Vol. 75/No. 20      May 23, 2011

Cameron was talking to socialist workers who stopped by his house Sunday, May 8, for a follow-up discussion about the Militant and to see if he’d like to buy a copy of The Changing Face of U.S. Politics by Jack Barnes, a book being offered for just $10 with a subscription. He did. Cameron said he noticed the Militant was running a fund drive, which he also contributed to. (See Militant Fighting Fund article on page 4.)

Over the past week, the Militant supporters on the West Coast have been organizing daily door-to-door teams to sell subscriptions. We’re reaching out to working people with a fighting perspective to respond to the growing crisis of the capitalist system, and finding receptivity to what we have to say.

Eric Simpson and Zack Randolph from San Francisco, along with this reporter, joined socialist workers in Seattle in early May to knock on doors in neighborhoods where workers live. In West Seattle a retired union carpenter said he didn’t support public workers who’ve demonstrated this year to maintain their living and job conditions and defend their unions. “The government just can’t afford that anymore,” he said.

A worker who lives nearby said he was familiar with his neighbor’s views but doesn’t agree. He works in one of the many electronics plants in the area, and his wife is a teacher. He said he knew what the fight by public workers is about and liked what the Militant explains about working-class solidarity. He bought a subscription.

Simpson, this reporter, and Edwin Fruit from Seattle then traveled to Los Angeles May 5 to join the door-to-door effort there. “Workers appreciate that we want to hear their opinions,” said Fruit. He described selling subscriptions to workers who described themselves in all kinds of ways politically—conservatives, liberals, and otherwise—but were interested in talking to socialist workers about what’s in the Militant.

Efren Quintana was short on cash the first day we met him. “He bought a single copy and asked us to come back for the subscription,” said Simpson. When the team returned, Efren explained that he had showed it to several coworkers where he works as a gardener at the port of Los Angeles. He invited Simpson to return another day at lunchtime for a discussion with his coworkers about the Militant’s working-class outlook, and supporters in Los Angeles are organizing to do so.

Fruit said he has gotten into the habit of carrying the paper on him wherever he goes, so he’s always prepared for discussions about the Militant. On Fruit’s flight back to Seattle, a nursing student in the seat next to him explained how her views had changed about U.S. government policy in Iraq and Afghanistan. She has family members in the military and had been in favor of those wars. Now she thinks Washington should get out. She was also interested in how workers can fight for better living and job conditions. Fruit sold her a subscription.

“Don’t go anywhere without a Militant, a sub blank, and a couple of books,” he said.

Seven subscriptions were sold on the first day of door-to-door sales by a team in the San Francisco Bay Area that includes several supporters of the paper there, as well as Arlene Rubenstein from Los Angeles and this reporter.

“Things were going good for a few years,” a construction worker told a team member. “I bought a house and was working steady. But that only lasted three years. I no longer have the house and now I’m interested in the Militant newspaper, so things really have changed.”
 
 
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