In the Light of Interests of Peace and the Working Class
In the USA the struggle against war preparations, the struggle for life is fuelled by the struggle to live better. The U.S. Communist Party seeks to tie in the struggle against those who are jeopardising the destinies of the world, the struggle against the arms race and the missile build-up plans of U.S. imperialism with the struggle for the working people’s vital economic and social demands. Such are the law-governed elements of the general dialectics of peace and social progress. It would be wrong to insist that the former should be dealt with, while the latter could wait its turn.
The U.S. Administration’s militaristic orientation is coupled with total neglect of the people’s needs. The number of unemployed in the country is growing. At the same time, there is a shortage of everything, from housing to schools. The multi-billion appropriations for military purposes are a source of growing concern among U.S. citizens, of whom a huge number live below the official poverty line. The vast military outlays will do nothing to reduce the unemployment. Millions of people are on welfare, and millions depend on supplementary foodstamps and a dole to survive, while all the social services and needs are running out.
As a result, Americans are beginning to see the connection between the economic hardships, the impossibility of satisfying basic needs and the explosion in military spending, the policy of imperialist expansion and aggression, the dangerous confrontation with socialism and the undeclared but bloody wars.
Resistance to Washington’s disastrous policy is no longer confined to those who are hungry or socially humiliated, it is not confined to the working class. The wide-ranging human front of struggle against the looming danger now involves a broad spectrum of social forces. Opposition to the Administration’s line is also expressed, among others, by high-ranking U.S. statesmen. This is a new phenomenon. There are differences and disagreements within the monopoly ruling class which are important for success in establishing a broad national democratic front.
The tremendous growth of military expenditures and the cutbacks in appropriations to meet the people’s social needs have given a fresh impetus to the class struggle in the country. Every type of struggle over vital economic needs and unfulfilled democratic aspirations converge objectively with action for peace and return to detente.
From: World Marxist Review, 1984