Revolution no. 4

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DEMO « 12 NOON SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER « LONDON

ISSUE 4 OCTOBER 1994

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Northern Ireland No peace with British imperialism!

REALITY OF BRITISH RULE ¢ BRITISH TROOPS SHOT 13 CIVILIANS DEAD

FTER YEARS OF fighting, the

Irish Republican Army (IRA) has

called a ceasefire. Socialists have to take a clear attitude to the talk of peace and the ceasefire. There can be no just peace. ne truly democratic settlement, while British rule continues in the North of Ireland.

The Northern Ireland state was not set up democratically. It was established against the will of the majority of people in Ireland. It was formed in 1920-21 after Britain had fought a war against the Irish people to keep Ireland as a colony. The British realised that they could no longer rule the whole of Ireland, so they used the oldest trick in the book - divide and rule.

The borders of the Northern Ireland state were drawn up artificially, ignoring geography, history, and what the majority of the people wanted. Originaly Ulster had nine counties, but the new state had just six The border was fixed with one aim in mind - making sure that the privileged minority of Protestant Irish people who wanted to stay part of Britian would be a majority within Northern Ireland.

From the very beginning the Northern Ireland state denied its new minority - mainly Catholics who opposed the division of Ireland and the union with Britain -equal rights. Catholics have had to suffer discrimination every day since it was set up. They got the worst housing and, if they were lucky enough to get jobs, it was the worst jobs they got. For years the antiunionist population was noteven entitled

toan equal vote in the North. Of course as long as they quietly accepted this terrible situation they were being ‘democratic’ and ‘peaceful’. When they fought back they were being ‘violent’ and ‘criminal’.

And they did fight back. In the late 1960s _ people in the North started to demonstrate against this discrimination. The police - who were nearly all Protestants - responded to these peaceful protests by using violence to suppress them. By 1969 the fight against discrimination became a mass revolt on the streets. The resistance became so strong that there were whole areas that the police could no longer go into - “no-go areas”. That is why, fearing that the whole Northern Ireland state might be destroyed, the British government sent the troops in. They claimed the troops would protect the Catholics. In reality the troops were soon being used to attack the very people they were supposedly there to defend.

To break the resistance of the antiunionist population, the British government brought in arrest and imprisonment without trial (internment), torture of prisoners which was condemned by the International Court of Human Rights, a shoot-to-kill policy by the army and the police, daily house raids and constant harassment on the streets. It has also worked hand in glove with the Loyalist murder gangs like the UVF and the UDA who want to preserve the privileged position of the Protestants in Northern Ireland and who use the tactic of murdering

Catholics indiscriminately to spread fear among the anti-unionist population. The IRA itself has mainly targeted the troops that are occupying their country and the Loyalist terror gangs. It began its armed campaign in 1971 in response to British and Loyalist violence against the peaceful movement for civil rights.

For years the British government and media said the IRA represented nothing and was justa gang of mindless criminals and murderers. Now they are talking about the possibility of peace and agreement through negotiations with Sinn Fein, there tune is changing. This shows what liars and hypocrites the British ruling class have always been.

REVOLUTION has supported Sinn Fein and the IRA in their fight to end the British occupation of Ireland. Butwe never thought that their method of waging that struggle was the right one. They have fought using the methods of guerrilla warfare conducted by an armed minority. This could tie down troops, but it could never defeat them. We are in favour of mass direct action.

With the strategy of guerrilla warfare at a dead end, the leadership of Sinn Fein is hoping that it can do a deal with the British government that will win some concessions. But the deal will fall short of getting rid of the border. It will not mean the Irish people as a whole will be able to decide what government it wants without interference from Britain. It is a deal that will not mean an end to all discrimination. That is why we are against the ceasefire.

This does not mean we think the IRA should go on fighting in the same way. For a start its arms and weapons should immediately be put to the use of defending nationalist communities against Loyalist attacks. The defence of these areas should be carried out not by a handful of courageous fighters but should include the mass of the anti-unionist population. This could be linked to a call for mass direct action on the streets of Northem Ireland for democratic rights, a united Ireland, national self-determination, jobs, homes and services.

A mass working class movement combining demands for better living standards for Protestants and Catholics and an uncompromising struggle against discrimination could be built It must be a fight not for the Ireland of today, a poor, priest-ridden country still owned and controlled by British and American multinationals and big business, but for the Ireland of tomorrow, a socialist workers’ republic in the whole of Ireland, based on equal rights and real control by working people over the wealth and resources of the country. This is the only way to win over Protestant workers who currently want to keep their positions of privilege and preserve discrimination against Catholics.

That is our alternative to the “peace process”. It is a strategy that can open the road to national unity, socialism and real liberation. =

Sowth Africa

fouth are not free yet!

AUGUST SAW MASS protests at one of the biggest South African auersces - Wits in Johannesburg. The protests were to demand an

immemedicte freeze on the exclusion of students who could not afford to pay their fees. State subsidies to Universities were cut in South Africa by the previous apartheid regime and fees have rocketed. The students hit hardest are the less well off black students. Black students still only make up 43% of the university intake nationally despite making up 86% of the population. Yet it is black students who are being excluded from higher education because they cannot keep up with the fees.

With the new ANC government students at Wits decided enough was enough. They “downed pens” and marched on the offices of the ANC regional education minister, led by the Wits branch of the South African Student Congress (SASCO).

The ANC regional government gave the students the cold shoulder, saying that emergency funds were simply not available to halt financial exclusions. The ANC National Unity government has promised the western banks and IMF to keep down state spending, so the students have been tured away empty handed.

As if this was not enough leading ANC and Communist Party figures have set about trying to discredit and divide

SASCO at Wits, saying it is run un-

Solidarity workers!

strikes which began over pay have become a battle between the Tories and the trade union movement.

The defeat of the railworkers would be a significant victory for the Railtrackmanagement and the Tories, who want to sell off the railways to their rich buddies. It will also make it easier for the government to impose its limit on pay rises of 2.5%.

The Tories say that workers will have to make do with small pay rises this year. But they never ask the bosses to tighten their belts. The chairman of Railtrack, Bob Horton, gets £121,000 per year. The chief executive gets {132,000 and the finance director gets £150,000. MP’s have awarded themselves a rise of well over 2.5%. Meanwhile these people have the nerve to tell railworkers that they can’t afford to give them any more pay!

The Tories and the bosses are concentrating all their efforts on defeating the strike. John Major has set up a special committee to organise strikebreaking operations. He is behind British Rail’s

T HIS SUMMER’S SIGNAL workers

democratically and declaring it has been “infiltrated by the ultra left”. They have planted stories in the South African press about violence and intimidation on campus. When SASCO Executive voted to boycott Student Representative Council elections ANC General Secretary endorsed SASCO members who broke union policy and stood for election.

South African students, with a long tradition of being in the forefront of the fight against apartheid and of supporting the ANC, are leaming the hard way that this government does not represent the

mass of poor students and workers. While ANC ministers and MPs are living it up on vast salaries and driving around in Mercedes, the workers and the students from working class backgrounds are having to fight for every penny.

With student debts standing at 236 million Rand and rising this struggle will continue to grow and spread right across

‘South Africa.e

Send messages of support to: SASCO Executive, Student Union Building, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa

JOIN REVOLUTION!

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Address:

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with the signal

attempt to recruit scabs to operate signal boxes on strike days. Major would love to shake off his image of being weak by standing up to the rail workers and defeating them.

Therailworkers should be equally tough and determined.

The strikes have already shown the power of the working class. Strike action by just a few thousand signal workers has brought the rail system to a halt on strike days. The strikes are hurting the bosses’ profits. Up to the end of August {140 million has been lost. On top of this there is all the money it is costing large companies to lay on coaches for workers who could not get to work otherwise.

If the signal workers lose the strike, Railtrack and British Rail will be able to impose low pay and poor working conditions on every other section of railworkers. More than this, their union, the RMT, will have been drastically weakened.

That is why the railworkers cannot afford tolose. The railworkers unions should call on all railworkers to strike not for just one or two days but to walk out and not

return to work until management have paid up. Then even if the management did get in scab signal workers they still wouldn’t be able to mun trains because there would be no-one to drive them, noone to repair them and no-one to act as guards. Not one single train could run.

Above all, the signal workers need our solidarity and support. There is money to be raised for strikers who lose out every time they tke action. The signal workers’ case has to be taken to other workers in every factory, depot, office and workplace. They should link their own struggles over pay and conditions to the signal workers’ cause. United we are strong. A victory for the signal workers would be a victory for all of us and a devastating blow to the Tories. SUPPORT THE SIGNAL WORKERS!s

u If you want to help the signal workers, REVOLUTION will put you in touch with support groups and picket lines in your area. Write to us now at REVO, BCM 7750, London WCiN 3XX_

The CJB brings in restrictions on hunt saboteurs, ravers, and New Age travellers. It increases police rights to imprison young people. It allows the police to physically violate any “suspect” they choose in their hunt for evidence. They no longer have to destroy this evidence if a suspect with a previous conviction is proved innocent. It removes the right to silence, and allows the police to stop and search people whenever they want.

The Bill attacks young people in particular. It outlaws “sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats.” This covers everything from Beethoven to Blur, but everyone knows it is really aimed at Techno, Jungle and dance music in general. Raves - “a gathering on land in open air of 100 or more persons” - will be illegal.

Police will have the right to stop people

travelling to a rave. They will have the right of entry (without a watrant) to private land where they think a rave might be going on—even if the owner objects to their entry! The police can then move people on using force, seizing vehicles and equipment which they can later sell, destroy or keep and then charge the owners for the “inconvenience”!

If this were not enough , the police can then re-arrest you if you return to the site within seven days. A hefty fine and three months sentence can result. The wide-boys raking money in from the semi-legal rave scene will go “legit” and move upmarket— but thousands of youth will be left without the basic right to enjoy themselves outside of the bleak world of mainstream “discos” and churchtun youth clubs.

The police can also introduce virtual martial law. New “stop and search” laws can be invoked covering as large or as small an area as the police see fit. Failing to stop or obstructing a police officer will mean six months imprisonment and a fine.

Other sections aim to “protect” the bosses in their country retreats. They give the State the power to prevent travellers finding a place to stop, they can stop disruption of fox hunts, and even ramblers will be unable to enjoy “private” stretches of countryside.

It will even be illegal for a group of people to appear to be preparing to trespass. If the “trespass” is a planned event, then the Secretary of State can issue a banning order covering a five mile radius lasting up to four days. This order affects not just those attempting to get access to the land on the day—police can arrest anyone organising or publicising the event.

This law will not just be used against travellers, ravers or hunt sabs. It could also hit workers planning to occupy workplaces or carry out regular picketing. The womens’ pit camps protesting against mine closures could have been banned, as could the protest camp outside the Campsfield Refugee prison.

Property owners’ rights are increased by the sections dealing with squatters. It will

be easier for rich landlords to chuck people out onto the streets for occupying empty properties. Squatters will have to leave if asked by “anyone the landlord chooses to nominate for that purpose”.

Once these new laws have got youth and “misfits” into the courts, their rights wi be fewer than before.

The section on “Prevention of Terrorism and Offences Against Public Security” marks a huge shift in the legal process. The accused will be guilty until proven innocent! . It will also be an offence for a person to collect

or record any informa-

tion which is likely to be useful to terrorists, or have in their possession such information without “reasonable excuse”. The right to silence has been a thorn in the side of the police for many years. Throughout 1993 leading Tory bigots, like Lord Chief Justice Taylor, made loudpronouncements of their opposition to it. Some, like Hugh Annesley, the Chief Constable of the RUC, went so far as to argue that failure to answer

police questions should be a crime in itselfl

The attempt to remove the right of silence is epecially dangerous. Courts will soon be able to “draw inferences” from an accused exercising the right to silence, both during police interrogation or during a trial. In plain language this means some barrister giving a slimy speech to the jury along the lines of “Why would any innocent person refuse to answer police questions?”

We know why. A whole series of “miscarriages of justice’—from the Guildford Four to the Tottenham Three— has involvedthe police squeezing “confessions” out of terrified people under long interrogation. It should remain the legal right of every citizen to remain silent under police questioning.

Far harsher sentences will be meted out, especially to youth. Twelve year olds can now be kept in police cells. Ten-year olds can be locked up for fourteen years under Section 16 of the Bill.

The Home Secretary will have powers to send young offenders to any place he sees fit: not necessarily a children’s home. Orders from the courts will condemn accused youth to imprisonment even before they have been found guilty.

The whole Criminal Justice Bill is full of clauses that give the police the right to arrest on suspicion, stop and search, detain, impose bail conditions. It allows the police to ban marches and even picket lines. It will be used by the state to smash any demonstration of resistance against the rich and

their rotten system.=

MAH

class as a whole. This means taking the fight into the workplace, the dole queues, onto the estates and—vitally—into the trade unions. Together workers and youth, trade unionists and the unemployed, hunt saboteurs, squatters and the homeless must be mobilised on a scale not seen since the antiPoll Tax Demo of March 1990. All those affected will need to organise in a democratic, co-ordinated campaign, locally and nationally. If the Bill is passed we will need a campaign to resist and break it. Any attempt to use the provisions of the CJB—banning raves, smashing up demos and squats, opening up new private youth detention centres—must be met with a campaign of direct action:>

THE TORIES ARE CALCULATING THATTHE REAL FEAR OF CRIME THAT STALKS MANY WORKING CLASS COMMUNITIES WILL PUSH THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE INTO SUPPORTING THE BILL. BUT THE WHOLE LAW AND ORDER SCARE IS A SMOKESCREEN.

FIGURES SHOW THAT YOUTH CRIME IS FALLING, NOT RISING. Bur THE TORIES ARE RUNNING A SCARE CAMPAIGN TO BLAME YOUNG PEOPLE FOR THE FAILURE OF THEIR SYSTEM. THEY HAVE NO OTHER SOLUTION TO THE INCREASING POVERTY, UNEMPLOYMENT, FRUSTRATION, ISOLATION, AND LACK OF HOPE THAT CAUSE CRIME.

THE VERY SAME POLICE WHO WILL BE CHASING HUNT SABOTEURS ALL OVER THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND ARE THE ONES WHO HAVE JUST DECLARED THEY WON TANSWER 999 CALLS FOR CAR BREAK-INS

the “moral high ground” and refuse to use violent resistance”. But what is so morally correct about refusing to fight back against a force prepare to use violence and intimidation against the youth and the working class? The police will not be shamed into backing down - they have no shame, They won'tlis

OME PEOPLE argue that we should take

Tp) ELF DEFENCE IS NO OFFENCE

m Mass non-co-operation with the law, including organised occupations of empty properties

m Organised self defence of squats, marches and direct actions. Non-violent direct action is no use against a police force which is definitely notcommitted to “non-violence”.

to passive protests. That is why we are against

WE CAN BEAT THIS Butt. The Labour Party leaders will condemn all active opposition. But like the movement against the Poll Tax, mass opposition by millions can win. So far the youth have led this fight. The last demo brought over sixty thousand onto the streets. Now young people need to broaden out opposition to the Bill to all those affected by it - to the working

sit-down protests, which just leave people as

easy victims for the police, who will nick the ting up well-prepared defence groups to see off

anyway, and give them a “nonviolent” kick ingin the back ofthe van. In the face of police threats and violence we need to be prepared, not through disorganised rioting, but by set the coppers if they try and push us around.

om

m Strike action and workplace occupations—the most powerful weapons the working class can wield—must be built in response to any attempt to use the Bill against unions or other working class organisations.m

AND MINOR BURGLARIES. T HEY SENT 7,000 TOOLED-UP POLICETO DEFEND THE NAZI BNP’s HEADQUATERS IN WELLING LAST OCTOBER, BUT THEY HAVE DONE NOTHING TO FIND THE RACIST KILLERS OF BLACK YOUTH LIKE ROLAN ADAMS, STEPHEN LAWRENCE AND ROHIT DUGGAL.¢

EVERYONE OPPOSED TO the CJB should think long and hard about why the Tories are bringing it in. They know that all their talk about a new world order of peace and justice is rubbish, that people hate the Tories and that the youth are getting angry. They know that over the next years more and more working class people are going to fight back against their system. They are preparing tougher laws and police powers so they can hold us down.

That is what the police and whole state apparatus is really there for, not to protect the people, but to protect our real rulers, the multimillionaire land-

owners, bankers and businessmen. When the chips are down the state - the police, army, prisons and courts - are there to defend the private property of the rich and the wasteful capitalist system that puts private wealth before the rights, living standards, interests, health and environment of working class people. The C]B shows how far they are prepared to go. Young people who hate the

CJB should be fighting the whole system and the state that protects it. That is why REVOLUTION is fighting not only against the CJB, but for a new youth movement that can oppose every injustice of this system. We want a movement that can prepare for the years to come, prepare for a revolution to break up the capitalist state and replace it with the power of organised working people. That way we can plan a world based on need, not greed - a socialist society which will put an end to poverty, homelessness, privilege and oppression for good.=

A worman’s right to choose!

ROM AN EARLY age women are taught about their “role” within the cE family. Women are expected to bring up children, do the housework and

look after ill relatives for nothing. If women go to work then they are expected to do that and run the family. Capitalism can’t afford to let women stop providing free childcare. If it did the bosses would have to pay for proper childcare facilities, health care and education. This would mean less profits for them.

Women continue to be denied basic rights and control over their lives. Nowhere is this more so than with their right to control their own bodies. Just as women do not have any choice over providing childcare they are also not expected to have any choice about whether they have children and when they have them.

REVOLUTION fights for a woman’s right to choose.

A woman's right to choose is not just about having abortions. It is also about avoiding pregnancy, good health care, choice and control. Women need access to clinics where they can get advice on contraception, abortion and infertility. Many teenage women seek advice at family planning clinics rather than go to their family doctor.

Instead women’s health care is under attack as the government cuts back on the money it provides for family planning clinics and the health service. This is leading to further reductions in choice - and young women in particular are being made to suffer.

The closure of many of these clinics, combined with the inadequate sex education in schools, means even more young women are unaware of the best contraceptive method for them. This leads to higher numbers of unwanted pregnancies. In 1992 160,495 abortions were performed nationally . Of these 3,000 were under 16 (2%) and 27,585 were from the 16-19 age group (17%)

We think that ifa woman gets pregnant and decides that she wants to end the pregnancy she should have the right to get an abortion free and without needing the consent of anybody else. It is her body and she should decide.

The current law, 1967 Abortion Act, means that you have to get the agreement of two doctors before you can get an abortion. And anti-abortionists like the organisations LIFE and the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC) campaign to restrict even these limited rights and promote the idea that “abortion is murder”.

Not only this, but with cuts in the health service it is increasingly difficult for women to get free abortions. You have to go to a private clinic and pay.

It is no accident that SPUC and Life are not only against abortions but are also against women having free access to contraception and infertility treatment. They basically want to leave women with no choice.

Making abortions illegal or only accessible to those who can afford them has never stopped women from having abortions. All it has meantis that they have to get back-street abortions, carried out in terrible conditions often by people not properly trained. Worldwide millions of women have died through severe internal infections or have simply bled to death. Right now women in countries where abortion is illegal are suffering this fate.

The traumas and risks of abortion means that choosing to have an abortion is not an easy option. But it is a decision that women must be allowed to make for themselves, free from the interference of the state and the moral crusaders. A woman is not a piece of public property, a woman’s body is her own!

on demand!

---info--9

OU NEED TWO doctors to agree i before you can get an abortion. You I can go to your GP but you don't have to. If you would prefer to go somewhere | else you can go to the local family | planning clinic or other places that give | advice about abortion. Family planning clinics should give free i information, contraception and pregnancy tests and be able to sort out abortions on the NHS. As far as contraception is concerned, | even though women are not supposed | to have sex, according to the law, before the age of 16 there is absolutely nothing illegal in either your GP or the family planning clinic giving you contraception. You can go to your GP and they are I supposed to keep all information | confidential. They are not supposed to | tell your parents and can only advise you to talk to your parents. i However you may still not trust your doctor especially if your parents use the i same doctor. So if you want to you can get free info and contraception from I your local family planning clinic. | Other organisations exist that give | information or counselling on abortion or contraception. Check whether you would be asked to pay anything to see them and if any treatment will cost you

You can contact: | Brook Advisory Service at ] 233 Tottenham Court Rd, London W1P 9AE. Phone number 071- 580 2991 or 2992 (this is specifically for under 25s) or ring them on their national number 071-323 1522. | Even if you are not living in London | that office can give you information on | the places nearest to you. |

e British Pregnancy Advisory Service ! 58 Petty France Street London SW1 I Phone 071- 222 0985

Finally a word of warning, the | organisation LIFE provides counselling over abortion but even though it does LIFE is basically against abortions, so its best to go to other places.e I

Le

Hnimal experiments

“PUTTING THE WEALTH OF Al FEW BErORE THE NEEDS OF MILLIONS”

Dear Revolution,

To many left-wing youth, animal rights and environmentalism is for ageing hippies and “trendy” middle class spoilt kids. But in reality, there is a lot more behind many of the animal rights and environmental issues of today than most people believe.

For a lot of people, there is this misconception that animal rights and environmentalism is a totally different issue to oppression and exploitation by the ruling capitalists. This is a misconception that has always been taught to us and is still a major problem that must be tackled.

Just because the massive multinational pharmaceutical companies tell us that animal experimentation is necessary, we don’t have to believe their lies. These major companies do their secretive vivisection on animals instead of using new highly developed technology because they will lose some money in changing over. All these experiments are done secretly and the results are hardly ever published because there is so much competition in the development of new drugs as it brings in loads and loads of money for the discovering company. This is yet another case of putting the wealth ofa few people above the needs of millions of others by not bringing together all the investigating teams from all over the world.

With farming, there’s a similar story, as large companies own intensive battery farms and keep as many animals in as small a space possible to maximise their profits. These companies don’t care how poor the living conditions of the animals or the farm workers are. They only care if the animals carry diseases and illnesses onto humans if it decreases the amount of money that they make. The thing is that not

eating animals or animal products cuts out having to grow crops for these animals to eat and creates more food and land to grow more crops on, which could greatly reduce

famine all over the world.

Another thing that stinking rich capitalists do is just kill or seriously wound animals within the guise of “sport”. These people just go out on fox hunts in their pomp and ceremony and then merely chase after a wild fox they find, or, more commonly, chase a fox that has already been captured and is just released in front of them. This “sport” and others similar to it are just the capitalists’ way of showing the power they still hold. This power is demonstrated whenever a hunt saboteur is arrested by the police for trying to save a fox’s life.

A lot of the factories and indus-

New Zealand YOUTH FIGHT BACH!

Dear Revolution,

I'm from New Zealand and part of the same international revolutionary group that Revolution supports, the LRCI. I really like the paper and I think the coverage of the fight against the Criminal Justice Bill is very important. The size of the last demonstration was incredible. For me its really impressive to see such an important strugele being led by young people. The main thing young people have been fighting for in New Zealand has been the right to education. All levels of education have been under attack with cuts to funding. For the last 4 or 5 years the government has increased the fees we have to pay for courses. This has meant an increase

from a few hundred dollars to over

tries present today are needed, but the way they pollute and deplete many of the world’s resources are not necessary. This destruction is occurring because the factory owners don’t want to spend the money on cleaning up their factoties, instead they spend their money on their own private health care. All this pollution and waste is not in workers’ favour; quite the opposite, when the workers finally control their own working conditions, they will want to have as nice an environment as possible without the health fears that pollution is causing.

We should unite in the fight against the capitalists and all join in the fight to put the working class, the majority of the people, in control, a true democracy!=

Adam Knight-Markiegi

AGREE? DISAGREE? WRITE TO

REVOLUTION - ADDRESS ON PAGE 8

2000 for some. But students have not Just sat back and taken this. We have fought back, organising activist groups on every university campus. These groups have co-ordinated actions and also raised the issues with other students and education workers. We have organised large marches including national demonstrations. Now we've been able to get school students, students in techs, school teachers and university teachers involved in this campaign. This means we can get all those affected by the education cuts fighting back against the government at the same time. I hope this gives just a brief idea of what we're doing the other side of the world.

Congratulations on your paper hopefuly we'll see something similar in New Zealand soon. In solidarity.e

CJ Auckland

Revolution is written and pro- - duced by youth supporters of : Workers Power (Britain)

and the League for a Revolutionary Communist International.

REVOLUTION

E LIVE in a world full of injustice, oppression and poverty. While W millions starve, food is destroyed in order to keep its price up. The

latest technology in health care cannot be used in many countries because of the payment of foreign debt.

Even the most basic provisions of a good water supply and decent sanitation are denied to people all around the world. Meanwhile ever greater ecological disasters loom on the horizon.

REVOLUTION does not believe there is anything ‘natural’ about the state of the world. We believe that what is happening is because of the world wide system of capitalism.

It is a system that runs with the sole intention of making money for a tiny handful of capitalists who own and control industry and the land.

We believe that it is possible to create a new and better world system, a socialist system. It would be an international system which means the fight to achieve it must be international and is why Workers Power (Britain) is part of the League for a Revolutionary Communist International that organises groups from Bolivia to New Zealand.

Because we are internationalists we support all struggles by people oppressed by imperialism - including the struggle to get British troops out of Ireland.

Because we are internationalists we oppose imperialist militarism: we say not a penny or a person for the defence of this system.

A socialist system would be based on common ownership and would produce and organise society to provide the necessities and luxuries of life for all according to a democratically worked out plan.

This means instead of having people homeless because the privately owned land and building companies only build houses when they can make money, we will all own the land, collectively and we will plan that to use the bricks that lie unused and the building workers who are unemployed to build the homes needed.

To get this, industry and land will have to be taken out of the hands of the few. But this group of people, the ruling class, will never allow us to do this without a fight. The government was prepared to mobilise thousands of police to attack the Unity Demo last October, just imagine what they would be prepared to do to protect their whole system of wealth and power. That is why we believe we need a workers revolution.

But we cannot wait until then, we have to fight against exploitation and oppression now. We support all workers’ struggles. We support the struggles against women’s oppression, racism and homophobia.

Whether it is workers on strike, women fighting for abortion rights or black people fighting against racism it is often young people who are leading these struggles.

We fight for action that will win and in such a way that the struggles of today can prepare us for the revolution of tomorrow. We try to turn today’s struggles into a struggle for power by fighting for workers control, workers self-defence etc.

REYOLUTION stands in the tradition of over 150 years of revolutionary socialism. Our movement is based on the ideas of Marx, Lenin and Trotsky, applied to today’s conditions.

REVOLUTION aims to build a revolutionary youth movement, to win thousands and thousands of youth to supporting and building a revolutionary party that can lead the working class to power.

So don’t just sit there sell REVOLUTION and become a supporter! ©

ISSUE 4 OCTOBER 1994 : te cing

DAYoCHOOL GET ORGANISED

If you want to fight back against the system, come and meet other young supporters of REVOLUTION to talk about how we can stop the Tories and build a better society and to plan action.

REVOLUTION DAYSCHOOL Manchester. + Abas £ ~y

Saturday 15 October

am.

FREE!

We will be holding meetings to discuss:

m WHAT IS SOCIALISM AND CAN IT HAPPEN HERE?

Our rulers say socialism is impossible. Meanwhile their system makes life worse and worse with unemployment, racism, poverty and war being the reality for millions around the world. So what do we mean when we Say socialism is the only alternative? What is socialism anyway? And could it really happen in a country like Britain?

m Do ALL REVOLUTIONS END IN DictTaTORSHIP?

Millions of people are afraid of revolution. They look at what happened in Russia and Eastern Europe and want nothing to do with it. So what went wrong? Do all revolutions end up in tyranny? Does all power corrupt? How can we change the system for the better and avoid the fate of past revolutions?

m Is Europe Gornc Fascist?

Fascist ministers in Italy. 15 million votes for a fascist in Russia. Nazi gangs burning immigrant hostels in Germany. BNP thugs on the streets of East London. Why are the Nazis on the rise in Europe? Are they really about to take over? And how can they be stopped?

Come along, have your say, and meet other REVOLUTION supporters at the party afterwards!. Let us know if you need transport or somewhere to stay the

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night. ye ee E | p DAYSCHOOL 4, Ff | want to join come to the gi Revolution Dayschool a : | ame:

a Address: A a Hq H | g Phone: 8 | BCM Box 7750 London WC1N 3] Ea