Views in brief

Stopping police killings

IN RESPONSE to "Whose lives matter in New York City?": Thanks to SocialistWorker.org for the excellent article by Danny Katch on the aftermath of the shootings of two cops in New York City!

Some right-wing commentators have said, "I hope there is as much outcry about the murder of the two cops as there was about the death of Garner and Brown." In fact, the article explains there has been a much bigger outcry from politicians and media spokespeople. This shows that to the owners of this society, "Blue Lives Matter" a lot more than Black lives do.

But there is also a big difference between the two cases. The cops were killed by one tragically messed-up individual. We need to get at the causes of such action through addressing the social roots of it. We need better mental health programs, education, housing, health care, jobs, etc.--and we need to challenge institutional racism at all levels.

The killings of Mike Brown and Eric Garner were done by official and now-exonerated action of state agencies that we all pay for. It takes a social movement to win changes in the policies of government agencies. In contrast, the best way to make changes in the behavior of individual people is by spending social resources on the causes of such outbreaks. Building an "outcry" opposing the murders of two cops by a now deceased killer makes no sense--except as a way to attack the Black Lives Matter movement, as Danny shows in his article.

Ironically, those who want to protect the police by spending more on militarization are taking resources away from the causes of social violence by civilians and are increasing the propensity of police to use excessive force that will make attacks on police more likely.
Steve Leigh, Seattle

The tasks for SYRIZA

IN RESPONSE to "A new opening for the left in Greece": The January 25 elections in Greece will be a tremendous contest between anti-austerity and pro-austerity forces. To talk about a SYRIZA win is putting the cart before the horse.

Before talk about a left government, it is best to throw some light on the state of the laboring classes--workers, farmers, small-business people, women, immigrants and the unemployed. I hope the coverage of SocialistWorker.org sheds some light on the discussions in the unions and how the anti-austerity forces are distributed among the union leaderships, and gives some sense of how health care and the public sector have been rolled back and shattered.

For SYRIZA to counter the attacks of the industrial and financial circles--nationally as well as internationally--they will have to mobilize the weight of the laboring classes. One such measure that should be considered is the demand for labor action committees in every workplace. This would introduce a further element of economic democracy alongside the unions.

The mobilization and organization of working people will be the key to a possible SYRIZA victory. Hopefully SocialistWorker,org can put a reporter on the ground in Greece. Send several people and have them come back and do speaking tours in the U.S.
Derrick Morrison, Kenner, Louisiana

Fighting fracking from NYC to Ireland

IN RESPONSE to "How New York won a fracking ban": I'd like to take the opportunity to thank the great people of New York for their efforts in fighting against fracking.

In particular, I'd like to thank Joan McKiernan for the role she played in Ireland earlier this year when she visited Belcoo, County Fermanagh, and spoke to us about the New York campaign. Joan presented us with a compendium of research, which outlined the then-current known impacts of fracking.

This continues to be a valuable tool in raising awareness here in Ireland. The Irish government continues to refuse to allow the department of health to have a seat at the decision-making table in relation to fracking. They have set up a research program dedicated to developing regulations and best practice on fracking in Ireland.

We are considering taking a position of "no consent" to research that asks how to frack while not first asking and answering the policy question of whether or not to frack. Why should we allow baseline testing of ground and surface water, air and seismicity when the government refuses to properly consider the public health question? I know in America, baseline testing could have helped prove water and air contamination earlier.
Eddie J. Mitchell, Manorhamilton, Ireland

Wars abroad and at home

IN RESPONSE to "The armed occupation inside the empire": Good connection-maker! It was Karl Liebknecht to who first drew out the explicit connection between militarism, "the war abroad" and "the war at home" in his pamphlet, "Militarism and Anti-Militarism."

The so-called war on drugs is a lynchpin in U.S. foreign and domestic policy, and almost a showcase example of how the wars are conjoined. It is the enforcement arm of NAFTA, serving to prop up Washington's neoliberal free-trade arrangements abroad, while criminalizing the oppressed, particularly those very workers fleeing the sequelae of the free-trade agreements and the drug wars in Mexico and Central America, and communities of color at home.

William Robinson at the University of California at Santa Barbara wrote an eloquent short piece on this, "In the Wake of Ayotzinapa, ¿Adónde va México?", in which he spells out the connection:

The "war on drugs" is the pretext for militarizing Mexico and organizing the systematic repression of any real and potential dissent. But the "war on drugs" has multiple functions for the system. In addition to legitimating the militarization of Mexico it allows for the criminalization of the dispossessed and of marginalized communities on both sides of the border, justifying the system of mass incarceration in the United States, especially of (but not limited to) Black and Latino youth. It disrupts communities and undermines collective resistance, facilitates the imposition of vast new systems of social control. From Ferguson to Ayotzinapa; same enemy, same struggle.

Mike, from the Internet