Here it is International Workers' Day 2014 and the capitalist monster is stronger than ever. It has all but destroyed democracy in the United States and is taking its toll around the world. What better reason for reviving the old slogan? And it all started to remember an event in Chicago, my old home town:
International Workers' Day is a celebration of labour and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs on May 1 every year.....
International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the May 4, 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago. The police were trying to disperse a public assembly during a general strike for the eight-hour workday, when an unidentified person threw a bomb at the police. The police responded by firing on the workers, killing four demonstrators. "Reliable witnesses testified that all the pistol flashes came from the center of the street, where the police were standing, and none from the crowd. Moreover, initial newspaper reports made no mention of firing by civilians. A telegraph pole at the scene was filled with bullet holes, all coming from the direction of the police.
May 1 was chosen as the date for International Workers' Day by the Socialists and Communists of the Second International to commemorate the Haymarket affair in Chicago that occurred on May 4, 1886.
The legacy of Marx''s writings has never left us. The Capitalists, almost more than the militant workers, seem to believe and fear Marx's ideas. As a result the huge, effective anti worker machine was established and grew. Today it dominates every aspect of our life, not juist the state of workers. Read on below for more on the world view that the anti-worker mentality spawned.
The ideology of anti-communism is a thought provoking idea if you simply notice that it is formulated against something rather than for something. Of course it promotes the capitalist economic domination, but it still was born out of fear.
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and reaching global dimensions during the Cold War. In this sense anti-communism does not necessarily indicate aversion to the ideology of communism, but rather opposition to Marxist-Leninist one-party states, such as the former Soviet Union and its allies, which have been criticised as not being communist societies, but rather only in name: see state communism.
Most anti-communists reject the concept of historical materialism, which is a central idea in Marxism. Anti-communists reject the Marxist belief that capitalism will be followed by socialism and communism, just as feudalism was followed by capitalism. Anti-communists question the validity of the Marxist claim that the socialist state will "wither away" when it becomes unnecessary in a true communist society.
Anti-communists argue that the repression in the early years of Bolshevik rule, while not as extreme as that during Joseph Stalin's rule, was still severe by reasonable standards, citing examples such as Felix Dzerzhinsky's secret police, which eliminated numerous political opponents by extrajudicial executions, and the brutal crushing of the Kronstadt rebellion and Tambov rebellion. Some anti-communists refer to both Communism and fascism as totalitarianism, seeing similarity between the actions of communist and fascist governments. Historian Robert Conquest has argued that Communism was responsible for tens of millions of deaths during the 20th century.
Opponents[who?] argue that communist parties that have come to power have tended to be rigidly intolerant of political opposition. Communist governments have also been accused of creating a new ruling class (a Nomenklatura), with powers and privileges greater than those previously enjoyed by the upper classes in the non-communist regimes.
The label "anti-communist" has often been used by fascist and far-right parties, such as the Nazi Party, the National Fascist Party and the Falange party. Anti-communism is a key element of fascist ideology.
The International Labor Movement was strong before WW I.
Some history:
The years up to and including the First World War witnessed the rise of a mass labour movement. Trade Unionism spread to previously unorganised workers and its initial militancy rocked the complacency of the old leadership. The new mood was inspired by a revival in socialist activity. Britain's industrial lead and trading dominance was now challenged by the growing economic might of Germany and the USA. The profits from Britain's massive colonial empire concealed the impact of the decline in the staple industries. The empire expanded massively during the last quarter of the 19th century, as Britain, in common with other European 'Great Powers' participated in the race to divide Asia and Africa between them.
New unionism
Between 1888 and 1918 trade unions grew at a faster rate than at any other time in their history. Membership figure stood at roughly 750,000 at the beginning of the period, rising to six and a half million in 1918. Inspired by the successes of the women match workers' strike at the Bryant and May factory in 1888 and subsequently by the Gasworkers' and Dockers' strikes of 1889, trade unionism among unskilled, semi-skilled, white collar and professional workers spread rapidly. Led by socialists like John Burns and Tom Mann (with Eleanor Marx as secretary to the strike committee), the dockers' struggle captured the public imagination. Their strike, which lasted 5 weeks, was over the issue of casual working (they demanded a minimum of 4 hours per day) and for a minimum wage of 6 pence an hour (the 'dockers' tanner). They won their latter demand. Their vistory was ultimately ensured by the financial support received from other trade unionsts, including a £30,000 donation from Australia.
The central slogan of this forward movement was that of the demand for an 8-hour day - a demand of the international labour movement, popularised by the newly formed Second International (1889-1914) (an alliance of European socialists and trade unionists which attempted to give practical expression to Marx's famous slogan 'workers of all countries unite'). The huge May Day 1890 demonstration in favour of the 8-hour day took even its organisers by surprise. Many of the gains of 'new unionism' were reversed by 1891 owing to a counter offensive by employers. This was supported by two infamous legal decisions. The case of Lyons vs Wilkins in 1896 set a precedent for outlawing even peaceful picketing. In 1901, the Taff Vale judgment, enabled the employer (the Taff Vale Railway Company) to sue the union (the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants) for losses sustained during a strike. This action, inspired as it was by the Employers' Parliamentary Council, was intended to prevent strike action altogether, thus reversing the legal gains made by trade unions in the 1870's. This had the desired defect of curtailing (albeit temporarily) the mood of trade union militancy which had infected even the older more 'conservative' unions like the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE). (In 1891, the socialist, Tom Mann came within 1,000 votes of winning the general secretaryship of the ASE). The trade union 'old guard' used this calmer period to consolidate their position. A change in the TUC standing orders in 1895 introduced the block vote, and trades councils (regarded as hotbeds of militancy) were banned from sending delegates to the annual congress of the TUC.
Then came the war and the second war and workers were firing at other workers. Hardly a way to build an international movement. During WW II the workers in the USA were pledged to not strike. Tell me that war does not serve the capatilists!
Then we had the "Cold War" and again an ideology of anti communism was used against workers across the board. We all know the result. Divide and conquer has always worked and has brought us to where we are now.
In 1965 I led a broad coalition against the war and for civil rights. We had every brand of left and liberal politics represented and were able to stay united for many years. Such unity is absent now. It will be impossible to get anywhere without it. The anti-worker ideology gets parroted by workers all the time. Labor history is forgotten. The corporations have us in their grip and all we do is whine about it. I don't need a weatherman to see how the winds have blown.