This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
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 150 NOVEMBER 15, 1997 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. WELFARE REFORM CREATES NIGHTMARE FOR OPPRESSED CHILDREN 2. FORCED ASSIMILATION MOVEMENT GAINS GROUND IN CALIFORNIA 3. LETTERS 4. AMERIKAN IMPERIALISM IN PERU: ECONOMY GROWS -- BUT NOT FOR MASSES 5. U.S. ALLOTS ANOTHER $50 MILLION TO SUPPRESS COLOMBIAN REBELS 6. MASSACHUSETTS PASSES DEATH PENALTY 7. SO-CALLED ALTERNATIVE PAPER ALLIES WITH CAMPUS PIGS IN PHONY CRIME HYPE 8. ANOREXIA ON THE RISE IN ASIA 9. PIRAO STUDIES KWAME NKRUMAH'S EXPERIENCE 10. STATE DEPARTMENT PUBLISHES LIST OF TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS-- REVOLUTIONARIES BEWARE! 11. NIGERIAN MILITARY IN SIERRA LEONE: DOING IMPERIALISM'S DIRTY WORK AT A HIGH PRICE 12. CHUCK D. SPEAKS: "DON'T BE SHEEP!" 13. TWO LONG HOURS OF HISTORICAL REVISIONISM: SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET MOVIE REVIEW 14. CAMBRIDGE CENSORS THE MASSES' INFORMATION 15. PAPERS TIGERS 16. UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND PRISONS * * * 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 * * * WELFARE REFORM CREATES NIGHTMARE FOR OPPRESSED CHILDREN by MC44 A couple of weeks before the much-hyped White House conference on child care in October, the Washington Post ran a long investigative report about the disgusting, unsafe state of subsidized day-care centers in the District of Columbia. Private day care facilities that operate with government money are going to be ex-welfare recipients' only choice for child care when they are forced off welfare to look for poorly paid service jobs in the vicious scheme to move people "from welfare to work." In the next few months, welfare reform is going to send about 4,000 District children into these centers.(1) Clinton's new plan calls for a small amount of federal money, $250 million over five years, to be used to allegedly improve the child care. The plan would include a scholarship program for providing better training and higher wages for child care workers and a system of criminal background checks for people working in child care facilities. The average child care provider earns $6.89 an hour.(2) Typically, this program is pitched with an anti-crime spin and aims to improve the quality of child care for middle class families. It is supposed to address recent studies which indicate that poor quality child care is widespread. What the new plan does not address, in D.C. or anywhere, is the lack of child care available to ex-welfare recipients, the people who need it most, or the structural reasons that D.C.'s centers are in the miserable shape they're in. Operating with an expired license is among the problems in D.C. day care centers cited by the Post. The Post estimated that 180 centers in D.C. were in this situation and that no licenses have been revoked for any reason in the last couple of years. Another problem the Post cited was "overcrowding, infestation by roaches and rats, inadequate adult supervision, [and] filthy cots and kitchens."(1) Imperialists always blame their neo-colonial puppet governments for the suffering of the oppressed. This kind of report about failing city services is routine in Washington, D.C. Like with other neo-colonial governments, MIM has no interest in defending the D.C. government except to say that the bigger problem is national oppression: in this case the political domination of the city's oppressed-nation residents as well as the inadequate resources the U.$. provides to the D.C. government. In the welfare reform case, the more the federal government creates an incentive for corrupt poverty pimps to profit off the poor, the more the imperialist media will complain that the oppressed are unable to govern themselves. D.C. has long had a system for using tax money to support care for poor children. But with welfare reform, these already inadequate facilities are going to be in more demand without being better funded. "For more than a decade, the city government has not increased what it pays subsidized day-care centers. For instance, the District pays $21.10 a day per infant -- less than half the metropolitan average. Many centers refuse to take 'DHS' kids." (so-called because "the Department of Human Services is responsible for selecting the centers that get public money for poor children.")(1) A recent study found that while "the average family [in the United Snakes] spends 8% of its income on child care," poor families, those who earn less than $14,000 a year, spend about 25%. This is "despite the federal government's $3 billion a year in block grants to states to subsidize child care for the poor."(3) Even with the block grant money, the study showed that "only one in 10 children who are eligible for those funds is receiving them, leaving many states with thousands of families on their waiting lists."(2) Post reporters described numerous child care facilities in Washington, operating without licenses, in which children were underfed and where chipped paint and mouse feces littered the walls and floors, adult caretakers were absent, and one case in which a three-year-old was almost poisoned to death from chemicals he apparently ingested in the accessible and unsupervised laundry room.(1) Defending their paltry fines of these centers, city administrators insist that their only other choice would be to close the centers in violation -- thus cutting back even further on the amount of available space for D.C. kids to go. Now money that used to go directly to welfare recipients from the Federal government is supposed to go to locally administered child care facilities that are dangerous to the health and well-being of oppressed children. It wasn't enough money as welfare, and it's not enough money as state block grants for subsidized child care. This transfer of responsibility from federal to local is a classic case of neo-colonialism, and underscores the need for independent institutions of the oppressed and national liberation struggle for the Black nation. Welfare reform promises to create a new industry for poverty-pimps -- collecting insufficient government money to operate sub- standard child care. The Post quoted one day-care center director saying that she has been getting calls from "aspiring day-care providers. ... 'What with welfare reform, they've heard you can make some money.'"(1) The Washington Post story concludes with a "success" story of a womyn who, disgusted with the center that was available to her through city subsidy, raised money through a scholarship to an expensive private facility in a rich white neighborhood. The reporter "admires her tenacity" and implies that with all the structural and savage inequality in the city, mothers who really care will make it work out for their kids -- all 15,000 currently in the system and all 4,000-plus of them that will enter the D.C. child care market in the next few months as a result of welfare reform.(1) Welfare has always cornered wimmin into making choices between even relatively-low paid jobs that price them out of the public assistance market, or collecting welfare. Welfare reform has extended that so-called choice to teenage wimmin living at home -- which is now a requirement if they want to collect assistance checks. But they are now ineligible to collect if their mothers make too much money. This is supposed to strengthen family bonds. MIM recognizes this tactic by the oppressors as collective punishment. Under socialism, children will be raised in a collective, publicly-supported environment, and the class background of their parents will not affect the quality of care they receive. The twin forces of gender and national oppression will not force wimmin to make choices between unemployment or working illicit jobs while raising children on a measly government subsidy -- and having to work in the capitalist market while sending their children to unsafe day care. NOTES: 1. Washington Post, October 6, 1997, p. 1, 12. 2. Washington Post, October 22, 1997, p, 1 3. CNN Interactive, Oct. 23, 1997. * * * FORCED ASSIMILATION MOVEMENT GAINS GROUND IN CALIFORNIA by MC12 California voters next spring will vote on a ballot initiative that will virtually ban Spanish language instruction to hundreds of thousands of Latino students in public schools. Almost everyone thinks it's good for children to learn English, as does MIM, but the question is whether young children will be in classrooms where English is the language spoken by teachers and other students. Critics of the proposal, and MIM, believe that taking away Spanish language instruction makes it harder for Spanish- speaking Latino children to learn, and worsens their chances of graduating and getting good jobs. MIM adds that taking away Spanish instruction is also forcing assimilation, dividing children from their parents, communities, and national identities, and weakening the capacity of Latinos to organize for self-determination. We also think English-speakers, especially children, should learn as many other languages as possible. The proposal, which will probably be on the ballot in June 1998, reads in part: " all children in California public schools shall be taught English as rapidly and effectively as possible. All children in California public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English. In particular, this shall require that all children be placed in English language classrooms." The proposal allows exceptions, but makes these very difficult. If children already do well on English tests, or they are older than 10, or they have "special needs," then and only then can individual parents - - only by visiting the school to fill out forms -- request Spanish instruction for their children. Then, if there are less than 20 such parents in a school, the school can transfer them instead of providing a Spanish classroom.(1) The bill's sponsor, Ron K. Unz, a multi-millionaire capitalist in the software industry and a former Republican candidate for governor, says parents will be able to get waivers if they want them (2), but proponents, including reactionary columnist George Will, say the law would "virtually end" bilingual instruction, which is exactly what they want.(3) MIM has two arguments for Spanish instruction. First, making children learn all subjects outside their native language puts them at a disadvantage. This is the same issue as with the Black English debate. The children from oppressed nations have to learn two things at once, which is more difficult. Opponents of bilingual education say that high drop-out rates for Latinos prove that bilingual education doesn't work, but MIM counters that all forms of oppression in Amerikan society work against Latino children, so you can't pin their problems on one particular policy. As the National Committee for Language Rights says, "The fact is Bilingual Education works if implemented properly but it has been sabotaged by entrenched 'English Only' elements that dominate California's public educational system." Second, taking away Spanish weakens Latino prospects for national self-determination. And that's exactly the point of the proposal's proponents. George Will, who calls bilingual education the tool of "anti-American Americans," says it is part of the "multicultural" agenda, which is "the doctrine that a common culture is 'oppressive,' and that Americans should be disaggregated into groups, each cultivating its cultural distinctiveness, resisting assimilation in the name of 'diversity.'"(3) Will picks on the liberal version of multiculturalism, but he is right that bilingual education leaves open the door for anti-Americanism, which MIM and proponents of national liberation for Amerika's oppressed nations support. MIM does not support "multiculturalism" per se, but rather we argue that strong national identity is necessary for national liberation struggles of the kind needed to end national oppression at the hands of Amerika. The Los Angeles Times has conducted a poll that found more than 80% of people support English language instruction, including more than 80% of Latinos.(4) MIM doesn't know how the poll was conducted, but organizers against the measure say those numbers will change once people find out the details of the proposal. That seems likely, but MIM is not surprised to see that a large number of Latinos in California support assimilation. The forces pushing in that direction are strong: getting into the Amerikan middle class is a dream for many people. And some have succeeded: in 1996, 3.8% of families classified as "Hispanic" had incomes over $100,000 (compared to almost 12% of whites).(5) However, many more are poor, especially immigrants, farmworkers, and other workers in the jobs the whites won't do for themselves. Those who support national self-determination for oppressed nations need to try to persuade as many of their compatriots as possible that national liberation is better than assimilation. At the same time, we have to be prepared to lose many members of oppressed nations to assimilation, and instead make alliances with other oppressed nations, especially those around the world who are even more likely to oppose Amerikan imperialism. MIM opposes the "English for the Children" campaign with its intent of forced assimilation for Latinos in California. More information about the campaign is available from the National Committee for Language Rights, Comite Nacional Pro Derechos de Idioma, at http://www.aztlan.net/Bilingual/ or P.O. Box 4282, Whittier, California 90607. NOTES: 1. http://www.aztlan.net/Bilingual/ 2. Los Angeles Times 29 Oct. 1997. 3. Washington Post, 26 Oct. 1997. 4. L.A. Times, 26 Oct. 1997. 5. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, pp. 60-197, Money Income in the United States: 1996. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1997. * * * LETTERS WRITER CRITICIZES MIM'S LINE ON KENYA Dear Comrades, "No investigation, no right to speak" -- Mao Zedong I have read with grave concern your recent article on the situation in Kenya (October 1, 1997, p.5). Of the nine quotes listed at the end of the article, all are from bourgeois sources based in the USA. Not one Kenyan source was directly quoted. No attempt was made to obtain objective information. What makes you so certain these sources are telling the truth about Moi's regime? Don't these sources hand an interest in making imperialism's allies look good and imperialism's enemies look bad? Is it your view that any movement that cloaks itself in the banner of "democracy" is progressive? Surely you remember how less than ten years ago, scoundrels under this banner disbanded the Soviet Union and placed eastern Europe firmly in the grip of Western Imperialism (whether or not it was state-capitalist before is beside the point, it would certainly not exonerate these "democrats")! Surely you know that this multiparty nonsense in Kenya was only started in 1992 when the American and German ambassadors threatened to cut off aid to Kenya if it were not done! If the imperialists supported establishing a multiparty system in Kenya in the first place, if they now threaten to freeze a $220 million loan unless Moi "cleans up his act", and if the press repeatedly prints stories of Moi's alleged atrocities, it seems likely that the imperialists are supporting a multiparty system. If the imperialists are supporting this multiparty system, and if Moi is resisting the imperialists, then whatever kind of son-of-a-bitch Moi is, he's our son-of-a-bitch! If MIM insists upon taking positions without access to objective information, it should instinctively take the position that is opposed to that of the imperialists, not the one whose support is drummed up in the media. History has shown that Communists and imperialists are almost never on the same side of an issue. So, either take heed of Mao's advice and keep your mouth shut unless you do an investigation (a real investigation, not gathering a collection of bourgeois lies), or take Engels' advice and consider what stupid thing you have done when the bourgeoisie expresses agreement with you. You have done the same thing in opposing the government of Myanmar, and so join the bourgeoisie and its liberal allies. At best this is irresponsible pandering to liberals, at worst it is turning Maoism into its opposite for the sake of popularity on campus. Comradely yours, -- a friend in the southwest October, 1997 MIM RESPONDS: We firmly believe that without investigation we do not have the right to speak and for that reason we did extensive investigation for the article in MIM Notes on Kenya. It is true that the only sources cited are bourgeois sources, but in fact we also sought information from Kenyan sources and from the leftist press. And we stand by the conclusions we reached based on the information at hand. The information we obtained, even from the bourgeois press, makes it very clear that Kenya receives a tremendous amount of foreign aid from the imperialists. As the article stated, over the past decade this has totaled more than $8 billion. This is not a sign of a government that opposes imperialism. In fact, Kenya is dependent on imperialist financial support. It is a common practice of the IMF to demand that countries receiving aid comply with certain conditions. In the case of Kenya, the article pointed out that these demands are not about opposing Moi's political control of the country but about creating even better conditions for imperialist financial development in the country by making it easier for foreign businesses to operate in Kenya. While this letter writer is correct that those demonstrating for so-called democracy will not always be on the side of the people, and will frequently just be calling for free market capitalism, the oppressed people's genuine desire for peace and democracy should not be ignored. In China under Mao, there were no large demonstrations against the government for being too repressive and undemocratic. This is because the people recognized that the government was acting in their interests. Only after Deng Xiaoping took power did we see these large demonstrations for democracy (much of which was a rally for free market capitalism and dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.) In the Kenya article, MIM was very clear that the protests going on now are just aimed at reforming a corrupt system rather than overthrowing imperialism, but MIM does not support the imperialist puppet Moi against the people. We invite this letter writer or any other reader to provide us with some evidence that Moi is not a member of the comprador bourgeoisie, working for the imperialists, controlling his country through military dictatorship and offering its resources and people up to the capitalist corporations for profit. MOTHER THERESA NOT A SAINT OF THE PEOPLE Dear MIM: I was told that mother Theresa was a good person who eased human suffering. Upon her deathbed, those silent about her in life have set in motion the wheels to stop her from achieving sainthood. The best article (i.e. most in depth) I've seen so far is on the MIM site at . It is imperative, as Satanists, that we be armed with a backpack full of mud to anyone who would try and set up that mythical "Ideal Christian." Good work, MIM, on exposing one of Baby Doc's (Haitian Dictator) many friends. --A Midwest Satanist writing to friends including MIM October, 1997 MIM RESPONDS: While MIM is not a Satanist organization, we do agree with this attack on the mythical ideal Christian. There is a related article in this issue of MIM Notes following up on the reactionary policies of Mother Theresa. It is a Maoist materialist analysis that allows us to come to these correct conclusions and we urge all who agree with our analysis on issues like this one to struggle over larger issues of Maoist theory: it is only armed with a correct theory that we will arrive at a correct analysis and practice. * * * AMERIKAN IMPERIALISM IN PERU: ECONOMY GROWS -- BUT NOT FOR MASSES by MC206 In 1994, the Peruvian economy was "the fastest growing economy on the planet."(1) The Fujimori regime likes to use this statistic to praise its economic development plans, which amount to luring in foreign investors through massive privatization, allowing more profits to be taken out of the country, etc. However, once we look beyond the bourgeois paper economic indicators, the reality is that very little development has taken place in Peru. Foreign investment may be up, but foreign investors -- principally large monopoly firms -- are investing mostly in short term projects or projects which involve resource extraction. For example, the Yanacocha gold mine made an estimated $317 million in 1996, but less than $4 million of that went back into the communities surrounding the mine -- and most of that $4 million was spent on roads leading to the mine. Yanacocha is run by an Amerikan firm, Newmont, in a joint venture with the Peruvian company Buenaventura.(1) If local communities did not see much in the way of returns from this foreign investment, they did see a fair amount of environmental destruction. The Yanacocha mine uses a process called heap-leaching, a form of strip mining which involves large amounts of lethal cyanide. Local rivers, once full of fish, are now dead. A local resident claims that several people died after drinking water from plastic containers used by the mining company.(1) Newmont is also buying up land around the mine, and in some cases, outright stealing it. Newmont paid as little as $42 per hectare of land to some farmers, despite the fact that speculation has driven the price of land around the mine up to $2000 per hectare.(1) More than half of Peru's foreign income comes from mineral exports such as gold and oil. Imperialist-run organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank (which insures Newmont's profits in case of a mining disaster but does not insure the local communities (1)) claim that the export- and debt-driven economies they press on Third World nations are part of "sustainable development."(2) But an economy based on extraction of local resources by foreign firms for foreign markets is not sustainable and develops nothing. The existing Peruvian state is a puppet for its foreign masters. The Fujimori regime has welcomed the foreign monopoly capitalists with open arms, and given them every possible encouragement to invest in Peru. But the poverty, hunger, and unemployment persist in Peru. Only a state truly controlled by representatives of the basic masses in Peru -- the workers and peasants -- can provide the opportunity for economic development which truly serves the people. Only such a state can prevent the imperialists from dominating the economy. The people of Peru, led by the Communist Party of Peru (PCP, or Sendero Luminoso, as it is often called in the bourgeois press), struggle daily against the Fujimori puppet regime and its u.$. masters. For the last 17 years they have waged armed struggle to topple that reactionary government and put in its place a revolutionary government led by workers and peasants. MIM does not claim to represent the PCP or its line -- instead we exercise our internationalist solidarity with the PCP and the people of Peru by exposing the crimes of u.$. imperialism. NOTES: 1. Covert Action Quarterly, Spring 1997, pp.11 - 17. 2. See "U$ capital feeds on Peru," MIM Notes 147, 1 Oct 97. * * * U.S. ALLOTS ANOTHER $50 MILLION TO SUPPRESS COLOMBIAN REBELS by MC17 In October the United Snakes approved sending more than $50 million in equipment to help Colombia's military fight guerrillas who are waging armed struggle against the government. Approval for the aid came through special presidential authority and is contingent on confirmation that the units getting the material have not been accused of violating human rights.(1) The military will provide this confirmation itself. This means that to get extra money from the U.$., the Colombian military only has to promise that it is not violating human rights. This is how seriously the United Snakes takes investigation into human rights abuses by its allies. The only true accounting of the crimes of the military can be made by the people, not by the imperialist- fed lackey military. For this reason MIM fights for national self-determination of all peoples. U.$. military assistance to Colombia supposedly ended in 1994, after the General Accounting Office found that such aid had gone to units accused of violating human rights and that it was being used to fight guerrillas instead of drug traffickers. But it is clear that the Amerikan government is not genuinely concerned with the Colombian military's brutality; if it were, an assurance of respect for human rights from that same military would not be good enough to reinstate aid. Whether or not the 1994 aid cut was a farce to publicly distance U.$. imperialism from drug-tied Colombian President Samper is of little importance to MIM. While we watch the imperialists' public relations stunts and are wary of their lies, we are much more concerned with their bank rolls, as monetary investment and armed force tell the true story of imperialism. Clearly the fact that the Colombian military can now promise to be good in exchange for $50 million means that any so-called aid cut- offs have nothing to do with concern for the Colombian people or for democracy. The united snakes is happy to have the Colombian military attacking the Colombian people and their rebels, so long as imperialist business continues as usual. More recently, Colombia was not certified as a drug war ally by the United Snakes, supposedly making the South American country ineligible for aid. Drug war certification is used by the u.s. to increase its control over various Third World colonies by manipulating them politically. But even this certification is not financially meaningful since most U.S. aid to Colombia is for drug eradication and seizure, and that money--$70 million--is exempt from the ban on aid.(2) To beef up Colombia's war on drugs the United Snakes donated 12 Bell UK-1H helicopters, worth $20 million, to Columbia earlier this year. Also this year, Amerika gave Colombia $120 million in arms aid. This move appears to be aimed at convincing other countries in Latin America to advance the so-called war on drugs and gain more aid from the United Snakes.(3) In real life, the war on drugs is an excuse to use bigger and more dangerous weapons against the people of the Third World, as a means of forcing them to submit to and to allow their countries to be subjected to imperialist exploitation. ELECTIONS A FARCE OF DEMOCRACY On 26 October, regional elections were scheduled in Colombia. People were supposed to choose state and local officials across the country, but tens of thousands of Colombians sat out the elections in response to a call for an armed boycott by the two largest rebel organizations in Colombia: the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Mainstream media reported that in the weeks leading up to the election roads were bombed, dozens of candidates killed and thousands more were scared into withdrawing. It appears that the general strategy of the rebels was not to kill the candidates but instead to persuade them to withdraw, by either ideological or physical force. Many candidates were kidnapped, taken to the countryside, and then lectured by the rebels who attempted to persuade them not to participate in the system. The National Liberation Army kidnapped two election observers from the Organization of American States on 23 October. The OAS sent 35 officials to monitor the election in regions that have had increased violence surrounding the elections.(4) More than 200,000 police guarded the voting stations, but they were unable to convince the people to show up to vote. Police said road traffic was down 80 percent all over Colombia on election day.(4) Mainstream press is claiming that people boycotted the election only out of fear but this ignores the reality of the conditions for the majority of the people in Colombia. With poverty rampant and particularly bad outside the cities, support for the rebels' program has a strong material basis. The ELN and FARC control over 40% of the countryside. At least one million Colombians, of a total population of 36 million, had nobody to vote for on Sunday because so many candidates pulled out of the elections in fear of the rebels. Even if people in some regions had wanted to vote, all the candidates for their areas had pulled out of the race. (5)[Please tell me if this second sentence is not what you meant.] This is no real difference between having no candidate to vote for and choosing among candidates whose only differences are in the names of the parties they represent. But the lack of elections in some places led to international condemnation of the rebels among people who think that choosing among exploiters in an election represents real democracy. There are no real differences between the two major parties in Colombia's elections--the Liberals and the Conservatives- -even the bourgeois press reports admit this. In areas where elections are canceled, the government plans to appoint a military mayor, further evidence that this mockery of democracy only an attempt to fool the people into thinking they were participating in politics.(5) All candidates pulled out of the elections in more than 120 towns, so all of these towns will have military mayors appointed as well.(6) In their stiffest challenge to the government in more than 30 years of fighting, the guerrillas badly embarrassed President Ernesto Samper's comprador government. "I hope Colombians exercise their right to preserve democracy," the president said after voting in Bogota. "Ballots are the guns of democracy and votes are the bullets." But there is no real democracy in Colombia under the dictatorship of imperialist puppet Samper. His military's bullets are very real and are used to kill those opposed to his government as well as the people who support the rebels. Samper is a lackey both to imperialism and to the drug traffickers. He was elected in 1994 with $6 million in contributions from the Cali drug cartel, so clearly he is beholden to the interests of the drug lords whose aim is to exploit the people of Colombia as they get rich serving drugs to wealthy buyers in the First World.(4) U.$. economic and military aid are further proof that no elections under Samper or his cronies will be free and fair. Amerika gives aid as a means of securing its rights to labor and raw material extraction. The aid the U.$. government gives to Samper and his military hounds is a contract for the exploitation of Colombia's people and natural resources. Both the ELN and the FARC are waging armed struggle against the imperialist-backed Colombian government. MIM supports genuine struggles of the people waging wars of national liberation. From the literature that MIM has read by and about them, both organizations appear to be focoist. Focoists follow the incorrect line of sensational military actions rather than waging People's War; the focoists expect to gain adherents through military inspiration instead of building independent power and support among the population. But MIM can not make a complete analysis of the forces fighting the government in Colombia without further study of their theoretical writings and strategies. We can say with conviction that we oppose imperialism, and particularly United Snakes imperialism, in Colombia and we support the peoples right to self-determination. Armed struggle is the only way the people will bring down the imperialist- supported government and we stand with the Colombian people in their struggle for true democracy. NOTES: 1. San Jose Mercury News 25 October, 1997. 2. CNN US News 1 March, 1996. 3. http://www.eurosur.org/rebelion/internacional/colombregalos. htm 26 May, 1997, Estados Unidos regala armas a Colombia. Bogot. Agencia Informativa Plsar/Adolfo Mena. Rebelin. 4. Associated Press 26 October, 1997 14:49. 5. SunSpot, Baltimore MD 20 October, 1997. 6. Tampa Tribune 25 October, 1997. * * * MASSACHUSETTS PASSES DEATH PENALTY On October 29th, the Massachusetts House passed a law making the death penalty an option for juries in a wide range of murder cases. The Senate had already passed the law, as it had three times since 1994. Acting Governor Paul Cellucci has promised to sign the bill. The passage of this bill was inspired by the anti-crime frenzy that followed a recent spate of brutal murders, including that of a 10-year old boy. There is no evidence that the death penalty or any other action by the capitalist state affects the crime rate. The state representative who cast the deciding vote, Nancy Flavin of Easthampton, admits this: "I know it's not going to deter crime, I know it's not going to be equal justice.... I know in my heart of hearts it's not going to change or reduce crime in Massachusetts...." Massachusetts has not formally used the death penalty since 1947, and now joins 38 states in having a death penalty. This law passed by a vote of 81-79, despite last minute efforts by death penalty opponents to create a "tough on crime" alternative to the death penalty. The alternative would create life sentences with no possibility of commutation by the governor (parole has already been eliminated for people convicted of first-degree murder) and require that the prisoner do this time in a maximum security prison. It would also mandate victim restitution, the requirement that prisoners somehow pay the victims or families of victims for their crimes. Usually this means forcing the prisoners to work in the prison for slave wages which are then taken and given to some victim restitution program. Public opinion polls show that a majority of Amerikans support the death penalty for murder, but they also support guaranteed life-long torture. So long as there is some form of severe torture involved, Amerikans don't care whether an alleged criminal's life is ended in an electric chair of in a cage for the rest of his/her life. But public pressure for the death penalty by activists taking advantage of the recent murders in Massachusetts had a strong influence on this vote in the Massachusetts House. Massachusetts has had the death penalty off and on since 1947, but no one had been formally executed in that time. Massachusetts is the same state that executed Italian Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti for a 1927 murder they didn't commit. In the 1980s, Governor Dukakis offered a hypocritical apology, but that doesn't do any good for Sacco, Vanzetti or the radical anarchist movement they organized. MIM strongly disagrees with many of the opponents to the death penalty who support life-long torture instead of execution. These death penalty opponents -- who include legislators and much of the mainstream anti-death penalty movement -- disagree with one type of repression and want to see a different one used. Such a position is no friend of the oppressed except as a possible temporary ally against the death penalty. But such an alliance is very dangerous, because these positions still fan the flames for settler revenge. These opponents of the death penalty stress that murders are "savages" and "less than human." While most murders are of acquaintances and romantic partners, the crimes that get the settlers all riled up are the much rarer stranger murders. Focusing on cases such as men luring away a young boy to kill and then rape him distracts from the much more common killings that occur within the family itself. This misdirection is led by and protects the patriarchy, where the rule of the family is supreme. Furthermore, such a focus ignores the larger systemic murder and genocide that the Amerikan government carries out on Third World nations and the internal colonies each day. We must recognize that the death penalty in Amerika is used as a symbolic act of retribution and revenge in high-profile cases and as a weapon of terror in Amerika's war against the Black, Latino and First Nations within its borders. MIM is not a pacifist organization and we recognize that there will be violence even under socialism as we struggle to eliminate all violence. For this reason we do not dismiss the possible use of a death penalty under socialism when dealing with enemies of the people. But we must oppose the use of the death penalty by the imperialist state as part of our struggle against the injustice system itself. NOTE: Boston Globe 20 October 1997; Springfield Union-News 20 October 1997. * * * SO-CALLED ALTERNATIVE PAPER ALLIES WITH CAMPUS PIGS IN PHONY CRIME HYPE The September 18 Valley Advocate newspaper launched a pig- inspired attack on oppressed nation students, accusing them of gang involvement. The Advocate is a self-labeled alternative paper published in western Massachusetts. The president of the Hampshire College campus police, Alan Lambert, recently went to the Advocate with stories that the college administration was covering up rising crime and not properly equipping the cops. Lambert is also peddling stories of gun-toting and drug-dealing gang members invading the campus and recruiting. Lambert wants to increase campus police and expand its powers. His rhetoric lays the basis for a later campaign to arm the campus police. Hampshire College pigs are currently not armed. The anti-gang rhetoric of Lambert and the Advocate criminalizes the oppressed. It builds reactionary public opinion for further repression of oppressed nation students on the Hampshire campus. If the white students and their parents are afraid of Latino students, then the cops will have a freer rein. A Hampshire student reported other Lambert incidents, including a rumor -- confirmed by the director of Public Safety -- that two years ago Lambert was watching oppressed nation students inside their rooms with his car's spotlight. Lambert wasn't disciplined, but apparently he thinks Hampshire pigs should be doing this on a regular basis. On September 30, the Dean of Students office organized a meeting to discuss the Advocate articles and Lambert. The first administrator gave a speech pledging a "commitment to diversity" and issued a vague promise to increase the numbers of "minority" students beyond the current 10-11%. (Currently, about 20% of Massachusetts high school students are oppressed nationals.) Demanding increased enrollment of oppressed nationals is a positive reform that MIM supports. Of course, MIM recognizes that such a reform will not end national oppression, and it can be taken away at any time, as long as the revolutionary movement remains weak. The administrators also said that they don't want to see cops have guns on campus, and students cheered. Again MIM agrees that cops on campuses should not have guns, and encourages students to organize independent of the administration against the arming of campus cops. Some students at the gathering put forward demands for sensitivity training or for more cops "of color." MIM argues these are dead-end reforms because the problem with the police is the social role pigs play systematically. Different pigs' tactics or social origin do not change the role that individual pigs play in systematic national oppression. There is also plenty of evidence to suggest such programs do not work. Amerika has picked up on this demand for more Black representation in police departments around the country, and it has not made a substantial difference in police violence against oppressed nationals or changed the fact that oppressed nationals are imprisoned at higher rates than whites. Most campuses in North America are relatively over-policed considering the amount of bourgeois-defined crime that happens on the campuses. Hampshire College is a quieter campus than most, having only 1200 students in a rural part of Amherst. But its part-time police force is the same size as the full time force of Smith College, a wimmin's college of twice as many students in the nearby city of Northampton. The over-policing of campuses serves two roles. First, campus pigs can be called on to repress a politically volatile population, especially the oppressed nation students. Second, the campus cops serve as public relations for white students' parents. White parents expect their daughter or son to be perfectly safe. There is no evidence that police levels have any effect on the crime rate. For example, where have cops ever stopped sexual assault? The great majority of sexual assailants are wimmin's sexual partners -- not strangers in the bushes. Cops -- with or without guns -- can do nothing about this problem endemic to patriarchal society. The solution is in struggling to end the patriarchy, not in giving 9mm Glocks to campus pigs. * * * ANOREXIA ON THE RISE IN ASIA SMASH PATRIARCHY TO END ANOREXIA The prevalence of anorexia in south Korea increased dramatically recently and is close to the prevalence in the united $tates. Anorexia was "unheard of in Korea a decade ago." In 1990, 7 out of every 1000 south Korean college wimmin were anorexic. Experts estimate that the rate has risen since then. The rate for wimmin ages 18 to 35 in the u.$. is about 10 per 1000. Anorexia can be fatal, and intense dieting by teenagers can weaken resistance to disease and can increase the risk of certain diseases (such as osteoporosis) later in life. "Over the past five years, the self-starvation syndrome has spread... to Seoul, Hong Kong, and Singapore... Cases have also been reported -- though at much lower rates -- in Taipei, Beijing, and Shanghai. Anorexia has even surfaced among the affluent elite in countries where hunger remains a problem, including the Philippines, India, and Pakistan." Anorexia was first documented in Japan in the 1960s, and the incidence of anorexia among Japanese wimmin today is about the same as among Amerikan wimmin. The increase of anorexia in east Asia is correlated with the growth of relatively prosperous middle classes and the arrival of western-style advertising and decadent consumer culture. In Singapore, a hot selling designer t-shirt bears the following words: "I've got to get into that dress. It's easy. Don't eat... I'm hungry. Can't eat breakfast. But I ought to... I like breakfast. I like that dress... Still too big for that dress. Hmm. Life can be cruel." In south Korea, the most fashionable clothes are often "made in only one size that is the equivalent of an American size 4." "They make it just one size so only skinny girls will wear it and it will look good," said Park Sung Hye, editor of a Korean fashion magazine. Alongside the fashion industry, the diet and weight-loss industry profits from and promotes the craze to be skinny. "In Hong Kong, 20 to 30 types of diet pills are in common use, including variations on the 'fen-phen' combination of [drugs] that was banned in the United States last month for causing heart damage..." Patriarchy is profitable, so any attempt to advance a country's economy through capitalism will reinforce and expand patriarchy. All of the countries listed above -- China since 1976 included -- are firmly on the capitalist path. In the case of the Philippines, India, and Pakistan, capitalist development has been a failure all-around. In the case of the so-called four tigers -- south Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore -- capitalist development remains tenuous. Even among the middle classes of these countries, who have arguably benefited from their exceptional development, capitalism and imperialism sow seeds of discontent. Middle class young wimmin and men from these countries will rebel against the culture and system which teaches them to be passive and seeks to keep them that way. Many will link up with the proletariat in their country, recognizing that the proletariat is leading the struggle to change the system oppressing them all. Socialism has proven to be the most effective weapon in combating patriarchy. We can see this by looking at the experience of China. Under socialism, there was no prostitution, no money was wasted on decadent and anti- wimmin fashion advertising, and wimmin held leading roles in the economy and the state. Today, after more than twenty years of capitalist restoration, prostitution has returned, fewer wimmin hold high-level political positions, and even the practice of wife-selling has returned in the countryside. NOTES: Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct 97. * * * PIRAO STUDIES KWAME NKRUMAH'S EXPERIENCE by PIRAO chief Kwame Nkrumah considered himself a military leader evolving into an ever better party leader and Marxist scientist of Pan-Africanism. We studied his posthumous letters to an assistant of his named June Milne based in England. The letters were published in Kwame Nkrumah: The Conakry Years His Life and Letters. Although June Milne was based in the imperialist countries, it is clear she played an indispensable role to Nkrumah, who made her the owner of all his written work through his Will upon death. Milne played no direct military role herself, but she was a concrete example of many things that the people of the imperialist countries can do to speed up the advance of communism. She arranged food and medical supplies for Nkrumah. Above all she saw to the publication of his works. The posthumous letters of Nkrumah are an eye-opener in several regards to the MIM-led People's Internationalist Rear-Area Organization (PIRAO). Above all, PIRAO learns to have a materialist view of Nkrumah, not as a hero of incredible and thereby magic powers but someone who had concrete problems to solve like our own. For instance, although he liberated the first Sub-Saharan country from colonialism and then served as president of Ghana, none of the major western publishing houses would publish his books! In fact, left-leaning or revisionist publishing houses such as International Publishers or Lawrence & Wishart occupied much of Nkrumah's and Milne's attentions in his final years in exile. Milne did much of the work to edit Nkrumah's work and collect up galley proofs for Nkrumah to give his final approval to. Then Milne spent much time chasing around progressive publishers for money and deals to publish the books and then bookstores to sell them. Nkrumah set up his own independent institution of the oppressed, the PANAF book publishers. It is now an imprint of Zed Books which published the book of which we speak in 1990. Eye-opening is the fact that Nkrumah's publishing efforts all had very humble beginnings. During his life, he never managed to sell more than a few thousand copies of any of his books. 1,000 to 3,000 were common numbers of discussion. Some governments took it upon themselves to publish his works; the Chinese for instance translated his works into Chinese for the Chinese people. However, in terms of the French and English-speaking world, Nkrumah's efforts were humble. The youth of the 1990s who think that the 1960s were just incomparably different and better should realize that they too could match and surpass the institution-building of the 1960s, and it would not be an impossible feat. This shows that PIRAO's own efforts may seem small to some, but in actuality, the independent publishing efforts that PIRAO can support can easily rival those of Nkrumah. People in the imperialist countries can at least support independent publishing if properly challenged and if they realize that no one else is doing the work. Nkrumah himself quoted Napolean on the reason for his military successes: "Someone asked Napolean the reason for his war successes. He replied: 'First money; second, money; third, money.'"(p. 199) People in the imperialist countries who think they cannot do anything to advance the independence of nations and the cause of communism just because they are not at the front-lines are obviously wrong. People from all walks of life can make unlimited contributions to the revolution. They can build the infrastructure we call the independent institutions of the oppressed and often they do not have to leave their professions to do so. MIM's third cardinal principle on the labor aristocracy is especially useful in PIRAO's struggle to contribute to world revolution. While he spent much time criticizing those he felt initially too attracted to capitalism such as Stokely Carmichael, and he insisted on putting class above race, Nkrumah also believed like MIM that the working classes of Amerika and western Europe are embourgeoisified. Furthermore, he also opposed the Peace Corps and managed to kick them out of part of Africa. This is an important combination of thoughts for PIRAO. We refer to these facts, because we have crossed paths with many who would like nothing better than to be Peace Corps volunteers with Marxist rhetoric. Many of these people end up in Non-Governmental Organizations or sitting around waiting for some large hand-out to carry out their idealist programs. The well-meaning intentions of these cloudy-minded people in the imperialist countries is at root parasitism. People who are or could easily be petty-bourgeoisie end up sucking in salary for some cause in which the money should be going to Third World revolutionaries. This would not be so bad except that there is no easier place to be self- supporting than in the imperialist countries. If we in the imperialist countries are not self-reliant and contributing to the struggle internationally, then we just are not doing our jobs in the international scheme of things. Too many comrades or allies are would-be Buddhists or Quakers fearing involvement in the dirty-work of PIRAO and they restrict themselves to spiritual discussions. Recently, a comrade wrote to PIRAO to inform it that a large donation intended for PIRAO was diverted through parasitic politics. Originally the donation had internationalist intentions, but someone claimed that someone locally within U.$. borders was oppressed and more deserving of the money. Hence, PIRAO did not receive the money intended for it. The revolutionaries of the world including Nkrumah are and were defamed by the imperialist press in newsprint by the ton. We in the imperialist countries have not yet done our share to counteract just the propaganda onslaught. We in the imperialist countries are not in an effective place to contribute blood to the struggle, but that does not limit the possibilities of overall contribution to revolutionary struggle. PIRAO is here to challenge the imperialist country masses to take up a special understanding of self-reliance and contribute their share to the advance of worldwide communism. It is not that we want an exaggerated share of people's earnings to go to revolution either. That is not the point anymore than pure ascetic spirituality is. Idealists may be idealists for making no concrete contributions while only talking or they may be idealists for trying to give away all their worldly possessions. The point is to learn to create and expand independent institutions of the oppressed so that concrete contributions to revolutionary struggle always increase each year. * * * STATE DEPARTMENT PUBLISHES LIST OF TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS-- REVOLUTIONARIES BEWARE! by a comrade On October 8, 1997 the united snakes' state department published a list of 30 foreign terrorist organizations, pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. (See sidebar for list.) Groups as varied as Aum Shinrikyo and Kahane Chai and the Communist Party of Peru are on the list of designated terrorist groups. The state department did not designate the IRA, presumably because Sinn Fein and the government are currently in so-called peace negotiations. Since the list can always be amended, we can assume the IRA will be back on if the negotiations break down. Amerikan citizens are exposed to a fine and/or ten years in prison for giving any material aid to any of these groups (except for medicine and religious materials). Non-u.s. citizens are subject to deportation, largely on the basis of secret evidence, without an opportunity to defend themselves. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act works in conjunction with the new Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) to deal especially harsh punishment to settler-labeled illegal immigrants. The IIRAIRA makes many misdemeanors and petty crimes deportable offenses -- even if they were committed years ago and the person has already served prison time! These people are now subject to deportation proceedings, and this could very well include people who have connections to foreign imperialist-labeled terrorist organizations. Also, banks must freeze all funds known to belong to any of the listed organizations. The law further provides that the banks (based on their belief) can freeze the assets of individuals (including u.s. citizens) if the bank believes that such individual is an agent of any of the listed groups. MIM and other revolutionaries must be vigilant about keeping informed of any changes to the list, and actions taken by the government under the Anti-Terrorism Act. MIM supporters must realize that if MIM is designated as an "agent" of any foreign terrorist organization, MIM's assets could be frozen and our revolutionary work would be seriously jeopardized. Amerika's list of alleged terrorist groups: Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) Armed Islamic Group (GIA) Aum Shinrikyo (Aum) Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine-Hawatmeh Faction (DFLP) HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement) Harakat ul-Ansar (HUA) Hizballah (Party of God) Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group, IG) Japanese Red Army (JRA) al-Jihad Kach Kahane Chai Khmer Rouge Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front Dissidents (FPMR/D) Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO) National Liberation Army (ELN) Palestine Islamic Jihad-Shaqaqi Faction (PIJ) Palestine Liberation Front-Abu Abbas Faction (PLF) Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17 November) Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) Revolutionary People's Struggle (ELA) Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL) Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) * * * NIGERIAN MILITARY IN SIERRA LEONE: DOING IMPERIALISM'S DIRTY WORK AT A HIGH PRICE by MC45 written 28 October 1997 In late May of this year, the elected government of Sierra Leone was displaced by a military coup. Shortly following the coup, Nigeria sent troops into Sierra Leone in an effort to reinstall President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. Nigerian troops are in Sierra Leone to make Africa safer for imperialism. As MIM Notes goes to press, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has reached an agreement with the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), the group which seized power in Sierra Leone, to restore power to Kabbah. While this agreement may resolve the current fighting, it does nothing to alleviate the relationship between imperialism and west Africa, specifically Sierra Leone.(1) General Sani Abacha's military government in Nigeria carries on a diseased relationship with U.$. imperialism in which Amerikan monopoly capital steadily invades Nigeria while arming the Nigerian police forces to defend monopoly interests, and sanctioning Nigerian military actions against neighboring African countries. Amerika wants the military coup leaders out of power in Sierra Leone because this instability is bad for imperialism and because the coup leaders' criticisms of Kabbah's corruption may indicate that they will strike at U.$. interests in Sierra Leone. In situations like this one where there is no clear proletarian pole, the masses suffer most as a result of the fighting and they have little or nothing to gain from its outcome. The only possibility is to turn this instability into a revolutionary opportunity, one in which a force which genuinely holds the people's interests at heart can gain power while the factions of the bourgeoisie are fighting each other. MIM believes that only through genuinely independent proceedings will the peoples of both Sierra Leone and Nigeria resolve their governmental conflicts and the economic problems that go with them. We focus on the U.$. role because it is our responsibility to rally people within United Snakes borders to support an end to imperialism in Sierra Leone and Nigeria. This is our most effective means of supporting the peoples of these countries in expelling imperialism from their borders. NIGERIANS STAY POOR WHILE U.$. MONOPOLY GETS RICH As a neo-colony of England, Nigeria is a poor country with overall poor living conditions for its people, but Nigeria's military government is profiting tremendously from the imperialist sponsorship that comes with opening the country's oil resources to foreign extraction. For this reason, the comprador government is willing to do a great deal to ensure the stability of imperialist control of its part of the African continent -- up to and including invasions and military action in neighboring and nearby countries. The CIA World Factbook describes the Nigerian economy as "oil-rich" but this is only a statement on the proportion of the Nigerian economy which revolves around oil, not on the income oil provides to the people of Nigeria. The infant mortality rate there, which is an important measure of the people's health, is 72.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, which is more than ten times the U.$. rate of 6.7 per 1,000.(5) People living within u.$. borders should not support the unequal economic relationship between these two countries and the disparities in standard of living it creates. Even while Nigeria's military pays tribute to Amerikan and European imperialism by intervening in countries all over Africa, Nigeria's people are suffering in poverty just as the peoples of the countries invaded by the Nigerian military are suffering. $HELL IN NIGERIA Nigeria's oil economy made big headlines when the Ogoni people, led by martyred activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, forced $hell Oil to close operations in Ogoni land. Saro-Wiwa's brother, Dr. Owens Wiwa, pointed out at a talk in Boston last Spring that the Nigerian government has stepped up repression of the Ogoni since $hell stopped operations in Ogoni territory. He also pointed out that in spite of her progressive veneer in domestic politics, U.$. Senator Mosley-Brown supported Abacha's dictatorship in a visit to Nigeria.(2) The managing director of $hell Petroleum Development Corporation of Nigeria ($PDC) claims that "Shell Nigeria remains committed to the long-term future of the country and its people," and that "[$hell] believe[s its] most crucial role is helping Nigeria overcome its economic problems and creating wealth that will give the people of Nigeria a better living standard and open up for them more options for progress and development."(3) But these nice-sounding sentiments have little to do with the reality of a multi-national corporation (MNC). Because $hell's focus is on making profits and expanding the company's production, it cannot hold improving the Nigerian economy as a priority. Advancing the Nigerian economy would have to include some level of self-sufficiency -- production aimed at feeding the people of Nigeria rather than exporting natural resources to bring in great monetary wealth. The presence of $hell and other MNCs in Nigeria, the direct arms of imperialist intervention, keeps the Nigerian economy in a subservient position. $hell's involvement in Nigeria extends beyond pure economics. Observing the common practice of MNCs operating in Nigeria, $hell regularly buys weapons for the Supernumerary Police (commonly known as the "spy") force of Nigeria, so that the spies can "guard the company's residential, office and industrial areas and major production centres and provide escort duties in areas of high risk."(4) $hell Nigeria's director has complained about his company being singled out among multi-nationals when all foreign companies operating in Nigeria employ the same practice of arming the spy force to protect their exploitation of Nigeria's natural resources. MIM opposes this practice generally as a direct and specific manifestation of the brutality of imperialism. While we agree that there is no reason to single $hell out in principle, because monopoly capitalism and imperialism are generally bad for the proletariat, we do find it convenient that $hell has suffered particular attention. $hell's responses to attacks on its practices in Nigeria have brought out additional details of imperialist workings in Nigeria and this is good for MIM because it provides more material direct from the exploiters on why Amerikans should organize to oppose U.$. imperialism. $hell justifies arming the spy force saying that "crime in Nigeria frequently involves the use of arms" and that its company guest houses are often robbed. MIM does not see these incidents as proof that $hell needs military protection, but as proof that $hell has no business extracting Nigerian oil. If MNCs and their high-level staff are victimized more than the general population, it is because they are so much wealthier than the general population and so robbing them is more lucrative than robbing the average Nigerian citizen. $hell executives are so wealthy because they are involved in the direct extraction of wealth from Nigeria. MIM supports long-term reparations and self-reliant rehabilitation for the long- term. But in the short term, we cannot mourn the loss of cash and jewelry from thieves who have stolen their riches from land that isn't theirs. Our sorrow is that such minor incidents as these are clearly not sufficient to convince $hell to leave Nigeria entirely, and these thefts only give $hell rationale to further arm itself against the masses. U.$. OUT OF SIERRA LEONE Sierra Leone, with a population much smaller than Nigeria's -- an estimated 4.8 million people in 1996 -- is in even worse shape from the perspective of the people's health. The infant mortality rate there was estimated at 135.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1996 -- compared to a rate of 72.4 in Nigeria, while the life expectancy was only 47.5 years.(5) With two-thirds of Sierra Leoneans employed in agriculture, and most of that sector being devoted to subsistence farming, the population cannot get enough to eat to keep one-tenth of babies alive through their first birthdays. In true neo-colonial fashion, Sierra Leone's principal industries are mining, light manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes and footwear) and petroleum refining. Minerals make up 87% of the country's exports, while Sierra Leone imports food (38%), machinery and equipment (44%) and fuels and lubricants (18%). MIM says this is a true neo- colonial-style economic structure because the manufacturing Sierra Leone does do is inadequate to support its production needs, and even though two-thirds of the people farm, they are unable to produce enough food to feed the country.(5) Neo-colonialism creates an unequal dependent relationship in which the imperialists suck out raw materials to increase wealth in the First World, and the colonized country is left importing food and the very machinery it needs to help imperialism extract raw materials. Regardless of the intentions of either the elected or current military rulers of Sierra Leone, the people of this country will not be helped by continued foreign intervention. Cessation of fighting is a good thing if it means that the masses will no longer be victimized by the crossfire, but anti-imperialists must continue to oppose all continued U.$. and U.$.-proxy interference in Sierra Leone. NOTES: 1. U.S. Information Agency 24 October, 1997. 2. MIM Notes 135 1 April, 1997. 3. "Operational Information," $hell Nigeria, http://www.$hellnigeria.com/ab$hell/ops.html 4. "Firearms--the $hell position," $hell Nigeria, http://www.$hellnigeria.com/news/prl12.html 5. CIA World Factbook. * * * CHUCK D. SPEAKS: "DON'T BE SHEEP!" Chuck D., rap artist and political speaker, gave a lecture at Harvard University on October 20 concerning issues in his new book, Rap, Race, and Reality. The focus of his talk was on attacking mass media and the control that it gives corporate Amerika over the people in the u.s. Unfortunately, his ideas and criticisms weren't as revolutionary as some of his lyrics with Public Enemy. A main point of the lecture was that corporations can dictate reality through the media. The images that are portrayed on TV and in ads have a great affect on Amerikan culture and what people in the u.s. aspire to be. "Corporation shave such a robotic hold on the minds of not only Americans, they are now dictating reality." He criticized Amerikans for their individualist view of the world that allows them to separate themselves from reality and live in their own world, which is justified by corporations. This effect plays a role in the pacification of the imperialist nation. Part of this analysis by Chuck D suggests that the masses in Amerika are stupid and this is why they don't see through the mass media. But this ignores the reality of Amerikan imperialism which has created a huge labor aristocracy that has an interest in supporting imperialism because it materially benefits the labor aristocracy as well as in the imperialists. Chuck also spent time talking about the history of the Black community in relation to music and the media. He pointed out that individual black communities within the u.s. were isolated from each other through the late 80's, resulting in separate cultures. He said that the unity became widespread after rap music hit the mainstream, and Blacks began to appear in music videos. But he was clear that this was only a positive opportunity for the first couple of years when it was coming straight from the clubs. Modern mainstream rap has taken on the characteristics of all mainstream media with its focus on profit, unconcerned with any negative effects it has on society. He spoke of race and acknowledged that this concept was created by the racist ruling power and has no basis in reality. It is curious that he chose to use the term in the title of his book. Apparently Chuck is now working for a major TV network and sees "hijacking" the video screen as a means of getting his message out. Though it would be ideal to be able to use television to propagate the revolutionary message, as long as it is controlled by the enemy they will not allow us to speak the truth. In fact, Chuck is a good example of this: he pitched a political late night talk show to Paramount who responded by saying that they liked his star quality but he had an agenda they didn't want to put on TV. We must resort to independent media, which has a much smaller base, but which we can control fully. Chuck took an opportunist line in saying that fliers will accomplish nothing in opposition to the powerful media of television. But history shows us that when the message is right, and the people are willing to support it, it doesn't matter that the opposition has millions of dollars more. Chuck D. has been a revolutionary voice of the Black nation for almost a decade. But the radical ideas that justified Public Enemy's self-proclaimed name were somewhat lacking in this recent talk. He merely hinted at the fact that Blacks in Amerika are worse off than the white majority, ignoring the true nature of the system of oppression. So although he provided good information on the negative results of corporate controlled media, he failed to link it back to the system of imperialism that it is serving. Chuck D. failed to define the enemy and to put his topic in the light of the grand scheme. As a result, his suggestion for action is to write letters to station groups if you don't like what they are saying. This is where a lack of clear analysis leads: ineffective action. To fight the power, we must recognize who we are fighting and we must learn from history to take the most effective actions against that enemy. * * * TWO LONG HOURS OF HISTORICAL REVISIONISM SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET MOVIE REVIEW Seven Years in Tibet is the sanitized and romanticized film version of the self-promoting memoir of an elite Nazi who became a tutor and advisor to the spiritual and political leader of one of the last slave societies on the planet Earth. The elite Nazi is Heinrich Harrer, played by Brad Pitt, and the slave master is the Dalai Lama. It comes as no surprise to MIM that the Dalai Lama would embrace a Nazi, nor that Hollywood would use fascism and slavery to concoct an attack on communism. The most important problems with this film are that it practically ignores of the role of Nazism and slavery and that it fabricates the positions and actions of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Most bourgeois reviews of this film have focused on the fact that Harrer wasn't a good guy (abandoning his wife, engaging in frequent prison breaks from a British POW camp that jeopardized the escape plans of the other fascist POWs) or for turning the film into psychological thriller about Harrer's love for his abandoned son.(1) After the film was completed, Harrer's Nazi past was revealed and few voice-overs in the film were changed to suggest that Harrer joined the Nazi party reluctantly to further his career, and that his sojourn in Tibet made him realize that Nazism is bad. Actually, Harrer joined the SA in 1933, and the SS in 1938. Harrer is no Schindler, but instead someone who joined a voluntary elite Nazi organization and held a rank the equivalent of sergeant. Harrer's memoir makes no mention of his Nazi past.(1) Seven Years in Tibet shows Tibet as a peace-loving, non- violent society, when it was in fact a brutal society of high lamas owning hundreds of thousands of serfs. The Dalai Lama's family alone owned 4,000 people.(2) As one former serf told journalist Anna Louise Strong on life before liberation: "I was not much different than a yak."(3) Amongst the few correct things about this film is that it shows how isolated the high lamas were from the people, as we see the young Dalai Lama constantly watching his people from his palace with a telescope, and his advisors criticizing him for doing so. His advisors wanted the Dalai Lama to be even more cut off from the people. Prior to 1949, Tibet had been considered a part of China. According to Strong, "No foreign power in seven hundred years has recognized Tibet as a separate nation or sent an ambassador to Lhasa."(4) While Tibet relatively autonomous in the period immediately prior to 1949, so was most of imperialist-weakened China as it had broken up into different pieces run by warlords. In the film we see three Chinese People's Liberation Army generals fly to Lhasa to meet with the Dalai Lama. These generals are rude to everyone, and kick over a religious symbol created by a monk as a sign of peace and friendliness towards the generals. After the meeting, the lead general tells a Tibetan minister "Religion is poison." Religion is used by ruling classes to justify oppressive systems and get the people to believe that they deserve their conditions. In the case of Buddhism, adherents are told that if they tolerate their position in society well enough, they may do better in another life. Religion is a reactionary idea that Communists should propagandize against, but the methods used by the People's Liberation Army in the film are not only historically inaccurate but proven ineffective at destroying superstition. As Mao instructed in "Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan" written two decades before the time covered in the film and a thousand miles from the location of Tibet, the Communists should "Draw the bow without shooting, just indicate the motions." As a footnote to this article explains: "This reference to archery is taken from Mencius. It describes how the expert teacher of archery draws his bow with a histrionic gesture but does not release the arrow. The point is that while Communists should guide the peasants in attaining a full measure of political consciousness, they should leave it to the peasants' own initiative to abolish superstitious and other bad practices and should not give them orders or do it for them."(5) Mao also explained that the nobility would otherwise use this alienation of the peasants' current ideology to rally them against the Communist Party and the revolution. But with careful political work the peasants will become impressed by the honest ways of the Communists and take up the revolutionary science of Marxism that puts the faith in the masses' own actions and not in gods or the location of their ancestors' graves. The film portrays a surprise attack by PLA forces on the Tibetan forces in 1950. The reality was portrayed in an article about Tibet in MIM Theory 8: "The PLA entered the city of Chambdo in 1950. This area plagued by fighting between Tibetan and Szechwan warlords, was not, according to most maps, part of Tibet. In 1950, however, the population was majority Tibetan. The PLA entry was anticipated by the Dalai Lama, so Tibetan troops were sent to meet and fight the PLA. The PLA quickly defeated the Dalai Lama's army in Chambdo. Many Tibetans, including some of the leadership of the Tibetan army, went over to the PLA side. The PLA was able to win support by explaining their intentions and through sharing what was happening in [other parts of] China. "The PLA did not advance into Tibet until 1951, when an agreement between the Dalai Lama and the Central Government for the 'Peaceful Liberation of Tibet' was signed. The agreement set the terms of the transition for Tibet back into being a functioning part of China. "Claiming the support of the Tibetan people, the Dalai Lama also claimed to support the agreement, in which China was to 'leave unchanged the political structure, the powers of the Dalai Lama, the income of the monasteries' and was not to 'use compulsion for reform.' Instead reform was left in the hands of the local governments and monasteries, who had agreed to begin reforming themselves." These agreements included things like abolished debts the serfs had owed for generations to the monasteries.(6) Unlike what was portrayed in the text after the film, the Dalai Lama and the nobility dragged their feet at the reforms, especially land reform, and staged a number of rebellions. After a 1959 nobility-led rebellion, the Dalai Lama fled to exile in India. With the self-removal of the bulk of the nobility and their invalidation of the 1951 agreement, serfdom was officially abolished and land reform was carried out in earnest.(6) This nobility in exile serves as the nucleus of the "Free Tibet" movement. MIM of course does not support the state- capitalist fascism of Deng Xiao-ping and Jiang Zemin, but we see it as preferable to a return to serfdom under the Dalai Lama. A better option would be a capitalism free of China's current fascism, and the best option would be for the genuine Maoists remaining within Tibet to lead a communist revolution against China and for an independent, socialist Tibet. NOTE: 1. The "Hero" of Seven Years in Tibet, Holocaust, http:holocaust.miningco.com/library/weekly/mcurrent.htm. Citing: Dallas Morning News 12 Oct 1997, C3 and Julia Ferguson, "Dalai Lama's Austrian Tutor Says Was in Nazi Party," Reuters North American Wire 28 May 1997. 2. Great Changes in Tibet, Foreign Languages Press: Peking 1972. p. 22. 3. Anna Louis Strong, Tibetan Interviews. New World Press: Peking 1959, p. 30. 4. Ibid, p. 74. 5. Mao Zedong, Selected Works Volume I, Foreign Languages Press, 1965. p. 46, 58(n). 6. MIM Theory 8. "The Liberation of Tibet: Revolutionary Advances and Counter-Revolutionary Claims" pp 92-95. $6 from MIM. This section cites Strong's Tibetan Interviews and Strong's When Serf's Stood Up in Tibet, New World Press, Peking 1960. * * * CAMBRIDGE CENSORS THE MASSES' INFORMATION Under Mayor Sheila Doyle Russell, Cambridge, Massachusetts has hired employees to tear down posters in Cambridge around the clock. MIM spoke with these employees on the street and verified that they were indeed City employees. Priding itself on its unshakeable liberalism, Cambridge has proved that liberalism does not stop gentrification and sterilization of cultural life. The hiring of employees to tear down posters and write letters opposing postering shows that the City Government is right in line with the prison- state economy of the country as a whole. Contrary to bourgeois propaganda, in contrast, in the Cultural Revolution in China (1966 to 1976) under Mao, the government paid for the paper for people to put up posters ("dazibao") on city walls. Such is necessary for real political life by the masses. Even in a rich country like the U$A, the people cannot afford to buy television and newspaper ads, so posters are a necessity. The Cambridge crackdown hits only those with no great financial means. It is thus a typical class struggle of the rich against the poor. The only time the poor will be allowed to speak is when they are told what to say in the rich man's publications with the rich man's editor checking up on it. * * * PAPER TIGERS FIRST BRAIN DRAIN, NOW ARM CHARM? by MC5 A Cuban baseball pitcher named Livan Hernandez is in the news. The U$ newspapers are making big hay, because he defected from Cuba in 1995 to play for the Florida Marlins. He has in the process won Most Valuable Player award in the 1997 National League Championship for pitching two wins. Cubans everywhere are proud and the bourgeois media wants to capitalize on that somehow. Various papers call the defection of Livan Hernandez a victory of capitalism over socialism. We find this a ridiculous accusation, not just because Cuba is not socialist, but state-capitalist. Cuba was a poor country before Fidel Castro, and it would not have been able to keep Livan Hernandez either. So it has nothing to do with capitalism or socialism. A poor capitalist country can't compete either. The founder of USA Today himself could not resist making propaganda, but while doing so he says that the Marlins gave Hernandez a four-year $4.5 million contract while ballplayers in Cuba get $20 a month. That has nothing to do with socialism versus capitalism. That has to do with a lower standard of living, something prevalent in the vast majority of other capitalist countries too. In the U$A, even the pro-sports teams have salary caps and attempts at "parity," because they know the teams with the money win. If Castro had $4.5 million to offer Livan, would Livan have left Cuba? At least there would be a more even competition. If anything, all the baseball and boxing success in Cuba shows that Castro has mobilized some capitalist success stories of his own. The important question is not how Cuba compares with a country that was always bigger and richer, but how it compares with old free-market Cuba. Today, the U$A is so full of itself that it sends the professional athletes making millions a year to compete against athletes with much fewer training resources at their disposal. For example, the basketball Dream Teams sent to the Olympics showcase what can be done with a large population to draw recruits from and lots of money. For every one Livan Hernandez, there had to 1000 pitchers not so great in Cuba. Cuba raised and trained Livan -- feeding and clothing him and others like him who failed while playing baseball. Now what does Cuba get for its success story? U$ propaganda. All Third World countries that have suffered the brain drain face a similar issue. It is not a capitalism versus socialism issue. NOTE: USA Today 24 October 1997, p. 15a. HOWARD STUDENTS WIN IMPORTANT VICTORY Washington, DC -- The administration at Howard University applied to local authorities to take ownership of public streets in its vicinity. In the face of student resistance, the Mayor Marion Barry withdrew the university request. The Advisory Neighborhood Commission and the General Assembly representing students also opposed it. "Students have voiced concerns that if Howard controlled the streets, it would erect a fence and institute check-points." MIM agrees with the students that giving the city or the university all the power is not a good idea. The students also worried that Howard University administrators would gain power to arrest demonstrators on what used to be public property.(1) On the other hand, at the same time that the students were fighting Howard University, DC cops were arresting graduate students for drinking beer on their porches.(2) Universities across the country have ignorantly and irrationally fallen into anti-crime hysteria -- hiring police and locking themselves away from the public. Thus, the university has become a microcosm of the U$A as a whole which is the world's leader per capita in imprisonment, when the university should be the one place where crime is viewed scientifically. NOTES: 1. The Hilltop: The Nation's Largest Black Collegiate Newspaper, 3 October 1997, p.1 . 2. The InTowner September, 1997, pp. 1, 9. MILLIONS DIE EACH YEAR FROM TREATABLE DISEASES by MC206 "Waterborne and sanitation-related diseases [such as cholera and typhoid] kill well over three million annually and disable hundreds of millions more, most of them younger than five years of age," according to the November 1997 issue of Scientific American. "Bacterial and viral diseases contracted by drinking contaminated water include... childhood diarrhea ailments, infectious hepatitis and poliomyelitis..." "Around the world a billion people lack access to safe water, and 1.8 billion do not have adequate sanitary facilities. According to one estimate, providing safe water and decent sanitation facilities for all human beings would cost $68 billion over the next ten years -- an enormous sum, but equivalent to only one percent of the world's military expenditures for the same period." On the one hand, this is yet another example of the enormous waste of imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. On the other, it is an indication of the wonders that can be accomplished once imperialism is vanquished and economic resources are allocated by a state which acts in the interests of the majority of humanity. Even without getting a share of the imperialists' military budgets, an oppressed nation which liberates itself from imperialism could allocate its own resources -- which otherwise would have gone into ephemeral projects designed to boost imperialist profits -- to solve basic problems like sanitation or health care. That is why the life expectancy in socialist China doubled from 1949 to 1976. CINCINNATI ANGLES FOR REACTIONARY FIRST PLACE by MC5 Cincinnati is building a reactionary name for itself. A voter initiative put through by determined chauvinists forbids Cincinnati from protecting homosexuals against discrimination. According to a USA Today article, this makes Cincinnati unique in the U$A, because in other cities the bigots have tried and failed. Cincinnati has also been in the news in recent years for the baseball team owner Marge Schott who makes Nazi comments about Blacks and Jews and supporting Hitler from time to time. We also remember Cincinnati for the Vincent Chin jury. The jury refused to convict a white of murdering a Vietnamese man despite witnesses and a confession. MIM points this out, because such people are not inclined to change without armed revolutionary struggle. In some Amerikan cities, they attempt to put on a facade of integration and there is an effort at dialogue. However, we have to look at the labor aristocracy as a whole, and the places that we do not hear about are the ones like Cincinnati -- actively and consciously reactionary. NOTE: USA Today 24 October 1997, p. 3a. PROFITS BEFORE PEOPLE: FALLOUT FROM FALLOUT "Kodak discovered in the early 1950's (sic.) that some film was fogged before use, and it traced the problem to fallout from atmospheric nuclear tests." Ever busy to serve the capitalists, the U.$. Government warned Kodak of this problem, but it did not warn the public about the corn or milk also contaminated. The National Cancer Institute estimates the fallout caused 10,000 to 75,000 extra thyroid cancers between 1951 and 1958. NOTE: New York Times 30 September 1997, p. a18. MOTHER THERESA OVERSAW GENOCIDE OF POOR As we said in MIM Notes 147, Mother Theresa was no saint. More details are coming out. Mother Theresa opposed having doctors diagnose her wards for curable diseases. She told Dr. Robin Fox, the editor of The Lancet -- a famous medical journal -- that she opposed materialism, which meant opposing medical science. She received millions in contributions for her work but refused medical facilities for her patients, while she herself went to the finest medical facilities in the West. As a result, the Mother Theresa facilities meant death for those with easily curable diseases. She also spoke against the Sandinistas while supporting death-squad government in Guatemala and Haiti. Mother Theresa gained so much support for sweeping the poor under the rug into heaven that she started her own franchise which went beyond India. In New York City, she canceled a project for the poor to avoid having New York City pay for an elevator for the handicapped. Mother Theresa said in speeches that she regarded the suffering of the poor as "beautiful" and something we should all learn from. Such is the role of religion. Mother Theresa struggled mightily to get the poor to accept their fates and came up with excuses for not struggling for material betterment of the poor. For this she received money from convicted swindler Charles Keating and other like-minded capitalists. In the case of Keating, she asked the judge for mercy in view of his gift to her work. As long as people believe those who suffer the most end up in heaven, the ruling class is safe. That is why Mother Theresa received so much support. NOTE: The Prism, PO Box 16025, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, October, 1997, p. 11. * * * UNDER LOCK & KEY PRISONER CHALLENGES CENSORSHIP AND WINS I did receive the MIM Notes and RAIL Newsletter that were sent to me a couple of months ago. Originally, the Nazi rejected it stating that is advocated violence and insurrection. They did this becauz the front page headline on one issue said something about PIGS.... Eventually they gave it to me, but not before I challenged the rejection. ...Right now I am suing them becuz I was raped by a kop last year. Evidently this is part of my sentence. It took a year's worth of letters, threats and bitching just to get the pig arrested. They tried to cover it up, intimidate me into silence, the jackboot routine. It wasn't until I found an attorney that they have given me some air. They are gonna let the kop plead guilty to a lesser charge, and close the case quietly. This is the last thing I want, becuz unless and until the public is made aware of the brutal and dehumanizing conditions that exist in "correctional" facilities, the status quo will remain.... -- A Michigan Prisoner, 7 August 1997 COLORADO PRISONERS BATTLE CENSORSHIP I am writing to inform you that the administration has had a change of mind. I am aware that the minions of the beast are a mindless lot, and that from now on they are going to review each issue of MIM Notes before deciding if it will be censored or not. While this is not a big victory, it is encouraging that this gulag is on notice: That we/I will fight for our/my rights. The material you sent via your letter on how to fight the prison censorship was very helpful. I plan to make copies and pass the information on to other comrades in the struggle within the beast.... -- A Colorado Prisoner, 17 August 1997 CENSORSHIP VICTORY IN WASHINGTON STATE ...There have been several complaints filed in the various federal courts concerning Washington prisons censoring political, religious, bulk mail, non-profit mail, etc. One complaint filed in the Eastern District of Washington won big time.... Another complaint is pending in the Western District of Washington. I am of one the named plaintiffs in that suit and my chief issue is not being allowed the MIM Notes. I'll keep you posted on the above. [This prison] is the pits which should be par for prison life. In Struggle, -- A Washington Prisoner, 6 September 1997 PENNSYLVANIA PRISONERS CONTEST CENSORSHIP I am writing to let you know that MIM is being censored here at SCI Greene. Because the Incoming Publication Committee states, it advocates violence, insurrection or guerrilla warfare against the government and institutions, which creates a present danger within the context of the correctional institution. I'm appealing this decision and it would be helpful if you contact the superintendent. SCI Greene, Superintendent, Ben Varner, 1040 E. Roy Furman Hwy, Waynesburg, PA 15370-8090 Sincerely, -- A Pennsylvania Prisoner, 8 August, 1997 In July 1997, my MIM Notes were censored. SCI Greene is the most Super Max prison in Pennsylvania. This is the first time they ever censored my MIM Notes.... ...At this very moment I'm in the process of appealing this unconstitutional censorship to the warden. I'm still waiting for a response ... Without a doubt, the warden is sure to uphold this diabolical decision of his subordinates. This is just another tactic that the agents of the United Snakes "Porky Pig" brigade uses. Preventing the oppressed people from receiving essential information of pure facts ... I also sent the appeal I filed.... -- Another Pennsylvania Prisoner, 17 July 1997 PRISONER CHALLENGES CENSORSHIP AND DOC CAVES I'm writing you in reference to MIM Notes that I was once receiving. Well as I wrote you before letting you know that the institution I'm in wouldn't allow your publication because it advocates the violent overthrow of the united snake government. I filed a complaint with the department of corrections and I threatened to go public with them violating my constitutional rights and told them that I will "sue" the hell out of them. So once again, they turned over my September issue of MIM Notes today. I was somewhat shocked that they gave in so easy, but then I was glad that I didn't have to take anymore measures. So please forward MIM Notes to me once again. Thank you, -- A Third Pennsylvania Prisoner, 8 October, 1997 FEDERAL PRISONER FACES CENSORSHIP Please find enclosed herein a Publication Rejection letter from ADX [Administrative Max] warden and Publication Rejection Notice from ADX inmate systems manager where in they state their Fascist reasons for intercepting my MIM Notes. Due to ADX's Draconian-Orwellian denial of my MIM Notes, I elected this request that you remove my name from you mailing list. I will not ask your readers to write to the warden or politicians regarding the denial of MIM Notes in ADX, as MIM Notes has done in the past in other similar incident. As far as I am concerned, Fuck writing to wardens and politicians. What I want is the right to vote, so we can bring about change. That is why I support the Boycott Wisconsin Campaign, which you could care less about. You also told your readers to refrain from voting, and then with a twisted logic you told your readers to write to certain government around the world. What also makes me suspicious of MIM Notes is that none of the staff members have printed their names and photos in MIM Notes as though you refuse to put your head on the chopping block. I still believe that MIM Notes is doing some good, but as far as I know the MIM Notes could be printed and distributed by the CIA. Thank you very much for hitting my hand with MIM Notes for the past few months! And for enlightening me on many matters! In Struggle, -- A Federal Prisoner, 30 July 1997 MIM RESPONDS: The censorship of MIM Notes is one way that Pig Oppressors attempt to further dominate prisoners. This is a way the pigs prevent prisoners from educating and organizing themselves. We have sent you a letter with tips to combat censorship and have honored your request to be taken off our mailing list. Often prisoners working with MIM fight and win legal battles to end or delay censorship. Organized legal battles that are led by the proletariat can be fought to free up organizing space. These reformist battles are tools that we utilize to reach the masses. For instance, we are organizing to build support for armed revolutionary struggle to achieve socialism. If we cannot reach people, we can not complete larger tasks. So, if it is possible to use the oppressor's laws to free space for organizing for revolution, we do it. We fight winnable battles so that the resources of the masses are not flushed down a toilet. And as we fight winnable reformist battles which we decide to wage, we use that as an opportunity to point out the hypocrisy of Amerika's dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. Currently, voting in the United $tates government elections is a vote of confidence in a thoroughly unjust repressive system. This government, created by capitalist oppressors, serves their interests at the detriment of the majority of the world's people. True democracy necessitates self- determination of oppressed nations. Leading the masses to vote and spend resources on voting campaigns is a waste. Activists before have taken on this reformist battle, and we have learned from them. Either they degenerated, lost or wasted resources. IF it were possible, the end result of voting in a candidate from MIM means there is one rational materialist in a sea of bureaucrats working only in the interests of imperialism and settler nation domination. Even though both practices are reformist, we make a distinction between winnable battles as described above and battles which do not aid in the struggle to build support for revolution. The end result of stopping censorship is 1) that people of Amerika's hypocritical contradiction with regard to freedom of speech and 2) we will then be able to send literature and information. The end result of voting would make us broke and only allow a candidate or two to be battling from within. We will not end oppression or even make a dent in imperialism by voting. In fact, voting will just help to legitimize the system by telling people we believe it can be fixed from within. On the other hand, writing letters of protest are small battles that we can win within the system, while always putting this in the context of the need for revolution. So instead of voting, MIM advocates working for revolution. Revolution is the development of independent institutions of the oppressed to build a society in the interests of the oppressed and the seizure of state power through armed struggle. We would not go to such lengths if there were historical or material basis for winning power for the people without the loss of proletarian soldiers' lives. The Maoist Internationalist Movement exposes the crimes of imperialists and helps build independent institutions of the oppressed. This is a more effective way to create real change and end the oppression of the world's proletariat. The articles in any issue of MIM Notes should allay anyone's fears that MIM is really with the CIA. The work that we do speaks clearly to the contrary. And our political line is very much counter to the interests of the government and in the interests of the international proletariat. The only possible defense that any organization can have against such an accusation is their line and practice. After all, the CIA is perfectly capable of coming up with a few pretty faces and names to print if they wanted to. One last comment about security, MIM and RAIL do not print names because we have learned from the history of past revolutionary groups, like the Black Panther Party, who was fiercely attacked by the FBI's COINTELPRO. There is no reason to make it easier for the pigs to destroy the people's revolutionary struggle. In this anonymity there is accountability. The entire Party takes credit for and is held accountable for the political line and practice of the Party. PRISONER FACES RETALIATION FOR FILING GRIEVANCES ... I have recently received 6 infractions within 24 hours, false charges of course, for retaliation of filing grievances. This facility is run and operated by a classic group of people as described in your zine. I continue to circulate all publications received by you to various prisoners. ... -- A Florida Prisoner, 19 September 1997 ALMIGHTY VICE LORD NATION FIGHTS FOR JUSTICE ... I recently read a piece in the Under Lock and Key section regarding oppression by the South Carolina D.O.C. [Dept. of Corrections], against prisoners representing a segment of the religious and political organizations considered an off branch of the NOI [Nation of Islam] called the 5%ers. Here in the State of Iowa, we as representatives of the Almighty Vice Lord Nation [AVLN], who conform to the Nation's Teachings and religious/political views, are also subjected to unjust policies and procedures. The [DOC's] Internal Affairs has openly targeted the top three Representatives [of the AVLN]. They have isolated one from general population under the label of Close Management. Another was transferred to another facility. The vocal leader was kidnapped and given 3 years Administrative Segregation. The corrupt internal affairs department alleged that a confidential informant told them that "his group assaulted another inmate for disrespecting the Almighty V/L Nation", yet ample evidence clears him of being anywhere near the location of the alleged assault. The Department of Corruption has not sanctions these atrocities, but has also designed a system to now target all Vice Lords incarcerated throughout the Iowa Penal System.... -- An Iowa Prisoner, 22 July 1997 PRISONERS UNITE VS. SOUTH CAROLINA PIGS Now that the newly, once Texas Warden, has become the commissioner of SCDC [South Carolina Department of InCorrections], numerous confrontations between the general populations and the administration have taken place, both on a mental and physical level. All blame the commissioner and his newly implemented white supremacy agenda and polices. Many strange alliances have been formed in an effort to combat the oppressive forces and implementations of Michael Moore. The 5% Percent Nation has a consolidated class action civil suit being litigated in the courts against SCDC, as do the Native Indians, Muslims, and Rastafarians. There are countless individual state and federal suits as well, challenging SCDC on a variety of get tough on prisoner policies. Riots and escapes have dramatically increased at various institutions, bringing forth the implementation of control movement and a host of other policies. The policies are, in many cases, designed to break the resistance of various groups and prisoners in general. People of color and their individual religions, way of life, and their cultural practices are discouraged, attacked and labeled anti- christian and anti-european, which is illegal. KCI-MSU (Alias SUPER Max) is full of political/Religious prisoners of the aforementioned groups. Yes, it is institutionalized white supremacy at its height. But surely in the only state that flies the accused diversionary rebel flag atop the state house dome, one could expect no less.... -- A South Carolina Prisoner, 23 July 1997 NEW CLOSE MANAGEMENT UNIT IN FLORIDA ... I am one of 1200 prisoners in Florida who have been leased to Privatization Prison (Wakenhut). (South Bay Correctional Facility). A Close Management Unit has just been opened. The food here sucks. The cops of Wakenhut security have lousy attitudes (95% of them). Clothes come back from the laundry wet and dingy. Counts last two hours. Telephones are owned by a Wackenut Corp. and are ripping off families, loved ones and attorneys. There is no warm water in the cells, no cold water fountain in dorms, just tepid water. Canteen prices are street prices or more. Medical is tantamount to no medical treatment. A lot of cops aren't certified. Food is served cold. Dish washers are not at correct temperatures per regulations, etc. These bad points definitely override the soft toilet paper and air conditioning in this dungeon for dollars. ... Keep up the struggle for true freedom. -- A Florida Prisoner, 19 August 1997 RAPID EXPANSION OF TEXAS PRISONS My last thought concerns the vast expansion of TDCJ (Texas Department of Criminal Justice) in less than tree years from 60,000 prisoners in 60 prisons to 130,000+ prisoners in 109 prisons. These men and women are forced to work for free in the production of prison-made goods shipped to the other 49 states. 42USC 1994 makes peonage, the forced labor of a person in payment of debt such as food and shelter a felony, yet Texas convicts mush work for free. 18USC 1781 prevents prison-made goods from shipment our of the state they were produced in to stop unfair competition with private businesses who have higher labor costs and must charge more for their products. By Amendment, Texas is the only state permitted to legally break this law. New York to California taxpayers must support the growing Texas prison system with their federal tax money and by permitting Texas' unfair business competition. I believe the purpose of the law was violated by Texas. Repeal this amendment! Help keep Texas prison-made goods inside Texas. Write to your newspaper and US Congressmen citing this law and ask why must your state support 109 Texas Prisons? -- A Texas Prisoner EXPOSING TEXAS HARASSMENT TACTICS Hey I'm writing you this letter to give you all a big scoop on my unit (Stiles) in Beaumont, Texas. A lot is being violated here such as low portions of food. ...Also they have this system that Level 3's must get in a Dog position as the pigs call it "Feeding Procedure". We get on our knees with hands braced to the back of our head, while the pigs laugh and etc. Now they will refuse your food for not doing such a thing. They have started making management cells, July 97, on 4 sections, about 8 cells or more, for people who these pigs feel they need to retaliate on, and put them away with nothing. Also they started gassing first before running in the cells of an inmate upon who they retaliate. These, redneck, all these pigs, wear black gloves, like if they're supposed to intimidate an inmate. ... So it has been pretty fucked up since they moved a lot of decent rank. Now they retaliate, by messing with your cells in unnecessary shakedowns, while they scatter everything everywhere on the floor, especially for inmates of the struggle.... -- A Texas Prisoner, 10 July 1997 POETRY WANTING TO BE FREE Locked away from society, living in a cell twenty-two hours a day, it's every man's hell. Expected to be strong and not to shed a tear, wondering if love will survive is my only fear. My mind keeps on struggling to keep itself sane, but this is hard to do while dealing with misery's pain. So I removed myself from the present and don't dwell upon the past, but pray for the future and hope it will come fast. Until it does arrive and I can once again be free. I'm just another number wanting to be free. -- A Pennsylvania Prisoner 11 August 1997 THOUGHTS OF A PRISONER Endless days that count the years, no longer can I hold back the tears. Serving time behind a wall, with no one to visit, no one to call. Like a wild animal locked inside a gate, waiting patiently for my parole date. No reason to feel any sorrow, all I do is pray for tomorrow. Then one day the gates will swing wide, that boy that's now a man steps outside. As he leaves he looks behind, seeing the same wall holding his own kind. The broken promises, the empty dreams, the sorrow is stitched between the seams. -- A Pennsylvania Prisoner 11 August 1997 MIM NOTES: THE MOST CENSORED NEWSPAPER IN THE U$A We at MIM Notes are the most censored newspaper in the U$A, because so many prisoners ask for our paper and they cannot obtain it, because of prison administrations that forbid it. Prison administrations often cite the coverage of prisons as the reason they give, but they have other bogus reasons they give. They deny us outside prison the free speech to address prisoners and they deny prisoners reading material, often in cases where prisoners do not find anything else very inspiring to read. For our efforts paying for literacy improvement in prison, MIM gets its literature including books thrown out by prison officials all the time. It only underscores the suspicions of people outside the walls that the real reason people end up in prison is not conforming to the white bread views of mainstream Amerika. In order to firmly expose the agents of repression, prisoners, make sure you let us know of prison policies and practice of censorship. We are compiling a list of these nasty hypocritical prisoncrats that censor the news of the masses. WANTED: PRISONERS TO WRITE REVIEWS OF BOOKS MIM has a lot of non-revolutionary but political books that have been donated to our Books for Prisoners program. These books are worth reading and reviewing for MIM Theory. We have a range of topics and if you are interested in reading and reviewing one (or a few), feel free to specify your areas of interest. Along with these books we can often provide you with related information from past issues of MIM Theory to help with the reviews. * * * MIM ON PRISONS AND PRISONERS MIM seeks to build public opinion against Amerika's criminal injustice system, and to eventually replace the bourgeois injustice system with proletarian justice. The bourgeois injustice system imprisons and executes a disproportionately large and growing number of oppressed people while letting the biggest mass murderers - the imperialists and their lackeys - roam free. Imperialism is not opposed to murder or theft, it only insists that these crimes be committed in the interests of the bourgeoisie. MIM does not advocate that all prisoners go free today; we have a more effective program for fighting crime as was demonstrated in China prior to the restoration of capitalism there in 1976. We say that all prisoners are political prisoners because under the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, all imprisonment is substantively political. It is our responsibility to exert revolutionary leadership and conduct political agitation and organization among prisoners - whose material conditions make them an overwhelmingly revolutionary group. Some prisoners should and will work on self-criticism under a future dictatorship of the proletariat in those cases in which prisoners really did do something wrong by proletarian standards. ***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.
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