My take on the issue of marginalization

From reader Emil Shaw:

Every time I read an article by Sam Webb it stimulates my thinking. His article on marginalization of the left and the Communist Party has caused me to think of what are some of the other factors for this marginalization.

For one thing: since the days of the 1930’s, the people’s movement has progressed in their knowledge of strategy and tactics, even if the Communists’ participation was being sidelined by red-baiting and McCarthyism. For another, I have found out that people will listen to you if you have something concrete to say or to contribute to the various problems confronting people’s coalitions in their struggle against the monopolies.

But to be able to be in a position where people will listen to you, one has to be in the coalition, participating in their day to day work. To be on the sidelines doesn’t work. To yell “socialism” doesn’t work, in particular when the party and our international comrades, do not have a clear idea of what we are talking about, since the days of the demise of the Soviet Union. New paths towards an egalitarian and just social order are being written with the efforts of the people in Latin America and Asia. But this story is not yet completely told, depending on the degree of U.S. interference and also the degree of solidarity we can generate within the U.S. labor and people’s movement.

There are comrades who still feel that all we have to do is to follow the example of Charles Chaplin in his film “Modern Times” where he walks down the street, picks up a red construction flag, waves it around and all the workers from different work sites put down their tools and follow him in a procession. Times are different now.

Despite the red-baiting, masses of workers are looking for answers to their day to day problems. If we can help to fill this void, then we will have helped to contribute to the people’s coalition instead of just holding their hands and commiserating with their misfortunes.

One issue that begs clarification is the question of “What is the middle class?” Since the federal election the major media discussion has been on protecting the middle class. However the concept of the middle class is used with Keynesian standards of income, rather than scientific Marxist standards of individuals’ relations to social production. Our contribution to this discussion talking place in the labor and people’s movement could be to help clarify what is the working class and what is the people’s movement.

Size matters: the left needs a bigger audience

My last blog was from Corning, NY on my way to the Chautauqua Conference; this blog is also from Corning; in fact, I am in the same coffee shop and the same booth as I was two days ago. The difference is that I am returning to NYC, after speaking yesterday afternoon to nearly a full hall at Chautauqua.

A few observations, not necessarily in importance: well, for two nights I slept in the same small, but very comfortable, bedroom that Jonas Salk slept in decades ago, overlooking Lake Chautauqua. What a treat! And this morning I awakened to a "red" sunrise.

Chautauqua and the Chautauqua Conference go back nearly one hundred and thirty years and many prominent people, including Presidents have spoken there. It grew, I suspect, out of the larger self and social improvement movements of the 19th century. It has obviously evolved since then, but its staff works to continue its founding mission in a very different world.

Living in the village is almost an other worldly experience. Everything is so clean and beautiful - houses, flowers everywhere, lecture halls, amphitheaters, music and dance schools for young people, etc. I'm sure you have to deep pockets to spend your summer at Chautauqua, but the shame of it all is not that, but that such summer accommodations are not available for most working people and their families. Everyone I met was very friendly and open - and most were meeting a communist for the first time.

After finishing my lecture in a very ornate lecture hall, I could only think that the biggest problem for communists and other people on the left is not our message (The theme of my remarks was "The Communist Party: A Work in Progress in a Changing World), but the size of our current audience. When people have an opportunity to hear what our positions are on near and longer term issues, including socialism, they respond well. Some agree with our pitch and most are happy to hear what we think. And nearly all are surprised at how much our views clash with their image and perceptions of communists and socialism.

Thanks goodness for the Internet. For us and many other left organizations. it gives us an unprecedented means to reach an audience of millions. I will post my speech later this week.

VIDEO: Out of the crisis, building a new era of justice and peace

Out of the crisis
Building a new era of justice and peace

a speech by Sam Webb, National Chair of the Communist Party

Communist Party streaming video

Out of the crisis
Building a new era of justice and peace

a speech by Sam Webb, national chair of the Communist Party

LIVE streaming video
Saturday, March 21
9:30 am Eastern

This Saturday, March 21, Sam Webb, the national chairperson of the Communist Party USA, will deliver a speech titled, “Out of the crisis: Building a new era of justice and peace.” The speech will be streamed live via the web on the website www.cpusa.org

The speech is the opening address to the organization’s National Committee, which includes leading communists from around the country.

For press inquiries email communications@cpusa.org or call 646-437-5338

Donate today to support the Communist Party's work in new media http://www.cpusa.org/donate

'Because you keep interrupting, you moron!'

From Crooks and Liars:

Glenn "McCarthy" Beck tries to link Communists to Obama, but they don't cooperate

By David Neiwert

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/glenn-mccarthy-beck-tries-link-commu

Glenn Beck's getting increasingly strident and desperate in his attempt to portray the Obama White House as a den of Communism. Yesterday he opened up with yet another "Comrade Update" that actually depicted visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a totalitarian simply for having extolled "cooperation."

By that standard, I guess, Sesame Street is a Commie Indoctrination Program. And at this point, I honestly wouldn't be surprised to find out the Beck indeed believes that to be the case.

In any event, he followed this smear by immediately having on Sam Webb of the Communist Party USA, claiming that Webb had declared Barack Obama a Communist ally:

Beck: You said that he was not only a friend, but an ally.

Webb: I don't think I said that. I only said that he is a people's advocate.

Beck: No, you said an ally.

Webb: No, I don't think I did. I made the speech, you didn't.

Actually, if you peruse the speech in question, you'll see that Beck is wrong. Maybe this is the part he's thinking of:

In the meantime, we have some immediate struggles on our hands But the good news is that the broad movement that elected President Obama and larger majorities in the Congress is up and running.

This movement, or if you like, this loose coalition in which labor plays a larger and larger leadership role, can exercise an enormous influence on the political process. Never before has a coalition with such breadth walked on the political stage of our country. It is far larger than the coalition that entered the election process a year ago; it is larger still than the coalition that came out of the Democratic Party convention in August.

The task of labor and its allies is to provide energy and leadership to this wide-ranging coalition. Yes, we can bring issues and positions into the political process that go beyond the initiatives of the Obama administration. But we should do this within the framework of the main task of supporting Obama’s program of action.

We can disagree with the Obama administration without being disagreeable. Our tone should be respectful. We now have not simply a friend, but a people's advocate in the White House.

What is in fact most remarkable about Webb's speech is that, unlike conservatives, Communists -- who have clear philosophical differences with Obama and could similarly wish for him to fail -- are more concerned that Obama's plan succeed because it's better for the country.

In other words: A bunch of Commies are more concerned about the nation's economic well-being than Conservatives are.

Beck in any event tries, McCarthylike, to bait Webb into casting Obama in the line of Communist thinkers, like Marx or Lenin -- and Webb refuses.

Webb: He's not a Socialist, he's not a Marxist.

Beck: Why do you push yourself away from Lenin and Marx?

Webb: I don't, myself, but Barack Obama does. He's not a Socialist, he's not a Communist. You know, you bandied that about during the campaign, and now people are bandying it about town, and the answer is no.

Beck at this point interrupts Webb, and spends the next three minutes talking over him and badgering him. At one point he asks: "Why can't you have a real conversation?"

Answer should have been: "Because you keep interrupting, you moron!"

But there you have it, folks. Glenn Beck: A New McCarthy for a New Century!

Rosalio Munoz: CPUSA program hit mark

The attached photos are of marchers at the Nov.5 “Yesterday we voted, today we march” demonstration of the Fast for Our Future in downtown Los Angeles to celebrate the election victory where supporters of immigrant rights helped change the course of our country. Scores of marchers carried with them the Communist Party USA's 2008 election program as do the marchers in the photos.

The CPUSA called for a landslide victory over the right wing Republicans in the summer of 2007 with its report "On the Road Again" initiated by Chair Sam Webb.

After John McCain became the presumptive Republican during the primaries the party discussed and approved an election programmed prepared by its Political Action Commission chaired by Joelle Fishman. Webb and Fishman cooperated with the PWW in preparing these excerpts.

-- Rosalio Munoz



Reprinted below are excerpts from Communist Party USA 2008 Election Program “Help Make History, turn Our Country Around,” published in May 2008. This program was widely distributed as part of the coalition effort to change the political direction of our country. It offers a framework for the ongoing movement, post election, and the development of solutions to meet the financial and economic crises on behalf of peoples needs. The full program is available at http://www.cpusa.org.

A new day is dawning. Our country is at a turning point. This is a time of great possibility. Across the land people are coming together to reshape our nations priorities to make government of by and for the people a reality

A landslide vote on November 4 can open the way to recovery from the very deep wounds of the Bush administration and decades of corporate right wing control.

Working people want bold new policies to end war, restore democratic traditions and create green living wage jobs, affordable housing, health care and quality education for everyone.

Although the ultra-right is weakened and divided they continue to push fear, division, racism and anti-immigrant bigotry in this years elections, aided and abetted by the corporate media. These multipronged poisonous tactics can only be overcome with unbreakable unity

Voters are demanding a new kind of politics to rebuild our country for the common good. A democratic spirit of unity and hope is inspiring millions to get involved.

In 2008 union members, African Americans, Latinos, youth and women, seniors, environmental and peace voters are forging a powerful new all encompassing movement that makes great changes possible.

We offer these proposals as a contribution toward the bold policy changes necessary to meet the immediate needs of working people. Funding to come from monies now being spent on the Iraq war, military budget and tax breaks to the super rich.

1. Immediate Relief:
A moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. Reset mortgages so payments are affordable. No bailouts for banks. Extend unemployment compensation. Increase food stamps, WIC, children’s health insurance and low-income energy assistance. Assist deficit-ridden state and local governments so they can preserve services and jobs. Fund ready to go infrastructure projects

2. A Peacetime, Green Jobs Economy.
Enact massive public works jobs creation. Priority to areas hurt by loss of manufacturing, high unemployment areas including the Katrina devastated Gulf Coast. Major clean, affordable energy development project for solar, wind and biomass electricity generation. Restore Federal energy regulation and encourage public ownership of utilities. Enact the Employee Free Choice Act to enable workers to form unions without intimidation and win higher wages and benefits, dignity and respect.
Enact HR 676 the US National Health insurance Act to provide universal insurance with single payer financing. Fully fund public education. No privatization of Social Security or Medicare. Expand and improve benefits.

3.Restore Civil Rights, the Bill of Rights and Separation of Powers
Restore the civil Rights act enforcement, affirmative action. End the "school to prison pipeline. Pass immigration reform with a path to citizenship. Outlaw hates crimes. Preserve Roe vs. Wade. Repeal the Patriot Act. Prosecute Bush violations of the Constitution. Expand voting rights. Restore the Fairness Doctrine in media

4. Strength through Peace.
Withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. With no bases or US corporations left behind. Full care for returning veterans. No war on Iran or Afghanistan. Adopt a new foreign policy of diplomacy and respect for all nations. Renew commitment to UN peace role. End trade policies that enrich corporations while destroying jobs. Ratify Kyoto treaty and other climate change agreements. Enforce nuclear non-proliferation, work to abolish nuclear weapons. Cut Pentagon spending in half, close down US bases around the world.

People and Nature Before Profits
Defeating the right wing is the first step in the struggle to end exploitation, poverty, racism and war inherent in capitalism.
Our vision is a socialist USA that opens the way for equality, world peace, real democracy, a society in which people control their own destinies in a sustainable world.

Japan's young turn to Communist Party

Capitalism has let them down, they say

By Danielle Demetriou

TOKYO--(telegraph.co.uk) With its gleaming designer stores, the world's second largest economy and an insatiable appetite for luxury labels, Japan has long been regarded as the land of the rising capitalist.

But a wave of discontent among its younger workers is fuelling a change in the nation's political landscape: communism is suddenly back in fashion.

What many young Japanese view as an erosion of their economic security and employment rights, combined with years of political stagnation, are propelling droves of them into the arms of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), the nation's fourth largest political party.

New recruits are signing up at the rate of 1,000 a month, swelling its ranks to more than 415,000. Meanwhile a classic proletarian novel is at the top of the best-seller lists, and communist-themed "manga" comics are enjoying soaring success.

A further sign of disaffection among young Japanese - who in recent years have been more renowned for their political apathy than their revolutionary zeal - is the increasing frequency of rallies by workers on the streets of the capital.

Earlier this month, crowds of up to 5,000 young Japanese workers marched through the streets of central Tokyo to express their growing discontent with the government over working conditions.

And the job losses, financial insecurity and social dissatisfaction that are expected to go hand in hand with the current global credit crisis are expected to increase the ranks of the party further.

Spearheading the lurch to the Left are young Japanese in their twenties and thirties, who have become increasingly disillusioned with changes to employment laws which they blame for creating a climate of insecurity.

Some 44 per cent of country's workforce are part-time only, while a profusion of short-term contracts has created a generation of freelancers who are often between jobs.

Kimitoshi Morihara, deputy director of the Japanese Communist Party's international bureau, said: "Working conditions dramatically changed for younger generations in 2002 when new temporary working laws were introduced.

Today, more than one in three Japanese is in temporary work. They have almost no rights, no security and no future.

"The political climate in Japan is changing and more young Japanese are becoming politically aware because these issues have long been ignored by other parties." The revival of hard left politics comes as Japan faces the prospect of an general election in coming months, following the parliamentary deadlock which led to last month's sudden resignation of Yasuo Fukuda, the third prime minister in less than three years.

The country's schlerotic political system has enabled the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to hold power for an almost unbroken five decades, although its powers were critically curtailed last year when the main opposition party won control of the upper legislative chamber.

Resurgent Japanese communism is deploying all the tools of the 21st century, with the internet and on-line video sites playing a vital role.

The party's charismatic chairman, Kazuo Shii, triggered a rush of new recruits with a rousing parliamentary speech attacking the "exploitation" of young workers, which has become cult viewing among young Japanese on video websites.

With his grey salaryman suit and glasses, 54-year-old Mr Shii appears a far cry from conventional revolutionary stereotypes. However, after eight years at the helm of the party he has been propelled to prominence to become something of a media personality.

Among those who have recently come under his sway is Miki Tomohiro, a 34-year-old freelance writer from Fukutsu City, Fukuoka Prefecture. "When I saw Mr Shii speaking, I felt as if he was exposing capitalism in its crudest form," he said. "I surfed the internet to find out more about the party before joining." Oomori Shuji, 30, a temporary worker for Toyota, from Aichi Prefecture, who joined the party in June, added: "Since my graduation, I have never been fully employed. At a JCP workshop, I learned about the realities of temps hired by the day and the working poor, who are without social security or bonuses, and are often easily fired.

"The party is considerate of the plight of young people, including their jobs and living conditions. It has a concrete policy on these questions." Another sign of the growing allure of the Left is the sudden surge in popularity of a classic Japanese novel, Kanikosen - the Crab-Canning Ship ­- about embattled factory workers who rise up against their capitalist oppressors.

Nearly eight decades after it was written by Takiji Kobayashi, a communist who was tortured to death for his political beliefs aged 29, its sales have leapt from a slow annual trickle of 5,000 to 507,000 so far this year, unexpectedly catapulting it to the top of the nation's bestseller lists.

A "manga" comic book depicting the same Marxist tale is also winning over young Japanese, with 200,000 copies sold in a year. Kosuke Maruo, editor at East Press, which publishes the manga version, said: "The story succeeds in representing very vividly the situation of the so-called working poor today.

"They cannot become happy and they cannot find the solution to their poverty, however hard they work. Young people who are forced to work for very low wages today may have a feeling that they are in a similar position to the crew of Kanikosen." Kyudo Takahashi, 31, a freelance writer from Tokyo, attributed the popularity of the story to a growing sense of displacement among his generation.

"Kanikosen was a textbook in school but we didn't read it seriously then," he said. "Now, we're reading it again because we're frustrated with the government.

"In the book, people are exploited again and again. They are not treated like humans, more like cows at a hamburger factory. That is how many people feel today. When we find work, someone is always exploiting us. We cannot feel secure about the future."

From Manga to socialism: Japan's young go left

Japan's young turn to Communist Party as they decide capitalism has let them down

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/3218944/Japans-young-turn-to-Communist-Party-as-they-decide-capitalism-has-let-them-down.html

McCarthy Light

Here is a blog called No-Bama. This person has posted a long list of links "showing" Obama's communist and socialist history.

Obama's Communist and Socialist Roots

I actually read a post on a news site yesterday that stated, "Obama takes his marching orders from the CPUSA!"

Enjoy for an easy laugh.

Of Smears & Red Hysteria

Isn’t it amazing how dangerously influential the CPUSA has suddenly become again? As a regular peruser of the insane ramblings of Right-Wing bloggers, I am seeing a huge increase of histrionic entries by the wing-nut 101^st Keyboard Brigade about Barack Obama’s secret commie background. Most entries are just cut and past jobs emanating from the (in)Accuracy In The Media howlings of Cliff Kincaid. Kincaid believes he has become the new Woodward & Bernstein by “uncovering” Obama’s childhood connection to Frank Marshall Davis, the African-American poet and journalist. Davis was a family friend during the period Obama lived in Hawaii. The whole thing is way too tiresome to get into. Google Davis and I’m sure a hard drive could be filled with the links to calls from these wanna be Paul Reveres to defend Americuh from the Red Menace posted all over the Internet.

Suddenly, the CPUSA, once again has “front organizations” and secret “moles” being used to subvert this shining republic. Obama is not being upfront about his commie connections, they write. Another hit piece titled “Barack Obama's communist connections” written by Wes Vernon from a pseudo-patriot web site called Renew America goes into more detail about the dangers of Obama’s past. My point is that these stories are being reposted over and over again. Add these to the pervasive misinformation being planted such as Obama’s a Muslim, he isn’t patriotic or that he downright hates America and it becomes too obvious that Right-Wing America is terrified of Obama. Let’s be truthful, America. The real issue is that Obama is—drum roll please—BLACK! These loons on the Right know that they can’t take the racist low road so they have found something akin to a pair of dirty under shorts to rally around. Instead of a burning cross, these drones have dredged up the old “Red under every bed” chestnut.

I have no idea whether Obama ever had Communist or Socialist leanings. Maybe he was what I like to call a “college Socialist.” I’ve seen it over and over again. College students get involved in socialist and communist parties while in school but as soon as they graduate and land a great paying job, all thoughts of Marx are forgotten. Let us hope that Obama has maintained some of the advice from Frank Marshall Davis.

I am reminded of the “When I give bread to a poor man they call me a saint. When I ask why he is poor they call me a communist” quote. Displaying social responsibility and fighting for social justice has become the new communism for the Right. How could it not? We live in a country where greed and decadence is rewarded and viewed as a sign of success. If you are poor, you are garbage not worth the time to market to. I’m an up from the dirt Prole and proud of it. Capitalism DID make me one of its grave-diggers in waiting.

My father was a janitor and my mother cleaned houses and motels. I grew up living with class prejudice. I lived in a ramshackle house with no hot water, a coal furnace, an outhouse and a party line telephone. My clothes never failed to get me ridiculed at school. What has this to do with my original rant? I think we should be screaming from rooftops that we are Communists and proud of it. We must illustrate why we are Communists. Why do we believe what we do? We have forgotten that communist work is not just an intellectual concept promoted by those who sit in offices or college classrooms. We must remember that the real work is down at the street level. We must become community activists. This is where the people learn what we are. The wing-nuts use words to label us. We should use action to define ourselves.

How about a numerical estimate of the casualties of Capitalism? The Right loves to toss around the “100 million victims of Communism” claim.

We should be blogging to counter the Right. We need to better explain to the masses what our program consists of. We need to dispel the idea that our Party wishes to turn Amerika into a Stalinist gulag. How much longer shall we allow the mistakes of the past to be used against us with an uneducated public? We need to organize more aggressively as was done in the early years. I suggest a serious summer seminar on how to talk to people about our ideas and how to counter our critics.

I hope this wasn't too long and boring. I have a tendency to ramble.

Debate on Tibet

While the below documentaries are from CCTV, China's state broadcasting company, it is important to note that other news agencies, such as Reuters, did report that the protests in Tibet were not peaceful. And Michael Parenti has written extensively on the Lama aristocracy and slavery that existed in Tibet's past before the Chinese revolution. I am posting this to spark some debate about the Tibet issue and I ask why progressive activists simply take what the anti-China crusaders say at face value without asking some healthy constructive questions? Such as:

What would a "free" Tibet look like?

Would they even have elections?

Would they accept a American Military base?

Lhasa documentary



The past of Tibet part 1