Vol. 81/No. 13 April 3, 2017
(lead article, Socialist Workers Party statement)
SWP: Workers need to build our own political party!
The following statement by Osborne Hart, Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor of New York, was released March 22.
Working people face a growing catastrophe — a “new normal” of permanent unemployment for millions. This includes attacks by the employers and their government on our wages, working conditions and rights and attacks on undocumented workers, Jews and Muslims as the rulers scapegoat sections of the working class to divide us and defend their rule.
The introduction of violence and blows to political rights reflect the deepening polarization in crisis-ridden capitalist politics. Instability and conflict among capitalist governments worldwide threaten to spin into new, more deadly wars.
Workers increasingly see that the Democrats and Republicans are the twin parties of capitalist rule, and the working class has its own party — the Socialist Workers Party.
The SWP fights for a government-funded public works program to build schools, hospitals, daycare centers, repair crumbling infrastructure and make other things working people need. This can put people to work at union scale across the country and cut across the division in our class between employed and unemployed, putting us in a better position to unite in solidarity and fight our common enemy — the propertied capitalist rulers.
We demand amnesty for all immigrants in the U.S. and an end to the raids and deportations. We oppose all government “tests” for immigrants based on religion, nationality or political views.
There are growing calls for workers to take the day off work and march against attacks on immigrant workers on May Day. Join these actions and organize them if one hasn’t been called in your area.
We’re part of the fight against Jew-hatred and rising attacks against Muslims and mosques. The bosses aim to divert us into blaming other workers for the crisis we face, to turn us against each other, instead of uniting against their immoral capitalist system, built on exploitation, oppression and war.
As their economic crisis deepens, the capitalist rulers are driven to sharper competition against each other. Trade wars and competition for markets and resources are growing. In this world, conflicts can have unintended consequences and disputes can lead to war. The Socialist Workers Party demands Washington get all its troops out of the Middle East and the Pacific.
In this crisis-ridden reality, political polarization is growing. In Berkeley, California, and Middlebury, Vermont, we see liberal and middle-class radical groups seeking to shut down those they disagree with, breaking up political meetings and carrying out assaults.
But this is a deadly threat to the working class — busting up meetings and physical violence shut down political space and open the door for the rulers to further restrict our political rights. We need the widest political space possible to discuss the class reasons for the crisis we face and debate the road forward.
There is an example we can emulate — the revolution workers and farmers made in Cuba. They faced a brutal dictatorship that was backed by the unparalleled might of U.S. imperialism just 90 miles away. Led by Fidel Castro and the July 26 Movement, they fought and won. Working people were transformed, gaining the capacity to take political power and run their own country.
They mobilized to abolish illiteracy, to run industry, and to beat off attacks and a U.S. invasion at the Bay of Pigs. They extended the hand of solidarity internationally, from the Congo to Angola, from Vietnam to Bolivia and Venezuela. They led in conquering the Ebola epidemic in western Africa.
This year, for the first time, people in the U.S. can join a May Day brigade to Cuba, to learn about the revolution and express solidarity. I’ve signed up to go and urge you to consider joining me.
We can make a revolution here. Join the Socialist Workers Party. Help us campaign this spring, broadening the reach of the Militant and books from Pathfinder Press, and winning contributions to the $112,000 Militant Fighting Fund.
Related articles:
Socialist Workers Party sets campaign in working class
7-week drive to spread party’s reach with ‘Militant,’ books
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