The anti-war movement around the world has been a great inspiration to the workers and youth in America. From the seas of demonstrators on mass demos in the US, Spain, Italy, Britain, France, Pakistan, the Middle East, and elsewhere, to the hundreds of smaller demos from small town USA to Antarctica, this is truly a global movement. This wave of radicalization is occurring even before the war on Iraq has formally begun. Above all, it is a reaction against the ongoing war on working people all around the world. More and more, people are realizing that a tiny minority of wealthy parasites makes its profit by leeching off of the majority of humanity. The drive to war has served as a catalyst to awaken all these frustrations and most importantly, to give it an organized expression.
The explosion of the anti-globalization movement in Seattle in 1999 was a warning shot to the ruling class. The youth - that highly sensitive barometer of society - was beginning to stir after some two decades of relative dormancy. This movement was very heterogeneous in nature, with no real program, perspectives or organization. The increasing participation of the working class was a positive development, but the entire movement was cut across after September 11 and Bush’s “with us or against us” hysteria. However, just a year and a half after it seemed to many that Bush now stood unopposed, free to impose his reactionary agenda on the world, that movement has come back on an entirely new level. There are demos around the US almost every day, with national demonstrations already larger than at the peak of the Vietnam War.
The anti-war movement is much broader in scope than in the past, involving many more people and groups. Here in the heart of imperialism, thousands of local and regional anti-war organizations are forming, and in an important development, the trade unions have launched national structures to unify the movement. The formation of US Labor Against War, which we reported on in the past, is a giant step forward. Even the conservative leadership of the AFL-CIO has made a statement against the war. So far over 100 cities have passed anti-war resolutions, and high-profile artists in the entertainment industry have spoken out against the war and against neo-McCarthyism.
This week, it was the turn of the youth of America to present to the world the new anti-war movement. The newly formed National Youth and Student Peace Coalition called for a student walk out on March 5, and participation went far beyond even the best of expectations. 200 schools and campuses were expected to participate, but in the end some 400-500 high school and college campuses and 30,000-50,000 students were involved - the largest campus protests since the Vietnam era. Students in Canada, Spain, Pakistan, Australia, the UK, France, Bulgaria, Switzerland, and elsewhere abroad also took up the call for the strike. The focus of the event was “books not bombs”, a demand for further funding of education instead of war. Other slogans included: “no blood for oil”, “no war with or without the UN”, and “drop Bush not bombs”.
Also of great importance, on February 21-23 the Campus Anti-War Network was founded in Chicago, and adopted a very good set of “points of unity”. They have called for an April 5 national mobilization in a few major cities following on the heels of the student-labor week of action already being organized from March 31 to April 4. At the current pace of events, participation in that mobilization should exceed expectations as well. There is no reason why every single campus in America cannot form an anti-war committee and link up with CAN and the NYSPC. The example of the nation-wide Students’ Union in Spain should be studied and recreated in this country.
What is most important about these developments, is the organized form that the anti-war movement is taking. The energy and resourcefulness of the American working class and youth can be seen by the tremendous advances which have been made in just two months. What is needed now is to link up the labor and student movements, and to work out a program for the revolutionary transformation of society. Many of the demands being raised by the demonstrators are very good, but we must work to give the movement a clearer class content and perspective. This is only the beginning of the beginning of the movement.
The period we live in is characterized by extreme instability, wars, revolutions, and counter-revolutions, and there will be many opportunities for the movement to grow in terms of participation, experience, and influence. However, we must emphasize that only a class solution can lead to real improvement in our conditions of life. The ruling class will simply not give us more books instead of bombs because books do not make a profit, whereas bombs can be used to coerce, and if necessary blow apart all those who stand in the way of profits and power. Capitalism means war - the struggle against the war can only be victorious if it is generalized into a struggle against the capitalist system itself.
Forward to the building of the youth and labor anti-war movement!
Forward to the end of the capitalist system!