‘ign Wa: ‘ .
; $ carried by the Communist Party and the Young Workers Liberation League contingents at the March on

; me, June 16,

(|
Allonshi
lish between the two world social systems.
ar, 14S been forced to give up its policy of some

The
' bag pres of the short-range profits now broke
; “ishing x e long-range strategic class interests of
B%cialis ae maintaining an economic blockade of

Worl “Sing The floodgates of trade with the soc-

“poly Secuti Swung wide open. You can find more
Pili couives in Moscow and the other capitals
fot on: ‘ puties now than you find on Wall Street.
etry i, on Wall Street but from every capitalist
Ibtete are Rone. The hotels are loaded with them
jfiltas far ac tts Just waiting to come in. It's a new
| i. trade is concerned. It is a sign of this new
i st a sn world relationship that Comrade
ih bower nae to our shores. Brezhnev symbol-
te power the Soviet Union. But he also symbol-
(that fact of the working class and we should not

e So Se

| , or i A Policy of peace reflects the new role of
ts Of the @SS as the class that carries the best in-
he vil Rflect fon race on its shoulders. And Brezh-
ta riot that new role for the working class. We
ns Witive oF history where in the mass mind every-
had ee beginning to be related to the working

Ne 0 the ything negative and corrupt and evil is
hy, image Brealist class. That’s the change in the
he that j s is now taking place. That’s the historic

Ing place in the mass minds the world

i)
nt

i New
/ Postpon, York Times has called in two editorials

nay pone:
Ment of Brezhnev’s trip. The Wall Street

ita as
ae When pecomed the visit but has warned — be
Ae, ae algo ezhnev gets to these shores! These edi-

8 sok Symbolic. For the first time they are say-
Pals aoe of U.S. capitalism, the strongest
n Y, “Be careful, you are dealing from a

"! ‘ We > 66 . as
Aryl q akness.”” “It is the socialist spokesman

MY, S2hy
Meng ev wi
fa the Will argue strongly for a policy of putting

“ons, 4 fearf

;  HeV’s vee

a it . sine will demonstrate again how peace-

gy, C8 a Ween capitalist and socialist nations
the

8ainst

 bive Policies o ne Policies of imperialist aggression.
fog 4 Wa eee calist aggression that are forced
Mp, ad Se of the pressures of the socialist

My Mpay. “Le ses
NN ations Policies of peaceful coexistence. For U.S.

Ne ‘ fs ifeatn That’s why they’re interested.
ean: h nian about that. For the Soviet Union it
hn geen acce Ction of the economic barriers. It
Ven, .8Y of all e to the industrial facilities, to the
1, hay Portant the nations of the world — and that’s
1 Ricat the use achievement for socialism. Socialism
sang Lacilitieg the best of the industrial and tech-
o ket BO os a the world. For our working class
the or their ad, milk, eggs, for farmers it means
World Oyen acts. For the partisans of social-

€r the exchange will open the mass

Ted Reich

mind to a more objective study of socialism and for the
world it means peace — and those are all important
achievements, and they are all related to Brezhnev’s
visit.

The breakup of the cold war iceberg is a fact and a
defeat for imperialism. This is the big thing U.S. im-
perialism has held on to — this cold war iceberg. They
had to give it up. And that’s a tremendous defeat for
imperialism. It is a victory for the forces of the world
revolutionary process. Therefore we welcome comrade
Brezhnev as a spokesman for socialism, for national lib-
eration, as a spokesman of the working class — the work-
ing elass in power and the working class the world over.

During the election campaign we spoke often about
the Nixon re-election phase of the economic cycle. That
is that Nixon policies were massive bugging, massive
provocations, massive demagogy, but also massive in-
jection of economic stimulation. This was a special pre-
election policy (it was part of the Watergate), economic
policies that were related to the re-election campaign of
Nixon. They were irresponsible policies and we said that
in our campaign.

We said one of the new factors in the campaign was

the use of the state-monopoly structure by Nixon. Right _

after the elections we stated that Nixon’s pre-election
policies were aimed at influencing the economic cycle
so that it would be-on the upswing for the election period.
It released funds in all directions. Military hardware
orders went out, special project funds were released,
highway funds were released. Federal spending was
greatly increased and now stands at $230 billion a year —
one-fifth of the gross national product! Certain price
increases were held up and we are only now beginning to
see the post-election escalation of. price increases: We
are going to see the same in tax and rent increases.
These are policies of state-monopoly capitalism. State
monopoly capitalism makes it possible for the ruling
class and the ruling class party in power to engage in
these maneuvers on a new scale.

There will be a noticeable shift in post-election
economic policies. And that’s why it was so important
to emphasize it before the elections. The policy is one of
attack on all sides on the standard of living. Even the
mild restrictions on price increases are being lifted.
There’s intensification of the drive for productivity.
There will be cutbacks in housing, welfare, education,
medicare and health, ecology, mass transportation.
There are proposals to cut all federal funds for housing.
That was an additional important contribution about
the nature of monopoly state capitalism and about Nix-
on’s policies.

It was important because now the economic chick-
ens of those policies are flying home and most econo-
mists now agree that Nixon’s Watergate economic pump-
priming artifically overstimulated the economy — and
it did so because it was part of the Watergate re-elec-
tion campaign of president Nixon. The amount of stimu-
lation was geared to Nixon’s re-election, not to the needs
of the economy. That’s what was qualitatively new in
that period. And like a person far gone on drugs the U.S.
economy has gone berserk on this high dose of stimu-

i d billions pumped by ae into the

orporate treasuries, a tenfold return on their campaign
in the Watergate contributions, the billions poured into
the banks by the Federal Reserve System, all this is
being spent or lent — and is not only buying more goods,
but, more important, it is feeding the worst inflation

since World War II.

The monopolies know that today’s inflation spells
tomorrow’s financial crisis. They know it points to the
next devaluation of the dollar and the more rapid loss of
overseas markets. But it also means today’s extra prof-
its. On Wall Street they call these first three months of
1973 ‘‘the 90-day wonder’’ because the corporate profits
went up 26%.

&

Actually, of course, it is the monopolies that make
the inflation real by jacking up prices. In the final anal-
ysis this is what the Watergate conspiracy was all about.
As Marx said, profits are derived from the exploitation
of labor. When profits rise exceptionally fast it means
only that workers are speeded up extra fast and work
extra long or their real wages are cut, or both. In this
boom it is both. Real wages are cut. The killing speedup
is hitting millions of workers. Real wages are going down
even by official figures. The decline in real wages is 3%
in the first three months of the year! And if Nixon’s 5.5%
ceiling on wage increases is enforced — and you can be
sure that’s what John Connally is working on — the de-
cline will be 6% by the end of the year. Three to 6% de-
cline in real wages, a 26% increase in profits. That’s the
essence of Watergate economics. That’s a sharp class
contrast. Most of the new labor contracts now being
signed will result in a continuing decline in real wages.

Nearly two years of controls were a key part of the.

economic Watergate, the break-ins into the pockets of
all workers and their families and the transfer of the
loot to the pockets of the billionaires. And now the liber-
als — sometinies it’s hard to say what to call them —
who paved the way for Phase One, are now urging Nixon
to go to Phase Four to replay Phase One. That’s the lib-
eral side of monopoly capital. To freeze wages at zero
increase while imposing a phony lid on prices. If Nixon
follows this advice the decline in real wages will be
10% by the end of the year. Just an unbelievable turn of
events in the midst of a boom.

The only reason the administration hasn’t moved yet
is the fear that the Watergate exposé has so undermined
its authority that the workers wouldn’t swallow it — even
with the assistance of Meany, Abel and Fitzsimmons
phe to hold the workers’ mouths open and pouring it

own.

And that’s where the question of boldness comes in
— boldness in the approach to the trade union movement.
The workers’ real wages are going down despite the fact
that they are working harder and longer than ever, save
in some peak war years in the past. The auto workers are
putting in an average of 7.4 hours overtime a week. That
means most auto workers are putting in six weekly
shifts for five shifts pay. Five shifts pay despite the over-
time, since, after paying super high taxes and living
costs, the pay still isn’t enough and still leaves less pur-
chasing power than formerly — although I might say that
in the last few days there are indications the overtime is
going down, which is a sign of the economic decline that

~ is taking place.

Based on accumulated world experiences, 40 years

ago, at the time when the chief task before the Commu-

nists was to rally masses in-a united front against fas-
cism, Otto Kuusinen, one of the great leaders of the
world communist movement, stated, ‘‘The principle
danger that confronts Communists at the present time is
undoubtedly the danger of losing the revolutionary per-
spectives. On the other hand, the correct appraisal of
the revolutionary perspective is merely a prerequisite
for the correct fulfillment of the tasks of the Communist
Party. Here the active role of the Communist Party only
begins. As we know in the old labor movement the left
social democrats relied on the spontaneity of the mass
movement. They waited passively for revolutionary out-
breaks. Such a tendency represents a serious danger at
the present time.’’ Then he added, ‘‘Of course, it’s crude
opportunism. Where the masses have not yet awakened
the Communist Party must be able to arouse them, to
stir them up, to mobilize them for struggle. Where the
masses in the process of radicalization are already in
motion, where they are seeking leadership, the Commu-
nist vanguard must be in a position to fulfill its role as a
revolutionary leader of mass struggles.” That was said
in December of 1933.

The post-election crisis in the U.S. has developed
with unusual speed. We can all agree with that. The Nix-
on offensive on Main Street took most people by surprise.
Most did not believe it would come so soon and so fast.

’ There has been a period of disbelief by millions, includ-

ing some on the left. The reaction to this reactionary of-
fensive has been somewhat slow incoming. — :

There’s no shortage of issues in this period. They’re
endless. The fact is there are so many issues that it is
one of those situations when people say, ‘‘There’s so
much to do I don’t know where to start.”” That may be
alright in life. But in political life such an attitude be-
comes an excuse for opportunistic inaction. There are
many issues but we have to isolate the key issues — the
key questions — and move on!

bic, CT yl , 3 ji4 3