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.
These capitalist lapdogs in California had my native ass locked away in
the gulag within the gulag for inciting and when that didn’t work they
got “kites” detailing my supposed involvement in a plot to assault the
spiritual adviser. How utterly ridiculous! #1. We (my spiritual advisor
and I) had no such animosity between us. #2. Said actions on my part,
should they reflect anything based in reality, would get me banned in
Indian country (the native community). #3 Said materials only came on
the heals of their failed attempt to ship me out of the joint in
response to paperwork filed against them for failure to adhere to
federal mandates in regard to native american spiritual services. The
contemptible bastards!
Anyway, as you may notice, they finally succeeded in transferring me to
San Diego. Ha! They have inadvertently done a great service, for in so
doing, they have placed me in an environment ripe for political
agitation. A healthy population of natives and the imperialist lackeys
here are in compliance with J. vs. Martinez and other such censorship
cases.
I have, however, during my fight, lost my revolutionary literature. All
the books I had received or acquired through other comrades, all MIM
Notes, the manifesto of the Communist Part, MIM Theory #9, and my What
is MIM pamphlet. Anything you comrades can aid me with would be very
appreciated. I’ll be in a position to blast some stamps your way for
some books rather soon. I’m really missing the dialectical materialism
book as I’d just got a hold of it and hadn’t really been able to get
into it.
Critics of amerika’s unprecedentedly high incarceration rates have
stressed that increased imprisonment does not correspond to less crime.
And despite decreasing crime rates, imprisonment continues to rise. How
is this possible?
A recent report from the JFA Institute describes how the increase in
prison populations is a result of a change in laws and policies in
enforcement. (1) We have been in the era of “tough on crime” politics
for decades, but most amerikans will still hide the fact that this
translates into increased control and repression of the internal
semi-colonies. At the same time, millions of amerikkkans are supporting
these laws as a means of securing the jobs and livelihood of themselves
and their families. While white people like to look at slavery and
genocide as things in the past, the amerikkkan nation has probably never
been so deeply entrenched and invested as a nation of oppressors as they
are today with millions serving as cops, spies and military personnel.
And while the white media would have you believe that “tough on crime”
policies are protecting amerikans from murderers and sexual predators,
about two-thirds of the 650,000 prison admissions each year are people
who have violated their probation or parole. And half of these
violations are technical, in other words, they’re going to prison for
things most people could not be put in prison for. (1) The demand for
more incarceration is putting hundreds of thousands of people in prison
each year for doing things not generally considered crimes under u$ law.
Who’s Profiting?
The progressive groups opposing the prison industrial complex like to
condemn so-called “prisons-for-profit.” But it isn’t primarily corporate
profits behind the three decades long prison boom and the so-called
“tough on crime” legislation. It is amerikan cops and bureaucrats
maneuvering for government funds (money that comes from taxing amerikans
whose wealth comes from the exploitation of labor and resources from the
Third World). And it is career politicians catering to a white
nationalist vote. “Tough on crime” stances aren’t tolerated in amerikan
politics, rather, they are demanded by the voting public. Politicians
who have attempted to go against the tide can attest to this.
Other than “prisons are big business” the other popular argument
explaining the surge in incarceration is that it is “modern day
slavery.” As an economic force behind imprisonment, this too is largely
a myth. If the motivation for being the number one imprisonment country
in all of history was exploiting labor then you would see the majority
of prisoners engaged in productive labor. While some sources claim half
of all prisoners work, one study from 1994 found less than 10% are
involved in work other than maintenance and housekeeping. (2) More
recent statistics by state indicate industrial employment at similar low
rates. (3) The estimate of half of prisoners working seems reasonable if
we acknowledge that most of those prisoners have part-time jobs doing
upkeep of the prison. While also dated, MIM cited statistics from 1995
showing that only 6.4% of sales stemming from prison labor in the united
$tates was private in MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial.
Generally, if prisoners work for an outside corporation and produce
goods for interstate commerce, then they are legally required to receive
amerikkkan exploiter level wages. The benefit to the companies is that
they can skimp on benefits and don’t need to give raises. Small business
owners have fought to limit the benefits of those who use prison labor,
since they lack the capital to take advantage of such competitive
advantages. The petty bourgeois interests here keep those of the
imperialists in check. (4)
Therefore, most prison labor is done for the state, who can pay whatever
they want, and increasingly garnish most of the wages to pay for the
prisoners’ own imprisonment. These prisoners are either working to run
the prison and therefore allowing the amerikkkans in charge of the
prison to work as well-payed bureaucrats and not have to worry about
cooking and cleaning, or they are working for government industries that
supply state agencies and therefore subsidize the tax money of the state
as a whole by reducing state expenses. The National Correctional
Industries Association says state industries contributed $25 million by
garnishing inmates wages, not a very large contribution to the cost of
the u$ prison system. However, one estimate done by MIM 10 years ago
indicates the savings in wages overall (not including benefits) could be
on the order of 10% or more of current overall state expenditures on
corrections (5), which have risen sharply (see graph).
Some state industries export products to other countries, but interstate
commerce has largely been restricted by the efforts of small business
interests and amerikan labor unions. Since the 1980s, the federal
government has tried to embrace the model of “factories with fences.”
But the free market for slave labor continues to be hampered by state
laws. This year, Alaska passed a law that allows the Department of Labor
and Workforce Development can enter into contracts with private
companies or individuals to sell them prison labor,
provided that the commissioner consults with local union organizations
beforehand in order to ensure that the contract will not result in the
displacement of employed workers, will not be applied in skills, crafts,
or trades in which there is a surplus of available gainful labor in the
locality, and will not impair existing contracts for services. A
contract with an individual or a private organization must require that
the commissioner be paid the minimum wage for each hour worked by a
prisoner.” (10)
Clearly this has nothing to do with prisoners’ rights, but it is crafted
for the protection of labor aristocracy jobs and small businesses. And
as many states do, Alaska allows for the wages to be garnished before
disbursing them to the prisoner. So there is no law that the prisoner
must be paid a certain wage.
What about the one industry that does have unfettered access to prison
labor? Theoretically, private prisons could collect fat contracts from
the state and let prisoners do much of the work to run the facility. But
after 3 decades of prison boom, still less than 5% of prisons are
privately owned, at least partially due to an inability to remain
profitable. (4) It is often pointed out that it costs more to keep a
persyn in prison for a year than send them to college. (The difference
for sending youth to a correctional facility compared to grade school
can be differences in order of magnitude). This is a price that largely
tax-averse amerikkkans are willing to pay.
State Bureaucrats and National Oppression
Strictly speaking, prisons are a net loss financially for the amerikkkan
nation. And the boom cannot be blamed on any major corporate interests.
What a beefed up injustice system does offer economically is a means of
employing millions of people at cushy exploiter wages. It is a means of
shuffling the super-profits around the pigsty and maintaining a consumer
population. These millions of people provide a self-perpetuating demand
for more prisoners, and more funding for various law enforcement
projects.
One example of this self-perpetuating bureaucracy dates back to 1983
when James Gonzalez became Deputy Director of the California Department
of Corrections. He immediately expanded the department’s planning staff
from 3 to 118 and began focusing on modeling that would forecast
increasing needs for expansion into the future (it’s not just COs
getting the jobs). (6) Since then California has built 23 major new
prisons, expanded other prisons and increased its prison population
500%. (7) With more prisons, come more prison guards, creating the
31,000 strong California Correctional Peace Officers Association with
yearly dues totaling $21.9 million. (8) This is the same union that
earned itself a raise following the exposure of gladiator fights staged
by guards at Corcoran State Prison, where many prisoners were murdered.
The very same that was behind the 3 strikes laws to put people away for
25 to life for petty crimes, and that has campaigned repeatedly to
eliminate educational programs for prisoners.
The CO’s are partners with the private industry that has boomed off of
an economy based on war and repression. A visit to the American
Corrections Association conference will tell you it’s not just a few
imperialist suits in a smoke-filled room. It is a getaway for a large
mix of salesmen, cops and CO’s; just regular amerikkkans. (9)
In the united $tates there are laws that prevent the military from
lobbying the government as a safeguard against war being carried out in
the interests of the warmakers. There are no such limits on the police
and correctional officers (COs), allowing the war on gangs to go on
perpetuating itself both politically and economically. The NYPD and LAPD
have arsenals and capabilities that rival many nations’ armed forces,
and they are allowed to influence politics on the local, state and even
federal level both directly and indirectly.
On the local level police departments have undermined trends toward
so-called “community policing.” Where youth in the community have been
effective at reducing violence through dialogue and organizing, the
police have rejected these programs in favor of community
representatives who will rubber stamp their continued strategies of
suppression and harassment of oppressed nation youth. When street
organizations came together to form peace treaties in Los Angeles and
Chicago in the 1990s, the police responded immediately through the white
media saying it was a hoax and it would never last. Let there be no
confusion, the police created these wars and the police will not let
them stop.
In the late 1990s, the New York Times reported that most white residents
of New York City were comfortable with police behavior, while 9 out of
10 Blacks believed brutality against Blacks to be frequent. The regular
“stop and frisking” by police that was then practiced under Mayor
Giuliani, was found to be directed at Blacks and Latinos 90% of the
time. (11)
Politically, the rest of the oppressor nation is willing to go along
with the job security plans of the police and correctional officers as a
means of protecting their collective privilege. One of the few things
amerikkkans can agree to spend state money on. With that, the injustice
system becomes an important part of the national culture in rallying the
people in material support of the imperialist system that they benefit
from.
Who’s being locked up?
While the question of who is profiting from the prison industrial
complex is a bit cloudy and controversial, everyone knows who is being
locked up. In a half century, amerikan prisons have gone from white
dominated to Black dominated in a period where the Black population has
increased less than 2 percentage points to its current level of about
12%. And yet amerikkkans are not outraged.
As
we
recently reported, Blacks are imprisoned at rates 10 times those of
whites for drug charges and the increase in drug-related prison
sentences was 77% for Blacks compared to 28% for whites. (12) So, the
increase in sentences that is behind the current prison boom is
targeting certain populations.
The JFA Institute report references research indicating that
incarceration often encourages crime. In their summary of literature,
they point to evidence that people will leave criminal lifestyles when
given opportunities. No shit? Stopping crime isn’t exactly rocket
science. While communists know how to put an end to crime, the pigs and
their fans have demonstrated that they aren’t really interested in that.
That would involve destroying their own privilege. In it’s advanced
stage of parasitism, the amerikkkan nation has a well-entrenched sector
of pigs who get job security and pay raises from perpetuating crime and
imprisonment.
Interestingly, the report also points to a number of studies indicating
that government run programs have very marginal effects on reducing
recidivism. This conclusion is supported by reports we get from
comrades
criticizing government programs. (13) Apparently, the literature
also supports the need for programs like MIM(Prisons) Prisoner Re-Lease
on Life program, because the only programs that seem to be effective in
treatment and rehabilitation are independent from the government. (1)
The people aren’t stupid, they know what the state is there to do.
Large population counties across the United $tates continue to imprison
Blacks for drug offenses at a much higher rate than whites, in spite of
similar rates of drug use, according to a report released December 4 by
The Justice Policy Institute. The report underscores the fact that
“Whites and African Americans report using and selling drugs at similar
rates, but African Americans go to prison for drug offenses at higher
rates than whites.”
The study used data from the National
Corrections Reporting Program and other census and government sources,
focusing on 2002 because that is the most recently year of NCRP data
available. In 2002 there were approximately 19.5 million drug users and
1.5 million drug arrests (1 in 13 drug users). These arrests resulted in
175,000 admissions to prisons; 51% of these new prisoners were Black.
The 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that rates of drug
use were similar between whites and blacks: 8.5% of whites compared to
9.7% of Blacks. Given the economic disparities and national oppression
within Amerika, it is not a surprise that there is a slightly higher
rate of drug use among Blacks.
These rates of drug use translate into about 14 million white drug users
in 2002 compared to 2.6 million Black drug users (in the month prior to
the survey). This means there are roughly 5 times as many white drug
users as Black drug users. But Blacks were locked up in prison for drug
offenses at 10 times the rate of whites: 262 per 100,000 for Blacks and
25 per 100,000 for whites.
Underscoring the fact that these lock up rates are not a result of
Blacks using more potent or dangerous drugs, the Drug Use survey found
that 24% of crack cocaine users were Black while 72% were white or
“Hispanic,” but over 80% of people locked up for crack use in 2002 were
Black.
The JPI report focused on 198 counties with populations over 250,000.
They found that “Despite similar rates of drug use across counties, drug
admission rates vary substantially.” The correlation is not between drug
use and imprisonment but rather JPI found that drug imprisonment was
directly correlated to the per capita policing and judicial budgets in
each county. The JPI explains that the bottom line is resource-driven
discretion by local police:
To further substantiate these results, JPI conducted a multiple variable
analysis that controlled for the crime rate, region of the country, the
poverty and unemployment rates, and the percent of each county’s
population that is African American. The results strongly suggest
that the resource-driven discretion that local police forces have is the
engine driving the wide variation in local drug imprisonment rates. This
relationship is evident in this study’s finding that policing budgets
are positively associated with the drug imprisonment rate—even after
controlling for the crime rate.
The JPI report looked at likely causes for this disparity in
imprisonment rates. They cite mandatory minimum laws as contributing to
a growing disparity because Blacks are already more likely to be locked
up for drug use, and they are now also more likely to be incarcerated
under a mandatory minimum sentence - increasing the length of time they
spend in prison. Between 1994 and 2003, the average time Blacks spent in
prison for drug offenses rose 77% compared to a 28% increase for whites.
They also noted disparate policing, disparate treatment before the
courts, differences in availability of drug treatment, and punitive
social spending patterns.
These are all important factors but they are not the whole picture. All
of these discrepancies in treatment between Blacks and whites are
symptoms of an underlying system of national oppression in the United
$tates. Studies have repeatedly shown that imprisonment rates are not
correlated with crime rates. The fact is that prisons are used as a tool
of social control and disparate arrests, sentencing, imprisonment,
access to education, health care, financial loans, job opportunities,
and more are part of this system of social control that maintains the
supremacy of whites in a society that pretends to offer equality to all.
The JPI report concludes with the recommendation of a “more
evidence-based approach to drug enforcement.” They want to hold the
criminal injustice system to standards enforced by statistical analysis
of arrest and imprisonment rates. This is probably the best that we can
hope for from an institute like the JPI. The fact that there is
currently no science behind the actions of the criminal injustice system
is a striking indictment of Amerikan society overall. But the problem is
not just in the police and the judicial system. Both of these systems
are part of a larger political infrastructure that props up a massive
imperialist state. We can not expect one aspect of this state to change
and grant equality to oppressed nations while all other aspects remain
the same.
Locking up more whites would be progress - if the whites in question
were those in the government who are responsible for more death and
destruction than all the 2 million people in U.$. prisons combined. In
the end, progress of this sort, or progress towards a more equitable
justice system will only come through revolutionary struggle.
I am in receipt of your letter, entailing your response to my initial
letter commenting upon the article featured in the April 2007 issue of
MIM Notes entitled “War Criminals Kill Saddam Hussein.” …
The criticisms in your letter were both appreciated and mostly
straightforward in style and language. However, they failed on a number
of points which I will enumerate as follows: 1) Your statement, “… So
the reader’s claim that the author is not aware of Iraqi history is
clearly due to his own poor attention to the original article…” was
false. I never stated or
meant to imply even that the author was not aware of Iraqi history in general. Rather, I
suggested that the author’s knowledge of the history of Hussein’s
Baathist regime’s government specifically is insufficient.
Otherwise, how could the author describe Hussein as a martyr for Third
World independence- especially after admitting that Hussein killed
thousands of communist-minded Iraqis (an admission for which I commend
the author for here)? Research of the record of Hussein from the time
that Hussein carried out those killings up until the time he himself was
killed will reveal that he never renounced this act or
any of his counter-revolutionary acts, held himself accountable to the
people of Iraq for such acts, or sought to reform himself thereafter.
Never. If you can find even so much as a quote of Chairman Mao whereby
he at least insinuates the merit of eulogizing leaders who behaved and
died as Hussein did, please do share it with me; otherwise, it is just
bad “radical chic” propaganda.
Moreover he did not die in the struggle for the national liberation of
Iraq. Remnants of his executive and military apparatus fought and
perished (including his sons) while he took cover. The image of Saddam
Hussein leading a heroic fight against the U$ and Brit invaders simply
does not fit the real person or actual curse of events. If you fight an
invading force that seeks to occupy and oppress your nation only so that
you can re-establish a rule that is equally if not more oppressive, it
is NOT a struggle for liberation- it is power struggle between two
oppressive forces! Only those who fought and continue to fight against
the occupation with the desire to establish a state that is just and
beneficial for the people can be referred to as struggling for national
liberation. He did not “stand up” to anyone- he was captured while
cowering in a hole. He neither fought for nor died for the liberation of
the Iraqi people. Stop calling him a martyr.
[MIM responds: Hussein died because he refused to allow u$
imperialism to determine Iraq’s future. If he was willing and able to
provide the imperialists with what they wanted they would not have waged
a war to kill him. He stood up for Iraqi independence and was killed for
it. HIs motivations are irrelevant to a scientific evaluation of
history.]
Your statement, “What we’re criticizing the stupid liberals for was
failing to recognize that Arabs ranked Hussein as the fourth most
respected world leader, tied with bin Laden…” is almost as confusing and
troubling as the original statement in the article. I did not choose to
ignore the “fact,” but was simply stressing the point of Hussein’s prior
service as a U.S. lackey (who never reformed but simply reacted to
circumstances he helped to create) excludes him from being considered a
revolutionary or martyr for Third World independence. But the statement
is as misguided as a Scud missile nevertheless. The article reads:
The stupid liberals on National Public Radio (NPR) said that Arab
reaction to the hangings indicated the “confusion” of the Arab people,
instead of the chauvinism of white liberals. According to Zogby, Egypt
went from 74% negative opinion of the United States to 98% negative in
the two years between 2002 and 2004, because of the u$ invasion of Iraq.
(3) The overall survey of Arabs showed Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin
Laden tied for fourth as the most respected world leaders.
Now are you saying the NPR conducted the survey poll, or are you
referring to the same Zogby poll that is cited by the Washington Post?
Maybe I am just as stupid as those liberals and cannot comprehend plain
English. I now that such survey results would have served the Bush
administration quite well in whipping up anti-Arab fervor to keep the
war machine going. And of course considering the rogue’s’ gallery of
what constituted leadership in the middle east (or the world for that
matter) back in ’02-’04 - Mubarak, Jordan’s Abdullah, Bashir al-Asad,
and Ariel Sharon to name a few- one can hardly accept such a rating
without some exasperation (wonder who ranked first).
I do not consider myself
to be an American. I am a citizen of this country by birth, not by
choice of patriotic allegiance (or even sentiment). Since I was not born
in the 1960’s, I was not afforded the chance to protest Hussein’s
murdering of the communists. But I can and will continue to use the fact
that he was u$-funded against both him and the u$. In fact, I was using
it against him and the u$ in debates before he died, even while he was
still in power.
[MIM: All of the data cited is from the Zogby poll, which
demonstrated the divide along the principal contradiction quite well.
While most Amerikkkans see Hussein and bin Laden as enemies, they are
largely admired by Arabs. So here we have science playing out again in
facts. Not only was it a fact that Hussein fought for independence from
u$ imperialism at the end of his life. That fact is reflected in the
fact that he is admired by Arabs as a group; a group which happens to be
oppressed by u$ imperialism. (Jacques Chirac of France, Gamal Abdel
Nasser former nationalist leader of Egypt, and Hasan Nasrallah of
Hezbollah in Lebanon were the top 3 leaders).]
Your statement, “Clearly our reader has not done much research into
the current conditions in Iraq nor compared them to Iraq in the past…”
was inappropriate, a distraction from the real purpose for my mentioning
that quote of Mao. I am very well informed and aware of the horrible and
extraordinarily oppressive conditions created and perpetuated by the
invading u$-led coalition/mercenary occupation forces, thanks to NPR,
PRI (Public Radio International) and publications such as your own. Let
me state first and foremost that I oppose vehemently u$ imperialism (and
all imperialism and capitalists) and the occupation of Iraq and
Afghanistan, and that I support and commend the Iraqi (and Afghan)
people who adopt armed struggle against the occupation forces.
My point in citing that quote of Mao was to outline the revolutionary
principle of paying “close attention to the well-being of the masses.”
Mao was not referring to material aspects only. Nevertheless, it is a
revolutionary principle and only a slain revolutionary can be regarded
as a martyr for Third World independence. However, the fact remains that
even before the first Gulf War Hussein used the distribution of
resources in Iraq arbitrarily to oppress dissenting groups (including
the communists, Shiites, and Kurds) and to consolidate his own power
base while enriching his cronies. I agree the u$-led embargo and
invasions have made conditions worse. But never forget that Sadr City
was a festering slum prior to the invasions, and that before Abu Ghraib
was used by the u$ as a torture factory in Iraq, it was used for the
very same purpose by Saddam Hussein and his regime [MIM adds: who were
at the time were also working for the u$].
[MIM: So our reader admits, h real purpose for quoting Mao was
to draw a line of ideological purity rather than to assess the actual
material conditions of the masses. We agree with
Mao’s
revolutionary principles, but we are not assessing Hussein for
induction into a communist party. Rather we are assessing imperialism as
the number one enemy and killer of oppressed people. You think their
fascist puppet states are bad, wait until they come in with their
cracker foot soldiers and economic sanctions.]
Now the MIM discussion that filled out and closed the letter really missed the mark. I
cannot be classified in any of the components of the “wrong side of the
contradiction” you describe. It appears that you made some very wrong
assumptions about me due to your interpretation of aspects of my letter
and your blinding desire to defend a statement in the article that was
inappropriate. Also, my letter does not mention anything about Osama bin
Laden, the Taliban, or the occupation of Afghanistan. Let me dispel some
of those assumptions right here:
Your statement about “fake Maoists” seemed to be intended to include
myself. Well, I am not
and never have been a
Maoist. Do I have to be a Maoist to respect some of the ideas or work of
Mao, or of those who tried to implement his ideas (like the Black
Panthers), or to quote Mao- even to debate with a “real” Maoist? … I am
a muslim who believes that muslims must strive to establish an Islamic
government amongst themselves derived from the Islamic sources of
guidance- to enforce the shari’ah (Islamic law) and preserve the safety
and integrity of the muslim community. Moreover, I believe that muslims
have a right if not a duty to wage armed struggle against anyone
(especially the imperialists) who prevent them from accomplishing this.
[MIM: As explained in the article, it is addressing a much
greater context of people trying to side against the oppressed (in
Afghanistan, Iran, etc) and the imperialists at the same time; the class
position of the petty bourgeoisie. Some of these people even call
themselves Maoists. ]
… If Mussolini did not have the finance capital to carry out his fascist
agenda but still harbored and espoused the same fascist way of thinking
does the lack of finance capital make him any less fascist? If so,
enlighten me. The racist anti-Persian rhetoric Hussein used to influence
Iraqis during the Iran-Iraq War of the ’80’s suffices for me as a
reflection of his fascist tendencies, for now.
[MIM: Maoists use a scientific definition of fascism that
includes finance capital and this debate is the perfect example of why
this is crucial. There are many revolutionaries and internationalists
who manage to fall into the trap of talking about fascism of the
oppressed independent of imperialism (the writers renunciation of h
amerikkkan citizenship indicates h might be in this camp).]
…It is not opposition to descriptions of men like Hussein as martyrs
that creates confusion and disunity amongst the various elements of the
oppressed in this struggle. Rather it is the description itself tat
causes such confusion and disunity and undermines the struggle overall.
The resolution of contradictions in achieving unity of the masses seems
to lie in dialogue and practice. This is the ultimate purpose of my
initial letter and this one. I am still very eager to learn more about
Maoism and to discover the means of solidarity with other
revolutionary-minded persons and movements. Despite my issue with the
article aforementioned and discussed, I commend MIM for its courageous
and poignant journalism and literature. I thank you for your persistent
efforts to expose the oppression of prisoners here in the u$ and abroad.
Please respond to this letter if you like, and provide me with a list of
books you have available for purchase as well as the issue of MIM Notes
that features the article that critiques my initial letter of
commentary.
[MIM: The resolution of contradictions among the oppressed can
best take place in struggle against the oppressor. That is why it is of
primary importance to distinguish who is the oppressor and who are the
oppressed we are trying to unite. ]
How can we realistically get people in Amerika who are engrossed by
individual pursuits and whose priorities are dominated and determined by
the values of capitalism (e.g., material and financial acquisition,
private motivated endeavors, etc.) to truly care for human beings in
other parts of the world on a sustained and meaningful basis when in
fact we can’t even get most to give a damn for their so-called fellow
citizens or oppressed nationalities right here in the “land of milk and
honey and peaches and cream?”
I mean, let’s be real right up the block, around the corner or across
the Manhattan bridge, there is no genuine concern as the “Love Thy
Neighbor” command has absolutely no lasting potency over the hearts and
minds of the multitude in this cruel nation. We know it’s a “dog eat
dog” mentality out there and the “survival of the fittest” complex is
the prevailing cornerstone of Capitalism.
The United Snakes is a cannibalized beast! Fundamentally, the problem is
world-view. By world-view I don’t merely mean how one views life, but I
also mean the culture that cultivates and rationalizes this world-view.
Obviously, as a culture capitalism is all around us and touches every
aspect of our lives (i.e., financially, medically, educationally,
psychologically, morally, recreationally, sexually, etc.).
Thus, it is really a wonder that the citizens and oppressed
nationalities of the Amerikan Empire are a spoiled and reactionary
bunch? Opportunism and free-loading are the true favorite Amerikan past
times and not the NBA or NFL - well, I better add deep denial to this
list of obsessions. And yes, this “equally” applies to the New Afrikan
colonized nation in which I struggle to help realize its due right to
liberation and state power.
“We” are a truly chicken shit culture that prides itself on fuckin’ over
people and being criminally indifferent toward those who are bombed,
raped, robbed, and murdered by ruling class genocidal pirates. Yes, the
masses too want to share in the booty, that’s precisely why the “booty
call” is so popular in the mass psyche. Let us in on the kill or stolen
loot and we’ll shut the hell up with all of this “keep hope alive” crap.
From the ghetto-hell Thug, the papered ass paid and sold “working
class”, etc. Amerika is a self-indulged - PIMP! “That bitch betta have
my money” is its clarion. Alienation is the quintessential hallmark of
capitalism as it is a system rooted in private property and irrational
estrangement from mother nature as she is perceived and treated as
nothin’ more than an entity to be dominated and exploited just as the
human woman. Most everybody is driven to get their “piece of the pie” or
some “blood diamond bling” and couldn’t give a fuck about what suffers
to make such possible.
Now that’s being a realist and true revolutionary in commitment and
dialectical analysis and anything less is game by those who are
prisoners of the pimp complex, period! This shit ain’t hard to tell as
reality speaks her truth by those bold enough in their politics and
conscience to listen.
The sanctioned methods (virtues) of being a Rockerfella cutthroat, a
Ford backstabber, Dole shrewdly manipulative and Al Capone brutally
competitive are the foundational principles of capitalism (Amerika) as
folks like Suge Knight, Russell Simmons, Bill Gates, Don King, et
al. have learned to apply most effectively by observing the Wall Street
sharks in their frenzied “I gotta get mines, you gotta get yours”
ideology of “me, myself, and I.” Until this shit really appalls you or
makes one sick at the damn stomach, nothing will move the masses to
struggle for a more just world as it for now is - just about us.
Myself, I’m counting on an economic melt-down and wars of international
liberation with the aim of building localized strategic
communalist-oriented zones of undyin’ revolution on a fraternal basis.
The game - game my ass this be some real death-blood human misery shit
that is serious - of capitalism is raw and murderous and most in this
nation know and accept this rule as an inevitable reality as to their
minds the greed impulse is simply too formidable a human quality to ever
check and this is exactly one of the main reasons most believe in
apathy, the ruling classes propaganda (i.e. feed on it like candy) as to
communism supposedly being a naive and utopian idea.
How do we make the communal idea - imperative - attractive or appealing
on a mass level in the face of say a Jay-Z, 50cent, Queen Latifa,
Lil-Kim, Magic Johnson, Oprah, Coby Bryant, et al. bubbling in
out-of-control wealth or the rewards of capitalism? Who wants to
genuinely forfeit their dream or aspiration of one day possibly being
just like Mike? The images of abundance and happiness in wild
extravagance, though most shall never be in a position to experience
such decadent and truly spiritually void life, has inordinate power over
their minds and hearts of most people in the “land of the free.”
The illusion is so powerful that people don’t even bother to consider or
even see the blatant contradiction in the saying “land of the free” when
in fact one must pay for everything in this society - “from tha craddle
to tha grave!” One can’t even escape capitalism’s parasitic reach in the
fuckin’ coffin…pathetic and sadistic are the values of Capitalist man
and woman indeed.
A callous vampire and leech is what Amerika and imperialist countries
like her are where “though shalt not worship idols” is nothin’ more than
a commercial brand for or in the name of profit.
Before I begin my explosive announcement. I want to thank MIM for their
Theory Journals and papers, also the other valuable materials I’ve
requested to build and organize POWs that are confined behind the wall.
Right now we are on lockdown at East Jersey State Prison due to
retaliation on a female officer yesterday who was beaten and two
prisoners fighting on saturday visit, all in one day. This caused
outside help like State Police, Gang Task Force and CID officers suited
up with sticks and dogs to come in. A bunch of gang members were removed
from the prison Saturday due to the serious incidents that occurred.
All this does is strengthen me in knowing that a struggle must start
within, it’s time for change. Hopefully, the lockdown should be over
this week before the family day event.
However, my topic is from the latest journal sent on environment and
revolution which deals with pollution problems all over. Where I reside
at now in New Jersey there is a mass consumption of pollution and
multi-million dollar corporations (kapitalists) who make toxic products
and distribute large quantities to different parts of the world. But we
have a former Governor of New Jersey Christie Todd Whitman who now is
the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Pres. George
Bush’s administration.
Mrs. Whitman messed up a lot of things for prisoners upon leaving office
as governor of New Jersey. Everything the old revolutionaries fought and
died for in Trenton State Prison to make it better for the next
generation was taken away slowly without a fight excluding the street
clothes but most importantly, including certain programs, food packages,
boxing tournaments, etc.
Mrs. Whitman does not know too much about the environment where she was
elected governor, just look at the poor neighborhoods where Blacks and
Latinos live at infested with waste plants and steel & toxic plants
that are a source of money for big CEO’s who keep polluting minority
communities. So she really has not cleaned up her act. Here in New
Jersey this is having dramatic effects on the earth’s atmosphere and
climatology.
On channel 7 news she was interviewed by news casters about what did she
do about the 9/11 situation when the downtown of Manhatten was saturated
with debris, heavy smoke and fire and her not knowing that bodies were
still decaying underground near the train and subway stations.
Mrs. Whitman turned absolutely cold.
Her husband, Mr. Whitman, has a company that is tied to the Department
of Corrections that distributes commissary store items for all the
prisons in the state of Jersey. He has a big contract with the prisons.
But they’re all corrupt taking profits for economic gain for the Whitman
klan.
…Thank you, and donations will be coming soon for your outstanding
support. Thank You!!
MIM responds: This comrade brings up some good examples of how
capitalism, national oppression and environmental degradation are all
connected. These examples fit nicely into the thesis of MIM Theory 12
(Environment, Society & Revolution) that the root cause of
environmental problems is capitalism. The so-called “EPA” of the leading
imperialist country can be headed by someone who made her political
career on capitalist profiteering at the expense of oppressed people
within her state. Those expenses were felt in the forms of a toxic
environment and an increasingly repressive prison system where an
increasing portion of the oppressed are ending up.
The dumping of the toxic waste of amerikkkan consumerism on the
oppressed is far bigger than the industrial wasteland of the Jersey
Turnpike. Right now China is responsible for providing vast amounts of
products to amerikkkan consumers at prices only a vast exploited
population can provide. Not only do amerikkkans swim in the wealth of
Chinese workers in the form of commodities, but they get to leave the
toxins required to produce these commodities behind on the opposite side
of the world. That’s even better than dumping them in the air and water
surrounding Newark ghettoes or in open pit mines and landfills on First
Nation lands.
Of course, environmental degradation can only be contained to an extent.
With global systems being knocked out of whack by the uncontrollable
nature of capitalist development, no one is really safe from the
effects. Yet amerikkkans as a whole still favor protectionism and even
more extreme retribution towards China for the perceived lack of safety
in Chinese commodities that their own system has allowed to develop.
Those serious environmentalists in the First World need to take a look
at what anti-imperialism and socialism have to offer. To get started,
pick up a copy of
“Environment
Society Revolution” at amazon.com.
I see that the United Front has broken down on the issue of migrants, or
what some term illegal immigrants. All I can say is those who call
themselves Marxist-Leninist or Maoist should read their works on this
issue. What is going on now is nothing new that the imperialists are
doing, Lenin, Mao and Stalin all dealt with this. Besides, if you really
claim to know the history of Amerika you’ll know that this nation was
started by who? White Settlers! Or illegal immigrants, because I’ve
never seen the documents granting them tribal citizenship by the five
nations, or what was once northern Mexico. So get past your chauvinisms
so-called anti-imperialist revolutionaries.
As for myself, I still sit languishing in the Texas state prisons’
version of control units. We call them “High Security Buildings.” And
this is all because I won’t and refuse to become part of their program
GRAD: Gang Related Activity Desensitizing. You know the game that the
federales play, if you wanna get out you renounce your affiliation to
whatever family you are a part of and you become an informant for the
administration. No thank you, I’ll pass.
So I’ll sit in this cold ass building and study, plan and grow mentally,
physically and spiritually. If these prisoners before me that were kept
isolated for their beliefs could hold up with no let up ten and twenty
years strong. I would be doing my ancestors in the struggle a grave
disservice by becoming weak for an opportunity to get an extra tray at
chow or watch a football game out in the dayroom among others. How could
I be amongst them and call myself a man knowing I’m snitching for the
man. They can keep those bullshit illusory privileges. Remember if we
keep pulling, snapping and twisting, we’ll eventually break this damn
chain of imperialism. We have nothing else to lose.
I’ve been locked up 16 years and I could have been up town a long time
ago, but I always wind up beefing with these pigs because I’m not going
to let them beat on my people. They keep jumping on people up here at
WCI in Cumberland, Maryland. They killed one person up here and now they
are telling prisoners, look we got away with one murder, what makes you
think we won’t do it again and get away with it!
They have this hearing office doing whatever they want it to do. They
find everybody guilty, and tell you that if you don’t plea guilty you
will get the max no matter what. So they are saying we don’t have any
rights!
They are also playing with my mail and others. The office tries to send
people’s books home, but only Black books. Over the last 15 years I’ve
been in this belly of the beast and I have been mindful of its design to
destroy the strong beautiful Black minds that enter.
From mimnotes.info Adapted from a presentation by the Revolutionary
Anti-Imperialist League at the Unlock the Box conference on October 8,
2005. –ed.
It is important to recognize that we cannot pick our battles
frivolously. There are uncountable horrible injustices in the world that
need to be resolved. So figuring out where to start in order to be
effective in eliminating all injustice is a crucial step for us. The
‘principal contradiction’ is the term we apply to the struggle of
opposing forces that once resolved will do the most to push forward all
struggles in our society.
Through practice, and the summing up of that practice into theory, we
have come to see that in the United $tates, the lumpen of the oppressed
nations are one of the greatest allies of the world proletariat. In
particular, the incarcerated lumpen are at the vanguard in dealing with
the problem of imperialism due to their facing its repression on a daily
basis.
Mao
Zedong made great contributions in demonstrating that the principal
contradiction was that between the oppressed and oppressor nations
during China’s war of liberation from Japan. His old adage that “In wars
of national liberation patriotism is applied internationalism” still
rings true today. Especially in a world where imperialism is the
dominant force in more and more corners of the globe. This has been
manifested in the recent internationalization of the U$ injustice
system. While the United $tates has ran prisons and systematically
tortured people throughout its neo-colonies for decades, this has
usually been CIA and other secretive operations. With the occupations of
Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as with the whole so-called War on Terror
in general, we have seen Amerikan soldiers of the occupying forces being
the jailkeepers and interrogators.
The fact that the torture going on in these prisons is systematic is
well- established by the number of reportings from both soldiers and
prisoners. Just last week, after being sentenced to 3 years prison for
abuse of prisoners herself, Lynddie England stated publicly that the Abu
Ghraib pictures she was in were not the worst things going on and that
everything they did was a result of orders from higher ups. U.S.
Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld wrote a memo describing interrogation
methods to be used at Guantanamo Bay that included everything depicted
in the aforementioned photos before they happened in Iraq. Although he
officially recanted the memo, the spread of these tactics through
training of soldiers shows clear links between Rumsfeld’s orders and
what is going on in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq. And of course,
we also know that the same types of things have been going on in U$
prisons in North America for decades.
This begs the question of why is there so much more outrage surrounding
Abu Ghraib than Pelican Bay. The difference is that the Black, Latino
and indigenous nations within U$ borders have been colonized for
centuries, with the dual effect of being integrated to some degree into
the oppressor nation and benefiting from its exploitation of the rest of
the world and the development of a colonized consciousness that is the
product of dealing with this reality. In contrast, almost every single
persyn in Iraq remembers a time before the U$ occupation, and they
aren’t going to sit idly by while these Amerikans torture and humiliate,
not to mention slaughter, their people.
To be powerful and effective in our struggle to stop torture in U$
prisons we must understand how this applies to our own conditions. This
means recognizing the forces involved for what they are. The control
units are often deemed ‘gang units’ and one of the primary excuses for
their necessity is to deal with the supposedly out of control gangs. But
we must see the War on Gangs, the War on Crime and the War on Terror for
what they are, its all a part of the War on Oppressed Nations being led
by the U$ imperialists and the Amerikan oppressor nation in general.
What is a gang? A gang is an organization, generally made up of lumpen
proletariat, oppressed-nation youth. These lumpen organizations did not
appear from thin air, nor from some alleged inherent barbarity of
oppressed- nation people. These organizations come from the material
reality in which whole nations are in subservient positions, and in
which whole classes of people are prevented from participating in
production and guaranteed consumption of basic needs. A recent program
on Fox News, hosted by Newt Gingrich, spends an hour demonizing Mara
Salvatrucha (MS-13) and calling for the imprisonment of lumpen youth,
the militarization of the United $tates-Mexico border and the hunting
down of al Qaeda. The latter comes from an alleged link that could lead
MS-13 to helping al Qaeda bring dirty bombs into the United $tates. This
link has been disputed by the FBI and appears to be pure lies and
propaganda. However, Gingrich does get something right. He understands
that all oppressed nations have the common interest of overthrowing U$
imperialism and so he is rallying Amerikans around this fear in defense
of their empire.
If reactionaries like Gingrich were actually interested in eliminating
the anti- people activities of many lumpen organizations then they would
try to understand where these organizations came from and why they do
what they do. Specifically, MS-13 is said to have started with
Salvadorian refugees in Los Angeles for the same reason that most such
groups start, for self defense and meeting community need. Why were they
in Los Angeles? They were there because the United $tates was backing
right-wing paramilitary troops to crush the FMLN in El Salvador, as they
were doing all over Central America at the time. After the bloody and
terroristic 1980s, the region was decimated and many were left with one
real option to meet their needs: to become active participants in the
trade corridor that the Amerikans use to bring drugs North from
Colombia. This effectively replaced the revolutionary organizations in
the region with more criminal minded lumpen organizations.
When the refugees arrived in Los Angeles during the war one might ask
why they needed to form a gang? Any oppressed nationals in LA will
already know the answer to this question. The biggest impetus is the
best armed rival gang in town, the LAPD, the infamous gang unit and
other associated pigs. To make matters worse, you still have to deal
with divisions and fighting between various oppressed-nation gangs as
well. This is the legacy of an earlier period when the Black Panthers
had unified the Black Nation under a revolutionary vanguard. The
response from the FBI was COINTELPRO, which killed, locked up and
otherwise neutralized the Panther leadership. In this vacuum arose
organizations like the CRIPs (Community Revolution In Progress), that
dressed like the Panthers, spoke like the Panthers and hoped to provide
a better life for the people. But without a clear political outlook like
the Panthers, and with the influx of crack as the fastest solution to
their economic problems, these young people embraced a criminal
mentality.
Now the government would have you think that this is the last thing that
they want, that they are committed to “cleaning up the streets.” Wrong.
This is exactly what they want. They created it. When oppressed nations
organize for positive change the imperialists destroy their
organizations (ie. the Black Panthers and the FMLN). Then they bring in
the drugs to simultaneously buy off and destroy the minds of the next
generation. In California prisons they’ve gone as far as forcing people
into gangs. And the reality on the street has always been that groups of
oppressed-nation youth are targeted for repression, in effect enforcing
the necessity for gangs where they might not have already existed.
In the long run this works in our interests. It is vital to our struggle
to organize oppressed-nation groups. If the pigs want to help by
repressing people and forcing them into gangs, then they are digging
their own graves. The ‘gang problem’ did not always exist. In Attica, in
1971, people from all nations and organizations came together for their
common interests against their oppressor, while recognizing the
revolutionary leadership of groups like the Panthers, Young Lords and
American Indian Movement. This commonality is far stronger than any
petty differences that currently exist between lumpen organizations. And
this commonality is once again being recognized by leaders of these
groups. In Oregon this summer there were hunger strikes and uprisings
every month inside the prisons, where groups that at other times might
have tried to kill each other stood side by side in the face of the
common oppressor.
So, how do we create the outrage in this country that has been created
around the Abu Ghraib scandal? The answer is in the consciousness of the
oppressed nations. It is in the lumpen organizations coming together
inside prisons and on the streets. And it is in the support of the
family members and communities of those who are suffering in these
torture cells.
When the Abu Ghraib photos came out, MIM Notes ran an article that broke
the story on the history of people like Charles Grainer and Ivan
Frederick, who had been involved in torture as prison guards in the
United $tates before going to Iraq. The comrades who struggled against
and wrote articles about this abuse where acting in concrete unity with
the prisoners being held in Abu Ghraib today, even though they didn’t
even know Abu Ghraib would ever exist. That is oppressed- nation
nationalism as internationalism in practice.
Every victory we have in ending torture and reducing oppression in
prisons in the United $tates makes it harder for them to do the same
things around the world. Similarly, the growing resistance and power of
the Third World struggles create more opportunities for us to bring
attention to and create opposition to what is going on here. Our
struggles continue to reinforce each other. And as more struggles break
out on more fronts, imperialism weakens and all of our battles become
that much easier.
