Why to Vote For DeBerry

Which side are you on: the side of the working class or the side of the capitalist class? This is the question posed by the presidential candidacy of Clifton DeBerry of the Socialist Workers Party.

If Goldwater is another Hitler, as quixotic liberals teil us, Johnson more than qualifies as a Hindenburg. He is the representative of the very policics which produce, and, except in election years, tolerate the lunatic fringe on the right. By voting for Johnson or Goldwater, one is involving oneself in a quarrel within the capitalist class, between Goldwater, the enfant terrible of Big Business, and the more obedient Johnson.

Goldwater is not, in fact, a fascist. He only presents a blunter, rougher version of what Johnson has been saying all along. Big Business knows, however, that Johnson's velvet glove has been more effective than Goldwater's iron hand in suppressing popular struggles. This is why businessmen are this year flocking in unprecedented numbers to the Democratic Party.

The Johnson-Humphrey record is one of imperialism in foreign policy, Gradualism in the Negro struggle, and outright reaction in civil liberties and labor policy. Voting for this record is not a very logical way of opposing it.

How can we best fight the capitalist oligarchy? By principled independent political action. The Freedom Now Party, running a large slate of local candidates in Detroit, is a step in the right direction. A Labor Party would be a giant step. The platform of the Socialist Workers Party makes many of the same demands voiced by the FNP, and sets forth a program appropriate for a Labor Party. Planks in this platform include: 1) an end to both military build-up at home and Vietnam-type adventurism abroad; 2) a militantly anti-racist government policy; 3) an end to HUAC and all it stands for; 4) 30 hour work week, with 40 hours' pay to end unemployment; 5) a government-guaranteed college education for all youth; 6) No taxes on incomes under $7500; 7) nationalize banks, basic industries, all natural resources; institution of a planned economy, planned for human betterment, not individual profit.

These are goals that are really worth fighting for. November 3rd is a good time to start. Vote for Clifton DeBerry and Edward Shaw, the candidates of the Socialist Workers Party.