Shooting of CEO shocks bosses as workers celebrate

The Daily News, 12/5–The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has triggered a wave of rage-filled reactions on social media, most of them expressing contempt and dissatisfaction with the health insurance industry he represented. Thompson was gunned down early Wednesday morning… “When you see the entire internet — left and right — united around one thing, and that is celebrating the death of a healthcare CEO, you have to ask ‘Why?’ and I don’t think that has been discussed at all” … “There’s no discussion of the systemic cruelty in our healthcare system, or the fact that thousands of Americans die because CEOS like [Thompson] and others deny essential life-saving care to Americans.”

Turkish workers fight privatization

Duvar.English, 11/21–In Ankara, 500 workers at the Çayırhan Thermal Power Plant have locked themselves inside the mine in a protest against privatization plans…The privatization process for the plant began a month and a half ago..Workers [fear]...losing both their jobs and homes..miners stated they would continue their occupation inside the mine until their demands were acknowledged, while hundreds of workers and their families pledged to keep up their protests outside the mine… "We are migrant workers…All of us are migrants…”

Under capitalism, human rights don’t extend to gold mine regions

BBC, 12/4–Dayane Leite never wanted to become a sex worker but at the age of 17 her husband died of a heart attack and she couldn’t pay for the funeral. Her hometown, Itaituba…is at the heart of the country’s illegal gold-mining trade, so a friend suggested raising the money by having sex with miners…“The women are seriously humiliated there. They may be slapped in the face and yelled at…While the environmental harm of the mines is well known, the human cost - which the UN says includes violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking - goes largely unreported…The three largest customers of Brazilian gold are Canada, Switzerland and the UK. More than 90% of all exports to Europe are from areas where illegal mining occurs…

Free speech becoming a memory at U.S. universities

NY Times, 11/25–Colleges and universities have tightened rules around protests, locked campus gates and handed down stricter punishments after the disruptions of pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments last spring. The efforts seem to be working. Universities have seen just under 950 protest events this semester so far, compared to 3,000 last semester…administrators have often enforced — to the letter — new rules created in response to last spring’s unrest. The moves have created scenes that would have been hard to imagine previously, particularly at universities that once celebrated their history of student activism.

U.S. war planners ponder whether Trump can split China and Russia

Foreign Affairs, 12/6–“The one thing you never want to happen is you never want Russia and China uniting. I’m going to have to un-unite them”…Donald Trump boasted in an interview…early indications suggest that the coming administration might seek to damage the Chinese-Russian partnership by reducing tensions…with Moscow in order to put pressure on Beijing…Michael Waltz…whom Trump has tapped to serve as his national security adviser, advocated…for the United States to help wind down the war in Ukraine…and…divert resources to “countering the greater threat from the Chinese Communist Party”...Russia has become very dependent on China economically, with 40 percent of Russian imports coming from China and 30 percent of Russian exports going there…This dependence is deepening…

Protesters fight against French-Israeli imperialism 

WIVB4.com, 11/14–Protests erupted in Paris on Wednesday against a controversial gala organized by far-right figures in support of Israel. The event, intended to raise funds for the Israeli military, included Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich among its invited guests…Smotrich, a vocal advocate of Israeli settlements, had been expected to attend Wednesday’s gala, dubbed “Israel is Forever,” which was planned by an association of the same name. The group’s stated goal is to “mobilize French-speaking Zionist forces”...On Wednesday night, several hundred protesters marched through central Paris, denouncing the event as a “gala of hatred and shame.”

As the global crisis of capitalism drives the bosses toward fascism and war, the bloody clash between Russia and U.S.-backed Ukraine is escalating by the week. Amid speculation that president-elect Donald Trump might try to force a peace deal on Vladimir Putin’s terms, a body blow to NATO, North Korean troops massed alongside Russian forces in the Kursk border region. In response, lame duck President Joe Biden gave his blessing for Ukraine to launch British-made missiles deep into Russian territory. Russia upped the ante with a threat to lower their threshold for using nuclear weapons (NY Times, 11/19), and then attacked Ukraine with a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear payload (Reuters, 11/22).

While we can’t predict where or when the next world war will start, three things are clear. First, the collapse of the old liberal world order has ushered in a period of dangerous instability and chaos. Second, the U.S. rulers are both deeply divided and in steep decline as they struggle to stave off their imperialist rivals in Russia and China. Third, the imperialist bosses’ vicious dog fights are lose-lose propositions for the international working class. To date, official estimates count close to 200,000 workers–conscripted soldiers and civilians–killed in the inter-imperialist proxy war in Ukraine (economist.com, 11/26).

For the international working class, there is only one solution to the madness and carnage of capitalism: communist revolution. We need fighters to turn the guns around and choose to fight for a borderless communist world led by Progressive Labor Party!  

Inter-imperialist rivalry sharpens after U.S. election

As the unpredictable “America First” Trump prepares to take office, the main-wing U.S. rulers–the Big Fascists of finance capital–are scrambling to keep on board their European allies, who have already invested over $100 billion in the Ukraine bloodbath. While France and Britain backed Ukraine’s missile strikes in Russia, Germany has refused to deliver its own long-range missiles to the cause (politico.eu, 11/18). Polish Prime Minister Donal Tusk warned that the escalation posed a “real and serious threat of global war” (Politico, 11/22).  This shows the Big Fascists’ desperation and disregard for the lives of millions of workers - who will ultimately pay with their lives. 

Meanwhile, China is pressing its case as a more reliable ally than the U.S. At last week’s G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, President Xi Jinping promoted the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and strengthened a bilateral relationship with Brazil (aljazeera.com, 11/20). In a pointed contrast to Trump’s threats to raise U.S. tariffs, Xi promised open trade and benefits for emerging economies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America (New York Times, 11/20). Alongside their carrots, the Chinese capitalist bosses are also sharpening their sticks. They are outpacing the U.S. in arms manufacturing and now boast the largest blue-water navy in the world (Foreign Affairs, 10/2). In September, China tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in the Pacific Ocean since the 1980s (AP, 9/26), While the Chinese bosses are struggling at home with slowing growth and a debt crisis in their housing sector, they still have a big advantage over their U.S. rivals: a more disciplined and united ruling class that is further down the road to full-blown fascism. 

The current period’s proxy wars, trade wars, arms buildups, unstable alliances, and dramatic shifts in economic power are reminiscent of the years leading up to World War I, when more than 20 million workers were slaughtered for the rulers’ profits. Compelled by the vicious, zero-sum competition of capitalism, the bosses are always being driven toward the next world war, whether they are ready for it or not. 
But just as workers are now being won or coerced to kill their class brothers and sisters on the other side of made-up borders, they can also be won to kill a system that has no regard for their lives. As they develop an internationalist, antiracist, class-conscious outlook, workers can be organized into a mass party to smash the bosses’ profit system and build a world run by and for the working class.   

Bipartisan rising fascism in the U.S.

Global volatility and the split within the U.S. ruling class will bring even sharper attacks on workers in the U.S. With less of a stake in liberal democracy, the Small Fascist bosses behind Trump (see glossary, page 6) are using him to accelerate the rise of fascism. In most cases, they are building on a foundation laid by the liberal racists of the Democratic Party over the last thirty years. Echoing Bill Clinton’s work-or-die welfare reform, Republicans are pushing Medicaid work requirements and spending cuts that could strip millions of workers and children of their healthcare (NYT, 11/20). Following up on the Biden administration’s threats to slash aid to colleges that allow anti-Zionist, anti-genocide protests, Trump is vowing to eliminate both aid and accreditation (Jerusalem Post, 11/14). 

Moving forward with Trump’s nazi plan for mass deportations of undocumented workers, arch-racist “border czar” Tom Homan has jumped on a Texas rancher’s offer of 1,400 acres for immigrant concentration camps (Texas Tribune, 11/19). Citing an 1807 law for suppressing “insurrection” or “domestic violence,” Trump is already pushing for the U.S. military to round up migrating workers for detention and expulsion (NY Times, 11/18). The soon-to-be Klansman-in-Chief will inherit a headstart on anti-immigrant policy and infrastructure, thanks to Biden’s assault on asylum and the border cages built under Barack Obama (cnn.com, 7/13/19).

Fight back!

From Ukraine to Gaza to the U.S., we need multiracial unity to stand up and fight back against these brutal attacks. We must expose the capitalist system as a bosses’ dictatorship that can  never serve the needs of our class. Under capitalism, mass murder, racism, and sexism are essential elements of the bosses’ pursuit of profit and power. Our only alternative is communism, a dictatorship of the working class. 

The current period is dangerous to be sure. We have a long road to travel to build a mass communist party, but it’s also a period of huge opportunity. While Trump’s fear-mongering and scapegoating found traction among more workers than before, the winner of the 2024 U.S. presidential election–in a landslide–was “none of the above.” Where Trump got around 77 million votes and liberal misleader Kamala Harris around 75 million, close to 90 million eligible voters didn’t bother to go to the polls (usnews.com, 11/15)--and that doesn’t include the millions of undocumented workers or felons convicted by the bosses’ racist criminal injustice system.

In short, there is a great mass of workers who have lost all confidence that capitalism can make their lives any better. It’s our job to transform their cynicism and passivity into class consciousness and organized fightback against the rulers’ rotten death machine. We must struggle together by joining and building the international communist Progressive Labor Party. Together, we can fight to win a communist world. Join PLP!

LOS ANGELES, CA, November 3—Don’t Vote, Revolt! This was the theme for a gathering of  workers and students in Los Angeles at a forum the weekend before the election. This message was not only received by our base, but embraced. Participants were already open to the ideas of voting as a big con, but were thoroughly convinced by the end of the evening. These workers will be needed to help build a worldwide, multiracial fightback for a communist world under the Progressive Labor Party (PLP).

Liberals will kill our class

The L.A. PLP education club, including two brand new members, developed and led the event. We created four sections, starting with the idea that liberals are the main danger for the working class. In this section participants were able to read about different policies and quotes from the most recent and popular liberal politicians. The gallery walk included information about Clinton’s assaults on social welfare programs, Obama’s droning in the Middle East and mass deportation policies, Biden’s support of the genocide in Palestine and his push for profit over the climate, and finally Harris’ support for police and “tough-on-crime” policies. Everyone circled through the gallery and took note of their notices and wonders. During the share-out, base members pointed out that the same groups of workers who Democrats claim to represent– Black and Latin, LGBTQ, immigrants – are the same groups against whom the liberals launch the sharpest attacks.

Workers fought for bosses’ reforms

In the second section of the evening, we discussed the CHALLENGE article “Elections: Capitalist myth vs working-class truth” in small groups. Each breakout was responsible for reporting back to the collective on dispelling one common myth. These included the working-class victories of Social Security commonly attributed to Franklin D. Roosevelt, but actually won by the Communist Party, the Civil Rights Act giving credit to LBJ when Black workers led years of fightback to attain it, as well as the Vietnam War and South Africa. The share outs ensured all participants had a new perspective on these four common myths.

Then we shifted to a discussion on the truths about propositions. In states like California, the bosses convince the working class that they have power through legislation because anyone can put forward a proposition for the state to vote on and that is how we can make change. Workers truly believe in these propositions, so this wasn’t going to be an easy struggle to win. Through a PowerPoint presentation, we were able to address the reality of how the propositions work and who they really serve. 

Like all other forms of electoral politics, the ruling class uses them to keep workers tied to the system. Yet, they are often funded and promoted by billionaires and serve the interests of the ruling class. Even in cases where the working class has been able to create propositions and get them passed through the popular vote, they have eventually been overturned through the bosses’ courts as “unconstitutional”. Our presentation helped convince our base members there that even propositions won’t bring about the change they want to see.

Join PLP to fight for the world we deserve

In the last section we led a whole group share out on the possible alternatives to voting. We didn’t want people to leave the forum depressed, but rather empowered. Our base focused on the importance of education – sharing what we learned with their friends and families. Party members added that we can organize through mass organizations to spread the message of “Don’t Vote, Revolt” with more members of our class. All participants left the event convinced that we could change society through communist revolution, albeit a long-term solution, but truly the only one that will bring about the world that they want to see. Moving forward, we will continue to struggle alongside our base to choose the Party for this fight.

Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members from Brooklyn New York organized a study group about fascism on Saturday, November 16th. The purpose of the study group was to learn about how fascism has developed in the United States, and how both parties-both sets of capitalist bosses-have brought fascism on the working class. The event brought workers, teachers, and students from five different New York City high schools together to discuss what fascism is and how we can fight it. 

Spot the Fascism

While there is a lot of talk about fascism under a Trump administration, PLP believes that fascism has been growing here all along. The event began with a gallery walk. Participants viewed articles, images, and memes posted on the walls and identified the fascist element in each piece of media. The media, among many topics, included statistics about abortion restrictions, deportations under both parties, and state sanctioned punishments for speaking out against genocide. 

One political cartoon about voting read “How many women’s corpses must I step over to vote for women’s rights?”In regards to voting between Trump and Harris one student said, “False choice is no choice.” 

A teacher said that prioritizing the rights of women in imperialist countries over women in Gaza “divides the working class through dehumanization.” 

Fascism: Our Definition 

Students and teachers discussed what made each example fascist. Many people talked about division between workers through nationalism, racism, and anti-trans sexism. Others discussed the increasingly harsh limitations on free speech, and the growing anti-migrant racism. Members analyzed the PLP definition of fascism: 

“A state of late capitalism in crisis where the liberal democratic veil peels away to reveal a rotting dictatorship. The bosses use state terror to discipline their own class and enforce compliance by the working class-both essential conditions for waging global war. Fascism is marked by a more direct and centralized rule, with intensified racism, sexism, and nationalism.” 

Communists organize to fight fascism 

After the gallery walk participants read about communist fight backs against fascism throughout history. Students and teachers analyzed how communists fought against the fascists in the Spanish Civil War, the Klan in Mississippi, and genocide enablers today. Two of the articles featured PLP antifascist action: PL’ers beating up a racist shooter in Tupelo, Mississippi and a PLP teach-in at the Rutgers encampment against the Gaza genocide. In each example members noticed that the capitalist class, when push comes to shove, will side with fascism. From the “democratic” United States sending bombs to fascist Spain to liberal university bosses raiding protests against genocide, both Democrats and Republicans will tolerate fascism as long as it protects their best interests. 

Rely on the working class 

While bosses routinely sell out the working class, communists will never compromise with fascists. In each reading students and teachers noticed that communists are always committed to the fight against fascism. After the event, a few high schoolers, some of whom met at the event, gathered to discuss antiracist fight backs in New York City schools. Workers and students must rely on each other to fight fascism in our schools, our cities, and the world!