In discussing the article in the last CHALLENGE, The Seven Deadly Scenarios, one in our group commented that the army has been forced to recruit on an individualist basis (An Army of One), which makes it harder to marshal the patriotism they need. However, once soldiers get sent to Iraq, they can either be disgusted by what they observe and open to communist ideas, or can justify the horrors of war by allowing themselves to believe the patriotic lies they’re told.

As CHALLENGE frequently points out, there is a connection between war and fascism. In the U.S., the government has fostered street gangs to the point where, in many cities, more young people are killed at home than in Iraq. The bosses use the fear engendered by their gangs to justify metal detectors in schools, cameras everywhere and heavy police presence in working-class black and Latino neighborhoods. The average teenager believes that metal detectors and police in the school are “for our protection,” not to intimidate us. As the article pointed out, the rulers will use fear of epidemics as an excuse to control the movement of people out of their neighborhoods. This is reminiscent of the Nazis who used the lie that “all the Jews have typhoid” as an excuse for locking them up in the ghettos. The U.S. government has been getting many victims of fascist policies to accept or promote those policies.

Because of the weaknesses and small size of the communist movement, it is easier for the bosses to use fear to promote passivity. For example, some teachers would not fight school closings because they thought they’d be more likely to get another job if they kept quiet. On the other hand, there are many examples of the working class fighting back, which we read in the pages of CHALLENGE.

However, we are not working hard enough to strengthen the side of the contradiction that promotes fighting back and fighting for working-class control — communism. Sometimes we put too much stock in what the ruling class is doing and don’t think clearly enough about the ways we can make a difference by winning enough people to the communist side, so that we can smash the lying, murderous capitalist class.

CHALLENGE Reader