This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
MIM Notes 272 · December 15, 2002· Page 1
MIM Notes
December 15, 2002, Nº 272 The Official Newsletter of the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM)
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Hundreds attend
Scott Ritter's talk
at Cal Tech
Pasadena, CA,
November 13, 2002
A
t least 700 people turned out to
hear former UN Weapons In
spector Scott Ritter talk about
the growing danger of U.$. war against
Iraq and Iraq's alleged weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) capacity. Ritter's
principal arguments -- that war is deadly
and should only be taken up after the
gravest consid-
eration, and that
the Bush admin-
istration is only
using the threat
of WMD as a
pretext for war
-- met with
broad agree-
ment from the
crowd.
MIM also agreed with much in former
u.$. Marine Scott Ritter's presentation.
He called the Amerikan itch for another
war against Iraq "imperialism," and
criticized the u.$. as the "world's biggest
terrorist" for the fact that it is killing 3-
5,000 Iraqi children every month with
economic sanctions. Arguing correctly
that all Amerikans are responsible for
these deaths for as long as we fail to
prevent them, Ritter shot out: "we kill
kids by the hundreds of thousands. You
kill those kids, I kill those kids, we all
kill those kids."
Ritter also did his best to instill a sense
of the emergency facing Amerikans
today. He pointed out that the deadlines
laid down in the recent UN Security
Council resolution leave just enough time
for Iraq to make an inventory of its
WMD, have inspectors find this
inventory faulty, have another week-long
debate in the Security Council, and then
go to war by mid- to late-December when
the u.$. will have the overwhelming air
Uncle $cam
peeving Koreans
It's not Osama Bin Laden disrupting
relations on the Korean peninsula and
provoking war. The lead story November
17th on the British imperialist BBC
website was that the Kim Jong-il regime
in northern Korea just admitted in public
to obtaining nuclear weapons in response
to U.$. deployment of nuclear weapons
in Korea.
The Associated Press reported that it
Thousands in
Phila. march
against U$
war on Iraq
Philadelphia, PA,
November 23
T
housands of people converged
upon City Hall to protest
Amerika's escalation of the
ongoing imperialist assault against the
Iraqi people. RAIL members attended the
rally, and distributed hundreds of flyers,
circulated petitions and distributed copies
of MIM Notes. After the initial gathering,
protesters took to the streets and marched
down Market St., chanting anti-
imperialist slogans like "Hey Bush, what
do you say, how many kids have you
killed today?" and "No blood for oil".
RAIL helped to debunk various
imperialist generated myths about Iraqi
links to terrorism and possession of
weapons of mass destruction by handing
out information fliers to onlookers. The
flier listed facts on the ongoing genocidal
campaign against the Iraqi people and
included the following text:
"As a means of justifying the planned
invasion of Iraq, the Amerikan
Imperialists have concocted various
stories and myths: The two most often
cited are that Iraq is supposed to be linked
with Al-Qaida in some way and that Iraq
is said to have `weapons of mass
destruction' which it plans on using
against its neighbors and possibly the
United $tates.
"The first lie has been debunked by
British M15 and M16 Secret Service
agencies, who completely rejected the
idea of any connection, adding that
Saddam has stayed as far away as
possible from Al-Qaida. As Dr. Stephen
Zunes noted recently, `The State
Department's own annual study, Patterns
of Global Terrorism, could not list any
serious act of international terrorism
connected to the government of Iraq.'
There is absolutely NO evidence to
suggest that there is any link between the
Iraqi government and Al-Qaida- or any
other terrorist group for that matter. Even
Donald Rumsfeld has been forced to
modify his story from the U.$. having
`bulletproof' evidence, to: `they're not
photographs. They're not beyond a
Former inspector: Charges against Iraq baseless
Scott Ritter
Koreans have nukes,
Bush can't take it
was only one
press report
from the Kim
regime. Later
official reports
a p p a r e n t l y
qualified the
earlier report
by adding the
w
o
r
d
"entitled." A
commentary from the northern Korean
Central Broadcasting Station read, "To
safeguard our sovereignty and right to
exist, we are entitled to have powerful
security measures, including nuclear
weapons."(10)
Nonetheless, the U.S. Government had
come to the conclusion that Kim had
nuclear weapons back in 1994. What is
news is that this is now being discussed
in the open. What is disgusting is that
Bush already knows that northern Korea
has nuclear weapons and still he
grandstands against the peace. The
Korean move only exposes Bush to risk
from global public opinion, now that
global public opinion will know that Bush
is doing all of this to a state with nuclear
arms.
Bush cut off oil shipments to the
northern Koreans over the nuclear
weapons developments, but more
importantly he has refused thus far to
Continued on page 6...
Continued on page 4...
Continued on page 6...
MIM Notes 272 · December 15, 2002· Page 2
MIM Notes
The Official Newsletter of The Maoist Internationalist Movement
ISSN 1540-8817
MIM Notes is the bi-weekly newsletter of the Maoist Internationalist Movement. MIM
grants explicit permission to copy all or part of this newspaper for any reason. Please
credit MIM Notes where appropriate. The paper is free to all prisoners. Overseas airmail
is $2 per issue. MIM Notes is the official Party voice. Material in the paper is the Party's
position unless noted to the contrary. MIM Notes accepts submissions and critiques from
anyone. The editors reserve the right to edit copy unless permission is specifically denied
by the author. Back issues of MIM Notes are available for $1 per issue. A bound volume
of the original MIM Notes 1-34 and MIM Theory 1-13 (old numbering) is available for
$15, post-paid. MIM has a complete literature list of progressive books and pamphlets.
Send $2 for a copy. MIM's ten point program is available to anyone who sends in a
SASE. MIM is an underground party that does not publish the names of its comrades in
order to avoid the state surveillance and repression that have historically been directed at
communist parties and anti-imperialist movements. MCs, MIM comrades, are members
of the Party. RCs are RAIL Comrades. The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL)
is an anti-imperialist mass organization led by MIM. MIM runs a books for prisoners
program which provides Maoist and general political material to prisoners for free. Make
checks or money orders payable to "Books for Prisoners, Inc." Federal EIN: 04-3475938.
Send to: Books for Prisoners, Inc. c/o the address below. Donations and books can be
sent to the address below. Send cash or check payable to "MIM Distributors".
MIM
P.O. Box 29670
Los Angeles, CA 90029-0670
eMail: <mim@mim.org>
WWW: <http//www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext>
What is MIM?
The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is the collection of existing or emerging
Maoist internationalist parties in the English-speaking imperialist countries and their English-
speaking internal semi-colonies, as well as the existing or emerging Maoist Internationalist
parties in Belgium, France and Quebec and the existing or emerging Spanish-speaking
Maoist Internationalist parties of Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of the U.$. Empire.
MIM Notes is the newspaper of MIM. Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the Spanish-speaking
parties or emerging parties of MIM. MIM upholds the revolutionary communist ideology
of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and is an internationalist organization that works from the
vantage point of the Third World proletariat. MIM struggles to end the oppression of all
groups over other groups: classes, genders, nations. MIM knows this is only possibly by
building public opinion to seize power through armed struggle. Revolution is a reality for
North America as the military becomes over-extended in the government's attempts to
maintain world hegemony. MIM differs from other communist parties on three main
questions: (1) MIM holds that after the proletariat seizes power in socialist revolution, the
potential exists for capitalist restoration under the leadership of a new bourgeoisie within
the communist party itself. In the case of the USSR, the bourgeoisie seized power after the
death of Stalin in 1953; in China, it was after Mao's death and the overthrow of the "Gang
of Four" in 1976. (2) MIM upholds the Chinese Cultural Revolution as the farthest advance
of communism in humyn history. (3) As Marx, Engels and Lenin formulated and MIM has
reiterated through materialist analysis, imperialism extracts super-profits from the Third
World and in part uses this wealth to buy off whole populations of oppressor nation so-
called workers. These so-called workers bought off by imperialism form a new petty-
bourgeoisie called the labor aristocracy. These classes are not the principal vehicles to
advance Maoism within those countries because their standards of living depend on
imperialism. At this time, imperialist super-profits create this situation in the Canada,
Quebec, the United $tates, England, France, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Italy, Switzerland,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Israel, Sweden and Denmark. MIM accepts people as
members who agree on these basic principles and accept democratic centralism, the system
of majority rule, on other questions of party line.
"The theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is universally applicable. We should
regard it not as dogma, but as a guide to action. Studying it is not merely a matter of
learning terms and phrases, but of learning Marxism-Leninism as the science of revolution."
- Mao Zedong, Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 208.
Editor, MC206; Production, MC12
MIM is looking for distributors and
sponsors to step forward. Sponsors pay for
papers; distributors get them onto the
streets and officers do both distribution and
financial support:
Distribute
Cost per year
12 (Priority Mail)
$120
25 (Priority Mail)
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$280
100
$380
200
$750
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If you know you have some good places
distribute, we suggest starting at 200 and
working your way up. If you are not willing
to distribute, just send money. If you are
not willing to pay, then request papers after
somehow proving to the party that you are
serious (words won't count). You who will
cough up/raise the money to distribute 900
papers each issue and then do the
distribution -- you are what drives this party
forward.
Make anonymous money orders payable
to "MIM." Send to MIM, attn: Camb.
branch, PO Box 400559, Cambridge, MA
02140. Or write mim3@mim.org.
A call for MIM Notes sponsors and distributors!
MIM Notes has seen a big spike in
circulation since the "war on
terrorism" began. It's not surprising:
MIM Notes is a free and independent
newspaper. Yes, there are especially
now knee-jerk patriots who believe
everything Bush says and pass by a
chance to read MIM Notes. There are
other patriots and internationalists
who realize that at this time papers
like MIM Notes can undo the huge
spectacle that Uncle Sam is creating
for its own benefit.
Sure, you have seen MIM Notes
around, but MIM Notes needs people
to do two simple things: 1) Pay for it
(postage and printing), 2) Distribute
it!
MIM is looking for sponsors,
distributors and officers. Sponsors pay
for papers; distributors get them onto
the streets and officers do both
distribution and financial support.
Distribute # Cost per year
12 (Priority Mail)
$120
25 (Priority Mail)
$150
50 (Priority Mail)
$280
100
$380
200
$750
900 (Express Mail!)
$3,840
900 (8-10 days)
$2,200
If you know you have some good
places to do distribution, we suggest
starting at 200 and working your way
up higher. If you are not willing to do
distribution, just send money. If you
are not willing to pay, then request
papers after somehow proving to the
party that you are serious (words
won't count). You who will cough up/
raise the money to distribute 900
papers each issue and then do the
distribution, you are what drives this
party forward.
A call for MIM Notes
sponsors and distributors!
Make anonymous money orders payable to "MIM." Send to MIM,
attn: Camb. branch, PO Box 400559, Cambridge, MA 02140. Contact
MIM in regards to this campaign by writing mim3@mim.org
Stickers with this graphic on them are available for sale and distribution. Send
$40 for 100 stickers to MIM at PO Box 29670, Los Angeles CA 90029-0670. Make
checks/money orders out to MIM Distributors.
MIM Notes 272 · December 15, 2002· Page 3
Taking the "War on Terrorism" as its
carte blanche, the federal government has
unleashed a pack of restrictions on im-
migrants to the united snakes since 9/11.
During the summer, overseas money
transfer companies started requiring gov-
ernment- or employer-issued photo iden-
tification from all customers. Already
companies like MoneyGram, Western
Union and Lucky Money must report
even the smallest cash transfers to fed-
eral law enforcement, which will check
customer names against lists of known
or suspected terrorists.(1) This fall, the
FBI and CIA have begun reviewing all
visa requests for men aged 16 to 45 from
26 Arab and Muslim countries.(2) And
as MIM Notes has reported, many col-
leges and universities have turned infor-
mation on their foreign students over to
the feds, while students at other schools
struggle to keep their administrations
from doing so.(3)
These forms of surveillance are both
highly persynal and insulting; they make
a mockery of Amerikan pretensions to
friendship with immigrants in general
and Muslim and Arab peoples in particu-
lar. Tracking cash transfers is a targeted
attack on poor immigrants from the Third
World. While the petty- and bourgeoisie
have more sophisticated ways of send-
ing money home, it is largely proletar-
ians and those who have not yet made
their way into the middle class relying
on companies like MoneyGram to trans-
mit the kind of money they can only make
on this side of the u.$. border. Undocu-
mented workers now have to fear that
their information will get to the INS, and
that they could be deported for sending
home the very money they came here to
earn.
Malcolm X famously said: "I'm not
going to sit at the table and watch you
eat, when there's no food on my plate,
and call myself a diner." Well, listen up
Amerika because neither are the rest of
the people in the world. The u.$. economy
requires a closed market for labor to keep
labor aristocracy wages high, and an open
market for Amerikan goods overseas, to
Amerika, 2002: A terrible time to be an immigrant
complete the circuit of capital back to the
u.$. This country's borders are a nudge
and wink operation, where plenty of
people get in under the radar of the INS,
only to do the work Amerikans won't
while looking over their shoulders for la
migra. Socialism would make interna-
tional peace and cooperation possible
because it would mean fair prices for
goods and labor exchanged, and so do
away with the incentive to militarize bor-
ders.
Notes:
1. New York Times 12 November, 2002.
2. Washington Post 24 September, 2002.
3. http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/mn/
sept112001/uspies.txt.
On October 8 President Bush won a
federal court order to end the Pacific
Maritime Association's lockout of Inter-
national Longshore and Warehouse
Union workers. The Taft-Hartley Act al-
lows federal authorities to end a strike
or lockout for 80 days if it poses a "threat
to national security." The PMA locked
the ILWU out on September 27, in re-
sponse to a work slowdown and threat-
ened strike. This shutdown brought on
federal government intervention both
because of the economic impact of the
shutdown and because the ports are es-
sential to Amerika's terrorist war on the
people of the world.
The union and port operators came to
a tentative agreement on November 25,
averting a late-December strike or lock-
out.
The ILWU has a history of internation-
alist actions, including a one-day politi-
cal strike a few years ago in support of
Mumia Abu-Jamal. A work stoppage
now could have seriously compromised
Amerika's ability to wage a war of ag-
gression in Iraq. However, in this case
the ILWU let the opportunity slip. In fact,
ILWU members helped load military
cargo during the shutdown.(1) "The
commitment to loading military materiel,
to assuring the security of the residents
of Hawaii and Alaska as well as the
safety those who travel on cruise ships
out of West Coast ports is a long-stand-
ing practice of the union," the ILWU said
in a press statement.(4)
One of the central issues behind the
threatened strike was ILWU fears about
the implementation of new technology
to handle cargo at the expense of human
operators. This fear is justified: as capi-
talism advances the ratio between con-
stant capital (machinery and raw mate-
rials) and variable capital (labor) in-
creases, displacing workers. The fact that
these technological advances lead to un-
employment is a failure of capitalism.
Advances in production should lead to
greater abundance for the majority, not
greater poverty. In addition, capitalist
competition and intellectual property
laws slow down innovations.
Under the tentative agreement, the
ILWU accepts the new technology in ex-
change for a 60% increase in pensions
and a promise that the 400 clerks replaced
by the new tech will be given other jobs.
Rank-and-file ILWU members will vote
on the agreement on December 9.(5)
Just because a small number of dock
workers may lose their job to more effi-
cient technology does not mean dock
workers are exploited. In fact these work-
ers' salaries--$60,000 to $80,000 per
year--depend on the superprofits ex-
tracted from exploited workers outside
of U.$. borders. This is the imperialist
way to buy off the "workers" in the
United $tates generally, not just dock
workers. The capitalists still take an even
bigger share of the profits, but they are
not exploiting the Amerikan citizens.
A truly progressive union in Amerika
needs to stand with the exploited work-
ers of the world. These workers are
forced to labor for a few dollars a day
under the rule of Amerikan militarism.
The correct target of the international
proletariat is Amerikan imperialism.
Notes:
1. Washington Times, October 8, 2002
2. New York Times, September 20, 2002.
4. http://www.ilwu.org/solidarityday/20021002-
1PressRelease.htm.
5. New York Times, 25 Nov 2002.
Bush ends ILWU dock lockout in West
Berkeley, CA
November 23
Today MIM helped bring a mock "Se-
curity Housing Unit" or SHU to the Uni-
versity of California, Berkeley. The
SHUs are sensory deprivation torture.
SHU prisoners spend 22 hours a day in
windowless, 6x9 cells. Activists passed
out information on SHU conditions and
collected just over 100 new signatures
on a petition demanding the SHUs be
shut down.(1)
The mock SHU action preceded a No-
vember 25 meeting between state Sena-
tor Richard Polanco, the California De-
partment of Correction (CDC), and a few
select prisoner advocacy groups. This
meeting discussed the demands of SHU
prisoners in Pelican Bay, who have been
on hunger strike since October 19. Sena-
tor Polanco expressed support for the
striking prisoners.
MIM and its allies in this campaign go
further and call for the abolition of the
SHUs, which serve no legitimate pur-
pose. The Berkeley action followed a
week-long vigil in downtown San Fran-
cisco the first week of November, orga-
nized by MIM, the All People's Coali-
tion, the Barrio Defense Committee, the
Uhuru Movement and others.
The environment in Berkeley was dif-
ferent from that in San Francisco. In Ber-
keley the crowd was predominantly
white and well off; there were many
more homeless people e.g. in San Fran-
cisco. Nonetheless we met a number of
former prisoners in Berkeley and several
people who had worked in the prisons
in CA and knew firsthand the horrible
conditions.
We met one former prisoner who re-
ceived MIM Notes while on the inside.
He is currently homeless and organiz-
ing homeless people. He took a copy of
the petition to gather more signatures. A
defense attorney stopped to talk about
the conditions in prison, donate money
California SHU protests reach Berkeley
to our work, and sign the petition.
Several people working in the
prisons also stopped to support the
protest. And a number of high
school students taking SAT
classes at UC Berkeley stopped to
sign the petition on their lunch
break.
In a classic example of the in-
fluence of knowing someone in
prison, a MIM activist talked to
two young white men about the
issue. One of them said that ev-
eryone in prison is no good and a
criminal and deserves to suffer. The other
one said to him "hey, my dad's in prison"
and eagerly signed the petition proclaim-
ing how much he would hate to be locked
in the SHU. He then convinced his friend
to sign as well. At the rate imprisonment
is rising in the U.$., the number of people
who have been or know someone in
prison is reaching far into the population.
And this provides a significant base of
support for our fight against the criminal
injustice system. This is concentrated in
the Black and Latino communities which
are disproportionately targeted by the
criminal injustice system but reaches
many whites as well. This explains the
higher level of support for the protest in
downtown San Francisco relative to the
Continued on page 5...
Getting the word out in Berkeley.
MIM Notes 272 · December 15, 2002· Page 4
Did you know?
There are more
than 200 back
issues of MIM
Notes available
on the MIM
website? Not only
can you browse
more than 15
years of the
newspaper, you
can also keep up
with the very
latest on MIM
agitation
campaigns,
prisoner news, all
the latest on the
U$ war, and much
more. MIM's
website is an
indispensable tool
for the
revolutionary
movement. Get
involved!
www.etext.org/
Politics/MIM
negotiate a peace treaty or nonaggression
pact as requested by the northern
Koreans. Not only is northern Korea still
technically at war with the United $tates
since the Korean War of 1950-3, but also,
it is clear from Bush's previous remarks
that he views northern Korea as a target
of covert war actions, similar to those
seen already in Yemen, Afghanistan and
openly in the Philippines and other
places. No self-respecting state in this
capitalist world can be expected to do
other than what northern Korea's regime
is doing, and young people in southern
Korea have already figured that out.
Although the southern Korean people
are on the pro-U.$. and pro-market
capitalist side of the border in Korea,
56.4% said in a poll that Bush's remarks
calling north Korea part of the "axis of
evil" along with Iraq and Iran were
"inappropriate."(1) We can be sure that
the opinion on the northern side of the
border was even more disgusted with u.$.
imperialism.
The 49.7% plurality of southern
Koreans said that the United $tates was
aggravating intra-Korean relations;
47.6% said Bush's own domestic
problems led him to make the remarks.(1)
For its part, according to the BBC, the
Kim regime has pointed out that it was
the united $tates that first put 1000
nuclear weapons in Korea. BBC did not
deny this and in fact, nutcase "Secretary
of Defense" Donald Rumsfeld had
already admitted a month ago that
northern Koreans might have one or two
nuclear weapons. Despite all that, the
united $tates has not made any moves for
a peace treaty.(2)
Although between 30 and 40,000 U.$.
troops are at risk in Korea, (38,000 being
the most recent figure) if any nuclear
weapons should detonate, the Korean and
Japanese people have concluded that
Bush does not have any civilians under
threat, because northern Korea's missiles
can only reach Japan, not the United
$tates. The United $tates has also made
it clear to the world that it hopes to have
Star Wars in place before Korean missiles
can reach the U$A--great for the stupid
Amerikkkans who think it will work, but
no use to Japanese and Koreans today.
Amerikkkan propaganda can only go
so far where real self-interests are at stake
and the pro-U.$. regime in southern
Korea was not able to make the most
basic facts of Korean self-interest go
away. The president Kim Dae Jung
repeatedly warns his people not to make
a diplomatic mistake in alienating the
united $tates, but the protests and
incidents keep happening. As a result, the
United $tates stands at a low in southern
Korean opinion, with only 33% holding
a positive view of United $tates, down
from 63.7% in 1994.(3)
In fact, Koreans have come to a whole
host of conclusions about the united
$tates since 911. While many Koreans
mourned with the Amerikkkans, in fact,
Koreans have nukes, Bush can't take it
it was a time when Koreans realized why
the united $tates sets itself up for so much
hatred. Popular songs in Korea were
found to be celebrating Bin Laden as the
one "most admired" and one Amerikkkan
in Seoul says she went jogging when a
group of young schoolchildren jumped
out in front of her to tell her they "love
Bin Laden." According to the Christian
Science Monitor, southern Koreans now
enjoy a "recent music video by popular
all-girl Korean band S.E.S. It features
cowboy-booted Americans being beaten
up, fed to dogs, and tossed off buildings."
Korean schoolteachers assigning
children to write letters to Bush after 911
found that half the children were writing
letters saying the united $tates deserved
it for war-mongering or must enjoy it.
How often it is that truth comes from the
mouths of small children!
A majority of Koreans believes Bush
makes speeches destabilizing the
peninsula in order to sell F-15 jets to the
southern Koreans.(4) This by itself is
reason enough to overthrow capitalism
in MIM's opinion. There should never
be any question of a diplomat's or head-
of-state's motivations being one of profit.
It's difficult enough to get along.
Almost half supported protests by
scores of protesters trashing the offices
of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in
Korea. 60% "don't like" the United
$tates.(5) Less than 24% of Koreans in
their 20s and 30s like the United
$tates.(6)
Up through the 1980s, the U.$. lackey
regime violently repressed all anti-
Amerikan protests and movements. It
took a change of generations, nuclear
weapons and a mediocre U.$. president
to wake up southern Koreans to U.$.
imperialism, but there is no way for the
imperialists to put the genie back in the
bottle now. It goes to show that there is a
profound relationship between power
and truth, that people will say one thing
in one set of circumstances and another
thing in another. For most of the last 50
years, the United $tates has twisted
Korean arms one way, but now that
northern Korea has nuclear weapons too,
the arm starts to twist back. In fact, the
youth in Korea do not regard northern
Korea as a threat, even after a small naval
battle that broke out with the Kim regime.
Also a factor is that the simplicity of
the anti- communist propaganda is
breaking down with China rising to south
Korea's number 2 trade partner, equal
with Japan. While stupid anti-
communists of yesteryear continue to call
China "communist," youth in Korea
today are figuring that north Korea's poor
economic status is not a result of its
"communism" but because of U.$.
imperialism's division of the peninsula.
MIM would point out that only places
on the front lines of revolutionary class
struggle succeeded in business like
southern Korea in recent years. The same
is now true for Taiwan and China. The
vast majority of the world's capitalist
countries--about 200 such countries--
are poor and have remained poor because
of a lack of advance in the class struggle.
Only where communism threatened did
the imperialists allow a few small
countries break through to better trade
relations and wealth. There is no other
way to explain why Taiwan and southern
Korea are economic successes while the
Philippines and Indonesia still suffer
typical Third World capitalist conditions.
The communists created the leverage for
major land reform and in Indonesia and
the Philippines, despite being pro-U.$.,
such land reform never happened.
It will take a while for southern
Koreans to shake off their colonized
mentality and figure out how they will
continue to prosper while throwing off
U.$. colonialism and militarism. The key
points are already in order. As of now,
polls published by the Korean Times
show a majority of southern Koreans
oppose supporting the U.$. war in
Afghanistan and 70% oppose helping the
war in Iraq.(7)
As MIM has said before, there is no
way to stop weapons proliferation in a
global capitalist system anymore than
there is a way to stop people from the
black market in drugs. Mao's China did
it--by cracking down on the profit-
system. The "war on drugs" has been
hopeless for decades in the capitalist
world, just as much as the war on alcohol
before it. The Bush & company dinosaurs
are fighting a hopeless rear guard action
that only endangers the whole world's
people, when resources would be much
better spent on resolving the underlying
causes of humyn conflict.
Even Amerikkkans know that. 51%
polled by an institute at the University
of British Columbia say a reduction of
global poverty would make the world a
safer place. The "United Kingdom" came
up with the same 51% figure. When it
came time to asking whether the United
$tates plays a "major role" in making the
world a safer place, the lowest scores
came from Japan and southern Korea,
29% and 33% respectively.(8)
When it comes to who is making the
world an unsafe place, even the British
rate Bush as more dangerous than Kim
Jong-il in Korea. Bush is third behind
Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden
for making the world an unsafe place--
according to a British public opinion
survey.(9)
Amerikkkans: your system has failed
profoundly. Not only do your rulers take
away the liberties that are supposedly part
of your way of life without bringing
safety, but also the system has allowed
people into power that would take
chances with war in a nuclear world. The
solution is not to give these rulers more
support. The solution is to crack down
on them hard while you still have a
chance. If you cannot see it yourself, look
around the world, and notice what other
people are saying about you. The
southern Koreans were your best friends
and now they tell you something only
friends can tell you.
Notes:
1. http://www.korealink.co.kr/times/
200202/t2002020917160840110.htm
See BBC statements such as http://
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/not_in_website/
syndication/monitoring/media_reports/
2486007.stm 2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/
2/hi/asia-pacific/2485829.stm
3. Choong Nam Kim, "Bush's
America is getting a bad name,"
International Herald Tribune,
September 26, 2002.
4. www.koreasociety.org (See the
Katrin Fraser report on anti-
Americanism.) The Los Angeles Times
cites a local Korean television poll.
ROBIN WRIGHT and BARBARA
DEMICK, "Students Aim to Give Bush
a Lesson in Diplomacy," 20Feb2002.
5. Christian Science Monitor, http://
www.csmonitor.com/2002/0911/
p02s03-wogi.htm
6. www.koreasociety.org/TKSQ/
FeatureArticles/V-3/
03_2_SUMMER2002-Oberdorfer-US-
ROK-under-stress.html Don
Oberdorfer, "Korea and the United
States: Partnership under Stress,"
August 2002.
7. http://www.fnfkorea.org/fnst_eng/
Liberal%20Times/liberal/times69.html
8. http://216.239.33.100/
search?q=cache:xULoeHlsCqUC:www.liucentre.ubc.ca/
surveys/media/releases/
160502release.pdf+Koreans+poll+Bush&hl=en&ie=UTF-
8
9. 2Sept2002 Daily Mirror. Also,
http://www.british-weekly.com/
columns/add.html
10. New York Times, 18 Nov 2002.
Continued from page 1...
MIM Notes 272 · December 15, 2002· Page 5
When it comes time to evaluating the
Bush "missile defense" plan, 74% of
southern Koreans and 80% of Brazilians
believe it makes the world more unsafe.
For those unfamiliar with the issue, the
prevailing opinion of the rulers till now
was "mutually assured destruction," in
the use of nuclear weapons. With the
United $tates trying to shoot down other
countries' nuclear missiles, it seems that
some countries will increase the arms
race as Russia and China have said, while
others may want to use their nuclear
weapons before the shield is really
effective.
The only country in the world where a
majority believes the "missile shield"
will make people safer is the united
$tates, with 64% holding that belief. In
addition to the Koreans and Brazilians,
majorities of "UK," Canadian, French,
Russian, Japanese and German peoples
believe the missile shield will make the
world more dangerous.
Meanwhile in the united $tates,
Amerikkkans live in a hypocritical dream
world where they accuse others of killing
unarmed civilians while forgetting their
own actions. A third of U.$. people do
not know that the United $tates dropped
nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, while 99% of Japanese, 92%
of Russians and 87% of Germans do
know. In the under 35 category, fully 39%
of Amerikkkans do not know that the
united $tates dropped nuclear weapons
on two Japanese cities. (That still leaves
no excuse for the two- third of the U.$.
public that does know.)
It's often said that the Amerikkkans just
suffer "false consciousness" and that in
fact they are just being stupid as war-
mongerers. The fact that 39% of young
Amerikans don't know about Hiroshima
and Nagasaki could be taken as proof,
but that would be a mistake, because
Russia and Germany are capitalist
countries too. They also have what Marx
called "superstructures" that brainwash
the oppressed and exploited.
The top three of Russia, Japan and
Germany may very well have superior
overall education especially at the pre-
college level, and they also have the
nationalist resentments of losing to the
united $tates in wars. Nonetheless, it is
not from a lack of money or printed paper
that makes Amerikkkans uneducated.
Russians live at a level less than one-
tenth the U.$. level economically.
The problem is that Amerikkkans and
the other "victor" countries of World War
II and the Cold War choose to block out
what they did as a part of national pride.
In the Anglo-Saxon case, it is also a
matter of the development of a gender
aristocracy, a sense of entertainment
developed in parasitic society that diverts
high school age children from learning
basic facts, even something so lacking
subtlety or complexity as the dropping
of nuclear weapons on Japan.
Note:
http://www.ipsos-reid.com/media/
dsp_displaypr_cdn.cfm?id_to_view=1525
Global opinion: Star Wars undercuts world safety
Prisoners in California's Security
Housing Units or SHUs face a number
of abuses besides being confined to their
small isolation cells 22 hours per day.
Guards shackle and strip search them
every time they leave their cell. Prisoners
receive all their meals in their cells; they
are not allowed to participate in training
or educational Activities; they are not
allowed contact visits and they have no
phone access. The exercise "yard" has
no exercise equipment and no view of
the outside world.
A prisoner in the Corcoran SHU wrote
to MIM in November: "I'm incarcerated
in a maximum security prison. I am in
my cell 23 hours a day, 7 days a week.
My only permitted luxury are books.
We're allowed to purchase them from
outside bookstores. But I have no income
to do so. The library here supplies books,
but only novels, which I derive no
pleasure from. I prefer books that have
intellectual value such as philosophy and
other classical literature. Unfortunately
they are in absence in the library here so
this brings me to you in hopes that you
can help me out with a few books." The
lack of educational materials is just one
aspect of the repression in the SHU.
A prisoner in the Pelican Bay SHU
wrote: "These prisoncrats are about to
implement another repressive policy:
effective Jan 1, 2003 all incoming mail
must be written on 81/2 x 11 inch paper,
on one side only and incoming letters
cannot be longer than 4 pages in length.
Handwriting or printing must be legible
so the fascist censor can screen all the
incoming mail plus we will be able to
receive only five letters per week. This
bullchet policy will be introduced for
`security reasons.' Yea right. Like all
other Pelican Bay policies this one is pure
crap. This policy is simply another
vehicle of oppression and social control."
For over 15 years the California
Department of Corrections (CDC) has
had a practice of placing prisoners in the
SHU under the guise that the prisoners
are prison gang affiliates or a threat to
the safety of others or institutional
security. The five California SHU's -
Pelican Bay State Prison SHU, Valley
State Prison for Women SHU, California
State Prison at Corcoran SHU, California
Correctional Institution at Tehachapi
SHU and Corcoran SATF - are the
lynchpin for the CDC's prison system.
They are the most brutal prisons in the
system and principally target those
prisoners who show the most resistance.
They are designed to break inmates'
spirit.
supposedly progressive Berkeley.
Readers should not take these ex-
amples of support as a sign that we
met no opposition. The SHU protest
was the same day as the "big" Berke-
ley vs. Stanford football game. The
crowds of sports fans were far from
sympathetic to the protest. Many of
them walked by commenting "I think
torture is good." This is no surprise as
the largely white petty bourgeois
crowds reflect the interests of main-
stream Amerika in general.
At the end of the football game (won
by Berkeley), a crowd of thousands
rushed the field and, after repeated
clashes with police, successfully
pushed their way through and tore
down the goal post. They then took to
the streets, shutting down traffic in
their victory march carrying the goal
post onto another part of the Berkeley
campus. According to a policeman
who stopped to ask what was in the
mock-SHU, no arrests were made in
connection with the crowd at the foot-
ball field.
This tolerance of blatant property
destruction and illegal activity dem-
onstrates the unity between the white
nation and the criminal injustice sys-
tem. Blacks and Latinos living in pov-
erty who steal food or other property
to feed their family are sent to prison,
and crowds of oppressed nation youth
demonstrating bring down serious
police repression. But white students
tearing down a goal post and taking
over the streets without a permit re-
sults merely in news camera coverage.
Media that was uninterested in the
SHU protest. As the crowd surged past
the mock-SHU we didn't see a single
police office anywhere nearby.
Notes:
1. The petition and an informational
flyer can be downloaded from
http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/
agitation/prisons.html.
Berkeley protest
Continued from page 3...
Prisoners describe Security Housing Unit conditions
Militarism is
war-mongering or
the advocacy of
war or actual
carrying out of war
or its preparations.
While true
pacifists condemn
all violence as
equally repugnant,
we Maoists do not
consider self-
defense or the
violence of
oppressed nations against imperialism
to be militarism. Militarism is mostly
caused by imperialism at this time.
Imperialism is the highest stage of
capitalism--seen in countries like the
United $tates, England and France.
Under capitalism, capitalists often
profit from war or its preparations.
Yet, it is the proletariat that does the
dying in the wars. The proletariat
wants a system in which people do not
have self-interest on the side of war-
profiteering or war for imperialism.
Militarism is one of the most
important reasons to overthrow
capitalism. It even infects oppressed
nations and causes them to fight each
other.
It is important not to let capitalists
risk our lives in their ideas about war
and peace
or the
environment.
They have
already had
two world
w a r s
admitted by
themselves
in the last
100 years
and they are
conducting
a third right now against the Third
World.
Even a one percent annual chance of
nuclear war destruction caused by
capitalist aggressiveness or "greed" as
the people call it should not be tolerated
by the proletariat. After playing
Russian Roulette (in which the bullet
chamber is different each time and not
related at all to the one that came up in
previous spins) with 100 chambers and
one bullet, the chance of survival is
only 60.5% after 50 turns. In other
words, a seemingly small one percent
annual chance of world war means
eventual doom. After 100 years or turns
of Russian Roulette, the chances of
survival are only 36.6%. After 200
years, survival has only a 13.4%
chance.
What is militarism?
The blatant repression of prisoners in
the SHU demonstrates the lack of real
security concerns and the use of these
units, as the Pelican Bay prisoner pointed
out, for social control. Join us in this
battle against control units in California.
Download the petition and flyer and get
out on the streets to collect signatures:
http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/
agitation/prisons.html.
MIM Notes 272 · December 15, 2002· Page 6
power of four aircraft carriers in the
Persian Gulf region. MIM has not made
any predictions about when the u.$.,
alone or behind a UN veil, will attack
Iraq. We simply note in the words of Prof.
Jose Maria Sison that "the United States
is using the pretext of waging a war on
terrorism in order to wage a war of
terrorism against the revolutionary
peoples and against countries assertive
of national independence."(1)
The issue for people in the United
$tates should not be whether Iraq has
weapons of mass destruction, but
whether their own government does and
to what end it will wield them as a threat
against the world's people. As Ritter
correctly pointed out, it was never
possible for the U.$. and USSR to have
the bomb without China, Israel, India and
Pakistan acquiring it too. He even went
so far as to argue that Amerika's
willingness to launch a war against Iraq
counts as evidence that Iraq does not have
WMD, as the united snakes would not
walk into such a threat. MIM points out
that even if the United $tates is assured
that Iraq has no WMD, it remains a
horribly dangerous gamble to launch a
war of aggression. Bush's own Mad
Warrior Rumsfeld has admitted that
nuclear attacks against the United $tates
are inevitable, which to MIM means it is
past time for Amerika to be making its
reckoning with the international
community, not looking to piss off more
enemies and allies alike.
Our disagreements with Ritter relate to
definitions of imperialism and terrorism.
Ritter understands that people around the
world hate Amerika because "maybe the
way the U.S. dominates the globe
Former inspector: Charges against Iraq baseless
deprives others of the chance at life," and
that "no imperial power lasts forever."
Still, he is an Amerikan patriot and says
so. He rejects current U.$. policies
because he thinks they violate this
country's principles of democracy, which
in his opinion were basically intact before
the Persian Gulf War. Ritter thinks
Amerika is imperialist and terrorist now
because it is so blatantly planning a war
for control of Iraqi oil, and because it is
killing Iraqi civilians for no reason (i.e.,
using WMD as an excuse for war even
though Iraq has so few as to be
irrelevant).
While we certainly agree that these
things mark Amerika as imperialist,
terrorist, and an international criminal,
these specific conditions are not the basis
for our analysis. Where Ritter's analysis
leads him to think that the UN should
have pulled its inspectors out of Iraq and
begun a new bombing campaign back in
the summer of 1991, MIM says the
United $tates and the UN never had any
business in Iraq in the first place. This
country has killed millions of people
around the world through wars of
aggression and the daily violence of
imperialist exploitation. From the Indian
Wars to the conquest of Cuba, Puerto
Rico, and the Philippines, to the present-
day war against as many Arab and
Muslim countries as Bush can name,
Amerika has applied the infamous Dred
Scott decision to the rest of the world:
No country has a right to national
sovereignty that Amerika is bound to
respect.
MIM circulated its petition to Defend
the Rights of Prof. Jose Maria Sison at
the event. Prof. Sison is a political
refugee in the Netherlands and Chief
Political Consultant to the National
Democratic Front of the Philippines
negotiating panel in the Netherlands. The
u.$. and Dutch governments have
smeared Prof. Sison as a "terrorist" in an
effort to demonize him, and to terrorize
overseas Filipinos and the revolutionary
and anti-imperialist movement
internationally. While we were only able
to talk to a small fraction of the people at
the event, responses from those who
stopped to talk about the petition were
positive. Several people signed without
hearing MIM's pitch, saying they had
heard an interview with Prof. Sison on
the radio.(2) Most people who refused
to sign said they needed "independent"
or "objective" information on this case.
But even these people asked for a copy
of MIM Notes to read our interview with
Prof. Sison, and spent time discussing his
case and the so-called War on Terrorism.
Overall, we are heartened to see such
a big crowd for an anti-war event on a
weeknight. The crowd flooded the main
auditorium and an upstairs room with
audio-visual hook-up. The last two
hundred people arriving seated
themselves outside to listen to Ritter's
talk on outdoor speakers.
The black mark on this event for MIM
was when a CalTech security guy
snatched our comrade's clipboard, telling
h that s/he was not permitted to petition
at the event and hiding the clipboard
behind a locked door. After being told
that s/he was not even permitted to
petition outside the building, the comrade
started notifying people in line for the
event that s/he was being prevented from
petitioning. Our comrade continued to
hand out MIM Notes, and to discuss Prof.
Sison's case. S/he also polled the
audience informally to find out what
people thought of an activist being barred
from petitioning against the "war on
terror" at an event devoted to discussing
that war.
Roughly half the people we spoke to
thought the University's policy was
bogus and that the security guard was
wrong to interfere with our comrade's
work. The other half initially said that
because CalTech is a private university
it is the school's right to bar people from
petitioning or leafleting on the campus.
Though when pressed for their own
opinions, many of these volunteered that
they oppose the current U.$. war policies
and think these policies should be
opposed. Our comrade argued that the
country's war footing warrants breaking
the rules for the sake of preventing further
bloodshed, yet many held to their views
that CalTech can set its own anti-speech
policies for its own private property.
Fortunately, our comrade got h clipboard
back shortly after the event started, and
was able to continue petitioning out of
the security guard's view. People we
spoke to after the event seemed to reject
the CalTech policy much more readily,
perhaps because they had just finished
listening to Scott Ritter argue that in time
of war more than any other time, it is vital
that the people speak out, question and
argue against government actions they
disagree with.
Notes:
1. "Interview with Prof. Jose Maria Sison,"
MIM Notes 270 November 15, 2002.
2. Audio files of an hour-long interview with
Professor Sison are available on MIM's website.
reasonable doubt.'
"The second lie is just as fact-less as
the first. As Scott Ritter, Former U.N.
weapons inspector put it 2 years ago:
`Iraq has indeed been disarmed...The
chemical, biological, nuclear and long-
range ballistic missile programs that were
a real threat in 1991, had, by 1998 been
destroyed or rendered harmless.'
UNSCOM admitted in 1999 that the
overwhelming majority of Iraq's
weapons had been destroyed. Bush has
recently claimed that Iraq attempted to
import high-strength aluminum tubes `for
gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich
uranium for nuclear weapons.' Yet again,
British intelligence denies that there are
any facts to back this up. Lest anyone
has forgotten what context the discussion
of `weapons of mass destruction' should
be viewed in, the ONLY country to
EVER use an atomic bomb, killing
innocent civilians, was the United $tates.
"It is quite clear that there is absolutely
NO legitimate reason to go to war with
Iraq. In fact the ONLY reason a war
seems imminent is because Amerikan
Imperialism is intent on controlling the
Phila. march
region's vast natural resources and re-
drawing the map of the Middle-East to
suit the interests of Amerikan
Imperialism and its allies. When Bush
talks of a `regime change,' what is meant
is simply that the United $tates desires a
loyal puppet government that will aid in
the further plunder and oppression of the
Iraqi people."
After this text was written, the
bourgeois media has revealed a new twist
to the situation: Amerika is planning on
reverting to direct colonial rule and
installing General Tommy R. Franks or
one of his subordinates as the military
ruler of Iraq. The colonial government
will have supreme power and direct
control of Iraqi oil. After an un-specified
period of time, the imperialists will their
favorite comprador lackey(s) and thereby
continue to control the Iraqi economy in
their own interests.(1)
RAIL also talked to the masses about
distinguishing popular struggle and
terrorism. RAIL helped people
understand the link between the so-called
"War on Terrorism" and the brutal
treatment of political prisoners through
its petitions.
[RAIL comrades circulated petitions
supporting Memik Horoz and Joma
Sison. Mr. Horoz is a Turkish journalist
imprisoned for the "crime" of
interviewing a Maoist guerrilla leader--
a "crime" he did not even commit.(2)
Prof. Sison is the founder of the
Communist Party of the Philippines. The
United $tates recently declared him a
"terrorist," and several European
countries have followed suit, although
the Amerikans' charges are baseless. He
faces extradition to the United $tates
where he could be railroaded by a
military tribunal; reactionaries in the
Philippines have even hinted the CIA
might assassinate him.(3) Both Mr.
Horoz and Prof. Sison have been
harassed because of their militant
writings against U.$. imperialism. MIM
and RAIL's petition campaigns are one
way we directly support local resistance
to Amerikan imperialism in the Middle
East and Asia.]
One rally attendee felt RAIL's
"Fighting Imperialism is Not Terrorism"
poster advocated wanton violence and
sent the wrong message. A RAIL
comrade pointed out that oppressed
peoples do not choose violence but have
it thrust upon them by their imperialist
oppressors, and it would be suicide not
to take up the gun and claim their political
power.
RAIL was pleased to see the masses
hoist the banner of anti-imperialism as
opposed to liberal pacifism. Many
protesters seemed to grasp the concept
that it is not political violence itself that
is the problem but rather imperialist
interests which are the sole motivation
for the war on Iraq. However, many of
the people speaking against imperialism
did so from a national chauvinist
perspective. Revisionist organizations
and their front groups had signs
demanding "money for jobs; not war."
This erroneous line only contributes to
the further plundering of the oppressed
peoples throughout the third world. True
proletarian revolution cannot come about
through the further bribery of the
oppressor nation labor aristocracy.
By RAIL-Philadelphia. RAIL stands for
Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League.
RAIL is a mass organization led by the
Maoist Internationalist Movement. RAIL
members are not MIM members, but
agree with MIM that oppressed nations'
can only win their liberation through
armed struggle.
Notes:
1. New York Times, 11 Oct 2002.
2. http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/agitation/
horoz.html.
3. http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/agitation/
philippines.html.
Continued from page 1...
Continued from page 1...
MIM Notes 272 · December 15, 2002· Page 7
The feminist struggle suffered a series
of setbacks in the New England area
these past few months.
Harvard Law School caved in to the
U.$. Government, rather than continue
with its old policy of not allowing
military recruiters except at its alumni
organizations. Since the military refuses
to take up a policy of non-discrimination
against gays, it had been previous
Harvard policy to exclude military
recruiters from ordinary use of Harvard
buildings. Then the Bush administration
interpreted the law as saying that over
$300 million in federal aid would be lost
by Harvard if Harvard did not admit
military recruiters. Harvard caved in and
proved itself an extension of the
government yet again. A huge portion of
Harvard's research and overhead money
comes from the government.
Yale Law School has also capitulated;
although it claims to seek legal aid in
determining who is right, Yale with its
anti-discrimination policy or the
military.(1)
Meanwhile, 514 faculty and students
mostly at Boston University Law School
petitioned against B.U. President Silber's
abolition of a gay student group at a high
school that B.U. runs. The students
accused Silber of "bigotry," but Silber
points out that no sex-discussing student
groups are allowed at the high school,
not just gay ones.(2)
The student group in question was a
gay-straight alliance organization. Since
we do not believe the world is created
with equal individuals the way fantasy-
prone individualists like Silber are
inclined to think, we see an equal
implementation of rules as de facto
discrimination. Probably most children
realize that straight children do not face
harassment in school for being straight
per se. Gay students face taunting from a
very early age, much earlier than the
"early secondary school" age that Silber
is worrying about. Hence, being even-
handed in applying rules when reality is
discrimination/harassment by group is
not "even-handed" but a cover for
existing oppression. If Silber is unaware
that young students face the cruelest and
most open of gay-baiting harassment he
is merely dense. If he is aware, he is a
bigot, and that is what we suspect.
Nonetheless, we at MIM believe the
strongest argument on this point does not
concern sexual oppression but age. The
fact is that what Silber does will do
nothing to advance the youth. Hatreds
against "fags" and "queers" spread at a
very early, elementary school age in this
sick society. The action that young people
take on that should be left to them, not
adults with their ridiculous fantasies
about innocence in childhood. Even if
adults could be even-handed, youth
should have responsibility for their lives.
The reactionary "Parents' Rights
Coalition" applauded Silber saying that
homosexuality "is medically and
psychologically extremely self-
destructive, and they [the gay-straight
alliance organization] are telling kids that
they should feel good about doing it."(2)
The phrase "parents' rights" is pretty
much identical with the ideology of
"patriarchy" that MIM opposes.
Meanwhile, gay rights advocates and
Mitt Romney's major opponent in the
governor's race in Massachusetts noticed
that Romney's television advertising
boils down to saying he loves his blonde-
haired, red-lipstick-using wife and has
kids. We consider this a setback, because
apparently some major political leaders
believe such a strategy can work in
Massachusetts or it would not be used.
Indeed, Romney won the race despite
having little to say in such ads.(3)
Romney's major opponent in the
governor's race, Shannon O'Brien
stepped forward to endorse gay
marriages, provided the state legislature
writes such a law, despite early
expectations that she would avoid the
issue. Not only did Romney not endorse
gay marriages, but he is a Mormon who
gave $1 million in 1998 to Brigham
Young University. BYU bans gay/lesbian
conduct and does not allow any faculty
that disagrees with Mormon Church
teachings, as illustrated in the following
anecdote:
"Konchar Farr, an assistant professor
of English, was personally opposed to
abortion but supported its remaining
legal-- just as Mr. Romney did. She had
been hired by the English department to
fill a need for a feminist scholar, but
during her third-year review was turned
down for a second three-year term
leading to tenure on the grounds that she
had spoken at a pro-choice rally at the
Utah capitol and, what's more,
`politicized the classroom.' The
administration claimed that she had
violated BYU policy, which explicitly
endorses full academic freedom except
where `faculty behavior or expression
seriously and adversely affects the
University mission or the Church.'"(4)
An ex-professor at BYU went on to say,
"In another incident, two sociologists,
Karen E. Gerdes and Martha N. Beck,
were ordered not to publish their study
of Mormon women whose sexual abuse
as children had been ignored by Mormon
churchmen."(4) Other professors got the
boot for being pro-choice or challenging
accepted gender roles in the Mormon
Church--and all of that is public
knowledge coming from professors who
are Mormons themselves!
What the Mormons tell us is not half
the story and unfortunately, most of those
calling themselves "feminist" in
Massachusetts are Dalai-Lama-loving,
posing-as-feminist pc-liberals, so no one
raised the issue of Mormon polygamy
and abuse of children and backward
young wimmin when Romney came
forward as an active Mormon.
MIM will explain: it's not pc to pick
on others' religion in Massachusetts.
Much of the Christian Establishment has
succeeded in convincing conservative
individualists that religious oppression is
good and liberal individualists in
Massachusetts merely believe that the
right to religion is higher than the right
to a violence-free world. It's typical of
how Amerikkkans have everything
screwed up--a right to religion but no
right to eat guaranteed anywhere.
Supposedly the Mormon Church
abolished the practice of multiple wives
in its religion way back in 1890 despite
its earlier history of advocating
polygamy. Discussion of the subject
seems only to titillate. At first glance, one
might think that the matter of having
multiple wives is really a private matter,
despite what the law says. There is even
something pornographic about how
people amuse themselves talking about
Mormons.
MIM is not going to say that the
Mormon Church is a great threat to the
capable adult womyn. The problem is the
children and the backward.
Slavery was part of the Dalai Lama's
version of Buddhism when he practiced
it in Tibet. It was not part of the Panchen
Lama's Buddhism in Tibet; even though
the Panchen Lama was in charge of
spiritual affairs when the controversy
over slavery in Tibet erupted in the 1950s
in China.
Just as many forgive slavery because
the Dalai Lama says it's religion not
slavery, many are unwilling to separate
Mormon religion from abuse of wimmin
and children. It goes back to the
Liberalism of a court case in the 1953
that the state lost on polygamy. Since that
time, the state has treated Mormon home
life as a private and religious matter.
Only last year did a Utah man receive
the first polygamy-related conviction in
50 years--and he caught himself
attention for not paying child support to
31 children. As we speak, a case against
a womyn is going forward for the first
time in over 100 years. Suzie Stubbs
Holm told her 16-year-old sister that she
would burn in hell if she did not marry
the same older sister's husband. She now
faces 10 years for abetting bigamy and
illegal sex. Unfortunately, the girl's
parents said the marriage had their
approval consistent with their religion--
another example of the very definition
of patriarchy.
An offshoot of the mainline Mormon
Church with 6000 members who call
themselves "fundamentalist" Mormons
openly practice polygamy in Hildale-
Colorado City--including Suzie Stubbs
Holm.(5) By the way, the polygamous
husband in the criminal case is a police
officer. 70% of Utah is Mormon and that
is why no prosecutions occur.
Now there is an organization of former
wives calling for prosecution of
polygamous wives called "Tapestry
Against Polygamy." Rowenna Erickson
says prosecution helps wimmin to think
of themselves as responsible for their
lives. Another ex-plural-wife named
Flora Jessop sensibly said, "`People don't
understand this has nothing to do with
religion. It's a human right violation, a
civil rights violation.'"(5)
People like Erickson and Jessop have
Gender roundup
A series of reactionary setbacks
Continued on page 9...
MIM Notes 272 · December 15, 2002· Page 8
"Trade Empires"
2001
Eidos Interactive
"Trade Empires" is another in the
relatively small niche of complex strategy
games. The assumptions that the
programmers put into the game are
typical of the bourgeoisie's view of itself.
The basic strategic premise of business
competition is the same as in Trevor
Chan's "Capitalism II," but Chan's game
is the far more realistic and instructive.
As in Trevor Chan's "Capitalism II,"
Eidos Interactive takes up the bourgeois
view that trade leaders are heroes who
ease bottlenecks in the economy. Those
players who bring goods that are in
demand to the market make the most
money--and the goal of this game is
making money and owning other forms
of wealth. As such, the game is actually
a step up from other games by the same
company such as "Commandos 2," which
are just the usual mindless militarism
games.
In "Trade Empires," if heroic business
leaders do not see to supplying cities, the
cities themselves will dwindle to no
population. The variety and price of
goods made available by merchants is
what determines the population size of a
city, and then also the amount of business
it can do.
Players in this game fantasize that they
are leaders of a major trading "house" or
merchant family. One player is capable
of flooding the market to the point where
business is unprofitable but possibly
causing growth in population and further
demand. In fact, the trade empire itself
pays for palaces, temples and barracks.
These items are important for stimulating
demand, raising prices and making trade
profitable according to Eidos
Interactive's view of the world. There are
no taxes or government in the game, but
it is easy to see how government-like
functions can be in the interests of a well-
to-do merchant family.
Since trade empires last hundreds of
years, it is very possible that it is
profitable to the trade house to fork out
the cash for establishments that produce
nothing while creating demand for the
merchant family's goods. It may cost
2000 monetary units to build a palace,
but if the merchants sell the occupants
of that palace enough jewelry over the
years, the palace can pay for itself several
times over just by raising demand and
thus profits.
It was not that hard for the
programmers to throw in that little
simulation of the "demand side" of the
economy, but it is too bad that libertarians
and anarcho-capitalists cannot
understand even this basic point in
"Trade Empires," namely that the
wealthy can in every way afford to
imitate a government. The only question
is whether the government will try to
claim independence of the merchant
family to be even more effective.
Contrary to sterile thought that holds that
governments form for their own sake, for
"power for its own sake," it is clear even
in this simple game that the origins of
modern day government are in class
differentiation. Without the legal
possibility to make profit in the manner
that they do, merchants would not hire
guards or troops and nor would they build
palaces and temples. Proto-government
arises because of the private interests of
the bourgeoisie and earlier propertied
classes. Libertarians and anarcho-
capitalists who think the state can be
eliminated without the underlying
conflicts in society that give rise to the
state are fooling themselves.
On the plus side, regarding the realism
of the game's assumptions, it is clear that
there is a whole sector of the economy
that appears as unproductive even to the
trader bourgeoisie. For example, in
addition to having temples and palaces
sitting there demanding products, while
traveling amongst countries, merchants
need to hire military protection or face
the wrath of pirates. This military
protection costs money and what could
be a profitable trade route might very well
not be thanks to military and transport
expenses. At the same time, a properly
equipped trade outfit may do some
marauding of its own and rob pirates of
their treasures. This too helps the bottom
line of profit for the merchant. It all
depends on whether equipping military
units costs more than the raiding profit
they can obtain.
The militarism angle in the game is
useful if properly understood.
Occasionally in real life we hear some
deluded pacifists or social-democrats
argue that war is not profitable. The
question is really profitable "to whom?"
The fact is that in a society with private
property someone is making a profit out
of militarism--namely the better-
equipped military units that attack others.
In real life, there are military contractors
and mercenaries making money from
war. This is what Marxism helps us to
see in this and many other facets--that
what is profitable for the individual is not
necessarily beneficial to the society as a
whole. Pirates/troops do not produce
anything in their military capacities.
When they are done fighting there can
only be less wealth total than there was
before the fighting, never more tangible
wealth. Capitalism and the merchant
class do not concern themselves with this
fact: they see only what is profitable at
the individual level and if that means
equipping merchant traders with some
military firepower to raid other
merchants or pirates, then so be it!
Some of the more questionable
assumptions in the game are: 1) that
prices can only range from half to double
the normal price. Unsold goods cannot
cut prices more than 50% and will go to
waste. 2) There is only a limited number
of merchants available to hire!
One benefit of the above assumption
made is that we see that some goods will
go to waste, simply because there is no
demand even at half off the original price.
In fairness to Eidos Interactive, the
difference between a sale price and total
waste is merely a question of proportions.
Wasting more goods may result in higher
prices for the remaining goods after all.
With the game's assumptions,
merchants will also face time pressure
to sell their goods, both because attending
to low-demand markets means that it will
take longer to sell goods and because
there are only so many merchants to hire,
so each merchant should be assigned the
most profitable trade route possible.
Each merchant hired by the merchant
house can be thought of as a transport
worker. We do not see that any profit is
shared with the individual merchant. The
greater the supply of merchants (transport
workers), the more work they will do for
less profit. In fact, we can even imagine
from this game that having too many
transport workers might make them all
unprofitable. That is something Marx
pointed out, that labor has to be for
something "socially necessary" and that
there is such a thing as an average profit
or average method of production. There
is nothing in capitalism that guarantees
there is not an excess supply of labor;
even though, from a strictly physical
point of view or a socialist point of view,
society can always benefit from the
creation of more wealth, no matter how
many workers there are (assuming we
have the planetary-environmental space).
It is not as if Karl Marx disagreed with
so trivial a notion as "supply and
demand." In fact, he spelled out that
bourgeoisie would be unaware of the real
workings of the capitalist system,
because it would only concern itself with
what it has to do to make profit on an
individual level.
While Chan's game has the possibility
of at least involving some labor struggle
over wages, there is absolutely no sense
of class struggle in "Trade Empires."
Like the vulgar bourgeoisie, it would
seem the Eidos Interactive people would
say there is nothing else to know other
than how to make money.
Those who prefer games in ancient
settings may enjoy the graphics,
geography and music from ancient
cultures better in "Trade Empires" than
in "Capitalism II." On the other hand,
there are fewer realistic assumptions put
into this game than "Capitalism II," even
though both are about "supply and
demand."
"I don't know what rice is, I just know its price." "Trade Empires" interface guides
players' quest for personal wealth.
It's all about the Benjamins for bourgeois trade sim
What questions do YOU have?
Wasn't Mao a butcher? Why do you spell it "Amerika"? Shouldn't
you try non-violence first? What is internationalism? Isn't hating white
people reverse racism? Why don't you leftists work together? Why
don't you tone it down? What is a cardinal principle? What is your
program? What is necessary to join MIM? What concrete actions can I
take? How do I write articles for MIM? What is your copyright policy?
Go to http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/faq
and get real answers to these and other questions.
MIM Notes 272 · December 15, 2002· Page 9
seen through Liberalism--by which we
mean individualism, whether
conservative or left-leaning. It's not
surprising that it is the people involved
who see through oppression. The Dalai
Lama's ex-slaves opposed him; even
though the West gives them no attention
whatsoever, while hanging on every word
of the Dalai Lama.
MIM believes we have heard enough
of Romney and other pc people who
avoid the facts. On July 9th, 2002,
Tapestry against Polygamy sounded the
call for a real feminist cause against an
ex-bishop in the Mormon Church: "Luis
Gonzales has been charged with 20
counts of child molestation, battery, rape,
bigamy, stalking, and fraud. The victim,
alias Tammy Doe alleges, `The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has
been fully aware of this man's illegal
activities since 1998 and failed to do
anything until the child molestation
became public.'"(6)
As in Tibet, the people on the front-
lines do the best exposing the lies of
religion to cover for oppression. Ex-
plural wives have explained some of the
scams: 1) Divorce repeatedly while
continuing the life before. 2) Take
welfare aid while claiming to be "single"
mothers. 3) Form a splinter church from
the Mormon Church that no one will
touch. 4) Hide within the sanctity of "the
family." As absolom.com says, "It's not
really the practice of polygamy that is
punishable, but the flaunting of it to the
rest of the world."
One problem the scams run into is that
it is illegal in Utah for unmarried wimmin
who are 16 or 17 to have sex with men
more than 10 years older. Thus, attention
tends to focus on the cases involving
children. In 1998, a major case involved
the beating of a teenager by a father
seeking to force the teen daughter to
marry his brother.
MIM has never met "Tapestry against
Polygamy." No doubt we disagree on
some things. However, the following
statement of theirs is a right-on statement
regarding the bulk of the feminist cause
within U.$. borders: "Is polygamy a
healthy lifestyle for children? No.
Children are the real victims of polygamy
because they have no choice. There are
no watchdogs for children born into
polygamy because they are kept isolated
from mainstream society for parents and
leaders to groom innocent children for a
polygamist life. Minors suffer from these
various forms of abuse within the
polygamous subculture: Statutory rape,
incest, denial of public education, child-
slave labor, trafficking of minors into
different countries for sex, arranged
marriages, marriages to close relatives,
medical neglect, poverty etc."(6) MIM
would say that it is children who bear the
brunt of gender oppression within U.$.
borders--not glass-ceiling obsessed
professionals of the gender aristocracy.
"Andrea Johnson was married at age
14 to her half-brother. She died a painful
and unnecessary death giving birth at age
15 from medical non-treatment of pre-
clampsia, an easily treated medical
condition."(6)
Rather than smashing openly
polygamous religions, politicians back
down under pressure. In February, 2001,
almost 100 polygamists of the Apostolic
United Brethren openly lobbied in just
one meeting in the state capitol. The
result was politicians talking about
polygamous marriage as a
misdemeanor.(7)
Meanwhile, an independent candidate
for governor in Arizona named Mahoney
has tried to raise the non-prosecution of
open polygamy as an issue. However, the
fatuous Liberals of the Anti-Defamation
League objected: "`It's not fair game,
ever, to try to label an entire group, a
religion, a race, a classroom, a state, a
city, by the actions of a few of the more
fanatical elements of that group,'" the
ADL said.(8)
The ADL fantasy requires that there
only be a few fanatic individuals.
Unfortunately the truth is that a whole
town on the Utah-Arizona border consists
of a fundamentalist Mormon church
living in open polygamy and no law
enforcement doing anything about it in
either Utah or Arizona. When 6000
people live in open polygamy and when
polygamists even lobby in the state
capitol for their rights, and when Tapestry
against Polygamy has estimated between
80,000 and 300,000 men involved in
polygamous marriages, it is not a
question of a "few fanatic individuals."
It is law enforcement turning a blind eye,
because the governor who last tried to
enforce the law in 1952 lost the following
election. That's not a few fanatics. That
is the entire state talking.
As a result not even Tapestry against
Polygamy supports raiding houses.
Attacking polygamy is some kind of
novelty: " The Mormon fundamentalist
tradition has been interwoven into Utah's
culture for so long that today it is being
protected by the ACLU, local NOW, and
much of the state of Utah as a religious
freedom without any regard for the
polygamous women and children whose
human rights are being violated," says
Tapestry against Polygamy.
The idea of polygamy is so intertwined
with the spiritual doctrine and the
practice of Mormon leaders such as
Brigham Young who had 55 wives, that
most papers written on the subject do not
bother venturing past the history. " In
1843, Joseph Smith told the press that
Mormons did not practice polygamy. He
LIED! Smith was already married to 12
women, taking a 17 year old orphan as
his second wife back in 1835. (The
Twenty-seventh Wife, Wallace, Irving,
NY, Simon & Schuster, 1961)."(9)
"Mormon teaching today does forbid
the practice of polygamy, as compliance
with the laws of the land. However, never
has the Church acknowledged doing
wrong in the practice of this principle,
nor has it ever acknowledged the
principle itself to have been wrong or
morally reprehensible. To the contrary,
it still teaches that `plural marriage' is a
divine principle and holy institution
ordained of God, the practice of which
is held in only temporary abeyance. The
so-called revelation commanding that the
principle be practiced is still printed by
the Church as scripture binding on the
consciences of its members (Doctrine and
Covenants, sec. 132)."(10)
One Arizona columnist says
independent anti-polygamy activist
Mahoney has no chance of winning the
governor's office. Nonetheless, E.J.
Montini says, "But on the matter of
young women and girls being abused in
certain parts of Arizona and us not doing
much about it, he's right."(11) Nor is it
just Arizona and Utah. Canada admits
that plural wives of the same church on
the Arizona-Utah border have entered
Canada with government knowledge of
their illegal practices.(12)
Tapestry against Polygamy claims that
the polygamists are raising babies faster
than anyone else. The Miami Herald
provides the overall demographic
picture: "Nationally, the Hispanic interest
in the faith has helped make the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints the
fastest-growing denomination in the
United States. In the '90s, the number of
U.S. followers mushroomed 19.3
percent, to more than 4.2 million, the
biggest jump of any major denomination,
according to a decennial survey, 2000
Religious Congregations & Membership,
released last month.
"The survey found the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints to be the
country's sixth-largest denomination,
behind only Roman Catholics, Southern
Baptists, United Methodists, Jews and
Evangelical Lutherans. There are more
Mormons than Presbyterians or
Episcopalians in this country."(13)
Republican and Mormon Mitt Romney
echoes the Liberal view of churches:
"`BYU is a religiously oriented
university,' Romney said. `I just don't
think religion should be part of a
campaign. I've indicated what my
position is with regard to gay rights in
Massachusetts. I want to preserve and
protect those."(14) Romney is a bishop
in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
Day Saints.
Our take on religion that includes
oppression is different. MIM agrees that
Mormonism should not be a campaign
issue, but because people who are
Mormons should not be allowed to hold
office. If Romney is really so opposed to
discrimination, he should be an ex-
Mormon--someone of Mormon
background, but not a Mormon anymore.
There is simply no two ways about it:
BYU discriminates. Rather than being
shut down for its open beliefs banning
gay/lesbian conduct and hushing up
sexual abuse of children and wimmin,
BYU receives private donations and
government aid.(6)
In MIM's view, feminism is not
Shannon O'Brien's professional career.
It is not having four out of five of the
candidates for governor being wimmin.
Feminism is shutting down oppression
of wimmin and children. Feminism is
putting an end to patriarchy and that is
the exact opposite of Liberal fantasies
about gay children getting an even shake
from their peers in today's schools or
religions as some sort of oppression-free
zone. Unfortunately too many people
calling themselves feminists are nothing
of the sort, just Amerikkkan
individualists.
Notes:
1. newsweekly 16Oct2002, p. 16.
2. Ibid., p. 1, 16.
3. Boston Globe 30Oct2002, http://
www.globe.com/politics/
4. Scott Abbot, "Does Brigham Young
University pose a threat to academic
freedom?" http://www.globe.com/
politics/ 30Oct2002
5. Patty Henetz, "In a groundbreaking
case, Utah woman is charged with aiding
and abetting polygamy," Associated
Press 14Oct2002.
6. http://www.polygamy.org/
7. http://www.polygamyinfo.com/
plygmedia%2001%2027trib.htm
8. Howard Fischer, "Mahoney drags
polygamy, religion into governor's race,"
Arizona Daily Sun 11Oct2002, http://
w w w . a z d a i l y s u n . c o m / n o n _ s e c /
nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=50566
9. http://ww2.moriel.org:8004/
d i s c e r n m e n t / m o r m o n i s m /
mormon_tv_ads.htm
10. Timothy Oliver, "Mormon
Polygamy Still Bearing Fruit in Utah,"
Watchman, 5Jun99.
11. 15Oct2002, http://
www.arizonarepublic.com/arizona/
articles/1015montini15.html
12. Globe and Mail 8Oct2002, p. a4.
13. Miami Herald 12Oct2002, http://
www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
4263330.htm
14. Stephanie Ebbert, "Romney:
Religion should not be campaign issue,"
Boston Globe, 18Oct2002.
15. Any good college administrator
will deny receiving government aid at
one time or another, as part of political
posturing for independence from the
government, but after counting student
loans, support to research etc., it always
turns out false. See for example, http://
w w w . a e c t . o r g / E v e n t s / A t l a n t a /
Presentations/detail.asp?ProposalID=30
Gender roundup: A series of reactionary setbacks
Continued from page 7...
MIM Notes 272 · December 15, 2002· Page 10
MIM on
Prisons & Prisoners
MIM seeks to build public opinion
against Amerika's criminal injustice sys-
tem, and to eventually replace the bour-
geois injustice system with proletarian jus-
tice. The bourgeois injustice system im-
prisons and executes a disproportionately
large and growing number of oppressed
people while letting the biggest mass mur-
derers -- the imperialists and their lack-
eys -- roam free. Imperialism is not op-
posed to murder or theft, it only insists that
these crimes be committed in the interests
of the bourgeoisie.
"All U.S. citizens are criminals--
accomplices and accessories to the crimes
of U.$. oppression globally until the day
U.$. imperialism is overcome. All U.S.
citizens should start from the point of view
that they are reforming criminals."
MIM does not advocate that all
prisoners go free today; we have a
more effective program for fighting
crime as was demonstrated in China
prior to the restoration of capitalism
there in 1976. We say that all prisoners
are political prisoners because under
the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, all
imprisonment is substantively
political. It is our responsibility to
exert revolutionary leadership and
conduct political agitation and
organization among prisoners --
whose material conditions make them
an overwhelmingly revolutionary
group. Some prisoners should and will
work on self-criticism under a future
dictatorship of the proletariat in those
cases in which prisoners really did do
something wrong by proletarian
standards.
Under Lock & Key
News from Prisons & Prisoners
California SHU denies
"luxury" of
educational books
I'm incarcerated in a maximum security
prison. I am in my cell 23 hours a day, 7 days
a week. My only permitted luxury is books.
We're allowed to purchase them from outside
bookstores. But I have no income to do so.
The library here supplies books, but only
novels, which I derive no pleasure from. I
prefer books that have intellectual value such
as philosophy and other classical literature.
Unfortunately they are in absence in the
library here so this brings me to you in hopes
that you can help me out with a few books.
-- a prisoner in California, November 2002
California denies
rights in gang
investigations
I'm writing to let you know I've been
placed in Administrative Segregation Unit
(ASU for allegedly being a member of a gang.
The Institution Gang Investigator (IGI) came
to my cell on 10-28-02 and took all my
property (with no explanation at all). I kept
asking all officers on all shifts about my
property. They stated that IGI had the power
to do these things. I also asked if I could get
a receipt for my property. I was told it's up to
IGI. Two days later I was rolled up and placed
in ASU. Now I await charges that could
possibly lock me down for years. I have been
doing time since 1997 and have never been
involved in any gang activities and until 1999
had not had any writeup. In 11-1-99 I was
attacked by a confessed gang, that told the
corrections officers that they wanted to rollup
so they attacked Blacks. Since 2001 I've been
on this yard with no write-ups. This prison
has a history of falsifying papers to place any
outspoken individual in lockup. And now I've
fell victim to these claims.
-- a prisoner in California, November 2002
Building more
SHU prisons
By December of this year, or as late as
January, they will have finished constructing
the SHU at High Desert State Prison. This
means no one will be getting transfers, which
just escalates the already high tension around
here. You would think that due to the way we
are all being treated (Black, Red, Brown,
white, yellow) that we would come together
against our captors - it's just the opposite.
There is too much tribalism and asinine
politics, ideologies that conflict.
These people have achieved results from
their nefarious plan to keep us locked
mentally and fighting each other. Our captors
are the only ones who gain from any
dissension among us. Until we overstand this
we will remain in this pit of oppression.
-- a prisoner in California, October 2002
Corcoran SHU
conditions deteriorate
Conditions here have gone from bad to
worse. We are being systematically denied
exercise yard periods. The federal mandates
are ten hours weekly, we probably receive that
in a month! In February of 2002 they started
work on water-cannons/pepper spray hybrid
robotic controlled weapons that they have
installed in the concrete SHU yards to control
and repress. This is not to mention the 347
MM block, gun and AK10 that are in plain
view while inmates exercise, socialize or
practice their religious freedoms under the
scrutiny of the Department of Corrections.
During installation of the water/pepper
spray cannons no contingency plan was put
in place in order to accommodate inmates
exercise yard privileges. We were just shut
up in our cells for months while overpaid state
flunkies installed this massive weapon system
with attached camera to intimidate, degrade
and shock our consciences. Needless to say
the water cannon/pepper sprayer received
demonstrations by staff and other flunkies as
to this weapons efficiency, and we continue
to sit in our cells suffering daily denials of
yard due to last minute adjustments to the
water cannon. So life goes on in the SHU.
-- a prisoner at Corcoran, November 2002
Pelican Bay limits
mail, increases
repression
These prisoncrats are about to implement
another repressive policy: effective Jan 1,
2003 all incoming mail must be written on
81/2 x 11 inch paper, on one side only and
incoming letters cannot be longer than 4 pages
in length. Handwriting or printing must be
legible so the fascist censor can screen all the
incoming mail plus we will be able to receive
only five letters per week. This bullchet policy
will be introduced for "security reasons." Yea
right. Like all other Pelican Bay policies this
one is pure crap. This policy is simply another
vehicle of oppression and social control.
-- a prisoner in CA, November 2002
MIM responds: California currently has
Control Units, known as Security Housing
Units (SHU) in five prisons in the state. There
prisoners are locked up 23 hours a day, in
isolation conditions without access to
education or other programs. These
conditions, described in the letters above,
cause many prisoners to go crazy. Further, the
prisoners are confined to the SHU after secret
gang membership hearings based on false
evidence targeting prisoners who are
organizing politically, as is described in the
second letter above. And limiting their one
outside stimulation, mail, just furthers the
oppression in these institutions. MIM calls
these SHU prisons for what they are: torture.
And we have a campaign going on in
California to abolish the SHU. Look for
stories in this and future issues of MIM Notes
about how to get involved or check out our
web page: http://www.etext.org/Politics/
MIM/agitation/prisons
Magazine illegally
censored by WA DOC
Outlaw Biker Magazine is not known for
its obscene or sexually explicit material. At
most there is nudity to go along with scooters
and all those bikers who live a free and loose
life style in our society. Nevertheless issue
145 was rejected by mail room staff working
at the correction center in Shelton,
Washington.
In a notice of rejection officials claimed
obscene or sexually explicit content was
portrayed in the magazine. But they failed to
identify what it was or why this was a
violation of incoming mail policy.
On appeal Captain Trauscher upheld their
rejection for the same reason given by the mail
room. But Deputy Directory Lynn Delano
exposed this as nothing more than a criminal
conspiracy. By reviewing the publication and
finding no obscene or sexually explicit
material in this magazine.
While Delano settled this she proved
honesty wasn't her strong suit either because
she acquiesced in their rejection for other
reasons which were proven untrue. She asserts
Bill Riley, her "gang expert", found a gang
related advertisement in the magazine. This
claim was debunked when someone checked
the ad and it proved to be about the Hells
Angeles Motorcycle Club, a group which has
nothing to do with gangs or the prisons in
Washington State.
Prisoners or their correspondents may
appeal any time mail is rejected. Outsiders
do this by writing to the Director at the
Department of Corrections Headquarters in
Olympia, Washington. Prisoners may do the
same after seeking review by the warden.
Although favorable decisions aren't always
possible, your efforts help to expose those
who would violate our first amendment rights
and force us to suffer even more oppression
by stopping our magazines, or mail merely
because we're in prison and their in a position
to do that.
-- a prisoner in WA, November 2002
MIM responds: We agree with this
prisoner's assessment of the value of
appealing censorship. And we take this one
step further, urging people to send stories
about their censorship and appeals to MIM
Notes so that we can print them and more
widely educate about and expose the
censorship.
Georgia prison
medical "care" is
dangerous
Dear MIM,
[This prison] fails to provide adequate
medical care services to inmates. There are
serious deficiencies in each major component
of this facility, including staffing, intake, sick
call, and emergency care. As a result of these
deficiencies, inmates frequently do not
receive adequate evaluation or treatment for
their illnesses, and there exists an ongoing
potential for serious harm or death. For
instance, this camp houses over 1100
prisoners and has no 3rd shift medical
personnel after 10:00 p.m.
In dealing with mental health and suicidal
inmates there is a systemic deficiency at this
institution, including inadequate screening,
lack of counseling and crisis intervention, and
lack of on-site mental health personnel, which
could lead to inadequate suicide prevention.
This creates a lack of mental health input into
California SHU: repression and social control
MIM Notes 272 · December 15, 2002· Page 11
Facts on U$ imprisonment
The facts about imprisonment in the United $tates are that the United $tates has been the world's leading prison-state per capita for the last
25 years, with a brief exception during Boris Yeltsin's declaration of a state of emergency.(1)
That means that while Reagan was talking about a Soviet "evil empire" he was the head of a state that imprisoned more people per capita.
In supposedly "hard-line" Bulgaria of the Soviet bloc of the 1980s, the imprisonment rate was less than half that of the United $tates.(2,3)
To find a comparison with U.$. imprisonment of Black people, there is no statistic in any country that compares including apartheid South
Africa of the era before Mandela was president. The last situation remotely comparable to the situation today was under Stalin during war
time. The majority of prisoners are non-violent offenders(4) and the U.S. Government now holds about a half million more prisoners than
China; even though China is four times our population.(5)
The rednecks tell MIM that we live in a "free country." They live in an Orwellian 1984 situation where freedom is imprisonment.
Notes: 1. Marc Mauer, "Americans Behind Bars: The International Use of Incarceration 1993," The Prison Sentencing Project, 918 F. St. NW, Suite
501, Washington, DC 20004 (202) 628-0871 Reference: SRI: R8965-2, 1994
2. Ibid., 1992 report.
3. United Nations Development Programme, "Human Development Report 1994,:" Oxford University Press, p. 186.
4. Figure of 51.2 percent for state prisoners there for non-violent offenses. Abstract of the United States 1993, p. 211.
5. Atlantic Monthly December, 1998.
both the identification and treatment of
suicidal inmates.
--A prisoner in Georgia, November 2002
Oregon denies MIM
distributor status
Dear MIM,
This is in response to your letter dated
August 3, 2002 regarding authorizing MIM
as a distributor of publications they do not
publish
You have requested that MIM be
authorized to distribute publications which
they have not published. As stated in my
previous letter our Mail (Inmate) Rule
requires new books to be received directly
from the publisher. However, we do permit
suppliers and distributors who have been
approved to send in publications, but these
cannot be open to the public.
You asked what was the criterion for
selecting these distributors. These distributors
must not be open to the general public, must
have a tax/business id number, must have a
wide distribution, and may only distribute
new publications.
You may work through Amazon.com or
Barnes & Noble.com to make available
publications you do not publish. These large
distributors have met the strict criteria
required by the Oregon Department of
Corrections for distribution of publications
to Oregon's prisons
I trust you will be able to work through
other approved publishers/distributors to
ensure the distribution of publications MIM
does not publish.
--Jacy Duran, Central Mail Administrator
for Oregon, October 2002
MIM responds: The policy prohibiting
prisoners from receiving books from
distributors like MIM means that prisoners
in Oregon can not receive literature from
Books for Prisoners programs. MIM's
program, and others across the country, rely
on donations of books and money, and can
not afford to purchase books for prisoners
through pricy distributors like Amazon.com.
We have been pursing authorization for MIM
to send in books but continue to meet up with
ridiculous arguments like those from the mail
administrator printed above.
The "strict criteria" are both meaningless
and not enforced. First, Amazon.com
distributes used publications. Second, any
distributor can get a tax/business ID number,
there is no restriction on this, it just costs
money. Third, having a "wide distribution"
is very subjective but we're certain that MIM
has a wider distribution in prisons across the
country than either Amazon.com or Barnes
& Noble.com. But in reality there is no reason
for the Oregon DOC to care about a
distributor having a wide distribution since
they are only concerned with books being sent
to Oregon prisoners.
These criteria (possibly fabricated for the
sake of a response to MIM's insistent
requests) clearly have nothing to do with the
security of the Oregon prisons and can only
be seen as a way to restrict prisoner's access
to educational material. Unlike MIM, Barnes
& Nobles and Amazon.com do not accept
labor in exchange for books. They charge high
prices and do not work with the prisoners to
study the books they send in. The only
possible outcome of this policy is to limit
educational opportunities for prisoners in
Oregon.
Prisons Can't Follow
THEIR Rules in NY
I am in the box with some good brothers,
one of them a couple of years ago stabbed
the deputy sup. in the head and a couple of
officers. All the brothers down here try to
stand strong however these pigs make it hard.
They deny brothers stuff they're supposed to
have by their directive 4933. You're supposed
to be able to change your linen and towels a
minimum of 2 times per week. You don't get
to change it once. You write to grievance and
they take like 20 days to answer when by their
rules and regulations they're supposed to
answer in 12 days. You have this [womyn]
Mrs. Reams who throws them in the garbage
when she feels.
The C.O.s down here do their best to
antagonize brothers to fight. They deny them
the bare necessities when they need them like
toilet paper, writing paper, etc. You follow
the chain of command like you're supposed
to and they still do nothing. They have a real
secret society going on in this spot also. If
you talk back to them they put a plexiglass
screen on your door. Not to mention they
already have you in a plexiglass cell. The only
part to your cage that is not covered is the
door. They let people throw human feces on
people. [One prisoner] has been here 7 yrs.
and for the past 3 yrs. they let this white boy
throw shit on him. Listen brothers, if there is
anything I can do to help the struggling
brothers in Attica holla at me. I'm going to
bring this letter to a close on a balcony of
trust that I will hear from you brothers again.
I remain a comrade in struggle,
--a NY prisoner, October 2002
MIM responds: This letter shows that if
we can just get prison officials to follow their
own rules we can improve the conditions for
comrades who are trying to lead the struggle
on the inside. The struggle mentioned in
Attica is similar in that the mail room staff
has been censoring virtually all mail MIM has
tried to send in without abiding by the usual
procedures of censorship in NYS. While
MIM opposes all censorship, at this stage we
are just fighting for Attica to follow their own
rules because that would be a concrete step
forward, as evidenced by other prisons in
NYS where most of our mail reaches our
comrades. So far prisoners inside and
supporters outside Attica have written to the
superintendent to protest the situation there.
We have been discussing this campaign with
NY comrades in prison for some time and
encourage others to help us expand our
efforts. People on the outside can get more
information on the Attica campaign on the
Albany RAIL webpage. Letters of protest
should be addressed to Chairman Edward
O'mara or Deputy Superintendent of
Programs R. Savage at Attica Correctional
Facility Box 149 Attica, NY 14011-0149.
Please send copies of your letters to MIM.
Censorship in
California
It appears that I am not receiving your MIM
Notes nor a rejection slip from the mailroom.
This does not surprise me because employees
of the state perpetuate their personal agenda's
when it comes to censoring our mail, which
results in our mail, newspapers and magazines
either being trashed, returned to sender, or
held over for long periods of time without
notice, cause or reason.
There are cases in which we do not receive
periodicals upon receipt by mailroom.
Personnel there will let them accumulate until
there's a bunch or a specific day arrives when
they process them, so you end up receiving
them up to a week or more out of date. Mail
also arrives weeks late, longer if you're
housing is not located on outside of
envelopes. As it stands now we are not even
allowed catalogs to order books out of such
as the Oklahoma press, tightwad magazines,
or any book clubs. I feel this policy is in place
to discourage us from obtaining literature and
ease the mailrooms workload. There is a
method to the department's madness, because
we are not allowed to possess more than three
books at one given time due to the
department's policy (security reasons).
-- a prisoner in California (Corcoran),
October 2002
Prisoners: build USW!
I would be honored to be MIM conduit and
USW [United Struggle from Within]
representative here in this neo-plantation. As
for me, my goal and desire in regards to prison
is not to make the material conditions better
because easy or soft conditions cause one to
get comfortable, lessen ones awareness and
changes the intensity of ones focus which is
vital to my desire to break down the walls of
the neo-plantations and with all intensity
crush and obliterate this oppressive and
injustice system, but that is just me. I will
consult with the others and get their opinion
and ideas and hopefully send them for you.
One love and we will triumph in the struggle.
--a prisoner in CA (Imperial), November
2002
MIM responds: We need organizers in
prison to take up the leadership of the MIM-
led prisoner mass organization, United
Struggle from Within (USW). This group
focuses on fighting against the criminal
injustice system and educating prisoners
about anti-imperialism. We do wage battles
for better conditions, both to make conditions
more bearable, and to make it possible for
our comrades behind bars to more actively
take part in the anti-imperialist struggle.
Censorship and other repression makes it very
difficult for prisoners to educate themselves
and work with MIM.
From the MIM "Frequently Asked
Questions" page, http://www.etext.org/
Politics/MIM/faq.
Internationalism is the ethical belief or
scientific approach in which peoples of
different nations are held to be or assumed to
be equal. Internationalism is opposed to
racism and national chauvinism.
We Maoists believe the nationalism of
nations experiencing oppression of
imperialism is "applied internationalism." We
oppose nationalism of oppressed nations
directed at other oppressed nations, because
the economic content of such nationalism is
intra-proletarian conflict. We seek a united
front of oppressed nations led by the
international proletariat against imperialism.
"I must argue, not from the point of view
of `my' country (for that is the argument of a
wretched, stupid, petty-bourgeois nationalist
who does not realize that he is only a plaything
in the hands of the imperialist bourgeoisie),
but from the point of view of my share in the
preparation, in the propaganda, and in the
acceleration of the world proletarian
revolution. That is what internationalism
means, and that is the duty of the
internationalist, of the revolutionary worker,
of the genuine Socialist."
V. I. Lenin, "What Is Internationalism?"
The Proletarian Revolution and the
Renegade Kautsky
(Peking: Foreign
Language Press, 1965), p. 80.
What is internationalism?
MIM Notes 272 · December 15, 2002· Page 12
Notas Rojas
dec 15, 2002, Nº 272 Fragmento del Periodico Oficial del Movimiento Internacionalista Maoista Gratis
¿Que es el MIM?
El Movimiento Internacionalista Maoísta (MIM) es un partido revolucionario
comunista que ejerce el Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoísmo. El MIM es una organización
internacionalista que trabaja desde el punto de vista del proletariado del Tercer Mundo;
es por esto que sus miembros no son amerikanos sino ciudadanos del mundo.
El MIM lucha para acabar con la opresión de todos los grupos sobre cualquier otro,
naciones por naciones, clases por clases, y géneros por géneros. La revolución es una
realidad para los Estados Unidos mientras su ejército continúa extendiendose en su
esfuerzo por asegurar la hegemonía mundial.
El MIM difiere de otros partidos en tres puntos basicos: (1) El MIM sostiene que
después que el proletariado conquiste el poder estatal, existira aún el potencial para una
restauración de tipo capitalista, bajo la dirección de una burguesía nueva dentro del
mismo partido comunista. En el caso de la Unión Soviética, la burguesía se apoderó del
gobierno después de la muerte de Stalin, en 1953; y en China después de la muerte de
Mao y del derrocamiento de la llamada "banda de los cuatro' en 1976. (2) El MIM
sostiene que la Revolución Cultural en China es la fase ms avanzada a la que llegó el
comunismo en la historia. (3) El MIM afirma que la clase trabajadora blanca de los
EE.UU. es primordialmente, una élite trabajadora no revolucionaria en el presente. Es
por esto que no es el principal vehículo para avanzar el Maoísmo en este país.
El MIM acepta como miembro a cualquier individuo que esté de acuerdo con estos
tres puntos basicos, y que acepte al centralismo democrtico, el método de gobierno por
la mayoría en lo que se refiere a cuestiones de línea del partido. El MIM es un partido
clandestino que no publica los nombres de sus miembros para evitar la represión estatal
dirigida históricamente contra los movimientos revolucionarios comunistas, y anti-
imperialistas. Si Ud. desea una suscripción para cualquiera de nuestros periódicos o
libros teóricos, en español o en inglés, por favor mandar dinero en efectivo o un cheque
al nombre de MIM a esta dirección:
MIM · P.O. Box 29670 · Los Angeles CA 90029-0670
Por el MIM
Traducido por Células de Estudio para la
Liberación de Aztlán y América Latina
A principios de julio la corte del Perú
declaró culpable al ex-activo de la CIA,
Vladimiro Montesinos, acusado de
"usurparción de autoridad" por apoderarse
del infame Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional
cuando oficiaba como asesor de éste. El juez
le dictó lo que parece ser una sentencia
pesada por el detalle que resultó en su
enjuicio- una multa de 2.8 millones de
dólares más una cadena de 9 anos y 4 meses
de prisión- pero que en realidad es leve en
comparación con lo que se merece por los
crímenes cometidos al ejecutar la ley marcial
bajo dirección del ex-presidente Alberto
Fujimori. Cientos de miles fallecieron a
causa de la guerra genocida del gobierno
oficial en contra del movimiento
revolucionario dirigido por el Partido
Comunista del Perú (PCP) o "Sendero
Luminoso." Este verano durante el juicio
Montesinos enfrentará cargos de corrupción,
narcotráfico, contrabando de armas,
homicidio e incluso acusasiones de que él
dirigía un escuadrón de muerte paramilitar.
El hecho de que este títere de la CIA estaba
metido en todas estas cosas fue reportado por
el MIM y otros amigos del PCP hace más de
diez años. Durante este tiempo los medios
de comunicación en Amérika y el gobierno
yanqui se mantuvieron en silencio y hasta
aclamaban a Montesinos por sus
sanguinarios esfuerzos "contrainsurgentes."
A continuación imprimimos una nueva
traducción de un artículo que apareció en
MIM Notes detallando la relación entre el
gobierno yanqui, Montesinos y como los
portavoces burgueses consetían a este último.
En la década de los 90 los principales
medios de comunicación imperialistas
difamaban al "Sendero Luminoso" y a su
líder, el Camarada Gonzalo, con acusasiones
de que se asociaban con narcotraficantes.
Ahora son los imperialistas y otros
reaccionarios quienes admiten que el
gobierno del Perú estaba metido en el
narcotráfico tal como lo habia dicho el
"Sendero Luminoso."
En MIM Notes Nú. 216 le informamos al
lector que el Tío Sam se había fastidiado con
su entonces lacayo y maestro de espionage
Vladimiro Montesinos. Este es un fin común
para los lacayos quienes llevan a cabo el
trabajo sucio de los yanquis sólo para
descubrir luego que ya no le hacen falta al
patrón. El problema con lacayos tipo
Montesinos es que quedan descubiertos ante
el pueblo -como en el Perú- y luego sólo es
cuestión de tiempo antes de que el Tío Sam
se deshaga de ellos. Y claro, el próximo
lacayo cobrará más para llevar a cabo las
órdenes del Tío Sam.
En cada país existen personas como
Montesinos, listas para convertirse en
traidores y lacayos. Tanto el Tío Sam como
sus lacayos merecen ser derrotados.
Los medios de comunicación yanquis
protegen a Montesinos
El día 10 de julio de 2001 CNN dijó:
"Después de ser expulsado de las fuerzas
armadas y un corto plazo en prisión por
vender secretos a la CIA, el licenciado
Montesinos abogó a favor de
narcotraficantes." (1) Cuando esto fue
anunciado por CNN Montesinos acababa de
terminar su huelga de hambre de 9 días en
una prisión en el Perú después de haber sido
entregado por las autoridades venezolanas.
Ahora Montesinos enfrenta varias
acusaciones criminales las cuales incluyen
narcotráfico y homicidio.
Sin embargo, una búsqueda en las páginas
de internet del supuestamente imparcial
vocero CNN, revela que antes de que
Montesinos huyera del país, es decir antes de
que el Tío Sam se enfadara con él, CNN no
menciona nada en relación con la protección
que le ofreció Montesinos a los
narcotraficantes. Basta con decir que CNN
es una extensión del gobierno yanqui. Cuando
el Tío Sam pide aclamaciones, CNN las
entrega. Y cuando el Tío Sam le pide que
muerda, CNN muerde.
Ya el día 19 de mayo del 2000 CNN decía
lo siguiente sobre Fujimori y, por implicación,
de su "mano derecha," Montesinos: "Será una
difícil decisión para EE.UU. soltar a Fujimori
ya que él ganó grandes aclamaciones durante
los primeros dos años de su mandato por la
eliminación de la producción de cocaína en
su país, por aplastar a la guerrilla izquierdista
de los movimientos de Sendero Luminoso y
los Tupac Amaru y por controlar la
superinflación." (2) Pero ya que el gobierno
yanqui decidió resistir por completo a
Fujimori y Montesinos, CNN y toda la prensa
del monopolio capitalista cambió de tono y
se le permitió hacer la conexión entre éstos y
el narcotráfico.
La misma búsqueda en las páginas del
periódico New York Times demuestra que
desde 1996 este vocero nunca mencionó a
Montesinos en conexión con el narcotráfico
hasta después de la crítica del gobierno
imperialista en el año 2000. Por cierto, uno
de los pocos artículos del New York Times
en el cual se les critica a los líderes peruanos
se basa en fuentes provenientes de medios de
comunicación israelítas en el Perú.
Los lectores de MIM Notes, al contrario,
conocían todo el panorama desde 1994 por
medio de MIM Notes no. 90 o artículos de
Luis Arce Borja, quien en el mismo año
comenzó su exilio en Bélgica. Periódicos al
estilo Christian Science Monitor o Houston
Chronicle y ediciones burguesas de
Latinoamérica como el Venezolano, Caretas,
sólo sueltan pequeños trozos de información.
Los periodistas lacayos sólo se atreven a
imitar la práctica del MIM y presentar los
hechos importantes ahora que el Tío Sam se
deshizo de Montesinos. Antes de que se
declarara "muerta" la Guerra Popular en el
Perú los lacayos voceros del imperialismo
temían perjudicar a la guerra del Tío Sam en
contra de ésta y su jefe el Camarada Gonzalo
y sus seguidores, pero ahora la cuestión del
narcotráfico vuelve a tomar el escenario.
Ahora los voceros imperialistas hablan
sobre la separación entre el Tío Sam y
Montesinos y explican porqué escondieron
los hechos. Durante los años 90, la agencia
estadounidense contra el narcotráfico (DEA)
y la CIA buscaban continuar las relaciones
con Montesinos, mientras que la ex-Secretaria
de Estado Madeline Albright y el ex-Zar de
Narcotráfico Barry McCaffrey se oponían a
las mismas, según aseguran ahora después de
haber seguido una disciplina de soldados
fieles a la máquina mentirosa de propaganda
del Tío Sam. De hecho, fue el FBI el que
capturó a algunos de los socios de Montesinos
en Miami y ayudó a tronar a Montesinos
mientras que ambas agencias- la CIA y DEA-
siguieron unidas hasta el fin.
El Tío Sam decide intencionalmente
apoyar a los traficantes de coca
Además de subrayar lo poco confiable que
son los medios de comiunicación yanquis, el
caso de Montesinos también señala los
huecos/vacíos en el gobierno que se supone
debería bloquear la corriente de drogas que
alcanzan llegar a EE.UU. De por sí es una
atrocidad que la DEA favoreció las relaciones
con Montesinos pero también el mismo
McCaffrey, el jefe superior de EE.UU. contra
el narcotráfico, se vio rebajado al nivel de un
cabildero interno y tuvo que mantener silencio
mientras el gobierno yanqui apoyaba a los
que destinaban la cocaína a EE.UU.
Sólo ahora se conoce todo esto ya que los
autores de Knight Ridder, Kevin G. Hall y
Lucien Chauvin han desenmascarado los
detalles y algunos periódicos como el Boston
Globe los han publicado. Ahora el Boston
Globe admite que Montesinos enfrenta
acusasiones de que él dirigió escuadrones de
muerte y que traficaba la droga y las armas.
El Boston Globe imprimió el reportaje en la
cadena de Knight Ridder el cual decía que
Montesinos era "el hombre a quien muchos
creían ser el verdadero no elegido líder del
Perú desde 1990 hasta el 2000." (3) No es
sorprendente, entonces, que la administración
de Bush haya tardado en soltar todos los
asquerosos detalles del trabajo de la
adminstración de Clinton en el Perú ya que
temen que éstos puedan poner en peligro al
"joven gobierno democrático del Perú." (3)
La palabra "democracia" en boca de los
imperialistas es una palabra clave que
significa narcotráfico, contrabando de armas
y otras cosas por el estilo que hacen del
mundo entero un lugar seguro para las
ganancias norteamericanas.
Notas:
1. http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/
americas/07/10/peru.montesinos.reut/
index.html
2. http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/
americas/05/19/peru5_19.a.tm/index.html
3. Boston Globe 26June2001, p. a10.
Procesamiento de Vladimiro Montesinos Justifica la Guerra Popular en el Perú