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                 People's Tribune (Online Edition)
                   Vol. 25 No. 1 / January, 1998

                 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
                        Email: pt@noc.org

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WHY BAIL OUT BILLIONAIRES?

The greedy capitalists and their bloodsucking political henchmen
are dragging us into a disastrous global economic crisis. You know
they won't be looking out for anyone but themselves.

With South Korea going under, and Japan tottering on the brink,
can the rest of the world, including the United States, be far
behind?

Time has run out for the capitalist system. Only the common
ownership of all the world's wealth can save the planet and its
people. If you count yourself among the people who care about what
happens to the world, you will want to read more. See story 1...

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INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition)
Vol. 25 No. 1 / January, 1998

Editorial
 1. LET'S SAVE HUMANITY, NOT THE BILLIONAIRES

Spirit of the Revolution
 2. BUILDING A PROPHETIC CHURCH OF THE POOR

News and Features
 3. TEAMSTER PROBE: UNION MILITANCY UNDER ATTACK
 4. MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY 1998: RULING CLASS MUST 'YIELD TO THE
    MANDATES OF JUSTICE!'
 5. PUBLIC HOUSING CRISIS IN CHICAGO
 6. SURVIVAL TACTICS: WE MUST CHALLENGE CORPORATE CONTROL OF OUR
    FOOD SUPPLY
 7. THE FIGHT FOR ECONOMIC RIGHTS EXPOSES IMMORALITY OF THE SYSTEM
 8. KYOTO CONFERENCE: CAPITALISTS MURDER THE EARTH

Deadly Force
 9. THE KILLING OF DARREL 'CHUBBY' HOOD

Culture Under Fire
10. AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVE MARSH (PART II): CORPORATE CONTROL OF
    MUSIC

>From the League
11. CALL FOR THE THIRD CONVENTION OF THE LEAGUE OF REVOLUTIONARIES
    FOR A NEW AMERICA
12. NOTHING CAN STOP AN IDEA ... WHOSE TIME HAS COME
13. THE LEAGUE OF REVOLUTIONARIES FOR A NEW AMERICA: WHAT WE ARE
    AND WHY

Letters
14. LETTERS: WE NEED TO CONTROL THE TECHNOLOGY, SAYS READER


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1. EDITORIAL: LET'S SAVE HUMANITY, NOT THE BILLIONAIRES

The headlines are ominous: "Asia Braces for Further Currency
Falls"; "Korea's Crisis Sends Ripples Around the World." The bad
news is, things are going to get worse before they get better. The
steadily widening economic crisis in Asia and what seems to be a
worldwide motion toward police states is proof of that. The good
news is, there is cause for hope. A basis for unity and struggle
of the majority of the people around a common program is
developing.

The Asian financial crisis threatens to engulf the world, and at
its root are fundamental flaws in the very system of capitalism.
It's not just Asia that the capitalist governments are trying to
bail out, but the capitalist system itself. And even this
"bailout" (if it works at all) will be temporary, until the next
(and deeper) crisis manifests itself.

We don't need another bailout of the billionaires; we don't need
to tinker with the existing system; we need a new system, one that
serves humanity rather than impoverishes and oppresses it.

While the ruling-class politicians and economists point to
"corruption and mismanagement" as the cause of Asia's troubles,
the developing crisis is really a reflection of several things:
the globalization of markets for capital, labor, and goods and
services; the replacement of labor with electronics in the
production process; the flooding of world markets with more
products than people can buy; the falling rate of profit; and the
shifting of huge amounts of capital from productive investment to
speculation. The combination of these factors is what caused the
crisis that threatens to spread worldwide.

The chief underlying cause is the shift to a system of production
based on computers and robots; this has begun the process of
eliminating human labor from the workplace. Labor is the source of
economic value and profit; reduce the amount of labor in the goods
that are produced, and you reduce the rate of profit. At the same
time, cutting wages and jobs is shrinking the market for the goods
that are produced. The prospect of falling profits and shrinking
markets is what has caused the financial collapse sweeping across
Asia. The crisis is both compounded and manifested by the massive
debts of governments and corporations and the global orgy of
speculation in stocks, bonds, derivatives, real estate,
currencies, etc.

The terms of the $100 billion-plus "bailout" of Asia will only
make things worse -- it means wage and benefit cuts for the
countries involved, cuts in government spending, businesses going
bankrupt, people's savings wiped out, and jobs and markets
eliminated. And at the same time, the crisis will flood world
markets with even cheaper goods. Couple this with a spreading
financial panic, and you have a prescription for a worldwide
downward spiral of wages and prices, meaning a global depression.

But there is hope. In this country, the common poverty of a huge
and growing section of workers -- whether employed or unemployed
-- is laying the basis for unity across lines of color and
nationality and along class lines.

The economic revolution that has produced a global economy and
production by computer is steadily splitting society in two. It
has created two new classes -- a class of wealthy speculators, on
the one hand, and on the other a true proletariat, a class of
people who are economically unnecessary because their labor is no
longer needed.

The core of this new class of dispossessed -- the part-time
workers, the temps, the unemployed, the homeless, the low-wage
workers, the welfare recipients, the workfare slaves -- has no
ties to capital and no interest in maintaining a system that is
literally killing them. The worldwide trend is for the majority of
society, including the skilled workers, to become members of this
proletariat.

New means of production and new classes mean a new society must be
born. The needs of the proletariat -- for food, clothing, housing,
health care, for life itself -- can only be met by a fundamental
reorganization of society along cooperative lines. In this sense,
the proletariat is a revolutionary class.

There is no question that society will be reorganized; the
question is, by whom? By the global speculators, whose morality
dictates that whole nations be impoverished so their profits can
be maintained? Or by the proletariat, whose morality demands a
peaceful, prosperous, orderly society where no one is allowed to
suffer? This is the underlying question that is being fought out
in our country today.

The daily struggle for reform, for life, is the form the
revolutionary movement takes. But its inevitable ultimate aim is a
cooperative society, where the necessities of life are distributed
according to need. For the struggle to be successful, conscious
people must step forward and guarantee that the political program
our society rallies around is the program of the new class of the
dispossessed.

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2. SPIRIT OF THE REVOLUTION: BUILDING A PROPHETIC CHURCH OF THE
POOR

By Scott Wagers

[Editor's note: Below we print the latest contribution to our
regular column about spirituality and revolution.  The piece below
consists of excerpts from an article originally published in
Street Spirit.

The article was written by Scott Wagers, a cofounder (along with
Nancy Nichols) of the Community Homeless Alliance Ministry in San
Jose, California. CHAM has organized hundreds of non-violent
protests of the homeless for housing and human rights.

Having attended Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley,
California, Scott is due to be ordained as a minister in January
1998. Many people talk about liberation theology; Scott is one of
those who practices it every day. He has organized First Christian
Church in San Jose to open its doors to the homeless every night
for the winter. For these efforts to practice the Gospel, the city
threatened to fine the church $2,500 a day.]


SAN JOSE, California -- The presence of homeless people in the
midst of tremendous affluence points not only to an economic
crisis, but also a spiritual crisis. In a society obsessed with
wealth, power, and the imperative of success, homeless people are
stigmatized as personifying moral degeneracy, powerlessness and
abject failure. From the vantage point of liberation theology,
however, if one takes the "preferential option for the poor"
seriously, the most destitute in our midst become the agents of
transformation in "God's Today."

My experiences with homeless people over the last six years as a
founder of the Community Homeless Alliance Ministry have expanded
my awareness of the Scriptural meaning of their plight, and the
significance of homelessness as the cornerstone of the "church of
the poor" in urban America.

The new homeless population, being the byproduct of the structural
economic and political trends developing over the last two
decades, will continue to grow despite periods of economic
recovery. This being the case, the homeless population will become
a diverse subculture arising from the housing and labor crises,
major cutbacks in social spending, macrolevel shifts in the
economy, local redevelopment strategies, psychological addictions,
deinstitutionalized psychiatric hospitals, gentrification, removal
of Single Room Occupancy hotels, and a host of other causes.

This sounds like an Orwellian scenario, but many contemporary
theorists believe that the explosion of poverty (which has already
begun) is intrinsic to the advancement of capitalism itself.

Organizations like CHAM must be in place to mobilize the poor as
they cross the threshold that leads into the abyss of
homelessness. This mobilization must be guided by a viable
movement theory which is direct-action-oriented, but has an
effective analysis of the Domination System, and is rooted in the
Gospel ethic of prophetic, non-violent transformation and agape.
Added to this combination of theory and practice is critical
reflection, which guides the organization and allows it to change
with the heightening consciousness engendered through this
process. With this heightened awareness, structural change can be
sought.

The effectiveness of CHAM over the last several years is due in
large part to the participation and leadership of homeless persons
themselves. Through integrating students, homeless people,
activists and clergy, CHAM has drawn strength from its diversity
and its adherence to non-violent direct action. This has produced
significant concessions for the homeless in San Jose through a
small but visible non-violent movement over the last several
years.

At the same time, CHAM has always had a tenuous relationship with
"mainstream" organizations and churches primarily because of its
techniques, which seek not only to dramatize the plight of the
poor and homeless, but also empower them in the process -- that is
the challenge of building the church of the poor.

Ultimately, as more and more of our sisters and brothers fall into
poverty and homelessness, we as ministers and people of faith must
reach out to them, even if it means delving into the depths of the
inner cities. It is only through immersing oneself in the struggle
of poverty that one can truly understand it from the underside. In
the midst of chaos, community and resistance can be born.

The church must actively seek to discern the "signs of the times"
in a theological sense and translate these signs concretely in
terms of the church's mission. Thus, the church of the poor must
strive actively to respond to God's call through becoming both
sign and servant of God's kingdom on earth.

The church as sign and servant presupposes God's movement in the
world and that this movement is discernible to us. God meets
people where they live and struggle. The community is unified in
struggle and solidarity with the poor and oppressed. Insofar as
the church of the poor not only identifies with the poor and
oppressed, but also includes their participation and liberation,
it becomes a sign and seed of the Reign of God.

The mission of the church must take into account the concrete
challenges posed by a long history of misery and oppression, while
not overlooking the need for salvation. This essentially means a
Christian life centered around a concrete and creative commitment
of service to others and a reflection upon the meaning of the
transformation of the world. Such salvation cannot be
individualistic and concerned exclusively with the afterlife;
instead, it must arise from solidarity and be "realized in the
form of liberation" -- historical, concrete liberation.

We cannot ignore structures of power wherever and however we "do"
theology. Liberation theology offers a view of sin and evil that
regards sin as social, historical fact, reflected in the absence
of love in human relationships and also in our relationship to
God. According to [liberation theology theorist] Gustavo
Gutierrez, sin demands a radical liberation and, in turn, a
political liberation. From this perspective, the structures of
power that create economic inequality lie at the heart of evil in
the world.

Facing the scenario of growing income disparities, the church is
at a critical juncture. Part of the discussion emerging from
mainline seminaries focuses on the theological, socio-political
and economic implications of Jesus' ministry, and how the
cornerstone of that ministry is "good news to the poor."


[For more information about the Community Homeless Alliance
Ministry, call 408-271-1933.]

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3. TEAMSTER PROBE: UNION MILITANCY UNDER ATTACK

By Richard Monje

[Editor's note: Richard Monje is a former unit chair of the United
Steel Workers of America. He is currently special projects
coordinator for Union of Needle Trades Industrial and Textile
Employees. Mr. Monje is also editor of the Tribuno del Pueblo, the
sister paper of the People's Tribune.]


Last year, 1997, was a year of historical significance for the
labor movement. It will be known as the year that they tried to
put the egg back in the shell. The recent attacks on the union
movement are an indication that some people are not happy with its
direction.

There has been much written about the Teamsters' election and the
disqualification of Ron Carey after his re-election to the union's
presidency. There is no doubt that there were violations of the
election rules. Carey's mistake was to rely on a handful of
technocrats who raised money illegally. In its possible worst-case
scenario, it was wrong but does not compare to the stealing, abuse
and misuse of union members' funds that has been tolerated in
other situations.

The undermining of Carey the individual is more than just those
violations of election rules. There are investigations of other
leaders like Rich Trumka of the United Mine Workers of America.
There is every indication that this is only the beginning of a
general attack against labor and the unions.

The impact of these events can affect the elections to the
leadership of the AFL-CIO and, consequently, the overall direction
of the union movement.

Why now? What is the objective of such an attack?

We must look at the context which these events are occurring and
as a process over the past period of time.

In the past, there was a social contract between the workers, the
capitalists and the government that conditioned the relations
during industrialization. This social contract can be defined many
ways. In this context it was wage labor. Through work and your
relation to production, you were guaranteed the basic necessities
of life at some level. Welfare, unemployment, Social Security,
workers' compensation, food stamps, were all a part of this
relation. It allowed for a class peace. The prosperity of the '50s
and '60s solidified this relation and characterized the union
movement. It became known as business unionism.

However, the '70s and '80s brought vast changes to production
based on the glut of the market and the ensuing economic crisis.
There were major reorganizations of whole industries with
widespread plant closings, wage and benefit concessions, layoffs
due to new technology, and plant relocations to low-wage areas of
the world. There were major strike struggles that were lost by
unions during this period.

The objective basis for the social contract was being ripped apart
in society as a whole but this is how it played itself out with
the employed and the unions.

This process was reflected in the political arena. The defeat of
the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO)
strike in 1981 opened the door to major changes in laws and how
they were interpreted. The best example is the right of companies
to replace strikers during economic strikes. Relations between the
unions and the Democratic Party were becoming strained, but the
straw that broke the camel's back was the passage of the North
American Free Trade Agreement. The struggle over NAFTA created a
ground swell of resentment among the workers with the Democratic
Party and with many leaders of the unions. There was massive
discontent beginning to be expressed through polls and through
voting patterns that were a part of the economic insecurity that
workers were already feeling. The AFL-CIO conducted a study on
union members' political attitudes by Peter D. Hart and
Associates. The study documented the growing alienation of the
membership from the union leadership and their positions and from
the Democratic Party.

It was in this environment that a motion toward political
independence began. This motion largely influenced events leading
to the defeat of former AFL-CIO president Lane Kirkland and the
election of the John Sweeney slate. This environment also led to
the conditions for the support for the formation of the Labor
Party. The United Parcel Service strike was a combination of both
the new economic reality and the growing political nature of the
struggle. There was a view of the union movement  -- temporary,
full-time, old, young, employed and unemployed workers -- united
on a class basis unprecedented in history (as well as spreading to
other countries). The defeat of the fast track legislation in the
U.S. Congress was a major setback, not for Clinton or the
Republicans, but for a sector of the capitalists that is leading
the attack against workers throughout the world.

Undoubtedly, there is a struggle for the heart and soul of the
union movement.

One side of this struggle wants to reconstitute the social
contract between the labor movement, the capitalists and the
government, especially as reflected in the unions' relationship to
the Democratic Party. The other is trying to represent the labor
movement based on the conditions of today; that is, a political
movement independent of the capitalists and the Democratic Party.
Many leaders are quite conscious of what is happening and what
their goals are in the union movement and others are being bandied
about by events, and still others want to relive the '50s.

Add to this the effort to organize new workers. There are many
Latinos and especially immigrant workers being brought into the
union movement on a scale unknown before. Not to mention that
union organizing in South has been extremely successful in the
recent period. These workers and others newly organized throughout
the country form a core and bring a new militancy because many are
from low-wage shops.

One thing is for sure: The continued trend in production with
predictions of catastrophic proportions of job loss and continued
restructuring assures that the forces for change will continue to
play a major, if not, at some point, the dominant role. However,
we would be naive to think that the capitalists and their
representatives within labor would not put up a major struggle for
control. Under the old social contract, unions were not attacked
so long as they played a restricted role in society. One ventures
beyond those parameters at one's own risk.

This is the context of the attack against Carey and other
individuals in the union movement. But, make no mistake, the real
target is the rank and file as expressed in the growing movement
toward political independence.

We must guarantee that we have a conscious program for change that
is deeply rooted in the psychology in the union movement. One of
the real lessons is we must educate our members with a class
orientation and strategy. The best program put forward thus far
that does this is the program of the Labor Party. The growing
alliance between the employed and unemployed is key to the
development and protection of our leaders in the union movement.
The egg is broken and something new has emerged.

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4. MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY 1998: RULING CLASS MUST 'YIELD TO THE
MANDATES OF JUSTICE!'

By Allen Harris

This month brings the 69th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This year brings the 30th anniversary of the Poor People's
Campaign, which King was to have led in May 1968 in Washington.
Instead, he was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis.

When the bourgeoisie looks back on King, it likes to focus on the
man who was a Southern Negro preacher, a tremendous orator and
drum major for justice. All of which is entirely true. There was
no one else like him.

But the rulers don't dwell on the last years of King's life, when
his vision was no longer that of a Southern Negro seeking racial
equality but of an American seeking economic justice on a national
level. King's focus was on poverty and his perspective was turning
away from color and toward class.

"Our economy must become more person-centered than property-
centered and profit-centered," King said in late 1967.

When the civil rights movement marched on Washington in 1963 to
press for passage of the bill President Kennedy had introduced,
the leaders were welcomed by the ruling class.

Five years later, when King proposed a campaign of civil
disobedience in the same city to demand relief from the oppression
of poverty, the White House and Congress were hostile.

The program of the Poor People's Campaign called for spending $30
billion a year to eliminate poverty. At the very least, it called
for Congress to enact legislation for full employment, a
guaranteed annual income and the construction of 500,000 low-
income housing units per year.

Again, the contrast with the March on Washington could not be
clearer. In 1963, the government rolled out the red carpet for the
marchers. In 1968, when the Poor People's Campaign came -- without
King -- the demonstrators lived in a muddy shanty on the Mall
called Resurrection City.

For two months they lived there, demonstrating and marching on the
various federal departments and being ignored. Finally the police
drove out the Poor People's Campaign in a raid.

King said in late 1967: "We've got to make it known that until our
problem is solved, America may have many, many days, but they will
be full of trouble. There will be no rest, there will be no
tranquility in this country until the nation comes to terms with
our problem."

He also said: "Something is wrong with capitalism as it now stands
in the United States. We are not interested in being integrated
into this value structure. Power must be relocated, a radical
redistribution of power must take place. ...

"We must formulate a program and we must fashion the new tactics
which do not count on government good will, but instead compel
unwilling authorities to yield to the mandates of justice."

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5. PUBLIC HOUSING CRISIS IN CHICAGO

By David Landsel

CHICAGO -- People that attend Bulls games, drive the Dan Ryan
Expressway, or visit the Division Street "Nightlife District" all
have one thing in common -- they all drive right through some of
the city's most god-forsaken pieces of real estate, otherwise
known as public housing complexes.

Mother Cabrini, Henry Horner, Robert Taylor, Ida B. Wells -- all
people who made a difference in their own way -- are known best
now for the housing projects that are named after them.

The city is concerned, you see; why should the wealthy and
privileged have to bother?  That's why this big, glorious campaign
to push all the poor into places where you won't see them has been
under way for some time now.

The Chicago Housing Authority is busy, as we speak, completing
extensive demolition at Cabrini-Green, the Clarence Darrow Homes,
and Henry Horner. The first two are highly visible to the tourists
and wealthy of our city. The last one received a great deal of bad
national press following the death of young Eric Morse some years
ago.

When Cabrini Green was completed in 1962, it was one of the
largest housing projects ever built in the United States.  Twenty
years later, the media painted it as violent and out of control.
Ever in the spotlight, Cabrini was even home to Chicago's Mayor
Jane Byrne during an amazing publicity stunt where Ms. Byrne moved
in to protest the violence of the time.  Meanwhile, other projects
in the city were just as troubled, but weren't lucky enough to
have the mayor as their neighbor.  Why?

State and Dearborn north of Division, are two streets that some of
the city's wealthiest call home.  Tree-lined streets, elegant
brownstones, gorgeous modern high-rises and quaint antique row
houses are the norm in the "Gold Coast." The view from the western
apartments in these buildings affords an expansive vista of the
western part of the city and beyond. Look straight down, however,
and you also get a full view of the entire Cabrini complex.  In
his book "Hardball: A Season in the Projects," Daniel Coyle tells
stories of Gold Coast residents looking out their windows and
seeing the flash of gunfire from roofs of the Cabrini buildings.
Needless to say, this is less than desirable for someone who has
paid upwards of $1 million for their high-rise condominium.  Two
worlds, separated only by the elevated tracks.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the CHA moved in with
their bulldozers in 1996, removing 398 units of housing in very
little time at all.  There are no signs of this letting up -- more
buildings along Division are completely boarded-up, and appear
ready for demolition.  A quote from the largely self-serving CHA
web site tells us that "the CHA will demolish a minimum of 660
units of public housing (at Cabrini), 493 replacement public
housing units will be developed by private entities in new, low-
density mixed income communities."

While surely no one entertains the idea that public housing
projects are a desirable place to live, it certainly beats
homelessness.  The Housing Authority has been ordered to get rid
of 18,000 units, affecting 35,000 residents.  "Most will become
homeless," says Wardell Yothaghan, leader of the Coalition to
Protect Public Housing, a spin-off of the Chicago Coalition for
the Homeless, begun in 1996.

Since the beginning of the demolition, developers have seemingly
snatched up every spare lot east of Clybourn for development.
Expensive new town houses butt right up against the much maligned
Near North Career Metro High School, which is being torn down in
favor of a new magnet high school to be built closer to downtown,
on Oak Street.  Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Paul Vallas
spoke of "poor design" and "structural problems." Since when is
that a concern of the Chicago schools?  Countless school buildings
all over the city suffer structural problems caused by age, and
the newest building built by the Chicago schools is going to be
torn down?  Could it be because it's prime real estate?  Could it
be that the residents of the brand new town homes on Larrabee
shouldn't have to worry about potential dangers in their street
each day?  More than likely, developers can't wait to get their
hands on this prime triangle of real estate at the corner of
Larrabee and Clybourn.

Regardless of what is really going on behind the scenes, the
obscene fact remains -- no matter how much the CHA is hyping their
new "mixed-income communities," Chicago has yet to see it happen.
Hundreds of units of housing are coming down each year, and it is
expected that this number will only increase.

As of November 2, 1997, two more Cabrini high-rises are boarded-up
and ready for demolition.  "What kind of a city do we live in,"
says John Donahue, executive director of the Chicago Coalition for
the Homeless, "where we get new sports facilities before the old
ones come down, but we lose all our public housing before new
housing is developed?"

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6. SURVIVAL TACTICS: WE MUST CHALLENGE CORPORATE CONTROL OF OUR
FOOD SUPPLY

By Tim Metzger

Increasingly, our world is controlled by transnational
corporations. This means that you and I have less of a choice in
matters which affect our health, careers, and livelihood. The
global market is creating a world in which people are restricted
and trade runs rampant. People can no longer cross borders, while
food that is needed to feed them is exported to rich industrial
countries in the North.

Rural peoples are no longer able to feed themselves with their own
crops, but must cater to a global market place where profit reigns
supreme. This is everyone's problem as we will see when the health
effects become obvious.

In today's world, a handful of corporations threaten to own the
entire seed stock of the world. This means that fewer people will
control the world's food decisions. The fact that most of the
corporations in control of food also are in the business of
chemicals and pesticides should frighten everyone. Our food is
being manipulated to require more pesticides, forcing farmers to
buy these products and ensuring that these companies make an even
larger profit. These same corporations are at the top of the list
in generating pollution in poor communities and communities of
color in the United States. At the same time, they devastate other
countries' economies by forcing people to grow crops which are
technology-intensive and not part of the local diet.

Mexico's ability to produce maize and beans (staples of Mexican
rural society) has been cut by one-third, in order to accommodate
the U.S. market's need for fruits and beef. Mexico must import
much of its food today, thanks to "free trade" under the North
American Free Trade Agreement, while people increasingly cannot
make ends meet.

The cattle industry has destroyed two-thirds of the rain forest in
southern Mexico while taking land that could be used by the rural
poor to feed themselves. Mexico has decentralized its economy in
order to compete in the global market, selling state-owned
property to transnational corporations who have no desire to feed
the Mexican people or be accountable to those it displaces.

At the same time that they destroy communities in other countries,
factories in the United States spill toxins into poor communities
and communities of color. Monsanto and Dow are two of the largest
producers of toxic waste in this country, producing chemicals here
and shipping them to Mexico to be used on the genetically
engineered soy beans that Monsanto creates. It should be noted
that many of the chemicals produced in the United States are
banned for use on farms here, but are still sold to Third World
countries as pesticides.

Monsanto's plant in Louisiana has been fined numerous times for
contributing to the pollution of an area known as "Cancer Alley"
due to the amount of toxic waste produced by large corporations
nearby. The surrounding population is around 90 percent African
American and poor and has no say in what these corporations do to
their community.

In order to stop this, people must organize. From rural towns in
Mexico to cities in the United States, people must demand that
corporations become more accountable to the communities that they
are located in. We must also recognize the global connections that
allow rich people in this county to profit, while poor people
across the globe are the victims of this wealth. The solution to
this is to struggle for real social change that recognizes
people's basic needs and allows people to meet them. Food is the
basis of life and should be equally available to all. It is
unacceptable for private companies to own the means by which
people survive. Unless people recognize and challenge the
corporate status quo, things will only get worse for the majority
of people in the world.

******************************************************************

7. THE FIGHT FOR ECONOMIC RIGHTS EXPOSES IMMORALITY OF THE SYSTEM

By Chris Caruso, Cheri Honkala and Phil Wider

Editor's note: The December issue of the People's Tribune
mistakenly stated that December 10, 1997 marks the 50th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The
correct date is December 10, 1998.

On December 10, 1948, the United Nations signed the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).  This document summarized the
highest aspiration of the peoples of the world: the freedom from
fear and want.

The Declaration defines five categories of human rights. Civil
human rights are about being treated as an equal to everyone else
in society. Political human rights include the right to vote, the
right to free speech and civil liberties.  Economic human rights
are about the responsibility of the government to arrange its
economy to meet our human needs.  Social human rights include the
right to education enabling all persons to participate effectively
in society. Cultural human rights are the rights to participate in
the cultural life of the community, enjoying the arts and sharing
in scientific advancement and its benefits.

The United Nations has declared that, "human rights and
fundamental freedoms are the birthrights of all human beings ...
all human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and
interrelated."  We cannot truly have any human rights unless we
have all our human rights.  If we have no economic rights, how can
we exercise our civil or political rights? To say that the United
States is great because it guarantees some measure of civil and
political human rights while crushing people's economic, social
and cultural human rights is hypocrisy.

The principles of the UDHR have been codified into international
law with two major treaties:  the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights.  While the United States has ratified
the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it refuses to ratify
the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Why is that?

>From the point of view of the capitalists, the new global
situation demands that all barriers to the rights of capitalist
private property be removed. Whereas in the past the rights of
private property could co-exist with certain limited economic and
social rights, today this is no longer the case. With the
introduction of electronics and the arrival of the globalization
stage of capitalism, the historically evolved contradictory
relationship between the capitalist class and the working class
has shifted to one of an antagonistic relationship between a new
global capitalist class and a new global proletariat. The new
reality puts the rights of private property in antagonism with the
rights of human beings. Governments around the world can be seen
competing with each other to absolve themselves of the need to
safeguard economic and social rights, while reinforcing their
roles of protecting private property rights.

This means that the interests of the ruling class and the ruled
class are no longer just at odds with each other, where one fought
for higher profits and the other for higher wages. Now these
classes are in fundamental opposition to each other.  One is
fighting to preserve a system based on private property and
obscene profit for the few. The other is fighting for their lives
in an emerging struggle to destroy a system that sentences it to
death and to put in its place a system that guarantees it life and
a flourishing future. Either the dispossessed, superfluous masses
will kill the capitalist system and eliminate the ruling class as
a class, or the capitalist system and the ruling class will kill
them.

America's rulers know full well that their policies are in direct
violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which
states that:

*  Everyone is entitled to the realization of economic, social and
cultural rights indispensable for their dignity.

*  Everyone has the right to work with just and favorable
remuneration, ensuring an existence worthy of human dignity.

*  Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the
health and well-being of himself and of his family, including
food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social
services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment,
sickness, disability, or other lack of livelihood.

*  Everyone has the right to education. (See UDHR, Articles 22,
23, 25 and 26).

When asked by a human rights education organization why the United
States will not sign the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, a White House staffer replied, "We're afraid of what
Americans would do to us in regard to welfare reform."

In the year leading up to the 50th anniversary of the UDHR, all
sorts of organizations will be conducting activities focusing on
human rights and human rights abuses.  We can expect that many of
these efforts will be used by the ruling class and their spokesmen
to contain and diffuse the anger of the people about their
economic conditions and to block class unity.

Some efforts will be made to expose economic human rights
violations and to put forward the need to fight for economic human
rights.  These efforts have the potential of serving as a rallying
point for the unity of the dispossessed and those threatened with
entering their ranks.  The signature campaign of the Labor Party
to win the constitutional right to a job at a living wage is a
fight for our economic human rights.  The Labor Party is the
political expression of those people who are fighting for freedom
from fear and want.  This is the fight of our time.

Which rights will be honored in the new world order:  the rights
of private property or human rights?

Perhaps more than any other moral language available at this time
in history, the language of human rights is able to expose the
immorality and barbarism of the capitalist system.

******************************************************************

8. KYOTO CONFERENCE: CAPITALISTS MURDER THE EARTH

By Allen Harris

The long-term implications of the international conference on
global warming in Kyoto, Japan are not yet clear. However, it is
clear that the billionaires put their interests ahead of that of
the Earth.

The United States is the world's No. 1 polluter, but Clinton
administration policy has been to reduce emissions of so-called
greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide) as little as possible for
economic reasons. The Europeans wanted to cut back more
drastically.

What's at stake is the viability of the planet. Basically, if the
greenhouse gases aren't reduced, then regions of the world which
are mostly cold -- such as northern Canada and northern Russia --
will become more temperate a century from now. Polar caps will
shrink and the melting ice will raise the world's sea levels.

Arctic and Antarctic glaciers are rapidly melting right now
affecting millions of people around the world who live, along low-
lying areas by the oceans and seas. Fiji is shrinking right now.
The annually flooded Philippine capital, Manila, happens to lie
four feet below sea level. Bangladesh -- one of the world's most
densely populated nations -- will disappear under water if nothing
is done. The Mississippi River delta in Louisiana will disappear.
Low-lying island nations in the Pacific will disappear.

Global warming will lead to a climatic and social catastrophe the
likes of which humanity has never seen. The bourgeoisie no longer
disputes the warnings of the scientists, but it cannot resolve
itself to do what must be done to avoid this real possibility.

The bourgeoisie's refusal by "failure" to save the only planet we
have is nothing short of criminal. The capitalists are the ones
who are destroying the environment. They presently have the
political power to dominate the rest of humanity, but they don't
have the political will to stop destroying the Earth. What better
proof than the spectacle of the Kyoto conference is there that the
capitalist class is unfit to rule? The obvious conclusion to draw
from Kyoto is that the Earth cannot be saved under capitalism.
Proletarian revolution is the planet's last hope.

******************************************************************

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
"Deadly Force" is a weekly column dedicated to exposing the scope
of police terror in the United States. We open our pages to you,
the front line  fighters against brutality and deadly force. Send
us eyewitness accounts, clippings, press releases, appeals for
support, letters, photos, opinions and all other information
relating to this life and death fight. Send them to People's
Tribune, P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, Ill. 60654, or call (312) 486-
3551.
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

9. THE KILLING OF DARREL 'CHUBBY' HOOD

By Chris Venn

LOS ANGELES -- On Saturday, November 22, while 90,000 football
fans from Los Angeles and its suburbs were watching the USC-UCLA
football game at the Coliseum, Jordan Downs housing projects
residents overcame their grief and fear and led 180 supporters in
a march to protest the killing of Darrel "Chubby" Hood, a father
of five.

Chubby was killed by the Los Angeles Police Department on
Saturday, November 15 in front of 300 residents on the field where
the Jordan Downs All Stars, a football team of 8- to 10-year-olds,
were practicing. Chubby was stabbing himself with two butter
knives in an attempt to commit suicide when he was shot by two
officers. Many of the young football players had played with his
children.

The march started in Jordan Downs and continued south past the
Hacienda Heights housing projects through the Nickerson Gardens
housing projects up 108th Street to the Southeast Division police
station. Before a truce called in 1992, these communities were at
war with one another. However, this Saturday there was peace
between the communities as many joined the march to the police
station. The night before, many of the posters for the march had
been air-brushed by an artist from Nickerson Gardens.

The entire community supported this call for justice and supported
the tactic of a march to the police station where the murderers
had returned after killing Chubby. There was no mayor, nor any
city councilmen at the station to greet the marchers and commend
them for their courage in confronting injustice. Instead, there
were 35 helmeted riot police, a police spokesman who assured the
crowd that there would be a full investigation, and stupid police
tricks aimed at inciting the crowd into a violent confrontation.

The police were on the defensive. Their murders, incompetence and
violence in the poor communities of Los Angeles often take place
without a response. Here they were met with the wrath of the
entire community, a community they regard as enemy territory and
occupy with the tactics of a military force.

Numerous participants in the march said they regarded the day as a
victory over fear as the men, women and children marched, despite
the police cars on every corner, the helicopter overhead and the
Los Angeles Times (circulation 1,250,000) claiming gang members
were getting ready to ambush the police. Many said this march was
a victory of organization and determination because the march had
rallied numerous communities surrounding Jordan Downs to support
them. Many felt it was a victory because the marchers had shown
discipline when they ignored the taunts of a police sergeant who
called this murder "justifiable homicide."

There will be another day.

+----------------------------------------------------------------+

INTERVIEW WITH DAUDE SHERRILLS FROM THE WATTS DEFENSE COMMITTEE

'WE MUST ORGANIZE AGAINST POLICE ABUSE'


PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: What did the march on Saturday, November 22
accomplish?

The march proved that the efforts by the community to put an end
to police abuse is an achievable goal. This is a process, it won't
be accomplished all at once. The march went by the housing
developments of Hacienda Heights and Nickerson Gardens. At one
time these communities were off limits to the residents of Jordan
Downs, but this march proved that there is a truce between these
Watts neighborhoods. This march brought clarity to the struggle
against police abuse. We don't have anything against any class of
people. But we do have something against people who break the law
and hide behind the authority of a badge. We object to a police
force, that we pay for with our taxes, who are not citizens of the
Los Angeles community. With this march we were able to expose the
police.


PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: What are the demands of the marchers and the
Watts community?

We demand that the killing of Chubby be thoroughly investigated.
Our community must reorganize itself. We must put ourselves in a
position where we can determine our own direction. We must
organize ourselves for defense against police abuse. Besides the
demands concerning police abuse, we're also seeking through this
activity to stop the violence in the community, increase the
truce, encourage self-development and demand decent housing. We're
seeking to create a different kind of people. We don't want to go
into the new millennium as slaves. If trends continue, as they
are, 70 percent to 80 percent of our community will be
incarcerated. The way slavery will be continued is through the
Justice Department, continuing what has been our experience for
the past 500 years.

I encourage anyone who wants to know more about our struggle to
call me at the Watts Defense Committee at 213-249-8294. We're also
asking for letters of support. Our address is Watts Defense
Committee, 2113 E. 102nd Street, Apt. 524, Watts, California
90002.

+----------------------------------------------------------------+

******************************************************************

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
CULTURE UNDER FIRE

Culture jumps barriers of geography and color. Millions of
Americans create with music, writing, film and video, graffiti,
painting, theatre and much more. We need it all, because culture
can link together and expand the growing battles for food,
housing, and jobs. In turn, these battles provide new audiences
and inspiration for artists. Use the "Culture Under Fire" column
to plug in, to express yourself. Write: Culture Under Fire, c/o
People's Tribune, P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, Illinois 60654 or e-mail
cultfire@noc.org.
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

10. AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVE MARSH (PART II): CORPORATE CONTROL OF
MUSIC

[The following is the second part of an abridged two-part
interview.]

By Scott Pfeiffer

[Best known as Bruce Springsteen's biographer, Dave Marsh has been
a radical music journalist since his teen years in the late 1960s,
when he co-founded Detroit's underground rock mag Creem.

During the 1980s, he helped organize Art Meets Labor conferences
and in 1983 launched the newsletter Rock & Rap Confidential, which
quickly established itself at the crossroads of music and
politics. RRC spearheaded a campaign to end corporate sponsorship
of rock tours and was instrumental in the creation of Artists
United Against Apartheid's "Sun City" record.

His primary crusade since the early 1980s has been organizing
against censorship.]


Scott Pfeiffer: In the August issue of Chicago Ink, Warren Leming
writes, "There wouldn't be any American rock scene had it not been
for the commies who went out in the 1930s and 1940s to 'bring the
songs of the people to all the people.' " Comments?

Dave Marsh: You can't refute a generalization, and I wouldn't try
to. I don't think that's true. I think it's more true that there
wouldn't have been any post-Elvis, post-1950s development of the
music without the intrusion of people who were very heavily
influenced by the Popular Front and various other Red
manifestations. That clearly is true.

I don't necessarily believe that in Ferriday, Louisiana, or
wherever Jerry Lee Lewis is from, songs that were, in a certain
area, getting lost -- they weren't gonna be lost in Ferriday. They
weren't gonna be lost in Tupelo. They needed to be discovered in
Mike Seeger's life or Warren Leming's life or my life or your
life. But if you lived in Hazard, Kentucky, those songs were
there. Maybe they needed some preservation as the jukebox came in,
but, on the other hand, you can look at the films John Cohen made
around Harlan County, of people just using what we'd call "folk
music": a wonderful film called "High Lonesome" about Roscoe
Holcomb; one about the Carters. If you go look at that, what
people were doing is singing these songs on their porch. Then
they're going into town, they're having dinner or having a drink
at the bar after work and they're playing the jukebox!

So it's a lot more complicated than that. While I'm certainly not
a person to ever deny the very crucial role that communists and
communism played in the development of folk music, and that folk
music played in rock 'n' roll in the '60s, to think that that had
anything to do with what James Brown and Elvis and Ray Charles and
Chuck Berry and Little Richard came up with in the '50s is
ahistorical.

SP: You've attempted to describe how rock might be thought of as a
form of American folk music, by looking at the postwar conditions
in this country that caused the music to develop: "The segregation
of black from white, rich from poor, and South and North, massive
multi-ethnic immigration, access to electronic instrumentation and
tape-recording equipment on the cheap." Do you still hold this
conviction that rock is a folk expression?

DM: It depends. If you're operating from what Alan Lomax was
operating under, who hates rock, it's not. If you believe that
it's about oral transmission of culture in a non-commercial
[system]. But again, that goes back to the beginning of what we
talked about. There aren't two systems. There isn't this non-
commercial system hidden away in the hills and this other horrible
machine down in Tin Pan Alley. If that was ever the case, and
maybe it was at some point, it was the work of people like Alan
Lomax that just demolished that.

It's like Marx's line about "the nature that existed before man no
longer exists anywhere in the world." The music that existed
before the long reach of industrial capitalism no longer exists in
its pure form anymore. It doesn't. And I mourn it, because I grew
up with more of it than you think, around a lot of black people
and people from the South. And I know that music. When I saw Elvis
for the first time, one of the things he did was he explained to
me some of the people I'd been living around, in some fashion.
(Laughs)

So I mourn that. There'll never be another Iris [DeMent]. There'll
never be somebody who came out of that culture and is only one
generation removed from Arkansas. That's over, because Arkansas is
not the Arkansas that Iris' older brothers and sisters grew up in.
The DeMent Island's no longer inhabited by the DeMent family. They
moved to find jobs. So that's all changed, and it can't be the
same.

What Chuck Berry didn't say was "Murder Beethoven." What Chuck
Berry said was: "Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the
news." Well, we should hold on to Beethoven, we should hold on to
Bach, we should hold on to the Carter Family, we should hold on to
Jimmie Rodgers, we should hold on to Bob Dylan. We should hold on
to all of 'em. And even a Republican FBI wannabe like Elvis.

******************************************************************

11. CALL FOR THE THIRD CONVENTION OF THE LEAGUE OF REVOLUTIONARIES
FOR A NEW AMERICA

[Editor's note: Below we reprint the full text of the call for the
Third Convention of the League of Revolutionaries for a New
America issued by the National Committee of the League.]

The world is in the midst of revolutionary change. The smokestacks
and assembly lines no longer dominate our landscapes. The jobs we
once knew are slowly disappearing. We are being replaced by
robots, computers, lasers, and other technologies in our work-
places. The capitalists are defending their profits and domination
by being ever more ruthless in their policies toward the workers
and the new class of dispossessed. It has been estimated that
ninety to ninety-five million of the 126 million jobs in the U.S.
will be automated in the next 10-12 years.

The system can no longer feed and house us or provide us with
jobs. We must help develop the fighting capacity of the oppressed
and exploited through education and organization. At every
opportunity, we must go on the offensive and expose the capitalist
system and uncloak our class enemy. Our rulers will use the only
methods they can to guarantee their privileges, including building
a police state. Above all, they must guarantee that independent
political motion does not get started.

We, the homeless, the welfare recipients, the unemployed, the
youth, the minorities of all complexions and nationalities, women,
and other sectors of society -- in a word, the dispossessed --
must fight back if we are to survive. We are reaching out to
revolutionaries who come from all walks of life. We are appealing
to revolutionaries in the churches, in the media, in schools and
colleges, in trade unions, in libraries, in hospitals, in
community organizations and in discussion groups of all kinds.
Revolutionaries are everywhere and we invite you to join us in
fighting for a future of justice and economic security. We must
destroy this system of private property; we have no choice but to
create a new America free of exploitation and want.

In order to do so, we need an organization that can educate. The
League of Revolutionaries for a New America has been in existence
for 4-1/2 years. We have experience carrying out our program,
dedicated members who are revolutionaries, presses, and an
educational system for our membership.

It is time for us to do the following:

*  Assess the situation we are working in and the stage of the
revolution.

* Sum up our experience.

*  Develop an organization that teaches our class who we are
fighting and what we are fighting for.

*  Evaluate our work and our organizational structure and change
if necessary.

Therefore, the National Committee of the League of Revolutionaries
for a New America, in accordance with its bylaws, calls for the
convening of a convention of the League of Revolutionaries for a
New America, to be held on April 25-26, 1998, in Chicago.

******************************************************************

12. NOTHING CAN STOP AN IDEA ... WHOSE TIME HAS COME

'An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time
has come.'

--Victor Hugo

Two thousand years ago, the followers of Spartacus and Jesus
defied the Roman Empire, daring to dream of a world without the
executioner and his crucifix.

Two hundred years ago, the common people of Boston and Paris took
to the streets to oppose the "divine right of kings."

Thirty years before the Civil War, the abolitionists endured
ridicule and violence to speak out against African slavery.

What would the world look like today if there had been no
Spartacus, that brave gladiator who refused to kill his fellow
slaves for the entertainment of wealthy Romans? If Tom Paine had
never written his fiery denunciations of "the royal brute," King
George III of England? If William Lloyd Garrison had never
published his newspaper, The Liberator, with its defiant motto --
"No union with slaveholders!"?

When bold, new ideas capture the imagination of humanity during a
moment of crisis, the old order is doomed. At such a time,
humanity desperately needs people who will guarantee that those
new ideas circulate far and wide.

We live in such a time.

Today, humanity finally can "begin the world over again," as Tom
Paine once put it. The human race has already developed all the
technology and scientific knowledge necessary to provide everyone
with a decent, cultured life. We could end poverty today -- for
all people, for all time. We will do this when ordinary people
unite and wrest control of this planet from the tiny handful of
millionaires and billionaires who currently own it. We can build a
new world with justice for everyone.

That's the message of the People's Tribune and the Tribuno del
Pueblo. That message needs to be heard far and wide. That's why
the League of Revolutionaries for a New America has launched the
Campaign for Circulation and Finances. You can be a part of making
history. Introduce new, revolutionary ideas to your friends,
neighbors and co-workers by ordering a bundle of the People's
Tribune today.



The National Circulation Committee of the League of
Revolutionaries for a New America

+----------------------------------------------------------------+

'Today, a new, great movement against poverty and its consequences
is growing across the country. No force on earth can prevent the
people who are struggling against intolerable conditions from
coalescing. ...[Our vision] is a vision of a country free forever
from want,  from race and national hatred and from sexual
oppression and human exploitation.'

-- the League of Revolutionaries for a New America

+----------------------------------------------------------------+


____ YES! I want to make history!



Here's how to order a bundle of the People's Tribune:

1.  Phone the People's Tribune editorial office in Chicago at 773-
486-3551. Ask for Chris Mahin. (If he's not in, leave a message.)

2.  Fill out the coupon here.
Send me a bundle of the People's Tribune. (I understand that
bundles sell for 15 cents per copy, with the first bundle of 10
free.) Send me:

____ 10 copies
____ 25 copies
____ 50 copies
____ 100 copies
____ Other ____


Please mail them to:

Name

Street

City/State/Zip

Phone:

____ Enclosed is my payment.  ____ Bill me.

Make checks payable to "People's Tribune." Please return this
coupon to: People's Tribune, P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, Illinois
60654.

******************************************************************

13. THE LEAGUE OF REVOLUTIONARIES FOR A NEW AMERICA: WHAT WE ARE
AND WHY

The League is an organization of revolutionaries.

* We are people from all walks of life, with various ideals and
ideologies.

* We are organized to awaken the American people to their growing
poverty and the threat of a fascist police state. A police state
is a society controlled by police forces who are above the law and
responsible to no one but themselves.

* We are organized to bring the people a vision of a peaceful,
prosperous, orderly world made possible by the very automation and
economic globalization which, in the hands of capitalists,
threatens our existence.

In a word, the League of Revolutionaries for a New America
educates and fights for the transfer of economic and political
power into the hands of the people so they can build a democratic,
cooperative, communal society.


HERE IS WHY --

Rapidly expanding automation is doing away with most human work
and will pauperize the humans doing the work that remains.
Capitalism has no use for and will not care for human labor when
robotics is more profitable. Consequently, the growing mass of
permanently unemployed people are sinking deeper and deeper into
poverty.

A huge global movement of the destitute is getting underway. The
demand for the essentials of a decent life and no money to pay for
them marks it as the world's first revolutionary mass movement for
communism. (The American Heritage Dictionary defines "communism"
as "a social system characterized by the common ownership of the
means of production and subsistence and by the organization of
labor for the common advantage of all members.")

This developing movement needs to understand its historic mission
and how to achieve it. The No. 1 need of the revolution is for an
organization of teachers, of propagandists who will bring it
clarity. Only then can the people of this country save themselves
from the threat of a new world order of poverty and oppression.
The League of Revolutionaries for a New America has been formed to
carry out that task.

Historically, a revolution in the economy makes a revolution in
society inevitable. We must prepare for it.

If you agree with this perspective, let's get it together -- our
collective experience, intelligence and commitment can change
America and the world. Collectivize with us.


+----------------------------------------------------------------+

I WANT TO JOIN!

____ I want to join the LRNA. Please send information.

____ Enclosed is my donation of $_____


+----------------------------------------------------------------+

I want to subscribe!

____ People's Tribune. $2 for four issues or $25 for a year.

____ Tribuno del Pueblo. $2 for four issues or $10 for a year.

(You can also get bundles of 10 or more copies of the PT or TP
for 15 cents per copy.)

Name

Address

City/State/Zip

+----------------------------------------------------------------+


******************************************************************

14. LETTERS: WE NEED TO CONTROL THE TECHNOLOGY, SAYS READER


[Editor's note: A reader who subscribes to the People's Tribune
on-line edition wrote us recently via e-mail regarding the
editorial published in the October People's Tribune. That
editorial argued that "the same electronic technology which
impoverishes millions of people when it is utilized under the
control of the capitalists could ... end hunger and poverty -- if
a different class controlled it." Below are excerpts from the
reader's letter. A response to the letter also appears on this
page.]

I've been receiving your e-mail zine for several months, and I
couldn't resist sending you my comments now.

In my humble opinion, your basic premise is correct:

"And a different class can and will control it. New classes
disrupt the old order. There is only one way out for the new class
of poor (who will soon be the majority), and that is to fight for
a new society -- one where no one is allowed to be homeless or
hungry or uneducated. The attacks on welfare recipients ought to
serve as a wake-up call to all of us."

Then you take a revolutionary angle, understandable and in line
with your organization's mission:

"Our goal has to be to take control of the technology and use it
to transform society in the interest of the majority."

And here is where I think you started with the right premises yet
you end up with the wrong conclusion:

"To do that, we, the majority, will have to take political power
away from the class of billionaires who are now forcing down our
standard of living."

NO, what the majority (poor or getting-there-poor) needs to do is
to take control of the technology! How can you ever expect to
compete with, much less challenge, the encroached minority unless
you use the same weapons they used to get there? Namely,
technology. Political power follows to those who use technology
effectively (stockbrokers, Bill Gates, etc.). Read "The Third
Wave," by Alvin Toffler: The real wealth in today's economy is
applied knowledge. That is, technology + education = power.

What your zine should be promoting amongst its audience is a
commitment to technological education and PC literacy that is
sorely lacking in today's "poor majority," as you put it.
Otherwise, those in the "poor majority" are condemned to the lower
rungs of the employment scale, as you well put it.

"We are talking poor people here, sir, who cannot afford a
US$2,000 PC plus all the software/hardware necessary to educate
their kids in the use of today's information technologies." Point
taken, yet they do not need to spend more than US$300 to buy an
old 386 with a ton of shareware/freeware software that does 98
percent of what the $2,000 Pentium with Window$ does.

The point? Achieving a minimum level of computer literacy is not
as expensive as most people think. Any member of the "poor
majority" that takes the time to become PC literate is certain to
improve his/her employment/income potential. And with that he/she
will start to get into the same techno arena where he/she can
eventually challenge the encroached minority. Like Bill Gates did
with his "toy" company, competing against giants like IBM and
Digital Research.

My US$0.02 worth.



Jose C. Lacal
[PP] Chief Vision Officer
Antequera Red
(Oaxaca, Mexico)
pepe@antequera.com
http://www.netrunner.net/~pepe

+----------------------------------------------------------------+

WE NEED POLITICAL POWER TO GET CONTROL OF THE TECHNOLOGY


[Editor's note: The People's Tribune asked Jim Davis to respond to
the letter from a reader (sent recently to us via e-mail) which
appears on this page. Davis is one of the editors of Cutting Edge:
Technology, Information Capitalism and Social Revolution,
published by Verso, 1997. Below is his response.]



I couldn't agree more that revolutionaries need to master the
tools of the trade. Hey -- we're in a propaganda war for the
hearts and minds of people, and we've got to know all of the techs
available for getting ideas out to people -- tabloids like this
paper, zines, graffiti, micropower radio, public-access TV, web
pages, listservs, etc. To get out what ideas? Ideas that not only
describe a vision of what high-tech society can be, but also how
to get there. Technology is a tool to get the ideas out. But here
I have to disagree with the writer: The power to make a future
worth living in ultimately means having political power.

Bill Gates didn't become a $40 billion uber-geek because he could
write a BASIC interpreter. He controls technology because he has
political power in the shape of a trough-feeding Congress to make
"intellectual property" laws, and the cops and the FBI standing
behind him to enforce them. Bill is a member of a ruling class
that hold on to their control over the global economy through the
rule of ideas ("Don't copy that floppy!"), backed up by the rule
of force (the "No Electronic Theft Act").

Political power will let us make the decisions about what
technologies are developed, and what the technology is used for:
stealth bombers or kidney machines? robots that enslave, or robots
that serve? $60 billion to bail out banks, or to put a volks-PC on
every kitchen table (with some left over)?

Yes, we need to experiment with humane ways to use the stuff. But
let's face it -- we're not going to build our own chip fab unit in
the backyard, or lay a few thousand miles of fiber optic cable by
ourselves, because this stuff is expensive -- Intel's new
microchip plants are running at about $2.5 billion per. We're
talking about massive social resources. We either sink into the
capitalist slime to amass that amount of green, or go for the
political power to transfer privately owned technology to the
public.

Step one: technology and education.  But I think we need to be
clear about where we are going with it. Political power has to be
step two.


Jim Davis

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