WW editor speaks at Baltimore meeting:
'Why we need socialism'
By Sharon Black
Baltimore
The Baltimore branch of Workers World Party
inaugurated a series of summer meetings on June 2 with a talk
by Deirdre Griswold, editor of Workers World newspaper. An
eager audience of community, labor union and anti-war activists
joined in to discuss socialism and hear about the origins of
WWP.
A party like Workers World participates in all struggles to
end the injustices and crimes of capitalism, Griswold pointed
out. But its outlook goes beyond just fighting for reforms of
this system. "A revolutionary party," she said, "takes the long
view of history. This doesn't mean that social change takes
forever. Sometimes more change happens in one week than over
the previous 10 years. But it means we understand and explain
to all who listen that capitalism is a crisis-prone system by
its very nature. The profit system generates wars and economic
depressions. And when it moves from relative stability into
crisis, much of what the popular organizations have fought for
and won over decades can be wiped out."
She gave as an example the Bush administration's "endless
war."
"The grouping around Bush, and they represent a powerful
section of the super-rich in this country, want to take the
world back by at least 50 years," she said, "to the days of
colonialism and open empire. They are committing crimes every
day against the people of the Middle East, Korea, Latin America
and elsewhere. They are oppressing people of color and
immigrants here at home. And they are robbing the workers here
of their pensions, their social services and their jobs.
"But at the same time they're winding up a spring of popular
anger that will eventually push history forward. And when the
fightback happens, it won't just be a gradual change, it will
be a big leap."
The success of these struggles, she stressed, lies in the
solidarity of the working class and its unity with all who are
oppressed. "The old socialist movement in this country thought
the workers would make a revolution and then address the issues
of imperialism, racism and sexism," she said.
"But that's impossible. You can't unite the working
class--especially today when it has become so multinational and
when women make up nearly half the work force--without battling
all forms of oppression, including that directed against
lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people and immigrants. The
best fighters and leaders come from those who have the most to
gain and the least to lose from a total social
transformation."
That's why a party like Workers World stands out in today's
left movement. It has practiced affirmative action ever since
its very beginning in 1959, and its membership and leaders
reflect that. Its first picket line was in solidarity with
Patrice Lumumba and the people of the Congo against the U.S.
government and other imperialists who were trying to crush the
African liberation struggle.
"Can humanity be liberated from this hell created by
capitalism, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer
every day? Yes, it can," she affirmed, "but only by liberating
the vast wealth created by the working class that is now
bottled up in private hands. The workers are the only class
that can reorganize society, not on a for-profit basis, but to
meet the needs of all.
"We don't expect elections to make this happen. The people
must be organized to assert themselves independently of the
capitalist political machines."
Those who attended and joined in the discussion represented
a diverse group. They included Vietnam War veterans, along with
young workers who had not yet been born when that war was being
waged; community activists who had fought police brutality and
utility hikes; and some of the key organizers of the recent
anti-war protests.
Andre Powell, a local trade unionist and Baltimore Workers
World Party organizer, chaired and opened the meeting with a
description of the party's origins.
Reprinted from the June 19, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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