How do we take up crime?
We're two young people who recently had a heated discussion
on what position should be taken by the working class on
criminal justice under the current capitalist system. Our
conversation began out of the recently released movie "Dead Man
Walking," which focuses on the life of a man on death row who is
a white supremacist. We talked about the ultrarightist militia
groups that have been growing in the U.S. over the last couple
of years, the potential danger that these groups pose to people,
and the seeming necessity of measures that would curb their
activities. However, we are concerned that any measures taken
against potentially dangerous groups could be used to restrict
freedom of progressive organizations like the Young Socialists.
We recognize that the capitalist system needs to be overthrown and replaced by a more just system. But what position do we take on curbing criminal activity under the current system without opening the door for the U.S. government to bend the laws to persecute working people, youth and activists?
Corin Lonsdale
Joya Lonsdale
Rochester, Vermont
Bosses and `teamwork'
The common English meaning of "team" today is taken as being
a sports team, where individuals, with their individual skills,
and strengths and weaknesses, make a collective effort under a
coach and/or team captain to work together to a common
objective. This of course, is what the bosses would like us to
think of when they talk of teams and teamwork.
But as a unionist here pointed out a while ago in a TV interview, there is another (now slightly archaic, in the motor transport era) meaning of "team," which is a team of horses, or other beasts of burden. This team, of course, is harnessed, blinkered, and driven as hard as necessary to get the job done. It is at the whim of the driver for the rest, food, and water, and the decision on who isn't making the grade and due to be petfood instead of being "on the team."
I think this is the meaning working people should think of when the boss starts talking about "teamwork" and we should think about who's holding the whip, and how close the petfood factory is.
Colin Parker
Auckand, New Zealand
Stalinism is a danger
After reading Adam Levenstein's letter in the August 19
Militant, I felt compelled to answer it. His letter ends, "The
policies of the CPUSA are of interest to no one, as they are no
danger to the working class."
I must disagree with him. The petty-bourgeois misleadership of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) is in fact a serious threat to true revolutionary movements worldwide. Its chauvinistic rhetoric prevents us from uniting with our potential allies outside the United States, and its record of opportunistic collaboration with the class enemy threatens the entire Marxist movement. Unfortunately, hundreds of workers have been led astray by the counterfeit Marxism of the CPUSA.
Mr. Levenstein seems to feel that your August 4 article encourages sectarianism. However, it is the CPUSA which truly threatens to divide the working class on an international level, and only by exposing the errors in their Stalinist approach can we keep the workers of the world united. I hope you will continue to expose the errors like these in the future.
Loren Meyer
Helena, Montana
New `Militant' reader
I am a new Militant reader. Yes, as you say, there is class
struggle in the USA. I am a militant socialist. My wife Judy is
a shop steward. We do not want to lose our sub to your paper.
Our 14-year-old son Jon reads your paper and is writing you a
letter.
Nicholas Brand
Loretto, Pennsylvania