People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (03-00) Online Edition
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03-00 PT Index
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People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition)
Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000
P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
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INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition)
Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000
Editorial
1. WOMEN OF THE WORLD UNITE FOR FREEDOM
News and Features
2. HMO, PPO, IPA - MANAGED CARE YIELDS BUREAUCRATIC ALPHABET
SOUP, AND HEALTH-CARE NEEDS STILL GO UNMET
3. WHAT NEXT AFTER THE BATTLE FOR KPFA?
4. A VIEW OF THE REAL CUBA
5. JUVENILE JUSTICE: CHILDREN MAY BE JAILED WITH ADULTS
6. WAR ON YOUTH ESCALATES! BATTLE FRONT SHIFTS TO CALIFORNIA IN
FIGHT AGAINST PROP. 21
7. THE NEXT LEVEL IN WOMEN'S RISE TO FREEDOM
8. GLOBALIZATION OF POVERTY: WHY WE MUST FIND TO END IT
9. 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMPROMISE OF 1850: LEARN FROM THE
UNCOMPROMISING SPIRIT OF THE ABOLITIONISTS!
10. SENORA, YOU ARE RIGHT ... THESE LITTLE CABRONCITOS DO NOT GROW
ON TREES!
Spirit of the Revolution
11. MY SOURCE OF MORALITY
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TOPIC
03-00 Edit: Women of the world unite for freedom
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People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition)
Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000
P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
http://www.lrna.org
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1. EDITORIAL: WOMEN OF THE WORLD UNITE FOR FREEDOM
This month, we celebrate International Women's Day 2000. Who
would've imagined that in the year 2000 women would be celebrated?
This day has been important because it recognizes the struggles
and plight of women workers. It is also a day to begin to examine
what the future holds for women and why "a woman's work is never
done."
The old saying still holds many truths today. Women continue to
fight against sexual discrimination and wage discrimination and
still find themselves dissatisfied with their standard of living
and working. A recent poll surveyed 2,177 women and found an
increasing number of women (50 percent in the 2000 poll, as
opposed to 31 percent of women in 1974) still dissatisfied with
the position of women and in agreement that in life it is an
advantage to be a man.
But is the real problem a gender issue? Are men really the roots
of women's economic and social dissatisfaction? Or, can it be that
both men and women are confronted with the same dissatisfying
changes in their social and economic positions? Thus, the
questions remain unanswered because the solution has yet to be
envisioned by those who maintain men and women disunited.
While the women's movement for liberation has made some
improvements, today we begin to see a new kind of struggle. The
new battle is a fight for "lives." Many grandmothers, mothers,
daughters, sisters, wives and girlfriends continue to feel the
toll of maintaining a home, both financially and emotionally. How
are they expected to juggle the demands of the capitalist system
and the demands of family or the attempts to even begin one? While
the idea of marriage and children continues to burn in the hearts
of many young women, so does the independence to have a career of
one's choice.
But how can the two coexist in harmony under a system that denies
women true liberation. And what is true liberation? Only a
visionary can imagine the capabilities of all women and can truly
understand that the path to liberation is through the destruction
of capitalism. Because not only does capitalism deny women to be
women, but it also denies humanity its women. Capitalism takes
them away from their families, their men, their women and their
children. It strips away the possibilities of creating a world
where all men and women are truly equal.
And still, "a woman's work is never done." The debate for the
liberation of women changes throughout the world, but the common
goal remains the same. And, only through the destruction of
capitalism can women and men truly be united to reach that goal.
Women across the world should unite on the basis that a new world
is possible. They should unite to fight for the liberation of the
human race.
The struggles of yesterday may still not be won, but the battle to
improve the quality of tomorrow needs to be fought today. Women of
the world must unite and fight for the men, for the children and
for the life that we've always wanted and is possible today.
FOOTER
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This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO
(Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524,
Chicago, IL 60654; Email:
[email protected];
http://www.lrna.org
Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The
PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its
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TOPIC
03-00 HMO, PPO, IPA - Managed care
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People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition)
Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000
P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
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2. HMO, PPO, IPA - MANAGED CARE YIELDS BUREAUCRATIC ALPHABET SOUP,
AND HEALTH-CARE NEEDS STILL GO UNMET
By Salvador Sandoval, MD
I saw an elderly lady in the office the other day and she was mad.
The IPA (Independent Practice Association -- a group of doctors)
that her Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) had contracted with
to manage her Medicare (and hopefully provide coverage for
medications) had folded. The IPA that stepped in was charging her
large deductibles for doctor's visits and high copayments for
medications, surely a strain on her fixed income. And worst of
all, they were mandating that she stop seeing the doctor she had
been seeing for years (because he is a kidney specialist) and come
to a stranger -- namely me -- because I am a "primary care
provider" on their list. This was just for getting a referral to
see an eye doctor for glasses! To boot, she has to go out of
county for this service. And to make matters worse, she had to
wait a long time just to get in to see me so that I could refer
her (but that is a different story).
Instead of enjoying her "golden years," this lady, like thousands
in her situation across the country, is among the next sacrificial
lambs on the altar of "free enterprise" as Medicare is privatized.
Of 39 million Medicare beneficiaries, 6.3 million are in HMOs. The
carrot was coverage for medications, a glaring deficiency of the
federally funded Medicare program. Now, however, thousands are
being left holding the bag as IPAs and others that contract with
the HMOs fold. Nationally, there were 407,000 HMO withdrawals in
1999, and 327,000 more are projected for 2000. There are some that
say that the government should give the HMOs even more money so
that they can keep up the benefits. However, there is no guarantee
that the HMOs will pass on the extra money to the IPAs and PPOs
(Preferred Provider Organizations) that they contract with. [PPOs
are like IPAs, only more exclusive.] Sounds like blackmail to me;
or at least throwing more taxpayer money down the HMO money drain.
The California Medical Association, from a state that is further
along in "managed care" than most states, reports that 132 large
medical groups in the state have gone bankrupt or closed in the
past three years. One in ten physicians groups that capitate
directly with HMOs are expected to close this year. Yet California
HMOs are mostly in the black because they shifted their
liabilities to medical groups. Clearly the main consideration for
the HMOs is their bottom line -- the shareholders profits, and not
the delivery of affordable health care, nor the financial health
of the physicians groups that they contract with, for that matter.
What is happening today with Medicare and HMOs has been happening
for some time with Medicaid. As government money is pumped into
HMO coffers, doctors groups are left holding the bag, and children
go without health care. In California, one out of every four
children lacks health care, a situation exacerbated by welfare
reform that bumped many off of Medicaid to begin with. To make
matters worse, for those children that are lucky enough to be on
Medicaid/managed care, many doctors have refused to see them
because the $24 monthly capitation doesn't cover the $47 to treat
the child. ["Capitation" refers to the practice of physicians that
contract with an HMO being prepaid a set rate per "covered life";
their profit is determined by what is left over after providing
care. Thus, there is a financial incentive to minimize referrals
and more expensive procedures and treatments.]
In the "private sector" of HMOs for employed workers and their
families, things are no better. Copayments, deductibles, lack of
choice of providers, red tape and other bureaucratic delays, and
outright denials of care, are making health care less accessible
even to those with private health insurance. Public
dissatisfaction is mirrored in legislation such as the "Patient
Bill of Rights" and other bills designed to minimize the damage of
the for-profit HMOs. With the costs of health-insurance benefits
for their employees rising nearly 10 percent per year, many
employers are opting out of providing these benefits, passing the
cost on to the employee, or squeezing the HMOs, who in turn pass
on the liability to the IPAs and PPOs through lower capitation
rates, denials and more red tape. And the shareholders of the HMO
secure increased profits despite all of this.
It is time the American people wake up to what is happening. The
public is being robbed blind by managed care and its alphabet
soup. This time, no sectors of the public (except the wealthy) are
immune from the rapacious greed of these companies that provide no
direct care, yet scoop the top off the pork barrel. While these
same insurance companies warned of government interference and
government bureaucracy, they have created the most complex and
ever-changing bureaucracy ever known -- primarily to guarantee
their profits by passing on risk, avoiding losses, and essentially
being free to gamble with people's lives for the sake of money.
They supported the elimination of "welfare as we know it" to
create "wealthfare" for themselves. To make matters worse, they
are milking the public coffers with the full support of Congress.
Insurance companies, "organized medicine," pharmaceuticals, and
other special interests paid $2.69 billion last year for lobbying
efforts in Congress, an average of $5 million per member of
Congress! What ever happened to government for and by the people?
In this election year, the presidential candidates cannot ignore
the growing dissatisfaction of the public with managed care. Nor
can they ignore the fact that 44 million Americans lack health
insurance, and the number without insurance is growing at 400,000
per year. And they all give lip service to it. Yet listen to their
proposals. They have no real solutions, whether they are Democrat
or Republican. They carefully avoid talk of the role of the
insurance companies, which is fundamental. Instead they offer
rehashes of Clinton's failed health-care reform plan, such as
strengthening employer-based health care.
This comes at a time when most employers want out. For example,
Xerox, one of the "good companies to work for," is offering its
employees a set amount for them to purchase their own insurance
(and take the risk and rising premiums on themselves). Some
propose tinkering measures that they call incremental reform, such
as medical savings accounts, tax preferences, etc., which carry
risks similar to the Xerox proposal. Some, mainly from the far
right, propose eliminating Medicare and Medicaid outright
(curiously, something that is already happening). Some talk of
providing care for 90 to 95 percent. In other words, they say that
universal health care is unaffordable. But who decides who doesn't
get the care, and how come there is no mention of the insurance
companies' profiteering? A particularly hideous proposal is that
of mandating that all Americans purchase health insurance! This is
similar to the California requirement of mandatory auto insurance.
If you can't afford health-care insurance, will they take away
your driver's license and your right to health care, and blame you
to boot?
Who really speaks for the American people on this issue? Who
speaks for that little old lady that was "mad," or the child that
can't get his or her shots because the doctor says he can't afford
it? Polls show that a significant number of Americans think the
health-care system needs a major overhaul, and not incremental
hogwash.
It is time to see through the smoke screen that the politicians
put forth to confuse us, as their thinking gets muddled by
lobbyists' contributions. We can't afford to let ourselves be
split up by deciding who is more worthy of getting health care,
for example. We have to see that the managed-care mess our
political leaders have let us fall into is directly tied to the
growing numbers of uninsured, and that a real solution must cover
all. The solution shouldn't be like that of another "misleader" in
the arena, that of the American Medical Association. It says we
need more "global" measures than "incremental" ones, but that the
American people won't stand for government intervention into
medicine. What do they call what has been going on up to now?
We need a grass-roots, independent effort to create meaningful
health-care reform. Such an effort is the "Just Health Care"
campaign of the Labor Party. Call the Labor Party at 202-234-5190
to find out more.
FOOTER
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This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO
(Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524,
Chicago, IL 60654; Email:
[email protected];
http://www.lrna.org
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PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its
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TOPIC
03-00 What next after the battle for KPFA?
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People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition)
Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000
P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
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3. WHAT NEXT AFTER THE BATTLE FOR KPFA?
By Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi
[Editor's note: Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi sits on KPFA's community
board. He has been active in the struggles of young people for
bilingual education, for keeping affirmative action in the
University of California and against California's infamous
Proposition 187. Kahlil was the liaison between the protesters and
the police in last summer's struggle to keep KPFA from becoming
silenced by the corporate-oriented national executives of the
Pacifica network that grew out of KPFA.]
BERKELEY, California -- KPFA is a community radio station in
Berkeley, California that was started in the early 1950s. The
whole idea was to promote pacifism, to give a voice to the
voiceless, to have community radio that's not connected to
corporate entities and that's really dedicated to giving the
community an alternative voice, to present alternative ideas, and
to establish an alternative way of communication.
A lot of the programmers who were originally locked out in July
1999 didn't necessarily have the experience to make the fight a
political battle. A lot of youth and community people became
involved when it became a battle in the streets. They played an
important role in the struggle. We had a lot of experience dealing
with the police, with forming political protests that had a lot of
informing and consciousness raising. We did a couple of hip-hop
rallies in the streets. We had lots of different groups come. It
was definitely through the strong support of the community that
the first stage of the struggle -- getting back into the station
-- was victorious.
The battle for KPFA rocked the entire nation when you saw hundreds
of people sleeping in front of a radio station for days and days
-- all dedicated to the idea of nonviolent protest.
The battle is really a national and even an international
struggle. Pacifica is one of the only radio networks that is not
directly connected to corporate America. It does not take funding
from Chevron, for example, so it can have shows like "Flashpoints"
that can talk about Chevron without worrying about repercussions.
Now we have a real danger because the so-called leaders of
Pacifica (Lynn Chadwick and Mary Frances Berry) are censoring free
speech on community radio by not permitting any discussion of the
KPFA issue. These people are no longer holding onto the vision
that founded the station. We as community members have to hold
them responsible and hold them accountable.
Though mainstream news refuses to report it, huge things are still
happening. First, I am the only person still facing charges,
though charges have been dropped for hundreds of others. Secondly,
under the cover of darkness a few weeks ago, they moved the
Pacifica headquarters from the San Francisco Bay Area into the
belly of the beast -- Washington, D.C.
Then they fired the national news director because of his
dedication to covering our issue and his fighting censorship.
Then, at the beginning of February, a strike was launched by more
than 40 stringers -- the nonstaff reporters who do the different
segments that are on the radio every day. The strikers are no
longer willing to submit information to the network until the
policies of censorship are done away with.
We as a nation need alternative voices; people to be given access
to information and the ways to spread it that are not connected to
mainstream corporate media. This is why those of us who see the
importance of a national network of alternative media have to take
a stand on these issues. For me, it's about liberating forms of
communication. Micro-power radio is one form. But it has got to
connect with urban communities and be something that young people
see as an alternative.
Corporate America is digesting hip-hop and spitting it out any way
they want to, so this has got young people definitely confused.
The mass of them listen to regular stations instead of saying,
"Wow, we can create an alternate way of communication." At the
same time, all across the country, the media is trying to blame
and scapegoat young people as violent and threatening. Here in
California, we have Proposition 21 -- the Youth Gang Prevention
Act -- that throws 13- and 14-year-olds into adult prisons.
Today, a lot of young people are getting involved in political
activism through their poetry, their raps, or their plays and
photography. There's really a lot of work being done and young
people are in the forefront of it. It's important that people who
are trying to continue a legacy of struggle are given room to
become a part of this vanguard we are shaping. We can move forward
knowing that we're in the right. Part of the way young people get
our passion and energy to continue the struggle is through
learning history and knowing that we are the new pages of that
history.
Community radio is one part of this. So is micropower radio. When
you also look at webcasting and the Internet, you realize that
these things can be used as tools of liberation -- or for
oppression. Mainstream media is being used as a tool of
oppression. But when we liberate a radio station, or create
micropower stations in the community, or publish an alternative
newspaper, it's a liberating act. These same things -- if we
control them and if we empower ourselves as communities to utilize
them -- can become our tools for the struggle for liberation and
revolution. So we need to find out how we can manipulate them for
our own benefits.
FOOTER
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This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO
(Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524,
Chicago, IL 60654; Email:
[email protected];
http://www.lrna.org
Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The
PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its
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TOPIC
03-00 A view of the real Cuba
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People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition)
Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000
P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
http://www.lrna.org
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4. A VIEW OF THE REAL CUBA
By Chris Arsenault
Our rickety Soviet-made truck sped along the dirt roads of Cuba's
rural interior. A more conservative person might worry about the
safety of 42 Canadians standing in a truck that's more than 20
years old -- probably being held together by the cap of a rum
bottle. However for some reason we didn't worry, Cuba just seems
to instill a carefree attitude. To the locals our group must have
been quite an odd sight. Dirty, sweat-drenched Canadians, carrying
wooden hoes after a hard day in the sugar-cane fields, a switch
from the image of the camera-carrying, beach-bumming and souvenir-
shopping Canadian tourist. Our group hopefully gave the people of
Cuba a different idea of what Canadians are like.
The program, which sends groups of Canadian volunteers to Cuba is
the Ernesto Che Guevara work brigade, organized by Vancouver-based
Amigos de Cuba. The 1999 brigade left Toronto on July 26, 1999 and
returned August 16. The volunteers were a very interesting group
of people, who ranged in age from 15 to 70 and included anarchists
from Toronto, feminists from British Columbia and computer
programmers from Ontario. The work brigade allowed volunteers from
across Canada to fully experience the Cuban reality through
working and spending time with the Cuban people. It was an
incredible experience and one that would be hard to find through
any other vacation.
The first two weeks of the brigade were spent at a place called
the Pioneer Village. An outdoor camp where Cuban kids learn basic
biology and survival skills. The camp was located in the center of
the island in an agricultural region, about 25 minutes outside
Ciego de Avila, Cuba's third-largest city. During these two weeks
we worked at a variety of different jobs. First, we worked at the
camp doing basic maintenance, to prepare it for the upcoming
school year. We painted and did structural repair on the
classrooms, built a gravel path from the mess hall to the
infirmary and, most importantly, used our donations to upgrade the
center's toy library. Upgrading the toy library was probably the
most rewarding of our labors because we were able to see the
children who attended the center enjoy our hard work and smile
because of what we had created. One little girl gave a speech to
our group in which she said our toys would make her life better
and give her and her friends happiness.
Once we had finished working at the Pioneer Center, we moved on to
the banana and sugar-cane fields. This work was far more difficult
than what we had done at the center. The temperature would reach
37 degrees Celsius (about 99 Fahrenheit) and there was no shade.
In the banana fields, we used machetes to cut the dead leaves off
the trees and to cut the grass which grew around the trees. In the
cane fields, we hoed the dense grasses away from the cane.
The field work was hard but still fun, and you could always look
forward to a swim in the cool river when the work was finished. In
Cuba, it is very rare for people to work in the fields past noon
because of the heat. When we worked, we'd be up by 6:30 a.m. and
in the fields by 8. Getting to the fields was my favorite part
about the work. We'd stand in an open-air truck and speed along
the rural roads with the cool breeze blowing. From this it sounds
like we worked very hard while at the camp, and we did. But we
could take frequent breaks and no one was pushed to do more than
he or she wanted. However, during our stay at the pioneer camp, we
Canadians learned a lot more than how to cut banana leaves.
Once work was finished for the day, we would meet with delegates
who represented various groups of the Cuban people. These were the
trade unions, the Association of Cuban Women, local government
representatives (CTC), the Association of Small Farmers (ANAP),
and even veterans of the revolution who fought alongside Fidel and
Che. These excellent people painted a truthful and beautiful
picture of Cuban society and social organization. We were able to
fully understand how the government and other institutions within
the country interacted for the betterment of the people. Even
volunteers who weren't in support of Cuba's economic decisions
agreed that the Cuban system accommodates and provides for its
people better than most countries. The people in power were not
removed from the general public, like in most countries. The
leaders had a deep and profound respect for the people. The other
Canadians and I admired the revolution for keeping these qualities
in its leaders and for building such a great country even when it
faces so many obstacles.
One of the greatest challenges the revolution faces today is the
brutal treatment Cuba gets from her imperialist neighbors to the
north. The Yankees do many despicable and revolting things to try
and hinder the revolution, and I saw some of the chilling effects
of their hateful actions. For example, when we met with the
farmers association they talked of what the United States had done
to their crops. According to Julio Marlin, a member and
representative of ANAP: "American planes flew through free zones
over different agricultural regions, Matanzas province in
particular. These planes dropped biological agents to destroy the
crops and sent down deadly raids of fever to poison the animals."
Julio had seen the destruction with his own eyes.
Another example of Yankee brutality happened in Cayo Coco, at the
hotel where we were staying. According to Marvel Miranda, a
translator and close friend: "Five years ago a boat came to the
beach, where Cuban families were vacationing and opened fire.
Several people, including children, were killed and many more
wounded." Yet no one in North America heard about this tragedy.
Even with these examples of raids and other deadly actions, the
most destructive piece of American foreign policy is a trade
embargo that has lasted more than 40 years. This embargo hurts
every aspect of Cuban society, because they cannot buy anything
that is made or patented in the United States. Cuban hospitals
need certain American-made equipment; they have the money to buy
it, but they aren't allowed to.
At the hospital in Ciego de Avila, a nurse told us a heart-
wrenching story about a newborn that died because the hospital
lacked the American-patented medicine to treat her. Farmers in
Cuba want to modernize so they can increase productivity but they
can't buy any fertilizer or any piece of farm machinery patented
or made in the United States. This makes finding these essential
tools very difficult. It is amazing that the world can sit back
and allow a bully to steal candy from a small child, but I guess
nothing will change if the bully can intimidate the teachers. Any
United Nations attempt to end the embargo, or any other piece of
U.S. foreign policy for that matter, is vetoed.
When we weren't working or meeting we were visiting. We were free
to go into the different cities and look around for ourselves. We
saw hospitals, day-care centers, an orphanage and, of course, a
variety of Cuban bars. Cuba does produce the world's greatest rum.
Our movement wasn't restricted in the least. We saw the
picturesque buildings and monuments as well as the poverty and
lack of material resources that many Cubans face. Our time at the
pioneer center changed the lives of many of the brigadistas. One
of the younger volunteers said he learned more in those two weeks
than in two years of his formal education. However, the last week
proved to be the most enjoyable.
The third week was spent on Cayo Coco, a beautiful beach island
off the coast of Cuba. Here we stayed at a sparse but very fun
hotel resort in which all of the other guests were Cubans. We were
the only foreigners allowed there. Although western comforts like
electric lights, running water and the all-mighty television were
not available here, no one seemed to mind. When you're away from
western doo-dads for a few weeks, you realize how unnecessary they
are. I didn't touch a computer, phone, microwave or flushing
toilet during my trip, and I can't say I missed them. When you
have a beach, good food and great friends none of that other stuff
really matters.
In Cayo Coco, there wasn't really a schedule. We swam in the warm
ocean water, relaxed on the soft white sand and of course hung out
with our Cuban friends. On the brigade, there were 10 Cubans who
were fully fluent in English. These young men and women became
almost part of my family during this trip. We shared everything
and it is because of them that I know exactly what life in Cuba is
really like. They told us where the revolution had failed, as well
as where it succeeded. The translators made the brigade what it
was; I now know what life in Cuba is like for the average person.
There are very few, if any other, programs that offer this sort of
personal contact and it made this brigade truly amazing.
Usually when I travel I enjoy my trip, but I'm happy to get home.
I really wish I could have spent a few more weeks, but I know that
won't be my last visit to Cuba. How could it be? Once a person has
been to a place where people truly care about each other, home is
just never the same. It was amazing to be in a country where there
were no social divisions. In Cuba, the people are the government.
I know how greatly the mainstream media distorts the Cuban
reality, and although the people are still poor, I have never seen
so many smiles in all my life. If you want an experience like no
other and are looking for an affordable way to be part of another
culture, then this is the program for you. It certainly was the
one for me.
[I would like to thank Jose and Gerry from Amigos de Cuba for
doing so much hard work for such a great event. I would also like
to thank the Institute of Friendship for Peoples (ICAP) for
treating us so well.]
To be involved in the 2000 brigade, write:
Box 21540
1850 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, British Columbia
V5N 4A0 Canada
Telephone and fax: 604-327-6844
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.laa.uvic.ca
FOOTER
******************************************************************
This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO
(Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524,
Chicago, IL 60654; Email:
[email protected];
http://www.lrna.org
Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The
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TOPIC
03-00 Juvenile Justice: Children may be jailed with adults
TEXT
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5. JUVENILE JUSTICE: CHILDREN MAY BE JAILED WITH ADULTS
By Tyrone Glenn
Recently, the United States House of Representatives Judiciary
Chairman, Henry Hyde, R-Ill., and Subcommittee on Crime Chairman
Bill McCollum, R-Fla., introduced a bill to allow federal
prosecutors the discretion to try children as young as 13 as
adults in the federal court system.
House Bill HR2037 will allow the federal government to place more
children in adult prisons. It will cause children to be subjected
to numerous abuses by both adult prisoners and prison staff. The
children will not only be beaten and raped by prisoners and staff,
but the likelihood of suicides is present at a higher rate than
adults, because of the immaturity of the incarcerated children.
Under HR2037, juveniles will be subjected to mandatory minimum
sentences that even adult prisoners aren't subjected to. For
example, any juvenile that discharges a firearm in a school zone
will get a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, but an adult
charged with the same offense would not be subjected to the same
mandatory sentence.
There are many more hidden punishments that are embedded in the
so-called Juvenile Justice bill HR2037. This bill and others to
follow are nothing more than an attempt by the politicians to dupe
the public into thinking that they are doing something to curb the
likelihood of a repeat of what happened at Columbine High School
in Littleton, Colorado.
The bill should be especially troubling to the so-called pro-life
forces that support both Henry Hyde and Bill McCullom, because
they're the ones that claim to be champions for the rights of
children, both those that are aborted and the ones that are born.
Here are two men who say that aborting a child is murder, but at
the same time they introduce a bill to support killing children.
The term "killing children" is used because if the bill becomes a
law, then children as young as 13 years of age will be prosecuted
for crimes as an adult and quite possibly even be tried for the
death penalty as an adult.
Representatives Henry Hyde and Bill McCullom both claim to be pro-
life conservatives, but their hypocrisy is evident when such laws
as this one are being created. How can they claim to want to
protect unborn children, when in reality they want to incarcerate
those that are alive?
The public needs to wake up and stop the efforts of these kinds of
politicians from destroying our children. They will apparently do
anything to make themselves appear to be the protectors of
society. In reality, they are only trying to hold on to their jobs
by exploiting the feelings of revenge this society has every time
some tragedy happens. Like most politicians, these two will say
and do anything they think will keep them in office, and if that
means putting children in prison with adults, then so be it.
FOOTER
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(Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524,
Chicago, IL 60654; Email:
[email protected];
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TOPIC
03-00 War on youth escalates!
TEXT
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6. WAR ON YOUTH ESCALATES!
BATTLE FRONT SHIFTS TO CALIFORNIA IN FIGHT AGAINST PROP. 21
By Richard Monje
California is again the sit of some of the most dangerous
legislation in the country. Promoted by former Governor Pete
Wilson, the Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime Prevention Act (Prop.
21) will be voted on March 7.
Proposition 21's premise, supporters say, is to target gangs and
criminals. In reality, Prop. 21 targets all youth. It could
isolate youth by their conduct, their association, their features
and even how they dress. In this context, the first victims of
this law would be the youth of color. The most ominous aspect of
this initiative is the removal of rights the youth already enjoy.
All will be subject to prosecution as adults. Sentences would
increase the need for more prisons. California is currently first
in the nation in prison funding and 41st in education funding.
Proposition 21 would cost people millions of dollars and parents
hundreds of thousands of their sons' and daughters' lives.
In past legislative struggles, such as Propositions 187, 209, 226
and 227 (to name a few) literally hundreds of thousands of workers
and poor people have responded in defense of their rights. At the
forefront of these struggles have been the youth, junior high,
high school, college students and community activists. The first
week of March leading to the elections has been dubbed, "Week of
Rage." And again the youth are organizing all over California.
This is only one battlefront in the overall assault on our rights.
The capitalists have consistently pitted one section of our
communities against another sometimes it is the immigrant, other
times the minorities, and now the youth. Despite their efforts to
pit people one against the other, there is a growing, discontented
youth movement uniting. We must continue to respond in an
organized fight for a program based in our interests. A first step
is the defeat of Proposition 21 and to expose the true intentions
of its creators.
FOOTER
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(Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524,
Chicago, IL 60654; Email:
[email protected];
http://www.lrna.org
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TOPIC
03-00 The Next Level in Women's Rise to Freedom
TEXT
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7. THE NEXT LEVEL IN WOMEN'S RISE TO FREEDOM
No revolution has, or ever could, take place without the
contribution of women. Their economic and social position makes
women a powerful social force in any period of change. In
struggle, they have been among the most dedicated, the most
militant, the most willing to sacrifice.
If the power of women as a social force is to be wielded for the
cause of revolution today, we cannot simply apply the formulas of
the past. The growing polarization of wealth and poverty is
throwing millions into poverty regardless of gender, color or
nationality. Under such conditions, unity along class lines is the
only means of organizing our forces for the struggles ahead.
Understanding women's status and condition today is crucial to
understanding why this is so. We, as revolutionaries, must play
our role in not only finally liberating women from their ancient
oppression, but transforming society into what it can now be --
where all will share in the fruits of society, where inequality
and oppression will have no part.
WOMEN'S CHANGING POSITION IN SOCIETY
Women's oppression arose with private property and has changed
according to the historical and economic conditions that dictated
their place in production. Prior to the rise of private property,
women's labor played a central role in social production and
reproduction. There was a division of labor between men and women,
but not an inequality because there was no possibility of the
accumulation of property. The domestication of animals and the
development of agriculture led to the accumulation of property
that was passed from one generation to the next. Women were pushed
out of social production and became dependent upon men. These
epochal changes, centuries in the making, accompanied the
reorganization of society to safeguard private property relations.
In the past 50 years, we have seen great changes in the position
of women. Technological developments in the home have freed women
to enter the work force, the expansion of the post-war economy
made jobs available, and, more recently, downsizing and declining
wages brought about by the introduction of electronics have made
those jobs necessary to maintain the family. Increasingly, these
same technological developments are erasing the physical
differences between men's and women's work.
Women now constitute almost 50 percent of the work force. They are
better educated, have access to once male-dominated professions
and many hold positions of influence and power within society.
The majority of American women, are struggling even harder than
ever to juggle a life of work and family, discrimination in the
workplace, and the general financial and emotional stresses of
life lived in a world where the "race to the bottom" is ever-
present.
Although the majority of women suffer in various ways and various
degrees from the inferior status imposed upon them, no economic
position unites these women.
From within this mass of increasingly discontented women is
emerging, however, a section of women who do have common economic
interests. These are the women of the emerging new class of poor.
They make up over 70 percent of part-time workers, 55 percent of
temporary workers, 47 percent of multiple job holders. One third
of all the families maintained by women live below the poverty
level. Women and children constitute the fastest-rising number of
the homeless and destitute.
WOMEN AND MEN OF THE NEW CLASS
This section of women -- the women of the new class -- share
common economic interests not only with each other, but
increasingly with men in their similar economic position.
Electronics -- labor-replacing technology -- has devastated a
growing section of male workers. Unskilled, entry level, skilled
manufacturing and, increasingly, white-collar workers are finding
themselves marginalized, unable to find or to keep work. A growing
section of men are finding that their prospects are little
different than women's as contingent workers -- part-timers,
temps, working multiple jobs.
Electronic technology has the potential to provide everyone in
society with the fruits of a stable, cultured and decent life.
Under capitalism, this same technology has rendered the value of
human labor "worthless," throwing increasingly millions of men and
women into the ranks of the new class. Reforming the current
economic system will not meet the needs of this class. That can
only be accomplished by reorganizing society around the
possibilities of the new technology.
OLD MEANS OF CONTROL UNDERMINED
Under capitalism, male supremacy justifies women's economic
dependence on men not simply for its own sake, but as a crucial
part of the interlocking web of ideas that facilitates the
functioning of the capitalist system.
Men have benefited from women's economic dependence, but
ultimately these advantages have only been bestowed to further the
exploitation and control of men. For example, their position as
primary breadwinner and person responsible for the family has tied
them more tightly to the system (a situation electronics is
changing). Male supremacy has justified women as a cheap work
force and in so doing has, at different times in history, pitted
men against women both politically as well as economically.
The ideological power of male supremacy does not simply rely upon
the ability of the ruling class to enforce women's economic and
social subordination, but also upon their ability to provide men
with the means to secure social and particularly economic
superiority over women. This process has taken different forms
according to class position and periods of history and, in our
country, according to color.
Today, we see that it is not only "the job" and its role in
stabilizing the ideology of male supremacy that is being
destroyed, but the whole web of relationships that make up
society. The family, the raising of children, the specific roles
of men and women -- these no longer serve the same purpose in a
world where labor is no longer needed. This process is affecting
millions of men and women, disrupting their sense of themselves,
their relation to others and to society as a whole.
This does not mean that the ideology of male supremacy no longer
exists or that it will somehow magically disappear. It does mean
that the material basis for all existing ideologies is being
destroyed, opening up the possibilities for class unity in a way
we have not known before in history.
TAKE UP THE VISION OF A NEW WORLD
We are in the midst of profound change. All aspects of society are
struggling to resolve the oppression they have experienced for
historical as well as economic reasons. The inequality of women or
racial oppression still exist today. But it also clear that the
historical construction of race and gender is inherently connected
to class relations cultivated by the existing system. Neither
society as a whole nor these historical struggles can take any
steps forward apart from the resolution of the problems of the new
class. Only a solution which addresses the "least of us" will
resolve the problems for all of us.
It is time to rip the root of the women's struggle out of the
capitalist soil, for both women and men to come together and unite
around a program that goes beyond women's legal and political
emancipation. Electronics has provided the capacity to take care
of the needs of every new generation. The struggle of women today
is for what the material changes in society have made possible.
This struggle cannot be resolved short of the reorganization of
society into a system in which the fruits of human civilization
are made available to all.
Only then can we create a world in which there will be, as
Frederick Engels once wrote:
"A generation of men who never in their lives have known what it
is to buy a woman's surrender with money or any other social
instrument of power; a generation of women who have never known
what it is to give themselves to a man from any other
considerations than real love, or to refuse to give themselves
from fear of economic consequences. When these people are in the
world, they will care precious little what anybody thinks they
ought to do; they will make their own practice and their own
corresponding public opinion about the practice of each individual
-- and that will be the end of it."
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
SPEAKERS for a NEW AMERICA
People's Tribune Speakers Bureau presents
WOMEN AND MEN CRUSADING FOR A NEW AMERICA: WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
2000
* Why poor women and men have common economic interests today,
and what this means for the struggle for a new world where
families' needs are met
* The Economic Human Rights Campaign of America's poor
* Why men have to fight for women's equality
* The role of the women's movement: Why gaining reforms was
necessary at a point in history, and why true liberation is
possible today
* Right-wing campaigns against the poor
* Sharing a new vision for the restructuring of the system as a
whole.
* Understanding popular culture and education and it's role in
revolution.
* Youth and Revolution: How youth paint their experiences through
art, writing and activism.
* Evolution of women's role, from the earliest societies (prior
to private property) and up through the age of electronics.
"As poor women, let us fulfill our leading roles in history by not
integrating into a system that is killing our brothers and sons."
- Cheri Honkala, leader in the struggle for Economic Human Rights
"Women and men need to come together. The struggle of women today
cannot be resolved short of the reorganization of society into a
system in which the fruits of human civilization are made
available to all." - Alma Ramirez, editorial board member,
People's Tribune/ Tribuno del Pueblo
"Men must be willing to stand up for women's rights if equality is
ever to be achieved." - Tim Metzger, student
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
Call 1-800-691-6888 or e-mail
[email protected] to bring a speaker
to your city. Visit our web site at
http://www.mcs.net/~speakers.
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
FOOTER
******************************************************************
This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO
(Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524,
Chicago, IL 60654; Email:
[email protected];
http://www.lrna.org
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TOPIC
03-00 Globalization of Poverty: Why We Must Find To End It
TEXT
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8. GLOBALIZATION OF POVERTY: WHY WE MUST FIND TO END IT
Rochelle Robinson
Poverty is global, and it is globalization that has kept those in
poverty all over the world from rising above it. We have been led
to believe that globalization is a process that can enrich our
local and global economies. Yet nothing can be further from the
truth. Its meaning is unscrupulous, and its results, onerous.
Globalization is just another euphemism for capitalism; a system
that has had a devastating effect on the poorest of the land.
Statistics show that the richest 1 percent of the country own 47.2
percent of all the wealth, while the bottom 90 percent own only
17.1 percent of this country's wealth. Usually, we are left
fighting among ourselves for those scarce resources. When the
world's largest populations are situated at the bottom of the
economic scale while a miniscule number of people hold all the
wealth, something is amiss, and that something is the
globalization of poverty.
Women are hit the hardest, in particular, women of color and poor
white women. We need only to look around us to see globalization's
criminalizing effect. More and more women are pushed from welfare
to unemployment and marginalization. County jails and state
prisons are housing more women who are mostly poor.
Human beings are being denied the most basic human rights such as
housing, food, education, health care, and jobs that keep the poor
out of poverty. The goal of moving people from welfare to work has
not been realized and is unrealistic. Many women and their
families are being sanctioned from the welfare rolls, and often
without a means to support themselves.
The training that has been provided for some is so inadequate, it
places former recipients into low-wage occupations that do not
sufficiently cover the basic costs of housing, transportation or
child care. Many of these jobs do not offer medical benefits, and
women are often penalized if they take time off to care for a sick
child. With these minimum-wage occupations, the question remains:
How does a person pull herself/himself up by her/his bootstraps
without a boot or a strap to pull?
We need real solutions to real problems, problems that have been
exacerbated by globalization. In the U.S., welfare reform, and its
subsequent policies including the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, has been nothing more than
specious. Policies like this are designed to manage poverty and
therefore keep the poor from rising above it.
Capitalism and globalization are the culprits, because they do not
level the playing field nor do they intend to. The poor are
struggling to keep from drowning in a sea of managed poverty and
government bureaucracy. The gap between the haves and the have-
nots continues to widen; it keeps the poor scrambling for so-
called scarce resources, usually crumbs. In the meantime, the
status quo points the finger at the poor and indicts them for
their conditions.
We must fight to eliminate poverty, not manage it. It must be
prevented so there is no need for a cure. We must mobilize on a
united front with our sisters and brothers all over the world,
and, by any and all means necessary, release the chokehold of
globalized poverty. We must fight to deconstruct the feminization
of poverty, so that women who are single parents are not
sanctioned and left with even less to take care of themselves and
their families. A woman should not be incarcerated for trying to
feed her family and keep a roof over their heads. She should not
have to scramble for crumbs when she can have and should have
loaves. We must develop and maintain a vision and a reality of an
economic and human rights agenda that is globally inclusive.
"This time it's all of us or none of us."
FOOTER
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Chicago, IL 60654; Email:
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TOPIC
03-00 150th anniversary of the Compromise of 1850
TEXT
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9. 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMPROMISE OF 1850: LEARN FROM THE
UNCOMPROMISING SPIRIT OF THE ABOLITIONISTS!
By Chris Mahin
He spoke to a packed chamber, in 100-degree heat, for three hours
and 11 minutes, barely using his few notes. Afterward, a leader of
the fight against slavery declared that the oration had
transformed the man who delivered it from a lion into a spaniel.
One of the country's most talented writers composed a famous poem
likening him to Satan. A prominent New England minister compared
him to Benedict Arnold.
This month marks the 150th anniversary of the day that U.S.
Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts gave his notorious
"Seventh of March" speech in the U.S. Senate. On March 7, 1850,
Webster used his considerable eloquence to support the "Compromise
of 1850," a series of measures designed to appease the
slaveholding South. The events of 1850 are worth examining because
that political crisis has much to teach us about how the fight
against unjust property relations unfolds -- and who can be
trusted in such crises (and who can't).
The crisis of 1850 had been brewing for a long time. While the
United States was founded on slavery, by the middle 1800s, the
population and economic capacity of the free North was surpassing
that of the slaveholding South. The defenders of the slave system
desperately needed to expand slavery into the West. When the
settlers of California petitioned Congress for admission into the
Union late in 1849, the stage was set for a showdown. Admitting
California to the Union as a free state would tip the balance of
power in Congress in favor of the free states. To prevent that,
representatives of the slave states threatened to secede from the
Union.
In response, Kentucky Senator Henry Clay crafted a series of
proposed laws. While described as a "compromise," they were
heavily weighted in the South's favor. California would be
admitted to the Union as a free state, but slavery would not be
banned in the rest of the vast territory seized from Mexico in the
war of 1846-1848. While the slave trade would be banned in the
District of Columbia, slavery itself would remain legal there. The
"compromise" also included a new, stronger Fugitive Slave Act
requiring the free states to send runaway slaves back to slavery.
Clay's "compromise" outraged not just those people who advocated
the immediate abolition of slavery throughout the United States,
but also those who accepted slavery in the South but were opposed
to slavery being spread elsewhere. Daniel Webster had been on
record since 1837 as opposing the extension of slavery into the
territories. Yet, on March 7, 1850, he vigorously supported Clay's
proposals. Webster argued that preserving the Union was more
important than anything else.
Webster's speech split the country. Shortly after the speech, the
abolitionist newspaper The Liberator published an eight-column
analysis refuting Webster's arguments. Within days of the
Massachusetts senator's appearance on the Senate floor, a mass
meeting in Faneuil Hall in Boston condemned Webster's speech as
"unworthy of a wise statesman and a good man," and resolved that
"Constitution or no Constitution, law or no law, we will not allow
a fugitive slave to be taken from the state of Massachusetts."
In his speech, Webster had denounced the abolitionists, referring
to them contemptuously as "these agitating people," and declaring
that they had contributed "nothing good or valuable."
"At the same time," he declared -- with great condescension -- "I
believe thousands of their members to be honest and good men. ...
They have excited feelings; ... they do not see what else they can
do than to contribute to an Abolition press, or to an Abolition
society, or to pay an Abolition lecturer." He specifically
condemned the abolitionists for fighting to convince people that
the question of slavery was a moral question. Webster argued that
by posing the slavery question that way, the abolitionists treated
morality as if it had the certainty of mathematics and made
compromise impossible.
By the end of September 1850, all the different pieces of the
"Compromise of 1850" had been passed by the U.S. Congress -- but
civil war was only postponed, not averted. The new Fugitive Slave
Law allowed slave catchers easier access to their prey -- even in
Boston, the city where the killing of a runaway slave by British
troops had begun the American Revolution.
For 10 years after the compromise which was supposed to settle the
slavery question in the United States "forever," the abolitionists
hammered home their message about the immorality of slavery. It
was not Webster's willingness to compromise his principles that
helped push history forward; it was the abolitionists'
unwillingness to compromise theirs. Today, the world needs
revolutionaries willing to be as uncompromising as the advocates
of the immediate abolition of slavery were in the 19th century,
and willing to proclaim their message as forthrightly as these
abolitionists did.
As we fight an unjust set of property relations today, we should
strive to use the revolutionary press and the speaker's platform
as skillfully as the abolitionists did then. Like the
abolitionists, we should be bold and insist on describing the
existence of massive wealth alongside massive poverty as a moral
issue -- because it is one. If we do that, we will pay the best
tribute that can possibly be paid to those "agitating people" of
the 19th century with their abolition presses and lecturers and
societies, people who -- Daniel Webster notwithstanding --
contributed something very good and valuable to society indeed.
FOOTER
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This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO
(Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524,
Chicago, IL 60654; Email:
[email protected];
http://www.lrna.org
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TOPIC
03-00 Senora, you are right ...
TEXT
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10. SENORA, YOU ARE RIGHT ... THESE LITTLE CABRONCITOS DO NOT GROW
ON TREES!
By Rodolfo Chavez
"Youth like this do not grow on trees. I'm not frustrated nor
disappointed in their actions. In fact, I am proud of not only my
son, but all of these cabroncitos," declared the mother of a young
man who had been arrested during the military intervention in the
UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) strikes in Mexico
City.
February 6, 2000 marked another dark chapter in the history of
Mexico and its role of student repression. During the middle of
the night, a task force of 2,500 military troops conducted a
surprise maneuver by arresting over 700 students and faculty
members that have been waging a strike for almost 10 months at the
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico or UNAM. What infuriated
all of Mexico is that this was ordered by the national government,
and President Zedillo took full responsibility for the action as
he addressed the country the following day, rationalizing his
motives and intent to terminate this student movement.
In addition to the massive arrests of that night, warrants of
arrest were issued to detain those student leaders who had avoided
arrest, thus unleashing a witch hunt to detain and punish all
activists who have taken part in and shaped this student movement.
In its hastiness to proceed, the federal government exceeded its
authority and went so far as to fabricate false crimes and absurd
accusations that had no material basis and violated the
government's own laws. The government is the subject of ridicule
and this is reflected in the public's sentiment.
The government of Mexico thought it had terminated not only the
strike but public support for it. The strike came to life over 10
months ago when students refused a new tuition regulation imposed
authoritatively by Francisco Barnes, director of UNAM. The measure
was intended to cover federal budget cuts to UNAM that were
implemented eight months prior to the strike. The student platform
is to defend the human right of a free public education, a basic
right that is declared in the Mexican Constitution and a direct
result of the Revolution of 1910. The students have taken a stand
to defend what historically belongs to the Mexican people,
especially when today more than ever the people of Mexico have
reached desperate levels of poverty and marginalization. The
legacy of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 represents the only thing
they can hold onto -- their hopes, dreams and aspirations to a
better future. The Mexican government's plan to end the strike
blew up in its face. It served to not only consolidate a student
base and leadership, but also evoked widespread support from
Mexico's impoverished masses.
A perfect example of this is the massive demonstrations that took
place on February 8, right after the surprise arrests. In Mexico
City alone, over 150,000 took to the streets in support of the
arrested students and called for their immediate release.
Simultaneously, across the country, other protests erupted and as
such demonstrated that the students of UNAM were not alone in
their efforts to defend the right to free public education. Their
support refuses to condemn future generations of Mexico to suffer
and pay for an education that is their constitutional right while
the government unabashedly exploits, pillages, and steals their
national resources and controls their economy. They are tired of
the written pages of 20th century corruption that have shamed the
legacy of their revolutionary struggles.
It is worth noting that while the strike has marked a record in
Mexican history, it has not occurred without disruptions and
infiltrations. At times its leadership has been shaken. It has not
been easy and the pressures have been many. The Mexican government
has resorted to its traditional methods of blackmailing, media and
communication blackouts, and systematic control over public
opinion and influence, including the intellectual elite. Yet, a
new spirit has been reborn in the people of Mexico. Politicians
and their agendas have been revealed. The hidden forms of fascism
under which the government has always operated have been unmasked
and boldly exposed during the tenure of the UNAM strike.
The UNAM strike represents more than just a student movement; it
is a moral outcry that is not willing to give up hope in the midst
of an abyss of injustice. Together with the Zapatistas and other
struggles, it represents the struggle for dignity, respect and a
better Mexico. It is the forum under which progressive forces of
the country must come together and wage the next round for the
reconstruction of this nation.
FOOTER
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This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO
(Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524,
Chicago, IL 60654; Email:
[email protected];
http://www.lrna.org
Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The
PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its
readers.
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TOPIC
03-00 Spirit: My source of morality
TEXT
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People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition)
Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000
P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
http://www.lrna.org
BODY
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11. SPIRIT OF THE REVOLUTION: MY SOURCE OF MORALITY
Peter Brown
[Editor's note: Peter Brown is a dancer, teacher and choreographer
in Oakland, California. Also a journeyman machinist who worked in
East Bay shops, including Caterpillar Tractor Co., for 11 years,
he is a founding member of the League of Revolutionaries for a New
America.]
I grew up in a family with no religion; no church, no god, no
concept of a creator or supreme being. For a long time, when I
was a kid back in the '50s and early '60s, a lot of my friends
thought that was really strange. They'd ask me things like: "Don't
you feel kinda empty inside?"; "Well, how do you think the world
got started, anyway?"; or, "How do you know what's right or
wrong?" And for a long time, I thought I had to argue with them,
convince them that they were wrong, not me.
But I came to understand that this couldn't really be argued, we
just had different frames of reference from each other, and it was
like trying to debate what the color "red" looks like. Each person
looks at it, sees it the way they see it, and that's "red."
So my frame of reference was this, but I certainly didn't feel
empty. My parents taught me that life is historical; everything
has a past that determines its present nature, and all things are
connected with each other. They taught me to respect all life
forms. It has taken me years to realize that this is my
spirituality, and my source of morality.
Existence is infinite, both in space and time, even though the
distance of our vision is limited.
Existence is matter in motion, a duality in which matter is form,
and motion is content; neither can exist without the other, and
nothing exists without both. Taken together, matter and motion are
existence. Matter is that which reveals motion or energy, and
motion or energy is the mode of existence of matter.
Evolution is the changing of existence through time. A delicious
contradiction, because while every particle of matter and every
iota of energy in existence now has existed for infinite time,
it's never in the same form for two seconds in a row.
The world/universe we see now did not always exist; the animals
and plants of today did not always exist, others did. Mountains,
oceans, our planet did not always exist. The elemental materials
our universe is made of (iron, carbon, uranium, gold, oxygen and
all the rest) did not always exist.
Perhaps ten billion years (that's 10,000 millions of years) went
into the evolution of nonliving matter before the formation of
Earth. Around 600 million years later, many millions of years
after the evolution of water on Earth, a molecule developed that
was so complex it had the ability to reproduce itself. From there,
a billion years went into the development of molecules more
complex and efficient at reproducing themselves; molecules that
combined with others in collectives to form the first living
cells; and finally, the first simple plants, algae.
Another billion years passed before the rise of sexual
reproduction around two billion years ago. And all this among
plants (carbon dioxide breathers); no animals (oxygen breathers)
existed until roughly one billion years ago.
In the last half-billion years, the first animals complex enough
to have a central nervous system appeared. Only in the past 150
million years has there been evidence of anything we would
recognize as consciousness, emotion, reasoning, morality.
And in the last couple of million years, humanity has emerged from
its ancestry, full of unprecedented abilities, insatiable
curiosity, and complex emotions.
I am not a scientist; it's not my task here to fully explain what
more skilled people have used hundreds or thousands of pages to
explain. But I need to lay some kind of base for sharing the
spirituality I experience and understand.
You and I consist of matter and energy from everywhere on our
planet, everywhere in the universe, and those are infinitely old.
We are completely connected to all of existence.
The patterns of matter and energy that make each of us unique,
change from moment to moment and are the result of everything that
has come before us. We are the current result of 4 billion years
of life on Earth.
Consciousness is the highest evolution of matter.
We are the universe knowing itself.
And now we stand at a turning point, with crucial choices to be
made and no one to make them but us. All of us. Since the rise of
humanity, the dominant evolution on Earth has been that of
society. If we look at the development of human society as though
it were that of an individual, we could say that our many
thousands of years of hunting and gathering represent our infancy,
and the many centuries of agricultural civilizations represent our
childhood. The rise of manufacture and massive industry,
culminating in the atomic age, stands in for adolescence, and any
parent of a teenager knows that's when we attain the power of
self-destruction, but not yet necessarily the wisdom to avoid it.
Humanity now stands at the brink of adulthood; the rise of the
microprocessor, and the global society it has brought, offer us
the opportunity to rise above the pettiness and disaster of
individual wealth and power.
We have a choice: a cooperative, creative, wonderful, imperfect
future for all humans in which we use our technology (knowledge of
how the world works) to be close to the natural world; or no
future at all.
The implication of that choice is that we, the mass of humanity,
must come together with the purpose of taking political power from
those who represent and enforce global capital, the last gasp of
adolescence. They will not give it up with a handshake.
That is my spirituality.
FOOTER
******************************************************************
This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO
(Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 3/ March, 2000; P.O. Box 3524,
Chicago, IL 60654; Email:
[email protected];
http://www.lrna.org
Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The
PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its
readers.
******************************************************************
