 
government. Although the United States regarded the Sandinistas as 
Marxist-Leninist and part of the spreading red tide, their 
government was actually a broad coalition, including petty 
bourgeoisie, land owners and many avowed non-Marxists.

Last February, Nicaragua held elections which the majority of 
observers considered to be "free and fair," at least on the 
surface. To the total astonishment of the Amerikan left, UNO 
defeated the Sandinista Party. While the economic power of the 
United States--and the threat of continued war if the Sandinistas 
won--certainly helped UNO secure victory (Bush backed the 
coalition with more than $17.5 million), the Sandinistas 
themselves relied on cheap electoral opportunism such as the 
slogan "everything will be better" and calling themselves the 
"party of love."(1)

After the Sandinista loss, many Nicaraguans hoped that the United 
States would end its economic blockade and the economy, which is 
suffering from 1,000% inflation, would improve. While the Bush 
regime approved aid and lifted many sanctions, the Nicaraguan 
economy has not benefited from free market capitalism (no 
surprise).

Immediately after the Sandinista defeat, many observers feared 
civil war and questioned whether the contras would disarm and 
whether the Sandinistas would abdicate control of the army. The 
contras, at least some token number of them as far as MIM can 
tell, have relinquished their arms to be integrated into society, 
while the Sandinistas have retained control of the army.

Privatization lowers

living standards

In the current economic crisis, armed confrontations between 
disgruntled former contras and Sandinista cooperative workers, who 
run large farms repossessed from the bourgeoisie, have stifled 
production. Massive strikes in the cities have played into the 
decline in industrial and agricultural production. The 
unemployment level is at an astounding 40% with 500,000 workers 
unemployed.(2) Real wages have dropped and there have been large 
lay-offs in the public sector. Health care has been privatized and 
educational services have declined.

A recent poll by the Augusto CŽsar Sandino Foundation (FACS) in 
Nicaragua documented the decline in Nicaraguans' standard of 
living. Of those interviewed, 84% reported that their buying power 
had declined in the last three months. An average wage, which 
covered 88% of a family's basic needs in May, only covered 49% by 
July 1990.(2, p. 12) Diets have become more sparse, and meals 
fewer and farther between.  

Chamorro's government has made the pursuit of "social stability" 
the cornerstone of its new economic policy, which includes the 
elimination of "superfluous employees," a reduction of social 
service subsidies, an increase in public service rates and a tax 
increase. These translate into the harsh economic situation 
reflected in the survey's findings.

UNO's drive toward what it calls "social stability" includes the 
privatization of formerly state-owned businesses. Workers, arguing 
that they have rebuilt and revitalized state-owned enterprises, 
want the companies to be sold directly to them.



Masses respond with strikes

On Sept. 25, the government announced a plan to reduce the size of 
the state-owned sector by 25%. As part of the plan 16 state-owned 
enterprises would be returned to their original owners. At the 
urging of the National Workers Front (FNT), workers took over 
production at four of the factories.(3)

The UNO government also wants to return property confiscated from 
the bourgeoisie after the revolution. Two recently-issued 
government decrees make possible the return of such properties and 
the leasing of state-owned lands to their previous owners. 

Though one of the decrees,10-90, does state that land confiscated 
from owners with ties to Somoza is not eligible, Somocistas 
(contras and other followers of the late dictator) are currently 
returning to Nicaragua and trying to claim the land. 

Conflicts over land ownership are not the only problems facing the 
agricultural sector. A severe drought, estimated to cause between 
30-60% losses in the first planting cycle, and the absence of an 
economic policy encouraging the production of basic grains, have 
hurt basic food production. The National Farmers and Ranchers 
Union (UNAG) is predicting that 136,080 tons of basic grains will 
be produced in the 1990-91 cycle, versus the 281,233 produced in 
the previous cycle of 1989-1990. UNAG represents those 125,000 
families of small and medium scale agricultural producers who 
produce 80% of the country's basic grains.(5)

The taking over of businesses about to be privatized, and the 
resistance to the enactment of decree 10-90, occurred within the 
context of continuing strikes and protests across the country. On 
Sept. 24, the FSLN (the Sandinista National Liberation Front, the 
Sandinistas) announced  strikes to pressure the UNO government to 
support health, housing and education programs, and to suspend 
plans to privatize 400 state-run companies and dismiss 25,000 
public employees.(5) At the same time, the FNT called for civil 
disobedience, including strikes, demonstrations, workplace 
occupations and a boycott on payment of energy and water bills. 

These actions follow a summer of massive strikes which paralyzed 
entire sectors of the economy. Scant media attention in the United 
States was given as tens of thousands of workers blocked and 
barricaded streets in protest of the government's new policies. 

Almost 40,000 employees in the state sector went on strike in May. 
Two months later, 3,000 workers in the textile companies were laid 
off as  a result of a "technical work stoppage"--and industrial 
and agricultural workers joined striking textile workers. By July 
5, 80,000 workers were on strike; state industries, the Central 
Bank, the Finance System, most customs offices, various 
ministries, and dozens of agricultural businesses were shut 
down.(6) University and high school students joined the strike in 
response to the government's suspension of public transportation 
subsidies. 

Opposition won't cooperate

The government's failure to comply with agreements reached 
following the summer strikes resulted in the FNT decision in 
September not to take part in the cooperation (concertaci—n) 
process. The government has failed to follow through on seven of 
the eight points in the agreement reached May 16 between the 
government and the workers organizations.(7) Barricada 
Internacional reported that the FSLN proposed that the 
concertaci—n talks be postponed for at least 30 days, in order for 
the government to work to "reestablish the climate of trust 
necessary" with the workers.(7) Such a feat hardly seems likely, 
as the class interests of the government and the workers are very 
different.

Tension is mounting in the countryside as well as the cities. 
Confrontations between demobilized contras and Sandinista 
cooperative members are increasing. When the contras demobilized 
and disarmed the UNO government promised them land, but this has 
not been delivered. As a result, former contras are invading 
cooperatives. 

In Waslala, 400 kilometers north of Managua, at least 200 contras 
invaded the farm cooperative and took over the town. (Nicaragua 
Network reported that 200 contras invaded; Barricada Internacional 
reported that the figure was 2,000.) At least 6 people died, and 
10 were wounded. Five to seven campesinos were also killed in a 
confrontation between former contras and Sandinista supporters in 
San Juan del Rio Coco in late September.(8)

Health care deteriorates

Antonio Lacayo, the minister of the presidency, returned from a 
trip to Washington in September to announce drastic austerity 
measures which would include cuts in both health care and 
education.(9) This was followed by Finance Minister Emilio 
Pereira's introduction to parliament of a proposal which would cut 
the health care budget "to a minimum." 

Sixty-three percent of those interviewed in the FACS survey said 
that they were in worse health than they were before the election. 
They cited both the shortage and high cost of medicine as 
causes.(10) 

The effects of such a cut can already be seen in the infant 
mortality rate, which has risen to 61.7 per 1,000 children. This 
figure shows the effect of cuts to the mother-infant care programs 
which have almost completely disappeared since Chamorro took 
office. 

Health care centers across the country are receiving only 59% of 
their allocated funds, rendering them incapable of providing the 
necessary medical services, and in some cases unable to maintain 
even basic operating levels.(10, p. 6) Some health care centers 
have begun charging for health care and medicine. After 10 years 
of health care being so widely accessible, that too will soon 
become a luxury for the rich.

Schooling stops

The educational situation is just as bleak. 19% of the homes 
interviewed in the FACS survey reported that at least one student 
in the family had stopped going to school in the last three 
months.(10, p. 12) They pointed to the elimination of subsidies 
for education, increases in the cost of school supplies and 
transportation fares, which have risen 3,000% in recent months, 
and the need for students to work to contribute to the family 
income as factors in leaving school.(11) Universities' budgets 
have been cut, and literacy and adult educational programs have 
stopped. 

An important part of the new government's educational policy is to 
rid it of the "taint of Sandinismo." Some teachers were told at 
the formation of a pro-government teachers union that "Your 
highest purpose is to exorcise from the books, classrooms and 
schools all the evil taught during 10 years of revolution."(12) 

On Sept. 28, the National Assembly voted to make school director 
positions considered to be "of confidence." This allows school 
directors to be fired for political reasons. The entire FSLN 
delegation walked out in protest.(13)

U.S. blackmail continues

Where is the U.S. government in the midst of all this? It is 
frantically trying to blackmail the UNO Nicaraguan government in 
order to remove a nasty blemish from its record. 

In 1984, the Sandinistas filed a suit against the United States, 
citing the CIA mining of the Port of Corinto harbor in Nicaragua. 
The World Court found the United States guilty in 1986, and 
ordered it to pay reparations. The amount was not specified, yet 
is currently estimated at $17 billion. The United States refused 
to recognize the World Court's jurisdiction (again, no surprise) 
and has vowed never to pay the reparations. 

Last May, Congress voted to send $300 million in aid to Nicaragua 
this year. By mid-September Nicaragua had received only $60 
million. Nicaraguan officials say that the Bush Administration 
told Chamorro that future U.S. aid to Nicaragua will depend on 
whether or not she agrees to abandon the World Court claim.(14)  
Blackmail at its best. 

 Notes:
1. MIM Notes 41, p. 5.
2. Barricada Internacional 10/6/90, p.15.
3. Nicaragua Network Hotline 10/5/90.
4. Barricada Internacional 9/8/90, p. 8. 
5. Barricada Internacional 9/25/90, p. 6.
6. Barricada Internacional 7/14/90.  
7. Barricada Internacional 10/6, p.15. 
8. Nicaragua Network Hotline
9. Guardian 9/19, p.15.
10. Barricada Internacional 10/6/90, p. 12.
11. Barricada Internacional 7/14/90, p. 5. 
12. Barricada Internacional 9/8/90, p. 5. 
13. Nicaragua Network Hotline
14. NYT 9/30/90, p. 15.

* * *

SECTARIAN REVIEW

by MC12

The sectarian review is an occasional feature in MIM Notes, in 
which we attempt to illuminate the errors and achievements of 
various socialist, communist, communist-anarchist, feminist or 
social-democratic groups and publications. In this special World 
War edition, we examine and criticize some of the prevailing 
leftist approaches to the war in the Middle East.

As world wars give rise to the new shapes of imperialism, they 
also offer windows of opportunity for revolution--which require a 
thorough analysis and a correct approach by communists and their 
party, if they are to be taken advantage of.

The following is an incomplete survey.

WORKERS VANGUARD
September 21, 1990
No. 510
41 Warren Street 
New York, NY 10007
$7 for 24 issues

This paper, produced by the Spartacist League of the United 
States, is one of the more sophisticated Trotskyist newspapers. 
Still, its analysis of the Middle East war reflects some serious 
day-tripping on the role of U.S. and Arab workers, and--as usual--
a false understanding of the role and status of the Soviet Union 
in particular.

Wishful thinking predominates the news analysis here. For example, 
in noting the widely reported deal supposedly made between Iran 
and Iraq, to trade oil (only 200,000 barrels a day) for food and 
medical supplies, the paper claims: "This will make a shambles of 
the UN 'sanctions.'" 

First, little or no evidence has been published to prove the deal 
is actually taking place. Second, that quantity of oil would do 
little to shatter the international sanctions. The W.V. lauds this 
act, however, to lend credence to the demand, "Break the Blockade 
of Iraq!" which it hopes will unite Arab and U.S. workers to hurt 
the United States.

In addition, the W.V. sees the U.S. military buildup as a secret 
plot to attack the Soviet Union: "imperialism's main target for 
the last 70 years." (Tell that to the Vietnamese.) Except for the 
"sellout Kremlin misleaders who from Stalin on have betrayed the 
heritage of Red October," the Sparts still see the Soviet Union as 
a workers' state, albeit a corrupt one.

How big will the Soviet bourgeoisie have to paint the word 
CAPITALISM across the land before the Trots realize that without 
continued revolution under socialism--cultural revolution--the 
forces for capitalist restoration will prevail? And--evidence that 
the Soviet Union is not only capitalist but imperialist--in the 
current crisis the Soviets have been a key ally. 

Finally, the W.V. asserts that the U.S. working class must be 
united with Arab workers to defeat U.S. imperialism, overthrow 
oppressive Arab regimes, etc. The fallacy here is the claim that 
U.S. workers and Arab proletarians have the same interests. The 
W.V. says: "Black or white, American working people have no 
interest in this oil war." This is simply not true, and the lack 
of evidence provided to back it up belies the claim as empty 
rhetoric and wishful thinking. Bush's action in the Middle East 
stands to benefit the majority of white workers in this country 
directly through lower oil and gas prices, lower inflation, and 
the continued dominance of foreign markets which provides the 
profits to pay off the white workers for imperialism. African 
Amerikans are certainly in a different boat, and polls show a 
relatively high degree of dissension from the road to war among 
them.

Generally, the Trots hide behind vague definitions of the working 
class to obscure their anti-materialist analysis of worker 
oppression. But in this paper the definition is made clear when 
they assert: "This blood-drenched and war-driven system must be 
destroyed through the revolutionary struggle of the American 
working class supported by the black and Hispanic poor."(emphasis 
added) Here Black and Hispanic proletarians are not even included 
in the Amerikan "working class."

The Sparts are calling for the mobilization of the white working 
class to stop the war, and correctly note that the working class 
was conspicuously absent from the anti-Vietnam War movement. They 
attribute this treachery to the failure of the New Left to try 
"seriously" to "mobilize" the working class. The white working 
class gets VCRs from the oppression of Third World nations and 
oppressed national minorities, and they know it. MIM invites 
anyone who doubts this to hold their breath until the white 
working class produces the one-day general strike to oppose the 
war, which the W.V. assures us "is a very real possibility from 
the outset."

This same delusion shows up in the slogan for Palestine, in which 
the W.V. screams: "Israeli workers: throw off your genocidal 
Zionist rulers! Defend the Palestinian masses in the struggle for 
their national rights!" Anyone who thinks the liberation of the 
Palestinian nation is going to come from the Israeli working class 
shows a profound lack of understanding of Israeli society, and the 
role of colonial settlers in general.



BULLETIN
October 5, 1990
Vol. 26, No. 1871
PO Box 33023
Detroit, MI 48232
Weekly, $10 for six months

On the subject of Trotskyism: this paper--the organ of the Central 
Committee of the Workers League--dreams the same dreams, but more 
openly professes to defend the wealthy living standard of Amerikan 
workers in comparison to the masses of the Third World, including 
the "Arab class brothers" of the white working class.

A report on a Workers League official's speech notes: "She said 
that the mobilization of the working class to defend jobs, living 
standards and trade union rights was inseparable from the struggle 
against imperialist war." Another speaker predicted mass 
opposition to a shooting war, and that "that opposition will be 
centered in the working class, among factory workers, unemployed 
and youth, who are not going to sacrifice their living standards 
for the oil companies and big business."

While correctly pointing toward the need for a class analysis of 
the conflict, the Bulletin is unable to see beyond its trade-union 
orthodoxy to get at the real root of the class conflict. As 
Amerika slips in international economic prominence, it increases 
its desperation to further the oppression of the Third World, in 
order to keep up the salaries of its lackeys. The whole point of 
the war is to defend the living standards of Amerikan workers, so 
that imperialism will continue to have a material buffer between 
itself and its domestic working class.

Defending the living standards of the majority of Amerikan workers 
means furthering the oppression of their Third World victims. In 
fact, in a just world, the Amerikan white working class is going 
to have to take a severe pay cut.

PEOPLE'S DAILY WORLD
August 18, 1990
Vol. 5, No. 5
235 W 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011
$15 for one year

You know the PDW--it's the one with the red, white and blue cover. 
This organ of the Communist Party USA is not worth dwelling on, 
except that its line on the war is very similar to a broad array 
of pseudo-left publications from the Nation and In These Times to 
the most seriously reformist Trotskyist groups.

One of the tell-tale features of a compromised line in favor of 
reform through electoral struggles is the use of "we" when 
referring to the people and the U.S. government together. "Are we 
about to plunge into a vast quagmire of desert sands?" the paper 
asked in a front-page editorial after Bush dispatched troops to 
Saudi Arabia. Really putting its foot down, the CPUSA added: 
"...surely some serious national debate is called for before the 
fateful decision is made."

The basic complaint here is that Bush is violating the 
Constitution and the War Powers Act by sending troops without 
permission, as if there was any doubt how Congress would have 
voted. Of course, there were some pushing matches on the podium 
for who would get to lead the attack....

More faith should be put in the U.N., goes this argument, which 
has shown, "in dealing with the Middle East conflicts in 1956, 
1967 and 1973, that it is an effective instrument for peace." The 
not-so-subtle difference between imperialist-defined "stability" 
and real peace apparently eludes these politicians.

To really get down to doing something about the war, the CPUSA 
politely suggests that voting Amerikans make phone calls to the 
President and Congress, and the PDW even gives the phone numbers 
in a little box. The invitation to hold one's breath is in this 
case withdrawn for fear of liability lawsuits from MIM Notes 
readers.


OFF OUR BACKS
October 1990
Vol. 20, No. 9
2423 - 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
$17 for 12 issues

This eclectic journal dedicated to the exposure of women's 
oppression and struggle offers an interesting series of articles 
on the war, without any political resolution or direct stand. An 
editorial worries that the war and split among Arab countries will 
increase the power of Islamic fundamentalism and women's 
oppression in the Arab world; and also fears more anti-Arab racism 
(already apparent) and more ravenous oil-drilling by Amerikan oil 
companies.

While these are good criticisms, the most interesting article here 
is the one detailing the subordination of women in Saudi Arabia--
supposedly the object of U.S. defense efforts--the strictest 
enforcer of Islamic law in the form of state power.

Under the heading "sexual apartheid," the article notes everything 
from separate (and unequal) schooling to repressive marriage laws, 
limits on women's inheritance and testimony in court, to the state 
approach to female adultery--which is "punishable by stoning to 
death"--and seclusion laws.

And noting the restrictions placed on the behavior of Amerikan 
servicewomen in Saudi Arabia: "Imagine the outcry," OOB adds, "if 
a black soldier were ordered to bow his head when passing a white 
racist who he was also ordered to defend with his life."

Given also that OOB makes the point elsewhere in the paper that 
the USA perpetrates an endless series of similarly repressive 
measures, this article may safely escape the criticism reserved 
for those who backhandedly praise the U.S. version of capitalist 
patriarchy in their condemnation of Islamic patriarchal practices.

Exposing the extent of oppression which U.S. imperialism is 
willing to support is a worthwhile endeavor. But in another 
article OOB relegates women to the harmless backwaters of the 
revolutionary tide. Here, in "An Israeli Perspective" on the Iraqi 
invasion of Kuwait, the writer bemoans how she will "never forget 
how war forces a society into totally male constructs. How 
completely men and their brutality determine the tone and content 
of all of our lives."

This writer is a member of Women In Black, a pacifist group which 
holds weekly (weakly) vigils against the military presence in the 
Israeli Occupied Territories. The article--and Women In Black--
essentially advocates women standing tall and saying, "We hate 
this war and we hope it ends soon, you terrible men."

Where is the power? Men will not hand women their right to self-
determination any more than capitalists will voluntarily turn over 
their riches to the people. By perpetuating the role of women as 
resistors to any war--without distinguishing between the 
imperialist war which seeks to kill and dominate the oppressed 
masses, and the revolutionary war which ends in the liberation of 
all people--these women effectively seek to remove women from the 
process of revolutionary change, and retard our progress toward a 
world without patriarchy.

Still, falling short of a thorough analysis of the implications of 
this new phase of world war, OOB has illuminated some important 
aspects of the crisis which too many leftists are leaving out.

* * *

UNDER LOCK & KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONS AND PRISONERS

PRISON EXPANSION IN THE 1990S: PRISONER POPULATIONS RAPIDLY 
INCREASING

by MC11

Things are getting out of hand. It's almost more than the state 
(the U.S. government) can handle. So many people need to be locked 
up in order for capitalist society to function smoothly, it's hard 
to find space for them all. The state and federal prison 
population topped 700,000 this month (that's not counting people 
in jails), and there is no place to put them. The state's answer 
to this not-so-little problem? Build more prisons.

Take the state of California for example: during the 1980s, the 
number of prisoners in California rose from about 20,000 to more 
than 90,000. The California state prison system was originally 
designed to hold about 50,000. In order to more than double prison 
capacity by the 1990s, the California Department of Corrections 
has planned major prison construction programs. In every general 
election since 1984, people voting in California general elections 
have approved prison bonds. Another prison bond proposal on this 
November's ballot calls for $450 million worth of bonds, and 
Republican Gov. George Deukmajian has said that in order to reach 
the DOC's goal, voters will probably have to approve bond issues 
in every general election between now and the year 2000. 

Overcrowding isn't limited to prisons. Space is so scarce in 
federal jailsWHAT'S THAT?? that U.S. Marshals spend $27.5 million 
a year just moving inmates around between jails and courts. It's 
typical for a prisoner to be placed in a jail several hundred 
miles from where he or she must appear in court simply because 
there are no open beds. The average daily number of federal jail 
inmates skyrocketed from 3,618 in 1981 to 13,916 in 1990. Marshals 
expect 16,000 additional daily inmates by 1995. 

Again, the solution is to build more jails, according to the 
state. $35 million are slated for a federal jail construction 
program in 1991. Somehow, the imperialists who run the state have 
to find a way to lock up one-third of all the Black men in this 
country. Somehow a hugely disproportionate number of poor people 
need to be put behind bars each year. Somehow, revolutionaries who 
seek to overthrow the oppressive imperialist state--especially 
members of oppressed nationalities within the U.S.--must be taken 
into the protective custody of the state. Prisons are indeed a 
powerful coercive tool necessary to keep capitalism going, and the 
ruling classes of the U.S. know that. That's why they keep 
spending more money to build them.


SLAVERY BY ANY OTHER NAME...

by MC11

Prisoners are just not being exploited enough, some California 
capitalists believe, and as innovative entrepreneurs, they've come 
up with a way to exploit them some more:  make 'em work. A 
proposition on the California state ballot this November would 
amend the state Constitution to allow the Department of 
Corrections and county officials running local jails to enter into 
joint ventures with private companies that would hire inmate 
labor. The companies would lease property on prison grounds well 
below market rate, and would get a tax break of 10% of the amount 
of wages paid to each inmate. Yes, the prisoners will get paid, 
with just one hitch:  the director of the Department of 
Corrections still be authorized to deduct up to 80% of the 
prisoners' pay to "defray the cost of their incarceration."


PRISON GUARDS' UNION MAKES REACTIONARY DEMANDS

by MC11

In October, a union representing Indiana state prison guards 
called for permanent, six-member shake-down crews to move 
prisoners from cells, search for contraband and perform other 
unspecified functions. The union also demanded additional training 
in use of weapons and more screened-in cells.(1) These demands are 
similar to those of the guards who went on strike at Riker's 
Island, New York. The August Riker's Island strike demanded that 
guards be able to use more force on prisoners. Three hundred 
prisoners were injured at Riker's after the guards went back to 
work with their demands fully met.(2)

MIM maintains that the prison guards are part of the bought-off 
white working class. The majority of guards are white, while 
prison populations are predominantly Black and Latino.(3) Prisons 
create high-paying, non-productive jobs which secure the privilege 
of the white working class at the expense of national minorities.

MIM has argued before that prison guards are a good example of why 
MIM says revolution will not come from the U.S. white working 
class. (See MIM Notes 44.) True, as paid agents of the state, they 
may be more bought off than the average white worker. The white 
prison guards, who agitate for more repressive measures against 
the Black and Latino prison population, are similar to white 
workers in any other industry, who agitate for war, imperialism, 
and the oppression of Third World workers so that they can 
continue living their $30,000-a-year lives of privilege.

Notes:
1. Chicago Tribune, 10/16/90 p.3
2. New York Times, 9/1/90
3. According to the 1989 Corrections Yearbook, almost 80% of 
prison guards are white and their average starting salary is 
$18,213.

THANKS FROM ANGOLA

Dear MIM:

I'm writing this letter in behalf of the "Campaign of Exposure" to 
thank you for your Aug. 1 (MIM Notes 43) article titled, "Klan 
Guards Murder Prisoners in Angola." This article did a great job 
of exposing and publicizing the murder of fellow prisoner Johnny 
Augustine.

We (the "Campaign of Exposure") thank you for your support in this 
cause. Continue to keep up the good work for it's all about 
defeating this oppressive and deplorable system.

--Angola prisoner

September 1990


* * *

MUSIC REVIEWS

What music (if any) is politically correct is an ongoing debate in 
MIM circles. Questions asked include whether certain rockers or 
rappers are interested in revolution or just what sells and even 
whether Madonna is part of a resistance culture. So to address a 
hot topic and to analyze the popular culture that everyone can 
have an opinion on, MIM is adding record reviews to its regular 
cultural-criticism line-up.

For starters, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, there 
is no major Maoist musical group in Amerika. (And not even any 
minor ones as far as the party is aware.) The Gang of Four, an 
English band which named itself after Mao's sucessors and borrowed 
Maoist rhetoric, is long defunct. There are no bands that the 
party considers politically correct, 100%. 

In general, the reaction to the decay of capitalism manifests 
itself faster in the arts, where there is a wider variety of ideas 
than in, say, academia or print media. While there are no Maoist 
groups, there are many which represent some form of advanced 
thought. The majority of these are anarchist or nationalist.

Second, monopoly capitalism controls music, like all other media. 
Perhaps the music industry is even a little more restricted than 
print media, but not quite as dominated as the three-network 
television system. When groups like Public Enemy or Consolidated 
bring us their "revolutionary" message it is because record 
industry analysts have decided that they can make money off the 
message.

Of course, there are independent labels that provide some of the 
more political music and less homogenized sounds. In the future 
MIM will pay increased attention to the work and politics of the 
"indies."

For the most part, our reviews will not be concerned with the 
music as much as the lyrics. Much powerful, creative music is 
reactionary. These reviews aim to get around the typical nihilism 
of rock and roll and discuss the politics of music, particularly 
the lyrics. 

Good music can strengthen a political message the way 
sophisticated layout and printing make MIM Notes better than if it 
were xeroxed. Still, it's the substance that counts, so if you are 
looking for wonderful prose on melodic qualities, upbeat rhythms, 
tonal vibrato or whatever, read Rolling Stone or CMJ.


PUBLIC ENEMY, FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET  (CBS RECORDS, 1990)

P.E.'s biting nationalist rap punches the white establishment 
square in the face. The record attacks the police, the "anti-
nigger machine," and exposes Amerika's war on Blacks.

The line is straight Nation of Islam right down to the members of 
the band pictured on the back of the album wearing FOI (Fruit of 
Islam) hats. "Burn, Hollywood Burn"--a song that takes the racist 
media to task for the negative portrayal of Blacks as servants and 
criminals--comes out with the familiar Black culture analysis. 
That is, the brothers choke when the go to see Driving Miss Daisy 
and decide the people need to make their own movies--like Spike 
Lee.

True enough--the masses will need to create their own movies and 
culture after the revolution--but just making movies or music will 
never get us to that point. Spike and P.E. can't escape capitalism 
with the power of their art. They can make valuable contributions, 
but Amerika is not going to allow the Black nation to simply walk 
away and create its own world free of exploitation. If that were 
possible, the lot of us would have done it already.

P.E. is frequently attacked as sexist or anti-Semitic or plain 
hateful. The band answers most of these charges in the first few 
cuts. "I think that white Liberals, like yourself, have difficulty 
understanding that Chuck D represents the aspirations of the 
majority of Black youth out there today," says one supporter in 
"Incident at 66.6 FM."

The anti-Semitism charge is the most out-to-lunch. Even when 
dealing with movie-making, a business others ignorantly stereotype 
as being run by Jews, P.E. sticks to the point: It's time to burn 
the place down because Hollywood has made war on Blacks.

MIM can find no anti-Semitic lyrics on P.E.'s tracks. People 
associated with the band have said outrageous things, and been 
raked over the coals by the media for it, but they have recanted, 
apparently sincerely. Debate now seems to center on the line 
"Crucifixion ain't no fiction" from "Welcome to the Terrordome," 
the meaning of which is hazy.

The sexism charge carries more weight. On their first album, Yo! 
Bum Rush the Show, P.E. had a track called "Sophisticated Bitch." 
"Revolutionary Generation," on the new record, attempts self-
criticism with lines like "R-E-S-P-E-C-T / My sister's not my 
enemy." But when they mention the "Bitch" song, all rapper Flavor 
Flav can muster is, "Don't be one." 

P.E. is coming from a Black male point of view that says money (a 
white male province) and Amerikan culture (white is good, Black is 
bad) divide Black men and Black women. Still, Fear of a Black 
Planet represents an improvement over their previous record, It 
Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988). The song 
"Pollywannacraka" tells the story of a Black women who chases 
money and a Black man who gets rich and forgets his people, 
chasing white women. Money corrupting national identity cuts both 
ways here, whereas in "She Watch Channel Zero" (1988) a woman 
looses her identity by "watching that garbage," TV.

P.E. has never rhapsodized rape the way NWA or 2 Live Crew do, and 
they seem to be moving forward in their line on women, but it's 
anyone's guess what they might say in the future.

The most unambiguously hateful part of this album is "Meet the G 
that Killed Me," about a man with AIDS who spreads it around with 
a needle and a whore. This rap attacks gay life and gay sex with 
the typical epithets: "Man to man/I don't know if they can/From 
what I know/The part don't fit/Ahh shit." MIM calls P.E. out on 
this homophobic, stupid analysis of AIDS.

ICE CUBE, AMERIKKKA'S MOST WANTED (PRIORITY RECORDS, 1990)

This junk gets the big thumbs down. Ice Cube just can't get beyond 
blaming the world's problems on women who he wants to drill hard 
any which way he can.

"You Can't Fade Me" shows the depths of Ice Cube's women-hating. 
It's Ice Cube's story of how a neighborhood "whore" tries to dupe 
him into accepting responsibility for her pregnancy. At first he 
does, and he is ridiculed. The thought of the child support pushes 
him: "I though deep about giving up the money/What I need to do is 
kick the bitch in the tummy."

Of course, you can't fade Ice Cube. When the kid turns out to look 
like his neighbor, he's off and running and all the better for it. 
Superstud hype glances sidelong at its damage and never looks 
back.

Much like the crap from NWA, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted rages against 
the police with a rap that glorifies violence for its own sake. 
It's more macho than revolutionary. "Fuck the Police" is fine, but 
it never takes us anywhere, no analysis.

Wayne County (Detroit) cops and the FBI rushed an NWA show last 
year, perhaps showing that they fear the band. But pigs vs. 
poseurs is not the same as state vs. revolutionaries.


MAZZY STAR, SHE HANGS BRIGHTLY (ROUGH TRADE, 1990)

This record is a disappointment from a label that has many 
political bands. Mazzy Star is singing about how she never wanted 
your heart. "Ride it on baby." Not much here but strummy, strummy 
status quo love songs.

Naturally, the guitar work and blend of country and rock is 
interesting, just one of the many talented musicians who needs an 
infusion of substance.


MIDNIGHT OIL, BLUE SKY MINING (COLUMBIA RECORDS, 1990)

This disc is good as far as it goes. It says oppression exists and 
alienates, but not much more. The lead cut, "Blue Sky Mine," 
covers the plight of mine workers who must toil in the Blue Sky 
Mine to put bread on the table. There are only obscure allusions 
to what should be done to end the mine workers' pain: "Who's gonna 
save me?/I pray that sense and reason brings us in/Who's gonna 
save me?/We've nothing to fear."

This lack of analysis plagues the album as a whole. While the 
words are clear and meant to be understood, Midnight Oil doesn't 
have a vision of revolution. It's certainly a benefit that the 
lyrics are included, and indication that their songs are to be 
read and thought through.

There are songs against bourgeois technology, hero worship and 
opportunist politicians. But others wander into Christian-type 
utopia. "Bedlam Bridge" talks about a captive city, but waits for 
God or somebody to save it. Who knows?

Midnight Oil shows some concept of history in "Forgotten Years." A 
revolutionary reading of this song says it sings about society 
after the revolution (sometime in the future) and warns that 
"Seasons of war and grace/These should not be forgotten years." 
Revolutionaries no that there will have to be an ongoing, probably 
bloody struggle to achieve permanent peace

As with most of their tunes, "Forgotten Years" could be a naive 
peacenik song condemning war and politics; Midnight Oil never 
tells us. The line "It reeks of politics" is heartening in that 
career politicians give political thought a bad name with the 
masses, but it doesn't show much substance.

"Mountains of Burma" is the group's most progressive song. "We 
vote for a government/With axes in its eyes.... We feed an 
economy/It's got blood on its hands/Mountains of Burma." These are 
lyrics that speak to Third World oppression and colonialism in 
general.

Still, the song is not specific to Burma, leaving the critical 
listener wondering. Midnight Oil brings the message of the 
oppressed without the solution of revolution. Maybe they'll figure 
it out. Or maybe they're full of crap like the people who promote 
Third World clothes and green buying at their concerts.

--MC¯


BAD RAP

In MIM Notes 44, MA20 supported his or her story of a police 
attack on a Black man with lyrics from Ice Cube, a rap artist who 
openly hates women. Ice Cube's new album, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted 
is reviewed above. 

MA20 should be careful when choosing whom to quote from when 
writing. If one listens to Public Enemy's song "Burn, Hollywood 
Burn" (on Fear of a Black Planet), guest-rapper Ice Cube makes the 
disturbing declaration, "[I] am down with the P.E./ now every 
single bitch [wants to] see me." This by no means is to take out 
of context the quote that MA20 uses--"Every cop killing goes 
ignored. They just send another nigga to the morgue...."--but I 
feel no misogynist should ever be cited in MIM Notes, unless there 
is a recanting or an apology for contributing to violence against 
women.

I know of few rap artists who have more feminist leanings, but 
MA20 could certainly let me know if there are others. I can think 
of Queen Latifah, for one. Another group, Boogie Down Productions, 
featuring KRS-1, has come out with some great songs concerning: 
(1) who the drug war is really being waged on (the underclass, of 
course), (2) distorted, Eurocentric history in public schools, (3) 
Afrikans altering their appearances through skin bleaching and 
hair straightening (e.g. Michael Jackson) and how that reflects a 
poor self-image, (4) the benefits of living a vegetarian lifestyle 
(as well as the hazards of flesh-eating), and (5) an overall 
accurate view of the parasitic nature of profit-maximizing 
societies. Despite these politically advanced lines, the group 
cannot get over retaining a Judeo-Christian ethic and the "women 
as whores" mentality that pervades the rap scene today. Those 
negative views were enough to ruin the albums by the group that 
I've heard.

Certainly with the racist-fed hype and backlash that corporate 
(white) Amerika has been feeding the masses about groups like 
Public Enemy and 2 Live Crew, a redress is in order, in fact long 
overdue! Believe me I know there is more to rap than anti-
feminism, anti-Semitism, pro-nationalism and homophobia too!

But the masses need pro-feminism, pro-internationalism and 
environmentalism. The best I've heard yet has been KRS-1, and that 
still is not far enough. If I hear of anything better, I'll let 
MIM know.

MA20 is day-tripping if she or he thinks the fair citizens of 
Greensboro are going to give retribution to the Paschal family and 
suspend cops. For killing a Black man they'll receive promotions! 
MA20 should be aware that the Afrikan masses in this country have 
yet to receive anything but the poorest of living standards from a 
country that their ancestors built. Maoism is the only way they 
and the rest of the oppressed will obtain justice.

--MC16

* * *

MOVIE REVIEWS

Goodfellas

Critics are praising this movie to the skies, and it's hard to see 
why. Even if they didn't have to pay, they must have found the 
two-and-a-half hours tedious.

Perhaps it was the tedium that impressed them. Mechanically 
translated from the autobiography of a "wiseguy"--a mobster--
GoodFellas portrays the deep emptiness in the lives of men who 
said of themselves, "We were wiseguys. We could have anything we 
wanted. We could do whatever we wanted." In one memorable shot, we 
follow the central character and his date with a wide angle lens, 
down into an airless blind pig, past one, two, three bouncers, 
through the kitchen, behind the waiter carrying a special table 
while other patrons give salutes, to the best seat in the house 
for a show featuring Henny Youngman and his dismal "Take my 
wife...please." Some high life.

In the twenties, good citizens were outraged when boy scouts 
visiting Wrigley Field broke rank to get autographs from Al 
Capone, their hero. But the mafia no longer has that allure, so 
its myth didn't need debunking in a 1990 movie. Today, would-be 
criminals can find plenty of straight jobs to satisfy cravings for 
violence and power.

--MC89

* * *

MASS ADVERTISING: CAPITALISM WANTS TO SWALLOW US WHOLE. 


Amerikan mass culture is a culture of advertisement. Every break 
during "The Simpsons" includes at least one cartoon commercial 
featuring Bart -- eating a candy bar, hawking t-shirts emblazoned 
with his image. Nintendo hypes a sugar-coated "cereal system" on 
Saturday morning TV to kids taking a break from their Game Boys. 
Weeks before its debut, a new Madonna "video" is the subject of 
15-second teases. But when "Like a Prayer" comes out, it's not a 
video at all. It's a Pepsi commercial. A "real" video -- whatever 
that may be -- premieres later.

It's not that the lines between ad and vehicle are blurred. 
They've been erased. And the capitalists are cashing in on the 
seamless, unceasing world of consumption they've created. Nintendo 
aims at nothing short of having children planted in front of the 
TV around the clock -- except for quick trips to the kitchen for 
another bowl of Nintendo cereal. Or Teenage Mutant Ninja Cereal, 
which has a cartoon tie-in.

For an adult audience, United Technologies, Exxon and Mobil, and 
Philip Morris (see below) provide ready-made political analysis. 
The copy they run -- so smooth, so compelling with its invocations 
of "freedom" -- at the bottom-right corner of the New York Times 
op-ed page, is better than the columnists'. Politicians are taking 
note. Listen to speech by Senator Newt Gingrich for an example of 
how mainstream political discourse is being shaped by 
multinational corporations' ad staffs.

In this issue, MIM Notes inaugurates a new column, conceived in 
disgust and dedicated to the proposition that capitalism wants to 
swallow us whole. 


PHILIP MORRIS: PR CAN'T VIEL DEADLY AIMS

Philip Morris Companies Inc., manufacturers of the cigarette that 
outsells the rest combined, Marlboro, is the target of a boycott 
because of the company's support for Sen. Jesse Helms. Recent 
issues of MIM Notes have explored the pros and cons of Neighbor to 
Neighbor's Folgers boycott -- Folgers uses Salvadoran coffee -- 
and concluded that however admirable boycotters' goals, capitalism 
being the real problem, corporate reform can't accomplish much.

Unsurprisingly, then, Philip Morris moves steadily along. The 
death-peddlers, who also own Kraft and Miller Brewing, ran a 
center spread in the September Harper's Magazine bragging about 
their STRIVE program, which gives inner-city kids jobs or 
cigarettes or something. The ad showed three Black men sitting on 
milk-crates outside a corner store, with another white man 
airbrushed into their company, and was headlined, "Without STRIVE, 
this is the only corner office these kids will ever know." The ad 
explained further, "The problem is not a lack of jobs, but a lack 
of self-esteem."

Philip Morris is interested in public relations, not public 
service, and the way they work a white audience (like that of 
Harper's) shows what ideology the audience is likely to consume -- 
what the Amerikan ruling class is thinking. The plight of the 
inner cities troubles some whites, apparently. They wish that 
Blacks weren't excluded from the white world of "corner offices." 
They dream of peaceful assimilation and are troubled by the 
difficulties and failures of affirmative action (Liberalese for 
"tokenism"). If such (weak) attempts at systemic change have 
broken down historically, they reason, the problem must be 
attitudinal. Not that whites are racists -- oh no, not them. 
Rather, Blacks don't respect themselves. Time for bootstrap-
pulling, and Philip Morris is here to help. No skin off my back, 
thinks whitey, turning the page and feeling good about his or her 
brand of smokes.

The problem is a lack of jobs. Capitalism can't employ everyone. 
If everyone worked, everyone could demand more pay, and employers 
would have no way to replace them, no way to turn them down. 
Unemployment keeps wages low. And when workers are paid less than 
the value of their labor-power, employers profit. That's how the 
system works. So a lack of jobs is a hallmark of capitalism.

Actually, members of the white working class in Amerika make more 
than the value of their labor-power. They are still being 
exploited by their employers -- execs still profit big-time -- but 
they are also benefitting from the unemployment and suffering of 
others, namely people of color in this country and in the Third 
World. And when push comes to shove, the white working class lines 
up on the wrong side.

No, Philip Morris -- or capitalism in general -- can't give corner 
offices to Blacks, not even to a statistically relevant number of 
them. (As if the whole world could have desk jobs!) Philip Morris 
has thought of that, and they have a plan. Genocide. More and 
more, cigarette companies are aiming at inner-city audiences with 
obscenely successful plans. If STRIVE doesn't get 'em, lung cancer 
will.


MADONNA SAYS VOTE FOR CAPITALISM  

Capitalism moves fast. Take Madonna, whom Forbes magazine recently 
called "The Canniest Businesswoman in America." Even some MIM 
cadres, armed with the correct line, were fooled into arguing that 
Madonna professed liberation of women. Wrong. Here's a sample of 
Madonna's latest, called "Vote!" and sung to the tune of her hit 
song "Vogue":

Dr King, Malcolm X,
Freedom of speech is as good as sex.
Abe Lincoln, Jefferson Tom,
They didn't need the atomic bomb.
We need beauty, we need art,
We need government with a heart.
Don't give up your freedom of speech,
Power to the people is in our reach.

Ever the ambiguity-lover, Madonna comes out draped in Old Glory. 
Is it desecration? The Veterans of Foreign Wars think so, and 
they've complained about the spot, which is being aired on MTV. 
But they really don't need to worry. Madonna sure isn't burning 
the Amerikan flag, much less challenging the system it represents, 
with her confused medley of personages and concepts that have no 
business together in one song.

According to the New York Times' description (10/20/90 p. 9), 
"Madonna raps in the 60-second message as two flag-waving male 
dancers spank her from behind. 'And if you don't vote, you're 
going to get a spankie.'"

If you're reading this paper you've probably long since given up 
on Amerikan electoral politics, a sham system that offers two 
choices so evil neither could be called "lesser." Madonna and MTV 
have targetted a more vulnerable audience, expecting "millions of 
young people" to register to vote before November's elections. 
These millions are already champion consumers; and with Madonna's 
help they're learning to laugh at and enjoy violence against 
women; now get 'em voting: hook, line, and sinker. Nothing 
ambiguous about that.

--MC89

* * *

LET THE FREE MARKET CENSOR IT

Civil libertarians all over Amerika can heave a sigh of relief. 
The U.S. House voted on Oct. 11 against scrapping the National 
Endowment for the Arts. If Congress ever gets it together to make 
those wrenching decisions (should we tax the obscenely rich 1% 
more?) and votes on a budget, the NEA will be guaranteed three 
years to live and annual funding of $170 million. 

That's not the only "victory" for the liberal-to-the-core free 
speech movement to have happened last month. In October, Dennis 
Barrie, director of the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, was 
found innocent of obscenity charges brought against him for 
displaying Robert Mapplethorpe's homoerotic photographs. A week 
later, 2 Live Crew was acquitted of obscenity charges, too. 

What a relief. The evil far-right forces have been beaten back by 
the gallant defenders of liberal capitalist ideology, and 
Amerika's economically and culturally enforced censorship is again 
veiled in legalisms and state support for "the arts."

It's not that MIM doesn't support funding the NEA. It's not that 
MIM isn't happy about the Barrie and 2 Live Crew verdicts. 
Fighting for reforms which will make it easier for political 
expression and organizing to take place is useful. It's just that 
too often those reforms are viewed by the pseudo-leftists as ends 
in themselves. 

When the top half-percent of the people own more than the bottom 
90%, there can be no free speech. Twenty-six corporations control 
almost 100% of the media in the U.S. The culture industry is also 
dominated by a few large corporations, and the amount of 
censorship that goes on before the state or the courts ever get a 
chance to crack down on potentially subversive material is 
tremendous. 

Whatever small battles may have been won recently against the 
incursions of the far right into the liberal capitalist system 
only serve to demonstrate that overt acts of censorship on the 
part of the state or its agents are not necessary to maintain the 
high level of censorship inherent to capitalism. Such small 
victories can lull people into believing that the system's own 
checks and balances are enough. No. Speech is not free in the USA, 
and won't be until communists seize state power and help to build 
an egalitarian society.

--MC11

* * *

POWER GAMES

Gary Kasparov, the world chess champion, has begun his third 
defense against Anatoly Karpov in a 24-game match in New York and 
Lyons. The world's eyes are upon them, not so much because of the 
beauty of their games, but because they are portrayed as political 
opponents, forces of light and darkness.

When Amerikan Bobby Fischer wrestled the title away from the 
Soviet Boris Spassky in 1973, Western media vaunted Fischer's 
brilliance against the automaton. Now Fischer wanders around 
Pasadena, CA muttering anti-Semitic bile. And Spassky has defected 
to France, where he lives the life of a playboy.

Cold-warriors found more convincing images of themselves in the 
next two contenders, the young Karpov, who assumed the title when 
Fischer refused to defend  and Viktor Korchnoi, a paranoid 
defector.  Korchnoi lost lopsidedly twice. He said a Soviet witch-
doctor in the audience had hypnotized him.

With his patient, airtight game, Karpov held the title until he 
was bested by the slashing Kasparov. Kasparov called Fischer "the 
real champion" even after he had won the title himself. This was 
good, and the media wanted more. They ignored the fact that 
Kasparov had twice changed his name, first from Weinstein (he does 
not talk about his Jewish father), then from Kasparyan (his 
Armenian family fled their home in Baku, Azerbaijan last year), to 
the present, Russianized version. And they ignored his joing the 
Soviet Young Pioneers at the early age of 13, a transparent bit of 
social climbing. Kasparov was the new man of freedom.

Now Kasparov speaks of a future in politics. He is deputy chairman 
of the new anti-communist Democratic Party of Russia, and he plans 
to run for a seat in the Soviet Parliament. With a flair for the 
dramatic, he is playing the match under a pre-revolution Russian 
flag rather than one of the Soviet Union and he says things like 
"My country is burning. You think I worry about games?"

The New York Times found someone to say that Kasparov is putting 
his life on the line with his activism. But Kasparov, pictured on 
the cover of the Times' Sunday Magazine (10/7/90) with his hands 
clasped in what could easily be mistaken for prayer, has earned 
himself a guaranteed purse of $1.3 million, a sum that would be 
unthinkable if chess was the only issue in the match: he knows 
what sells.

--MC89