An Emergency Conference on the Social Crisis and War
As the second decade of the 21st Century begins, humanity is confronted with the worst economic and social crisis since the 1930s and unending war that threatens to spark a new global conflict. The SEP, WSWS and ISSE are calling this critical public conference April 17-18 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to discuss the political basis to organize the working class to fight back.
Conditions for the majority of the population are dire. Some 15 million people in the US—or 10 percent of the population—are officially unemployed, as 4.2 million jobs have been wiped out in the past year. The real unemployment rate, including those who have given up looking for work and those who are involuntarily working part time, is close to twice this amount. In some areas, unemployment is at Depression levels. In Detroit, where the median income was once among the highest in the nation, more than half the population is out of work.
Throughout the country, states are going bankrupt, schools are being shut down, tuition at colleges and universities is soaring, and wages and social services are being slashed at an unprecedented rate. The net worth for US households has fallen 13 percent over the past decade—by far the worst since World War II. The “American Dream” of home ownership is turning in to a nightmare. Nearly 3 million foreclosures were filed in 2009, and another 3 million families are expected to lose their homes in 2010.
As the social crisis intensifies, the US is approaching the tenth anniversary of the so-called “war on terror”—the unending series of wars launched by the US to gain control of key areas of the world. The occupation of Iraq continues, and tens of thousands more troops are being sent to Afghanistan and Pakistan. As the last decade came to an end, a new target, Yemen was added to the list of countries to be bombed or invaded, and Obama is escalating threats against Iran and China. More than 4,300 US soldiers have already been killed, while the countries targeted by American bombs have been devastated.
The administration’s response to the Haitian earthquake has further demonstrated the ugly reality of American capitalism. The US exploited the disaster to occupy the country and tie its economy even more closely to the interests of US corporations. At the same time the US blocked desperately needed aid that could have saved tens of thousands of Haitians.
The political system in the US is unresponsive to the interests of the population. In 2008, the American people voted out Bush—who left with the lowest approval rating in US history—and replaced him with Obama, who campaigned on the basis of “hope” and “change.” However, the same policy continues on every front. War has been expanded. Trillions have been handed out to the banks, and as a result the people who created the crisis are doing better than ever. Now the administration has launched a program of fiscal austerity and cost cutting, led by the health care overhaul.
What is needed is not the “audacity of hope,” but the courage to fight. Wars will not end, poverty will not be eliminated, wages will not be restored, the bank bailouts will not be reversed, until the working class intervenes with its own solution. A new political struggle that unites all sections of the working class must be directed against the Obama administration and the entire two-party capitalist system.
At its most fundamental level, the crisis signifies the failure of capitalism: an economic system in which every aspect of economic and political life is subordinated to the interests of profit and the private wealth of a tiny layer. The very system that caused this crisis cannot possibly repair it. This conference is being called to discuss a socialist, democratic and antiwar program to meet the needs of the working class in the US and internationally.
The following proposals will be discussed:
1. For a multi-billion public works program! End home foreclosures! Forgive all student loans! Quality jobs for all! The claim that there is “no money” for the jobs, education, health care and other social services when trillions are handed out to the banks and lavished on the military must be rejected with contempt. An emergency public works program is required to rebuild infrastructure and provide decent-paying jobs for all who can work.
2. Nationalize the banks! For the redistribution of wealth! The stranglehold that the financial and corporate elite exercises over all aspects of political and economic life is the principal obstacle to any rational and egalitarian solution to the crisis of capitalism. All banks and major corporations must be transformed into publicly owned and democratically controlled utilities.
3. End the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan! All US troops must be withdrawn from these countries. The US war machine must be dismantled, and reparations paid out to societies devastated by American bombs.
4. Break with the Democrats and Republicans! The Democrats, no less than the Republicans, represent the corporate and financial elite.
5. For a united movement of the international working class! A fight-back requires the mobilization of all sections of the working class, in the United States and internationally. New rank-and-file and action committees must be organized to mobilize the working class and youth in a common fight.
6. For a socialist program! The crisis facing workers throughout the world can be resolved only through a far-reaching transformation of the organization and priorities of world society. The establishment of a rationally organized and democratically controlled world economy is the precondition for ending exploitation and war.
The Social Crisis and War Emergency Conference WSWS page provides further links to these topics:
* About the conference
* Register
* Agenda and Speakers
* Leaflets
* Location