Socialist Action (US)

The monthly paper of Socialist Action, San Francisco, 1983–2010

Fundamentalists blast Cinderella

Socialist Action, Vol. 5, No. 2, February 1987 · scan p. 2 · Sylvia Weinstein · about 852 words

Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 2 →

Read from the scan by machine and not corrected: expect misread words, and now and then a caption or a line from a neighbouring story. For anything you quote, read the scan.

Scan page 2

oil industry in the Arabian peninsula was sputtering Worldwide, the capitalist oil and oil-refining industry has been operating well below 50 percent of capacity. Even then, "too much oil" has been produced, and thousands of wells have been shut—while millions spend hours a day searching for firewood for lack of In 1984, the giant U.S. food industry operated at 69 percent of practical capacity. Still, as far as the capitalists were concerned, "too much food" was produced; farmers went bankrupt, while one out of six people in the capitalist world was crippled by hunger.

Although aggregate international statistics are not available, there is reason to believe that at least 35 percent of capitalist industrial capacity worldwide lies Overcapacity and overproduction are at the heart of the debt crisis. There are no sales, no profits, and no ability The further development of the productivity of labor under capitalism can only exacerbate this. This is why the debt crisis is getting worse three full years into a recovery. Other factors which contribute to the debt crisis-including speculation, personal corruption, capital flight, and hoarding —are also derived from this And although the economies of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and other workers' states are not suffering these problems to the same degree as the capitalist economies, they are not immune from them. After all, they are part of a single world economy.

Capitalism is choking on its own production. In the last analysis, this is what makes repayment of the $8 trillion capitalist debt virtually impossible, regardless of the efforts of the bankers, the International Monetary Attempts to force the underdeveloped countries to pay even a portion of the debt will mean increased misery for millions. Ultimately, capitalism can only offer the world the prospect of financial collapse and economic ruin. This irrational economic system must be replaced by a new society oriented to peoples' needs instead of the On Oct. 24, 1986, U.S. District Judge Thomas G. Hull ruled that the Greeneville, Tenn., school board must pay damages to parents whose rights have been violated. He also ruled that the school board must allow parents to teach reading to their children at home. veloped-rather than God given."

• "The Diary of Anne Frank:" "Because it suggested that all religions are equal in a passage by Anne." ("Oh, I don't mean you have to be orthodox...I just mean some religion...It doesn't matter what, just to believe in something.")

• "The Revolt of Mother," a short story about a woman challenging her husband's au -thority: "Because it attacks the Biblical family."

• Stories about dinosaurs: "Because the creatures were said to be older than the Biblical account of the beginning of the M RORGMAN FOR THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER world."

• A story that depicted a child's imagination as a "third eye:" "Because such representations were considered occult and put too much emphasis on imagination."

• Stories about religion (other than Christianity), including the beliefs of American Indians and followers of Islam.

Child abuse

In December, the court granted these fundamentalist parents $50,000 for the alleged violation of their rights. What it should have done is fine the parents for violating the civil children.

Children should have the right to exercise their minds and develop their imagination. What these parents are doing, with the court's help, constitutes a form of child abuse.

The fundamentalist parents sound like descendants of the Salem witchhunters. They are followers of modern-day hypo -crites such as Ronald Reagan, Gerry Falwell, the Rev. Pat Robertson, and other "moral" upholders of U.S. imper -ialism-both Democrats and Republicans.

Educators recognize that "play" is, for children, "work." They know that for children to develop their creativity and their intellect, they must be able to use their minds unhindered and unchained.

Make-believe

All children engage in a or female, grown-up or children, pirate or princess, Batman or Robin, movie star or rock star, good guy or bad guy...in the space of a few minutes.

When my three-year-old grand -son and I are in the park, he allows me to be Luke Skywalker and he becomes Princess Lea. We make swords out of sticks, and our space ship can be a tree stump or a park bench. But he must give the count for blast-off. He expects me to honor this make-believe world—or else he would not let me play.

How sad that those fun -damentalist parents locked into their own malignant "moral" world have locked themselves outside of their children's playful make-believe world.

But the people who really live in the world of make-believe are the fundamentalist parents who have faith in the likes of Reagan and Falwell-whose morality comes from the sewer they have been sloshing in.

Their morality boils down to justifying their economic system, which is one of exploitation and oppression. And their morality is supported by any lie they can make up.

Our morals are based on the needs of the oppressed and the exploited. And only the truth will help make us free.

The debt crisis

----- pull-quotes -----

common conspiracy of "make- believe." They can be either male

← Contents of Vol. 5, No. 2, February 1987

Something wrong on this page? Tell us →