Vol. 72/No. 20      May 19, 2008

Class-conscious workers should reject this pittance for what it is: a ploy by the rulers to convince us that the government is doing something to alleviate the grind on our standard of living. We encourage readers to put this blood money to good use by contributing it to the Militant.

In their typical ruling-class arrogance, the government hopes that workers will run out with their tax checks and spend the money as a way to “stimulate” the crisis-ridden capitalist economy and stem the tide of the economic recession now underway.

Class-conscious workers who donate their checks to the revolutionary movement can instead use the money to help build a revolutionary movement of workers and farmers capable of confronting the impact of the unfolding economic crisis.

The Militant depends on two yearly fund drives to cover its basic operating expenses. We will use readers’ donations of their Economic Stimulus checks to cover additional major expenses—from upgrading our computers and software to having the flexibility to send reporters anywhere in the world where the class struggle breaks open.

The $300-$1,200 that most workers will receive won’t even put a dent in the mounting debt and escalating cost of living we face. And a major section of our class—workers without papers acceptable to the government—are excluded from receiving even this tiny buy off.

As real wages decline we are being hit by increasing prices for gas, food, medical care, and rents. We don’t need a one-off payment of a few hundred dollars; we need a sliding scale of wages and hours so that as prices go up, workers’ incomes go up to match. We need a shorter workweek with no cut in pay that can spread the available work around to all those who need it. We need a massive, federally-funded public works program that can put millions to work at union-scale wages repairing infrastructure and building schools, day-care centers, and hospitals.

Bosses offer “signing bonuses” as a trade-off for higher wages; they offer “safety” and “production” bonuses as a way to shut us up at the expense of life and limb on the job. Be they bonuses, government pay-outs, or paid union-time off for participating in activities that class-struggle militants should join anyway, these payments are blood money aimed at buying our silence.

Members of the communist movement have a proud tradition of contributing these bribes to the Socialist Workers Party’s Capital Fund, where the money is set aside and used to cover long-term publishing projects over the next decade and beyond.

The Militant’s editors salute the members and supporters of the Socialist Workers Party and Young Socialists who, without hesitation, are donating their Economic Stimulus checks to the SWP Capital Fund. We encourage other readers of the paper to follow their class-conscious lead and contribute their checks to the socialist press.  
 
 
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