MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
Through the eye of the media, one can’t help but see and understand the
agendas being put forth. First look at how the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea’s nuclear program is being covered with
emotionally-driven and fear-inspiring news coverage. In comparison to
the cold war period in the United States, where that was solely
ideological war due to it being two white global superpowers with
different political identities the nuclear issue wasn’t syndicated by
news on the level that North Korea’s nuclear program has been. The
United States and all major countries of European descent have done
everything in their collective power to keep these weapons of mass
destruction out of the hands of nations, governments and people of color
or hue. This is about dominance over every country in the world or
simply put, ‘might makes right’ ideology.
Just look at what happened when Iran was building a nuke. How much these
European governments were willing to do and in fact pay so that these
Middle Easterners would not have the same power of destruction that they
themselves wield, and the United States alone has used, on people of
color.
These global white supremacists have done everything they could to
destabilize nations’ governments that they could not control by creating
borders on foreign continents, setting up puppet governments (often
dictators the likes of Saddam Hussein and Benjamin Netanyahu who use war
as a distraction of their individual greed), support contras by the
sales of cocaine on the streets of their own country, in which they’ve
colonized other peoples. Gangstering all less technologically-savvy
nations out of raw materials, such as petroleum, gold, silver, diamonds,
chocolate, opium, uranium, spices, sugar, and factory workers who they
pay slave wages. They then turn around and use this wealth to build
factories in their home countries and pay their own citizens the going
wages.
I say equal power is equal defense, which entitles all nations the same
kind of weapons including nuclear bombs if that’s what you could be
faced with. These global white supremacists only respect those who can
present an equal threat. History has proven these whites are the makers
and users of weapons of mass destruction, from muskets, rifles, guns,
machine guns, grenades, C-4, chemical gases, dirty bombs, hydrogen and
nuclear bombs. They’ve created viruses, diseases, tortures. Yet the
media is far more dangerous than any of the ones before mentioned, due
to its ability to influence the minds of those not fully conscious of
the reality of being controlled by the designers of this Global White
Supremacy Agenda.
MIM(Prisons) adds: In July, August and September the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea launched a series of nuclear missile tests.
The DPRK reports it has developed a more advanced hydrogen bomb that
could be mounted on an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM).(1)
They’ve also reported that their ICBMs can now reach the mainland of the
United $tates. Meanwhile, the United $tates has launched recent tests of
their B61-12, a bomb that delivers nuclear weapons by fighter jet.(2)
The United $tates and Russia still have far more nuclear warheads than
other countries, almost 100 times the number of what the DPRK has.(3)
People who grew up during the cold war lived in a culture of fear of a
nuclear attack. So we do not agree that the threat was ignored during
that period because it was “white” countries involved. If anything, we’d
argue that we’ve grown too comfortable with the risk of nuclear disaster
that these weapons continue to put us in since the collapse of the
social-imperialist Soviet Union. And this cold war was also an
imperialist reaction to potential resistance. Although the Soviet Union
gave up socialism and turned to state capitalism in the 1950s, the
United $tates held on to the anti-communist fear. Socialism in the
Soviet Union (and China, and other countries) was a significant threat
to imperialism, and so the United $tates prepared for a war to defend
their wealth and dominance.
Otherwise, we agree with the author above on the hypocrisies of the
imperialists. Militarism is integral to the economic success of the
imperialist countries. The DPRK has never used its military to gain
wealth by exploiting or stealing from other nations. Rather it
sacrifices resources from its isolated economy to ensure it can
militarily protect itself from imperialists who would otherwise use
their weapons against the Korean people to gain access to the labor and
markets that the DPRK government denies them. The leverage of nuclear
weapons decreases the need to mobilize the able-bodied population into
military maneuvers in response to U.$. operations on its border. There
are two massive military exercises led by the United $tates on the
Korean peninsula each year. One, Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, occurs in
August when it is harvest season.(4) The other, Foal Eagle, occurs in
the spring, often overlapping with the planting season in the northern
hemisphere.(5) By increasing the technological capacity of its military,
the DPRK allows for more labor time to be dedicated to agricultural
production and better protects its food supply. Because of sanctions,
the DPRK cannot rely on importing food from other countries when
harvests are short. In other words, these new developments are a logical
product of the U.$. imperialists’ stranglehold on the DPRK through
economic sanctions and massive military provocations.
Esta semana, los oficiales del Ejército de los E$tado$ Unido$ anunciaron
que las personas transgénero son bienvenidas para servir abiertamente
como guerreros del imperialismo y la dominación mundial Amérikkkana.
Hicieron un plan que será puesto en marcha el año que viene, que incluye
apoyo financiero para tratamientos médicos como cirugías, terapia y
hormonas.
Algunos activistas trans, que reconocen por qué este anuncio es
“problemático” para las personas en las naciones oprimidas, afirmarán
que “[el Ejército de los E$tados Unido$] nombraría como nuevo miembro
cualquier cosa.” Lo cual es cierto, hasta un punto. El gobierno de los
E$tado$ Unido$, en todas sus formas, tratará de controlar todos los
aspectos de nuestra sociedad que puedan ser controlados. Lo que recalca
el punto de que las políticas de identidad de género no amenazan al
militarismo e$tadouniden$e y a la dominación del mundo porque pueden ser
controladas por la mera aceptación. ¿La lucha por la aceptación de los
transgéneros (o cualquier lucha de género), distinta de la organización
revolucionaria, debilita al capitalismo mismo? No. Y este anuncio lo
prueba.
El gobierno e$tadouniden$e no puede nombrar como nuevo miembro a
organización antiimperialista genuina, a pesar de sus intentos con las
organizaciones encubiertas y la revisión de la historia. No puede
integrar la autodeterminación de las naciones con el colonialismo porque
son aspectos opuestos de una contradicción mundial. No pueden terminar
con la opresión y desesperación de la gente en el Tercer Mundo porque
dependen de esa opresión para su función básica de la explotación para
mantener a las personas en los E$tados Unido$ ricas y felices.
Si tu lucha puede ser integrada al Ejército de los E$tado$ Unido$,
entonces eso demuestra de qué lado está en realidad. ¿Eres un
revolucionario internacionalista? ¿O sólo esperas por una mejor vida
aquí en Amérikkka? Todos los que se opongan a la opresión de identidad
de género, militarismo y genocidio deberían hacer todo en su poder para
organizarse en contra del Ejército de los E$tado$ Unido$, y en contra
del capitalismo, dado que esa es la única manera en que llegaremos a un
mundo sin opresión de género para todos.
This week U.$. military officials announced that transgender people are
welcome to serve openly as warriors for imperialism and Amerikkkan world
domination. They made a plan that will roll out over the next year,
including financial support for medical treatment such as surgeries,
therapy, and hormones.
Some trans activists, who recognize why this announcement is
“problematic” for people in the oppressed nations, will assert that
“they’ll co-opt anything.” Which is true, to an extent. The U.$.
government in all its forms will try to control any aspect of our
society that can be controlled. Which underlines the point that identity
politics is not threatening to U.$. militarism and world
domination, because it can be controlled just by mere acceptance.
Does the struggle for transgender acceptance (or any gender struggle),
distinct from revolutionary organizing, undermine capitalism itself?
No. And this announcement proves it.
The U.$. government can’t co-opt genuine anti-imperialist organizing,
try as it might with front organizations and rewriting of history. It
can’t actually integrate the self-determination of nations into
colonialism, because they are opposite aspects of a worldwide
contradiction. They can’t resolve the oppression and desperation of
people in the Third World, because they depend on that oppression for
its base function of exploitation, to keep people in the United $tates
wealthy and happy.
If your struggle can be integrated into the U.$. military, then it shows
which side your struggle is truly on. Are you a revolutionary
internationalist? Or just hoping for a better life here in Amerikkka?
Everyone who opposes gender oppression, militarism, and genocide, should
do everything in their power to organize against the U.$.
military, and against capitalism, as that’s the only way we’re going to
get to a world without gender oppression for everyone.
A California prisoner wrote: In the article entitled
“The
Myth of the ‘Prison Industrial Complex’”, MIM(Prisons) quotes Loic
Wacquant, reasoning that “fewer than 5,000 inmates were employed by
private firms.” MIM(Prisons) reasons that since “there is not an
imperialist profit interest behind favoring jails … the concept of ‘PIC’
is a fantasy.”(2) This reasoning is fundamentally flawed. The
definition, relied upon here, is not one used by the crusaders of that
movement, but rather, is one attributed to the term by MIM(Prisons). In
other words, I’ve yet to see an advocate who claimed that the
entire premise of the prison industrial complex is based on
direct prison labor for the “imperialist.” The truth is, since there’s
nothing “complex” about direct prison labor, the MIM(Prisons)-attributed
definition severely trivializes the true meaning of the PIC. The term
has to mean more.
To avoid further distortions – and unreasonable deduction – let’s look
at the plain meaning of the term (see Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary). (a) Prison, I believe, is self-explanatory. (b) Industry: a
distinct group of productive enterprises; esp: one that employs a large
personnel and capital. (c) Complex: a whole made up of, or involving,
intricately interrelated elements.
In light of this definition, the question becomes does the apparatus
referred to as the PIC represent a “distinct group of productive
enterprises” that “employs a large personnel and capital,” “made up of,
or involving intricate interrelated elements”? Answer: Yes, of course.
The conglomerate, that is the PIC, consists of hundreds of corporations
and unions, including phone companies that literally engage in bidding
wars to contract with the prison; the California Correctional Peace
Officers Association, their labor union, is one of the biggest in the
state, which isn’t to discount the plumbers and electricians unions, big
food and cosmetic companies, like Doritos, Colgate and many more, all
garner impressive profits off of the prison population. Additionally,
many small impoverished towns have routinely used prisons to stimulate
their economies. And so, per definition, this intricate network of
parasitic companies siphoning millions of dollars from both the
government and our families does meet the definition of the term
prison industrial complex. In a nutshell, while not disputing
the facts relied upon by MIM(Prisons) in its article, I believe those
facts are being misapplied in this situation. To keep using PIC is not
inaccurate or “a fantasy.”
Wiawimawo of MIM(Prisons) responds: The definition derived above
from the dictionary is a literal interpretation of the words piecemeal
and does not reflect how proponents of the term define it. If you look
at definitions by those who use the term they usually allude to a
collaboration between government and private industry. As we point out
in the article being responded to, the term prison industrial
complex is appropriated from the term military industrial
complex, which we will take some time to explain in more depth to
further demonstrate why prisons do not play a similar role under
imperialism. We argue that to use the term PIC is to imply that prisons
do play this role that is crucial to imperialism’s economic success.
Further, despite this critic’s claim to the contrary, the line that
prisons are profiting off of prison labor is quite commonly presented by
those who use the PIC term. (See
recent
call by September 9th strike organizers for the most recent example)
War and prisons serve a similar role in oppressing other nations to
enforce the will of imperialist interests on them. As we all know these
days, prisons and torture are an integral part of U.$. imperialist
excursions throughout the world.
What is
militarism?
MIM answered, “Militarism is war-mongering or the advocacy of war or
actual carrying out of war or its preparations.”(1) But what causes
militarism under imperialism and what purposes does it serve? We already
mentioned the important purpose of controlling other peoples. But there
are other economic benefits to militarism under imperialism that are
strong enough to lead humynity to war, to the slaughter of thousands of
people. Namely, militarism can artificially increase demand enough to
buoy a struggling economy, and war can solve problems of over-production
under capitalism through its great destructiveness. It can do this
because it is both productive in the Marxist sense, and destructive. In
fact, one of our critiques of the PIC line is that the injustice system
is not productive at all as the definition proposed by the reader above
suggests. This makes it qualitatively different from the weapons
industry.
The injustice system is not a productive system. Despite some small
productive enterprises within it, U.$. prisons are designed to pay a
bunch of people to do nothing while preventing a bunch of other people
from doing anything. A large portion of working-age oppressed nation
people are prevented from contributing to their nations economically or
otherwise. Meanwhile prison guard unions are one of the most obvious
examples of non-productive “labor” under imperialism.
As we’ve mentioned before, the military industrial complex represents a
whopping 10% of U.$. GDP.(2) And as most of us know, under capitalism
there is a problem when demand is not high enough. It is a problem of
circulation. When capital circulation slows, profits decrease, so
finance capital stops investing, and without intervention this leads to
a self-feeding cycle of decreased production, decreased profits and
decreased investment. Not only is production of war machines big, but it
is mostly determined by the state. Therefore it becomes a useful tool
for the state to interfere and save capitalism from crisis. It just
needs to order some more fighter jets and things get better (maybe).
Now, the astute reader might ask, doesn’t this create another downward
cycle where the state has to tax the people, thereby decreasing their
consumption rates, in order to buy all those fighter jets? Well, finance
capital has developed much more complicated solutions to this problem
than just taxing the people. It so happens that the state also controls
money supplies, which of course is a primary tool for such Keynesian
strategies for preventing crisis. But in addition to creating money out
of nowhere, the imperialists are able to squeeze money out of their
partners. In fact, the U.$. domination of military production is one way
that it maintains its dominance in the world, controlling 31% of global
arms exports.(3)
The Islamic State has been a great benefactor of U.$. militarism,
snatching up advanced U.$. weaponry from local puppet forces. They are
also the most popular of many strong movements influenced by Wahhabism,
an ideology that evolved from Sunni Islam and is promoted by the House
of Saud, the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It just so happens
that Saudi Arabia is the number one importer of U.$. war production,
accounting for 11.8% of exports in that industry, followed closely by
India, Turkey and then Taiwan.(4) These are countries that are largely
able to fund their own military purchases, thus providing a great influx
of money to the U.$. without having to tax Amerikans to increase
production. So when people ask why the U.$. works so closely with Saudi
Arabia while claiming to be fighting radical Islam, this is the answer,
along with the fact that Saudi Arabia does its oil sales in dollars,
which also props up the U.$. economy. In recent presidential campaigns
we’ve seen Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump campaigning for Saudi Arabia
(and other countries) to do more to carry out war efforts against the
oppressed to take some of the burden off of the United $tates.
Of course, much of the arms market is controlled not just by U.$.
financial interests, but political interests as well. It is not a free
market. In 2014, the Amerikans gave out $5.9 billion in foreign military
aid, with Israel getting more than half of that ($3.1B), followed by
Egypt ($1.3B), Iraq ($300M), Jordan ($300M), and Pakistan ($280M).(5)
This accounts for around half of U.$. military exports. So these
countries are big consumers of U.$. arms, with the help of subsidies
from the United $tates itself. But that money is not just given away,
much of it is in loans that must be paid back by those countries with
interest and always with other obligations that benefit the imperialist
countries.
All that said, the United $tates still spends far more on war than any
other country. Amerikkka’s own spending is an order of magnitude greater
than what is exported to other countries. So our continued invasion of
the Third World will be playing a bigger role in propping up the U.$.
economy via the military industrial complex than all of its exports
($610B vs. something like $10B in exports).(3) But as long as those
invasions enable imperialist profits, incomes in the First World can
stay high, and the tax money to pay for war can continue.
Another reader recently wrote in response to another article on the same
topic, “MIM(Prisons) on U.S. Prison Economy”(6):
“If it is MIM(Prisons)’s position that the prison industrial complex
doesn’t generate private profit for some, I would regard that line as
practically irresponsible.
“I’m beginning to exit my comfort zone here. I don’t have the vast field
of data I have examined previously to my avail, but it is my
determination that as capitalism advanced to imperialism, market
capitalism evolved, or is evolving, toward the monopoly of all aspects
of society.”
One should not come away from our article thinking that our position is
that no one profiteers off of prisons. We agree that there is a great
trend towards privatization of state services in advanced capitalism.
The first subheading in our article is “Profiteering Follows Policy,”
where we state,
“Private industries are making lots of money off prisons. From AT&T
charging outrageous rates for prisoners to talk to their families, to
the food companies that supply cheap (often inedible) food to prisons,
to the private prison companies themselves, there is clearly a lot of
money to be made. But these companies profits are coming from the
States’ tax money, a mere shuffling of funds within the imperialist
economy.”
And we also recognize that many individuals are benefiting from prison
jobs. Yet when we call these people parasites, we are told that they are
the exploited proletariat. But when we say that prisons are about
national oppression, we are told that it is about profits because look
at all the money the prison guards are making. The reality is,
Amerikkkans support more prisons because they support national
oppression. And some of them get paid to participate directly.
Our specific critique of the use of “prison industrial complex” is
explained in more depth in the article
“The
Myth of the ‘Prison Industrial Complex’”, so we won’t repeat that
here. But in essence, the PIC thesis is deflecting the critique of the
white oppressor nation’s willing and active participation in the
oppression of the internal semi-colonies for over 500 years on this
continent, in favor of aiming attacks at the likes of Doritos and
Colgate. Our critic above doesn’t address those points, and therefore
does not make a strong case for why it is a correct term. We think they
are correct in their letter to us when they write, “Believe me, we – the
actual ‘oppressed nations’ – don’t care what you call it, just change
it!” This reflects the reason why we do focus on prisons: it is a
frontline issue for the oppressed nations in the United $tates, who are
the principal mode for change in this country. So the prison movement is
important in the anti-imperialist struggle in the United $tates, but not
because prisons are economically important. The national question does
make the current mass incarceration craze unlikely to go away under
imperialism, but increased imprisonment is not vital to imperialism’s
continued success in the way that militarism is. And by having a correct
understanding of the role that these things play in the current system
we can better change the system.
In eir letter, the California prisoner also suggests that we should use
PIC due to its popularity and maintaining the United Front. Well,
“injustice system” was popular before PIC was, but some made a conscious
decision to replace it with PIC. Those folks are coming from an academic
background with a particular political line, and they are no strangers
to Marxism. It is our job to put forth the political line of the
proletariat in everything we do, which means a scientific and accurate
assessment of all things. We do not think that using different terms
will deter those interested in combating injustice in U.$. prisons. In
contrast, we do believe that by failing to distinguish the revolutionary
anti-imperialist position from that of the Liberal reformers, we will
hinder real change from ever happening.
Should we only oppose the criminal injustice system when companies are
making money off of it? No, we should oppose it all the time as a tool
of national oppression and social control.
Imperialism is the ravenous cancer eating away the body of humynkind.
Karnes Detention Center in Texas is owned and operated by slimy fungi in
the guise of humyns known as GEO group. And GEO group is Amerikkkan
kkkapitalists feeding at the table of suffering like worms eating the
insides of defenseless infants.
Karnes Detention Center (KDC) is one of the hundreds of torture chambers
housing lumpen who are labelled “Illegal Immigrants” by the Amerikkkan
elitists. Housed at KDC are mothers and their children. They have no
criminal backgrounds. All came to amerikkka because of persecution in
their native lands. Persecution often caused by amerikkkan kkkapitalist
intervention in the domestic affairs of those lands.
At KDC one lawyer reports seeing many children with persistent cough.
The children complained of no medical care and lack of edible food. A
three-year-old girl with asthma was told to “drink water” when her
mother sought treatment for her.
The food was pre-packaged and expired. Rotted and beyond use. The lawyer
brought cookies for them from a vending machine. One sad looking girl
held hers but did not eat. When the lawyer asked her, the tiny child
said, “I will share mine with mommy.” It was then noticed that none of
the children ate cookies until they could share with their mothers.
KDC exists because of an executive order signed by united snakes
president Obama. He reminds me of a “house nigger.” You know, the “smart
one” who looked after “Massa’s affairs,” and slept in “Massa’s house?”
The one who kept massa informed of dem dumb field niggas jes in case dey
was a plottin’ and schemin’. House nigger don’t care that his
“privilege” stands on the backs of bleeding filed workers. Chief Pig
Obama and GEO Group stock holders get tax money for crushing
undocumented children and their mothers.
Now we could discuss Obama’s overwhelming and extensive use of military
drones to kill innocent families in Third World nations. We could
discuss how house nigger plans to sell drones to other countries to
enable those countries to do “operations” that are illegal for the u.$
to perform. Or we could discuss Judge Gideon of Dewitt Town Court in New
York. He issued an Order of Protection for Colonel Earl Evans. Colonel
Evans is commander of Hancock Field where weaponized Reaper Drones are
remotely piloted to make lethal strikes in Afghanistan. These cowardly
amerikkkans fire missiles and kill innocent Afghani mothers and children
from a cozy office across half a continent and an ocean from the
victims. Slaughter without risk.
But Colonel Evans was granted an Order of Protection. He lives on a
military base surrounded by soldiers with massive weaponry who are
trained and ready to defend Colonel Evans. He needs an Order of
Protection because he wants “protection” from peace activists who stand
outside the base protesting drone warfare. And then Judge Gideon jails
those activists for violating that Order of Protection, circumventing
the First Amendment of the united snakes constipation.
Odd but I hear that old tune “London Bridge is Falling Down,” but the
word “Amerikkka” replaces “London Bridge.” May the piece of shit soon
implode. Maybe then the Afghanis can get an Order of Protection.
30 March 2015 - As ordered by the Federal government, the U.$. Army must
reduce Amerika’s active-duty soldier ranks by more than 40,000 by 2017.
Recently, here in Alaska, a state which, since its colonization and
subsequent possession by the United $tates, has been very heavily
subsidized by government funding, large crowds of predominantly white
petty-bourgeoisie turned out to demonstrate and rally against the
military cuts. The reason? Some 10,000 troops and their families may
leave the state, causing 1 billion dollars in losses to the state
economy.(1) In other words, large groups of social parasites, living off
the largess of their imperial overlord in Washington and the Pentagon,
and the sub-parasites who feed off the primary parasites’ existence,
stand to lose their stable and guaranteed incomes and relatively high
standards of living (gained mainly from the oppression and exploitation
of the Third World and enforced by the same military) and may need to
find other ways to support themselves.
The “Rally For Our Troops,” attended by more than 400 people, was
organized by Anchorage, Alaska-based business, civic and municipal
organizations and was aimed at sparing cuts to Anchorage’s joint base
Elmendorf-Richardson and Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks. Alaska has more
veterans per capita than any other state, and in the so-called
“worst-case scenario,” as many as 10,800 troops and 19,000 dependents
could be forced to depart, amounting to a loss of about 4 percent of
Alaska’s population.(1) This is not surprising, as some estimates place
the amount of the working population associated with government
employment as high as 60%.
Of course, the event began with a resounding display of the
imperialists’ early indoctrination and brainwashing of the young through
a performance of a local middle school’s Drum Corps and Flag Team,
accompanied by hundreds of others waving little Amerikan flags and
cheering. After the initial show, the discussion began around convincing
the four-person army committee present of the “strategic importance” of
the main unit (4th brigade/25th infantry combat team).
The local community concern over losing Army Combat Brigades is
economic. It could cost the state 1 billion dollars in economic impact,
according to Bill Popp, Anchorage Economic Development corporation
President and one of the rally coordinators.(1) That, along with the
expected population decrease aforementioned, is the overriding concern
for businesses and many concerned participants. Hence, we are here
confronted with a major historic and pernicious problem with such
outlooks: that being the insipid and persistent factor of self-interest
and economic dependence of a large percentage of the Amerikan labor
aristocracy on the continuation and preservation of imperialism and its
most oppressive and pervading manifestation, the military industrial
complex.
The labor aristocracy’s support of imperialism coupled with the
strategic concerns of the ruling class in perpetuating global capitalist
domination via military and political power are two of the biggest foes
of the international proletariat in achieving socialist revolution and
change in the world today. The front-line defense of any existing,
regular administration and order of imperialist rule is its police and
regular army, and will be deployed against the will of the revolution
when it comes. It will undoubtedly obey its political and economic
masters. History is replete with examples of the U.$. military being
unleashed not only on the international proletariat to further the
interests of the imperialists in their unceasing quest for strategic
domination and natural resource/labor exploitation, but also on internal
colony repression and domestic discontent control. The U.$. military,
just as much as the prison system, is an inherent and vital mechanism
for social control and the protection of the established order.
Historical instances abound around the world where the military and U.$.
troops were used to break workers’ strikes, put down political and
social demonstrations, and help corporate power exploit and repress the
working class and quash popular discontent with governmental policy.
Often times they use quite brutal and violent means and tactics,
including blatant murder of citizens, armed or not. Troops have also
been used to entrench and enforce racial and economic inequality and
conserve the status quo.
To illustrate a few examples of domestic military oppression: from very
early on, continuing right through to almost the mid-20th century and
including sporadic examples even in the present day, the military was
very frequently called out to suppress and eliminate labor disputes and
strikes all over the United $tates at the bidding of their corporate
masters in Washington. This occurred primarily in the days when a true
economic and political proletariat existed within the U.$. borders. One
example of this type of domestic military oppression was the infamous
“Ludlow Massacre” of 1914, in which the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Corporation, owned by the Rockefeller family, used murder, beatings,
imprisonments and gun attacks to break the strike of thousands of
deplorably-exploited foreign-born miners, employing the Army National
Guard to do so. At one point, the National Guard opened fire with
machine guns on an encampment housing hundreds of women and children,
which resulted in the deaths of 11 children and 2 wimmin after the Guard
set fire to their tents with torches.(2) Less than 60 years later,
another Rockefeller was responsible for the brutal Attica prison
massacre, once against perpetrated by the Army National Guard.(3)
During the civil rights era, military attacks occurred against Black
demonstrators repeatedly, such as happened in Watts, Los Angeles,
Detroit and Chicago, with numerous accounts of brutality committed on
peaceable demonstrators and even mere bystanders. In Ohio, college
students demonstrating against the imperialist Vietnam War were mowed
down by Federal troops. The list of such barbaric and repressive actions
against U.$. citizens by military agencies is far too long to include
here, but just these few examples should show succinctly how willing and
ready U.$. military forces can and will be in violently confronting
anyone who poses any challenge to the Amerikan status quo and
imperialist agenda.
Even soldiers themselves can become victims of imperialist greed. In
both the Vietnam and Iraq wars thousands of veterans were for years
denied medical care or even recognition of numerous insidious maladies,
many life-threatening, resulting from munitions or chemicals used by the
military in those wars: Agent Orange in Vietnam, uranium=tipped shells
and inoculations for chemical warfare in Iraq, and other causes of “Gulf
War Syndrome” in Iraq. Of course, all this says nothing for the
countless thousands of indigenous victims of these brutal wars of
imperialist oppression, many civilians and children, who get no help at
all from the Amerikan government since such statistics aren’t kept by
the Pentagon.
The imperialists create new threats and dangers to justify ongoing
funding to the already enormous Amerikan military. The “Cold War” and
the “War on Terror” are just two examples of these excuses for
maintaining a hugely bloated military establishment. As leftist
political commentator Noam Chomsky wrote: “the appeal to security is
largely fraudulent, the Cold War framework having been employed as a
device to justify the suppression of independent nationalism - whether
in Europe, Japan or the Third World.” As Maoists, we recognize that it
includes the suppression of internal colonies within the United $tates
as well.
Of course, the biggest threat to any revolutionary movements is the
standing army, which reactionary and counter-revolutionary factions and
governments will not hesitate to use, unleashing military personnel and
arms against citizens who pose any threat or challenge to the
establishment. As was seen in the 1917 Russian Revolution, reactionary
generals such as Kornilov and Kaledin initiated counter-revolutionary
attacks against the newly-formed Soviets, and the Western imperialist
powers inserted military forces in an intervention aimed at undermining
the socialists and keeping Russia embroiled in the inter-imperialist
world war.(4)
Revolutionary activists need to confront rallies like the one held in
Anchorage with their own counter-rallies opposing military spending and
maintenance. Those under lock and key can write letters and send
petitions to representatives, suggesting more funds be spent for
educational, nutritional or medical programs for the dispossessed and
recently-imprisoned as opposed to military funding. Any opposition to
military expenditure and activity is desirable as first steps toward the
future of socialism in imperialist Amerika. Don’t let the official,
unceasing propaganda in the media (i.e., ISIS, Russia/Putin, etc) fool
anyone - the imperialist military establishment needs to be opposed at
all levels and through all possible endeavors by all committed
socialists, even if it conflicts with relations to family members who
may be enlisted. Every dollar spent on military funding should be seen
as one less morsel for food, one less book or pen, or one less dose of
life-saving medicine for the world’s proletariat. And now with
imperialist defenders and lap dogs like Representative John Boehner
asking for increased funding for military and “national security” in the
face of the continuing “ISIS” farce and propaganda, and U.$. Senator Dan
Sullivan proclaiming that “he who owns Alaska owns the entire world”
(statements from U.$. politicians don’t get more imperialist-minded than
that!), we can see that the Amerikan imperialists will continue to use
any excuse to perpetuate the money pit and pig sty that is the U.$.
military establishment and its presence both domestic and abroad.
Socialists everywhere must hold it as among the highest priorities to
organize and act against this greatest of threats to humynity and
equality.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This writer does a good job explaining the
importance of opposing the U.$. military and the reasons why so many
Amerikans support this imperialist army. S/he proposes that we take
action by demanding that the money currently funding the military be
instead used to help provide food, medicine and education for the
international proletariat. As a goal for improving the lives of the
world’s people we certainly agree. But we do not see this as a winnable
battle under imperialism. As the author explains, the Amerikan military
is a tool of U.$. imperialism: it’s purpose is to keep the people around
the world in line so that imperialist corporations can exploit the
workers and steal the natural resources. This colonialism is fundamental
to the economic model of imperialism. Calling on the Amerikan government
to voluntarily redirect military funds to the very people that military
is helping to oppress and exploit is not a battle we can win with words
alone.
It will take the forcible overthrow of the imperialist government before
they will lay down their weapons and give up their wealth. History has
shown this time and again: peaceful revolutions are not really
revolutions at all. By playing their game and asking kindly for the
government to redirect military funds to humanitarian needs we give the
imperialists the chance to pretend they are actually working in the
interests of the people. We should not mislead people into thinking this
is possible. Any so-called humanitarian work by the imperialists is just
a cover for their brutal militarism.
This author is correct: “Every dollar spent on military funding should
be seen as one less morsel for food, one less book or pen, or one less
dose of life-saving medicine for the world’s proletariat.” The urgency
of the situation can not be overstated, people around the world are
dying while Amerikans are rallying for expansion of the imperialist
military.
Picture a 6-man goon squad, in full riot gear with a gun, a barrel of
tear gas, and an electric riot shield. And now realize that this tactic
is used on us prisoners any time we get out of line for any reason. This
particular incident happened over a flooded cell, broken state TV, and
covered window. Not only was a comrade gassed, the pigs shot him two
times with 30mm rubber bullets at close range.
What we’re seeing first hand is the militarization of prison guards, but
it’s also an attack upon our psyche. The gas, the riot gear, and the
shock shield are all visual reminders of the pigs’ control and what is
supposed to result in our subservience. This action can take place at
any time the pigs feel a threat to the order of the prison. What threats
could we possibly cause behind a steel door in the presence of 6 fully
armored and armed guards? When these situations happen the pigs turn off
the vents so when they get gassed we taste it too.
I often spend long hours thinking about why such an awful use of force
is ued for something so benign. In MIM Theory 5 it is said that
one can’t go on increasingly repressed by fascism forever. And while
premature armed struggle is a hindrance, doing nothing at all is even
more detrimental.
We spend more time fighting over small and insignificant bullshit, and
we let the pigs take advantage of our disorganization. We fill our time
checking our paperwork or fighting petty beefs, and the more we do this,
the more important it becomes, until eventually it becomes a belief
system that causes our own subservience. We need to look past what the
DAs tell us and pay attention to what is happening right now.
There are many prisoners who love the United $tates, those who do not
understand the evil it causes abroad, nor domestic slavery it’s done
here. For those who are struggling, keep engaged. It’s our duty to fight
injustice and racism, and unite. Unity is a deep concept. It’s a
constant struggle to help someone who’s not from your own and it means
reaching out being the first one to overlook what keeps us at one
another and lets the pigs run all over our rights. If you’re not doing
something you’re feeding the problem. Educate, teach, unite, fight back.
MIM(Prisons) adds: This comrade underscores some important points
that are part of the
United Front
for Peace in Prison. First there is the principle of Peace; we fight
for peace while the prison guards stir up and perpetuate violence. “We
organize to end the needless conflicts and violence within the U.$.
prison environment. The oppressors use divide and conquer strategies so
that we fight each other instead of them. We will stand together and
defend ourselves from oppression.”
Second there is the principle of unity; we must build unity even when it
means taking the first step to overlook differences. “We strive to unite
with those facing the same struggles as us for our common interests. To
maintain unity we have to keep an open line of networking and
communication, and ensure we address any situation with true facts. This
is needed because of how the pigs utilize tactics such as rumors,
snitches and fake communications to divide and keep division among the
oppressed. The pigs see the end of their control within our unity.”
We call on all individuals and organizations to study the United Front
for Peace in Prisons
Statement
of Principles, join the UFPP, and build unity in your prison.
Over the past few weeks many of us locked up within Amerikkka’s prisons
have watched, read and heard about the genocidal war crimes currently
being committed against the oppressed nation of Palestine by the white
settler state of I$rael. What these events show us is not only the
carnage and slaughter of a one-sided war, but that the oppressed will
never be free to forge their own destinies so long as the monster of
imperialism remains intact.
With forked tongues like the pit of vipers that they are, the United
Nations (UN) sits idly by and does virtually nothing to help the people
of Palestine as the Zionist regime attempts to bomb them out of
existence. The so-called “international community” does nothing for
Palestine other than speak hypocritically about the need for a cease
fire on both ends and the continued need for a two-state solution, as if
the mounting deaths (1,432 deaths as of today)(1) and the balance of war
was even! Even as the world watches complacent and content through their
pacifist, non-interventionist actions, and some begin to complain about
the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths, the United $tates
continues to arm I$rael. The worthless UN has thus shown its true color:
yellow! The international community is guilty of complicity thru
complacency, thus Palestinian blood is also on the hands of the United
Nations.
As prisoners of good conscience we reject the genocide and slaughter
which has hystorically been imposed on the people of Palestine and which
is currently being played out by the Jewish state ever since the
creation of I$rael in 1948. And while the Amerikan imperialists and
their general citizenry and population have found us guilty of crimes
against civil society, we prisoners likewise find them guilty of crimes
against humynity for their collusion with the state of Israel to
exterminate the Palestinian nation.
Within these walls we are as yet powerless to tap into the potential of
the imprisoned lumpen, but we are not yet powerless to sign a piece of
paper to denounce the state of Israel and their support in the United
$tates. Therefore with this declaration we angrily express our
indignation with the state of Israel for committing genocide, and the
Israeli people for allowing it to happen in the 21st century after
vowing “never again.”
Furthermore, with this declaration we express our concern, condolences,
solidarity and humynity with the people of Palestine. We grieve your
loss. I$rael must pay! Just as Palestinian prisoners of war showed their
support and solidarity with the California hunger strikers by issuing a
statement of solidarity to end solitary confinement in the United
$tates, we must now do the same. We must recognize and acknowledge that
their struggle is our struggle and we must say no to I$rael and no to
the genocide of Palestine.
Long live the people of Palestine! Down with I$rael! Charge and
convict the war criminals! Free Palestine!
The bombing taking place in Palestine is beyond words and has changed my
view of Israel forever, from a settler state to a terroristic state. As
of today over 1,000 Palestinians have been murdered by Israel. The
majority of those being blown to pieces have been civilians and children
as well as the elderly. This atrocity has gone on without a peep from
the U.S. imperialist state media mouthpieces, and criticism about these
acts have been slim in the corporate media, but this is no surprise.
I have been following, as best as I could, the Israeli war on Palestine
from this death kamp called Pelican Bay SHU, and what I have found is
that Israel has been targeting children and hospitals. People are
literally buried in their homes and then the Israelis watch and wait
until other people come out to help dig these children out of the rubble
and they are shot by snipers. The Israeli military is turning
Palestinian homes into sniper nests as the Palestinians are driven out.
They are sniping wimmin and children in order to inflict terror into the
lives of the Palestinians who refuse to give up their struggle for
liberation.
I have drawn much strength from the Palestinians and I learn from their
concrete examples of what struggling against an occupier, a terroristic
settler state, really looks like. I think that the whole world is
learning what resistance really looks like, the Palestinians today are
the example we can learn from. They are cut off economically and yet
they find ways to fight against tanks and missiles, while starving and
barefoot with nothing more than an AK and a clenched fist.
The terroristic state of Israel is a bold example of settlerism which
needs to be excised from humynity. People in Palestine are being held
hostage and bombed at will. But the majority who are being slaughtered
are civilians and yet the Amerikkkan parasites remain silent. They are
mostly silent because in many ways the terroristic state of Israel is a
mirror reflection of the terroristic state of Amerikkka. We are not yet
attacked on this scale in the U.S., but the internal semi-colonies are
having their lands occupied and we are being assassinated selectively.
Amerikkka uses soft terror by SHU torture, death row and the pigs, while
in Palestine it is the missile, tanks and drones slaughtering the
people.
These terrorist acts unleashed by Israeli dogs are what inspires me to
help spread the word that Palestine must be free. This onslaught has
educated me in ways that my years of study has been unable to
accomplish. After seeing the Israeli’s barbaric treatment of Palestine
all I have to say is never again will Palestine stand alone in fighting
settlerism.
Amerikans must condemn their government’s meddling in Russia’s backyard.
Backing fascist political parties with nuclear ambitions on the border
of Russia is a recipe for death and disaster.(1) Bloodshed has already
increased as a result of imperialism’s maneuvers as dozens have died in
clashes between protestors/opposition forces and Ukrainian security
forces controlled by the parties that came to power in the February
coup d’etat (the second U.$.-backed coup in Ukraine in 10
years). Interestingly, we have not heard John Kerry call for sanctions
against the new Ukraine government as we did last fall when the previous
government roughed up protestors, once again exposing his hypocrisy (not
to apologize for the now deposed Yanukovic regime, which later killed
dozens of protestors in the streets of Kiev). Europeans should be even
more worried about the violence being fomented in Ukraine. While the EU
hopes to benefit from U.$. militarism in the form of trade relations
with Ukraine, that same militarism could bring war to their region.
While statements from president Vladimir Putin on 7 May 2014 indicated a
cooling off of Russian rhetoric in the conflict, talk of Ukraine joining
NATO is a major threat to Russian security. Amerikan foreign policy
experts, including Henry Kissinger, have condemned the idea of pulling
Ukraine into NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed at
the end of WWII as a military pact between countries opposed to the then
communist Soviet Union. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in
1991, NATO has been creeping into Eastern Europe, towards Russia.
The calming words from Putin indicate that the very limited Western
sanctions succeeded in not fanning the flames of inter-imperialist
rivalry too high. By targetting individuals, the United $tates and
Germany avoided the types of trade barriers that led to open wars
between the imperialist countries in the early 20th century. And while
Russian financial markets have declined in the face of this threat, the
hit remains moderate.
Another reason to worry is that the U.$.-backed regime has significant
participation from far right fascist parties. It is ironic that fascism
finds some of its broadest support today in the very peoples who
destroyed fascism in the Soviet Union’s great patriotic war against
Germany in the 1940s. But our understanding of fascism explains why this
is so. Fascism is led by an imperialist class that feels its existence
is threatened and/or aspires to surge ahead of other imperialist powers,
and its mass support is among the labor aristocracy who wants their
nation to rise and reap more superprofits at the expense of other
countries (see our fascism study pack). Russia remains an imperialist
power at odds with the West that cannot provide the same benefits to its
people as countries like the United $tates and those in Western Europe.
While Ukraine is not an imperialist country, there is a small class of
finance capitalists backing the fascist upsurge within the current
regime. The fascists are mobilizing within the national guard and are
behind the recent murders of local police and civilians in the east
where opposition to the new regime is strong.
With all the aid and loans being offered to Ukraine from the West, we
know that large chunks of money given in the past has gone to various
political parties, “election reform,” and media outlets(2); something
worth keeping in mind when trying to parse out what is going on during
political turmoil in client states. USAID, often marketed by the
government as a humanitarian agency, is behind much of this political
funding and campaigning. The United $tates and Germany are adament that
the planned presidential election must go ahead on May 25 as they work
behind the scenes to ensure its results.
U.$. militarism, which is defined by the Amerikan economy being
dependent on war and military production, must be put to an end to stop
the unneccessary killings such as those in Ukraine recently and in so
many other parts of the world. USAID must be exposed and opposed as a
tool opposing the self-determination of other peoples around the world.
The anti-Russian sentiments rising among Amerikans and the support that
Putin is getting in Russia do not bode well for preventing further
conflict if the imperialists decide to step it up a notch. This is a
warning for us to strengthen the movement against U.$. militarism.