What Time Is It?...
Isn't it always time to fight capitalism?

The text of this was given as part of a speech at the 2nd Asian Left Forum. These are remarks on the characteristics of the historical period we are in, and a few thoughts on the challenges and opportunities for the Asian left, prepared for the Asian Left Forum in Berkeley, CA, Feb. 26, 2000. Meizhu Lui is an activist who is currently part of a health care advocacy group in Boston, MA.

By Meizhu Lui
Part 1 2

Why ask the time?

In the Asian Left Forum Principles of Unity, we talk about it being a time where we must fight capitalism, imperialism, sexism, heterosexism ' but those "isms" are nothing new. They've been around for generations, and some longer than others. Our aim is not just to alleviate the suffering and immiseration of the many, to stem the tide of dislocation of peoples around the world, to combat the mind fuck that's inflicted on all of us so that we ourselves also become oppressors or buy into our own oppression ' we don't just want to soften the "isms," we want to get rid of them altogether.

In order to take the steps to do that, we need to answer, "What time is it?" We need to think about the current obstacles and opportunities. We can't wish a movement or an organized force into existence. We also don't want to miss opportunities to do just that. So I'd like to make a few broad observations about the period we're in. First the bad news.

Capitalism is on the gallop at home…..

1. The hard won social programs of the last half century ' the gains made first after the Great Depression and then due to the Civil Rights and other social movements of the 60's - have been dismantled. National and state governments have openly proclaimed that they have no responsibility to take care of the people. Because of these losses ' welfare, immigrant rights, affirmative action and so on - there is a growing class divide, increasing disparities in wealth and well being, including within communities of color.

2. Women, immigrants, and all people of color are especially targeted to be the winners in the race to the bottom. The new prevailing excuse to strengthen racism and sexism is to say that it is racist and sexist to presume that women and people of color are treated inequitably!

3. Market idiot-ology is not just dominant, it's triumphant! Even in progressive circles, market ideas creep in; if I hear one more term like "social investment," or "human capital," I'll throw up. I do organizing around health issues. But even in my line of work, those trying to make health care a right, call it a "consumer" movement! What are we "consuming?!"

4. Individualism has been raised to new levels of high, as people now embrace a "winner-take-all" mentality. Very few find it obscene that Michael Jordan makes more money than the GNP of small countries; he deserves it because he sure can dunk a ball. The government got away with calling the end of welfare the "Personal Responsibility Act," when it should have been called the "Social Irresponsibility Act." It's every man, woman, and child for themselves, and no one tending the lifeboats.

5. And there is no left wing to counter these trends, so the political center keeps moving farther and farther to the right. Now, it is radical to be a liberal; socialists are off the map completely!

…..and around the world.

1. The Soviet giant, formerly #2 in the World Wrestling Federation, went down not with a bang but a whimper. And without it, US led capital has been able to globalize its vision of the world as one big marketplace, where freedom is defined as "exploiter take all." The politics of greed are covered over with the mask of "economic aid." Poorer countries which have already been robbed of their resources in previous incarnations of imperialism must beg the global money lenders for pennies, and the interest is more than a pound of flesh ' they have to sell out their people by dismantling their own social welfare programs. These are called "structural adjustment programs," or SAPs, which is what the countries must feel like.

2. While business and money fly around the globe on electronic airwaves, people are also displaced by the rapidly changing economic and political situation caused by globalization and the newly imposed SAPs. The world's people are in motion; migration is everywhere, and the majority by the way are NOT coming to the US. Over 80 million people worldwide live outside the countries they were born in, many of them migrant workers from poorer countries, working in overdeveloped ones. There is a growing mixing of people both within the US borders and also in countries around the world. As always, the wealthier countries' governments blame immigrants for the economic woes of their own working class, and racism has become exacerbated. Look at the situation in Austria, where Haider's anti-immigrant won him a seat at the highest tables in government, at least for a while.

3. In the US, the Asian, Latino, and Black communities are bigger than they have ever been ' and the composition of each of those racial groups are changing as well. Look at the 2000 census ' every 10 years, the number of boxes to check multiplies. In 1950, you just had 2 choices, black or white.

Oppressed nationalities and oppressed nations used to see the enemy clearly.

We have always seen the strongest challenges to capitalism and imperialism coming from the national liberation movements both within the US and abroad. But today, things are not the same as the were a few decades ago. There is more division and confusion among oppressed nationality peoples.

1. We used to say, "countries want independence." But today, imperialism has gone beyond colonialism (occupation and setting up foreign governments) and neo-colonialism (controlling through puppet governments) - the US doesn't care whether countries are politically independent, because those countries are now controlled through the mechanism of the IMF and the SAPs. The real strings are being pulled by a supra-national capitalist elite. Even the most radical national leaders are having to make accommodations; people like Nelson Mandela in South Africa or Bertrand Aristide in Haiti could not make good their visions of liberated countries free to build their own economic structures so as to prioritize the poor.

2. When there were national liberation struggles in the past against leaders who catered to Western or Soviet imperialism, their victories were blows against the oppression of the superpowers. Today, the inter-ethnic conflicts do not have the same character. In fact, many of them are the after effect of the era of colonial rule; for example, Hutus and Tutsis were always different tribes but co-existed until Portuguese colonialists elevated one tribe over the other, using a "divide and conquer" technique to keep both tribes under control. When they left, they left a legacy of division and inequality. In these situations, there may be one group that has suffered the greater wrongs, but their uprisings do not threaten capitalism or imperialism.

3. At home, we've been in a dry spell in radical organizing in oppressed nationality communities. The Spring issue of Color Lines mentions the difference between the rebellions of Tommie Smith and John Carlos in 1968 versus Michael Jordan in 1992: a raised black fist protesting racism vs. an American flag used to cover up a Reebok label, protesting having to wear Reebok when he works for Nike!

The dry spell is also due to the victories of our movements in the 60's and 70's: we fought for affirmation action, and this opened the doors for more people of color to walk through ' and to join the other side! A dear friend tells how she dragged her children to Civil Rights marches, and fought for a program ensuring them a high quality education by forcing suburban communities around Boston to accept minority children into their schools. Her son went, and got a terrific education, and went to a prestigious college. Just when she thought she could pat herself on the back, he came home on college break, with the news that he was now the head of the campus Young Republicans! As they say, "be careful what you wish for, because you might get it!" There are growing class divisions in all of our communities of color. This is not to say we should not have fought for those reforms ' the reform struggle is a righteous struggle. But for too few people today are the reform struggles a means and not the end.

This is Part 1of 2