Groundwork Books will be close for May 1 in celebration of International Workers Day (May Day), against the Sensenbrenner Bill (HR 4437). The march will begin at tht San Ysidro Community Park at 1:00 PM, and will go on a 2.8 mile triangular route, first to Larsen Park, then to the San Ysidro border. Please come out to support workers and the right of people to make a better living.
GROUNDWORK NEWSLETTER
A publication working of Groundwork books- a political collective and resource center working for Socialism
SPRING 2006
THE GIANT IS WAKING UPThe giant is waking up, the immigrant population of this country, so many times scapegoated for all the economic and social problems created by the capitalist system and imperialist war, showed itself in protest by the thousands on the streets of many cities of the U.S. during the month of March, and on the 25th, almost a million people filled the streets of L.A., demanding an end to the xenophobic and anti-immigrant campaigns promoted by both the Democrats and the Republicans, the twin parties of war and racism.
The racists that now hold power and those that share their ideology have called the undocumented workers who come to this country “illegal aliens” for many years, and recently, the legislative power has been pushing a series of bills that further fuels bigotry against the workers, and the Sensenbrenner-King bill, also known as HR 4437 is emblematic of this; The bill approved by Congress in December calls for building a gigantic wall between the U.S. and Mexico, makes it a felony for workers to cross the border without a visa, and makes criminals out of anyone who gives a job or any type of assistance –like medical aid or even water- to the undocumented workers and their families. It ultimately tries to make of undocumented workers who now have no legal status, and are superexploited in the fields and sweatshops, “terrorists” who supposedly put in jeopardy the security of the United States. It is not surprising that this bill was the spark that detonated the anger of immigrants, primarily of Latin American nations, because they know that they are the workers that sustain the U.S. economy; they are now filling the streets demanding an end to the vicious anti-immigrant chauvinism that permeates this country.
The understandable and necessary struggle of immigrants workers –undocumented or not- is trying to be deflected into electoral politics by swindlers like L.A. Democratic party mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who on the March 25 protest asked the people to back the McCain-Kennedy bill, which is supposed to be a gentler attack on immigrants; but the bill is anything but gentle, doubling the amount of INS agents to detain or harass immigrants, giving fines of $3,000 to the existing undocumented workers in the U.S. and creating a “brazero” temporary worker program that charges $500 for an application and deports them if they don’t find a job after 45 days.
The immigrant and worker’s rights movement should break with the Democrats and all bourgeois parties, relying on their own strength. Every gain for the workers and the oppressed, small as they may be, were gained through hard struggle, not through voting or by expecting that the exploiters “rethink” things through pressure. As long as the capitalist system continues, every gain can and will be reversed whenever the rulers find it less costly to them. The dictatorial nature of the capitalist system is revealed when their power is challenged, unmasking bourgeois “democracy” as a mere sham. We saw this all over the country and right here in San Diego County, where dozens of students who walked out in protest against racist oppression were pepper sprayed, hit with batons and jailed. The San Diego mounted police run roughshod in Chicano park, intimidating protesters; this is the real face of capitalist “freedom”, because it is only freedom for the rich and repression for the working classes whenever they fail to bow their heads in silence. This is the face of the existing “peace”.
It is time for immigrant workers to wake up and unite with their class brothers, to demand full citizen rights for all immigrants who get here, to organize them in unions, stop anti-Arab racism and all forms of oppression. But this will only be possible and lasting through international class struggle, and through the creation of an egalitarian socialist society, where the racially integrated working class rules.For a fighting International Worker’s Day!In 1884 the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, demanded an eight-hour workday to come into effect as of May 1, 1886; the lack of resolution to the workers demands resulted in a general strike and in what is now known as the U.S. Haymarket Riot of 1886, when the laborers who demonstrated against their conditions of exploitation were attacked by the police. The state had sent agent provocateurs to start disturbances giving the cops the needed pretext to attack and repress the demonstration. This is ended in the frame-up and execution of several worker leaders who became the Haymarket martyrs.
Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, when the development of productive forces is more than enough to make possible that the world population lives comfortably, we find instead, more than ever, a world divided among exploited and exploiters; where the largest part of the population lives in poverty, and we find ourselves in a planet where the plundering and subjugation of whole peoples to the actions of imperialism is an every day occurrence. May Day should mark the day when the workers of the world organize and unite in struggle against their class enemies, against those that now hold political and economic power, to achieve an egalitarian society and a world where those who labor rule.Invitation to the first National Workers EncounterTo the workers who have adhered to the Sixth declaration and to The Other Campaign
To the workers who struggle and to all of those who are exploited:
We, who participate in The Other Campaign that develops throughout the country of Mexico invite you to the first National Workers Encounter that will take place the coming Saturday April 29, in Uniroyal National Workers Union hall, located in Lago Plava # 95, Huichapan, Mexico City. We will gather to discuss the objectives of:
1.- Preparing our participation in the International Workers Day commemoration, on May 1st, throughout Mexico during the action known as “The Other May Day”.
2.- To discuss democratically a plan of struggle and action to defeat the sell-out leadership (charros) in all of our union organizations.
3.- To promote throughout The Other Campaign the formation of a democratic organization which is dedicated to internationalist class struggle, that will permit us to confront and struggle against the capitalists and their government, the one that is in place right now and the one that will be in power after the presidential elections of July 2nd.
4.- To strengthen struggles, through the formation of currents and groups within unions, to take back our organizations from the agents of the capitalists and the old and new sell-out leaderships (charros and neocharros).
5.- To rescue the fundamental principles of the working class, and our participation in the political life of the country.
6.- To discuss a platform of struggle that will permit us to reestablish the true role of workers within society, independently and through struggle, with clear objectives, where class independence prevails to develop their political participation.
7.- To strengthen our unity with the poor peasantry, the indigenous people, the popular sectors, women, youth and the exploited and oppressed sectors that exist within Mexican capitalist society, which are the only allies that we can count on.
8.- To envelop with solidarity the different struggles that many of our comrades develop throughout the entire country and the necessary links with workers of other countries.
This invitation is totally open to workers in general and to those who are interested in this initiative, but the workers will be the ones that will count with a space to reflect and reach agreements.
Sincerely
Sindicato Nacional Revolucionario de Trabajadores de la Compañía Hulera Euzkadi
Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Uniroyal S.A.
Grupo de obreros del Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de General Tire
Grupo de trabajadores de la Compañía Hulera Tornel
Grupo de trabajadores despedidos de IBM, el Salto
Frente Solidario en Defensa de los Derechos laborales de San Luís Potosí
Sindicato del Personal Academico de la Universidad de Guadalajara
Frente Único Nacional de Trabajadores Activos, Jubilados y Pensionados del IMSS
Colectivo de Sindicalistas con la Sexta
Central Unitaria de Trabajadores
Partido Obrero Socialista
Ejercito Zapatista de Liberación Nacional
All of those who are interested in the encounter call 5591-0168 and 5703-2244 in México City, or write to:
posmex@prodigy.net.mx or
agnmex@yahoo.com.mxPOLICE-STATE MEASURES AND THE WAR ON OUR RIGHTSIt has recently been revealed to the public that the United States government has been implementing police state-measures for some time, and that our rights have been trampled on under the pretext of the “war on terrorism”. It has become more than evident that this “war” has had as its primary casualties the general citizenship; thousands upon thousands of people have been arrested without probable cause, and many have been incarcerated without a trial; countless others have been spied on by the NSA and FBI; their phones have been wiretapped, their e-mails have been read, a list has been made of their credit card purchases, etc. Many people and organizations have found these actions very scandalous and have appealed to the Constitution such is the case of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who writes:
What rights are being threatened? First Amendment- Freedom of religion, speech, assembly and the press. Fourth Amendment- Freedom, from unreasonable searches and seizures. Fifth Amendment- No person is to be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Sixth Amendment- Right to speedy public trial by an impartial jury, right to be informed of the facts of the accusation, right to confront witnesses and have the assistance of the counsel. Eight Amendment- No excessive bail or cruel and unusual punishment shall be imposed. Fourteenth Amendment- All persons (citizens and non-citizens) within the US are entitled to due process and the equal protection of the laws.
But appeals to the law and to effective checks and balances between the powers that compose the state serve to obscure the fact that the faculties of the executive, of the so-called “imperial presidency”, have been increased with the support of the legislative and judicial branches. The Patriot Act, which started the debate, was passed by both the Democratic and Republican parties in Congress, with only one vote against it in the Senate. It should also be pointed out that Congressmen from both parties were briefed on the NSA/FBI spying and as the New York Times pointed out: “The record is clear; Congressional leaders at a minimum tacitly supported the program” (23 December 2005). The reactionary Supreme Court has supported Bush in everything that he has needed, beginning with the actual presidency, so it would be absurd to expect them to be an effective “check” on the executive power. It should be known that the “outrage” that we read about in the media when it is not hypocritical, it only expresses the fear that they –opposing factions within the ruling elite- will be spied on for a change, as it was done in the Watergate Hotel in 1972.
The advanced working class, the oppressed, and their revolutionary organizations are very clear that “democracy” in the U.S. is just a façade, because it is a class democracy, i.e. the dictatorship of the capitalist class; This is why they are not surprised by the spying or the Patriot Acts (I or II); they have suffered McCarthyism, COINTELPRO, Clinton’s Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (on which the present administration has built on) among other repressive actions; and they understand that to ask for the state –courts, cops, etc- to patrol itself and protect the rights of the citizenship is to ask the fox to guard the hen house, because that state’s sole purpose is to protect the interests of the ruling class. The liberals, and the supposed “progressive” sectors of the capitalists only want to get rid of what they consider to be excesses to have social peace at home and to make “more effective the war on terror” and imperialist conquest. To repress dissidents and to invade and bomb countries to bits in the name of democracy has been more effective in the past than the present unhidden tortures and plundering of the oil fields. The conscious working class has it very clear that imperialist war abroad has always meant repression at home, and that the rights that they now have were won through hard struggle and can be reversed any time while the wealthy few are in power.
Since the U.S. became the world’s lone superpower, after the counterrevolution in the USSR, the attacks against the welfare of the working class have become untrammeled; economic reaction has been accompanied by political reaction as we saw during the Transit Workers Union (TWU) strike in New York at the end of 2005; Their just strike in defense of their pensions and salaries was declared illegal and they were fined millions of dollars and threatened with prison under the provisions of the Taylor Law which is a shameless recognition and unmasking of the class nature of the state. This strike was an example of the power of the working class; it reminded everyone that because of their position in the means of production, their form of organization and their number, the working class has the power to end the capitalist system of exploitation and oppression. The primary obstacles to effective actions are in the labor bureaucracy which swiftly sells-out the strikes and chains the working class to their enemies, specifically the Democratic Party. It is precisely in the power of the working class and in class struggle where we will find an end to the present era of imperialism which generates police-state repression and war. The pressing task resides in the organization of workers and their recognition of the irreconcilability of interests between exploiters and exploited capitalists and workers. In this era of bourgeois reaction, in a time when the ruling class feels most emboldened because of the lack of organized opposition to their power, it is necessary to look at the example of the revolutionary working class heroes, those that showed us that it is not only possible to swim against the current, but that constant struggle is necessary until the liberation of humanity from class exploitation is achieved.R O S A L U X E M B U R GRosa Luxemburg was born in Zamosc Poland in 1871. She joined a revolutionary party called Proletariat at the age of 16. Because most of the leadership was executed or incarcerated, and repression fell on the entire organization she was forced into exile. She soon became the theoretical leader of the revolutionary Socialist Party of Poland. Her long struggle against deviations from Marxism and revolution began with her polemics against the program of the Polish Socialist Party, which emphasized on the nationalist struggle against the predations of Czarist Russia. For Luxemburg nationalism distracted the working class from its internationalist struggles against the class rulers, to her a Polish exploiter was not much different from a Russian, and true liberation could be achieved only through international socialist revolution. But what brought attention to her in the international socialist movement was her fight against the reformism of a sector of German Social Democracy which was then headed by Eduard Bernstein. She had just recently joined the German Party, then the center of socialist thought, when she rose against the revisionists who dreaded revolution and sought to fight only against the “excesses” of capitalism, and who were looking to create a theoretical justification for their betrayal; Bernstein wrote that capitalism was becoming more and more organized and just for the general population, and that therefore socialists should work towards bettering the conditions of the workers through union work and within bourgeois legality. Luxemburg responded to this by pointing out that the contradictions “between the rising productive forces and the relations of production” were constantly growing, creating the conditions for the further exploitation of the working class, future economic crises and inter-imperialist war. As a Marxist she understood that the existing legality is a product of class rule and that the state and their organizations are not neutral but serves to protect the rights of the bourgeoisie. For Luxemburg, the search for the amelioration of exploitation did not lead to the abolition of the wage system and private property which are the foundations of the capitalist system and therefore of all exploitation because historically all social, economic and political foundations were created through a social revolution that overturned the previously existent forms. To call for an end to violence would mean renouncing to the creation of an egalitarian socialist society, and wrote:
“[P]eople who pronounce themselves in favor of the method of legislative reform in place of and in contradistinction to the conquest of political power and social revolution do not really choose a more tranquil, calmer and slower road to the same goal, but a different goal. Instead of a stand for the establishment of a new society they take a stand for surface modifications of the old society… [it] becomes not the realization of socialism, but the reform of capitalism; not the suppression of the system of wage labor, but the diminution of exploitation, that is, the suppression of the abuses of capitalism instead of the suppression of capitalism itself” (Reform or Revolution).
The First World War, which began in 1914, served to divide international Social Democracy into three different camps. The right wing became social-patriots supporting “their own” exploiters, the domestic bourgeoisie. The centrists stood as the bulwark of …inaction, pronouncing very radical discourses but acting in a reformist manner, helping to perpetuate capitalism. The left stood as a minority against the war, and sought to transform it into civil war against the class rulers of all countries. Luxemburg was one of the leaders of the left, in Germany, Poland and Lithuania, and as such, she worked tirelessly to point out that war is a product of capitalism, and that therefore the only way to end war is through a class struggle that would unite the workers of the world in the creation of a Socialist society. Rosa points out that because of the destructiveness of the capitalist system the alternatives only are Socialism or barbarism, and writes:
“Shamed, dishonored, wading in blood and dripping with filth –thus stands bourgeois society. Not as we usually see it, pretty and chaste, playing the roles of peace and righteousness, of order, of philosophy, ethics and culture. It shows itself in its true, naked form- as a roaring beast, as an orgy of anarchy, as a pestilential breath, devastating culture, and humanity” (Junius Pamphlet).
Rosa Luxemburg visualized the social revolution with the conscious participation of the working masses. She saw in the political mass strike as the mean for the broad participation of the working class, which would have at its apogee the open uprising. Past revolts and revolutions started as spontaneous uprisings and because she was a witness to the ossification of the German party leadership she emphasized on the spontaneous factors that would lead to revolution, fighting against bureaucratic centralism and pyramidal relations within the movement. In this also lies her criticism and understanding of the Bolsheviks and the Russian Revolution. As a Marxist she could not stand by and close her eyes to what she considered to be wrong, but as a historical materialist she also recognized that humans are products of the existing societies and of historical circumstances, unable to make history exactly as they please, and thus she wrote:
“It would be demanding something superhuman from Lenin and his comrades if we should expect from them that under such circumstances they should conjure forth the finest democracy, the most exemplary dictatorship of the proletariat, and a flouring socialist economy. By their determined revolutionary stand, their exemplary strength in action and their unbreakable loyalty to international socialism, they have contributed whatever could possibly be contributed under such devilishly hard conditions…[T]heirs is the immortal historical service of having marched at the head of the international proletariat with the conquest of political power and the practical placing of the problems of the realization of Socialism, and of having advanced mightily the settlement of the score between Capital and Labor in the entire world…And in this sense, the future everywhere belongs to ‘Bolshevism’” (The Russian Revolution).
When Luxemburg, Liebknetch, Mehring and others founded the Spartakusbund (Spartacus League) they wanted to create an organization that would fight side-by-side with the working class against the exploiters, and because of the uneven development of political consciousness due to the ideological domination of the bourgeoisie they still considered it necessary to have a political organization that would put forward the conscious aims of socialism, as she wrote: “This mass movement of the proletariat needs the lead of an organized principled force” (Ausgewählte).
At the end of the First World War the German bourgeoisie sought the services of the reformists; the so-called “socialists” that Luxemburg had fought against for so many years were now administering the capitalist state with a “leftist” facade. She knew that they would disarm the workers and leave the doors open for right-wing reaction, and took up the task of moving the working class towards taking power for their complete liberation. And it was fighting side by side with the workers that she was murdered on January 15, 1919. Through her death the communist movement lost one of its most important leaders, and bulwarks against the Nazi taking of power and against the perpetuation of the capitalist dictatorship, and exploitation of humanity.
Rosa Luxemburg’s legacy is one of unyielding struggle against capitalism, imperialism, and against reformism within the workers movement. She will always be remembered for her merciless criticism of everything existing, as one of the greatest revolutionaries in the history of humanity. At present time the tasks that she putted forwards are more pressing than ever, it is still either Socialism or barbarism, as she pointed out:
Bourgeois society faces a dilemma, either a transition to Socialism, or a return to barbarism…we face the choice: either the victory of imperialism and the decline of all culture, as in ancient Rome –annihilation, devastation, degeneration, a yawning graveyard; or the victory of Socialism – the victory of the working class consciously assaulting imperialism and its method: war. This is the dilemma of world history, either –or; the die will be cast by the class-conscious proletariat.
Another attack against women’s rights: Abortion is outlawed in South Dakota
On March 6, 2006, the Governor of South Dakota signed into law a bill that outlaws abortion in all cases except for if the woman’s life is in danger. This bill takes away the right to choose from women who are raped and from women in cases of incest. It is a direct assault on the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe V. Wade, which made it legal for a woman to get an abortion nation-wide. Planned Parenthood of South Dakota, the only working abortion clinic in the state, vows to challenge the bill in court ensuring that this battle will eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. This bill will be the first abortion bill to go to the Supreme Court since 2000 when a bill concerning
intact dilation and extraction or “partial-birth abortion”, the term given by right wing ideologues, was challenged and upheld by one dissenting vote, Sandra Day O’Connor. With O’Connor gone and replaced by Samuel Alito, a man with a history of being against “pro-choice”
–abortion is often more a necessity than a “choice”- legislation, the bill that reaches the supreme court has the ability to pass, though it is a long shot because of the inflexibility of the law. An overwhelming majority of citizens of the United States believe women should have the right to choose in cases of rape and incest if not in general. This law is a law against women. It makes it a felony for a doctor to perform abortions. The woman, in this case, doesn’t even have the right to get charged with disobeying the law. Her actions concerning her body are attributed to some one else, in this case the doctor, implying that a woman is not able to think for herself. Eleven other states are following South Dakota’s lead: Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Ohio is even trying to go so far as to make it a crime for someone to transport a woman to another state to obtain an abortion again making the woman the victim in the situation. The real culprit here is the United States Government. By regressing in its choice legislation the U.S., if it is indeed to recall Roe, will be moving one step closer to fulfilling its narrow-minded agenda. This law is also an attack on the working class. By making abortion illegal in the U.S. it ensures that no person of modest means will be able to obtain a safe abortion, unlike the women who are in the middle or upper class. These women will have the means to fly to another country, or north for that matter to Canada, to acquire one. It is the women who cannot afford to go to another country who will be subjected to unsafe and potentially lethal abortions. These women might also be required to have the child, which is wonderful when one can afford it, but a form of punishment to one can not. This woman would have to take the required time off work in a system that does not benefit the poor mother. A woman should be allowed to have a baby when she is ready with options before her. Though the law does not affect us in San Diego, abortion has been legal in California’s constitution since 1969; it is not fair to deny these rights to others. We should all be entitled to the same freedoms. Unfortunately, this is not the case, especially in the U.S., because of class disparities and the patriarchal nature of the society, which leads to the view of women as property. In a society where private property is championed it is no wonder that the most privileged of this society, the men, would extend their ownership to women, limiting their rights as they see fit. Pharmacists are taking it upon themselves to increasingly refuse to distribute the morning after pill and George W. Bush is pushing for abstinence only sex-education programs in high schools across the country as well as cutting off support for safe-sex programs around the world. If South Dakota’s bill goes to the Supreme Court and if it is then passed, who knows where it will stop.
The oppression of women is a product of property relationsThe 19th century utopian socialist Charles Fourier once wrote that the level of freedom existing within any civilization could be determined by the degree of social progress of its women. If this is true, the present conditions of women, as mere containers for producing babies, whether they want to or not, speaks volumes of the existing lack of freedom under the capitalist patriarchal society that we live under in the United States.
The present attacks against abortion makes it very clear that reforms will always be reversible under capitalism. Women should have the right to obtain free abortion on demand, as part of a high quality universal health care system, along with paid maternity leave and childcare. But this is not a task that will be taken on by any of the bourgeois politicians or their courts because they only care about protecting private property and profits. In fact, the family was born with private property to insure inheritance through the paternal line, and has always been the main institution for the oppression of women, and for inculcating the values of the ruling class. Women’s liberation will only become possible after workers take on class struggle to do away with the capitalist system which creates exploitation and gender oppression. It will be a reality after a planned socialist society of material abundance lays the basis for the replacement of the family. GROUNDWORK IN FINANCIAL CRISIS!
WHO WE ARE: Groundwork Bookstore and Political Collective is a 30-year-old cooperatively run bookstore and resource center in San Diego County. To this day, we remain one of the longest running not-for-profit worker cooperatives in the U.S. Groundwork is not run under the capitalist business model in the sense that there is no hierarchy in the ownership, management or decision-making at the store. Groundwork is owned and operated exclusively by its current workers, and each worker has equal access to decisions, which are made by consensus. Every worker gets paid the same, and we hire new staff out of our volunteer pool.
Groundwork Bookstore is the only leftist bookstore in San Diego County, and the only spot where you can find books ranging from hard-to find Marxist titles to the very latest in race, gender and economic theory. We also carry a large selection of political posters, t-shirts, buttons and stickers. We also have a large selection of Zapatista merchandise, which an important part of the profits go directly to indigenous communities resisting in Chiapas.
Groundwork Resource Center’s community programs include our Books for Prisoners Program in which we send free books to people incarcerated in prisons throughout the United States. Groundwork also hosts quarterly study groups and encourages people to use the space to host their own study groups. Along with this, we endorse and work with like-minded community groups both on and off campus, and we serve as a fiscal sponsor to several community organizations that don’t have a non-profit status. In short, Groundwork is a very important educational, cultural and historical spot both on the UCSD campus and in San Diego.
Right now we are in a pretty bad financial situation, and we call out to you, our supporters, to do what you can to help us survive in these crazy times.
THE PROBLEM:
The competition of the online book corporations, such as Amazon, makes it very difficult for many small independently-run bookstores to survive. This is evidenced by the fact that at least one quarter of the independent bookstores in San Diego have closed down within the past 10 years.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
*Buy your textbooks from Groundwork!
*If you got fooled into buying your books from the corporate UCSD bookstore, even though your teacher ordered them from us, take the books back and the Bookstore why you are doing it.
*Shop from our large selection of general stock books.
*Volunteer. Groundwork is always looking for volunteers to advertise, do basic staffing in the store and publicize events. We ask volunteers to commit to at least two hours a week. We hire new employers from our volunteer pool.
*Donate! Donate what you can to help keep us and our programs alive.
-We have periodic fundraisers, such as the “donate your change” campaign for our Books for Prisoners program/
-Support our periodic fundraiser concerts and events
-Donate your computer for our Resource Center.
-Donate your old books so we can send it to prisoners.
*Make a tax-deductible donation to the store!
If you donate $20, you get a free button or sticker.
If you donate $50, you get a free shirt or other clothing item
If you donate $100 or more, you get a free $20 gift certificate to use on any of our merchandise.
