Rick Mons is a racist, anti-communist bigot and member of the Shoreview, Minnesota "Planning Commission;" he works for e-democracy an outfit that is a front for the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party's "Business Caucus" and the "Summit Hill Club." E-democracy is funded by foundation grants, state and federal tax-payers... Rick Mons, after a non-stop campaign of red-baiting, libel and slander directed at me personally over many months, asked me questions on e-democracy and didn't like my answers so he had me banned from e-democracy.
I will let everyone judge for themselves if there is anything in my response to Rick Mons for which anyone should be denied the right to publish their views on e-democracy.
Rick Mons claims he never read anything in the United States Constitution or Bill of Rights that would support my right to state my opinions.
Mr. Mons claims to be one of the biggest advocates in Minnesota for Obama's "net neutrality."
Mr. Mons was happy as long as Communist Party activity was at a standstill in Minnesota; now with a Shoreview Club of the Communist Party looking over the nefarious deals of the Shoreview Planning Commission and looking into payoffs to members of the Shoreview Planning Commission by realators and business people, Mr. Mons is upset the Communist movement has taken root in his own back-yard.
Alan L. Maki
On Saturday Alan Maki < amaki000@centurytel.net > wrote:
> let me assure everyone on this list serve that Communists in
> Minnesota are alive and doing very well as this capitalist system
> crumbles--- our membership is growing and our clubs are popping up
> everywhere like dandelions after a warm spring rain.
>
Any hard data to back up this contention? Less than two years ago, you (or
someone claiming to be "Alan Maki") wrote:
> "For far too long Party organizing has been ground to a halt in the
> Minnesota/Dakotas region ...
Rick Mons, as Forum Participant
>
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>
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>
The ideas banned by e-democracy---
>
>
My response to Rick Mons:
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First of all, let me assure everyone on this list serve that Communists in
Minnesota are alive and doing very well as this capitalist system
crumbles--- our membership is growing and our clubs are popping up
everywhere like dandelions after a warm spring rain.
I can understand why many people on this list serve might view communists as
a powerful influence in Minnesota politics and the working class movement
from the 1930's without any relevance to the struggles today which are
intensifying as Barack Obama carries out Wall Street's directives and agenda
by trying to put the burden of this economic crisis on the backs of the
working class even though not one single-worker in Minnesota or anyplace
else in this country was part of the decision-making process which got us
into this economic mess. Mr. Mons, you probably haven't met any Communists because you
don't go to peace demonstrations or vigils and you aren't involved in the
struggle to save the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant or you haven't
been involved in the struggles to halt home foreclosures and evictions and
you probably aren't involved in rank and file union organizations or the
fight to protect our natural resources and ecosystems. You might not have
even taken the time to meet your next door neighbor who just might be a
Communist... or some kind of socialist. Or, you probably aren't involved in
trying to push working class issues forward in the Minnesota Democratic
Farmer-Labor Party--- that's where a lot of people have met a Communist like
me.
In fact, any of you who don't want to listen to right-wing radio station
KTLK can go to the Main Minneapolis Library and read a book by Minnesota
writer and revolutionary Marxist-Leninist working class activist Gus Hall
while sitting in a chair marked in the honor of this former head of the
Communist Party USA and a member of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee
who was in Minneapolis organizing teamsters before Jimmy Hoffa ever knew
there were such workers.
Or, you can watch the movie: "A Common Man's Courage" about the life of
Minnesota U.S. Congressman and Communist Party U.S.A. member and Iron
Ranger, John Bernard... or take a stroll through your state capitol building
and view the portraits of former socialist governors Floyd Olson and Elmer
Benson... next to Elmer Benson's portrait is a bronze plaque detailing his
close association with Communists--- in fact, I talked with Elmer Benson
often at Mesaba Co-op Park near Hibbing and our talking under a birch tree
was duly noted by the FBI... of course, these politicians were from the days
of good and honest government and government that cared about creating a
better life for working people as compared to the present crop of Minnesota
public officials who stuff their campaign coffers with bribes from
corporations which they so originally refer to as campaign contributions.
It really does seem like it still takes communists to organize unions in
Minnesota since less than ten percent of the workers in Minnesota are
organized and if it hadn't been for my grandpa and grandma and the red Finns
on the Iron Range I doubt the number of organized workers in this state
would be 5%; although considering all the members of the American Federation
of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the number of organized
workers in Minnesota today probably is around 10%... judging by the
direction our state government is heading it looks like AFSCME is about to
be losing quite a few members.
Anyways; here you go; let me give all you anti-communists who have expressed
your views so eloquently on this "e-democracy" list serve in the Minnesota
Politics Forum... let me provide you with a Minnesota Communist's viewpoint
to respond to---
Let's talk about poverty... the remarkable creation of this great free
enterprise capitalist system... perhaps another day we can talk about peace
and war; capitalism seems to do a pretty good job of breeding wars in
addition to poverty :)
Several weeks ago I received a call from a lady in Redby on the Red Lake
Indian Reservation.
She told me she had asked MNDFL State Representative Brita Sailer when the
state legislature was going to do something about poverty on Indian
Reservations. This lady and some of her friends were quite upset with
Representative Sailer's answer.
It seems that Representative Sailer's response was that "poverty is a very
complex and complicated issue that would take too much time to talk about."
I can understand people would be upset by this kind of response.
As we talked, this lady asked me if I would be willing to come down to Redby
and talk to her and a few friends about "poverty." I agreed.
When I arrived at her home it was quite apparent that she and her children
were living in poverty as were most of her neighbors... at least they didn't
have homes like the two-million dollar spread of John McCarthy who heads up
the work of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association and people in Redby
weren't living the life of Riley like Rick Rothausen, Red Lake Gaming
Enterprises' retired Chief Financial Officer.
This is what I said about "poverty" which contrary to DFL'er Representative
Brita Sailer is quite simple to talk about when you are on the Red Lake
Indian Reservation because you are constantly surrounded by poverty.
What causes this poverty?
Poverty is caused by two things:
1. Unemployment causes poverty--- if you don't have a job you are going to
be poor.
2. Low wages cause poverty--- any school child can figure this out.
There are two solutions to ending poverty:
1. Put people to work.
2. Pay people real living wages.
Talking about poverty is really very simple... politicians like Brita Sailer
want to turn a discussion of poverty into a big complicated issue.
The reason Representative Brita Sailer and most of her colleagues in the
Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party have been told to tell poor people
that poverty is too complex for them to understand is because the two
solutions to ending poverty do not sit well with those like John McCarthy of
the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association from whom these Democrats are
reaping huge campaign contributions.
The casino operations are amongst the largest employers in northern
Minnesota and today these casino operations employ more people than the iron
ore mining and taconite industry.
Why is it so difficult for Representative Brita Sailer to talk about poverty
to the very people whose votes she is asking for? The reason is, because
Brita Sailer and her DFL colleagues would have to explain how it is that
they reap huge campaign contributions distributed by a man like John
McCarthy, the Executive Director of MIGA, who has a lavish two-million
dollar spread with a mansion on a hill like some old Finnish feudal lord who
lives a life of luxury because he has helped create a cheap labor pool for
the casino industry. Poverty wages create poverty... why is this so
difficult to understand. Casino managements pay all casino workers in
Minnesota poverty wages... are we supposed to expect anything other than
people living in poverty will be the result of paying people poverty wages?
For many people living on the Red Lake Indian Reservation the only jobs they
can get are working in the casinos getting paid poverty wages; but, for even
more people, unemployment is what they get as Tribal leaders allow
non-tribal members to do most of the work on the reservation. In fact, Floyd
"Buck" Jourdain has fired people from his own staff for insisting that more
Native Americans be employed to do work on--- and off--- the Reservation.
One has to wonder why there are so many non-tribal members teaching in the
schools in Red Lake and working at good-paying jobs in the Red Lake
Department of Natural Resources or working on the new casino or installing
cable equipment or working on the roads or installing sewers when Red Lake
has an unemployment rate exceeding 50%. Why weren't tribal members given
first chance at all casino jobs and paid real living wages?
I find it sadly ironic that Minnesota legislators will sit and listen to Red
Lake Nation Chair belly-ache and complain about unemployment and poverty
without one single one of these public officials asking him how it is so few
Native Americans are employed among the 1,300 people working in Red Lake
Gaming Enterprises smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages without any rights
under state, federal or tribal labor laws or international labor standards.
Why are multi-million dollar government contracts going without the
enforcement of affirmative action guidelines strictly enforced?
Poverty is very easy to talk about; the real reason why DFL'ers like Brita
Sailer refuse to talk about poverty when asked questions is because they are
not doing a darn thing about ending poverty because those like the Minnesota
Indian Gaming Association are paying these Democrats to ignore the issue of
poverty.
It becomes an embarrassment that one single Native American family, on or
off any Indian Reservation is living in poverty when you walk into any
casino and see the money these outfits are taking in.
You end poverty by putting people to work paying them real living wages
supplemented with adequate governmental programs like socialized health
care, government subsidized housing, quality educations and you enforce
affirmative action in hiring.
Any employer saying that can not pay people a real living wage for a job
that needs to be done should just do the job themselves or put their own
children to work in a smoke-filled casino.
First it was big agri-business that made excuses why it was impossible to
pay people real living wages; then it was the forestry industry that always
had an excuse why they treated their horses better than the workers; then it
was the iron ore mining industry with Carnegie and Rockefeller pleading
poverty whenever living wages and health and safety working were the topic
of discussion... now it is the casino industry who claims that they are just
good people providing people with a little cash to tide them over until
people "can get real jobs." Listening to these casino managements one would
think the casino patrons were gambling with play money from their Monopoly
games and they were walking away with pockets stuffed full with real cash.
Big money has been made by these profiteers in the casino industry living
high on the hog as a result of paying their employees poverty wages... what
do workers get in return for creating their wealth?
From big agri-business we got food with no nutritional value, high-priced
foods and contaminated ground water; from the forestry industry we got
clear-cuts and tree plantations; from the mining industry we got huge pits
and pollution; now, from the casino industry we get diddly-squat as the
one-armed bandits rake in the loot faster than any other industry ever has
and these mobsters still cry poverty when it comes to paying workers real
living wages.
We live in a society where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Those like Representative Brita Sailer would rather not explain any of this
when asked about poverty because they are getting a part of the spoils in
the form of campaign contributions for allowing--- and enabling--- all of
this to go on.
Alan L. Maki, a very proud "red" Finn
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell phone: 651-587-5541
E-mail:
Check out my blog:
Thoughts From Podunk
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/
