The documentary Heist: Who Stole the American Dream? is about the financial crisis that began in 2008. It continues to this day, with high unemployment, home foreclosures, and other aspects of capitalism that devastate workers’ lives. The documentary lays the blame firmly on the banks and compliant politicians for the fiasco. The format is mainly a series of interviews of people who expose the way banks have manipulated their financial control with the help of governmental rulings and deregulation. But the film tells only part of the story.

First, it shows the degree to which banks and big business owners are stealing virtually everything we produce with our labor. However, its main message is that the “heist” consists of a relatively recent move by big business, particularly banks. It traces this move to a 1971 memo to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce by corporate lawyer Lewis Powell — shortly thereafter a Nixon-appointed Supreme Court Justice. In this memo Powell falsely claimed that there was a socialist attack on free enterprise and that big business needed to ward it off with extreme aggressiveness. It did, by mobilizing the full force of a friendly federal government to protect and magnify already swollen banking profits.

U.S. History: One Long Heist

While the filmmakers claim that this 41-year-old memo was the origin of the heist, can anyone remember a time in U.S. history when banks did not rob people to accumulate vast wealth? The so-called founding fathers were quite explicit that the role of government would be to protect their property from the mass of property-less people (what the Occupy Movement calls the 99%). The U.S. government was designed from the outset to protect the bosses from the workers. Far from a mere 41 years, this ongoing function of government is at least 223 years old. It has been punctuated by war on tens of millions of workers. 

Furthermore, by pointing the finger solely at the way big business buys politicians in order to dominate the rest of us, the film again misleads. It omits the fact that the owners of big business also determine school curricula, points of view in the media, levels of health care, funding of research through foundations, control over think tanks, and placement of government advisors from these think tanks who agree that world dominance by U.S. capital is the most vital function of government. In short, the capitalists rule through a class dictatorship. 

Rulers’ Ideas Their Trump Card

Control over not just government but all institutions in the society — particularly universities and secondary schools, as well as the media — means that the class of billionaires rules us through more than the military, cops, courts, prisons, and religious leaders. They rule through their ability to determine which ideas are permitted to flourish in the mainstream publishing, media, and educational outlets, and which ideas are to be punished (or threatened to be punished) by firings, imprisonment, and even assassinations. The degree to which these latter methods are less necessary today only reflects the success of the other methods in dominating the prevailing ideology.

While the film presents this as a conspiracy, class rule is far from a conspiracy. The overwhelming domination through capitalist ideology is the main thing that distinguishes class rule from conspiracy. Conspiracies do happen, but they are minor, fleeting, and almost trivial compared to the way the ruling class rules through ideological control — ideology that they firmly believe in, so they don’t all see it as domination.

Wars to Maintain Profits

One interviewee claims the problem is not profit itself, but rather excessive profits (implying some arbitrary unstated cutoff point between reasonable and excessive). He and the filmmakers miss the point that capitalism is driven by competition to seek not just profits, but maximum profits — making them inherently “excessive” sooner or later. Competition from other capitalist nations has led to endless wars and the slaughter of the working class to maintain profitability. The problem therefore is the profit system itself. Workers are victims of capitalist ideology. 

The problem for the world’s working class lies not just in thieving banks and politicians, but in the source of capitalist power that grants them the ability to carry out this theft continually. This source is the “excessive” profit-maximizing system itself, in which the rich necessarily get richer and most of us necessarily get poorer, as the bosses rob us on a daily basis. They protect and enforce this through their control of the state apparatus. 

500 Years IS Long Enough

For the last 500 years this has been the situation everywhere in the world where capitalism and its competition for maximum profits exist. PLP is building a worldwide communist movement of millions of workers and allies to destroy this system and its state and erect a workers’ state.

We strive to put the working class in control of an egalitarian system that allows us to satisfy all our needs collectively and through worldwide cooperation. Communism would be free of competition, profits, exploitation, and all the extreme miseries that the profit system produces. Join us today.

CHICAGO, May 23 — Strike was on the minds of some 6,000 teachers and paraprofessionals, joined by nearly 2,000 supporters, who took over several downtown streets here to demand that city students get better schools and to oppose the rulers’ all-out assault on students and teachers. The march followed simultaneous indoor and outdoor rallies, where, in a show of unity and solidarity, virtually every Chicago Teacher Union (CTU) member wore red CTU shirts.

The CTU contract expires June 30 and the Board of Education wants to increase class size, outsource art and music positions, increase work hours 20 percent for 2 percent more pay, introduce “merit pay,” decrease job security, and close more schools.

During the rally, members spontaneously shouted “Strike” and carried signs reading “YES,” foreshadowing a June 6 strike authorization vote (unannounced at the time of the rally). 

The ruling class here has been viciously attacking students and education workers for years. Recently, in Chicago and throughout the U.S., the attacks have ramped up as rulers, faced with trillions in war costs, feel the economic squeeze on their profits. Internationally, public education has been under attack for even longer.

Fighting A Racist School System

The ruling class wants to turn teaching into a revolving-door, lower-paid job. In line with their need to maintain racism that produces super-profits, they don’t want to spend money on educating poor, working-class black and Latino students. Defense of their empire is a more important priority. They’ve closed over 100 schools here, replacing them with charter schools. In what is still the country’s most segregated city, predominantly black schools suffer disproportionately from closures. 

Whether through charters or regular public schools, the ruling class wants to more finely craft the schools attended by working-class students so they better serve the rulers’ interests. Penny Pritzer, billionaire owner of Hyatt Hotels and others sit on Chicago’s Board of Education.

Education for Profits 

As one rally speaker revealed, Pritzer told an interviewer: “Students are entitled to get the skills in reading, math and science so that they can be productive members of today’s workforce.” She was talking about working-class students, not those in schools attended by her children or other children of the wealthy. “Skills to become productive workers,” she means teaching students the skills and ideology they need to become workers who make lots of profits for the corporations or become soldiers who fight to protect those profits.

Chicago education workers may challenge ruling-class plans by striking next fall. The politicians who serve the rulers thought they were preventing this by passing a law in 2011 requiring a 75 percent vote of the entire membership (not of just those voting) to authorize a strike. Now it seems highly likely that threshold will be met.

A strike opens up the potential for teachers’ union members to feel their power, to build multi-racial unity against the capitalists who control Chicago’s Board of Education. It can be a great opportunity for a militant, united, anti-racist fight against the children’s exploiters who run the school system. Anything less, in fact, will only embolden these fascists and encourage them to quicken the pace of their attacks on students and education workers.

However, a strike is not enough to stop these profit-driven attacks. Only communist revolution accomplish that and allow students to flourish in schools designed in their interests, not the bosses’.

New System, Not New Mayor

The CTU is still hampered by its reformist outlook. At the rally and march, for example, sellouts Jesse Jackson (Operation Push) and Randi Weingarten (American Federation of Teachers president) had front-row seats.

Marchers chanted, “The workers, united, will never be defeated” but also “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Rahm Emanuel has to go.”  Replacing the Mayor, electing the school board, or doing anything else short of overturning capitalism only ties workers more to this murderous system. Communist revolution really is the only solution.

PLP’s role in this fight is iadvancing, but still needs improvement. A serious group of teachers who meet regularly with the Party; a PLP flyer and CHALLENGES were distributed at the march; the level of discussion and struggle inside CTU and the numbers reading CHALLENGE have increased, creating the potential for more PLP supporters and members.

If a strike occurs, it will provide an even greater opportunity for PLP to become more deeply involved in this class struggle. We must be in it to win workers to realizing they can and must take power and run society.

At a state convention of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), a postal worker approached National President, Cliff Guffey to challenge the recent sellout contractors. He recalled how this “leader” had signed a five-year agreement giving up the eight-hour day for thousands of workers and cutting wages of new hires in half. They would have no chance of ever reaching the higher rate of veteran workers. They contract also freezes wages for two years, in line with Obama’s wage freeze for other federal workers. Guffey who was obviously taken aback when the rank-and-filer demanded, “how could you sign a contract allowing management to bring in new workers for half of what we make?”  

“Well, at least we kept those jobs in our bargaining unit” he replied. 

“Right, and now management is trying to fire all of us to bring in low-paid workers,” the worker shot back. 

“Well, these things usually work themselves out,” said Guffey. “You have to file grievances.” 

“It sure is working itself out”, the worker retorted. “They are making clerks become letter carriers, while they hire new clerks at $14/hour.”

Guffey advocated to concentrate on electing more Democrats in November. 

“You mean more of the politicians that have been screwing us in Congress so far?” the worker responded. Obama voted for reducing the 6 day delivery system down to 5.  “They haven’t exactly done what we wanted them to do, have they? They’re all no good!”

Attacks against postal workers have caused a lot of confusion and anger, fueled by racism. The Post Office has been one of the primary avenues for black workers to break out of poverty and make a more decent, steady living. While racist unemployment continues to rise the bosses, with Obama’s full support, are trying to slash another 200,000 jobs.  Postal unemployment already declined by several hundred thousand clerks. A two-tier wage system means they will never hire clerks at anything much beyond the minimum wage. 

The union has gone along with these attacks “to save ‘our’ postal service.” Management bought off the union by allowing the new low-wage employees to join the APWU and buy into its insurance plan, but no other. As workers we know that our power comes from multi-racial class unity, not from turning our backs on each other. 

These attacks aren’t unique to the postal service. The “lesser-of-two -vils” Obama has been attacking auto, steel and health care workers, among others — forcing them to accept layoffs, wage cuts, speedups and cuts in pensions and health insurance. 

The U.S. bosses are in a fight to the death with their imperialist rivals in China, Europe and Russia. To pay for this, they’re forcing workers to pay for their wars. This is the “shared sacrifice” Obama was winning our class to in 2008.

But workers are beginning to fight back more. Caterpillar workers are striking in Joliet, IL (see CHALLENGE 6/6/12). The Occupy movement has inspired millions of workers to consider the reasons why the1% control all the wealth while the 99% do all the work. 

All workers have an enormous responsibility. Building a movement for communist revolution is the only way to end this profit system, which is the cause of the layoffs, excessing, and pay and benefit cuts. By uniting black, Latino, Asian and white, we can organize workers to understand the need to smash these bosses and build a communist society.

CHICAGO, May 23 — Strike was on the minds of some 6,000 teachers and paraprofessionals, joined by nearly 2,000 supporters, who took over several downtown streets here to demand that city students get better schools and to oppose the rulers’ all-out assault on students and teachers. The march followed simultaneous indoor and outdoor rallies, where, in a show of unity and solidarity, virtually every Chicago Teacher Union (CTU) member wore red CTU shirts.

The CTU contract expires June 30 and the Board of Education wants to increase class size, outsource art and music positions, increase work hours 20 percent for 2 percent more pay, introduce “merit pay,” decrease job security, and close more schools.

During the rally, members spontaneously shouted “Strike” and carried signs reading “YES,” foreshadowing a June 6 strike authorization vote (unannounced at the time of the rally). 

The ruling class here has been viciously attacking students and education workers for years. Recently, in Chicago and throughout the U.S., the attacks have ramped up as rulers, faced with trillions in war costs, feel the economic squeeze on their profits. Internationally, public education has been under attack for even longer.

Fighting A Racist School System

The ruling class wants to turn teaching into a revolving-door, lower-paid job. In line with their need to maintain racism that produces super-profits, they don’t want to spend money on educating poor, working-class black and Latino students. Defense of their empire is a more important priority. They’ve closed over 100 schools here, replacing them with charter schools. In what is still the country’s most segregated city, predominantly black schools suffer disproportionately from closures. 

Whether through charters or regular public schools, the ruling class wants to more finely craft the schools attended by working-class students so they better serve the rulers’ interests. Penny Pritzer, billionaire owner of Hyatt Hotels and others sit on Chicago’s Board of Education.

Education for Profits 

As one rally speaker revealed, Pritzer told an interviewer: “Students are entitled to get the skills in reading, math and science so that they can be productive members of today’s workforce.” She was talking about working-class students, not those in schools attended by her children or other children of the wealthy. “Skills to become productive workers,” she means teaching students the skills and ideology they need to become workers who make lots of profits for the corporations or become soldiers who fight to protect those profits.

Chicago education workers may challenge ruling-class plans by striking next fall. The politicians who serve the rulers thought they were preventing this by passing a law in 2011 requiring a 75 percent vote of the entire membership (not of just those voting) to authorize a strike. Now it seems highly likely that threshold will be met.

A strike opens up the potential for teachers’ union members to feel their power, to build multi-racial unity against the capitalists who control Chicago’s Board of Education. It can be a great opportunity for a militant, united, anti-racist fight against the children’s exploiters who run the school system. Anything less, in fact, will only embolden these fascists and encourage them to quicken the pace of their attacks on students and education workers.

However, a strike is not enough to stop these profit-driven attacks. Only communist revolution accomplish that and allow students to flourish in schools designed in their interests, not the bosses’.

New System, Not New Mayor

The CTU is still hampered by its reformist outlook. At the rally and march, for example, sellouts Jesse Jackson (Operation Push) and Randi Weingarten (American Federation of Teachers president) had front-row seats.

Marchers chanted, “The workers, united, will never be defeated” but also “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Rahm Emanuel has to go.”  Replacing the Mayor, electing the school board, or doing anything else short of overturning capitalism only ties workers more to this murderous system. Communist revolution really is the only solution.

PLP’s role in this fight is iadvancing, but still needs improvement. A serious group of teachers who meet regularly with the Party; a PLP flyer and CHALLENGES were distributed at the march; the level of discussion and struggle inside CTU and the numbers reading CHALLENGE have increased, creating the potential for more PLP supporters and members.

If a strike occurs, it will provide an even greater opportunity for PLP to become more deeply involved in this class struggle. We must be in it to win workers to realizing they can and must take power and run society.