09) CONFUSION FROM THE RIGHT

People's Voice Editorial

     These are complex and turbulent times, a period in which movements which take consistent stands in defense of working people are often relatively weak. Ultra-right forces posing as "progressive" sometimes take advantage to penetrate and mislead the resistance against corporate domination.

     One example in Canada is the badly misnamed "Radical Press" website, which presents a mix of left analyses with a deadly dose of hate propaganda. Under the rubric of "defending free speech," this site posts the viciously anti-Semitic forgery Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the fascist rantings of Eustance Mullins, and similar gutter trash. Not surprisingly, the Radical Press gives coverage to the hate campaigns led by Kari Simpson and "Culture Guard".

     In the United States, despair at the failure of the Obama administration to work for truly progressive change has opened the door for libertarian Ron Paul to attract support from some opponents of the corporate agenda. But we must not be fooled into believing that Paul's criticism of U.S. foreign wars translates into a progressive agenda. Much as Adolf Hitler gained support by attacking unpopular policies of the ruling class in Weimar Germany, Ron Paul seeks to channel working class anger into the divisive and reactionary politics of immigrant bashing, homophobia, and narrow nationalism.

     The Ron Pauls and "Radical Presses" of the world do not offer any future beyond blind hatred. What we need instead is to expand our patient efforts to build broad unity around the immediate and long-term needs of working people: jobs, democracy, social equality, global peace, protection of the environment.

(The above article is from the February 1-14, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)