January, 2007

Editorial: America vs. the corporations: Can we save democracy?

In a recent speech, former speaker of the U.S. House Newt Gingrich essentially called for the elimination of free speech to give the government a freer hand to "fight terrorism." While his comment prompted outrage from many, no one should be surprised. Gingrich's proposal would be just one more step along the path to outright fascism in America. We are already dangerously far along that path, and the economic downturn that is now under way in our country means we will see the push toward fascism accelerate.

Since 9/11, the government -- with the "bipartisan" support of a broad spectrum of Democrats and Republicans -- has step by step nearly done away with our political freedoms. The PATRIOT Act, various executive and administrative measures, and the Homeland Security Act, among other laws, have shredded the Bill of Rights and expanded the power of the government to spy on us, to monitor our political activities, to imprison us, even torture us. We have seen more intimidation of the press and restrictions on press freedom, and the passage of laws weakening our right to a fair trial and allowing arrest and detention without charges. Add to this the CIA's "rendition" system of secret international prisons and torture chambers. (There are also hundreds of concentration camps across the U.S. built during World War II, the McCarthy period, and in more recent times, empty and waiting to be filled with "enemies of the state.")

The picture is clear and ugly: our right to speak, to protest, to organize is being steadily eliminated, and any of us can be labeled a "terrorist," snatched off the street and thrown into prison and tortured, without charges or even a trial.

This push to eliminate democracy and replace it with the open dictatorship of the corporations is no right-wing agenda. It's rooted in how the global economy is evolving, and how workers are responding to that evolution. Globalization and labor-replacing technology are creating an unheard of polarity of wealth and poverty. On one side is a vast new class of impoverished people who have no stake in continuing to support the market economy, and on the other side is a class of billionaires, represented by the giant corporations, who have no intention of giving up the market economy that made them wealthy. The poor are forced to fight for a new society that distributes the necessities of life to everyone, regardless of whether they have any money. If democracy was allowed to continue, the new class of poor, who are fast becoming the majority of the workers, would do away with the market economy. So the billionaires, waving the banner of the "fight against terrorism," are doing away with democracy.

The growing slump in the housing and auto markets and the rising claims for jobless benefits make clear the economy is headed into recession, and perhaps something worse. This will mean even more workers thrown into struggle against the system, which will only accelerate the drive toward fascism. The dire nature of the situation facing us only makes all the more clear that we, the workers, must see ourselves as a class with our own interests, separate and apart from those of the billionaires. The workers need to take the political and economic program of the poor as their program. Our recognition of this must be expressed in part through our creating our own media, because the corporate controlled media are unable to tell the whole truth. And our political independence must also be expressed in the creation of our own working class political party as a weapon in this struggle; the Democratic Party is just another face of the corporations. Our struggle is not just for freedom, but for life itself.