Dear gentlemen,

Your Marxist site has inspired me to write to you, in order to show appreciation of your efforts and to appeal for action. I'm glad to see some understanding of situation in the Balkans in "outer world" in these hard days for people of Yugoslavia. Seeing that Marxism is still fighting its battle in the West gives me a bit of hope and comfort.

Here it looks like Marxism lost the battle; abused in creating a totalitarian regime and then cursed as a bad religion and thrown away. But, the final word hadn't been said yet - the cruel process of initial capital accumulation that is taking place in last few years under the mask of transition from socialism to "democracy," and growing dissatisfaction with the rule of gangster-run parties and "opposition" (participating in exploitation and deception); will eventually raise Marxism from the ashes, because it is the only way to solve the existing antagonisms.

Imperialistic, NATO aggression against Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) is hastening the process of devastation of our society, gathering people around Slobodan Milosevic, totalitarianist, the worst ruler in several hundred years long history of Serbian people. He participated in breaking the former (big) socialistic Yugoslavia, which was broken into FRY (Serbia and Montenegro), Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Macedonia; and was assisted by bourgeois governments of USA, Germany and other Western countries. Now, the same capitalist regimes are giving him excuse (by direct military attack) for silent elimination of free media, intellectuals and any other potential danger to his rule.

There is no perspective for democracy or even survival of Serbian people while the NATO bombs (and now very possible future ground attacks) are destroying economical resources, people's lives and society in whole. Bombardments allowed Milosevic to conduct state-of-war laws, and to destroy all of his (even potential) opponents, like students, intellectuals, working class movements and other.

If NATO is not stopped as soon as possible, the devastation of economic and other potentials will be so enormous that it will bring the state back in 18th century. The ground engagement of NATO will mean total mobilisation, total war and immediate spreading of the conflict all over Balkans and would involve other surrounding countries. Remember, the spark that lit the WWI was Austro-Hungarian imperialistic aggression on the same Serbian people that is now defending itself from western imperialism represented by NATO.

My country is not strong enough to resist NATO for a long period of time, though we still have pretty vital army. Our defeat would open the door for other same-type conflicts all over the world. This is why my people is seeking help from all of the proletariat around the world. The greatest help You can give us is by organizing mass demonstrations in Your country to force Your governments to stop. The only way to stop them is to make the regimes unstable, to make them feel endangered.

Please, continue spreading the truth about this war; organize the proletariat - the point is in changing the world, not only in understanding it.

Dragan, student of economy (Belgrade University, Yugoslavia) PS I know that my English is far from satisfactory, but I hope You will understand what I meant.

SeeingRed responds to Dragan

Thanks very much for writing. Communication between the West and all the peoples of Yugoslavia is vitally important.

Your English is far, far above "satisfactory" -- all we did was run a spell-check on your letter.

There is one mistake, though -- we're not "gentlemen." Of the five people who regularly pitch in at SeeingRed two are women. (Also the word suggests high social class, which leaves all of us out.)

Also we should clarify: SeeingRed is not a strictly Marxist magazine. The name is a double entendre -- it refers to seeing things from a Red perspective, and to being angry (in English the expression "to see red" means to get really mad) -- in this case to be mad at the awful inequality and inhumanity that grips the world.

We're not the publication of any political party (though both the editor and Roger Collins support the Socialist Workers Party in the United States; the same two plus our webmaster Jason also support the Cuban Communist Party).

So sure there's lots of Marxism in SeeingRed, but there's a lot of things that aren't.

And heck, there's plenty of "Marxists" we would never publish -- and plenty of non-Marxists we're dying to. Put it this way: you'll never find Pol Pot, Stalin, or Mao here. You will find Malcolm X here (once we work out the copyright issues), but mainly you'll find common working (and thinking) people.

Not a gentlemen among them.

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