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LP trend ,etc.



Dear Paul,

Though I know some activists in the LA-- LP chapter. I want to be honest with
you.
I am not an LP booster. At least not this so-called LP. If the mass actions of
working people get hotter -not in voting booths mind you , but in the workplaces

an communities, schools, etc. those struggles and the state/rulers repressive
vresponse could push sections of the workers in struggle to set
up a bonifide Labor Party, against capital , but it still would be reformist,
probably. A crisis of regional levels only could lead to such eruptions
in practice. A lot of workers are more fed up and angry now , but we are on
our own 5 yard line terrainwise , so there is a lot of apathy/ and this
mitigates against the rising militant moodswing.

I am not a dilettante, I have too, been a teacher for close to 15 years.
A machinist for 3 years and an autoworker for 1 year.
I have worked in union left--miltant-opposition- caucuses/groups.
Last I worked with the SCAN --School Community action Network,
here in LA. It had a few strenghts but too many old leftish movement achilles
heels.
It did want unity in struggle, not existing terrible CRaft union divisions.
It did for a time organize school site actions around fighting racists and the
terrible cutbacks offensive of the rich.
It did try to unite Certificateds, Classifieds and the students and parents too!
It even built up a mass action downtown against cuts/firings that though
legal--was broken up at bayonet point by the Cal. National Guards during the
rebellion/riot of
May 1992 here.
But in the end its leaders cozied up to the judas union hacks, they wanted to
have careers as wannabee hacks themselves. Some of these "radicials'made their
peace with the Democrats too! Other started hving SCAn more reliant on Liberal
foundation money.You can guess the results.
No more site actions, no more demos/pickets , no more parent-teacher unity
building
with students involvement. Just puerile voting campaigns , ballot measures
to support . All losers for the class in this epoch of deepening crisis.

I think marxists and radicals and anarchists worker millitants, etc need to
first sit down and do some study andsee the nature of the beasts we are up
against-
it's strengths and weaknesses.
We need a 1996 grasp of the monopolist -mammonite nature of existsing
Corp. dominated institutons, conservatives and liberal, from the Parties to the
Media , The operating functions
of the Culture , ideology and economy. Until our own workers forces,
or even a small part of them can't facefast changing reality, we will just
continue to
get our arses handed back to us on a platter.

We can put radical/workers labels on things , but it is their internal nature
of relation between activists and goals /programme/actions that are key.
I just can't see the AFL/CIO apparatus doing serious work to fight this system.
None of the LPers here show me anything concrete in their track record
that to make me change my mind. They just sell out even their own duespayers!
To get a programme of workers mass action from the AFL is like asking shrimps
to whistle or pigs to fly.

Paul. please look at the track record.
In the last century , AFL even reformer unionist s a la Gompers, etc. Demanded
"MORE" of labors product for the workers.
Sweeney/Beiber/ Kirkland/ Feldman/Trumka, etc. can't even do that . They just
negotiate, stop strikes, and get us LESS!
I think there is a need for the ranks to be organized /grouped up for struggle,
not more COPE hand outs to enemies of workers.

Neil





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