This message originally appeared in Issue 1 Volume 1
of The Free Press. It also appears as a leaflet. We
are asking everyone to spread this message to as many
people as possible - you can link directly to this
site at:
http://www.freepeoplesmovement.org/message.html
-------------------------------------------------------

What's really happening in the world? Is there an
alternative? How can you make a difference?
This is a message from the Free People's Movement
to the people of the world , an indictment of the
prevailing capitalist social order -- which for over
five-hundred years has proved that it can't solve the
problems it creates -- a call for unity, and a call
for change.
Billions of us live in conditions of poverty,
hundreds of millions can't read, billions are
unemployed -- we are victims of wars, victims of
racism, victims of sexism, and our natural environment
is being destroyed. It doesn't have to be this way! A
better life is possible! If you're fed up with the way
things are going, and are looking for a better
tommorow, we ask that you read on.

Got Freedom?
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who
falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe

The "freedom" we have now under capitalism is not
actually freedom at all.
Freedom of the press doesn't exist because the
media is owned and controlled by a few corporations.

"I care not who forms the government of a country, so
long as I control the purse strings." -- Baron
Rothschild, Capitalist

Democracy doesn't exist because politicians need to
be millionaires or be funded by millionaires to run
for office, and when they are elected they act in the
interests of the capitalists.
Through globilization and imperialism world
capitalism has been able to create markets and spread
its mass media to every corner of the globe -- all in
the search for profits. Products are pushed at us from
every angle and our cultures have been commercialized.
We are robbed of freedom of thought because we are
told what shoes and clothes to wear, what soda to
drink, which movies to watch, what brand of food to
buy, and who to vote for -- in fact, every year one
trillion dollars is spent on advertising!

Got Justice?
"If you ain`t angry, you ain`t paying attention." --
Mumia Abu-Jamal

70 Million indigenous people died as a result of
European expansion and colonialization.
In the United States 60 percent of the women in
prison are black or hispanic. One in three black men
will be put in jail in their lifetime, and black men
are 13 times more likely to be given longer sentences
than white males for drug crimes, although there are 5
white men dealing drugs to every black man who does.
In the state of Pennsylvania, only 9 percent of the
population is black, yet 62 percent of the people put
to death are.
In Mauritania, a country in Northern Africa, tens
of thousands of black people are in slavery.
More than 800 million adults remain illiterate. More
than 130 million school-age children are growing up
without access to basic education.
In the third world, over 250 million children under
the age of 15 have to work to survive. Hundreds of
thousands of boys and girls work as prostitutes. In
some capitals, 46 percent of the women working as
prostitutes are under 16 years of age.

Got Equality?
"In a capitalist society, the only winners are
capitalists." -- Dianne Maley, Financial Reporter

The people of the world are divided. There is a
very small percentage who own most of the wealth
(capitalists), and the rest of us who must work for
the capitalists in order to survive.
The net wealth of the 10 richest billionaires in
the world is $133 billion, more than 1.5 times the
total national income of the least developed
countries.
The wealthiest 20 percent of the world's population
account for 86 percent of all spending on private
consumption, while the poorest 20 percent account for
only 1.3 percent.
The wealthiest 25 percent of the world's population
consumes 45 percent of all meat and fish; the poorest
25 percent consumes only 5 percent.
And the inequality is only increasing. In 1960 the
income of 20 percent of the world population living in
the wealthiest nations was 30 times that of the
poorest nations; by 1997 it was 74 times greater.

Capitalism
The exploitative nature of capitalism can be summed
up in the following passage:
"[Under capitalism we are divided into] the haves
and the have-nots, in other words the capitalist class
and the working class, respectively. The capitalist
class is a small minority of the population which owns
the means of production, such as factories,
resturaunts, hospitals, store fronts, sugar cane
fields, and coal mines, through which it controls the
majority of wealth. Since the working class owns no
means of production, the only commodity we have to
sell is our labor-power, without which the capitalists
means of production would be useless. So then, the
capitalist class buys up the labor-power of the
working class just as it would buy any commodity, such
as nuts or bolts, and utilizes the working class'
labor-power to create new products or services.
However, within this exchange of labor-power for
wages, the working class is exploited.
"Say for instance that a worker assembles simple
toys in a capitalist's factory for $5 per hour. Let us
imagine the worker combines 2 plastic pieces, which
cost the capitalist $1 each, to create the toys. The
worker creates ten new toys per hour, so the
capitalist has put forward $25 to create ten new toys.
Now the capitalist puts the toys on the market for $3
each, so that he receives $30 for the 10 toys. From
this we see that the materials to create ten toys cost
the capitalist $20, and the labor-power of the worker
cost the capitalist $5, so he received a profit of $5.

"Where does this profit come from? It comes from
the exploitation of the worker! If the twenty plastic
pieces alone were only worth $20, how then could the
completed toys be sold for $30? What increased the
value of these plastic pieces? It was the labor-power
of the worker, which turned the raw materials into a
new commodity. From this we see that the labor-power
of the worker added $10 of value, but the worker was
only paid $5 for her hour of labor-power. Her
labor-power was sold as a commodity to the capitalist,
in hour increments, just as the plastic is sold to the
capitalist in pieces. What's unique about the
labor-power of the worker is that it is the only
commodity which creates new value. There for we see
that the worker is exploited for her labor-power, the
necessary commodity in all creation of value, and only
receives a share of the value she has created. This
exploitation of the working class by the capitalist
class is necessary for the continuation of the
capitalist system." -- from "The haves and the
Have-nots" by Ricardo Santiago

Impending World Crisis
The userous and exploitative economics inherent of
capitalism are leading the world into a crisis which
will be unlike anything humanity has ever seen. The
first symptoms of this impending world crisis are
visable, and its full effects will be even more
profound. The fact that we are facing this crisis
should be of no real suprise. For the majority of
humanity, Capitalism and Imperialism mean exactly
that: crisis, chaos and economic anarchy. Capitalism
cannot solve the problems it creates.

Poverty and the 'Third World'
Global poverty is extremely severe, and under
capitalism -- by its very nature -- it can only
increase. This poverty is most evident in the 'third
world' -- largely made up of Latin America, Asia, and
Africa -- since it is most intensely exploited for its
raw materials and increasingly cheap labor.
According to the UNDP Human Development Report more
than 1.2 billion people -- one in every five on Earth
-- survive on less than $1 a day. In Latin America and
the Caribbean, the Arab States, Central and Eastern
Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people
surviving on less than $1 a day is steadily
increasing.
800 million suffer chronic hunger and lack access to
health care services -- up from 570 million in 1981.
An estimated 507 million people living in the third
world today will not live past 40 years of age.
More than 10 million children die of preventable
illness every year -- that's 31,000 a day, 21 a
minute.
Two of every 5 children in the underdeveloped world
suffer from growth retardation.
Over 500,000 women a year die in pregnancy and
childbirth, with such deaths 100 times more likely in
Sub-Saharan Africa than in high-income countries.
More than 1 billion people, that is one person in
five, lack access to safe water.
45 percent of the population of Latin America and
the Carribean is poor -- 90 million of them live in
absolute poverty.
15 million children in the Americas are not covered
by vaccines for diseases such as diphtheria, measles,
whooping cough, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis and
tetanus even though the cost to immunize them is lower
than 80 cents.
150 years ago, the world income share of the third
world countries was 56%, it is now 15%. 54 countries
are poorer now than they were in 1990. Of these 54
countries, 20 are from Sub-Saharan Africa, 17 are from
Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent
States, 6 are from Latin America and the Caribbean, 6
are from East Asia and the Pacific and 5 are from the
Arab states.
Poverty has even increased in countries that have
achieved overall economic growth. In the past two
decades income inequality worsened in 33 of 66
developing countries.
Even in the US -- the richest nation in the world
-- 36 million people (14%) live below the poverty
line. 43 million have no health care and another 30
million have such little health care that is
practically non existant. 30 million people are
illiterate, and another 30 million are functionally
illiterate. 22% of US children live in poverty. Women
still only earn 73% of what men earn at comparible
jobs, and make up 70% of part time workers. The
richest 1% of the population own 36% of the wealth, up
from 20% in 1975.

The Economy
Profit is the sole motive for production under
capitalism, and not much else is taken into
consideration.
Economies are manipulated by the capitalists --
artificially inflated one day up only to plunge into a
crisis the next. The masses suffer for the gains of a
few.
Technology and the communications systems, created
by the workers, are monopolized by a few capitalists.
There are 1.6 billion unemployed people in the
world, up from 1.103 billion in 1981 -- an increase of
about 500 million.
$1.5 trillion a day is involved in currency
spectulation, with another $1.5 trillion in all sorts
of stocks and sales speculation. This has nothing to
do with a real economy and can only lead to economic
disaster!

The Environment
"Humans must interfere with nature in order to
survive, but there are different methods of
interfering. Under capitalism nature is only valued as
a factor in production. The natural resources,
animals, and plants are measured in money value. If
things continue on as there are today, it will lead,
as it already has, to environmental catastrophes and
irreversible changes in nature. Such changes include
the holes in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect,
the destruction of tropical forects, erosion, the
expansion of deserts and the pollution of the
hydrosphere." -- from the "Program of the
Revolutionary Youth"

Under capitalism, large parts of the hydrocarbon
reserves that took nature hundreds of millions of
years to create have been burned and released into the
sea and air in the form of biproduct waste.
Desertification, holes in the ozone layer and climatic
change have resulted.
It is neccessary for the continued existance of
human-kind to move towards an ecologically sustainable
society. The capitalists are motivated by profits, not
ecological values -- an ecologically sustainable
society isn´t possible under capitalism.

Revolution is the solution
"...history shows us that the class who controls the
property [capitalist] controls the political and
economic power, and is not willing to relinquish that
power without a life-or-death struggle. In other
words, in order for any real change to occur,
revolutionary action is necessary. Representative
democracy can provide no real change, for it is the
system, more than any particular representative, which
operates in direct opposition to the interests of our
[working] class." -- from "The Manifesto of the Free
People's Movement."

The people must unite! When the oppressed peoples
(workers, peasants, youth, "minorities") of the world
gain class conciousness and realize that capitalism is
only beneficial to the capitalists, and that it will
never solve their problems, they will unite and will
be able to use their strength to make revolutionary
change in society. They will take controll of the
means of production, abolish capitalism and create a
new socialist society.

Socialism
"The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it
exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the
evil. I am convinced there is only one way to
eliminate these grave evils, namely through the
establishment of a socialist economy..." -- Albert
Einstein

In order to bring real relief from the ills of
capitalism, any revolution must be socialist in
nature.
Eventually we will achieve socialism all over the
world, otherwise the human species will not be able to
continue on. Capitalism creates more problems than it
can solve. The environment cannot sustain the strain
placed upon it under capitalism. Not to mention that
while more and more wealth ends up in fewer and fewer
hands, more and more people are faced with
unemployment and poverty. This cycle continues under
capitalism and will never end until it is done away
with and replaced with socialism.
So what is socialism? There's a very good chance
that everything you've ever heard about socialism was
a lie. Socialism is the stage of transition to
classless society. Under socialism the workers have
control of all of the means of production (factories,
farms, hospitals, railroads, stores, etc) -- since
they are the ones that actually work them -- and goods
and services are created to supply the people with
what they need, instead of being created to make a
profit for a few capitalists. In socialist society
quality education (through college), healthcare and
housing are guaranteed to all, and unemployment,
racism and sexism are done away with. Since all the
work that is needed to be done will be done by
everyone together, individuals won't have to work as
much as they currently do. The people rule socialist
society in their own interest, instead of being ruled
in the interests of the capitalists. Socialism is not
permanent, the foundations of cooperation and equality
are created in order to build a free, just, and equal
society -- that is a classless society.
You may be thinking to yourself "if socialism is so
good, why have I heard so many bad things about it?"
Think about it. If the capitalists have the most in
capitalist society (more than the majority of people),
and and if they control every aspect of society
(schools, jails, television, radio, newspapers,
government), and if socialism meant that they would no
longer have the most, but would have to share and be
equal with everyone else, wouldn't they use all they
control to make socialism look bad so they could keep
their positions of power? That is exactly what
happened! Years and years of this has lead many people
to relate socialism to bad things, without even truly
understanding what it is. If you were told chocolate
tasted bad and would make you sick when you were
young, you would think chocolate was bad, that is
until you tasted it!
We've all heard it said, "Life isn't fair and
that's the way it is." Well, the reality is that life
isn't fair because society is controlled by a small
percent of the population. Under capitalism, the
majority of people receive a very small percentage of
the wealth (even though they created it all!). Under
socialism we will all be workers, and we will receive
everything we create!
Why the working class? The working class makes up
the majority of people in the world. The workers of
the world create all the wealth, which now allows very
few to be very wealthly, but under socialism will
allow us all to enjoy the needs and luxuries of life.
Because the working class makes up the majority of
people on earth, we have the power to create
revolutionary change in society. Finally, since there
is no class under the working class, when we take
power we will be able to finally rid society of
classes all together!

Socialism vs. Democracy?
Socialism is not the opposite of democracy.
Socialism is true democracy, not the bourgeois
democracy which exists under capitalism. In this
bourgeois democracy you only get to choose between
millionaires running for election, who act in the
interests of the capitalist class, while the working
class (the majority of people) aren't even
represented. Elections in a capitalist system are
almost always decided by who can get the most money.
True democracy can only exist under socialism because
everyone will have an equal say in all aspects of
society.

An end to racism, sexism and homophobia under
socialism
Racism, sexism, and homophobia have been around for
along time, and are directly related to the current
social order and its historical development -- they
are encouraged and florish under capitalism. Under
socialism, ending these problems becomes possible
because the foundations for their existance are done
away with.

The FPM: Who we are, what we do
We are the Free People's Movement, a worldwide
movement of people who are determined to be free --
people that are fed up with the ills of capitalism
(homelessness, unemployment, poverty, racism, sexism,
inequality, lack of healthcare and quality education,
police brutality, etc) and who want to make a change!
We are made up of all kinds of people, all around the
world - from the Philippines to the Dominican
Republic, from the United Kingdom to the United
States.
The Free People's Movement, along with its youth
organization The Revolutionary Youth, fights for free
quality education, housing, healthcare and employment
for all, as well as fighting against racism, sexism,
police brutality and other ills of capitalist society.
We work to raise the conciousness of oppressed peoples
around the world and organize them into an
organization in which they can unite and use their
power to make a real change. We organize food and
clothing drives, raise funds to construct schools and
homes where they are needed, and we support
revolutionary struggles around the world. We work to
create a new, socialist society, based on freedom,
justice, and equality.
If you are tired of the oppression and
exploitation, if you're ready to join the struggle to
make a change, join the Free People's Movement - for
freedom, justice and equality!

www.freepeoplesmovement.org

I do not think spamming a political forum will help your socialist movement become more popular. Actually, as a social democrat I can sypathize with you abit, but I don't think the workers of the world are going to unite anytime soon. When and if capitalism fails, im sure the exploited people would be happy to join your group, until then, just wait.

don't damper anyone spirits, unite for the fight! everyone who cares must be always be thinking with the revolution in mind!

__________________
social critics are a pain

I don't believe it's spam at all. It's a legitimate political message that our organization is trying to get out to as many people as possible, where better to talk about politics than 'political forum'?

And the policy of "sit around and wait" isn't cutting it, and never has. We work to further the conciousness of the working class, this is very important work.

Also, I'm affraid that as a Marxist I have little if any "sympathy" for social-democrats.

However, as a worker in the economy of the world, I do not believe all people should be treated the same. When that happens no one strives to do "more". "More" is what creates innovation. Innovation helps keep people alive. Such as in medical breakthroughs and safety in work places, driving cars and walking the streets. That is why your message is old and tired. Good luck, though.

__________________
Those who think they know everything, usually know the least.

I strongly disagree with the title of this thread. I dont think anyone "needs" to read this.

Free, huh? I wonder who are you going to enslave to provide all this for you?

Let me guess, College kid right? Professor perhaps? I debate garbage like this all day, every day, even on weekends some times. Now let me tell you something, boy your socialist ideas have never, EVER taken root in America. The closest you guys, came was FDR's New Deal programs, and we see now how great social security is. This is a nation dominated by Conservatives, and Libertines (most true libertarians have joined with the traditionalist to forum the Conservative movement. Because without one side (Classic Liberalism or Traditionalism) they get far to extreme. There are very few, "Socialist" anymore. The best place you will find them is watered down in the Democratic Party. So although you may gain a few weakened hearts, and lost souls. Most men who think on there own and know anything about History, Politics, or life will see your ideas the same way they have been scene for the past 100 years. No one wants to be a Slave on the Plantation of Socialism.

__________________
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams

Where have all the Conservatives Gone?

"Everyone NEEDS to read this!"

Why, so they can realize how useless the ideas are?

Someone didn't do too well in American History class. Had FDR not instituted the New Deal programs, one of two things would have happened:
1) socialist revolution
2) mass starvation.

__________________
"Nothing is true. Everything is permitted." - Hassan-i-Saba

Sad put it better than I could. The way I say it is "if its every man according to his needs then no man will try to get better cuz the govt won't let him."

As for rockyreagan. yah ur sure as hell a rocky reagonite at best. Did ur father lose his shoe factory and family get evicted in the gr8 depression like my fathers? The father of my dads friend commited suicide so the family would get the insurance money. Anything like that happen to you? Did your brother drop out of college to fight in WWII like my uncle. The longest depression in recorded history had lasted a max of 4 years. The gr8 depression lasted 12 YEARS!!! The reason it lasted was because the republicans HATED the GOOD things FDR did for Joe 6 pack. They held back the growth of business to make FDR look bad and the public didn't buy it. The american people saw right through the republicans in the 30's Which is why they elected FDR thrice. They then re-elected him a fourth time because he would accept nothing less than UNCODITIONAL surrender from BOTH Japan and Germany. And if he were alive today he'd still be president.

Ya, heaven forbid we should have the right to organize, be paid enough money to live or have enough time to rest. The idea of an economy is to sustain the country and improve the lives of all citizens. The repiglicans that whine about social security and the rest of of those programs are the opposite to AllPowerToThePeople. You pay us little as possible and then when theres a war, WE DIE, and now you want US to pick up the tab as well.

You confuse a free market with greed. The worldcoms and Enrons have more houses than they can chill in, more whips than they can drive, more food than they can eat, yet they can't get enough. Rather than having a great life and bringing as many along as they can they'll steal more money and wreck the trust in the market.

This country would be better off if we had 100 more guys like Bill Gates, because that would mean we're leading in 100 more industries. They get filthy rich and improve everyone around them and the market. Thats is the free market is supposed to do. All ya gotta do is enforce the laws that we created to maintain trust in the market.