BY NAOMI CRAINE AND SALM KOLIS
SAN FRANCISCO - "Socialist Workers are proving that it pays
to be seen with and seen reading this book," declared Joel
Britton at the Socialist Workers Party convention here, holding
up a copy of Capitalism's World Disorder: Working-Class
Politics at the Millennium. Britton, a leader of the SWP's work
in the trade unions, was giving a report titled "Stand Up, Act,
Fight, and Be Counted: The Class-Struggle Vanguard in
Formation." The report centered on deepening the party's
participation in labor and farm struggles. He described some of
the initial experiences socialist workers have had selling the
book on the job, since adopting quotas to sell 500 copies to
their co-workers and through political work in the union
fractions by May 31.
The convention launched a broader campaign through the party branches to sell an additional 1,000 copies by the same date. This campaign was a point of discussion at a workshop on "Branch and fraction sales campaigns for Capitalism's World Disorder and the Militant as we step up mass work." Over the next week, branches of the party will be adopting quotas for sales of the book, including through local work in the trade unions, for a total of 1,500. Chapters of the Young Socialists and supporters of the communist movement where there is no party or YS unit are also encouraged to take goals and join in the effort.
The discussion at the workshop made clear how broad the possibilities for this effort are, as one speaker after another described the response they've gotten from co-workers and others.
From Los Angeles, April Holland explained the importance of political attention to selling the book at the Militant Labor Forum, a weekly series hosted in Pathfinder bookstores across the country. "The very first thing you see when you enter the bookstore is an attractive display of the new book - you can't miss it. Last week we sold seven at the forum on Malcolm X and the Black liberation struggle today." She noted that how to confront the economic crisis squeezing workers and farmers in Mexico is an important discussion among students at universities in the region. The chapters of Capitalism's World Disorder titled "So Far from God, So Close to Orange County: The Deflationary Drag of Finance Capital" and "Youth and the Communist Movement" help answer these questions, Holland said.
Tom Headley, a rail worker and member of the United Transportation Union, reported on four copies of the book he sold to co-workers in Washington, D.C. "As with sales in general," Headley explained, "it's important to listen to what people are saying. Then think about it, and relate it back to them in terms of the book. My discussions that led to sales, or future sales, have been very wide ranging - from the war in Yugoslavia to Cuba to the protest at the Academy Awards of the Oscar to Elia Kazan."
In each case, Headley was able to point to sections of the book that helped to illuminate the questions on co-workers' minds. "On Yugoslavia, I said this book explains who is seeking to get what out of the conflict." A fifth book was sold by a team of socialist workers that sell at the train station every week. As a result, Headley has been able to follow up on the sale with discussions about the book.
One worker from London said five of his co-workers have bought copies of The Truth about Yugoslavia: Why Working People Should Oppose Intervention, and was confident they would be interested in Capitalism's World Disorder. All of them have been involved in showing solidarity for striking SkyChefs workers at Heathrow airport.
Frank Forrestal reported that a supporter of the SWP in Erie, Pennsylvania, recently bought five copies of the book to distribute in his area at a meeting of party supporters in Pittsburgh. He has already sold two.
Following that meeting two other party supporters in Pittsburgh began planning to visit commercial bookstores. As an initial result of their work, a university bookstore placed an order for 14 titles, including two copies of Capitalism's World Disorder and one each of The Changing Face of U.S. Politics and New International No. 11, featuring "U.S. Imperialism Has Lost the Cold War." There are clearly many possibilities to get commercial bookstores to carry this title.
Working farmers are interested in the book too. Eight farmers from Brooksville, Florida, drove 300 miles to attend a Militant Labor Forum in Miami on the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Airlines strike. "We sold one copy of Capitalism's World Disorder and one Militant subscription," said Rachele Fruit, a member of the IAM in Miami.
Following the discussions at the SWP convention, Arlene Rubinstein reports selling two copies, for a total of three, of Capitalism's World Disorder to co-workers at Northwest Airlines in Atlanta. The first was to Pete, a mechanic who is Black and well known as an antiracist fighter. Rubinstein reports, "Less well known are some other important views that he holds."
"I was in Korea and against that war. I opposed Vietnam and I'm against Yugoslavia - which is also a war," Pete explained. "Nothing gives the U.S. government the right to draw a line somewhere in another people's country and then dictate how they should act and what their relations should be on either side of the line." In addition to buying the book, Pete became a member of the Pathfinder Reader's Club to take advantage of the club's discounts.
"I need this book," was the response of another worker who bought the book, a mechanic born in Ethiopia. "Last week he bought a copy of the Militant after we talked about Yugoslavia and this week I showed him the book," reports Rubinstein. "He was attracted to the comprehensive world analysis in the book. We also looked up `Ethiopiá in the index. The cited passage explains that World War II was really three wars in one: an interimperialist war, a war against the workers states, and a war by the colonial peoples - especially of Ethiopia - for their independence. After reading that, he made up his mind to buy the book."
Rubinstein and a third worker plan to read the book together.