MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 1
MIM Notes
October 1, 2003, Nº 288
The Official Newsletter of the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM)
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REPORTS SAYS
PEOPLE'S WAR
ADVANCING IN
NEPAL
According to the BBC of September
12: "The authorities say five rebels and
three security personnel have died over
the past two days."(1)
Even more indicative, the BBC is
fretting. The People's War has "a sense
of real fear among members of the elite,
who feel that they could be the next
targets."(1)
Meanwhile, something called
nepalnews.com is reporting that the
Maoists are going to set up a radio station
on the FM 95.1 dial.(2) An unscientific
poll of nepalnews.com users says that
65% favor the king's return to cooperation
with the parliament which he dissolved.
The question phrased the king's options
as limited because of an upsurge in the
People's War.
As usual in the world, the United $tates
is not on the side of "democracy" and
calls the Maoists "terrorists" one step
short of being placed in the same legal
status as Osama Bin Laden--this despite
the fact that the Maoists are fighting a
monarchy. This should have been clear
when King Gynendra dissolved parliament
completely in June 2002 and kicked out
the premier Deuba in October 2002 to
assume power for himself(3)--not that
MIM is saying the people the King sacked
did not deserve it.
There is no history of a country making
major progress in a situation like Nepal's
without massive violence to change the
feudal system. It always took revolution
or at least outside military intervention to
break the back of the landlord class
holding back industrialization and
modernization. The lack of revolution is
the reason why Nepal is one of the
poorest countries in the world.
MIM gives a fraternal salute to all
In the early morning hours of August
28 two pipe bombs exploded outside
Chiron, a pharmaceutical company in
Emeryville, California. A group calling
itself "Revolutionary Cells" claimed
responsibility for the attack in a written
communiqué: "This action came about
because Chiron has continued their
murderous connection with Huntingdon
Life Sciences even though they have been
September 6, 2003
Brooklyn, NY
C
hants of "Black Power!" filled
the air this sunny afternoon and
Black Panther Party imagery
surrounded the speakers on their platform
at the "Million Youth March." MIM
handed out 500 copies of MIM Notes 287.
An organization calling itself the "New
Black Panther Party for Self-Defense"
was much evident at the Million Youth
March. Speaking of a "united front" the
new Black Panthers worked with the
Nation of Islam, which furnished at least
one speaker.
Both the secular and Nation of Islam
speakers devoted much time to fighting
the patriarchy. One speaker said: "We
shouldn't be fighting each other. We
should start fighting the system. Stop
domestic violence! Stop violence against
women and all violence in this
community."
Another speaker asked, "what is it
about us Black men. . .Black men, why
can't we control our anger?" In parallel
sequence he also asked about white men.
The Nation of Islam (NOI) speaker put
forward a strong line on monogamy as
did others. Speakers called on the
audience not to have children unless they
were prepared for a permanent economic,
social and spiritual commitment.
The NOI speaker and others also said
wimmin should not be taking care of
Black men as if they were babies. He
said it does not help the young men being
treated that way who need to grow up to
all their responsibilities beyond sex.
Another speaker said that we also have
to get a handle on the question of sex in
our organizations. When women go to
meetings and the men say they want
"peace; you don't know if he wants
`peace' or a `piece'" [of wimmin].
We at MIM especially applaud that the
Nation of Islam speaker devoted a large
portion of his speech to wimmin's issues.
Other speakers did also. The speakers of
the day nailed down oppressed-nation
nationalist feminist revolution. All that was
lacking was a consciously communist
speaker; although one speaker said
"Black people shouldn't be afraid of
revolution. Revolution is just change."
Many speakers also emphasized that
the white power structure controls through
influence on the Black people's brains.
Revolutionary feminist nationalism
Million Youth March brings forward
progressive Black nationalism
exposed numerous times as some of the
most egregious animal killers in the
industry."(1) The statement was signed
"for animal liberation through armed
struggle, the Revolutionary Cells --animal
liberation brigade" There were no injuries
and only minor property damage reported.
Chiron contracts with Huntingdon Life
Sciences (HLS), an international animal
testing firm, for the animal tests required
by the FDA for approval of their drugs.
MIM condemns these actions as they put
the lives of animals above the lives of
humyns. While we expect that under
socialism the torture and killing of so many
animals that are used for unnecessary
and wasteful food and cosmetics will be
eliminated, we do not value the lives of
animals over the lives of humyns. The
"Revolutionary Cells" don't even bother
to explain how Chiron is using animal
testing in their brief statement.
As we explained in the MIM party
Black Panther imagery at the march (MIM photo)
INDIA
CHINA
`Animal libbers'
bomb big pharma
Continued on page 5...
Continued on page 6...
Continued on page 7...
MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 2
What is MIM?
The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is the collection of existing or emerging
Maoist internationalist parties in the English-speaking imperialist countries and their English-
speaking internal semi-colonies, as well as the existing or emerging Maoist Internationalist
parties in Belgium, France and Quebec and the existing or emerging Spanish-speaking
Maoist Internationalist parties of Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of the U.$. Empire.
MIM Notes is the newspaper of MIM. Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the Spanish-speaking
parties or emerging parties of MIM. MIM upholds the revolutionary communist ideology
of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and is an internationalist organization that works from the
vantage point of the Third World proletariat. MIM struggles to end the oppression of all
groups over other groups: classes, genders, nations. MIM knows this is only possibly by
building public opinion to seize power through armed struggle. Revolution is a reality for
North America as the military becomes over-extended in the government's attempts to
maintain world hegemony. MIM differs from other communist parties on three main
questions: (1) MIM holds that after the proletariat seizes power in socialist revolution, the
potential exists for capitalist restoration under the leadership of a new bourgeoisie within
the communist party itself. In the case of the USSR, the bourgeoisie seized power after the
death of Stalin in 1953; in China, it was after Mao's death and the overthrow of the "Gang
of Four" in 1976. (2) MIM upholds the Chinese Cultural Revolution as the farthest advance
of communism in humyn history. (3) As Marx, Engels and Lenin formulated and MIM has
reiterated through materialist analysis, imperialism extracts super-profits from the Third
World and in part uses this wealth to buy off whole populations of oppressor nation so-
called workers. These so-called workers bought off by imperialism form a new petty-
bourgeoisie called the labor aristocracy. These classes are not the principal vehicles to
advance Maoism within those countries because their standards of living depend on
imperialism. At this time, imperialist super-profits create this situation in the Canada, Quebec,
the United $tates, England, France, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Italy, Switzerland,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Israel, Sweden and Denmark. MIM accepts people as
members who agree on these basic principles and accept democratic centralism, the system
of majority rule, on other questions of party line.
"The theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is universally applicable. We should
regard it not as dogma, but as a guide to action. Studying it is not merely a matter of
learning terms and phrases, but of learning Marxism-Leninism as the science of revolution."
- Mao Zedong, Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 208.
Editor, MC206; Production, MC12
Letters
MIM Notes
The Official Newsletter of The Maoist Internationalist Movement
ISSN 1540-8817
MIM Notes is the bi-weekly newsletter of the Maoist Internationalist Movement. MIM
Notes is the official Party voice; more complete statements are published in our journal,
MIM Theory. Material in MIM Notes is the Party's position unless noted. MIM Notes
accepts submissions and critiques from anyone. The editors reserve the right to edit
submissions unless permission is specifically denied by the author; submissions are
published anonymously unless authors insist on identification (prisoners are never
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comrades in order to avoid the state surveillance and repression that have historically
been directed at communist parties and anti-imperialist movements. MCs, MIM comrades,
are members of the Party. The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL) is an anti-
imperialist mass organization led by MIM (RCs are RAIL Comrades). MIM's ten-point
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For general correspondence, contact:
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WWW: <http//www.etext.info/Politics/MIM>
MIM defends Abe
Lincoln for his day
Dear MIM:
There was an article in regards to Abe
Lincoln in one of your back issues of
MIM notes. A lot of Africans as well as
other individuals like to believe Abe freed
the slaves or better yet the Africans
because he was a kind and just man. But
that's not true. He simply saw this as a
good strategic move to save the Union.
One must set the record straight once and
for all. There's no reason why the next
generation of Africans here in the United
Snakes should remain ignorant of these
true facts. Please read this letter written
by Lincoln himself in trying to justify his
thinking.
A letter from Lincoln to Horace
Greely's New York Tribune, August 22,
1862
"If I could save the Union without
freeing any slaves I would do it, and if I
could have it by freeing all the slaves I
would do it, and if I could save it by
freeing some and leaving others alone, I
would also do that. What I do about
slavery and the colored race I do because
I believe it helps to save the Union, and
what I forebear, I forebear because I do
not believe it would help to save the Union,
I have here stated my purpose according
to my view of official duty, and I intend
no modification of my oft-expressed
personal wish that all men everywhere
could be free..."
Source: Lies my teacher told me, by
James Loewen
mim3@mim.org replies for MIM:
That is correct. Lincoln told people he
put the Union above the principle of ending
slavery. For that matter, Lincoln was a
politician and MIM warns people not to
try to take politicians' jobs when we need
a movement to pressure those politicians
and make change happen. Politicians do
not make change happen: they only
express it and at most broker it.
As you can imagine, no hard-core
abolitionist ever had a chance of winning
election in the United States, but Lincoln
nonetheless ended up bringing about
abolition. He offended the South enough
to cause it to attack at Fort Sumter and
he divided whites enough to keep the
North on the other side.
In addition, Lincoln's legal authority for
war is something that the South
questioned. If he said he was fighting the
war for slavery, he would have faced legal
problems. Those kinds of political
pressures we believe were best
understood by the people of the day who
understood the crazy thinking of the
people of the day.
We hold Lincoln in high regard as did
Karl Marx. The union he [Marx] served
as the writing secretary for said: "The
workingmen of Europe feel sure that, as
the American War of Independence
initiated a new era of ascendancy for the
middle class, so the American Antislavery
War will do for the working classes. They
consider it an earnest of the epoch to
come that it fell to the lot of Abraham
Lincoln, the single-minded son of the
working class, to lead his country through
the matchless struggle for the rescue of
an enchained race and the reconstruction
of a social world."
Speaking for Lincoln, the ambassador
of the United States said, "It is in this
relation that the United States regard their
cause in the present conflict with slavery,
maintaining insurgence as the cause of
human nature, and they derive new
encouragements to persevere from the
testimony of the workingmen of Europe
that the national attitude is favored with
their enlightened approval and earnest
sympathies."
In fact, not many know that Lincoln
and Marx exchanged correspondence and
Marx said his organization was the only
one to get more than a formal reply from
Lincoln for the congratulations of election
victory. In fact, Marx ended up believing
that the American Civil War was the
greatest example of class struggle in his
day: "at the time of Lincoln's election 3
1/2 years ago it was only a matter of
making no further concessions to the
slave-owners, whereas now the avowed
aim, which has in part already been
realised, is the abolition of slavery, one
has to admit that never has such a gigantic
revolution occurred with such rapidity. It
will have a highly beneficial influence on
the whole world."(2)
Today, we have to realize that
throughout the civil war, especially at the
beginning, white politicians in the North
were plotting to bring an end to it. Lincoln
managed to hold firm and get through--
thanks also in part to the minority of
whites more radical than him pushing and
the Blacks who fought for themselves.
There is also a white academic trend
today that we have to avoid called post-
modernism. This post- modernism
detracts from Lincoln because it believes
all truth is relative. For them, Lincoln was
the same as the whites who wanted to
end the Civil War too soon and the whites
who wanted slaves but said the issue was
tariffs. The same people are likely to say
the Civil War was unnecessary and the
violence involved evil. The problem is that
within white people, Lincoln represented
whatever positive thrust there was at the
time. Since that time, the white nation
developed imperialism and consolidated
its genocidal views and it lost all its
progressive thrust. It is very doubtful that
even the smartest politician today could
get elected and trick the whites into
progress.
Notes:
1. http://www.marxists.org/history/
international/iwma /documents/1864/
lincoln-letter.htm
2. http://www.marxists.org/archive/
marx/works/1864/le tters/64_11_29b.htm
For Marx's refutation of common myths
about the war, see "The North American
Civil War," October 1861.
MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 3
This MIM activist was approached by
an alleged Dennis Kucinich supporter
while tabling at a local peace event. She
was adamant that Kucinich represents a
progressive break from Amerikan politics
as usual. She agreed that there's no
difference between the Democrats and
Republicans, going so far as to say that if
Kucinich doesn't get the Democratic
party nomination she would not be voting
because there would be no point. She said
"I'm practically a communist" trying to
explain that she expected MIM to like
Kucinich's platform. (MIM does not
know if this persyn is really a Republican
trying to bait MIM or not, but we would
like to discuss the issues raised anyway.)
While Dennis Kucinich is considered
a long shot for the Democratic party
nomination, it is particularly important for
MIM to talk about candidates like him
who gain the support of activists who
share some or even many of MIM's
goals. These candidates are sometimes
more dangerous than the right-wing
reactionaries because they pose behind
progressive-sounding rhetoric while
misleading well-intentioned people into
supporting the imperialist system. For this
reason MIM kicks off our 2004
presidential campaign coverage with a
review of Dennis Kucinich.
Dennis Kucinich opens his 10 point
platform ("The Kucinich Platform: 10 Key
Issues") stating "It's time for America to
resume its glorious journey." This
statement pretty well summarizes MIM's
fundamental disagreement with Kucinich.
Amerika's glorious journey began with
the massacre of indigenous people on the
land now called the United $tates, moved
on to importing and enslaving Africans,
Asians and Latinos to use their free labor
to build the wealth of the country, and
then expanded outward to take control
of the resources and labor in other
countries through military force. All of
2004 Amerikan presidential race watch: Dennis Kucinich
On September 7, Stephen Funk, a
Marine reservist and activist in the anti-
war movement, was convicted of leaving
his unit without permission and sentenced
to 6 months in prison.(1) After completing
basic training, Funk refused to report to
duty when his unit was activated for duty
in February for the Iraq war. Instead he
applied for conscientious objector status
and attended anti-war rallies to speak out
against the war.
Funk is 21 years old and was convinced
to join the Marines during a period of
depression and lack of direction in his life,
after a recruiter told him the Marines
would give him purpose and discipline.
The military takes advantage of kids,
particularly those from oppressed nations
with few options out of high school, making
the military attractive and offering money
for college, without giving them the full
picture of what they are expected to fight
for and the possibility they might die. Funk
has since devoted time to speaking to high
school students explaining why they
should not join the military.
The charges filed against Funk were
unusually harsh for an AWOL case. He
was found innocent of the more serious
charge: "desertion with intent to shirk
important duty."(1) Funk's is the only
conscientious objector from the recent
Iraq war to be prosecuted so far.
On April 1 Funk turned himself in to
the Marines after 47 days absence. He
took his case public, holding a press
conference which received world wide
media attention. Funk was transferred to
New Orleans along with more than 20
other Conscientious Objectors. None of
the rest of them were prosecuted. In
addition to the 6 month prison sentence,
a jury of four marines recommended that
he be given a bad conduct discharge,
which means Funk will lose his military
benefits. Lt. General Dennis McCarthy,
commander of the Marine reserves, must
still approve the sentence.
At a rally to free Stephen Funk in San
Francisco a few days before his trial a
conscientious objector from the first Gulf
War, Amy Ellison, spoke out about the
importance of COs stepping forward to
take anti-war stands. She pointed out that
he was the only soldier to be activated
and refuse to go. She has devoted many
days to work on Funk's case, raising
public awareness and funds for his
defense.
Stephen Funk is a pacifist who opposes
violence. This is the basis for his
conscientious objector status. But he did
not take the easy way out. As he stated
"In the face of this unjust war based on
deception by our leaders, I could not
remain silent. I spoke out so that others in
the military would realize that they also
have a choice and a duty to resist immoral
and illegitimate orders."(2) It is because
of his vocal opposition to the war and the
Amerikan military that the Marines are
trying to make an example out of Funk.
In a country like Amerika that is built
off the plunder of resources and
exploitation of labor outside its borders, a
huge military is needed to maintain
conditions friendly to this plunder and
exploitation. As we now see in Iraq, the
people of the world won't accept
Amerikan imperialist domination without
a fight. President Bush recognizes this
and he is seeking an additional $86 billion
for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan
and elsewhere around the world.(3)
This is what the Amerikan military is
fighting for: continued imperialist
domination for the United $tates and
continued wealth for the citizens within
U.$. borders. MIM applauds Stephen
Funk and other military resisters and
former military personnel who realize this
is not something they want to fight for
and who instead devote their time to
fighting Amerikan militarism.
Notes:
1. The Times-Picayune, September 7, 2003.
2. Written statement by Stephen Funk prior to
trial.
3. Bush Presidential address, September 7, 2003
Iraq war conscientious objector sentenced to prison
Reply of the Russian Maoist Party
to the Call for the Anti-Imperialist
Camp 2003: "Resist the Attack of the
New American Fascism"
The Russian Maoist Party sincerely
greets all the genuine revolutionary, anti-
imperialist, progressive and democratic
forces that have gathered in Assisi, Italy,
this September to take part in the Anti-
Imperialist Camp 2003. At the same time,
we regret to state that we are unable to
sign the Call for this Camp and, therefore,
to take part in this international forum.
The declaration "Resist the Attack" is
based on the most harmful delusion of
the allegedly "peace-loving" nature of the
U.N., as well as of some imperialist
powers: France, Germany, Russia, etc.
In reality, all of these are as integral a
part of world imperialism as the United
States. This truth is not invalidated and
cannot be invalidated by the fact that, on
the issue of the war in Iraq, they have
taken a position that is in many respects
the opposite of the American one. The
imperialism of European countries or
Russian imperialism is no better and no
worse than their U.S. counterpart. The
fact that U.S. imperialism acts as the main
imperialist predator on the planet today
can in no way serve as a justification for
France, Germany or Russia. It is
sufficient to recollect the atrocities of the
Russian army in Chechnya, perpetrated
with the tacit approval of the European
Council.
Marxism-Leninism has long ago and
quite convincingly proven that inter-
imperialist contradictions are caused by
the objective laws of economic
development. Differences between
imperialists in dividing up the world are
nothing but quarrels in the camp of our
enemies. These differences can never
become a basis for a truly anti-imperialist
movement for peace. That is why those
pacifists who are trying to base the
strategy and tactics of the peace
movement on differences among the
imperialists are making a big mistake. The
same mistake was committed by many
Social-Democrats during World War I,
when they came out in support of "their
own" bourgeois governments.
The imperialism of the U.S.A. is indeed
one of the most powerful enemies of the
proletariat and the peoples of the world.
But communists must never allow
themselves to be fooled by bourgeois
propaganda and they must always
remember the words of Karl Liebknecht
that the principal enemy of the workers
is in their own country. These words were
true 100 years ago, they are still true today.
A similar mistake is the fetishization of
Zionism--the imperialism of the Israeli
state. While such feelings can be
understood in the Arab national liberation
movements, they can never be laid as a
cornerstone of the politics of an
international movement that is marching
forward under the red flag of proletarian
struggle.
We must state that the slogans of
abstract, "non-class" (in reality, bourgeois)
anti-Americanism in Europe and Russia
are the rallying cry for the most
reactionary forces in those countries.
These social-chauvinists are trying to turn
the proletariat away from the path of class
struggle and onto the path of struggling
for redividing the world in the interests of
the local imperialists.
In these condition, putting forward a
declaration that accuses exclusively U.S.
imperialism and thereby absolves and
whitewashes the policies of the European
states and Russia means playing into the
hands of the bourgeoisie, confusing the
proletariat, renouncing Marxism-
Leninism. We regard the slogan of uniting
"all those fighting against the new
American fascism" as a
counterrevolutionary one, as these ranks
include the fascists and the bourgeois in
our countries.
In conclusion, we would like to express
our sincere regret that this document has
been signed by some genuine
revolutionary forces, first and foremost
our comrades of the Irish Republican
Socialist Party (IRSP) and the Philippine
BAYAN. We also hope that the Camp
organizers will bring our critique of the
declaration to the attention of all the
member-organizations of the Anti-
Imperialist Camp. Down with U.S.
imperialism! Down with imperialism of
all brands! Down with capitalism! Long
live the red banner of Marxism-Leninism!
On behalf of the Central Committee of
the Russian Maoist Party,
Dar ZHUTAYEV,
Chairperson of the RMP
Moscow, September 1, 2003
The Call for the Anti-Imperialist Camp
2003 can be read here:
w w w . a n t i i m p e r i a l i s t a . c o m / e n /
v i e w . s h t m l ? c a t e g o r y = 3 7 & i d
=1055245641&keyword=+
Russian Maoist Party struggles against Euro-chauvinism
Continued on next page...
MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 4
this has resulted in a country whose
wealth is matched by none and whose
murder, exploitation, oppression and
terrorism against the peoples of the world
is also matched by none. There never was
any "glorious journey" for Amerika unless
there is glory in global imperialist
domination.
Kucinich never states clearly what
"glorious journey" he thinks America was
on in the past, but he is pretty clear in
outlining his vision for this journey in the
future. Out of his ten key issues, nine
focus on increasing the wealth, freedoms
and services to Amerikan citizens. These
are a good summary of Kucinich's politics
and MIM's disagreement. Below we will
address each point individually.
1. Universal Health Care with a Single
Payer Plan. Socialized healthcare in and
of itself is not a bad goal. However,
Kucinich never addresses why it is that
only "industrialized nations" provide
national health care (as he notes). He is
concerned that the U.$. lags behind on
this service to its citizens, but does not
address the appalling health care in the
Third World where people die from easily
preventable diseases. This is just the first
glimpse of Kucinich's Amerika-first plan.
A glorious Amerika which provides for
its citizens with its bountiful wealth.
Wealth Kucinich seems to think is a god-
given right of the country rather than
something stolen from the oppressed
people of the world.
2. Full Social Security Benefits at Age
65. This is another social issue that will
have great appeal with Amerikans but
which misses the internationalist point.
Kucinich's administration will make this
possible "through a progressive tax
structure and reordered national
priorities." Again not addressing where
all that money being taxed comes from
to allocate to national priorities.
3. Withdrawal from NAFTA and WTO.
Kucinich's main complaint is "Companies
leave the U.S. in search of low wages,
low commodity prices, anti-union climates,
and lax environmental laws. NAFTA has
been used to whipsaw workers at the
negotiation table, forcing wages and
benefit concessions under threat of
moving jobs overseas." This position
underscores MIM's problem with the
anti-NAFTA and anti-WTO movements
in general. They focus on the Amerikan
workers getting a bad deal because jobs
are going to other countries where labor
is cheaper. This position fosters national
chauvinism, telling workers here they
deserve to keep their jobs at high wages.
MIM says the capitalists need to be
stopped from exploiting Third World
workers, but it is not trade agreements
that are causing this, and we certainly
don't think Amerikan workers deserve
better jobs and higher wages than the rest
of the world. Kucinich falls just short of
calling for sealed borders to protect
Amerikan jobs from those damn
immigrants. As a "progressive" candidate
he is walking dangerously close to the
2004 Amerikan presidential race watch: Dennis Kucinich
Continued from previous page...
extreme right protectionist wing of the
bourgeoisie on this question.
4. Repeal the Patriot Act. This is
Kucinich's most progressive point and
MIM agrees with him 100% on this one.
5. Right-to-Choose, Privacy, and Civil
Liberties. This point is also progressive
in that it would reduce imprisonment and
protect abortion rights and expand the
rights of gays and lesbians. Interestingly
though Kucinich's record on abortion
rights was abysmal until recently: he
consistently voted against abortion rights
in Congress for years before suddenly
changing his position with a brief
explanation that he was persuaded by
many dialogue with many wimmin on this
question.
6. Balance between workers and
corporations. Kucinich expands this point:
"American workers are working longer
and harder for less pay than 20 years ago.
What's needed is a resurgence of
organized labor" This is very misleading
and incorrectly focuses on labor within
imperialist Amerika rather than taking an
internationalist view.
MIM did a 20 year analysis of the
conditions of workers in the year 2000
based on similar statements from the anti-
WTO movement at that time. We refer
readers to that article (MIM Notes 201,
Jan 1, 2000.) The bottom line is that white
workers in particular have not suffered
over the last 20 years; their wealth
increased. Black men did show a decline
and were the hardest hit of legal workers
in this country.
As MIM concluded in that article "All
of these workers are making head-and-
shoulders above the great majority of the
world's workers. Who's up and who's
down may have an effect on political
consciousness, but MIM does not look at
any of these pay levels and conclude that
these workers are being exploited on a
world scale. Inequality and oppression do
exist in the U.$., but economically
everyone who's got a legal at least
minimum-wage job is not exploited in our
book"
As MIM has explained at length, the
majority of the workers in this country
are benefiting from the exploitation of
workers around the world. Giving them a
bigger piece of the imperialist pie is just
shifting around the superprofits. These
workers are not creating the wealth they
are sharing in and this parasitism needs
to be eliminated along with the capitalists
who perpetuate it. (See MIM Theory 1
& 10 and "Imperialism and Its Class
Structure" on our web site, for a more
thorough explanation).
7. Guaranteed quality education pre-K
through college. This is another good goal
in the abstract with the same problems
as points 1 and 2.
8. A renewed commitment to peace
and diplomacy. This is the only point out
of the top ten that addresses international
issues in any depth. And right away
Kucinich reveals his imperialist ignorance
(or willful blindness) as he opens his
explanation of this point: "America will
return to its role as the most admired--
not hated--nation." Amerika has not been
the most admired nation for over a
hundred and fifty years, since it fucked
up reconstruction and set out on a whole-
hearted imperialist path. The majority of
the world's people have only hatred and
anger for the country that has brought
and reinforced on them poverty, disease,
military dictatorships, and exploiting and
polluting corporations. Amerika may be
admired by the leaders of other imperialist
countries seeking to emulate it's
international terrorist ways that steal such
great wealth, and by the people of those
countries who seek to share in the
superprofits like Amerikan citizens do, but
it is not admired by the world's oppressed.
Kucinich goes on to proclaim that he
will promote non-violence "as an
organizing principle in both domestic and
international affairs" investing in domestic
programs rather than the military. With
this view of international affairs Kucinich
could never succeed as president of
imperialist Amerika. He seems to really
believe that the wealth in this country
comes from this country. He misses the
fact that the Amerikan military is needed
to maintain global hegemony and ensure
continued flow of superprofits into
Amerika. All that wealth he wants to
redistribute to the Amerikan citizens rests
on imperialist militarism.
Kucinich also misses that it is not just
the Amerikan military that is violent, it is
the many foreign governments that
Amerika has financed to keep in power
so that they could serve Amerika's
interests. This "aid" would also have to
be eliminated to truly pursue a non-violent
foreign policy.
Of course if Kucinich could really get
policies like these passed they would
benefit the oppressed of the world
because it would give them the
opportunity to rise up against their lackey
governments who would be deprived of
the needed financial and military backing
of the U.$. to keep them in place.
However, Amerika is not run by just one
man, and presidents get elected because
of the interests they will serve. Capitalist
corporations have tremendous power in
picking who will run the country that helps
maintain their wealth, and they will not
let that person threaten their wealth in
any way. Those corporations won't let
someone like Kucinich get elected any
more than they will let Patrick Buchanan
get elected.
The above analysis is taking Kucinich's
pacifist rhetoric at face value. But a quick
look at his voting record in Congress
demonstrates that he is not really about
promoting non-violence. Under President
Clinton, Kucinich voted for the "Iraq
Liberation Act of 1998" which declared
that it should be the policy of the U.$. to
remove Saddam Hussein's regime from
power. Further, on his web site Kucinich
reprints speeches in which he declares
his support of the state of Israel in its
terrorist war against the Palestinian
people. And of course, like all the other
good imperialist governing officials in
congress (with the sole exception of
California Democrat Barbara Lee),
Kucinich voted for the September 14,
2001 resolutions authorizing the
administration to use nearly unlimited
force in response to the September 11
attacks. In practice Kucinich is like every
other member of congress, participating
in and supporting the imperialist system.
9. Restore rural communities and family
farms. "A Kucinich administration will
Willie Nelson supports Kucinich.
Continued on next page...
MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 5
break up agricultural monopolies and
restore a strong, independent family farm
system with fair prices for farmers and
healthy food for consumers." This
position is similar to the others that intend
to help the Amerikan people get a bigger
piece of the pie now being hogged by the
corporations. But this one also has it's
own distinct chauvinism in missing the role
that Amerikan agriculture plays in
decimating the agricultural systems of
Third World countries, and the role that
cheap agricultural products imported from
the Third World play in subsidizing
Amerikan kitchens. Once again Kucinich
demonstrates his limited vision of the
world which seems to stop at the U.$.
borders.
10. Environmental renewal and clean
energy. This point addresses the need for
stronger environmental policies and
greater use of sustainable energy within
the U.$. It does not address the
environmental devastation caused by
Amerikan corporations in Third World
countries. Kucinich does claim that
"Globally, the U.S. will become a leader
in sustainable energy production and a
partner with developing nations in
providing inexpensive, local, renewable
energy technologies." But he doesn't tell
us how the U.$. will get there. And as
history has demonstrated, the U.$.
Five migrants who died of heatstroke
of dehydration were found in early
August near the Mexican border in the
Arizona desert.(1) These five people
were traveling separately across the
border and were found dead in Arizona
and Texas. In mid-August another three
migrants were found dead in Arizona. A
Brazilian man died while crawling through
an underground drainage tunnel in Texas
and another man was found dead in the
Franklin Canal in Texas.(2)
August is typically a bad month for
Latinos attempting to cross the border
between Mexico and the United $tates.
The immigrants cross the border seeking
livable wages, better living conditions, and
money to send back to their families. But
because the U$ militarized its border to
protect the wealth in this country,
immigrants face a difficult journey which
for too many proves fatal. The heat of
the summer makes the crossing
particularly difficult as temperatures rise
above 110 in the Arizona desert.
The deaths reported here are only a few
of the hundreds who die every year. So
far this year, at least 120 migrants died
crossing into Arizona alone. Most of these
deaths occur in the summer months. Last
year 145 people are known to have died
crossing into Arizona.(3)
As U.$. immigration intensifies its
crackdown on the border, people must
seek more and more difficult crossing
points, leading to more deaths. These are
deaths clearly attributable to capitalism.
The border between the U.$. and Mexico
serves capitalism by keeping cheap labor
readily available to Amerikan
corporations across the border, and
protecting the wealth these corporations
bring home to imperialist country citizens.
In reality borders are an artificial
creation. What is now known as the
southwest in Amerika is land stolen from
Mexico. The border is now used as a tool
to keep Third World workers in a
situation of brutal exploitation. And even
undocumented workers who do manage
the dangerous crossing are forced to
work for sweatshop wages because of
their illegal status in the country.
An open border would provide a
semblance of capitalist free trade, but few
capitalist free-trade advocates support
this action. This is because the advocates
of free trade hope to open up more
opportunities for exploitation of the people
and resources of other countries. Open
borders with Mexico would give all the
people in Latin America, exploited by
Amerikan corporations and suffering from
environmental devastation from polluting
corporations, the chance to take
advantage of at least some of the wealth
stolen from them. But it would also push
to equalize the wages internationally
among workers, which means Amerikan
workers wages would drop. These
deaths on the border are a human
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