Wake up parents! Thanks to your hard-earned dollars, this is the drivel that some of your kids are getting from Marxist professors at our nation’s colleges and universities. All Americans, not only parents, should be incensed that their taxes are paying the salaries of ideologues who are trying to poison, not enlighten, the minds of impressionable students in our publicly funded institutions of higher (?) education.
The Progressive Workers Organization Committee is a campus group at College of the Mainland that was founded by one of the college's professors and his wife. COM is a community college located in Texas City, between Houston and Galveston. The telephone number for this organization, 281-534-7638, is listed as DAVID OR RONA SMITH. COM government professor David Michael Smith is a self-avowed Marxist and his wife Rona, also a Marxist, is a public school counselor. Rona Smith was once quoted by the local newspaper as declaring that THE REVOLUTION CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH LITTLE OR NO VIOLENCE.
Here is the organization’s manifesto, the standard fare put out by Marxist professors:
PROGRESSIVE WORKERS ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE
P.O. Box 234
Dickinson, Texas 77537
United States
281-534-7638
We are an organization of working class people committed to the development of a mass revolutionary and democratic socialist party in the United States. We call ourselves an Organizing Committee because we recognize that we are only the nucleus of a pre-party formation. We understand that many years of difficult work will be required for us to develop into a political party which can unite working class women and men of all races, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds in the struggle for fundamental social transformation.
We are committed to the abolition of capitalism because this economic and social order is inherently based on exploitation and oppression. Although capitalism is different than slavery or feudal societies in some important ways, it is grounded in the exploitation of workers labor power through the process of wage labor. In this process, workers are paid wages representing only a fraction of the wealth they produce. The bulk of this wealth is surplus value appropriated by the capitalists; this is the basis of profits and capital accumulation. Thus the dominant capitalist class becomes rich not through their own labor but through the appropriation of wealth produced by laborers. In this sense, capitalism is similar to slavery and feudalism.
Even in the United States and other advanced capitalist societies, the current mode of production results in a significant amount of poverty, even more widespread economic insecurity, and glaring social inequalities. The so-called American Dream has always been an illusion for most workers, and this continues to be the case today. The overwhelming majority of people in our country earn far less than what the federal government admits is necessary for a comfortable standard of living. Although automobiles, consumer electronics, household appliances, and designer clothing flood the market, decent jobs, adequate housing, affordable health care, good schools, secure retirement income, and safe neighborhoods are in short supply. The remarkable advances in technology today are being used to eliminate jobs and increase capitalist profits, not improve the living standards of the people.
The control of most economic enterprises and most of the nation’s wealth enables the capitalist class to dominate most of our major social institutions. Most of the mass media, publishing houses, the entertainment industry, and even sports teams are, in fact, capitalist businesses which exist to make profits for their owners. In addition, most non-profit public institutions, such as schools, colleges, and cultural organizations are undemocratically
controlled by representatives from the capitalist class. It is no surprise that most economic and social institutions follow the dictate that ‘What’s good for business is good for America.’ But the results for the working class majority are catastrophic.
Although business owners, politicians, and most journalists describe our political system as democratic, nothing could be further from the truth. The U.S. Constitution was developed by slave owners and capitalists to safeguard their economic interests and prevent any meaningful challenges to their wealth and power from the masses of people. To be sure, there has been some significant progress made during the last two centuries. But it is essential to recognize that the empowerment of women and people of color, the recognition of some workers’ rights, and the development of some social protections have been achieved only through decades of mass political protest and the disruption of ‘business as usual’ by the oppressed. Even today, regular elections and universal voting rights are inherently unable to provide real democracy because the government, both major political parties, and most politicians are dominated by the capitalist class.
We are convinced that we must abolish capitalism if we are to bring about a genuinely democratic society. In such a society, the working class majority would democratically and cooperatively control economic enterprises, develop national economic planning based on the needs and aspirations of the population as a whole, and end the traditional imperialist exploitation of other countries by the U.S. In such a society, the working class majority would democratically and cooperatively exercise political power through a new socialist government. A workers’ government would be based on direct popular participation in decision-making where possible and delegation of authority to accountable representatives where necessary. A new socialist constitution would provide the legal framework for the empowerment of the working class majority in the economy, politics, and society as a whole. This constitution would protect the freedom of all individuals, organizations, and political parties, except for those which support violent counter-revolution or fascism.
We recognize that the historical experiences of twentieth-century socialism do not provide models for us. We acknowledge that the socialist regimes in the former Soviet Union, China, and other countries did a great deal to eliminate exploitation, poverty, economic insecurity, and cultural backwardness. But we are also aware that most of these regimes suffered from authoritarianism and bureaucracy, and that they failed to develop genuine workers’ democracies. In our view, these unfortunate developments were partly caused by Western capitalist invasions, sabotage, and subversion, and partly caused by grievous errors made by the revolutionaries themselves. In the long run, these developments led to the downfall of most socialist regimes. However, like Marxists and socialists all over the world, we can learn from both the achievements and the mistakes made by the ‘first wave’ of socialist revolutions. We are convinced that the lessons to be learned from twentieth-century socialism can help us develop a theory and practice of socialism which places workers’ democracy, internationalism, and socialist morality at the heart of the radical project.
As the nucleus of a pre-party formation, we know that the first step in recruiting and retaining new members must be radical political education. We are especially concerned with helping working class people overcome bourgeois ideology, anti-worker views, national chauvinism, racism, and sexism. However, we are not a ‘talk shop’ of armchair radicals. We will join other workers in ongoing struggles for better wages and working conditions, affordable health care, adequate housing, and good schools. We will strongly support ongoing struggles to end racial and gender discrimination, police brutality, the imprisonment of political activists, and U.S. imperialism. As we do so, we will retain the right of independent political action while we strive to unite as many people as possible in support of the most advanced political orientation.
However, our fundamental strategic objective will be to grow into a large, multi- racial working class organization of women and men which can become a revolutionary and democratic socialist political party in the years ahead. Both in conducting outreach activities for our collective and in supporting other workers’ struggles, our paramount priority must be the recruitment and retention of new socialists. We pledge to do all that we can, collectively and individually, to support each other in everyday life. We pledge to work together democratically and cooperatively in order to serve as a model of the socialism we envision. We pledge to take significant special measures to end national oppression, racism, and sexism. We pledge to oppose all forms of chauvinism. Finally, we pledge to make the struggle for socialism a central part of our lives and show our brother and sister workers that there is reason for hope amid the oppression of contemporary capitalism.
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