BY MARTÍN KOPPEL
Politically active workers, Young Socialists, and others in
cities around the world are kicking off a campaign September 18
to raise $115,000 to finance the new issue of New International,
a magazine of Marxist politics and theory. The eight-week
campaign, which ends November 15, will also raise money for new
issues of Nouvelle Internationale in French, Nueva Internacional
in Spanish, and Ny International in Swedish. In addition,
socialists in Reykjavik have announced plans to produce a first
issue of the magazine in Icelandic.
The issues in the various languages will feature "U.S. Imperialism Has Lost the Cold War" by Jack Barnes, a resolution adopted by the 1990 Socialist Workers Party convention.
The contents also include the Young Socialists Manifesto, written by Young Socialists in Los Angeles based on the political line of issue no. 10 of New International; "Socialism: A Viable Option" by Cuban communist leader José Ramón Balaguer; "The Communist Strategy of Party Building Today" by Mary-Alice Waters; and "Ours Is the Epoch of World Revolution" by Jack Barnes and Mary-Alice Waters, published elsewhere in this issue of the Militant.
Like all 10 previous issues of New International, the funds needed to print this one will be raised entirely by working people and others who agree with its revolutionary perspective. In many areas, they are making plans to seek out working-class fighters, readers of the socialist press, and other politically minded individuals who value the working-class explanations and course of action presented in New International and its sister publications.
Maggie Trowe, fund director in Des Moines, writes, "We are discussing how to combine advance orders and sales of NI no. 11 with reaching out for pledges to the fund. And we hope to get a few fellow fighters of the Titan Tire strike, Communications Workers of America contract fight, and others to buy the magazine."
The New International Fund coincides with an eight-week international drive to win new subscribers to the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial and to sell New International. The effort to get these political tools into the hands of fighting workers, farmers, and youth will be an ideal vehicle to approach a broad circle of people for contributions to the fund.
Socialist workers in different factories and industries are discussing goals for fund-raising among their co-workers. Over the past year, a noticeably growing number of workers have been making contributions to similar political funds.
Young Socialists are eager to get their hands on the new issue of New International and raise funds for it, especially since it contains one of the newest political tools they have produced - the Young Socialists Manifesto. They will be using fund-raising activities to build the Young Socialists and the upcoming YS convention.
Likewise, active supporters of the Socialist Workers Party in a number of cities have been planning out their participation in this campaign. In the San Francisco Bay Area, for example, active supporters have taken on a goal of raising $4,800.
Supporters of the fund in every city will be organizing public fund-raising events, for which the contents of New International no. 11 provide a political axis. Experience demonstrates that one key to the success of the drive will be early meetings.
New International readers in Minneapolis/St. Paul are setting the pace by building a meeting for Friday, September 25. Entitled "The Deepening Dilemma for World Capitalism and New Opportunities for the Working Class," the event will feature SWP leader Doug Jenness, a member of the Steelworkers union. Before the forum, the local Young Socialists chapter is holding a class. YS members there are also planning to start raising funds to make it possible for them and other youth to travel to the Young Socialists convention, scheduled for late November in Los Angeles.
Organizing the local fund campaign on a steady footing to be on time week by week is necessary to maximize the breadth of the contributors as well as the amount of contributions.
But there is another important reason to avoid a hectic surge in payments at the end: in city after city, fund-raising efforts to enable Young Socialists and other interested youth to travel to the YS convention will be in full swing by late October and early November. Every area that can get ahead in the New International Fund will be in a stronger position to raise money to cover travel and other costs for those attending the YS gathering.
As we go to press, the total goal for the New International Fund adds up to $112,520, a little short of the overall $115,000 goal. Supporters of New International are urged to review their goals and raise them wherever possible so we can confidently make the international goal.