The Militant (logo) 
Vol.63/No.44      December 13, 1999 
 
 
Young Socialists forum in Seattle helps make fund drive goal, attracts young people  
{Young Socialists Around the World column}  
 
 
This column is written and edited by the Young Socialists (YS), an international organization of young workers, students, and other youth fighting for socialism. For more information about the YS write to: Young Socialists, 3284 23rd St., San Francisco, California, 94110. Tel: (415) 824-1429.  
Email: 105162.605@compuserve.com 
 
 
BY AUTUMN KNOWLTON 
SEATTLE—The Young Socialists made its local goal of $400 towards the national fund drive November 12 at a special YS-organized forum that featured YS leader Manuel González. The event contributed to the overall success of the $8,000 fund-raising campaign to meet the national operating expenses of the Young Socialists.

The forum, which was entitled "Prospects for Building an International Revolutionary Youth Movement Today," included a report on González's participation in the International Seminar of Youth and Students on Neoliberalism in Havana, Cuba, August 15-19, as well as discussion on what the Young Socialists are doing today.

Several young people who are interested in finding out more about the Young Socialists took part in the discussion, including students from the Evergreen State College, the University of Puget Sound, and North Seattle Community College.

González explained that the example of the Cuban revolution points the way forward out of the worldwide crisis of capitalism. Leaders of the Cuban revolution who addressed the conference emphasized that young people need to get involved in the struggles of the working class.

Representatives from the Young Socialists went to the conference from Canada, the United States, and Sweden and intervened in the discussions, promoting the idea that the system of capitalism needs to be replaced all over the world, not just in Cuba, in order for humanity to move forward

Much of the discussion during the forum revolved around Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela. Chávez combines strongman tactics with modest social reforms to limit democracy for working people by calling on them to "trust and follow me and I'll solve your problems," while giving the illusion that he stands above class struggles.

Participants also discussed other topics such as neoliberalism, the protests revolving around the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Seattle November 30–December 3, and the ultrarightist politics put forward by Patrick Buchanan, whose aim is to put together the cadres of what can be a fascist movement in the United States.

After the forum participants stuck around for more discussion with González and other forum participants. The YS did the drawing for a raffle they had been selling tickets for throughout the last month of the fund drive. In total the YS raised $230 that evening from contributions at the door, raffle ticket sales, and a collection at the meeting.

The next evening González spoke at a similar forum in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Young Socialists in Seattle organized events throughout the drive to send in money to the YS National Office on a regular basis, including a video showing and used book sale October 23. The video featured excerpts of speeches by Malcolm X that show his political evolution as a Black nationalist fighter into a revolutionary leader.

The video inspired a lot of discussion among the participants about the importance Malcolm X placed on working people organizing themselves independently of the Democratic and Republican parties, and the need to make a revolution to achieve liberation for Blacks. People also discussed Malcolm X's insistence on viewing the struggle of equal rights of Blacks in the United States as an important struggle taking place in the context of international political development, and in particular the national liberation struggles developing in the semicolonial world.  
 
 
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