Daily Archives: February 28, 2015

A few reflections on a brief history of New Direction Caucus in NYC Transit (1980’s – 2005)

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by Kiki Makandal

(January 23, 2015)

First, it’s important to note that I was not a NYC transit worker, nor was I a member of New Directions. These are mainly reflections of what I remember on observations and conversations I have had with different New Direction members over the years, coming from my interactions with them in the course of various labor solidarity actions in NYC while New Directions was in struggle and after it eventually dissolved. Please bear in mind that there may be some factual inaccuracies.

New Directions came about as a result of a confluence of factors:

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War

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by Ricardito Ramos

(August 13, 2014)

 

My great grandmother man, she lived through so many wars

Even the “great one”, where so many fought

To accumulate for rulers and makers of laws

What was it all for, she wasn’t entirely sure

But they profit from all of them, of that we can be sure

Imagine the names with which they were called

My great grandmother lived through the “great war”

Great because their pockets would inflate as they devastate

Wars are fought for Capital let’s set it straight

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The Problem with Programs

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by Jan Makandal

(February 2015)

The problem with programs is the fact that they are quickly self-exceeding, because their conception and implementation are governed and determined by class struggle. In the hands of dogmatists, they become a dangerous tool.

This is not to say that programs are not important. For us in our political current, we tend to construct programs from our political line. Since our political line is based on our understanding of the class struggle, it is contextual and conjunctural, even if it’s based on our general objective of defeating capitalism. Our programs, as well, are contextual and conjunctural. Our attempt to understand the objective reality is based on dialectical and historical materialism; our political line is also based on that understanding.

Needless to say, our political current understands clearly that during our process of realizing our objective of constructing an alternative to capitalism, we will be faced with the constant necessity of defining our political line, our “What is to be done?”