------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the June 19, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
WW EDITOR SPEAKS AT BALTIMORE MEETING: "WHY WE NEED SOCIALISM"
By Sharon Black Baltimore
The Baltimore branch of Workers World Party inaugurated a series of summer meetings on June 2 with a talk by Deirdre Griswold, editor of Workers World newspaper. An eager audience of community, labor union and anti-war activists joined in to discuss socialism and hear about the origins of WWP.
A party like Workers World participates in all struggles to end the injustices and crimes of capitalism, Griswold pointed out. But its outlook goes beyond just fighting for reforms of this system. "A revolutionary party," she said, "takes the long view of history. This doesn't mean that social change takes forever. Sometimes more change happens in one week than over the previous 10 years. But it means we understand and explain to all who listen that capitalism is a crisis- prone system by its very nature. The profit system generates wars and economic depressions. And when it moves from relative stability into crisis, much of what the popular organizations have fought for and won over decades can be wiped out."
She gave as an example the Bush administration's "endless war."
"The grouping around Bush, and they represent a powerful section of the super-rich in this country, want to take the world back by at least 50 years," she said, "to the days of colonialism and open empire. They are committing crimes every day against the people of the Middle East, Korea, Latin America and elsewhere. They are oppressing people of color and immigrants here at home. And they are robbing the workers here of their pensions, their social services and their jobs.
"But at the same time they're winding up a spring of popular anger that will eventually push history forward. And when the fightback happens, it won't just be a gradual change, it will be a big leap."
The success of these struggles, she stressed, lies in the solidarity of the working class and its unity with all who are oppressed. "The old socialist movement in this country thought the workers would make a revolution and then address the issues of imperialism, racism and sexism," she said.
"But that's impossible. You can't unite the working class--especially today when it has become so multinational and when women make up nearly half the work force--without battling all forms of oppression, including that directed against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people and immigrants. The best fighters and leaders come from those who have the most to gain and the least to lose from a total social transformation."
That's why a party like Workers World stands out in today's left movement. It has practiced affirmative action ever since its very beginning in 1959, and its membership and leaders reflect that. Its first picket line was in solidarity with Patrice Lumumba and the people of the Congo against the U.S. government and other imperialists who were trying to crush the African liberation struggle.
"Can humanity be liberated from this hell created by capitalism, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer every day? Yes, it can," she affirmed, "but only by liberating the vast wealth created by the working class that is now bottled up in private hands. The workers are the only class that can reorganize society, not on a for-profit basis, but to meet the needs of all.
"We don't expect elections to make this happen. The people must be organized to assert themselves independently of the capitalist political machines."
Those who attended and joined in the discussion represented a diverse group. They included Vietnam War veterans, along with young workers who had not yet been born when that war was being waged; community activists who had fought police brutality and utility hikes; and some of the key organizers of the recent anti-war protests.
Andre Powell, a local trade unionist and Baltimore Workers World Party organizer, chaired and opened the meeting with a description of the party's origins.
- END -
(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
