This column is written and edited by the Young Socialists (YS), an international organization of young workers, students, and other youth fighting for socialism. For more information about the YS write to: Young Socialists, P.O. Box 14392, St. Paul, MN 55104. Tel: (612) 644-0015. Compuserve: 105162,605

ST. PAUL, Minnesota - At a meeting here October 5-6 the National Committee of the Young Socialists voted to sponsor four regional educational conferences November 29-December 1. The three-day events will be held in Atlanta, Georgia; Peoria, Illinois; San Francisco; and Washington, D.C. They are cosponsored by the Socialist Workers Party. These gatherings will culminate an intensive period of campaigning for SWP candidates in the 1996 elections and a drive to increase the size of the YS.

The National Committee reaffirmed the decision made at its July meeting to win 80 new members to the YS. Thirty one young people have joined the ranks of the Young Socialists since July. The recruitment drive will continue through the regional conferences and end on December 1.

"The educational gatherings will bring closer to the YS those considering joining," said Jack Willey, organizer of the YS national steering committee. "They will also provide an opportunity for new YS members to discuss politics for an entire weekend with other fighters from their region." YS chapters throughout the country, Willey said, will reproduce leaflets for these conferences right away and start building them as part of their activities over the next seven weeks.

"We think we can make the goal of recruiting 80 new people to our organization," Willey said. "This effort is connected to the opportunities opened by the Socialist Workers presidential campaign and local election campaigns. The recruitment drive comes in the context of increasing attacks on workers and youth by the capitalist class and the need to build a youth organization that will fight back and offer a way forward.

"We see attacks on the social benefits that workers fought for and won in the labor upsurge of the 1930s and later during the civil rights movement," Willey stated. "Many of these attacks are directed against immigrants. The ruling class and its government are trying to destroy elemental human and class solidarity."

Participants at the meeting noted the progress the Young Socialists have made since the organization set the recruitment goal. "We have more units of the Young Socialists that work collectively, discuss politics and study the history of the working class," said Willey. YS chapters that meet regularly and plan activities on a week-to-week basis are in a much better position to respond to politics as they unfold, the YS leader said.

The importance of studying the history and lessons of the working-class movement in order to more effectively participate in today's struggles was a focus of the discussion. Several YS chapters have started to hold regular class series attended by YS members and others interested to learn more about communist politics.

National Committee members spoke of the need to read and study the Marxist magazine New International no. 7 with the article "Opening Guns of World War III," in order to be better armed to respond to Washington's recent bombings of the Iraqi people, and New International no. 10 with articles on defending the Cuban revolution and "Imperialism's March Toward Fascism and War."

The Changing Face of U.S. Politics by SWP national secretary Jack Barnes was another book NC members pointed to as a must to read for young people wanting to build a revolutionary youth organization. Young Socialists in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada see this book as so important that they are currently involved in translating it into French.

The National Committee also voted to extend the YS national fund drive through December 1. The Twin Cities YS chapter got off to a good start by raising $200 toward the $6,000 national goal at a dinner that took place at the Pathfinder bookstore here before a Militant Labor Forum October 5. The forum was on the 1996 U.S. elections and the capitalist two-party system. Socialist election campaign
"Every city where the SWP presidential candidates go to, we see the response from youth," said National Committee member Diana Newberry from New York. "We've had several meetings where the socialist candidates have spoken, where 15-20 young people attend." Newberry was speaking about the tours of Socialist Workers candidate for president James Harris and his running mate Laura Garza. Newberry is one of the YS members who have been touring with the socialist candidates and helping build YS chapters across the country. "We need to emulate those tours locally, with the local socialist candidates," she added. Many YS members are candidates for statewide and other offices.

YS members discussed the possibilities that exist on campus to set up debates with other youth organizations that support the capitalist parties. Speaking publicly on behalf of the Young Socialists about developments in the elections such as Clinton taking the lead on the culture war, or what the addition of Jack Kemp to the Republican ticket meant, will be on the agenda of every YS chapter. YS members will speak on campus on behalf of the Socialist Workers campaign and on other topics such as the fight for Palestinian self-determination and the struggle of the people of Northern Ireland against British occupation.

Young Socialists will also be part of the campaign to sell 1,200 subscriptions to the Militant. Young fighters can get a subscription to the socialist newspaper and the YS principles pamphlet for $12. Through the campaign to win new subscribers and sell Pathfinder books, YS members will go to plant gates, street corners, and high school and college campuses where they will be able to meet other youth looking for a revolutionary organization. Attacks on democratic rights
YS National Committee members discussed the increasing government probes against activists involved in defending the Cuban revolution against Washington's attacks, including individuals who have participated in fact-finding trips to Cuba.

Two weeks before the NC meeting, Willey received a call at his house in Minneapolis from a person stating he was from the Treasury Department. This person wanted to know more details about the recent US-Cuba Youth Exchange. This trip was sponsored by the National Network on Cuba and more than 140 young people from the United States took part. The youth exchange was fully hosted by the Federation of University Students of Cuba, which covered accommodations and all expenses on the island. Fully hosted trips are not a violation of U.S. law.

The caller asked for information about the trip. Willey responded to the first question about the sponsorship of the exchange. But then he realized the implications of what the caller was raising and immediately hung up. Willey noted that he had "made a mistake in even answering one question from the government agent." Calls like these are probes by the government in an attempt to legitimize their attacks on democratic rights, Willey said.

Mary Alice Waters, representing the SWP Political Committee at the meeting, explained that under the Bill or Rights all U.S. residents have the right not to answer any questions by any federal agents without a lawyer present.

Waters explained that such calls and other probes by federal agents are aimed at intimidating political activists. They are part of the attempt of the capitalist class to limit the political space workers have won through struggle, she said. They are part of the attacks on immigrants, the gutting of social security under the so-called welfare reform, the culture war and its ramifications, the denial of rights and benefits to same-sex couples, "antiterrorist" legislation, and attempts to draw school teachers into being an extension of the police apparatus.

This is the first time in more than 20 years - that is since the successful lawsuit filed by the SWP and Young Socialist Alliance against the FBI and other government agencies for harassment - that a leader of the party or the Young Socialists received a call of this nature, Waters said.

The YS leaders decided to return to their chapters and organize classes on the articles in the October 14 Militant on the history of police agencies harassing political organizations, trade unionists, and others who fight for social justice.  
 
 
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