Date: Thu, 29 Feb 1996 21:01:25 -0700
From: Hans Ehrbar <ehrbar-AT-marx.econ.utah.edu>
Subject: Marxist Information for Militia Members



>From an acquaintance who is intrigued by the militia movement I
received some literature.

One book, titled "The Best Kept Secret" by Otto Skinner, says that
most American citizens do not legally owe any tax, they are only
fooled into paying tax since nobody explains the tax laws to them.

A brochure "Vultures in Eagle's Clothing" says that the Federal
Reserve was created in 1913 by a conspiracy between certain elected
government representatives and the international banking community to
channel the wealth created by US citizens into the hands of these
bankers.  The goal of these bankers is to put the USA under a
socialist world government by the UN.

A book "The Truth in Money Book" by Theodore R. Thoren and Richard
F. Warner seems to take off from there.  It looks like an economics
text book.  It claims that certain changes in the US monetary system
would reduce taxes, drop interest rates, increase employment, stop
inflation, you name it.

It is clearly absurd stuff.  Nevertheless, people who read and believe
this have a sense that someone is taking advantage of them, and have a
deep mistrust in government and the mainstream media, which are
correct perceptions.  Is there any left literature which I can give
this person to read, something which patiently explains to them, yes,
someone is exploiting you, but it is not the international jews but it
is the capitalist employers, and yes, your mistrust in the government
is justified, but they do it not so much through conspiracies and
manipulations of the monetary system, which is only the surface of it
all, it is a much deeper systemic issue, and the government is right
there making sure this system keeps functioning.  I do not mean to
give them generalities, but carefully point for point disentangle the
disinformation which is being inflicted on them.

Could these people be won over to Marxism?  We sympathize with their
grievances, and we have much better explanations of what causes them.
But it seems we are not trying to approach them.  Why not?


I looked at the antifascist web page

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1131/

but I did not find information that is useful for my particular
concern.  The www seems to be a perfect place to publicize such
counter-information.  Is the kind of information which I am looking
for available?



     --- from list marxism-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---

     ------------------