Date: Mon, 29 Aug 94 15:58 CDT
Subject: Rally Comrades! (Online Edition) August, 1994
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August, 1994 Electronic Edition Vol. 13, No. 5
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INDEX TO Volume 13, Number 5
1. REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT SPREADS IN MEXICO
2. RULING CLASS ON THE DEFENSIVE: NEW CONDITIONS: OUR TIME IS NOW
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1. REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT SPREADS IN MEXICO
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By Nacho Gonzalez
On New Year's Day 1994, masked indigenous Mexican guerrillas
thrust Mexico's southernmost state, Chiapas, into the world arena.
The guerrillas, members of the Zapatista Army of National
Liberation, attacked and held several towns including San
Cristobal de las Casas, a tourist center.
Why did it happen? What does this mean for Mexico's future? What
does this mean for us, the revolutionaries in the United States?
Mexico is a land of many contrasts. It is rural, rustic,
indigenous and poor. It is also urban, modern, European-influenced
and rich. From the beginning, Mexico has had an adverse
relationship with the United States. In fact, it lost half of its
national territory to the United States in 1848 through outright
military conquest. In 1917, the people rose up under the slogan
"Tierra y Libertad" (Land and Liberty) and launched a revolution.
The revolution broke the feudal system and developed a very modern
constitution that guaranteed land to the peasants.
The new industrial and commercial class that came to dominate
Mexico formed itself into the Institutional Revolutionary Party
(PRI). That party was to dominate Mexico from the end of the
revolution to the present. The PRI has dominated every facet of
government; in fact, it was -- and is -- the government. Mexico
under PRI rule has been called by some the "perfect dictatorship."
In the 1970s and 1980s, Mexico developed different strategies to
industrialize. First, it devalued the peso so that its goods could
be competitive in the international market. However, currency
devaluations are nothing more than cuts in wages. Workers would go
to work in the morning making $3 a day and find out that with the
money devaluation their money was only worth $1.50.
In the 1980s, Mexico gambled on oil, but with the oil glut, the
price of oil dropped. Mexico was left hanging, owing gigantic
amounts of money to the world's banks and financial houses. With
the presidency of Miguel De la Madrid and later, of Carlos Salinas
de Gortari, Mexico began to institute new policies and redefine
things so that large corporations and transnational capital could
be the engines for growth.
Mexico got closer to the United States and was forced to give in
to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and private
commercial banks. Mexico instituted trade liberalization
(sometimes known as supply side economics, or neoliberalism) which
kept wages low, forced unemployment up, destroyed the small
producers, opened up the domestic market to competition and forced
Mexico to produce for the international market rather than for the
needs of its own people. At the same time, this process has been
divorcing the peasants from the land, breaking up the traditional
subsistence economies in many of the more agricultural states like
Chiapas. The lands are being concentrated into large agribusiness
projects, thus driving the peasants into the cities or the migrant
stream. Today, trade liberalization threatens two million
peasants, mainly in the states south of Mexico City, who cannot
compete with corn, coffee and cotton growers in other countries
where agriculture is mechanized and utilizes high technology.
NAFTA is an attempt to institutionalize market liberalization and
make it irreversible. It is creating economic groups closely
linked to foreign capital. It is also creating a tremendous
concentration of wealth. For example, 25 holding companies produce
47 percent of the gross national product. Even though Mexico has
attracted capital, most of it has gone into speculation through
the Mexican stock market. This is Mexico's Achilles' heel. Mexico
could suffer a loss of faith on the part of foreign investors,
capital flight and a large devaluation which would discredit the
government and bring the economy and political system into a grave
crisis.
Mexico is undergoing vast economic changes at the same time that
an economic revolution is taking place in the forces of
production. The old political structure where the ruling PRI was
the government is no longer compatible with these new economic
changes. Luis Rubio, a noted Mexican scholar, states in an article
in the Chicago Tribune: "Mexico's political system does not stem
-- at least has not stemmed up to now --from electoral legitimacy,
but from the control of the arteries of power through the party."
The PRI is under immense pressure, both nationally and
internationally, to give up power. The most important pressure of
all comes from the business and investment community,
transnational capital, the U.S. Congress and the North American
press. At home, the popular sectors -- workers, urban slum
dwellers, students, intellectuals, service workers, peasants,
agricultural laborers, women, etc. -- are all at the exploding
point.
The economic reforms have caused new sources of power to emerge
that are, for the first time in 70 years, widely diversified and
outside the control of the bureaucracy. Society has been moving
into areas that the government has pulled out of because of
privatization. Today, Mexico is beset with many contradictions and
deeply polarized. The PRI's strategy of retrenchment is doomed. A
new political system must be built. The question is: Can the
government be restructured without setting off a social explosion?
Can this happen with the Zapatistas deep in the Lacandon jungle,
ready to pounce on Mexico's Achilles' heel, threatening war on
the government and forcing a crisis in the financial markets?
Could Mexico withstand such a blow?
The struggle in Mexico is the opening round as we enter an epoch
of social revolution. While the capitalists will try to use the
struggle to adjust the government to fit the needs of capital, the
interests of the Mexican people lie in a much deeper change. The
question of private property; the distribution of food, housing
and jobs; the issue of real democracy are all at stake.
We revolutionaries in the United States, a country connected to
Mexico by millions of economic, political and social threads, must
be ready to react in a new form of solidarity with our peers to
the south. We must strive to develop the internationalism of the
American people by fighting the monster here at home. Any social
explosion in Mexico will have deep repercussions here. We must
prepare ourselves. We must be prepared to explain to the American
people the real issues at stake. Already the United States has
advisers and CIA agents all over Mexico. If war breaks out in
Mexico, the United States will intervene; we must fight to stop
that. Migration is going to increase; we must fight to open the
borders. The immediate issue of immigration is going to force the
day. We must begin now to develop the consciousness of the mass of
the American people. We have no choice, only a duty.
[Nacho Gonzalez is a member of the Steering Committee of the
National Organizing Committee and works with the Equal Rights
Congress.]
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2. RULING CLASS ON THE DEFENSIVE
NEW CONDITIONS: OUR TIME IS NOW
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[The following is a report from the Political Committee of the
National Organizing Committee to the Steering Committee of the
NOC.
The fight against this system of terror and exploitation is
growing and spreading. Successes seem more possible and the
dangers seem more serious. The electronic revolution in production
is splitting society and setting the basis for the emergence of
class politics. Possibilities for the revolutionary movement to go
on the offensive are opening up. How has this happened? What does
it mean for revolutionaries today?
Rally, Comrades! brings you this summary of a Political Committee
report to the Steering Committee of the National Organizing
Committee to arm the NOC members and others with an understanding
of how and why the stakes are getting higher. This "big picture"
equips us to better carry out the NOC program and wage war on this
capitalist system.]
At the end of World War II, the U.S. capitalist class had a
strategy, a grand design for how it would dominate the world,
politically and economically. From 1945 to about 1975, the
capitalists were able to carry out this strategy. Strategically,
they were on the offensive, meaning they were on the attack and
were able, through their tactics -- the maneuvering of their
forces -- to carry out their strategy. Within certain limits, the
United States was able to impose a political and economic order on
the whole world.
This was possible because of the tremendous expansion of
capitalism that took place after World War II. This expansion
created huge profits. The capitalists used some of those profits
to create a high standard of living for most workers in the major
capitalist countries. Those workers in turn supported capitalism.
But by the mid-1970s, capitalism had expanded to every country in
the non-socialist world and had no place left to go. Capitalism
must be able to constantly expand into new markets or it begins to
die. Even today, with the formerly socialist countries supposedly
becoming capitalist, capitalism is not expanding. The replacement
of human labor with electronics means that both the existing
global markets and the "new" markets in the formerly socialist
countries are contracting. People without jobs and incomes can't
buy anything the capitalists have to sell. The capitalists are now
fighting among themselves over the existing markets. The world
political and economic order that was born in the wake of World
War II is giving way to regional wars, trading blocs and
challenges by other capitalists to North American dominance.
One of the economic laws of capitalism is that the capitalist will
always seek the maximum possible profit. With no place to expand,
in order for profits to increase, capitalism now has to turn
inward and increase the exploitation of the workers within the
major capitalist countries, including the United States. This
means lowering the standard of living of the workers in the major
capitalist countries. Thus, over the last 15 years, we have seen a
steadily accelerating process of breaking unions, cutting wages,
cutting social programs and replacing workers with computers and
robots. There has been a dramatic and continuing rise in permanent
unemployment and homelessness as a result of the replacement of
labor with electronics.
The economic, social and political structures that grew out of the
Industrial Age are being disrupted by electronics. Society has to
be reorganized to conform to production based on electronics. The
only question is, who will reorganize it -- the proletariat (the
new class of the permanently unemployed) or the ruling capitalist
class -- and for what purpose? The ruling class plans to
reorganize society in such a way as to keep its wealth and
privilege. The only way they can do this is by eroding whatever
democracy and freedom are left and moving toward a police state.
Thus, capitalism is striking at its own foundations. The
capitalists are beginning to impoverish and brutalize the very
people who once supported capitalism because it buttered their
bread. This is what is putting the capitalists on the defensive
and creating the opportunity for the proletariat to take the
offensive.
President Clinton's floundering foreign policy is testimony to the
fact that the ruling class is struggling to maintain control.
Whether it is Germany, Japan, Russia, China, Bosnia, Somalia or
Haiti, the United States has been unable to impose its will.
THE SITUATION IN THE U.S.
The ruling class is less and less in a position to dominate the
field of battle, the various struggles of the masses of people. It
no longer has the initiative on its side; it is not able to
determine the terms of battle -- where, when and around which
issues to attack. A new quantitative stage of the social
revolution is emerging. Why is this happening and what are the
implications for revolutionaries engaged in struggle?
The ruling class of the United States has, for the most part, been
able to impose its will in this country since the closing days of
World War II. Until the mid-1970s, the consistent economic
expansion caused the range of the cyclical (business) crisis of
capitalism to be quite moderated and capitalism looked like it
would last forever.
However, since the mid-1970s, the cyclical crisis of capitalism
--the periodic boom and bust -- has returned with a vengeance. But
on top of this, the introduction of electronic technology to
production has led to a general, permanent crisis of capitalism,
including unending layoffs and spreading, deepening poverty. Yet
in the face of these economic changes and the social upheavals
they produce, the ruling class has been able to continue its
policies without any serious opposition.
The tiny class that rules this country has been able to operate
from a position of strength during the recent period of economic
crisis. This is because a relatively large section of the working
class was not severely affected by the crisis, and many of those
who were affected believed it was a temporary situation. As long
as the ruling class could "deliver the goods" economically to a
significant sector of the population, and convince a majority of
the country that "hard times" were not that widespread and that
better times were on the way, the ruling class could remain on the
offensive in the strategic sense.
The accelerating application of electronics to every sphere of
economic life means broader sections of the population are
directly affected by the economic crisis. For tens of millions of
people, it has become impossible to hide from the realization that
a profound economic (and social) crisis is rocking the country.
In the face of a supposed recovery, corporate "downsizing" and
mergers are eliminating millions of jobs. In the first three
months of 1994 alone, 3,106 people were laid off every day
(_Christian Science Monitor_). It's estimated that 17 million more
will be laid off in the remainder of 1994 (Newsweek). Even among
those who are currently working, 34 million don't receive a steady
paycheck -- they are temporary and part-time workers (Washington
Post). The new jobs that are being created are minimum-wage jobs
with no benefits. The ruling class is no longer able to meet the
needs of the masses of the people. The change in the political
situation is the result of further developments in the economic
crisis.
What are the political implications of this situation for the
ruling class? The lack of markets has forced the capitalists to
launch a wholesale assault on the cultural and living standards of
people who used to be part of the economic and political
foundation of imperialism.
Throughout the 1980s, particularly during the Reagan period, the
ruling class was able to wage a sustained offensive against the
most poverty-stricken section of the population. At that time, in
spite of the serious attacks on the unions and widespread plant
closings, a relatively large section of the population continued
to act as a buffer between the ruling class and those most
affected by the economic crisis. That buffer was the foundation of
the political stability of the ruling class. Today, that buffer is
increasingly disappearing, and as a result, the ruling class is no
longer capable of a sustained attack.
Of course, we should not fool ourselves about the dangers involved
in the current situation. This is only the beginning stage of
these changes. There will certainly be very sharp, fascist,
tactical thrusts against those in struggle. As the economic and
social polarization (splitting) of our society intensifies, the
ruling class will turn increasingly toward a police state as its
solution. Indications of this can be seen with the current crime
bill in Congress and the whipping up of anti-immigrant hysteria.
However, these attacks can only be tactical in nature because the
economic situation undermines the ability of the ruling class to
sustain these offensives. With new and broader sections of the
population affected by the economic crisis, every attack by the
ruling class draws these new sections more into the struggle.
Politicians may be able to temporarily convince people that the
crime bill is needed, but the crime bill won't feed and house the
people. Sooner or later, they're going to be hungry and hurting.
This is not to deny that capital is still in control or that the
capitalist class is a powerful enemy. The ruling class has clearly
launched a number of tactical offensives. The "war on crime" which
is being used to establish a police state is a good example. But
these are tactical -- not strategic -- offensives. These tactics
are not carrying out a grand design. They are defensive actions
mounted by a ruling class that is desperately trying to protect
its position.
What does it mean to say that the revolutionary class (the
proletariat) is now in a position to take the offensive in a
strategic sense?
The changed economic and political situation has created an
opening for the proletariat to take the offensive. The peasants of
Chiapas, Mexico, demonstrated that this is possible when they
launched their offensive on January 1, the effective date of the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); they said NAFTA's
agricultural provisions would destroy their livelihoods.
What does this situation mean for revolutionaries in the United
States? First, this means that our class no longer is forced to
react defensively to every attack, to simply protest. We can and
must set clear objectives and goals which can move our struggle
forward. At this time, the key link which will allow us to move
forward is the bringing together of the scattered and isolated
leaders of the various struggles. Nothing can be accomplished
unless these individuals begin to exchange experiences and plan
how to push the struggles in the direction they need to go. For
the revolutionary class to go on the offensive the leaders must
come together to plan for it on the basis of a common strategy.
One of the best places for this to take place is the national and
local committees of the NOC. These committees should be a
gathering point for the leaders to discuss programs of action
which can point the struggles toward our goals.
Second, more and more, the effects of the economic crisis are
undermining the impact of the ruling class's propaganda. Millions
of people are moving toward struggle and looking for solutions to
the situations they confront. The NOC is able to put forward a
vision of what is possible and where our struggles need to go.
This vision is part of our effort to raise the consciousness and
educate those fighters as they come forward. Above all, we need
widespread propaganda that shows that society has to be and will
be reorganized. The question is: Who will do it? If we do it, we
will reorganize it from the bottom up. If this ruling class does
it, they will have to rely more on force and violence than bribery
and deceit to maintain and exercise their political power. They
will have to undermine whatever freedoms and democracy are left.
The changes in the political situation discussed in this report
are the objective basis which makes the growth and development of
the NOC committees a real possibility at this time. The new
conditions allow for and demand new tactics and bold initiatives.
The actions of the comrades from Chiapas in Mexico are the most
notable example of what can happen in this new period.
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RALLY, COMRADES! (Electronic Edition) is the electronic version of
RALLY, COMRADES!, a newspaper published by the Political Committee
of the National Organizing Committee. The name of the paper is
taken from the original chorus of the poem and song, _The
International_, the rallying cry of the international proletariat:
Rally, Comrades
'Tis the last fight we face
The international
Shall be the human race.
Please address all correspondence to: RALLY, COMRADES!, P.O. Box
477113, Chicago, IL 60647, or e-mail jdav@igc.org. (c) 1994 by the
National Organizing Committee.
Hard copy subscriptions are available for $15/year, and donations
are important. We encourage reproduction and use of all articles.
Please credit RALLY COMRADES.
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The mission of RALLY, COMRADES! is to orient, educate and raise
the consciousness of those who are fighting the growing repression
and poverty in our country. We have entered an age where
electronics is replacing human labor and a growing mass of people
is becoming permanently unemployed. No longer requiring our labor,
those who run this country have launched a massive assault on our
living standards and our legal and human rights.
The people are fighting back, but their struggle is scattered and
unfocused. The crying need of the moment is to unite the leaders
of the scattered struggles around a common understanding and a
common strategy. The leaders need a source of information on the
political situation and the tasks of the revolutionaries. We
dedicate the pages of RALLY COMRADES! to this end.
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