Chicago Workers Demonstrate Power of the Takeover Strike

Nezua blogs:

T’S A BIT INFURIATING to see the same old dynamics play out in the country, especially with a brand new set of circumstances. That is to say, the top dogs get away with murder and the little gals and guys take the blame and get the shaft. So it was with a Chicago factory and its workers until they decided to get all united about things and flip the script, 1930s solidarity style:

Chicago – Workers who got three days’ notice their factory was shutting its doors voted to occupy the building and say they won’t go home without assurances they’ll get severance and vacation pay they say they are owed.

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Blog Action Day 2008 Philippines

Today is Blog Action Day 2008 for the Philippines:

Cyberspace group Bloggers Kapihan over the weekend called on Filipino bloggers all over the world to join the Blog Action Day 2008 on Oct. 15 by taking on the issue of poverty through text, photos, music and podcasts, video and microblogging.

The event website is at http://blogactionday2008.bloggerskapihan.com/ where Bloggers Kapihan posted instructions and resources for interested bloggers.

“On Oct. 15, we urge bloggers to unite and discuss poverty. It may be an essay, a story on how they may once be poor or their fears about falling to the ranks of the unemployed. It may also come in the form of a video or a podcast,” said Bloggers Kapihan…

The Markets

Lenin blogs:

Markets, if not an expression of aspirations implicit in human nature, are supposedly indispensable to any happy human prospect. Free market ideology has it that markets are the most efficient delivery system for goods; that competition will drive innovation and flexibility; that consumer-led demand will ensure that people get what they want (within their means); and that waged labour will incentivize hard work and thus produce growth. This fabular conception advises the most rudimentary assumptions of policymakers (who then go on to violate their own assumptions in practise) and a great majority of the intelligentsia. And, within its own terms, it has a certain allure. It is not obviously utopian, and doesn’t assume basic human goodness. In fact, it states quite bluntly that what humans had often considered the main source of evil, the accumulation of wealth, was the progenerator of unprecedented good. Adam Smith thus famously argued: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own neccessities but of their advantages.” Moreover, in the context in which the classical liberal economists were writing, it made a great deal of sense. The absence of that context makes any attempt to apply such precepts to today’s reality absurd.

The Biggest Human Rights Problem

Alex Felipe writes on what he thinks is the biggest problem facing the Philippines today:

Poverty drives the sex trade. Poverty results in less children going to school. Poverty has a clear link to poor health. And poverty spurs rebellion to the existing order—called “terrorism” by the ruling class—which then results in violent government repression of that rebellion.

The Wall Street Crisis and Das Kapital

Bhupinder blogs:

It was Marx who had analyzed the phenomenon of capitalism when it was still nascent- foretelling its demise not so much because it was his wish, but pointing out that that the system is inherently unstable and full of contradictions. The Marxist conception of the State as an expression of class power is again vindicated by the manner in which the federal governments in leading capitalist countries- the US, UK, Japan, Australia and even the puny India- has stepped into the rescue and “buy” back sunk investments. It suits these governments to step out of business activities when it suits the latter, and step in when it suits them too, that is having the cake and eat it too! Noam Chomsky once called the US (that’s true of most capitalist countries) – socialism for the rich.

This of course, is not unprecedented. Again it was Marx (or Engels) who commented in the preface to the second edition of Das Capital, that the crisis of the capitalism system of production (not to say of distribution) is inherent because while production grows in geometrical progression, markets expand only in an arithmetic progression. Since then, the web of conflicts and contractions within the capitalist system has only grown more complex.

The Voting Bloc: Obama and Change

Miss Kristia, of Doorknockers, blogs:

The most difficult contradiction to face is that even if Obama makes 1.5-2 things better for some people of color in America, we know that he is nothing but a flyer, better-dressed, younger face to the New World Order AKA the same ol’ American Empire that has been running shit for the past several hundred years.

Chomsky on Pornography

Lenin posts a video of a short interview on Chomsky’s views of pronography:

I am particularly impressed with the way he just trashes the free market arguments of the pornographic industry (as in, ‘she chose to do it’).

Green Party and Class Politics

Dave Marlow blogs:

Fellow blogger Renegade Eye put it best: “I don’t believe the Green Party is the alternative party formation, since it lacks a program and class basis.” The Green Party is incapable of leading a successful workers revolution, at least in its current manifestation, because of its inherent ties to reformism and its separation from class struggle. They are not a genuine proletarian party and so any progress achieved through the Green Party will be limited to the confines of a non-revolutionary framework.

Freedom and Labor in Latina/o USA

Profe, of LatinoLikeMe.com, blogs on democracy, freedom, and labor:

It is through this process of analysis that I make sense of the daily experiences of immigrant labor in this nation. When I say this, I do not only mean undocumented labor. The Southern Poverty Law Center provides a beautifully-detailed report on legal guestworker programs in place in the United States. “Close to Slavery” is a reminder of the brutal ways a government’s protection of the “rights” of an elite group of business interests–in the name of free market capitalism–sacrifices the humanity of hundreds of thousands of others.

Intervention in Zimbabwe: Humanitarian and Otherwise

Pauly blogs a rebuke to the BBC’s Sir Ronald Sanders argument for intervention in Zimbabwe:

Take Sanders’ own Great Britain, for example. As James Fiorentino points out in Socialist Worker, British banks have been investing heavily in Zimbabwe, extending credit to members of Mugabe’s inner circle. Additionally, the British mining company Rio Tinto has been heavily involved in the diamond industry in Zimbabwe. Far from asking his government to intervene, Sanders should demand that his countrymen get the hell out.

Democracy and Fascism

A blogger at the Revolutionary Democratic Front (India) blogs about the rise, and current trend, of Hindu fascism in India, relating to the BJP and RSS parties:

The Hindu fascist ideology has been in existence for as long as seven and a half decades with the inauguration of the RSS in 1925 at Nagpur. But it did not play any significant role in state power. It has risen to power in the last 25 years and since then has become a strong political force. Initially its bases were upper caste people and Hindu merchant communities. In 1980s ruling classes decided to develop this fascist ideology. It has increased day by day and has made a place even amongst the dalits and backward castes. All the ruling classes have played a significant role in developing aiding and abetting the growth of fascist forces. The different fronts made with an intention of parliamentary alliances have legalized Hindu fascism. It has maintained a mask by making alliances with regional parties. BJP in its tenure associated with big commercial households and together with its organizations-CII, FICCI, and ASOCHEM-formed various committees with different ministries. It went so far as to make acquaintances with the PM office. We see that Hindu fascism is basically a result of a course of political events, which has been brought by the ruling class, which centers on imperialism and increasing political and economic crisis of national and foreign capitalists and ruling classes.

“Globalize” resistance and protest

Carol P. Araullo, the chairperson of BAYAN, a large umbrella front of progressive and left-wing organizations in the Philippines, blogs on the food crisis and the culpability of President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines:

But this time around, we can readily agree that the rice/food crisis is happening worldwide and its immediate causes and historical roots cannot be strictly confined to the specific policies and concrete situations obtaining in particular countries. Indeed, the international agribusiness cartels such as the small clique of corporations that control the world’s fertilizer and pesticide market, the largest seed companies (e.g. Monsanto), the largest grain traders (e.g. Cargill) and the world’s big food processors (e.g. Nestle), their local business partners in third world countries and the homegrown trading cartels (e.g. in rice) have made a killing in the midst of growing hunger, food riots and panic buying by governments and households.

Having said that, we reiterate that the Arroyo regime is not blameless, in fact it must own up to and be held accountable for the neoliberal policies and programs it has perpetuated and even accelerated in implementation that today aggravates the rice crisis.

Obama and Radical Values

Kameelah blogs about Obama and her struggles on being a Black woman but also seeing that Obama, for her, is not a candidate she can support:

I want–no NEED a candidate I can genuinely be excited about. I need to be passionate about this leader as I am about I want someone who can challenge the very values of this nation, and dare I say capitalism itself. I don’t think I will see that candidate before I pass from this Dunya. When I say he does not present something radically different from those who came before him, I am trying with all delicacy, but conviction to say that Obama like the other candidates does not challenge the fundamental values, relationships and tragedies reproduced by capitalism. And, I can’t expect that he does–no one would ever support him. It is not my intention to present a heterodox narrative/desire/dream for the sake of the pompus and self-aggrandizing exercise of being a contrarian; I sincerely believe in what I write here.

Turning Historical Materialism on Its Head

Marco blogs:

The brilliance of Autonomist Marxism, which began to emerge out of the revolutionary experiences in Italy in the 1960s and 1970s, was that it turned historical materialism on its head. No longer was capital ironically seen as a progressive force; as the “motor of history”. Rather, desire came to be seen as primary, and capital came to be seen as merely reactive, and on the back foot. In other words, it is desire which becomes the engine of history, not capital or its a-social laws. So, according to Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri in Empire, the neoliberal restructuring of capitalism, which we are currently experiencing, first began as a response to the revolutionary upheavals of 1968. Capitalism was forced to find new ways to contain the exploding lines-of-flight which threatened its very existence. Thus, sovereignty shifted from the national to the global level. So 1968 marked a real watershed, but I would add that the capitalist restructuring was also a response to all of the many victorious national liberation movements. This is what I argued in my honours thesis.

Subduing the Subversive

Ray, of the blog Silent Vowel, writes about the subversive, and popular, UK graffiti artist Banksy and the selling of his art for auction:

How can subversive art resist the all-consuming power of capitalism, which reduces satire and political commentary to a commodity? Anything that is visually unique is reduced to style; and its message ultimately put aside. Mass production results in loss of meaning. It’s why we have Che Guevara’s image on T-shirts produced in Asian sweatshops and why the word “punk” appears next to skull and cross-bones symbols on little girl’s tops in K-Mart.

“You to can be Oriental!”

Angry Asian Man posts:

Halloween is…the time of year where we see all sorts of lame, racist costumes. You, too, can be Asian for Halloween! For instance, the Asian Princess Costume, available at Target. Or how about the China Woman Costume. There’s also the Sexy Giesha Glam Costume. And my favorite, the Oriental Delight Costume: “Try out something exotic and erotic with Forplay’s Oriental Delight. This sexy, Asian inspired dress features tied-up sides, a V-Neck neckline and authentic Asian accents. Fancy fan also included.” Fancy fan? Awesome! Ugh.

“You to can be Oriental!”

Angry Asian Man posts:

Halloween is…the time of year where we see all sorts of lame, racist costumes. You, too, can be Asian for Halloween! For instance, the Asian Princess Costume, available at Target. Or how about the China Woman Costume. There’s also the Sexy Giesha Glam Costume. And my favorite, the Oriental Delight Costume: “Try out something exotic and erotic with Forplay’s Oriental Delight. This sexy, Asian inspired dress features tied-up sides, a V-Neck neckline and authentic Asian accents. Fancy fan also included.” Fancy fan? Awesome! Ugh.

National and Global Liberation

Jaguarito writes:

I contend that today, no liberation project can limit itself to the national terrain, and that our struggles must be global if we are to achieve true liberation. Key to this is an understanding that capitalist sovereignty no longer resides at the level of individual nation-states, but rather, at the level of the global. This new form of global sovereignty, which some understand as neo-liberalism, is being administered by such institutions as the World Bank and World Trade Organisation. Multinational institutions such as these, along with nation-states, and multinational corporations all comprise this new neo-liberal world order. If we limit our struggles to the national terrain, we are, in effect, leaving the wider problem of the neo-liberal world order unattended to.

Slavery, Capitalism, and the Sugar Plantations

Louis Proyect blogs:

The anthology “Working Slavery, Pricing Freedom,” edited by Verene A. Shepherd, includes an article by Veront Satchell titled “Innovations in sugar-cane mill technology in Jamaica.” The book evolved out of a series of seminars at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. Shepherd and Satchell are Afro-Caribbeans who are obviously much influenced by the work of fellow Afro-Caribbean Marxists CLR James and Eric Williams. This trend starts off on a completely different premise than Robert Brenner and Ellen Meiksins Wood. Rather than seeing the forced labor and trade monopolies of the mercantile period as “pre-capitalist”, they see it as a necessary first stage in the development of capitalism, a period that Karl Marx referred to as “primitive accumulation.”

Bono: The White African Messiah?

A blogger at the sub-Saharan African roundtable blogs about Vanity Fair’s recent issue on U2’s Bono and Africa:

Western reporters tend to shirk many of their journalistic responsibilities, including those that fall under objectivity and accuracy, when it comes to covering the work of do-gooders in Africa. This month’s “Africa”-themed Vanity Fair, the thickest July issue thus far, is a glaring example. Guest edited by Bono, it includes admiring reviews of the U2 frontman’s campaign, Project (Red) and his messiah, Jeffrey Sachs. These two features alone take up seven and eight pages respectively and both writers are unabashed in their adoration of the Bono/Sachs crusade. Considering Graydon Carter’s alarming remark in his editor’s letter that many of those submitting pitches mentioned their “good friend Bono,” they could very well have been written by Bono’s good friends.

The Hostility of the Hospitality Industry

Jan In San Fran blogs about hospitality workers taking on Woodfin Suites in the blog Happening Here:

The struggle of workers at Emeryville’s Woodfin Suites Hotel for a living wage and a measure of respect has taken some wild twists and turns in the last few days. I’ve written about this previously here, here, and here.

Like much of the “hospitality industry” this hotel keeps up its profit margin up by paying low wages to immigrant workers to do the dirty stuff. The city of Emeryville, collectively, said “enough already,” in 2005, and passed a living wage ordinance. The hotel unsuccessfully contested the law in court; workers brought a class action lawsuit for back pay. All of a sudden, the hotel began to question the workers’ immigration status, citing problems with their Social Security numbers.

Capitalism and Poverty

Marco Hewitt, an Anglo-Pilipino Australian, blogs:

You know, people don’t believe me, but the only place in the world where I’ve seen more homeless people than in the United States, is in India. It has really shocked me seeing all the poverty here. Sure, it is the richest country in the world, but it is also one of the most unequal and selfish. Don’t get me wrong though: I’m not just blaming the US; I’m blaming capitalism. The US economic elite are but a small subsection of the global economic elite of capitalism, after all, who everywhere are parasites upon the poor. They have a vampiric existence, sucking the lifeblood out of people for their own gain.

“My Privilege Is Of My Making You Lazy Bastard!”

BetaCandy blogs:

One of the most annoying privilege memes I’ve ever dealt with is “Anyone can get rich in this great country; if they don’t, it means they’re just not working hard enough.” I encountered this meme almost daily as a kid growing up in a highly conservative “red state” in the US, but I imagine there are variations of it all over the world. The basic idea: “This society is working out great for me; if it’s not for you, that might mean we need to make changes, and that could mean I would lose something, and I don’t want to, so I’m going to blame you. If this society isn’t working for you, it’s your fault.”

“My Privilege Is Of My Making You Lazy Bastard!”

BetaCandy blogs:

One of the most annoying privilege memes I’ve ever dealt with is “Anyone can get rich in this great country; if they don’t, it means they’re just not working hard enough.” I encountered this meme almost daily as a kid growing up in a highly conservative “red state” in the US, but I imagine there are variations of it all over the world. The basic idea: “This society is working out great for me; if it’s not for you, that might mean we need to make changes, and that could mean I would lose something, and I don’t want to, so I’m going to blame you. If this society isn’t working for you, it’s your fault.”

Fighting Globalism

Bhupinder writes:

Economist Amit Bhaduri has an insightful article in EPW (pdf), where he argues for an alternative development model bypassing the corporate- led globalization. It is only the resistance of people at the ground level that seems to be working to thwart the current economic orthodoxy- that too, only when this resistance results in deaths as in Nandigram. If economics is nothing but concentrated politics, there is little to differentiate between the Hindutva BJP and the secular Left, to say nothing about the Congress party.