Socialist Alternative Issue 79 - Dec/Jan 2021

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INSIDE BIDEN PRESIDENCY IN CRISIS p.3 p.5 AHMAUD ARBERY TRIAL p.12 INFLATION RISES

WHAT WE STAND FOR End the COVID Chaos •

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As the Omicron variant spreads globally and we near the two-year anniversary of COVID reaching the United States, it’s abundantly clear that capitalist world leaders have failed to contain this crisis.

We need a People’s Plan to end the COVID chaos!

Lift patent protections on all COVID vaccines. This would remove a key obstacle to poor countries manufacturing them at home. It would also make publicly available the science and technology behind these life-saving vaccines.

Advanced capitalist countries need to be pushed to urgently reallocate their surplus vaccines to poor countries and help establish the infrastructure for universal vaccination worldwide.

We urgently need to take Big Pharma profiteers into public ownership and turn existing vaccines into the People’s Vaccines!

Reaching vaccine holdouts in the U.S. and ensuring widespread allocation of boosters will require going much further in ensuring the shot is accessible. This includes guaranteeing paid time off to recover from side effects, free transit to and from vaccine appointments, and community-led education campaigns to ensure people know the vaccine is free.

We agree with reasonable measures to ensure public health including mask mandates in schools and that health and education workers should either be vaccinated or regularly tested.

No mass firings of workers’ refusing the vaccine! These punitive measures should be replaced with democratic negotiation of reasonable health protocol in the workplace.

Rebuild a Fighting Labor Movement •

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For a New Political Party for Working People •

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The complete failure of the Biden administration to do good on campaign promises to expand the social safety net and begin to address climate change is opening the door to the right and far right and exposes the dire need for a new working class political party not beholden to big business interests.

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

Expand the Social Safety Net! •

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Coming off of the momentum of the fall strike wave, we need to build and rebuild radical fighting unions that are fully democratic and driven by the active participation of rank and file workers.

For mass organizing drives to unionize the millions of non-union workers in the U.S. Especially as prices for energy, food, and cars skyrocket, we need a united struggle across industries for wage increases that are above the rate of inflation, an end to forced overtime, and an end to two-tier wage structures.

We need accountable leadership in the labor movement. Union leaders should accept the average wage of a worker in their industry and should answer first and foremost to their membership and the broader working class. Unions should take up the broader issues facing the

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working class and mount a struggle against evictions, poverty, racism, and all forms of oppression.

The left in Congress needs to break with the floundering Biden agenda and build a movement to push back against the corporate interests that dominate establishment politics.

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

Make the child tax credit permanent and fully fund high-quality, universal childcare. Cancel all student debt! Make public college tuition-free. For a $15 federal minimum wage.

We need an immediate transition to Medicare for All. Take for-profit hospital chains into public ownership and retool them to provide free, state-of-the-art healthcare to every American.

Fully fund public education! End school privatization. We need a national hiring program to bring on board hundreds of thousands of new educators to accommodate a permanent reduction in class size.

For a Socialist Green New Deal •

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The Democrats are failing to enact any serious measures necessary to tackle the climate crisis. We need a genuine Green New Deal jobs program that provides well-paid union jobs for millions of workers expanding green infrastructure.

We need to build an international environmental struggle led by the global working class and youth for an immediate end to the use of fossil fuels and a 100% transition to green energy.

Take the top 100 polluting companies into democratic public ownership. We need a democratically planned economy

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WHY I JOINED SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE Enrique Vellejo, Bay Area As a gay Latino raised in the Bay Area by a single mother in a union household, I suppose I had a head start in my journey to socialist politics. Over the years, I have witnessed ongoing gentrification and a brutal housing crisis in the Bay Area that has displaced countless working people. Even before I had the language to articulate why this was happening, it was clear to me that the status quo was unsustainable.

Like many people, Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential run developed my class consciousness more fully and led me to identify as a socialist. I was in graduate school for social work at the time and was studying just how unequal our society is and how much of a struggle it has been to win advances for poor and working class people, people of color, women, and members of the LGBTQ community in this country. Working since graduate school as a clinical social worker and helping my clients navigate very broken and inadequate systems has radicalized me further.

As Biden and a Democratic majority took office, I became disillusioned with the conciliatory approach Bernie, The Squad, and many progressive groups took toward the Democratic establishment that they once promised to challenge. This seemed like the perfect moment – when Democrats control the White House and both houses of Congress, in the middle of a pandemic no

less – to make bold demands and expose the enemies of the working class. I have long admired Kshama Sawant and Socialist Alternative’s open embrace of class struggle and how that has led to concrete victories for the working class. But the beauty of SA is the political education and development it fosters among members.

Socialist Alternative raises the confidence of its members and empowers us to in turn raise the confidence and expectations of the working class at large. It also provides a refreshing sense of clarity. It is liberating to know where the battle lines are drawn and that capitalism and the Democratic Party are beyond reform. I sincerely believe Socialist Alternative’s fighting, serious-minded approach has and will continue to create the kind of progress we so desperately need. J

to carry out the transformation necessary to avoid climate disaster.

A Safe and Just Society: End Racist Policing and Criminal (in) Justice •

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Arrest and convict killer cops! Purge police forces of anyone with known ties to white supremacist groups or any cop who has committed violent or racist attacks.

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

Disarm police on patrol.

Put policing under the control of

democratically-elected civilian boards with power over hiring and firing, reviewing budget priorities, and the power to subpoena.

The Whole System is Guilty •

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Capitalism produces pandemics, poverty, inequality, environmental destruction, and war. We need an international struggle against this failed system.

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

We need a democratic socialist plan for the economy based on the interests of the overwhelming majority of people and the planet. J

Dobbs Case Begins: Defend the Right to Choose!

The Supreme Court intends to overturn, or deeply gut Roe v. Wade in early 2022 when they issue a decision in Dobbs v.

Jackson Women’s Health, a court case surrounding a Mississippi ban on abortion before 15 weeks.

Any remaining illusion that the Court will protect, or at the very least leave alone, women’s right to choose is gone. Unless a mass movement is built in the coming months, the “best case scenario” is the Court will allow states to restrict abortion after 15 weeks, significantly weakening Roe and other previous decisions that protect abortion up to 24 weeks. The worst case scenario is that they revoke any constitutional protections on abortion, meaning states are allowed to ban abortions

altogether, at any time.

The right to choose was won through the titanic women’s movement of the ‘60s and ’70s, despite a reactionary majority on the Supreme Court. This is the type of fightback we need today. #GirlBoss feminism and hollow sloganeering from women representatives of the ruling class won’t do any good for the tens of millions of working class women fighting for our basic rights. We need a working class women’s movement prepared to fight for free, safe, and legal abortion on demand as part of a broader Medicare for All healthcare system, permanently free universal childcare, and fully funded public education. J

S O C I A L I S TA LT E R N AT I V E . O R G

BIDEN’S PRESIDENCY IN CRISIS Tom Crean and Erin Brightwell Only six months ago, the media was full of optimistic predictions about a rapid and dramatic economic recovery due to surging demand and mass vaccination. Joe Biden’s presidency was supposed to be a decisive turning of the page on Trump, showing like FDR that “government could work” including through significant social programs and taking more serious measures on climate change as well as restoring the standing of U.S. imperialism globally.

In recent weeks, however, Biden’s popularity has fallen to new lows and the Democrats have suffered electoral defeats that clearly warn that, on the current trajectory, they will lose control of Congress in the midterms in 2022.

It’s very clear that the Biden administration is in crisis; the “honeymoon” is long gone and unfortunately the Left in Congress has failed to put forward an independent working class position.

How We Got Here Biden took office in January after a year in which hundreds of thousands died unnecessarily due to Trump’s criminal mishandling of the pandemic, and after an attempted coup following Trump’s loss in the 2020 elections.

Biden sustained his initial popularity through passing another stimulus bill that put money in ordinary people’s pockets, and through ramping up vaccinations which promised a “return to normal” on the horizon.

This optimistic scenario soon came undone. Biden declared “independence” from COVID on the 4th of July, which turned out to be a bit like George Bush declaring “mission accomplished” in Iraq. Vaccinations stalled, and the massive Delta spike dashed hopes that the “end” of the pandemic was near.

On top of that, massive dysfunction within the Democratic Party has put the Biden agenda at a standstill. There has been endless wrangling on how to pass further elements of their agenda including the bill for traditional bridges, roads, and rails infrastructure as well as the bigger Build Back Better bill which included social programs and measures on climate change.

We have had the incredible spectacle of a couple of corrupt Democratic Senators, one with extensive ties to coal interests, forcing DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021-202 2

Biden to scale down the wider bill, and then to scale it down further. With any meaningful action on climate change in the bill defeated, Biden was forced to go to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow empty-handed.

All of this shows how the more “far sighted” or rational sections of the ruling class are not able to assert themselves and push through measures that are broadly in their interest if they want to tamp down the extreme level of polarization and preserve the system of capitalist democracy that has served them so well historically. Because the failure to push through measures that would materially benefit ordinary people while the economic situation deteriorates opens the door very wide to the Republicans. And there is no doubt that the Trumpist right-populist grip on the GOP is very solid.

And while ineffectually trying to push through limited “progressive” social spending, the political establishment remains diametrically opposed to measures that would permanently improve the lives of ordinary people like Medicare for All or a cancellation of student debt.

The Right Strikes Back The consequence of Democratic weakness and dysfunction was evident in the outcome of the elections at the start of November. Democrats lost the governor’s race in Virginia, a state Biden won by 10 points last November. They almost lost the governor’s race in New Jersey, despite the polls showing them well in the lead.

These results are nothing short of catastrophic for the Democrats. With Trump no longer a clear and present boogeyman, the Democrats can’t seem to come up with a clear message. Republicans have effectively focused the media narrative on mask and vaccine mandates, while the Democrats did far too little to build mass support for what the Build Back Better bill initially represented. At a time of deep uncertainty, the Republicans point to things that genuinely activate their base such as resisting vaccine and mask mandates, even if these are actually leaving them less safe.

But the Republicans are also gaining by pointing to the very real phenomenon of inflation. Even in its initial, more substantive form, Build Back Better wouldn’t have addressed the sky-high price of gas, which has hit an all-time record of $4.86 per gallon

EDITORIAL in California. If Biden’s answer to this reality is to try to force voters to focus on the uninspiring infrastructure bill, and a severely watered down Build Back Better plan, next year’s midterm elections are likely to be an absolute bloodbath for Democrats.

Still, overall, left progressives nationally have seen their momentum cut across, because they have failed broadly to adopt an independent working class position and instead leaned on an alliance with a section of the liberal establishment.

Looking for Someone to Blame

The Weakness of the Progressives in Congress

Of course, MSNBC and the rest of the liberal pundits have been looking for someone In the immediate wake of the election outto blame for the failures of the Democratic comes, the bulk of the Progressive Caucus in establishment and the Biden White House. the House of Representatives, led by Pramila They have the usual scapegoats: the left, and Jayapal, capitulated to Biden by voting for the the “white working class.” infrastructure bill and abandoning their leverIn Virginia, the Republicans focused their age for the wider Build Back Better bill. messaging not just on opposing COVID safety The stand taken by the Squad in voting mandates but on attacking the alleged intro- against the infrastructure bill because it was duction of Critical Race Theory into school not tied to the wider bill was positive, but curriculums as part of trying to whip up a was not understood by most people. This is backlash to Black Lives Matter. The attacks because of the failure of the Squad to mobion CRT and on vaccine mandates certainly lize or even articulate to ordinary people what played a role in mobilizing the core, harder they are fighting for, because they are trapped -right part of the base. But the main issues in their alliance with Biden and Pelosi. that shifted people towards the Republicans The entrance fee to this alliance with the were economic uncertainty and disappoint- establishment against the Trumpist right, ment with Biden. The conclusion should not and against the right wing of the Democratic be that the white population has turned deci- Party, has been very steep for the Squad and sively to the right or toward “white suprem- Bernie Sanders. It has required that they acy.” But the failures of the Democrats are indeed (again) pushing many people into the continued on p. 8 arms of unabashed racist reactionaries.

A different sort of backlash to BLM is happening inside the Democratic Party.

In city after city controlled by the Democrats, even limited measures to redirect police funding agreed in the wake of the mass protests in 2020 have been replaced by moves to “refund” the The week before the House Judiciary Committee voted on police using the an anti-trust bill, Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, bet that Google rising levels of parent company Alphabet’s stock would rise. This one suspigun violence ciously-timed gamble netted him $5.3 million. Shortly after, the as the phrase “Nancy Pelosi Insider Trading” went viral on Twitter. The excuse.

Pelosi’s stocks are so conveniently valuable that TikTok investThere ment channels have been following Nancy’s trading disclosures w e r e and using it to guide their own market moves. They’ve called other her the stock market’s “biggest whale.” h i g h Just days before going to Scotland to represent the p rofile U.S. at the COP26 climate convention, Nancy Pelosi defeats officiated the wedding of billionaire oil heiress Ivy Getty. for proThe wedding was sickeningly lavish. Guests were treated gresto a morning IV drip to help them quickly recover from sive/ last night’s partying. That night, they were gifted a pril e f t vate Earth, Wind, and Fire concert, and more thousandDemodollar shoes than you can count. crats, Shortly after the eviction moratorium expired this fall, includleaving hundreds of thousands at risk of being kicked out ing India of their homes, Nancy Pelosi went to Italy for a meeting Walton with the Prime Minister. On this trip she was given a taxwho ran payer funded daily travel stipend. This stipend, which for mayor of was to be used on lodging, food, and walking Buffalo and around money, was $3,429. Per day. That is more was strongly than a minimum wage earner makes in a month. supported by the Democratic Socialists of America.

However, DSA and progressives did not lose across the board: Robin Wonsley, a DSA member in Minneapolis, was elected to the City Council as an independent socialist, and there were other progressive and left gains in other cities.

NANCY PELOSI’S ELITE LIFESTYLE

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L ABOR MOVEMENT

JOHN DEERE STRIKE REAL GAINS WON, BUT NOT ENOUGH

support, saw their chance to regain all of the concessions given up under the neoliberal assault.

It’s hard to win a war when your generals can’t be found The union officials consistently failed to show anything resembling a fighting lead. This lack of leadership is the reason why on November 17, workers voted by 61% to 39% to accept a TA which is only slightly different from the one that was rejected in mid-October. Interviews with striking workers showed that a majority of members, faced with the prospect of an indefinite strike going into the winter months, understood that their national leadership was not going to fight for the transformational changes that are needed.

But this strike has proven that workers’ expectations have leapt far above the heads of their leadership. UAW’s rank-and-file struck a new tone for the labor movement by refusing to keep their demands to what the bosses were willing to offer.

The strike won significant gains compared to what the company and UAW leadership offered and in that sense it has been rightly greeted as a win. But it cannot be seen as a complete victory.

This complicated balance sheet will leave lasting imprints on the labor movement. On the one hand we see the power of the strike to push the bosses to make concessions. After decades of labor’s decline under the heel of many bitter defeats, it is important this positive lesson is highlighted. On the other hand, workers’ aspirations far exceeded what was won, so for many this only reaffirmed their distrust in union leadership and for some, the whole concept of unions and class struggle as a vehicle for winning change.

Workers want their lives back!

Luke Eckenrod and Steve Edwards During forty years of neoliberal attacks on pay and working conditions, workers have fought to maintain decent living standards for themselves and their families by sacrificing their free time – either by working multiple jobs, or by putting in endless hours of overtime. The impact of this was brought to a head in the John Deere workers’ revolt.

In the “Post 97” Facebook groups – named after the ‘97 contract, a historic betrayal that introduced two tier pensions among other concessions – workers discussed the need for major changes.

A more militant layer set their sights on returning to the equivalent of a pre-97 contract. For many the strike was a fight for a return to the 8 hour day, weekends, pensions, healthcare and family- supporting wages. In short, they were demanding their lives back. This echoes the demands of workers

For many the strike was a fight for a return to the 8 hour day, weekends, pensions, healthcare and familysupporting wages.

In short, they were demanding their lives back.

from the earliest days of the factory system.

Grating against workers’ growing sense of self-worth and power is capitalism’s unquenchable thirst for profit. Under the guidance of John Deere’s CEO, John May, the company has increasingly followed the Amazon model, or perhaps really the Ford model; encroaching into workers’ lives in dystopian ways. Workers are timed on how long it takes to make products at full speed so the company can set new, higher standards, ensuring an endless speed-up.

To get a fighting, democratic union, rank and file must organize The UAW leadership dragged its feet every step of the way in this strike. From the very beginning of negotiations, workers were kept in the dark. Strike guidelines were intent on keeping the strike within narrow bounds. The few attempts at broadening the struggle by the rankand-file were admonished by leadership.

The missing ingredient was an alternative to existing leadership in the form of rank-and-file organization. With a clear program of demands, strategy and tactics, a rank-and-file caucus could have been a lightning rod for the fighting layers of the union. Frustration with current leadership was reflected in the outcome of the historic UAW vote in November, in which members voted for direct elections for leadership.

If workers are going to have a chance to undo the concessions of the past 40 years and win real gains, business unionism will need to be replaced with class struggle unionism. The development of rank-and-file opposition caucuses is the vital next step to this transformation. These caucuses need to be built around a program to democratize the unions, with officers paid only the average wage of workers they represent; a fighting set of economic and social demands; and the call for a mass unionization drive. The real momentum to win big victories will come when we bring millions more into the unions as in the 1930s. The partial victory won by workers at John Deere through sheer determination shows the enormous potential and also the real obstacles facing organized workers in the fight for a better life. J

With a fighting leadership, much more could have been won.

In September, faced with the company’s demands that despite record profits, workers already stretched to the limit should work longer hours for less pay and worse benefits, John Deere plants voted 99% to authorize a strike. In October, union leadership recommended a contract that would still have provided pay raises below the level of inflation – a slow-moving pay cut – and a plan to cut pensions and benefits for new hires, creating a third tier in a workforce that has been divided ever since the union agreed to a twotier pay and benefits structure in 1997. In a series of stormy meetings workers voted this offer down by 90% and proceeded to go out on strike. Two weeks later, union leaders came back with a significantly improved offer, doubling first-year pay raises, improving pensions and healthcare and most importantly, taking the third-tier threat completely off the table.

This was rejected again.

A majority of the workers, knowing the strength of their position with a nationwide labor shortage and buoyed by unprecedented levels of community

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Workers picket outside Deere plant in Davenport, IA

S O C I A L I S TA LT E R N AT I V E . O R G

FIGHTING RACISM

JUSTICE FOR AHMAUD ARBERY

THE FIGHT AGAINST THE FAR-RIGHT AND THE CROOKED COURTS shooting, he tapped one of those connections, former DA Jackie Johnson, leaving her a voicemail asking for advice. Later that same day, Johnson’s office instructed the GCPD not to arrest Travis.

On May 5, Gregory McMichael requested that Bryan’s video of the shooting be released to the public in an attempt to clear their names. The video went viral and sparked a national outcry. Working class people in Brunswick and cities nationwide erupted into protest, organizing events with the hashtag #IRunWithMaud and spurring a multiracial movement with a clear demand: arrest the murderers.

It was only due to this immense public pressure that a new prosecutor was forced to call a grand jury, and just two days later, the McMichaels were finally arrested.

Trial Brings More Attempts to Avoid Accountability

Kyle Rittenhouse On Trial: Build A Movement To Defeat the Far-Right Will Fitzgerald, Chicago On November 19, right-wing vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse, who killed and wounded Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha, WI, was found not guilty on all charges. This trial represented first and foremost the immense polarization in society, and the wider political campaign by the right-wing and the court system to dissipate the momentum generated by working people during the height of the BLM protests.

The capitalist legal system is never favorable terrain for winning the demands of working people, and this trial was no exception. We will not beat back the growing far-right through relying on the courts and police, both of whom act on behalf of the capitalist class. Instead, we need to rapidly develop the forces and authority of the left by building movements of workers and young people who are still looking for ways to win the demands of the movement, like reducing police budgets, spending on social services, and community control over the police. J DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021-202 2

Manuel Cruz, Boston On November 24, Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan Jr were all found guilty for the February 2020 murder of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia. The decision is understandably and rightfully being celebrated as a rare victory in the fight for justice, especially given that it closely follows the demoralizing not-guilty verdict in the trial of far-right vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse.

Corruption From the Start Arbery was shot dead while jogging on February 23, 2020. The McMichaels, both white men, chased down Arbery – a Black man – in their pickup truck. Although both McMichaels were armed, Arbery was not.

Once they cornered him, a struggle ensued over possession of Travis’s shotgun. Three shots rang out, and Arbery was dead. The murder was captured on video by Bryan, a neighbor who had joined the pursuit mid-chase.

Outrageously, it took 74 days for either man to be arrested. That’s because from the very start, corrupt local law enforcement set to work on protecting the McMichaels.

Gregory McMichael is a former officer for the Glynn County Police Department and had done investigative work on behalf of several local district attorneys. Immediately after the

The defense gamed the jury pool, using 11 of its 12 “strikes” to remove 11 Black jurors from consideration. Somehow, out of a pool of 600 potential jurors, only one of the final 16 jurors was Black – all others were white. Even the judge had to call out the clear “intentional discrimination” that had occurred in jury selection.

The jury never heard evidence of racial motives behind the killing, including the fact that the McMichaels truck was adorned with the Confederate flag, or that Travis McMichael used a racial slur on video while he watched Arbery die.

Instead, the McMichaels claimed self defense, despite the obvious absurdity captured on tape: how could an unarmed Black man out for a jog be considered the aggressor against two armed vigilantes chasing him in a truck?

Capitalism’s Failures Fuel FarRight Violence Far-right violence has been on the rise in both the U.S. and internationally. White supremacists, racial extremists, self-styled militia groups, and would-be fascists have been emboldened by the likes of Trump, Bolsonaro, and explicitly facist groups in countries like Germany and Hungary, which have managed to win elections and support by promoting xenophobia, Islamophobia, antiimmigration, and “family values.”

But their presence was paved by decades of failed establishment politics that attacked the living standards of working people, leaving an angry population searching for answers and ripe to be exploited by right-wing hate mongers. This violence won’t go away simply by voting those enabling politicians out of office.

While Biden and the Democrats present themselves as the defenders of “democracy”

against right wing coups and other threats, their complete inability to address the far right threat is captured WWby Biden’s pathetic response to the rigged Rittenhouse trial, where he simply stated, “The jury system works, and we have to abide by it.”

As the Rittenhouse verdict showed, we can’t trust the courts to do right by the victims of far-right violence. Under capitalism, the laws, police and courts exist to defend capitalist interests, subjugating the working class for the benefit of the ruling class. A system that is designed to constantly regenerate the status quo of racism, sexism, inequality, and working class exploitation cannot be expected to protect or defend its own victims.

Fighting Back While we embrace a successful conviction in the McMichaels and Bryan case, a single arrest or conviction is not enough. Instead we need a stronger resistance on the left to directly organize against the far right and to build a mass movement for economic and social justice.

As an example, Seattle City Councilmember and Socialist Alternative member Kshama Sawant has used her seat to call for mass mobilizations against police violence and racial injustice. Kshama has been able to help win key victories for the working class in Seattle, including a first-in-the-nation ban on police use of chemical weapons and crowd control measures. Her victories and uncompromising support of BLM and working class movements is also why the right-wing and big businesses in Seattle have teamed up to try to remove Kshama from office in an undemocratic recall election.

In the struggle for justice, we can’t trust the system – capitalism – that created the conditions for institutional racism, police brutality, and far-right violence. Only a mass movement of working class people organized against these threats and toward a permanent end to the capitalist system can provide the solution.

Socialist Alternative calls for: • A working class centered movement to put an end to the conditions that allowed the far right to grow in the first place, focused on demands for higher wages, free healthcare, affordable housing with rent control, defunding the police, and more.

• Community control over the police, including democratically elected boards of community members with power over hiring, firing, and disciplinary policies as well as control of police budgets.

• A new, independent, working- class party separate from the Democratic and Republican Parties that is able to effectively fight for social movements, economic demands, and criminal justice and police reforms. J

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Right-Wing Recall

How Kshama Sawant and Socialis Alternative Won (Again!)

Bryan Koulouris and Calvin Priest For the fourth time, Socialist Alternative leader and Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant has won an election, this time while facing off against a racist, right-wing recall backed by big business. This victory is a vindication for a class-struggle approach to elected office, an example of successful independent working-class politics, and it is full of lessons for working people and the socialist left.

This was the most difficult election we’ve faced since Kshama came to office in 2013.

Seattle

had never seen a December election, a timing consciously engineered by the recall to drive down voter turnout among workers, renters, young people, and people of color. A corporate PAC with the Orwellian name “A Better Seattle” poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into constantly bombarding voters with lies and deceit in TV, web, and mail ads. Meanwhile, the Kshama Solidarity campaign was denied ads by Google, YouTube, and Hulu.

The corporate PAC weren’t the only ones spreading dishonest information about Kshama and the right-wing recall. Due to our ability to win victories that infuriate the ruling class and political establishment, the corporate media (especially the widely-read Seattle Times) has carried out a constant drumbeat of misleading, underhanded attacks against Kshama and our movement over the past eight years. The State Supreme Court, with no hearing on the truth of the charges, ruled in favor of the right-

wing recall, resulting in outright lies appearing on the ballot as the last thing anyone saw before voting.

The courts inexplicably stalled their judgment for three months, allowing the right-wing recall to carry out voter suppression with an

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unprecedented winter holiday election, which are typically far lower turnout than general elections.

In Kshama’s eight years in office, her leadership and Socialist Alternative’s work in Seattle has been a beacon for how Marxists can lead working people and the oppressed to crucial victories. From making Seattle the first major city to win a $15 an hour minimum wage in 2014 to the successful $2 billion Amazon Tax in 2020 and landmark renters’ rights victories over many years, our Marxist council office and working class movements in Seattle have impacted the lives of not only Seattle residents but millions of workers nationally. Now, we have a strong mandate to boldly continue our struggle against the right wing and the ruling class.

Deep Polarization and Next Steps Like in many major cities, the rents in Seattle are skyrocketing. We collected over 15,000 signatures for rent control during this campaign, at the same time as Kshama’s office and Socialist Alternative helped renters get organized to successfully fight off rent increases in specific buildings. We also won historic renters rights this year that have set a national precedent. We’re going to step up this fight for quality, affordable housing in Seattle, and we hope this desperatelyneeded movement can spread across the country, just as our victory for the $15 an hour minimum wage did in 2015. As always, we will face a determined opposition from corporate landlords, the Democratic establishment, pro-capitalist courts, right-wing populists, and possibly even state repression – but our victories are a testament to how a class-struggle approach can overcome these obstacles.

Big business failed to unseat our socialist City Council office despite pulling out all the stops in 2019 with Amazon alone spending over $3 million. This time, they teamed up with a right-wing backlash against the Black Lives Matter movement, and they still failed to defeat Kshama and our movement. They won’t stop there. Increasing lies, lawsuits, and even

state repression could follow against Socialist Alternative.

Unfortunately, many left candidates and activists try to counter the right-wing corporate politicians by papering over differences with the Democratic establishment. This only leaves more of a vacuum for the right wing to pose as the “anti-establishment” alternative to business as usual politics, as Trump and others have done nationally. Some other activists lean on “woke” soundbites without offering concrete demands that can improve the lives of working class people. Neither of these approaches are effective.

This last year, as our socialist campaign fought for popular demands like rent control, renters rights, and to expand the Amazon Tax for urgently needed affordable housing, not a single “woke” progressive Democratic candidate campaigned on these issues – instead, they went on the defensive in the face of rightwing attacks. As a result, not only did the Democratic candidates lose, some like Lorena Gonzalez were defeated by blowout margins.

Socialists can counter the right by unapologetically fighting against all forms of oppression and connecting this to fighting demands that benefit working people. We need to be willing to expose those corporate and “progressive” leaders who offer no solutions for the working class while we organize for clear policies like rent control, increased wages, taxing the rich, and a socialist green new deal jobs program.

Politics of the Ground Game The Seattle media and much of the left often focus on Socialist Alternative’s incredible “ground game” when explaining Kshama’s victories. While we’re extremely proud of our unprecedented get-out-the-vote effort and million-dollar fundraising, all of this directly flows from our dynamic revolutionary socialist politics.

It takes an active mass movement to defeat the capitalists. Passive support for socialist ideas or specific working-class policies are not enough to win victories that can positively affect our lives and deliver a blow to the bank accounts of the billionaires. Instead, we need to fight unambiguously for the needs of working people, young people, and the oppressed for them to feel invested in going all out to win. This is partly expressed in the fighting demands of a campaign, such as our struggle for rent control, that we went on the offensive to fight for despite the fact that the solidarity campaign was in essence a defense campaign. We also went on the offensive against this right-wing attack to emphasize how crucial it was for working people that we maintained S O C I A L I S TA LT E R N AT I V E . O R G

l DEFEATED

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the only voice in city hall willing to fight for us.

Over 1,500 people in District 3 volunteered in some way, many of them filling out “pledge cards” to discuss the election and turn out the votes of at least three friends, family members, or co-workers. On top of this, we didn’t just focus on likely voters, and turnout among 18-25 year olds was hundreds of votes bigger in our special election than in the November general election! This was made possible with over 1,700 new voter registrations and an orientation towards students who don’t normally vote in local elections. We also pushed up turnout in public housing and marginalized communities. In one heavily East African building, turnout was nearly ten times what it was in the general election!

In contrast to left electoral campaigns that promise victories based on voting, we told every supporter that we needed them to do more than just vote. We asked every supporter we met doorknocking and tabling at least three times if they would donate to the campaign, stressing the spending of right-wingers and corporate executives. We broke all Seattle records, receiving over 5,000 donors from within the district.

All of these organizational achievements were necessary to win, and they all flow from the working-class orientation of genuine Marxism. Many activists were also impressed by the discipline of our campaign which also flows from our revolutionary politics; we know it will take a tight-knit organization to effectively defeat all the forces that capitalism throws at us. This was a campaign of struggle, aiming to turn passive support into an active fight against the large landlords, big developers, and corporate executives who dominate the political establishment.

establishment. We did the opposite and told people that Kshama and our movement had nothing to hide, no regrets, and that these charges were right-wing. We pointed out the backing of big business for the recall, and their motivation to overturn our 2019 reelection.

While the right-wing charges of the recall campaign were clear throughout, we also used the “right-wing recall” slogan based on our political prediction of how the campaign would unfold.

While the recall initially was returning donations from notorious right-wing donors like billionaire ICE landlord and Trump supporter Martin Selig, we knew they would more and more have to lean on right-wing support given their shallow base in Seattle. The right-wing donors (130+ Trump donors and 500+ Republican contributors) started piling in, and they even accepted another donation from Selig himself! Using the “right-wing recall” slogan early on positioned our campaign to scandalize the recall and make it toxic for a layer of voters in the “middle ground.”

We also predicted that the recall campaign would resort to voter suppression as their only potential path to victory. With the “put up or shut up” tactic, we collected over 3,000 signatures for the recall to be put on the ballot with Kshama prominently signing the petition herself! We did this to expose the right-wing recall campaign for consciously avoiding putting the question on the November 2nd ballot when turnout would be highest as Seattleites voted on Naming the Class Mayor and many other city All of these Enemies and county positions. This organizational tactic helped show without Just as Kshama’s office a doubt that the recall was achievements were has done for more than eight attempting voter suppresyears, we were willing to name necessary to win, sion and gave further creand shame the right-wing and they all flow dence to our slogan calling recall’s backers. While many the recall campaign rightfrom the workingprogressive and even socialist wing despite the objections campaigns often avoid polarizclass orientation of of many rich liberals. ing the discussion against our genuine Marxism.

While forced to wage a class enemies and movement struggle against the recall, misleaders, we were proud of we also continued to focus the adversaries we made.

Early on, we told the truth about the recall on building movements for workers and renters, being a right-wing campaign even though this even when this cut across our “ground game.” made some people angry. Two of the recall’s Kshama’s office and Socialist Alternative charges were an attack on the Black Lives mobilized for historic renters rights legislation Matter movement and the 20 million people at in 2021 and led a fight against rent increases protests demanding justice for George Floyd. at Rainier Court (a set of apartment buildings The other was about using our socialist coun- outside of Kshama’s district!). On top of this, cil office to build the successful Tax Amazon we gathered over 15,000 signatures for rent movement. All too often, progressives become control and built a rally of hundreds on a rainy defensive when attacked by the political day at the height of our fight against the recall.

DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021-202 2

along with t h e d e e p roots we have in District 3 and the

The cl a s s strugg l e doesn’t stop, and we don’t take breaks for electoral considerations; we also know that a confident mood of increased movements can help the electoral prospects for socialists.

Perhaps most important for the class struggle, and also most controversial, was Kshama and Socialist Alternative’s role in the rank-andfile led Washington State Carpenters strike.

This was a strike that the union’s leaders never wanted, taking place after workers rejected four tentative agreements that were negotiated by union staffers. The union’s leaders carried out ineffective pickets that didn’t shut down a single job site. After a few days of this, workers started organizing their own militant pickets, which the rank-and-file Peter J. McGuire group helped to lead. Kshama’s office played a significant role in this strike, much to the annoyance of these labor leaders. While the strike’s outcome wasn’t a decisive victory, it helped pave the way for future looming labor battles, and Kshama is introducing legislation to deal with one of the workers’ demands – for bosses to pay for expensive Seattle parking, which eats up a significant portion of workers’ daily wages.

Shameful Role of Democratic Officials Kshama runs openly as a member of Socialist Alternative, and she’s known for advocating for a new mass workers’ party and a clear break from the Democrats. On this basis, we nonetheless won the overwhelming support of local Democratic activists in the 43rd Legislative District, by an 83% majority. Seattle is somewhat unique in that local Democratic Party structures actually have activists and life in them, and we’ve found some support for socialist ideas in them over the years. This isn’t the case in most city Democratic parties which are often empty shells without activists that serve only the needs of careerist politicians.

Kshama and Socialist Alternative were also proud to get the endorsements of Bernie Sanders, Noam Chomsky, and other national figures

rest of Seattle.

Despite our strong support from Democratic voters and activists at the grassroots, we were met with silence from most Democratic lawmakers (with a few exceptions at the state and county levels). Shamefully, not a single Democratic City Councilmember supported Kshama against the right-wing recall, not even the progressive Democrats like Tammy Morales and Teresa Mosqueda. This was despite repeated attempts from our campaign and good faith efforts to work with progressives where we agree. At the same time, Kshama never held back criticisms when they are warranted, and we think more DSA elected officials should do the same when faced with progressive Democrats who fail to consistently stand with working people.

The progressive Democrats did poorly in Seattle’s November election. Working-class people are sick of the “woke” buzzwords of politicians that aren’t connected to concrete demands like rent control and taxing the rich.

The establishment Democrats seized on the opening, backed by millions of corporate PAC dollars. While corporate shills like mayor-elect Bruce Harrell leaned on “law and order” messaging to deal with Seattle’s housing crisis, labor-backed progressive Lorena Gonzalez failed to provide any semblance of an alternative, ending in a series of desperate moves that backfired on her. Gonzalez not only avoided any mention of rent control or other working class demands, she failed to defend the Black Lives Matter movement against the pro-cop, anti-protest hysteria whipped up by PACs. She also refused to expose the big business backing and massive corporate PAC support for her opponent.

Lessons for DSA Unfortunately, DSA-backed candidates Nikkita Oliver and Nicole Thomas-Kennedy both lost in Seattle this November. Nicole Thomas-Kennedy was defeated by a Republican (Seattle’s first elected one in 30 years) for City Attorney, and this was fueled partially by the right-wing backlash against BLM. Nikkita Oliver, a movement leader who was endorsed

by Kshama, also lost their race, this time to an establishment Democrat. Unfortunately, Nikkita Oliver really didn’t campaign on rent control, on taxing big business, or other working class demands, instead leaning on 9 vague

continued on p.11

7

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

INDIA

At the end of last year, India was shaken by the largest political upheaval in half a century, including a general strike of 250 million workers, in spite of Covid-19 restrictions. A driving force behind the protests was opposition to the neoliberal agricultural policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the reactionary Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Modi’s agriculture laws would have ended government price controls, allowing big agribusiness companies to set prices for agricultural products, driving farmers even deeper into poverty.

Modi is part of a recent wave of authoritarian, right-populist leaders, along with Trump, Putin, and Bolsonaro. The BJP relies on whipping up reactionary Hindu chauvinism to maintain power. However, the economic crisis and Modi’s poor handling of the pandemic saw growing workingclass opposition.

The farmers’ protests led to an ongoing mass encampment around the capital Delhi and culminated in a major confrontation on Republic Day, January 26, when thousands of farmers organized a tractor parade in Dehli and were met with massive police repression and slander in the media.

Now, after nearly a year of mass struggle, during which 750 farmers were killed by the state forces, the Modi government has finally caved and given into the demands of the farmers.

MOHAMAD NAWAZ, a supporter of International Socialist Alternative in India, writes about this victory, and the next step for the struggle.

HEROIC FARMERS MOVEMENT WINS STRUGGLE WRESTS CONCESSIONS FROM RIGHT-WING MODI GOVERNMENT

After nearly a year long protest by farmers, their largest mobilization in India in over half a century, the right-wing authoritarian government of Modi has finally caved and given in to the demands of the farmers. This momentous achievement shows the power of struggle and the effect that a large scale movement can have. At the same time there are limitations to the achievements.

This victory was hard-fought, with over 750 farmers losing their lives during the course of the struggle. Their families still await justice for which there is little hope.

With one of the most polarized and important State Legislative Elections around the corner, the government has tried to woo the voters, yet the adamant farmer still stands tall. The decades-long undermining of farmers’ living standards necessitates not only a cessation of attacks, but a complete reorganization of agriculture and food supply.

Abiding By The People’s Will Or Opportunism for Political Gain?

The blatant hypocrisy is not just limited to the media but to the government as well.

Many supporters of Modi have come out and heralded him as “tribune of the people” after rescinding the laws. Yet Modi remains deaf to the cries of families of those farmers who lost their lives at the hands of statesponsored police violence.

It is also not to be forgotten that this victory was not given to the farmers in sympathy, it was earned by their endless sacrifices.

That the BJP tries to hide this is evidence of their vulnerability. The main reason why Modi decided to withdraw the farm laws is that the Elections to Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly are just three months away and the ruling BJP is trailing in the polls.

Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India, and with over 80 seats in parliament,

BIDEN’S PRESIDENCY IN CRISIS continued from p.3

the streets.

abandon their own programs – including fighting for Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, a $15 minimum wage and the rest of the demands that inspired millions in recent years – and of course, any suggestion of mobilizing people in

Where to Now?

8

For the left to continue on the path taken by Sanders and AOC is extremely dangerous. It means accepting the framework set by the very people in the Democratic

discussed. The farmers will participate in these actions. They are expected to pressure the government to accept their remaining demands such as declaring MSP (Minimum Support Price) as a legal tender and justice for the 750 farmers who died in the protest. This is expected to have a profound impact on the upcoming State Elections that are to take place in agriculture dominated states.

Future of the Movement

A strength of this movement, which has lessons far beyond India, is the determination with which the protest was carried on for months.

Even in difficult moments, the protests continued. Even after Modi’s announcement that the three laws would be repealed, the farmers’ organizations continued to call for protest. Such perseverance in struggle is important: it shows the masses that the struggle is taken seriously. And it brings results.

Coupling this with an escalating action plan that explicitly aims to actively mobilize broader sections of the population, especially working class support, and a political program of system change, will lead to more victories. The repeal of the three laws may strengthen the announced general strike of the trade unions.

Thousands of protesting farmers It establishes the idea that struggle march toward Delhi on Nov. 27. pays off, even against a particularly reactionary government.

While the farmers movement tends to be centered on their own the most politically significant state of India. demands, the broad solidarity of the working Elections are also scheduled in Punjab, class strengthened the protest. Conversely, where the BJP is traditionally very weak. the farmers’ protest inspired the general The farmers movement played a major role strike of December 2020. With social unrest in both states. The jury is out on why the once again on the rise, a result of Modi’s government decided to withdraw these laws failed policies on all fronts, the key will be to at this very moment. strengthen this solidarity with a program of socialist social change.

The Farmers Stand Firm A different world is possible, and an alternative does exist. Under a democratically The government underestimated and planned socialist economy the farmers and minimized the farmers a year ago and it conother workers will be given the freedom to tinues to do so now. It expects the farmers to be unaware of its hidden political inten- run the system for the betterment of all, a tions. The farmers decided to go ahead with system based on the needs of the people. their planned nationwide general strike on This victory by the farmers is a small, yet November 26. To the utter despair of the significant battle won in the long war against government, huge crowds of over 250 mil- capitalism. We the workers must unite in lion workers turned up in support of the struggle, using movements like this as posfarmers, inspired by seeing the government sible blueprints to topple the tyranny of capibegin to bend under political pressure. The talism and liberate the masses. J trade unions also plan for a two-day general strike in 2022 when the federal budget is

establishment whose ineptitude and bankruptcy got us Trump in the first place.

The political situation in the U.S. cries out for the formation of a mass left party independent of the Democrats and all corporate influence. Bernie Sanders’ two presidential campaigns, although ultimately trapped in the framework of the Democratic Party,

pointed in the right direction. They had a program of bold reforms and took no corporate money.

The only way to defeat the right is through building a mass working class-centered movement that fights for what working people need. It means returning to Sanders’ presidential programs and going beyond it. It means pointing beyond the framework

of capitalism. Even to win Medicare for All, one of Sanders most popular demands, is going to require the decisive pressure of a mass movement that is not afraid to deploy the social power of the working class. This is the task that the left must set itself, and achieving this task requires political independence from the Democratic Party. J S O C I A L I S TA LT E R N AT I V E . O R G

WORKER’S VOICE

“HARDEST TIME IN MY 20 YEAR TEACHING CAREER.”

CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER ON THE STATE OF OUR SCHOOLS Melissa Vozar, Chicago Teachers Union (personal capacity) After what I thought was the hardest year and a half of my 20 year public school teaching career, returning to in-person learning with students that haven’t been in a classroom setting since they were 3 years old, or never at all, has presented a myriad of challenges I severely underestimated.

I teach first through third graders at a Chicago Public School on the West Side. We have been in person for over 10 weeks now and exhaustion and fatigue are at an all-time high for myself and the educators I work with.

Chicago Public Schools started a week before their usual post-Labor Day start date to mitigate the learning loss of remote/hybrid instruction. With academic and social emotional needs at extreme levels, we returned to overcrowded classrooms with no additional staff hired to support the students or educators. Despite $2.6 billion in federal COVID relief funds, Chicago Public Schools are facing severe shortages of substitute teachers, special education classroom assistants,

janitorial staff, bus drivers, nurses, and social workers.

Educators are facing so many stressors that many, including myself, are questioning if they can even continue in education. With little to no safety protocols in place other than a mask mandate, students and staff are continuing to contract COVID. Just this week, four classrooms in my building “flipped” to remote instruction due to a student or staff member testing positive for COVID. This is an extreme burden for teachers and working parents. Teachers are given one day to set up an online system for learning. Parents are scrambling again to find care for their children during the day.

Teachers and parents are desperate to keep their kids in school. It has been an extremely hard transition back to in person learning. The children are highly emotional in a way I have never experienced in my teaching career. It is difficult to get students to pay attention to lessons, complete work, or sustain focus for even short periods of time.

So many of the issues we were facing prior to the pandemic are exacerbated under these conditions. The $2.6 billion in federal aid

New Leadership in the Teamsters

The Teamsters United (TU) slate led by Sean O’Brien has won a decisive victory in the elections for the leadership of the 1.3 million member International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the biggest unions in the country.

While overall turnout in the election was low, the result

IATSE Contract Narrowly Approved

This fall, Hollywood’s big producers were in a pitched battle with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) union representing TV and film crews. As negotiations stalled, IATSE members voted overwhelmingly to go on strike in October. The night before the strike was set to begin, a tentative agreement was reached.

DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021-202 2

needs to go towards hiring more teachers and staff to drastically reduce class sizes. I currently have 27 children in a very small classroom. There are over 50 closed CPS schools that could be reopened in order to make class sizes smaller. Having smaller class sizes would allow for students to actually social distance.

It would reduce the stressors on educators and allow for them to focus on the specific needs of the students instead of spending so much time on classroom management.

More janitorial staff are needed to keep up with the cleaning protocols necessary.

My school’s janitors are working overtime to keep our school clean, and there are still days where classrooms go uncleaned. This is especially troubling because we are eating breakfast and lunch in our classrooms to reduce the number of students in the cafeteria.

School counselors and social workers need to be hired to help students deal with the negative social-emotional consequences of the isolation and stressors faced during the pandemic.

It is crucial that educators and parents are organized within their school buildings to demand that the response to learning loss be

shows that the active core of the union has decisively rejected the sellout policies of the outgoing Hoffa leadership that has controlled the Teamsters for over 20 years. Trade unionists know that the current “labor shortage” is a massive opportunity to force employers to reverse the losses suffered during decades Socialist Alternative pointed out that if the TA didn’t meet workers’ demands, which it ultimately failed to do, rank and file union members would need to organize among themselves for a “No” vote. This type of rank and file organization did emerge in some ways, with members organizing important inter-local town halls that drew hundreds

educator- and student-centered to avoid the inevitable co-optation by advocates of education “reform” and top-down decisions made by the administration.

The Chicago Teachers Union, and unions across the country, must demand that the federal relief funds be spent on the resources we so desperately need like the mass hiring of educators, nurses, and support staff to help kids who are academically behind and in need of social-emotional support.

The federal relief funds are just the start to what we need to fully fund public education. In Chicago, we need to tax the trillions of dollars a year flowing through LaSalle Street.

We must tax the rich and large corporations like we did in Seattle with the Amazon Tax to fund schools, affordable housing, and much needed social services that working class families need.

Educators, families, and the community can come up with the best solutions to the long term COVID complications that have been piled upon the existing problems of our underfunded public school systems if they have the resources and funding to do so. J

of retreat.

Sean O’Brien and TU have said they will wage a serious contract campaign at UPS – a core part of the union’s base where they have 340,000 members – preparing for a strike in 2023 if their demands are not met. They also have committed to serious organizing drives in retail and of participants. Unfortunately though, this limited organizing wasn’t enough to overcome pressure from the union leadership and the TA was very narrowly ratified.

Of delegates allowed to vote on the TA, 57% voted to approve.

However, by popular vote, the TA failed to win the enthusiasm of IATSE members. Among the 13

logistics. Union activists need to hold them to these commitments.

Along with the recent vote in the UAW for direct elections of national officers, it shows workers in many unions are concluding that making real gains will require a fighting approach and a new leadership committed to that. J West Coast locals, only 49.6% of members voted to approve it.

The IATSE struggle uncovered the beginnings of a rank and file rebellion against concessionary union leaders, and this struggle will need to be carried forward with the creation of rank and file organizing groups within the union that can fight for leadership. J

9

C L I M AT E

COP26 WAS A FAILURE: WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE CLIMATE MOVEMENT? Grace Fors, Dallas With unprecedented climate tipping points being surpassed, world leaders at COP26 didn’t just drop the ball - they threw it in an incinerator. Now the climate movement needs to figure out where to go next.

The main aim of COP26 was to recommit to the goal set out in the 2015 Paris Accord of limiting warming to 1.5ºC by the end of the century. The pact made in Glasgow leaves the Earth on track to blow past this threshold.

Far from coming together to brainstorm effective solutions to the crisis, it would be more accurate to say world leaders faced off. Petty battles - between rich and poor countries, between rival powers - on behalf of national ruling classes all stood in the way of meaningful steps and sent the conference into overtime as the Friday night deadline was passed.

These cynical nationalist impulses were sufficient reason, in the eyes of the ruling class, to doom entire species to mass extinction, to raze ecosystems, and to sentence

billions of people in every corner of the globe to a grim future of extreme weather and shortages of food, water, and land.

Greenwashing and “COP-italism” The regime that really came out on top was the dictatorship of fossil fuels, whose army of over 500 lobbyists seated at the conference outnumbered any country’s delegation. This underlined how the track record of COP conferences goes beyond the failures of its agreements, but also extends to how it has helped the fossil fuel industry’s bottomless thirst for profits by arming it with tools to greenwash its activities.

Permit trading, carbon credits, and “offsetting,” these are the devices used by BP, Shell, Occidental, and a slew of parasitic polluters, banks, and investment firms to put themselves at the forefront in the “Race to Net Zero.” The PR stunts and corporate commitment to branding themselves as “green” and “climate-aligned” were truly incredible.

No fossil fuel is carbon neutral. No coal mine, oil refinery, or natural gas pipeline is

“1.5ºC compatible.” To save the planet, these activities need to be brought to a full stop and replaced with renewable energy. But the last thing the corporations and world leaders will ever acknowledge is the need to stop the problem at its source. This conference was not about “keeping 1.5ºC alive.” It was about keeping capitalism alive.

It’s Up To Us Today’s climate movement is very different from the environmental movements of the past. The immediacy of the threat and the increasing scale and scope of its impacts have put young people front and center. There were historic days of action across the world in 2019, and the Fridays for Future campaign introduced the idea of strike action. However, this momentum was thrown back by the pandemic. While the 100,000-strong mobilization in Glasgow on November 5 was a powerful indication of the movement’s potential, this and other one-off actions have not had enough of an impact. The crisis is at a new stage, and the movement in turn needs to advance to lead it.

In the coming years, it will be increasingly difficult to find an ordinary person who has not in some way suffered from the climate crisis. Think of how many people in the U.S. have by now survived at least one natural disaster, potentially losing their homes, their

loved ones, or being displaced; or have been poisoned from polluted air and water. Each and every one of these people and communities are in dire need of political empowerment, to participate in activism and in class struggle against the capitalists and their climate crisis. The most direct way to accomplish this would be the formation of a new working-class political party and it is the only way to reach the mass scale and coherence to go one stage further, beyond a “youth movement” patronized and belittled by the establishment and toward a truly mass force able to win the ferocious existential battle facing us.

Forget COP, we need our own climate action conferences to harness the full organizing power of mass anger, to debate strategies, and plan tactics. We cannot allow this work to be sabotaged by corporations, their politicians, NGOs, or any force that can hold our movement back from the most effective methods of escalation and the most crucial program of demands. Since corporations will only lie and cheat their way out of accountability, we need to fight to take the polluters into democratic public ownership. Labor unions and the workers’ movement worldwide need to engage in workplace struggle in conjunction with the whole climate movement.

The wealth hoarded by the billionaires today needs to be put into mass eco-friendly public transit, housing, and green infrastructure.

These measures are not radical in the context of what science says we need, but capitalism will not abide them. There is absolutely no time to waste in overcoming this system and replacing it with a socialist world that truly operates in the interests of people and planet, not toward its annihilation. J

ON THE GROUND WITH THE ISA IN GLASGOW

Marie O’Toole

The only actual positive outcome of COP26 was not to be found in the meeting halls alongside figures like Biden and Johnson, but out on the streets where we saw the beginnings of a revival of the climate movement that swept the world in 2019. Demonstrations calling for real, sub-

10

stantial action to confront climate change brought 100,000 people onto the streets of Glasgow!

International Socialist Alternative understands the enormous importance and revolutionary potential of this movement which is why we mobilized 300 of our members and supporters from around the world to build an international

socialist contingent at the protests. Revolutionary socialists from our national sections on all continents, including Brazil, the United States, China/Hong Kong/ Taiwan, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Israel/Palestine and more gathered together with over 100 members and supporters of Socialist Alternative (ISA in England, Wales, a n d Scotland) to ensure that

a class struggle-based, internationalist voice was heard loudly on the protests, pointing to the need for socialist change to put an end to climate change.

We called for massive public investment in a socialist green new deal to create tens of millions of quality jobs worldwide, seizing the wealth of the billionaires to fund climate friendly policies and the bringing of

polluting multinationals into democratic public ownership to implement a sustainable socialist economic plan which reorganises the economy to serve people and the planet first — these are only a few of the demands that the movement must enthusiastically take up! J

S O C I A L I S TA LT E R N AT I V E . O R G

RIGHT-WING RECALL DEFEATED slogans.

Clearly what happened in Seattle with the contrast between the November and December election results, counters the claims of some in the socialist movement that independent politics outside of the Democratic Party is a “death sentence.” The two candidates (Oliver and Thomas-Kennedy) who enjoyed the backing of Seattle’s progressive Democratic establishment lost, and the independent Marxist, Kshama Sawant, won. While political independence won’t necessarily result in electoral success, this shows the false narrative that running as a Democrat is an easier path for socialist change. And this is not limited to elections – the avoidance of antagonizing big business and the political establishment during elections is virtually always continued with a failure to build movements and fight while in office. Our single Marxist council office in Seattle, has won more significant historic gains for working people, like the $15 minimum wage and Amazon Tax, than any other self-described socialist elected officials, including those with the resources and platforms of national office.

In the final analysis, the Democratic Party is a barrier for workers, oppressed people, and youth trying to change society. Kshama runs independent of the Democrats to be a shining example that a working class party is possible

continued from p.7

and necessary. Instead of promising reforms if elected, Socialist Alternative always points towards the movements that will be indispensable to winning victories.

DSA is struggling to find a way to hold elected officials accountable, as is shown by the recent betrayal by Jamal Bowman and the continued debate around it in DSA. This should be an ongoing discussion, and simple organizational answers will not be enough.

A thoroughgoing analysis and plan of action is necessary for socialists to effectively use elected office to build successful struggles and pave the way for a new mass party of the working class. Socialist Alternative would like to deepen our contribution to this important debate in DSA and the wider left, and our work and experience in Seattle gives us unique insight into this discussion.

Towards the Final Victory While there is a current lull in street protests, society is deeply polarized and mass struggles are on the horizon. The socialist left can grow if we point a way forward for the labor movement and the fight against the growing right-wing populist threat.

Concretely, abortion rights are under direct threat. Socialists need to be at the forefront of the struggle to defend and extend reproductive

rights. If the left stands aside from the labor and women’s movements in 2022, they will be led into dead ends and defeats by Democrats and bureaucrats. Instead, socialists will need to make bold and concrete proposals to widen a struggle willing to take the determined action to disrupt the capitalist system.

It is not just elections, but class and social struggle, that can lay the basis for a new party for working people. Workers produce everything, distribute everything, build everything, clean everything, heal the sick, teach the children, and provide all the services. This system can’t move without us. We can shut it down and build a new world based on the needs of humanity and the planet, not the greed of the few. Internationally, we need a world based on solidarity and democracy, in which the major corporations and world’s resources are owned and controlled democratically. We can win a socialist world if we get organized, and this election is an important but small contribution to that process.

As Kshama said in announcing our victory, “If a small revolutionary socialist organization can beat the wealthiest corporations in the world here in Seattle again and again, you can be sure that the organized power of the wider working class can change society.” Join Socialist Alternative and our international movement today! J

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY STAGE WALKOUTS AGAINST SEXUAL VIOLENCE Ginger Jentzen, Minneapolis

is to strengthen Title IX, a federal law that launching anonymous Instagram accounts to guarantees students the right to an education make reports.

To strike a blow against the entrenched Thousands of students from dozens of high without being sexually harassed or assaulted. nature of sexism and sexual violence schools across the country have staged walk- If the abuse happens on campus or at a under capitalism, we must build outs against sexual assault and harassment school event, the school is required to a united, multiracial, and mulsince returning to in-person classes. At this take legal action.

Beyond Title IX, attacks on tigenerational struggle. The phase of the struggle, students are demandfurious demonstrations of ing expanded consent-based sex education, public education and educathousands against sexual accountability from their school administration tors have put enormous strain assault at fraternities on and the accused, training for school officials, on the whole system. The several college campuses and support for survivors, including counseling. school district of St. Paul, this fall won swift concesIn St. Paul, MN, students walked out saying MN appears to have only one sions from the universithe school district fosters a “sexual assault Title IX coordinator to serve ties. These concessions cut culture” because the administration has been more than 35,000 students.

Guyer High School A recent article in the Guardacross the movement developslow to discipline a teacher whom in Denton, TX ian quotes the survivors’ rights ing further in that moment, but students accuse of sexualgroup Know Your IX’s statistic that students continued discussing how to Almost izing and harassing young almost 40% of students who report address deeper, systemic issues of sexism.

40% of students women. School security who report their their experiences of sexual violence Winning robust consent-based education, a pepper sprayed stuexperiences of sexual to campus authorities are pushed stronger Title IX, and clear routes for reportdents in Little Elm, violence to campus out of school – forced to drop out, ing abuse would be significant victories for Texas when their demauthorities are pushed out transfer, or take a leave of absence high schools and an education in the power onstration escalated; of school – forced to drop in the wake of reporting. of direct action with clear demands. However, in response, parents out, transfer, or take a By the sheer number of demeach district — already consumed by pennybacked the frustrated leave of absence in the onstrations state by state, it’s clear pinching — will only offer the bare minimum students. Students at wake of reporting. these walkouts are bolstered by concessions to get kids back to class. The several high schools in the #MeToo era and student’s raised student fightback needs to urgently broaden the Bay Area walked out, expectations since returning to in-person the scope of its demands in order to develop including schools where 2019 learning. Young people’s intolerance of sexual into a formidable force that can win real gains. walkouts inspired a critically acclaimed student film about the #MeToo movement. At violence, or “careless misogyny” as one stu- This needs to include demands for fully funded a Bellevue, WA high school, the administration dent described it, is butting up against school public schools and mass hiring of educators expelled the assault survivor and the protest districts being ill-equipped to root out abuse. and support staff. On top of this, these stuleaders, which only sparked calls for more soli- Where school officials behave more like cor- dents should take up the fight to defend aborporate Human Resources departments than tion rights which is certain to be a centerpiece darity demonstrations at more schools!

One overarching demand of the movement as mandated reporters, students resort to issue this coming Spring. J DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021-202 2

SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE ISSN 2638-3349

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

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11

SOCIALIST

ISSUE #79 l DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021-2022

ALTERNATIVE

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INFLATION HIGHEST IN 40 YEARS

WORKERS NEED A REAL RAISE Tony Wilsdon, Seattle The price of food, gas and a whole array of essential goods have gone through the roof and are still rising. Fear about inflation has become the number one issue on the minds of workers as they peer into the murky future.

It is also driving down Biden’s approval ratings. What is going on?

In November the Consumer Price Index rose 6.8% from its level a year ago. This is the sharpest increase since the 1982. During the same time food prices rose 6.1%, gasoline prices rose 58.1% and fuel oil, which is used for industrial and domestic heating, rose 59.3%.

Together with spikes in home prices and rents, the ending of eviction moratoriums and the ending of COVID support payments, working people are being hit hard.

After months of the Biden administration and other commentators stating that inflation is a temporary by-product of COVID, it has not abated. In fact, it is accelerating and spreading to wider sectors of the economy.

This opens up the possibility of a period of rising inflation.

What Is Inflation?

At its most basic level, inflation can be described as too much money chasing too few goods. An excess of buyers allows corporations to raise the price of those goods and reap extra profits. This process can obviously be temporary or long-term. If it is short-term, then expanding the supply of available goods will solve the problem fairly quickly. The pandemic and the consequent supply chain disruptions are clearly short-term effects.

In recent months many economists have become concerned the effects will not be “temporary,” and that we could be entering a period of escalating inflation, which

could have similar consequences to that of the 1970s. This could force a turnaround from the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve from supporting spending to stimulate the economy to raising interest rates. Higher interest rates will then cut across inflation by adding to the cost of borrowing money. But this will then cut across economic activity and make existing debt more expensive. This will lead to a wave of bankruptcies and start a new wave of debt implosions. In the present circumstances, a rapid rise in interest rates will set off a chain reaction, precipitating a recession.

Memory of 1970s In the 1970s, inflation reached doubledigits in the U.S., disrupting the normal functioning of the economy and society, massively affecting the poor and provoking a wave of militant labor struggles as the working class fought to raise wages in an attempt to catch up with rising prices. This is what capitalist experts fear most: a revived fighting labor movement that would shift the balance of power in the workplace affecting their longterm profits.

During the mid-1970s attempts were made to reduce inflation by a number of policies. In the end, the Fed and Ronald Reagan, acting on behalf of the ruling class, sharply raised interest rates, which triggered a double-dip recession in the early 1980s. This was ultimately successful in purging inflation, but in the meantime led to a devastating fall in living standards for working class people.

This was made worse as Reagan waged a relentless war against the labor movement and essential social programs that benefit the working class were savaged over subsequent decades.

Do Wage Increases Cause Inflation?

Much of these early price rises are not because global corporations have to pay higher costs, but because their corporate CEO’s have seized an opportunity to use global market shortages to raise prices and make a heavy short-term profit.

However the dominant corporate narrative is that the main inflationary danger is workers seeking subsequent wage increases. There are many things wrong with this.

There is no direct link between wage increase and prices. A $1 wage increase does not cause a $1 price increase in a product.

Wages are just one of many different costs of production and distribution. In some industries wages make a tiny proportion of the cost of a product.

Under capitalism prices cannot be arbitrarily set by a producer. Instead, they are determined by markets. Markets reflect the totality of all producers, and their relationship to the effective demands of buyers.

This is not a new argument. The bosses have always argued that wage increases can only result in them raising prices. But this argument has been refuted time and again.

The source of corporate profit is the exploitation by the bosses of the labor of “their” workers. The more they exploit labor, the higher their profits. Workers demanding a pay raise is just reducing the level of exploitation by their bosses. It is impossible for a wage increase to have a direct effect on prices. Instead, it has a direct effect on the relationship between wages and profits.

Prices are outside the hands of each individual boss. But what the bosses collectively have today are record levels of profits!

Already, workers have begun to win wage increases over hazard pay and as bosses try

to keep their workers from joining the “great resignation.” There have also been some important victories by workers going on strike.

The bosses are terrified that this can lead to increased militancy by setting an example to other workers on how to fight back.

We see the Biden administration also raising fears about wage increases as an inflationary threat. Biden just re-confirmed Trump’s choice of Powell as chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve has also begun to warn of a possible increase in interest rates if inflationary trends don’t reverse.

Socialist Policies Needed If the Biden administration is more concerned with stabilizing capitalism than defending workers living standards, then what policies are needed? The problem lies in the inner workings of capitalism.

Driving the economy into a recession by raising interest rates will lead to further misery for workers. What is needed is to take decision-making out of the hands of the huge corporations that dominate our society. A democratically planned economy could eliminate conflicts between “supply and demand” by balancing production with our needs. For example, a massive program of building quality affordable housing and taking big landlords into public ownership can massively reduce the cost of housing for ordinary people.

But to do this means challenging the power of the big corporations, and the Democrats will never do that. This can only be done by taking into public ownership of the huge corporations that have political power and putting it under the democratic control of society. To do that will necessitate building a new working-class movement and a mass working class party. J