STOP THE RACISTS IN THE STREETS - Review: Rob Wallace on the origins of COVID 19 - socialist.ca
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Review: Rob Wallace Solidarity with Indian
on the origins of workers and farmers
COVID 19 page 6 page 3
$2 | No 630 | January 2021 socialist.ca
STOP THE RACISTS
IN THE STREETS
T
he attack on the US capitol has prompted Whenever the ruling class is given the power to they are on. far right we need only look to Greece. The
many to call for the banning of far right stop political opponents, they have turned those A state crackdown wont stop “Trumpism” of anti-fascist group Keerfa was able to defeat
groups like the proud boys and assorted tools on the left. the rise of the far-right. That can only be done Golden Dawn fascists through organizing with
racists. In Toronto, after far right groups began with a 2 pronged strategy: immigrant and refugee organizations, the trade
Liberals and even some conservatives have organizing rallies at city hall in 2017 a similar We need to confront the bigots when they unions and the left. This broad mobilizing gave
united in opposition to the bigots. Joe Biden has plan to ban them was proposed by the city try and gather to take over public space and we confidence to progressive movements and led
taken to calling the mob “domestic terrorists” council. When the motion was made public, need to get rid of the capitalist system that pits to demoralization and drop in popularity of
and has vowed to enact new legislation to target however, the first group named and targeted as working people against each other. the far right. Yes, the courts intervened but the
those who participated. extremists by the ban was the annual Al Quds Canada is a country that is built on the groundwork that really stopped the fascists was
In Canada, the NDP has called on the federal day rally for Palestinian rights. genocide of Indigenous peoples and the actions laid by the movement.
government to ban similar white supremacist While there is a real desire to shut down the of the state itself are what are propagating the On March 21, the UN day for the elimination
groups. avenues for the right to grow, we know that the racism in our society. Trudeau may say nice of racism, there will be demonstrations around
While it is understandable that people would state will not get this job done. things about opposing racists but he then pushes the world with the goal of building a broad
want the state to intervene, it is dangerous to The obvious collusion between the police for more attacks on Indigenous land defenders. unity against the bigots. That will be day for us
rely on that as a means of defeating the far-right. and the support given to the far-right by highest Racism comes from the top of society and those to push back collectively against the rising tide
We need to be very wary of any attempt to levels of the US society, from Senators to that perpetuate it will not stop it. of the far-right.
use the state to shut down any movements. billionaire business leaders shows whose side To see an example of how to defeat the more coverage on pages 2,4 and 5
LEFT JAB
by John Bell
Liberals’ false
The roots behind the rage climate plan
A
s of 2016, more than 20 unionism had a morbid pre-condition: began to emerge. “We’re better than
million Americans lived in racism and white supremacy. This this.” “This isn’t who we are.” “Our homes, businesses, and communities
so-called mobile homes. wasn’t accidental. It was fostered sacred icons of democracy have been by: Brian Champ for generations to come.” This shows
(The comparable number of over decades. From the McCarthyite violated.” “Violence is never okay.” exactly that this plan is a steaming
Canadians is around 360,000.) purges of the socialist left to Reagan’s What a pile of double-talk, and The Liberal Climate Plan released in pile of bullshit.
They are more than just cheap smashing the air traffic controllers worst of all refusal to truly appraise November to much fanfare from sec-
housing. They represent a remnant strike, the strength of working class and confront the reality of the tions of the mainstream media sets Liberals’ false plan
of what is known as “the American solidarity–and along with it potential event. So it is at once over-inflated forward a plan for net-zero emissions The Liberals bought the TMX pipe-
Dream”. The myth that every anti-racist action–has been systemati- (It’s a coup!) and trivialized (It’s by 2050 – through pricing pollution line at a cost that continues to soar, es-
American is equal and any one, cally attacked and undermined. Buffalo Horns guy, and the bozo to pressure a move away from fossil timated at $12.6 billion last February.
through strength of character and This is not to say that American who accidentally zapped himself to fuels and redistributing this money Far from a clean energy transition,
hard work can succeed. And success workers are born racists. Rather it death by tazing his own testicles). with rebates to average Canadians; this investment locks us in to relying
is defined by ownership, being rooted puts the lie to any idea that Trump is The real dangerous forces at work “natural climate solutions” such as on the most carbon intensive fossil
in the accumulation of commodities. an aberration, that resetting to the Joe on January 6 were not taking selfies tree planting to sink carbon in forests fuels on the planet. To recoup the
That rootedness somehow gives you Biden default will make any substan- in the Rotunda, they were moving in and other conservation efforts; and a investment, it would take 25 years of
mobility–that’s dialectics for you. tial difference. the shadows, planning how to use the “Clean Energy Transition”. operating the pipeline after which the
Many people living in trailer The U.S. has been lurching, some- event to recruit and organize. While it is a step forward to set a plan is to sell it and allow it to con-
parks are not even owners–they rent. times by inches, sometimes by leaps, Violence is never okay? This is goal declaring that Canada should be tinue operating. Furthermore, “clean
Canadian census stats show that a toward fascism for decades. This is a nation founded on slavery and net-zero by 2050 (although 30 years energy” for the Liberals includes
majority of people living in mobile not a uniquely American condition, genocide (not that it is alone in that). is way too long to meet this goal), increasing fossil fuel energy efficien-
homes have no full time employment. witness the rise of the far right across A 2017 study found that the U.S. had there are no enforcement mechanisms cy, implying their continuing use.
They either depend on low-pay, Europe. This a condition of capital- been involved in some sort of war for to keep the country on line to meet Exactly how this is a transition at all
no-benefit part time work or are ism. 222 of its 239 years. It isn’t called the these goals. The primary way the plan is hard to understand.
unemployed. This is surely the case What we saw on January 6 was “Military-Industrial Complex” for purports to meet these targets is to put A real climate plan would start in-
in the U.S. not a coup. (People who keep using nothing. Violence is as American as a price on carbon and have market
It would be a gross over-simplifi- that word should be made to study chicken-fried steak. forces “nudge” us toward low-carbon
cation to say that 20 million mobile what happened in Chile in 1973, a It is interesting that the same economies. Unfortunately, the transi-
home inhabitants are automatically coup made with the encouragement voices denouncing “violence” were tion from carbon intensive extractiv-
fodder for Donald Trump’s populist and aid of the U.S. government. also lamenting that lack of violence ist economies to the green economies
cult. But that’s a fair chunk of the 72 Democratically elected leaders from police. that people and the planet really need
million who voted for him. If I were It is telling and accurate that Black will not be achieved by relying on
a far-right organizer, I could think of and POC commentators were quick market forces. Capitalist production
worse places to start recruiting. to point out the difference in policing relies on fossil fuels at every stage,
between this white riot and previous and oil and gas companies are very
Trump’s mob Black Lives Matter marches. Yes, if influential on decision makers. In
I say all this not to ridicule Trump’s that had been an almost exclusively many ways our governments are
mob; quite the opposite. Like it or Black riot, they’d still be hosing the captive to the oil and gas lobby, con-
not, the bedrock of Trumpism are blood off the capitol steps. There are tinuing to advance their agenda even
legitimate grievances: under-employ- strong elements of fascism within as investment for pipelines, tar sands stead by investing this $12.6 billion in
ment, precarious work, rising cost of police forces, and January 6 laid that and fracked gas production dries up. public programs that would actually
existence, declining hopes and expec- murdered by the military. Tens of bare. But how to bridge the double make a difference in developing re-
tations for future generations. thousands rounded up, murdered, standard: less repression and violence Rapid transition needed newable energy, mass transportation,
It is worth noting who has been imprisoned or “disappeared”. That at BLM events, or more at events like It’s hard to see how the rapid tran- improving building energy efficien-
arrested in the aftermath: a lawyer, was a fucking coup.) this? sition we need can be achieved by cy and decarbonizing agriculture.
the son of a state supreme court But it was not a joke either. After History shows that for fascism relying on these market forces. But A real plan would also incorporate
judge, a business owner, a new-agee 4 years of Trump inching toward fas- to grow, socialism, working class it’s even harder to see how it can be Indigenous ideas and knowledge and
hippiie “shaman”. These are not the cism, it was a leap, a test of strength. self-organization and solidarity achieved by allowing the develop- centre the leadership of Indigenous
caricatured down-and-outers usually After coddling and abetting him for have to be broken. In the U.S. and ment of TMX and other pipelines to people to combat this unfolding plan-
associated with Trump. It is the “mid- 4 long years, with less than 2 weeks elsewhere that counter-power has continue, as this will further expand etary disaster – instead of the continu-
dle-class” that leads Trump’s mob. to go, the U.S. ruling class is tripping been deliberately weakened, but not tar sands production when we know ing Indigenous genocide represented
And it is big, annonymous corporate over itself to somehow absolve itself smashed. If we allow January 6 to be that the world’s climate scientists tell by the TMX pipeline.
donors who fund it, the same corpo- of complicity. Repulsive Republicans trivialized, it will take its place in that us we need to keep it in the ground. The Liberal politics of climate
rate donors who have been backing like Mitch McConnell and Lindsay weakening. But this is exactly the “Clean change is a false plan that further
Trump all along. Graham are trying to recant after Instead we must take it as a call to Energy Transition” plan: to “invest entrenches carbon intensive capitalist
In 1984, about 20% of American years of being Trump’s co-conspira- organize, to reject the idea that Trump every dollar we earn from the Trans development. We need a mobilization
workers were in unions. By 2018 tors. Footage of Graham being chased was an aberration and now we can get Mountain Expansion Project in of Indigenous people, environmental
that was down to 10.5%, or just over through a D.C. airport by a howling back to business, and to seriously take Canada’s clean energy transition.” activists and workers to press for the
6% of private sector workers. Their MAGA mob gives an indication of on the task of beating the far-right. The plan further estimates that TMX changes we need, building a commu-
manufacturing jobs were shipped how these last second conversions The task is huge but unavoidable. could generate $500 million per nity of resistance to fight for a livable
offshore thanks to “free trade” deals. will play in the hinterland. And the first, giant step is to break year upon completion, and that “this world led by Indigenous land defend-
Their organizations have been under with the liberal idea that there is some money, as well as any profit from the ers, environmentalists and workers
concerted attack from bosses, courts We’re better than this magical, middle way to politely de- sale of the pipeline, will be invested that can transform the world. The
and governments for decades. Watching the coverage of the white feat fascism without confronting the in natural climate solutions and clean stakes are high and time is running
Even at its height, American trade riot, a number of repetitious motifs system–capitalism–that nurtures it. energy projects that will power our low.
Liberals try to make the poor pay self-employed workers. proposed by the NDP and Greens. The federal government spent at ers on the payroll. But–unlike the
by: John Bell Only two weeks later did the gov- “Certainly that isn’t–right now–the least $240 billion in 8 months for CERB clawback–the Liberals have
ernment publish a clarification that plan.” COVID relief, but the lion’s share of been less than diligent about keeping
In the midst of a second-wave would have made tens of thousands The difference between how the that went to big business in the form track of that dough.
COVID-19 lockdown, the federal of Canadian workers ineligible for Sure enough, a CBC investiga-
Liberal government is attacking CERB. They changed the rules in tion found that billions of that money
workers who received CERB in error. mid-game. have been used to buy back corpo-
The mistakes were not examples Now more than 440,000 peo- rate stock, and to pay juicy executive
of fraud, as the right-wing would ple have been sent letters from the bonuses.
have it. The problem began with con- Canadian Revenue Agency telling Finance Minister Chrystia
fusion over the terms of eligibility them they may have to repay the Freeland has refused to release the
for the Canada Emergency Response whole of their benefits. data about which corporations re-
Benefit posted by the government. The minister responsible for the ceived how much COVID cash. But
The initial published information screw-up, Employment Minister she did offer a vague finger wag: “I
said only that applicants had to have Carla Qualtrough, shares their pain. want to emphasize ... for any com-
earned a minimum of $5,000 in the “Of course I feel bad, we all feel panies that may be listening, that the
previous 12 months. It did not stip- bad.” wage subsidy must be used to pay
ulate whether the amount referred But she and the government are Liberals treat self-employed gig of a wage subsidy program. As the workers.”
to gross or net income, a crucial not willing to share the expense workers and big corporations reveals name implies, the money was intend- We certainly hope those corpora-
difference especially in the case of and forgive the good-faith errors, as a big difference. ed to go to businesses to keep work- tions are listening….
2 Socialist Worker January 2021
“The farmers already know the solutions”
Solidarity with Indian uprising against Modi
by: Mathew Edassery from banks, only local credit lenders removed from the procurement list, dia and even social media. The BJP tests, even though they may not be as
A
who also sell the fertilizers and opening the door to the corporate has its own IT cell which pays people directly affected.
huge farmers’ agitation sometimes even buy the same crops sector for these staples. It also aims to comment on social media. But That’s why we can see a lot of
– primarily in India’s from the farmers they lend to, and to “drive up investment in cold stor- the fact that the farmers’ movement pressure by the community here,
northern states of Punjab, usually belong to the village upper age” and give farmers the “freedom started in the Punjab and was outside especially in Canada and UK. The
Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and caste. The bargaining power of small to produce, hold, move, distribute the BJP’s rulebook, caught them Sikh community is very strong, po-
Rajasthan – to repeal three new laws farmers is very weak. This results in and supply” their products. off-guard. The BJP has been playing litically, socially, economically. Even
has been under way for many months land-grabs and other abuses. But in practice, small farmers in the Hindu-Muslim divide for a very Justin Trudeau was forced to put out a
and has been supported by many oth- All governments in India have rural India can’t just sell to “anybody long time, but the Sikh community statement – which he did not do when
er sectors like trade unions, student completely failed to protect small they want.” They wouldn’t have the couldn’t be as easily discredited as there were NRC protests (National
organizations, university teachers’ farmers from this onslaught – not ability to compete with corporations Muslims – although the BJP tries Register of Citizens protests again the
associations, a range of political just the ruling right-wing BJP, but the when it comes to stockpiling and pro- to, by branding the Punjabi farmers, citizenship reform targeting Muslims)
parties and others. A Bharat Bandh, supposedly liberal Congress Party ducing on a large scale, giving rich who wear their religion with pride, – which was more of a human rights
or all-India strike of farmers, was that ruled for much of the period that investors an unfair advantage and as “Khalistani ” (i.e. Sikh nationalists violation than this, to be honest. But
called for December 8 after several led to this situation. an opportunity to manipulate market who call for a Sikh homeland). there is also a long history of oppres-
rounds of talks between the farmers’ This has led to a crisis for prices. In Delhi, the freezing winters are sion and persecution of Sikhs within
unions and the government failed to farmers in India, which according very brutal. The farmers are mostly India: attacks on places of worship,
yield results. to India’s National Crime Records Undemocratic and elderly and are out on the streets. targeted arrests, calculated pogroms.
What the farmers’ strike represents Bureau, led to 10,281 farmers killing unconstitutional They have made make-shift caravans
has deeper meaning than just the themselves in 2019. Agriculture is within the exclusive on the backs of their tractors and The movement: a victory in
three farm laws that were introduced legislative jurisdiction of the States they are cooking and sleeping in the itself
by the Modi government in an un- Three new laws of India, not the central government, streets. Nobody is going to do that The movement has shown people the
democratic way. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and the bills have been challenged in unless they are fighting on an issue possibility of phenomenal solidarity
The intent of these laws was clear and Commerce (Promotion and court as unconstitutional. Farmers’ critical for their livelihood. in India. This is already a victory
since they were first introduced as an Facilitation) bill, will force farmers organizations were never consult- The question has been raised point- against a government that is very
ordinance before becoming law. The to deal directly with corporations and ed, not even those belonging to the edly: was this done in the belief that high-handed in using violence against
laws are designed to put more power private buyers, removing regulated farmers’ wing of the ruling BJP. No during a pandemic and the restric- any kind of dissent. It has already
in the hands of corporations at the tions on public gatherings, organized achieved success in terms of how
expense of farmers. The laws have protest would not be possible? people perceive it, and by putting the
even led to splits within the ruling government on the back-foot when
class and resignations within the rul- Government attempts to it has never backed down before
ing coalition of the BJP led National contain the movement because of its crushing majority in
Democratic Alliance (NDA) losing Following the pressure of the protests Parliament.
its long-time allies solely due to there were three rounds of discussions The way they did it was beauti-
these laws. with the farmers and all of them went fully planned: they built this whole
off track. At the first one, the gov- revolution silently for the last 4-5
Agricultural sector ernment repeated all its arguments: months. They waited for the crop
Agriculture continues to employ and “you have been misguided,” “this is season to start, they sowed the crops
feed the largest section of India’s all for your own good.” The farmers first, they decided only a part of the
working population. As per census walked out. village would come to the protest, the
data of 2011, nearly 55% of the At the second one, the govern- remaining part would stay back and
workforce in India continues to be ment said “we’re trying to work do everybody’s farming. So fewer
engaged in agrarian production, on things, we hear what you’re farmers came to the protest but they
either as cultivators or as agricultural trying to say.” At the third one, the were prepared with six months of
labour. It is neither marginal nor government made an attempt to meet produce that they can live on.
insignificant. Agriculture must re- some of the demands with some More than 50 farmers unions have
main central to all discussions of the amendments, notably access to the come together and even more are in
Indian economy, the crisis in which Farmers on the road to Delhi photo: Randeep Maddoke
courts for dispute resolution, and a solidarity across India including stu-
it finds itself today, and political reassurance in writing that the MSP dent unions and other trade unions.
thought on the way forward. markets (the mandis) and paving the stakeholders except corporate ones would be maintained. But the farmers That the organizers have been able to
There is no part of India where way for deregulation. The govern- have had a say. never asked for these bills, they were unify all these elements that usually
small and marginal farmers exert ment plans to open up private mandis When the bills were introduced in not consulted in the first place, so don’t come together under the same
any power or control over the market which will be tax free for the buyers. Parliament in September, 2020, the amending them would not meet their umbrella is another success, in the
in agricultural produce. The state The farmers allege this will eventual- demand by many MPs to send them demands. face of government intimation, forc-
willfully ignores the grossly inequita- ly shut down government-regulated to select parliamentary committees This is why the nature of the ing the government to try to quell the
ble structure in place while assuming mandis which ensure a MSP for was denied by the Speaker. The protests has shifted: now the farmers movement by offering amendments.
small and marginal farmers have the goods traded there. bills were railroaded through the are adamant on two things. First, they On the last International
possibility of exerting free ‘choice’ Another major issue is that all Rajya Sabha (the upper house of don’t want any amendments to the Humanitarian Day farmers protested
in entering a relationship with private disputes that were previously adju- Parliament) with no debate and bill, they want all three laws com- holding placards with photos of all
traders, let alone agricultural corpo- dicated by civil courts will now be a voice vote held amid shouting, pletely withdrawn. Secondly, have the political prisoners in India cur-
rations. placed before sub-divisional magis- tumult and confusion. At the very realized there is a lot of corporate rently in jail, which shows how they
The Green Revolution of the 60s trates (SDM) or collectors. Both are same time, several regressive labour influence and they want to confront are willing to show solidarity and
was followed by the market liberal- members of the bureaucracy and not laws were passed during a walk-out that. move beyond the farmers’ protest. It
ization of the 90s, and at that time the judiciary, and are heavily influ- by the Opposition in protest over the They have called for a boycott of is exciting to see how that leadership
the Minimum Support Price (MSP) enced by the corporate sector. This three bills. two major Indian conglomerates, is changing, and even being willing
was introduced to protect the value is a direct violation of fundamental The undermining of democratic the Ambani family and the Adani to name Ambani and Adani with the
of crops against diminishing value constitutional rights, and removes the processes and the total disregard family projects. These two are the boycott.
by establishing a minimum bid in right of redress before a court. for public consultation has been major funders of the BJP, ever since The movement is independently
the markets. The BJP is now going The Farmers (Empowerment evident in other regressive legislative Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat. strong, and has stayed away from the
back on studies that support not only and Protection) Agreement of Price changes: the repeal of Article 370 Their nexus is very well known in partisan identities that normally have
maintaining but increasing the MSP. Assurance and Farm Services bill, governing Kashmir, the Citizenship India. The BJP is the richest and most had sway over protest movements.
Most farmers across India don’t deals with pricing. The bill will Amendment Act that targeted Indian well-funded political party thanks Past movements have not impacted
even have access to the MSP, or push farmers, corporations and Muslims and a lockdown ordered to the corporate sector, in particular elections; it will be interesting to
to the regulated markets (mandis) private buyers to negotiate contracts. without notice, resulting in untold Adani and Ambani, and this fight has see how this one translates into the
which are predominantly in the However, several farmers have suffering for millions. again exposed those connections. democratic process and changes the
northern states. The regulated mar- voiced their concerns over not having What is noteworthy and common power dynamics in the elections.
kets are few, and small farmers don’t the bargaining power to negotiate to all these actions was a refusal to International solidarity It is nonsense that farmers are “un-
have the ability to transport their with corporate giants. consult the people affected before- There have been protests in Toronto, educated”: they are the best to know
crops for sale. The smaller and mar- The Essential Commodities hand and a determination to not hold Ottawa and other places in Canada in what they’re doing and they are
ginal farmers farm for subsistence, (Amendment) bill, means “modern- a dialogue afterwards. The facile support of the farmers, and there is a leading the way. The farmers already
not for production for sale; when ization” of India’s food supply chain option of labelling all those who dis- history to this. know the solutions: we should listen
they sell its to a trader who takes it to by reducing stockpiling, removing agree with one or other of the actions There is a huge Sikh population to them, not the corporations that are
a market, and these middlemen reap commodities like “cereals, pulses, of the government as “anti-national” outside of India, and Sikhs from the exploiting the resources and people
the benefits. oilseeds, edible oils, onion and is to avoid substantive discussion and Punjab are playing a predominant of India.
As a result, more than half of potatoes” from the current list of debate, and to vilify and criminalize role in this movement, because that’s
India’s farmers are in a debt cycle. essential commodities. The state used dissent. where the new law will have the This article is edited for length. To
Many don’t even have a bank ac- to procure high demand foods such Social movements are discredited greatest impact. Most of the rest of read the original see: http://socialist.ca/
count or land title. There is no credit as these, but they have now been in various ways by the national me- India are in solidarity with the pro- node/4234
January 2021 Socialist Worker 3
Fighting the far-right
The far-right are in the streets - not just in Washington but around the world. How do we stop
them? There are lots of ideas on offer but one thing we do know is that they will only be defeated by
a mass movement that confronts racism and the capitalist system that perpetuates it.
Community members shut down the bigots in St Catherines Mass rally confronts Steve Bannon in Toronto
Don’t count on Dems to confront threat of far-right
T
he storming of the US the splits that are developing these grievances to build a base. The need for this committee picks are a who’s who of corporate
capitol building by Trump within the Republican party with That the inequality and economic of the bourgeoisie to maintain America. As he has throughout
inspired right-wing mobs some who want to lay claim to misery has become brutally acute a sense of permanence and his career, he will do the bidding
was a predictable outcome Trump’s base for a possible run during the COVID pandemic is continuity amid the chaos speaks of Wall Street at the expense of
of a political polarization that has for president in 2024 and those accelerating this process. to the fear that many in the working people. This will not stop
been developing for decades. that are more concerned about And the racism endemic in US neoliberal centre have toward a the polarization in US politics but
If it was supposed to be a coup the larger project of preserving society gives the right a leg up radicalizing population. The two will instead bring more people to
it was a rather pathetic one. While capitalism. when trying build their power. The parties of US capital haven’t been the conclusion that the system is
there were thousands outside But it was a reflection of the racism was on full display at the this united since they agreed to a rigged for the right – which it is.
the capitol building, that hardly growing strength of the far right Capitol riot as police gave free $750 billion Pentagon budget last The left needs to provide a clear
represents a real threat to the in the US and around the world. reign – even encouragement – to week. alternative to the twin corporate
US government. There would Although the MAGA crowd was the people storming the building. Both the Democrats and parties if we are to stop the rise
need to be masses in the streets eventually pushed out of the Sandy Hudson, founder of Black Republicans will use this event of the far right. This is true in
of many more US cities to have building, most far right groups see Lives Matter Toronto told CTV that, as a means of securing their Canada as well as the US and any
any effect. This was not a group this as a victory. Chris Hill, a leader “It couldn’t be more clear that rule. The media and many of other country around the world. As
capable of taking over the reins of of the III%ers, called it the opening Black people are subject to intense the congresspeople used this Seattle socialist councilor Kshama
government. salvo in a new civil war. He told repression by law enforcement opportunity to decry what they Sawant said, “We need to build a
And, crucially the US ruling class the LA Times that “The second and it’s actually unbelievable see as two sides of the same mass fightback for Medicare For
is not onside with Trump. Many revolution begins today”. that armed people were able to coin – the radicalization to the All, a Green New Deal, and actual
in corporate America broke with These groups have found a get so close to the Capitol with left and the right. Their insistence democratic control over police.
him in the summer during the new audience for their repugnant firearms and inside the Capitol with on describing the MAGA mob as Unions, socialists, workers must
mass mobilizations by Black Lives and dangerous ideas in recent firearms”. anarchists indicates that they will fight.”
Matter groups after the killing of years. War, economic crisis and Anyone who has been to DC for use these events to further curtail While the MAGA crowd was
George Floyd. That opposition the dislocations of neoliberalism a protest knows that the cops there the freedom of dissent by anyone attacking the Capitol in the US, a
was taken to a new level when have fed their base. The history of are very experienced in shutting not supporting the status quo. car caravan of Trump supporters
the national Association of post-war fascism is one of small, down dissent and maintaining rolled through the streets of
Manufacturers (NAM) released a isolated groups that exist on the “order”. The events at the Capitol Biden in the drivers seat Toronto decrying the “election
statement during the riot calling margins, only to gain a hearing in could not have happened without Somewhat lost in the middle of steal” and waving Q-anon flags out
for the 25th amendment to be times of crisis. Capitalism is now a conscious decision to cede the the chaos was the fact that the their windows. What happens in
invoked and for Trump to be limping from one crisis to the next space to the MAGA crowd. Democrats, on the same day, US politics has broad implications
removed from office. The NAM is and this provides fertile ground for won both senate run-off races for the rest of the world and we
a massive grouping of most of the new recruits. Impacts in Georgia. This gives the Dems in Canada will have to prepare for
US’s biggest manufacturers. They This didn’t start with Trump The congresspeople and senators control of both houses of Congress many battles ahead.
do not want Trump’s personal nor will it end when he vacates of both parties resumed their and the presidency. Expectations The rise of the far right didn’t
vendetta to curtail their ability to the president’s office. The anger session to count the electoral will be high that the Democrats can start with Trump and it will not end
make profits. The bosses want a expressed by many of the pro- college votes soon after the bring about change that will help when he is booted from office. Nor
Biden presidency because he is Trump crowd is part of a much Capitol building was secured. the millions of Americans facing will the impacts of this movement
seen as a much more stable set of larger set of issues. Massive Thus began a lengthy series poverty, evictions and health crises. stop at the border. We will only
hands to keep the goals of the US economic inequality creates of speeches from both parties Biden has given no indication be rid of these people and their
empire intact. despair and hatred and the right extolling the righteousness of the that he plans on meeting any of disgusting ideas when we get rid of
That is also behind many of wing has been very active in using US government and constitution. those expectations. His cabinet the system that propagates them.
4 Socialist Worker January 2021
Community and workers join to
fight toxic racism in construction
by: Brian Champ we’re working on them”. When a need for solidarity across the trades represent. Each worksite could have Canadian of African descent. If it
O
member asked him what a noose at construction sites. a Human Rights committee con- had been a swastika it would have
n June 10th, a noose was represented to him, he answered After more nooses were found at sisting of the reps from each union been automatic charge of a hate
found attached to the “it’s just a joke brother, just a joke.” the MGH construction site in late on the site. Furthermore, given the crime. But when it’s perpetrated on
equipment of a worker Kimoy and her brothers and September, an in-person protest was fragmentary nature of construc- people of African descent it’s just
of African descent on the sisters who were appalled and held at the entrance to the site on tion sites, we need more workers mischief.”
Michael Garron Hospital construc- disgusted that no action was taken, the morning of October 9, orga- in unions across all the trades on This mirrors the culture on
tion site operated by EllisDon. met to discuss how to address the nized by activists from CSARC and construction sites to work together worksites that treats racism “as a
Subsequently, over the next several problem. Unhappy with the fact Toronto East Anti-hate Mobilization in cross-sectional unity from below joke”.
months a further 5 more nooses that their local union leadership (TEAM) and mobilizing community to ensure that worksites are safe for Kimoy added that there “should
were found at different construction refused to address the issue, workers members to demand action to end women, BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+ have been 2 members held
sites across Toronto and it should be started a petition that was ultimately the racist threats. After reading press workers. Ultimately, any guidelines, accountable” as a union repre-
noted with the exception of 1 site, presented on September 18 2020 coverage of this protest, IBEW L353 rules or possible quotas would have sentative on the site downplayed
all the other incidents took place on to President Rob White of IBEW anti-racists activists made contact to be enforced by activist workers the seriousness of the act when it
Union construction sites. As has be- L353. with the CSARC campaign. fighting for unity against oppression was drawn to their attention. The
come clear, far from being an anom- and for inclusion. Connecting these failure of the union local leader-
aly, violent racist threats directed networks to the community-based ship to reacted quickly to bring
at workers of African descent have movements for racial justice is a their own members to account for
been regular features of construction path forward towards an anti-racist these nooses, leaves it in the hands
sites for a long while. Most times culture of inclusion. of the police.
it has been kept quiet because the While some union members
toxic culture of racism, sexism and Police finally act understandably are calling for the
homophobia intimidates those who On a December 7th press release, simple expulsion of the perpetrator
would step forward. Toronto Police Services detailed from the union, Kimoy disagreed.
mischief and criminal harassment She sent a letter to the union’s
Black Lives Matter charges against a member of IBEW business manager against this mea-
But this incident happened a little L353, Jasan Lahay, for the placing sure, arguing that the union local
over 2 weeks after the police murder of nooses on the MGH construc- needed to implement policies and
of George Floyd in Minneapolis and tion site. The release describes mechanisms to ensure that these
the subsequent explosions of rage these charges as the result of their racist behaviours are addressed
across the US and the world. Here “hate-motivated mischief and crimi- actively, that it was not just down
in Toronto, on May 30, ten thousand nal harassment investigation” which to the behaviour of these workers
people marched in the middle of calls for appealing to the Attorney and that individual workers needed
the pandemic to demand justice for General to apply the hate crime to be given the chance to modify
Regis Korchinksi-Paquet, a young designation “if necessary”. their behaviour before expelling
Afro-Indigenous woman who fell to Despite this downplaying by them from the union.
her death while in police custody. the police, it seems necessary to Relying on the police for justice
Clearly this movement influenced consider these hate crimes when in these cases is problematic given
the workers who were targeted, considering the meaning of nooses the racist nature of these forces
as they refused to stay silent. This for people of African descent: it is and their role in protecting the
pushed the issue into the light of a threat of racist violence bringing rights of bosses to employ scab
day, forcing EllisDon and other It was circulated in IBEW L353 The fact that it requires a fight to mind the anti-Black racism of the labour - workers need to develop
players in the construction industry at worksites across Toronto under to get the local union leadership to US South. their own mechanisms to counter
to be seen to be taking action. the headline “Our Unions Must take action against these virulent IBEW L353 member Kimoy racism in the industry, whether by
Unsatisfied by the response of the Fight Racism! An Injury to One forms of racism shows the extent to Francique was “insulted as a bosses or workers.
industry, a local community group is an Injury to All!” to call on the which the culture on construction
that eventually became Community local leadership to conduct its own sites is systematically racist, sexist,
Solidarity Against Racism in investigation and gather evidence homophobic and misogynistic. An Take action!
Construction (CSARC) started into these allegations in order to alternative, anti-racist leadership
protesting, first by organizing a fan- hold members accountable for their needs to be posed to the existing
tastic “artivism” event that saw hun- racism: leadership, which is difficult in a
dreds of anti-racist signs, posters, “We are calling on IBEW L353 union local that is currently 84%
banners plastered on the hoarding at to strike a tribunal, composed of at white male- up from 1980, when
the MGH site, and then developing a least 50% members of varied ethnic- 81% of the IBEW 353 membership
petition to demand action to address ities, to hear this testimony and to was white male. A goal of members
the racism endemic in the con- render judgment on the involvement of the anti-racist group in IBEW
struction industry. At the same time of its member and the nature of L353 is to form an Electrical Worker
as these community actions were the Union’s response. Leaving this Minority Caucus in the local, which
happening, within the International matter in the hands of the TPS and would enable BIPOC workers to
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers the contractors—who are presently gain leadership experience and
union Local 353 (IBEW L353), telling us, “ongoing investigation, provide a much needed counterbal-
which represents 11,000 electricians stop talking and get back to work” ance to the existing leadership that
across central Ontario a group of makes IBEW L353’s statements not only refuses to confront racist
rank and file electricians formed. against racism empty.” threats and violence, but also toler-
These men and women reached out The petition is also noteworthy ates and normalizes the culture of
to the IBEW L353 leadership and because it demonstrates a fierce racism that permeates the construc-
were told that it “was against the cross-sectional solidarity with the tion industry.
law to question members when there plumbers, steamfitters and weld- At every step of the way there
is an open police investigation” and ers in UA L46 and the workers of are barriers for women, people of
adamantly refused to speak with the African descent targeted by the varied ethnic back grounds, not
brothers and sisters on site regard- nooses, not just because it’s the right just those of African descent, and
ing the issue. Disappointed and thing to do, but because this “threat 2SLGBTQIA+ people, both in
disillusioned, the members could of lethal racist violence was also an the hiring mechanisms and in the
not believe that their union had not attack against all the union workers culture that prevails on construction
taken a clear stand against the racist on the site, as racism of any sort sites. One of the solutions that has
acts perpetrated against a co-worker. divides and weakens unions in their been put forward is for there to
Kimoy Francique, a woman of struggle to defend their members’ be Human Rights Representatives
Afro-Caribbean descent who is a rights and working conditions. in all unions on construction sites
proud IBEW L353 member with Over 200 signatures were whose job is to respond to com-
over 15 years in the trade had gathered. IBEW L353 members plaints around harassment, abuse
initially believed that her local presented the petition that was deliv- and exclusion based on race, gender,
leadership would take action. But ered to the leadership of the union or sexual orientation. The duty
instead, the IBEW L353 representa- on September 18th. Signatures were to uphold equity and fairness on
tive for the MGH site, John Mightis, also obtained from many members worksites would be the prime role
issued platitudes like “there’s a lot of other construction unions as of these representatives, accountable
of things we need to work on, and many workers intensely feel the to the membership of the union they
January 2021 Socialist Worker 5
Where did COVID come from?
Author Rob Wallace writes about how our broken relationship with the
earth caused the COVID pandemic
by: Brian Champ agricultural land expansion encroaches more Minneapolis I regularly travel, never believed implicated as the source for the transmis-
A
and more brutally on the little wilderness that for a moment that he livestreamed himself sion to humans. “The Origins of Industrial
s we find ourselves once again locked exists, and exposes animals and humans to talking of the daily dangers of being Black. Agriculture Pathogens” looks in detail at in-
down because public health measures novel pathogens; not just the way the food Nor did the series of “mouthy” Black detain- dustrial agriculture practices that contribute to
taken by our governments were too industry knowingly introduces conditions that ees into whom Minneapolis police had para- pathogen emergence as well as the historical
inadequate and inconsistent to prevent give almost unlimited mutation conditions for medics inject ketamine, risking respiratory origins of pathogens through the history of
the second wave of the virus from mushroom- viruses, bacteria and other pathogens in the arrest under the cover of a Hennepin Hospital livestock farming. One article highlights some
ing, there is a confusing barrage of information relentless pursuit of profit; not just the way study. The greatest sources of U.S. wealth of the ongoing participatory projects under the
that can be hard to weigh through. Not to large populations of industrial herds and flocks are the daily reenactments of the slavery and heading “Pandemic Research for the People”
mention contending with anti-mask rallies and of animals are clustered in areas close to large genocide and environmental decimation on (PReP). “The Bright Bulbs” is a useful round-
marches that blame Covid-19 on China, as has cities, facilitating inter-species infection; not which it was built. From the ritual murders of up of bad takes on Covid-19 to help counter
happened in Toronto with the marchers going just access to global supply chains that ship arrestees to forcing meatpackers back to work those who downplay, deny, obfuscate or use
through Chinatown. The pandemic has laid food products, viruses and other pathogens during a deadly outbreak, to risk, with COVID racism to avoid taking appropriate action.
bare the racism of the system shown by the around the world; it is all of the above. attacking our vasculature, blood chokes of In “Covid-19 and the circuits of capital”,
higher rates of infection for BIPOC people In the preface he makes an embarrassing their own. As if the country couldn’t recognize the stakes for public health of taking effective
throughout the world. itself otherwise” action are laid out: “... a successful interven-
Dead Epidemiologists is must have book tion keeping any one of the many pathogens
for socialists who want to understand the ma- COVID and racism queuing up across the agroeconomic circuit
terial origins of Covid-19, and other emergent “Notes on a Novel Coronavirus” that was from killing a billion people must walk
pathogens, and way that the practices of global written in late January contains a discussion of through the door of a global clash with capital
agribusiness multinationals produce novel the anti-Chinese racism that was exemplified and its local representatives, however much
viruses, bacteria and other pathogens as they by Trump and echoed by layers of epidemi- any individual foot soldier of the bourgeoi-
produce food products for global markets. ologists when they talk about “China being sie ... attempts to mitigate the damage. As
Rob Wallace is an evolutionary epidemiologist the source of repeated outbreaks, but it, and our research group describes in some of our
with the Agroecology and Rural Economics a WHO now owned by philanthrocapitalism, latest work, agribusiness is at war with public
Research Corps (ARERC or “RRC”), a group conducts exemplary biocontrol”. Clearly health. And public health is losing.
of independent scientists, educators, and countering this racism, Wallace responds:
agricultural practitioners who work with local “We can reject Sinophobia, offer material Healing the metabolic rift
communities and organizations to investigate support, and still well remember China cov- Should, however, greater humanity win such a
agri-food system change across the Upper ered up the SARS-1 outbreak in 2003. Beijing generational conflict, we can replug our-
Midwest. He also wrote Big Farms make Big suppressed media and public health reports, selves back into a planetary metabolism that,
Flu: Dispatches on Influenza, Agribusiness allowing that coronavirus to splatter across its however differently expressed place to place,
and the Nature of Science in 2016. own country. Medical authorities one province reconnects our ecologies and our economies.
This book is a series of articles written by over from an outbreak didn’t know what their Such ideals are more than matters of the uto-
Wallace, many co-authored with other practi- patients were suddenly showing up with in the pian. In doing so, we converge on immediate
tioners in such fields a human geography, dis- ER. SARS-1 eventually spread across multiple solutions. We protect the forest complexity
ease ecology, crop and soil science, agroeco- countries as far as Canada and was barely that keeps deadly pathogens from lining up
logical farming, economic geography, wildlife driven to extirpation. hosts for a straight shot onto the world’s travel
biology and mathematical epidemiology. The new century has meanwhile been network. We reintroduce the livestock and
Some are republished versions of articles that marked by China’s failure or refusal to unpack crop diversities, and reintegrate animal and
were published online, others are transcripts of its near-perfect storm of rice, duck, and crop farming at scales that keep the pathogens
interviews for a variety of independent media confession: that he contracted Covid-19 in industrial poultry and hog production driving from ramping up in virulence and geographic
sources and others were adapted from presen- early March as he had continued his normal multiple novel strains of influenza. It is treated extent. We allow our food animals to repro-
tations that were made at various meetings circuit of flights as part of his ongoing work. as a price for prosperity. duce on-site, restarting the natural selection
that occurred throughout the year. He relates his difficulty in obtaining a test in This is no Chinese exceptionalism, howev- that allows immune evolution to track patho-
Significantly, the book is dedicated to the the US at the time, having to be diagnosed on- er. The United States and Europe have served gens in real time. Big picture, we stop treating
memory of three UFCW workers at meat line by a nurse practitioner based solely on the as ground zeros for new influenzas as well, nature and community, so full of all we need
processing facilities who died of Covid-19 in description of symptoms. This nonchalance recently H5N2 and H5Nx, and their multi- to survive, as just another competitor to be run
2020: of the government to the challenge we face is nationals and neocolonial proxies drove the off by the market”
Chief Steward at the JBS Slaughterhouse related to the racist contagion that has infected emergence of Ebola in West Africa and Zika
in Souderton, PA, Enock Benjamin, aged 70, US society since it’s inception: in Brazil. U.S. public health officials covered
died in April; Rafael Benjamin, aged 64, who “No one gets to walk through this in the for agribusiness during the H1N1 (2009) and Territorial Acknowledgement
was told not to wear a mask at Cargill Beef clear, however, no one. We are all bonded to H5N2 outbreaks” As settlers, we acknowledge our
and Pork processing plant in Hazelton, PA, epochal failures in leadership and institutional Other articles include: “The Kill Floor” ex- occupation of lands that are the
died in April; UFCW member Celso Mendoza, cognition. What, for instance, was someone plores the dangerousness of the meatpacking
aged 59, a leader in the plant’s union orga- who had worked through COVID’s imaginar- plants () and efforts by Trump and Republican Indigenous territories of Turtle Island.
nizing drive at a Chicken processing plant in ium early on doing flying a week into March? states to keep them open as people are dying. Furthermore, we support all struggles
Forest Mississippi died in May. I too had been infused with a peculiarly “Midvinter-19” delves into whether or not the
American moment, wherein financial despera- virus came from the field or was created in a for Indigenous sovereignty in whatever
Capitalism and disease tion meets Imperial exceptionalism. I too had lab that exposes the risks of both eventualities. forms they take by the hundreds of First
All in all, It is a useful resource for under- to travel for work and nothing was going to “Blood Machines” highlights the environ- Nations and Inuit communities that
standing the way capitalism as a whole is happen to me. It’s a fetish that working man mental impacts on horseshoe crabs of vaccine
implicated in the rise of novel pathogens; George Floyd, who two months later died production. “To the Bat Cave” looks at the have resided here for many thousands of
not just the way the exotic food markets and by a cop’s knee on a street corner in South epidemiology of Covid-19 as bats became years, and by Métis communities that
have developed in the last hundreds of
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