Documents

This document on the Black Struggle and the Socialist Revolution was passed at the 2008 National Congress of the Workers International League.

 

This perspectives document was adopted by the National Congress of the Workers International League on May 17, 2008, having been drafted some weeks before. It is intended as a supplement to the International Marxist Tendency's World Perspectives draft document.

All of the above is having a profound effect on the consciousness of the U.S. working class, and by extension, on the political situation in the country. Discontent is mounting and there is tremendous potential for working people to express their aspirations politically.  However, there is as of yet no genuine mass political alternative for American workers. Both the Republicans and the Democrats are parties of the capitalist class, and no matter which party is in power, defending the capitalists’ interests will be their top priority.  In the 2008 Presidential elections, we will once again be faced with a “lesser evil” campaign between two representatives of the ruling class.

Last spring, millions of immigrant workers, their families, and allies took to the streets of the U.S. in a spontaneous movement against the draconian anti-immigrant measures being proposed in the form of the Sensenbrenner Bill (HR4437). But this was only the spark that lit up the inflammable material that had accumulated for decades. Some 12 to 14 million undocumented immigrants, a majority of them from Mexico and Central America, live in the shadows of U.S. society, doing back-breaking and dangerous work for low wages, under poor conditions, with few rights. HR4437 was simply the last “last straw” after decades of indignities, and the pent up frustrations exploded to the surface. Hundreds of ad hoc committees were organized in factories, schools, and workplaces to plan for May Day 2006 - which was almost certainly the largest national strike / boycott in the history of the U.S.

The movement was inevitably heterogeneous at first, with “immigrants” of from all layers of society participating in its early days.  Business owners and factory workers marched together in the “spring time” of the movement; there was a carnival atmosphere as millions of oppressed workers felt the strength of their unity for the first time. Latino radio stations and business owners jumped on board, pushing the movement forward. But the seeds for the future division of the movement along class lines were present from the beginning, and have intensified in the months since May Day 2006. Because at root, this was not a movement of “immigrants” – it was a movement of immigrant workers, and the slogans and banners reflected this: “We are workers not criminals!” “You accept our labor, now accept us!”

Compared with most of the world, American workers enjoyed higher standards of living for several decades, due largely to the fierce union struggles of the past. Although there has always been a vast sub-stratum of the class, working in minimum wage, non-union jobs under poor conditions, for a significant sector, it seemed that things weren’t so bad under capitalism after all.

However, with population growth and the emergence of new markets such as China, India, and Eastern Europe, where rock-bottom wages and poor conditions prevail, the capitalist class is forcing U.S. workers to compete for increasingly low wages, benefits and deteriorating conditions.  The IMF recently reported that the “effective global labor force” has risen fourfold over the past two decades. This has served to push down wages in the advanced industrialized countries, particularly among unskilled workers. Some analysts predict that the mass layoffs and “offshoring” of the past period are just the beginning - as many as 30 to 40 million more jobs could be lost in the coming years.

For several years we’ve analyzed the sluggish course of the world’s most powerful economy. After the short-lived recession of 2001, the economy has limped along for several years, never technically dipping back into recession, but never really taking off as it did in the 1990s.  This “jobless” expansion has been based entirely on the relentless squeezing of the U.S. and world working class. Over this period, worker productivity and corporate profits have increased tremendously while wages and job growth have stagnated or fallen behind. In other words, fewer workers are doing more work for less pay, leaving more profits in the pockets of the capitalists. So although overall GDP has continued to grow, very little has “trickled down” to the mass of the population.  In fact, things are far worse now for the majority than they were just 25 years ago. For millions of U.S. workers, this boom has seemed more like a prolonged recession.

The war in Iraq is at the heart of the instability in the Middle East – and the U.S. It is now the third-longest-running war in U.S. history: longer than the American Civil War, the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean War.  Only the Philippine-American and Vietnam Wars have lasted longer. Although control over Iraq’s oil was a major reason for the invasion, it was not the main factor.  Overall strategic control over the region and teaching a “lesson” to any country that dares “step out of line” was the main objective. However, none of U.S. imperialism’s political, economic, or military objectives have been achieved.  Far from demonstrating its power, U.S. imperialism has demonstrated the limits of its power. The results will be far-reaching both internationally and within the U.S. itself.

This year’s U.S. Perspectives will bring up to date key aspects of last year’s extensive World and U.S. Perspectives documents. Last year’s documents retain their validity on all fundamental points, and should be read in conjunction with this year’s perspectives. However, the overall process has accelerated.  In the past 12 months, the contradictions of the world capitalist system have continued to build up, resulting in violent explosions of the class struggle in one country after another, and preparing even more explosive developments for the coming period. Above all, we must understand the profound effect these events are having on the consciousness of the U.S. working class.  Long gone are the days of relative stability and “class peace”.  Right here, in the heart of world imperialism, colossal explosions of the class struggle are being prepared.

This section concludes our anlysis of the events of the past year, which have awakened millions of Americans to the bitter reality of life under capitalism.

In recent months, millions of immigrants and their supporters have hit the streets in the most massive social mobilization in decades. No longer afraid of "la migra" (the INS), and feeling the strength and solidarity of their numbers, the sleeping giant of the immigrants’ rights movement has begun to stir on a grand scale.