I N T E R N E T ' S M A O I S T BI-M O N T H L Y = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = XX XX XXX XX XX X X XXX XXX XXX XXX X X X X X X X XX X X X X X X X V X X X V X X X X X X X XX XXX X X X X X X XX X X X X X X X XXX X X X V XXX X XXX XXX = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT MIM NOTES 121 SEPTEMBER 1, 1996 MIM Notes speaks to and from the viewpoint of the world's oppressed majority, and against the imperialist-patriarchy. Pick it up and wield it in the service of the people. support it, struggle with it and write for it. IN THIS ISSUE: 1. DAY OF PROTEST: MASSES RALLY TO SUPPORT SISON 2. "ALTERNATIVE" VOTE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO IMPERIALISM 3. LETTERS TO MIM AND RAIL 4. APACHE CASINO DEFIES COURT ORDER TO CLOSE: FEDERAL COURT BACKS DOWN 5. RAPE CASE PROVOKES PSEUDO-FEMINISTS TO RECOGNIZE POWER DIFFERENTIALS ARE HEART OF RAPE 6. PRIVILEGED KANADIANS DENY FIRST NATIONS HAVE IT WORSE 7. HOUSE PASSES ENGLISH-CHAUVINIST LAW 8. REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS UNITE: WELFARE CUTS TARGET NON-WHITES 9. WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? FBI PROMOTES XENOPHOBIA 10. MISUARI CAPITULATION IS A BAD EXAMPLE (JOSE MARIA SISON) 11. U.S. GOVERNMENT IS THE STRONGEST POWER INTERVENING IN MY ASYLUM CASE (JOSE MARIA SISON) 12. UNITED SNAKES RECRUITS SPIES TO MONITOR MILITANT GROUPS BEFORE APEC MEETS 13. PETITIONING IN AMERIKA FOR THE SISONS: RESPONSES TO U.S. IMPERIALISM FROM WITHIN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST 14. APPEAL FOR THE GRANT OF ASYLUM TO PROF. JOSE MARIA SISON AND FAMILY 15. UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND PRISONS 16. MLM ONLINE: 'DON'T CUT FUNDING FOR SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN' * * * WHAT IS MIM? The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is a revolutionary communist party that upholds Marxism- Leninism-Maoism, comprising 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 Spanish-speaking Maoist internationalist parties of Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of the U.S. Empire. MIM Notes is the newspaper of MIM. Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the Spanish- speaking parties or emerging parties of MIM. MIM is an internationalist organization that works from the vantage point of the Third World proletariat; thus, its members are not Amerikans, but world citizens. MIM struggles to end the oppression of all groups over other groups: classes, genders, nations. MIM knows this is only possible 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 human history. (3) MIM believes the North American white-working-class is primarily a non- revolutionary worker-elite at this time; thus, it is not the principal vehicle to advance Maoism in this country. 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 * * * DAY OF PROTEST: MASSES RALLY TO SUPPORT SISON LOS ANGELES, August 14--MIM joined supporters of the national democratic movement in the Philippines today in protesting the Dutch Ministry of Justice's decision to refuse Prof. Jose Maria Sison asylum and expel him from the Netherlands. The rally in front of the Dutch consulate was part of a worldwide "Day of Protest" against the expulsion. Protests were also held in Manila, The Hague, Brussels, Berlin, Oslo, Milan, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, Tokyo, Hongkong, Sydney, Melbourne and Wellington. The Los Angeles Protest was organized by the Friends of JoMa Sison and BAYAN International (USA). The Dutch Ministry of Justice informed Prof. Sison on July 18 that he would have to leave the Netherlands in four weeks, on August 15. The inJustice Ministry is using trumped up charges of terrorism as its excuse for denying Sison asylum. Yet these charges say that Sison was committing acts of violence or organizing campaigns while he was either in prison or traveling outside the Philippines.(1) Activists participating in the Day of Protest support Sison's position stated in a July 27 press release that "It is a matter of duty for me to stay on in the Netherlands, if only to pursue the asylum case to its conclusion. Were I to give up this case, then I would be allowing the false claims and arguments of the Dutch justice ministry to go unopposed and look as if they were true."(2) Speeches at the event stressed the fact that the Dutch Ministry of Justice was simply doing the bidding of the United Snakes and the Philippine government by expelling Sison. A statement distributed at the rally stated: "If carried out, the expulsion order will seriously disrupt the formal meetings of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in the Netherlands, in which Prof. Sison plays an integral role. The interference by the U.S.-Ramos Regime in the Jose Maria Sison asylum case is a ruthless scheme to frustrate the Filipino people's aspirations for genuine freedom and peace in the Philippines." A supporter of BAYAN International spoke with MIM about the hypocrisy of bourgeois "rights" -- the bourgeoisie gives lip service to all sorts of fine ideals, but whenever these ideals get in the way of what they want, they trample on them. MIM and this supporter agreed that sometimes it is important to fight a winnable battle to "hold the bourgeoisie to its word" (in order to free a prisoner, fight censorship, etc.) MIM adds that ultimately oppressed nations cannot count on the imperialists to honor or support their "rights" -- some of which (e.g. the right not to be exploited) the imperialists do not even recognize. Revolutionary armed struggle against imperialism and for socialism such as that waged by the NDF under the direction of the Communist Party of the Philippines is needed in order to end the oppression and violence of imperialism. Activists also collected signatures on the "Appeal for the Grant of Asylum to Prof. Sison and Family." NOTES: 1. MIM Notes 120 August 15, 1996, p. 1. 2. Press statement by Jose Maria Sison July 27, 1996. * * * "ALTERNATIVE" VOTE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO IMPERIALISM *Elections update*: Bob Dole announced his running mate, Jack Kemp, who considers Ronald Reagan his role model. Bill Clinton continues to sign bills into law that further the oppression of Blacks, Latinos and other oppressed nations while also pushing for passage of a bill that would give "anti-terrorist" wiretapping freedom to the FBI so that they could even more freely conduct covert operations (often against leftists) in Amerika. Through all of this many leftists are wondering what kind of choice it is to have to pick between the imperialist reactionaries and the moderate- posing imperialist reactionaries. Some people have turned to the alternative of Ralph Nader or other "leftist" candidates. MIM does not support voting in the United Snakes federal or state elections as an effective strategy at this time. The majority of people eligible to vote in this country do not have a material interest in opposing imperialism so there is no chance of an anti-imperialist winning. But MIM also knows that electoralism can not eliminate imperialism because the imperialists will not leave power peacefully. In countries where the majority really does oppose imperialism, the ruling class resorts to fraud or even eliminating elections entirely. MIM does not want to send the message that electoralism is an effective strategy, we want people to be putting their time and energy into work that will create revolutionary change both today and in the future. TAKING ON RALPH NADER None of Ralph Nader's supporters claim that he opposes imperialism. Nader is more of a kinder-and- gentler-at-home brand of imperialist that is not so far off from the national chauvinism that underlies Buchanan's politics. One of Nader's agenda statements from his 1992 campaign for president included the following: "The American people should assume reasonable control over the assets they have legally owned for many years so that their use reflects citizen priorities for a prosperous America, mindful of the needs and rights of present and future generations of Americans to pursue happiness within benign environments." "ALTERNATIVE" VOTE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO IMPERIALISM Compare this with the Buchanan rhetoric pushing for more for the Amerikan citizens and you will find a lot of similarities. Both ignore the profits created through the exploitation of the proletariat of the world and instead focus on the distribution of these profits in the United Snakes where the workers are benefiting from imperialism. Nader's rhetoric generally does not mention redistribution of these profits even within this country to the oppressed nationalities who are much worse off than the whites. It is likely that Nader would say he wants to end "racial" discrimination if he were pushed on it. But he does not offer any plan for how to accomplish this, and he certainly would not include the Third World in this redistribution equation. Nader's big "leftist" policies include pushing for a 12 year term limit, campaign finance reform and easier voter registration as well as reforms that will empower consumers (in this country) relative to corporations. Nader does not talk about the evils of Capitalism because he believes in Capitalism. He believes that the consumers in Amerika need to be protected from the big businesses but does not care that the products these businesses are producing are killing the people in the Third World who work long hours for low wages, suffer environmental destruction, endure repressive dictatorships, and live in appalling conditions. He also does not put his energy where it should be: fighting the worst consumer abuses of all, those that happen in the Third World where Nestle tricks mothers into feeding their children formula rather than breast feeding among other less public but equally horrible consumer abuses. Anyone supporting Ralph Nader needs to take a close look at the message this sends. This will not tell the winning imperialists that you want progressive reform to the system. It will tell them that you believe the system works and at the very most it will push for reforms that are not progressive within the context of imperialism: more for the white workers of Amerika, ignore the people outside of these borders. Anti-imperialists should not be fighting for chauvinist policies that say that Amerikans deserve more, they should focus on fighting alongside the proletariat of the world against imperialism and chauvinism. There are a few policies that Nader has pushed that we can agree with. Most prominent among these is the freedom of information work he has done trying to make more information accessible to the public. This is something that helps progressives and MIM does take on winnable battles like this. But when this kind of work is balanced with Nader's overall support for imperialism and Amerika-first chauvinism, calling on people to vote for Nader is still incorrect and will not help the revolutionary movement. THE "SOCIALIST" ON THE BALLOT The other electoral strategy of leftists opposed to the Clinton/Dole ticket is to vote for a "socialist" candidate. (Socialist is in quotes here because none of the parties that run these candidates today are Socialist). MIM disagrees with the strategy of running anti-imperialist candidates in federal or even state level elections. First, it is not a winnable battle and the only thing people can learn from this is that the so-called socialists leading these campaigns can't win within the electoral arena they have chosen to fight. But before they lose, their campaign sends the incorrect message that reform, or even revolution, can gain ground in electoral battles within Amerika today. This is not the case for our current conditions. One example of this incorrect strategy is the Workers World Party (WWP). They say "We look at the campaign as an opportunity to bring working-class politics to a broad audience. Our message is simple: elections don't change anything--a fighting working-class movement will. Every vote for Workers World Party sends a message to the capitalist class: Your days of exploitation are coming to an end. The socialist movement is reawakening." As an attempt to make use of the electoral discourse to talk about our politics, this would be a better argument for MIM to run electoral candidates than for MIM to support Nader. But the reason for telling people to vote has no meaning. If the only point is to tell the capitalists that their days are limited, why not make one phone call on the behalf of everyone and save all the time and expense of this electoral campaign? The fact is that telling people to vote is also telling them that some kind of good can come from this action. This statement from WWP can only mean that they hope to influence the imperialists by showing them the support a "Socialist" organization can gain. Boycotting the elections and encouraging others to do so is a more correct strategy because it makes clear to the people that we do not hold out any false hope of victory within the electoral arena. Boycotting the elections sends a clearer message and it is a message that many in this country are already sending: we don't believe reform can be achieved through these imperialist elections and we are going to fight this battle in a more effective way. People are less likely to vote the less income they have.(1) This means that many in this country already understand that voting can not make revolutionary change. We don't seek to change this behavior, instead we want to show people what kinds of actions can make a change and how people can fight imperialism. MIM tells its supporters not to waste that hour voting and instead to put that time into organizing for revolutionary change. We do not believe that carrying out an electoral campaign puts out the message that electoralism is a dead end. It just reinforces the belief that people can change imperialism through the ballot box. No where in their campaign materials does the WWP call for armed revolution and this just reinforces the idea that voting can win revolution. WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE? MIM says don't waste your time voting. But do spend your time campaigning this election year. Campaign against all votes for imperialism. Put up posters, hand out flyers, give talks, hold debates, set up literature tables, and do anything else you can to take advantage of the debate about the elections going on and to turn it into a discussion about how to end imperialism. Tell people why the Democrats are just like the Republicans and why anyone who wins a federal or even state level election has to support imperialism. Educate people about the alternative of revolutionary struggle and get them involved in more than just pulling a lever on election day. MIM's alternative involves fighting for winnable reforms possible under imperialism that will make the battle against imperialism easier while fighting for revolutionary change. We are organizing a Maoist party capable of leading the revolutionary struggle and we are educating people and building support for progressive causes both within US borders and around the world. NOTE: New York Times, Week in Review, 8/11/96. * * * LETTERS TO MIM AND RAIL FIRST NATIONS SHOULD PAY THE KANADIAN GOVERNMENT SALES TAX TOO **After MIM posted an article from MIM Notes 117 "First Nations win victory against Canadian taxes" to Usenet, we received the following letter:** "The views and opinions expressed here are my own and not those of the Department of Canadian Heritage or the Government of Canada." Over the past several years I have had the opportunity to work along side several of our countries First Nations people and have found them all to be very intelligent and reasonable folks. Their stories and approaches to dealings in every day life are not all that different from our own and in general people up here in the North get along just fine. This is of course until someone comes along and tells one group or the other that they are entitled to certain privileges and benefits merely because of their nationality or racial background. The continued separation of our the people in this country on issues such as the [Goods and Services Tax (GST)], which is intended for Goods Services provided by Canadians to whoever decides to utilize them, is causing severe problems in certain areas of this country and does little for the preservation of the national sovereignty of the First Nations people. If the people do not want to pay the GST they don't have to, but if they wish to utilize the benefits of Canadian suppliers there is no reason why they shouldn't. I am a strong believer in the recognition of our native friends' culture and heritage, but I also recognize that along with the issue of self-government comes certain fiscal responsibilities. No body of people in the world today can exist without at least a minimal level of monetary income to help sustain all the necessary social programs. This is especially true in the North where the access, to certain items that people have gotten used to, is limited. (Thus the import/export industry) We all realize that we don't live in a perfect world, but I think that in order to improve the system we have today, we all need to pitch in. Not just a select few. The few dollars you may save today by being successful in having certain native bands exempt from the GST will cost you much more in the long run. The traditional rights of the native people have already been protected for the most part, modern benefits do not fall into this category. Thank you for your time. -- an Internet reader in the North MIM RESPONDS: Thank you for writing to MIM. First, your premise that everyone gets along fine *until* a group claims special privileges denies the rights and privileges claimed and seized by the Kanadian people as settlers on First Nations land in the first place. This is the "normal" situation from the perspective of the privileged -- and it only looks special when rights are claimed or seized by First Nations (or other oppressed) peoples, such as the right to exemption from foreign taxation. Introducing nationality or "race" (a pseudo-scientific category MIM rejects) to say that these categories should not be divisive similarly assumes that the Euro-descended people in North America do not organize and identify as nations -- in opposition to First Nations living within Kanada's borders. You see First Nations as a minority group which is part of Kanada, whereas MIM supports the full self-determination of First Nations people and national independence from Kanada and the United Snakes. Your concern with the preservation of national sovereignty of First Nations people is seriously undermined by your notion that "our people" are divided by such issues as the GST, and that when First Nations engage in trade with Kanadian suppliers they should be subject to a Kanadian government sales tax. National sovereignty includes the ability to engage in international trade. When France or Belgium buys goods from Kanadian suppliers, are they subject to the GST? Why then, should a sovereign nation enclosed within the borders of Kanada be subject to a Kanadian tax? If you believe in First Nations' "self" government, why do they have special fiscal responsibility to Kanada? Why should First Nations peoples fund social programs for Kanada? As for pitching in and improving the system -- MIM is not interested in improving the system of imperialism, but of overthrowing it and creating a socialist society. Hence our support for revolutionary national liberation struggles. Finally, the so-called scarcity of resources in Kanada, which are massively subsidized by super- profits from Third World labor-power, should not be enhanced by sucking resources from First Nations in the form of taxation. CORRECTION The notes were missing from MN120 article "Netherlands threatens to expel leader of Filipino struggle." NOTES: 1. Reuters, July 27, 1996. 2. Filipino Refugees in the Netherlands (FREN), "Statement of Protest Against the Dutch Justice Ministry' order to expel the Sison family." 3. Luis Jalandoni, Press Statement, 24 July, 1996. 4. Reuters, July 27, 1996. * * * APACHE CASINO DEFIES COURT ORDER TO CLOSE: FEDERAL COURT BACKS DOWN When a federal court ruled that New Mexico's governor's word was not good enough, and the state legislature had to be in on whether the Apache could run their gaming as they pleased, president of the Mescalero Apache, Wendell Chino, declared that his casino would defy the order to close. The court subsequently backed off a bit, granting a stay while the tribes surrounded by New Mexico appeal the ruling. The courts, legislature, and government of New Mexico or the United Snakes have no legitimate right to determine what Apache or other nations do to earn money. Self-determination is the heart of this conflict. Governor Gary Johnson signed compacts with the First Nations which officially allowed them to continue their practice of the past nine years of supporting themselves by running casinos. The legislature says it's not the governor's turf and the compacts should be invalidated. The legislature and anti-gambling groups urged the judge in the case to close the casinos immediately, without the slightest reference to the people who actually should be in control. The tribes were not allowed to appear before the New Mexico Supreme Court or the federal court on their own behalf, and the lawyer appointed by the federal government did not represent the tribes. According to Chino, "He has joined the other power brokers against what is rightfully due to the Indian tribes."(1) According to the co-chair of the New Mexico Indian Gaming Association "The series of broken promises made by the United States and the state of New Mexico gives the state virtual veto over Indian gaming. It was precisely this outcome that we feared when we opposed state involvement in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act."(2) According to Chino, "For over four-hundred years the Indian tribes have fought these imbalances and we will continue to do so."(1) He stated unequivocally that the casino run by his tribe would not close regardless of what the white man's court said. Likely afraid that the nations would respond with great resistance if the state tried to stop their now-illegal casinos, the court offered a stay on the enforcement. That means that during the appeal, the casinos can stay open. It is a temporary victory. THE REACTIONARIES ARE REELING State Representative George Buffet said: "I thought the stay was unbelievable. The idea of a judge saying, 'What you're doing is illegal and felonious, but I'm going to allow you to keep doing this' just doesn't make sense. It's like telling a bank robber, 'Well, it's against the law to rob banks, but while you're appealing this, since you're from a low-income area, we're going to let you keep on robbing banks.'"(3) Well, the First Nations of New Mexico are not robbing banks. And in principle, there is nothing wrong with First Nations reclaiming a little piece of what was stolen from them. But there is a huge hypocrisy when one part of the occupying imperialist government says that the First Nations obeying their agreements with another part are egregious criminals. The real criminals are the occupying governments, both federal and state. Richard Hughes, lead attorney for the nine tribes in the case, said, "The tribes have long memories. They have a very distinct sense that whenever they find something that looks too good to the white man--land, water, minerals, whatever it happens to be -- there's going to be a backlash, and somebody's going to find a way to grab it."(3) The state is going to have to do more than renege on its pieces of paper to deny First Nation people their business. Repression will breed resistance. NOTES: 1. Indian Country Today, July 29-Aug 5, 1996, pp. 1-2. 2. Indian Country Today, July 22-29, 1996, pp. 1-2. 3. Los Angeles Times, August 4, 1996, p. A20. * * * DEBATE SURROUNDING FIRST NATION GIRLS' RAPE PROVOKES PSEUDO-FEMINISTS TO RECOGNIZE POWER DIFFERENTIALS ARE HEART OF RAPE by MCB52 The popular imagination across Kanada has been provoked to think critically about exactly what sorts of power define rape by a court case: a Catholic bishop was convicted in July of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault 30 years ago of First Nation teenagers at a boarding school where he was principal. Two facts that are undisputed have stirred thinking about "a question of rape": the sex acts occurred, and the women did not say No. By looking at opinion editorials and subsequent letters in the somewhat liberal rather snooty Toronto Globe and Mail, we will form a Maoist critique that pushes the boundaries to recognize that in an unequal world, all sex is rape. The Globe and Mail's own op ed piece was titled with the question: "But was it rape?"(1) It's answer is No, because it is fearful of the implications. It recognizes the power imbalance that the court cited in considering it rape, but says that that only "makes what Bishop O'Connor did thoroughly reprehensible"--not rape. On the one hand, its analysis might be better than that of the pseudo-feminists, since it maintains that it wants to minimize the number of people in prison. If calling all sex rape means that it all has to be prosecuted, well that is a problem (inherent in pseudo-feminism which calls for pig "protection" of wimmin). MIM does not support going to the pigs to stop rape. However, the Globe and Mail goes on to minimize the impact of the power differential. It says that rape is only when there is "violence or threat of violence," and continues: "There was not even threat of dire consequences: firing, demotion, public embarrassment. There was only the implied threat of the priest's position." MIM would challenge this "only." The priest's position, of employer, academic official, and patriarch, is plenty of threat to make real consent impossible. This case is much more obvious than the majority of cases which MIM would call rape, wherein differentials in power between groups are sufficient to make real consent impossible. A more interesting opinion editorial was published the same day, on the opposite page.(2) Pseudo- feminist columnist Margaret Wente asked the same question: "Was it really rape?" She comes to the conclusion "Yes, it really was." Her logic is mostly correct, and exposes the bankruptcy in pseudo-feminism's insistence that not all sex is rape. Wente correctly starts out by pointing out coercion in cases everyone can agree on. If a bank robber with a gun demands money, there is no doubt of what is going on and the pigs won't assume that the teller who handed it over was a willing party. Similarly, sex at gunpoint is pretty universally accepted as rape. But the lack of a gun does not answer the question of whether it was rape. Wente asks "But what if there was no gun? What if he did not physically overpower her, or issue threats? What if she could have objected but didn't, could have run away, but didn't? What if she allowed him to have sex with her several more times, over an extended period, and kept quiet about it for decades? Could that possibly be rape?" Yes, it could, on this she and MIM agree. When someone who's No will not be listened to does not register that No, it does not make the sex consensual. Wente correctly, if opportunistically given pseudo- feminists poor track record on listening to oppressed nations, brings in the opinions of the First Nation people about the rapes. A generation of First Nation children was forced far away from their families to residential schools controlled by the church and/or state, and according to Wente, "many members of the native community...regard these women's stories as an act of witness against the spiritual and physical violence inflicted on a generation of native children." It is true that these stories are a testament to the brutality of the colonialism of the church and state in Kanada. However, if First Nation people are fooled into believing that this one case shows that the Kanadian government itself can right the wrongs, they are woefully mistaken. Bringing the bishop to a Kanadian court is not correct. Now First Nations cannot prosecute the rapes committed by bishops themselves--that is Kanada's stolen jurisdiction. But they must not rely on the imperialists to yield token apologies, and must instead struggle to build the independent power to determine their own justice. Many, including in territory surrounded by British Columbia, are doing just that as epitomized in the standoff at Gustafsen Lake last year. Wente concludes her piece by pointing to the progress in the general consciousness as a result of feminist struggles. "Thirty years ago most people would have let the bishop off the hook because the 19-year-old secretary didn't say no. Today we know that men do not always need weapons or even threats to abuse their power, and that sex can be coercive without being violent. We know that submission is not consent." Well MIM knows that submission is not consent, but we doubt that Wente does. Wente is caught in a bind because according to her own analysis, a difference in power is sufficient to determine that sex is rape. She is correct that if there is a difference of power, even if it is not "abused," it is rape. MIM would challenge Wente to take this seriously and disown the strategy of incarcerating individual rapists. The Saturday after these editorials were published, the Globe and Mail printed some responses that were also interesting.(3) Two supported Wente's position, and one dissented. The first letter was from a member of the Coalition of Concerned Canadian Catholics, a group founded by a diocese in Newfoundland in the wake of exposures of sexual abuse there. He advocated reform from within for the Catholic Church as a further rectification after supporting the conviction of the bishop in legal court. His commission concluded that "Sexual abuse is clearly not a factor which has infected the church alone...but it is a problem in which the church shares as an active agent in society. A patriarchal (male-dominated) society has been reinforced by the authoritarian institutional Roman Catholic Church. Historically, as such attitudes became institutionalized in the policies and structures of the church and society, they provided strong cultural and social support for oppression, where one person or group dominates or exploits the other." This is a remarkably correct analysis coming from the Catholic church, and makes it understandable how a minority of Catholic leaders can be incorporated into a United Front in places like the Philippines. This letter-writer has correctly described problems in the Catholic Church and society historically, but can only be drawn to the right side under feminist proletarian leadership. The ideal society he describes can only be achieved under communism, an end ultimately incompatible with Catholicism and other religion. The second letter in support of Wente was from an Member of Parliament (MP) from Yukon calling for a more complete criticism of the residential schools, describing them as prisons for First Nation members. She relates: "I remember clearly several years ago talking with aboriginal friends about a film in which prisoners were beaten and killed by prison authorities. I was shocked when one of them said, and the others agreed, that it reminded them of residential schools." This is a powerful illustration of the context of these particular rapes, as MIM readers are well aware of the horrors of rape and abuse of prisoners. However, her solution is even more bankrupt than the Catholic's. She says the solution is better policies on the part of Kanada. While this might help short-term, the real solution is policies put forth by First Nations themselves. The third and final letter, the only one from a random citizen, criticizes Wente. He is pro- patriarchy posing as pro-womyn, pretending he is the one who wants to empower wimmin. He asks "Is [Wente] saying that women cannot be held responsible for their actions?" He says that since the law says that a 14-year-olds can consent to everyone except a person "in a position of trust--a teacher, police officer, priest" and that 16-year- olds can give "full consent," the fact that the woman who won the rape conviction was 19 proved that it was not rape. He says that her "consenting" was just a matter of a "bad decision" on her part. He continues: "Regretted sex is not rape, as Ms. Wente and others would have us believe. To argue anything else is to argue that women are not responsible beings and should be returned to the position of being considered a ward or a husband's chattel." MIM does indeed argue "something else," and that is in no way advocating chattel status for women. This letter suggests that recognizing that power is unequal is equivalent to wishing it so, which is wrong. MIM recognizes that power is unequal, with regard to nation, class, and gender including age, in order to abolish that power differential. NOTES: 1. Toronto Globe and Mail, July 27, 1996. 2. Toronto Globe and Mail, July 27, 1996. 3. Toronto Globe and Mail, August 3, 1996. * * * PRIVILEGED KANADIANS DENY FIRST NATIONS HAVE IT WORSE According to a survey commissioned by the Department of Indian Affairs, almost half of people living in the Kanadian empire, and more than two- thirds of those living in the Kanadian province of Quebec, think that First Nations have a standard of living as good as or better than "the average Canadian." While other so-called leftist parties might call this willful disregard of facts simple ignorance, MIM recognizes that the reactionary average Kanadian has a stake in denying the misery of the First Nations. According to the United Nations, Kanada is the best place in the world to live. When averaging the numbers for different groups and regions and including internal colonies, Kanada has low infant mortality, high literacy, near-universal housing, and good nutrition. But for the First Nations Kanada surrounds, none of these things are true. Nearly half of all First Nation members are unemployed. How could they possibly approach the standard of living of Kanadians? Their housing, schools, and nutrition levels all make the First Nations have more in common with Third World neo- colonies than with white Kanadians. Kanadians should be aware of this disparity. A surge in First Nation radicalism has brought even bourgeois media attention as police violently squelched protest from Gustafsen Lake, B.C., to Ipperwash, Ontario. As First Nation people occupy their rightful land, and meet repression with resistance, Kanada is forced to pay attention. If white people still deny the injustice against First Nations, it is because they refuse to face the contradictions between their bourgeois ideology and the material conditions of oppressed nations within KKKanada. "Equal rights" in a country that exists on stolen land. "Equal opportunity" in a country marked by disparate education. "Equality before the law" when First Nation activism is quelled through violent repression. This ideological rhetoric is a facade which must be exposed so that the white nation chokes on the disparity between kkkanadians and First Nations. NOTE: Toronto Globe and Mail, July 25, 1996. * * * HOUSE PASSES ENGLISH-CHAUVINIST LAW In August, the House of Representatives passed a law that would make English the official language of the United Snakes. The lawmakers argued that "America" is splitting apart and that the federal government printing ballots in multiple languages or helping people apply for a Social Security card in Vietnamese was encouraging this separatism. The lawmakers feared that the "ethnic" struggle in the former Yugoslavia or Quebec's French-speaking separatist movement could foreshadow struggle within the United Snakes. Clinton opposes the bill, and the New York Times called the fate of the bill in the Senate "uncertain." Speaker Newt Gingrich summed up the position of the bill's supporters: "Is there a thing we call American? Is it unique? Is it vital historically to assert and establish that English is the common language at the heart of our civilization." He objected to the fact that California public schools teach in 80 languages, and the Chicago schools use 100 languages. Gingrich said, "This isn't bilingualism. This is a level of confusion, which if it was allowed to develop for another 20 or 30 years would literally lead, I think, to the decay of the core parts of our civilization." The argument that languages other than English are signs of decay of our civilization is just pure Amerikan chauvinism. While Gingrich is overestimating the reach of current government multilingual efforts, he is correct that the government has an interest in forcible assimilation of non-Amerikans into Amerika. Currently, 97% of U.S. residents speak English well, and less than 1% of Federal documents are printed in languages other than English. According to Gingrich, this is not an adequate stick to encourage English speaking and discourage non-English speakers from passing through U.S. borders. That Gingrich uses the word "decay" to describe the United Snakes with more non-English speakers exposes the chauvinism of his position. NOTE: New York Times, August 2, 1996, p. A10. * * * REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS UNITE: WELFARE CUTS TARGET NON-WHITES President Clinton succumbed to election-year pressure and signed a new welfare reform bill on August 1. The bill reduces federal funding for social programs for the poor, including food stamps, and restricts federal welfare money from being used by legal immigrants who are not yet citizens. The bill is expected to save the federal government $55 billion over 6 years(2). Overall federal spending has been reduced, and many specific programs are no longer mandated. States will now receive "block grants" with which to fund their own aid programs, with their own requirements. Importantly, however, states will not be allowed to use federal block grant money to fund programs or aid for families who have been on welfare for a total of 5 years. States may set shorter deadlines. The purpose of the welfare system is to pacify the oppressed. Unable to find jobs to feed themselves or their families, the government avoids revolution by giving the poor money--up to two-thirds of the government poverty line. Subsidies to the poor are unpopular with the Amerikan settlers and in an election year, Clinton was forced to reverse himself and sign a bill that was similar to two he had vetoed previously. This isn't the first time Clinton bent to settler pressure. During his 1992 campaign, he pledged to "end welfare as we know it." The struggle between the Republicans and the non-election year Democrats on issues like welfare is not an issue between "cruel" and "kind" but a struggle over different ways to maintain an oppressive system. The white working class serves as the mass base for fascism in North America. Normally they are apathetic politically in exchange for their bloated wages. Not having a direct role in leading imperialism they have a distorted view about the proportions of government spending. Taking the view that serves their own narrow interests, the labor aristocracy is more likely to see "welfare" parasitism in poor people than in military contractors, who take a bigger piece of the federal budget. Another purpose of welfare is to serve as a subsidy to urban landlords and agricultural corporations. Cutting welfare will force the government to redirect some of the welfare "savings" towards direct subsidizes to these far- from-oppressed individuals and groups. According to a New York Times poll, 78% of Amerikans favor "limiting how long mothers with young children can receive welfare benefits." When the question was changed to add the words "If this meant that many children would be living in households with no income...", 33% still favored it.(1) This is the mass base for the Republican- backed bill and Clinton's signature on it. The result of this bill will mean further misery for the oppressed and will push them closer to revolution. This is the contradiction that the bourgeoisie has gotten itself into: making concessions to maintain labor aristocracy support that will destabilize Amerika's hold on the oppressed nations. The labor aristocracy believes incorrectly that the majority of people on welfare are Black women with lots of kids living high on the hog. The chauvinist phony-left in Amerika responds to this garbage by arguing that the majority of people on welfare are white, so good racists should support welfare, because so many welfare recipients are white. This is a factually incorrect view that only encourages more white nation chauvinism. Whites are the majority within U.S. borders, but they are disproportionately not represented on welfare. Most importantly, the position of whites on welfare is most often transitory, whereas oppressed nations are more likely to be trapped below the poverty line. Blacks are 13% of the people within U.S. borders, and they make up 23% of those on welfare for 2 years or less, and 34% of those on welfare for more than 5 years. "Hispanics" (a government and New York Times word and distinction) are 10% of the population, 13% of those on welfare for 2 years or less, and 23% of those on welfare for 5 or more years. This means that Blacks and "Hispanics" are more than twice *over-represented* in those on welfare for more than 5 years.(2,3) The bourgeoisie cleverly seized upon this fact and legislated a "legal" way to cut oppressed nations off of welfare without having to admit they were doing that. By targeting families on welfare for more than 5 years over their lifetimes, more white people are excluded from the cuts. Once again the bourgeoisie cements it's alliance with the settlers by further increasing the distance between the white nation and oppressed nationals. NOTES: 1. New York Times August 2, 1996 p. A19. 2. New York Times August 1, 1996, p. A1, A23. 3. World Almanac and Book of Facts 1996, Funk and Wagnalls, Mahwah NJ, p. 382. * * * WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? FBI PROMOTES XENOPHOBIA The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and local Amerikan pig departments are intensifying suspicion of non-Amerikans in the United Snakes. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a plan marking immigrants and visitors as primary targets of the defense against the supposed threat of terrorism from the Third World. "After hearing an overview from the FBI and county Sheriff's Department, the [Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors] unanimously endorsed formation of a multi-agency, anti-terrorist working group that will immediately review security measures at airports and develop plans to train and equip emergency response units.... " The board acted after Charles H. Middleton, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office, and Helena Ashby, chief of detectives for the Sheriff's Department, told the supervisors that the terrorist threat is heightened by this region's diversity. The pigs accurately note that where First and Third World meet, there will likely be violence. But the law and order bigots' talk of a "threat" from outside, and their necessary "response" is a gross misrepresentation of imperialist reality. The United Snakes exploits proletarians and steals resources the world over. Third World people who move to Amerika are following their own countries' resources into U.S. borders. So the notion of Amerika being threatened by Third World peoples is false: the only threat is that the international proletariat will some day topple U.S. imperialism, ending parasitic Amerikan hegemony. "'The threat to the Los Angeles area...is based on the diverse ethnic makeup of Los Angeles,' Middleton said. 'Nearly every segment of violent worldwide conflict is represented here in L.A.' Middleton said the region's geographic location as an 'international door to the world' makes it more vulnerable...." MIM opposes closed-border policies as an extension of the division between U.S. imperialism and its victims. As a country built by the labor of non- citizens, Amerika belongs to the people it is working so hard to keep out. NOTE: Los Angeles Times, 8/7/96, p. B1. * * * MISUARI CAPITULATION IS A BAD EXAMPLE **By Jose Maria Sison Chief Political Consultant, National Democratic Front of the Philippines July 17, 1996** I wish to respond to the so-called challenge of Mr. Ramos that I return to the Philippines in order to follow the example of Nur Misuari and thereby prove my sincerity. I do not wish to follow the bad example of Misuari who has totally exposed himself as a capitulationist, abandoning the revolutionary struggle of the Moro people for self-determination and democracy, and scrambling for positions and money under the Manila government. Misuari is a puppet not only of Mr. Ramos but also of the US and certain pro-US member-states in the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). These states are interested in exploiting the people and the oil and other natural resources in Mindanao. As a result of satellite findings by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that Asia s largest oil deposit lies in Mindanao, the US has pressed the Ramos regime and the pro-US member states in the OIC since 1992 to compel Misuari to capitulate. The US oil companies are already exploiting the oil resources in Northwestern Palawan and plan to do the same in the Sulu Sea. Malaysia s Petronas is already exploring the Cotabato basin. The surrender of Misuari and his flagrant conversion into a traditional politician or trapo and warlord can only result in the aggravation of problems and the intensification of armed resistance in Mindanao. The Moro and non-Moro people, all the revolutionary forces among them and the other armed Moro organizations are determined to resist the Ramos-Misuari combine. I will certainly return to the Philippines for reasons totally different from those of Misuari. I will do so under circumstances decided by the NDFP. The NDFP is a revolutionary force of the Filipino people for national liberation and democracy. The leaders of the NDFP are entirely different from the capitulationist type like Misuari. I wish to remind Mr. Ramos that under The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 there is the provision about mutually acceptable principles and no surrender of any side to the other. I also wish to remind him that under the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) of 1995 the formal meetings of the GRP and the NDFP negotiating panels and reciprocal working committees must be in a neutral venue abroad. The NDFP is eager to finish the work on the comprehensive agreement on respect for human rights and international humanitarian law, which is the first item of the substantive agenda. But the GRP is the one delaying the work. * * * U.S. GOVERNMENT IS THE STRONGEST POWER INTERVENING IN MY ASYLUM CASE **Press Statement By Jose Maria Sison August 4, 1996** By bending to the pressures of Manila and Washington to deny me asylum in the Netherlands, the Dutch justice ministry violates not only the 21 February 1995 decision of the Dutch Council of State but also the treaty obligations of the Dutch state under the Refugee Treaty of Geneva and the European Convention on Human Rights on Human and Fundamental Freedoms. In order to continue treating my asylum case as a political case rather than as a juridical case, the Dutch justice ministry uses unfounded and malicious claims already abandoned by the Manila government and repeatedly nullified by the Dutch Council of State. The Dutch government is overeager to please the Manila government because of the enormous interests of such Dutch monopoly firms as Shell, Unilever, ING-Barings and Philips in the Philippines. But the strongest power unlawfully intervening in my asylum case is the US government, which has far larger interests in the Philippines than the Dutch government. In 1991 an agent of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and an officer of the Dutch intelligence service (BVD) jointly approached a Filipino asylum-seeker, Nathan Quimpo, and asked him to become an intelligence asset of the CIA with the principal task of spying on me in exchange for a monthly salary in US dollars, approval of his application for asylum in the Netherlands and a US travel grant. At that time, Quimpo refused to become a CIA asset and cooperated with journalists of a Dutch TV news program in videotaping and exposing his meeting with the CIA and the BVD agents in Amsterdam. However, he started to write articles against me personally and against the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in early 1992. In 1993 Quimpo was able to travel to the US despite his participation in the exposure of the CIA and BVD agents, which had caused quite a stir in the Netherlands and merited an inquiry in the Dutch parliament. In early 1994 he was able to get his status as political refugee in the Netherlands. His anti-Sison and anti-NDFP articles were used as attachments to the brief submitted by the Dutch justice ministry to the Dutch Council of State in 1994. One of the false claims made by the Dutch justice ministry against me is responsibility for Kampanyang Ahos, a bloody witchhunt, which took place in Mindanao in 1985 and 1986 when I was still under maximum security detention by the US-Marcos regime. It is widely known in the Philippines and abroad that I have strongly condemned this crime and those chiefly responsible for it. It is preposterous that the Dutch justice ministry would blame me for this crime and at the same time grant Quimpo with asylum in the Netherlands. Quimpo is notorious in the Philippines for having been a member of the so-called caretaker committee which launched and carried out Kampanyang Ahos in Mindanao from 1985 to 1986. * * * UNITED SNAKES RECRUITS SPIES TO MONITOR MILITANT GROUPS BEFORE APEC MEETS **BAYAN HITS US FOR RECRUITING SPIES TO MONITOR MILITANT GROUPS IN CL, METROBEFORE APEC MEET (written by Bayan)** Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and KMU chairman Crispin Beltran yesterday exposed what he termed as "direct intervention by the United States in an attempt to stifle legitimate dissent in the country." Beltran made the statement following the discovery of a plan by the US Embassy to recruit eight agents to monitor militant groups in Central Luzon and the National Capital Region (NCR), five months before the holding of the fourth summit of the Asia- Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) in Subic this November. The Bayan chairman said last June 17, the Embassy sent out a notice to US citizens and Filipino agents about its need for four intelligence agents in Metro Manila to "gather information on activities of militant students, labor groups, and similar organizations utilized by subversive elements whose activities are directed against the US Mission." The same notice, Beltran revealed, also called for applicants to "monitor the peace and order situation in urban areas as well as in the provinces, and to keep the Regional Security Office informed." Rafael Mariano, chairman of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), said KMP sources in Central Luzon have gathered that at least four agents were already recruited in that region, where militant labor, student and farmer organizations are mounting campaigns against the US-led APEC summit. Citing a document obtained from the US Embassy, Mariano stressed the agents to be recruited will also be tasked to "assist the Regional Security Office in establishing and maintaining effective liaison between the US Embassy and local authorities. Mariano explained the discovery of the document came days after a former agent of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Brian Jenkins, told the House defense committee led by Tarlac [unintelligible] 100 percent probability of a terrorist attack during the APEC summit." Bayan said the revelation "confirms our worst fears that the US is again on a rampage, creating a situation of terror in the Philippines to justify strict security measures that could include crackdowns and sabotage activities against legitimate people's organizations like Bayan, KMU, KMP, GABRIELA, the League of Filipino Students (LFS), and other militant organizations. "It is bad enough that the Ramos government has historically chosen to equate militancy and legitimate dissent with subversion. But to have a foreign government like the United States directly take a hand in the systematic prosecution of a sovereign nation's people's organizations is totally outrageous and should not be condoned," Beltran stressed. Jenkins had suggested US involvement in the planning of an elaborate security system for the APEC meeting, saying that since the US is the only superpower left in the world, then it must exercise control over the security of the APEC summit. Beltran slammed the US Embassy for starting another hysteria to justify Washington's direct intervention in the Ramos regime's plan to sanitize the country of so-called "terrorists" and set the stage for a crackdown, months before the APEC meeting. Bayan called the US Embassy's Regional Security Office (RSO) a front for a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) station and urged nationalist legislators in Congress to immediately launch a thorough investigation on the activities of the RSO. * * * PETITIONING IN AMERIKA FOR THE SISONS: RESPONSES TO U.S. IMPERIALISM FROM WITHIN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST CITIES ACROSS THE UNITED SNAKES, August 12-14 -- MIM and RAIL activists collected signatures on the "Appeal for the Grant of Asylum for Prof. Sison and Family." MIM and RAIL are petitioning to stop to unlawful expulsion of the Sison family from the Netherlands as a means of organizing the masses in the United Snakes against their own government's support of brutality internationally. Here we report and comment on some of the responses we have gotten to the petition. MIM participates in winnable battles like the Sison asylum case because they can be instrumental in an eventual revolutionary victory. As MIM Notes has reported, branding Prof. Sison as a terrorist gives the Dutch government a bogus excuse to expel him from the Netherlands, which interferes with peace negotiations between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. Sison would also be in potential physical danger if he is forced back to the Philippines. As activists working within U.S. borders, MIM and RAIL have a special responsibility to our comrades struggling to win national self-determination against U.S. imperialism and its compradors. As Prof. Sison said in a press statement on August 4, "the strongest power unlawfully intervening in my asylum case is the U.S. government, which has far larger interests in the Philippines than the Dutch government." THE MASSES RESPOND TO THE APPEAL In one city, Third World exiles we spoke to about the petition were both willing to listen to our discussion of the Sison case because of our work in the interests of the international proletariat, and also interested in getting involved in future work around the Philippines. In another city, a visitor from the Netherlands, where Sison is applying for asylum, signed the petition. One womyn MIM and RAIL spoke to was very interested in the petition because s/he had heard about the case of Sara Balabagan and became interested in the Philippines.(1) This womyn agreed with us that feminism should encompass Third World wimmin's struggles and not be restricted to First World wimmin's concerns. We ran into one major problem with some wimmin we spoke to: while they agreed that this was an important case and were willing to sign the petition, they insisted that they did not know enough about the Philippines to get involved in activism opposing U.S. imperialism there. MIM struggles with wimmin to investigate revolutionary activism and take up politics rather than succumbing to the belief that they do not know enough. Patriarchy teaches wimmin to think that they cannot make decisions and that they are stupid, and buying into this socialization gives First World wimmin an easy way out of political struggle. MIM calls on progressive First World wimmin to combat patriarchal socialization and take up revolutionary politics. A large group of Black youth in one city were initially uninterested in this case but became convinced that there is a link between Black struggles within U.S. borders and struggles of oppressed nations against U.S. imperialism abroad. Some of these young people signed the petition for asylum with the understanding that just as white government pigs have no legitimate authority in the Black community, the U.S. military has no place in the Philippines. By far the most negative response to our requests to sign the petition was from people who refused to investigate the Sison case because of MIM's involvement. This is classic sectarianism: refusing to investigate an organization's politics because of immutable opinions about the organization itself. Sectarianism is both a politically dangerous and decadent practice. MIM argues that revolutionary politics are much too serious to be impeded by sectarian nonsense. In this case, an individual who has no criticism of the Philippine revolution chose to ignore an important case with consequences that could endanger a family's life in the name of not taking up activism that MIM is involved in. One person we spoke to about the petition, and about U.S. imperialism in the Philippines suggested that as a political party, MIM should run candidates in the Amerikan government elections. MIM opposes voting and participation in bourgeois elections generally because these activities are an exercise in choosing between different imperialists and different imperialist policies. This is a waste of time which diverts political energy from real political issues. No Amerikan president is going to oppose U.S. imperialism in the Philippines, so instead of messing in presidential races, MIM works to support the revolution in the Philippines as we know that the Filipino people are the only ones who will be able to liberate themselves from imperialism. Many people MIM talked to gained an understanding of Sison's case and the Filipino struggle generally, and of the relationship between the United Snakes and the Philippines. Those individuals who wondered why they had not heard about Sison's case through the Amerikan media agreed with MIM that it is necessary to build independent media of the oppressed to get out information about revolutionary struggles. MIM calls on all people who agree with us on the importance of Jose Maria Sison's case to get involved: sign and distribute copies of the petition on page six, write to us for more information on the revolution in the Philippines, read MIM Notes and Maoist Sojourner. NOTE: Sara Balabagan was a 16-year-old Filipina domestic worker in the United Arab Emirates when she was sentenced to death for killing her employer who had attempted to rape her at knife- point.(Maoist Sojourner no. 6 November 1995, p. 7) The Ramos regime, in an effort to camouflage its own role in the degradation of Filipino laborers, later hired a lawyer for Balabagan. But as a reporter asked when publicizing this case, "what kind of system ... can drive away even a 15-year- old girl to work as a maid in a far-away land?"(Maoist Sojourner no. 8 Feb. 1996, p. 4) It was after protests swarmed that the court held a retrial and Sara's family was allowed to buy her life for US$40,000. * * * APPEAL FOR THE GRANT OF ASYLUM TO PROF. JOSE MARIA SISON AND FAMILY To: Office of the Prime Minister c/o Dutch Parliament Postbus 20018 2500 EA s'-Gravenhage Ministry of Justice Postbus 30127 2500 GC s'-Gravenhage We hereby appeal to the government of the Netherlands to respect and follow the February 1995 and 21 February 1996 decision of the Raad van State on the asylum case of Prof. Jose Maria Sison and family. The decision lays down the following points: 1. Prof. Sison is a political refugee with a well-grounded fear of persecution in the sense of the Refugee Treaty of Geneva. 2. He cannot be sent back to the Philippines and is entitled to protection under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. We protest the 04 June 1996 negative decision of the Dutch justice ministry which seeks to violate or circumvent the above decision of the Raad van State. If the justice ministry is allowed to overturn the Raad van State decision, who else can qualify for asylum status in the Netherlands? The negative decision of the Dutch justice ministry pays lip service to the decision of the Raad van State but repeats the same false accusations and false arguments which the Raad van State has already heard and considered; and denies asylum to Prof. Sison in the Netherlands in particular. What seems to be the only new argument of the Dutch justice ministry is its own argument that Article 3 of the European Convention does not necessarily mean the grant of asylum. But the justice ministry conveniently forgets that Prof. Sison has already been recognized as a political refugee by the Raad van State. We demand that the Dutch justice ministry cease to obscure the Raad van State decision that Prof. Sison is a political refugee by endlessly repeating false claims and false arguments already considered worthless by the Raad van State. At this point in time, the Dutch justice ministry must realize that while it continues to slander Prof. Sison, who is already adjudged a political refugee, the high officials of the Manila government which has fed defamatory information against him are publicly offering high positions to him in a futile attempt to lure him back to the Philippines under their terms. The Dutch justice ministry must also realize that Prof. Sison has been active in the ongoing peace talks between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) and the Philippine government. It is ridiculous that while the Dutch foreign ministry hosts these talks, the Dutch justice ministry is trying to undermine the talks by expelling the NDF chief political consultant who has been fulfilling a crucially important role in the talks. It is a matter of justice that asylum be granted to Prof. Sison in the Netherlands. It is also a matter of general interest that the Dutch government fulfill its obligations under the Refugee Treaty and the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This general interest concerning political refugees is even higher than the narrower political and economic interests involved in bilateral relations between the Dutch government and the Philippine government or even with the U.S. government. It is totally reprehensible for the Dutch justice ministry to convert the asylum procedure from a juridical process to a political process in the case of Prof. Sison. The justice ministry has blocked his asylum request for nearly eight years. It must cease to delay or even try to deprive him of his right to asylum, which has been decided as duly belonging to him by the Raad van State. Stop the expulsion of the Sison Family! Protect and advance the rights of all political asylum-seekers! NAME: SIGNATURE: ADDRESS: DATE: ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ SUPPORT THE SISON FAMILY -- DOWNLOAD, COPY DISTRIBUTE, COLLECT SIGNATURES FOR, AND SEND IN THE ABOVE APPEAL! * * * UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND PRISONS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ZIYON YISRAYAH The following two letters were written in remembrance of Ziyon Yisrayah (slave name(s/n) Tommie Smith) who was legally murdered by the State of Indiana in the early hours of July 18, 1996. On December 11, 1980 the police made a pre-dawn raid on the home of Ziyon, Ajamu and Kondo Nassor (s/n Earl Resnover). As a result, one police officer was killed and Ziyon was wounded. Ziyon, Ajamu and Kondo were politically active, and had a history of exchanges with the local police because of their stand against social injustices perpetrated against Blacks in the community. Both Ajamu Nassor and Ziyon Yisrayah were sentenced to be executed, even though there is strong evidence that the police officer was shot by someone else. Ajamu Nassor was legally murdered by the State of Indiana on December 8, 1994 and Ziyon Yisrayah was legally murdered by the State of Indiana on July 18, 1996. IN DE STORM *July 18th, 1996, 12:00 midnight* There came a storm. A storm that rocked de tombs of Michigan City Prisons disciplinary segregation unit and "X-Row" (death row) that was so profound and so heartfelt that mere words are too inadequate to express de electricity that flowed throughout de dark cave. Convicts, particularly Afrikan men, expressed our Black rage in solidarity against de racist murder of our Brotha and comrade Ziyon Yisrayah by de neo- kkkolonialist state. As it stormed inside de tombs, so too did it storm outside. [É] i recall wondering as i kicked and shook de bars, if Ziyon could hear or feel us. Diz made me put all my energy into it, b'cuz i wanted him to hear and feel us, in spite of distance between Us and de murder room. i remembered comrade Ajamu Nassor, Ziyon's rapy, whom de fascist pigs had murdered in December of 94, and de storm grew. You could feel de pain from de westside of seg. and even from beneath us in X-Row. It was as if We were trying to send a message out to Ziyon and We were all writing with de same pen. De message read: "We luv you Bro. and We will continue to struggle for liberation. Your blood and de blood of those before you will not go unavenged! For diz is de day of de guerrilla -- de final call!" Ziyon was pronounced dead at 1:21 A.M. by de imperialist state, but de people pronounce him forever alive. There is no doubt in my mind that Ziyon got our message or felt our luv for him. Nope, no doubt at all.....for it was written in de storm. 'In remembrance of Ziyon Yisrayah' Let his last words forever be written upon our hearts: "All that is necessary for evil to prevail, is for man to do nothing" Abolish de death penalty. Free all P.P./P.O.W.'s Uhuru Sasa!!! --An Indiana Prisoner, July 18th, 1996 REFLECTIONS Today is the day that a comrade, a brother and friend name Ziyon Yisrayah is scheduled to be murdered. As i sit at my make ship desk of cardboard, sitting a top a folded mattress drafting motion after motion in an attempt to defeat the bogus charges of conspiracy to riot and threatening, my head is filled with thoughts of my brother, friend and comrade. [É] As i sit here i gaze through the bars at the many filled sack lunches strewn across the floor, thrown and rejected by approximately 104 men of all nationalities housed on this lock up unit, who refused to eat for the next 2 days in protest of premeditated murder. i think about the sacrifice these men are making who have been on total lockdown for 47 days only receiving two cold sack lunches a day. And then any thoughts return back to my/Our brother, friend and Comrade Ziyon and the larger sacrifice he has made. [É] As i sit here reflecting with simmering rage i listen to the silence of the unit and the whisper of oppression. Quiet because approximately 104 men refuse to speak for the next 2 days in protest of premeditated murder. Hearing nothing but an occasional shout/alarm of "One time!" warning others that a kop, a potential murderer is in the area on patrol. As i sit here thinking and observing this New Afrikan womyn kop who goes out of her way to be liberal rationing out toilet paper, she seems so far removed from today's scheduled events. As she leans over with a smile to place two rolls of toilet paper in the cell door, her eyes show she does not overstand why i do not acknowledge her, do not acknowledge her smile. In my mind i ask her what if it was your brother, friend and comrade who just two floors below was scheduled to be murdered? Would you be so quick to smile, to flirt? Would you be so far removed from this reality in which you find yourself? i often think about the kops who try to befriend Us and yet are a part of the death squad/execution team and you never knowing it. Imagine being on death row and befriending a kop who secretly belonged to the death squad, who was secretly conspiring to help murder you and you never know it until the last night of your life when he approaches the cage you in with handcuffs in hand and says "It's time". How would that make you feel And yet they charge me and my brothers with conspiring to riot! Conspiracy to stop a premeditated murder! [É] i think about this saturday on July 13th as i sat in a 2 by 3 foot sweltering non-contact visiting booth, visiting with a comrade from BCAC [Brew City Anti-Authoritarian Collective] through bullet proof glass with thick steel bars across the front of it. This sweltering booth with the solid steel door with slit window and 6 by 6 inch hole set in the middle of it and red telephone. In my minds eye i see the symbolism of this day as 40 to 50 friends, comrades, allies and supporters demonstrated at the front prison gate demanding the re-opening of Ziyon's case and the dismissal of the bogus charges filed against myself and a total of 12 others. [É] Damn! People the price of our lives must increase. Burning candles have never saved any of Us and burning candles over Our corpses have never stopped the next one from being murdered. As you sit in the comfort of your homes and return back to you "normal" lives, put yourself in Ziyon's place and ask yourself if it was you what would you want someone on the streets to do for you? Just as comrade Ajamu Nassor's, murdered by the state on 12-8-94, spirit continues to live and inspire Us so shall comrade Ziyons. Brother, friend and Comrade from those of Us who cared and gave a damn may you rest in peace. The Struggle Continues!! --An Indiana Prisoner, July 17, 1996 PRISONERS SENT TO SUPERMAX FOR SILENT PROTEST Dear Friends, The National Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons/Midwest Region is asking that as many of you as possible respond to the following and participate in our emergency response network: Recently, 150 prisoners organized a silent mealtime vigil at the Indiana State prison in Michigan City, Indiana. The vigil was to protest the upcoming execution of Ziyon Yisrayah (Tommie Smith). Ziyon Yisrayah was subsequently murdered by the State of Indiana on July 18, 1996. Shortly after this vigil, ten New Afrikan prisoners were transferred to the supermax prison in Westville, Indiana and charged with a variety of serious offenses, including conspiracy to riot, threatening a guard, and physically resisting a guard. These trumped up charges were clearly an attempt by Superintendent Al Parke to show he's boss and break the spirit of solidarity growing in D Cell House. It is also a classic case of how the more political prisoners get sent to the supermax. At issue is prisoners' rights to protest the death penalty. In addition, the fact that all ten prisoners charged are black reveals the racist nature of the Indiana State Prison system. Of these ten prisoners, six were found guilty in an internal prison hearing and sentenced from one to five years in the cruel torture chambers known as supermax prisons in Indiana. The National Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons asked people to call or fax Supt. Al Parke at (219) 874-7256 (phone) and (219) 874-9001 and demand that the charges be dropped against the Indiana 6. CALL FOR PRISONERS TO BECOME POLITICALLY MOTIVATED *"...If we Afrikan Men do not get ourselves together NOW by preparing for battle then, the destruction and annihilation of our people will be our doing." -- Che (Hopp X) Assari* The powers of racist amerikkka within the state of michigan, are determined to 'destroy' the encaptured Afrikan male/female, who are languishing within one of these states many death kkkamps. New psychological warfare is being applied (daily) to oppress and repress those of us under this yoke. Recently the m.d.o.k. [Michigan Department of Corrections] has been implementing a lot of "self- righteous" (illegal) policies in which to continue sadistic measures of control, but in reality, 'punishment'. The m.d.o.k. have instituted a so- called "gang coordinator/monitor" for purposes of identifying those who are considered "leaders" within the death kkkamps. Or those who are political agitators and jailhouse lawyers. This blatant attack against the prisoner-klass is one that has no substance other than to cause psychological pain and emotional damage and aggression. Aggression which these nazis and uncle toms know will increase prisoner on prisoner violence. It is time that we (as prisoners within the state of michigan) stop the violence among ourselves and become violent with our captors. It is time that we become serious about wanting to make change and stop merely talking about it among our respective groups and/or friends. It is time that we look at the examples left to us from other rades, e.g., rade George Jackson; Malik El Haqq Shabazz (aka: Malcolm X); JiJu (aka: Geronimo Pratt); Leonard Pelter; Mumia; John Africa and countless others. The pig governor and his grand shit-head piglet kkklansmen, are out to destroy us whether we are willing to believe/accept it or not. The prisoner-klass within michigan must become politically motivated and stop being pacified with cheap tokenage hurled at us with such things as basketballs, baseballs, weights, various catalogs in which to order gym shoes and other clothing items. Its cool to do these things, but in proper perspective. We aren't in a fashion ballroom so the need for that shouldn't be priority. And no one is walking out of here becoming the next Michael Jordan, Darryl Strawberry, or Mike Tyson...so the perspectives should be put into its rightful place. We are in war, and in war you fight and learn from your commanders on the application of warfare. Until this is done we will continue to suffer (as collective prisoner-klass) within the kkklans death kkkamps. In the trenches, --A Michigan prisoner, June 29, 1996. RCG1 responds: This letter clearly shows how prisons are used as a form of social control. It demonstrates how prisoncrats attempt to "divide and conquer" prisoners especially by singling out the leaders, old heads and jailhouse lawyers. We agree that prisoners should be politicized and not pacified. Their focus should be on building a revolutionary party. We also agree that prisoners should stop violence among themselves. It is destructive to revolution and is how the pigs want prisoners to act. Prisoncrats benefit when prisoners fight each other because then prisoners can not organize against the principle problem: the imperialist system. MIM disagrees with the above letter in that we not advocate prisoner violence against their captors at this time. Violence against prisoncrats only leads to more repression of prisoners. We suggest that prisoners look at historically revolutionary figures such as George Jackson, and Malik El Haqq Shabazz (aka: Malcolm X) and learn from history of the FBI's COINTELPRO war against the Black Panther Party. MIM argues this is the time to organize, study and expose the atrocities of the imperialist system that oppresses people. Help MIM build a strong revolutionary party that will eventually overthrow the oppressive capitalist government. UPDATE OF MASSACHUSETTS PRISONERS IN TEXAS Thanks for the good reading and information your newspaper offers. I usually read it right away and pass around its good news to other inmates. We are no longer allowed to write letters or send any correspondence to other Massachusetts prisons. This was started last month. All our mail is stamped on the back that the contents are from a prison and the Commonwealth is not responsible for is contents....The Department of Correction doesn't want anyone having long time commitments and friendships. This is unfair. Your paper helps me keep in touch even more as I write to as far as Texas to some of my friends. On October 31, 1995, 299 inmates were kidnapped from Shirley, Massachusetts. Most are still there. About 60 have returned for health or similar reasons. They were supposed to be sent because of overcrowding. Most of the minimums are half filled. They just want more mediums and maxes, but most of these people here belong in a minimum. The move was all a publicity stunt to get the public to want more prisons built. Enclosed is what was sent to the guys who got sent to Texas [The document describes the effects of the transfer on participation in the sex offenders program which is "voluntary", but if a prisoner does not participate or confess to some crime they will not be eligible for phase IV of the program, which will transfer them back to Massachusetts.-ed]. They were supposed to stay one year but they renewed the contract for another year. When I was in the service I thought the government wasted taxpayers dollars more than anyone else. Now I know the Department of Corrections wastes the most. Half of the staff work double shifts, and the benefits are the best ever for them. Well thanks for listening. Keep up the good work. -- A Massachusetts Prisoner, July 15, 1996 PRISONER RECEIVES LONGER SENTENCE FOR MAINTAINING INNOCENCE Dear MIM Notes, I'm writing to you from a Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution. I have just received your June 1st and June 15th issues. I just read an article in the June 15th issue in which I find to be very interesting. First let me say that your paper is not being screened here at this Institution. And I wish that a lot more of my fellow inmates would write to receive your paper. I show your paper around every time I receive one and a lot of the guys write down the address, but I'm not sure on how many people receive your paper. What caught my interest is the article in the June 15th paper, It was called "Boston Globe Fuels Crusades Against Sex Offenders". I'm in search of as much information I can find and any cases and case law if any pertaining to this so called Megan's Law. I'm serving a 6 to 36 month sentence for an indecent assault charge, in which I have now served 28 months on because of the DOC [Department of Corrections] and the PA parole boards refusal to parole me. I was told by the Parole Board to Max my sentence out for refusal to complete a SOP [most likely stands for sexual offenders program -ed] they have here, because I refuse to sign papers admitting my guilt. I pleaded not guilty in a jury trial and was found guilty. Now I have an appeal pending in court in the form of a (PCRA) Post Collateral Relief Act, which is being dragged out by the courts for the last two years. I'm being told by the DOC that upon my Max date I must sign this so called Megan's Law in order to be released on my Max date. I was sentenced in April 1993 before this law was passed. So how can I be forced to sign these papers if I wasn't sentenced under this law? Any info or case you may refer me to or print in your paper will be a great help to me and my family. Thank you. --A Pennsylvania Prisoner, July 9, 1996. RCG1 RESPONDS: Megan Kanka was killed in 1994 by a convicted sex offender in New Jersey, who lived across the street from her. The Kankas did not know their neighbor was a convicted sex offender(1). After Megan's death, New Jersey passed Megan's Law, and Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994(1994 Fed Act). Both laws require states to inform communities when convicted sex offenders move into the area(1). The 1994 Fed Act requires people convicted of a sex offense to register with the state for ten years after their release from prison. This law requires states to punish people who do not register(2). In addition, state law enforcement agencies must transmit a copy of the convict data and fingerprints to the FBI. Failure to do so would result in the state's loss of 10% of special federal grant money(3). Clinton signed the 1996 Federal Megan's Law which requires states to inform the public when "convicted sex offenders" are released and to establish a system of warning the public by September 1997 or states may lose federal "anti- crime" money(1). Fifteen states already have these warning systems in place(4). This legislation focuses upon the release of convicted sex offenders, it is unclear whether people convicted before the signing of Megan's Law are required to register with states. If anyone has more information please write to MIM. NOTES: 1.CNN/Time, http://allpolitics.com/news/9605/17/clinton.sign/ 2.Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, http://gopher.usdoj.gov/crime/crime.html 3.Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994: Substantive Criminal Provisions, http://gopher.usdoj.gov/crime/crm_brf.html 4. CNN/Time, http://allpolitics.com/news/9605/08/sex.offenders/i ndex.shtml PRISONER EXPOSES THE CREATORS OF DRIVE-BY SHOOTINGS Dear MIM, I recently received your letter informing me of the censoring of some materials you sent me. I did receive MIM Notes in May and the administration didn't give me notice barring anything. However it should come as no surprise that these "pekkkerwoods" will interfere with anything they see as a threat to the state of ignorance they have founded here in Texas prisons. I see Playboy, Penthouse and Playgirl ... coming in faster than the speed of light. These publications are unhindered due to the effect is serves upon an already brain dead mass of ignorance. Recently I was watching a film with "Clinton the Crookkk" and he was expounding on how the gangbangers were/are such cowards for doing drive- by shootings. And the "all-white but never right" audience was agreeing lock stock and barrel. First of all most non-European ethnic groups have been continuously drilled and indoctrinated by the white owned media and societal fads into living the "Amerikkkan" way. In other words the evil, wicked lifestyle of the whiteman. Incidentally white-folks invented the drive-by shooting. A drive-by is no more than an unsuspected surprise attack on a person or persons. I am sure if we ask the Indians and Afrikans of this country about this issue they will readily confirm that the whiteman has been driving-by on them for hundreds of years. The funny thing is when black gang-bangers (who need guidance and who will play a major role in the armed struggle) commit a drive-by, they are thugs and cowards. But white-boys in the 20's and 30's who drove-by and gunned other humans down unsuspectingly, are hailed as heros in the whitemans gangster movies. And white-boys who unsuspectingly burn down black churches only need to be caught to add that extra edge to some devils political career, but are not cowards or thugs, is simply the "Amerikkkan Way".... 2 STRONG, 2 BLACK, 2 BE BULLIED. --A Texas Prisoner, July 1,1996. LOUISIANA FORCES PRISONERS TO PAY FOR MEDICAL CARE **The following policy memorandum was sent to MIM by a prisoner who wanted to see more news about his state. This demonstrates the repression against prisoners that extends even into their health care. Charging prisoners for health care when they have no source of income (or are working for the prisons earning slave wages) forces them into debt and means that any money they are sent from the outside will be confiscated by the prisoncrats.** As of August 1, 1996, medical co-payments will be applied to all new medical incidents occurring after the implementation of date of revised Department Regulation No. b-06-001, "Health Care". ...Inmates will be charged a $3.00 fee for each unscheduled, self-initiated request for medical, dental and mental health service. ...After release from care for an injury or illness, subsequent unscheduled, self-initiated requests for treatment for that injury or illness, may be chargeable. No inmate will be charged for any contact that is scheduled by the Warden or designee (medical/mental health personnel). Additionally, no fees will be charged for any contacts that are mandated by departmental or institutional policy [or]...When the fee is waived by the Warden or designee. ...Inmates will be charged a sum of $2.00 for each new prescription written and dispensed with the exception of psychotropic medications. There will be no charge for refills of prescriptions where the effects of the illness or injury are chronic or long-term. ...Indigent inmates will be assessed of all current funds available in their account, and will owe the balance. The account will then be placed on "hold" pending future receipt of funds. --Michael L. Phillips, Warden, June 7, 1996 ***WHAT NON-PRISONERS CAN DO TO SUPPORT PRISONERS*** *1. Struggle with, work with, finance and join MIM. The best way to support prisoners is to overthrow the system under which capitalists profit from the exploitation of prisoners. History shows that the best way to do this is to build a Marxist-Leninist- Maoist party. The oppressors will not give up their power without a fight. *2. Finance MIM's prison work. Our biggest bill each month is postage. Most of the prison comrades who read MIM Notes have no way of paying for it. So if you have money, send what you can afford. Every cent helps, and stamps are as good as cash to us. *3. Distribute MIM Notes and Notas Rojas. Bring the voices of prisoners and their supporters to as large and wide an audience of people as possible. Contact MIM for bulk rates and distribution tips. *4. Start or join a prison support group. MIM can provide advice and resources to help you build public opinion for prisoners and their struggles. *5. Fight censorship, beatings, torture and other fascist outrages. Under Lock and Key often features the addresses of prisoners' friends and enemies. Work with the friends and let the enemies know you're watching. (Don't expect to win the fascists to the side of humanity, however. See #1 in this list). *6. Stay in touch. Keep us informed of pro-prisoner work you do. Our readers might find it educational or inspirational. ***WHAT PRISONERS CAN DO TO BUILD MIM*** *1. Start a study group. This is the best way to share materials and ideas. In groups, prisoners can better benefit from the limited resources MIM has. *2. Get MIM Notes and MIM Theory into your library. This allows one copy of the paper to be seen by many comrades. *3. Contact people on the outside. MIM needs comrades and allies everywhere. Maybe you know people on the outside who want to subscribe to MIM Notes or distribute it. *4. Share materials. If MIM sends books or periodicals, please make sure that as many people as possible get a chance to read them. *5. Write MIM at least every three months. Otherwise, you will be dropped from our mailing list. There are many cases where your keepers throw out MIM Notes, so we need to know that you actually get it. Also, comrades are moved around a lot, especially those who are known to be political. Please let us know of any address changes as soon as you know them. *6. Make MIM Distributors an official distributor. Many prisons require registration before MIM can send books or other materials. Usually we can comply with these bogus rules. It helps immensely to have someone there do the reasearch and send us the proper forms. *7. Send money or stamps. Our biggest bill each month is postage. Most of the prison comrades who read MIM Notes have no way of paying for it. So if you have money, send what you can afford. Every cent helps, and stamps are as good as cash to us. Please make all checks payable to "MIM Distributors." *8. Write for MIM Notes or Notas Rojas. Prisoners write almost all of Under Lock & Key. We don't care if you know how to spell or write good English or Spanish. Write on any topic you like, it does not have to be a prison story. *9. Translate. If you can read and write English and another language fluently, let us know. Any translation work you do will help us make Maoist ideas accessible to more people. *10. Fight censorship. When you know of censorship of books or newspapers, investigate. Write to MIM to confirm what has happened, then see what you can do about it. *11. Keep in touch after your release. Many comrades stop doing political work after their release. Write to MIM as soon as you know where you'll be so we can hook you up with comrades on the outside. * * * KULTURE REVIEW: CYCLO directed by: Tran Anh Hung 1996 reviewed by MC206 *Cyclo* portrays contemporary urban Vietnamese bicycle-taxi gangs and should infuriate anti- imperialists and anti-capitalists. It shows the results of an economic system which is concerned with securing profits for foreign imperialists and local elite but not meeting the needs of the majority of the people: oppressive poverty, fatuous decadence, dog-eat-dog competition, violence, prostitution, escapism, drug abuse, despair and suicide. But because of its petit-bourgeois focus on individuals and their "inner motivations," *Cyclo* fails to offer an alternative to despair and hopelessness. By contrast, MIM emphasizes the fact that imperialism creates the conditions for its own destruction and encourages people to turn their rage against imperialism, capitalism, and patriarchy and work to overthrow oppression. *Cyclo* also inadvertently offers evidence that Vietnam is not a socialist country. Instead of undertaking improvements in the urban infrastructure or sponsoring collective kitchens or such the government offers "small business loans" to individual workers -- after a thorough credit check at that! This policy, the obvious attempts to lure foreign capital to Vietnam with big expensive Western hotels, and all the typical capitalist problems listed above are symptoms of the fact that Vietnam is a state-capitalist country with a revisionist (socialist in words, capitalist in deeds) government. * * * MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM ONLINE: 'DON'T CUT FUNDING FOR SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN' **In response to an article on MIM's website from MIM Theory 9, "Psychology and Imperialism," on the abuse of children under patriarchy, a reader wrote:** "Revolutionary Young Greetings. I am curious about [what] MIM's policies are regarding treatment of special needs children, particularly those with autism and attention deficit disorder. Right wing politicians have consistently tried to cut funds for their therapy, which these children need to become able to live independently as adults. I would like to see this discussed in MIM Notes." We are happy to take up the topic. Communists are concerned about the alienation of youth, and support their liberation from both parental and state oppression. But it is precisely because we support their ability to live independently that we do not share the writer's enthusiasm for the standard "treatment" of children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD), including the addictive and harmful drug Ritalin, and we do not want to see more government funding for therapy which amounts to outright social control of youth. At the same time we understand the reactionaries' opposition to the growth of ADD diagnoses, and the current plans to reduce funding for special education, as a clamoring for more patriarchal, parental power in place of the medication. MIM has not studied autism, but there appear to be some diseases with both physical and mental components that may need medical treatment. In these cases, we look to the example of China under Mao for guidance on integrating social and medical treatments. (See MIM Theory 9.) ADD was inaugurated by the psychiatric industry in the 1980s, and the number of children diagnosed with, and medicated for, the disease has skyrocketed since then. The Department of Education officially recognized it as a disorder in 1991, protecting people with the diagnosis under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). With adults now also diagnosed with ADD, and mental health "experts" claiming that the majority of cases can be improved with medication, "prescriptions for Ritalin have increased more than 600% over the last five years, according to the DEA."(1) The Department of Education estimates that 4 million people now take the drug.(2) "In the last five years, the number of students receiving federal special education aid has leaped from 4.8 million to 5.4 million. Education Department officials say the increase is occurring largely because school administrators nationwide are identifying many more students with problems such as attention-deficit disorder."(3) The reactionaries may be right that schools are diagnosing and medicating children in order to get more money for themselves and the psychiatric establishment, which is well represented in schools. Also, children who score poorly on bogus standardized tests don't have to be counted if they are diagnosed with ADD -- so the diagnosis can also be used to beef up "success" figures for schools. The promotion of Ritalin has been a combined effort by Ciba-Giegy, the manufacturers of the drug, their mouthpiece advocacy group Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorders (CHAAD), the coercive powers of parents and the school system, and the official recognition of the disorder by the state and the American Psychiatric Association. Parents, especially of oppressed nations, often do not have a choice about medicating their children if they want them to remain in the public school system, and the drug thus becomes a measure of their social control as well. Anti-psychiatry psychiatrist Peter Breggin has correctly denounced Ritalin as social control of youth. He is now joined in his denunciation of ADD -- as well as the profit motive driving the diagnosis up and extending it to adults (one group estimates that between 8 and 15 million adults have the disorder) -- by the reactionary Phyllis Schlafley. While the reactionaries must be exposed for their promotion of non-medical oppression of youth -- including behavior modification, stricter parenting, state-enforced curfews, etc. -- communists do not oppose cutting funding for existing coercive measures. On the other hand, special education funds that go to real education, including extra teachers and other resources that improve conditions in poorer schools, are a potentially good "side-effect" to this pernicious growth of ADD diagnoses. Schools already disadvantage children from birth depending on the wealth of the family they are born into, and MIM does not oppose funding that helps provide actual material benefits to children in school. In theory, the laws protecting students with ADD are supposed to provide them with specialized instruction, which can be good. The same legislation proposing the restructuring of special education funds to schools (which means cutting money) also proposes to remove restrictions on disciplining special education children through suspension and expulsion.(3) In other words, in place of drugging children, the reactionaries want the ability to get rid of them altogether from the school system, and go back to explanations of bad parenting for "hyperactivity" in young people. MIM believes the principal contradiction in the imperialist nations is age -- and that youth are the most likely anti-imperialist force to emerge in the white nation. Although youth from oppressed and oppressor nations suffer different forms of oppression, there are similarities in their domination by patriarchal authorities. Most of what passes for mental health "care" and "therapy" for youth is a blatant system of oppression and social control. The biggest problems youth face are not their own behavior, but the rape, violence, alienation and domination they experience at the hands of their elders, which in the case of the poor includes the effects of poverty. However, we do not pretend that these negative forces do not have bad consequences for mental health. Everything from rape and alienation to TV, junk food and environmental toxins can and does negatively affect children in terms of physical and mental health. The squabbles within the imperialist patriarchy are over how best to oppress and repress children. MIM supports reforms when they are progressive -- and chief among those are changes that will help youth gain independence as much as possible -- without holding out hope for salvaging the system. Notes: 1. http://www.drugs.indiana.edu/pubs/factline/ritalin. html 2. http://www.bergen.com/health/db/ritalin.html 3. Washington Post, June 26, 1996. ONLINE ACTIVIST RESOURCE WANTS HISTORY OF MAOISM **In MIM Notes 119, we printed a letter from the Activists Web Starter's Kit, a hotlinked World Wide Web database of "progressive" groups. While we were glad to be included in the site, we also criticized the inclusion of outright reactionary groups like the National Organization for Women and the Anti- Defamation League. We got the following response:** "Thank you for your response. I found your remarks very interesting, and fair. Although you may disagree with some of the organizations that are present in the clearinghouse (I certainly do), I try to cover the bases in a broad way to promote different perspectives, not because I believe that all perspectives are right, but so that people can come to rational conclusions about their political and ethical beliefs well informed. Obviously, a certain amount of censoring is necessary, and I do tend to let my own political values come through in the writing of the blurbs, but I don't see this as necessarily bad. People are free to follow the links and decide for themselves. I also believe that the personal touch adds a sense of lightness and fun to serious political endeavors, values I adhere to. Although I am not affiliated with any socialist or communist organization, I believe firmly that we may learn valuable lessons of community and selflessness and intellectual rigour from communism, both living and historical. "As Maoism has become a marginalized political stance in North America, I think it would be a lovely thing if you put a broad and comprehensive history of the movement on your site. In keeping with my own purposes of augmenting radical and progressive political discussion, I believe that such a site would be of great value on the 'net. Peace." MIM RESPONDS: MIM's Web site does contain a history of MIM, founding documents of the party, and essays by Mao Zedong. You can also find a history of the Black Panther Party's (BPP) Maoism. We would be happy to take submissions of broad histories of Maoism for inclusion in our Web site, and encourage our readers to take on this challenge. By the way, Maoism has never grown beyond "marginal" status in North America, but we disagree with the implication that it is becoming more marginal. MIM's history is also the history of the resurgence of Maoism in North America since the BPP's day. The "history" of Maoism is important -- but the most important part of that history is now!