LOS ANGELES — As they have for years, supporters of Pathfinder books set up a booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books April 18-19. One of the largest book fairs in the U.S., an estimated 150,000 attended this year.
The attractive booth, festooned with placards and book covers reflecting Pathfinder’s working-class titles, drew crowds looking for answers to today’s deepening world economic crisis, the sharpening trade wars between capitalist powers that lead to shooting wars, the U.S. government’s war against Iran and its growing threats against Cuba and its socialist revolution.
Many of the overwhelmingly young visitors at the booth were interested in discussing the U.S. rulers’ drive to war and their attacks on Iran with members and supporters of the Socialist Workers Party staffing the booth. Several left with an armload of books. A total of 415 books were sold, along with 107 subscriptions to the Militant, both a substantial increase from the previous year.
“I don’t believe the U.S. should be going to war,” Christian Pablo, a laid- off bookkeeper, told the Militant there. “It’s causing U.S. oil prices to keep going up. President Trump had said we’re not going to war, then he did.”
Ray Parsons, who was staffing the booth, responded: “A big reason for the U.S. military moves is to undercut the influence of China, Washington’s main rival for world domination.”
Phil Walker, a writer and member of the Writers Guild of America, said he had participated in recent strikes by his union as well as the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
“Trump’s war is rank imperialism. It should be ceased immediately,” Walker said. “He’s a fascist and should be impeached. I was of the belief that one person can’t drag down a system, but now I think it can happen.”
“This isn’t Trump’s war, it’s a war by and for the interests of the capitalist rulers in the U.S. Both their parties — Democratic and Republican — use their military to plunder the Middle East and dominate the region for their interests,” this Militant correspondent said. “We should oppose Washington’s war moves in Iran or anywhere in the world. They are an obstacle to the Iranian working people, who have been organizing against the reactionary government there.”
Many were interested in discussing Israel and its war to defend itself from Jew-hatred and pogroms. Some decided to leave the booth empty-handed after hearing about the Militant’s defense of Israel’s right to exist as a refuge for Jews. In contrast, a number expressed strong agreement with Israel as a refuge for half the world’s Jewish population in the midst of rising antisemitism worldwide.
Visitors bought 12 copies of The Fight Against Jew-Hatred and Pogroms in the Imperialist Epoch: Stakes for the International Working Class.
Other top sellers included 27 copies of the newly published Cuba and the Independence War in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde: The Fall of the Last Colonial Empire in Africa by Cuban combatant Víctor Dreke; 25 of Women in Cuba: The Making of a Revolution Within the Revolution; 21 of Are They Rich Because They’re Smart? Class, Privilege, and Learning Under Capitalism; and 20 of Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power.
Over 100 titles on Cuba were snapped up, reflecting the desire of many to learn more about the socialist revolution there and Cuba’s efforts to defend that revolution in the face of increasing attacks by U.S. imperialism.