First Published: Modern Times, No. 1, n.d. [October 1977].
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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Remember the great Charlie Chaplin film “Modern Times” which ridiculed factory speed-ups and discipline and capitalist law and order? Forty years later, capitalism is even more absurd and oppressive. We face new and mounting problems for which many of the “ready” answers of the past are irrelevant.
Modern Times, this periodic bulletin of analyses, proposals, and opinions, is an attempt to get us to confront our problems squarely and to seek out solutions.
Our viewpoint is socialist and our method is scientific. By “scientific,” we do not mean using incomprehensible phrases or trying to justify positions by religiously quoting old Marxist works. Scientific method means collecting necessary information, summing up experience, and evaluating old and new theories in the light of additional information. This method is self-correcting, since the process of testing theories against reality–that is, through practice–leads to deeper understanding and more effective strategies.
To put it bluntly, the theoretical level of the socialist movement in the U.S. is low, and this is particularly true in Hawaii, where there has been little theoretical discussion or struggle for unity.
As more people involve themselves in political struggle and look for real causes and solutions, much more will be expected and needed from socialists. From sharing experiences and viewpoints, socialists can gain and learn from their own and others’ experience, and our practice and theory will improve, and our unity grow.
In Modern Times we plan to summarize the contending views held by different socialist writers and leaders on key issues, investigate problems that are especially important to us in Hawaii, and review some basic socialist writings to see how they can help us today. We will also spotlight key international and national issues as they affect the positions and work of the socialist movement in the U.S.
We want this bulletin to be used for dialogue and discussion, and hope it can be used in study groups and to launch forums on key issues and problems. We will actively seek out different views on the vital questions facing us. But we will insist en investigation and a simple, easy-to-read mass style which avoids empty sloganeering and rhetoric divorced from fact.
We hope that Modern Times will be a useful tool for the socialist movement locally and will help bridge the distance between work experience in various communities and worksites and on the neighbor islands.
Please share it with your friends und co-workers. Give us your ideas, criticisms and articles. For the bulletin to be successful, your feed-back and contributions are vital.