The restrictions discussed in this article do not seem inordinate considering that past history has shown whenever any religious group attains political power Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu for example, it implements a regime of persecution and religious fanaticism far worse that anything the Chinese authorities are undertaking with these prophylactic measures to protect their secular values. We daily read about the persecution of the Rohingya by Burmese Buddhists, of Palestinians by fanatic Zionists motivated by a devotion to Biblical real estate, of non Muslims being systematically persecuted in Islamic countries and Muslims and other non-Hindus in In India by the Modi government and here in the US the ultra-right white supremacists as well as the crypto-fascists of the Republican party are motivated by a dogmatic and anti-humane Christianity that supports military actions and both subornes and often openly advocates the denial of the human rights of those it condemns. Marxist-Leninists have moved on beyond the simple minded superstitions of religious beliefs (the opium of the people) and while we defend the rights of those so inclined to follow their religious beliefs as long as they do not try to impose them on others it is still the responsibility of a secular state to regulate religious activity to ensure the rights of others are not violated by religious intolerance. The Chinese Communist Party and Government are trying to fulfill this obligation as best they can. As with any human activity there are bound to be mistakes made and hopefully the Chinese authorities will listen to constructive criticism of its policies when this criticism is not part of the usual ant-Communist and anti-Chinese propaganda emanating from the US and other imperialist governments and the bourgeois MSM.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Working Families Party Slip Up
“The national committee leaders — 56 people — held 50 percent of the voting power, with party members accounting for the other 50 percent. Several Sanders supporters called for the Working Families Party to release the full vote totals, which it has declined to do.” So much for “one person one vote” This setup is reminiscent of the DNC “superdelegates” arrangement where an elite leadership cadre can out vote the the thousands of regular members.
Why would the WFP leadership “decline” to reveal the real vote totals and why would 56 people have as many “real” votes as all the rest of the voting members of the party. The NYT has previously reported that polls indicate the Sanders mass base is basically a multi-racial working class one while Warren, progressive Democrat that she is, has a different mass base of mostly white college educated middle and upper middle class (i.e., petty bourgeois) adherents and will not be as tough against Wall Street as Sanders. Her views that the capitalist system is basically the best one to solve the problem of working people goes against the real class interests of working families while Sanders views on socialism is something working people need to hear and that the WFP should have welcomed as it did in 2016 (it is now under new and apparently not as politically advanced leadership). There is only one progressive voice for working people in this primary season and that is Bernie Sanders. If he loses the nomination then is the time to consider which of the capitalist candidates is the best alternative to take on Trump. The Working Families Party should not come out for its class enemy, no matter how left she is with respect to other capitalists, while there is even a hint of a more progressive socialist message available. For everything there is a season.
Monday, September 16, 2019
More US War Mongering
"The satellite photographs released on Sunday did not appear as clear cut as officials suggested, with some appearing to show damage on the western side of the facilities, not from the direction of Iran or Iraq." So, no clear evidence that Iran did it. The Houthis have every right to attack Saudi Arabia as the Saudis, with American aid and support, have been attacking Yemen for years. The fact Iran aids Shia movements is just the mirror image of Saudi Arabia's aid to Sunni movements. For the US to hold Iran responsible for the Houthis behavior and not to hold Saudi Arabia responsible for the support it gives Sunni groups, some of whom have attacked US forces, is typical of our two faced foreign policy of aggression masquerading as peaceful diplomacy. The same intelligence agencies that lied to us about Tonkin Bay, Iraq's WMDs, and Putin's so called interference in our elections is now producing not so "clear cut" evidence that these drone attacks had to come from the direction of Iran -- as if the Iranians would be stupid enough to launch attacks from their territory which could be traced back to them by satellite imaging.
Sunday, September 08, 2019
The NYT and the Hong Kong Protests
This whole article is nothing but speculation and guessing by so called "experts" based outside of mainland China. The best part of it are the quotes by Hong Kong's leader which were leaked to the press and reveal she has a realistic sense of what is going on and both she and the central government are trying to avoid exacerbating the situation. There is no reference whatsoever in the article to any reactionary forces or outside interference in the protests or the fact that the vast majority of protesters are acting peacefully within the the law and only a small group of students, mostly of middle and high school age, is resorting to violence trying to provoke the police to over react. It is this small segment of the protests that is getting all the attention in the western MSM who would love to see a crackdown by the Beijing authorities so that they can resurrect their anti-Chinese memes that were created around Tiananmen Square and their overblown misrepresentations of what happened then.
Sunday, September 01, 2019
Eastern German Elections 9-1-19
Some quotes: "Under Communism, the party called the shots, she said. Now the market does. “I’ve come to realize that everything they taught us about capitalism all those years ago is true,” Ms. Sonntag [East German restaurant owner] said. “Politics is just for show. Money rules.”
"In his village, four in 10 people vote for the AfD. Calling them extremists is not helpful, he said. “On the state and national level they are extremists,” he said. “On the local level, they are often citizens who no longer feel represented.”-Social Democratic mayor of small East German village."
"In his village, four in 10 people vote for the AfD. Calling them extremists is not helpful, he said. “On the state and national level they are extremists,” he said. “On the local level, they are often citizens who no longer feel represented.”-Social Democratic mayor of small East German village."
The people of the former East Germany feel left behind after West German capitalism took over and left them unemployed and impoverished -- after having stirred them up to overthrow their socialist government with promises of riches and a better future -- many now feel betrayed. The choice between Barbarism or Socialism is clear as the fascist AfD Party is growing in strength in Eastern Germany feeding off of the desolation left behind by the capitalist overthrow of socialism. These disaffected citizens were originally attracted to Die Linke (the reincarnation of the former Socialist Unity Party that ran the communist German Democratic Republic -DDR] but have been defecting lately to the AfD, perhaps in part because Die Linke has been joining with the fake socialists running the SPD ( Social Democratic Party of Germany). The vast majority of East Germans do not support the AfD at this time but they split their votes between Die Linke, the SPD and the Christian Democrats (Merkel) meaning the AfD is on the road to getting the most votes in the elections today (9-1-19) in Brandenburg and Saxony -- two former DDR areas. Anti-immigrant racism is one of the driving forces leftover from Nazism propelling the popularity of the AfD -- the same kind of racism that drives Trump's base as well proving that the fight against racism must be one of the central pillars of any progressive movement along with the demand for a transition to socialism -- these two demands should be clearly enunciated as the demands any socialist group supports when it enters into a Center-Left coalition -- the antiracism demand should be unconditional but, since other coalition partners are not calling for socialism we socialists can't make this an unconditional demand but only make it known that we favor socialism as the solution to the problems of Trumpism and US imperialism in general.
Friday, August 30, 2019
Gay Science: Public or Private?
It doesn’t really matter if being gay is a genetic trait (biology is destiny) or a lifestyle freely chosen as human beings have to be regarded as free agents with the right to live their lives as they wish as long as they don’t harm others: this is covered by the UN’s Universal Declaration on Human Rights (universal in the sense that everyone violates it). This is an impotent article because the scientific information will be misused and defenders of human rights have to to know how to defend the science and confound those who pervert it. This is why the following quote is disturbing: “I deeply disagree about publishing this,” said Steven Reilly, a geneticist and postdoctoral researcher who is on the steering committee of the institute’s L.G.B.T.Q. affinity group, Out@Broad. “It seems like something that could easily be misconstrued,” he said, adding, “In a world without any discrimination, understanding human behavior is a noble goal, but we don’t live in that world.” Not only is understanding human behavior a noble goal it is necessary in order to construct a rational social order that supports the human rights enunciated in the Universal Declaration. We have seen the damage done by suppressing scientific information (the smoking issue, climate change, racism, etc.). The world without discrimination will never come about through the suppression of science but only through its propagation and the enlightening effects it can produce when people are properly educated and correctly understand the nature of the world in which they live. What needs to be suppressed are those in authority who use their power to disseminate ignorance and anti-scientific views: in 2020 the people of the US will have an opportunity to do so.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
The Need to Understand Mao
You can't understand the CPC without comprehending Mao's understanding of Marxism-Leninism. The Chinese have said that Mao, Like Stalin, was 70% good and 30% bad (not as a moral judgement but in terms of PC correct and incorrect actions). Both, while living, were the subject of personality cults and were treated as if they were 100% "good." Both were fierce enemies of capitalism and sought to lay the foundations for the future communist society free of all human exploitation but found themselves in historical circumstances that overwhelmed them at times, and in the case of Stalin eventually led to the destruction of the socialist state he created, preserved from Nazism (along with the rest of Europe) and tried to defend in the cold war to which his successors succumbed. Mao too faced Incomprehensible historical contradictions that Marxist theory was unprepared to answer at the time ( a split with the USSR and an internal CPC civil war expressed as a cultural "revolution"). So for us to understand just what and why the 30% was and came about is vitally important. But also we must study the 70% as well as it was the basis of all the past successes of the world communist movement and is the foundation of its future possibilities of victory. That 70% was based on a correct understanding and application as a guide to action of the theoretically sound foundations laid by Marx and Engels and creatively developed by V.I. Lenin and which our task today is to further develop and adapt to historical conditions in which we find ourselves. We must, of course, study other progressive thinkers within and without the Marxist tradition, but the works of the founders and their flawed great continuers in the past century will be important weapons for the communist and workers party to wield to attain victories over the capitalists and imperialists who dominate the world today and for us in the USA to bury the forces represented by Donald Trump and his enablers (conscious and unconscious) in the Republican and Democratic parties.
Monday, August 19, 2019
The Case of Placido Domingo
Whatever the circumstances, Placido Domingo is not Hitler, Epstein, or Weinstein and the fact that these are the types of comparisons in the comments that pop up is a problem. Many, if not most people, in my generation (Placido's as well) were brought up by our parents, churches, and public schools (mine were segregated) and were instilled with many values and beliefs that are, correctly, no longer politically correct or morally justifiable. The phenomenon of Trumpism indicates that millions of people still operate with these superannuated values. But people can change, and learn, and both atone and redeem themselves. Sartre has shown that we are works in progress not unchanging essences such as rocks and trees. Placido Domingo appears to be in that gray area where his consciousness today is no longer that of the past in which his alleged negative conduct occurred. Enlightenment offers redemption and should be encouraged and people should not be cast into the outer darkness for the mistakes of the past if they have sincerely changed and are no longer the same. Any real harm done must of course be rectified as far as possible and hopefully followed by reconciliation: what more can be expected?
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