10-11-07, 9:22 am

Because of your support, we are very close to achieving our goal of raising $40,000. Will you help us get over the top by sending your check today?

This has already been an exceptional year. In addition to stepping our activist role in the struggles for peace, workers' rights, and civil rights, Political Affairs has pushed the envelope on the ideological front.


PA hasn't been an armchair activist. We have a role in the struggle, helping clarify the underlying ideological questions, exposing the deeper economic issues in play, and organizing people into struggle.

In the upcoming November issue, for example, our contributing writers examine the growing interest in Africa on the part of US imperialism, plans to occupy the continent with US forces, and the ideological and political currents developing and changing in various countries on the continent. AFRICOM, the Darfur debate, oil, labor struggles, human rights are all addressed in this edition, which will be out in just a few weeks.

In the December issue, for example, Communist Party Economics Commission Chair Art Perlo discusses the causes of the housing crisis in the US and its likely devastating economic impact. He shows how the problem is emblematic of the central contradiction of capitalism, and outlines immediate steps to aid those affected by the crisis. Writers David Cavendish and David Pena in two separate articles examine the key ideological question of the transition away from capitalism to socialism.

This past year, we have published several articles that examine the question of global warming and the much needed development of Marxist theory that incorporates the latest science on climate. Marc Brodine, who authored a ground-breaking essay on this subject for our September/October issue, argued for the need for pro-socialist advocates to fight for real ecological changes now and to link the ideological issue of private property as a roadblock to taking the necessary steps to prevent disaster.

In our August issue, we published articles that raised the question of today's information revolution in relation to the class struggle. John Bachtell looked at the impact of the information age on workers, ultimately arguing that our class should embrace the new era because in the hands of working people the scientific and technological revolution can be made to benefit humankind.

Earlier this year, we published an article by Mary Davis on how non-class relations, like racism and sexism, sustain capitalism in the era of globalization.

Other articles have examined ideological questions in the sciences, on the global capitalist front, on Marxist thinking on social organization, and in contemporary US politics, e.g. the immigration policy reform debate, the struggle for civil rights, the history of the labor movement and our current struggle for international solidarity, among many other things.

These are just some of the highlights. The list of theoretical and ideological work PA has produced over the past year is very long. We hope you have found some use for it.

Your support for the PA fund drive will give us the financial fire-power to keep afloat and take some new initiatives. Costs keep rising as do the stakes in our great struggle. Won’t you give as much as you can and allow us to keep fighting the good fight to which we’ve pledged our lives and spirits.

You can donate online. If you prefer to send a check, make it payable to Political Affairs. Send to: 235, w. 23rd St., NY, NY 10011.

In Struggle, Joe Sims, editor