G-8 Jobs Conference: Behind The Doubletalk
he apple core but don't ask for the apple. You are supposed to be happy that at least you can plant the seed and perhaps grow a new apple which can be eaten somewhere down the line. The statement also supported the nefarious aims of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment when it emphasized what it called "the need for the transition of industries from low-growth sectors to emerging sectors" "through the removal of regulatory barriers to investment, innovation and new technologies." It sanctioned the cuts to funding of higher education and the destruction of a modern education at the high school level by seeking "a better link between educational outcomes and the skills requirements of the workforce." In other words, only education which addresses the skills which are needed by the jobless recovery are to be kept. Such conferences only reveal the ever increasing number of initiatives which governments are taking to decide the policies which affect their societies behind the backs of the working class and people and then present them as a fait accompli. They are rammed through the Legislatures or through Cabinet, the courts and any other trappings of the unrepresentative democracy as is happening federally and provincially. Far from resolving a single problem, such things will deepen the crisis of credibility and legitimacy facing the bankrupt political institutions. They underscore the need to get rid of them and replace them with new arrangements which guarantee that it is the interests of the working class and people which are put in first place, not those of the financial oligarchs. TML Daily, 12/13/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On The Occasion Of The 117th Anniversary Of The Birth Of Frederick Engels: Frederick Engels - Great Champion And Teacher Of The Working Class
ported,
actively participating in the armed popular uprising in which he
fought in three battles, he too was forced to leave the country
following the defeat of the revolutionary forces.
Shortly thereafter, he settled in England where Marx also
settled, and their close revolutionary collaboration continued
until Marx's death in 1883, yielding a wealth of revolutionary
material which continues to be an indispensable guide to the
revolutionary proletariat in its struggles to this day, having
lost none of its validity and value. It was here that Marx was to
write the greatest work ever done on political economy - Capital.
While Marx carried out his tremendous work on the analysis of the
complex phenomena of capitalist economy, Engels took up the
elaboration of the revolutionary science and outlook on a wide
range of questions, often writing simple, concise works in a
polemical style. Amongst his major contributions to the theory of
scientific socialism during this period are the famous polemical
work Anti-Duhring, in which he deals with fundamental questions
of philosophy, natural science and social science, The Origin of
the Family, Private Property and the State, The Housing Question
and Ludwig Feuerbach. It was Engels too, who carried out the
major task of preparing and publishing the second and third
volumes of Capital, after Marx died leaving this work only in
draft form.
Engels' revolutionary work, however, went beyond this
invaluable enunciation of the revolutionary theory of the
proletariat. Like Marx, he, too, was active in the international
working class movement, including his active participation in the
International Working Men's Association founded by Marx in 1864.
Even after the dissolution of the Internationale and the death of
Marx, Engels continued to pay great attention to the development
of the international working class movement. The correspondence
which he conducted with communists and working class leaders
throughout Europe and North America is amongst the treasures
which he left the international proletariat, being rich in
principles and in the enunciation of the revolutionary strategy
and tactics of the proletariat.
In all his work, the revolutionary essence of this brilliant
fighter for the interests of the working class is always
apparent. He never for a moment lost sight of the interests for
which he was fighting, never lapsed into empty theorizing, but,
on the contrary, repeatedly pointed out that "Marxism is not a
dogma, but a guide to action". His writings to this day form an
integral and essential part of the theory of scientific socialism
- an indispensable and invaluable guide in the struggle of the
working class for its emancipation, for socialism and communism.
TML Weekly, 12/7/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Decaying Capitalist Economy
Greetings, On Tue, 9 Dec 1997, Dave Markland wrote: Shawgi wrote: The other major problem caused by the basic internal contradiction is that private ownership of the means of production determines that the motive behind production is the creation of maximum capitalist profit. (snip) As long as there is class society, as long as there is private ownership of the means of production there cannot be efficient use of the productive forces. The lesson of Yugoslavia shows us the problem with such statements (as well as the myopia of "Market Socialism"). They eliminated private ownership but kept the market, resulting in the inefficiencies of that social construct. further, the market deepened class divisions in society. Regards, dave Shawgi wrote: Dave, I don't understand your observation here. I was pointing to the dubiousness of an assertion like "as long as there is private ownership of the means of production there cannot be efficient use of the productive forces". In a system of Market Socialism (which I know you did not mention, but it helps illustrate my point), there is no private ownership but we don't see "efficient use of productive forces". Thus, eliminating private ownership is at best a necessary, but not sufficient cause of efficient use of productive forces. Sorry for the confusion- i was trying to keep it short. Regards, Dave Ok, Dave. Thanks for the clarification. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Decaying Capitalist Economy
Greetings, On Mon, 8 Dec 1997, Dave Markland wrote: Shawgi wrote: The other major problem caused by the basic internal contradiction is that private ownership of the means of production determines that the motive behind production is the creation of maximum capitalist profit. (snip) As long as there is class society, as long as there is private ownership of the means of production there cannot be efficient use of the productive forces. The lesson of Yugoslavia shows us the problem with such statements (as well as the myopia of "Market Socialism"). They eliminated private ownership but kept the market, resulting in the inefficiencies of that social construct. further, the market deepened class divisions in society. Regards, dave Dave, I don't understand your observation here. The passages you abstracted from my post say nothing about so-called "market socialism." In fact, my entire post says nothing about "market socialism." Basically, the post brings to the fore the objective features of capitalist society, a form of class society, and the basic contradiction of capitalism (social labor, private ownership) which is demanding resolution. It points to how and why capitalism is decaying and the need for abolishing capitalist private property and ushering in socialist society by harmonizing the forces and relations of production. Throughout the post the need for scientific planning of the economy, for calculated human intervention in the economy and for doing away with the reckless operation of the law of value are highlighted. The point is also made that classes and not only the exploitation of persons by persons must be abolished. The so-called "free market" is exposed for what it is: a euphemism for the anarchy of production inherent to capitalism. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Alleviating Poverty Not A Consideration For Chretien Liberals (Canada)
The number of people relying on food banks has doubled since 1989, growing to about 670,000 from 330,000. The executive director of the Canadian Association of Food Banks, Julia Bass, pointed out on December 5 that the increase is due to the elimination of national standards and funding. Since the federal Liberals eliminated the Canada Assistance Act in 1995 which set national welfare standards, and cut transfer payments to the provinces by almost $7 billion, provincial governments have passed legislation and/or implemented measures which target welfare recipients for attack. Loren Freid, executive director of the North York Harvest Food Bank pointed to the example of the Harris government which has cut welfare payments by 22 percent. "Punitive policies like workfare and fingerprinting welfare recipients caused by Mr. Martin's elimination of national welfare standards create a public impression and attitude that there is something illegitimate about simply being poor and simply helping those who are poor," Freid said. She pointed out that donations to food banks have concurrently fallen by 25 percent. Organizations which provide food for the poor through food banks are demanding that the federal government reinstate national standards to require the provinces to provide adequate aid to the poor. Sue Cox, executive director of the Daily Bread Food Bank, called on the First Ministers to endorse poverty reduction targets, like the targets Federal Finance Minister Paul Martin employed to cut the deficit. However, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stephane Dion made it clear that there was no way the government would do this. He diverted the issue by promoting "cooperative federalism" as if its aim is to get results. "We need to work with the provinces," Dion said. "What is the use of national standards if it's not something that is supported?" The point is that the excuse of "working with the provinces" is precisely the means being used to abolish national standards so as to open the door to the privatization of all social - programs. TML Daily, 12/9/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Decaying Capitalist Economy
of the "whole people." No longer was the Soviet Union dedicated to the victory of the emancipation of the working class in the Soviet homeland as well as internationally, but rather was engaged in "peaceful competition with imperialism" to see who could produce the most thorough efficient management and the best technique. No longer was there discussion promoted to find the "way forward" but all energy was directed towards denouncing those who had already passed away and could not defend themselves. Anyone who raised any questions about the direction of the Soviet Union was branded as anti-Soviet and directed to get in step with socialist dogma. The entire experience of the collapse of the Soviet Union is testimony to the fact that the denial of class struggle and the embracing of the slogans of the "efficient use of the productive forces" with "improved management," and the "Party of the whole people" were designed to restore capitalism and destroy socialism. Mikhail Gorbachev after he became general secretary in 1985 came out in 1986 with his "perestroika" and "glasnost" under the guise of strengthening socialism. In the late 1980s, restructuring and openness were not extenuating circumstances that could have strengthened socialism in the Soviet Union. The extenuating circumstances would have been to overthrow the existing capitalist class, to overthrow its political power and to restore the social ownership of the means of production, that is to intensify class struggle. On the contrary, according to Gorbachev "perestroika" and "glasnost", that is, restructuring and openness, would somehow strengthen socialism. The system Gorbachev inherited and for which he worked was already pseudo-socialist--socialist in words, but capitalist in actual fact. State property had already changed its content from socialist to capitalist. For this private property to fully assert itself there was a need for the political structures to be changed, for the old Soviet forms to be destroyed. All the old symbols of socialism had to be removed, all the old forms had to be eliminated so that this private property could fully express itself. If the aim of Gorbachev was to strengthen socialism he would have had to unleash the class struggle against the new Soviet bourgeoisie, which was the basis for the development of the USSR then and today in the former Soviet republics. There is no country in the world where the slogan of efficiency and management, the rational use of resources can be the catchwords of progress except in those countries which are fighting for the survival of their revolution and independence from imperialism. In spite of all the most modern techniques of rationalization, scientific management and efficiency, no country in the world has been able to resolve the basic contradiction between the social process of production and the private ownership of the means of production without social revolution. This contradiction persists in wreaking havoc in society. CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: U.S. growth
Greetings,
On Sat, 6 Dec 1997, Rebecca Peoples wrote:
Shawgi,
Would you please explain to me how the unemployment rate
underestimates the unemployment situation. And what is the difference
between the jobless rate and the unemployment rate? Are they not one and
the same thing.
Fraternally
Rebecca
Rebecca, here is the section called "Behind the Unemployment Rate"
in Holly Sklar's (1995) book, "Chaos or Community?" It answers your
question. You may also want to check out State of Working America by
Mishel and Bernstein or any one of a number of numerous works which put to
rest all illusions about an "improving" economy.
"The U.S. government downsizes the unemployment rate, but not the reality,
much as it does poverty. There's a large gap between the number of people
wanting jobs and the number included in the unemployment rate. The
official rate doesn't include would-be workers who have searched for work
in the past year, or even the last five weeks - but not in the past four
weeks. The official rate leaves out people defined as 'discouraged
workers', people with child-care problems and millions of others without
jobs. It doesn't include involuntary part-timers.
"Business Week observes, 'increasingly the labor market is filled with
surplus workers who are not being counted as unemployed. The rate of
labor force participation - those working or looking for work - has
dropped sharply for men since 1989. Estimated conservatively, some 1.1
million prime-age workers are out of the labor force compared with five
years ago...And there are at least 500,000 more workers with some college
who have jobs but are underemployed compared to five years ago.'
"Alternative unemployment and underemployment measures, such as the Urban
League's 'Hidden Unemployment Index', have typically adjusted the official
rate by adding in 'discouraged workers' and involuntary part-timers
('part-time for economic reasons') - two categories that the labor
department made more restrictive beginning in 1994, resulting in lower
official numbers. David Dembo and Ward Morehouse advocate a more complete
alternative 'jobless rate' which reflects the larger pool of jobless
workers (including 'discouraged') and adjust for involuntary part-time
employment using a ful-time equivalence formula. Their 1993 jobless rate
was 13.8%. Dembo and Wardhouse observe:
The Jobless Rate - about twice the official Unemployment
Rate - rises and falls with the official rate. However,
as more people are forced to work part-time and as
increasing numbers have dropped out of the official labor
force altogether, the Jobless Rate tends to diverge even
more from the official rate. During cyclical downturns
(recessions)...the Jobless Rate increases more than does the
Unemployment Rate as record numbers of Americans give up
looking for work and more and more people work part-time for
economic reasons...With each succeeding recovery period, the
Jobless Rate has fallen less and less. [This last observation is
key].
"In Europe too, unemployment is racheting upward. 'After each cyclical
downturn, [joblessness] locks in even higher', notes International
Management. 'Many who lose jobs never work again'. Over half of Europe's
400 largest firms planned major layoffs for 1995.
"the U.S. Labor Department acknowledged in late 1993 that the government
had been substantially underestimating unemployment among women..."(pp.
60-61).
What should be borne in mind is that capitalism has entered its
last stage, imperialism. As such, exploitation and oppression are
increasing. While alot of data substantiates this, alot is designed to
cover it up.
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Disposable Individual Income Decreases (Canada)
According to the Research and Information Institution on Income, the financial situation of individuals has deteriorated in 1997. The Institute notes that in real terms the disposable individual income fell 1.2 per cent in 1996 and that the decrease has continued throughout 1997. It fell 2.4 per cent in the first quarter of 1997 and by 1.7 per cent in the second quarter compared to the same period the previous year. The rate of individual savings, which remained at 7.5 per cent in 1994 and 1995, rapidly decreased to 4.3 per cent in 1996. The decrease has continued in 1997, with the overall savings rate reaching 1.6 per cent in the first quarter and 0.5 per cent in the second. The number of individual bankruptcies has continued to increase, going from 20,842 in 1995 to 24,887 in 1996. TML DAILY, 12/4/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: U.S. growth
Greetings, On Fri, 5 Dec 1997, Doug Henwood wrote: I asked this question on Post-Keynesian thought a year or so ago, and got no satisfactory answers. With the strong U.S. employment report released this morning - payroll growth of over 400,000, a drop in the unemployment rate to 4.6% (the lowest in 24 years), and real wage growth approaching 2% - I'll try it again. Most Keynesians, regardless of whatever modifier you want to use, would have predicted several years ago that a policy mix based on deficit reduction and sustained high real interest rates would provoke stagnation, and not what we've seen over the last 3-4 years. Why have things turned out the way they have? Doug I think it is necessary to avoid focusing on the appearance of things and move directly to the essence of matters. In terms of unemployment, the so-called lowest unemployment rate in the last few decades conceals numerous realities which have been thoroughly discussed by many (e.g., Holly Sklar in Chaos or Community? 1995). If one sees only 4.6% unemployment without looking into the sort and kind of jobs being created, forgets the bias of "official" data, focuses only on unemployment as opposed to the jobless rate and so on then one will arrive at an inaccurate impression of things. One will think that things are actually going well when in fact the opposite is the case. For example, according to Dembo and Morehouse, the 1993 jobless rate was nearly 14%. They also conclude that "With each succeeding recovery period, the *Jobless Rate* has fallen less and less" (The Underbelly of the U.S. Economy: Joblessness and the Pauperization of Work in America, 1994). Besides other things the 4.6% unemployment rate masks the fact that the productive forces continue to be destroyed by capitalism. Technological developments are increasingly making the service sector look more and more like the manufacturing sector. In our society inequality and poverty continue to increase. The reverse is not the case. The capitalist tendency for the rich to get richer and the poor poorer is proceeding unfettered, irrepsective of this or that unemployment rate. This cannot be otherwise because the economic system in existence is capitalism, which has its own objective laws of development. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: U.S. growth
Greetings, On Fri, 5 Dec 1997, Doug Henwood wrote: Shawgi A. Tell reproduces every tired leftist cliche about the U.S. labor market in just three paragraphs, an impressive achievement. Please let's not lower the level of discussion. I think it is necessary to avoid focusing on the appearance of things and move directly to the essence of matters. In terms of unemployment, the so-called lowest unemployment rate in the last few decades conceals numerous realities which have been thoroughly discussed by many (e.g., Holly Sklar in Chaos or Community? 1995). If one sees only 4.6% unemployment without looking into the sort and kind of jobs being created, forgets the bias of "official" data, focuses only on unemployment as opposed to the jobless rate and so on then one will arrive at an inaccurate impression of things. One will think that things are actually going well when in fact the opposite is the case. The point isn't that "things are actually going well" - the point is that they're a lot better than they were 5 years ago. Real wages are rising, and the race and gender gaps are narrowing. Sure lots of shit jobs are being created, but that's not the whole story, or you wouldn't be seeing a pickup in the average wage. But things are not actually going well and they are not "a lot better than they were five years ago." My argument is that things continue to deteriorate and worsen rapidly for the vast majority. This argument is based on Karl Marx's analysis, which retains its full validity, and the constantly growing mountains of objective and verifiable data and information indicting the capitalist economic system. For example, according to Dembo and Morehouse, the 1993 jobless rate was nearly 14%. They also conclude that "With each succeeding recovery period, the *Jobless Rate* has fallen less and less" (The Underbelly of the U.S. Economy: Joblessness and the Pauperization of Work in America, 1994). Yes, the official unemployment rate understates reality, but it always has, and the trend has been down. Then it would be good to avoid using the "official" unemployment rate as a point of departure for analyzing reality. The "official" unemployment rate does not merely "understate" matters. It grossly distorts them. And, if the jobless rate, no matter how you slice it, is at a 24-year low, then Dembo Morehouse's claim is no longer true. I think this needs to be recognized, explained, and analyzed for its political significance. But how the jobless rate is sliced is the point. Was not your original question on/about the so-called low unemployment rate? In the area of women's un/employment, for example, the Census Bureau has admitted it did things wrong, leading to a gross underestimation of conditions. Besides other things the 4.6% unemployment rate masks the fact that the productive forces continue to be destroyed by capitalism. Technological developments are increasingly making the service sector look more and more like the manufacturing sector. What does this mean? U.S. industrial production continues to rise, and manufacturing capacity (according to the Fed's industrial production/capacity utilization series) is expanding at the fastest rate in 30 years. Besides, I thought capitalism was famous for expanding the productive forces at the expense of everything else. Yes, production does continue to grow, thanks to, among other things, the introduction of automation, but with fewer and fewer workers. From the standpoint of the capitalist class, workers have always been incidental to the capitalist labor process. And, yes, capitalism is known for expanding the productive forces. But it is also known for de-skilling. Like all previous socio-economic formations, capitalism has reached a point which is causing the destruction of the productive forces. The contradiction between the relations and forces of production under capitalism today are extremely sharp, demanding resolution. This contradiction is not going away. Capitalism has reached a point at which it is no longer able to carry on uninterrupted extended reproduction without running up against serious problems. Nothing that has taken place in the 20th century has in any way altered the capitalist tendency for the rich to continue to get richer while the poor get poorer. Doug Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Advance Under Capitalism?
In terms of the development of the economic base of capitalism, the question arises: can this be developed further, can there be an advance in the development of the productive forces under capitalism? Theory again comes into play by showing that as capitalism in this century has reached its last and final stage, it has become moribund and parasitic. This has been proven by life itself. It is the stage of imperialism, of monopoly capitalism, of concentration of capital and production, and, with the growth of the modern proletariat, all the objective conditions are there for a new, socialist, social system, all the objective prepartions are in place for the overthrow of the capitalist system. In fact, objectively, this overthrow is long overdue. Imperialism represents the domination by finance capital, of parasitism and decay of capitalism, of profits made through money-lending and speculation. The bourgeoisie, unwilling and incapable of sanctioning the forward step towards socialism, is presiding over a moribund, parasitic and atrophying system. Under monopoly capitalism, the process of production has become socialized while ownership of the means of production is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. This is giving rise to crisis, a brake on any development of the productive forces, whereby the productive forces themselves are being destroyed on a massive scale. On a world scale, this has led to the devastation of famine and war. This is all being carried out with the motive of controlling markets and maximizing profits. the scientific-technical revolution itself, far from being used for the benefit of society, has become one of the greatest factors for the destruction of the productive forces. Any development now of capitalism only further disintegrates and destroys these productive forces. The capitalist system is not capable of uninterrupted extended reproduction. The motive of making maximum capitalist profit is an extremely narrow base on which modern production rests. CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Discussion: The Limits Imposed Demand That The Working Class Acts In A New Way
If workers shut down a factory or a whole sector of the economy in the course of waging the struggle for their rights they soon find that their struggle reaches the limits imposed by the capitalist system. These limits are based on the private ownership of property and the political power it wields. These limits ensure that while certain rights exist, such as the right to strike, they do so only to the extent that they do not threaten the right of the capitalists to maintain their control of the situation. At the stroke of the pen these rights are taken away - as in the case of back-to-work legislation which has been used against workers in important sectors of the national economy such as the railway and post office. These limits also ensure that rights exist entirely within the context of the supremacy of private property. Thus, in a strike or other struggle workers often find themselves facing the courts or labour boards which dictate what will be the boundaries to any struggle. For example, the courts routinely intervene to grant injunctions limiting the right to picket, and the right of workers to organize (and also to maintain their organizations) falls within the limits determined not by the workers, but by the labour laws and labour boards. Contrast this to a situation in which thousands of workers are laid off as the result of a single decision by a corporation or a government, or the anti-social offensive, which has seen the governments at all levels launch their attacks on social programs and the most vulnerable, all in the name of protecting the profits of the monopolies and the financial oligarchy. There is no limit to these rights enjoyed by the monopolies and financial oligarchy. In fact, they become policy through actions taken by the governments at every level to recognize that paying the debt and deficit cutting are a priority over providing for the social needs of the people. Privatization of existing social services is another measure which goes hand in hand with the anti-social offensive. In other words, the cards are all stacked against the working class. The limits imposed can only lead to the intensified exploitation of the working class. The crisis of unemployment is one example. Another is the anti-social offensive. Such things are happening because the working class is confined to the limits acceptable to the present ruling class of the monopolies and financial oligarchy and its political representatives. What it is clearer with each passing day and each new struggle is that the working class must act in a new way. Whether it is the deepening economic crisis or the anti-social offensive which is eliminating any responsibility of society to provide and care for the well-being of its members, the necessity is for the working class to change the situation. It has to advance its pro-social program on the basis that society must provide for the interests of all working people. It has to enter the political arena not on the basis of electing this or that political party but from the consideration of electing its own representatives to defend its interests and set the pro-social agenda. TML DAILY, 12/2/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Child Poverty: Chretien Liberals' Double Standards (Canada)
500,000 more children are living in poverty in Canada today than in 1989 - a 58 percent increase. This brings the number of children considered to be living in poverty to a record 1.5 million. The latest information on this was released in a report by Campaign 2000, a coalition of 60 agencies lobbying for an end to child poverty. The report also says that the number of children living in families whose parents are experiencing long-term unemployment is up 47 percent, while those living in families requiring social assistance is up 68 percent. The number of children living in unaffordable rental housing is up 48 percent and the number of families living in families earning less than $20,000 a year has increased 45 percent. According to the report, a child is considered to be living in poverty if its family must spend more than 55 percent of its income on food, shelter and clothing. This is the limit known as the "low-income cutoff." The report says that it would take $7.1 billion to lift Canada's children out of poverty. This is almost 10 times more than the Liberal government has pledged to spend "sometime during its mandate" on its "National Child Benefit Strategy." This is a far cry from the Liberal government's November 1993 pledge to eliminate child poverty by 2000. This report goes a long way to bring out the double-standards and double-dealing of the Chretien government. It has a policy and plan when it comes to eliminating the deficit; it has a "policy objective" which "it is working hard to achieve," when it comes to eliminating child poverty. Canadians know exactly what the Chretien Liberals are all about. Canada has more than enough resources to eliminate child poverty immediately. The issue facing the working class and people is to empower themselves to take over the affairs of government so that they, not the financial oligarchs, can set the priorities. TML DAILY, 11/29/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Condition Of Workers In Russia
Western style democracy and rule of law have resulted in the reality for Russian workers who face a massive backlog of unpaid wages. In many cases, starvation now looms. One Russian worker in four is no longer paid regularly. More than 20 million people in Russia do not receive their wages on time. Many are owed between six and twelve months' pay. The state and the employers owe some 10 billion US dollars in unpaid wages. And one Russian worker in eight is now paid in kind rather than in cash. It is not uncommon to see workers try to raise money by selling their employers' products on the streets after hours. This October, workers at a state farm in Vologda were "paid" in manure-delivered to their doorsteps. Workers have responded to non-payment in many ways. The trade unions have organised a series of strikes and demonstrations. This includes hunger strikes and workplace occupations. Acts of civil disobedience have involved the blocking of rail lines and roads. The new wave of protests throughout the Russian Federation marks the decision by Russian trade unions of all tendencies to make the payment of wage arrears a priority. TML DAILY, 11/28/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Jobless Recovery Persists (Canada)
Nowadays, the monopoly controlled media seem to speak less about "unemployment" and more about "employment growth." This, of course, is to take the mind of the public away from the staggering levels of unemployment and get the people to think that the restructuring measures of governments at all levels are giving the economy "a boost". The talk about a "robust economy" and "employment growth" is designed to divert attention away from the economic system which is inherently crisis-ridden and whose fellow-traveller unemployment is. The profit figures which are being published, taken alongside the employment figures, merely show that the recovery is for the monopoly capitalists and financial oligarchs whose profits have truly recovered. For the rest of society, the economy is not geared to guarantee either a livelihood, job security, or wages consistent with what is required to live at the standard of living society has achieved. The October average unemployment rate in Canada came in at 9.1 %, up 0.1 % from one year ago. There are 24,000 fewer people employed than the month before. This caused no end of consternation for the Chretien Liberals who have been crowing that their policies are creating employment for Canadians. There was a drop in employment for working youths 20-24 years old and a "slight increase" in employment among 15 to 19 year-olds. This, coupled with a drop in the number of young people participating in the labour market, gave rise to an official youth unemployment rate of 16.3 %. Employment among adult women is said to have increased since February by 96,000 positions, of which Statscan reports that 89 % were full-time. Statscan also reports that "Although on a downward trend since late 1996, unemployment among adult women rose by 27,000 in October, pushing their unemployment rate up 0.4 % age points to 8.1 %." For adult men, since February employment grew by 148,000 jobs (+2.3 %), while unemployment fell by 64,000. "As a result, the unemployment rate for adult men dropped 1.0 %age points to 7.5 %." Furthermore, in October part-time employment increased, off-setting a drop in full-time work. StatsCan reports that since February, "the proportion of workers with part-time hours has hovered around 19 % for most of the period." In the public sector, since February the number of workers has dropped an additional 16,000, "continuing a trend that began about three years ago." Overall, the number of self-employed is up 2.5 % (+62,000) from February. This is despite the fact that for two consecutive months there has been a decline in the number of self-employed people. In October alone it fell by 21,000. The highest unemployment rate was in Newfoundland, at 17.5 %, down 0.5 % since last year. This decrease is due in part to the fishers who have either had to move from the province or are no longer considered members of the active labour force. The unemployment rate was recorded at 13.1%, down from 13.7% in Prince Edward Island; 11.6 %, down from 11.8 %, in Nova Scotia; 12.1 %, up from 11.9 % in New Brunswick; 11.3 % in Quebec, down from 11.4 %; 8.5 %, up from 8.1 %, in Ontario; it remained the same in Manitoba at 6.6 %; 6.3 % in Saskatchewan, up from 5.9 %; 5.8 %, up from 5.6 %, in Alberta, and 9.0 % up from 8.9 % in B.C. TML WEEKLY, 11/16/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Question
Greetings, On Sun, 16 Nov 1997, Doug Henwood wrote: On the causes of growing inequality... Williamson Lindert argue in their history of American inequality that the driving force between polarization and de-polarization has been the skill premium on wages. That's the conventional explanation for what's been happening recently, too. Any thoughts from PEN-Lers on this? Doug The root-cause of inequality is the fundamental contradiction of capitalism: social labor, private ownership. This is the essential cause of the economic crisis at the base of society. So long as the contradiction is not resolved, inequality will increase. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Arab Nations Oppose Use Of Force Against Iraq
In the face of the growing tensions in the Middle East caused by
the threats of the United States to use military force against
Iraq, Arab nations have expressly stated their opposition to the
use of force against Iraq. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said
"The use of force is not appropriate." Official government
statements in Syria oppose military action and call for an end to
the U.N. sanctions against Iraq. Kuwait announced that the crisis
"between Iraq and the Security Council is an issue related to
them and Kuwait has nothing to do with it." In other words,
Kuwait will not support military action against Iraq.
The Arab League is on record as opposing the use of force
against Iraq. In a statement issued following the criminal U.S.
missile attack against Iraq on January 14, 1993, the Arab League
stated: "The Arab League rejects the use of force to solve
conflicts between countries and regrets the policy of escalation
against Iraq...which extended to include bombings of Iraqi
civilian targets inside Bhagdad, inflicting civilian casualties
amongst the brotherly Iraqi people."
The statement also stressed "once again its strong keeness
on the sovereignty, territorial integrity and safety of Iraq and
its people." The Arab League urged the international community
not to use double standards in applying UN Security Council
resolutions, "so that this method will not cause a loss of
confidence and trigger negative reactions in the Arab and Islamic
world regarding the credibility of international legitimacy."
TML DAILY, 11/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Iraq Opposes U.N. Resolution
Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf pointed out on
Wednesday that U.S. military planes had violated Iraq's air space
984 times since October 29. The U.N. has not explained how these
incursions into Iraqi airspace are part of "U.N. inspection" of
Iraqi arms production facilities.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said after the
Security Council adopted it's resolution that "This resolution is
added to a series of unjust resolutions adopted by the council in
the past." he said, "I have tried to explain our just cause in
front of the Security Council directly...but American pressure
and blackmail has prevented me." He added however that "Although
they have prevented me from speaking in front of the council, the
council members and the public opinion have been informed about
our cause, legitimate demands and suffering." Aziz said that Iraq
has implemented all U.N. Security Council resolutions but the
council had not met its obligations to Iraq.
On October 29, Iraq prohibited inspectors of American
citizenship from taking part in U.N. inspection activities in
Iraq, claiming that they are engaged in spying and blocking U.N.
compliance with its obligations to Iraq. Iraq also demanded a
halt to flights by U.S. U-2 spy planes which the U.S. claims are
loaned to the UN to support inspection operations. It is claimed
that the latest resolution passed by the Security Council is in
response to these measures by Iraq. Iraq has reserved the right
to shoot down any plane illegally flying over its territory and
it persists in prohibiting Americans to take part in inspection
operations. However, it has never said the inspections cannot
take place. It is demanding that its concerns as regards the
activities of American inspectors and American warplanes be
listened to.
TML DAILY, 11/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
U.S. Continues To Reserve Right To Attack Iraq
After the vote in the Security Council to impose travel
restrictions on Iraqis responsible for non-compliance with UN
Resolutions (see item on p. 3) U.S. Ambassador to the United
Nations Bill Richardson told reporters, "The message has been
clear. Iraq must comply or face consequences. We are not
excluding any options, including military options."
Why would the U.S. make such a statement in the light of the
known fact that Russia, France, China and Egypt clearly said that
any further measures would have to be discussed by the Council
again and that the vote did not authorize the use of force or
they would not have supported it? "Military action is not going
to be supported by the Security Council," Russian ambassador
Sergei Lavrov said.
The arrogant statements of the U.S. imperialists are to
declare that they have the "right" to launch a military attack
against Iraq. They are aimed at convincing all powers to accept
the U.S. as the greatest superpower which can lay down the law
for the whole world. It is a warning by the U.S. to all who do
not want to buckle under.
The very conception that there is a superpower is to accept
that the world is divided between big powers and small powers and
that the world is governed by the manoeuvres between such powers.
Those who go along with the U.S. are to be accorded certain
advantages and those who do not are to be penalized.
Such a rendering of the world means that the agenda of the
twentieth century to establish equality between all countries,
big and small, is put in a subordinate position. It goes against
the most important requirement of international democracy to have
all countries have a say in the affairs which concern the
international community and, along with it, the basic law that
the prosperity and well-being of one must be the condition for
the prosperity and well-being of all, and vice-versa.
The entire approach of the big powers to the Iraqi issue is
reprehensible. To place such onerous conditions on a country
under the pretext of high ideals is criminal. The aims of the
foreign powers, especially the Americans, are highly suspect and
everyone knows it. Canadian workers and progressive forces cannot
accept such a conception of relations between countries. It not
only goes against their own interests but also against the
interests of the peoples of the world for progress and
prosperity.
TML DAILY, 11/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Vigorously Oppose The U.S. Imperialist Gangster Logic Against Iraq
U.S. imperialist Defence Secretary William Cohen declared on Tuesday that the United States wouldn't need United Nations authorization to launch a military strike against Iraq. He said there is already sufficient authority "to justify an attack." TML Daily vigorously opposes this U.S. imperialist gangster logic to justify an attack against Iraq. It also denounces the other big powers in the U.N. Security Council and Canada for going along with this imperialist gangster logic. On the occasion of the U.S.'s cruise missile attacks against civilian targets in September 1996, U.S. imperialist chieftain Bill Clinton declared that "Our objectives are limited but clear: to make Saddam pay a price for the latest act of brutality, reducing his ability to threaten his neighbours and America's interests." Now once again the same language is being used, along with the same kind of media manipulation of the facts as used in the past - all to justify the unjustifiable. What the people of Canada and the world must clearly reckon with is that this gangster logic is not so much aimed against the government of Iraq but against all the peoples and governments of the world, threatening them that U.S. imperialism will make them "pay a price" if they should ever threaten "America's interests." By continuing to violate Iraq's sovereignty with U2 spy planes and F-16 fighters, all in the name of United Nations and sanctions, the foreign policy of U.S. imperialism is exposed as thoroughly bankrupt. It cannot garner the support of various of its major llies, either in the "West" or the Arab League for its policy of using force against Iraq, but nonetheless it is threatening to impose its supremacy based on the criminal logic that "Might Makes Right." This shows that the U.S. wants to lay down the law for the entire world and enforce it through armed aggression. TML Daily demands that the Chretien Liberals dissociate Canada from this imperialist logic. Canadian Foreign Affairs Lloyd Axworthy has reiterated Canada's demand that Iraq comply with U.N. sanctions and refused to listen to the direct appeal of Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz that attention be paid to Iraqi concerns about the spying role of U.S. inspectors operating under the cover of UNSCOM. TML Daily reiterates the well-known position of CPC(M-L) that all members of the United Nations, big or small, have the right to have their say in laying down the law in international affairs; no single country nor group of nations has any right to usurp the right of the U.N. General Assembly to lay down the law and no single country nor group of nations has any right to interpret and enforce international law in any way it so desires. The peoples of the world can never accept the dictate of the U.S. imperialists according to which they have the right to do whatever they want with Iraq. We call on all peace and justice-loving Canadians to oppose the criminal gangster logic against Iraq and vigorously support its sovereignty. TML DAILY, 11/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Iraq's Legitimate Concerns
At a press conference at the United Nations on Monday, Secretary General Kofi Annan is reported to have expressed the hope that the Security Council will listen to the concerns of the Government of Iraq about the work of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) in Iraq, once it complies with the Security Council resolutions. The press conference took place following the return of the Secretary-General's special mission to Iraq, comprised of three special envoys. He sent the mission to defuse the situation created after Iraq barred U.S. weapons inspectors from entering military sites. According to the Secretary-General, all Iraq needs to do is comply "with the obligations under all relevant (Security Council) resolutions." He said that once that is done, he expected the Security Council would, in turn, be prepared to listen to Iraq and to its grievances. He said that it is an issue between Iraq and the Security Council. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz also addressed the press conference. He said that Iraqi officials had explained to the Secretary-General's mission the concerns and grievances which Iraq has been suffering since 1991. He said the Iraqis were concerned about the "unbalanced" composition of the UNSCOM. "The Americans dominate the Commission," he said. "In 1996 the percentage of their presence was 44 percent among other nationalities." This year, he said, their presence is 32 percent as compared to the French presence of five percent. Mr. Aziz said that all the leading positions in the headquarters of UNSCOM have been held by Americans. He also charged that "those who created the crisis which provoked the Council to take further decisions against Iraq" were Americans. Mr. Aziz said that the United States will not agree with the lifting of sanctions unless the leadership of Iraq was changed. He also accused the members of UNSCOM of intruding on Iraq's national security by collecting information on security "and at the same time, the main source of information of UNSCOM is an American source, the U2 spying plane" which collects information about Iraq, and gives UNSCOM selected information. "I cannot trust that the Special Commission is in full control of that plane and what that plane provides to the Special Commission is impartial, technical information," Mr. Aziz said. He also charged that the U2 spy plane entered Iraq one or two days before the military attacks which the United States conducted against Iraq in January and June 1993, and in September 1996. Mr. Aziz also called the deal whereby Iraq is allowed to sell about $2 billion worth of oil every six months in order to buy food and medicine for its people suffering under sanctions, "a farce." He said U.S. officials insisted on finding mistakes in contracts the Security Council's sanctions committee has to approve, thereby delaying the needed supplies. The leader of the Secretary-General's mission to Iraq, Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, told the press that he thought the situation "is extremely serious." The United States resumed the flights of its U2 spy planes over central Iraq on Monday. Mohamed al-Sahaf, Iraq's Foreign Minister, sent a letter to Kofi Annan in which he said that Iraq now considered the U2 flights alien aircraft and not part of the U.N. weapons surveillance program. He said the flight was "escorted by several formations of American aircraft" and violated Iraqi sovereignty. President Bill Clinton told reporters at the White House that "The next step is to get a very strong resolution from the United Nations manifesting the determination of the international community to resume those inspections." French Ambassador to the U.N. Alain Dejammet said that if Iraq rescinded its decision (to bar U.S. inspectors), "then it will be possible to reopen the dialogue." "We are not going to negotiate but will listen," he said. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov demanded that "Iraq immediately resume cooperation with the United Nations." But they also declared themselves against a military strike, urging all parties "to adopt an attitude of restraint and avoid any escalation of contradictions, especially in terms of military conflict." Britain and Germany called on Iraq to rescind the ban against American arms inspectors. Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy said that the United Nations, not the United States, should solve the crisis. TML DAILY, 11/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ontario Teachers Continue To Receive Support
On November 10, a meeting of representatives from six locals of
the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) passed a unanimous motion
in support of the "courageous action undertaken by Ontario's
teachers in defence of public education." Jim Boudreau, President
of the Guyborough NSTU local, said that public education cannot
tolerate repeated reductions in funding.
Boudreau states in a press release that the delegates to the
meeting, representing more than 2,500 teachers, are calling on
all concerned citizens "to remain vigilant and oppose government
actions which seek to disguise cost-cutting measures as
legitimate educational `reform. Paul Melong, president of the
Antigonish local said that the Ontario teachers played an
important role in making parents and the public aware of the
potential damages inherent in Bill 160. Describing the protest of
the Ontario teachers as a "tremendous effort to displace that
bill," Melong said the Nova Scotia teachers hope that "honest
education reform will take precedence over economic agendas."
TML DAILY, 11/12/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
United Nations General Assembly Approves 6th Consecutive Resolution Against U.S. Blockade Of Cuba
The United Nations General Assembly on November 5 approved the 6th consecutive resolution against the U.S. blockade of Cuba with another record vote. With 143 nations in favor of lifting the blockade, 3 against and 17 abstentions, the U.N. General Assembly has upped the ante with respect to last year's vote: 137 in favor, the same 3 against - the United States, Israel and Uzbekistan - and 25 abstentions. The vote has been growing in Cuba's favor each year since 1992, when 59 countries voted in favor, 3 against and 71 abstained. In the current session, 18 delegations participated in the debate leading up to the vote, in which countries like China, Argentina, Indonesia and Luxemburg, representing the European Union, condemned the U.S.'s unilateral and extraterritorial measures. Observers called the U.N. vote the strongest response yet to U.S.efforts to intensify the blockade with the Helms--Burton Law. TML DAILY, 11/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
U.S. Imperialists Are The Troublemakers Not Iraq
The most important question to ask when thinking about the
international situation and all the conflicts that exist is who
are the troublemakers? and Who is threatening a country s right
to self-determination, to choose a system and path of it s own
choice?
Almost seven years have passed since the Gulf War between
the U.S. and Iraq. Even after the war is over the U.S. still has
20,000 troops stationed in the Gulf and many naval fleets and spy
planes also. The monopoly controlled media and the U.S.
imperialists claim that it is Iraq that threatens peace in the
Gulf. They claim that Saddam Hussein is building weapons of mass
destruction and that this is unacceptable and therefore they must
intervene. The U.S. is using United Nations inspection teams to
find out just what weapons are being built and to report it to
the U.N.
Recently, Saddam Hussein disallowed the U.N. inspections
teams to do this and specifically the Americans accusing them of
being spies and infiltrators. He has also threatened that they
will begin to shoot down the U.S. spy planes, which are to aid
the inspections, and says that their presence in Iraq will no
longer be tolerated.
The U.S. is frustrated because Iraq will not come under its
dictate and they refuse to stay out of the internal affairs of
Iraq. The U.S. was quick to threaten to launch military actions
against Iraq if they do not change their minds.
Meanwhile the people of Iraq are waging, almost everyday,
anti-America demonstrations, burning the American flag and
shouting slogans like "down with the U.S."
The U.S. imperialists are the troublemakers and are the
biggest threat to peace in the world and should stay out of the
internal affairs of Iraq and all other countries. It is they who
have weapons of mass destruction spread about all over the globe,
in almost 100 countries, and it is they who attack any country
that chooses a system that is not to its liking. It has committed
the most horrible crimes in history. Even with the issue of
banning landmines the U.S. refuses to do so because they "have to
protect South Korea" from the North. They try to justify their
military presence in all these ountries by parading around
claiming they want to ensure peace and want to protect their
global interests. Their interest in Iraq is to exploit the oil
resources and control the Middle East. Their only aim is to
enslave the people of the Middle East and make maximum profits
for themselves.
All justice and peace loving people of the world should have
no illusions of who are the troublemakers and menaces to world
peace. They should condemn the U.S. imperialists demanding that
they withdraw their troops from all the countries they occupy and
let the people of those countries decide what kind of system and
future they want!
Ottawa High School Student
TML DAILY, 11/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Libya - End The Embargo, End The Hypocrisy - MER QUOTE of the WEEK Editorial (fwd)
FYI Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Forwarded message -- Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 08:23:48 -0500 From: MID-EAST REALITIES [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Libya - End The Embargo, End The Hypocrisy - MER QUOTE of the WEEK Editorial - ___ __ / |/ / /___/ / /_ // M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S / /|_/ / /_/_ / /\\ http://WWW.MiddleEast.Org /_/ /_/ /___/ /_/ \\ QUOTE OF THE WEEK EDITORIAL: LIBYA - END THE EMBARGO, END THE HYPOCRISY _ Only if you are on the new MER list will you receive all MER articles. To make sure email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for the latest information. _ CLEARLY MANDELA IS SPEAKING ABOUT THE USA "Those who object to my visiting Libya have no morals, and I will not join them because I have morals... Ghadafi is my friend. He helped us at a time when we were alone. And the ones who are trying to stop us from coming here were helping our enemies at that time." Nelson Mandela President, South Africa October 1997 when visiting Tripoli, Libya LIBYA - MANDELA IS RIGHT...TIME TO END EMBARGO MER - Washington - 11/1/97: The Americans are surely one of the most hypocritical countries. U.N. resolutions are being so sanctimoneously "enforced" for Iraq and Libya; but they have been repeatedly ignored and disregarded for Israel, most recently just last year regarding the terrible massacre at Qana. The Americans insist that the Arab boycott of Israel be ended; but they freely boycott Cuba and Iran and even threaten others who will not do as they command. The Americans insist that nuclear proliferation be prevented; but they make it possible for Israel to have such weapons instigating today's regional arms race. One could go on and on when it comes to American double- standards and self-serving hypocrisy. No lack of situations or evidence about these matters. As for the Pan Am bombing controversy, the Libyans have long offered to let the Libyans be tried in a third country. Fair enough. And for the U.N. Security Council to hold out for the American position on this, as on so many other crucial matters, shows what a patsy the U.N. has allowed itself to become in recent years. And while we're at it, maybe the Americans who ordered the bombing of Tripoli and the attempted assassination of Ghadafi a decade ago should finally be told they have to agree to be tried in the same third country at the same time. _ MID-EAST REALITIES is published a number of times weekly. To receive MER regularly email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For latest information about the weekly MER-TV program email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] M I D - E A S TR E A L I T I E S MER may be freely distributed by email and on the Internet so long as there is no editing and the entire article including all opening and closing MER information is included. For any print publication, permission in writing is required. [EMAIL PROTECTED] / Fax 202 362-6965 / Phone 202 362-5266
Re: income race
Greetings, On Sat, 1 Nov 1997, Rakesh Bhandari wrote: [Snip...} At any rate, Doug, I think that data on income inequality are pretty irrelevant to the empirical confirmation of Marxian theory. It would be more important to determine the rate of exploitation through a rejection of wage share as its proxy or to determine whether real wage gains are only coming at the expense of greater misery with the production process, that abode into which bourgeois economists remain reluctant to enter. Rakesh Grad Student UC Berkeley I would not argue that "data on income inequality are pretty irrelevant to the empirical confirmation of Marxian theory." Data on income inequality as well as data on other forms of inequality actually substantiate Marxism. But it is true that more important than data on income inequality is the determination of the rate of surplus value. This is the key way to determine the level and direction of development of society. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Actual US Unemployment Rate??
Greetings, Please excuse the cross-postings. I feel that this information is of interest to many people. -- On Fri, 31 Oct 1997, Laurence Shute wrote: I may be living in some alternate universe, but I've long thought that the actual US unemployment rate was much higher (say, twice as high) as the published figures. Because of under counting of undocumented residents, discouraged workers, and plain old missing of large groups of poor. This morning I seem to have some sort of window of open-mindedness, however brief it may be, and wonder if anyone has thoughts on this today? btw, this is one reason I have never thought we had a real inflationary danger in the past several years. Larry Shute The main feature of the October 1997 issue of Phi Delta Kappan, a professional bourgeois education journal with a relatively large circulation, is "Where Are the Jobs for World-Class Grads?" by Clinton E. Boutwell. Notwithstanding its bourgeois limitations (e.g., failure to see an alternative to capitalism, hankering for (more) benevolent corporations and proposing changes in policy, as opposed to changes in social conditions), Boutwell's article accurately portrays the numerous extremely negative trends inherent to society (the U.S.) based on the capitalist economic system. For example, he says: In 1994 two-thirds of all new jobs created in the U.S. were low-wage jobs that carried no benefits Many of the new jobs being 'created' are actually temporary jobs. In fact, at least a quarter of those employed today are temporary, part-time, or contract workers. The number of Americans working part-time grew by 2.2 million between 1973 and 1996, reaching a total of 6.2 million The total *number* of high-tech, highly-skilled jobs is shrinking as America builds its 'new economy' Those downsized workers who manage to find a new job also find themselves making at least 10% less than in their old jobs The *official* unemployment rate in the U.S. has averaged below 6% since 1994. Almost two million workers were hired in 1994, mostly in low-wage jobs. The only group that *increased* its unemployment rate was black teenagers...However, these official figures convey an incomplete statistical view of employment in the U.S If the U.S. counted its unemployed as the other industrial countries do, we would have 4.5 million more people unemployed, and our unemployment rate would be equal to or higher than the 11% rate in Europe (pp. 107, 109, 110). Boutwell shows that there is a massive mismatch between the number of people graduating and the number of (good) jobs available, that is, capitalism does not work for tens of millions. As far as the actual unemployment rate being much higher than what the various governments of the rich say it is, this much is true. It is a well-established truism that *official* statistics routinely and typically portray a rosier picture than what actually exists. However, as Boutwell's contention that the *actual* unemployment rate may be 11% or a little higher, may be off the mark. In all likelihood it is well above 11%. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Day Three In The Struggle Against Bill 160
On Wednesday, October 29, the Ontario government sent its lawyers
into court to seek an injunction against the province's 126,000
teachers who are waging a political protest against Bill 160 by
staying away from work. The government is asking the courts to
expedite the matter so as to get its injunction granted by
Monday.
Meanwhile, the struggle of the teachers is gaining broader
support. It is estimated that about 60,000 support staff are
refusing to cross picket lines. The Ontario Catholic Bishops have
taken a stand in support of the teachers, describing their fight
against Bill 160 and in defence of public education as a "moral
struggle."
Aside from maintaining pickets at the schools, teachers and
supporters are carrying out many other activities. With the
Ontario government having launched a $1 million "law and order"
campaign against the teachers, the teachers unions are carrying
out their own advertising to explain their positions. They have
also issued an Open Letter opposing the efforts of the government
to confuse people about the various issues at stake in
educational reform to prevent the actual content of Bill 160 from
coming under public scrutiny. (see article on page 1) Teachers
have also taken their protest to the "public hearings" being
conducted on Bill 160 by the Ontario government. In Ottawa on
October 30, teachers set up a picket outside of the hotel where
hearings were being held. The hearings, ostensibly held to
consult the public, are falling into greater and greater
disrepute as the government insists that no substantial changes
can be made to the legislation. The Ontario government has
uninvited prohibited teachers from attending the "public"
hearings which were scheduled for a mere 7 days in various parts
of Ontario.
TML DAILY, 10/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Teachers Issue Open Letter (Canada)
The Ontario Teachers Federation has issued an Open Letter to the people of Ontario addressing the issue of Bill 160, the Education Quality Improvement Act, and their struggle against it. Entitled "Bill 160 Will Not Improve Education," the Open Letter states that "Bill 160 is about the government giving itself the tools to cut up to $1 billion from classroom education - quickly and quietly - without the slow and messy business of open consultation and discussion. Bill 160 had little or nothing to say about any of the government's reforms. Instead, Bill 160 shifts control over students, teachers and schools from local communities to Cabinet." The teachers say that the government is deliberately trying to create confusion about its proposed reforms so that Bill 160 does not come under public scrutiny and the Open Letter addresses various ways in which the government is doing this. For example, the Harris government is playing on the fact that many parents are unhappy with the quality of education received by students by saying that the teachers are for the status quo. The Open Letter states: "Teachers have always been open to meaningful change. The changes being proposed in Bill 160, however, will not improve education in Ontario." The Open Letter argues, for example, that reducing teachers preparation time will not improve education, as the government claims. It will only achieve the aim of cutting 6,000 to 10,000 teachers from the system. The letter states: "Reducing the number of teachers will reduce the amount of individual contact that teachers can have with their students and the number of programs that can be implemented. Already, vital programs such as junior kindergarten, adult education, science and technology, arts and music have been eliminated or cut back." The Harris government has also been claiming that it wants to take classroom size out of the realm of negotiations between teachers and school boards because the government wants to limit classroom sizes. It is suggesting that teachers have negotiated larger class sizes. The letter states: "Teachers, through the collective bargaining process, have been responsible for the reduction of class size. It is a bargaining goal of all five Affiliates of the Ontario Teachers Federation. Contrary to the government's claim, when allowed to bargain freely on this issue, teachers and school boards have consistently negotiated lower class size. It is only the funding cuts of recent years which have caused class sizes to rise." The Open Letter also addresses other issues on which the government has tried to generate confusion, such as the need for a common curriculum and standardized testing. The teachers ae in support of both, but they again point out that "it is up to the government to provide the financial resources to ensure that the new curriculum is implemented properly." TML DAILY, 10/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Pepsi-Cola Workers Go On Strike
On October 18, Pepsi-Cola workers voted by 98.5% for an unlimited
general strike. "This result," said union spokesperson Michel
Deziel, "is a sign of the frustration that the workers have
accumulated over the last few years."
Right after the vote, the workers went to set up their
strike pickets in front of the plant to make sure that no
delivery trucks could enter or leave the premises.
One of the main demands of the workers concerns the hourly
wages of about 40 salespeople. In the context of its
restructuring, the company wants to impose a wage reduction
ranging from $7,000 to $14,000 a year. The workers are also
raising demands regarding the precarious status of about 50
workers who are not part of the permanent workforce.
"A lot of these workers have been here since 1990, but their
wage is only 50% of the wage of the permanent workers and they
have no social benefits. We support them", added Mr. Deziel.
TML DAILY, 10/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ontario Teachers' Strike: Day Two In the Struggle Against Bill 160
Tuesday, October 28 was the second day of a province-wide
shutdown of Ontario's elementary and secondary schools as over
126,000 teachers continued to stay away from work to protest the
Harris government's Bill 160, The Education Quality Improvement
Act.
While the doors to some schools remained open, with small numbers
of custodial staff reporting for work, most schools were
completely closed. Picket lines were again staffed by not only
teachers, but supporting parents and students as well.
The Harris government proceeded with its plans to seek a
court injunction against the teachers to force them back to work.
Leaders of the five provincial teachers' unions have continued to
insist that they are staying away from work to carry out a
political protest against the Harris government's plans to
exercise virtually absolute control over the education system so
as to cut teachers and more funds and to prepare the ground for a
two-tier system of education. They say that refusing to teach was
the only means left at their disposal and they blame the
government for refusing to take the opinions and concerns of the
teachers into consideration.
Eileen Lennon, president of the Ontario Teachers' Federation
(OTF), told reporters that the leaders of the five unions which
cooperate under OTF will deliberate on whether or not they will
respect the court injunction. She said that the teachers were
disappointed that the government would go to the courts "instead
of addressing the concerns of not just teachers, but of parents
and citizens around Bill 160." It is expected that the government
will obtain its injunction by the end of the week.
In a television campaign estimated to cost $1 million, the
Harris government is waging a "law and order" campaign against
the teachers. "We live in a law-abiding society. Breaking the law
is not the right example. Let's put our children first," Premier
Harris says in the commercials. Harris continues to insist that
despite the fact that his government is planning to cut another
$667 million from education next year, the government's "intent
is quality."
This is a fraud of the first order since the system of
education in any country is designed to serve the economy. The
Canadian economy is such that fewer and fewer highly educated
people are needed. The education system is being geared to
provide those few with the highly technological skills required
by the highly technological economy. For the remainder, the
jobless recovery is the reality.
When the government says its "intent is quality," the people
must clearly understand that it has no relationship to their own
concern and intent to have a society that is fit for human beings
in which a livelihood, health care, education and culture are all
designed to activate the human factor/social consciousness, not
to serve the needs of the financial oligarchy for maximum
profits.
TML DAILY, 10/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ontario Teachers Walk out To Protest Bill 160
Ontario's 126,000 teachers stayed away from work on Monday, October 27 following the break-down of negotiations between representatives of Ontario's five teachers' unions and the Harris government on Bill 160, The Education Quality Improvement Act. Picket lines were up at virtually all public and secondary schools in Ontario, with many students joining their teachers on the line. The teachers' strike is also being supported by non-educational staff in the schools, most of whom are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. It also involves principals and vice-principals. Negotiations, facilitated by retired Ontario Justice Dubin, came to a halt on Sunday, October 26 when the representatives of the Ontario government refused to table any substantive amendments to Bill 160 and teachers refused to retract their demand that control over education matters such as class sizes and teacher preparation time be kept in the hands of teachers and school boards. Bill 160, which has been approved in principle by the Ontario legislature, gives the Cabinet control over school teacher preparation time, class sizes, education property tax rates. It also allows for the employment of non-certified teachers in schools. The teachers' unions and other organizations concerned with public education have charged that the main aim of Bill 160 is to give the Cabinet the powers it needs to further cut education spending. This charge was confirmed last week by a government document revealing plans to cut $667 million more from the education spending. Since coming to power, the Harris Conservatives have already cut more than $1 billion from education. By assuming control over matters such as class size and teacher preparation time and education taxation, the Cabinet will have much broader scope for cutting back spending than it did previously. Amongst other things, power over class sizes and teachers preparation time, now a matter of negotiations between teachers and school boards, would enable the government to effect changes which could eliminate as many as 10,000 teaching positions across the province. Even though the Ontario government is currently holding public hearings on Bill 160, Johnson has clearly indicated that the government has no intention of listening either to the demands of the teachers, or other citizens and residents who do not agree with the sweeping powers over education that Bill 160 will give to the Ontario Cabinet. TML DAILY, 10/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ontario Teachers Strike: An Important Struggle Against Rule By Decree
Greetings, Yesterday over 120,000 teachers in Ontario, Canada went on strike. This is the largest teacher strike in north American history. Below is a report on this historic event. -- The teachers of Ontario are staging a strike outside of the limits set by existing labour legislation. It is called an "illegal strike" because of this. Their aim is to stop the Harris government from passing Bill 160. They found that it was impossible to do so through other means. They staged several rallies and demonstrations, including one in Toronto which drew more than 85% of the teachers in the region. When the government showed no sign of listening to their concerns, the teachers unions warned that they would resort to strike action if the government did not amend Bill 160. The Harris government claimed it wanted to avert a strike. Premier Harris removed Ed Snobelen as education minister and replaced him with Dave Johnson who was presented as a "better negotiator." Shortly after his appointment, a spokesperson for Johnson told reporters that "the Minister is still looking forward to seeing some proposals from the teachers unions." On Monday, October 20, the teachers unions did just that. They presented Johnson with a 21-page document outlining their objections to Bill 160 and requested that the government respond by noon the following day. In a letter to the teachers, Johnson instead told the teachers that he found their "ultimatum unreasonable." As Phyllis Benedict, president of the Ontario Public School Teachers Federation, told reporters at a press conference announcing the strike on Sunday night, "We exhausted all the possibilities that were open to us on the teachers side." Eileen Lennon, President of the Ontario Teachers Federation, told reporters: "We believe the quickest way to make this all end is for the government to sit down and help find solutions to the problems with the Bill." Education Minister Dave Johnson, however, is characterizing the issue as one of "giving in." He told reporters that he cannot "capitulate to the demands of the teachers unions." The teachers strike is an important struggle against the attempt of the Harris Cabinet to concentrate more powers in its hands in terms of education. In this respect, it is not only a struggle in defence of public education, but also a significant challenge to the Rule by Decree which forms an integral part of the anti-social offensive and unrepresentative democratic system. This Rule by Decree is not merely a gross disregard for public opinion,or a reckless attitude on the part of the government. The Harris government has systematically carried out legislative reforms to give itself greater powers. The Omnibus Bill, for example, gave various ministers sweeping powers over public institutions, including hospital and school boards and municipalities, to carry out institutional restructuring with greater ease, by-passing the need to present legislation in the Legislature. School boards and hospital boards have been stripped of powers to facilitate the exercising of power by the Cabinet on behalf of the financial oligarchy with the least possible interference. The Harris government has also changed procedures which allowed the Members of the Opposition to stall legislation. Rule by Decree, and the blatant fashion in which the government is exercising it, is withdrawing the most elementary standards of democracy, including those which are flaunted by this system of unrepresentative democracy, such as the process of "public consultation". While the development of the Canadian polity is demanding legislation that would actually enable the people to excercise their political rights, including the creation of mechanisms to resolve differences of political opinion, the anti-social offensive is aiming to introduce a political climate in which the struggle of the people to affirm these rights is turned to ashes. The withdrawal of the notion of a modern society in which it is recognized that the people depend on the society for a living, for their education, for health care, and social security is thus accompanied with a broad attack on the very notion of democracy. Rule by Decree is being introduced as what is best for society, in the same way that in the field of the economy and social programs, the dictate is that what is good for the tiny elite, the financial oligarchy, is good for the majority. TML DAILY, 10/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Criminalizing Political Issues (Canada)
TML Daily condemns the Harris government in Ontario for
threatening the teachers with a court injunction in its attempt
to portray their political strike as a "law and order" issue. The
government keeps repeating that it is an "illegal strike." Media
reports have been rife with speculation about whether the
government will get a court injunction to force teachers back to
work, recall the legislature to pass back-to-work legislation or
resort to some other means to suppress them, such as a ruling of
the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Harris has now announced his
government will seek an injunction.
According to media reports, the facts are that "126,000
teachers are covered by one of 287 collective agreements between
unions and 129 school boards in the province. In the few cases
where contracts have expired, the unions have not gone through
the legal processes required under labour law before workers can
legally walk off the job."
In other words, the case is open and shut - the teachers
strike is illegal. The government is therefore presumably
justified in turning the teachers political struggle into a law
and order matter and using the state, including the courts, to
suppress them.
Both the government and the media are self-servingly keeping
silent about the main facts of the case. Bill 160 is itself the
biggest breach of contract between the government and the
citizens of Ontario as concerns the responsibility of government
to make sure the claims of the members of the polity are
respected for the highest quality education, and of teachers to
working conditions acceptable to themselves, commensurate with
the work they do. The fact that the government does so "legally"
hardly makes it right. The teachers have a political opinion
which the unrepresentative democratic process avails them of no
means to express or enforce. The Ontario government is
criminalizing political opinion which makes it no different from
any other tin-can dictatorship.
This attempt to criminalize the teachers' political struggle
is also accompanied by an attempt to suggest that it is the
resistance of the people which gives rise to repression. This is
also false. It is the state which gives rise to repression. If
the state is acting against the interests of the people, it must
be condemned, as in the case of the struggle of the Ontario
teachers. Might is Not a Right, and never will be. It can always
be replaced by a greater Might. But the Right to Education and
the Right of the members of the polity to have a say in governing
their polity are Rights.
TML Daily is certain that by fighting for these rights the
people of Ontario will prevail in both the short and the long
term.
TML DAILY, 10/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Quebec: New Statistics Show The Scope Of The All-Sided Crisis
According to a brief submitted by Action Toxicomanie Montreal, alcoholism and drug addiction affects 10% of the residents of Montreal. The brief, which was submitted to the Regional Board of Health and Social Services, evaluates that the problems of alcoholism and drug-addiction in Montreal directly and indirectly cost the government $640.7 million. It also writes that over 320,000 people, two thirds of whom are women, are direct victims of drug addiction: domestic violence, sexual abuse, parental neglect, abandonment, dropping out and learning problems. The report notes that the clientele using the centres specializing in the treatment of alcoholics and drug-addicted in Montreal is younger and younger. Multiple drug-addiction is particularly growing amongst those 35-years and younger. Amongst the 35-years and older, the dominant problem is alcoholism, which also affects 50% of the population. Treatment centres are fighting this increasing trend with less and less resources available to them. At the Dollar-Cormier Centre, there is an annual waiting list of 50,000 people for external consultation. This data reveals the disastrous consequences of the anti-social offensive, an offensive that seeks to bring society back to medievalism when individuals were left to fend for themselves. The victims of these consequences are entitled to demand that society take care of them. These statistics also show that only a society that places the well-being of human beings at the centre of its preoccupations will be able to put an end to these problems once and for all. TML WEEKLY, 10/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Chinese Revolution And The Significance Of China Today
ition each political party occupies in the modern-day developments and to openly study and sum up the experience of all countries and the world as a whole. If such a thing is not done, the Workers and Communist Movement will suffer from the same blindness which the bipolar division of the world tried to impose on it. The serious study of the stands and views of China and the Communist Part of China is essential as part of the summation of world developments and to prepare to make revolutionary advance. China and the Communist Party of China are bound to be one of the determining factors in the turning point which has opened up for the world at this century s end. TML WEEKLY, 10/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Clear Perspective Of The Chretien Liberals
Speaking to an interviewer on BBS Sunday Edition, Prime Minister Chretien, referring to the demand of the people of Quebec to exercise their sovereignty, declared: "This road to paradise, via a mere vote for independence, must be put in a clear perspective, and this is what we have achieved in the last two months". Chretien's "clear perspective" is expressed in the Calgary Declaration and in the letters of his Inter-Governmental Affairs Minister Stephane Dion to Quebec ministers. According to Chretien, these have created "an open and realistic atmosphere". Referring to the government of the Parti Québécois, he also said: "Before, they were selling dreams, now I think they must see the reality as it is". The "clear perspective" and "reality" Chretien refers to are wishful thinking based on nineteenth century considerations. Today is the end of the twentieth century and Canada is poised to enter the twenty-first century. If there is one thing Canadians have learned in the past one hundred and thirty years of Confederation is to face reality by paying attention to the needs of the times, not to the needs of the ruling elite to maintain the status quo. It does not take a genius to understand that the Calgary Declaration, the letters of Dion to Quebec ministers and the use of the Supreme Court to decide on the constitutionality of the right of Quebec to exercise its sovereignty are part of a single whole which aims to further negate the right of the Quebec people to affirm their sovereignty. If words are to be given any meaning whatsoever, the reality of the politics of threats and intimidation against the people of Quebec and the attempt to divide the entire polity between enemies and friends according to whether they support or oppose Quebec's right to self-determination, can be called self-destructive, but not a "clear perspective." Far from creating an "open and realistic atmosphere," the activities of the Chretien Liberals for the last two months have shown that they are trying to launch a campaign of chauvinist hysteria. Quebec is accused of trying to break up Canadian unity and the rules set by the Calgary Declaration for the "consultations", under the hoax of using modern technology, will further marginalize the people while lowering even further the level of the discussion. Chretien's statement according to which before Quebeckers were buying the pipe dreams of he separatists, now they are becoming more realistic is an open admission that his main interest is to block the movement of the people of Quebec to affirm their sovereignty. It is to say that the Chretien Liberals will carry on with their politics of threats and interference in the affairs of Quebec until the time the people of Quebec give up their right to decide their own future. Since a right belongs to the holder by virtue of his or her being, and cannot be given, taken away, usurped or given up, and the right of the Quebec nation to self-determination is such a right, it is Chretien that seems to be very unrealistic. Anything short of providing this problem with a solution will continue to exacerbate the problem. Will Chretien smarten up? The clear perspective is that this is not likely. TML DAILY, 10/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Rodong Sinmun On Ideological And Cultural Infiltration By Imperialists
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text,
while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools.
Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info.
--287C74F6722B
Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- The ideological and cultural
infiltration by the imperialists is in essence a means of aggression
and intervention under the signboards of "cooperation" and "exchange"
and a vicious method to paralyze the sound consciousness of the people
with reactionary bourgeois ideas and degenerate them. Rodong Sinmun
says this in a signed article today. The daily notes: Today when the
cold war came to an end, the imperialists are resorting to the
ideological and cultural infiltration in carrying out their
dominationist aim. At present the imperialists are concentrating
ideological and cultural infiltration on the socialist countries and
the countries with a strong independent stand against imperialism.
Their infiltration is chiefly aimed at instilling individualism into
the minds of the people and disintegrating socialism from within. They
are arguing that the comfort and interests of individuals are more
precious than those of the country and the revolution, society and the
collective and accordingly, one should oppose socialism and follow
capitalism. If their ideological and cultural infiltration is allowed,
the collectivist idea, the foundation of socialism, will be
degenerated and, furthermore, socialism gained with blood will
collapse. If socialism, the ideal and desire of the popular masses, is
to be built and completed, the ideological work should be thoroughly
strengthened and, at the same time, the vigilance against the
ideological and cultural infiltration by the imperialists be
heightened and the struggle to prevent it be intensified in every way.
KCNA
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--287C74F6722B--
Growing Gap Between The Rich And Everybody Else (Canada)
The CBS admitted on Thursday that "Despite the rosy picture of Canada's economy by Paul martin and other financial leaders, there's a disturbing drop in most Canadians' stadard of living. This has led to a growing gap between the rich and the rest of Canada." In 1989, the "average income" of Canadians was measured by Statistics Canada to be $17,627. By 1996, it had dropped to $16,726. Taking taxes into account, the disposable income in 1989 was $13,845 and $12,633 in 1996, a decline of 9 per cent. CBC reports that "Statistics also show that while most Canadians got little or no wage increases, the average Canadian executive got a 14 per cent raise." Since the "average" of anything is arrived at by taking the total and dividing it by the number of parts, it stands to reason that if the incomes of "average Canadian executives" referred to by the CBC were not figured into the total, the "average income" of Canadians would drop significantly. TML DAILY, 10/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Brazilians Protest U.S. Blockade Against Cuba
A commission made up of three Brazilian organizations and political parties have presented the U.S. Consul in Rio de Janeiro with a petition signed by 200 political and intellectual personalities in the country demanding an end to the U.S. blockade against Cuba. The Communist Party of Brazil, the Workers Confederation, the Jose Marti Cultural Association, Brazil's Oil Workers Union, the Workers Party and the Brazilian Socialist Party are the main organizers of the protest. They described the U.S. blockade as "genocide against the Cuban people." While the petition was officially presented, a large demonstration was held outside the U.S. consulate in Rio de Janeiro. TML DAILY, 10/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ontario: Teachers Say They Will Walk Out
Following the meeting of leaders of the five teachers unions in
Ontario on October 14, the teachers announced they will walk off
the job before October 29, the last scheduled day of public
hearings on Bill 160, if the government does not drastically
alter the proposed legislation.
Phyllis Benedict, President of the Ontario Public School
Teachers Federation said that the union leaders called new
Education Minister Johnson to request a meeting this week. In
another example of the arrogance of the Harris government, the
teachers say they had not received a return call by the time
their six-hour meeting ended on October 14.
A spokesperson for Dave Johnson told reporters that "the
minister is still looking forward to seeing some proposals from
the teachers unions." The government says Bill 160 will improve
education quality. The unions are saying that it's designed to
take $1 billion more out of the province's $14 billion school
system. The public hearings on Bill 160, which are scheduled to
begin on Monday, October 20, will not shed any greater light on
this dispute, since the government has yet to announce its actual
funding formula to the schools. It is creating an atmosphere in
which there is no scope for "improvements" to the bill, other
than within the framework of concentrating power in the hands of
the Harris Cabinet over education funding and gutting the rights
of teachers.
Some of the key features of Bill 160 are as follows:
1) it enacts provisions to revamp the existing system of
education funding so as to remove the ability of school boards to
make independent financial decisions by eliminating their control
over the rates of taxation and placing significantly greater
controls on their ability to raise revenue and make expenditures;
2) it eliminates the existing system of collective bargaining
under Bill 100, the School Boards and Teachers Collective
Negotiations Act, and replaces it with an entirely new regime
based on the Labour Relations Act, 1995;
3) it erodes statutory protections for teachers, most
significantly by removing the statutory form of contract which is
considered the lynch-pin of the existing legal structure
governing teachers employment;
4) it provides that any position in the school system may be
designated a "non-teaching position";
5) it increases the scope for use of occasional teachers and
other forms of temporary employment of teachers;
6) it grants extensive new powers to the Minister of Education to
override collective agreements in areas such as class size,
preparation time, and the length of the school day and year.
TML DAILY, 10/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Italian Government Forced To Resign
Italy's 55th post-war government was brought down last week when the ruling Socialist Party, in power for less than 17 months, was unable to push through cuts to pensions and welfare which it argued were critical for Italy to meet the necessary requirements for it to adopt the common European currency. Prodi s government, like those across Europe, has been escalating the anti-social offensive of the European monopolies. This development is a setback for the monopolies of Europe who are hoping to establish the European Union with its common currency by the year 1999. Prodi's resignation came after a week of parliamentary debate over his 1998 budget, which sought to trim pensions by $3.6 billion Cdn. Prodi's coalition fell short of a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, so it had to rely on gaining the support of the Refoundation Communist Party's votes, which won eight per cent of the vote in the 1996 election. The RCP did not vote with the government on this issue. Italian President Scalfaro asked Prodi to stay on as caretaker while he consults with political leaders on forming a new government. While it is still possible that a new government can be formed without another election, Prodi's deputy premier, Walter Veltroni told reporters that he did not see any way out other than another election, the third in six years. TML DAILY, 10/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Left, Right And Centre On One Side; The Working Class And People On The Other (Canada)
for the votes of the have-nots. They wage a struggle between them which is carried out within the context of the right, left and centre of a political spectrum in which the working class and people are completely disempowered and have no representation. On the other side, stand the disempowered "electors" who are fighting to defend themselves against the anti-social offensive and advance a pro-social program which can take Canada into the twenty-first century on the road to progress. Politically, this program has been put forward by CPC(M-L). It is the program to Prepare for the Twenty-First Century by Stop Paying the Rich Increase Funding for Social Programs. The elaboration of this program has begun across the country. TML Daily calls on the workers, women, youth and students and all progressive forces to discuss and elaborate this program and not get fooled by the propaganda barrage that passes for discussion in the House of Commons and the media. TML DAILY, 10/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Education Is More And More Becoming A Privilege (Canada)
One of the consequences of the anti-social offensive in education is to decrease the accessibility to higher education. Amongst the first victims are the sons and daughters of the working class who are being denied their right to eduction. In Quebec, it was also reported recently that university enrolment has dropped for the third year in a row. The trend is common to all universities in the province. At the University of Quebec in Montreal the decrease in enrolment was 2%, as compared to 2.9% for all the components of the universities of Quebec network. The University of Quebec in Abitibi-Temiscamingue registered a 10% drop and the one in Rimouski a 9.5% drop. The University of Montreal registered a 9.2% drop for all programs. Full time enrolment has dropped by 1.5%, third cycle students by 7.4% and part-time students by 18.2%. Concordia University registered a 0.4% drop and McGill a 5.5% drop. These statistics, provided by the Conference of directors and deans of Quebec universities, follow by a few days the publication by Statistics Canada that between 1985 and 1995 enrolment has increased more rapidly than government subsidies and that the universities rely more on tuition fees than in the past years. The study also shows that tuition fees have increased while the financial resources of the students have decreased. TML DAILY, 10/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Alberta Teachers Oppose The Anti-Social Offensive
As the bourgeoisie pushes its anti-social offensive, more and more people
are being drawn into the struggle against it. On October 4, an estimated
15,000 teachers rallied in Edmonton in front of the Alberta Legislature to
protest five years of education cuts by the Klein Conservative government.
"Education is supposed to be the great equalizer, but it's difficult
when the funding isn't there," said one teacher, who pointed out that,
"Public education in Alberta has been underfunded for the past number of
years and we don t see any real major sign that it's going to increase."
Bauni Mackay, president of the 30,000-member Alberta Teachers'
Association, stated, "We want Albertans to get the message that teachers
can no longer hold together an excellent public education system under
increasingly deteriorating conditions. We can no longer pay the price with
our health, our personal lives and salaries." Mackay pointed to a number
of problems, including increasing class sizes, the integration of disabled
students without the support of teacher's aides, shortages of equipment,
supplies and books, and the lack of money to adequately equip schools with
computer technology.
Alberta teachers saw their salaries rolled back by 5 per cent in 1993
and have had their salaries frozen for several years. They are currently in
contract talks in many areas of the province and are demanding increased
spending for education. They are presently working to rule and could be in
a strike situation soon.
In commenting on the teachers' rally, Education Minister Gary Mar
inadvertently admitted that the Klein government is withdrawing the very
concept of a universal public education system, saying, "We ve always said
we are prepared to re-invest in targeted areas, but we are not going to
increase spending across the board." This means that they are attempting to
create an education system geared toward meeting the narrow needs of the
capitalists for trained personnel. Funding for education and other social
programs which do not directly serve the needs of the capitalists are seen
as dispensable.
The needs of a modern society cannot be equated with the needs of the
capitalists to reap maximum profits. A constantly expanding and improving
education system is absolutely essential to meet the increasing
complexities, both technological and social, which confront a modern
society. Apart from the fact that a universal public education system is
an essential feature of a modern and humane society, investment in
education and other social programs is one of the most important ways of
putting more back into the economy than is taken out. By negating the role
of the human factor, the role played by a healthy and well-educated
population in the continued progress of the economy, the Kleins and
Harrises of this world are blocking the door to social progress; they are
depriving the society of that very force which is capable of providing
solutions to the all-sided crisis gripping Canadian society. Far from
being a factor for future prosperity, they are condemning Canada to
perpetual crisis.
The struggle of the Alberta teachers against the anti-social offensive
of the Klein government, as well as their raising of the issue of what kind
of education system is needed by the people of Alberta, are a concrete
contribution to the solution to this problem. They deserve the support of
the entire Canadian people.
TML DAILY, 10/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phillipines: Mass Demonstrations Oppose Proposed Constitutional Changes
Over one million people took part in demonstrations throughout the
Philippines on Sept. 21 to protest President Ramos' proposed changes to
the charter which would allow him to seek another term as president. The
current charter, adopted following the overthrow of the U.S.-backed
dictatorial Marcos regime, limits Presidents to one term.
Under the slogans "No to the charter change" and "No return to martial
law", the demonstrations were organized by a broad sector of political
parties, trade unions, student associations, women's organizations,
farmers organizations, religious organizations and more. The largest
demonstration was held in Manila, where an estimated 750,000 people
rallied, with over 100,000 each demonstrating in Davo City, General
Santos, Cebu and Bacolod City. As well, tens of thousands rallied in
smaller towns and cities across the islands.
TML DAILY, 10/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Words At Odds With Deeds: U.S. Escalates War Preparations On Korean Peninsula
While it Talks of Peace Dialogue and negotiations are currently underway between the Democratic People s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States. An article in The Pyongyang Times points out that if good results are to be obtained in dialogue and negotiation both sides should respect each other and neither side should commit such an act as going against the grit of the other side. This is a moral principle both parties should observe in dialogue, it points out. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, the Untied States makes a big splash about the relaxation of tension and peace as if it were concerned about the settlement of the Korean issue. But its deeds do not agree with its words. To prove the point, the article points to the Ulji Focus Lens joint military exercise the U.S. conducted in collusion with the south Korean authorities, the deployment of depleted uranium in south Korea and the process of negotiations for the conclusion of a land-mines ban treaty. The U.S. describes the Ulji Focus Lens war rehearsal as a general command drill to cope with time of war, the article points out, so as to cover up its aggressive nature. But it is a foolish attempt. During the recent war rehearsal, they conducted north-targeted exercises, such as landing operations, marine offensive operations, and coast infiltration operations on the East Sea of Korea under the command of the Blue Ridge belonging to the U.S. 7th Fleet. At the same time, they saw to it that the south Korean combat units staged land, sea and air combine landing exercises and a large-scale forced river-crossing exercise. Even a mere child knows that these drills were staged on simulated conditions of attacking the DPRK, the article says. They depict these war rehearsals as those of a defensive nature with a view to justifying them, the article continues. Another example of this is the stand of the U.S. on landmines. In the course of negotiations for the conclusion of a treaty to ban anti-personnel mines which took place at the initiative of Canada, the U.S. said that it could not spring the mines laid on the Korean peninsula because of a constant danger of attack by the north Korean army. The U.S. has openly deployed depleted uranium in south Korea which once existed in Japan, the article points out. All this shows that the U.S. warmongers care nothing for the peaceful reunification of Korea and their policy of stifling the DPRK remains unchanged. If the U.S. war-thirsty elements continue to bring the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of war, the relations between the DPRK and the U.S. will not be improved and the U.S. will remain the long-standing enemy of the Korean people, the Pyongyang Times points out. The U.S. should face up to the situation properly and give up its hostile policy towards the DPRK. This will be good for the U.S. itself, it concludes. TML DAILY, 10.97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Soviet Union
e remnants of the old system and those elements that had arisen within the socialist system who were objectively for the restoration of capitalism. The working class lost the battle for the time being; it was not able to consolidate the successes of the Soviet Union as a decisive victory. TML Daily Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Teachers And Students Escalate Actions To Defend Public Education (Canada)
On Monday, October 6, Metro-Toronto affiliates of the five teachers associations in Ontario staged a massive rally at Maple Leaf Gardens to protest Bill 160, the Education Quality Improvement Act. By the time the rally started at 7pm, the arena, which seats 18,000 people, was packed to overflow. Teachers in the Peel region (west of Toronto) held a rally at the same time at the International Centre in Mississauga. They marched to Queen's Park following the rallies. On October 8, teachers in the Hamilton-Wentworth and Halton regions are staging another rally at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton. These rallies are being held under the slogan "We Won t Back Down!." Teachers representatives are to meet today at Queen's Park with Ontario Education Minister John Snobelen to discuss the Bill. The teachers are continuing to threaten strike action should the government refuse to either withdraw the bill in its entirety or remove the objectionable provisions. Bill 160 will greatly concentrate control over education in the hands of the provincial cabinet, while stripping the school boards of almost all power to control what goes on in the schools. Since teachers negotiate with the school boards, not the provincial cabinet, the teachers will effectively lose the ability to exercise any control over their working conditions. Bill 160 will extend the time of the school year, give cabinet the power to set class sizes, and give the cabinet the power to set education taxation levels. It would also introduce the use of non-certified instructors in the schools and reduce teacher preparation time. Ontario's 126,000 teachers and education workers are organized into five association: the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF), the Federation of Women Teachers Associations of Ontario (FWTAO), the Ontario Public School Teachers Federation (OPSTF), the Association of Franco-Ontarion Teachers (AEFO), and the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA). TML DAILY, 10/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Irrationalism
ion from the objective world. At the same time, its program and conclusions are actually applied in the modern capitalist countries and elsewhere. The net result is that different schools of thought, which are irrational, are being promoted at the expense of the schools which are rational, especially when it comes to ideologically guiding the economic and political spheres. This is exacerbating all the fundamental problems of the capitalist system, and creating conditions of extreme hardship and misery throughout the world. The assertion that the capitalist crisis can be overcome and capitalism can be reformed is the most irrational idea. It is an assertion that has its basis in the self-interest of the bourgeoisie and its desire to preserve the status quo. Once this assertion is accepted, literally any proposal goes. There is no rationality. The cutting edge of the fight against irrationalism must zero in on those who conciliate with the forces who create illusions about the possibilities of reforming the capitalist system. The struggle must be waged in an all-sided manner: in the theoretical, economic, political, cultural and social spheres. It must be waged in accordance with the interests of the working class and on the sound scientific basis that there is an alternative to capitalism, and it is socialism and communism. TML DAILY, 1996 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12761] France And U.S. Clash On Iran Policy
In a direct challenge to a United States law which seeks to prevent third
countries from investing in Iran's oil and gas industry, the French oil
company "Total" has signed a major contract to help exploit the off-shore
South Pars gas field in Iranian territorial waters in the Persian Gulf.
Significantly, two other important companies in the global energy
industry, Gazprom of Russia and Petronas of Malaysia, will also
participate in the contract, which is worth $2 billion.
Under Washington's Iran Sanctions Act, sponsored by Senators Alphonse
D'Amato and Edward Kennedy and passed in 1996, any non-U.S. company
investing more than $40 million in Iran's energy sector could be subjected
to a host of punitive measures, including a ban on U.S. bank loans and a
ban on its sales in the U.S. Like the Helms-Burton Act which aims to punish
third countries for investing in Cuba, the D'Amato-Kennedy measure is also
a clear violation of international law because it infringes upon the
sovereign right of countries to determine what kind of economic interaction
they would like to have with each other.
Since Total, Gazprom and Petronas will all be investing more than $40
million each, the Clinton administration is sure to clash with the
governments of France, Russia and Malaysia. Significantly, all three
governments have said they will stand by their companies and have also
emphasized that they do not agree with the U.S.'s policy of bullying Iran.
According to news reports, the French Prime Minister, M. Lionel Jospin,
said: "Nobody accepts that the United States can pass a law on a global
scale. American laws apply in the U.S. They do not apply in France". And
though he said that Total was a private company which made its own
decisions, he added: "Personally, I rejoice in it".
The European Union has not yet openly challenged the Iran Sanctions
Act. Earlier this year, the EU complained to the World Trade Organization
about Helms-Burton but agreed to suspend its complaint after the U.S.
agreed to amend some portions of the anti-Cuba law. The promised changes
which in any case will not alter the illegal nature of the measure have
yet to be made and the European Parliament has instructed the EC to
reinstate the WTO complaint if the U.S. does not keep its side of the
bargain by Oct. 15.
Meanwhile, the Clinton administration has warned Total and the French
government of its intention to apply the anti-Iran law. A State Department
spokesman said the U.S. position was that "such investment makes more
resources available for Iran to use in supporting terrorism and pursuing
missiles and nuclear weapons".
It is clear, however, that the U.S. policy has nothing to do with
opposition to "terrorism", or to "missiles and nuclear weapons". The U.S.
is hostile to Iran because that country refuses to bow to its dictates and
has emerged as an important obstacle to its quest for monopolizing the
energy resources of the Persian Gulf region. In the instant case, the
contract Total signed was first offered to the U.S. oil giant Conoco before
the Clinton administration prohibited U.S. companies from doing business
with Iran.
The French, Russians and others do not wish to see the U.S. dominate
the area. Both France and Russia have publicly spoken out against the
attempts of the U.S. to establish a unipolar world and it is likely that
in the months and years to come, such disputes between the big powers will
only intensify. The end of the bipolar division may have led to increased
collaboration between the imperialist powers in many spheres such as in
pushing for the opening of markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America for
their capital and goods, but the Iran case highlights the fact that
rivalry between them is very much a fact of life.
TML DAILY, 10/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12576] Propaganda About A Booming Economy (Canada)
According to a report released September 5, the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) the value of all goods and services produced in the country grew
at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the second quarter of 1997, up from 3.4
percent in the first three months of the year. The growth was triggered by
a 20 percent increase in spending by big business, including construction
and investment in mechanization. This is offered as proof that the Canadian
economy is "booming," even though "levels of consumer debt remain high, and
the savings rate tumbled to a record low annual rate of just 0.9 per cent."
Other indices point to the growing level of poor people, working poor
people, poor single parent families, students who cannot afford an
education, jobless workers, jobless youth, etc., but these are not spoken
about in relation to discussion about how the economy is faring.
The other proofs offered up by the bourgeoisie that the economy is
booming are: low interest rates, increased government tax revenue coupled
with decreasing government expenditures except for an increase in
debt-servicing ("governments recorded a surplus of over $4 billion in the
second quarter as income tax continued to rise"); and the "stabilization"
of the official unemployment rate at 9 percent or 1.46 million workers
in August.
These factors led the Royal Bank s chief economist John McCallum to
declare that "The world is unfolding as it should." Mario Angastiniotis, of
the investment firm MMS International, referring to the statistics which
showed that business investment in factories and plant equipment rose 20
per cent above the level a year earlier, said, "This is the first clear
sign that the economy is now kicking into higher gear."
The statistics also showed a four-per-cent annual growth in labour
income during the second quarter. According to McCallum, this is "one of
the brightest spots."
Now it will be up to Canadians to determine what kind of an economy
this is which is "booming" at their expense, and what the conception is of
a "booming economy" which leaves them to fend for themselves.
TML Daily, 9/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12546] Puerto Rican Workers To Stage One Day General Strike
Five public employees unions have voted to stage a one-day general strike
throughout Puerto Rico on Oct. 1 to oppose the privatization campaign of
Governor Pedro Rossello.
In a resolution released September 10, representatives of the five
unions declared that "Puerto Rico is not for sale" and called on everyone
to support the strike. A broad coalition of trade unions, student groups,
social activists, religious leaders and political organizations has been
formed to organize the Oct. 1 strike.
A large demonstration will be organized in San Juan in which hundreds
of thousands of workers are expected to take part, with smaller
demonstrations being organized throughout the island.
Speaking at a Sept. 10 news conference, Alfonso Benitez of the United
Front of Telephone Employees said, "If the government insists on its
privatization policy with all the damage it will do the people of Puerto
Rico we will continue with demonstrations until the government ends this
policy."
TML Daily, 9/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12545] Thousands Of Nursing Aides Demonstrate At National Assembly (Canada)
Over 5,000 nursing aides held a demonstration in cold, rainy weather at the
National Assembly in Quebec City on September 20 to protest the anti-social
measures being imposed in the health care field. As a consequence of these
measures, they pointed out, the nursing aide occupation is being
eliminated.
There are 18,500 nursing aides in Quebec. They take vital signs,
prepare and administer medication, take care of pre- and post-operation
care and handle hygiene.
Health Minister Jean Rochon has said repeatedly that he has no plans
to eliminate nursing aide jobs, however, the cutbacks have resulted in the
elimination of nursing aide positions at several clinics and hospitals.
"The only person whose place is not in the health network is Jean
Rochon," said CEQ president Lorraine Pagé, while Gerald Larose, president
of the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CNTU) said "if there is an
ounce of humanity remaining in the healthcare system, it's thanks to the
nursing aides who personalize the care given patients."
TML Daily, 9/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12510] Cuba: Communist Party Membership Growing
The number of people joining the Communist Party of Cuba is continuing to grow. Statistics published in the daily edition of Granma, the official organ of the Party, show that over thirty percent of Party members have joined in the past five years. The number of Party members has increased twenty-fold in the last thirty years. Currently, the Cuban Communist Party has 780,000 members, a number released during the series of meetings held to select the 1,500 delegates who will participate in the Party's Fifth Congress in Havana from October 8-10. TML Daily, 9/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12467] 51 Unionists In South Korea Arrested
Pyongyang, September 17 (KCNA) -- The south Korean fascist clique cracked down upon the strike of unionists of the Changwon Tongil Heavy Industries Co. in south Kyongsang Province with the mobilisation of more than 2,000 policemen at dawn on September 14, a Seoul-based radio reported. The unionists had been on a total strike from September 11 since a negotiation for wage hike and collective bargaining was brought to a rupture. The fascist clique arrested 51 unionists, backing the company side. KCNA Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12436] Growing Impoverishment Of Albanians
The latest statistics reveal that the per capita income in Albania is continuing to decline rapidly. Already the poorest country in Europe, per capita income has declined from $800 USD per year in 1996 to around $600 USD per year based on the average for the first seven months of 1997. The average employed family lives on $55 USD a month, while the average income of a family where both adults are unemployed is $18 USD per month. The income situation of pensioners is worse. At the end of the 1996 the average pensioner received around 3,880 lek in the city, ($38 USD) and 1,075 lek in the countryside, ($10 USD). The falling value of the lek means today these pensions are living on $25 USD in the city or $8 USD in the country. TML Daily, 9/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12420] Re: August Unemployment Figures (Canada)
Greetings, On Wed, 17 Sep 1997, Doug Henwood wrote: Shawgi A. Tell wrote: Unemployment figures for August reveal a continuation of the chronic high levels of unemployment which is one of the features of the deepening crisis of the capitalist system, referred to as the "jobless recovery." Since U.S. unemployment is the lowest it's been in over 20 years, and since employment has been growing pretty strongly for nearly 5 years, does that mean the U.S. has recovered from the crisis, is exempt from it, or simply hasn't come down with the disease yet? Doug It's relevant to keep in mind that "official" data is inaccurate. "Official" data often portrays a rosier picture than what is actually the case, as if roughly 5% unemployment were acceptable. The fact of the matter is that millions of Americans remain unemployed and underemployed. Further, purchasing power has generally decreased for the last 20 years. Additionally, while there is talk of jobs created, there is little or no talk of jobs destroyed. Nor is there talk of the sort of jobs created and destroyed. As in the Canadian case, most jobs created in the U.S. are part-time; low-paying; with few, if any, benefits; and with little, if any, room for mobility. More and more people in the U.S. are working part-time. It is also the case that those who have "lost" their full-time jobs, if and when they do find another full-time job, earn considerably less than what they were earning at the original full-time job. What must also be remembered is that job insecurity is quite high among American workers. By the Bureau's own account, job growth over the next few years will be greatest in areas such as truck driving, waiting tables, janitorial, clerical, health care and so on. In a related vein, the tendency for the rich to get richer and the poor poorer is very much in motion in the U.S. So too is the ruination of the so-called "middle class." In the last 20 years, income has increased significantly for the richest fifth of the population and decreased for the poorest. Also, the rising rate of bankruptcies and debts for more and more people should not be overlooked. For two years in a row, both Canada and the U.S. have experienced record bankruptcy rates. Basically, all societies based on the capitalist economic system will experience all the problems and crises inherent to such an economic system. All the problems of capitalism will remain unsolvable as long as the aim of the economy is making maximum capitalist profit. The minimum wage, for example, reflects this reality. A basic law of capitalism is to push wages to the lowest level necessary to produce and reproduce the needed work force. Keeping the wage level at poverty level also acts as downward pressure on the wages of all workers - as does the existence of large numbers of unemployed workers. The capitalist rulers and their politicians are not attempting to solve the problem of poverty, nor can they. The life those at the bottom are forced to lead, as unemployed, underemployed or minimum wage workers, is however a serious concern for the rest of the population. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12430] Re: August Unemployment Figures (Canada)
Greetings, On Wed, 17 Sep 1997, Doug Henwood wrote: Shawgi A. Tell wrote: It's relevant to keep in mind that "official" data is inaccurate. "Official" data often portrays a rosier picture than what is actually the case, as if roughly 5% unemployment were acceptable. The fact of the matter is that millions of Americans remain unemployed and underemployed. Further, purchasing power has generally decreased for the last 20 years. Yes all this is true - but the unemployment series is consistent over time (with minor discontinuities, of course), meaning that contrary to your original assertion there is no longterm uptrend in unemployment in the world's leading capitalist power. Just was wondering how this fact fit into your crisis model. In Europe the levels of unemployment remain extremely high. In the U.S., Canada, and Europe the levels of youth unemployment are considerably higher than the already extremely high levels of unemployment for the general population. In countries like Spain, Italy and France, for example, youth unemployment is in the upper double digits. In the U.S., unemployment for youth in the inner cities can reach 50%. Rosy 1992 Census data puts the unemployment rate for 16 to 19 year old Hispanic males at nearly 30%. The unemployment rate for Black 20 to 24 year old females was well over 20%. The unemployment rate that year for white males aged 20 to 24 was roughly 10%. It is estimated that the supply of low-skilled workers, compared to the number of jobs available, is so large that it would take 10 to 15 continuous years of economic expansion to provide enough jobs. Capitalism has never had such a long period of sustained economic growth - recession is its middle name. In a Harlem study of fast-food job seekers - a common first job for young people - there were 14 applicants for every individual hired. Among the applicants not hired, 3/4 had not found work a year later. In the ghettos of the 100 largest cities, there were 10 adults without a job for every 6 people who had one. Add to this reality the tens and thousands of immigrants that are being cut off welfare and it becomes clear that it is bourgeois society that cannot satisfy the basic needs of humans. U.S. corporations cut over 230,000 jobs in the first five months of 1996 - the fastest in a decade and 34% more jobs than the same period in 1995. This level of cuts is 6.5% higher than 1993, the highest year of job elimination this decade. A total of 615,186 jobs were eliminated that year. Job insecurity is a major problem, affecting the vast majority of people. The fear of going from having a job and being able to provide for your family, to literally being homeless and without hope of finding work, is a reality for many and a constant anxiety for all but the wealthiest handful. [Snip...] Doug Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12407] August Unemployment Figures (Canada)
Unemployment figures for August reveal a continuation of the chronic high
levels of unemployment which is one of the features of the deepening crisis
of the capitalist system, referred to as the "jobless recovery."
The official unemployment rate in August remained 9 percent for the
second consecutive month. According to figures released by Statistics
Canada September 5, employment grew overall by 55,000 in August. The report
does not indicate how many jobs were destroyed during the same period. It
does, however, note that the return of 59,000 people to the labour force
cancels out the 55,000 new jobs. What this reveals is the extent to which
the "official unemployment" rate hides the actual number of unemployed.
Hundreds of thousands of people without jobs are not included because they
are not "officially looking for work".
Over 50 percent of the 55,000 jobs created in August were part-time,
and StatsCan reports that the rate of growth of part-time jobs since
February has been twice that of full-time employment. At the same time, the
jobs lost during the same period were three times more likely to be
full-time. As a result, the proportion of workers with part-time hours has
increased to 19.4 per cent of the workforce. Human Resources Development
Canada estimates that over 65 percent of part-time workers would take
full-time jobs if they could find any.
CPC(M-L), 9/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12406] Cuban Communist Party Prepares For Fifth Congress
The Cuban Communist Party is carrying out preparations for its Fifth Congress, to be held in Havana from October 8-10. The Party has just concluded broad-based discussions on the document The Party of Unity, Democracy and the Human Rights We Defend which will be presented in its final form for adoption at the Congress. More than 230,000 joint meetings were organized to discuss the document. They were attended by members of the Party and the Young Communist League, trade union sections, student brigades and assemblies of the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution, the Federation of Cuban Women and the Association of Small Farmers. In total, it is estimated that some six and a half million people participated in the discussion and debate on the document, and a total of 20,000 different comments about the document were officially recorded, including ratifications, modifications, suggestions, criticisms, etc. These proposals will be analyzed and summarized for the final presentation of the document for approval during the Fifth Congress. Delegates to the Congress have been elected at assemblies of the party at the municipal level which were held between August 20 and September 10 and attended by the general secretaries of the Party organizations. Candidates for the Central Committee are also being approved by the Municipal Party assemblies. In all, 1500 delegates to the Congress will be elected and 250 invited guests will also participate. President Fidel Castro Ruz was selected as a direct delegate to the Congress, as a representative from Santiago de Cuba. Following the municipal assemblies, provincial meetings of the delegations that will be attending the Congress will be convened; the participants will study and discuss the most important documents of the Congress. The Fifth Congress will evaluate the work carried out since the Fourth Congress in 1991, as outlined in the Main Report to be presented by the First Secretary of the Party, President Castro. An article in Granma, the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba states that the Fifth Congress will also "analyze the economic situation and draw up, in a special resolution, its guidelines in accordance with the policies established that reflect our particular conditions." It states: "The principal conclusions of the Party Congress will be projections for continued progress in the midst of the special period and the U.S. blockade. Under the guidelines of the Fifth Congress, we will continue to advance along the path of our socialism, with our battle standards held high, under the guidance of the Party and the historical leaders of the Revolution." CPC(M-L), 9/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12289] CUBA: An Insurmountable Paradox?
who have been incapacitated by neurological disorders. The Cuban scientific community, whose values are diametrically opposed to those which Ms. Robinson tries to exalt in her article, is not ashamed of getting to work by bus or bicycle, or of living through the same difficulties as the rest of our people when there is a shortage of soap or deodorant. We know that our personal merits and the satisfaction of living every day in a country without political corruption, without drugs, without poverty and without illiteracy fulfill our spiritual aspirations. We also share the conviction that our material well-being will be linked to that of our entire people, which will improve in line with our contribution to the national economy and to the solution of our country's major problems. We will help our country resist and overcome the almost all-powerful country which has not managed and will never manage to bring to its knees a people conscious of their duty and proud of their example. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12267] Remarks Of Robert Bell
Pyongyang, September 10 (KCNA)-- Robert Bell, Senior Director for
Defense Policy and Arms Control at the White House National Security
Council, on September 5 said "Korea is the one place in the world
where the cold war has not ended" and "There has to be in the treaty
to ban anti-personnel land mines an exception for Korea". Bell
reportedly reiterated the U.S. position favouring an exception for
Korea in using antitank mines. He said the United States will stand
firmly by its policy to seek the Korean Peninsula as a geographic
exception in the ongoing talks in Oslo. Calling for removal of mines
for public opinion, the United States is seeking a "geographic
exception" for south Korea where a large number of mines have been
planted. The U.S. imperialists are raising the rumour about "threat
from north Korea" to defend their vicious intention. Bell's remarks
are an undisguised challenge to the just demand of opinion, and betray
the dirty intention of the U.S. imperialist warmaniacs to keep hold on
south Korea as a permanent colony and military base and unleash
another war of aggression in the Korean Peninsula.
KCNA
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12205] The Rent Crunch
Greetings, According to the Tuesday, September 9, 1997 issue of The Buffalo News: Half the renters in the Buffalo and Niagara Falls area are unable to afford the monthly payments for the typical apartment, according to a new national study. Those facing problems with housing finances are forced into substandard apartments or find themselves spending less than the federal standard on things such as food, clothing and health care, housing experts said. The study, which based its findings on federal housing data, shows an increasing number of residents in the state unable to keep their wages growing with their housing costs (Front Page, A1). The report goes on to detail the anti-social trend in several other states. What is needed to reverse and end this anti-social trend? A pro-social program. Elements of a pro-social program include: (1) recognition that all humans have inviolable rights by dint of being human. (2) a moratorium on all debt servicing. (3) nationalization of the banks and wholesale trade. (4) more to be put into the economy than taken out. (5) demilitarization of the economy. (6) the people themselves to decide the direction of society. (7) full and equal citizenship for all irrespective of national origin. (8) democratic renewal of the political process. (9) modern(ized) Constitution based on modern definitions. There is no other way to defeat the anti-social offensive and its effects. Features of the anti-social offensive include: (1) liberalization. (2) privatization. (3) rule by decree. The effects of the anti-social offensive can be felt everywhere, especially in peoples' lack of control over their lives. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12117] Re: jobs jobs jobs
Greetings, kim, would you conclude that, as a general rule, more jobs are being destroyed than created? Would you qualify this some way? Might it be more exact to say that the productive forces are being destroyed? In Chicago and nationwide? In Canada the term "jobless recovery" has been dubbed to capture reality there. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12034] Re: ADC = BullShit (fwd)
Greetings, On Fri, 29 Aug 1997, Doug Henwood wrote: Shawgi A. Tell wrote: In short, on matters political and historical, ADC has become a kept woman of the Arab regimes. Now that's not a very nice way to put it, is it? Doug For the sake of accuracy, MER wrote this. I think what they mean is that the Arab regimes are despicable. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12032] ADC = BullShit (fwd)
FYI Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Forwarded message -- Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 09:41:43 -0400 From: MID-EAST REALITIES [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: ADC = BullShit .. ___ __ / |/ / /___/ / /_ //M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S / /|_/ / /_/_ / /\\ http://WWW.MiddleEast.Org /_/ /_/ /___/ /_/ \\ "Washington Scene" - an occasional series ___ YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR CONCISE AND INDEPENDENT INFORMATION AND _ A D C = B U L L S H I T _ To receive MER regularly email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] A D C = B U L L S H I T "Most of what I've heard from this panel is BULLSHIT." First audience comment at ADC annual conference MER - Washington - 8/27/97 There are many reasons the Israeli/Jewish lobby rules in Washington with hardly any effective opposition. One of the main reasons is that the various Arab-American organizations that exist are all controlled, manipulated, and usually paralyzed by the political and financial corruption of the Arab world. That corruption and impotence is translated to Washington by Arab ambassadors and the many they employ, most especially by Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, now one of the longest-serving Arab representatives in Washington. Not widely known, Bandar has actually been working closely and personally with some of the main elements of the Israeli/Jewish lobby for years, even before the Gulf war in 1991. His goal is simple -- use the power and influence of the Israeli/Jewish lobby to perpetuate the rule of the al-Saud family in "the Kingdom" -- everyone else be damned. For many matters involving commenting to the often gullible press, the Saudis use Jim Zogby, a kind of public relations flak masquerading under the guise of the "Arab American Institute" (AAI). When it comes to the only Arab American organization that has any grass-roots, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the situation is a bit more complicated. ADC does a few useful, though always very easy, things in the area of discrimination. Indeed, nothing could be easier in America then to oppose discrimination; and actually ADC doesn't really do that very well either. But far more importantly, when it comes to the serious and historical political issues of our day, here ADC is worse than a failure, it is a fraud and a deception -- one largely perpetrated on its own membership. That fraudulent reality might well have been behind the private and unheeded call a few years ago by ADC founder, former Senator James Abourezk from South Dakota, for the organization to be closed down. Instead, some of the long-time Washington opportunists, with former Arab League Ambassador Clovis Maksoud and wife Hala in the lead, pushed ADC to make a kind of pact with the Arab establishment. In return for financial support from Arab businessmen closely aligned with the American-sponsored client regimes in the Middle East, ADC would not involve itself in anything politically controversial (i.e., anything important), would support the "peace process" and the Arafat regime (no matter how much corruption and repression), and would not involve itself in any way against the terrible abuses and corruption so rampant in many of the key Arab countries -- most especially Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait and Jordan. In short, on matters political and historical, ADC has become a kept woman of the Arab regimes. All kinds of simplistic press releases go out to unknowing ADC supporters around the country touting as grand ADC accomplishments what are really very small, usually relatively insignificant, always easy matters. But when it comes to any major political issues, ADC hardly ever has anything to say and even when it does it is always the tritest of slogans always corresponding to whatever the Arab "client-regimes" are pushing at the time. This sad reality couldn't have been better demonstrated this summer then what took place at the ADC annual conference which came during the month of the 30th anniversary of the 1967 war, a theme which was in fact one by which the conference was promoted. After 30 years of brutal and crippling occupation, after a decade of the "Intifada", after the catastrophe that befell Lebanon, the 1982 war, the Gulf/Iraq War, and the apartheid-type "Peace process
[PEN-L:12004] Joint War Drill At Highest Peak
Pyongyang, August 27 (KCNA) -- The U.S. imperialist aggressors and the
south Korean puppets are conducting the "Ulji Focus Lens" joint war drill
at its highest stage, according to military sources. The drill began on
August 18. The U.S. imperialist warmongers deployed a lot of military
aeroplanes of different missions from their bases in the mainland, Guam
and Japan to their air force bases in south Korea at the start of the
drill and staged a large-scale joint air drill in the skies above
Thaebaek, Chunchon, Phochon and Tokjok islet on August 25. Two "U-2"
high-altitude strategical reconnaissance aircraft on August 24 and
tactical reconnaissance planes and electronic warfare helicopters on the
following day reconnoitered over the DPRK day and night. U.S. troops and
the south Korean puppets committed landing operations targeted at the DPRK
in the East Sea of Korea under the command of blue ridge, the command ship
of the U.S. 7th fleet. Meanwhile, the puppets held an exercise of river
crossing, infiltration of commandoes and blasting drills on the Han River
and other main operational zones, and mobilized tanks, artillery pieces
and troops on August 25 to fire a great number of shells and bullets in
Phaju city and Kosong county and Cholwon county in South Kangwon Province.
KCNA
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12003] Time For A New Modern System That Empowers the People
The present political system prevents the people from coming to
power. This is done both with the carrot and the stick. It is done by
creating the illusion that the people have a say, through voting, while
at the same time putting in place powerful mechanisms of the dictatorship
of the rich over the people. The execituive power, the legislature, the
so-called "justice" system, the police and army, the electoral laws and
system, all serve to keep the ruling class in power and the working class
out of power.
Consider just the question of running for office. A whole system
of laws exist to make it next to impossible for small parties and
independent candidates to participate in the elections. Simply getting on
the ballot is a major undertaking. TV and radio coverage is also decided
by the rich and their monopoly controlled media and requires tens of
millions of dollars. All of this blocks participation by ordinary people.
The promotion of this system, as a "representative democracy" of
the people, is a fraud to hide the fact that it is a dictatorship by the
monopoly capitalists over the people. It is a dictatiorship kept in place
both by illusions of democracy, and by force, whenever necessary - as
striking workers, welfare mothers, demonstrators against the KKK, youth
and students, Black communities, and others know well.
The existing system can't be fixed to serve the people because it
is designed to keep the rich in power and the people out. Why should
workers support such a system? It is unfair and not legitimate.
Expecting the system to work and attempting to fix it is much like
expecting an old car to to take us into the future. No matter how much
tinkering is done under the hood, no matter what the change in color or
style, it simply can't change the fact that it's a worn out jalopy. A new
paint-job can make the car look better, but it only hides the reality that
it is not capable of meeting the needs of modern times.
The existing political system belongs on the junk heap of history.
An entirely new system is needed, one designed to put power in the hands
of the people. How can the new institutions be organized to insure it is
the people who hold supreme power in their hands? How can elections serve
to enable ordinary people to themselves run for office and to select their
representatives from their peers - from among those who can represent
them? These are the problems to be taken up and solved. Building the new
is the order of the day, not sprucing up the old.
The ruling class wants people to go along with the system and
simply cast their votes or remain passive despite their dissatisfaction.
Why give these rulers what they want? We say reject this democracy of
the rich! Don't support a system designed to keep the American people out
of power.
VOR, 1996
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:11962] Face-To-Face With Gladys Marmn. The Communist Party Of Chile Learns From Eastern Europe's Experience
tire world. It demonstrated that young people want to change things, to participate. The story that youth don't want to participate in anything is an invention of neoliberalism, of the media transnationals to discourage hope. Youth has always been a force for change. =20 There was one central figure in this event: Che. And for me this was a call on us to maintain our responsibility with the times, to make a revolutionary transformation of society. =20 The festival was also a blow to imperialism, the blockade and the Helms-Burton Act. =20 Silvio Rodr=EDguez came to see you. Are you very close friends? Something very special happened to me with Silvio. We've been friends for more than 20 years, although we hardly ever see each other. When we met this time, it seemed like I'd seen him yesterday. And it's worth going out of your way to see friends that you love a lot. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --56F166ADF21--
[PEN-L:11961] Avoidable Consequences
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --411058C03626 GRANMA INTERNATIONAL 1997. ELECTRONIC EDITION. Havana, Cuba -- Avoidable consequences BY MARELYS VALENCIA ALMEIDA (Granma International staff writer) THE effects of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still being felt. The damage of that criminal action was not confined to the being felt. The damage of that criminal action was not confined to the [Image] massacre of 63,000 people on the first day of the disaster, because the fatalities have continued; 52 years later, a total of approximately 200,000 have died as a result of being exposed to radiation. Even though nuclear weapons have produced the most horrific crime of the present century, the issue is still high on the agenda of problems to be tackled in the next millennium, given that steps taken to date in favor of disarmament cannot be considered very encouraging. The arms race took off with those two explosions, as the possession of armaments, principally nuclear ones, was seen as a strategic necessity for attaining military and political domination of the world, and for some nations as an element of defense. During the cold war period, missile and nuclear warhead production was, in part, justified among the most powerful countries of the time (i.e., the United States and the Soviet Union), as a way of maintaining the balance between them. However, with the collapse of the socialist bloc and the recent acceptance of Russia into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), many people are asking what is the sense in having U.S. strategic weapons trained on some 2500 targets in former Soviet territory. It's true that the actions and joint treaties to scale down the arms race constitute an advance in that context. Nevertheless, economic motives would appear to make the total elimination of nuclear weapons impossible. A further problem has also arisen, which is where to put all that dismantled equipment, which, as it rusts, will create another source of danger. For the moment, arms control treaties permit possession of up to 2000 nuclear warheads. A new source of potential danger is now spreading: the unfettered production of plutonium in industrial processing plants. Due to that material's high fission qualities, unpredictable quantities can be obtained from just a few kilograms. The ease of obtaining plutonium, a substance used in the manufacture of atomic weapons, is a cause for concern in the world, given its potential for illicit marketing. Nuclear testing increased along with the arms race. Between 1945 and 1993, around 2020 tests were carried out. The approximate toll of such experiments on human health by the year 2000 is 430,000 deaths from cancer. Even so, the debate on nuclear test bans dates back to the 1950s and the Comprehensive Treaty on these tests remains bogged down. Testing by computer, for example, doesn't affect the environment, although it is also an example of continued interest in the arms race. The victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki do not appear to carry enough weight to substitute humanitarian interests for those commercial ones that exist behind the arms industry. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --411058C03626--
[PEN-L:11933] Discontinuation Of Anti-North Military Drills Urged
Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) -- Minju Joson today comments on the adventurous joint military manoeuvres codenamed "Ulji Focus Lens" which started in south Korea early on August 18. The daily says the U.S.-south Korea manoeuvres are increasing tension and the danger of a war against the north in the Korean Peninsula. It says: The manoeuvres include the "Ulji" drill involving the south Korean puppet army, "Administration" and civilians and the "Focus Lens" exercise of U.S. Forces and south Korean puppet army. Participating in the manoeuvres are a large number of south korean troops and "civilian defence corps" members as well as U.S. troops present in south Korea and from the U.S. mainland. The war gamble, as large as the "Team Spirit" exercises in scale, content and danger, proves that what exists in the Korean Peninsula is just threat from the south, not threat from the north. We will never allow others to infringe upon our sovereignty and undermine our socialism but deal a heavy blow at the provokers. The U.S. and south Korean war maniacs must stop the military exercises at once. KCNA Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:11926] Transformations In Political System May Continue (Cuba)
ause it gives us the possibility of participating in events and seminars sponsored by the UN, and to explain our viewpoints and opinions in those events about the subjects at hand, while at the same time demonstrating our organization's maturity." =20 Medina cited the country's rich patriotic tradition regarding the incorporation into the Revolution, from the beginning, of law professors, judges, investigators, lawyers, prosecutors, notaries and advisors, 90 percent of whom are now members of the UNJC, a nonprofit, self-financed professional organization which sponsors nine scientific societies. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --64034EC54E1A--
[PEN-L:11896] Mouthpiece For Dishonest-Minded Forces
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text,
while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools.
Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info.
--3838311F752F
Pyongyang, August 18 (KCNA) -- William Taylor, vice-director of the
U.S Centre for Strategic and International Studies, showed himself up
here and there and said that north Korea is an unreliable regime and
that any actions favourable for north Korea should not be done. Not
content with this, he prattled that north Korea will collapse if the
United States does not offer "assistance" to it. The ridiculous
remarks made by him who turned his back on the political trend of the
international community are an expression of his ignorance. We cannot
but expose the true intention of his opposition to the "four-way
talks" hailed by the world and his square attack on the Korea policy
of the U.S. Administration. As all know, he visited the DPRK four
times in the period from 1991 to 1994, calling for the promotion of
understanding and the improvement of relations between the DPRK and
the United States. In the course of this, he expressed full sympathy
with the DPRK's will and stand to liquidate the abnormal relations
with the U.S. Including the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and
even promised to do a lot of things for the improvement of the
DPRK-U.S. relations. At that time, he was a scholar with principle and
reasonable judgement. We do not think he made empty talk in order to
line his own pocket. His current argument is just like that of the
U.S. ultra-right forces and the south Korean puppets. It is obvious
that he sold out his faith and principle as a scholar for some pennies
given by them. The person, who styled himself a member of the think
tank of the United States, turned out to be an idiot duped by dollars.
That is why he does not sense the trend of the international community
toward detente and confidence-building, the influence of the
improvement of the DPRK-U.S. relations on world peace and stability
and the invincibility and bright political future of our society.
Taylor's political future is poor. He must realise his gloomy future
and no longer resort to the anti-DPRK campaign.
KCNA
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--3838311F752F--
[PEN-L:11834] Re: Is Capitalism Sustainable?
Greetings, On Sun, 17 Aug 1997, James Michael Craven wrote: Greetings, On Sun, 17 Aug 1997, Harry M. Cleaver wrote: Is Capitalism Sustainable? Let's hope not, or rather let's do our best to make sure that it continues to be able to sustain itself for as short a time as possible. "Sustainable Capitalism" is a nightmare.(That includes "sustainable development" because "development" has always meant capitalist development.) Economists, as a rule, don't worry about whether or not it is sustainable in theory; they are hard at work doing their best to make it so for as long as possible. What do you expect? It's what economics has always been about. For one take on "sustainablity" see url: http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/port.html Harry ... Harry Cleaver Department of Economics University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas 78712-1173 USA Phone Numbers: (hm) (512) 478-8427 (off) (512) 475-8535 Fax:(512) 471-3510 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cleaver homepage: http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/index.html Chiapas95 homepage: http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html Accion Zapatista homepage: http://www.utexas.edu/students/nave/ ... All socio-economic formations, including capitalism, are governed by objective laws. karl Marx's theory of surplus value shows that capitalism gives rise to its own demise. Speaking dialectically, no socio-economic formation lasts forever. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] Response (Jim C): Yes, but... It takes more than the "automatic unfolding of the dialectic". It takes focused, disciplined, concerted, resolute, determined collective action. It takes theory that illuminates rather than disorts or obscures essential realities in need of transformation. It takes unity, but on a principled basis. It takes linking theory and practice--theory that serves and is tested by concrete practice. It takes continual self-examination and self-correction on the part of those seeking transformation. It takes those working for change being able to relate to, work with, learn from and teach people from diverse backgrounds with diverse agenda. It takes willingness to sacrifice all, even loss of one's life, in the service of needed transformations. It takes uncompromising spirit in the sense of not being willing to do the bidding of or Faustian deals with those seeking to prevent needed transformations. It takes intellectuals doing their work to illuminate and solve concrete problems and/or take concrete struggles to higher levels rather than using their work for self-promotion, CV-building or carving out specialized "market niches". It takes victims uniting with other victims rather than only worrying about their own narrow agenda or personal victimization. And it takes much more than what has been listed... Jim Craven *---* * "Those who take the most from the table,* * James Craventeach contentment. * * Dept of Economics Those for whom the taxes are destined, * * Clark College demand sacrifice.* * 1800 E. Mc Loughlin Blvd. Those who eat their fill, * * Vancouver, Wa. 98663speak to the hungry, * * (360) 992-2283 of wonderful times to come. * * Fax: (360) 992-2863Those who lead the country into the abyss,* * [EMAIL PROTECTED] call ruling difficult, * * for ordinary folk." (Bertolt Brecht) * * MY EMPLOYER HAS NO ASSOCIATION WITH MY PRIVATE/PROTECTED OPINION * Absolutely. As Stalin clarifies: If it is granted that the proletarian movement has two sides, objective and subjective, then the field of operation of strategy and tactics is undoubtedly limited to the subjective side of the movement. The objective side comprises the processes of development which take place outside of an around the proletariat independently of its will and of the will of its party, processes which, in the final analysis, determine the development of the whole of society. The subjective side comprises the processes which take place within the proletariat as the reflection in the consciousness of the proletariat
[PEN-L:11826] Re: Is Capitalism Sustainable?
Greetings, On Sun, 17 Aug 1997, Harry M. Cleaver wrote: Is Capitalism Sustainable? Let's hope not, or rather let's do our best to make sure that it continues to be able to sustain itself for as short a time as possible. "Sustainable Capitalism" is a nightmare.(That includes "sustainable development" because "development" has always meant capitalist development.) Economists, as a rule, don't worry about whether or not it is sustainable in theory; they are hard at work doing their best to make it so for as long as possible. What do you expect? It's what economics has always been about. For one take on "sustainablity" see url: http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/port.html Harry ... Harry Cleaver Department of Economics University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas 78712-1173 USA Phone Numbers: (hm) (512) 478-8427 (off) (512) 475-8535 Fax:(512) 471-3510 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cleaver homepage: http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/index.html Chiapas95 homepage: http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html Accion Zapatista homepage: http://www.utexas.edu/students/nave/ ... All socio-economic formations, including capitalism, are governed by objective laws. karl Marx's theory of surplus value shows that capitalism gives rise to its own demise. Speaking dialectically, no socio-economic formation lasts forever. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:11721] Time To Tell The Americans To Take A Hike! (fwd)
FYI Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Forwarded message -- Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 14:16:38 -0400 From: MER Editorial [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Time To Tell The Americans To Take A Hike! M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S - E D I T O R I A L BILL CLINTON - ISRAEL'S MAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE MID-EAST REALITIES on the Internet at: http://www.MiddleEast.Org To receive MER regularly email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TIME TO TELL THE AMERICANS TO TAKE A HIKE! "There is no parallel between bombs and bulldozers... We cannot have an environment in which people believe the way to get what they want is to kill innocent people..." U.S. President Bill Clinton 8/6/97 MER - Washington - 8/11/97: Never in history has there been such an Israeli-captured President in the White House as Bill Clinton. The Israeli/Jewish lobby set out to defeat George Bush, quite literally infiltrated the Clinton headquarters in Little Rock with its people, pushed huge amounts of "soft money" at both Clinton and the Democracy Party, and sure enough their man Bill has done everything they ever dreamed ever since. Bill's latest payoff to the Israelis and their American Jewish cadre is to make a former Israeli lobby official -- a man who was an Australian citizen when Bill was elected President, a man who lived in Israel and served in the Israeli army -- Assistant Secretary of State (that's of the UNITED STATES mind you!) for the Middle East! It's not inordinate Chinese money and influence in American politics the Congress should be investigating, it's how Israel manipulates American politics with the help of some key Americans (most of them Jewish), who are in fact, however distasteful it is to say it, "dually loyal". At Camp David back nearly 20 years ago the Israelis promised to stop settlements in the occupied territories. Go back and read the speech Jimmy Carter delivered to a joint session of the Congress in front of the entire world heralding this tremendous breakthrough! Within months the Israelis broke their promises, defied Carter (threatening his reelection that still never was to be), and went about their old ways. Sadat's assassination, revolution in Iran, the destruction of Lebanon, American hostages, the "Intifada", and the rise of Hamas and Hizballah ensued. At Madrid and Oslo -- after the destruction of Iraq -- the Israelis made more promises and gave more assurances. Even with those conferences always weighted tremendously in their favor, even with the Americans always defying near-unanimous world opinion and vetoing various U.N. resolutions, Israelis have gone from one deception, one subterfuge, and one massacre to another. Meanwhile Washington has either looked the other way, or behind the scenes worked closely with the Israelis while publicly soothing Arab sensibilities with duplicitous, and meaningless, rhetoric. Now in 1997, with the "native" Palestinians being corralled onto "autonomous" reservations in the name of "peace process", the Americans are at it again; blaming the victim rather than the aggressor; crying over scenes of Israeli carnage while looking away and covering up when rivers of Palestinian blood flow. With Palestinian "autonomous" "population centers" now surrounded by American-supplied tanks, Israeli Army roadblocks, and electrified fences; and with what's left of Palestinian civil society now "controlled" by an imported once-PLO militia now armed and financed by Israel and the U.S. -- courageous Palestinians try to resist. But it is THEY Bill Clinton repeatedly condemns. No wonder Dr. Eyad Sarraj from Gaza now pleads with the world to understand "Why We Have Become Suicide Bombers" -- (see http://www.MiddleEast.org/Sarraj1.htm). No wonder Professor Noam Chomsky decries the "peace process" as very similar to Apartheid of old in South Africa -- (see http://www.MiddleEast.org/Chomsky1.htm). So let it be said clearly and succinctly: The Palestinians have been lied to and tricked, deceived and battered by the U.S., Israel, and the Europeans for generations now. The Palestinians have been dispossessed and tortured, ravaged and bloodied by the Israelis for nearly 50 years now. It is the Arabs who have been bombed time and time again; from 1948 to 1956, from 1967 to 1982 to Sabra and Shatilla to Qana -- the list is lengthy indeed, the numb
[PEN-L:11580] re: Argentina
Greetings, On Sun, 3 Aug 1997, James Devine wrote: concerning Martha Gimenez's post on Argentina: maybe it's time to replace the term "globalization" with "immiseration." That is, what's happening is not globalization as much as the working out of Marx's predictions at the end of vol. I of CAPITAL, on a world scale of course. In the late 19th century, the immiseration scenario was replaced in many countries (rich ones and import-substitutors) by nation-based industrialization. I don't see any global institutions in place currently that can form the basis of a version of capitalism that would share the benefits of productivity gains more equally. Instead, we see harmonization of wages (and environmental restrictions and social programs) downward, encouraged by the IMF, the World Bank, the US, etc., i.e., the extant global institutions. Maybe there's room for counteracting this immiseration on a national level, but there aren't many national working classes that are organized and conscious enough to pull it off. But that doesn't say we can't try. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] Terms which may more accurately reflect objective developments than those expressed by "globalization" and "immiseration" are "imperialism" and "anti-social offensive." The only way to defeat the bourgeoisie's anti-social offensive is by developing working class unity and independence, by fighting for a pro-social program, elements of which include a moratorium on debt-servicing and increasing investments in education, health care and social programs. More needs to be put into the economy than taken out. While the objective conditions are overripe for revolution, the subjective conditions still need to be further developed. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:11567] Kim Young Sam Fascict Clique Penalize Students
Pyongyang, July 30 (KCNA) -- The south Korean "civilian" fascist clique, at the puppet Seoul district court on Monday, staged a trial of students prosecuted for the inauguration of the fifth-term South Korean Federation of University Student Councils (Hanchongryon) and demanded prison terms ranging from two to five years for twelve students, according to a radio report from Seoul. The trial was the first for 289 students referred to trial and the fascist clique have decided to conduct a trial of some ten students almost every day to finish all the trials by the end of August, said the radio. In this way, the Kim Young Sam clique want to prevent activities of students and people which are likely to be conducted with the approach of the anniversary of National Liberation, August 15. But it is a foolish intention. KCNA Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:11476] Jordanian Democracy? -- MER LIE of the WEEK (fwd)
FYI Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Forwarded message -- Date: Mon, 28 Jul 1997 10:36:15 -0700 From: MID-EAST REALITIES [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Jordanian "Democracy"? -- MER LIE of the WEEK M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S - LIE of the Week *** "News, Analysis Commentary They Don't Want You to Know" *** JORDANIAN "DEMOCRACY"? AND JOURNALIST RAMI KHOURI *** Web: WWW.MiddleEast.Org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] LIE OF THE WEEK: THE MYTH OF JORDANIAN "DEMOCRACY" AND THE CASE OF RAMI KHOURI MER - Washington - 7/28/97: Sadly, journalists are often used by the political establishment, rewarded for playing along, punished for speaking up honestly and independently. This happens in many places of course, including in the West; but it happens far more severely in today's Arab world where the two words "independent" and "journalism" can hardly ever be used together without considerable hesitation and doubt. Rami Khouri is a talented writer, and a smart man; and he has managed to spread his regular column far and wide going back many years when he was Editor of the English-language Jordan Times in Amman. Khouri is also among the darlings of the Washington establishment, often appearing on PBS "News Hour" (think of this nightly staple of American television as "State Department TV" when it comes to matters Middle Eastern); flying here and there to speak at this conference and that. Unfortunately, Khouri is also a perfect example of those who lend their capable pens and mouths to those in political and financial control. Indeed, Khouri is far more useful to the Jordanian Hashemite regime kept and controlled as he is; than being appointed to officially represent it. If Jordan were anything close to a State that could be called a "democracy" King Hussein would never have been able to collude so openly with Israel for so long; and to sign the very unpopular peace treaty with Israel. The story of early Hashemite collaboration with the Israelis is well told in Prof. Avi Schlaim's COLLUSION ACROSS THE JORDAN (Oxford University Press). The regimes close connections with and "subsidies" from the CIA are also matters of historical record, admittedly not usually remembered these days. What Jordan is in reality is a somewhat disguised police state run by the monarchy, the army, and the vast intelligence apparatus. This "Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" uses a variety of sophisticated tactics to co-opt, neutralize, and repress all serious opposition -- political or intellectual. Another "election" is ahead in Jordan later this year. After rigging everything both economically and politically, and after new "press regulations" that make just about any serious criticism of the regime or the "peace process" a criminal offense, those in control in Jordan use the "election" terminology to try to give a veneer of legitimacy to their rule. Of course if you're among the small upper elite that share in this rule and wealth, all is OK. It's just that for everyone else -- especially those who wish to speak up against what is happening and most of all the majority population of Palestinian origins -- the infamous secret police, the Muhabarat, is watching and waiting. In view of this overall situation the most important "legal" opposition in Jordan has announced that it is not going to participate in this "election" sham. And here's where people like Rami Khouri come in. "If the boycott is implemented in November, it will damage the state's claim that our democratization process is credible and sustainable," Khouri recently wrote in a widely distributed column. "How the state responds to this challenge will reveal much about whether we are experiencing genuine democratization or merely cosmetic changes that retain major decision-making power in the hands of a narrow power elite. This is a question being asked about, and in, many Arab countries that are also trying to move away from autocracy and towards more democratic politics," so Khouri has recently written in a widely distributed column. "The Muslim Brotherhood and the Jordanian state are now both challenged before the court of public opinion," Khouri continues. "I suspect that the Brotherhood has made a mistake in deciding to boycott the elections, because the Islamists have always achieved their gains in Jordan by working within the national political consensus. They should not quit the de
[PEN-L:11458] Seminar Marks Death Anniversary Of President Kim Il Sung Abroad
Pyongyang, July 22 (KCNA) -- Seminars on the imperishable revolutionary feats of President Kim Il Sung were held in Guyana, Italy, Pakistan, Yugoslavia, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Libya, Tunisia and Nicaragua to mark his third death anniversary. The Asian regional institute of the Juche idea sponsored a joint seminar on the cause of independence for mankind and the ideological and theoretical exploits of the President in New Delhi on July 6. A national seminar on the subject President Kim Il Sung is the leader of the people who devoted himself to their happiness under the motto 'the people are my god' was sponsored in Kathmandu, Nepal, by the Nepali National Committee for honoring the memory of the President on June 26. A national seminar was held in Uganda and seminars in Tanzania, Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago on the ideological and theoretical exploits of the President. The speakers at the seminars said that the Juche idea created by the President is the most precious treasure of the people. The undying revolutionary exploits performed by the President for the times and history will be a great motive force of the development of mankind along with the Juche idea, they added. KCNA Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:11444] Rodong Sinmun On Provocative Remarks Of S. Korean War Maniacs
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --15834B0E181B Pyongyang, July 22 (KCNA) -- The south Korean war maniacs, far from drawing a serious lesson from the severe blow they sustained after their armed provocation against the north along the Military Demarcation Line, are making provocative remarks getting on the nerves of the north and aggravating the tensions. Commenting on this fact, a news analyst of Rodong Sinmun today says: When he met Powell, Former Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the United States on July 19, Kim Young Sam prattled about completion of war preparations in the north and begged for the maintenance of full defence preparedness between south Korea and the U.S. troops. The south Korean puppets vociferated about possible terrorist act by the north and held a war confab on anti-submarine operations. The puppets are staging war exercises in the area of Seoul under the signboard of defence training in the wake of a comprehensive tactical training of commandoes in areas of Mt. Thaebaek. These ill-boding military rackets prove that the threat of aggression on the Korean Peninsula comes from the south to the north. They also show to what extent the south Korean war maniacs have gone in their war preparations. Defence and security on the lips of the south Korean puppets are precisely slogans for provoking war against the north. Provokers are bound to meet with a severe retaliation. There is no mercy in war. KCNA Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --15834B0E181B--
[PEN-L:11409] TORTURE in Israel - Systematic and Legal - MER FlashBack (fwd)
FYI
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-- Forwarded message --
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 10:15:48 -0700
From: MID-EAST REALITIES [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: TORTURE in Israel - Systematic and "Legal" - MER FlashBack
M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S - TORTURE IN ISRAEL
**
News, Views Analysis They Don't Want You To Know
**
WWW.MiddleEast.Org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--
To receive MER regularly at no cost request by email
--
ISRAELI TORTURE IS SYSTEMATIC AND "LEGAL"
[MER - Torture of Palestinians is not only routine and systematic,
in it actually sanctioned by the Israeli legal system that has
been twisted to serve Israeli policies. Going back to the
Shinbet scandal of the early 1980's, even more sadistic forms
of torture have given way to the kinds of 'legalized' torture
methods outlined in this important article from one of the few
independent and courageous media sources in Israel, The
Alternative Information Center (AIC).
Among the reasons the Israelis get away with such systematic
torture of Palestinians is that hardly anyone is willing to
protest. The so-called "Palestinian Authority" practices similar
and even worse torture techniques, as do nearly all of the Arab
governments in the region -- so they are hardly in a position
to protest. And the "liberal" American Jewish community has
been morally bankrupt about such issues for so long now that to
speak up at this point would be to condemn themselves for
permitting, and even encouraging in many cases, such Nazi-like
behavior by the Israelis for decades.
This report was first distributed by MER in January. The
subsquent report about torture in Israel by Steve Kroft on the
popular 60-Minutes CBS program was more whitewash than truthful,
even though it was pointed out that Israel is the only State in
the world that officially sanctions torture (in the form of
'moderate physical pressure) in its legal system].
ISRAELI JUSTICE ON TORTURE
A Shining Light Unto Nations?
"The entire Israeli establishment countenances torture..."
First, his head is covered with a thick rancid sack. It's difficult
to breathe. Handcuffed, he is bound in a twisted position to a
kindergarten chair with hardly any back support and held there for
four days straight. Every time his head falls when sleep overcomes
him, he is slapped on his face to wake up. Maybe on the
fifth day the handcuffs are removed and he is allowed to sleep in
a tiny windowless cell. Music is blaring in the cell around the
clock. It is difficult to sleep with noise and the constant glare
of the shining fluorescent light. On the sixth or seventh day,
his head is covered again with the rancid sack, but this time,
he is chained to a pole in the corridor and made to stand there for
four more days. Or perhaps, he is handcuffed to a hook a meter from
the ground and is forced to squat for three days; three days
continuously that is. Or he is undressed and made to sit in front of
a blasting air-conditioner for hours. There is no sleep. His hands
are swollen from the tight handcuffs; he is vomiting from the
prolonged contorted position he is held in. He smells, unshaven,
he wants to sleep.
This is "moderate physical pressure" under Israeli law and it is
legal. Under international law this is torture and is completely
prohibited at all times. This "moderate physical pressure" is
routinely used by the Israeli secret police ("GSS") to extract
confessions from Palestinian detainees under interrogation. The UN
Convention Against Torture, of which Israel is a signatory, states
that the use of any physical or psychological pressure which causes
pain or humiliation is absolutely prohibited at all times.
What constitutes torture and degrading treatment is subjective --
determined by the victims sensation of the physical and mental
pain caused to him. Sitting in front of cold air may not on its
face compare to torture methods like electric shock, but after
two weeks of little sleep and sitting in contorted positions,
undressed in the middle of the rainy winter, 12 hours of the "air
conditioner" feels like hell. One detainee described it as
"putting the air in a state of war with me".
Despite the prohibitions under international law, the entire
Israeli establishment countenances torture: The Israeli military
courts routinely disregard claims of torture and extend the
interrogations until the Israeli secret police finish the
interrogation; the Ministry of Justice defends the torture
in the Israeli High Court of
[PEN-L:11422] Sankei Shimbun, Plot-Breeding Newspaper
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --15834B0E181B Pyongyang, July 22 (KCNA) -- The Japanese Sankei Shimbun, on June 28, alleged that the DPRK has three dollar counterfeiting plants and has circulated tens of billions of dollars by massprinting fake dollars. The groundless allegation was carried by the south Korean newspaper Donga Ilbo next day. The Sankei Shimbun's false report was only aimed at slandering the DPRK and hurting its international prestige. We can never allow the Sankei Shimbun to maliciously abusing the DPRK. The false report is what the south Korean Agency for National Security Planning invented in conspiracy with the Japanese newspaper. The Sankei Shimbun, in the hope of giving authenticity to the fiction, quoted testimonies of those who defected to south Korea from the north after committing crimes. But the sources are too despicable and poor fellows. It is nobody's secret that the defectors can only say as told by the ANSP. From this point of view, we can see how faithful the Sankei Shimbun is to the ANSP. Counterfeit notes and goods are things available in such corrupt society governed by jungle law as Japan and south Korea. Such things are unimaginable in our socialist society replete with justice and benevolence, society where the people are the masters of the country and constitute a great harmonious family. We have no such plants as the Phyongsong trademark plant, the February Wonbit Trading Company and the liaison office No. 101 which the Sankei Shimbun described as dollar counterfeiting plants. Obviously, they are bogus plants, brainchilds of the ANSP. It is south Korea that tops the world's list of counterfeit and forgery. It is an undeniable fact that south Korea's is a puppet regime faked up by the United States and Kim Young Sam could become its president with lies and through fraudulent elections. South Korea is the kingdom of forgery which is inundated by counterfeit money, advertisements, drugs, foodstuff, etc. Dollar counterfeiting plants and fake notes are what can be seen in such society as south Korea. The Sankei Shimbun, oblivious of the duty and mission of the press, has nothing to get but miserable end. The plot-breeding newspaper had better surrender itself to justice. KCNA Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --15834B0E181B--
[PEN-L:11363] Banks Under Fire Target The Youth (Canada)
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while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools.
Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info.
--78A42BAC68
The Royal Bank has followed the lead of the Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce (CIBC) in waging a public relations campaign against the
youth. With the banks increasingly under fire for their role in the
economy and society, the banks seem to be adopting the strategy that
the best defence is offence.
In May, the CIBC issued a report on youth unemployment. It said that
the capitalists should make more of an effort to create jobs for the
youth, brandishing the very dull sword that presents the aim of
capitalist investment as creating jobs and not as making maximum
capitalist profits. Of course, the banks themselves are amongst the
most exposed of the capitalists, investing billions abroad, wherever
the return is the highest. Not a word was said about the way in which
the capitalist crisis is being further deepened by the huge debt
servicing payments the banks and other sectors of the financial
oligarchy receive from funds diverted from social spending and so on.
While attempting to completely whitewash the capitalist system and its
inherent crisis of unemployment, and the real aim of capitalist
investment, the CIBC went further and put the onus on the youth to
create their own jobs, by later announcing "entrepreneur" loan
programs.
When it comes to the youth, Canada's banks have exacted many, many
millions of dollars in interest payments on government guaranteed
student loans. In the course of the anti-social response of the
capitalists to their crisis, the already unacceptable student loan
program was further handed over to the banks, with the government
guarantee for student loans being replaced by a "risk-commission." As
the economy has worsened, and the risk of student default has grown,
the banks are now treating the students like any other clients, simply
declaring that student loans are not in their economic interest any
longer.
On top of this, they are now pushing that the youth are being
strengthened by the anti-social offensive. While the financial
oligarchy considers it only normal that the entire society should
support and pay it, when it comes to the youth, it is extolling the
virtues of self-sufficiency and not counting on society for anything.
This was the main message of a report issued by the Royal Bank with
the help of d-side, a Toronto-based "strategy firm" at the end of
June. The Royal Bank literally lauds the anti-social offensive and
presents the abdication of social responsibility by the governments as
something actually supported by the youth. "Raised in a period of
recession and debt," the report says, "members of this generation
question the state's role as stable provider and have come to accept
an increased level of individual accountability for social services,
health care and education."
The banks targetting of the youth and their attempts to whitewash both
the capitalist system and the anti-social offensive of the financial
oligarchy reflects their deep fear of the youth, particularly their
growing consciousness that the solution to the problems they face is
to put an end to the parasitic and crisis-ridden capitalist system.
All the facts, including those pertaining to banks in Canada, are
increasingly showing that the society can be brought out of the crisis
only if the trend in which the entire society is subordinated to the
interests of the financial oligarchy is ended. The need for a
moratorium on the debt and the nationalization of banks and financial
institutions is richly corroborated by the experience of the people,
and so the banks are trying to get themselves off the hook. This is
why the banks are targetting the youth, who stand as one of the most
important social forces for the transformation of the society through
the implementation of the program to Stop Paying the Rich Increase
Funding For Social Programs!
CPC(M-L)
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--78A42BAC68--
[PEN-L:11327] Seniors Protest Anti-Social Offensive (Canada)
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --228965D33E68 At the recent Denver Summit of Eight, one of the main preoccupations of the self-described "major industrialized nations" was the - demographics in their countries, in particular the increase in the number of senior citizens. They announced that they would examine the question with a view to ending the "myth of seniors dependency," that is withdrawing responsibility for them. Canada stands amongst those countries with governments which are abdicating their responsibility to guarantee social security for the people, including senior citizens. In this regard, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) has announced it will wage a campaign against the Chre=82tien Liberal' cuts to pensions and benefits for senior citizens. The Liberals are proposing replacing the existing old-age security program, which as it stands does not even provide seniors with enough to subsist on, with a Senior's Benefit which would include tax credits and a "guaranteed income" which would result in a lowering of payments to them. The proposed changes would come into effect in 2001. In a 26-page study and pamphlet called The Black and Blue Book, in mockery of the Chretien Liberal's Red Book of promises, CARP points out that under the proposals, contributions to the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) will be increased while benefits will be decreased. CARP President Lillian Morgenthau warned that the consequences will be devastating, noting that 46 percent of seniors are already living in poverty. Senior citizens, like all other members of society, depend upon it for their livelihood. Through the different age groups which people fall into, the rights which belong to them depend on the condition of their collectivity. Senior citizens are entitled to the highest standard of living that a society can provide, commensurate with its development. The fact that this society poses its responsibility for seniors as a "burden" reveals the deep crisis of the economic system at its base. The demands of the financial oligarchy on the resources of the people bar them from being used to fulfill the obligations of the society towards even those who have worked all their lives for it. =09=09=09CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --228965D33E68--
[PEN-L:11326] Quebec: Elimination Of Jobs In The Health Sector
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --7FA71AF7DBD According to the Quebec government, it is on track with a plan to reduce the number of public employees in the health sector. Health and Social Services Minister Jean Rochon announced recently that 7,657 positions have already been eliminated in the health sector on a "voluntary" basis, either through attrition, buyouts or early retirements. The positions eliminated to date do not include nursing jobs. Rochon said the rate of elimination is in keeping with an agreement struck between the Quebec government and the unions representing the health sector workers in March, and predicts the elimination of another 2,000 jobs before September. Rochon said a three-month transition period will be needed to "relook" at the functioning of the health care system after the job eliminations are complete, specifically how the services provided by these workers can be "reorganized." He said: "Our first objective is to ensure there is no disruption of services." Planning is the hallmark of a modern society, but to suggest that Rochon has a "plan" for health services makes a mockery of the concept. A plan in keeping with the requirements of a modern society would have as its starting point the aim of guaranteeing the claims of all Quebeckers for the highest possible level of health care. Clearly, the aim of the Quebec government is the opposite to scale back public health care through funding cuts and job elimination and to open up the health care sector to the rich for maximum profit. CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --7FA71AF7DBD--
[PEN-L:11305] Condemn The 19th Century Colonialist Policy Of The Canadian State Towards The Aboriginal Peoples
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --2E4049B15F0C In the recent period, two important cases have been before the Canadian courts. One involved the September 5, 1995 shooting of Stoney Point First Nation member Dudley George at Ipperwash Provincial Park by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer Sargeant Kenneth Deane. The other case involves 15 individuals who participated in a struggle of Shuswap Nation members at Gustafsen Lake (Ts Peten) in the summer of 1995. Sargeant Kenneth Deane was convicted of criminal negligence causing death on April 28, 1997, only after a very active struggle was waged to demand that justice be done. There was also a great deal of evidence showing that contrary to the claims of the OPP, Dudley George was unarmed when he was shot dead. On July 3, Deane was given a two-year suspended sentence. While the crime for which he was convicted carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, Deane will be "punished" with 180 hours of community service, while he retains employment with the OPP. In his April 28 ruling, Judge Hugh Fraser acknowledged that Deane knew that Dudley George was unarmed when he shot him dead. Nevertheless, at his sentencing, Judge Fraser all but declared Deane innocent, saying Deane was "in every other way" an "exemplary officer." He was described as a "highly competent officer," who was "lawfully carrying out his duty as a police officer." "The decision to embark on this ill-fated mission was not Sgt. Deane s," Fraser said, referring to the OPP raid on the camp set up by Stoney Point First Nations members at Ipperwash Provincial Park. Judge Fraser also said that Deane was not responsible for the "faulty" intelligence reports the police receive that the protesters were armed. "It's not for this tribunal to decide where that intelligence originated, or why it was so inaccurate." No such leniency has been shown in the Ts Peten case. In pre-sentencing hearings, the state is calling for the harshest possible punishment especially for Jones Ignace (Wolverine), a Shushwap Nation elder and one of the leaders of the Ts Peten struggle. Prosecutor Lance Bernard said Wolverine should be sent to jail for 16 to 23 years. In his sentencing brief to the judge, Bernard said that the defendants were "terrorists" who had used illegal weapons to threaten police. He said all those convicted of mischief had to be sentenced within the context of a "serious over-criminal situation." He said that those who carried firewood, cooked and did other domestic chores were indispensable to those who "wielded weapons," and argued they had to be sentenced accordingly. He proposed the rest of the defendants should be sentenced to 3 to 5 years as a "deterrence." In the implementation of its policy of turning the just struggles of the Aboriginal peoples for the restoration of their hereditary rights into "law and order" problems, there is a clear message: any Aboriginal person who steps out of the place assigned to them by the Canadian state is "fair game" for arrests, shootings, jailings and every form of persecution, while those who implement the state's policy will be protected. This is the way of the 19th century British colonialists and these two cases show how very little has changed since the 19th Century in terms of the treatment of Canada's Aboriginal peoples by the Canadian state. This is the only interpretation that can be given to the double standards of justice being shown in both the Gustafsen Lake and the Ipperwash trials. The Canadian people must condemn the Canadian state's brutal treatment of Canada's Aboriginal peoples and step up the struggle for the restoration of their hereditary rights. CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --2E4049B15F0C--
[PEN-L:11304] Liberalism Off The Record: More Evidence Of The Deep Crisis Of The Bourgeoisie In Finding A Credible Standard-Bearer (Canada)
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --75BA3FF15BB1 At the signing ceremony for Ukraine s admission into the aggressive U.S.-led NATO military alliance, Prime Minister Jean Chretien is reported to have made "unguarded comments" while chatting with Belgian President Jean-Luc Dehaene in front of a microphone he thought was turned off. The comments highlight the deep crisis of the Canadian bourgeoisie in producing statesmen and stateswomen with any credibility. In public, Chretien has said that the expansion of NATO is a matter of security and "peace in Europe." In private he said that the position of the U.S., which stands at the head of the NATO expansion, has nothing to do with security. "I know the reasons, it's not the reasons of state. It's for political reasons, short-term political reasons, to win the next elections." He did not comment as to who is going to benefit from the NATO expansion, but it is well-known that the military-industrial complex in all the NATO countries will hand over lots of money for election campaigns, not only in the United States, but in Canada as well. Over $30 billion worth of armaments is at stake. In terms of U.S-Canada relations, and particularly the use of Canadian troops to do the dirty work for the U.S., Chretien said: "(Clinton) goes to Haiti with soldiers. The next year, Congress doesn t allow him to go back. So he phones me. Okay, I send my soldiers, and then afterwards, I ask for something else in exchange." On the Helm-Burton legislation, Chretien boasted he was the first to oppose it and added, "I like to stand up to the Americans. It's popular. But you have to be very careful because they're our friends." According to reports, Chretien said that American politicians "sell their votes." He said Clinton won support for NATO by promising to build bridges. He said that if politicians did the same thing in Canada or in Belgium they "would be in prison." It would be laughable, were it not such a serious matter, that in the same breath that Chretien admits he sent Canadian troops to Haiti "in exchange for something else," he is castigating the U.S. politicians for their deal-making. The criticism of the parliamentary "opposition" has further revealed the deep crisis of the bourgeoisie, as the only concern they raised was how Chretien's comments may damage relations with the U.S. imperialists. What is revealed by Chretien's comments is the utterly unprincipled and double-faced nature of the bourgeois ruling circles. They reveal the "sell-your-mother-for-a-dime" pragmatism which can justify anything, and do anything to advance the interests of imperialism at the cost of the rights and freedoms and lives of the people of Canada and of other countries, all the while claiming to stand for all the best in the world. The opposition could not complain of such things because they too have the sole interest of advancing the aims of the most economically powerful, at home and abroad. While Chretien has shrugged off the issue, his comments are now going to haunt and stymie the Liberals, particularly in their foreign policy affairs, which they try to present as being based on the highest and most lofty "Canadian values." CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --75BA3FF15BB1--
[PEN-L:11269] DPRK United In Overcoming Food Shortages
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --3F1933016C78 The people of the DPRK have faced the adversity caused by two years of devastating floods with unity and determination to overcome the difficulties and are developing important initiatives in this regard. The whole country has been mobilized for this aim. In this regard, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports that three units of the Korean People s Army (KPA) have been making important innovations in farming techniques in this difficult period. In true revolutionary spirit, the agency reports, the soldiers are combatting shortages of fuel with various substitutes and operating tractors at full capacity for plow weeding on maize fields. Currently, they are overfulfilling the daily weeding plan by some 110-120 percent. The KPA soldiers began helping farmers in the early spring. With their help, the KCNA reports, transplanting of seedlings was finished in time and the weeding is gaining momentum at an unprecedented pace. CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --3F1933016C78--
[PEN-L:11275] Algeria - Gross Injustice Militarism Prevail (fwd)
FYI Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Forwarded message -- Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 22:50:21 -0700 From: MER Editorial [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Algeria - Gross Injustice Militarism Prevail M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S - MER EDITORIAL *** "News, Analysis Commentary They Don't Want You to Know" *** INJUSTICE IN ALGERIA - HEAD OF ISLAMIC SALVATION FRONT "CONVICTED" *** To receive MER regularly request from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] G R O S SI N J U S T I C E I NA L G E R I A MER - Washington 7/13/97: With deaths and casualties approaching 100,000, the Western- backed Algerian military's civil war against the nationalist and populist "Islamic" forces shows no signs of ending. The U.S., France, and other Arab militarist "client-regimes" in the region lead by Egypt are dedicated to subjugating nationalist Islamic movements at any cost. Five years ago the head of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in Algeria, Abdelkader Hachani, was on his way to taking political power through the ballot-box -- otherwise known as democracy. The Algerian military seized control of the country, ended the elections, instituted marshall law, arrested Hachani, and has since conducted a scorched-earth massacre policy. Hachani has been held ever since without trial on trumped up charges of "undermining state security". Of course those who have really undermined the state are the generals who seized power. One day in the future, as in other countries like Argentina and Chile, maybe the Generals will find themselves imprisoned for their outrages. Now, attempting to give some deceptive veneer of legitimacy to their bloody rule, the Generals have tried Hachani in one of their mock courts and found him guilty (of course!) of urging Algerian troops to disobey their officers rather than subvert the electoral process. It is in fact a charge he is guilty of -- but one for which he should be applauded rather than imprisoned! Justice will eventually come to Algeria. But not now. Meanwhile, the Western governments and their associated "human rights" organizations of various names and types haven't got much to say about all this. In reality "human rights" and "democracy" are what they rhetorically favor when its convenient; but about the opposite of what they actually practice in this inflamed and embittered Middle Eastern region. M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S (202) 362-5266, Ext 638Fax: (202) 362-6965 [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** To receive MER weekly just send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with only the words SUBSCRIBE MER-L in the subject and message areas. *** For previous MER information, commentary, editorials Readers Comments: http://WWW.MiddleEast.Org
[PEN-L:11268] Capitalism Cannot Provide For The People: There Is An Alternative (Canada)
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --10487C63789C Stop Paying the Rich Increase Funding for Social Programs The more the crisis of the capitalist system deepens, the more statistics corroborate all the symptoms of a system that cannot provide for the people. Recently released figures from Statistics Canada profiling the country s labour force once again testify to this The crisis of unemployment, now taking the form of the jobless recovery since the last recession, is evidence of one of the most profound failings of the system, which denies the people the right to a livelihood. The response of the governments across the country is to aggravate the situation by abdicating their responsibility to provide for the victims of the system. The 1995 "labour income profile" shows that as unemployment has taken its toll, increasing numbers of workers have been forced into the category of "self-employed contractors." Between 1990 and 1995 both the number of people earning their income from self-employment alone, and the number relying on both self-employment and regular jobs increased. The number of people relying only on "wages and salary" actually decreased. The Statistics Canada reports, while revealing these facts, mystifies the reality by describing those peple who have come to rely on "self-employment" as part of the "employed labour force". This suggests that the economy is actually providing jobs for the people. The reality is that the workers are thrown out of work, cut off unemployment insurance benefits, and then forced to scrounge for a living, taking short-term contractual work without benefits, with very little "income". The presentation of the earnings of the "self-employed" as "employment income" is a deception. It does not reflect the many expenses which are incurred and quite frequently result in virtually no income. The same is the case with the distorted picture that is given of a "median" income of $20,600 per year. This covers up the increasing disparity in the society between the rich and poor by lumping together those who earn millions in "salary" and those who barely earn a few thousand. Statistics on poverty and those on "employment income" are reported separately, which means that poverty is not connected with the very failing of the economic system and its incapacity to provide the people with a livelihood. The increasingly insecure economic situation of the people is an indictment of the capitalist system. Nonetheless, the ruling circles of Canada have washed their hands of the problem, simply declaring that the "hidden hand" of the economy will generate jobs, so long as the state treasury and the legislature are used to create a "competitive environment" for the capitalists. At the same time, governments hand over billions to the financial oligarchy in the form of interest payments, cutting funds from social spending and facilitating, in many other ways as well, the withdrawal of more and more out of the economy than what is put back into it. Furthermore, the refrain of the bourgeoisie that there is no other way is a course for disaster. Just as the facts reveal that the capitalist system cannot provide for the people, the facts also show that there is an alternative. It lies in the program to Stop Paying the Rich Increase Funding for Social Programs! The decisive factor in changing the situation is for the working class to take up this program for implementation instead of waiting for the bourgeoisie to solve the problems of the economy. CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --10487C63789C--
[PEN-L:11250] UI Surplus Reaches $5 Billion (Canada)
The Chretien Liberals have presided over a massive restructuring of the unemployment insurance system which has made it more and more difficult for workers to qualify to receive benefits. The latest figures released by the Finance Department indicate that $5 billion more were collected in premiums from employers and employees than was paid out in the form of benefits. This is being called a "surplus." The Finance Department predicts the accumulated "surplus" will grow to $16 billion by the end of 1998. Since 1988, when the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney completely withdrew state funding for the UI program, it has been solely financed by contributions from employers and workers. The Liberal government has used some of the UI money to pay for various "training" and "job creation" schemes, most of which are a means of funnelling funds into the pockets of the rich. According to media reports, the Chretien Liberals are now pushing to have the "surplus" declared part of the general government revenue and having it entirely removed from the separate UI fund. This measure by the Chretien Liberals confirms that the anti-social offensive, which has included the attacks on the unemployed and other vulnerable sections of the society, does not have a "balanced budget" and other such claims as its objective. It aims to withdraw the very notion of a society which has responsibilities towards its members so that more and more funds can be transferred to the rich. Once included in the "general government revenue," the funds which were collected for the purpose of paying workers when the capitalist system throws them out of work will be further subjected to the Chretien Liberal dictate that the first and only legitimate claims on the public treasury are those laid by the financial oligarchy. CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:11243] Bringing The Conscious Factor Into Play (Canada)
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --1888213276BA It has now been over one month since the Chretien Liberals won their slim majority in the federal election. In the period since the election, during which a Cabinet has been chosen, various statements have been issued. Everything has confirmed the determination of the Chretien Liberals to uphold the very nineteenth century values and institutions which are the objective cause of the political and constitutional crises Canada is experiencing at this time. The four weeks that have passed since the election have also confirmed that the bourgeoisie is in a deep political crisis, incapable of producing a standard-bearer who could put forward a credible vision for Canada on the eve of the twenty-first century, notwithstanding Prime Minister Jean Chretien's repeated claims that he can do so. The federal election campaign was a spectacle by the capitalist class at a time its system is in deep, all-sided crisis. The capitalist class is extremely frightened of anyone questioning the status quo, and they conducted the election fully revealing their fear, virtually banning the views of all but their representatives. In this regard, one thing which the working class has learned from this election is just how fiercely the bourgeoisie fights to ensure that the conscious factor is suppressed. There should be no discussion, according to the bourgeois political parties, except on the question of who is most popular. The people should have no role except to cast a ballot for one of the political parties sanctioned by the bourgeoisie. In other words, in their incapacity to provide any solutions to the deep crisis, the bourgeoisie and its political representatives are also hell-bent to obstruct the working class and people from providing the solutions. It is the development of the human factor, the social consciousness which is most crucial. In fact, one of the features of the current situation is that only when the creative energies of all are mobilized, will the problems facing the society find a solution. A case for the immediate end to the anti-social offensive has been made by CPC(M-L) and in this regard it has presented its program Stop Paying the Rich Increase Funding for Social Programs. The conscious factor can only be brought into play by mobilizing workers, women, youth, students and the most vulnerable sections of society to engage in thorough-going discussion of this program. These discussions will elaborate and enrich the program and serve as a basis to develop tactics to implement it. This is what it means to bring he conscious factor into play. This is precisely what is needed at this time in order to find solutions to the social, political and economic problems plaguing society. CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --1888213276BA--
[PEN-L:11235] Albania: An Election To Disarm The People For The Imperialists
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --59B410CD3B0D For all intents and purposes, the June 29 to July 6 Albanian election was one required solely for the purpose of legitimizing a vassal state under the dictate of the U.S. imperialists and the Europe of the monopolies. It was not an election for Albanians to decide on the direction of their society, on its economy, or on any other issues. A process of disarming the resisting Albanian people, especially the Salvation Committees that were formed when the Albanian state collapsed, also required the holding of an election to lend it legitimacy as the "mandate of the people." On June 30, after the first round of voting, Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano announced that his party had won the election. President Sali Berisha conceded Monday that his party had lost and that it would now become "a loyal opposition." Over 500 foreigners "monitored" the election. Some flew over the country in helicopters, while others went from poll to poll, accompanied by dozens of armed troops. The "monitors" turned a blind-eye to all the "irregularities." The OSCE declared, as the election approached, that it would be unrealistic to apply "normal Western standards" to Albania's election. The joint report issued on June 30 by the heads of the OSCE, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly describes the election as "adequate and acceptable; voters were generally able to cast their ballot without fear or intimidation, although there are reports of some serious problems..." These "problems" which could be overlooked by the "monitors" included the murder of a polling officer; the closing of polls at 6pm instead of 9pm because of "security problems;" complete suspension of voting in some areas for the same reasons; and the seizure and burning of all ballots in the polling station in Rrushbull. Dozens of people were killed during the election campaign, with all parties accusing each other of the deed. Numerous other problems can be cited, not least of which is the fact that the election was conducted in conditions of foreign occupation. Over 7,000 UN interventionist troops, led by the Italian military, were stationed throughout the country. What was of concern to the imperialists, however, was simply that an election should be held to create a new government. They ensured that no matter what the result, the government would be a willing puppet regime. Thus, Nano has declared that the most pressing concern for Albania is to disarm the population. In his first appeal to the Albanians after proclaiming victory, he called on them to "surrender arms." In their "monitoring" report, the OSCE and EU once again declared: "It is essential, however, that all Albanian political parties observe the commitments they have made to respect the results of the elections..." OSCE special envoy for Albania, Austrian former Chancellor Franz Vranitzky stressed in a pre-election meeting with the Albanian Central Election Commission the importance that the polls outcome be recognized. "It would be a catastrophe for you and for us if the outcome would not be accepted." In a similar vein, on June 29, Fatos Nano told Albanians: "These elections are of extraordinary importance. This will be a society of free citizens no different from other European nations. Tomorrow will be a new day." During the election campaign, it was reported that Nano spent much of the campaign "stressing his credentials as a defender of the market." "Like you," he told a rally, "we want free enterprise and private property. It is our historic obligation to make Albania part of Europe." "The philosophy of privatization, social assistance, denationalization and decentralization of power is the future of my country,'' he said. CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --59B410CD3B0D--
[PEN-L:11103] Fifth OSCE Economic Forum: Transition Economies And The Rule Of Law
With "market economies and rule of law in nations with economies in transition" as its agenda, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held its 5th Economic Forum in Prague from June 11-13. Participants included representatives of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Council, the Council of Baltic States, the European Union and others, including Albania. The OSCE enforces bourgeois multi-party democracy, the "free-market" economy and bourgeois human rights based on the defence of private property as the ultimate achievements of humankind and the "values" to which every country must submit. Amongst other things, it blocks investments to countries which do not comply. The OSCE Forum coincided with the release of the 1997 United Nations Development Program report. It confirmed that the peoples of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have experienced the biggest drop in living standards precisely since the imposition of free market economies began. 120,000 million people, or a quarter of the population, in that area of the world are now living in poverty compared to four million in 1988. Nevertheless, OSCE Permanent Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Henrik Wohlk opened the forum by citing Albania as a trouble-spot for the OSCE, describing it as a "prime example of the fundamental importance of rule of law." He suggested that the pyramid scheme and the absence of laws regulating them are the problem. The pyramid scheme was a quickly unveiled mechanism to get the people to pay the rich. Its false promises of prosperity were more quicky seen than are the other many mechanisms to pay the rich, such as state deficit-financing. This "rule of law," which the OSCE refers to is the dictatorship of the financial oligarchy and the "transition" is towards its perfecting. In most countries IMF and World Bank drafted legislation is already in place for taxation, to create budgetary and fiscal measures that ensure every penny of the public treasury is allocated to the interests of the financial oligarchy, to revoke those laws which entitled people to certain levels of health care, education and social security, etc. In the end, what will exist is the capitalist "rule of law," a body of legislation perfected for the capitalist economy which has developed to the stage where tribute to the financial oligarchy is exacted from the entire society. Under this "rule of law" all the mechanisms to make the people pay are given the highest level of legitimacy, fully backed by the instruments of the police, the army, and the security apparatus. CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:11092] Middle East: U.S. Should Get Out Of The Persian Gulf!
This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --51FDF8552F5 The U.S. has a long history of declaring any nation which opposes the U.S. imperialist dictate as a "rogue state." It accuses these nations of "state-terrorism," and declares they constitute a threat to peace so as to cover-up the fact that it is U.S. imperialism which is the biggest aggressor against the peoples of the world and the biggest threat to peace. This was underscored during the visit of U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman from June 13 to June 18. He made a number of threats against both Iran and Iraq. Speaking to a news conference in Bahrain on June 16, Cohen said Iran "continues to support terrorism in addition to developing weapons of mass destruction, improving missiles that can strike neighbouring nations and boosting the facility to close the Strait of Hormuz." He then went on to boast of the U.S. military might in the region. Bahrain is the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which keeps more than two dozen warships in the Gulf. "The United States retains overwhelming naval strength in the Gulf and we are fully capable of protecting our ships, our interests and our allies," Cohen said, adding " ... I am satisfied that the United States has the full capability to stop any operations that Iranians might seek to launch against us or our allies." Cohen also accused Iran of attempting to "intimidate its neighbours and to interrupt commerce in the Gulf." Iran has repeatedly opposed the presence of U.S. imperialism in the Gulf and along with other nations in the region, including Iraq, has called for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops so that the people of the region can themselves sort out their problems. A commentary carried in Iran News on June 17 points out that Cohen was trying to "sow again the seeds of discord between Iran and its neighbours on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf." "The Isamic republic has existed alongside the Arab countries for the last 18 years and not a single shot has been fired at its neighbours from these borders ... ," the article states. Given that during his entire visit Cohen stressed the "superiority" of U.S. imperialism's air, naval and fire-power in the region, given the millions it also spends on intelligence and espionage in the region, the brutal war of aggression it waged against the Iraqis, its continued violations of the partial lifting of the UN-imposed embargo against the people of Iraq and its opposition to its complete lifting, all that Cohen seemed to prove during his visit is that it is the U.S. which is guilty of all the crimes of which it accuses others. CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --51FDF8552F5--
[PEN-L:11102] 47th Anniversary Of The Launching Of The Korean War: A History Of Ceaseless Struggle For The Unity And Independence Of The Korean People
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while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools.
Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info.
--63676D46DF8
June 25 marks the 47th anniversary of the Korean War; at 05:00 on June
25, 1950, the U.S. imperialists along with the south Korean puppet
regime of Syngman Rhee invaded north Korea.
The U.S. imperialists and its allies committed untold crimes during
the Korean War from 1950-1953. The DPRK was literally razed to the
ground. A total of 428,748 bombs, one per person, were dropped by the
U.S. over Pyongyang alone. At the time the U.S. boasted that the DPRK
would not be able to rebuild "even after 100 years." But U.S.
imperialism suffered defeat at the hands of the Korean people who
fought as one in defence of socialism and their independence. The U.S.
was forced to withdraw and carry on its offensive through its puppet
regime in the south, an offensive which it continues to this day.
The U.S. has continued its occupation of south Korea and kept the
Korean people divided for 47 years. It constructed a wall which cuts
Korea in half. The wall, built in their sector just south of the
demilitarized zone (DMZ), stretches the entire breadth of Korea for
240 km, with only 10 km around Panmunjon left free of it. Every day,
the troops of U.S. imperialism stand guard at the wall to ensure the
Korean people remain divided, while all the time spreading vicious
propaganda that the DPRK is the "isolationist regime."
It is U.S. imperialism and its puppet governments in south Korea who
have literally split apart thousands of Korean families. They have
made it a crime for residents of the south to travel to the DPRK or
even write or telephone. None of this has been able to quell the
determination of the Korean people to reunite their homeland and rid
it of all foreign occupiers and their weapons of mass destruction. 47
years after the U.S. imperialists first invaded the DPRK, the Korean
people continue in thei struggle for true liberation, national
reunification and independence.
CPC(M-L)
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--63676D46DF8--
[PEN-L:11074] UN Human Development Report 1997: Marginalization Of Majority Of World's People
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) was released this month.
The facts it presents underscore the marginalization of the vast
majority of the world s people and the increasing polarization between
rich and poor, both amongst nations and within them. These facts are
an indictment of the governments of the rich across the world; despite
all their promises that their "international values" of a free-market
economy, political pluralism, and bourgeois human rights would improve
the lot of the world s people, the opposite is the case.
According the report, over 1.4 billion people in the world 20% of
humanity live in abject poverty, surviving on less than the equivalent
of $1 US a day. Another 3.3 billion people 60% of humanity live in
extreme poverty.
The report also highlighted the devastating situation in the countries
of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe where poverty has
increased 30-fold since 1988. The poverty is only expected to grow as
governments speed up the anti-social offensive of privatization and
liberalization.
Within the world s richest nations, more than 100 million people live
in poverty, defined by the UNDP as an income level that is less than
half the national median. The report ranks Canada as the country with
the "highest human development index," an index measured in terms of
the bourgeois notion of human rights. At the same time it criticizes
Canada s high child poverty rates and the rates of poverty, suicide,
unemployment and illness amongst the Aboriginal peoples.
CPC(M-L)
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:11068] Re: inter-imperialist rivalries
Greetings, On Mon, 30 Jun 1997, James Devine wrote: In one of Shawgi's postings, we read the following: The fact, however, is that the European Union, its member countries, and the U.S. have sharp contentions amongst themselves, not to mention the Russian Federation. The sharpening rivalries amongst them and the other economic powers pose the danger of another world war. The Summit of Eight Communique is a manifesto of their common maneouvring for sources of raw materials and areas for export of capital which will contribute to this danger. Another world war? So we can simply take Lenin's popular outline, IMPERIALISM, and apply it _without_modification_ to understand the present-day rivalries amongst the advanced capitalist powers? I think not. There's been a lot of research and thinking on this issue since Lenin that shouldn't be ignored. in pen-l solidarity, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ. 7900 Loyola Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045-8410 USA 310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950 "It takes a busload of faith to get by." -- Lou Reed. James, would you elaborate? Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
