Vol. 77/No. 9      March 11, 2013

At end of the second week we stand at 674, 5 percent behind schedule.

The weekly reports sent in by readers give a feel for the thinking and discussion going on today under the impact of capitalism’s deepening economic crisis and the relentless attacks it fosters on workers.

“I’m worried about the future of my kids. I can’t see it getting any better. I need to understand more what’s going on,” Gemma Taylor, who is studying to become a teaching assistant, told two Militant supporters who knocked on her door Feb. 22 in Peckham, southeast London.

“You get a qualification, but they don’t give you a job unless you have experience. But how do you get experience if they won’t give you a job?” she said as she bought a subscription and two books offered at reduced prices: Women and Revolution: The Living Example of the Cuban Revolution and The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning: The Fraud of Education Reform Under Capitalism. (See ad below.)

“This paper is something we could use at work,” Bobby Helm told Militant supporters when he signed up after they knocked on his door in the South Park section of Seattle.

“I work in a glass recycle facility. It’s dangerous. They take the guards off the machines. We live in fear of machine malfunctions causing injuries with glass slivers.

“This paper shows we are not alone. It could help us a lot. I’ll take this copy into work tonight,” he said, asking Militant supporters to come back to continue the discussion, including on what communism is all about.

Prisoners subscribe, use Militant

The letters printed on page 11 show how the Militant is a source of information and political education as well as a tool to practice politics behind bars. Many have joined the effort to expand the readership of the paper, getting it around among their fellow inmates.

The Militant Prisoners’ Fund makes it possible for inmates, often with help from friends and family, to order subscriptions at a reduced rate of $6 for six months. Half-year subscriptions are also offered free of charge for those who have no means to pay. (See box on page 11.)

“The Militant is like me,” Carmen Rodriguez, a cleaner at a nursing home and a member of Service Employees International Union Local 1199, said when she subscribed. “The paper fights for the correct stuff, like opposition to stop and frisk,” the New York City cops’ massive harassing stops and unconstitutional searches that target young working-class Black and Latino men.

Rodriguez lives in Far Rockaway in Queens, where Militant supporters sold eight subscriptions Feb. 16 going door to door.

She also bought a copy of The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning.

“In the first two weeks of this drive, we have sold more books going door to door than we did that way all of the last drive,” Willie Cotton wrote from San Francisco, referring to the nine-week fall subscription effort for the Militant.

New readers join in

Cabrera, 19, subscribed during the fall subscription drive.

“I helped with Spanish. I said, ‘The Militant tells the truth about workers’ and that the Socialist Workers Party campaign isn’t like the Democrats and Republicans,” he added. The SWP is running Norton Sandler for mayor of Los Angeles and Eleanor García for Los Angeles Unified School Board, District 2.

This is an example we invite all readers to emulate.

Join the international campaign. Help increase the number of doors we can knock on and workers we can introduce to the paper. You can call distributors in your area (see directory on page 10). Or order a bundle at themilitant@mac.com or (212) 244-4899.
 
 
Related articles:
Winter ‘Militant’ subscription campaign Feb. 9 – March 18 (week 2) (chart)
 
 
 
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