To: Detroit/Seattle
Workers' Voice mailing list
December 15, 2021
Re: Tornadoes; Biden and the Postal Board of Governors; China’s road to catastrophe, chapters 1 and 2
by Joseph Green, Detroit Workers’ Voice
The following are rough notes based on the discussion held in a Communist Voice Organization study group which was reading Richard Smith’s book. They are not a polished summary, but may, however, help encourage others to examine the book. The study group not only considered what was going on in China, but made repeated comparisons to other countries, especially the US; the problems in China are but one example of the environmental practices that may be found among all the imperialist countries. China isn’t an example of an alternative to present-day monopoly capitalism; instead, it has become a record-breaking polluter because it is growing in capitalist style at record-breaking speed.
Chapter 1: The ‘China Price’: Police-state capitalism and the great acceleration of global consumption
Chapter 2: ‘Blind Growth’: Scenes of planetary destruction from the Twelfth Five-Year Plan
From the discussion of February 4, 2021 of the Detroit Marxist-Leninist Study Group.
The book documents the astonishing extent of pollution in China. China has environmental laws and agencies, but it doesn't matter -- the rapid growth of pollution as industries expand proceeds anyway. The many solar panels in China are often cited as proof of China’s environmental concern, but many of these panels have been produced in a very polluting way.
The book has some astonishing pictures, such as the Foxconn factory in Guangdong province which has nets outside the windows to catch desperate workers who might jump out of the windows in despair. (Page 5, Figure 1.2) This is reminiscent of the nets that would be hung outside slave ships traversing the Middle Passage.
The book documents the vast extent of overproduction in China, where things are built that aren't needed or aren't used. The large network of rapid trains are often cited as an example of China’s environmentalism, but a lot of the trains don't have many passengers. There are also entire cities, such as Ordos Kangbashi, Yujiapu, Binhai New Area, Caofeidian, and Lanzhou New Area, that have been built rapidly but don’t have many residents. It is doubtful that some of these will ever fill up, or even that there are many people who can afford to live in such areas. Capitalists and state-capitalists in China just want to build things, but it doesn’t matter whether the things will be used or not. They just want to make a profit on the construction itself. It is reminiscent of what goes on in the US too, where local bureaucrats have projects that are built without much use, such as the famous Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska. These projects may not be on the colossal scale that we see in China, but the motives for building such white elephants are the same.
This is truly capitalism being built in at incredible speed, at what the Chinese regime calls "China speed". As it does this, China is imitating the US, but without even making provision for conditions that differ from the US. For example, land is wasted or paved over in both the US and China, but there is much less farmland to begin with in China, much less land to waste.
Among the gargantuan development projects are many dams, some of the world’s largest, and they are going to be a problem. This includes the fact that key rivers affecting China, Southeast Asia, and India are being dammed without proper consideration.
It was noted that part of the reported reductions in carbon emissions in Europe and the US is because European and American capitalists have moved a number of polluting factories to China. Their stand is, don’t fix the production process, instead let China be polluted, while we won't do various dirty things here. Something similar happened in Detroit, where one comrade recounted how polluted the city used to be, and it’s somewhat better now. Some of the improvement is the effect of legislation from the 1970s, but part is due to production having been moved out of Detroit, so there is less pollution, but also fewer jobs.
The book compares China to India. On one hand, China has built up more infrastructure and more industrial parks, schools, research centers and all sorts of things than India has. On the other hand, the leaders of both countries have the same disregard for the environment. One comrade noted that, when he was reading about the worker suicides at Foxconn in China, it brought to mind the suicides that have occurred for years in India among farmers in the countryside. India and China have different versions of capitalism, but both end up with the same disregard of the environment.
Smith writes about the accelerated production of useless things for the world market, and of things that are designed to have to be replaced soon. Products may be produced in a way that doesn’t allow them to be repaired or upgraded, or so that it costs too much to repair them, so new things have to be bought. A few of Smith’s examples were questioned. There was a discussion about how far, in the present economy, newer things wear out too fast, whether certain products are durable, and whether certain examples were overplayed. For example, contrary to the book, some shoes seem to be quite durable. On the other hand, shoe repair shops are gone, and most shoes are made in a way that the soles can't be replaced. Historical examples were noted, such as the planned obsolescence of cars in the US. And of course, fashion drives constant changes. It was noted that, if products are to be upgradeable -- or, for that matter, capable of being junked in an environmental way — they need to be designed that way from the start. For example, in the European Union, the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive takes a step in that direction with regard to cars, but how far is it really followed? Meanwhile Smith raises the issue of when quick change in products may be desirable, as when a new type of product is just being developed, and when it isn't.
Smith raised the issue that China is going to have a major problem
when the vast amount of concrete it uses for construction wears out.
This is especially so given that much of the concrete is of substandard
quality, and this is a particular danger to dams. It was noted that the
US has similar problems with obsolete infrastructure, including that
its nuclear reactors have been reaching the end of their planned
lifespan. <>
Picture: Nets placed outside windows at a Foxconn plant in China to catch workers attempting suicide. Destruction of the environment goes hand-in-hand with oppression of the workers. <>
by Tim Hall, Detroit Workers’ Voice
During last Friday's fierce tornadoes, factory managers at a Kentucky candle factory and an Illinois Amazon warehouse ordered workers to remain at the job and not flee to their homes as the tornadoes approached. Eight workers died at the candle factory and six at Amazon as both facilities were violently destroyed.
Once again, as throughout the history of capitalism, profits for the greedy vampires trump the lives of workers.
On December 10, as a tornado approached, workers at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle plant in Mayfield, Kentucky, demanded to be allowed to leave in order to flee its path. “...At least five workers said supervisors warned employees that they would be fired if they left their shifts early.” Workers said as many as 15 of them beseeched supervisors to be allowed to go home but were denied. “Supervisors and team leaders told employees that leaving would probably jeopardize their jobs....” One worker said, “‘If you leave, you’re more than likely to be fired...’ I heard that with my own ears.” Some left anyway, despite the threats. The first tornado sirens sounded a couple of hours before a tornado arrived, so management had plenty of time to consider the workers' requests. One worker said the managers went so far as to take a roll call to see who actually left. Then a tornado arrived, the facility was leveled, and eight workers died. (1)
At the Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, a similar scenario unfolded. Worker Larry Virden, 46, father of four children, died when the tornado hit . His girl-friend of 13 years told the New York Post, “I got text messages from him. He always tells me when he is filling up the Amazon truck when he is getting ready to go back … I was like ‘OK, I love you.’ He’s like, ‘well Amazon won’t let me leave until after the storm blows over.’” She sent the text around 8:23 p.m., 16 minutes before the tornado touched down at 8:39. The couple lived in nearby Collinsville, about 13 minutes away from the warehouse. “I told him where we live, it was only lightning at the time. After that, I got nothing from him.” And she said, “it’s that what-if situation: What if they would have let him leave? He could have made it home.” (2)
At Amazon management had banned workers' cellphones in the building, until the pandemic arrived. They lifted the ban but recently have been talking about restoring it. This is not being well-accepted by the workers. (3)
Jeff Bezos, mega-billionaire owner of Amazon, spent Saturday morning celebrating his exploits in space, then remembered that was supposed to be heartbroken for the workers who had died the night before, so he became heart-broken and twitted them his “thoughts and prayers.” (4)
A satirist remarked on Facebook that Amazon management was carefully searching the rubble to make sure nobody was unionizing in there. Such paranoia would be justified, as the workers at both enterprises are likely planning how to fight back.
1) Deon J. Hampton, “Factory workers threatened with firing if they left before tornado, employees say”, NBC News, Dec. 13, 2021.
2) Steven Vago and Patrick Reillly, “Amazon worker who died in warehouse collapse wasn’t allowed to leave, girlfriend says”, New York Post, Dec. 12, 2021.
3) Theo Wayt, “Amazon warehouse workers slam phone ban after tornado deaths”, Dec. 13, 2021, New York Post.
4) Nicholas Rice, “Jeff Bezos Says He Is ‘Heartbroken’ Over Tornado Deaths at Illinois Amazon Facility: ‘Tragic’”, People.com, Dec. 12, 2021. <>
by Tim Hall, Detroit Workers’ Voice
President Biden just destroyed the hopes of postal workers and much of the public to get rid of the Trump-appointed Postmaster-General Louis DeJoy. There were two vacancies on the nine-member Postal Board of Governors. Biden has no power to directly remove Dejoy but he can appoint replacements for members whose terms have run out. Biden had the opportunity to appoint two Democrats, which would have given the Democrats a 5-4 majority on the Board. Instead he appointed one Democrat and one Republican, preserving the Republican majority and DeJoy's position as Postmaster-General.
This is a slap in the face to the many postal workers and citizens who have been protesting DeJoy's sabotage of the postal service and his lowering of delivery standards. Many have illusions that the Democrats stand with labor; this illusion is once again exposed. Trump appointed DeJoy and Biden is actively keeping him! Bad cop and good cop, and the “good” cop reveals his character! <>
Back to main
page,
how to order CV,
write us!
