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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Opening guns of World War III?


Map of the Arctic



The Great Game in the Arctic
Written by Frederik Ohsten
Thursday, 13 December 2012

Climate change, melting icecaps and new opportunities for access to valuable resources have reawakened a struggle for power in the Arctic. The Great powers are jockeying for control of the region.

On the 6th of August 2012, Russia announced that it plans to build a string of naval infrastructure hubs along the Arctic's Northern Sea Route. According to the report, Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev confirmed that, “[A]uthorities have drafted a list of 'key double-purpose sites in remote areas of the Arctic seas along the Northern Sea Route' to enable the 'temporary stationing of Russian Navy warships and vessels operated by the Federal Security Service's Border Guard Department'”.

This is just one of the latest incidents of sabre-rattling in the Arctic region. Canada and the United States are also involved in this struggle for control of this strategic region. So are smaller states such as Norway and Denmark. A relatively new development is the entry of China on the stage.

In August, China sent its first ship across the Arctic to Europe and it is lobbying intensely for permanent observer status on the Arctic Council, the loose international body of eight Arctic nations that develops policy for the region, arguing that it is a “near Arctic state”.

Minerals and Rare Metals

This summer Chinese ministers visited Denmark, Sweden and Iceland, offering lucrative trade deals. High-level diplomats have also visited Greenland, where Chinese companies are investing in a developing mining industry, with plans to import around 5,000 Chinese workers to the island, which only has 60,000 inhabitants.

Greenland is a “self-governing state” within the Kingdom of Denmark. In recent years, various powers have displayed a growing interest in the Inuit country due to the fact that the retreat of its ice cap has unveiled coveted mineral deposits, including rare earth metals that are crucial for new technologies such as mobile phones and military guidance systems. One area, the Kvanefjeld deposit, is estimated to contain 20 per cent of the global rare earth supply, making it the world's second-largest deposit of rare earths.

As improved technology, booming prices and climate change are making the riches of Greenland more available for exploitation; all the major powers have turned their eyes on this remote place. The US has been there in place for decades.

“Flirting Bandits”

In Thule, Greenland hosts the northernmost base for the US Air Force. At a conference in August, Thomas R. Nides, deputy Secretary of State for management and resources, said the Arctic was becoming “a new frontier in our foreign policy.” The message was quite clear: “The Arctic is ours – stay out!”

In June, Antonio Tajani, the EU’s Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, rushed to Greenland’s capital, offering hundreds of millions (of Euros? DC) in development aid in exchange for guarantees that Greenland would not give China exclusive access to its rare earth metals, calling his trip “raw mineral diplomacy.” Unfortunately for the Europeans, this did not stop the Chinese.

Other prominent guests in Greenland have been the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea. Also, Greenland’s Prime Minister, Kuupik Kleist, was welcomed by President José Manuel Barroso of the European Commission in Brussels. What a long list of “flirting bandits”!

China in the Arctic

Recently, China began seeking to enhance its engagement in the region as a permanent observer in the Arctic Council. The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues such as the management of resources, climate change, and Arctic environment maintenance. The Council has eight voting member states—Canada, United States, Russia, Denmark (Faroe Islands and Greenland), Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and Finland—all of which share a border with the Arctic Ocean. There are six permanent observer states—all of which are European—and multiple ad-hoc observer members, among them: Japan, South Korea, and China.

This body previously focused on issues like monitoring Arctic animal populations, but now it has more substantive tasks, such as defining future port fees and negotiating agreements on oil spill remediation. Though Iceland, Denmark and Sweden now openly support China’s bid, Norway is against. The United States State Department has declined to say how it would vote.

A manifestation of this new Chinese strategic interest is the voyage of the world’s largest icebreaker, the Xuelong (“Snow Dragon”) to Iceland. The Xuelong left Qingdao on the 2nd of July for the 17,000 km voyage through the so-called “north-east” route along the coast of Russia.

Following the “north-east” route, the voyage from Yokohama in Japan to Rotterdam in Holland is less than 13,000 kilometres. This is a substantial reduction compared to the “Suez route” which is 21,000 kilometres. The opening of this new trade route could have big consequences.

A retired Rear Admiral of the Chinese Navy, Yin Zhuo, caused a stir in March 2010, when in a speech to the Chinese Peoples' Political Consultative Conference, he declared: “The Arctic belongs to all the people around the world as no nation has sovereignty over it.” China, he said, must also have a share of the region's resources. This clearly reflects Chinese imperialism’s need for expansion. But the other imperialist powers are not eager to let them in.

Another example: In August 2011, Chinese tycoon Huang Nubo made a bid to purchase 300 square kilometres of land in northeast Iceland for an eco-resort. While his efforts are allegedly unaffiliated with the Chinese government, the deal would grant China a significant foothold in the Arctic. The land in question is strategically located near one of Iceland’s largest glacial rivers and several potential deep-water ports. As Arctic ice recedes, this area is destined to become an important port centre on a new maritime transport route between East and West. The government of Iceland ultimately rejected Nubo’s resort proposal, but not without first stirring a heated debate between Icelanders about China’s growing influence.

Military build-up

All the states are building up their military presence in the region in order to boost their interests.

As mentioned, Russia is building a string of new naval bases in the region. According to official sources, these bases are to serve a “double purpose”. However, there’s no word on what those double purposes might be.

The US still holds a decisive military advantage in the form of submarines. American submarines are more advanced, there are more of them, and their crews are better trained.

Still, Russia wants to catch up on the Arctic front. In late June, Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw the construction of another Borei-class nuclear submarine, of which Russia plans to have eight by 2020. ”Obviously, the Navy is an instrument to protect national economic interests, including in such regions as the Arctic where some of the world’s richest biological resources, mineral resources are concentrated,” Putin said.

Also, Russia announced in March 2011 that it would re-equip its motorized infantry brigade based in Pechenga, on the Russian-Norwegian border, as an Arctic brigade.

In September this year, Canada’s military was revealed to be planning to buy drones for one billion dollars. The drones, which are all intended to be armed, are reportedly focused (but not exclusively) on protecting Canada’s claims to the Arctic.

This year, the US Coast Guard has been conducting its largest Arctic exercise, called “Arctic Shield.” The Coast Guard is focused mainly on search and rescue operations; and responding to potential oil spills brought on by expanded drilling. Commandant Robert Papp told a Senate panel that the Coast Guard is “well-prepared” to operate in the region.

Even Norway is building up her Arctic military muscles. Norwegian Defence Minister, Espen Barth Eide, indicated in March that the Norwegian Army 2nd Battalion would be renamed the “Arctic Battalion” and equipped to patrol the country's Arctic territory. The battalion, a mechanized infantry unit based in the northern county of Troms, will be supplied with snowmobiles and other light vehicles for the task.

This followed a statement by Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre calling Russia and the High North “key areas in Norwegian foreign policy” and advocating diverting funds to monitor Russian activity in the Arctic. The Norwegian government also plans to purchase 52 new F-35 fighter jets in 2017, stationing them at Orland Air Force Base in central Norway, with a smaller operating base in Evenes in the country's north for fast-response capabilities.

However, as the Arctic powers – Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the United States – remain at odds over how to divide up the region, arctic warfare seems unlikely. Russia and Norway still continues the cooperation between Gazprom and Statoil, and the two countries even hold some common naval exercises. And while small skirmishes (like the ones between Denmark and Canada over Tartupaluk / Hans Island) cannot be excluded, a larger-scale war seems unlikely because of the uncontrollable and cataclysmic implications it would have.

Imperialism – Still the Same

The whole “Great Game” in the Arctic is being played without the slightest consideration for human life and the environment. Recently, Moscow clamped down on the organisation Raipon which organizes the indigenous Arctic population in Russia. Clearly, the Kremlin was annoyed by the organisation’s criticism of the way oil drilling is being conducted in the region.

The Danish government is no better. At this moment, it is working on a law which will make it legal to employ Chinese workers in Greenland for wages that are even lower than the “normal” low wages in the country. The reason for this is that London Mining (a Chinese-owned company based in Jersey) has demanded the right to import what amounts to slave labourers. The world’s largest Aluminium mining company, the Canadian Alcoa, is demanding that it should pay no taxes at all in Greenland.

The peoples of the Arctic are looking at the new possibilities for exploiting the region’s resources. In this they see the possibility of improving their lives. This is understandable. But on the basis of capitalism, this cannot be achieved. The imperialist plundering of the resources, accompanied by a huge waste of money on military spending, will not bring prosperity to the peoples of the Arctic. Capitalism is not about the environmental and human needs. It is about profits and “spheres of interest”. So it was, so it is and so it will ever be, until this system is abolished and replaced by an International, Socialist Federation.

http://www.marxist.com/the-great-game-in-the-arctic.htm

Friday, December 7, 2012

Mike Gimbel on today's BLS report analysis


 
This morning's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report was purportedly showing a big drop in unemployment from 7.9% to 7.7%.
 
The REAL unemployment rate, however, remained virtually unchanged in November, 2012 at 16.63% from 16.62% in October, 2012.
the REAL unemployment + underemployment rate improved to 21.39% in November, 2012 from 21.47% in October, 2012.
 
Looking further inside the BLS report:
 
  1. The Civilian Labor Force actually SHRUNK in November, 2012 by 350,000, as reported by the BLS report. The civilian labor actually INCREASES, on average, by more than 100,000 every month.
  2. The number of employed actually DECREASED by 122,000 in November!!!
  3. The number of those listed in NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE increased in November by 542,000.
 
The above three items are BAD!!!! In other words, the supposed labor situation, as reported by BLS, was not as rosy as being reported in the media. At best, the November BLS report was little changed from October, 2012.
 
This "recovery", such as it is, continues to be extremely weak and the length of the recovery means that the next "bust" will be on top of the current "bust", not at a point of economic "boom". This continues to be a "jobless recovery".
 
--Mike Gimbel
 
The stupidities and absurdities by which mathematicians have rather excused than explained their mode of procedure, which remarkably enough always lead to correct results, exceed the worst and real fantasies of the Hegelian philosophy of nature.
 
                                                                  --Frederick Engels
 
Good physics is the study of three-dimensional matter in motion. Good mathematics involves unlimited dimensions, from utilization of just one dimension, two dimensions, four dimensions or as many dimensions as can be imagined. This is bad physics, however. Matter has only three dimensions: Length, Width & Height.
 
Physics has been in crisis for a century due to the intrusion of the field of mathematics. String Theory is the ultimate result of this nonsensical mathematical intrusion into physics.
 
Please read my book! You can get it on Amazon.com at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0984677801

"Drop dead, milord!"


- Proletarian: December 2012/January 2013 issue -

 

:: TOP STORIES ::

Europe in chains: lessons of the economic crisis
The working class in Spain has produced too many homes (in relation to what the market can bear), so as a result hundreds of thousands of Spanish workers are rendered homeless. This is the logic of capitalism. An estimated 2 million homes are lying vacant and unsaleable, yet hundreds of thousands of workers are on the streets.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=875

Israel's latest massacre in Gaza met by renewed Palestinian resistance
The truth is that the shells and bombs which rained death on Palestinian heads in November were a sign of panic and desperation right across the imperialist camp, not of confidence or strength. What can the warmongers achieve by shooting at the captive inhabitants of what is in effect one vast concentration camp? It has only intensified Israel's international isolation whilst reinforcing popular support for the Palestinian resistance.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=874

Imperialists threaten all-out war against Syria
Openly declaring that intervention in Syria was more likely after the US presidential election, Prime Minister David Cameron promptly set off on a weapons-selling trip to the traditional British client states in Jordan and the Gulf. Whilst in the region, he declared that Britain will open direct talks with the armed rebel groups themselves, rather than merely their supposed political proxies.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=888

 

:: BRITISH POLITICS ::

Industry matters: Blacklists in the dock
The public was shocked to learn how no less than 44 construction firms, including household names like Balfour Beatty, Costain, Corillian, Wimpey and, most notably, McAlpine, had long been availing themselves of blacklist-keeper Ian Kerr's services, paying him handsomely to finger any worker who had at any time been dubbed a 'militant' or 'troublemaker' by a boss.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=877

Work for the pensions we have already earned? Drop dead milord!
Now that the 'pension burden' on the state is being reduced by making people pay more, work longer and get less at the end, voices are being raised to suggest the logical next step. Why not treat pensioners the same as people of working age? Why not make them work for their pensions?
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=890

Highlights of the CPGB-ML congress
Our party is building new levels of organisation and discipline, and remains firmly oriented on the path of revolution
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=886

Scotland: a part of the British nation
Scottish people -- from all classes, not just the bourgeois sections of it -- played a vital role in building the British nation, of which they have been an integral part ever since.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=887

Lessons of October for the builders of Britain's bolshevik party
Our society is dominated by the ideals, morals, culture and political outlook of the bourgeoisie. It affects us all and permeates and pollutes our own ideas, behaviour and outlook. As communists, we have to challenge this head on and face reality as it is.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=880

 

:: WORLD ::

Editorial: Obama's re-election promises austerity at home and war abroad
Republicans and Democrats have lost no time in putting aside the contrived playground insults of the election campaign to effortlessly forge a bi-partisan consensus that will be based on swingeing cuts to such programmes as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=876

Industry matters: Greek resistance grows
Greek doctors have "set up a surreptitious network to help uninsured cancer patients and other ill people, which operates off the official grid using only spare medicines donated by pharmacies, some pharmaceutical companies and even the families of cancer patients who died".
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=889

Historic victory for Palestine: another rejection of occupation
What the zionist leaders of Israel fear, as they franticly try to intimidate the region by stockpiling American weapons, and all the while grabbing more Palestinian land, is that the 29 November UN resolution may be a game changer.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=878

Libya: Green resistance on the rise
Symptomatic of the enduring loyalty and patriotism of most Libyans has been the refusal of the citizens of the northern city of Bani Walid to bow the head before the quisling government in Tripoli, instead preserving their town as a bastion of sanity whilst much of the country is torn apart by imperialist subversion and tribal conflicts.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=879

US and British war crimes in Afghanistan
One victim screamed "We are children! We are children!" before being shot to death by an American 'hero'.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=881

 

:: CULTURE AND LETTERS ::

Review: Ten Mile Inn by David and Isabel Crook
"The women of Ten Mile Inn, who in the past had been forced into unemployment by lack of capital and by urban machine competition, were able to earn money. This improvement of their economic position was the most powerful factor in the beginning of the emancipation of the women of Ten Mile Inn. Perhaps the chief characteristic of the women's work at this period, however, was that it was in the nature of an offensive on all fronts at once. It called for equal rights for women, freedom of marriage, no beating by husbands or parents-in-law, increased production of all sorts (including farm work, but especially spinning and weaving), economic support for the front through rear service (making shoes, uniforms, etc), and besides all this, literacy classes, bobbing of hair, unbinding of feet and opposition to face-saving."
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=882

Letter from Comrade Isabel Crook in China
I treasure Proletarian and Lalkar more and more since Syria became a battle ground between imperialism and anti-imperialism. These two papers make such a thorough and factual analysis, which differs so sharply from the BBC.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=883

Poem: Postgraduate Defending Her Lament
but work to live,
don't live to work ...
society's imposed values are berserk!

http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=885

Letter: Marxism and psychiatry
What Marxism Leninism has never done is to fetishise the empiricist method to the extent that all creative thought is stifled. Yet this is exactly what has happened to medical practice in the western capitalist countries in recent years with the advent of so-called 'evidence-based medicine'.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=884

Letter from the Korean embassy
The Great October Socialist Revolution was a landmark of the history of the world socialist movement, which inspired and guided the oppressed masses to the struggle for a new society.
http://www.cpgb-ml.co.uk/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=891

 

 

 

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Pearl Harbor

A Statement on the War
James P. Cannon

Source: Fourth International, New York, Volume III, No. 1, January 1942, pages 3-4.

December 22, 1941

The considerations which determined our attitude toward the war up to the out break of hostilities between the United States and the Axis powers retain their validity in the new situation.

We considered the war upon the part of all the capitalist powers involved—Germany and France, Italy and Great Britain — as an imperialist war.

This characterization of the war was determined for us by the character of the state powers involved in it. They were all capitalist states in the epoch of imperialism; themselves imperialist—oppressing other nations or peoples—or satellites of imperialist powers. The extension of the war to the Pacific and the formal entry of the United States and Japan change nothing in this basic analysis.

Following Lenin, it made no difference to us which imperialist bandit fired the first shot; every imperialist power has for a quarter of a century been "attacking" every other imperialist power by economic and political means; the resort to arms is but the culmination of this process, which will continue as long as capitalism endures.

This characterization of the war does not apply to the war of the Soviet Union against German imperialism. We make a fundamental distinction between the Soviet Union and its "democratic" allies. We defend the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is a workers' state, although degenerated under the totalitarian-political rule of the Kremlin bureaucracy. Only traitors can deny support to the Soviet workers' state in its war against fascist Germany. To defend the Soviet Union, in spite of Stalin and against Stalin, to defend the nationalized property established by the October revolution. That is a progressive war.

The war of China against Japan we likewise characterize as a progressive war. We support China. China is a colonial country, battling for national independence against an imperialist power. A victory for China would be a tremendous blow against all imperialism, inspiring all colonial peoples to throw off the imperialist yoke. The reactionary regime of Chiang Kai-shek, subservient to the "democracies," has hampered China's ability to conduct a bold war for independence; but that does not alter for us the essential fact that China is an oppressed nation fighting against an imperialist oppressor. We are proud of the fact that the Fourth Internationalists of China are fighting in the front ranks against Japanese imperialism.

None of the reasons which oblige us to support the Soviet Union and China against their enemies can be said to apply to France or Britain. These imperialist "democracies" entered the war to maintain their lordship over the hundreds of millions of subject peoples in the British and French empires; to defend these "democracies" means to defend their oppression of the masses of Africa and Asia, Above all it means to defend the decaying capitalist social order. We do not defend that, either in Italy and Germany, or in France and Britain—or in the United States.

The Marxist analysis which determined our attitude toward the war up to December 8, 1941 [i.e. up to the Pearl Harbor raid] continues to determine our attitude now. We were internationalists before December 8; we still are. We believe that the most fundamental bond of loyalty of all the workers of the world is the bond of international solidarity of the workers against their exploiters. We cannot assume the slightest responsibility for this war. No imperialist regime can conduct a just war. We cannot support it for one moment.

We are the most irreconcilable enemies of the fascist dictatorships of Germany and Italy and the military dictatorship of Japan. Our co-thinkers of the Fourth International in the Axis nations and the conquered countries are fighting and dying in the struggle to organize the coming revolutions against Hitler and Mussolini.

We are doing all in our power to speed those revolutions. But those ex-socialists, intellectuals and labor leaders, who in the name of "democracy" support the war of United States imperialism against its imperialist foes and rivals, far from aiding the German and Italian anti-fascists, only hamper their work and betray their struggle. The Allied imperialists, as every German worker knows, aim to impose a second and worse Versailles; the fear of that is Hitler's greatest asset in keeping the masses of Germany in subjection. The fear of the foreign yoke holds back the development of the German revolution against Hitler.

Our program to aid the German masses to overthrow Hitler demands, first of all, that they be guaranteed against a second Versailles. When the people of Germany can feel assured that military defeat will not be followed by the destruction of Germany's economic power and the imposition of unbearable burdens by the victors, Hitler will be overthrown from within Germany. But such guarantees against a second Versailles cannot be given by Germany's imperialist foes; nor, if given, would they be accepted by the German people. Wilson's 14 points are still remembered in Germany, and his promise that the United States was conducting war against the Kaiser and not against the German people. Yet the victors' peace, and the way in which the victors "organized" the world from 1918 to 1933, constituted war against the German people. The German people will not accept any new promises from those who made that peace and conducted that war.

In the midst of the war against Hitler, it is necessary to extend the hand of fraternity to the German people. This can be done honestly and convincingly only by a Workers' and Farmers' Government. We advocate the Workers' and Farmers' Government. Such a government, and only such a government, can conduct a war against Hitler, Mussolini and the Mikado in cooperation with the oppressed peoples of Germany, Italy and Japan. Our program against Hitlerism and for a Workers' and Farmers' Government is today the program of only a small minority. The great majority actively or passively supports the war program of the Roosevelt administration. As a minority we must submit to that majority in action. We do not sabotage the war or obstruct the military forces in any way. The Trotskyists go with their generation into the armed forces. We abide by the decisions of the majority. But we retain our opinions and insist on our right to express them.

Our aim is to convince the majority that our program is the only one which can put an end to war, fascism and economic convulsions. In this process of education the terrible facts speak loudly for our contention. Twice in twenty-five years world wars have wrought destruction. The instigators and leaders of those wars do not offer, and cannot offer, a plausible promise that a third, fourth and fifth world war will not follow if they and their social system remain dominant. Capitalism can offer no prospect but the slaughter of millions and the destruction of civilization. Only socialism can save humanity from this abyss. This is the truth. As the terrible war unfolds, this truth will be recognized by tens of millions who will not hear us now. The war-tortured masses will adopt our program and liberate the people of all countries from war and fascism. In this dark hour we clearly see the socialist future and prepare the way for it. Against the mad chorus of national hatreds we advance once more the old slogan of socialist internationalism: Workers of the World Unite!

New York, December 22, 1941

http://www.marxists.org/archive/cannon/works/1941/dec/21.htm

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Anti-imperialist youth to meet

WFDY projects 2013 anti-imperialist world youth festival in Ecuador

BY ALEX XEZONAKIS
AND JACOB PERASSO 
QUITO, Ecuador—At a Nov. 8-10 meeting here, the General Council of the World Federation of Democratic Youth decided to recommend the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students be held in this city at the close of 2013.

The World Festival of Youth and Students, generally held every four years, is an international gathering that brings together thousands of youth from around the world under the banner of the fight against imperialism. It provides an opportunity to discuss, share experiences and learn about social struggles around the world.

In endorsing a proposal from youth organizations in Ecuador to host the festival, a number of WFDY delegates pointed to the impact of the world crisis of capitalism and the opening it creates to attract broad participation of youth worldwide.

The last World Festival of Youth and Students, held in South Africa in 2010, drew 15,000 people and featured workshops, rallies, panels, film showings, as well as music, dance and sports.

Other festivals have been held in Venezuela (2005), Algeria (2001), and Cuba (1997). Between 1947 and 1989, the festivals were generally held in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. After an eight-year gap following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the festivals were revived by those responding to initiatives from the revolutionary government in Cuba. At recent festivals, many organizations have sought to involve a wider spectrum of anti-imperialist organizations from across the globe.

Of the 38 WFDY member organizations who met to debate and decide on the proposal to host the next festival here, most came from Central and South America. Others came from the three countries of North America; throughout Europe, from Portugal to Greece; nations spanning the Asian continent from India to Vietnam; and across the Middle East and Africa, including oppressed nations from Palestine to Western Sahara. Representatives of the Continental Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Students (OCLAE) also participated.

An International Preparatory Meeting, projected for the beginning of 2013, will draw together all interested organizations to issue a call for the festival and open discussion on its slogan and themes. 

http://www.themilitant.com/2012/7645/764556.html

Editorial: The Militant

The Militant (logo)

Vol. 76/No. 45      December 10, 2012

No worker has to die on the job! (editorial)

No worker has to die or be maimed on the job!
But nonetheless, our lives and limbs are sacrificed day in and day out on the altar of sharpening competition for markets among capitalists worldwide—from garment and textile plants in Bangladesh to chemical factories in Quebec to coal mines in New Zealand and the U.S. The bosses never value our lives more than the monetary cost of replacement.
Garment bosses in Bangladesh forced workers to remain in a burning building rather than lose a minute of profit squeezing. Like the New Zealand mine explosion that killed 29 workers in 2010, it was a large-scale disaster waiting to happen and a direct result of the bosses’ relentless drive for production. And in both cases, corners were cut that turned the workplace into a death trap from which many would not be able to escape.
The New Zealand mine bosses were pressing to meet impossible production quotas in hopes of super-profits during a period of high coal prices. Garment bosses in Bangladesh have captured a substantial share of production worldwide by pushing workers who today are the lowest paid in the industry.
The same question is posed everywhere. Only workers themselves have an interest in safe working conditions. Only their organization and use of union power—including the ability to shut down production—can enforce it.
Safety inspectors, whether from capitalist government agencies or from so-called nonprofit NGOs, have neither the same interest nor power. They end up serving as cover for the bosses unless and until the fighting union of workers is brought to bear.
Workers at the Illinois mine where Chad Meyers was killed were fighting for a union and a union safety committee. The National Labor Relations Board took 15 months to recognize their democratically elected union. And the company has made clear it would rather shut down the mine than recognize a union that would put workers in a stronger position to enforce safety.
Thousands of garment workers in Bangladesh are demonstrating out of necessity to protect their very lives after the killing of 112 fellow workers. They represent a union in becoming.
In every corner of the globe where capitalism holds sway, working people must fight today to protect each other from the growing ravages of private profit. This fight is a necessary struggle along the road through which the working class can become strong enough to wrest political power from the capitalist exploiters.
When the working class is in power, as it is in Cuba, production is organized to meet the needs of humanity. Under workers power, safety on the job is an essential aspect of production, not a contradiction.


Related articles:
Bangladesh workers fight for safer work conditions
Bangladesh workers fight for safer work conditions
Calif. postal workers protest privatization, layoffs, cuts
On the Picket Line
Report: Bosses at fault in deaths of 29 New Zealand miners in 2010
Worker killed on job at Peabody mine in Illinois
3 die, 18 injured in Quebec plant explosion: ‘There was no safety’
Millions forced into part time as bosses cut costs, drive speedup 

Philosophy for Militants by Alain Badiou