This special step will allow campaigners for the next two weeks to use their momentum to join the unfolding political discussions around events in the Mideast and Yugoslavia, as well as the heightened interest in the Socialist Workers campaign in the midst of the electoral debate, in order to reach the international goals of 1,000 Militant subscriptions, 350 Perspectiva Mundial subscriptions, and 2,000 copies of the pamphlet The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning.

Militant editor Martín Koppel said in an interview, "We are urging all socialist workers, young socialists, and supporters of the communist movement to help sell subscriptions to these publications and copies of the pamphlet.

"Every supporter knows at least one or two co-workers or friends who would be interested in buying and reading The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning. This can help clinch the success of the circulation campaign," he said.

The pamphlet by Jack Barnes is not about a series of "issues." Above all, it provides a method--a way to approach all fundamental questions in politics from a class point of view. It allows working people to cut through all the smoke and veils that bosses and capitalist politicians use to hide the truth about this class-divided society--about workers' social wage, education, the death penalty--and offers a perspective of revolutionary struggle for working people to transform society and change themselves in the process (see excerpts on page 4).

Because it immediately draws readers into working-class politics, this pamphlet has sold extremely well when its contents are explained. And the experience of campaigners has shown that sales of The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning have helped lead to subscriptions of the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial.  
 
A big challenge
Supporters of the socialist publications face a big challenge. We need to sell 600 copies of the new Pathfinder pamphlet, 351 subscriptions to the Militant, and 67 subscriptions to Perspectiva Mundial to make the international goals. A decisive shift in the campaign to focus on reaching these goals can make the difference.

Recent reports from a few places give an indication of how this is possible.

In Los Angeles, Elizabeth Lariscy says socialist workers and Young Socialists participated in a series of meetings on revolutionary Cuba, and had a great time discussing politics with students attracted to the working class and to the revolutionary example of Cuba. They went over their goal on PM subscriptions, are now close to their quota on the Militant, and have raised their goal for The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning from 60 to 80.

"We sold 12 Militant subs and 3 subscriptions to Perspectiva Mundial at five campuses where Esteban Morales and Katia de Llano, professors at the University of Havana, spoke on the topic 'The Cuban Revolution Today: Why the U.S. Cold War Against Cuba Continues,' " wrote Lariscy.

"Nearly 500 people, including students, professors, and others attended the campus meetings," said Lariscy. "At every meeting the supporters of the Socialist Workers election campaign displayed Pathfinder books, the Militant, and Perspectiva Mundial. Students crowded around the literature table before and especially after the presentations. We sold 19 copies of The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning, and a total of $400 worth of Pathfinder literature."

The most enthusiastic response to revolutionary literature was at Compton College in a working-class area of mostly Latino and Black students. Some 170 youth came to hear Morales and Llano. Six students there bought Militant subscriptions, and more than $200 worth of books, including seven copies of the new pamphlet, were sold.

From Miami, Mary Ann Schmidt reports, "We are continuing the campaign to build a revolutionary movement regardless of the election outcome." She said they plan to go back to Clewiston and Harlem, two nearby towns built around a large sugar mill. "In Harlem, which is largely segregated with a predominantly Black population, we sold a Militant subscription to a truck driver who hauls sugar cane," she said.

"The Clewiston Library recently purchased five Pathfinder books, including two sets of the two-volume series W.E.B. Du Bois Speaks, which was recently put into digital form by Pathfinder volunteers."

Schmidt added that one of those sets will be a donation for the upcoming Harlem Library, an old schoolhouse that is being converted to a library. It will open in December and presents another opportunity for them to place Pathfinder books and pamphlets.

"Some of the places we plan to go are north of Miami--the Boca Raton and West Palm Beach areas, where there is a large Arab community, Schmidt said. "About one-third of our Militant subscriptions have been sold at street tables, public meetings, and demonstrations to support the Palestinians' struggle against Israeli military assaults."

Eva Braiman, a meat packer from Cleveland wrote, "We are closing in on our goal to sell 50 copies of The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning. Socialists who are members of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees who work at a men's suit factory sold six copies of the pamphlet to co-workers." She said sales teams sold 14 pamphlets to students on campuses in Cleveland and other parts of Ohio, six going door-to-door in working-class communities, and one to a farmer at a grain elevator.  
 
 
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