Posted by admin on April 29, 2012 under Political Economy, Youth and Students | 
The Need to Raise Wages and Abolish Student Debt
By Keith Joseph
CCDS in New Jersey
The rise in student debt is commonly attributed to the rising cost of tuition. But this mistakes the chain of cause and effect. Rising tuition did not cause us to go into debt. Thirty years of falling real wages caused us to go into debt. And debt causes tuition to rise. In other words, student loans cause tuition to rise. If no student were given access to a student loan next year then tuition would dropped dramatically; the tuition bubble would burst. This is the crucial point: tuition rises because we are being forced into debt.
That is the law of supply and demand. As demand rises relative to supply the price (tuition) rises.
The easy credit of student loans functions the same as sub-prime mortgages. Sub-prime mortgages, and easy credit, created a housing bubble — a dramatic rise in the price of housing caused by a rise in “effective demand” i.e. demand backed by the ability to pay. When interest rates rose a bit there were some defaults. Defaults create a higher interest rate by increasing “risk.” Defaults continue to rise and housing prices have been falling ever since.
Like housing prices during the bubble tuition is inflated. We are in a tuition bubble, i.e., tuition increases because student debt creates an artificial ability to pay. Why do you need an artificial ability? Since no one in your family has ever earned enough to save for your college education, because the 1% were cutting wages since the 1970’s and replacing those wages with credit cards, we would never be able to afford college. If we can’t afford tuition the price of a college education must fall or the schools will empty.
The struggle against tuition is the struggle against debt and the struggle against debt is the struggle against tuition. They are one, cause and effect. Without debt a rises in tuition is not possible.
The struggle of current students against tuition hikes must take the same path as the movement to abolish debt if it is to be successful. We must abolish student debt and college tuition. Yes, we must have free public college education paid for, in its entirety, by an education sur-tax on the 1%.
The problem is relatively simple. Average citizens are not paid enough in wages or salaries to save for their children’s education. Educated citizens are obviously the only people capable of self rule. Educated citizens are self evidently the only possible basis for democratic society, for, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, to put it in the formulation favored by Lincoln. The current method of funding our education on the backs of our future wages has failed and this failure is about to cause a deepening of the current economic crisis.
To prevent a furtherance of the crisis and to put the economy in position to turn the corner the Federal government must cancel existing student debt and eliminate tuition by putting an education sur tax on the 1% equal to the costs of educating every 18 year old who wants to go to 4 years of college. In this way we will have a public education system worthy of a democracy and a citizenry capable of self-rule. We need a debtors union to impose this plan on the 1%.
Debtors Unite! Tax the 1% for the costs of education!
Posted by admin on March 25, 2012 under Antiwar, CCDS Today, Iran, Militarism |
Statement of the National Coordinating Committee of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, March 24, 2012
March 20, 2012 marks nine years since the US invasion of Iraq. US troops have left that country but thousands of State Department security personnel and military contractors remain. The situation in the Middle East remains tense, dangerous and volatile, with many factors pointing towards greater conflict in Syria, Palestine and elsewhere.
US policy continues to be driven by those seeking to secure oil interests and strategic hegemony in the region. They now aim at regime change in Iran, a regional power and the world’s second largest oil exporter.
The loudest voices for war call for a US/Israeli military attack on Iran’s nuclear installations. Prominent in war agitation are the Israeli government, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), US rightwingers and neocons, and Republican presidential candidates vying with one another to get the most pro-Israel votes. These hawks argue that a military strike would be quick and limited and set back the alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program, saving Israel from the supposed existential threat.
Many US (and Israeli) military analysts, however, warn of possible Iranian retaliation widening into a costly and potentially vast regional war — as Iran is a much bigger and resourceful country than Iraq. Such a war would deal a grievous blow to the peoples concerned, to progressive movements and immediately eliminate any thoughts of cutting the US military budget and funding social programs.
The Obama administration has stated it has no current plans to attack Iran but maintains a posture of threats and intimidation by insisting "all options are on the table." Israel’s intentions are murky; Israel may calculate that a military strike would inevitably draw US support, especially in an election year. Moreover, the US strategy already in place of tough economic sanctions is causing suffering among the Iranian people and portends possible confrontation ahead.
Assassination of Iranian scientists and agitation for regime change are acts of war. A large US naval presence patrolling the Persian Gulf may lead to an unplanned incident that could spiral out of control. The Iranian leadership may over-react to these numerous provocations. Thus there is a very real danger of US involvement in another major Middle Eastern war even if the Obama administration would like to avoid it.
CCDS calls for dialogue and diplomacy to settle international problems: not war or sanctions against Iran; and US military aid to Israel should end. The UN-approved nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East points the way to security for all nations. In such a zone, no country, including Israel, could possess nuclear weapons and the US would not be allowed to bring such weapons into the region on naval forces. Every Middle East country except Israel favors a nuclear free zone. CCDS calls upon its members and friends to support this initiative and the UFPJ pledge of resistance to stop a war on Iran, see www.unitedforpeace.org
[Special thanks to Duncan McFarland and our CCDS Peace and Solidarity Committee for working on this.]
Posted by admin on March 11, 2012 under Cuba, Marxism, Socialism |
Cuba’s Alternative to Privatization
By Marce Cameron
SolidarityEconomy.net via GreenLeft Weekly
March 11, 2012 – Cuban President Raul Castro has urged the Caribbean nation’s citizens to contribute to a free and frank debate on the future of Cuba’s socialist project.
For the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), the aim of this debate is twofold: to strive for consensus on a new Cuban model of socialist development and to empower Cuba’s working people to implement what has been decided.
In other words, to advance a socialist renewal process in the face of entrenched opposition from within the administrative apparatus.
It is first and foremost a debate about the economy. A draft policy document, the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines, was submitted to a national debate for three months before to its adoption by the Sixth PCC Congress in April last year.
The core principles and objectives of the draft were conserved, but the final version of the Guidelines was substantially modified on the basis of this public debate.
The PCC said total attendance at the 163,000 local debates held in workplaces, study centers and neighborhoods was about 8.9 million, with many people attending more than one.
More than three million interventions were noted and grouped into 781,000 opinions, about half of which were reflected in the final document. A summary detailing each modification and its motivation, and the number of interventions in favour, was published after the congress.
The Guidelines is not a theoretical document. The government commission responsible for overseeing its implementation has been charged with drafting, as Castro put it, “the integral theoretical conceptualization of the Cuban socialist economy”.
Rather, the Guidelines is a set of principles and objectives that point to a new Cuban socialist-oriented economic model.
Yet implicit in them is a reconception of the socialist-oriented society in Cuba’s conditions.
Transitional society
The ultimate objective of the socialist revolution is a global classless society in which technology enables minimal human labour to produce goods and services, allowing these to be freely distributed to satisfy people’s rational needs.
Socially owned, this system of production would free everyone from the compulsion to work for others. It would allow a flowering of the human personality that is stunted by capitalist exploitation and alienation, both of which are embodied in the capitalist market.
What blocks this transition is not a lack of technology, but private ownership of most productive wealth and the class rule of the corporate rich over society.
The transition from capitalism to socialism is marked by tension between planning and the market. Democratic planning to meet social needs first becomes increasingly dominant, then ultimately the sole determinant of economic activity.
Read more of this article »
Posted by admin on March 10, 2012 under China, Socialism |
The Associated Press
Saturday, March 10, 2012
China’s government vowed Friday that it will not deviate from its socialist path, defending anew its authoritarian system and saying Western capitalist political systems are not suitable for China.
China’s top legislator, Wu Bangguo, said in a report delivered to the annual National People’s Congress that China needs to keep to the socialist path and understand the differences between its political system and those of Western capitalist countries.
As China has grown more powerful and rich in recent years, it has strongly rejected any criticism of its policies and suggestions that the economic changes would bring about any lessening of power for the ruling Communist Party.
Wu, the second most powerful person in the party, said the socialist system with Chinese characteristics "is the fundamental institutional guarantee for the development and progress of contemporary China, and we must cherish it even more and adhere to it for a long time to come."
He said that China needs to understand the "essential differences" between its systems and "Western capitalist countries’ systems of political power."
"To manage China’s affairs well, we need to stay grounded in its realities, rely on the strength of the Chinese people, and follow a development path suited to China’s conditions," he said.
Wu also reiterated goals laid out by Premier Wen Jiabao at the opening of the 10-day congress on Monday _ that the government must rebalance the economy by increasing domestic demand, especially consumer demand, and boosting investment in science and technology while promoting energy conservation and the cutting of emissions.
Even though China’s economy has grown at a double-digit pace for years, the government is now grappling with a slowing economy and rising public demands for greater fairness. Officials have also been slow to tackle entrenched interests, particularly the powerful state enterprises that dominate the economy. The World Bank and outside economists said recently that such a restructuring is needed if China wants to rise from a middle-income to a rich country.
Wu said that legislative work this year would also focus on social and cultural areas. On the social front, legislative committees will discuss drafts of the mental health law, the law on insurance for military personnel and the draft amendment to the Civil Procedure Law, among others.
He said 2012 is an important year because of a once-every-five-year party congress in October that will oversee the change of most of the ruling party bosses.
Posted by admin on March 5, 2012 under Antiwar, Militarism, Obama |
On the matter of war with Iran, it seems so…Here’s a large ad in the March 5 Washington Post:
Posted by admin on February 24, 2012 under CCDS Today, Elections, Organizing |
The Mass Movement in 2012
CCDS members are and should continue to be involved in the mass democratic activity to defeat the far right that will likely grow over the coming months. Elections and electoral campaigns will largely frame the national discourse at the national, state and local level in the following ways:
Labor-community-religious coalitions will be key forms for the electoral struggle at the working class base. United Wisconsin and other state based coalitions in defense of collective bargaining, PDA, WFP and similar organizations or parties will play significant roles in independent electoral and progressive activity.
Struggles for democracy and equality and against racism injected by the far right into the election campaign are at a new and virulent level. “Poor” is the new code word for Black and immigrant, even though most poor people are white. Coded in racism also are Republican attacks on food stamps and social benefits, their campaign for draconian laws against immigrants and glorification of executions and the death penalty.
Struggles against restrictive voting laws that disenfranchise the poor and people of color. Struggle for a new movement against the death penalty, the mass incarceration of Black, Latino and low income people, and the prison-industrial complex, which is the main instrument of the ruling class today in re-imposing Jim Crow racism and segregation on our society and splitting the working class.
Single issue organizations and coalitions of trade unions, peace, health care, civil rights, living wage coalitions, women’s rights, seniors, civil liberties, immigrant rights and others will organize to bring pressure on candidates and work in get-out-the-vote activity. The Rebuild the Dream, National People’s Action, the Occupy movement and many other local and state based efforts will rally to bring pressure to bear on issues and candidates.
Building new grass roots electoral forms and social movements based on a peace and economic justice agenda, opposing militarism and wars of intervention including in Afghanistan and sanctions against Iran, moving the money from military to programs for living wage jobs, a sustainable environment, Medicare for all health care, education without debt, affordable housing, and strengthening state budgets to preserve public services.
Role of CCDS
Work to unite sectors and movements through the above electoral and mass democratic forms. Consciously work to build unity of movements of African American, white, Latinos, Caribbean, Asians/Pacific Islander and Native Americans, youth and seniors, men and women, lesbian and gay, and immigrant peoples
Work to promote a peace and economic justice agenda as stated above
Issue a CCDS statement on importance of the Elections and the stake for working people and progressive, democratic forces
Work to promote ideological work and educational forms of CCDS to bring activists from the mass movement to CCDS through local study groups, discussion groups and forums utilizing the DVD “Fundamental Topics in Democracy and Socialism”, material from the “Long March for Democracy” material of the Democracy Charter committee, the On Line University of the Left, CCDS Links, Portside, etc.
In building left unity, CCDS should take concrete measures for common and coordinated efforts in the mass movement continuing efforts that began with the July 2009 symposium in San Francisco in conjunction with the CCDS 6th national convention. Local areas should reach out to socialist and communist parties/organizations that share a common perspective on the electoral struggle to discuss areas of common work in the mass movement for more effective organizing.
Posted by admin on January 16, 2012 under Uncategorized |
I Fell in Love with Cuba
Interview with Liu Yuqin,
Ambassador of China
By CLAUDIA FONSECA SOSA
A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann
"I’m sad and happy at the same time," said Liu Yuqin, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, upon receiving the Order of Solidarity recently granted to her by the Cuban Council of State. "Sad, because my stay in Cuba is ending, and happy because the relations between Cuba and China are getting deeper with each passing day," she commented during a visit to Granma a few days before returning to her country.
Cuba has been linked to a good part of your diplomatic career; what does this mean to you?
From 1996 to 2000 I was the Political Counselor at the Embassy of China in Havana. Ten years later I returned as the Ambassador, a posting I conclude this year 2012. I also worked at the Latin American Department of the Foreign Ministry in China and from there I was closely linked to subjects related to the island. I can affirm that I owe a lot to Cuba.
From my childhood I learned about the Cuban Revolution. I began admiring Fidel, Raúl and all the leaders of their historical generation. Of course, at that time I could not imagine that years later I would be so closely linked to this country, nor foresee that I would be representing my country here. This is a people I admire for its resistance to adversity and for its happiness. I have sincerely enjoyed my diplomatic mission in Cuba, and I believe in these years I fell in love with the country.
How do you assess the state of the bilateral relations?
The links between Cuba and China keep consolidating not only in the political and economic areas, but also in culture, health and education, among other aspects. We have established a very important and mutually beneficial strategic cooperation.
At present, China remains the second trading partner of Cuba. And, even as the world economic crisis has affected all of us, the trade between both nations is increasing.
We have made great progress in biotechnological cooperation. A number of products are already being jointly produced, such as monoclonal antibodies and interferon, and there are plans to produce other medicines.
The first group of Chinese students who were learning Spanish at Cuban Universities has already graduated. This is very important for us, because the relations between China and the Latin American countries are at a very good point and we have a shortage of Spanish’ speaking staff. There are also many young Chinese students who come to Cuba to study medicine.
There is a favorable climate and great political trust between both nations. For example, in July last year, the Cuban Government received the visit of Vice President Xi Jinping. This meeting was an important step for the present and future relations, evidence of which was the signing of 13 agreements for commercial and economic exchanges.
You had the opportunity to live and work on the island at different moments of the revolutionary process. Could you see any transformations between the Cuba you left 11 years ago and the one you are leaving now?
My first posting here was in the midst of the difficult years of the Special Period. It was clear that the Cuban economy had deteriorated; there were problems with public transport, very few products in the markets. I remember the blackouts.
Ten years later I returned and saw a prettier and more dynamic Havana. There are more cars circulating, particularly more public transport. There are more restaurants of different categories, a greater offer at the agro markets and there is a happier and more hopeful environment.
I really feel glad for all Cuba has achieved. I congratulate you for the successful coordination of the Congress of the Communist Party and hope the coming holding of the Conference is equally successful. Cuba is moving forward in the path of socialism.
What are the main internal challenges China is facing at present?
Improving the standard of living of the population has always been a main task for the Chinese government, and in this sense we have taken important steps particularly in the last 30 years. We will continue developing our economy so that our growth remains stable. We will continue the reforms and opening up. We will endeavor to fulfill the commitments outlined in the 12th Five-year Plan. My country promotes a policy of peaceful development and will continue working for its people through a socialist way with its own characteristics. The most important thing is that each country can decide its own destiny. Cuba and China agree on this.
Posted by admin on December 17, 2011 under Marxism, Political Economy, Socialism, Youth and Students |
Edited by Carl Davidson,
Changemaker Publications
Pittsburgh PA, 2011
By Jerry Harris
Carl Davidson has done a tremendous service to anyone who studies the history of social movements or anyone interested in the 1960s rebellion. This "lost" collection of papers reveals the depth and richness of radical thinking coming out of the student movement as the war raged in Viet-Nam and militant protestors marched through the streets of America.
The most important document is the "Port Authority Statement," by SDS members David Gilbert, Robert Gottlieb and Gerry Tenney. Although at the time not widely circulated, it offers great insight into the thinking and analysis of SDS as it turned to revolutionary theory and debate. This is an impressive document. Detailed in statistical and economic analysis, grounded in revolutionary social theory, and innovative in its thinking and insights.
One of the most important sections of the paper was its class analysis with its focus on the new working class and the relationship of students to an economy shifting from manufacturing to services and technology. The documents notes that, "Modern American capitalism is characterized by rapid technological change with scientific knowledge growing at a logarithmic rate." This will result in the "elimination of unskilled labor (as) the blue-collar sector will decrease (and) jobs that require high degrees of education and training" will increase. (pages 88-89)
That analysis was made in 1966. Now read a recent article by Edward Luce from the Financial Times: "the middle-skilled jobs that once formed the ballast of the world’s wealthiest middle class are disappearing. They are being supplanted by relatively low-skilled (and low-paid) jobs that cannot be replaced either by new technology or by offshoring – such as home nursing and landscape gardening. Jobs are also being created for the highly skilled, notably in science, engineering and management. (12/11/11) Decades later the paper’s main thesis still holds up.
Continuing its class analysis the Port Authority document examined the capitalist class and the debate over ownership and control. The authors focused attention on the growing trend towards paying executives with large stock rewards, merging management and ownership. Again we can turn to a recent article published in the December 2011 Monthly Review that reads, "More recently, David Harvey has argued that ownership (share holders) and management (CEOs) of capitalist enterprises have fused together, as upper management is increasingly paid with stock options." (Richard Peet) This "recent" argument now being made by a leading Marxist trails Port Authority by some 45 years.
Although the authors grasped the sweeping impact that technology would have on American workers, what they could not see would be globalization and the advent of neo-liberalism as a governing ideology. As the paper notes at the time, "Corporate liberalism implies that the dominant economic institution is the corporation and that the prevailing political and social mode is liberalism." (page 68) Of course it’s understandable how such changes would be all but invisible in 1966; it’s also a good reminder why political tactics and strategy must remain flexible and activists should always be willing to reevaluate their analysis.
The above are but a few of the enticing insights that are contained in page after page of these documents. As new social movements gather force throughout the world, a look into the thinking of activists from the last great social movement can help give direction to coming future battles. I would highly recommend this book to all activists and academics interesting in building a better world.
Jerry Harris, National Secretary of the Global Studies Association and author of "The Dialectics of Globalization."
Posted by admin on October 30, 2011 under CCDS Today, Germany, Socialism, Solidarity |
The Die Linke (The Left) Party Congress,
Oct 21 – 23, 2011, Erfurt, Germany
Photo: Die Linke founding co-chair Gregor Gysi addresses the Congress, October 21, under the banner of Freedom – Dignity – Solidarity
By Pat Fry
CCDS National Co-Chair
Erfurt, Germany, October 2011 – Culminating nearly two years of discussion and debate, the 519 delegates of the Die Linke Party of Germany united overwhelmingly around a new program at its Congress in Erfurt, Germany, October 21 – 23. The Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism was one of 43 Communist, Socialist, left parties and organizations making up the international delegation, and was the sole representative from the United States.
The 44 page draft program, issued in March 2010, was discussed at meetings of local and regional bodies, resulting in 1,300 amendments presented for Congress deliberations. The program was adopted nearly unanimously following 3 days of debate. It will provide the political platform for Die Linke candidates in the 2013 federal elections.
The Congress was held against the backdrop of momentous events in Europe. The Eurozone debt negotiations to save bank profits led by Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the general strike in Greece in opposition to the outcome of those negotiations dramatically framed the weekend’s deliberations. A representative of the Synaspismos Party (Coalition of the Left of Greece), Alexis Tsipras, delivered an impassioned greeting of solidarity bringing the Congress to its feet.
“The war in Greece is between capital and labor, not between Greece and Germany,” said Tsipras. “Greece is the guinea pig of the Eurozone. We are committed to defending democracy in Greece before it is too late for you,” he said.
The adoption of the Die Linke party program marks a milestone in the process of forging of a new left all-German party of democratic socialism. Founded in 2007, the party is a merger of east and west political parties and traditions – the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism) founded in the ashes of the collapse of the GDR, and the west German WASG (Electoral Alternative for Labour and Social Justice) founded by left wing social democrats in 2005 in a split from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) after its embrace of austerity policies under the Schröeder government.
Read more of this article »
Posted by admin on October 25, 2011 under CCDS Today, Solidarity, Youth and Students |
Photo: Huge OWS Event at Washington Square Park in NYC
From Wall Street to Fort Benning:
The Growing Wave of Resistance
and the Left Perspective
An open discussion on the occasion of the
22nd School of the America’s Watch
Protest at Ft. Benning, GA
Friday Evening
November 18, 2011 6pm – 9pm
Country Inn & Suites Hotel
1720 Fountain Court
Columbus, GA 31904
Sponsored by Committees of Correspondence for Democracy & Socialism (CCDS)
Agenda
Welcome by Carl Davidson, National Co-Chair of CCDS
1. The growing mass struggle for human rights
2. The changing dialectics of political action
3. The responsibilities of the left
