[9:30 am — Leninist Strategy in 2013. 11:15…]

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9:30 am — Leninist Strategy in 2013. 11:15 am — U.S. Socialists and the Labor Party Question. 1:15 pm — Working-Class Battles in Greece. 3 pm — Climate Change.

Location (first 4 sessions): North Kansas City Library, 2251 Howell St.

April 26-28 • Oakland Panels: Friday, April 26, 7:30 pm — Challenging Capitalism’s Inherent Evils. Saturday, April 27, 1 pm — Capitalism’s Social, Economic, and Environmental Crises. 3:30 pm — Civil Liberties Under Attack. 7 pm — Imperialist Wars, Recolonization of Africa & Middle East.

Location: Niebyl Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph, Oakland, Ca, 4:30 pm — Marx, Lincoln & German Immigrants. Sunday, April 28, 12 noon — Leninist Theory of Organization. Info: (816) 221-3638, [email protected] Info: (510) 268-9429, [email protected] others—with, in times of crisis, snow­ balling devastation.

The forcing of losses on bank inves­ tors, and big rather than small deposi­ tors, was viewed by the troika as easier to put over politically, while still know­ ing that they could come back later and demand further austerity measures to be imposed on the country’s workers by other means. (The Germans went so far as to appear to be the saviors of the country’s pensions, rejecting a Cypriot government plan to seize them.)

Besides political expediency, the con­ tinent’s wealthiest and most powerful forces wanted to use the occasion to partially rein in speculative capital. It’s worth noting in passing, however, that the biggest of these Russian investors, See page 12 .

Dmitry Rybolovlev, made his fortune not in financial speculation, but in the down and dirty fields of potash fertil­ izer extraction—a fact deserving to be mulled over by those obsessed with the supposed supremacy of finance capital (or even more narrowly “debt”) in to­ day’s global economy.

In any case, the real reason for the Eu­ rozone’s instability is not speculative capital. The mushrooming of the latter is only a symptom of a prolonged global crisis leaving fewer avenues for produc­ tive investment, a crisis playing out in a market system that puts inherent barri­ ers in the way of cross-national institu­ tions, much less actual unification.

Such barriers can be seen in the con­ tending pulls facing a country like Cy­ prus, which is integrally connected to the region as a whole yet is also forced by other nations’ ruling classes to stand on its own—at the expense of its workers—in a crisis. For instance, Nicos Trimikliniotis, a professor at the University of Nicosia, pointed to the geostrategic importance of the island. He wrote in The Bullet: Cyprus “is wellintegrated in the regional economic system; in this sense it is also a border economy, operating as a bridge and a hub in the eastern Mediterranean. It is (continued on page 9, in “Capitalism damns the environment”)

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turned Prop. 8, finding that the law would violate same-sex couples’ right to equal protection and due process under the U.S. Constitution.

The second issue before the Court is DOMA (Defense Of Marriage Act), signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. It states “[f]or federal tax purposes, a marriage means only a legal union between a man and a woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ means a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.” This means that over 1100 federal programs that have a spousal benefit, such as Social The coalition United For Marriage: Light The Way For Justice” or­ ganized rallies in Washington D.C. on March 25-27. They suggested that those who could not come to Washington might want to organize a candlelight vigil in their own state. The grassroots stepped up and orga­ nized rallies, marches and vigils in all 50 states—a total of 180 actions.

The traditional national and statewide LGBT organizations seemed to appear late in organizing efforts. They sent out e-mails to their mem­ bers, and appeared on Facebook two days before the events. It was the Regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision (due at the end of June), one of the changes that can already be seen is reflected in the argument of the opposition. They are taking a “states’ rights” stance, maintaining that these decisions should be made state by state. As one young man from Mississippi stated at the 2009 Equality March, “A state-by-state strategy will always leave some of us out.” — ANN MONTAGUE A WORKERS’ ACTION PROGRAM TO FIGHT THE CRISIS 5) Reduce the workweek to 30 hours with no cut in pay, and cut the retirement age to 55. Provide unemployment and retirement payments at We propose an EMERGENCY CONGRESS OF LABOR to discuss and 6) To combat inflation: A sliding scale of wages and pensions that match­ 1) Bail out the people, not the bankers! Open the account books of the es the rises in comsumer prices. To combat high medical costs: A free, banks to full public inspection. Nationalize the banks to be supervised by 7) Immediate citizenship for all undocumented workers. No job discrimi­ 2) No foreclosures! No forced evictions! Cancel usurious debt payments, nation; equal pay for equal work — regardless of gender, sexual orienta­ and reduce mortgage payments in proportion to their capitalist-caused 8) Nationalize manufacturing, big agribusiness, energy, and transporta­ 3) Full employment at union wages! An emergency public works program tion corporations and place them under the control of elected committees to employ all jobless workers and youth! Employ people to build what we need — low-cost quality housing, efficient mass transportation, cheap and 9) To mobilize support for the demands it adopts, the EMERGENCY renewable sources of power, schools, clinics — and to conserve our water, CONGRESS should organize ACTION COMMITTEES in every workplace and neighborhood threatened by the crisis. These committees can draw up 4) Immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops and mercenaries from Iraq & Afghanistan! No war on Iran! Close all U.S. bases abroad! No money for 10) To put all these measures into effect, we need a LABOR PARTY — the military — use funds instead for public works! Convert the war indus­ based on a fighting union movement and all people who are oppressed tries to making products for people’s needs and to combat global warming.

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2 SOCIALIST ACTION APRIL 2013 Stand Up for Women O n March 26, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dairymple signed a bill, HB 1456, to drastically restrict access to abortion and to directly challenge the rights given to women under Roe v. Wade. The bill, which could take effect on Aug. 1, will ban abortions for fetuses with genetic defects such as Down Syndrome, ban abortions as soon a fetal heartbeat is de­ tected (which can be as early as six weeks), and require that doctors have hospital admit­ ting privileges in order to provide abortions.

Gov. Dairymple said that the intention of the bill was to challenge “the boundaries of Roe v. Wade.” If the bill survives legal challenges, it could result in the closure of the state’s only abortion clinic, the Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo.

Along with this bill, North Dakota has moved forward on other legislation to define life as starting at conception and to ban abortions af­ ter 20 weeks. All of this combined effort could result in North Dakota having the strictest abortion laws in the country. The Great Plains region is already facing a shortage of women’s take steps to implement the following demands — workers’ committees.

decline in value.

forests, farmland, and open space. designed, and laid out entirely by volunteer labor.

­— $37 for two years Name City State Phone E-mail (Left) March 25 rally in Bismarck, N.D. against North Dakota anti-abortion bill. health clinics, and the closure of Red River could create an 800-mile-long abortion clinic free area.

North Dakota already has a 24-hour waiting period for abortions, as do nearby states— South Dakota (South Dakota is pushing a bill this spring to extend the waiting period to 72 hours), Minnesota, and Nebraska. Montana’s waiting period has been permanently enjoined by court order. Legislatures across the nation are continuing their war on women and repro­ ductive freedom.

State Rep. Bette Grande (R), admitted that legislators “didn’t look at [the measure] from the financial side of things” in regard to the taxpayer funds that would be used to defend the bill. The Liberty Counsel, a non-profit le­ gal defense organization out of Florida, has an­ nounced that they will defend the bill pro bono. However, the New York-based Center for Re­ productive Rights has countered that they will challenge North Dakota’s fetal heartbeat provi­ sion, also pro bono.

On the mass movement front, reproductive rights supporters have been holding rallies across the state. In Bismarck, more than 300 people rallied against the bill, and the group Stand Up for Women had planned rallies in Fargo, Grand Forks, and Minot. On March 25, despite the cold, pro-women groups marched both inside and outside the state Capitol. Women and workers across the nation need to stand up at this critical juncture, occupying the streets and demanding that reproductive rights be guaranteed to all.

— ALICE RICHARD of workers.

SOCIALIST ACTION Closing news date: March 30, 2013 Editor: Michael Schreiber Canada Editor: Barry Weisleder Address Zip Tony Savino / Socialist Action • Ashland, Ore.: [email protected] • Boston: [email protected] (781) 630-0250 • Carrboro, N.C.: (919) 967-2866, [email protected] • Chicago: P.O. Box 578428 Chicago, IL 60657, [email protected] • Connecticut: (860) 478-5300 • Duluth, Minn.: [email protected]. www.thenorthernworker.blogspot.com • Kansas City: [email protected] (816) 221-3638 • LOUISVILLE, KY.: [email protected], (502) 451-2193 • Madison, Wis.:

[email protected] • Mankato, Minn.:

[email protected] • Minneapolis/St. Paul: (612) 802-1482, [email protected] • New York City: (212) 781-5157 T he Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases this spring that have a crucial bearing on the issue of same-sex marriage.

One would deal with Proposi­ tion 8, which was on the ballot in California in 2008 and added to the state constitution the phrase, “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recog­ nized in California.” The measure was essentially a ban on same-sex marriage. In 2010, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker over­ For info about Socialist Action and how to join: Socialist Action National Office, P.O. Box 10328, Oakland, CA 94610, (510) 2689429, [email protected]. Socialist Action newspaper editorial offices: [email protected] Website: www.socialistaction.org • Philadelphia: [email protected] • Portland, Ore.: (503) 233-1629 [email protected] • Providence: [email protected] (401) 592-5385 • Salem, Ore.: [email protected] • San Francisco Bay Area:

P.O. Box 10328, Oakland, Ca 94610 (510) 268-9429, [email protected] • WASHINGTON, DC: [email protected], (202) 286-5493 National Office 526 Roxton Road, Toronto, Ont. M6G 3R4, (416) 535-8779 http://socialistaction.ca/

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Educational Conferences April 27 • Kansas City

Court considers marriage equality N. Dakota rolls back reproductive rights

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The decision was affirmed by appellate courts in 2012. Security, are denied to same-sex couples. energy at the grassroots that made these events happen. the level of union wages and benefits. universal, public health-care system. tion, skin color, or national origin. more concrete demands than the ones outlined above. and exploited. For a workers’ government!

Socialist Action Canada