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LYM Takes on Local-Control Ideologues
at Cleveland Poverty Summit

by Nick Fedden
LaRouche Youth Movement

CLEVELAND, Sept. 13—Echoing the shift we see occurring in the population of Leipzig, and throughout eastern and western Germany today, on the invitation of two City Council Members, three members of the Detroit LYM, accompanied by Midwest Coordinator Robert Bowen, attended the Cleveland Summit on Poverty, on Sept 2. This summit was convened on the heels of national exposure of Cleveland as the most impoverished city in the nation. Needless to say, there was no small hint of desperation in the air; the problem was that it was being looked at as a Cleveland problem, rather than a worldwide systemic collapse.

We were determined to intervene into any attempts at small thinking (such as yuppie seduction plans), and direct all discussion toward an FDR solution to this depression.

Lewis Whilden, Kenneth Stallings, and this author began our intervention by distributing the now-famous "Children of Satan III," "A Real Democratic Platform," and the New Federalist in the hallway outside the summit room. Things got off to a rocky start, as we were asked by a Cleveland police officer to remove ourselves from the hallway. Since it was almost time for the summit to begin, we asked a security guard whom Lewis had previously organized to watch our materials, and proceeded to go into the summit.

The situation inside the room was a good example of how New Age "synergy"-increasing, flaky new-economy business practices can sometimes work to our advantage. We had to make our own placards, which read "LaRouche Youth Movement," and then were told not to sit with anyone we previously knew, so we placed our placards down on different tables, so that as one perused the participants, one would see: "City Council," "City Planner," "Media Visions," "LaRouche Youth Movement"—it was one of the sanest sights I've ever seen.

The Fun Begins

The summit was called to order by the Mayor, who laid out the severity of the crisis that was faced (including the laying off of 1,000 teachers), but stressed that we were here, not to wallow in the crisis, but to discuss solutions. We were then informed that we would have approximately 45 minutes to have a brainstorming session with our respective tables, that at each table one person should act as the scribe, and that the notes would then be used to assist a working group to tackle the crisis. This is where the fun began.

It was easy to tell at which tables representatives of the LaRouche Movement were, because this is where the "brainstorming" ceased to be simply civil, in the tradition of company manners ("You've got your solution to the crisis and I've got mine"), and instead became downright productive. At Lewis's table, members of the United Way, attempting to stick to the axiom, "Think Locally. Get Fascism," were trying to shove through small-business-oriented solutions, while others were sitting passively despite fundamental disagreements. At this point, Lewis intervened with the idea of an FDR solution—a revival of industry and manufacturing, and tons of government-invested credit to make it work.

This inspired others at his table to think bigger as well, including a Catholic nun who finally burst out, "We need a systemic change!" One could tell that the conversation was productive when one of the United Way reps, shocked at hearing his own associate agree with Lewis, screamed, "This whole table's going socialist!" as he attempted to ensure that none of this conversation was being written down for the working group. Similar events occurred at each of the tables that the LaRouche Movement was at.

The principle ordering the whole event was the discrepancy between those attending, who fall into the category of monetarist ideologues, who rabidly defend policies similar to those that Helga Zepp LaRouche had rallied the people of Germany against, vs. those who truly wish to see Cleveland escape the current crisis, but have been pounded into the ground by these ideologues. Our attendance at this meeting created a shift that completely destabilized the ideologues, and gave new hope to those who have had the prescience that the ideologues were sophists, but didn't know how to expose them.

We intend to return to Cleveland to continue to rally the city leadership, as part of the economic flank on the anti-Cheney-Bush campaign to assure a victory for Kerry in November.