Socialism is the Best Medicine

Socialism is the Best Medicine

How Can We Organize Across National Borders?

September 8, 2007

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In “Their Globalization or Ours?” (ZNet, August 27, 2007) I stated that free trade and protectionist policies both serve the capitalist class and that working people must unite across national borders to raise their living standards. In response, one reader wrote,

I also believe that if all unions in the world work together we can achieve more, but many countries don’t have unions, and in some that do, like my birth country Iran, union leaders get arrested all the time. So, my question is, how can we support unions in other countries?”

The answer to that question lies in two basic principles of the labor movement: self-determination (what we wish for ourselves, we want for all) and solidarity (an injury to one is an injury to all).

Self-determination

“What we wish for ourselves, we want for all” means that all people must have the right to determine their own affairs. That includes dealing with their own leaders and governments, however corrupt.

The more the U.S. threatens Iran, the more the Iranian government can silence internal dissidents by claiming they are American agents. To support workers in Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Cuba, Columbia, Africa, Asia, etc., American workers must oppose U.S. intervention in those nations for any reason.

In The New Military Humanism: Lessons From Kosovo, Noam Chomsky documents how NATO bombed the former Yugoslavia “in the name of principles and values.” The actual goal was to take control of portions of Eastern Europe that were formerly under Russia’s influence.

Imperialism presents itself as humanitarian intervention in order to neutralize domestic opposition to war.

The U.S. invaded Iraq on the pretext of protecting the world from nuclear attack, protecting the Iraqi people from a cruel dictator, and establishing democracy. These have all proved to be lies. The majority of Iraqis want U.S. troops out of their country and most Americans and American soldiers agree. Yet, Washington continues its military occupation because this was a war for oil from the beginning.

It is impossible to support workers in other nations and also support our own government invading or meddling in those nations. Capitalism forces us to choose: be loyal to your nation and betray your class or be loyal to your class and betray your nation. (By “nation,” the capitalist class means its own interests, of course, not those of the majority.)

Solidarity

“An injury to one is an injury to all.” My first demonstration was at the U.S. embassy in Toronto in the spring of 1965. It was a solidarity rally protesting police violence against civil-rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama. I was amazed that so many White people would stand for hours in the cold rain to defend the rights of Black people in another country.

Mutual aid (solidarity) is basic to human nature. Over 70 percent of Americans think that the government should ensure that no one goes without food, clothing, or shelter. More than three-quarters of the billions of dollars raised by U.S. non-profit organizations every year is donated by individuals. In every disaster, 9/11, Katrina, the Asian tsunami, ordinary people rally to provide aid.

Worker solidarity is unique in its ability to inflict economic pain on the oppressors. In the fall of 2003, thousands of American dockworkers closed ports in Los Angeles in solidarity with striking grocery workers. In Brazil, unionists organized a solidarity campaign against U.S. intervention in Colombia and supported striking Volkswagen workers in South Africa.

The capitalist economy is truly global. Computers parts are manufactured by Chinese workers, assembled by Mexican workers, sold by American workers, and serviced by Indian workers. An economically-integrated workforce must unite across borders to defend their common interests.

American unionists have sponsored Iraqi unionists to tour the United States. Talking person-to-person about what is really going on in Iraq helps break through the web of self-serving lies spun by the people in power.

Last year, I attended a Labor Notes conference in Detroit where union activists from more than 17 different countries met in one room.

Workers from Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Palestine shared their experiences of organizing under military occupation. Auto workers from Germany, France, and the U.S. exchanged tactics on fighting assembly-line speedups. Despite language barriers, our similarities were overwhelming. After the meeting, people traded names and email addresses with great excitement.

An Irish nurse and I found much in common and began to correspond. One by one, we have included other health workers in our discussion. There are now six of us, from three different countries, corresponding by email. The challenges we face on the job and in our lives are remarkably similar. We want to build an organization of international health workers.

You might be wondering what six people in three different countries could possibly do. Knowing that you are not alone, that others are struggling with the same rotten system, is essential to staying sane and continuing the fight. That, in itself, is priceless. But we want much more than that. The relationships we are building today will be the foundation of tomorrow’s solidarity actions.

There is only one world. Economic booms and slumps spill over national borders and ripple around the globe in synchronous waves. So do rebellions.

Our rulers insist that people in different nations have little in common. We know that the opposite is true. Together, we can build a different world based on sharing and cooperation.

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