<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Marxist-Humanist Initiative</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mhi@marxisthumanistinitiative.org">mhi@marxisthumanistinitiative.org</a>></span><br>
Date: Wed, May 18, 2011 at 5:07 AM<br>Subject: News and opinion<br>To: MHI Information <<a href="mailto:mhi@marxisthumanistinitiative.org">mhi@marxisthumanistinitiative.org</a>><br><br><br>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">May 16, 2011</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Dear Friend,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In New York City, we attended a May Day
demonstration for labor rights and immigrant rights with some<span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> 10,000 people, perhaps half of them Latino. The rally
also called for</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> solidarity against Islamophobia and condemned Congressman Peter
King's racist investigation of U.S. Muslims.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> Immigrants�
rights groups and Left Latino parties brought out a lot of people, including
Chinese, Filipinos, and others in addition to Latinos. The major unions didn�t
come, but a number of smaller unions did��the ones that immigrants tend to
belong to, if they are lucky, such as the laborers and the asbestos workers
unions, i.e., workers with the most hazardous and worst paid jobs. Some
immigrants spoke about the terrible conditions under which they worked before
their workplaces were unionized.�That part of the rally was good. Not so
good were the speakers who said exactly what we criticized in the flier we
distributed in English and Spanish ( both copied at the end of this letter): unrealistic
analyses of what's wrong with the economy, and blind faith that we can change
things by being united and trying hard enough. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I hope you�ll look at the editorial and stories
about Libya and the other Middle East revolts that we have posted on our web
publication, <i><a href="http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/our-publication" target="_blank">With Sober
Senses</a>.</i> We believe our political and historical analysis of why we
advocate support for the rebels while opposing U.S./NATO intervention is an
important contribution on this difficult and contentious issue. We welcome
comments on it and every article.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In other news, we�re glad that Osama bin Laden is
dead, but we�re nervous that pro-U.S. hysteria whipped up by his killing could
translate into support for continuing the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan and
Pakistan that is killing civilians every day, as well as continuing the U.S.
occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. News reports seem, however, to show
Americans saying, �OK, now that we got Bin Laden, let�s pull our troops out!� A
supporter of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (<a href="http://www.rawa.org/" target="_blank">RAWA</a>) looked at seven recent polls (from before
bin Laden was killed) and found that sentiment in favor of the U.S. getting out
of Afghanistan ranged from 58% to 73%. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We completely support Afghan feminist and human
rights heroine <a href="http://www.malalaijoya.com/dcmj/" target="_blank">Malalai Joya�s </a>call
to aid the Afghan people in opposing what she terms their <i>three</i> enemies: the U.S. occupation, the Afghan government, and the
Taliban and warlords. MHI members have long attempted to re-orient the moribund
U.S. anti-war movement towards people-to-people solidarity with those fighting
for secular democracy and the rights of women and workers in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and we were glad to hear her speaking to Americans again recently.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">MHI also continues to engage in debates with other Leftists
over whether capitalism can be reformed so that it substantially and
sustainably improves the lives of the masses of people��we think not. We just attended
the Historical Materialism-NYC conference; an audio recording of Andrew
Kliman�s talk on the precarious state of the capitalist economy, and the lively
discussion that followed, is posted on <i><a href="http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/economic-crisis/audio-kliman-on-the-stagnant-pay-myth-capitalist-production.html" target="_blank">With
Sober Senses</a></i>. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Please also check out the amendments we�ve made to
our organization�s <a href="http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/philosophyorganization/statement-of-principles" target="_blank">Principles</a>
and <a href="http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/philosophyorganization/by-laws-of-marxist-humanist-initiative" target="_blank">By-Laws</a>.
The changes are designed to make clear that we welcome Members and Supporters
from around the world (see requirements for applying in the By-Laws), and that
we will endeavor to provide them with electronic means to participate in MHI
discussions. We hope you will consider actively supporting our ideas. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In Solidarity,</span></p>
<div style="border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color windowtext; padding: 0in 0in 1pt;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium none; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Anne Jaclard,
Organizational Secretary, MHI</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium none; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.marxist-humanist-initiative.org" target="_blank">http://www.marxist-humanist-initiative.org</a></span></p>
</div>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">MAY
DAY 2011:<span>� </span>U.S. WORKERS AND IMMIGRANTS
FIGHT FOR</span></b></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">JOBS
AND PAY WHILE CAPITALIST ECONOMY STAGNATES</span></b></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">�</span></b></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span>����������� </span>Excerpts from an editorial in
Marxist-Humanist Initiative�s on-line publication, <i>With Sober Senses</i>:<i> <span>����������� </span></i></span></b><i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">(</span></i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><a href="http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/mhieditorial/mhi-editorial-support-workers-fighting-austerity-" target="_blank">http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/mhieditorial/mhi-editorial-support-workers-fighting-austerity-but-get-real-about-capitalism.html</a>)<span>��������������� </span><span>����</span><span>������������������������������� </span><span>�</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">�</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The capitalist system has shown itself over
and over since the Great Depression of 1929 to be prone to crisis and unable to
change the way it operates in order to benefit working people. We believe it
must be uprooted and replaced with a different system. Yet much of the U.S.
Left continues to advocate and plan its reformation. <b>It is time for the
Left to face economic reality. It needs to give up unworkable, populist calls
to solve administratively�within capitalism�problems that are inherent in capitalism.
</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">�</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Consider these non-solutions to the austerity
required by this moment of capitalism. �Tax the rich� won�t do it as long as
the rich can move themselves and their businesses out of states with high
taxes. The slogan �Money for _____, not for war� is also popular (fill in the
blank with jobs, schools, housing, etc.; we hear one of them at every
demonstration against budget cuts). Even were there some prospect of stopping
war within the capitalist system, the resulting �peace dividend� would not be
nearly enough money to finance <i>all</i> the programs that the Left demands
be funded. There is simply not enough money available to government for it to
supply all of people�s needs. And of course, no amount of spending could
transform capitalism into a humane system. Look at the European
social-democratic countries which have greater social services than the U.S.
but still retain alienated labor in the workplace, and keep in mind that
capitalism can <b>only </b>function by extracting the maximum labor
from workers while paying them the minimum that it can get away with.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">�</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To the extent that unionized government
workers have decent pay and benefits, they only constitute an �elite� when
compared to low-paid private sector workers such as those in industries whose
unions have been broken over the past 30 years. But even unionized work places
today frequently go along with owners� demands for give-backs and pay freezes
under the threat of businesses closing down.</span></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">�</span></b></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Even
if a strike is won, the workers will always have to repeat the fight over and
over in the future. We of course support workers� resistance to employer,
education, and government service cuts, but we do so without pretending that
workers� lives will substantially and permanently improve within the current economic
system. The failure to say this loud and clear is to mislead working people.</span></b></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal;">�</span></b></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal;">As </span></b><a href="http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/a-crisis-of-capitalism-rvsd-1027101.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">recent empirical studies</span></a><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal;">have shown,* workers� pay and
benefits have stagnated because the economy has stagnated</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">.</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
Neither workers� share of corporate profits nor their real wage and benefits
packages have decreased, in spite of the tale told by much of the U.S. Left.
That tale goes that greedy capitalists are squeezing larger and larger shares
of profits out of workers. The facts, instead, are that workers� wages and
benefits reflect a long-term low rate of profit. <b><span style="font-weight: normal;">By refusing to face and
discuss these facts, much of the Left is fostering the illusion that workers�
resistance alone can substantially and permanently better their lives, i.e.,
that capitalism can be reformed. Meanwhile, the �new normal� of lower pay, high
unemployment, and fewer government services is being established on the ground.</span></b></span></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">�</span></b></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To those
who think that replacing capitalism is unrealistic, we ask: what is the point
of devoting your life to lesser goals, when reforming capitalism has definitely
proved to be unrealistic? We urge you instead to join in the theoretical
working out of a real alternative, so that significant help is ready when
workers� resistance turns into revolt. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">* </span></b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">See</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">
Marxist-Humanist Initiative�s booklet, <i><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><a href="http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/literature/the-persistent-fall-in-profitability-underlying-the-current-crisis-new-temporalist-evidence" target="_blank">The
Persistent Fall in Profitability Underlying the Current Crisis:<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;"> New Temporalist Evidence</span></a></span><span style="color: black;">,</span></i><b><span style="color: black;"> </span></b><span style="color: black;">by Andrew Kliman.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><span>������������������������������������������������������������������������������� </span>*<span>���� </span>*<span>���
</span>*</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="ES-TRAD">PRIMERO
DE MAYO 2011: OBREROS ESTADOUNIDENSES Y INMIGRANTES LUCHAN POR EL EMPLEO Y LOS
SALARIOS MIENTRAS LA ECONOMIA CAPITALISTA SE ESTANCA</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="ES-TRAD"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="ES-TRAD">Extractos de un editorial
en la publicaci�n en internet de la Iniciativa Marxista-Humanista, <span>With Sober Senses</span>:<span> </span></span></i><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="ES-TRAD"><a href="http://www.marxist-humanist-initiative.org" target="_blank">http://www.marxist-humanist-initiative.org</a></span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="ES-TRAD"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="ES-TRAD">El
sistema capitalista se ha demostrado una y otra vez desde la Gran Depresi�n de
1929 a ser propenso a las crisis y no puede cambiar la forma en que opera con
el fin de beneficiar a los trabajadores. Creemos que capitalismo debe ser
arrancado y reemplazado por un sistema diferente.<span>� </span>Sin embargo, gran parte de la Izquierda
EE.UU. sigue aporando y planear la reforma de ese sistema.<span>� </span><b>Es hora que la Izquierda afronta a la
realidad econ�mica.<span>� </span>Es necesario
renunciar a las demandas inviables y populistas<span>�
</span>para resolver administrativamente��dentro del capitalismo��los problemas
que son inherentes al capitalismo.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="ES-TRAD">Considere
la falta de soluciones<span>� </span>a la austeridad
requerida por la situaci�n actual del capitalismo. "Impuestos a los
ricos" no va a funcionar siempre y cuando los ricos se pueden mover a s�
mismos y sus negocios fuera de los estados con altos impuestos.<span>� </span>El lema "Dinero para _____, no para la
guerra" es tambi�n muy popular (llene el espacio con puestos de trabajo,
escuelas, viviendas, etc; escuchamos uno de estos en cada manifestaci�n en
contra de los recortes).<span>� </span>Incluso si
hubiera alguna posibilidad de detener la guerra dentro del sistema capitalista,
el "dividendo de paz" no ser�a suficiente dinero para financiar <i>todos</i>
los programas deseados por la Izquierda. Simplemente no hay suficiente dinero disponible
para el gobierno para<span>� </span>todo las
necesidades que la gente requiere.<span>�
</span>Adem�s, por supuesto, ninguna cantidad de gasto podr�a transformar el
capitalismo en un sistema humano.<span>� </span>Mira a
los pa�ses socialdem�crata que tienen m�s servicios sociales de los EE.UU.,
pero a�n conservan el trabajo alienado en el trabajo,<span>� </span>y tener en cuenta que el capitalismo s�lo
puede funcionar mediante la extracci�n de la mano de obra m�xima de los
trabajadores, al mismo tiempo, pagando el m�nimo posible.<span>� </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="ES-TRAD">En la
medida en que los trabajadores sindicalizados del gobierno tienen un salario y
beneficios decentes, ellos solamente constituyen una "�lite" en
comparaci�n con los trabajadores del sector privado con salarios bajos como los
de las industrias cuyos sindicatos se han roto en los �ltimos 30 a�os. Pero a�n
los lugares de trabajo sindicalizados hoy van con frecuencia a lo largo de las
demandas de los propietarios para concesiones de los sindicatos y congelaci�n
de los salarios bajo la amenaza de cerrar los negocios.<span>� </span><b>Aun cuando una huelga se gana, los
trabajadores siempre tendr�n que repetir la lucha una y otra vez en el
futuro.<span>� </span>Por supuesto que apoyamos la
resistencia de los trabajadores a los recortes salariales y recortes en los servicios
de educaci�n y gobierno, pero lo hacemos<span>�
</span>sin la pretensi�n que la vida de los trabajadores ser� sustancial y
permanente mejora en el sistema econ�mico actual.<span>� </span>La falta de decir esto alto y claro es
equivalente a enga�ar a la clase obrera.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="ES-TRAD">Recientes
estudios emp�ricos han demostrado* que los salarios de obreros y<span>� </span>beneficios se han estancado porque la
econom�a se ha estancado.<span>� </span>Ni la parte de
obreros de las ganancias empresariales, ni su salario real y paquetes de
beneficios han disminuido, a pesar de la historia contada por gran parte de la
izquierda EE.UU. Esa historia dice que los capitalistas<span>� </span>est�n exprimiendo un porcentaje creciente de
las ganancias de obreros. Los hechos, en cambio, son que los salarios de los
trabajadores y los beneficios reflejan un bajo �ndice de ganancias en la largo
plazo.<span>� </span>Al negarse enfrentar y discutir
estos hechos, gran parte de la izquierda est� fomentando la ilusi�n de que la
resistencia de los trabajadores s�lo puede substancial y permanentemente
mejorar sus vidas, o que el capitalismo puede ser reformado.<span>� </span>Mientras tanto, la "nueva
normalidad" de los salarios m�s bajos, el alto desempleo, y menos
servicios del gobierno se est� estableciendo en el suelo.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="ES-TRAD">Para los
que piensan que el capitalismo siendo reemplazado es poco realista, les
preguntamos: �cu�l es el punto de dedicar su vida a menores objetivos, cuando
la reforma del capitalismo definitivamente ha demostrado ser poco realista? Le
instamos en lugar a unirse en la elaboraci�n te�rica de una alternativa real,
por lo que ayuda significativa est�r listo cuando la resistencia de los
trabajadores se convierte en revuelta.</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; line-height: 95%;"><span lang="ES-TRAD">* Consulte a <i><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><a href="http://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/literature/the-persistent-fall-in-profitability-underlying-the-current-crisis-new-temporalist-evidence" target="_blank">The
Persistent Fall in Profitability Underlying the Current Crisis:<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;"> New Temporalist Evidence</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0pt; font-style: normal;">,</span></a></span></i>
por Andrew Kliman. </span><b><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 95%;" lang="ES-TRAD"></span></b></p>
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