THE CADRE, TUES., APRIL 9, 1974 Page 4

FOR MS.apologia

Every society, regardless of its structure, is composed necessarily of a totality: economics, politics, religion, institutions, heritage, geo- graphy, etc. It is impossible to change or alter any one component without directly or indirectly altering or chan- ging all other components. It is therefore also impossible to affect any one individual or group without having an affect on all other indivi- duals or groups. This is the reason why women's liberation necessarily presupposes the liberation of all other mem- bers of that society: men, children, 'criminals', 'meny tally ill', 'submissives’, 'deviants', 'perverts‘, etc.

Our particular era in western civilization is under the dom- inant influence of the econ- omic structure which, in North American society, is capital- ism. Since the necessity to provide for a material exist- ance has been historically pree dominant, this system (capit- alism) grew out of porportion to all other societal elements: religion, morality, politics, philosophy, etc. Since it grew to dominance, it thereby controlled and determined the nature all other societal elements would have. Thus you get a society which is in ser- vice to its economy rather than vice versa -- which should be the case. Necessarily there- fore all human relationships in our society are determined by capitalist economies. What must initially ensue as a re- sult is the exploitation of one man by another; one coun- try by another; etc. Since competition is so rampant and necessary for the aquisition

.of success in such a system men are turned into individu- als so as to facilitate free-

,dom of upward (or downward) mobility in the rat-race of capitalist economics.

With the economic sphere as the most important sphere, it is inevitable that all values and goals are determined by it also. Therefore, everyone and everything assumes a cap- italist or monetary value -- as commodities to be bought or sold. People are turned into objects (commodities) and are treated as'such, But in so doing, the human is neglected. It is to Be expec- ted therefore that symptoms

of alienation would manifest themselves: crime, divorce, mental illness, hate, despair, etc., etc. (Don't look now but we're in the middle of

s

just such a mess!).

The above remarks will suffice to substantiate the fact that women's liberation is not lib- eration from men. On the con- trary women seek liberation from capitalism which is, and has been, for the most part,

_under the control of men, or

rather, I should say, capital- ism has exploited women thggggh men, who, as you know, are exploited themselves by capi- talism. Thus, contrary to Donna Greenwood's remarks to me that men should not be allowed any say in the "For Ms." page, liberation of women is offijust‘ as much concern to men and children, etc., as it is to women themselves. They are all oppressed (albiet in their own way) by capitalism and, thus, all have a common ground for co-operative organized actbn 1n the overthrow of this eco- nomic system for this common liberation.

It is contradictory to assert that women (or any other group) can achieve liberation apart from the other groups of this soCiety. That is why the "Gad-

re” saw the necessity for the “For Ms." page. It augmented the editorials which Joel Han- sen (Kampus Koncern) and I have written.

I might point out at this time that Gil Brammer has, in my estimation, done a good job pointing out the various and subtle ways in which oppress- ion occurs and manifests its- elf; some were displeased with her concentration on "trivial aspects”, but the fact is, and she pointed this out, that it is precisely in those "trivial" occurences where oppression takes root. It is to be hoped that those in whose hands the future "Cadre" rests, will see the signifigance of those ele- ments in our_society (pointed out thus far) which oppress us and others, take issue with them as responsible writers in an attempt to educate their> fellow citizens which is a necessary condition for‘co-op- erative action for liberation.

Stan Dalton