> WHAT TO DO ON ELECTION DAY -- AND BEYOND > > Statement by the League of Revolutionaries for a New America > http://www.lrna.org > > Statement by the League of Revolutionaries for a New America > > November 7 is election day 2000. How will Americans greet > that day? Well, it no doubt depends on who you are. Will > you sleep on silk sheets in a $30 million mansion the night > before, or will you lay your head on the stone cold pavement > in an urban doorway? Will you rise early to see what the > stock market is doing, or will you drag yourself up to get > to one of the two minimum-wage jobs that you hold to feed > your family? > > Despite the talk of prosperity, few things more clearly show > the nature of the times and the system we live under than > the obscene gap between the rich and the rest of us. The > average U.S. factory worker made $23,712 last year, while > the average CEO of the 350 biggest corporations made $12.4 > million in salary and stock options. The average CEO in > America makes 500 times what the average worker makes. The > top one percent of our population controls $620 billion. > Never before have so few been so rich, or so many so poor. > > We live in a country where even formerly "middle class" > workers are being sucked into the swelling ranks of the new > poor as incomes shrink and jobs vanish; where millions are > homeless; where millions have no health care and even those > with insurance can't get good care; and where millions of > children are denied a decent education. In our country, > more prisons than schools are being built; it is common > for prisoners to be tortured and murdered in the jails; > and, for millions of us, the police are not protectors > but tormentors. > > It doesn't have to be this way. We can have a new society, > one that guarantees the economic, social and cultural well- > being of everyone. The new technology and the globalization > that have produced the super rich and the desperately poor > have also given us the opportunity and the means to create > a new society that can provide for all, if we're willing to > struggle for it. But we are going to have to stand up and > fight. The ruling class has already spent years preparing > for this struggle by, among other things, opening a war on > the poor, passing repressive laws and shifting the country's > politics to the right. They are preparing the people to > accept a more repressive form of rule, without even the > pretense of democracy. > > The fight for a new system is already under way. It takes > the form of the struggle for health care, for jobs, for good > wages, for housing, and so on. But to kick it into high gear, > several things have to happen. We, the people, have to cut > the political strings that tie us to the ruling class. We > have to educate ourselves as to who are our real enemies and > who are our real friends. And the struggle in our country > must be approached from the perspective of the poor, from > the viewpoint of all those whose needs are not being met. > All this will take time, of course, but it's high time > we got started. So what can we, the people, do, in this > election and beyond, to begin cutting ourselves loose > from the ruling class? > > First of all, in this election it makes no sense to choose > "the lesser of two evils." The Democratic Party's drift to > the right over the past 25 years has made more clear than > ever that the Democratic and Republican parties are the > twin representatives of private property and wealth. The > two parties may sound like they have different programs, > but we've been down this road before, and look where it got > us. Recent experience has shown that voting for the lesser > of two evils doesn't give us any less evil. In fact, the > programs of the two parties today are essentially identical: > protect the wealth and privilege of the few at all costs, > and crush any dissent. > > On the other hand, we dare not avoid voting. At this point, > that would amount to telling the ruling class that we're > letting them off the hook, that we won't hold the government > responsible for our well-being. > > What to do on election day? Vote for Ralph Nader. Nader is > at least speaking to some of the real issues, and a vote for > him would tell the ruling class, "We are awake, and we are > going to hold you accountable." But beyond this, we should > have no illusions. For a campaign like Nader's to be truly > successful, there must be a real movement of people > consciously fighting in their class interests, and > no such conscious movement exists in the country > today. > > The crucial question is what to do after the election. It's > critical to recognize that elections are just one aspect of > politics. We must be active in the day-to-day political life > of our country. The issues we are dealing with every day -- > poverty, health care, jobs, education -- will remain long after > the election, and we must find practical ways of continuing > the fight around the issues all year long. At the same time, > in fighting around the issues we need to be doing what is > necessary to raise the consciousness of the American people > -- to get them to understand that the fight they're engaged > in is a class struggle, and that their real enemy is the > tiny, wealthy ruling class that controls our country, and > the system they represent. > > Indeed, the greatest danger that faces us today is not the > threat of a Bush victory, but the American people's low > level of political understanding. If we continue to think > with our enemy's ideas, we will continue to fight one > another. To unite and confront our real enemy, we have > to develop our own class outlook. We also need our own > independent political program and the institutions -- > the Labor Party is a good example -- to carry it out. > > What does it mean to have our own class outlook? For > decades, the ruling class has taught us that freedom, > prosperity and private property go hand in hand. But these > ideas are increasingly contradicted by the reality of a > world where new technology is making jobs disappear and > wages shrink, where workers are being told to sink or swim > in a global labor market, and where the police are a bigger > threat to the average person than the criminals. High > technology and globalization are at once creating an > abundance of everything we need, and making the mass > of humanity too poor to buy anything. > > Isn't there something wrong with a society where people > decked out in diamonds and fur coats are stepping over > homeless people on the sidewalk? Isn't there something > wrong with a system that prides itself on throwing women > and children off welfare in the midst of spreading poverty? > > The ultimate question confronting us is not just moral, but > practical: Will we have a society where the private control > of society's wealth by a powerful few causes mass suffering > and repression, or will we have a cooperative society, where > the people own and control the abundance the new technology > can provide, and where everything necessary for a full, rich, > cultured life is guaranteed to every person? Sooner or later, > for the majority of us, the question of whether we'll have a > cooperative society is not an ideological question. It's a > matter of morality, and a matter of survival. > > This year doesn't have to be one more election year with no > choices. It can be the start of year after year of determined > struggle to achieve real freedom and real prosperity. > > **************************************************************** > Speakers are available on this statement. For information > call toll free at 1-800-691-6888 or e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > You can write the League of Revolutionaries for a New America > at PO Box 477113, Chicago, IL 60647 or e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > **************************************************************** > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >
