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14 SOCIALIST ACTION AUGUST 1992 Thank You Dear editors, I want to thank you for your newspaper and your writings. My wife and I heard Eric Larsen speak at Superior, Wis., during George Bush's oil war in Iraq. A young man had literature at a table. We gave him money for our initial trial subscription for Socialist Action. We have been subscribing ever since. We do appreciate it.

Frank Roemheld, Bayfield, Wis.

Giotto

Dear editors, In her critique of my essay, "Giotto: A Painter for the Masses" (July 1992 Socialist Action), Samia Halaby writes, "Balch considers a knight, a town dweller, nuns and the clergy as the humble people and does not once mention the masses or serfs."

Halaby has put words in my mouth that not only distort my meaning but that serve to advance her own "Marxist" views. As J.D. Bernal, himself a Marxist, makes clear in his book, "Science in History," it was the poorer townsmen who revolted against worldliness and excessive wealth. (See paragraph two of my essay.)

Poorer townsmen included "the illiterate poor," "the poor knight," "the simple man," and "the poor nuns of St. Clare," or "Clarisses," as they were called, but not just any town dweller. Francis's father, a wealthy merchant, was a town dweller but by no means a humble person.

As to Halaby's second point, that I do not mention the serfs, it is true that Francis did not work with the serfs, hence with all of the masses, yet the reasons for this are fairly obvious.

Since Francis spent most of his life in towns (Assisi, Padua, Arezzo, etc.), it was logical that his work would be concentrated there. Moreover, it is doubtful that he could have penetrated any of the large, carefully guarded estates that occupied much of the Italian countryside, with their walled castles and manor houses.

The serfs, who furished all the backbreaking labor required to cultivate the land, were bound to the soil under feudal law, and held in great contempt by the nobles they were obligated to support. Francis would not have lasted long in such a hostile environment, the stronghold of the feudal lords.

Franklin Balch, Stevenson, Md.

'New Order' Dear editors, Thomas Paine observed: "A despotic government knows no principle but will. Whatever the sovereign wills to do, the government admits him the inherent right, and the uncontrolled power of doing.

"He is restrained by no fixed rules of right and wrong, for he makes the right and wrong himself as he pleases." ("Government, Banks, Money," by I. Paine.)

Justice is the basis of a good law. We have not had that. However, during the Cold War period, we had one oppressive force opposed by another, and a pretension for law and justice by the oppressors. This was not much, but it created some loopholes for the underdogs to use to survive.

Now even this has been torn to shreds. Pax America, sick and triumphant, stands alone, unopposed, ready to further pacify the world with the sword of military aggression and the police state.

The Gulf War brought it all out into the open, but some Americans still want to hang on to the myth that the war was fought for them. They refuse to see the bully they empowered turning on them.

Now the triumph of "law by will" is even more brazen in its contempt of moral and legal restraints:

'The Supreme Court has ruled that foreigners may be forced to face trial in the USA, even if they were kidnapped to get them here. (USA Today, June 16, 1992.)

In other words, "wherever you are, if I declare you an enemy, I'1l get you. There's nothing now to insulate you from me." Why is it business as usual with us? Don't we see what's happening?

Going back to the Gulf War, why is Desert Storm, Phase II, the siege and genocide of Iraq, not an issue loudly raised, even though a new target, Libya, has been picked for the Iraq/Panama treatment?

Nearly 25 years ago, Malcolm X sought to bring the United States to justice before the World Court. Today, if we use it seriously, Ramsey Clark's War Crimes Tribunal can give us a start in overturning the progress tyranny has been making.

We can also challenge the siege of Iraq with a public outpouring of humanitarian aid. And if there is anyone else resisting this so-called New World Order, that should become our struggle.

Sam Kahl Portland, Ore.

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in Moscow. He stressed the importance of the workshop by saying that it included about a tenth of all those attending the conIn response to a question from this writer, Bloice deplored the neo-Stalinist alliance with Russian chauvinists and antiSemites in the ex-USSR. He also said those who think that the situation in the former Soviet Union will soon be reversed "are smoking some pretty strong stufff." of the Communist Party of El Salvador, the African The audience was predominantly late The former Gorbachev wing of the Com- National Congress (ANC), middle-aged and elderly, clearly former munist Party U.S.A. launched a project for the Democratic Left Party CPers. Most of those who spoke expressed building a new left organization in a July of Germany (the successor revulsion at their experience in the CP, and 17-19 conference in Berkeley, Calif. The of the old East German at the same time rejected the concepts of new organization is called the Committees Communist Party), and democratic centralism, the vanguard party, of Correspondence (CoC). the Vietnamese Commu- and a definite Marxist program.

Since their split with the neo-Stalinist nist Party. Greetings came A Socialist Action member who defended CPUSA, the reformers have sought to from the South African the Leninist conception of the party was project the CoC as an all-inclusive CP, the Austrian CP, the denounced as "more Stalinist than the old regroupment of the "democratic left." Thus, CP of Spain, the CP of the list of conference sponsors included a Canada, and the CP of Democratic Party orientation number of independent personalities. Some support to the conference was also given There were a large number of representaby Democratic Socialists of America ings from the Hungarian tives of Trotskyist groups present, all of Socialist Workers' Party, whom opposed the line of supporting the Links between Communist Party reform- the neo-Stalinist successor Democratic Party. Their appeals fell on ers and the DSA are longstanding. The last of the Hungarian CP; and deaf ears. The organizers of the conference, the reform wing of the CP, was generally important split of reformers from the CP, from A. Buzgalin of the the group led by Dorothy Healy of Los Russian Organizing Com- the section of the party most active in Britain.

There were also greet(DSA).