People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (03-00) Online Edition .TOPIC 03-00 PT Index .TEXT .BODY ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.lrna.org +----------------------------------------------------------------+ INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 Editorial 1. WOMEN OF THE WORLD UNITE FOR FREEDOM News and Features 2. HMO, PPO, IPA - MANAGED CARE YIELDS BUREAUCRATIC ALPHABET SOUP, AND HEALTH-CARE NEEDS STILL GO UNMET 3. WHAT NEXT AFTER THE BATTLE FOR KPFA? 4. A VIEW OF THE REAL CUBA 5. JUVENILE JUSTICE: CHILDREN MAY BE JAILED WITH ADULTS 6. WAR ON YOUTH ESCALATES! BATTLE FRONT SHIFTS TO CALIFORNIA IN FIGHT AGAINST PROP. 21 7. THE NEXT LEVEL IN WOMEN'S RISE TO FREEDOM 8. GLOBALIZATION OF POVERTY: WHY WE MUST FIND TO END IT 9. 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMPROMISE OF 1850: LEARN FROM THE UNCOMPROMISING SPIRIT OF THE ABOLITIONISTS! 10. SENORA, YOU ARE RIGHT ... THESE LITTLE CABRONCITOS DO NOT GROW ON TREES! Spirit of the Revolution 11. MY SOURCE OF MORALITY [To subscribe to the online edition, send a message to pt- dist@noc.org with "Subscribe" in the subject line.] ****************************************************************** We encourage reproduction and use of all articles except those copyrighted. Please credit the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers -- your generosity is appreciated. For free electronic subscription, send a message to pt-dist@noc.org with "Subscribe" in the subject line. For electronic subscription problems, e-mail pt-admin@noc.org. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 03-00 Edit: Women of the world unite for freedom .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 1. EDITORIAL: WOMEN OF THE WORLD UNITE FOR FREEDOM This month, we celebrate International Women's Day 2000. Who would've imagined that in the year 2000 women would be celebrated? This day has been important because it recognizes the struggles and plight of women workers. It is also a day to begin to examine what the future holds for women and why "a woman's work is never done." The old saying still holds many truths today. Women continue to fight against sexual discrimination and wage discrimination and still find themselves dissatisfied with their standard of living and working. A recent poll surveyed 2,177 women and found an increasing number of women (50 percent in the 2000 poll, as opposed to 31 percent of women in 1974) still dissatisfied with the position of women and in agreement that in life it is an advantage to be a man. But is the real problem a gender issue? Are men really the roots of women's economic and social dissatisfaction? Or, can it be that both men and women are confronted with the same dissatisfying changes in their social and economic positions? Thus, the questions remain unanswered because the solution has yet to be envisioned by those who maintain men and women disunited. While the women's movement for liberation has made some improvements, today we begin to see a new kind of struggle. The new battle is a fight for "lives." Many grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters, wives and girlfriends continue to feel the toll of maintaining a home, both financially and emotionally. How are they expected to juggle the demands of the capitalist system and the demands of family or the attempts to even begin one? While the idea of marriage and children continues to burn in the hearts of many young women, so does the independence to have a career of one's choice. But how can the two coexist in harmony under a system that denies women true liberation. And what is true liberation? Only a visionary can imagine the capabilities of all women and can truly understand that the path to liberation is through the destruction of capitalism. Because not only does capitalism deny women to be women, but it also denies humanity its women. Capitalism takes them away from their families, their men, their women and their children. It strips away the possibilities of creating a world where all men and women are truly equal. And still, "a woman's work is never done." The debate for the liberation of women changes throughout the world, but the common goal remains the same. And, only through the destruction of capitalism can women and men truly be united to reach that goal. Women across the world should unite on the basis that a new world is possible. They should unite to fight for the liberation of the human race. The struggles of yesterday may still not be won, but the battle to improve the quality of tomorrow needs to be fought today. Women of the world must unite and fight for the men, for the children and for the life that we've always wanted and is possible today. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.lrna.org Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 03-00 HMO, PPO, IPA - Managed care .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 2. HMO, PPO, IPA - MANAGED CARE YIELDS BUREAUCRATIC ALPHABET SOUP, AND HEALTH-CARE NEEDS STILL GO UNMET By Salvador Sandoval, MD I saw an elderly lady in the office the other day and she was mad. The IPA (Independent Practice Association -- a group of doctors) that her Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) had contracted with to manage her Medicare (and hopefully provide coverage for medications) had folded. The IPA that stepped in was charging her large deductibles for doctor's visits and high copayments for medications, surely a strain on her fixed income. And worst of all, they were mandating that she stop seeing the doctor she had been seeing for years (because he is a kidney specialist) and come to a stranger -- namely me -- because I am a "primary care provider" on their list. This was just for getting a referral to see an eye doctor for glasses! To boot, she has to go out of county for this service. And to make matters worse, she had to wait a long time just to get in to see me so that I could refer her (but that is a different story). Instead of enjoying her "golden years," this lady, like thousands in her situation across the country, is among the next sacrificial lambs on the altar of "free enterprise" as Medicare is privatized. Of 39 million Medicare beneficiaries, 6.3 million are in HMOs. The carrot was coverage for medications, a glaring deficiency of the federally funded Medicare program. Now, however, thousands are being left holding the bag as IPAs and others that contract with the HMOs fold. Nationally, there were 407,000 HMO withdrawals in 1999, and 327,000 more are projected for 2000. There are some that say that the government should give the HMOs even more money so that they can keep up the benefits. However, there is no guarantee that the HMOs will pass on the extra money to the IPAs and PPOs (Preferred Provider Organizations) that they contract with. [PPOs are like IPAs, only more exclusive.] Sounds like blackmail to me; or at least throwing more taxpayer money down the HMO money drain. The California Medical Association, from a state that is further along in "managed care" than most states, reports that 132 large medical groups in the state have gone bankrupt or closed in the past three years. One in ten physicians groups that capitate directly with HMOs are expected to close this year. Yet California HMOs are mostly in the black because they shifted their liabilities to medical groups. Clearly the main consideration for the HMOs is their bottom line -- the shareholders profits, and not the delivery of affordable health care, nor the financial health of the physicians groups that they contract with, for that matter. What is happening today with Medicare and HMOs has been happening for some time with Medicaid. As government money is pumped into HMO coffers, doctors groups are left holding the bag, and children go without health care. In California, one out of every four children lacks health care, a situation exacerbated by welfare reform that bumped many off of Medicaid to begin with. To make matters worse, for those children that are lucky enough to be on Medicaid/managed care, many doctors have refused to see them because the $24 monthly capitation doesn't cover the $47 to treat the child. ["Capitation" refers to the practice of physicians that contract with an HMO being prepaid a set rate per "covered life"; their profit is determined by what is left over after providing care. Thus, there is a financial incentive to minimize referrals and more expensive procedures and treatments.] In the "private sector" of HMOs for employed workers and their families, things are no better. Copayments, deductibles, lack of choice of providers, red tape and other bureaucratic delays, and outright denials of care, are making health care less accessible even to those with private health insurance. Public dissatisfaction is mirrored in legislation such as the "Patient Bill of Rights" and other bills designed to minimize the damage of the for-profit HMOs. With the costs of health-insurance benefits for their employees rising nearly 10 percent per year, many employers are opting out of providing these benefits, passing the cost on to the employee, or squeezing the HMOs, who in turn pass on the liability to the IPAs and PPOs through lower capitation rates, denials and more red tape. And the shareholders of the HMO secure increased profits despite all of this. It is time the American people wake up to what is happening. The public is being robbed blind by managed care and its alphabet soup. This time, no sectors of the public (except the wealthy) are immune from the rapacious greed of these companies that provide no direct care, yet scoop the top off the pork barrel. While these same insurance companies warned of government interference and government bureaucracy, they have created the most complex and ever-changing bureaucracy ever known -- primarily to guarantee their profits by passing on risk, avoiding losses, and essentially being free to gamble with people's lives for the sake of money. They supported the elimination of "welfare as we know it" to create "wealthfare" for themselves. To make matters worse, they are milking the public coffers with the full support of Congress. Insurance companies, "organized medicine," pharmaceuticals, and other special interests paid $2.69 billion last year for lobbying efforts in Congress, an average of $5 million per member of Congress! What ever happened to government for and by the people? In this election year, the presidential candidates cannot ignore the growing dissatisfaction of the public with managed care. Nor can they ignore the fact that 44 million Americans lack health insurance, and the number without insurance is growing at 400,000 per year. And they all give lip service to it. Yet listen to their proposals. They have no real solutions, whether they are Democrat or Republican. They carefully avoid talk of the role of the insurance companies, which is fundamental. Instead they offer rehashes of Clinton's failed health-care reform plan, such as strengthening employer-based health care. This comes at a time when most employers want out. For example, Xerox, one of the "good companies to work for," is offering its employees a set amount for them to purchase their own insurance (and take the risk and rising premiums on themselves). Some propose tinkering measures that they call incremental reform, such as medical savings accounts, tax preferences, etc., which carry risks similar to the Xerox proposal. Some, mainly from the far right, propose eliminating Medicare and Medicaid outright (curiously, something that is already happening). Some talk of providing care for 90 to 95 percent. In other words, they say that universal health care is unaffordable. But who decides who doesn't get the care, and how come there is no mention of the insurance companies' profiteering? A particularly hideous proposal is that of mandating that all Americans purchase health insurance! This is similar to the California requirement of mandatory auto insurance. If you can't afford health-care insurance, will they take away your driver's license and your right to health care, and blame you to boot? Who really speaks for the American people on this issue? Who speaks for that little old lady that was "mad," or the child that can't get his or her shots because the doctor says he can't afford it? Polls show that a significant number of Americans think the health-care system needs a major overhaul, and not incremental hogwash. It is time to see through the smoke screen that the politicians put forth to confuse us, as their thinking gets muddled by lobbyists' contributions. We can't afford to let ourselves be split up by deciding who is more worthy of getting health care, for example. We have to see that the managed-care mess our political leaders have let us fall into is directly tied to the growing numbers of uninsured, and that a real solution must cover all. The solution shouldn't be like that of another "misleader" in the arena, that of the American Medical Association. It says we need more "global" measures than "incremental" ones, but that the American people won't stand for government intervention into medicine. What do they call what has been going on up to now? We need a grass-roots, independent effort to create meaningful health-care reform. Such an effort is the "Just Health Care" campaign of the Labor Party. Call the Labor Party at 202-234-5190 to find out more. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.lrna.org Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 03-00 What next after the battle for KPFA? .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 3. WHAT NEXT AFTER THE BATTLE FOR KPFA? By Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi [Editor's note: Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi sits on KPFA's community board. He has been active in the struggles of young people for bilingual education, for keeping affirmative action in the University of California and against California's infamous Proposition 187. Kahlil was the liaison between the protesters and the police in last summer's struggle to keep KPFA from becoming silenced by the corporate-oriented national executives of the Pacifica network that grew out of KPFA.] BERKELEY, California -- KPFA is a community radio station in Berkeley, California that was started in the early 1950s. The whole idea was to promote pacifism, to give a voice to the voiceless, to have community radio that's not connected to corporate entities and that's really dedicated to giving the community an alternative voice, to present alternative ideas, and to establish an alternative way of communication. A lot of the programmers who were originally locked out in July 1999 didn't necessarily have the experience to make the fight a political battle. A lot of youth and community people became involved when it became a battle in the streets. They played an important role in the struggle. We had a lot of experience dealing with the police, with forming political protests that had a lot of informing and consciousness raising. We did a couple of hip-hop rallies in the streets. We had lots of different groups come. It was definitely through the strong support of the community that the first stage of the struggle -- getting back into the station -- was victorious. The battle for KPFA rocked the entire nation when you saw hundreds of people sleeping in front of a radio station for days and days -- all dedicated to the idea of nonviolent protest. The battle is really a national and even an international struggle. Pacifica is one of the only radio networks that is not directly connected to corporate America. It does not take funding from Chevron, for example, so it can have shows like "Flashpoints" that can talk about Chevron without worrying about repercussions. Now we have a real danger because the so-called leaders of Pacifica (Lynn Chadwick and Mary Frances Berry) are censoring free speech on community radio by not permitting any discussion of the KPFA issue. These people are no longer holding onto the vision that founded the station. We as community members have to hold them responsible and hold them accountable. Though mainstream news refuses to report it, huge things are still happening. First, I am the only person still facing charges, though charges have been dropped for hundreds of others. Secondly, under the cover of darkness a few weeks ago, they moved the Pacifica headquarters from the San Francisco Bay Area into the belly of the beast -- Washington, D.C. Then they fired the national news director because of his dedication to covering our issue and his fighting censorship. Then, at the beginning of February, a strike was launched by more than 40 stringers -- the nonstaff reporters who do the different segments that are on the radio every day. The strikers are no longer willing to submit information to the network until the policies of censorship are done away with. We as a nation need alternative voices; people to be given access to information and the ways to spread it that are not connected to mainstream corporate media. This is why those of us who see the importance of a national network of alternative media have to take a stand on these issues. For me, it's about liberating forms of communication. Micro-power radio is one form. But it has got to connect with urban communities and be something that young people see as an alternative. Corporate America is digesting hip-hop and spitting it out any way they want to, so this has got young people definitely confused. The mass of them listen to regular stations instead of saying, "Wow, we can create an alternate way of communication." At the same time, all across the country, the media is trying to blame and scapegoat young people as violent and threatening. Here in California, we have Proposition 21 -- the Youth Gang Prevention Act -- that throws 13- and 14-year-olds into adult prisons. Today, a lot of young people are getting involved in political activism through their poetry, their raps, or their plays and photography. There's really a lot of work being done and young people are in the forefront of it. It's important that people who are trying to continue a legacy of struggle are given room to become a part of this vanguard we are shaping. We can move forward knowing that we're in the right. Part of the way young people get our passion and energy to continue the struggle is through learning history and knowing that we are the new pages of that history. Community radio is one part of this. So is micropower radio. When you also look at webcasting and the Internet, you realize that these things can be used as tools of liberation -- or for oppression. Mainstream media is being used as a tool of oppression. But when we liberate a radio station, or create micropower stations in the community, or publish an alternative newspaper, it's a liberating act. These same things -- if we control them and if we empower ourselves as communities to utilize them -- can become our tools for the struggle for liberation and revolution. So we need to find out how we can manipulate them for our own benefits. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.lrna.org Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 03-00 A view of the real Cuba .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 4. A VIEW OF THE REAL CUBA By Chris Arsenault Our rickety Soviet-made truck sped along the dirt roads of Cuba's rural interior. A more conservative person might worry about the safety of 42 Canadians standing in a truck that's more than 20 years old -- probably being held together by the cap of a rum bottle. However for some reason we didn't worry, Cuba just seems to instill a carefree attitude. To the locals our group must have been quite an odd sight. Dirty, sweat-drenched Canadians, carrying wooden hoes after a hard day in the sugar-cane fields, a switch from the image of the camera-carrying, beach-bumming and souvenir- shopping Canadian tourist. Our group hopefully gave the people of Cuba a different idea of what Canadians are like. The program, which sends groups of Canadian volunteers to Cuba is the Ernesto Che Guevara work brigade, organized by Vancouver-based Amigos de Cuba. The 1999 brigade left Toronto on July 26, 1999 and returned August 16. The volunteers were a very interesting group of people, who ranged in age from 15 to 70 and included anarchists from Toronto, feminists from British Columbia and computer programmers from Ontario. The work brigade allowed volunteers from across Canada to fully experience the Cuban reality through working and spending time with the Cuban people. It was an incredible experience and one that would be hard to find through any other vacation. The first two weeks of the brigade were spent at a place called the Pioneer Village. An outdoor camp where Cuban kids learn basic biology and survival skills. The camp was located in the center of the island in an agricultural region, about 25 minutes outside Ciego de Avila, Cuba's third-largest city. During these two weeks we worked at a variety of different jobs. First, we worked at the camp doing basic maintenance, to prepare it for the upcoming school year. We painted and did structural repair on the classrooms, built a gravel path from the mess hall to the infirmary and, most importantly, used our donations to upgrade the center's toy library. Upgrading the toy library was probably the most rewarding of our labors because we were able to see the children who attended the center enjoy our hard work and smile because of what we had created. One little girl gave a speech to our group in which she said our toys would make her life better and give her and her friends happiness. Once we had finished working at the Pioneer Center, we moved on to the banana and sugar-cane fields. This work was far more difficult than what we had done at the center. The temperature would reach 37 degrees Celsius (about 99 Fahrenheit) and there was no shade. In the banana fields, we used machetes to cut the dead leaves off the trees and to cut the grass which grew around the trees. In the cane fields, we hoed the dense grasses away from the cane. The field work was hard but still fun, and you could always look forward to a swim in the cool river when the work was finished. In Cuba, it is very rare for people to work in the fields past noon because of the heat. When we worked, we'd be up by 6:30 a.m. and in the fields by 8. Getting to the fields was my favorite part about the work. We'd stand in an open-air truck and speed along the rural roads with the cool breeze blowing. From this it sounds like we worked very hard while at the camp, and we did. But we could take frequent breaks and no one was pushed to do more than he or she wanted. However, during our stay at the pioneer camp, we Canadians learned a lot more than how to cut banana leaves. Once work was finished for the day, we would meet with delegates who represented various groups of the Cuban people. These were the trade unions, the Association of Cuban Women, local government representatives (CTC), the Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), and even veterans of the revolution who fought alongside Fidel and Che. These excellent people painted a truthful and beautiful picture of Cuban society and social organization. We were able to fully understand how the government and other institutions within the country interacted for the betterment of the people. Even volunteers who weren't in support of Cuba's economic decisions agreed that the Cuban system accommodates and provides for its people better than most countries. The people in power were not removed from the general public, like in most countries. The leaders had a deep and profound respect for the people. The other Canadians and I admired the revolution for keeping these qualities in its leaders and for building such a great country even when it faces so many obstacles. One of the greatest challenges the revolution faces today is the brutal treatment Cuba gets from her imperialist neighbors to the north. The Yankees do many despicable and revolting things to try and hinder the revolution, and I saw some of the chilling effects of their hateful actions. For example, when we met with the farmers association they talked of what the United States had done to their crops. According to Julio Marlin, a member and representative of ANAP: "American planes flew through free zones over different agricultural regions, Matanzas province in particular. These planes dropped biological agents to destroy the crops and sent down deadly raids of fever to poison the animals." Julio had seen the destruction with his own eyes. Another example of Yankee brutality happened in Cayo Coco, at the hotel where we were staying. According to Marvel Miranda, a translator and close friend: "Five years ago a boat came to the beach, where Cuban families were vacationing and opened fire. Several people, including children, were killed and many more wounded." Yet no one in North America heard about this tragedy. Even with these examples of raids and other deadly actions, the most destructive piece of American foreign policy is a trade embargo that has lasted more than 40 years. This embargo hurts every aspect of Cuban society, because they cannot buy anything that is made or patented in the United States. Cuban hospitals need certain American-made equipment; they have the money to buy it, but they aren't allowed to. At the hospital in Ciego de Avila, a nurse told us a heart- wrenching story about a newborn that died because the hospital lacked the American-patented medicine to treat her. Farmers in Cuba want to modernize so they can increase productivity but they can't buy any fertilizer or any piece of farm machinery patented or made in the United States. This makes finding these essential tools very difficult. It is amazing that the world can sit back and allow a bully to steal candy from a small child, but I guess nothing will change if the bully can intimidate the teachers. Any United Nations attempt to end the embargo, or any other piece of U.S. foreign policy for that matter, is vetoed. When we weren't working or meeting we were visiting. We were free to go into the different cities and look around for ourselves. We saw hospitals, day-care centers, an orphanage and, of course, a variety of Cuban bars. Cuba does produce the world's greatest rum. Our movement wasn't restricted in the least. We saw the picturesque buildings and monuments as well as the poverty and lack of material resources that many Cubans face. Our time at the pioneer center changed the lives of many of the brigadistas. One of the younger volunteers said he learned more in those two weeks than in two years of his formal education. However, the last week proved to be the most enjoyable. The third week was spent on Cayo Coco, a beautiful beach island off the coast of Cuba. Here we stayed at a sparse but very fun hotel resort in which all of the other guests were Cubans. We were the only foreigners allowed there. Although western comforts like electric lights, running water and the all-mighty television were not available here, no one seemed to mind. When you're away from western doo-dads for a few weeks, you realize how unnecessary they are. I didn't touch a computer, phone, microwave or flushing toilet during my trip, and I can't say I missed them. When you have a beach, good food and great friends none of that other stuff really matters. In Cayo Coco, there wasn't really a schedule. We swam in the warm ocean water, relaxed on the soft white sand and of course hung out with our Cuban friends. On the brigade, there were 10 Cubans who were fully fluent in English. These young men and women became almost part of my family during this trip. We shared everything and it is because of them that I know exactly what life in Cuba is really like. They told us where the revolution had failed, as well as where it succeeded. The translators made the brigade what it was; I now know what life in Cuba is like for the average person. There are very few, if any other, programs that offer this sort of personal contact and it made this brigade truly amazing. Usually when I travel I enjoy my trip, but I'm happy to get home. I really wish I could have spent a few more weeks, but I know that won't be my last visit to Cuba. How could it be? Once a person has been to a place where people truly care about each other, home is just never the same. It was amazing to be in a country where there were no social divisions. In Cuba, the people are the government. I know how greatly the mainstream media distorts the Cuban reality, and although the people are still poor, I have never seen so many smiles in all my life. If you want an experience like no other and are looking for an affordable way to be part of another culture, then this is the program for you. It certainly was the one for me. [I would like to thank Jose and Gerry from Amigos de Cuba for doing so much hard work for such a great event. I would also like to thank the Institute of Friendship for Peoples (ICAP) for treating us so well.] To be involved in the 2000 brigade, write: Box 21540 1850 Commercial Drive Vancouver, British Columbia V5N 4A0 Canada Telephone and fax: 604-327-6844 brigade@vcn.bc.ca amigosdecuba@hotmail.com www.laa.uvic.ca .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.lrna.org Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 03-00 Juvenile Justice: Children may be jailed with adults .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 5. JUVENILE JUSTICE: CHILDREN MAY BE JAILED WITH ADULTS By Tyrone Glenn Recently, the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Chairman, Henry Hyde, R-Ill., and Subcommittee on Crime Chairman Bill McCollum, R-Fla., introduced a bill to allow federal prosecutors the discretion to try children as young as 13 as adults in the federal court system. House Bill HR2037 will allow the federal government to place more children in adult prisons. It will cause children to be subjected to numerous abuses by both adult prisoners and prison staff. The children will not only be beaten and raped by prisoners and staff, but the likelihood of suicides is present at a higher rate than adults, because of the immaturity of the incarcerated children. Under HR2037, juveniles will be subjected to mandatory minimum sentences that even adult prisoners aren't subjected to. For example, any juvenile that discharges a firearm in a school zone will get a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, but an adult charged with the same offense would not be subjected to the same mandatory sentence. There are many more hidden punishments that are embedded in the so-called Juvenile Justice bill HR2037. This bill and others to follow are nothing more than an attempt by the politicians to dupe the public into thinking that they are doing something to curb the likelihood of a repeat of what happened at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. The bill should be especially troubling to the so-called pro-life forces that support both Henry Hyde and Bill McCullom, because they're the ones that claim to be champions for the rights of children, both those that are aborted and the ones that are born. Here are two men who say that aborting a child is murder, but at the same time they introduce a bill to support killing children. The term "killing children" is used because if the bill becomes a law, then children as young as 13 years of age will be prosecuted for crimes as an adult and quite possibly even be tried for the death penalty as an adult. Representatives Henry Hyde and Bill McCullom both claim to be pro- life conservatives, but their hypocrisy is evident when such laws as this one are being created. How can they claim to want to protect unborn children, when in reality they want to incarcerate those that are alive? The public needs to wake up and stop the efforts of these kinds of politicians from destroying our children. They will apparently do anything to make themselves appear to be the protectors of society. In reality, they are only trying to hold on to their jobs by exploiting the feelings of revenge this society has every time some tragedy happens. Like most politicians, these two will say and do anything they think will keep them in office, and if that means putting children in prison with adults, then so be it. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.lrna.org Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 03-00 War on youth escalates! .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 6. WAR ON YOUTH ESCALATES! BATTLE FRONT SHIFTS TO CALIFORNIA IN FIGHT AGAINST PROP. 21 By Richard Monje California is again the sit of some of the most dangerous legislation in the country. Promoted by former Governor Pete Wilson, the Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime Prevention Act (Prop. 21) will be voted on March 7. Proposition 21's premise, supporters say, is to target gangs and criminals. In reality, Prop. 21 targets all youth. It could isolate youth by their conduct, their association, their features and even how they dress. In this context, the first victims of this law would be the youth of color. The most ominous aspect of this initiative is the removal of rights the youth already enjoy. All will be subject to prosecution as adults. Sentences would increase the need for more prisons. California is currently first in the nation in prison funding and 41st in education funding. Proposition 21 would cost people millions of dollars and parents hundreds of thousands of their sons' and daughters' lives. In past legislative struggles, such as Propositions 187, 209, 226 and 227 (to name a few) literally hundreds of thousands of workers and poor people have responded in defense of their rights. At the forefront of these struggles have been the youth, junior high, high school, college students and community activists. The first week of March leading to the elections has been dubbed, "Week of Rage." And again the youth are organizing all over California. This is only one battlefront in the overall assault on our rights. The capitalists have consistently pitted one section of our communities against another sometimes it is the immigrant, other times the minorities, and now the youth. Despite their efforts to pit people one against the other, there is a growing, discontented youth movement uniting. We must continue to respond in an organized fight for a program based in our interests. A first step is the defeat of Proposition 21 and to expose the true intentions of its creators. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.lrna.org Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 03-00 The Next Level in Women's Rise to Freedom .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 7. THE NEXT LEVEL IN WOMEN'S RISE TO FREEDOM No revolution has, or ever could, take place without the contribution of women. Their economic and social position makes women a powerful social force in any period of change. In struggle, they have been among the most dedicated, the most militant, the most willing to sacrifice. If the power of women as a social force is to be wielded for the cause of revolution today, we cannot simply apply the formulas of the past. The growing polarization of wealth and poverty is throwing millions into poverty regardless of gender, color or nationality. Under such conditions, unity along class lines is the only means of organizing our forces for the struggles ahead. Understanding women's status and condition today is crucial to understanding why this is so. We, as revolutionaries, must play our role in not only finally liberating women from their ancient oppression, but transforming society into what it can now be -- where all will share in the fruits of society, where inequality and oppression will have no part. WOMEN'S CHANGING POSITION IN SOCIETY Women's oppression arose with private property and has changed according to the historical and economic conditions that dictated their place in production. Prior to the rise of private property, women's labor played a central role in social production and reproduction. There was a division of labor between men and women, but not an inequality because there was no possibility of the accumulation of property. The domestication of animals and the development of agriculture led to the accumulation of property that was passed from one generation to the next. Women were pushed out of social production and became dependent upon men. These epochal changes, centuries in the making, accompanied the reorganization of society to safeguard private property relations. In the past 50 years, we have seen great changes in the position of women. Technological developments in the home have freed women to enter the work force, the expansion of the post-war economy made jobs available, and, more recently, downsizing and declining wages brought about by the introduction of electronics have made those jobs necessary to maintain the family. Increasingly, these same technological developments are erasing the physical differences between men's and women's work. Women now constitute almost 50 percent of the work force. They are better educated, have access to once male-dominated professions and many hold positions of influence and power within society. The majority of American women, are struggling even harder than ever to juggle a life of work and family, discrimination in the workplace, and the general financial and emotional stresses of life lived in a world where the "race to the bottom" is ever- present. Although the majority of women suffer in various ways and various degrees from the inferior status imposed upon them, no economic position unites these women. From within this mass of increasingly discontented women is emerging, however, a section of women who do have common economic interests. These are the women of the emerging new class of poor. They make up over 70 percent of part-time workers, 55 percent of temporary workers, 47 percent of multiple job holders. One third of all the families maintained by women live below the poverty level. Women and children constitute the fastest-rising number of the homeless and destitute. WOMEN AND MEN OF THE NEW CLASS This section of women -- the women of the new class -- share common economic interests not only with each other, but increasingly with men in their similar economic position. Electronics -- labor-replacing technology -- has devastated a growing section of male workers. Unskilled, entry level, skilled manufacturing and, increasingly, white-collar workers are finding themselves marginalized, unable to find or to keep work. A growing section of men are finding that their prospects are little different than women's as contingent workers -- part-timers, temps, working multiple jobs. Electronic technology has the potential to provide everyone in society with the fruits of a stable, cultured and decent life. Under capitalism, this same technology has rendered the value of human labor "worthless," throwing increasingly millions of men and women into the ranks of the new class. Reforming the current economic system will not meet the needs of this class. That can only be accomplished by reorganizing society around the possibilities of the new technology. OLD MEANS OF CONTROL UNDERMINED Under capitalism, male supremacy justifies women's economic dependence on men not simply for its own sake, but as a crucial part of the interlocking web of ideas that facilitates the functioning of the capitalist system. Men have benefited from women's economic dependence, but ultimately these advantages have only been bestowed to further the exploitation and control of men. For example, their position as primary breadwinner and person responsible for the family has tied them more tightly to the system (a situation electronics is changing). Male supremacy has justified women as a cheap work force and in so doing has, at different times in history, pitted men against women both politically as well as economically. The ideological power of male supremacy does not simply rely upon the ability of the ruling class to enforce women's economic and social subordination, but also upon their ability to provide men with the means to secure social and particularly economic superiority over women. This process has taken different forms according to class position and periods of history and, in our country, according to color. Today, we see that it is not only "the job" and its role in stabilizing the ideology of male supremacy that is being destroyed, but the whole web of relationships that make up society. The family, the raising of children, the specific roles of men and women -- these no longer serve the same purpose in a world where labor is no longer needed. This process is affecting millions of men and women, disrupting their sense of themselves, their relation to others and to society as a whole. This does not mean that the ideology of male supremacy no longer exists or that it will somehow magically disappear. It does mean that the material basis for all existing ideologies is being destroyed, opening up the possibilities for class unity in a way we have not known before in history. TAKE UP THE VISION OF A NEW WORLD We are in the midst of profound change. All aspects of society are struggling to resolve the oppression they have experienced for historical as well as economic reasons. The inequality of women or racial oppression still exist today. But it also clear that the historical construction of race and gender is inherently connected to class relations cultivated by the existing system. Neither society as a whole nor these historical struggles can take any steps forward apart from the resolution of the problems of the new class. Only a solution which addresses the "least of us" will resolve the problems for all of us. It is time to rip the root of the women's struggle out of the capitalist soil, for both women and men to come together and unite around a program that goes beyond women's legal and political emancipation. Electronics has provided the capacity to take care of the needs of every new generation. The struggle of women today is for what the material changes in society have made possible. This struggle cannot be resolved short of the reorganization of society into a system in which the fruits of human civilization are made available to all. Only then can we create a world in which there will be, as Frederick Engels once wrote: "A generation of men who never in their lives have known what it is to buy a woman's surrender with money or any other social instrument of power; a generation of women who have never known what it is to give themselves to a man from any other considerations than real love, or to refuse to give themselves from fear of economic consequences. When these people are in the world, they will care precious little what anybody thinks they ought to do; they will make their own practice and their own corresponding public opinion about the practice of each individual -- and that will be the end of it." +----------------------------------------------------------------+ SPEAKERS for a NEW AMERICA People's Tribune Speakers Bureau presents WOMEN AND MEN CRUSADING FOR A NEW AMERICA: WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH 2000 * Why poor women and men have common economic interests today, and what this means for the struggle for a new world where families' needs are met * The Economic Human Rights Campaign of America's poor * Why men have to fight for women's equality * The role of the women's movement: Why gaining reforms was necessary at a point in history, and why true liberation is possible today * Right-wing campaigns against the poor * Sharing a new vision for the restructuring of the system as a whole. * Understanding popular culture and education and it's role in revolution. * Youth and Revolution: How youth paint their experiences through art, writing and activism. * Evolution of women's role, from the earliest societies (prior to private property) and up through the age of electronics. "As poor women, let us fulfill our leading roles in history by not integrating into a system that is killing our brothers and sons." - Cheri Honkala, leader in the struggle for Economic Human Rights "Women and men need to come together. The struggle of women today cannot be resolved short of the reorganization of society into a system in which the fruits of human civilization are made available to all." - Alma Ramirez, editorial board member, People's Tribune/ Tribuno del Pueblo "Men must be willing to stand up for women's rights if equality is ever to be achieved." - Tim Metzger, student +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Call 1-800-691-6888 or e-mail speakers@noc.org to bring a speaker to your city. Visit our web site at http://www.mcs.net/~speakers. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.lrna.org Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 03-00 Globalization of Poverty: Why We Must Find To End It .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 8. GLOBALIZATION OF POVERTY: WHY WE MUST FIND TO END IT Rochelle Robinson Poverty is global, and it is globalization that has kept those in poverty all over the world from rising above it. We have been led to believe that globalization is a process that can enrich our local and global economies. Yet nothing can be further from the truth. Its meaning is unscrupulous, and its results, onerous. Globalization is just another euphemism for capitalism; a system that has had a devastating effect on the poorest of the land. Statistics show that the richest 1 percent of the country own 47.2 percent of all the wealth, while the bottom 90 percent own only 17.1 percent of this country's wealth. Usually, we are left fighting among ourselves for those scarce resources. When the world's largest populations are situated at the bottom of the economic scale while a miniscule number of people hold all the wealth, something is amiss, and that something is the globalization of poverty. Women are hit the hardest, in particular, women of color and poor white women. We need only to look around us to see globalization's criminalizing effect. More and more women are pushed from welfare to unemployment and marginalization. County jails and state prisons are housing more women who are mostly poor. Human beings are being denied the most basic human rights such as housing, food, education, health care, and jobs that keep the poor out of poverty. The goal of moving people from welfare to work has not been realized and is unrealistic. Many women and their families are being sanctioned from the welfare rolls, and often without a means to support themselves. The training that has been provided for some is so inadequate, it places former recipients into low-wage occupations that do not sufficiently cover the basic costs of housing, transportation or child care. Many of these jobs do not offer medical benefits, and women are often penalized if they take time off to care for a sick child. With these minimum-wage occupations, the question remains: How does a person pull herself/himself up by her/his bootstraps without a boot or a strap to pull? We need real solutions to real problems, problems that have been exacerbated by globalization. In the U.S., welfare reform, and its subsequent policies including the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, has been nothing more than specious. Policies like this are designed to manage poverty and therefore keep the poor from rising above it. Capitalism and globalization are the culprits, because they do not level the playing field nor do they intend to. The poor are struggling to keep from drowning in a sea of managed poverty and government bureaucracy. The gap between the haves and the have- nots continues to widen; it keeps the poor scrambling for so- called scarce resources, usually crumbs. In the meantime, the status quo points the finger at the poor and indicts them for their conditions. We must fight to eliminate poverty, not manage it. It must be prevented so there is no need for a cure. We must mobilize on a united front with our sisters and brothers all over the world, and, by any and all means necessary, release the chokehold of globalized poverty. We must fight to deconstruct the feminization of poverty, so that women who are single parents are not sanctioned and left with even less to take care of themselves and their families. A woman should not be incarcerated for trying to feed her family and keep a roof over their heads. She should not have to scramble for crumbs when she can have and should have loaves. We must develop and maintain a vision and a reality of an economic and human rights agenda that is globally inclusive. "This time it's all of us or none of us." .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.lrna.org Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 03-00 150th anniversary of the Compromise of 1850 .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 9. 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMPROMISE OF 1850: LEARN FROM THE UNCOMPROMISING SPIRIT OF THE ABOLITIONISTS! By Chris Mahin He spoke to a packed chamber, in 100-degree heat, for three hours and 11 minutes, barely using his few notes. Afterward, a leader of the fight against slavery declared that the oration had transformed the man who delivered it from a lion into a spaniel. One of the country's most talented writers composed a famous poem likening him to Satan. A prominent New England minister compared him to Benedict Arnold. This month marks the 150th anniversary of the day that U.S. Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts gave his notorious "Seventh of March" speech in the U.S. Senate. On March 7, 1850, Webster used his considerable eloquence to support the "Compromise of 1850," a series of measures designed to appease the slaveholding South. The events of 1850 are worth examining because that political crisis has much to teach us about how the fight against unjust property relations unfolds -- and who can be trusted in such crises (and who can't). The crisis of 1850 had been brewing for a long time. While the United States was founded on slavery, by the middle 1800s, the population and economic capacity of the free North was surpassing that of the slaveholding South. The defenders of the slave system desperately needed to expand slavery into the West. When the settlers of California petitioned Congress for admission into the Union late in 1849, the stage was set for a showdown. Admitting California to the Union as a free state would tip the balance of power in Congress in favor of the free states. To prevent that, representatives of the slave states threatened to secede from the Union. In response, Kentucky Senator Henry Clay crafted a series of proposed laws. While described as a "compromise," they were heavily weighted in the South's favor. California would be admitted to the Union as a free state, but slavery would not be banned in the rest of the vast territory seized from Mexico in the war of 1846-1848. While the slave trade would be banned in the District of Columbia, slavery itself would remain legal there. The "compromise" also included a new, stronger Fugitive Slave Act requiring the free states to send runaway slaves back to slavery. Clay's "compromise" outraged not just those people who advocated the immediate abolition of slavery throughout the United States, but also those who accepted slavery in the South but were opposed to slavery being spread elsewhere. Daniel Webster had been on record since 1837 as opposing the extension of slavery into the territories. Yet, on March 7, 1850, he vigorously supported Clay's proposals. Webster argued that preserving the Union was more important than anything else. Webster's speech split the country. Shortly after the speech, the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator published an eight-column analysis refuting Webster's arguments. Within days of the Massachusetts senator's appearance on the Senate floor, a mass meeting in Faneuil Hall in Boston condemned Webster's speech as "unworthy of a wise statesman and a good man," and resolved that "Constitution or no Constitution, law or no law, we will not allow a fugitive slave to be taken from the state of Massachusetts." In his speech, Webster had denounced the abolitionists, referring to them contemptuously as "these agitating people," and declaring that they had contributed "nothing good or valuable." "At the same time," he declared -- with great condescension -- "I believe thousands of their members to be honest and good men. ... They have excited feelings; ... they do not see what else they can do than to contribute to an Abolition press, or to an Abolition society, or to pay an Abolition lecturer." He specifically condemned the abolitionists for fighting to convince people that the question of slavery was a moral question. Webster argued that by posing the slavery question that way, the abolitionists treated morality as if it had the certainty of mathematics and made compromise impossible. By the end of September 1850, all the different pieces of the "Compromise of 1850" had been passed by the U.S. Congress -- but civil war was only postponed, not averted. The new Fugitive Slave Law allowed slave catchers easier access to their prey -- even in Boston, the city where the killing of a runaway slave by British troops had begun the American Revolution. For 10 years after the compromise which was supposed to settle the slavery question in the United States "forever," the abolitionists hammered home their message about the immorality of slavery. It was not Webster's willingness to compromise his principles that helped push history forward; it was the abolitionists' unwillingness to compromise theirs. Today, the world needs revolutionaries willing to be as uncompromising as the advocates of the immediate abolition of slavery were in the 19th century, and willing to proclaim their message as forthrightly as these abolitionists did. As we fight an unjust set of property relations today, we should strive to use the revolutionary press and the speaker's platform as skillfully as the abolitionists did then. Like the abolitionists, we should be bold and insist on describing the existence of massive wealth alongside massive poverty as a moral issue -- because it is one. If we do that, we will pay the best tribute that can possibly be paid to those "agitating people" of the 19th century with their abolition presses and lecturers and societies, people who -- Daniel Webster notwithstanding -- contributed something very good and valuable to society indeed. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.lrna.org Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 03-00 Senora, you are right ... .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 10. SENORA, YOU ARE RIGHT ... THESE LITTLE CABRONCITOS DO NOT GROW ON TREES! By Rodolfo Chavez "Youth like this do not grow on trees. I'm not frustrated nor disappointed in their actions. In fact, I am proud of not only my son, but all of these cabroncitos," declared the mother of a young man who had been arrested during the military intervention in the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) strikes in Mexico City. February 6, 2000 marked another dark chapter in the history of Mexico and its role of student repression. During the middle of the night, a task force of 2,500 military troops conducted a surprise maneuver by arresting over 700 students and faculty members that have been waging a strike for almost 10 months at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico or UNAM. What infuriated all of Mexico is that this was ordered by the national government, and President Zedillo took full responsibility for the action as he addressed the country the following day, rationalizing his motives and intent to terminate this student movement. In addition to the massive arrests of that night, warrants of arrest were issued to detain those student leaders who had avoided arrest, thus unleashing a witch hunt to detain and punish all activists who have taken part in and shaped this student movement. In its hastiness to proceed, the federal government exceeded its authority and went so far as to fabricate false crimes and absurd accusations that had no material basis and violated the government's own laws. The government is the subject of ridicule and this is reflected in the public's sentiment. The government of Mexico thought it had terminated not only the strike but public support for it. The strike came to life over 10 months ago when students refused a new tuition regulation imposed authoritatively by Francisco Barnes, director of UNAM. The measure was intended to cover federal budget cuts to UNAM that were implemented eight months prior to the strike. The student platform is to defend the human right of a free public education, a basic right that is declared in the Mexican Constitution and a direct result of the Revolution of 1910. The students have taken a stand to defend what historically belongs to the Mexican people, especially when today more than ever the people of Mexico have reached desperate levels of poverty and marginalization. The legacy of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 represents the only thing they can hold onto -- their hopes, dreams and aspirations to a better future. The Mexican government's plan to end the strike blew up in its face. It served to not only consolidate a student base and leadership, but also evoked widespread support from Mexico's impoverished masses. A perfect example of this is the massive demonstrations that took place on February 8, right after the surprise arrests. In Mexico City alone, over 150,000 took to the streets in support of the arrested students and called for their immediate release. Simultaneously, across the country, other protests erupted and as such demonstrated that the students of UNAM were not alone in their efforts to defend the right to free public education. Their support refuses to condemn future generations of Mexico to suffer and pay for an education that is their constitutional right while the government unabashedly exploits, pillages, and steals their national resources and controls their economy. They are tired of the written pages of 20th century corruption that have shamed the legacy of their revolutionary struggles. It is worth noting that while the strike has marked a record in Mexican history, it has not occurred without disruptions and infiltrations. At times its leadership has been shaken. It has not been easy and the pressures have been many. The Mexican government has resorted to its traditional methods of blackmailing, media and communication blackouts, and systematic control over public opinion and influence, including the intellectual elite. Yet, a new spirit has been reborn in the people of Mexico. Politicians and their agendas have been revealed. The hidden forms of fascism under which the government has always operated have been unmasked and boldly exposed during the tenure of the UNAM strike. The UNAM strike represents more than just a student movement; it is a moral outcry that is not willing to give up hope in the midst of an abyss of injustice. Together with the Zapatistas and other struggles, it represents the struggle for dignity, respect and a better Mexico. It is the forum under which progressive forces of the country must come together and wage the next round for the reconstruction of this nation. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.lrna.org Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 03-00 Spirit: My source of morality .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 11. SPIRIT OF THE REVOLUTION: MY SOURCE OF MORALITY Peter Brown [Editor's note: Peter Brown is a dancer, teacher and choreographer in Oakland, California. Also a journeyman machinist who worked in East Bay shops, including Caterpillar Tractor Co., for 11 years, he is a founding member of the League of Revolutionaries for a New America.] I grew up in a family with no religion; no church, no god, no concept of a creator or supreme being. For a long time, when I was a kid back in the '50s and early '60s, a lot of my friends thought that was really strange. They'd ask me things like: "Don't you feel kinda empty inside?"; "Well, how do you think the world got started, anyway?"; or, "How do you know what's right or wrong?" And for a long time, I thought I had to argue with them, convince them that they were wrong, not me. But I came to understand that this couldn't really be argued, we just had different frames of reference from each other, and it was like trying to debate what the color "red" looks like. Each person looks at it, sees it the way they see it, and that's "red." So my frame of reference was this, but I certainly didn't feel empty. My parents taught me that life is historical; everything has a past that determines its present nature, and all things are connected with each other. They taught me to respect all life forms. It has taken me years to realize that this is my spirituality, and my source of morality. Existence is infinite, both in space and time, even though the distance of our vision is limited. Existence is matter in motion, a duality in which matter is form, and motion is content; neither can exist without the other, and nothing exists without both. Taken together, matter and motion are existence. Matter is that which reveals motion or energy, and motion or energy is the mode of existence of matter. Evolution is the changing of existence through time. A delicious contradiction, because while every particle of matter and every iota of energy in existence now has existed for infinite time, it's never in the same form for two seconds in a row. The world/universe we see now did not always exist; the animals and plants of today did not always exist, others did. Mountains, oceans, our planet did not always exist. The elemental materials our universe is made of (iron, carbon, uranium, gold, oxygen and all the rest) did not always exist. Perhaps ten billion years (that's 10,000 millions of years) went into the evolution of nonliving matter before the formation of Earth. Around 600 million years later, many millions of years after the evolution of water on Earth, a molecule developed that was so complex it had the ability to reproduce itself. From there, a billion years went into the development of molecules more complex and efficient at reproducing themselves; molecules that combined with others in collectives to form the first living cells; and finally, the first simple plants, algae. Another billion years passed before the rise of sexual reproduction around two billion years ago. And all this among plants (carbon dioxide breathers); no animals (oxygen breathers) existed until roughly one billion years ago. In the last half-billion years, the first animals complex enough to have a central nervous system appeared. Only in the past 150 million years has there been evidence of anything we would recognize as consciousness, emotion, reasoning, morality. And in the last couple of million years, humanity has emerged from its ancestry, full of unprecedented abilities, insatiable curiosity, and complex emotions. I am not a scientist; it's not my task here to fully explain what more skilled people have used hundreds or thousands of pages to explain. But I need to lay some kind of base for sharing the spirituality I experience and understand. You and I consist of matter and energy from everywhere on our planet, everywhere in the universe, and those are infinitely old. We are completely connected to all of existence. The patterns of matter and energy that make each of us unique, change from moment to moment and are the result of everything that has come before us. We are the current result of 4 billion years of life on Earth. Consciousness is the highest evolution of matter. We are the universe knowing itself. And now we stand at a turning point, with crucial choices to be made and no one to make them but us. All of us. Since the rise of humanity, the dominant evolution on Earth has been that of society. If we look at the development of human society as though it were that of an individual, we could say that our many thousands of years of hunting and gathering represent our infancy, and the many centuries of agricultural civilizations represent our childhood. The rise of manufacture and massive industry, culminating in the atomic age, stands in for adolescence, and any parent of a teenager knows that's when we attain the power of self-destruction, but not yet necessarily the wisdom to avoid it. Humanity now stands at the brink of adulthood; the rise of the microprocessor, and the global society it has brought, offer us the opportunity to rise above the pettiness and disaster of individual wealth and power. We have a choice: a cooperative, creative, wonderful, imperfect future for all humans in which we use our technology (knowledge of how the world works) to be close to the natural world; or no future at all. The implication of that choice is that we, the mass of humanity, must come together with the purpose of taking political power from those who represent and enforce global capital, the last gasp of adolescence. They will not give it up with a handshake. That is my spirituality. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.lrna.org Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ******************************************************************