Hundreds dead, tragedy in Bangladesh

(llco.org)

This week over 1,100 died when an eight-story building that housed a garment factory collapsed in Savar district on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The death toll continues to rise as rescuers dig through the heaps of twisted metal and debris. Nobody knows the exact number of people in the building that day.  It is possible that over 3,000 workers to have been inside the crowded factory when it collapsed.  Many are still trapped inside the prison of debris suffering from injuries, but also dehydration and heat. One rescuer stated:

“They are alive, they are trapped, but most of them are safe. We need to cut through debris and walls to bring them out.”

Remaining trapped survivors face dehydration and exposure, with daytime temperatures soaring to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and about 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight.

Many have been freed only at great cost. One woman told Associated Press on Friday:

“First a machine fell over my hand, and I was crushed under the debris. … Then the roof collapsed over me.”

She was only freed after rescuers were forced to remove her hand. Tragic stories are repeated over and over. The recent events in Bangladesh draw attention to the real, human costs of global capitalism.

Reactions

Police have been accused of dragging their feet and stalling the rescue. Police cordoned off the site, pushing back thousands of bystanders and relatives. Police used batons to beat the crowds of relatives that had gathered.  One relative, Shahinur Rahman, whose mother was missing, stated:

“We want to go inside the building and find our people now. They will die if we don’t find them soon.”

Reacting to the fire, workers have staged protests in the area calling for the execution of the factory owners. They chanted slogans:

 “We want execution of the garment factory owners.”

Thousands of workers across the district have staged similar protests against the inhumane and unsafe working conditions. Many of the countries thousands of factories are closed due to protests. The protests were met by a violent response from police who fired teargas into the crowds.

Authorities have arrested two owners. Officials said that numerous regulations had been ignored by the factory owners. An official with Savar’s engineering department said the owner of Rana Plaza was allowed to erect a five-story building but had added another three stories illegally. Authorities stated that the owners ignored warnings that the structure was failing in previous days. The factory had been evacuated days before due to cracks in the structure, but the owners failed to react and reopened.

A week after the disaster, authorities are downplaying the importance of the disaster in order to salvage the reputation of the industry. Around the time the 500th body was pulled from the ruble, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith stated:

“The present difficulties … well, I don’t think it is really serious — it’s an accident… And the steps that we have taken in order to make sure that it doesn’t happen, they are quite elaborate and I believe that it will be appreciated by all.”

Similar promises have been made in the past with little to show for it. Yet workers keep dying and the rich get richer.

Capitalism is the real problem

This disaster is not the first in Bangladesh. As the garment industry grows, so too will the human cost. Bangladesh’s garment industry has grown rapidly in the past decade. It was the third-largest in the world in 2011. There are around 4,500 garment factories in Bangladesh, the second largest clothes exporter after China. A similar garment factory collapse occurred in 2005, killing 70. And, on November, 25th of last year, over a hundred workers died when a fire erupted in a garment factory where owners had created a death trap. Workers suffer terribly in Bangladesh. Unlike the First World, it is not uncommon for workers in the Third World to work exhausting schedules of ten to twelve to fourteen and even more hours a day in unsafe, hazardous conditions. It is not uncommon for workers to work every day of the week. The country’s minimum wage is now the equivalent of about $38 a month. In the United States, the minimum wage nationally is $7.25 per hour. In some places, like Washington state, it is as high as $9.19 per hour. Most people in the United States earn far more than the minimum wage. Workers in the United States earn more in a few hours than workers in Bangladesh earn in a whole month. This inequality and the recent collapses and fire in November are both symptoms of a bigger problem.

Authorities have arrested two owners as part of a show for the public. Two engineers have also been detained. The reality is that the problem is not simply two factory owners or engineers. It is important that they face the people’s justice, but the bigger problem has to be addressed. There is a connection between suffering in Third World countries like Bangladesh and comfort in the First World. Many of the fashions and products consumed in the First World are produced in factories like those in Bangladesh. In the collapsed factory were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac, Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms, producing several million shirts, pants and other garments a year altogether. Britain’s Primark acknowledged it was using a factory in Rana Plaza. Wal Mart, the largest retailer and largest employer in the United States, stated that it is investigating whether its clothing were produced there. The inhumane conditions in Bangladesh and the Third World are part of a global system that provides a comfortable living and cheap goods for those in the First World, including those who work in the First World. As long as the First World lifestyle exists, as long as First World consumption exists, people in the Third World will suffer.

Inhumane working conditions exist across Bangladesh and the Third World. Billions toil under similar conditions every day. Punishing two owners is not a real, permanent solution to the larger problem. The real solution is to eliminate the entire system that gives rise to such tragedies. The solution is to get rid of capitalism, to get rid of imperialism, itself. Simple arrests will not get us where we need to go. Punishing bad capitalists will not eliminate the problem. Reforming capitalism will not eliminate the problem. Similar disasters and inhumane working conditions and poverty will continue to exist so long as capitalism exists, as long as global inequality exists. We need revolution. We need a Leading Light Communist revolution that breaks all chains of oppression. Nobody is free unless everyone is free. We need a revolution led by the poor armed with the most advanced revolutionary science to date, Leading Light Communism. Build the New Power of the Leading Light. All power to the global poor. Build the Leading Light Communist Organization. Build the Leading Light Party and Army of the Poor. Follow the Leading Light; Be the Leading Light!

Sources:

http://news.yahoo.com/2-engineers-detained-bangla-building-collapse-074112693.html

http://new-power.org/2013/04/27/thousands-of-workers-stage-demonstration-in-dhaka/

http://new-power.org/2013/04/27/death-toll-in-bangladesh-collapse-passes-300/

http://new-power.org/2013/04/27/2-arrested-as-death-toll-in-bangladesh-reaches-324/

http://new-power.org/2012/11/28/people-of-bangladesh-burn-for-capitalist-first-world-fashion/

http://rt.com/news/bangladesh-riot-building-collapse-437/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States

http://news.yahoo.com/bangladesh-official-disaster-not-really-serious-093506342.html

Contributions needed to prepare for summer

(llco.org)

Big victories, small defeats. We are on course.

Our main work is advancing according to the glorious strategic plan of the Leading Light. Despite some slowdowns in our secondary areas of operation, our primary work is on course in a big way. The fight against revisionism is ongoing. We hope that those who made mistakes find their way back onto the revolutionary road. We could not have made it this far without all of those who stepped up. Thank you for all your hard work and sacrifice. Actions speak louder than words. The leadership is doing what it takes to really advance, to really win. All cadre and potentials need to understand the sacrifices that are being made each and everyday. Everyone should make a donation now so that we can speed things up. We are making great strides. We will make an extra effort to publish more materials in coming weeks. We will also be organizing new study groups around our new educational program.  We hope to advance to the next stage, to consolidate our position as a prelude to a big push over the summer.

Donating is a regular part of any serious revolutionary’s work. It is easy to proclaim your commitment from your armchair than to actually do work, to really sacrifice. Parlor pinks are dime a dozen. Cadre and potentials must fly above, must prove themselves. Meditate on what it really means to live and die for the people and the for the Earth itself. Think about the sacrifices that billions make every single day to prop up the First World. Think about what our Leading Light sisters and brothers in the Third World go through. Think about the burden on the Earth itself. Think about the sacrifices of our Leading Lights who risk their lives and freedom. Think about the sacrifices of our comrades and friends who spend cold nights on the streets. It is a real battle for some of us. Help us prepare the way for the summer campaign. We hope this year will be our breakout year.

We are on course. We will do everything that it takes to really win. Long live the Leading Light! Follow the Leading Light! Be the Leading Light! Our sun is rising, our day will come.

LLCO

Our Day is Coming

(llco.org)

The world cries out in pain. Two futures, two roads are before us: communism or barbarism, the Leading Light or endless night. There is a choice to be made.

We must transform ourselves for revolution. Do away with pettiness, greed, ego, smallness of mind. We must think beyond ourselves. An offense against one is an offense against all. When one bleeds, we all bleed. We must think as humanity and beyond. Not only is this a battle for our future, it is a battle for the future of our planet.

We, warriors of the people, must also act as guardians of the animals, the plants, the lands, the seas, the skies that sustain us all. The war to liberate the poor of the Third World is also a war for the future of our planet. It is through this righteous struggle that we become lights in a world of darkness, it is through this righteous struggle that we become who we really are. it is through this struggle that we forge the future.

Unity is strength

Capitalist culture teaches every individual that they are the center of the universe, that they are a castle unto themselves. We must break down the walls that keep us apart. It is only through organization, discipline, loyalty, leadership that we can really win.

Duty. Patience. We must be humble. We must find our roles. Learning to lead is also learning to listen and to follow. Well all stumble at times. Everyone makes mistakes. To be human is to fall. Pick yourself up when you have fallen. To learn from mistakes is the nature of science. To go forward against all obstacles is to be great.

To create we must destroy. We must pursue our cause to the end. To be ruthless, decisive and bold, to do everything that it takes to win. To the old world, we are a firestorm, to burn away, to annihilate, to turn to dust all that stands against us. We must be the sword of history. At the same time, we must have bigness of heart, humility, kindness. One hand holds the sword, the other must be extended outward to help.

We must dare go beyond the horizons.

New possibilities. We will not win by repeating the past. The last waves of revolution were defeated. We do not go forward by cobbling together the fragments of the past. We must understand the past, learn from the past, but we must go beyond it. The next wave of revolution is made by boldly striking out, casting aside dogma, by putting the most advanced revolutionary science, Leading Light Communism, in command.

We declare total war on the old ways, the Old Power. We declare total war on the First World. We demand nothing less than a whole new world, a world without poverty, without suffering, without cruelty, without war, without hunger, without chauvinism, without rape.

We demand a world of equality, a world of peace, a world of justice. Happiness. Joy. Serve the people. Imagine true freedom where we can be our best selves.  A better world is possible, an equal world is possible, but we must fight hard and to the end.

Global people’s war all the way to Leading Light Communism. To give oneself over, to lie and die for justice, for revolution, for our world is to be great. To this we pledge everything, our resources, our talents, our lives. The future is there for the taking if we dare. Never surrender.

Follow the Leading Light. Be the Leading Light. Our sun is rising. Our day is coming.

On the protests in Bangladesht: What is to be done?

(llco.org)

On February 5, 2013, Bangladesh erupted. Protests began in the Shahbag neighborhood in the capital Dhaka, but quickly spread across the country. The protesters demanded justice for the genocide, war crimes and other crimes against humanity committed during the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971. The International Crimes Tribunal, which, despite its name is not a United Nations organization, is an organ of the state of Bangladesh, is charged with bringing those responsible to justice under the Bangladesh International Crimes Act of 1973. This is the catalyst that is bringing the masses of Bangladesh onto the streets. Recognizing the danger to the social order, the regime, some Islamists, and paramilitaries have beat and shot the protesters. Complex history and complex interests have led us to this point. Again, we must ask Lenin’s question: What is to be done?

Background

Prior to 1971, Bangladesh was internationally recognized as part of Pakistan; it was often referred to as “East Pakistan.” Even so, Bangladesh was a separate nation, part of the greater Bangla Zone, locked inside and oppressed by Pakistan. Bangladesh existed as a kind of colony within the semi-colonial, regional hegemon of greater Pakistan. Many of the land owners and capitalists of East Pakistan resided in West Pakistan or had close ties to the West. The majority of wealthy strata supported unity with Pakistan.  The majority of the middle and poorer strata experienced discrimination, second class citizenship, and loss of opportunity in the greater Pakistan dominated by Western Pakistan. Even though both regions had a majority that practiced Islam, there were ethnic and linguistic differences between West and East Pakistan. For example, Urdu was declared by Pakistan to be its only official language even though the majority in East Pakistan spoke Bangla, and many others spoke Punjabi. Many died protesting the linguistic discrimination. Several civilians lost their lives on February 21, 1952 when the Pakistani police cracked down on protesters. To this day, the day is remembered as Language Martyrs Day. Those in the East were excluded from many aspects of Pakistani society due to national chauvinism. While the West taxed and ruled the East, little was spent on infrastructure and development of the East. Even though Easterners constituted a majority of the country, those in the East were underrepresented in the Pakistani military, government, and other technical posts. The way elections were held in Pakistan sought to ensure that Easterners were underrepresented and kept out of power. Where there is oppression, there is social tension, there is resistance.

A political crisis occurred when the Eastern Awami League, despite the unfair electoral system, had a landslide victory in the elections of 1970. Under the constitution, the Awami League had the right to form a new government and select the Prime Minister. However, the Western economic and political establishment refused to go along with the vote. There had been a long history of the establishment refusing to cede political power to Easterners. The pro-Western Pakistani military establishment tightened its hold on the East. Between March 10th and 13th, Pakistan began increasing its troops and weaponry in the East. This would be followed by a brutal pacification effort against the East. In November of that year, the deadliest cyclone in history hit the East, killing an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people. The West intentionally let the East bleed by responding slowly with very weak relief efforts. A general strike and other acts of resistance would follow. It was in December that the Bangladesh Liberation War began.

On March 26th, 1971, the Mukti Bahini, the Liberation Army, was formed to resist the Western-imperialist backed genocide. Although the Soviets sought to use this to their advantage, the main danger to the world at the time was Western imperialism led by the United States or imperialism as a whole, not Soviet social-imperialism specifically. In the case of Bangladesh, class interest and national interest coincided as the national liberation movement gained traction among the masses. Three million died. Eight to ten million became refugees from the violence. Most of the violence was committed by the Pakistani military and their paramilitary supporters. Mass graves exist across Bangladesh where students, intellectuals, workers, peasants, anyone suspected of opposing the Pakistani establishment was murdered. There was a systematic effort to eliminate the intellectual and cultural elite of Bangladesh. Hindus and other minorities were especially targeted by the Pakistani military. An estimated 400,000 women were raped as part of the pacification efforts. Women students from Bangladesh were forced into brothels to serve the Pakistani military. Journalists were rounded up or deported to hide the extent of the atrocities. Yahya Khan, president of Pakistan, declared, “Kill three million of them, and the rest will eat out of our hand.”

The conflict took on an international dimension. The United States and Mao’s China aligned with the genocidal Pakistani regime. India and the Soviet Union aligned with the national liberation movement. Internal documents of the Nixon administration characterized events in Bangladesh as a “selective genocide,” yet the United States supported the Pakistani regime regardless. A high-ranking US official was quoted as saying, “It is the most incredible, calculated thing since the days of the Nazis in Poland.” China, as it slid into revisionism, also played a reactionary role. The revolutionary period in China was ending with the purging the radical left and rehabilitation of the revisionist right. Lin Biao was falling from power. China was beginning to align with the United States against the Soviet Union. In addition, China had historically been in conflicts with India. India also feared that the Bangla freedom movement would spill over into its own borders, where a significant Bangla-speaking population exists. India was already facing numerous peasant uprisings, including the continuation of the Spring Thunder Naxalite movement led by the Indian students of the writings of Mao and Lin Biao. After India intervened, the liberation war ended on December 3rd, 1971. An independent Bangladesh emerged. Bangladesh, already poor, was devastated. This was only made worse when in 1974, natural disasters and rising rice prices led to mass starvation across Bangladesh. The corruption of the new regime made things worse. An estimated 1.5 million people died as a result of the food crisis and epidemics: cholera, malaria, etc. Hit hardest were the poor: workers, peasants, lumpen. The United States saw this as an opportunity for revenge and cut off any aid to Bangladesh. The nominal reason was that Bangladesh traded with Cuba. The reality is that the United States helped to inflict genocide on Bangladesh because the regime would not fall into line with US-backed imperialism, because the regime tilted toward Soviet social-imperialism. By the time Bangladesh stopped jute trade with Cuba, the aid was too little, too late. The imperialists bled the masses.

The conflicts left deep wounds on Bengla society that have never healed. Many of the social and political conflicts were unresolved in the following decades. On December 24, 1971 Home minister of Bangladesh A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman said, “war criminals will not survive from the hands of law. Pakistani military personnel who were involved with killing and raping have to face tribunal.” In 1972, plans were announced to try to put one hundred top Pakistani military officers on charges of genocide. The Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order 1972 was enacted to put on trial only those Bangladeshis who had collaborated. However, over the years, the laws were modified to suit political agendas of the parties in power. For example, a general amnesty was issued in November of 1973 that granted amnesty to all except those found guilty of rape, murder, attempt of murder or arson. Yet in 1975, this amnesty was revoked. This pattern would continue until the present.

The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 sought to expand prosecutions, irrespective of nationality, for war crimes and crimes against humanity, ‘‘violations of any humanitarian rules applicable in armed conflicts laid out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949’’ and ‘‘any other crimes under international law.” However, nothing came of this since Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975 by military officers who opposed his consolidation of power and his corruption, but also opposed his support of moderately socially progressive policies: moderate land reform, advancing the status of women, secularization of society against Islamization etc. It is reported that the CIA knew of the planned assassination against Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and did nothing to prevent it, perhaps even having a direct role in the plot. His regime fell in a military coup along with many of the policies associated with the Awami League regime. This assassination would throw Bangladesh into more chaos as a series of coups were unleashed. Some of the plotters of the assassination, after they had been overthrown by another coup, are reported to have taken refuge in Mao’s China, which had been quickly sliding into revisionism and aligning with the West since the decline, and ultimately death, of Lin Biao. The military ruled Bangladesh until 1990 when mass movements forced a return to civilian rule.

The Awami League came to power again in 2009 with the election of Sheikh Hasina against the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the main opposition, a coalition which includes Jamaat-e-Islami. Wounds were reopened when in 2009, the Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of Bangladesh stated that Pakistanis would not be persecuted under the 1973 law. Thus those in Pakistan with much blood on their hands were given immunity. It was in December 2009 that Ghulam Azam, who had been collaborated with Pakistan, ascended to become chairman of Jamaat-e-Islami of Bangladesh. Many other collaborators found refuge within reactionary Islamist political parties known for stirring up sectarian violence against minorities. These parties often have deep ties to the security establishment in Bangladesh and to their counterparts in Pakistan.

Protests and counter-protests

Protests began in the Shahbag neighborhood of Dhaka on February 5th, 2013. The protesters had several immediate demands. They demanded the death sentence for those found guilty of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal. They demanded reversal of earlier verdicts in favor of capital punishment. Since then the protests have spread across the country with widening demands. Like other recent protests globally, social media, the internet, has played an important role. Events globally and in Bangladesh confirm Leading Light’s analysis that revolutions and social movements today have to break from past dogma to recognize new possibilities that technologies have opened up for both revolution and counter-revolution. In “New World, New Challenges, New Science,” Leading Light states:

“New technology and greater mobility open up new paths for revolution. Greater communication and mobility mean that revolutions may be increasingly dynamic in important ways. Subjective and objective conditions can change in explosive ways, very rapidly. Tempos can accelerate seemingly out of nowhere. Events in one location can quickly influence events and conditions around the world. Revolution will become more globalized in important ways. New technologies will have a profound  impact on how revolutions are made. New technologies will open up new possibilities during socialist construction.”

Even so, it is not just the mass movement that has quickly placed feet on the streets. So too have Jamaat-e-Islami and the security forces. Everyday more are shot and wounded. The streets are battlegrounds between protesters, counter-protesters, and security forces. At the beginning of March, 2013 the death toll stands at over 60. There will surely be more deaths on the horizon.

These protests occur on the heels of nationwide discontent and strikes over the factory fires that claimed hundreds of lives last year. They also occur on the heels of numerous natural disasters that have ravaged Bangladesh’s poor, with the ruling regime slow to react, if it reacts at all. All parties of the reactionary classes, whether they cast themselves as social-democrats, capitalist-modernizers, Islamists, socialists, communists, etc. are discredited in the eyes of the advanced segment of the masses, the Leading Lights of the Bangla Zone. Sheikh Hasin’s discredited regime faces a national election this year. Even though the protests have legitimate demands, the regime seeks to use the protests to deflect criticism of itself. The regime seeks to use the legitimate discontent of the masses as a pretext for the suppression of the opposition. Various revisionists have reportedly uncritically aligned with the state. The contradiction between the regime and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which includes Jamaat-e-Islami, is a contradiction amongst the enemies. Two manifestations of the Old Power are slugging it out while the masses bleed. Imperialists and the First World manipulate the situation to their own advantage.

Even so, there is an opportunity here to try to push the masses further toward real revolution, toward Leading Light Communism, the end of all oppression. Leading Lights must not tail the regime as many of the revisionists have. Leading Lights ought to use this opportunity to raise awareness amongst the masses of the larger problems facing society. Look at the big picture. Channel the anger of the masses against the collaborationists into anger directed against the whole system of Old Power, the whole of capitalism, imperialism, semi-feudalism, and all the horrors of the old system. The masses lose no matter which faction of the ruling class holds power. The problems of the Bangla Zone will not be solved through social-democratic reform. The nature of the Old Power is to preserve its rule in one way or another. Whether the Old Power wears a social democratic, Western face or an Islamist one, the masses lose. Although the protests will not lead to genuine revolution, Leading Lights can use this opportunity to educate, to train, to lead, to gain valuable experience. Mass movements of these kinds, where there is mass outrage, but genuine revolutionary infrastructure is lacking is all too common. Objective conditions — poverty, oppression, etc — are not enough to make revolution. Subjective conditions — the development of New Power, revolutionary political-military-cultural infrastructure, revolutionary consciousness, the genuine leadership of the Leading Light Communist Organization and the most advanced revolutionary science of Leading Light Communism — is also required. Seek to elevate the sites of the masses, while still keeping a realistic, scientific perspective. Scientific leadership is key.

Old Power versus New Power

Revolution is not achieved through compromise with the Old Power. The Old Power is there to serve the reactionary classes. The Old Power — the state, the civil and cultural institutions, the security-military apparatus, etc. — is a weapon only wielded by the reactionary classes. The state does not sit above class struggle, it is an instrument of class oppression. It is a means by which one class oppresses another. Revolution is not made by achieving piecemeal reforms within the Old Power. Revolution is made by sweeping away the Old Power, the old society. Revolution is a process of creating what Lenin called dual power, New Power that exists alongside the Old Power but, at the same time, contends against it. The New Power of the Leading Light is a shadow state, a shadow society, a shadow power, a shadow leadership that is largely clandestine until the time is right and it can emerge to openly contend with the Old Power through politico-military confrontation, through the global people’s war of the Leading Light. When the New Power of the Leading Light is strong enough to emerge in the open, red zones, base areas, will be established to go head-to-head in military confrontation with the forces of reaction. Mass movements like the protests in Bangladesh give us the opportunity to educate, train, recruit, gain experience. We should not dismiss them simply because the reactionary classes also strive to manipulate them. Rather, as much as possible, we should seek to lead. However, we should not lie to the masses. Even if this particular regime falls only to be replaced by another capitalist one due to the social unrest, we should always point out the limited nature of the protests and reforms generally.  We must be patient with the masses, but also firm in our resolve. We must not be afraid to lead, to be Leading Lights. While it is important to involve ourselves in mass movements, we must not liquidate into them. We must try to channel the masses in our direction. We must use these opportunities to expand our ranks. However, we cannot place our entire focus on the mass movement. We must continue the construction of the New Power of the Leading Light. We must hold firmly to the glorious strategic plan of the Leading Light. There will always be bumps in the road. There will always be twists, turns, surprises. We must continue on our course as laid out by the most advanced revolutionary science to date, Leading Light Communism. Patience. Loyalty. Discipline. Sacrifice. Leadership. Long live memory of the heroes of the Bangla Zone! Be the Leading Light! Follow the Leading Light! Long live the Leading Light! Our sun is rising. Our day is coming.

Sources

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_famine_of_1974
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Bangladesh_atrocities#Operation_Searchlight
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War
4. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/28/bangladesh-death-sentence-deadly-protests
5. http://tribune.com.pk/story/515492/large-scale-protests-bangladesh-deploys-troops-as-protest-toll-hits-76/
6. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/world/asia/bangladesh-sees-deadly-day-as-protests-persist.html?_r=0
7. http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/03/04/bang-m04.html
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Hasina
9. http://llco.org/184/
10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Nationalist_Party

Vanilla vs. Kink?

(llco.org)

The following is a discussion that recently took place between KxWaal and the Leading Light. See article comments for original discussion. KxWaal, in reaction to Leading Light’s review of Female Chauvinist Pigs, states:

“I still don’t see what is wrong with “raunch”, so long as it comes from a point of equal footing. In the non-hierarchical world we would like to see, I feel it’s perfectly fine for men and women to seek out whatever forms of sexual fulfillment that are safe, sane and consensual. A typical area for the 2nd wave “feminists” to target is BDSM culture – a culture I, a devout Communist happen to be a part of. A lot of their criticisms ignore the idea of consent all together, not to mention the fact that just as many men (if not more, in my experience – including me, though I identify more so as “genderqueer”) choose to enjoy the “submissive” role. I certainly don’t feel my girlfriend is “exploiting” me – and outside the bedroom, we are nothing but equals. Instead they focus on women who enjoy taking a submissive role in sex and victimize them far more than our little subculture ever could – Proposing a worldview where these women apparently do not have the capability to even decide for themselves what it is that gets them off. Our so called “raunch culture” really does much to support equal rights and consent, I’d say far more than the “vanilla” types do.

Yes, sex with a ‘domme’ and a ‘sub’ is hierarchical – But we Communist’s are not automatically opposed to EVERY consensual hierarchy – there is some wiggle-room in most peoples books – For instance, a doctor-patient relationship etc. – and in this case, it’s a non coerced hierarchy (unlike say, wage slavery – which is coerced through economic inequality) that only temporarily exists in the bedroom – And one set up simply because it brings each party personal pleasure.

The only valid argument I’ve ever heard put towards kink and sexual freedom automatically becomes void the moment we as Communists achieve our goals. Once we’re all on equal footing, living without class distinctions – there would be no way anyone could be coerced into doing anything – and it will be impossible for consensual sexual activity to be exploitative by nature. Even today, I feel it’s quite possible to avoid true exploitation of any kind simply by following the mantra “safe, sane and consensual” and well, not being an asshole. I really don’t get how sexual freedom and non-hierarchical government is incompatible at all.”

Leading Light responds:

“What is wrong with the sexual culture of the First World, including raunch, is that is made possible by the exploitation of the Third World. First World people get access to more life options because those same options (and many others) are restricted for Third World people. It takes a lot of value to democratize patriarchal, hedonistic excess for both First World men and women. Think of all the value that goes into driving the kink movement, the products, the talks, the movies, etc. That value could be going toward ending starvation in the Third World rather than making sure every First World man has his Viagra and every First World woman has 10 vibrators. Despite what people think, the main trend in imperial culture is toward liberalism today. One-dimensional imperial culture is mostly a thing of the past. Imperialism today creates hundreds of niches, lifestyles, personality types, etc. Imperialism generally even tolerates so-called counter-cultures. An American youth today can move in and out of literally dozens of subcultures, taking and leaving identities as she goes about her merry way. Marx wrote that capitalism profaned everything holy, that even religion was no longer religious as it once was. How many religions does your average, hip American go through today before he is 35? There is a proliferation of ways to live in the First World. You can be an anarchist, Taoist, Islamic neo-folk punk, graver, vegan, kinky furry today and tomorrow, cool James Dean. It is like fashion. A lot of value is consumed by these largely unproductive subcultures. Propping up this expansion of ways of living for First World peoples is the exploitation of the Third World.

It is not really an issue of vanilla versus kink. Within the First World, such a contradiction is a contradiction amongst the enemies. The culture of the vanillas is also propped up by imperialist exploitation of the Third World. However, there is a lot of misconceptions out there about what is mainstream and what is not. The trend is toward more and more liberalism, not toward A Handmaid’s Tale. Kink is so common that it has mostly lost its shock value. Kink is becoming more and more passe amongst the urban, hipster set. The exception here may be those smaller, First World countries on the imperial periphery, certain Eastern European countries or Greece where traditional fascism has a hold.

What needs to be pointed out is that these supposedly liberating sexual practices that First World peoples engage in to have fun, feel dangerous, feel powerful, etc. do not happen in a vacuum. The whole web of interconnections that allow this kind of culture to emerge is based on imperialist exploitation of the Third World. In addition, there is something very self-serving and First Worldist about those who focus on these kinds of issues, which they usually make very personal. Elevating First World women to be equal partners in kink (or whatever) is not real feminism. The vast majority of the world’s women suffer greatly under ruthless comprador and semi-feudal regimes backed up by imperialism. The kink culture, like all First Worldist sexual culture, is based on exploiting the vast majority of women in the Third World. What kind of feminism is it that sells out the majority of women who happen to be Third World women for a minority of women who happen to live in the First World? And this is not just true about White so-called feminism, but also First Worldist types of people of color feminism.

That said, we accept that we have to start somewhere with people in the First World in order to move them toward Leading Light Communism, the highest stage of revolutionary science to date. Sometimes Leading Lights have to involve themselves in movements whose overall tendency is toward First Worldism, i.e. Occupy. This is just a reality of gathering up anomalies in the First World for real revolutionary organizing. When one does this kind of work, one always has to make sure that Leading Lights are leading people to better horizons, pulling them forward, advancing people forward, not being pulled into meek and cowardly tailism. A communist who does not lead is not a communist. The kink politics seems somewhat self-centered and narrowly focused. In other words, it is probably one of the last places one will find potential Leading Light cadre recruits, those who will betray their First World interests to join the Third World in a real way. More promising areas might be the radical environmental movement.

The Leading Light has never said anything prohibiting its cadres to live their lives as they please in the bedroom so long as they keep it legal. The Leading Light does not seek to be some weirdo sex police. Leading Light never advocated “puritan” ideas about sex nor crackpot claims that celibacy is the right choice as others have.

The problem with your comment is a matter of emphasis more than anything. The fist 8 words of Mao’s Selected Works: Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? Think about it.”

(llco.org)

“Dear Leading Light,

What is does the error of “economism” refer to?”

Leading Light replies:

Thank you for writing.

“Economism” is a term used to refer to a certain type of error. “Tailing” or “tailism” is another term often used for this error. Continuing rightist errors lead to rightist revisionism, a certain way of abandoning the revolution. It is the error of overemphasizing the more immediate, short-term, local, etc. interests of the masses to the detriment of their more distant, long-term, universal, etc. interests. For example, to only focus on the immediate interests of the masses (or recruits) such as higher wages or political reform, without connecting those the distant interests of abolishing class, ending patriarchy, liberating the Earth, actually reaching Leading Light Communism is to make this error.  Lenin criticized those who tailed the trade-union movement of his day. Lenin saw that tailing the trade unions was an error that would not lead to revolution, but only reform. Similarly, Lenin criticized those who held that revolution could be achieved by tailing political reformists through social-democratic, legislative victories within the bourgeois state. Mao criticized those who tailed after the united front to the point of liquidation of the leading role of the Party. Revolution is not made by gaining small, piecemeal concessions from the capitalist order. Revolution is not made primarily through reforms within the bourgeois order. Leading Light Communism is not reached by making small steps within the current system. There is no compromise with the old system, the Old Power. The Old Power is fundamentally an instrument of oppression. Rather,  the Old Power, must be swept away. It must be replaced by a New Power. To sweep away the Old, to create the New, to really win, requires the strong leadership, organization, discipline, political line, science of Leading Light Communism.

Right errors are errors of tailing the masses (or recruits) or their organizations, rather than leading them to Leading Light Communism. In a sense, all errors are errors of political line, errors that can be solved through political rectification, education, training, discipline, etc. However, right errors are also tied to bourgeois or petty-bourgeois character. Such political errors can be exacerbated and caused in part by bourgeois and petty-bourgeois traits, a bourgeois or petty-bourgeois mentality: cowardice, lack of courage, lack of discipline, liberalism, putting superficial unity with others above political line, big ego, etc. Rather than taking on the burden of leading people to Leading Light Communism, those who make this error tail after everything under the sun. They tail after the immediate demands of the masses (or recruits) they tail after their friends and family, they tail after nationalists, First Worldist fake-feminists, or others. They do not have the courage to stand up, point out errors, teach and lead. They make the fundamental mistake of thinking that the way to lead people is by pretending to agree with them, not criticizing them, not educating them, etc. Although they do not see it, they are usually not respected by those they compromise with. Spinelessness is not an attractive characteristic. Rather than pulling the masses (or recruits) to revolution, the masses (or recruits) pull them to reformism and First Worldism.

By contrast, left errors are usually when you are too far ahead of the masses (or recruits). Left errors are usually when your demands on the masses (or recruits) are so advanced that you are unable to effectively reach or positively influence your audience. For example, anarchist demands to immediately end all hierarchy, to dispense with leadership, discipline, organization, etc. are ultra-left. The demand to end marriage or the traditional family immediately is ultra-left at present. The radical green attempt to save the Earth without regard for human need is ultra-left. The demand that people change every aspect of their personal lives immediately is ultra-left. You cannot simply wave a magic wand and change the world. You cannot change the world by fiat. Also, you cannot simply command change at bayonet point. You can demand anything you want, but really changing the world means meeting people where they are and pulling them forward, leading them. Mao called this “mass line.” You connect local, immediate issues to the big picture. Peasants want land. Mao used the issue of land as a way to advance people in stages to socialism then communism. Just as land is not an end in itself, better wages are not either. Land and wage struggles amongst poor peoples should only be seen as bridges to further revolutionary advances. They are not ends in themselves, by themselves they are not revolutionary. Another left error is the inability to make limited alliances with social groups or forces. For example, those who fail to support the united front against imperialism make a left error. Those who fail to side with patriotic-bourgeois, Third World regimes and forces that are attacked by imperialism make a left error. The Leading Light neither tails, neither cheerleads, neither liquidates into the united front nor to abandons it. The Leading Light line is “Uphold the broad united front! Hold the Red Flag high!” In other words, critical support to all those fighting imperialism while at the same time contending for leadership of the united front. Those who seek to remain so pure that they cannot make alliances engage in a destructive left error. Like all errors, left errors are political errors, but they too can be exacerbated or caused in part by a bourgeois or petty-bourgeois character, bourgeois or petty-bourgeois mentality. Meanness, impatience, big ego, lack of love for the people, lack of compassion, lack of empathy, lack of humility, for example, often accompany left errors. Compounded left errors can lead to left revisionism just as compounded right errors lead to right revisionism.

Right and left errors often are found in the same individual. Individuals who make errors will often zigzag between the right and left. Sometimes right errors hide left errors; sometimes left errors mask right errors. This is because both kinds of errors result from lack of revolutionary science, from lack of solid Leading Light Communism, organization and discipline. They stem from lack of fully understanding Leading Light Communism, but also from lack of implementing its political line at the level of your character. Both types of errors can lead to revisionism, do nothingism, wrecking, pig work, snitching, gossiping, and other counter-revolutionary behavior.

As always, remember that the First World is very different from the Third World. The First World has no significant revolutionary social base, no proletariat. The vast majority of the Third World is made up of proletarian classes, poor peoples. This means that techniques of leadership will be very different in the First World than the Third World. In the Third World, mass line is an important tool. While some of Lenin’s and Mao’s approaches are still useful in the First World, Leading Lights in the First World will need to be much more creative. In the Third World, Leading Lights must mobilize the revolutionary social base. In the First World, Leading Lights must gather up anomalies for resistance against the First World. Since there are no significant masses in the First World, mass line does not apply broadly in the First World as it does the Third World. Those who attempt to simply apply mass line in the First World as you would the Third World end up in First Worldism, tailing reformism, tailing NGOs and non-profit organizations, bourgeois parties, etc. Accommodating First Worldists generally does not help the cause of the proletariat unless it is generating resources and recruits for the Leading Light. Those who muddle First Worldism with Leading Light Communism end up lying to the real masses in the Third World and giving cover for First Worldism of various kinds. Leading Lights in the First World will need to find new ways to recruit, new ways to educate, etc. that do not pretend the populations of the First World are revolutionary. In the course of implementing the glorious strategic plan of the Leading Light, the leadership has developed new, creative methods that will gather First World anomalies and transform them into Leading Light cadre.

Currently, the main problems are rightist ones. Rectify this by increasing the level of political education within the organization. Every cadre must deepen their grasp of the general line. Those rightists who tail so much that they let First Worldism slide do no favors to our cause. Every cadre should make an effort to educate at least one recruit or fence sitter. Those cadres with a better grasp of leadership should make an effort to educate those who have slipped into errors, especially rightist errors. Every cadre must increase their discipline as we go forward. Leading Lights are soldiers as well as teachers. Every cadre must put in work, sacrifice, donate on a regular basis. Be a red soldier of the Leading Light! Follow the Leading Light! Be the Leading Light! The sun is rising. Our day will come.

New Years Message 2012/2013

(llco.org)

Another year is here. Last year was a year of victories despite the temporary setbacks some of our comrades are facing. We know that some of you are experiencing difficulties now. You are all in our hearts. Be strong comrades, this is our long march. In the next few months, there will be challenges. We will overcome. What does not kill us makes us stronger. This is a time that will test our hearts. Stay up. Stay strong. Use this time to harden yourselves. Together we will do everything in our power to solve the problems facing us. The problems will be dealt with one way or another. Hand-in-hand, we will never stop fighting. Be a red soldier of the Leading Light. Victory or death.

We have developed the glorious strategic plan of the Leading Light, the guiding thought of the Leading Light. Along this course, we advance. We have been developing the discipline, organization, and leadership to really win. Everyone must do their duty. Loyalty to the Organization, its discipline, its line, the strategic plan, the leadership is key. Let the yappers yap, as always, we will fly above them. Birds of a feather flock together.

This will be the year that we come up in significant ways. We have planted seeds. They will bear fruit in the next few months. Unity, sacrifice, strength are key in going forward. Despite temporary setbacks that some are experiencing, the overall situation is very good.

Look forward, not backward. The Leading Light is the next stage. It is important to learn from the past, but do not get stuck there. We will not win by simply repeating the past. Boldly strike out. Think in creative, new ways. However, always temper creativity with experience. Without practice, there is nothing.

We must be ruthless and daring. We must harden ourselves. We must be willing to make the sacrifices needed to win.  We must be willing to give our talents, our resources, our lives.

Keep in contact with the leadership. We are all part of a vast body. To move forward, we must work together. Maintain the chain of command. Keep in contact with the leadership. We must all elevate ourselves. We are all leaders. We are all followers. When one falls, we should have three ready to step up. Prepare yourselves ideologically and practically.

There is much said and much unsaid. Cadre advance in stages. Listen. Learn. Grasp deep politics.

It is rare to find those who put aside their pettiness, who are really willing to sacrifice themselves for the suffering masses and the Earth. A special red salute to all those who are standing at our side. We express our deepest love and gratitude to you. You are the future. You are Leading Lights.

Follow the Leading Light! Be the Leading Light! Our sun is rising. Our day is coming.

8 Instructions to lone comrades
(llco.org)

The Leading Light has established cells in some locations. In these locations, comrades and friends need to seek out established cells and link up with the local leadership. In those locations where there are no cells, comrades and friends should still remain politically active. Lone comrades and friends, all those who are geographically disconnected from the leadership, should look to the following instructions for guidance. Even if you are alone, it is your duty to  do all that you can to advance the struggle.

There is much good that can be done by lone comrades:

1. Educate yourself. Lone comrades will not have the same connection to the leadership that others do. Thus you will have to educate yourself. You will have to become self-reliant. You should begin your study with the articles in the Leading Light booklets. These articles represent the general line of the Leading Light. If you feel you have mastered this material, you should move onto more complex materials in the Monkey Smashes Heaven magazines and on the website. You should also keep up to date with the New Power website. You should also stay up to date on current events, especially global current events. Since you are alone, there is nobody to measure your progress. The burden is on you to keep yourself on point.

2. Increasing skills. Lone comrades should acquire skills that will aid our movement. If you attend college or a university, pick areas of study that will serve our movement. You should also acquire self-defense, martial arts, and weapons training and safety. First aid. Medical skills. Engineering. Work on your writing and public speaking skills. Learn skills associated with activism if you plan to work as an activist in the future.

3. Cell building. If there is an opportunity in your area to train others and organize them into a functioning cell, then by all means try. Once you have organized a few people into a functioning group, you should contact the center for further instructions on how to best carry out Leading Light work in your area.

4. Build local networks. Expand your knowledge of your community, especially those areas of the community that could prove useful to the movement. Gain connections with personalities with “street cred.” Gain connections with potential recruits. Prove yourself to those who could aid or join the Leading Light. Gain respect.

5. Production of agitation and propaganda. Lone comrades have the options of writing for the Leading Light or New Power websites. You can submit articles to monkeysmashesheaven@yahoo.com. We will edit your writings, clean them up, etc. If we feel they are beneficial to the movement, we will publish them. We will work with you and help you improve your writing skills. We have expert editors. Lone comrades can also produce art for the movement. Art can be sent to the same address.

6. Online promotion. Lone comrades can promote the line and organization online on forums and social media sites. This means posting articles, defending the line, debating, etc. There are all kinds of enemies online who will try to bait you. There are all kinds of posers. There are all kinds of wreckers. There are all kinds of pigs. Remember not to be baited by wreckers, trolls, and pigs. Do not be baited by identity politics. Be safe. Develop a reasonable online security practice.

7. Fundraising. Fundraising should not be underestimated. Fundraising is a key part of our work. It should be a key part of every comrade’s work. Without funds, what we can accomplish is extremely limited. With funds, we can significantly expand our work. First World comrades have a particular duty to generate funds for the movement.  All comrades and friends should seek stability and good jobs. Those who are serious will donate regularly.

8. Move. If you become frustrated working alone, then you should consider relocating to an area where a Leading Light cell is active. If you are serious about moving, then contact the center at monkeysmashesheaven@yahoo.com. We can help.

Our movement is stronger than ever. We are on course with the glorious strategic plan of the Leading Light. We are moving forward. Step up and do your duty. We need serious organization so we will be capable of really winning. We will win by being decisive, ruthless, by letting nothing stop us. Discipline, loyalty, organization, leadership. We dedicate our resources, our talents, our lives to the liberation of humanity and Mother Earth. All the way to Leading Light Communism. Follow the Leading Light. Be the Leading Light. Our sun is rising, our day is coming.

School shootings and gun control

(llco.org)

Recently, there has been another school shooting in the United States. Twenty six people were shot in a Connecticut elementary school by Adam Lanza. The victims at the school were shot multiple times with a high-power rifle, some of them up close. All six adults were women. Of the 20 children, eight were boys and 12 were girls. All the children were 6 or 7 years old. He then killed himself. This shooting is one of many in the United States over the years, the most famous of which was the shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado. These shooting reflect the sick nature of imperial society. Violence is as American as apple pie. The United States is a society that wages war against the poor peoples of the world. It is no surprise that violent events like this occur from time to time in the heart of empire. Even though the First World society of the United States is extremely wealthy, it is sick, unhealthy and violent. These events are now being exploited by the Obama administration in an attempt to tighten the gun control laws.

Many in the United States see gun control as the first step by the state to enslave the population. This kind of view is often articulated by racists and other fascists who oppose the state from the right. Even though the imperialist system, including its state, has provided one of the most wealthy, liberal, hedonist societies in the world, fascists and social fascists see themselves and their First World privilege as constantly under siege. They traffic in all kinds of paranoid fascist propaganda, recycled anti-semitism, crackpot conspiracy theories, etc. These views have only increased in recent years. In recent decades, ideas once found almost exclusively on the “far right” have spread into anti-war and “social justice” activist circles. Along with this, the line between traditional “right wing” fascism and “left” social fascism has blurred in some respects. The “far right” and “far left” have much in common. They are both First Worldist. Both the “far right” and “far left” both attempt to agitate on behalf of First World populations. Both seek to preserve, advance and extend First World privilege, which they see as threatened by their state. So it is not surprising that there would be a crossover of rhetoric and ideas. This crossover can be seen with conspiracy theories about the Illuminati. Rhetoric and ideas once almost exclusively associated with White populist and racist organizations now find their way into hip hop music, for example.

Although there are various contradictions in First World society, including contradictions involving the state, the contradictions are not antagonistic. The First World state is part of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie over the proletariat of the Third World. The First World state is not out to enslave its imperial population. Rather the First World state is part of a system that delivers wealth and privilege to the vast majority of the imperial populations. To see the state as out to enslave and pauperize its population is a First Worldist misunderstanding of the nature of the global class structure. There is no significant proletariat in the First World, including the United States.  Both the state apparatus and the general population of the First World are comprised of the class enemies of the global poor of the Third World.

Ultimately, all enemy populations should be disarmed, including the populations of the First World. Disarming enemies is part of the role of the New Power. However, these populations should be disarmed by the proletariat when, in the future, the proletariat has the ability to do so. The imperial state, by contrast, seeks to disarm its population in the name of social stability, ending crime, and preventing arms from trickling into the hands of revolutionary and resistance movements. In other words, the current state seeks to disarm its population as a measure to strengthen and protect First World society, not to destroy it.

The United States is the top exporter of arms. Many of these arms end up in the hands of puppet dictatorships and death squads in the Third World. However, this will continue whether or not the United States passes more gun control legislation. Such legislation will affect private sales, not state sales. At present, Leading Lights should oppose gun control for the simple reason that attempts to restrict arms trafficking will hurt revolutionary and resistance movements (especially in the Third World) that may acquire weaponry through the private marketplace. In other words, such restrictions also hurt the Third World proletariat’s ability to acquire the tools it needs to liberate and defend itself.

(llco.org)

Black Friday is described by Wiki:

“Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day, most major retailers open extremely early and offer promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season, similar to Boxing Day sales in many Commonwealth Nations. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many non-retail employers also observe this day as a holiday along with Thanksgiving, giving their employees the day off, thereby increasing the number of potential shoppers. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005,[1] although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate,[2] have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time.”

Black Friday vividly brings out the contrast between the First and Third World. All over the United States, consumers trample each other to purchase the latest fashions, gadgets, toys, etc. There is not a major city in the United States that does not experiences scenes such as these on the first Friday following so-called “Thanksgiving.” See video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YwPtjjKw2-Y

When First World people riot, it is often to preserve and protect their First World status, to protect their imperial privilege. Sometimes it is to protect their right to drink beer in college frat houses. Sometimes it is to attack nationally oppressed communities. On rare occasions, they riot for legitimate issues, such as civil rights, prisoners’ rights, or to opposing police brutality. On Black Friday, Americans riot to acquire the latest fashions, gadgets and toys. Third World peoples, by contrast, riot for basic necessities such as food.

These consumerist riots occurred the same week that over 100 people died and many more injured in a Bangladesh garment factory. While people in Bangladesh literally die producing the latest fashions for Americans, Americans trample each other in a greedy attempt to be the most stylish and up-to-date on Black Friday.