[It's not every day of the week that…]

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It's not every day of the week that we receive records for review at the Socialist Press office.

So when Cool Ghoul records sent us a copy of their first single-an antifascist reggae number called "Lazy Fascist" by "progressive" band Phantom-the Socialist Press reggae freak soon had the record on the turntable.

Musically the record is a fairly accurate recreation of the reggae sound by a white group. The hook line of the tune is pinched from track by Bob Marley called "Crazy Baldhead" on the 'Rastaman Vibration" album.

But the importance Cool Ghoul claim for the record is its uncompromisingly anti-fascist message.

Powerful tool

Among the sheafs of publicity material accompanying the disc-much of which is devoted hammering home the point that the record is being suppressed by the mediais the claim that "music can be a powerful tool for fighting racism and fascism".

This is undoubtedly the case and the work of various punk and reggae bands-not to mention Tom Robinsonhas so far given us only a glimpse of the power that such music has in this But the reason for this is the failure of such groups to realise that putting forward a general anti-fascist message is, in itself, not adequate.

Propaganda The fight against racism and fascism cannot be conducted solely or even predominantly at the level of argument and propaganda.

Fascism gains a hearing amongst workers whose living standards, jobs_and social services have been attacked by the Lib-Lab coalition.

They gain a hearing amongst sections of the petty bourgeoisie whose security of income is threatened by the economic crisis of the capitalist system and the way in which the big monopolies are prepared to sacrifice the "small fry" to ensure their own survival.

culprits In such a situation the finger has to be pointed at the real culprits-today the right wing Labour and trade union leaders who have created the material conditions for the growth of And the alternative-a fight for socialist policies and for workers defence squads to protect the immigrant population and the labour movement against the fascists has to be posed.

To do this in a popular form, including punk and reggae music, is certainly not beyond the capabilities of many of the more talented groups on the music scene today.

And it needn't involve setting Socialist Press articles on workers self defence to music!

Geriatric

Certainly the excitement generated by the music of the New. Wave and reggae bands as opposed to the geriatric left-overs of the 1960s-the Stones, Who, ELP, Yes, ete-will ensure a wide audience amongst increasingly radicalised layers of youth.

The main obstacle preventing these groups from posing concretely the way forward remains the political confusion in the minds of the groups themselves and this is nowhere more obvious than in the Phantom record. the real nature of fascism. they take objection to so it characterisation. shineantariontinn And why fascists should be described as "lazy" is hard to imagine.

Far stronger in terms of impact is the other side of the record, an instrumental dub version of «Lazy Fascist" in which certain key phrases from the lyrics are introduced with echo and reverb to great effect.

We are clearly in a period when an increasing number At present the majority by the commercial record "Lazy Fascist" is the dently of the maior record companies, allowing greater freedom of political content..

It remains to be seen whether this development will lead to the recording of records which are at the same time musically strong and contain a political message that can develop the struggles of youth against the oppression of capitalism.

Parliamentary

In putting forward detailed material linking these forces, Warren powerfully demonstrates that the trial was a frame-up from start to finish, the decision to prosecuțe a political decision and so makes a strong case for a full enquiry into the whole affair.

But instead of demanding such an investigation be taken up independently within the labour movement by elected committees drawn from the rank and file, the call is made for a parliamentary enquiry. In other words, by the same Labour MIS, left' ana right. who accepted his continued imprisonment with hardly a murmur.

It is no wonder George Smith, extreme right-wing leader of UCATT, Warren's union, is quoted as being fully in support of such a demand.

Vivid picture

Despite this crucial weakness, Warren draws a vivid picture of his struggle-"My prison experiences have provided me with an insight into the real nature of capitalism and some of its institutions. It is two faced: I have experienced both. Its public or 'democratic' face and its private or dictatorial face.

«The Shrewsbury frame-up was no more, nor less, than a demonstration of the fact that capitalism if required, will unhesitatingly use ruthless methods of suppression to protect its future."

Such sentiments better conclusions.

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North Vietnam, especially imperialism.

heridis influence (for instance by Huang gave his blessing to ses Peking of ambitions for aivino aid to the enroreca- the "Pan-African Sernritv unrld domination and ramUS troops retreat from South Vietnam-Cubans claim Chinese blocked supplies to North Vietnam.

Hua One third of the world's population live in countries where capitalism has been destroyed.

Were the economic and political resources collectively controlled by these countries to be devoted to the assistance of socialist revolution on a world scale then the days of imperialism could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

The parasitic bureaucratic castes who rule the "socialist "countries, however, even when they were politically united in the monolith which Stalin erected, used the strength they controlled not to aid the revolution but to enforce the bureaucratic counter revolution.

Collaborated

In place of a consistent attack against imperialism those bureaucracies have compromised and collaborated with imperialism, though there have been many disputes over how the world is to be divided between them.

To that reactionary collaboration has been added a new element-disputes and competition between the bureaucracies of the workers' states which have had the function of further aiding imperialism.

Most notably in recent years the Chinese Stalinist bureaucracy has developed a foreign policy explicitly based on a position that the USSR in the main enemy, set upon world domination, and so alliances are to be cultivated with the enemies of the Soviet Union, wherever they may be.

In practice that has led to grotesque flattery of the most reactionary imperialist Nixon was feted in Peking, Margaret Thatcher is praised for her anti-Soviet cold war speeches.

The European Economic Community was welcomed as a counterweight to Soviet ambitions in Europe, and so on.

'Social fascists'

Just as stalin in the 'Third Period' years 1928-33 branded social haandad anninl Homarrato as 'social fascists' , more dangerous than the real fascists, so the Chinese bureaucracy in attacking the USSR as 'social imperialist', , have thereby decided that the actual imperialist nations are a lesser evil!

In its policies towards the backward and semicountries the Ca bureaucracy bas Te: Soviet economa ive" governments of Tanzania, Zambia and Sri Lanka).

But more recently the emphasis has been a backing up any regime or movement opposed to the Soviet Union and its allies, regardless of its internal regime or its relations imperialism.

Backed junta

So, as in the 1960's and early 1970's, China backed the Pakistan military dictators against India. More recently it has backed the Chilean junta of Pinochet, UNITA (also supported by South Africa and the US) against the MPLAin and the corrupt, pro-imperialist General Mobutu in Zaire.

The •Chinese diplomatic offensive in Africa has been quieter than that of the USSR, not to mention the imperialists; but it nas still been very determined.

In 1071 the Chinace cianed 19 co-operation agreements with African governments. There were 20 in 1975, 29 in 1976 and 32 last year.

During the recent uprising in Shaba provinces of Zaire, who should turn up in the midst of the crisis in Kinshasa and Lumumbashi than the Chinese Foreign Ministe: Huang Hua.

Basiagrag moral and =sara suppor to Mobutu, Force" which was planned LILW I CITINUI by the imperialists in their meeting in Paris earlier in the month and already put into operation by the despatch of Moroccan and other troops to Zaire.

This has highlighted what seems to be a new stage into which China's counterrevolutionary international policy is entering - a stage of more or less open alliance with imperialism on a world scale against ine annient tha Carrint DOVIeT Union and its allies.

This is not only reflected in the actions and words of the Chinese bureaucrats.

The recent espousal by the British Chief of Staff, Sir lan Cameron, while he was in Peking, of a "SinoWestern alliance" against the "common enemy" has WLAJUINU идилли been followed by the liberalisation of sales of US arms to China.

Several moves have been made in the last few days to step up arms sales to China from NATO including last week's effort mininued LAOL by the British Defence Ministry at Aldershot to flog them some inflateable full-scale rubber models of Russian tanks - at £3000 apiece - for target practice.

These developments have produced very sharp reactions in the Stalinist world.

In its latest article on China Pravda the Soviet party newspaper drops all pretence of a willingness to negotiate differences, accupares its aims to those of Nazi Germany.

At the same time the Cuban party newspaper, Granma, has launched a series of virulently anti-Chinese editorials in which the Chinese are accused of joining a 'dirty marriage' with imperialism, and of 'marauding NATO arsenals' Never mentioned Granma condemns the formation of alliances with countries like France which send troops to support Mobutu. in Zaire or to repress the Polisario Front in Western Sahara.

As is characteristic of Cuba's statements about imperialist powers, the repression by the French bourgeois government of its own working class is, of course, never mentioned!

Nor, needless to say, is the aid given by the soldiers inspect German tank soviel governmtal lu icau- Carrint marrammant to ross. tionary pro-imperialist regimes arnund the world.

Chinese The sharpest part of the new Cuban attack - much fiercer and more detailed than any previous one -concerns the Chinese role in Vietnam.

The Chinese, according to Granma, during the blockade of 1972, placed every possible obstacle to the movement of supplies to those from the Soviet Union.

And as soon as the peace treaties were signed China insisted that American B-52 bombers should be maintained in Thailand.

These aspects of the Cuban attack have reflected the rapidly worsening relations between China and Vietnam over the question of refugees.

All these disputes among the Stalinists are long standing ones, even if they have sharpened in recent weeks.

But there has been also a rapid intensification of a newer dispute - between the Chinese bureaucracy and its long-standing allies, the Albanians.

Since last year Albania has made more and more public criticism of the "three worlds" theory invented by the Chinese leadership.

Two weeks ago the president of the Union of Albanian women, Vito Kapo, referred to those who held the "anti Marxist and counter-revolutionary three worlds theory" as "traitors and renegades of Marxism-Leninism"

She accused the Chinese leaders (without naming them) of "calling for conciliation and collaboration with Ame bourgeoisias of other imperialists and with all sorts of reactionary cliques"

Political Bureau member, Hysui Kapo, said that the Chinese three worlds theory is " in the service of imperialism and modern revisionism" (the Albanian name for the positions of the Soviet Union).

It is reported that part of the Chinese response to this diatribe is to withdraw Chinese technical assistants from Albania and even to break economic contracts.

In a further pointed snub to Albania, Chairman Hua has announced plans to visit Romania and Yugoslavia but not Albania in the autumn of this year, as part of Peking's anti-Soviet strateov DULLINGY.

Although Albania maintains its public hostility to Soviet "modern revisionism". , it can hardly be an accident that it has chosen to join the swelling anti-Chinese chorus, It Albania's economic A 17 links with China have been cut, then, as the most economically backward of the Furanean workare'etatec it will almost certainly, be seeking economic aid from the USSR or to make its own separate deal with The Ceausescu leadership in Albania's neighbour Romania, is itself moving rapidly towards a separate economic deal with imperialism and a complete separation from Comecon, the economic treaty between East European workers' states.

He has protested against more power over the smaller states. Thus in all these ways; ine potential oi te planned 11- -1 - £ 11. -economy is wasted not only through the internal bureaucratic rule in the workers' states but through the mutual hostility of rival national cliques of bureaucrats.

The squabbles involving the USSR, Romania, Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, China and Albania are not differences of principle.

They are the opportunist quarreis of bureaucracies, all of whom are counter-revolutionary but each of whom wishes to do a deal with imperialism in their own way.

As Trotskyists we uncompromisingly defend all these states against imperialism.

But we also recognise that the opportunist rivalries of their leaders undermine the strength of the planned, nationalised economy, weaken the possibility of socialism and strengthen the forces and the confidence of imperialism.

The mobilisation of the power of the non-capitalist states in the interests of the revolution will depend on the overthrow of these opportunist bureaucracies through political revolution under the leadership of an authentically proletarian Such a party must combine unconditional defence of the progressive property relations in those countries with a programme of democratic and transitional demands, leading towards the construction of workers' councils independent of the Stalinist bureaucracy.

Through such workers' councils the full strength of the working class in the non-capitalist states can be mobilized under Trotskyist leadership for the political overthrow of the parasitic Stalinist bureaucracy.

The establishment in this way of a regime dedicated to the international overthrow of capitalism is the only long-term guarantee of the security of the workers' states and progress towards socialism.

BUNTES

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DISRA

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PHOTO: Andrew Wiard, Report changeably in the record