A call for united action to
at back monopoly’s attack

In letters to the New Democratic Party, the Canadian Labor
Congress, the National Farmers’ Union, and the Confederation of
National Trade Unions, the Communist Party of Canada has call
for united resistence to the alarming recessionary trend.

Dear friends,

Despite talk to the contrary, the drift to de-
pression continues in Canada. Production is de-
clining; inflation is rising. Officially acknowledged
unemployment rose to 6.75) of the labor force in
January, that is 817,000 .unemployed, and may
well reach one million or more within the next
few months unless a drastic change of policy is
achieved.

Yet the Government continues to argue that
conditions in Canada are not as bad as in other
capitalist countries. This may be so for the pre-
sent, but it is not likely to continue that way a's
the economic crisis deepens in the USA, Western
Europe and Japan.

In any case, this claim is cold comfort for the
unemployed and for the victims of the inflationary
price spiral. For them the depression has arrived.

Needless to say, the deepening economic crisis
which -is reflected in rising unemployment and
spiralling inflation will not be coped with either
through false optimism, or by attacks on the jobs,
living standards and trade union rights of work-
ing people. These will aggravate the crisis rather
than alleviate it.

Radically new policies are required to cope
with the present economic crisis. It is clear by
now that patch-work policies will not work any-
more. Neither will policies geared to ensure maxi-
mum profits for the corporations.. The ‘concept
that what is good for the corporations is good
for Canada has been proven demonstrably harm-

' ful and’ disastrous.

- We need a_new set of policies which can pro-
tect the working people from the effects of crisis
while-at the same time coming to°grips with the
causes of the crisis.

© The multi-national corporations.and mono-
_poly in Canada must be’ curbed.

© The so-called free market must not be al-
lowed to run wild. It has to be placed under
democratic control and regulation; including
public ownership, starting with energy and
natural resources and industries related to it;
industry must be built where resources are
found and an investment policy pursued aim-
ed at overcoming disparities, inéquality and
lack of equal opportunity.

@ New economic and trade policies must be
embarked upon based on peaceful co-existence
and detente to extricate Canada from the
crisis- and _ inflation-ridden U.S. economy,
create new opportunities for jobs and at the
same time strengthen Canada’s independence.
Canada must establish new trading partners
not only in Western Europe but in Eastern
Europe and the Soviet Union as well.

@ Socio-economic policies should be pursued
whose aim is the achievement of full employ-
ment, rising standards and stable prices for the
working people of our country.

We enclose a recently issued statement which
is being distributed throughout the country by
the. Communist Party of Canada. In this state-
ment_you will find more details of such a pro-
gram which we ask you ‘to ‘consider.

No single Party, trade union, farm, local or

community organization can by itself develop an

~ effective fight-back against the crisis policies of
-monopoly. : ;

This is why we propose united action around

an, agreed common program by all working-class, __

trade union and democrati¢ movements. ~

.. United: economic .action..is,.needed to beat
back the monopoly and government's offensives::'
on wages, standards and trade union rights.

United political action is needed to press for
legislative measured federally, provincially and
on a municipal basis, as well as to change the
balance of power in provincial parliaments and
federally in the interests of the majority — the
working. people of Canada.

More immediate, country-wide action is need-
ed ‘to win a new budget geared to full employ-
ment and rising standards including reduced
taxes, increased pensions, dnd family allowances,

No single party, trade union, farm,
local or community organization can, by
itself, develop an effective fight-back
against the crisis policies of mono-
poly...

United economic action is needed .. .

a vast housing program and adequate incomes
for the unemployed for the entire period of un-
employment. .

With prospects of one million or more unem-
ployed in the immediate period ahead, emer-
gency measures are needed.

We urge the Canadian Labor Congress to
take the initiative on an all Canadian: scale and
in each province, town and city, to help bring
into being “Committees of Concern” which would
develop various forms of public pressure on all
levels.of government. for such objectives.

Monopoly and the multi-national: corporations

.must not be allowed to place the burden of their

crisis on the backs of the working people.

Hoping for a positive response from your or- -
ganization.

Fraternally yours, .
Je Communist Party’ of Canada: 0:
Central Executive Committee,

epperoW. Kashtan,
General Secretary:

BY NORMAN FREED |

~one can accumulate the wealth created by the work-

It’s the system...

We received a letter from a worker, who is a mem-
_ ber of the Communist Party of Canada. He tells us
that during a break he and a.group of workers got
into a discussion about layoffs, the decline in produc-
tion, about recession and depression, about rising
Prices, fantastic profits, about inflation and wages and
Other things that bother working men and women.
€y kept up the discussion for several days. :
In the course of the discussion one of the workers

| asked this question: In reading your paper the Cana-

ian Tribune I have come across statements which
Claimed that most of our troubles come from the
Capitalist system. I think I agree with this, but I am
Not sure I know how this works out in everyday life.
During the discussion somebody asked the question:
I have read in your paper, either in an editorial, or
M an article, I forget now which, that most of the
_ oubles come from “the main contradiction within
Capitalism.” We argued about this and thought per-
48s you would explain this further in one of your
Columns,
t This is of course an important question. Before we
_ ty to answer it I want to congratulate you and the
8roup of workers for entering into the discussion
Which you describe in your letter.
: * - * *
: Here is a brief explanation. Marx, Engels and Lenin,
of passed all others in the discovery and elaboration
its the nature of the main contradiction within capital-
inp ociety. On the basis of a deep study of the work-
oe Of capitalism they came to the conclusion that
Sai main contradiction is between social production
ref Private, or individual appropriation. It is often
i erred to as a contradiction between “social produc-
°n and’ relations of production. : oy
fore we go any further we should first explain
S at is meant by the term “social production”?
Scial production is the process in which men and
of we" work for the purpose of creating the means
ar Production, machines, tools, transportation etc. and
ticles for personal use. All articies necessary for
-© existence and development of society.
€ process of social production constitutes a pur-

Marxism-Leninism and today's world

poseful activity of people in which they act cn nature

and transform it to conform to their own needs. It is
a continuous, you could say that it is a perpetual and
natural condition of human life.

We know from our cwn experience that in condi-
tions of mass production and division of labor it is
not possible to identify either who produced a given
article, or to identify the person for whom it was
produced, Articles are produced for the market for
society. Some might say, what about articles “made
to order?” This still exists, but it is not the main
feature of present day production. Production there-
fore bears a social character.

* * *

We should now explain what is meant by the term
“relations of production.” Relations of production are
formed between people in the process of social pro-
duction, exchange and distribution of wealth. Men and
women cannot produce without uniting, somehow for
joint activities and mutual exchange of the products
of their activities. :

The key question here is ownership. If ownership
of the means of production are social, collective, as
they are in the socialist countries there is harmony,
production is social and the relations of production
are social. If the relations of production are private,
individual, as they are under capitalism, there is an
ever-growing contradiction between social production
and private appropriation. If we think about it we
cannot but come to the conclusion that this is the
basic cause of our troubles. r

* 2

We have indicated that the purpose of social pro-

duction is to satisfy the various needs of the people.
Under conditions where relations of production are

social, socially owned, this purpose is realized. As pro-
ductivity of labor and production grows so does the
standard of living. These conditions exist in the social-
ist countries, no individual can privately appropriate
the products of social production. In other words, no

ing men and women for private gain. That is why
they have no. economic crisis, no unemployment, no
inflation. In the long run the people in socialist coun-

_ tries realize the fruits of their productive labor.

This of course is-not the case under capitalism.
Just the opposite is the result of social production. As
productivity of labor grows and with it the ever in-
creasing growth of wealth those who produce the
wealth’ receive a relatively declining share and in
certain cases an absolute declining share, while the
private owners appropriate an ever-increasing share of
the wealth. It is almost universally acknowledged that
‘the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting
poorer,” =<":

When we are referring to the private owners we
are not talking about the “‘little fellows,” we are re-
ferring to the “big fellows,” the monopolies and the
multi-national corporations. .They appropriate the
greatest share of the wealth produced, not only at
the expense of workers and working farmers, but even
at the expense of the “little capitalists.” We can see
the truth of this in government statistics and in the
pages of the daily newspapers and in the mass media.
In most instances this is distorted and the big corpora-
tions are represented as “necessary and useful citi-
zens,” without whom production could not take place.

The facts are that these corporation heads play no
role in the process of production. They don’t even clip
their coupons. They. are social parasites. Production
is run by people who have been hired because of their
‘special training and know how.

As can be seen the question asked is of vital im-
portance to the majority of the people in cur. country
as it affects our daily lives. Yes, it is the basic cause
for periodic economic crisis, for the twin evils, unem-
ployment and _jinflation, the decline in our standard of
living and all the other troubles working men and
women face. But it also indicates the path to the
fundamental solution, to bring into harmony social
production with social relations. To achieve this re-
quires the abolition of private appropriation. About —
this in a subsequent’column. —

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 1975—Page 5