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