The Definitive Bourgeois

Not being a French speaker I often find it difficult, and admittedly pathetic, to spell bourgeois. Doing a (very) little research, I found the following grammar lesson on a professor's (Paul Brian) web site at Washington State University, which is most helpful. Spell well comrades!

In the original French, a bourgeois was originally merely a free inhabitant of a bourg, or town. Through a natural evolution it became the label for members of the property-owning class, then of the middle class. As an adjective it is used with contempt by bohemians and Marxists to label conservatives whose views are not sufficiently revolutionary. The class made up of bourgeois (which is both the singular and the plural form) is the bourgeoisie. Shaky spellers are prone to leave out the E from the middle because “eoi” is not a natural combination in English; but these words have remarkably enough retained their French pronunciation: boorzhwah and boorzhwazee. The feminine form, “bourgeoise,” is rarely encountered in English.

Paul Brian's site here

I guess Paul is not a Red since he used the loaded terms "label" and "not sufficiently revolutionary." Bourgeois slime! Just kidding - or am I...

Patriotism?

Yesterday's drop of "The Nation" had an editoral on "American Patriots" given well deserved credit to America's librarians who have stood up to the fascist policies of the US Patriot Act.

The editoral states that the 64,000 member "American Library Association (ALA) has been at the forefront of the fight to defend freedom of inquiry and thought from provisions of the act that allow the Justice Department to subpoena the records of libraries and bookstores."

It is certainly encouraging to see a large segment of American society taking such a risky stand. Certainly few would have expected such defiance to come from the library community, but looking at the history of librarians shows a rich history of political working-class struggle.

For instance, in 1953 the ALA adopted the "Freedom to Read Statement" which opens "The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools [...]" It can be found in full here.

The ALA also has a press release listing some "real-life" librarian heroes which can be found here.

An unfortunate reality is that Marxist writings have too often been the targets of censorship, with many localities criminalizing the possesion or disemination of Marxist literature. In most places such laws have been repealed. In nearly all cases librarians have stood up to resist censorship.

Some may call this patriotism but in my estimation such heroics transcend mere nationalism. Preservation of knowledge in the face of persecution by one's own government is something else: it is internationalism.

Mexico: Striking Teachers Victorious Versus Anti-Labor Crackdown

I've been totally out of it for a while when it comes to news about mass movements, so this is a little late, but this is an amazing example of recent mass action:

OAXACA, MEXICO, June 17 — The strike of 70,000 teachers in Oaxaca State, which began May 22, erupted into an all-out battle with the fascist police at 4:00 AM on June 14 when the state’s governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz ordered 1,500 Federal cops, waiting on the city’s outskirts, to attack a massive encampment in the city’s center. The workers fought back with stones, clubs and whatever they could lay their hands on in confronting the helmeted cops armed with clubs and using shields, aided by a helicopter spraying tear gas at the encamped strikers and their supporters. Despite all that force, the cops were defeated, sent running like whipped dogs.

However, this criminal government action killed two women teachers and two children. One pregnant teacher lost her baby, another teacher lost an eye, many were wounded and other arrested. Although the encampment was destroyed, many police were beaten and several taken hostage. Then the workers, armed with clubs and using school buses as battering rams against the cops, retook the plaza and reconstructed their encampment. Two days later a "mega-march" brought out 300,000 teachers and their supporters, demanding the Governor’s resignation.

The strikers have also blockaded the city’s airport, destroyed political campaign posters, and delivered the "remains" of the city’s new parking meters to the doorstep of the state capitol building.

Complete story at Challenge, organ of the Revolutionary Communist Peoples Labor Party.

ISO Socialism 2006 Report

This is a summarization of some of my thoughts regarding the Socialism 2006 Conference, combined with ideas from conversations and e-mails.

In general, members agree that this conference, the largest the ISO has ever had with over 1,500 in attendance, was a breakthrough. The Bush agenda since his election has hurt the working class and this has led to consciousness and radicalization. The success of the growing ISO and the large conference this year bear out these facts. More and more Americans are looking for a socialist alternative.

At the conference there were people of all ethnicities, both genders, and diverse sexual orientations, shattering the myth that socialists are all white. The majority were young, in their twenties, but there were many older folks as well and there were folks from 18-80 present and participating.

The conference was well organized with all speakers and chairs being well prepared, polite and energetic. Free childcare was provided for 4 days, and ISO branch leaders organized transportation and housing for little or no cost to members. Other members made their own connections and arrangements lending a helping hand where needed.

The overall theme revolved around linking disparate struggles on the left with each other, and providing a theoretical foundation to understand the interrelations and possible solutions. It also positioned the ISO as an activist nexus to facilitate this process and to carry the banner of socialism forward as a vanguard of the working class. A sense of a new day dawning for the ISO and the radical left was quite evident.

I was pleased to see that the ISO leadership is on guard against non-productive polemics and is very conscious of fostering a truly democratic praxis, which the left sorely needs. This will grow with time as the ISO continues to grow and accept more a diverse membership. New challenges will be presented, but also a stronger organization will be forged, one with many new and dynamic leaders and less attrition.

My experience at this, my first ISO Socialism conference, was extremely positive. All ISO members were polite, friendly, communicative and welcoming. I am very happy to be a part of this progressive organization and encourage others to join and help build a truly effective socialist alternative!

[Editorial Note: Previously contained here was a copy of an e-mail which I did not previously ask permission to put on the blog. I apologize to the comrade who wrote the original e-mail for any offense as none was intended.]

Socialism 2006 Update

I'm planning on posting a report on the ISO's Socialism 2006 conference in NYC tomorrow. It was a great experience, especially the mass rallies. Over 1,500 people attended and it was a very positive and encouraging event. Comrades in attendance accurately represented the ethnic and gender diversity of America, which was in poignant contrast to some comments I heard on the street suggesting that "Socialists are white and privileged."

I learned a lot more about the tactics of the International Socialist Organization (ISO) as well, especially with regards to building a movement through recruitment, struggle and information dissemination. I finally got my ISO handbook as well!

I also met many new friends and comrades from all over the country and especially in Ithaca and Rochester.

For me, the highlight of the whole conference was singing the Internationale on the last day in an auditorium with over 1,000 people (caveat: the lyrics chosen by the ISO were quite a bit different than what I've seen and heard before).

I have many pictures but am waiting for them to be delivered since I borrowed a camera and I also spoke with a comrade who will be providing audio.

Socialism Conference 2006

So I'm down in New York City at the ISO conference, Socialism 2006. I'll report back on the events etc. here on the blog and let folks know what's going down! This is supposed to be a pretty huge event this year.

Anti-Unionism is the Date Rape of Corporate Crime

This was posted some time ago at the TPM House of Labor blog, but I just reread it and thought it clever and on target, so am reposting it:

Even most liberals deny anti-union crime is widespread or deny that it's even a serious crime at all and anyways the folks doing it are such swell people, we can't expect us to like treat them like criminals, do you? If unions have been decimated in American workplaces, it's must really be their fault-- they must have been asking for it. You know, when you wear such pretty medical care and pension funds, employers are just being normal, red-blooded capitalists when they wipe out unions to get at them.

Anti-Unionism is the Date Rape of Corporate Crime
7-Dec-2005, Nathan Newman

The War to End All Wars

You are my base, bitches!

In the United States, Woodrow Wilson has been portrayed by the capitalist media as, and thus largely understood as, a moderate peace-loving statesmen who reluctantly went to war. Of course this is in the extremely rare instances when any historical analysis is done at all to contextualize present events.

Wilson indeed had high Christian values and morals and was thought of as a leader of the progressive movement. Unfortunately, Wilson was also highly aligned with the capitalist bourgeoisie and could not conceive of a democracy which included all peoples voices. All over the developed world at the time, popular movements were seriously challenging the rule of the capitalists.

On the democratic left socialist and communist movements were gaining massive momentum. In the United States, Eugene Debs polled nearly 1 million votes as the Socialist Party candidate for president in 1912 and 1920. On the right, there were conservative populist movements which foreshadowed the fascists who came later.

It was in this climate that the wheels of power turned to create a pretext for the "War to End All Wars." We can see the exact same mechanisms at work today as we look back on how the Iraq War was engineered, and how war with Iran is being setup.

I ran across a great article in Workers World which goes into much more detail on this subject especially with regards to sexual and gender emancipation and I encourage all to read it:

The outbreak of World War I derailed the thrust of the movements for sexual and gender emancipation and for women's rights in Germany--and created a profound political split in the international working-class struggle.

It was no accident that the war began precisely at a time of a worldwide upsurge of the working class in Europe and in the United States, as well as stirrings in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The workers' movements were gaining strength and momentum. They were increasingly taking a stand against imperialist war.

There were no socialist countries or liberation movements to blame for World War I. It was a plain, unvarnished racist war for colonial empire. The principal capitalist countries, each hungry to gobble up a bigger share of the markets and profits, tried to redivide the colonial world.

In each of the capitalist countries the bosses appealed to the workers to unite behind them in battle. The German ruling class was able to rally its working class for the war on a patriotic basis. Even the majority in the socialist movement of that day, and the Homosexual Emancipation Movement, got swept up into the chauvinist appeal.

Going along with this right-wing, murderous patriotism put the brake on every social movement--gay, trans and lesbian, women's rights, workers' and socialist struggles--because it gave the ruling class the upper hand, strengthened the right wing and set back the progressive movement.

The War to End All Wars,
Workers World, June 24, 2004

Happy Birthday Marx!

Today is the 188th anniversary of Karl Marx's birth. Happy birthday Chuck!

Corporate University

I work at a college, actually two colleges to be precise. As I have pursued a graduate degree and due to other circumstances, I have in fact been affiliated and involved in academia for my entire adult life. My professional background is as an entrepreneur and my post-graduate education and much of my work experience has revolved around management with a focus on the IT sector and specifically software development. Overall the training and experience I have has been largely based on current business and engineering practices and to a large extent I believe these practices to be valuable and beneficial insofar as producing high quality work products (which of course are useful in both a capitalist and socialist mode of production).

The past few years I have seen a transformation at my workplace from a traditional helter-skelter academic environment to an increasingly corporatized management approach. In addition, there has been a focused drive to expand the physical plant of the campus and to build "modern" structures in order to remain "competitive" and expand the student body.

A snippet of a Logos Journal article titled "The Corporate University in American Society" posted by the Unrepentant Marxist offers some insight into what is driving this process at our little college as we are responding to mega-trends that are impacting all of academia:

Higher education in America is being transformed by the contradictions that have historically defined and determined its existence. Seen as an educational institution, its importance lies in empowering individuals—both within the academy and outside—to become critical and knowledgeable citizens capable of self-governance in a democracy. Seen as an economic institution, its value lies in producing trained subservient workers for employers, and in socializing many of the costs necessary to sustain profit accumulation in a capitalist society.

Yet while for much of their existence colleges and universities have managed to hold these twin imperatives in balance, political-economic forces such as globalization, an increasingly conservative political agenda, and a tightening of public financial support for higher education have tipped the balance, resulting in the emergence of the corporate university. As corporatized entities, American colleges and universities are under increasing pressure to emulate other market participants and operate in ways that affect their governance and structure, as well as how they generate revenue. The result is that the new corporate university seeks to jettison many of the traditional manifestations of higher education, such as tenure, academic freedom, and shared governance, and replace them with a business model of management and more adjunct faculty who are viewed as mere employees. The need to do this is simple—less revenue to support colleges and universities is coming from the government, thereby forcing higher education to reduce labor costs and also seek financial support from private sector investors who view the traditional mission of these schools with suspicion.

Union Plus!

I just ran across this cool resource. Union Plus is a program of the AFL-CIO offering great discounts to union members on a variety of products. Their site states:

Our organization designs programs that help union members enjoy life at a great price. By using the collective buying power of unions, we are able to offer a variety of high quality, discounted products and services exclusively to working families.

The AFL-CIO created Union Privilege in 1986 to provide AFL-CIO union members and their families with valuable consumer benefits. With Union Plus benefits, your union membership "pays" at work and at home.

I think this is pretty cool and a great resource to find companies that are union friendly, even if you are not able to take advantage of the discounts.

Check it out: www.unionplus.org

Si, Se Puede!

A Reuters report gives a surprising sympathetic slant on the May Day actions in the US:

Factories closed, day labour jobs went begging, children skipped school and cargo was left on docks in what the organisers called "A Day without Immigrants."

The largely Latino crowds chanted "Si, se puede!" or "Yes, we can!" and banged drums while waving mostly American flags.

Rallies stretched from the lettuce fields of central California to the streets of Los Angeles and Chicago. [...]

"The volume of the demonstrations, the number of people who have turned out in different US cities, it's a national issue." [...]

Recent polls show only 30 per cent Americans advocate tougher laws for illegals, while the majority, like President George W Bush, wants a guest worker programme combined with better enforcement. [...]

"They're going to degrade my citizenship for helping somebody out, or just riding in a car with them?" said Wences Martinez, 30, born in Chicago of illegal immigrants. "It's like the British before the Revolutionary War."

Immigrants flex economic muscle in US

For those unaware, most of the incentive to protest revolves around US House of Representative's Bill H.R. 4437. It was passed on on December 16, 2005 by a vote of 239 to 182. Wikipedia as usual has a good summary of H.R. 4437, a bit of which is below:

• Requires up to 700 miles (1120 km) of fence along the US-Mexican border at points with the highest number of immigrant illegal crossings. (House Amendment 648, authored by Duncan Hunter (R-CA52)
• Requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to report to Congress on the number of OTMs (Other Than Mexicans) and conversely the number of Mexicans apprehended and deported. (Section 401)
  

The bill includes measures that will infringe on the human rights of asylum seekers by stripping important due process protections, it redefines illegal immigrants as felons, and punish anyone guilty of providing them assistance, including humanitarian workers, public schoolteachers, and church workers.

So I say "Si, Se Puede!" - yes we can stop more fascism from spreading in our country and rip up the roots of fascism which are already planted, both in our nation and in our own hearts.

Yes We Can! - take an internationalist perspective and understand that nationalistic chauvinism combined with fear is what drives racist and anti-human laws.

Si, Se Puede! - understand that another world is possible, one in which we can all live and work together with harmony, justice and dignity.

Yes We Can!

Millions turn out for May Day

Worldwide participation in May Day rallies and celebrations totalled in the millions. Reports regarding the immigration rallies in the US seem to be lacking at this point. In any case, Russia lead the way with over 1.5 million people participating in rallies nationwide. Approximately 30,000 marchers in Moscow called for Putin to resign, recalling the Soviet Union and denouncing reforms as impoverishing the people.

In Germany tens of thousands of union members rallied in support of anti-globalization and resistance to neo-liberal policies that are erroding the social welfare net.

A nice article from Canada.com gives a summary of many world wide May Day events.

In my neck of the woods, I attended a rally in Ithaca, NY. The rally, which took place in the Ithaca Commons, drew 400 people. All were in good spirits and the diverse crowd in attendance included many immigrants and children of immigrants, students from Ithaca College and Cornell College, and several classes from local middle and elementary schools. Members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the International Socialist Organization were in attendance. I was the only representative of Socialist Alternative/CWI as far as I know.

Below are some pictures from the Ithaca rally.

Cornell University May Day Marchers

Ithaca College May Day Marchers

Father and Son

Speaker Tania Penafort of the
Movimiento Estudiantil
Chicano de Aztlan

May 1: Carnival of Socialism

Another great announcement for May Day. Benjamin Solah launched the Carnival of Socialism today. Issue number one is available at his blog. Click here to read issue number 1!

May Day History Lesson

Immigration Day is a continuation of long standing workers' traditions going back nearly 200 years. The racists and xenophobes of the blogosphere are trying to characterize this mass movement as some sort of corruption of "May Day." I find that ironic considering most of these same folks are fundamentalist Christians - are they calling for a "pure" May Day in the spirit of the pagan Beltane celebration? Interestingly the Catholic church in 1955 gave St. Joseph another holy day on May 1 as the day of "St. Joseph, The Worker." This in direct response to the day being a celebration of the radical left, which the conservatives in the Church clearly see as more of a threat than paganism, again, ironically enough.

In fact, Wikipedia has the true story of May Day, an International Workers' Day which was founded in the United States:

International Workers' Day (a name used interchangeably with May Day) is the commemoration of the Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago, Illinois, and a celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labor movement. The 1 May date is used because in 1884 the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, inspired by labor's 1872 success in Canada, demanded an eight-hour workday in the United States to come in effect as of May 1, 1886. This resulted in a general strike and the riot in Chicago of 1886, but eventually also in the official sanction of the eight-hour workday. The May Day Riots of 1894 and May Day Riots of 1919 occurred subsequently.

[...]

The Red Scare periods [temporarily] ended May Day as a mass holiday in the United States, a phenomenon which can be seen as somewhat ironic given that May Day originated in Chicago. Meanwhile, in countries other than the United States and United Kingdom, resident working classes fought hard to make May Day an official governmentally- sanctioned holiday, efforts which eventually largely succeeded. For this reason, May Day in most of the world today is marked by huge street rallies of workers led by their trade unions and various large socialist and communist parties — a phenomenon not generally seen in the U.S.

Until now!

Appeal: Keep the right wing haters from corrupting the blogosphere with their lies. Copy this post and put it on your blog with the tags, or write your own. Flood the blogosphere with the truth about May Day!

May Day: White People Step up for Immigrant Rights!

Workers of the world unite! The IWW and many other groups are calling for a general strike and boycott on May 1, 2006. In North America, tomorrow looks to be an outpouring of the largest mass protest in the history of the United States. All sections of the working class (i.e. anyone who has a job, has had a job or would someday like to have a job) including especially "white" people, must step up in support of immigration rights, which are in fact labor and ergo human rights.

For May Day and Beyond: White People Step up for Immigrant Rights!

In the past month, five million people, mostly immigrants of color, have mobilized for justice and are making history, flooding the streets in unprecedented numbers. Meanwhile, the most visible participation by white people is coming from the racist and right wing leaders who are defining and dominating the debate in the Federal government and in the news, radio and opinion pages. Where are the voices of anti-racist white people in this crucial moment, when the worst anti-immigrant legislation in decades is still poised to drop?

We, white people who believe in justice and ending racism, have a responsibility and a historic opportunity to stand with immigrant communities and unite behind their demands. As white people, most of us with U.S. citizenship, we call out to our white communities to take to the streets for immigrant rights. We must demonstrate that the rightwing racists, from the Minutemen to in the Congress, do not represent us!

More from the Binghamton IMC

A little closer to home, a major May Day rally is being held in Ithaca, NY (you can be sure I will be there):

(Ithaca) On May 1st, 2006, a broad coalition of immigrant, community, labor, and student groups will join together, in coordination with millions around the nation, for a rally on The Commons (Bernie Milton Pavilion) in Ithaca to declare that “no human is illegal”. Everyone in support of this sentiment is asked to wear a white T-shirt on May 1st whether able to attend the rally or not.

• 11:30—Music with DJ Carlos Porras and Colleen Kattau on The Commons
• 11:00—Cornell students/employees rally on Ho Plaza and march to The Commons from Cornell--Ithaca College students march to The Commons
• 12:15—Partial List of Speakers Invited Include: County Legislator, Nathan Shinagawa; County Legislator, Kathy Luz Herrera; GIAC Director, Marcia Fort; Latino Civic Assn. Co-Founder, Leonardo Vargas-Mendez; Asian American Assn. President, Siv Somchanhmavong; Immigrant Rights Center, Arum Lee; Catholic Charities Samaritan Center, Renee Funk; Tania Penafort, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan and others
• 1:15—Music with Salsa Amigos, DJ Carlos Porras and Colleen Kattau

Some current immigration proposals in Congress threaten to criminalize millions of immigrants. We recognize that all immigrants are an integral part of the U.S. society and economy, and continue to be an important force. Latino Civic Association President, Carlos Gutierrez says, "The Tompkins County immigrant population, both documented and undocumented, fill key roles in our local economy, enrich the local cultural landscape, and they are productive members of our community who pay taxes, raise families, and contribute to our schools, churches, neighborhoods, and communities."

More at TCWC/WRC

There shall also be May Day rally in downtown Rochester, NY at the Federal Building at 4:30PM.

The Belarus Media Chernobyl

Belarus has got quite a bit of airtime lately. Not only with the sudden heat and light focused on Chernobyl, but with various groups, including some anarchists, supposedly complaining about lack of freedom and government repression, and an awkward quote by the president, Alexander Lukashenko.

The western media has really got everyone riled up over this newest member of Bush's "Axis of Evil" but how far off the mark are they and what is the real reason for all the fuss?

Belarus is the only country in Europe that, nearly 20 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, still maintains a command economy, e.g. the economy is still run by socialist principles. You will find that if you do a search on Belarus, the CIA Factbook entry comes up as the first result. I can guarantee you that is no coincidence. Belarus has been on Bush's hit list for some time, but in a recent strategy document released on March 16, 2006, the leader of Our Fair Land specifically added Belarus to the new "Axis of Evil" along with Cuba and Zimbabwe, two other countries which happen to have central economies.

The statistics in the CIA Factbook are very interesting, one of which stands out from the rest, being the GINI coefficient of Belarus, which the CIA itself describes as "among the lowest in the world." The data currently published by the CIA pegs their GINI at 30.4, compared with 36.6 in the United Kingdom and 45 in the United States. However it should be noted that academic sources have measured the Belarus GINI as being in the 23-27 range.

GINI is simply "This index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country." Simply put, less inequality exists in countries with a low GINI. Of course GINI is not the only measure that tells us whether a country is in good or bad shape, but it is certainly a testament to the power of socialism to transform a society by creating an equal economic playing field. Belarus was one of the most important industrial centers of Eastern Europe during the Soviet era, this being accomplished even though it took Belarus from 1944 until 1971 to recover to their pre-WWII population after the Nazi massacres.

Since 1994, the country has been led by Alexander Lukashenko, who has been criticized by Western governments, Human Rights Watch, and other Western NGO for his Soviet-style domestic policies.¹

Luis M. Garcia Cunarro recently wrote the following in Periodico 26 Cuba:

According to the strategy changes implemented during Bush’s second term, the “fight against tyrannies” is added to the War on Terrorism and the administration defines a tyranny as: “The combination of brutality, poverty, instability, corruption and suffering under the rule of despots or despotic systems.” While the concept, which could be applied to the US government, merits reflection, what is certain is that we are seeing a new version of the “axis of evil.” Seven countries are on the empire’s list: North Korea, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Belarus, Burma and Zimbabwe.

What’s most important about this problem is not the definition, but instead the “package” of actions that the US proposes. These include sanctions against those countries, an international discrediting of their governments and peoples, and political and economic subversion, not just by the United States and its close allies, but also from regional organizations like the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the African Union and the Organization of American States.

US National Security is Global Insecurity

Here we see again the zealots in charge of the US identifying a group of countries to be "threats to America" and taking aggressive action to undermine and eliminate these so-called threats. Whereas these countries pose no threat at all to the American people, the fact that they, in the case of Belarus, Cuba and perhaps China and Zimbabwe, demonstrate the ability for a workers' state, deformed or not, to function even in the face of capitalist imperial aggression poses a clear and present danger to the ruling classes.

This is why the Western media, including independent sources, has been doing its very best to find any stories that discredit Belarus or link it in the public mind with other broader propaganda. It cannot be seen as coincidence that at the same time there is a media blitz against Iran regarding their alleged nuclear WMD program, somehow Belarus becomes linked with nuclear terror through a series of Chernobyl stories. Although Belarus was greatly affected by the Chernobyl accident, so were many other countries like Poland, Austria and Hungary, and in fact the whole of Europe. Chernobyl was, is and shall remain in the Ukraine.

Finally, I cannot claim to have any special insight into the mind of Alexander Lukashenko nor any detailed analysis of his domestic policies or record on human rights. Nevertheless we do well to remember how the media crucified Howard Dean during the 2004 US presidential elections and understand that these exact same techniques have been employed in the Ukraine and other countries and are being employed against Belarus.

With the US military recently releasing a document outlining their plans to "engage the enemy" through the media, the internet and via public opinion, that indeed these "terrains" are the location of the new battlefield², we can see the ominous signs of these techniques today being deployed against Belarus.

Essentially, the Western capitalist elite continues their assault on the working classes and through foriegn policy have continued to implement this program against state socialism. Through the newly articulated model of warfare being adopted by the Western military machine, we see a sort of reverse Orwellian model manifesting itself, we now have to reverse Orwell's ominous "War is Peace" and restate it as "Peace is War."

This is a new Chernobyl for Belarus, a "media Chernobyl" that is spreading radioactive misinformation across the airwaves in order to discredit and undermine a state who's only crime seems to be that it has a socialist economy.

Democracy for Nepal Now!

Although the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) of Nepal urged an end to the general strike in response to King Gyanendra's decision to revive Parliament. The CPN(M) has correctly rejected an end to the protests, arguing that the concession does not address the 12-point agreement, does not restore democracy and does not establish a republic ruled by the people. Meanwhile, the capitalist press in India is mobilizing a media campaign which is likely to sanction the government of India providing additional financial and military support for the puppet king of Nepal.

Xinhua Online reports:

[...]
Issuing a press statement, chairman Prachanda and senior leader Babu Ram Bhattarai of the [CPM(M)] the Nepali King Gyanendra's proclamation on Monday and said blocked of the capital Kathmandu Valley and the district headquarters will continue till the new government will announce the election of Constitution Assembly.

The royal proclamation did not address people's slogans of "republic" and "constitutional assembly" in the street, the statement noted.

"The seven political parties who have welcomed and supported the royal proclamation, they objectively broke down the 12-point agreement with us and have breach of trust of the people's aspirations," the statement added.
[...]

Xinhua, 25-Apr-2006: Guerrillas to continue protest in Nepal

Recent comments from senior officials in the Indian government do not bode well for the stability of Nepal. Proclaimations about not allowing Nepal to be a "failed state" and public statements of support for the monarchy as "a pillar of the polity (of Nepal)" suggest that the ruling classes of India are ready to throw their support behind the murder king.

We stand in solidarity with the CPN(M) and the people of Nepal and call for an end to the monarchy forever, and for the establishment of the democratic rule of the people.

Let people power prevail in Nepal

And, from the Financial Times:

By Rhoderick Chalmers
Published: April 24 2006 19:58 | Last updated: April 24 2006 19:58

As the people of Nepal rose to signal their final loss of faith in King Gyanendra, the key international players at last achieved a long-awaited unity of purpose in their response to a situation that has been deteriorating for years. Unfortunately, however, they came together behind the wrong solution, trying to force an unworkable deal on an unwilling population.

India, China and the US, with the European Union in support, led a push to strong-arm Nepal's democratic leaders into accepting the king's hollow offer of handing over limited powers. But the outside world's reaction is too far behind events unfolding on the ground here in Nepal, where the Shah dynasty is now facing the end of its power and quite possibly its existence. The world must catch up with local popular sentiment if it is to stand any chance of guarding against a dangerously chaotic transition.

Reference: Let people power prevail in Nepal

Let it not be forgotten that the "people power" would not be possible without the Maoist revolution which plays a large part in shedding the superstitions (traditionally Nepal has regarded the monarch as a god-king) of the past which kept the Shah in power.

Tags: socialism, communism, Nepal

CPI backs Nepal's Seven Party Alliance

In the wake of the announcement that the king of Nepal has allowed the lower house of parliament to be restored, the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) of Nepal, including the CPN(M) has spurned the empty gesture. "The Hindu" newspaper reports that the Communist Party of India (CPI) supports the SPA decision:

TIRUCHI: The Communist Party of India (CPI) has supported the decision of the Seven Party Alliance (SPA), which was spearheading the pro-democracy campaign in Nepal, to spurn the proposal of the monarchy to hand over power to the Alliance.

Taking exception to India welcoming King Gyanendra's readiness to hand over power to the SPA, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan said the Centre had reacted in a hasty manner.

"Playing a game"

Speaking to presspersons here on Monday, Mr. Bardhan charged the King with "playing a game" by insisting on the Alliance's acceptance of the 2005 position, when the King seized power directly.

"The King was prepared to go back only to 2005 and not earlier.

Reference: CPI backs Nepal's Seven Party Alliance

This is especially important due to the fact that there is a Maoist rebellion within India as well, as a result of agriculture policies that have impoverished many Indian farmers.

Tags: socialism, communism, Nepal, India