Parallel Perspectives
Dear Comrades #3
August – December 2008
The
Stock Market is nothing more than a huge Pyramid Scheme:
Only the people on the top ever really prosper.
8. August 2008
There
are 2 things I’d like to comment on:
Dear Comrades,
There are 2 things I’d like to comment on:
1. The economic “stimulus payment.”
2. The alleged “animal rights terrorist” firebombing of UCSC researchers homes.
Considering the fact that fuel costs—including winter heating bills—have skyrocketed,
most if not all of the “stimulus” money ($300-600/single, $600-1200/family) will go
right into the pockets of corporate capitalism. The payment is meant to divert
attention from the underlying problem, that is, the boom and bust nature of the
capitalist system.
Lately
it’s been mostly bust & that’s got nerves rattled ‘round the world—as if
from an 9.8 earthquake.
The payment—as well as the so-called foreclosure “bailout”—is a desperate scheme to
shore up a crumpling economic system committed to an endless “War on Terrorism” (i.e. War for Oil).
What’s really interesting is that the State capitalist bureaucracy felt a need to “rebate” anything at all. On one level we’re simply being paid a pittance to keep our mouths shut in the face of deteriorating economic & social conditions. It’s a sham—and it’s insulting, just like we’re starving dogs being tossed (very tiny) scraps from the global banquet table.
On another level, these little schemes show just how involved the State
is in manipulating the economy. A very good argument could be made that the
economy, far from being laissez faire capitalism is, in fact, a sort of national
socialist Oligarchy supported by a 2 Party pseudo-democracy. The same
could be said of China—for the exception that it is a single Party State
Capitalist system.
A lesson can be gained from the
history of the American people’s political support
for the most hypocritical & revolting “leaders,” including the repulsive Bush Dynasty. Political leaders & other socially prominent (i.e. wealthy) persons perform a quick post 9/11 tap dance. On one hand, a large segment of these Oligarchs & their middle-class cheer leaders are trying to pin all the blame of the Iraq slaughter on Bush & his criminal associates. On the other hand, they want to maintain jingoism & war mongering at post 9/11 levels.
We are told we must support the troops no matter what—after all, even in an illegal war,
they are fighting, killing & dying for “US.”
After all, the soldiers aren’t doing anything on their own—they’re just poor victims themselves “doing their duty.”
They’re just “following orders.”
It’s “The System’s” fault.
To phrase it as delicately as I possibly can…
BULLSHIT.
We are not talking about a conscripted military, if it were I would have a much different attitude towards it. The non-commissioned soldiers are paid to kill & blow to smithereens anything their superiors tell them to. They don’t have to do it, they weren’t forced to join the imperialist war machine. I don’t have sympathy for the troops, but I do have compassion for the individuals—and their families.
If I had a son or daughter in the military, naturally I would still love them—but I would continue wanting to see them do the right thing.
I would want to see them get out of the U.S. military.
The firebombing is a serious affair.
The
general media widely reported the 3
August fire bombing of two UC Santa Cruz researcher’s car in one incident &
home in another. The fire bombing of the home is particularly disturbing due to
the fact that children were in the house at the time & could easily have
been killed. The incidents were linked to animal right’s advocates because at
least one of the targeted researchers had been named on an anonymous flyer left
at various locations in the Santa Cruz college town.
The tactics are similar to those used by Anti-Abortion terrorists.
Can you spell h-o-m-i-c-i-d-e?
My
partner Suzanne & I are almost rabid (pun intended) defenders of animal
rights, but this type of loose-cannon activity can only harm the cause. It is
reminiscent of the tactics employed by anti-logging activists when protestors
secretly staked trees with huge metal nails that had the potential to maim,
even kill loggers. People with extended memory may recall the tactics of groups
like the SLA
who kidnapped Patty Hearst and the erratic antics of The Weathermen.
Their criminal acts tarnished the entire Left movement—and in some instances,
were probably orchestrated by State provocateur agents. Other groups, even more
politically isolated, degenerated into a-political, gangster units. Some were
nothing more than criminal fronts to begin with.
To date no one has taken “credit” for the Santa Cruz action, but the FBI is involved & animal rights advocates
are feeling the heat. Even if the identity of the bombing “perps” remains a mystery, a great deal of damage to the public image of the Animal Right’s movements has been done.
A
working class orientation acts as a brake to misguided political thinking &
egocentric self-righteousness. We are striving for a collective consciousness
that will heal & revitalize not
only our selves, but will also heal the wounds we have inflicted on the
Earth—AND “all
creatures great & small.”
There are serious animal rights organizations and no-kill shelters that are doing good,
consistent work
& can always gratefully use more support.
One day racism will be
universally viewed as a psychiatric disorder, sharing that distinction with the
torture of animals (no matter how “medically justified.”) Cruelty to animals
will be universally classified & prosecuted as a Class-A Felony.
Regards,
JEFarrow
Proposition 2 on the 2008 California ballot
regulates the humane treatment of farm animals, including the regulation of
animals raised for food.
Vote YES!
______________________________________________________________
21. August 2008
The
international capitalist system is like a global company store:
You work to produce the very goods you are then overcharged to purchase.
Dear Comrades,
Re. the Russia-Georgia Conflict.
We are witnessing the logical progression of social disorder following the bust up of the Soviet Union:
The ascendancy of unrestrained global capitalism & the inevitable escalation of nationalist rivalry.
The Anglo-American
Axis assault on Iraq set the stage:
Rule by International Law has been replaced by Political Gang Rape.
A
Little Background History: Global State Capitalism & International
Socialism could not for long “peacefully co-exist”. In its desperate need to
placate the economic & political aspirations of its people, the Soviet
Communist Party denied the international nature of socialism. The long history
of Stalinism finally bore its logical fruit: The ultimate destruction of the
first Socialist State based on collective property & the (temporary)
elimination of capitalism.
[NOTE: An elementary definition of Stalinism is that it denies the fundamental Marxist
principle that communism/socialism is international in nature; that it unites the global working
class in a common goal—the overthrow of State Capitalism; that, indeed, socialism cannot exist
in a single country—particularly in a non-industrialized one such as Russia was at the time of the October Revolution.]
Today the USA wants to export its own brand of Capitalist Pox Americana with Washington as The New Rome.
For years “Radio Free Europe” windbags bombarded the Soviet bloc countries with dire predictions
& subversive propaganda. In its mad rush to the stars & matching the US missile for missile, about all
the Soviet bureaucrats could offer the (non-Party) population was cheap vodka & stale sausages
—and really crappy cars for the lucky few.
Multiple families were forced to share single family apartments; people had to work where they were told, etc.
Pretty grim.
It is one of the wonders of Stalinism that an enormously rich capitalist class was ready & eager to crawl out of the woodwork along with mobsters & fascists the moment Mikhail Gorbachev completed his role in the sell-out of the Soviet Union & socialized property forms.
In 1979 the small, secular Afghan leadership in Kabul (backed by the Soviet Union) called on Moscow
to intervene in the murderous Civil War that was tearing Afghanistan apart. On one side stood the desperate,
secular government forces, defending school teachers & girls who wanted education; and on the other
side the murderous Mujahideen made up of Islamic clerics & all the backward, feudal gangs of misogynists
& drug kingpins we are well acquainted with today. The Mujahideen (precursor to the Taliban) were
notorious in their tactics of indiscriminate bombing & barbaric torturing of teachers, Red Army soldiers
& others who opposed the Mujahideen’s goal of toppling the progressive govt. & installing a strict
Islamic régime. These are the forces the U.S. hailed as “Freedom Fighters” then, and “Enemies of
Freedom” and “Terrorists” today.
A twisted irony of fate: If the Red Army had been successful in Afghanistan there wouldn’t have
been 9/11.
The Afghan conflict was the last straw for the Soviet Union. Mired in political & social contradictions
& an economy hemorrhaging from the war, the Communist bureaucracy fell in Russia & in all its
satellite countries in Eastern Europe. The Western Oligarchs virtually salivated at the prospect
of all these suddenly “free” countries becoming hosts for McDonaldization.
For
example, in Romania today a group of capitalists are eagerly building “Dracula
Land!” Picture it: Instead of the standard County Fair coin toss, at the
Vampire Fair in Dracula Land you throw little dolls onto tiny stakes. The
winner who tallies up the most impalements is offered the choice of a body bag
or a glass of People's Temple punch.
Vlad Tepesch (aka “The Count”)
must be proud.
Meanwhile even further East, Georgia, a country ruled by the Russian Czars for several hundred years—and then under the control of the Soviet Union—quickly aligned itself with the United States & NATO & seceded from Russia. The Russian people were too busy pursuing dreams of capitalism & their own violent Islamic problems, to notice the growing US-NATO presence in former territories & buffer zones. Georgia with its strategic location to energy resources is a much coveted plum for the US to pick. The Russian population may have been oblivious, the Kremlin was not.
Supposedly the Georgians were waiting for US back-up, even counted on it.
That was their second BIG mistake.
They should have learned from the Kurdish lesson in Iraq. As long as the Kurds were a thorn in the side,
of Saddam Hussein, Washington encouraged the Kurds to violent conspiracies. With the successful occupation of Iraq, the US lost all interest in the Kurds.
The
United States isn’t prepared—yet—for its real goal, to see Russia checkmate
& surrounded by hostile countries aligned with The New Rome. The only
factor that keeps Russia from falling into second rate nation status is the
fact that they still have all those nuclear weapons.
What is the international socialist position on this conflict? It’s tempting to support Russia just because it turns up the heat on Washington; but in truth this is an inter-capitalist struggle with no winning sides for the working class. In fact, there’s no winning side for people in general. Innocent citizens have paid the price, just as they always do in modern warfare. Meanwhile the perpetrators remain concealed in bunkers, palaces & a notorious white house.
Where was the Conscience & Concern of Global Leaders (including Arabs) when the US demolished its way through Iraq?
When did the Democrats show any backbone in standing up to prevent this immoral war?
The answer: NEVER.
The Democrats
continue to support the concept of a perpetual “War on Terrorism” and to
approve war funding that is little more than giving the Oligarchs carte
blanche in their insatiable greed & plundering of the American economy.
The socialist position is clear:
Down with the Occupation, US out of Iraq!
My personal slogan: ALL WAR IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY.
Regards,
JEFarrow
___________________________________________________________
The mirror crack’d from side to side;
“The
curse is come upon me,” cried
The Lady of Shalott - Tennyson
28.
September 2008
Dear Comrades,
The entire “bailout” controversy reveals the true vicious & decaying face of State Capitalism.
It’s like nationalizing industry in reverse: Instead of nationalizing for public benefit, American Capitalist nationalization benefits only the super rich at public expense.
And here’s a little secret: It’s always been that way.
Regards, etc.
______________________________________
A
capitalist by any other name..
4. November 2008
Dear Comrades,
I
suspect other Leftists in the USA felt the way I did regarding the Obama Phenomena:
We didn’t feel comfortable polemically slamming him (in fact, didn’t know that
much about him) because he was…well, African American. There—I said it. Granted
he is a Capitalist African American, but I think we were aware of the
fact that his election really would represent a milestone in the
American political experience. There has been positive change in the status of
women & racial integration over the past 40 years. Radical progressive
& socialist forces were essential in raising the demands for racial &
economic equality. Socialists were key in uniting these issues in popular
coalitions opposed to the Vietnam War as well.
That’s on the plus side.
On the debit side we have also seen those same 1960-70’s coalitions fall apart. Today “The Movement” around the world is fragmented & distracted. It lacks the clear & honest leadership that can break through the organizational impasse. This fracture of the international socialist movement only benefits State Capitalism & emboldens the Oligarchs in establishing their New World Disorder.
In terms of class, Obama is a representative of that same New World Disorder.
Obama
has 2 enormously daunting problems on the docket: An economy in tatters &
the disastrous war policies of his immediate predecessor. People are looking to
him to somehow solve these problems. They are expecting him to represent
something he’s not—i.e. anti-capitalist. There will be a “honeymoon” period, of
course; but it won’t be an extended one because capitalism is by its nature is incapable
of tackling these humongous issues in any lasting, pro-social way.
Many people will also be looking to him to somehow magically solve the Environmental Crisis.
The Democrats & Republicans represent the 2 wings of State Capitalism—and Capitalists fund both these wings to the hilt. It’s all smoke & mirrors, of course. Bush was such an embarrassment that the System needed a dramatic replacement for him. Obama’s election, at least for a while, will make people think that the System is actually working for them. Increasingly we will see both political wings of State Capitalism dumping everything wrong on war criminal Bush alone. The fact that Obama is an African-American is an added boon to the Capitalist Carousal because now more people feel they can get back on that un-merry-go-round & support the war mongering, anti-socialist status quo.
The Obama Phenomena just makes our jobs as revolutionary socialists significantly more difficult—at least for the time being.
Regards,
JEFarrow
_________________________________
What the hell is Fidel
smokin’ these days?
Dear Comrades,
We linked to this article written by Fidel Castro: The Russian Orthodox Church in the online 22. October 2008 issue of Granma Internacional.
Here’s a edited-for-space version:
IT [The Russian Orthodox
Church-JEF] is a spiritual force. In the critical moments of Russian history it
played an important role. When the Great Russian War began after the
treacherous Nazi attack, Stalin turned to it in support of the workers and
peasants that the October Revolution made owners of the factories and the land.
…
When the USSR disintegrated,
imperialism did not have an ally in that Church. For that reason, when His
Eminence Vladimir Mijailovich Gundiav, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and
Kaliningrad, visited our country in 2004, I proposed to him to build a
cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church as a monument to Cuban-Russian
friendship…
…
His Eminence is not an enemy of
socialism, nor does he condemn to eternal fire those of us who based ourselves
on Marxism-Leninism to fight for a just world. When he talks in the UN Human
Rights Council or other institutions, he is listened to with much respect. In
his immense country, he talks regularly on television, for 15 minutes every
Saturday, and is followed with interest by tens of millions of people.
…
There is no reason whatsoever to
make the slightest concession to Yankee imperialism. I have the impression that
His Eminence thinks that way. He is not anti-Muslim, he respects that religion.
Within his ecumenical conception, he believes that the Catholic Church can
solve his problems with countries such as China and Vietnam…
Needless to
say, I actually had to rub my eyes to make sure that what I was seeing was what
I was reading—a Marxist leader supporting the Russian Orthodox Church?!!! It
was like falling down the Rabbit’s hole & seeing the world turned upside
down. Apparently getting a big share of the Russian Saturday TV audience rating somehow transforms one of the most
reactionary organizations the world has ever seen into being liberating &
progressive! Castro’s apparent admiration for Stalin says a lot too.
After the fall of the Soviet Bureaucracy & collapse of the Soviet Union, one of the first official acts of the Russian Orthodox Church was to canonize (as in to declare a “Saint”) the last Tsar & his entire family. The incompetence of this Autocrat directly caused the deaths of millions of his own people. He & his fellow aristocrats lived the most ostentatious, conspicuous life style while millions more literally starved & were worked to death. All the time the Orthodox hierarchy continued to batten up on enormous State subsidies.
Where was
the great Progressive Consciousness of the Orthodox Church then? It was solely
with the Tsar and the Autocracy. The Church declared all revolutionaries
Anti-Christ & doomed them to eternal perdition. In other words, anyone who
dared to oppose the Tsar was going straight to hell. It was the Russian
Orthodox Church that instigated centuries of violent, vicious pogroms against
Russian Jews. How dare Comrade Castro now praise this moribund, reactionary institution.?
Apparently as Castro prepares to meet his (Orthodox) Maker, he is hedging his bets. Or does he feel that sucking up to a religious bigwig will somehow guarantee the continuation of his “deformed worker’s State” (Trotsky) after he’s gone? I think everybody knows what’s really going to happen. So when the casinos move back in, they’ll have a nice, pretty Orthodox Church as an added tourist attraction. They can stick Mr. Castro in it, embalmed like a modern Lenin, and then charge admission to the hoards of returning exiles who will gladly pay muchos pesos just to make sure that their hated Nemesis is really dead.
They can also hang a placard in front stating:
HERE LIES THE DEATH OF THE
SOCIALIST REVOLUTION IN CUBA.
SIGNED—F. CASTRO.
It’s very disappointing.
Regards, etc.
[NOTE:
11/13/08. The Bolshevik murder/assassination of the entire Romanov family
was deplorable, but that’s a different story, for another day.]
Bail out the people first!
3.
December 2008
Dear Comrades,
I didn’t quite catch the name, but somebody came up with a novel & practical way to bail out the auto industry: Give every registered driver in the United States the money to purchase a hybrid car—after scrapping their gas guzzlers, of course. Now that sounds good to me—so good that the idea should be applied to the banks as well: Rather than forking $Billions$ to the greedy corporate fat cats, wipe the credit ledgers clean & call it a draw.
Regards,
JEFarrow
Previous Postings:
Updated 01/09
www.gnostics.com