AZ State Rep. Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale), left, and Karl Marx | AZLeg.gov / International Institute of Social History (Public Domain)
AZ State Rep. Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale), left, and Karl Marx | AZLeg.gov / International Institute of Social History (Public Domain)
Ariz. State Rep. Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale) criticized Arizona State University (ASU for hosting an upcoming “Marxist School” run by the International Marxist Tendency (IMT).
“How does a publicly-funded state university host Marxism training on campus for students?” Chaplik posted on X. “Taxpayer dollars fund ASU and they’re hosting people who want to train people to destroy our country from the inside.”
“I have a big problem with this, (ASU President) Michael Crow,” said Chaplik.
Chaplik shared a link to the IMT’s website, SocialistRevolution.org, which promotes an upcoming “Marxist School” event, scheduled to take place Nov. 4 and 5 at Arizona State University.
“Join the communists for a weekend of discussions on Marxist theory and revolutionary strategy!” Said the website. “The 2023 Marxist School is an in-person event series for revolutionary education, organized by Socialist Revolution,” said the website.
The group is also holding “schools” in New York City, Minneapolis, and Bellingham, Wash. Ticket prices range from $10 to $60.
In a follow-up post, Chaplik pointed to AZ Revised Statutes 16-806, on the “Proscription of Communist Party of United States, its successors, and subsidiary organizations.”
According to those statutes:
“The Communist Party of the United States, or any successors of such party regardless of the assumed name, the object of which is to overthrow by force or violence the government of the United States, or the government of the state of Arizona, or its political subdivisions shall not be entitled to be recognized or certified as a political party under the laws of the state of Arizona and shall not be entitled to any of the privileges, rights or immunities attendant upon legal political bodies recognized under the laws of the state of Arizona, or any political subdivision thereof; whatever rights, privileges or immunities shall have heretofore been granted to said Communist Party of the United States as defined in this section, or to any of its subsidiary organizations, by reason of the laws of the state of Arizona, or of any political subdivision thereof, are hereby terminated and shall be void.”
The IMT’s website describes the organization as “one of the world's foremost sources of Marxist theory,” that organizes “in the workers’ and youth movement for the overthrow of capitalism and a socialist future for humanity!"
The group’s newspaper, “In Defense of Marxism,” is edited by “Welsh Trotskyist” Alan Woods, who reportedly had ties to former Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.
IMT's published schedule for the Phoenix “Marxist School” is:
Schedule
All times listed in Mountain Time
Day 1 | Saturday, November 4
- 8:00–9:00am | Doors Open, Refreshments
- 9:00am–12:30pm | The German Revolution: How the Communists Could Have Taken Power
- 12:30–2:00pm | Lunch Break
- 2:00–5:00pm | Their Ideology and Ours: The Case for Revolutionary Philosophy
- 8:00–9:00am | Doors Open, Refreshments
- 9:00am–12:30pm | Women’s Liberation and the Russian Revolution
- 12:30–2:00pm | Lunch Break
- 2:00–5:00pm | Why Communists Today Need to Prepare for Power
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