PERIODICO EN ESPAÑ OL ADENTRO CHALLENGE THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNIST NEWSPAPER OF PROGRESSIVE LABOR PARTY volume 49 no.25 December 20, 2017 suggested donation $1

Annual Black Friday Demo For Laquan, Smash Police & Racism

CHICAGO, November 24—For the third of high-end retail stores and shutting down traf- police terror, deportations, and imperialist war, straight year, Progressive Labor Party brought a fic on the elite Magnificent Mile downtown. With the struggle needs to take the form of a mass in- multi-racial, multi-generational spirited contin- each following year, the protests have decreased ternational revolutionary movement led by the gent to the Black Friday protests, organized in op- in size, as the city’s bosses have slickly thrown communist PLP to crush the bosses and capital- position to the racist Police Department. some crumbs towards the workers and given the ism once and for all! Beyond just fighting for another reform or target- illusion of progress and reform of their criminal Communist Speech ing capitalist profits for one day, our collective injustice system. Sets the Tone struggled with workers present over international Earlier this month, 17 people wrongly con- communist revolution as the only permanent so- victed by the racist courts were exonerated as Armed with communist banners, fliers, CHAL- lution to the racist and sexist capitalist system. preliminary charges and discipline were brought LENGE, and a bullhorn, our Party contingent con- against notorious kkkop Sergeant Ronald Watts nected with the protest at Water Tower Plaza for Capitalist Bosses Need Killer the kick-off rally. Various leaders of reform strug- Kops and Fascism and several other goons under his command. The capitalist bosses are hoping that this news gles, community organizations, and victims of The first mass Black Friday protest here in Chi- will distract workers in the city away from the fact racist police terror gave their testimonies to call cago took place in November 2015, just days af- that the City Council voted almost unanimously out the racist and sexist nature of the kkkops and ter the release of dashboard video showing racist to build a massive new Police Academy and hire the capitalist system. For the second year in a row, killer cop Jason Van Dykkke pumping 16 rounds at least a thousand more kkkops to terrorize, ex- a PL comrade gave an impassioned speech that into the lifeless body of Black teenager Laquan tort, and kill more and more of our working-class pushed the need for a more revolutionary scope McDonald. The video had been kept under wraps sisters and brothers. to the struggle. for over a year by the city government, including The bosses need increasing fascism and police The comrade stressed the importance of inter- racist Mayor , who knew perfectly terror to oppress the working class, who will jus- national working class solidarity and revolution- well that the racist murder would undoubtedly tifiably rebel and organize against the intolerable ary fightback in an era of increasing imperialist destroy his campaign for re-election that previ- economic and political conditions that capital- rivalry, deportations, and war. He highlighted the ous April. ism inevitably creates. If the international work- mass worker fightback in regions like Kishana, The protest in 2015 involved hundreds of an- ing class is ever to live in a world free of fascist gry workers and students blocking the entrances Continued on page 3 JOIN THE INTERNATIONAL FIGHT FOR COMMUNIST REVOLUTION

H Saudi Arabia: EDITORIAL HZIMBABWE Allies with China, H Capitalist Regime Deadlier Fascism Under Liberal Veil...p 2 IRAN ‘Revolutionary’ Nationalism Fails...p 4 than Earthquake...p 7

H No Justice for H BROOKLYN Bolshevik Celebrations H Delrawn, Push Limits on the Job...p 3 Mexico, Bay Area, and Chicago USSR The New Economic Plan, Commemorate Revolution...p 5 Retreat from Communism...p 8 page 2 • CHALLENGE • 20 December 2017 Editorial OUR FIGHT

PProgressive Labor Party (PLP) fights to destroy capitalism and the dictatorship of the capitalist class. We organize workers, Saudi Arabia: Rising soldiers and youth into a revolutionary move- ment for communism. PThe dictatorship of the working class — Fascism Under Liberal Veil communism—can provide a lasting solution to the disaster that is today’s world for bil- lions of people. This cannot be done through Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Sal- electoral politics, but requires a revolutionary man, aka MBS, has been praised by pro-Trump and War on Workers in Yemen movement and a mass Red Army led by PLP. anti-Trump forces for implementing sweeping lib- The war against the working class in Yem- eral reforms. Both sides believe the prince’s reforms PWorldwide capitalism, in its relentless en has been raging for two and a half years, can advance the interests of U.S. imperialism. And drive for profit, inevitably leads to war, fas- killing more than 10,000 and destroying hos- the main wing of the U.S. ruling class surely wishes cism, poverty, disease, starvation and envi- pitals and sewage treatment plants. The re- ronmental destruction. The capitalist class, it could follow the Saudis’ lead and bring factions of through its state power — governments, their own class to heel. sulting outbreak of cholera, one of the largest in half a century, has infected than a million armies, police, schools and culture — main- MBS designed his reforms to whip up support tains a dictatorship over the world’s work- among the working class in Saudi Arabia for war workers. Blockades have prevented aid from ers. The capitalist dictatorship supports, against Iran and Iran-backed groups such as Hezbol- reaching Yemeni workers, creating famine and is supported by, the anti-working-class conditions. The U.S. has placed Yemen on its ideologies of racism, sexism, nationalism, lah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. But rather than individualism and religion. drink the billionaire prince’s nationalist poison, work- anti-Muslim travel ban list, effectively sen- ers need to unite throughout the Middle East and tencing workers to death. PWhile the bosses and their mouthpieces the world and fight for communism. claim “communism is dead,” capitalism is the The United Nations Human Rights Council real failure for billions worldwide. Capital- Both Arsonists and Firefighters is sending observers to Yemen to investigate ism returned to Russia and China because In the oil-rich Middle East, Saudi Arabia has been war crimes allegations. What the UN will nev- socialism retained many aspects of the profit the main U.S. ally since World War II, when U.S. Presi- er admit is that all imperialist wars are crimes system, like wages and privileges. Russia and China did not establish communism. dent Franklin D. Roosevelt vowed to protect the against the international working class. kingdom in exchange for U.S. access to its petroleum Backed by Iran, Houthi rebels have been PCommunism means working collectively reserves. Internally, the Saudi ruling class shored up battling a Saudi- and U.S.-backed coalition to build a worker-run society. We will abolish its power and profits by cutting a deal with the Wah- for control over the country. Yemen has un- work for wages, money and profits. While habi mullahs. For decades, the Wahhabis have im- capitalism needs unemployment, posed an ultra-sexist religious order at home while tapped oil and natural gas reserves and is communism needs everyone to contribute located on an important oil shipping water- and share in society’s benefits and burdens. exporting their fundamentalist Islam throughout the region. In the 1980s, they trained the mujahi- way. It sits directly across the narrow Man- PCommunism means abolishing racism and deen in Afghanistan in their war against the Soviet deb Strait from Djibouti, where the U.S. has the concept of “race.” Capitalism uses rac- Union, a struggle that led to the creation of Al Qaeda. established a new military base overlooking ism to super-exploit Black, Latin, Asian and Throughout the region they supply free textbooks indigenous workers, and to divide the entire oil routes from West Africa to the Middle East that spout their murderous rhetoric. working class. and beyond. In the realm of extremist Islam, the Saudis are PCommunism means abolishing the special ‘both the arsonists and the firefighters,’ said William oppression of women— sexism—and divisive McCants, a Brookings Institution scholar. ‘They pro- gender roles created by the class society. U.S. Jealous of Saudi Crackdown mote a very toxic form of Islam that draws sharp lines To date, the main wing of the U.S. ruling class— PCommunism means abolishing nations between a small number of true believers and eve- and nationalism. One international working ryone else, Muslim and non-Muslim,’ he said, provid- represented by the big banks and multinational oil class, one world, one Party. ing ideological fodder for violent jihadists (New York companies like ExxonMobil—has been less success- Times, 8/26/16). ful in its own efforts to prepare war and fascism. For PCommunism means that the minds of the rulers, the Trump administration is proving to millions of workers must become free from But now the Saudi rulers need their religious be a disaster. Despite a Republican Party majority in religion’s false promises, unscientific think- leaders to publicly denounce ISIS and fall in line with both houses of Congress, all Trump has to show for ing and poisonous ideology. Communism will the new liberal agenda. MBS is disciplining Saudi triumph when the masses of workers can a year in office is a make-the-rich-richer tax bill. His capitalists with his so-called anti-corruption drive. fomenting of white nationalism has further divided use the science of dialectical materialism to He has imprisoned two hundred top officials and understand, analyze and change the world to the working class when the ruling class needs work- meet their needs and aspirations. businessmen in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton until they ers united around patriotism. The Saudis’ initiatives agree to pay back to the government some of the to get their house in order foreshadows the type PCommunism means the Party leads every loot they’ve skimmed over the years. He is sending of fascism the working class can expect in the U.S., aspect of society. For this to work, millions a clear message: The Saudi ruling class must put sooner than later. of workers — eventually everyone — must aside short-term, individual greed for the long-term become communist organizers. Join Us! interests of their class, which includes a buildup to Iran and Saudi Arabia, Two war with Iran. As New York Times columnist Thom- Sides of Imperialism CONTACT US as Friedman wrote in an over-the-top love letter to Email Saudi Arabia and Iran have been rivals in the Mid- [email protected] MBS:, “Unlike the other Arab Springs — all of which dle East for decades, vying for ultimate control over Mail emerged bottom up and failed miserably, except in oil and gas exports in the region. Where the Saudi Box 808 GPO, Brooklyn, NY 11202 Tunisia — this one is led from the top down... and, if rulers have allied with U.S. imperialists, Iran has tied Internet it succeeds, it will not only change the character of its future to Russian and Chinese imperialists. www.plp.org Saudi Arabia but the tone and tenor of Islam across In 1979, both the Saudi and Iranians rulers turned challengenewspaper.wordpress.com the globe. Only a fool would predict its success — to fundamentalist Islam as their answer for disciplin- Twitter: @PLPchallenge but only a fool would not root for it” (NYT 11/23). Facebook: Challenge Desafio ing their ruling classes and their workers. Now Saudi Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has denounced Arabia is taking a different approach. According to WHO WRITES FOR CHALLENGE? the Saudis’ new counterterrorism bill, which targets Thomas Friedman, “This reform push is giving the CHALLENGE is for the working class, pro- anyone who speaks out against the government. youth here a new pride in their country, almost a duced by the working class. The fact that CHAL- Insulting MBS or his father, King Salman, is pun- new identity, which many of them clearly relish” LENGE/PLP articles are not signed grows from ishable by 10 years in jail. Other acts of “terrorism” (NYT 11/23). What MBS hasn’t yet figured out is how PLP’s criticism of the cult of the individual in the carry the death penalty, including “‘disturbing pub- to counter without funding destabilizing political former socialist Soviet Union and China. We do lic order’, ‘shaking the security of the community’, not want to encourage the possibility of building movements like ISIS. and…’suspending the basic laws of governance’, all up a “following” around any particular individual. As the Saudi rulers move to relax the religious of which are vague and have been used by Saudi au- While an article may be written by one per- stranglehold on their society, Iran is pushing its own thorities to punish peaceful dissidents and activists” son, the final version is based on collective dis- brand of nationalism by uniting its workers against (Al Jazeera, 11/23). cussion and criticism. Many times this collective the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. “In short, it appears that discussion even precedes an individual’s writing These crackdowns against dissident government Mr. Trump and the Saudis have helped the [Iranian] of an article. officials and capitalists are a hallmark of rising fas- government achieve what years of repression could cism in a period of capitalist crisis and sharpening in- CHALLENGE/DESAFIO (ISSN 0009- never accomplish: widespread public support for the 1049) published bi-weekly by Challenge ter-imperialist rivalry. The purpose is to consolidate hardline view that the United States and Riyadh can- Periodicals. 1 issue $1. One Year: $20. the rulers’ power by disciplining their own ranks. Six months: $15. Send address changes Then the Saudi bosses will be better positioned to to CHALLENGE Periodicals, GPO Box 808 Brooklyn, NY 11202, December 20, 2017. attack the working class and move toward war. Continued on page 4 Volume 49, No. 25 [email protected] www.plp.org PO Box 808, Brooklyn, NY 11202 20 December 2017 • CHALLENGE • page 3 High School Work No Justice for Delrawn Small, Push Limits on the Job BROOKLYN, November 27—Wayne Isaacs, a Black kkkop, was found not guilty on October 23 for murdering 37-year-old Delrawn Small in a 4 of July road rage dispute. This was an instant re- minder that this racist murderous system of capi- talism will continue to defend the kkkops who help maintain it. Instantly, thoughts turned to a student, Delrawn’s family member, who attends a Brooklyn high school where a few communist teachers in the Progressive Labor Party have a base. We knew we had to organize a school-wide response to support our student and to get stu- dents and staff in motion over this racist attack. Murdered on July 4 Seconds after Small approached cop Isaac’s car, the off duty cop shot him three times while Small’s family, including his 14-year-old daughter, watched. In court, the lawyer said, “The defend- ant [cop Isaac] came out of the car, not to render aid, but to coldly walk by Small’s body, get on the phone and call 911 to allege he was attacked, punched, as Delrawn Small laid on the concrete in his own blood…It happened so fast, in one sec- ond, he ended his life in front of his family, stum- July 6, 2016—Over 100 protest racist murder of Delrawn Small at vigil. Hours later, the bled a few feet and fell” (NY Daily News, 10/23). police state in Minnesota murdered Philando Castile. The day before, the kkkops in Baton On the day the capitalist courts ruled this mur- Rouse, Louisiana lynched Alton Sterling. Racism and police terror is as American as apple der as legal, Victor Dempsey, Small’s brother, said pie. Liberal state Assemblyman Charles Barron attempted to give misleadership to the the outcome “goes to show the system is not for protesters. Brother of Delrawn on the mic speaking out against racism. black people. I don’t care how we look at it.” (New York Times, 11/7). Unfortunately the rally was canceled. It may Marx wrote to Engels about the ebb and flow Following the murder, some PL teachers par- be that the administration heightened Delrawn’s of class struggle, where there are “developments ticipated in a rally organized by his family. We in- family member’s fear that the rally would bring of such magnitude 20 years are no more than a troduced ourselves as communist teachers to her too much attention to her. Or it may be that they day…though these may be again succeeded by family. One PL teacher who at the time was teach- convinced her to call off the rally. Either way, the days into which 20 years are embodied.” We are ing summer school organized her classes to write next day our student thanked us for our support in a time when days are as slow as years in terms letters of support to the family. This had a signifi- but asked that we call off the rally. We called an- of struggle. It is important in this difficult period cant impact on both our student and her family other emergency meeting to let students know. of low class struggle and class-consciousness to who felt the school was supportive. Many were disappointed and angry because they continue to get the people around us in motion felt that the administration had won. against this racist, murderous system. We may Organizing After the Verdict But we all realized we had to respect our stu- not always be able to make our plans of action One teacher reached out to the student’s dent’s wishes and instead decided to organize a a reality, but we must push the limits and create mother to offer condolences and express our out- moment of silence at our next school assembly a culture of fightback. These small steps forward rage at the verdict. The mom was not surprised by and a dedicated wall where students and staff represent progress as we continue on the road to the outcome. We suggested organizing a rally in could write messages of support to the family. the destruction of capitalism and all the misery it front of the school at the end of the week to con- unleashes worldwide.J demn racist police murder and to show school- wide support to the family. Both student and parent agreed. We then organized an emergency staff meeting and an emergency student meet- For Laquan, Smash Racism ing. Staff was supportive of the rally. At the stu- Continued from page 1 dent meeting, our courageous student attended, Congo and Oaxaca, Mexico that took place dur- along with a handful of others and plans were ing the past year. He called on workers in Chicago made for how to get the word out to the student and everywhere to be uncompromising in the body. struggle to destroy capitalism and build work- They made flyers calling on all to attend. Stu- ers’ power through communism worldwide. The dent leaders posted them around the school. comrade’s speech was met with loud applause Fighting in Hard Times and provided more of an opening for our collec- tive to share our literature with the workers and This caused some friction with some of the We were happy with the plan and enthusiasm students present. main organizers of the demonstration, who in the school to denounce racist police murder wanted us to stick to the approved chant sheet, and support our student. We knew we were push- Sharpening Chants but still won the support of a number of anti- ing the limits in this time period of increased cyni- After the speeches, the protest once again racists nearby who were more open to our line of cism by calling for a mass action directly in front took to the streets in order to begin blocking the working class power. of the school. entrances to billion-dollar capitalist businesses Unfortunately, we did not take into account on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Fight to Win the great fear, individualism and willingness to Our contingent was fired up after the rally, pick- Although as communists we don’t believe go along with the status quo that exists amongst eting the storefronts in rhythm with our fellow that capitalism can be reformed in any significant the administration. Our lack of full objectivity al- anti-racist fighters and using our bullhorn to lead or lasting way to serve the needs of our class, it lowed us to underestimate the enemy and we did several chants. is still essential and inspirational to take place in not make a plan to counter it. As soon as students When we found the chants to be too soft on these mass demonstrations and grassroots strug- began putting up flyers, the administration took the bosses, we took the opportunity to inject gles. These smaller fights help build the class con- them down. One bold student, who hates this rac- some more revolutionary and class-conscious sciousness and the relationships necessary to un- ist system to its core, confronted an administra- messages. For example, when the chant went derstand that the international working class can tor she saw taking down the flyers. The student “The people united, will never be defeated!” we truly move mountains when we unite in our com- quickly went back to tell the others, and they were quick to change it to “The workers united, mon interests against capitalism. PLP will contin- made plans to distribute the flyers more clandes- will never be defeated!” ue to build the fight to win workers to communist tinely. revolution as the path to a better world.J

[email protected] www.plp.org PO Box 808, Brooklyn, NY 11202 page 4 • CHALLENGE • 20 December 2017 Zimbabwe Aligns with China, ‘Revolutionary’ Nationalism Fails Workers Zimbabwe Welcomes Chinese Imperialism During Mugabe’s fight against This is in-fighting within the Rhodesian government, he turned to Beijing to support his the ruling class of Zimbabwe African National Un- ion. In 1980 Zimbabwe and China Zimbabwe. It’s also a sign formally established their diplo- matic relations, a pivotal year in of China’s growing China’s cultural and political his- tory. imperialist clout in Africa Following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, China gave way licly condemn Mugabe’s removal. to a generation that felt no con- On The Brink Of World War? nection to the Great Leap Forward If China was instrumental in the military’s of 1958 or the Cultural Revolution ousting of Mugabe, this would be the first exam- of the 60s and 70s (Pew Research ple of its covert involvement in a military coup 11/12/15). d’etat and a sign of China’s growing global power. The 1980s marked the estab- (The Guardian 11/17). As the U.S. continues to slip On November 24 Emmerson Mnangagwa, lishment of China and Zimbabwe in its rivalry with China, the world moves closer to former vice president of Zimbabwe was named as states for the ruling class, not workers. A crush- another world war. ing blow to those who thought a widespread president, bookending national turmoil that be- An alternative explanation is that Mnangag- communist revolution was just around the corner gan when former president Robert Mugabe fired wa’s seizure of power may just be a sign of inter- in the 1960s. Mnangagwa, triggering a military takeover, pro- national instability allowing smaller powers to tests in support of Mnangagwa, and Mugabe’s “According to Professor Wang Xinsong, a spe- make internal moves without large allied forces to own ousting by coup d’etat. cialist in international development at Beijing stop them, a period strikingly similar to that just While a result of in-fighting within the ruling Normal University…China has been monitoring before WWI. infighting within the Mugabe regime and the class of Zimbabwe, this is also a sign of China’s “[This period] looks ominously like another country’s faltering economy for some time – and growing investment in Africa and the strengthen- moment in history — the period leading up to carefully weighing its options” (The Guardian ing of their role as leading imperialist power. World War I, which marked the end of a multi- 11/17). China is Zimbabwe’s fourth largest trading decade expansion in global ties that many call the partner and its largest source of investment, buy- According to The Guardian (11/17) Mnan- first era of globalization” (The Washington Post ing 28 percent of its exports in 2015 and a making gagwa is widely believed to be behind the coup 12/29/16). against Mugabe. He has historically allied with the a promise of five-billion-dollars in direct aid and With both scenarios leading to world war, the Chinese, receiving ideological and military train- investment from Chinese president Xi Jinping, international working class is in danger of being ing in Beijing and Nanjing. who has called Zimbabwe an “all-weather friend” driven to the front lines in order to protect the (BBC 11/20). Just days before the military take-over in profit and power of a ruling class that will leave Nationalism Will Always Fail Zimbabwe and the ousting of Mugabe, General them to die. Progressive Labor Party calls workers Constantino Chiwenga, Zimbabwean army gen- The Working Class everywhere to abandon all forms of nationalism, eral and Commander of the Zimbabwe Defense and instead join the fight for a communist future. In the 1960s, Mugabe joined the African na- Forces, visited China – a coincidence that has not From Zimbabwe to China to the United States, the tionalist struggle in Southern Rhodesia (now Zim- gone unnoticed by the ruling class media, which working class has nothing to lose but its chains.J babwe) under the leadership of Joshua Nkomo has also noticed that the Chinese have yet to pub- and the National Democratic Party. Mugabe soon grew impatient with Nkomo’s tactics. Mugabe broke from Nkomo and formed the Zimbabwe African National Union, which organ- ized a guerrilla struggle against the apartheid Saudi Arabia: Rising regime of Ian Smith, which had the support of powerful U.S. officials, including Dean Acheson and Richard Nixon. After being imprisoned along Fascism under Liberal Veil with 11 allies, Mugabe became the voice of the guerrilla movement against the Rhodesian racist government. Continued from page 2 In 1979, however, rather than aligning with the Soviet Union, Mugabe rejoined Mr. Nkomo not be trusted and that Iran is under pressure from African rulers and comfort- now a strong and capable state ably sat in the pocket of the British in order to capable of staring down its en- establish the state of Zimbabwe (NYT 11/15). emies (NYT 11/26).” Mugabe became president of Zimbabwe in 1980 As the Saudi ruling class uses and remained in power until recently. secular liberalism to build disci- Often touted as a Marxist-Leninist, Mugabe pline among their ranks, work- is actually a capitalist leader. Given the opportu- ers must see it for what it is—a nity to choose between workers revolution and drive to be prepared for war. No nationalism, he chose nationalism and the inter- matter what reform crumbs cap- est of the imperialist ruling class, allowing mul- italists throw us, we must look at tinational corporations to loot Zimbabwe’s rich their underlying motive: to mis- resources of gold, copper, diamonds, platinum lead a working class into fight- and other raw materials, enriching Mugabe and ing and dying for the bosses’ his friends, but leaving ordinary people poor and profits. We must organize our- with a suspected unemployment rate as high as selves to smash all imperialists 90 percent (BBC 11/19). in a revolutionary war for com- munism and workers’ power.J Mugabe has ruled with an iron fist. In the 1980s, in a series of massacres known as the Gukurahundi, he sent in the national army to kill 20,000 Ndebele civilians suspected of being sup- porters of Joshua Nkomo, Mugabe’s political rival. (The Guardian 5/19/15).

[email protected] www.plp.org PO Box 808, Brooklyn, NY 11202 20 December 2017 • CHALLENGE • page 5 Bolshevik Revolution Celebrations

educators face in their communities, unions, workers are fighting against excessive prices on and classrooms are related to capitalism’s need electric energy. When comrades mentioned the for profit, fascism, and war. Cutbacks in funding, need for communism, everyone showed their MEXICO stronger control of education, and fascist tactics anger at the capitalist system and talked about against workers and to reign in members of the all the attacks their community has suffered for MEXICO—To celebrate the 100th anniversary capitalist class are some of the bosses’ tools to get years. They showed interest in fighting against the of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, members prepared for wider war. The education workers government and the criminal capitalist system. of Progressive Labor Party held an international recognized that capitalism permanently attacks Some asked about the difference between social- communist school over this past long weekend. the living conditions of the working class and that ism and communism, and if Cuba is communist. On the first day, a large group of education work- their struggle has been key to fight these attacks. We explained many key aspects of our line and ers studied political economy. Everyone was We asked them to read CHALLENGE, and other the necessity of creating an international party very receptive to our communist ideas, advanc- PLP literature, to join our study groups, and to and fighting directly for communism—the lack of ing their understanding that they are part of the fight the capitalist system that exploits us and re- both were serious weaknesses of past revolutions. working class and that the purpose of education place it with a communist society. These workers showed interest in joining study under capitalism is to prepare new generations of Next, we met with a group of industrial work- groups in the area and we are working on it. exploited workers, and that educators play a role ers, where young PLers gave a presentation ex- The weekend-long school for communism in that. For the working class to win a world free plaining what communism is and what a commu- showed the great potential of the working class to of exploitation—communism—educators have a nist society would be like. The discussion was very understand and practice communist ideas and of different important role to play, teaching young spirited, with discussion on such ideas as how PLP in developing working-class leaders capable people to resist the capitalist ideas of individual- products would be distributed and what educa- of leading the struggle to end the capitalist sys- ism, racism, and sexism, and turning them into tion would be like. There was input on the neces- tem and build a new communist society. This was ideas of collectivity and struggle. sity of developing communist leaders within the a very good way of honoring the Russian commu- We talked about how the problems these working class. nists. Despite the dark night, a spectre is haunting The third day we went to a community were the capitalist world: the spectre of communism!J

both anti-Black and anti-immigrant. A video about the 2014 Fergu- In Ohio, the Klan’s cars were over- son rebellion demonstrated how CHICAGO turned and the racists were beaten BAY AREA the working class is still fighting with bricks, bottles, and clubs. The back today. We discussed the suc- school board elections were an area cesses and failures of the Ferguson CHICAGO—Celebrating the of struggle between the antiracists OAKLAND—Over 50 comrades rebellion and why we need work- Bolshevik Revolution inspires us to and Klan in New Mexico. These and friends celebrated the Bolshe- ing-class consciousness. keep fighting for the communist workers had good ideas, but with- vik revolution with a dynamic din- Every table received a collec- world we know is possible and nec- out a goal of eliminating the whole ner. Friends who attended said the tion of pictures from the Soviet Un- essary. Chicago’s recent multi-racial, capitalist system, they were a tem- event inspired hope for the future. ion, China, Cuba, and Vietnam. The multi-generational event of over 50 porary force. We raised funds for our brave com- pictures showed different ways the people included drama, table con- rades who fought the Klan in Ana- pro-worker governments promoted versations, songs, and great food. Learning from heim. It was a success! the Giants antiracism, anti-sexism, built in- The event highlighted the hard To kick off the event, a comrade frastructure for workers, and used work and persistence involved in PLP’s analysis of the accomplish- gave a speech about the problems art and propaganda to change the mobilizing and politicizing for the ments and mistakes growing out of in the world, from deadly climate culture of society. Each picture had Bolshevik Revolution. the October revolution is presented change to racist police killings to information on the back to explain One hundred years ago, work- in Road to Revolution IV (see plp. sexist harassment and violence in different facts about each country, ers overthrew the Provisional Gov- org). Socialism, as it turns out, is not our jobs, schools, and homes. He ex- and people shared out what their ernment and announced that from a stage on the way to communism. plained why capitalism is to blame, picture was about. People learned now on, the profit system would Instead, it leads back to capitalism. and showed that the Bolsheviks un- about history in a hands-on way. not control the lives of workers and By making material incentives, rath- derstood this. He explained the Bol- peasants. er than social incentives, the basis sheviks encourage us, not because A Party for Youth and of work, the Soviet Union devel- Today, we are still fighting for they fought back. As long as there Golden Agers oped capitalist ideas and practices that world. In the meantime, we is class society, there are brave fight- The event closed with a speech that undermined the goals of their have learned that the fight for an ers who struggle for class liberation. from a new comrade about the need revolution. We learned from the pi- egalitarian society is more com- The Bolsheviks encourages us be- to build the Party and fight for com- oneers’ mistakes (see page 8 about plex than workers and communists cause they took the next step, and munism. Overall, participants loved the Soviet’s New Economic Plan). thought at the time. The capital- actually took state power. Because the dinner. People commented that ists have learned as well and have For some, it may be a sad fact of this, they were able to take soci- they never felt bored throughout created new ways to exploit, ideo- of history that the Bolshevik Revo- ety light years into the future. the night. People loved how dynam- logically disarm, imprison, and kill lution did not live up to its poten- After the speech, people dis- ic the material was and thought we members of the working class. tial to wipe capitalism off the face cussed at their tables what they did a good job at breaking the mold of the earth forever. The reality is for how education must work. One Antiracist have heard about communism, that change is doesn’t happen in a whether they think we can fix capi- person commented on how mul- Reenactment straight line. Today, as the world’s talism, and other interesting ques- tigenerational the crowd was, be- In this age of instant informa- workers are beset with wars and tions. Some comrades made the cause they heard that “communism tion, we are deluged with how the fascist governments, what we have point that the Bolsheviks didn’t fail. is just for young people” and that bosses want us to think. It was re- learned from that first attempt to In fact, they were able to transform “real adults know that communism freshing at the Chicago celebration bring about communism on a mass life for millions of workers, bringing can never work.” She said she was in- to see a dramatic re-enactment of a scale makes it more likely that the them anti-racism and anti-sexism. spired “to see people who have truly little-known chapter in U.S. history next attempt will be successful. Rather, we need to learn from their dedicated their lives to the move- from the 1920s, a time when work- Today’s potential communists mistakes of why they were unable ment.” ers, white as well as Black, took up are often embroiled in reform to maintain a socialist society and The event made people feel like arms against the Ku Klux Klan. The movements. One day, they will de- become communist. they could learn about history and organization was called the Knights velop the forces to overthrow the A Multimedia Spread working-class struggles. Many com- of the Flaming Circle, and they government, as the Bolsheviks did. mented that they want to get more fought fire with fire. Progressive Labor Party is bucking Someone performed a rap involved in the Party. The young against identity politics. It was about Immigrant communities, par- that trend by keeping communism leaders, especially women who or- being a worker above all else, not ticularly Italians, Catholics, were alive and winning more potential ganized the event, felt empowered a man or woman or Black or white also part of it, since the Klan was fighters every day.J and humbled. May this event give person. Another woman performed us momentum to continue in the a song about Hurricane Katrina and class struggle and building the Party the racist treatment of the working in the Bay Area.J class of New Orleans.

[email protected] www.plp.org PO Box 808, Brooklyn, NY 11202 page 6 • CHALLENGE • 20 December 2017

We encourage all CHALLENGE readers to send in letters and articles LETTERS about their experiences fighting the bosses worldwide. Healthcare Worker and DC: Thanks for Fighting by appointing him to a prestigious position. Brushing Comey aside, the students are continuing their efforts Marie Fired In Retaliation Racism Dinner to build an alliance with working-class members of the Marie Trinidad, a respiratory therapist, was fired Today November 18 makrs the 32nd Thanks-for- surrounding community who are threatened by gentri- from Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago. She worked Fighting-Racism Feast was held in the Washington, fication and poverty. there for seven years and was active in a petition drive DC – area. This celebration is a PLP answer They are engaged in developing a local food pan- demanding more staff and equipment, which she to Thanksgiving, which unfortunately celebrates the try and surveying local residents to determine what the helped present to the board of directors at their an- genocide of Native Americans. next steps should be for HUResist. At their recent food nual meeting. This struggle resulted in a temporary im- This year, over 70 anti-racist fighters—Black, Latin, distribution to the homeless, they witnessed a case of provement in the number of staff and more equipment Asian, and white--assembled to report on their strug- . Stepping up, they filmed it and joined was purchased by the respiratory care department, as gles and share a spectacular feast. Students from How- in a formal complaint to the police department. The well as some staff members getting a raise. But the re- ard University’s HUResist reported on their battles struggle never ends! forms won under capitalism (i.e. the dictatorship of the against former FBI Director and on their H H H H H bosses) are temporary. Working conditions have deteri- engagement with the working-class members of the orated; heavier assignment loads are regularly piled on community surrounding the University. A Baltimore Hurricane Maria and fewer workers. When bosses are faced with economic activist in the struggle for justice for Tyrone West, who Access to Meds crises they attack workers, and especially workers who was murdered by racist cops, reported on the ongoing, fight back against oppressive working conditions. weekly actions against police brutality in Baltimore. Hurricane Maria, that devastated Puerto Rico, is not just a catastrophe for our Puerto Rican working-class Marie was given an especially heavy assignment A worker who participated in the PLP contingent sisters and brothers, but also directly for workers in the one night. Her assignment was to cover the 5th and 6th at the Charlottesville anti-Nazi protest reported on our mainland U.S. floors, as well as the busy emergency room of a trauma successful activity there, while another comrade gave center on a hot Saturday night. She called the supervi- a stirring speech about the need to build the PLP as a Many pharmaceutical companies, to reap the ben- sor to complain, because the shift had been left short revolutionary party in order to have the means to make efits of extra-low wages, had located themselves in staffed. Management had switched another therapist’s a communist revolution, the solution to all aggressions Puerto Rico, in order to 1) pay the lowest wages pos- weekend and had not replaced her, which left the shift by capitalism. sible, 2) enjoy weaker, if any, regulations against pollu- with four instead of the customary five therapists. tion and worker safety hazards (that are rarely enforced A highlight of the night’s event was the report that During her busy night, Marie was occupied working anyway), 3) decrease their corporate taxes—in short, to we had raised $900 towards the legal defense of the amongst the three areas, and notified the charge thera- enhance their profits off the labor and endangerment Anaheim 3 who had boldly confronted the knife-wield- pist that she was unable to respond to several calls be- of the working class. ing Klansmen and were arrested instead of the Klan. cause she was occupied on the various floors. Invigorated by the strong ties made at this event, the In addition to the devastating destruction of homes The supervisor came in from home and sent Marie anti-racists pledged to re-double their efforts against and lives faced by our Puerto Rican sisters and brothers, home without explanation. The next night, Marie came racism in this increasingly dangerous time for the the drug factories in PR also suffered significant direct to work but was almost immediately sent home again world’s working-class. storm damage. And just as the working class there is without explanation. The next day a group of workers experiencing storm-caused shortages of electricity and confronted the president of the hospital to find out H H H H H clean water, so are the drug factories, though theirs will why. All he offered was a weak promise to “look into the Howard Student Continue to undoubtedly be restored sooner. matter.” One vital medical product is saline, in which all sorts Following this, the respiratory manager demanded Resist FBI Director Comey of medicines are dissolved and administered particular- to know why she went to speak with the president, but The students in HUResist at Howard University in ly in hospitals. But manufacturers of saline were among assured Marie that she would be paid for the time she Washington, DC, USA have continued their activism those encountering damage, resulting in a shortage of was sent home. But instead, the following Monday, Ma- this semester. After shutting down former FBI Director saline in mainland US as well as Puerto Rican hospitals. rie was fired for “refusal to perform assigned duties.” In James Comey at the university’s opening convocation No doubt there are many other medicines that are reality, she was fired for complaining about working (see CHALLENGE, 10/11), they have continued to bird- in short supply as well. This is one way that the working conditions and retaliation for going over the manager’s dog him as he continues his year-long Howard Univer- class suffers from the bosses’ globalization. head and complaining to the president. sity appointment as the Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy. Capitalism truly kills, and not just our fellow Puerto PLP is organizing to help Marie get her job back. Rican working-class mates. The old International Work- Several workers have questioned why she was fired and The University has tried numerous dodges to limit ers of the World (IWW) slogan, “An injury to one is an have written letters of support. The manager has tried student access to Comey, but the students have suc- injury to all,” is not just an attitude that can unite the to silence workers by telling them not to talk about ceeded in challenging him at every event where he working class and not just true through indirect path- what happened. speaks. Comey shows both his arrogance and igno- ways, but is literally true in many situations. rance when challenged by the students. This is an example of how workers have to stick All workers need to come to understand that when together and fight for our class, the working- class. We When asked why, under his watch at the FBI, the re- one portion of our class anywhere in the world, includ- are the class that produces all goods and services, and ward for the return of Assata Shakur doubled, he said ing in the same country, suffers, we all suffer, often the ruling-class is the class that exploits and oppresses he didn’t know anything about that. When asked why directly as well as indirectly. The main thing blocking us. What side are you on? Join PLP and build the fight he supported the racist “Broken Windows” theory of po- that realization is the very same racism that the capital- licing and the phony “Ferguson effect,” he claimed he against the racist and sexist bosses! ists resort to when they aid Puerto Rican storm victims didn’t know about those things either. even less than they aid mainland working-class victims. H H H H H In short, he refused to respond to the tough ques- Racism is the enemy of us all and the friend only of our tions the students asked, further clarifying that the Uni- capitalist exploiters and oppressors. versity had no business honoring this ruling-class jackal H H H H H New book: Leon Trotsky’s Collaboration with Germany & Japan

The latest book on Leon Trotsky’s collaboration with fascists. At the Moscow Trials of 1937 and 1938, some of Leon Trotsky’s followers accused Trotsky of secretly conspiring with Nazi Germany and fascist Japan. Since Nikita Khrushchev’s “Secret Speech” of 1956 attacking Stalin, these charges have been rou- tinely dismissed as false by Soviet, Russian, and Western historians. But we know now that Khrush- chev was lying! Furr asks the question: What is the evidence that Trotsky conspired with the Germans and Japanese? How should this evidence be analyzed and interpret- ed? In this book, Furr conducts an objective study of the evidence. He concludes that Trotsky did in- deed collaborate with the Germans and Japanese. The proof that Trotsky was guilty of collabora- tion with the Nazis and Japanese dramatically chang- It’s $25, plus $5 for shipping and handling. Send your order and a check es our understanding of Soviet history of the 1930s to Challenge Periodicals, PO Box 808, Brooklyn NY 11202. and of Joseph Stalin’s role.

[email protected] www.plp.org PO Box 808, Brooklyn, NY 11202 20 December 2017 • CHALLENGE • page 7 Iran: Capitalist Regime Deadlier than Earthquake

In Iran, as tension increases between U.S. and Ira- 35,000 to 50,000 people. The 2003 Bam earthquake in ocracy are pure hypocrisy. The U.S. has sold hundreds nian capitalists making World War III a growing pos- the southern Kerman province killed at least 31,000. In of billions of dollars worth of weapons to the Saudi rul- sibility, the working class is experiencing severe ruin. 2012, a double earthquake killed 300. ing family. Its criticism of Iran’s involvements in Syria The devastation from the Iran-Iraq earthquake was the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president from 2005 to and Lebanon is also hypocritical given the U.S. record deadliest in a decade. 2013, initiated a program to build low-income housing of occupations and support for dictatorial regimes in Devastation of Workers in Iran in regions that had long history of earthquakes. Hous- the region, including Iran itself. (The CIA worked to ing was knowingly created along the fault lines. overthrow the secular leader Mohammad Mosaddeq in It mainly affected Iran—killed over 500, injured 1953 who sought to nationalize oil, the U.S. armed the Similar to the lies told by the ruling class in the U.S 7,460, and left countless homeless, traumatized, and in torture regime of the Shah of Iran, and is currently fund- after Hurricane Katrina (which killed over 1800 work- dire conditions. It also hit seven big cities and 1,950 vil- ing terrorist groups in Iran.) lages in the Kermanshah province. Officials said 12,000 ing-class families) the rulers’ mouthpieces in Iran said, houses had been completely destroyed and a further “nothing could have been done”(NY Times, 11/13). PLP Problem with Nationalism 15,000 damaged (The Guardian, 11/14). Over 70,000 knows, from our study of what the Bolsheviks achieved, Iran is preparing to confront the “threats, malicious, need emergency shelters. that a better world is possible! It is possible to protect hegemonic and divisive activities of America in the re- the lives of the working class. The earthquake and the government’s actions have gion” (NYT, 8/13). The bosses use nationalism and pat- affectively increased poverty and suffering of the work- After the earthquake, many people blasted the riotism to pit workers against workers in order to build ing class. Communism will prevent the social devasta- government on social media for failing to provide re- profit-driven wars. There are reports of rising mass na- tion of earthquakes by putting the lives of the workers sources in a timely manner. “Iranians from across the tional unity against U.S. president Trump and Saudi Ara- first. country pitched in to gather water, food and tents and bia, signaling more tension. However, capitalist-caused transported the aid with their own cars to the disaster devastations such as the earthquakes in Iran that in- Instead of using its resources to support employ- zone” (NY Times, 11/26). creased poverty and homelessness, and recent tax bill ment, equity, and to sufficiently fund 70,000 working in the U.S that indubitably affects the poor, make it diffi- class families in need of emergency shelters after the Iran-U.S. Tension cult for them to do so. Be it Iran, Saudi Arabia or U.S., the earthquake, the Iranian ruling class spent billions of The rivalry between the U.S. and Iran to see whose working class suffers, either through death due to war, dollars on its ballistic missile programs and other mili- ruling class will dominate the energy-rich Middle East death due to environmental cuts that increase “natural tary and intelligence projects (NYT, 8/13). Other funds has already killed hundreds of thousands in Iraq, Syria disasters” or death due to cuts to healthcare and other are being used to support the Assad regime in Syria. and Yemen and threatens to be much bloodier in the social services. The Iranian government wants to protect their invest- future. Imperialist wars benefit the ruling classes of the Under communism, workers’ needs will always be ments in Syrian oil. The ruling classes are always con- rivals, because they are the ones who profit from con- primary, because we won’t have a need for profit. Even cerned about their profit margins and their ability to trol over trillions of dollars of raw materials, markets, as the 70,000 workers in Iran remain homeless the in- stay in power. The needs of the working class mean labor and investments. But the price of these deadly ternational working class is constantly reminded what’s nothing to them. wars are paid for by workers, as they are used as can- important to the ruling classes everywhere. Our fight is non fodder and as massive military spending crowds Mass Disaster Preventable more important than ever. Are you ready to fight for a out spending on vital social programs. The country lies on dozens of fault lines. The 1990 better world? Workers of the world unite!J Manjil–Rudbar earthquake killed in northern Iran killed U.S. government complaints about the Iranian the- N RED EYE ON THE NEWS . . .

Below are excerpts from mainstream [This] criminal justice system entraps and harasses newspapers that may be of use for our hundreds of thousands of black people every day…. readers. Abbreviations: NYT=New York Times, Probation ends up being a land mine, with a random GW=Guardian Weekly, misstep bringing consequences greater than the crime. LAT=Los Angeles Times A person on probation can end up in jail over a techni- cal violation like missing a curfew….He was arrested… in a St. Louis airport, but all charges were eventually 75 years ago, Battle of Stalingrad was dropped….but the judge sent him to prison anyway…. turning point of WW II As of 2015, one-third of the 4.65 million Ameri- NYT, 11/16 — Hitler’s murderous advance into cans…on…probation were black. Black people are Russia during World War II…was halted at the Battle sent to prison for probation and parole violations at of Stalingrad — a critical turning point in the war.The much higher rates than white people. fight raged for 200 days….Resistance to the German onslaught was fierce…following Stalin’s order: “Not one Fascists in Poland and racist Trump step back.” join forces NYT, 11/5 — …When 60,000 far-right nationalists ….The city has been renamed Volgograd, an effort from Poland and all over Europe marched through War- to erase Stalin’s legacy. But memories of the fighting, 75 saw with red flares and racist signs like “White Europe of years ago this year, are strong….The main memorial…a brotherly nations” and “Clean Blood.” statue....visible from almost every vantage point in the Boss: Hard work has made me rich. city…is a powerful reminder of the price that Soviet Poland’s Foreign Ministry…defen[ded]…the dem- people paid to defeat Nazism…. onstration as an outpouring of patriotism…. Worker: Whose work? When the Germans sent in tanks, Mikhail Panikakha …Words from an old Polish nationalist song that was fighting in a trench. He had just two Molotov cock- were the march’s slogan — “We want God” — were practice. tails left. He was raising one bottle to throw when a cited by President Trump to huge applause on his visit to Warsaw in July. Neo-fascist and white-supremacist U.S. colonial racist devastate bullet smashed it, setting him on fire. He took the re- Puerto Rico’s hurricane recovery maining bottle, jumped out of the trench and hit the groups have become more visible in Europe and the United States….Trump…[on] the white-supremacist NYT, 10/10 — Of all Puerto Rico’s continuing mis- nearest German tank, setting it on fire. The other tanks eries seven weeks after Hurricane Maria’s devastation, withdrew…. demonstration in Charlottesville, Va…said their ranks included some “very fine people” — could have only the most blatantly unjust is that islanders have been Vladimir Turov, 97, is a war veteran….On Sept. 12, heartened the racists. denied the…food relief distributed to storm victims… 1942, his battalion was almost completely surround- in Texas and Florida…. ed by Germans. But he refused to leave his wounded Slave owner Madison helped U.S. Both the island and mainland victims are United friend, fighting off the advancing forces with his ma- Constitution guarantee slavery and the States citizens. But not all citizens are created equal: A chine gun….These days Stalin’s portraits are seen more slave trade 35-year-old congressional budget cap on Puerto Rico’s frequently…and there is a museum dedicated to him as NYT, 10/29 — James Madison….is the founding food stamp program has limited the amount of disaster well….The Square of Heroes…contains a monument to father who…[held] slaves on his plantation in Virginia immediately available. Texas and Florida have no such a nurse carrying a wounded soldier from the battlefield. and failed to free them upon his death., but he also restraints….The disparity [is] painfully evidence of a The Volga River was Hitler’s main target. Soviet soldiers originated the notorious three-fifths compromise in colonial second-class status suffered by citizens of this fought to the death to keep possession of this strategic the Constitution which counted a slave as three-fifths American territory…. artery and important symbol. of a person for purposes of legislative representation…. …Nearly 60 percent of the island’s power genera- U.S. probation system entraps Madison understood…the economic reality on tion remains offline, its tourist and farming economies thousands of Black people daily which his entire livelihood and that of the family plan- have been crippled….The lack of power may be killing NYT, 11/18 — Meek Mill was sentenced to two tation was based….At the Constitutional Convention the very sick and the very old in overheated hospitals to four years in prison for violating his probation…. in 1787….South Carolina and Georgia, backed by and nursing homes…. Meek was around 19…when he was convicted…and Connecticut, insisted on protecting the slave trade as …Recovery will fail without…tens of billions of dol- he served an eight-month sentence. Now he’s 30, so a condition for agreeing to the Constitution. Madison lars to restore housing, water and electric power, and he has been on probation for basically his entire adult went alone….Without the guarantee of slavery and the to repair infrastructure….Trump is probably no more life….He’s been stalked by a system that considers his slave trade, there would have been no Constitution…. interested in this than he’s been in any of the island’s slightest infraction a justification for locking him back The need to accommodate the realities of economics problems. inside…. [and] politics…has continued to hold back equality in

[email protected] www.plp.org PO Box 808, Brooklyn, NY 11202 page 8 • CHALLENGE • 20 December 2017 Bolshevik Revolution Centennial Series New Economic Policy, A Retreat from Communism

ate profit. Technicians, engineers and there were serious disagreements that led to factions other specialists played a large role, and conspiracies within the Party and the govern- and were favored with higher wages ment.1 as well. The End of the NEP Era Expansion of industry required All of this occurred in the infancy of the working foreign investment and trade from the class’ attempts to organize a proletarian communist very same capitalist nations who had revolution. Following the NEP, the Bolsheviks launched previously invaded the Soviet Union the First Five Year Plan, a drive for rapid farm collec- after 1917 in order to crush it. Imports tivization and industrialization. A great deal of struggle of machinery were essential to mod- and sacrifice was demanded, as catapulting a country ernize. Unfortunately, this also meant into the front ranks of the most developed nations in that the peasants had to supply more the world within five years had never been attempted grain to pay for these imports, and the in human history. It was wildly successful, and this ef- Party could not pay them for this sur- fectively put an end to the NEP. plus. The NEP did get production going again after the During the NEP, poor peasants tremendous devastation of war, famine, and epidemic were left out of the progress. The party disease. In this sense, it was successful for a few crucial relied on the rich and middle peasants years. to guarantee enough food for the cit- ies, as well as the surplus for trade with However, the main problem was political. The NEP capitalists. Some rich peasants who embraced the ideology of the same capitalist system controlled the flow of credit joined the revolution was against – production for a market, the Party, and did not share with the inequality, wealth and poverty. Millions of workers poor peasants. Meanwhile the indus- were won to capitalist politics, not the communist poli- trial sector did not make simple and tics the Bolsheviks had organized for years. Many rich cheap tools for the poor farmers since peasants and some factory owners joined the Party they were not so profitable. Many poor because they benefitted under NEP. This harmed poor peasants were driven off the land, and peasants and many workers, who for a time were alien- the Party’s efforts to be more respon- ated from the revolution. sive to them were not successful. Perhaps most serious, many Party leaders support- What Was the ed NEP and were afraid to abandon it. During the dif- ficult years of the First Five Year Plan, from 1929-1933, Outcome of the NEP? some Party leaders were won to cynicism and defeat- Modernization of Soviet society ism, sure that these policies would fail. They were so moved quickly under the NEP. Bank- sure than they formed secret factional, conspiratorial ing and taxation systems were created, groups. Some of them plotted to kill the Bolshevik lead- 1930s Soviet poster reads, “Long live the Union of the and a stable currency was achieved. By er at the time, Stalin, and turn the Party’s policies back workers and peasants—the basis of the Soviet power” 1925-6 industry and agriculture had to NEP-style—capitalist—policies. recovered. The government developed Ultimately, despite incredible advancements and a budget process and first efforts were the defeat of the Nazis in World War II, workers’ power in This is the part of an extensive series about the Bol- made at planning economic develop- the Soviet Union was defeated by 1953. It was precisely shevik Revolution and the triumphs, as well as the defeats, ment. because even the concessions to capitalism within full- of the world communist movement of the 20th century. Social programs, especially education and literacy, fledged socialism - like the wage system, inequalities, We welcome your comments and criticisms, and encour- expanded. The Bolsheviks launched what was at the and nationalism - were over the long term a one-way age all readers to discuss this period of history with their time the largest mass literacy campaign in human his- ticket back to full-fledged capitalism. These conces- friends, classmates, co-workers, family, and comrades. tory, eclipsed by the communists in China years later. sions opened the door to misleaders and traitors to By 1928, school enrollment had jumped 50% above communism like Nikita Khrushchev in the 1950s, who pre-war levels, and public libraries skyrocketed to 80 attacked Stalin under the guise of “returning to Lenin’s In 1921, the workers in the former Russian Empire million, from the 9 million across the whole Russian NEP” because he had decisively turned against capital- were faced with building the first workers’ state on a Empire before World War I. Training of medical doctors ist-type policies. territory with the area of one-sixth of the earth’s sur- led to the tripling of the number of doctors to 63,000, face. Much of the brand-new Soviet Union’s best farm- With the benefit of a century of history, it’s tempt- despite most older doctors fleeing the country during ing to say that the reversals of socialism were inevita- lands and economy were shattered by the imperialist the war. devastation of World War I; widespread peasant revolts ble. Communist philosophy views history as a science, rocked the countryside while urban populations were On the other hand, these advances came with a however, and it’s through learning from the past - not declining; and on top of this there was a famine affect- political price. The experience convinced many Party from random guesses, or rigidly following past formu- ing millions of workers and farmers. The leaders of the members that the NEP should continue despite the ab- las just because some great leaders said them - that the Communist Party (nicknamed Bolsheviks in Russian) in- sence of socialist production in either the factories or Progressive Labor Party, formed in the early 1960s, sci- cluded Vladimir Lenin, who had no blueprints or previ- the farms. Many new Party members who joined dur- entifically broke with socialism in the 1980s. Studying ous experiences to learn from. ing this period and were less committed to communist and learning from history is not the job of a few within principles, and this also influenced some of the older the Party, it’s the job of everyone. Our fight for commu- Lenin proposed that the Bolsheviks temporar- Bolsheviks. Thus, when agricultural production could nism will depend on millions of workers understanding ily adopt aspects of capitalism in order to create jobs not keep up with the rapid industrialization and the and applying the lessons of experiments like the NEP.J and develop industry first, and build socialism later. Party turned to collectivization of agriculture in 1929, After considerable debate, the Bolsheviks responded with the New Economic Policy (NEP) which lasted until 1928. The NEP allowed a limited restoration of capi- talism that was meant to be under the control of the SUBSCRIBE or RENEW! Soviet Union. Lenin and others felt while this was a All the communist politics, news, and struggle from around retreat from socialism, it was necessary for survival of the world! the revolution to rebuild after the devastating civil war ••••one-year subscription: $20 individual $45 for that followed the 1917 Revolution. institution How Was the NEP Set Up? Workers went along with changes because they Name______saw this as a temporary sacrifice to build socialism. _ They formed trade unions for the first time, and were managed by a single “red manager” who was skilled Address______in new technology. Some were even previously fac- tory owners. These managers became Party members City______State______Zip______making ten to twenty times what a worker was paid along with “perks” such as vacations and cars. Their Make check or money order to: skills included management of large scale operations Challenge Periodicals, PO Box 808, Brooklyn, NY 11202 that could take advantage of technology and gener- 1 PROGRESSIVE LABOR PARTY • WWW.PLP.ORG