Socialist Alternative 71 - March 2021

ALTERNATIVE

SOCIALIST ISSUE #71 l MARCH 2021

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INSIDE p.3 SCHOOL REOPENING p.6-7 WINNING $15/HR. AMAZON DRIVE IN BESSEMER p.8

WHAT WE STAND FOR End the COVID Chaos

For a Socialist Green New Deal

Biden has taken office with the overarching demand of reining in COVID which has now claimed over 500,000 American lives.

We’re seeing a downward trend in cases, but the threat is by no means over. Despite establishment desperation to declare the war against COVID over, the next few months will be crucial in really beating back the virus. We need immediate action to truly get the pandemic under control.

The system failures in Texas last month make it all the more clear that we need drastic action to address the climate crisis.

• Rejoining the Paris Climate Accord is not enough! We need an urgent plan to enact a socialist Green New Deal to address the growing threat of climate disaster.

• Tax the billionaires and big business to fund extreme weather services including fully funded firefighting and forest management, and weatherizing homes.

• For a GND jobs program to tackle climate change and provide good-paying union jobs for millions. We need a complete overhaul of infrastructure on a green basis. To be successful, this needs to be tied to public ownership of the massive energy companies and banks.

Control the spread!

• To prevent the further spread of dangerous new COVID variants, we need an immediate, temporary national closure of all non-essential businesses accompanied by monthly stimulus payments to working people and loans to small businesses.

• Free, accessible COVID-19 testing with rapid results and contact tracing in every community.

• We need a rapid transition to a Medicare-for-All system to ensure high-quality, affordable, public health care to all!

This must include a robust investment in and coverage for mental health services.

• Cancel rent, rental debt, student debt, and medical debt so families can shelter in place without worrying about how to pay the bills.

• Congress needs to pass Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus package, including the $15 an hour minimum wage. No “bipartisan compromise”!

Ramp up vaccine infrastructure!

• While overall the pace of vaccinations in the U.S. has picked up (except for a short term dip due to winter storms), it is still insufficient as we race against dangerous new variants.

• Beyond spending money, we need a comprehensive national plan to reach herd immunity. This means bringing the vast logistics networks of major corporations like Amazon and Walmart into temporary public ownership to accelerate vaccine transportation and tracking.

• Bring big pharma into public ownership to direct the manufacturing of the vaccine and speed up production.

• Keep big business out of public health!

Private, for-profit interests have no place in this public health crisis.

• For an immediate suspension of “intellectual property” restrictions on vaccines.

• It is not enough to vaccinate one section of the world population, we need a truly global vaccine plan!

No Return to Normal “Normal” is what got us into this mess in the first place. We need real change.

• Tax the rich and big business to fund permanently affordable, high quality public housing.

• Scrap the entire for-profit healthcare system. We need an immediate transition to Medicare for All. Take for-profit hospital chains into public ownership and retool them to provide free, high quality healthcare to every American.

• Fully fund public education! End school privatization. We need a national hiring program to hire tens of thousands of new educators to accommodate a permanent reduction in class size.

Fight the Right Even with Trump out of office, the threat of the far right will continue to grow and may actually get worse under a Biden presidency.

The key to pushing back the far right is a determined response from the labor movement and all whose interests it threatens.

• Organize against vigilante terror! Where our movements face attacks from the far right, we need elected self-defense committees.

• Mass protests against attempts from the reactionary Supreme Court to attack healthcare, Roe v. Wade, LGBTQ, immigrant, civil, or trade union rights.

For a New Political Party for Working People • The Democrats are entering the White House in the middle of another COVID surge and the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. While they are being forced to “spend money” to address

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Rest in Power: Karen Lewis Karen Lewis, former president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) passed away on February 7, 2021. Socialist Alternative extends our deepest sympathy to Lewis’ friends and family, as well as her union brothers and sisters in CTU and beyond.

Lewis, the daughter of public school teachers and the product of a Chicago public school education, was elected in 2010 as President of the CTU on the shoulders of a rank and file revolt against the right-wing bureaucrats who controlled the union for years.

Lewis steered the union into a head-on confrontation with Mayor 1% Rahm Emanuel as a part of a strike in 2012. Not only did the CTU win, but they provided the inspiration to educators around the country, laying the basis for the 2018 #RedForEd strike wave.

The following year, Lewis prepared to run for Mayor, raising the demand for a financial transaction tax on Chicago’s LaSalle Street exchanges, a serious threat to the super rich. Karen filed the papers for her candidacy without a party affiliation, signalling that she was prepared to run as an independent candidate of the labor movement. Tragically, she fell ill before the campaign could get under way, and her chosen replacement could not appeal to workers the way Karen could. We will never know what a Karen Lewis campaign might have achieved, but it could have been an important stepping stone towards a new party for the immediate crisis, the party’s establishment is still diametrically opposed to progressive policies that would bring real, lasting change like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.

• Democrats and Republicans alike are unwilling to make any structural changes that threaten the dominance of big business. We need a new multiracial workers’ party that organizes and fights for workers’ interests and is committed to socialist policies to point a way out of the horrors of capitalism.

A Safe and Just Society: End Racist Policing and Criminal (in) Justice • Immediately fire and prosecute all cops who participated in the far-right riot at the Capitol. Purge police forces of anyone with known ties to white supremacist groups or any cop who has committed violent or racist attacks.

• Cities should defund police budgets by at least 50%, and reinvest those funds in needed public services.

• End the militarization of police. Ban police use of “crowd control” weapons.

Disarm police on patrol.

• Put policing under the control of democratically elected civilian boards with power over hiring and firing policies, reviewing budget priorities, and the power to subpoena. All of this should be done openly and publicly.

• End minimum mandatory sentencing, immediately release any prisoner charged with non-violent crimes of

working people.

Future generations will have to take these struggles forward, including in the fight for a safe reopening of our schools.

Karen will always be remembered for her role in raising the labor movements’ sights after a period of defeat, which will be necessary in struggles ahead. She inspired all who fight the system as she stood toe to toe with the vicious, bullying mayor.

Karen Lewis will be remembered as a teacher, union leader, and passionate advocate for public education, racial justice, and a more decent, humane, and equitable society. She will be remembered for her outspoken audacity in taking on the interests of the ruling class in Chicago and for standing up to the neoliberal assault on our children’s education. Rest in power. Karen Lewis presente! J poverty and expunge their record, no more cash bail, close all private prisons!

Labor Movement Needs to Step Up Trade unions are the only organizations workers have to directly defend their rights on the job. However, the leaderships of most major unions have not stepped up to defend their members or organize the unorganized during this pandemic.

• We need fighting unions that defend workers on the job and do not shy away from a fight with the bosses.

• We need a $15 federal minimum wage and to abolish the separate tipped minimum wage.

• Union leaders need to break from the Democratic Party. No more funnelling union dues into Democratic Party politicians who have a record of abandoning working people. Unions have a decisive role to play in the fight for a new party!

• Join the movement! Unions can play a key role in the struggle against racism, sexism, and all forms of oppression.

The Whole System is Guilty • Capitalism produces pandemics, poverty, inequality, environmental destruction, and war. We need an international struggle against this failed system.

• Bring the top 500 companies and banks into democratic public ownership.

• We need a democratic socialist plan for the economy based on the interests of the overwhelming majority of people and the planet. J S O C I A L I S TA LT E R N AT I V E . O R G

Workers Freeze Due To Billionaire Greed Ryan Booker, Houston

Capitalism left working people to die in the Texas cold, and the ensuing crisis exposed the complete inability of the free market to provide for people’s survival.

This week, as a historic winter storm hit much of the United States and temperatures plummeted far below freezing, blackouts began to roll across the Texas power grid. At their peak, the blackouts left more than four million people, largely working families, without heat and electricity during the coldest temperatures in decades. In many parts of the state, temperatures dropped to near 0ºF. It quickly became clear that the projections by the state’s electric power grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), that rolling blackouts would last approximately 40 minutes were completely inaccurate. Many working people faced blackouts and water outages lasting days in homes illequipped to deal with near 0ºF temperatures.

Unable to seek shelter elsewhere due to icy and snow-covered roads, some were forced to take desperate measures, such as sleeping in cars or burning personal possessions for warmth.

The toll on working people across the state was brutal, with at least 30 deaths in Texas as a direct result of the winter storm and shortages of food and clean water across the state still ongoing days later. Meanwhile,

reactionary politicians like Ted Cruz jetted off to warmer climes like Cancún or used expensive wholehome generators for heat.

While there were technical failures at every level of Texas’s energy system, from frozen natural gas wells and pipelines to ERCOT’s failure to account for climate change’s impacts on weather in projecting electricity demand, the roots of the disaster lie in the structural failures of the capitalist system that prioritizes corporate profits over providing heat to working people.

The Permian Basin, in West Texas, is one of the largest oil and gas production regions in the United States. The energy industry exerts enormous political and economic clout in Texas and ensures that fossil fuels and other extractive industries remain dominant even as they wreak global ecological destruction.

Capitalism Cannot Plan, Prepare Even as capitalism’s inexorable drive for

POLITICS

Millions of Texans lost power due to winter storms, forcing them to take desperate measures. accumulation precipitates extreme weather events, it also undermines crucial infrastructure, making it more prone to the sort of critical failures that occurred in Texas. As temperatures plunged and demand for electricity surged, electricity generators supplying the Texas grid began to fail due to winter conditions. This shortfall in generation led to the days-long blackouts implemented by ERCOT. They later admitted to being mere minutes away from an uncontrolled blackout that

would have devastated the grid, potentially for months.

In 2011, another winter storm produced rolling blackouts in Texas. A federal report commissioned in the wake of that debacle made numerous recommendations for upgrading and weatherizing Texas’s energy infrastructure but, in Texas’s deregulated

Is The New York City Model Working?

New York City plan has not won the confidence of parents, 70% of whom have opted their children out of in-person learning, especially Black and Latino families. The bottom line is a “reopening” where the overwhelming bulk of students, especially the students who need the resources the most, aren’t attending or attending just two days a week is not really a “reopening” and certainly not a “model.”

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Educators, Parents, and Students Pay for Failed COVID Response Chris Gray, Minneapolis

Millions breathed a sigh of relief when Biden beat Trump, but the winter was catastrophic with COVID raging uncontrolled and hundreds of thousands losing their lives. The numbers have come way down since January but the possibility of a safe school reopening still seems distant.

As politicians on both sides of the aisle prioritized corporate profits over a real pandemic response, almost half of all students remained in school despite the enormous risks. For millions more, remote learning became an extremely challenging fact of life.

Besides glaring issues like millions of students lacking consistent access to the internet, remote learning prioritized “measurable” MARCH 2021

subjects like reading and math at the expense of other important goals like socialization for elementary students, and support for students with disabilities. It’s had a profound impact on teenagers’ learning and mental health too – teen suicide attempts have almost doubled since 2019.

While Biden entered the White House promising all K-12 schools would be open within the first 100 days of his presidency, he has been forced to back off by the severity of COVID and opposition from local teachers’ unions and many parents. His administration has now said they hope to get the majority of elementary and middle schools back in buildings, at least one day a week, but many hurdles need to be overcome to get students and teachers back in the classroom safely.

The political establishment points to the fact that New York City schools have stayed below the 3% positivity threshold, and below the citywide average, as evidence that all schools can be safely reopened. But, New York City’s schools are a long way away from a return to normal in-person learning.

In the first six weeks of this year, half of New York City’s public elementary schools were closed for up to two weeks because infections went past the guidelines. Middle schools and high schools have been closed since November. The district will face an additional test this week, when 62,000 middle schoolers return. Unsurprisingly, the

Chicago’s Reopening Crisis Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot arbitrarily rejected Chicago Teachers Union and parents’ call for similar reopening guidelines to what has been used in NYC. Rank-and-file

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WOMEN’S MOVEMENT

Childcare Crisis Wracks Working Families Erin Brightwell, Oakland

The situation could hardly be more stark: working-class parents and children are being dramatically set back financially, physically, and emotionally by the pandemic while a handful of billionaires are seeing their fortunes skyrocket to obscene levels. Rulingclass representatives like California Governor Gavin Newsom’s kids attend reopened private schools, at the same time as working-class moms are leaving much-needed jobs for lack of childcare.

Pandemic life, with daycare closures and kids in distance learning, has piled even more work onto parents’ shoulders. Meeting kids’ social, emotional, and physical needs all day in the absence of the school environment, helping them through complicated “distance learning,” and managing increased workloads of cooking and housework all day, every day, is exhausting and overwhelming. The widespread affordable housing crisis predating the pandemic means that families are trying to do distance learning in overcrowded conditions. Juggling childcare, distance learning, and the demands of a job is like falling further and further behind in a high-stakes race no matter how fast you run. No matter how hard you work, how little you sleep, how much you neglect your own needs for relaxation or exercise, it’s never enough.

Compounding Pressures on Working Parents When lockdowns first went into effect in many communities last March, no one anticipated – or planned for – school closures to last for an entire year. Stress levels are through the roof for parents, and especially mothers who do most of the childcare and housework. Burnout, a recognized health condition whose symptoms include fatigue, lack of motivation, headaches, stomachaches, and hair loss, is rampant among working mothers.

A recent study showed that nearly 10 million working mothers, or 25%, are suffering from burnout. The lack of childcare is worsening parent-child relationships on a broad scale.

50% of mothers who are spending more time with their kids during the pandemic report having more frustration with them, according to one report.

The pandemic childcare crisis has serious negative consequences for both parents and kids. Distance learning represents a massive increase in parents’ workload for significantly diminished returns. School districts in distance learning reported dramatic increases in the number of failing grades at the end of the first term. Kids who need special education services often have major difficulties

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adapting to online learning. It’s becoming clear that the isolation of staying at home and the increased alienation of online-only interactions with teachers and peers is negatively impacting kids’ mental health in a serious way. The proportion of emergency room visits that were for mental health is up 24% for younger kids and 31% for teens in a three month period in 2020 compared to 2019. With kids stuck at home and glued to screens for hours, childhood obesity is expected to worsen. Children, and especially children in low-income families, are being harmed in a myriad of ways by the disastrous approach that both state and federal governments have taken to Working parents have been forced to juggle compounding pressures during dealing with the pandemic. the pandemic, including the new demands of remote learning.

This is especially the case for Black and Latina mothers who have left the workforce in higher financial penalty on their future earnings. it’s not clear what will ultimately go into law. numbers – either because of lack of childcare The pandemic in many regions has taken However, the proposed child tax credit would forcing them to quit or because they were laid away the one universal, free service providing deliver monthly payments of $300 per young off. Black women are also more likely to work childcare: public schools, which offer educa- child and $250 per child over six years, and in front-line, essential jobs meaning they do tion, meals, physical activity, etc. it is expected that this measure alone would not have the choice to work from home.

The pandemic-triggered economic crisis cut child poverty in half. has been absolutely devastating to tens Unemployed parents would get a further of millions of working-class people, and it $400 monthly top-up under Biden’s plan, What If You Can’t Work From is particularly hitting women in large part and everyone would get a $1,400 one-time Home? because of the lack of childcare. Women who check. In a further sign that the ruling class is As draining as trying to work from home have had to leave the workforce are missing getting worried that the dire economic condiwhile caring for kids can be, for parents who income, and time out of the workforce for tions are bad for the capitalist system itself, need to show up in person to work, this isn’t childcare is one of the key reasons for the even Republican Mitt Romney has his own even an option. If you don’t make enough gender wage gap. Women will be paying for plan for $300 per child monthly payments. to pay for childcare, and you don’t have this childcare crisis for years to come in lost Biden’s child tax credit is proposed to be a extended family that can help, you are forced wages and lost opportunities for advance- temporary measure, but Democrats in Congress have indicated that they would try to to choose between your job or your kids’ edu- ment on the job. make it permanent. Temporary payments cation, safety, and well-being. Some kids are are desperately needed and will make a big staying home alone at very young ages, while What’s On Offer To Solve The difference to working-class families, but the others are in care situations where there isn’t Childcare Crisis? childcare crisis and its impact on women and anyone available to help them with distance learning.

When the economy first shut down in children shine a light on deeper problems.

Parents don’t just need monthly payMothers in particular have been forced March 2020, child poverty shot up with mass ments, they need a totally overhauled system to cut back on hours or quit their jobs all job loss. The initial stimulus bill, the CARES together in significant numbers to stay home Act, made a significant difference, sending of free, high-quality childcare. They need a with their kids. One survey estimated that the poverty rate below its January level. This robust, science-based public health response two million mothers have left the workforce highlights how vicious U.S. capitalism is to of mass testing, paid quarantines and, when during the pandemic, and the New York the poorest and most vulnerable members of necessary, lockdowns with no loss in pay to Times estimated that one million mothers society at baseline; over 10 million children get the virus under control, and keep it there quit their jobs because of school closures. were officially living in poverty in the richest so that schools and daycares can be operated Women’s workforce participation has been country in the history of the world before the safely. They need guaranteed paid parental pushed back to its 1988 level. Again, this is pandemic crisis began. However, one-time leave, affordable housing and free health particularly acute for Black and Latino moms. $1,200 checks, $500 per child checks, and care to be able to raise healthy kids who For working-class people and women in the temporary $600 unemployment top-ups aren’t exposed to the harmful effects of conparticular, starting a family has always been provided only temporary relief. The child stant financial stress and poverty. A program daunting from an economic perspective. poverty rate is now back to near its April that would provide for the basic needs of kids Unlike many other developed countries, there peak, illustrating the dire need for immediate and families would cost a small fraction of the massive accumulated wealth of the bilis no guaranteed paid parental leave, no uni- COVID relief. versal childcare or preschool in the U.S., and As of this writing, Congress is working on lionaire class. J women who have children face a significant Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, and S O C I A L I S TA LT E R N AT I V E . O R G

FOREIGN POLICY

Biden Gets Ready to Wage Global “Democracy Offensive”

U.S./China Conflict Will Continue Tom Crean, NYC The conflict between a rising Chinese state capitalism and waning U.S. capitalism has emerged as the defining global conflict of our time. Under Trump, the U.S. imposed massive tariffs on China, banned the technology company Huawei, and engaged in a ferocious war of words with the so-called “communist” regime.

After only a few weeks, it is very clear that the Biden administration will not return to the policy of “constructive engagement” with the goal of making China a “responsible stakeholder” in the global capitalist order.

The shift of U.S. policy over the past four years was not just about Trump; there is a broad consensus in the American ruling class that they need to challenge the rise of Chinese power.

Shift of Tone There will be a shift in rhetoric more than a shift in content under Biden. Instead of promoting “U.S. First” like Trump, he is planning to convene a “democracy summit” of key countries, effectively an anti-China summit. This attempt to reassert “American leadership” poses challenges given the chaos of the past year with the ruling class completely mismanaging the COVID pandemic and Trump then trying to stage a coup to prevent Biden taking office. The prestige of U.S. imperialism has been badly damaged to say the least. Meanwhile the Chinese regime – after its own drastic failures at the start of the pandemic in Wuhan – has contained the virus and is the only major power to end 2020 with at least some growth in their economy.

But Biden is seeking to redefine the issue and be (for the U.S.) a bit less arrogant. On February 4, he gave a speech at the State Department where he said: “the American people are going to emerge from this moment stronger, more determined, and MARCH 2021

better equipped to unite the world in fighting to defend democracy because we have fought for it ourselves.” This is a clear reference to putting down Trump’s threatened coup on January 6.

Biden is taking a sharper approach to Putin and using alleged sympathy with the masses in the streets of St. Petersburg, Moscow, and other cities as cover for reasserting the interests of U.S. imperialism. The administration also claims rather half-heartedly to be on the side of the people against the coup in Myanmar and is distancing itself from the Saudi monarchy and its vicious war in Yemen.

What Lies Behind the Facade Can Biden use this approach with success to regain the initiative in the conflict with China? This can’t be ruled out.

The reactionary, anti-working class nature of the “communist” dictatorship in China is very clear when it is attacking trade unions, suppressing any element of democratic rights in Hong Kong, and putting hundreds of thousands into “reeducation camps” in Xinjiang. The American media does not lose an opportunity to expose the brutality of the CCP regime. But it is the job of socialists to expose what lies behind the democratic pretensions of U.S. imperialism.

They are only committed to democracy, really a democracy for the rich, insofar as it serves to maintain capitalist rule inside the U.S. and as a cover for the assertion of their economic and strategic interests globally.

They will not hesitate to support dictatorships and slaughter as in Indonesia in 1965, Thailand 1976, and South Korea 1980 when this is seen as necessary to stop revolution. They will also not hesitate to attack workers rights and democratic rights here at home when they deem that necessary.

The new Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, said at his Senate confirmation hearing that the Trump administration was right to

Biden speaks at the State Department on Feb 4.

stand up to China. He has also said he agreed with Pompeo calling CCP policy in Xinjiang “genocide” against the Uyghur people, a term that has been used by imperialist powers as a pretext for war and regime change.

International Socialist Alternative supports the legitimate struggle of the Uighurs and other oppressed people against vicious state repression and widespread use of forced labor. U.S. capitalism does not care about their plight. They are pawns on a chess board. Of 49 countries identified as dictatorships in 2015 by the pro-U.S. think-tank Freedom House, the U.S. government provided military support to 36 of them – that’s 73%.

How the Conflict Will Develop Meanwhile Xi Jinping has adopted an aggressive posture to test Biden. For example, the Chinese air force recently simulated an attack on the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in a military exercise in Taiwanese waters.

Of course we cannot exclude a truce being reached at some point between the U.S. and Chinese regimes but the underlying dynamic of this conflict points to it playing out over decades, not years. It could, under certain circumstances, also heat up and lead to actual military conflict although a full scale war remains very unlikely due to the massive nuclear arsenals of both countries.

But at the same time the internal crisis in both China and the U.S. will go on, driven by the crisis of global capitalism. The attempt of the American ruling class to reassert itself globally and push back against the rising power of China, while it may produce some results, definitely has limitations.

The U.S. is still the strongest power globally in economic and military terms. But it has been in decline since the 1970s. There is no road back to the dominant position it held at the end of World War II when other

capitalist powers lay in ruins. Nor will they be able to defeat China the way they stopped the rise of Japan 30 years ago. China presents a much bigger challenge.

While one side or the other could “win” in the end, it will only be at enormous cost to both. The likely perspective is that the longer this conflict goes, the more it will weaken and undermine each superpower. This will in turn exacerbate the crisis of capitalism in both countries and strengthen both revolutionary and counterrevolutionary dynamics.

What is critical is to forge internationalist unity between the working class of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and the working class of the United States. We must oppose the poison of great power nationalism and chauvinism. This is used by the ruling class to distract and divide workers. Likewise we oppose both free trade and protectionist policies which harm and divide working people in different ways.

Trump talked about the “China virus” to distract from his criminal negligence during the pandemic. This contributed directly to a wave of racist attacks on Asians in the U.S. in the spring. There are now reports of a new wave of attacks. Xi Jinping meanwhile uses nationalist rhetoric to distract ordinary people in China from massive inequality and an increasingly brutal dictatorship.

We stand for workers unity across the world against all the imperialist powers but here in the U.S. we first and foremost oppose the lying pretensions of defending democracy which are being used as a cover for reasserting the corporate elite’s interests. In order to defeat the capitalist class in China and the U.S. we need to build an international movement to fight for a global democratic socialist system, the only way to bring these conflicts to an end once and for all. J

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A SOCIALIST STRATEGY TO WIN Kshama Sawant, Seattle

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illions of working people around the country, in the midst of this historic crisis of capitalism, have been inspired by the demand for a $15/hour minimum wage.

The first victories for $15 were won in Seattle and nearby Seatac, later popularized by Bernie Sanders during his 2016 presidential campaign, and recently proposed as part of the new federal stimulus plan by new Democratic President Joe Biden. Our win in Seattle represented a $3 billion transfer of wealth from big business to the lowest wage workers over a decade, benefiting women and people of color in particular, at a time when $15 was being painted as “utopian” by the corporate media.

This week, millions of people were disappointed to see an almost immediate removal of the $15 minimum wage from Biden’s plan, under pressure from big business. Last week, Biden privately told a group of governors and mayors that the $15 minimum wage hike likely isn’t happening.

So what strategy is needed to win $15? Can we have confidence in any of the corporate Democratic politicians to follow through on their promises?

If the experience of Seattle is any guide, the answer is a resounding no.

Seattle’s historic $15/hour minimum wage was won as the result of a socialist strategy, basing itself on independently and democratically organized mass movements. It was not won through the strategy of most of the labor leaders who had been organizing Fight for $15 protests, but who relied on negotiations with Democratic politicians or big business.

A Trailblazing Socialist Election Campaign In January of 2013, Socialist Alternative and I launched a socialist election campaign

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for Seattle City Council, against a 16-year Democratic establishment incumbent.

From the beginning we called for a $15 minimum wage. As our grassroots campaign progressed, and fast food worker strikes were beginning to develop around the country, we increasingly put $15/hour at the forefront of our platform.

Also from the beginning, we received a great deal of pushback from Democratic Party operatives. I was told that I should not call myself a socialist if I wanted to be elected, and that $15 was too high and just not winnable.

Not one Democratic politician or candidate in Seattle spoke in favor of $15 at the time, even after our campaign built huge momentum and I came in second in the August primary election.

A few prominent labor leaders who were organizing the fast food worker protests were also unhappy with our campaign for $15/ hour. That same year, many of the same labor unions were campaigning for $15 and other workplace rights in the small nearby city of SeaTac, whose economy is centered around the regional airport. But they believed that $15 was not winnable in a major city like Seattle, and that we were not helping the cause. They repeatedly urged us to stop calling for $15.

They themselves began building a Seattle campaign against wage theft instead, because they thought it was a mild enough demand that big business would not strongly oppose. They refused to endorse our campaign, and instead supported my corporate Democratic opponent, who opposed $15.

Despite this, we sought in every way to build up a connection between the Seatac struggle and Seattle. We had hundreds of conversations with rank-and-file airport workers, and spoke publicly in solidarity with the SeaTac campaign and against the right wing think tanks and antiworker City Councilmembers.

We succeeded in putting $15 at the very center of Seattle politics. A few weeks before the general election, the two Seattle mayoral

candidates took up $15 under pressure from our campaign and union members.

After we won, the union leaders who had not endorsed our election campaign said they wanted to work with us to win $15. They noted that despite their endorsement of our opponent, most labor rank-and-file had been inspired by our campaign and had voted for us!

Socialist City Councilmember In early January, a few weeks after I took office, two of the corporate Democratic Councilmembers dropped by my office to warn me that even though I had rabble-roused my way into office, I was not going to win $15/hour, and that City Hall ran on their terms. I likewise informed them that things were about to change in City Hall. As I said in my inauguration speech a few days later, “Let me make one thing absolutely clear: There will be no backroom deals with corporations or their political servants. There will be no rotten sell-out of the people I represent.”

On January 12, Socialist Alternative and I launched the 15 Now grassroots campaign along with progressive labor unions. We organized mass conferences, launched “neighborhood action groups,” and held a series of marches. Then, in a conference attended by hundreds of working people, with democratic discussion and voting, 15 Now decided to file a grassroots ballot initiative so that we could take the issue to voters if Democratic City Councilmembers failed to act.

We also published a series of op-eds countering the political attacks carried out by the establishment and big business.

A section of big business and the Democratic establishment had drawn the conclusion that it would be poor strategy to openly oppose $15, because they saw the huge support we had won for it over the course of the election. A poll in January showed 68% of Seattle voters supported $15. Rather than attacking it headon, their plan was to lower the number from 15, get permanent carve outs of big sections of

workers – including tipped, fast food, and disabled workers – and a sunset clause to make the wage increase temporary.

A Shop Steward for Seattle’s Working Class Their immediate step was to have newlyelected Democratic Mayor Ed Murray launch what came to be known as the Income Inequality Advisory Committee (IIAC). The IIAC was going to include prominent labor leaders, NGO leaders, the Chamber of Commerce, leaders of the restaurant industry, the hotel industry, and Nucor Steel. Howard Wright, owner of Space Needle, and David Rolf, the then President of SEIU 775, were appointed co-chairs.

Murray invited me on to the IIAC, perhaps thinking that we would refuse, which could marginalize the working-class movement, and allow the establishment to portray themselves as the ones actually doing the work on 15 while we were merely grandstanding on the sidelines.

Alternatively, they might have hoped to be able to co-opt us to some degree into their agenda.

With potential dangers on both sides, the question of whether or not to accept this invitation is a real-life example of the complicated tactical questions working people’s representatives and movements need to navigate in a principled manner.

Socialist Alternative discussed and decided that I would accept it – but on our terms. I met with Mayor Murray and told him I would participate in the IIAC, with the caveat that I would no be in any way constrained by the decisions of the body, that I was not going to be accountable to the members of the IIAC but to working people, that I was not going to follow a nondisclosure policy, and that there needed to be a strict deadline for the conclusions of the committee to be made public to allow time for a ballot initiative to be run in 2014 if the City Council failed to act. He was forced to agree to that.

A few days later, at the IIAC launch press S O C I A L I S TA LT E R N AT I V E . O R G

conference, I said that I will serve on this committee as a shop steward of Seattle’s working people.

A Socialist United Front Method The labor members of the IIAC and I had separate meetings as the Labor Caucus of the IIAC, which as a rank-and-file member of teachers union AFT 1789, I attended. At one of these Labor Caucus meetings, one of the most influential labor leaders in the $15 movement said that they had talked to the business leaders on the IIAC, and that things were at an impasse, that they were convinced we were simply not going to get $15. They said that maybe $12/hour was viable, and that we should back down now and win what we can.

This was stunning, because it was not at a moment when the movement had declined or been thrown back. Support for 15 was stronger than ever, and more and more people were willing to march on the streets. It was, in fact, the moment to sharpen the pressure on big business. Some of the other labor leaders also seemed to disagree with this proposed capitulation, but were unwilling to push back. So it was left to me to say that I strongly disagreed, and that giving in now would be a betrayal of working people, and that while I much preferred that we remained united in our tactics, I would have to break with them if they insisted.

The labor leader who had advocated for this position responded by backing down from it, and we continued in a united way, which was beneficial to the $15 movement.

This is a good example of how as socialist elected representatives, whether in legislatures or in the union movement, our unity has to be with working people, not those who are reluctant to take on a fighting strategy, even when they are well-meaning progressives or labor leaders.

Following our launch of the 15 Now campaign, the prominent labor and NGO leaders (many of whom were on the IIAC with me) formed a separate, closed-door coalition called “15 for Seattle.” They allowed Socialist Alternative to formally participate in 15 for Seattle, but things became tense when they soon

MARCH 2021

disagreed with us about the need for a ballot initiative threat.

We made repeated attempts to get the “15 for Seattle” coalition to at least “agree to disagree” on the issue of the ballot initiative tactic. But things still came to a head, and they decided to remove us from the coalition. While there was nothing we could do to stop this, we urged them that it was not in the interest of the $15 movement to make that split public, to which they agreed. We also continued to work with progressive union leaders within 15 Now, in particular with Unite Here Local 8, whose members and leadership were active in the movement. This is an example of socialist united front tactics of building principled unity in a mass movement.

The 15 Now ballot initiative threat was absolutely vital to winning. It was later publicly acknowledged by big business leaders that they had had no intention of conceding, had it not been for the credible threat of the ballot initiative. Socialist Alternative and 15 Now were correct to not to back down on that issue, while making patient efforts to win unity where possible within the coalition.

Can a Federal $15/Hour Be Won Without Class Struggle?

The disagreements between our socialist strategy to win $15 and that of the prominent labor leaders’ reflected the crucial debate between class struggle methods on the one hand and avoiding conflict with business executives and the Democratic Party on the other.

Seattle’s struggle for $15 demonstrates that a strategy by movement leaders and workingclass representatives of prioritizing peace with big business and the establishment not only shackles the movement, but it can potentially be fatal.

While most labor and progressive leaders are clear that the Republican Party is openly hostile to workers, they have been closely tied to the Democratic Party and its disastrous neoliberal policies for decades. The Democratic Party has key differences from the Republican Party, especially its right wing. However,

both these parties have one thing in common – they serve Wall Street and the wealthy. For decades, the two-party system secured a relatively stable rule for U.S. capitalism. Democrats occasionally allowed minor reforms to be won from time to time as a kind of safety valve – with the aim of preventing sharper clashes and upheavals, and sustaining illusions in the system – while at the same time presiding over massive inequalities and poverty. The American working class has seen cratering living standards, a healthcare crisis, and body blows dealt to basic funding for public education, housing, and services. The pandemic has put all this into sharper relief, with the brunt of the crisis landing on working people. In these circumstances, the Democrats are being forced to go beyond their normal neoliberal approach, but they will not easily concede or fight for gains that would meaningfully improve the lives of working people in a serious way.

While millions of American workers are still unionized, not only has union density plummeted, ideas of business unionism have transformed many unions from their proud militant class-struggle-based history into lobbying organizations preoccupied with maintaining good relationships with Democratic politicians and the corporate bosses.

In contrast, victories for the working class throughout history have only come about when movements and their leaders and representatives have adopted a class struggle approach; when workers and union rank and file have been mobilized into action in democratically organized movements; and when we have recognized who is on our side and who isn’t. We can’t afford to have illusions in any corporate politicians, including the new president, if we hope to win a federal $15.

What Strategy for Bernie and the Squad For Bernie Sanders and the Squad, winning a federal $15 will not be mainly a question of writing a bill and formally bringing it forward, much less the ins and outs of parliamentary mechanisms like the budget reconciliation

process. The Democratic Party’s history is littered with progressive bills that never achieved more than a symbolic existence. And $15 will also not be won by the Squad making reasonable arguments to the Democratic establishment – this is not going to happen. Instead, the Squad needs to fight for it to stay on the agenda by beginning a public fightback and basing themselves on the strength of the working class. This will put them in open conflict with the Democratic establishment, which cannot be avoided. They should use their elected positions alongside the labor movement to rally millions of working people into mass action. They should begin by calling mass conferences on $15, as we did in Seattle but on a national scale, and then build the momentum of millions to put big business and the establishment on notice.

We of course work with Democratic politicians on issues where we agree, and that are in the clear interests of working people, and always have. But this can never mean limiting yourself to what is acceptable to the political establishment, or basing yourself on insider deals, and then trying to force working people to accept marginal changes to avoid conflict.

It cannot mean holding back criticism when Democratic politicians sell out working people.

Ultimately, the Squad, Bernie Sanders, organizations like the DSA, and progressive union leaders need to draw this to its logical conclusion and begin building a new, working-class political party independent of the Democrats.

Fighting for fundamental change for working people will require an immediate break with the Democratic Party and the building of truly mass movements of the working class. It will require courage, and a willingness to be in a minority at times. And it will require fighting alongside working people and marginalized communities in their struggles while helping our class raise its sights to what is possible, and in fact necessary, if we are to take on the urgent tasks that face us in this period of historic crisis. J

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L ABOR MOVEMENT

Solidarity with Amazon Workers in Bessemer, AL Socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant Dear Bessemer Amazon workers, As an elected representative of Seattle’s working people, a rankand-file union member, and a member of Socialist Alternative, I am inspired by the bravery and tenacity you have shown in your fight to win recognition for the Amazon Union in Bessemer, Alabama.

Socialist Alternative and my Council office stand with you as you encourage your fellow workers to vote a resounding “Yes” for workers’ rights, dignity, respect, and RWDSU! You have taken on some of the most powerful multimillionaires and billionaires in the world. By standing up, you are fighting on behalf of yourselves at the BHM1 facility in Bessemer and millions of other nonunion workers at Amazon and other corporations who are struggling under brutal working conditions. A victory for you in Bessemer could be a historic turning point for working people across America. It would be a shot in the arm for workers fighting against workplace

injustice, racism, and sexism.

Amazon alone made a record $21.3 billion in profits last year. As with other large corporations under capitalism, these profits primarily derive from exploiting workers with low wages.

Amazon has absolutely no business telling workers not to pay union dues or carry out a completely dishonest, anti-union propaganda campaign. The company is fighting precisely because they know that when you win, they will have to begin to respect your demands.

They are afraid of the collective power you’ll have as a union.

Moreover, they know that many other Amazon workers are watching and supporting your struggle, including tech workers, and your victory will give them confidence. The recent victory for the Google Alphabet Workers Union shows how the big tech bosses can be beaten, and how the tech, gig, and logistics industries will be a major battleground in workers’ struggles in the years to come.

Some people may say that Amazon is too big, too powerful to beat. They are wrong – and I have proof.

In January of 2020, our socialist City Council office launched Seattle’s Tax Amazon movement, along with hundreds of working people and union members, to tax Amazon – which is headquartered here – and

Amazon workers in Bessemer, AL are fighting for a union.

other major corporations to fund affordable housing, Green New Deal projects, and other urgent human needs.

Amazon had just spent unprecedented corporate cash in 2019 in their attempt to defeat my third election – in which they failed – and our campaign promised to fight for the Amazon Tax. Seattle’s mayor – a corporate Democrat elected with a record donation from Amazon – told the media last year that our Amazon Tax was “never going to happen, and I think it’s irresponsible for anyone to say that that’s even possible.”

But we organized, collected over 30,000 Tax Amazon ballot initiative signatures in one month’s time, and, last July, we won!

That recent experience shows us that Amazon can be beaten, whether in Seattle or in Bessemer.

It also shows we must fight not only for basic workplace rights but also for democratic control over our workplaces. Over a million workers go to work for Amazon globally every single day and generate the

Service Sector Workers Bear Weight of Lockdown:

Organize to Fight Back!

Marie O’Toole, NYC From the onset of the COVID crisis, the livelihood and health of those of us working in food service and hospitality have been at constant odds with business interests.

110,000 restaurants have boarded up their windows nationwide since last March and revenue across the industry is down 60% since last February. The economic strain on businesses means decreased opportunities for employment, and increased demand on those who still have their job. Service sector workers faced higher unemployment than any other industry, closing out 2020 at 16.7%.

This all combines with historically low pay to put workers on dangerous footing for an economic downturn. Tipped workers, whose minimum wage is only $2.13 an hour, are reporting a decrease in money from customers. In the woman-dominated workforce, there is an alarming increase in reports of

8

sexual harassment.

One in four food service workers were uninsured prior to the start of the pandemic.

A study conducted by the University of California San Francisco found that working age adults across all sectors faced a 22% mortality increase during the pandemic, but line cooks faced a 60% increase in mortality rates! Immigrant workers, who make up a huge section of the industry, are literally dying to fill orders as a result.

The conflict between this human cost and the needs of capitalism were fully apparent with the reopening of indoor dining in New York City. An early COVID epicenter, New York soon demonstrated impressive containment while expanding outdoor dining.

As summer came to a close, the city and state governments were met with lawsuits by local businesses to reopen indoor dining options. Indoor dining reopened at 25% capacity on September 30 despite 80% of Americans, according to a McKinsey survey,

saying they experienced anxiety about dining indoors. Data provides merit to these feelings – according to a CDC study released in September, adults with positive COVID-19 results were twice as likely to have eaten at a restaurant in the two weeks prior. A surge in positive cases after the September reopening closed indoor dining again in New York

by December.

Food service workers were initially placed last in line to receive the vaccine. This lack of access to vaccination did not prevent the state’s second reopening of indoor dining in February. When asked about whether he would begin prioritizing restaurant workers ahead of this reopening, Governor Andrew Cuomo initially referred to the question as being “cheap and insincere.” However, we were expedited to having immediate access soon after.

But ability to schedule an appointment did not mean that the workers expected to staff indoor dining would actually receive the vaccine before being put into danger.

Cuomo announced the eligibility change 10 days ahead of the reopening, at a time when it was near-impossible to find available appointments. Those seeking access were

profits. We should ask why billionaires should get to decide how to use the product of so many people’s collective work, and enrich themselves so spectacularly while so many struggle even after working so hard. Amazon should belong to, and be democratically controlled by, the workers who make it run. That is why I’ve called for democratic public ownership of Amazon when Bezos threatened to move jobs out of Seattle in their attempt to defeat our Tax Amazon movement.

I have no doubt you can win. Of course, we must be prepared that in the coming days and weeks, Amazon executives will continue to lie and throw every nasty, under-handed, anti-union tactic at you. They will say that organizing a union is futile, that it won’t change things.

Stay united, stay strong, and know that my City Council office, and my organization, Socialist Alternative, will do everything in our power to support you in your historic fight!

In solidarity, Kshama Sawant

soon greeted by a lack of open time slots and government websites crashing under large demand.

Fast food workers moved into action across 15 cities iin February for a one-day strike demanding a $15 minimum wage.

Speaking in a video shared on Twitter by the North Carolina Fight for 15, Cracker Barrel employee Eric Winston said, “we’re on strike to remind our employers that we are the company. Us – the workers – we are the engines that run your business.”

Organization and struggle in the service sector will need to be scaled up massively. We need to abolish tiered wages for tipped workers and demand a better standard of living for all. Winning a $15 an hour minimum wage would provide a huge boost to the livelihood and confidence of those of us in the service sector, but corporate Democrats are already signaling a willingness to drop that demand. President Biden has already privately told governors to expect Congressional action on a $15 minimum wage to be put off, indefinitely. We need to fight to ensure it’s on the agenda. That means unions taking up bold and immediate campaigns to organize service workers with $15 as a rallying demand. J S O C I A L I S TA LT E R N AT I V E . O R G

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

UNDER CAPITALISM, MORE PANDEMICS TO COME Rebecca Green, NYC As countries around the globe are getting good news about dropping COVID cases, to some it may seem like we are out of the woods. But, while fully containing COVID remains a tremendous challenge and threats of vaccine-resistant variants spreading are very real, there is an even more alarming threat ahead. Capitalism’s inherently unsustainable exploitation of the earth, rapid deforestation, and infringement on natural ecosystems are significantly increasing the risk of future, more deadly pandemics to come.

Threat of Pandemics to Come There are an estimated 1.7 million undiscovered viruses in mammals and birds, about half of which could infect humans. Scientists predict that future pandemics will happen more often, spread faster, and kill more people.

Over the past two decades, there is a growing body of evidence that shows how deforestation creates the conditions for transmission of deadly pathogens. Clearing forests means humans venturing into areas with wildlife that carry deadly disease, and taking away these animals’ habitats, forcing them to flee, often into newly established farms and human settlements.

Big Ag An estimated 80% of global deforestation is driven by the agricultural industry, which is also the leading cause of habitat destruction. Animal agriculture is a significant factor within this. Cattle ranching (and the soy farms that produce cattle feed) is the biggest cause of deforestation in almost every Amazon county.

By 2050, the global meat industry, which is largely controlled by just a few corporations and worth $2 trillion, is expected to rise by 76%.

Socialist Transformation of Society Needed Under capitalism, the levers in society that dictate what is produced, how, and where, and for whom, are controlled by private corporations based on what is the most profitable. That is why, despite science showing the dire threat of deforestation to global public health, the highly centralized meat industry is continuing to decimate forests at an exponential rate.

The source of all wealth under capitalism is raw materials from the earth plus the labor workers do to transform those materials into sellable goods. A chunk of metal doesn’t mean much by itself, but turn it into a car part and there is money to be made. Because of this, capitalists will always seek to drive down the cost of materials and labor to maximize profits, cash out, expand, and beat out MARCH 2021

their competition. This means getting the cheapest, dirtiest materials in the cheapest, crudest way, and pressuring politicians for deregulation so they aren’t on the hook to pay for the toxic chemical leaks, water contamination, air pollution, and infectious diseases that come as a result. It also means forcing more labor out of workers, pitting us against each other along racial, national, and gender lines, and crushing unions and attempts by workers to unite for better conditions.

It is futile to hope that we can in any meaningful way change the course we’re on toward more and worse pandemics and environmental chaos while our economy rests in private hands under the logic of capitalism.

No amount of crisis for poor and working people can itself change the internal workings of this cruel and exploitative system that fundamentally, ideologically views the natural world and people as commodities to be exploited.

Where Do We Start?

A necessary starting point is taking fossil fuel companies, for-profit utilities, and major agricultural companies into public ownership.

But public ownership under capitalism is not enough, because how much do we trust our current politicians, whose pockets are lined with industry money, who slash public services at every opportunity, and have failed to stop the climate catastrophe for decades?

We need democratically elected bodies of workers (from laborers and assembly line workers to mechanics and scientists) in every workplace and industry to make the key decisions about and plan production as part of a democratically worked out national and international plan based on people’s needs not profit. As working and poor people bear the brunt of pandemics, extreme weather disasters, and the climate crisis, decision-making about environmental and labor practices would look very different – far more logical, and humane – if it were under workers’ control. These workers’ councils could also shorten the work week, lower absurd productivity requirements, and employ the unemployed to help transition to renewable energy and environmentally sustainable practices, without any loss of pay for anyone.

But if you’re thinking this all would never happen under capitalism: you’re right. It will take a mass movement, and eventually a political and social transformation to overthrow the power of the capitalists and seize democratic control by the majority for the majority. Workers in polluting industries, and the labor movement as a whole, have the critical role to play in this process, as they can cripple the profits and power of the capitalists by withholding their labor and mobilizing in the streets and their communities to fight for an alternative. J To read more international news check out International Socialist Alternative at internationalsocialist.net.

Across Myanmar, millions joined protests and walked off the job to oppose the military coup on Feb 22..

MASS MOVEMENT IN MYANMAR ESCALATES WITH GENERAL STRIKE Myanmar’s military (the Tatmadaw) staged a coup on February 1, the day before a newly elected parliament was to take office. A state of emergency was declared and State Counsellor (prime minister) Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets, joined after a few days by medical workers who launched strike action from over 80 hospitals. This inspired civil servants from the Ministry of Energy, copper miners, and even members of the police force to join.

The military cracked down on the protests with brutality, at first using tear gas and rubber bullets, and shutting down internet communications and social media.

On the weekend of February 20-21, snipers were stationed on roofs, barricades and fleets of vehicles were deployed, and multiple protesters were shot and killed by state security officers with live ammunition.

Instead of intimidating people into submission, millions took to the streets on February 22 in the biggest wave of mass protests yet, with hundreds of thousands of workers participating in a general strike.

Civil servants, bank workers, doctors, supermarket cashiers, telecom operators, food service workers, and oil rig operators marched, effectively shutting down the entire country’s economy and financial system.

National League for Democracy Dashes Hopes The military leadership, which controlled the country since the 1960s, was forced in the past decade to allow elements of democratization, partly because the move opened many doors internationally for the

ruling class and partly because a wave of protests in 2007 threatened internal stability. In 2011, the military gave way to the country’s main political opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Those who took part in protests against the military in past years pinned their hopes on the NLD when they entered government.

However, the NLD from the outset opted for loyal cooperation with the army leadership.

The coup itself demonstrates the failure of this approach. There has been growing discontent with the policies and direction of the NLD in recent years. The NLD offers nothing to the various ethnic groups in Myanmar in areas like the Shan or Kachin states, and in fact Aung San Suu Kyi has denied the horrifying persecution of Rohingya Muslims in front of world leaders.

What is Needed?

Change will not be achieved by governing with the military or by accepting their conditions. Democratic reforms are also insufficient to change the living standards of the majority. There is a need for a program of socialist change and the building of a revolutionary organization that popularizes this need in organized and coordinated strike committees.

These committees should be set up in all workplaces and neighborhoods, with coordination to lay the basis for a constituent assembly. The movement in Myanmar needs to draw in workers, including those exploited by joint venture companies in special economic zones, and develop solid ties with the oppressed masses across the entire Asian continent. J

9

FIGHTING RACISM

Us Them

Movie Review: Judas and

the Black Messiah

versus

Meaghan Murray, Minneapolis

Travel-sized Town

Eljeer Hawkins, NYC This Black History Month, Shaka King’s heart wrenching Judas and the Black Messiah was released on HBO Max. The violent and destructive response by the forces of the state to the BPP, and the targeting of Hampton for his role in forging a united working class and youth movement is re-told in the film. What lessons do we learn from this Hollywood production about the life and legacy of Fred Hampton, Mark Clark, and BPP today?

The Life and Political Work of Fred Hampton The film provides a clear snapshot of the life and political work of Fred Hampton, but we don’t learn anything about his early years.

Hampton’s family was one of the thousands that migrated from the south after WWII to the urban manufacturing and textile centers to escape Jim/Jane Crow poverty, violence, and endemic racism.

Hampton became a star athlete and student leader, leading marches and walk-outs against racism in high school and feeding young people through a food program. Hampton joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), but then began to draw more revolutionary conclusions. He joined the BPP for its revolutionary politics and program when he was 20 years old.

Where is the Rainbow Coalition, Socialism, and COINTELPRO? What is unfortunately glaringly missing from the film is the infamous Chicago Democratic mayor Richard Daley (1955-1976) who is mentioned only once, and Cook County State’s Attorney Edward V. Hanrahan is never mentioned at all. Daley and the Chicago political and economic establishment governed under an extremely segregated and racist city.

Hampton and the Chicago BPP sought to build a coalition of the poor and oppressed to challenge the Daley machine and his

10

political and economic system. The Rainbow coalition consisted of the BPP, Puerto Rican street gang turned political organization, the Young Lords, and the Young Patriots of Uptown, made up of poor, white southerners.

This radical Rainbow coalition denounced law enforcement terror, poverty, racism, and the Vietnam War. The development of cohered leadership and organization became a domestic and international threat.

This threat was responded to through the U.S. government’s Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), which included a series of illegal projects to prevent the development of a unified radical movement, targeting feminist organizations, the antiVietnam war movement, and of course the civil rights and Black Power movements.

J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen in the movie) is portrayed as a mad man and racist in the film, which he was. But COINTELPRO wasn’t his brainchild solely, but was an integral element of capitalism and institutional racism to defend the ruling elite’s interests by any means necessary.

Winter in America This May will mark the one-year anniversary of the George Floyd rebellion, the largest protest movement in U.S. history.

We have witnessed the ebb of the historical moment due to corporate co-option, the black misleadership class’ dastardly role in jumping in front to direct the rage into safe channels of the two-party system, and Democratic party officials’ performative rhetoric to stifle the movement.

The vicious attacks against BLM are in the capitalist states’ tradition of responding to cries for freedom and justice. From Occupy Wall Street and Standing Rock to post-Ferguson, Baltimore, and post-George Floyd Minneapolis, activists and organizers have been targeted with arrests, convictions, and murder while killer cops walk free.

What Fred Hampton Taught Us Fred Hampton’s greatest contribution was

Remember Polly Pockets, the tiny toys from the ‘90s? They were dolls that lived in compact cases, fashioned to look like scenes from the real world: malls, zoos, hair salons, and cruise ships. Bluebird Toys, Polly Pocket’s creator, was in the business of making society look cute by fitting it into a tinier space. They were not in the business of improving society; sadly, there was no Proletarian Polly Pocket, and as far as I know, none of these water parks, mini mansions, and wonderlands were publicly owned.

When I saw an image of the Blue Estate Island, a luxury, man-made isle that will be home to 15,000 residents in 2025, it reminded me of the compacts where my pocket-sized pals used to reside. Blue Estate will be a mobile city, not far from the shores of the Bahamas. Island brokers - a job title I wish I’d never heard of - have been telling wealthy investors that the floating island is ideal in our current pandemic and climate crisis; it’ll have a clinic, school, bars, and restaurants. It can - allegedly - float away from hurricanes, run on renewable energy, and is - allegedly - “open to everyone.” Every person living anywhere near a coast is probably thrilled to hear there’s a solution to the extreme weather they’re experiencing. Just move to

a floating island! Homes start at around $20k (at this price, the home is actually a micro apartment, measuring 20 square meters in size - perfect for your Pollies) while other properties are priced at over $1 billion. But, sure, this island is “open to everyone!”

Like Bluebird Toys, the Blue Estate developers are in the business of making life under capitalism look fun by fitting it into a tinier, more exclusive space. But when this sort of imagination is only for the richest among us, it really isn’t that cute.

Absentee Landlords Texas is an electrical island, but cannot conveniently float away from incoming storms. When I think of this tragedy of failed systems, there are two scenes that I cannot get out of my head. One, where the room is dark and the power is out. A family living on the outskirts of Houston is huddling together with every blanket they own. They’re staring at a city skyline, where empty skyscraper offices’ lights shine bright. I imagine one of those Texans thinking aloud, “I wonder if the board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas are freezing, too.” And then I picture the home of ERCOT Chairwoman Sally Talberg. The room is lit, the power is on, the heat is on. She’s visibly upset (reading her Twitter mentions). And I can hear her saying, “Well, I’m very glad I live in Michigan.” J

STAY UP TO DATE WITH SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE @Socialist Alternative /SocialistAlternativeUSA @SocialistAlt /c/SocialistAlternative his vision of organizing a united movement that not only centered black youth but would center our movement around shared interest and common struggle of all oppressed people. It was a powerful reminder of the socialist, communist and workers’ movement of the 1930s and 40s that forged unity among the working class to combat racism, corporate greed and capitalist oppression at home and abroad.

The radical Rainbow coalition and its short lived experiment cemented his understanding that the greatest fear of capitalism and racism is working people and youth coming together in unity to challenge the system.

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The George Floyd rebellion in its early phase provided us a glimpse of a mulit-racial revolt against racial oppression and law enforcement terror that shook the world and would make Fred Hampton smile.

Fred Hampton was fighting for a socialist transformation of society that would facilitate us living a dignified life. Fred Hampton’s selfsacrifice, revolutionary love for the people, and belief in the power of the people is what has inspired millions of young people around the world to speak out and organize around housing, jobs, education, ending law enforcement terror, imperial war, and systemic racism. J S O C I A L I S TA LT E R N AT I V E . O R G

C O N T I N U AT I O N S

Energy Crisis in Texas system, privately-owned energy companies were left to voluntarily implement the critical changes. Many did not, unwilling to eat into profits to invest in backup capacity or more resilient equipment.

Capitalism Produces Inequality and Crisis Under capitalism, the purpose of energy and utility companies is not actually to provide energy and utilities, but rather to generate profit.

For-profit energy companies have no incentive to provide reliable infrastructure during periods of abnormal energy demand like freezing weather in Texas, even as such events become more common.

The vast majority of U.S. infrastructure was built decades ago with the expectation of more stable weather patterns. As the impacts of unabated climate change continue to intensify, infrastructure failures like the blackouts in Texas will likely become even more frequent across the country. The Biden administration has indicated that an economic package including significant infrastructure investment will be a priority after the coronavirus relief bill.

However, Biden’s infrastructure plan does not include new revenue generation and will likely face stiff opposition from Republicans and some Democrats. Sustainable, eco-friendly new infrastructure is an urgent priority, and should be funded through new taxes on energy companies and billionaires.

continued from p.3

A Socialist Response to the Crisis We must take the energy companies into democratic public ownership and run them using rational planning for the benefit of society. ERCOT should be brought into democratic public ownership l and integrated with publicly owned energy companies and utilities. This would allow workers and the community to make crucial decisions, like whether to winterize equipment and how to distribute power, rather than leaving it to the whims of unaccountable corporations in a market system.

These changes must be part of a Green New Deal to quickly address the crisis of climate change. It will take centralized planning, democratic control by workers and the community, and a Green New Deal jobs program to make a rapid transition to reliable alternative energy and a modern electricity grid, update and weatherize infrastructure for extreme heat and cold, build new, energy-efficient affordable housing, and expand public transit. To pay for these vital programs, we should tax the corporations and billionaires that have created the problems in the first place.

Both the Republican and Democratic parties are beholden to the corporate interests that are responsible for climate change and our failing infrastructure. Similar deregulation of the energy industry in Texas has taken place under Democratic administrations in California, and has contributed directly to devastating fires in that state through the negligence of for-profit utility corporations like Pacific Gas and Electric.

Educators, Parents and Students Pay for Failed COVID Response teachers organized wildcat actions by continuing to teach remotely outside of their buildings.

Parents managed to get 98 individual Local School Councils to oppose Lightfoot’s plan. A local Fox News poll showed 77% of the public supported CTU. This momentum was squandered by the leadership of the CTU which emphasized the possibility of defeat and urged the membership to fight for demands that were “realistic” to the political establishment.

It would be a mistake to conclude that the fight for a safe reopening is somehow over. The Democratic Party establishment in Philadelphia has delayed reopening until March under pressure from a growing coalition of community organizations. The United Teachers Los Angeles is fighting for a bold set of demands, including “isolation/quarantine procedures” in hotels. The UTLA has also taken up demands to end arbitrary standardized testing, correctly pointing out that the already mind numbing, unscientific testing makes virtual learning even more unbearable.

At a candle-light vigil to mark a half a million U.S. deaths, Biden talked about “healing together” without offering much substantial progress on his bold campaign promises.

Biden, and corporate Democrats across the country, are under pressure to reopen the economy, i.e. restore corporate profits.

MARCH 2021

The Democrats, having gotten teachers’ votes to defeat Trump, have now turned on them, blaming the unions for the failure of capitalism. It’s especially frustrating to see union leaders like Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, featured in the New York Times tamping down rebellious union locals, who have a very healthy skepticism of promises from school administrators, while at the same time even Dr. Fauci is saying schools cannot safely be reopened without a massive influx of resources.

A Socialist Plan to Reopen Schools The political establishment’s failure to address the pandemic is the biggest barrier to a safe reopening - not “stubborn educators,” “teacher unions” or “skeptical parents.”

A real plan for school reopenings would include urgent vaccinations of all educators.

In addition, we need to dramatically expand contact tracing and guarantee widespread, regular testing of students and staff to ensure outbreaks are isolated quickly. We need mass hiring of new educators and support staff, to reduce class sizes, keep students safe. We should eliminate arbitrary high stakes testing that reinforces class and racial inequities in

To win a Green New Deal and build infrastructure that works for working people, we must build on the youth climate movement that has brought millions around the world into the environmental struggle in recent years.

Unions have a key role to play in driving this forward and should immediately join the call for a GND jobs program, including calling for the retraining of workers in polluting industries into guaranteed jobs in renewable energy.

We Say: • • • •

• •

•

Ted Cruz and the corporate-backed politicians responsible for this crisis, like Governor Greg Abbott, must resign!

Arrest and charge the billionaire energy barons!

Community control over ERCOT! Serve human need, not billionaire greed! #TaxTheRich to rebuild water-damaged homes and new, energy-efficient affordable housing! Cancellation of all utility bills!

Take the energy companies into democratic public ownership!

A #GreenNewDeal to rapidly convert to 100% renewable energy, create millions of green jobs, and build durable, ecofriendly public infrastructure paid for by taxes on corporations and billionaires!

An end to the capitalist system - for a socialist society run on a democratic and sustainable basis! J

SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE ISSN 2638-3349

EDITOR: Keely Mullen EDITORIAL BOARD: George Brown, Tom Crean, Rebecca Green, Eljeer Hawkins, Joshua Koritz, Calvin Priest, Tony Wilsdon

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continued from p.3 education and move away from grading systems that mainly measure how students are coping with an impossible situation. Committees of students, parents and educators should democratically manage the reopening (or further shutdowns) - not out of touch school administrators and politicians with ties to big business.

Even the best reopening plans are undermined by systemic failures in the pandemic response. To bring infection rates down in a more decisive way, we need renewed national lockdowns, with mandatory paid leave and rent and mortgage forgiveness. Logistics corporations like Amazon should be unionized and put under emergency public ownership to coordinate delivery of food, vital materials, and medicine. COVID tests should be sent to everyone in the mail, and people with positive results should be offered free quarantine in vacant hotel rooms. From here, we need to tax billionaires and corporations to hire millions of contact tracers, and nationalize big pharma to scale up vaccine production. Such measures would provide a safe environment where schools could be safely reopened under democratic management of educators, parents and students. J

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SOCIALIST

ALTERNATIVE

Keely Mullen, New York City

state, Cuomo has again reopened indoor dining.

While bipartisan gridlock at a national level is often blamed for the depths of this crisis, the Democrats and Republicans in states across the country have been totally united in their service of big business. They have, across the board, completely failed working people.

ISSUE #71 l MARCH 2021 SUGGESTED DONATION $2

As winter storms blew across the U.S. this February, slowing the vaccine rollout nationwide, something strange happened: COVID numbers dropped dramatically, by more than 70% since mid-January. As many millions are still waiting on stimulus checks and vaccinations, this news feels cautiously sunny.

Public health experts speculate that this downward trend may have to do with the seasonality of the coronavirus, with longer days and warmer weather leading to less transmission. Others speculate it’s the result of underreporting and that many more people have natural immunity to the virus because they’ve already gotten sick and were never tested.

Regardless of the exact cause for this rapid decline in positive cases, we are definitely not out of the woods. Vaccination distribution around the world is still exceptionally sluggish. Cases in the U.S. are still higher than they were during the peak last spring, 500,000 have died, and we could still see hundreds of thousands more deaths in the U.S. if restrictions are prematurely lifted.

Even with good news making headlines, if we’ve learned anything over the past year it’s that the capitalist establishment can mess just about anything up if given the chance.

Their overeagerness to declare the war on COVID over is exactly what has prolonged this disaster, and we will need to fight for restraint.

Dangerous coronavirus variants are making their way through the population with the 50% more contagious U.K. variant

projected to be the dominant strain in the U.S. this month and the South African variant is already circulating. While vaccinations are picking up, any previously acceptable pace is no match for a variant that is 50% more contagious.

In the context of good news about slowed spread, we need to double down on measures that can keep us safe: absolutely no premature reopening of non-essential business, money to the states to ramp up vaccinations, and direct aid to workers and small businesses.

The Democratic and Republican Establishments Failed Over the past 12 months, the world has watched the American ruling class completely fail to develop a central, coherent plan to bring the virus under control.

In the early, dark days of the pandemic, one alleged success story emerged: New York’s Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Last spring, when New York was the world’s COVID epicenter, millions tuned in to watch his daily briefings. His seemingly reasonable response led to an entirely new category of New York liberals: self described “Cuomosexuals.”

Well, triggering a rapid fall from grace, a recording was leaked last month proving Cuomo intentionally underreported nursing home COVID deaths in an attempt to shield himself and wealthy nursing home executives from investigation. Now, with cases rising faster in New York than almost every other

We Need A Central Plan For the Coming Months While the corporate media is ringing celebratory bells across the country that herd immunity is on the horizon, the truth is, no one knows when we’ll get there. If dangerous new variants are not kept at bay by natural immunity, the clock will be set back while scientists tweak existing vaccines.

Avoiding the worst of bad potential outcomes requires swift intervention and spending from the state. Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan is a good start and represents a departure from the Democrats’ traditional neoliberal comfort zone. But in reality, so much more is needed. Household debt now totals over $14 trillion. While the number of student and mortgage loans becoming delinquent has slowed due to government aid and forbearance programs, once those programs expire, millions will be left holding the bag for debt they can’t afford to pay down.

Even the biggest spending proposal from corporate Democrats is depressingly thin compared to what’s needed.

What we need right now is renewed

lockdowns across the country, including the closure of all non-essential business. Any lockdown measures need to be accompanied by emergency aid to workers and small businesses including monthly $2,000 stimulus checks, a renewal of the $600/week unemployment top up (with benefits extended to those who refuse to work in unsafe conditions), and cancellation of all rent and mortgage payments.

Fight for Fundamental Change As we peek our heads out of this immediate crisis, we have to be crystal clear that more disasters are on the horizon. We got a glimpse of this with the cascading system failures in Texas last month. We need dramatic, permanent change that will transform the lives of millions of working people: Medicare for All, a Green New Deal jobs program, public ownership of utilities, and a complete overhaul of our infrastructure. We need a union in every workplace, high quality, permanently affordable public housing, and cancellation of all student debt.

Winning the scale of change we need means building a mass, multi-racial struggle of the American working class connected to an international fightback against inequality, poverty, and oppression on every corner of the earth. With the system in complete crisis, it’s never been clearer that we need to do away with capitalism and construct a socialist world built and maintained democratically by workers ourselves rather than parasitic billionaires and their for-profit outfits. J