Thomas Sankara and Burkina Faso's 'Black Spring'

Ernest Tate writes that Thomas Sankara and Burkina Faso's 'Black Spring'.

Periodic crises and political instability followed by military coups seems to have been permanent features of political life of the country after formal independence began in 1960. Still under the influence of Paris, the first post-colonial regime had been unwilling or unable to deal with the country's immense social and economic problems, leading to mass unrest, labour and student strikes and of course, a military coup.

As a result of the coup, Harsch writes, the army's popularity had increased and came to be seen by many young intellectuals as a possible instrument for social change, a “potential modernizing institution that might help discipline the corrupt bureaucracy, counter-balance the inordinate influence of the traditional chiefs, and generally help modernize the county”.

It was in military college that Sankara came under the direct ideological influence of the college's director, the Marxist academic Adam Toure, a clandestine member of the pro-Moscow African Independence Party that was centred in Senegal, with branches in other former French colonies. It would turn out to be an important step in the future president's political evolution. Keeping his political affiliations hidden in those conservative circumstances, Toure quietly gathered together — outside the classroom — his brightest and most politically inclined students – among them Sankara — for informal discussions on topics such as, “imperialism and neo-colonialism, socialism and communism, the Soviet and Chinese revolutions, the liberation movements in Africa, and similar topics”. (Toure would later serve in Sankara's government as minister of information, only to be jailed for two years in 1984 because of his oppositional activities. He was nearly shot, only being saved because of Sankara's personal intervention.)

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It is interesting to compare and contrast the political development of Hugo Charvez and Thomas Sankara.

Both of them became radicalised through their respective military colleges. The Venezuelan one was overt in its radical agenda and it was based deeply on the country's struggle for independence. Thus the whole class was exposured to these ideas. Thus, the Venezuelan military aligns itself with the Bolivarian Revolution.

The Upper Voltan one had to be secretative. Thus, there was a split in the officer corps that was fatal to the revolutionary regime later on.

The Venezuelan coup failed. This forced Chaverz and others to rethink their strategy, and to end up in the political arena to spread their ideas there instead of forcing people to accept them. By entering into the democratic process, Chaverz gained legitimacy that he used to launch his radical agenda. And this legitimacy has enabled the revolution to survive a coup.

The Upper Voltan coup succeeded. This meant that Sankara did not need to rely on the political process to implement his radical agenda. This destroyed his legitimacy and, eventually, got him killed.

However, both Chaverz and Sankara leave a legacy that continues to inspire their followers to radicalism.

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Created by history

Chris Dillow writes that individuals are Created by history.

The precise mechanisms in these stories differ. Sometimes, the transmission from past to present operates via institutions, sometimes via culture - though of course the two interact. You can read Greg Clark's work (pdf) showing that wealth persists through the generations as individual-level evidence for the latter.

All this suggests that, contrary to simple-minded neoclassical economics and Randian libertarianism, individuals are not and cannot be self-made men. We are instead creations of history. History is not simply a list of the misdeeds of irrelevant has-beens; it is a story of how we were made. Burke was right: society is "a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born."

One radical implication of all this is Herbert Simon's:

When we compare the poorest with the richest nations, it is hard to conclude that social capital can produce less than about 90 percent of income in wealthy societies like those of the United States or Northwestern Europe. On moral grounds, then, we could argue for a flat income tax of 90 percent to return that wealth to its real owners.

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This is why it is very important for revolutionaries to study the official and unofficial history of their own country. In order to understand how to get we want to go, we need to understand how we got here.

The Bolivarian Revolution is grounded in the history of Venezuela. There was no template for a successful revolution that can be transferred from one country to another. This was the fatal mistake that Ché Guevara made when he tried to export the Cuban Revolution to the Congo and to Boliveria.

This idea is best captured by Leon Trotsky's Law of Uneven and Combined Development:

Different countries, Trotsky observed, developed and advanced to a large extent independently from each other, in ways which were quantitatively unequal (e.g. the local rate and scope of economic growth and population growth) and qualitatively different (e.g. nationally specific cultures and geographical features). In other words, countries had their own specific national history with national peculiarities.

But at the same time, all the different countries did not exist in complete isolation from each other; they were also interdependent parts of a world society, a larger totality, in which they all co-existed together, in which they shared many characteristics, and in which they influenced each other through processes of cultural diffusion, trade, political relations and various “spill-over effects” from one country to another.

Revolutionaries have to understand and reflect on their own country's history and development as well as the interaction with the rest of the world. Parochialism is fatal to revolutions.

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Privatisation loses in Queensland election

Jonathan Strauss & Marg Gleeson write that Privatisation loses in Queensland election.

The Queensland Chamber of Industry said it would not support any reversal of the LNP’s changes to workers’ compensation. It is crucial that the trade union movement continues to mobilise to ensure that a Labor government acts in the interests of the workers who contributed so effectively to its victory at the polls.

Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said after the election that the thousands of public servants sacked by Newman would not automatically be reinstated. This is a blow to those victims of austerity. Their cause, and the repeal of the anti-union laws introduced by the LNP, should be taken up by the trade union movement as a priority.

The Newman experience has shown people can exert power. Any government, even one with a huge majority, can be a one-term wonder. Queenslanders are feeling elated at having demonstrated this at the ballot box.

This feeling of empowerment is welcome and understandable. However, unions and social movements need to maintain their own, independent, mobilisation if Labor is to be held to account for their interests. Already the environment movement is calling on the ALP to ban new coalmines and save the Great Barrier Reef.

Labor’s victory was necessary to halt the sale of public assets. It does not provide a political alternative to the neoliberal project. If the demands of the social movements and the social needs of the community are to be met, an alternative to the ALP/LNP duopoly needs to be forged.

In recent years, huge movements of people mobilising against austerity in Europe and Latin America have turned away from the established parties. A mobilised community, with a renewed sense of its power to effect change can build such alternative for change in Australia.

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Even so, this shows the limitations of parliamentary democracy in that the Queensland Chamber of Industry is still able to dictate to the government. Those that control the means of production control the state.

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Greece: Why SYRIZA made the deal with the Independent Greeks (ANEL)

Haris Triandafilidou explains Why SYRIZA made the deal with the Independent Greeks (ANEL).

The swift formation of the coalition between SYRIZA and the Anexartitoi Ellines (AN.EL., “Independent Greeks“) party was met with incomprehension in other European countries. While the indignation of middle-class parties and the mainstream media is to be ascribed to hypocrisy rather than to serious concerns regarding democracy and rule of law, the concerns of numerous SYRIZA supporters in other European countries makes a closer examination of the coalition partner necessary:

AN.EL. was founded by the former ND deputy Panos Kammenos in February 2012. In its founding manifesto, the party pledged itself to popular sovereignty, the protection of the constitution, national pride and parliamentary democracy. Apart from that, the party calls for the abolition of the memoranda, which are perceived as an attack by the new world order. In item 6 AN.EL. pledges itself to equal rights (isonomy), solidarity, justice, meritocracy and equality and commits itself to protecting Greek families and all citizens from the attacks of the market. Its commitment to the values of the Greek Orthodox church and its positive impact on the people and the nation go hand in hand with the protection of religious freedom.

At a press conference a few days before the election, Kammenos had declared himself against the Dublin II Regulation that provides for undocumented migrants being detained in Greece against their will and underlined that every human life is of equal value, independent of its country of origin. “Illegal migrants must be given the possibility to travel to a country in which they can live without being subjected to violence or the methods of Mr Voridis or the Golden Dawn. In Greece this is not possible”, Kammenos stated.

The delegates’ speeches in the course of the party’s founding convention in February 2012 mainly focused on praising the chairman, Greek cultural heritage and the Greek Orthodox religion and condemning Greece’s sell-out to its creditors. The political agenda of the years between 2012 and 2015 shaped and accentuated this seemingly chaotic accumulation of patriotic, anti-neoliberal and Christian Orthodox positions that rarely had matched the right-wing extremist profile pinned on the party.

For example, in June 2013, the party positioned itself clearly against the shut-down of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT). It supported the 595 cleaners who were laid off by the ministry of economy and called for the investigation of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 12 persons in the Farmakonisi refugee tragedy. Associating Kammenos and his party with the right of the political spectrum is out of the question.

Pro-memoranda and anti-memoranda attitudes have overtaken the political division between right and left. In other words, the self-positioning of AN.EL as an anti-memoranda party results in certain positions being adopted on privatisation and the dismantlement of workers’ rights but also on “side effects” such as dismantling democracy, the state and police violence becoming more and more authoritarian. These positions shape the party’s political profile and the relationship with its voters in a way that cannot be taken back without political losses.

The election of January 25 has led to a unique situation. The avalanche of neoliberalism in the past five years has brought radical changes to the established patterns of political attitudes and the party spectrum. For the first time in European history, a party of the left has emerged as the winner of an election. For the first time in post-war European history, a national-socialist party [Golden Dawn] whose leaders are facing trial for establishing a criminal association and for contract killings is the third strongest force in a parliament.

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In these pre-revolutionary times, it is not unusual for conservatives (like me) to end up as revolutionaries. The key is defining and reflecting on one's core values. In doing so, one can end up in places where one never thought one would have.

This appears to the case with AN.EL, what would have been a mildly reformist agenda in the post-WW II era has become revolutionary because of the neo-liberalism shift in the Capitalist ruling class. In order to be true to their values, they have joined forces with those who would have been their arch-enemies (SYRIZA) in earlier times to defeat the greater enemy: the troika.

It will be an interesting political journey for AN.EL and SYRIZA as well as for Greece.

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'The Rich and the Great Recession'

Mark Thoma extracts from 'The Rich and the Great Recession'.

Our results suggest that the standard narrative of the Great Recession may need to be adjusted. Housing played a role, but so did financial assets, which actually accounted for the bulk of the loss in wealth. The middle class played a role, but so did the rich. In fact, the rich now account for such a large share of the economy, and their wealth has become so large and volatile, that wealth effects on their consumption have started to have a significant impact on the macroeconomy. Indeed, the rich may have accounted for the bulk of the swings in aggregate consumption during the boom-bust.

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This is one of the consequences of the concentration of wealth. The other is the paucity of ideas within the ruling class.

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Dead ends or building blocks?

Chris Dillow writes that policies can be either Dead ends or building blocks?.

We are not going to get a liberal socialist society merely by electing the right government: the Independent's otherwise fascinating "If I were Prime Minster" series misrepresents the nature of politics. But it is possible to gradually — perhaps even imperceptibly shift towards one. We've got ourselves a plutocratic managerialist society without consciously choosing one. Maybe we can get ourselves a socialist one the same way.

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Dillow is wrong to think the plutocracy was an unconscious choice. It is a consequence of the Laws of Motion for Capitalism: wealth is concentrated in the hands of the more successful Capitalists.

We cannot create a Socialist society through stealth: the Capitalists are too smart for that to happen. Let's not forget that they are very successful class warriors. They do not depend on luck for their success. They are very conscious of what drives a Capitalist society and the political processes that support it.

The only proven way to advance to Socialism is through the development of the political and cultural consciousness of the working class—not just the vanguard. We must realise ou potential to accept the responsibility of creating a freer society.

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A bird in search of a cage

Seth Godin writes that we tend to be A bird in search of a cage.

So much freedom, so much choice, so many opportunities to matter.

And yet, our cultural instinct is to find a place to hold us, a spot where we are safe from the responsibility/obligation/opportunity to choose. Because if we choose, then we are responsible, aren't we?

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This is one of the main cultural road-blocks that we must overcome in order to advance to a Communist society. We need people to accept the responsibility that freedom brings.

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Syria: Why Rojava is different

Jemma Nott explains Why Rojava is different.

With the odds stacked against them, the YPG and YPJ have taken back 20 towns from the IS in the past year — which is a greater achievement than the Levant Front, Hazzm Movement and Al-Nusra put together. What sets Kobane apart from other fighting militias is that their fight is more ideological than it ever will be physical — a fight not just for the liberation of Kurdistan or Syria but a fight for human liberation.

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A superior politcal and economic system has a good chance of prevailing over an inferior one because the former is able to mobilise and deploy resources is a better and more focused manner.

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Give the people what they want

Seth Godin says not to Give the people what they want.

Or you can dig in, take your time and invest in a process that helps people see what they truly need. When we change our culture in this direction, we're doing work worth sharing.

But it's slow going. If it were easy, it would have happened already.

This is want the political work of a Communist party is all about. It is getting people to see a new and different way of organising society, instead of just making changes to the existing Capitalist system.

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Anti-business

Chris Dillow argues that we should all be Anti-business.

But why do bosses have such influence? Partly, it's because politicians have so little credibility. But there are also two other reasons.

One is that the media — and the BBC is as guilty as anyone — sets up bosses as being general purpose experts: their opinions on the wider economy are often reported as authoritative in the way that others are not. This, though, misses the point that businessmen are at best experts only at running their own businesses — or in Stefano Pessina's case, inheriting them — and often not even that. As fans of many football teams will tell you, an ability to run one business often doesn't imply an ability to run another.

Also, bosses have managed to mythologize themselves as heroic, risk-taking leaders. But as we saw when Citylink collapsed, this is a fiction: it is workers and small contractors who bear risk, not big businessmen.

"Business leaders" are rather like corrupt medieval clergymen: they use an ideological fiction as a means of extracting wealth and power. What we need is a Martin Luther or Thomas Cromwell.

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This is all part of the ideological superstructure of Capitalism: the creation and maintainance of the myth about the importance and relevance of business leaders to the health of the economy and politics.

As we have found out in Australia, we have a buffoon called Clive Palmer who tried to buy himself into politics. Here is a billionaire who thought he could take over the Australian government by spending money lavishly. But he ended up with one (1) member in the lower house (himself) and three (3) senators. One of these has since become independent because she started thinking for herself.

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Nestles Has First Ever Negative Interest Corporate Bond; Privilege of Lending Gone Mad

Mike Shedlock is aghast that Nestles Has First Ever Negative Interest Corporate Bond; Privilege of Lending Gone Mad.

Yes indeed folks, you can can now pay Nestles for the privilege of lending it money.

What madman suggested that Capitalism was rational?

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Speak out against assassination attempt on Batay Ouvriye’s Yannick Etienne!

Stephanie McMillan asks everyone to Speak out against assassination attempt on Batay Ouvriye’s Yannick Etienne!.

The Rapid Response Network stands in solidarity with our sister, who has been a steadfast and courageous organizer for decades, at great personal risk and sacrifice. Batay Ouvriye is a rarity in this world: a genuinely autonomous and combative workers organization, and we will not stand by and allow collaborationist thugs to harm its militants!

Yannick belongs to the struggle, belongs to the entire international working class. Anyone who faces her with violence, will have to face all of us!

We Stand in Solidarity with the International Working Class!

We exhort our friends and sympathizers to also denounce this act internationally, and put CNOHA on notice that they will not get away with harming Yannick!

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Workers need to be actively mindful of the international struggle going on.

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Is democratic Keynesianism possible?

Chris Dillow asks Is democratic Keynesianism possible?.

In this sense, I read Simon as making a very radical claim — one which is more Marxian than Keynesian. "Democratic" policy-making cannot serve the public interest, because it is subverted by capitalists' interests. This represents a challenge to naive social democracy, which thinks that governments can do the right thing if only they have the will and courage.

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Dillow is correct in saying that the state exists to serve the interests of the ruling class. Under Capitalism, the ruling class consists of Capitalists. Thus, the Capitalist state serves and protects the interests of the Capitalists.

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Is ISIL’s ‘Shock and Awe’ more Awe-ful because One Victim?

Juan Cole asks Is ISIL’s ‘Shock and Awe’ more Awe-ful because One Victim?.

I think a lot of the ‘destroyed’ troops were burned up alive.

The purpose of the bombing was to terrify Iraqis into submitting. That is, it was a form of state terrorism. Iraq had not attacked the US. There was no casus belli or legitimate legal grounds for war. The UN Security Council, despite wooing and arm-twisting by Bush officials, declined to authorize the use of force. It was an illegal act of unadulterated aggression with no obvious provocation that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, the wounding of millions, and rendered four million of the 25 million Iraqis homeless over time (many of these remain displaced to this day; some have thrown in with Daesh as a result).

The US shock and awe campaign failed to shock or awe. The Iraqi military turned guerrilla and harried US troops for 8 1/2 years, then many of the ex-Baath officers and trained soldiers deserted secular nationalism, turned to al-Qaeda-type ideologies, formed Daesh and took over western and northern Iraq and eastern Syria.

The ex-Baath officers learned from seeing their colleagues and troops burned up by the Bush fireworks. According to that doctrine, you want to shock the enemy with your brutality and destructiveness, and awe him into submission by your crazed irrationality. But the Daesh commanders also took the lesson that dropping 15,000 pound bombs in the dead of the night away from cameras isn’t very effective, since the populace is insulated from the horror. Burning up even one captured enemy pilot alive on video, in contrast, would be broadcast by the internet and by Rupert Murdoch to the whole world, and a few thousand thugs could arrange for themselves to take on global importance and appear truly menacing to Jordan and even to the city of Rome (so they claim). All this publicity and fear accomplished not with billions in military spending but a smartphone camera, a single captive, and a few psychopaths with matches.

Now that is Shock and Awe. Shocking in its fierce savagery, awing in its wanton inhumanity. But we shouldn’t forget that that was also what Bush was going for in 2003 when he inadvertently started the process of creating Daesh as a backlash to his own monumental ruthlessness.

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When the US military burns people alive with their bombs (conventional and nuclear), flame-throwers, and depleted uranium shells, they claim that it is justified. The victims just become a statistic to be forgotten as “collateral damage”.

Both ISIL (Daesh) and the US military are monsters. One cannot be morally acceptable while the other is a pariah.

The answer is, of course, based on the fact the US military protects the Capitalists. Thus, all actions of the US military are morally justified from that point of view.

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Socialists and World War I: Turn the imperialist war into a civil war

Doug Enaa Greene writes about Socialists and World War I: Turn the imperialist war into a civil war.

And as opposed to fellow revolutionaries such as Trotsky, Bukharin, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Radek, Lenin was able to see the potential for anti-colonial national liberation movements to bring capitalism to its knees. Lenin scoffed at those revolutionaries who saw the revolution where “one army lines up in one place and says, “We are for socialism”, and another, somewhere else and says, “We are for imperialism”, and that will be a social revolution!”

Rather, Lenin had a much more dialectical view of the possibilities for revolution. He believed that revolution would not strictly confined to workers against capitalists in the heartlands of capitalism, but that:

The revolutionary movement in the advanced countries would actually be a sheer fraud if, in their struggle against capital, the workers of Europe and America were not closely and completely united with the hundreds upon hundreds of millions of 'colonial' slaves who are oppressed by capital.

And too many sections of the left, even those who proclaim fidelity to Lenin forget these words:

To imagine that social revolution is conceivable without revolts by small nations in the colonies and in Europe, without revolutionary outbursts by a section of the petty bourgeoisie with all its prejudices, without a movement of the politically non-conscious proletarian and semi-proletarian masses against oppression by the landowners, the church, and the monarchy, against national oppression, etc.—to imagine all this is to repudiate social revolution.

This perspective of Lenin would guide the Bolshevik Party during the Russian Revolution of 1917 — which was not just the overturn of Tsarist Absolutism and feudalism along with being the world's first socialist revolution — one of history's most successful anti-war movements.

Lenin, and other socialists and communists, were in a minority in their opposition to World War I — they were imprisoned, denounced and killed by the imperialist rulers and their social democratic lapdogs. Yet we should remember this — it was Lenin, Liebknecht, Luxemburg, and all the others who were proven right. They were correct to not only oppose the war, but to expose the system that spawned the slaughter and to organise to bring capitalism down. On this centennial of the First World War, we should remember their struggles, sacrifices and lessons.

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We, workers, should not be dogmatic about how a social revolution develops; but, rather, be open to anyone who agitates against the current system.

However, there is definitely a problem of working with avowed racists, sexists, xenophobes, and homophobes. For these people, by their nature, are not for an inclusive society of equals.

On the other hand, working with people who are ignorant of their racism, sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia, enables an open discussion about such issues when they interfere with political action and debate.

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Who’s Unreasonable Now?

Paul Krugman asks Who’s Unreasonable Now?

OK, so as I understand the latest from the new Greek government, Yanis Varoufakis is saying that he and his colleagues don’t care what happens to the headline value of the debt — if you want to claim that there has been no write-off, OK. What they want instead is substantive but not outrageous relief from the burden of running primary surpluses (surpluses ex interest payments), reducing the amount of resources transferred to creditors from 4.5 to 1-1.5 percent of GDP; they also want flexibility to achieve these surpluses with a mix that includes more revenue and less spending austerity.

This is a dastardly ploy by those left-wing radicals. You see, it’s completely reasonable.

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What was reasonable for a Capitalist economist to propose last century is now considered to be radical now. This is how far the politics of Capitalism has drifted to the right.

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Obama’s new Cuba policy: McDonald's in Old Havana?

Marce Cameron examines Obama’s new Cuba policy: McDonald's in Old Havana?

What is clear is that restoring US-Cuba diplomatic relations and lifting the blockade will not, in and of itself, allow US corporations to dominate Cuba once again. Nor will it trigger a wave of privatisations of Cuba’s socialist state property, or an end to Cubans’ constitutional right to health care and education at all levels free of charge.

That would require the demolition or degeneration of two institutional pillars of the revolution: the Cuban Communist Party and the socialist state it leads. That is precisely what the blockade has failed to achieve.

The failure of the blockade to destroy the revolution — and Obama’s decision to act on the recognition of this failure — should be seen for what it is: a triumph of Cuba’s working people over half a century of brutal siege by the mightiest empire in history. Rather than recognise this inconvenient truth, Obama repeated the myth that the blockade has failed to bring about Iraq-style regime change because it has “provid[ed] the Cuban government with a rationale for restrictions on its people.”

The myth that the revolution is propped up by the blockade is widespread among both liberal critics and admirers of socialist Cuba. In reality, the blockade has failed to bring about regime change for two fundamental reasons: millions of ordinary Cuban citizens remain deeply committed to the revolution’s core principles; and the calibre of Cuba’s communist leadership. Obama wasn’t going to congratulate his adversaries.

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Capitalists regard their system as superior to all others. They think that people turn to Socialism, Communism, or Anarcharism out of simple ignorance. They cannot comprehend that communal control of the means of production is even possible, let alone superior to Capitalism despite the mounting evidence.

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Anti-feminist actor sparks protests by pop culture community

Leela Ford writes that Anti-feminist actor sparks protests by pop culture community.

[Adam Baldwin] has continued to use the hashtag [(#gamergate)] for other tweets promoting the idea that feminism is trying to destroy male gaming culture, among other things. The hashtag became popular among sections of the gaming community who were taking up the cause of a movement that Baldwin claims is about "ethics in games journalism".

However, the movement turned very quickly into a misogynistic attack on women in the gaming industry after a number of feminist critiques were released exposing sexism in the industry.

Baldwin proceeded to tweet personal information of Quinn and another game developer Brianna Wu, which was used by his supporters to send threats to the women. Baldwin then accused Wu of lying about being driven from her home amid safety concerns. He also accused another woman, Anita Sarkeesian of being hysterical after receiving messages threatening violence and rape.

Wu has publicly supported the petition by spreading the link on twitter while calling Adam Baldwin a “sexist bully”. She also tweeted her own feelings on the issue saying: “Something geek culture is struggling with is making the culture open to women. I think Adam Baldwin is the complete opposite of this goal.”

Baldwin is a self-professed conservative who prides himself on speaking up against what he believes are “social justice liberals” trying to silence his “dissent” and “destroy [his] personhood”. In another one of his Twitter crusades last year, he said that gay marriage would lead to incest for tax benefits.

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Feminism is a credible threat to to the patriarchy as it should be. Exposing sexism is a vital task for feminists. Without debate around what constitutes sexism, feminism cannot advance.

Those who derive their identity from the patriarchy are rightly threatened by this exposure. Thus, they respond by the only means they know how: threats of rape and other violence. Then they are dismayed when their apparently “normal” behaviour is called out as vile and reprehensible. This is how the patriarchy has always responded.

Again I reiterate my thesis as expounded in “I am not Charlie Hebdo”—freedom of speech is not an absolute right. Those, like Baldwin and the rest of the #GamerGate community, do not have freedom of speech because they are using speech to threaten and oppress others. While those, like Wu and Sarkeesian, do have the right to free speech because they are fighting against the oppression of the patriarchy.

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Massive swing to ALP in cliffhanger Queensland election result

Margaret Gleeson writes that Massive swing to ALP in cliffhanger Queensland election result.

Two of the newly elected ALP members are indigenous, one being the first indigenous woman elected to the Queensland Parliament.

Voters sent a clear message to the LNP and the ALP that privatisation of public assets will not be tolerated. Since assuming office the Newman Government has been plagued by community and union campaigning against privatisation and cuts to government services. Anna Bligh's Labor government lost to the LNP three years ago on this issue. The electoral backlash against privatisation led to the ALP being reduced to a rump of seven in Parliament — which by-elections later increased to nine.

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This is the danger of democracy for the Capitalists—the people oppose the plans of the Capitalists. Here, privatisation was supposed to be a bonanza for the Capitalists, but the people have other ideas.

The same thing happened in Greece: austerity was supposed to save the Capitalists, but the Greeks saw the horrendous effects and wanted nothing to with austerity.

There is definitely a rupture between the interests of the people and the interests of the Capitalists.

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Micro efficient, macro inefficient

Chris Dillow discussees whether Capitalism Micro efficient, macro inefficient, or not.

One might add that Marxists' main complaint against capitalism is that it is macro inefficient rather than micro inefficient. Their beef isn't so much that capitalism produces too much of one one good and not enough of another, but rather that it had a tendency towards crises; that it is exploitative and alienating; and that it has unpleasant cultural effects, for example by leading us to regard others with greed or fear which, Cohen says (pdf), "are horrible ways of seeing other people." These are all macro problems, not micro ones.

Again, this is not to claim that capitalism is wholly micro efficient; leftists believe that markets over-supply finance, weapons and pollution and under-supply more caring occupations - though whether these are state failures or market failures is moot.

All this poses a question. What sort of economic system does the idea of micro efficiency but macro inefficiency lead to?

We can discount the social democratic option. We know now — as Keynes did not — that macroeconomic policy within market capitalism is not sufficient to create full employment, perhaps for reasons identified by Kalecki or perhaps because capitalists capture the state; still less does it solve the faults alleged by Marxists. Nor am I attracted to the participatory planning of the sort advocated by Robin Hahnel; it seems like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. This leaves some form (pdf) of market socialism and economic democracy. 

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We know the forces of production, under Capitalism, are stupendous. The amount of goods and sevices produced is staggering.

Yet, we still have starvation even though we throw away 40% of the food. We have homelessness even though buildings are empty. We have run-away climate change even though renewable energy sources exist and work. We have unemployed people even though the employed are stressed out over being over-worked. We have poverty in the midst of great wealth.

Capitalism is great at production, but lousy at distributing the benfits.

The central question is who controls the means of production? If a minority does, then the minority benefits. If the people, as a whole, controls it, then the people, as a whole, benefits.

The actual mechanism, by which we achieve the latter, is still under intense discussion.

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Rally mourns invasion, calls to change the date

Shaine Stephen writes that Rally mourns invasion, calls to change the date.

Several hundred Aboriginal community members and their supporters gathered on Hobart parliament house lawns to mark Invasion Day on January 26. There was a one minute silence observed whilst a wreath was slowly walked down two rows of those who gathered and placed on the steps to parliament house.

People were welcomed to country and reminded that the Aboriginal people do not recognise today as Australia Day, that they do not celebrate this day, and that their land was stolen, that they will never give up and will never go away.

Aboriginal leader Michael Mansell spoke about how Australia is the only country that celebrates a day when a country was invaded. He asked how immigrants can feel part of a nation when the day marks the coming of one race displacing another — it is not a basis for unity, it is a basis for division. He said the day is "race based and based on a white Australia policy".

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A settler society, such as Australia, cannot readily let go of the myth that the indigenous people do not matter. The logic of settlement cannot admit to the rights of the original inhabitants, nor to the crimes that were committed during the invasion.

Yet, other settler societies, such as Canada, have recognised the original inhabitants in treaty and in law. Will Australia have the same maturity as Canada to do the same?

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Grandmothers Against Removals call for support

Grandmothers Against Removals call for support.

Activists from the national movement Grandmothers Against Removals joined the Aboriginal protest convergence in Canberra over the Invasion Day long weekend, including the march on Parliament House.

Many of the Aboriginal families attending the convergence were suffering from the impact of the continuing forced removal of children by welfare agencies across the country. More than 14,000 Aboriginal children are now in “out of home care”, more than at any time in Australia's history, including at the height of the Stolen Generations of the 20th century.

Several of the grandmothers remain camped at the Aboriginal tent embassy and have vowed to maintain their protest camp until a big demonstration in Canberra planned for February 13, the anniversary of Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generations.

While at the camp, they will continue their work of providing support and case advocacy for families struggling to have their children returned, along with making preparations for the upcoming demonstration.

The grandmothers are calling on supporters to join them at the embassy, to help with preparations for February 13.

Emphasis Mine

This is the result of the racism needed to sustain a settler society—the indigenous people are not human beings. The governments throughout Australia fervently believe that the Aboriginal children have to be removed for their own safety.

To deny the right of children to grow up in their own family and culture is a form of genocide.

It also shows that Kevin Rudd's apology was just words—there was no cessation of removal; and certainly no compensation of the victims of the Stolen Generation.

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Why SYRIZA is Greek for hope

Stuart Munckton explains Why SYRIZA is Greek for hope.

The victory comes on the back of ongoing social struggles by millions of Greek working people. They include the “movement of the squares” (the Greek version of Occupy), dozens of general strikes and many battles by working people and others for their rights, against state repression and against the (still-present) threat of fascism.

…

By the end of the year, SYRIZA could be joined by Podemos in Spain — a new anti-austerity party that emerged out of Spain's mass movement that is ahead in the polls.

Since the global economic crisis broke out in 2008, the capitalists and their government representatives have sought to make working people bear the brunt of the crisis. The Greek people, in particular, have been made to suffer.

As a result of austerity measures, unemployment has risen to 31% (about 50% for youth), and 20% of those who have jobs still live under the poverty line. Suicides have risen dramatically.

The victory for SYRIZA is the first big breakthrough in the popular resistance to what is, in reality, a brutal form of class war.

We know the struggle has only just begun. Unsurprisingly, the rich and powerful are far from impressed at losing control of the Greek government.

…

Renegotiating Greece's debt is crucial to reversing the human catastrophe caused by austerity. Every victory in Greece against austerity sends a powerful message to victims of capitalist austerity everywhere — we don't have to accept this, there is an alternative.

We know this is not simply a struggle of Greece's people. It is the struggle for all the victims of austerity — who are being made to pay for the capitalist system's crisis — across Europe. Beyond that, it is a struggle against the deeply unjust global system.

Emphasis Mine

The Occupy Movement is beginning to bear fruit. There is an ebb and flow in the affairs of humankind, but one has to know whether the tide is coming in or going out.

We have a convergence of several crises: enviromental, political, economic.

The last quarter of a century has seen Capitalism's great victory in the Cold War turn to dust—literally in the deserts of the Middle, and figuratively elsewhere.

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The return of WorkChoices? Productivity Commission’s attack on workers’ rights

John Rainford fears The return of WorkChoices? Productivity Commission’s attack on workers’ rights.

Employer representatives and Abbott government ministers see the virtue of the inquiry as identifying impediments to jobs growth.

What this can only lead to is either a watering down of present minimum rates and conditions or their complete abolition in the name of creating jobs.

The idea that cutting the minimum wage and penalty rates will create jobs is a myth born of voodoo economics in the US, where the evidence is that higher minimum wages actually raise employment.

The only result of a lower minimum wage would be to cut employment opportunities and increase the number of working poor. It is nevertheless regularly rolled out as a favoured policy prescription by conservatives trapped in a time-warp of hatred for unions and the workers they represent.

Emphasis Mine

The laws of motion for Capitalism require the Capitalists to continually attack the wages and conditions of workers. It is only through the expropiation of the surplus value created by labour that the Capitalists are able to realise profit.

This increasing profit leads to the periodic crises in Capitalism in which the workers do not have enough money to buy all of the goods that their labour produce. This is the classic crisis of overproduction.

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Workers occupy factory in Dandenong

Chris Peterson writes that Workers occupy factory in Dandenong.

Workers at International Flavours & Fragrances (IFF) began occupying the Dandenong factory on January 27 after negotiations for a new workplace agreement stalled. Negotiations have been ongoing since June, after contention arose over management’s proposal for a $0.55 an hour wage rise if workers forfeited one of their two paid 10 minute breaks.

…

The occupying workers say they are not just defending their own conditions, but also those that unionists fought hard to win in the past and will fight to win in the future.

Emphasis Mine

These workers have seen beyond their own economic circumstances to the plight of workers generally. This is the beginning of class consciousness amongst the workers. But it is only the first step.

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Gov't disability crackdown shows brutal austerity

Angus McAllen writes that Gov't disability crackdown shows brutal austerity.

The policy of using government testing to judge people “fit to work” has been used with devastating impact in Britain. In 2012, the Daily Mirror reported that thousands of people had died because they had been deemed “fit to work” and taken off welfare entirely.

Under this vicious policy, more than half of the 300,000 applicants were rejected. Thousands of people also perished while they waited, on lower rates of welfare payments, to be assessed by the government.

The policy Australia now seeks to implement has led to the deaths of thousands of people with disability or illness in Britain and is likely to do the same here.

This shows the brutal logic of austerity. To face down a global crisis of accumulation, government is seeking to off-load social services and social reproduction onto ordinary people, with no regard for the cost.

The human results are all too obvious. What is also obvious is that this inhumane policy and policies like it, which target the young and the disabled, are the logical conclusion of a society that puts profits before people.

Emphasis Mine

At least, the disabled are not being euthanised. Yet.

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Rich are scared — let's make their fears come true

Stuart Munckton writes that the Rich are scared — let's make their fears come true.

These are certainly interesting times — where growing inequality, ongoing injustice and the threat of climate disaster make a potent brew of deep uncertainty.

Just ask our rulers. A January 23 article in The Guardian titled “As inequality soars, the nervous super rich are already planning their escapes” said: “With growing inequality and the civil unrest from Ferguson and the Occupy protests fresh in people’s mind, the world’s super rich are already preparing for the consequences.

“At a packed session in Davos, former hedge fund director Robert Johnson revealed that worried hedge fund managers were already planning their escapes. 'I know hedge fund managers all over the world who are buying airstrips and farms in places like New Zealand because they think they need a getaway,' he said.”

But it seems more than just the fear of being targeted by riotous mobs that is keeping the super-rich up at night. In Greece, five years of crippling austerity — imposed to protect the interests of the big banks — led to radical left party SYRIZA sweeping the January 25 elections. Panicked markets started to tumble.

Before the year is out, SYRIZA could be joined in Spain by fellow anti-austerity party Podemos — a new group that emerged out of the mass indignado movement, Spain's equivalent of Occupy, except on a much larger scale.

Emphasis Mine

Inequality makes the Capitalists do stupid things. Instead of trying to placate the masses, they plan to escape instead.

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What do you want?

Seth Godin asks What do you want?.

The industrialist and the one in power would like you to choose from a list, multiple choice. To interview with the companies that come to the placement office, to select from what's on offer, to ask, 'what do you have?'

Emphasis Mine

This also applies to the political sphere. The choices are neo-liberalism by the Liberal Party, or neo-liberalism by the Australian Labour Party. Choice is what democracy is all about. And if the Capitalists can limit the number of choices, they can keep democracy under control.

And then SYRIZA happens!

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Inequality, non-linearities & growth

Chris Dillow ponders Inequality, non-linearities & growth.

One possibility is that inequality depresses growth by generating a culture hostile to prosperity. For example, it might lead to mutual distrust (pdf) which is bad for growth, or to learned helplessness among the poor which saps their energy — say, to stay on in education or to take more initiative at work. It requires a big change in inequality to remove these cultural obstacles to growth. A change in the Gini coefficient of one or two percentage points doesn't much change culture.

A second possibility is that inequality is bad for growth because it imposes credit constraints upon workers which prevents them from forming worker coops even though it might be efficient to do so. A small reduction in inequality might not be sufficient to overcome these constraints.   

Thirdly, whilst modest redistribution might have some benefits — for example in shifting incomes from those with a low propensity to consume to those with a higher — it can also have an adverse effect. If it leads to expectations of further redistribution, it could depress investment as capitalists anticipate low post-tax returns. However, a big redistribution might not have such ill-effects if it reduces the risk of future further tax rises by, in effect, buying off discontent. This is what James Buchanan had in mind when he wrote:

The rich man, who may sense the vulnerability of his nominal claims in the existing state of affairs and who may, at the same time, desire that the range of collective or state action be restricted, can potentially agree on a once-and-for-all or quasi-permanent transfer of wealth to the poor man, a transfer made in exchange for the latter's agreement to a genuinely new constitution that will overtly limit governmentally directed fiscal transfers. (The Limits of Liberty, 7.10.40)

He wrote that in the mid-70s — a time when the threat of redistribution might well have been depressing investment and growth.

Now, I'm not saying all this to say that radical redistribution is definitely a good thing; that requires a lot more arguing. I do so instead to challenge a common prior among social democrats — which might well arise from a presumption that the economy is a simple linear system — that mild reformism and "moderation" is sensible and "realistic" whereas radicalism is economically unsound. It ain't necessarily so.

Emphasis Mine

The problem with a redistribution of wealth, big or small, is that it does not affect the long-term result of inequality. Inequality is the outcome of the Capitalist system. The only way to change this result is to change the system.

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Another image of labor’s broken back: $48,887 in profit per employee!

Daniel Becker writes about Another image of labor’s broken back: $48,887 in profit per employee!.

Over the past five years, total profits of the current Dow 30 members surged by more than 42% through the end of 2014, to nearly $320 billion. This has driven the average annual profit per employee up by more than 34% since 2009, to $48,887.

According to this CNN article from August, the median household income is $53,891. That means these 30 companies are pocketing 90% of what an household earns. That’s out the door, cash in the pocket 90% of what a household works all year to earn. Now, I’m not sure, but I think that household income is pretax and I doubt they get to hid that $53,891 in some account out of reach of the tax man. In fact, I’ll bet that household needs every bit of that money just to get through the year.

Well, the 30 are not hiding all of it:

Dividends paid by the Dow 30 are up better than 30% the past five years, according to FactSet.

Emphasis in Original

It is at the distribution between wages and profit that the class war is fought. Currently, the bourgeoisie are winning!

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I’m in my 20s but had to spend four months in aged care because there was 'nowhere else to go'

Kirrilly Hayward writes I’m in my 20s but had to spend four months in aged care because there was 'nowhere else to go'.

People with a disability or a mental illness and their families have not had sufficient access to the services, programs and funding necessary for fully independent inclusion in society.

For a person with a disability to participate in the community, in many circumstances, equipment and organisational assistance is needed.

There are many aspects to the inclusion of people with a disability in society and their ability to have a full and meaningful life: social engagement, meaningful participation, education, employment and general activities of one's life and the availability and funding for necessary specialised health care.

The most important aspect is the right to have choice and control over one's life. An issue I am particularly passionate about is the right to appropriate living standards and housing.

Emphasis Mine

The problem with austerity is that it is prejudiced against people with disabilities. They need the greatest assistance, but have the least voice. They are the pariahs of society.

As times get tougher, people lose their empathy as they concentrate on their own problems.

And the ideological basis of Capitalism, individualism, precludes the disabled because they need support from society in order to participate in it. In other words, individual self-expression requires a society.

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The best laid plans

Seth Godin writes about The best laid plans.

As your plans get more detailed, it's also more and more likely that they won't work exactly as you described them.

Certainly, it's worth visualizing the thing you're working to build. When it works, what's it going to be like?

Even more important, though, is being able to describe what you're going to do when the plan doesn't work. Because it won't. Not the way you expect, certainly.

Emphasis Mine

This is especially true during revolutions. There are both unexpected obstacles and unexpected opportunities. But the important thing is to keep the objective in mind.

SYRIZA has been criticised for allying with a right-wing party after the Greek election. This alliance is necessary for the immediate objective of solving the Greek debt problem without destroying Greek society and economy. And this objective is part of the path SYRIZA sees as the way to Socialism.

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Fear of public speaking

Seth Godin discusses Fear of public speaking.

I think we define public speaking as any group large enough or important enough or fraught enough that we're afraid of it.

And that makes the solution straightforward (but not easy). Instead of plunging into these situations under duress, once a year or once a decade, gently stretch your way there.

Emphasis Mine

For me, public and private speaking is a nightmare because of my stutter. And it gets very bad whenever I get into stressful situations like discussing revolutionary politics and ideas.

For other people in the party, public speaking involves four (4) main areas:

1. Branch meetings where policy and action are debated
2. Classes where socialist ideas are taught
3. Stalls where discussions and arguments are to had with all and sundry
4. Rallies and demontrations where crowds are exhorted to action

Revolutionary politics involves a lot of speaking. And if the party is to grow, this speaking has to be done with strangers who need to be persuaded to make a life-changing decision. My stuttering only distracts from the message.

As a very poor subsitute, I have to blog in order to express my ideas, and develop my thoughts.

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Venezuela: Thousands mark uprising, protest economic war

Lucas Koerner writes that Thousands mark uprising, protest economic war in Venezuela.

The 23rd of January is an historic date in which Venezuelans annually take to the streets to honor those fallen in the struggle against the Péres Jiménez dictatorship.

However, for the thousands assembled in El Calvario on January 23, the 23rd of January is also a date which commemorates the more than 5000 revolutionaries assassinated by the governments that succeeded Pérez Jiménez during Venezuela’s 40-year long era of “pacted democracy,” known as the Fourth Republic. This era came to a close with late president Hugo Chávez’s election in 1998.

A significant proportion of these political killings occurred during the 1989 rebellion by the popular classes against neoliberal austerity measures, known as the Caracazo, in which as many as 3000 people were gunned down by the Venezuelan army.

Nonetheless, for those attending the march, this commemoration is anything but merely historical, but, on the contrary, has real implications for the present conjuncture.

For Antonia Díaz, 40, the stakes are high: “If we allow this revolution to be lost, the same people [in power] during those years [of dictatorship] will come after us, the people, of Chávez … We will defend this process to the death.”

According to PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) youth leader Brian Mirandés, 21, the danger of returning to this not-so-distant past of brutal state repression is hardly abstract: “In the past, many comrades died as a consequence of the repression of the Fourth Republic, comrades disappeared, one of the closest [fallen comrades], that we have now is Robert Serra, with whom I had the opportunity to work alongside, who was assassinated by the Right, by Imperialism.”

Emphasis Mine

The Venezuelan army used to be an agent of repression, but now it is a defender of the Boliveran Revolution. This change came about through its officers' training courses wherein the students and faculty reflected upon Venezuela's revolutionary ideals during the war of national liberation. It was there in the military academy that Hugo Chávez began his radical career.

A similar thing happened during the February Revolution in Russia. There the Cossacks, who were the reliable agents of repression, suddenly become passive in the face of the popular protests. They refused to shoot or run down the protestors. Leon Trotsky tried to understand why this happened, but could only guess that it was something to do with what was happening back in the steppes. The Cossacks did turn against the Russian Revolution at a later stage, but they were passive long enough for the workers to seize power and overthrow the monarchy.

Now, we will see what the Greek military will do in the face of SYRIZA's victory. It is possible that the alliance with Anel, who have a strongly nationalist agenda, will quell any thoughts by the military about a coup. This coalition puts a nationalist cloak on SYRIZA's radical agenda, and the military cannot be seen to be acting in the interests of foreign powers, especially Germany.

The problem will come later when SYRIZA takes on the Greek oligarchy. As the real rulers of Greece, they will not cede power easily. They will portray themselves as the embodiment of Greece, and therefore any attack on their interests is an attack on Greece itself. And they would probably call upon the Greece military to do its job and defend Greece (that is, the oligarchy) from attack.

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Kurdistan: Why Kobanî did not fal

Dilar Dirik explains Why Kobanî did not fall.

Rojava is an alternative for the region, torn by ethnic and religious hatred, unjust wars and economic exploitation. It does not aim to build a new state, but to create an alternative system to the global capitalist, male-dominated nation-state paradigm, by advocating regional autonomy through women’s liberation and in cooperation with all peoples of the region, termed as “Democratic Confederalism” by Öcalan.

The refusal to accept the parameters of the global system is what has mobilised the population in such a devastated region, in between war and embargo, and this is precisely the reason why Kobanî will never fall. In the midst of war, Rojava’s cantons have managed to establish an incredibly empowering women’s movement, a self-governance system that operates through local councils in a bottom-up grassroots fashion, and a society in which all ethnic and religious components of the region work hand in hand to create a brighter future.

This is in radical contrast to the monopolist “one religion, one language, one nation, one state, one flag” policies, the dictatorships, monarchies, sectarian tyrannies and patriarchal violence in the region. And the anticipation of such a free life is the main motor of the Kobanî resistance. The dominant system makes us believe that principles and ideals are dead, which is why a collective mobilisation and sacrificial resistance such as the one in Kobanî seems so unbelievable to most people. But the fact that the second-largest city of Iraq, Mosul, fell into ISIS’s hands within days, even though the US had put billions of dollars into training the Iraqi army, while the small city of Kobanî, where elderly women created their autonomous battalions, has become a fortress of resistance for people across the globe, shows us that the possibility of a different future is well alive!

You cannot separate the political mobilisation of the people in Rojava from their victories against ISIS. That is why the least we can do to honour the fighters of Kobanî is to respect and support their political aims! The recognition of the Rojava cantons is long overdue. But even if the world does not recognise Rojava, it will still insist on being, because it has proven that it does not need anyone’s approval to exist. It is exactly this resistance and self-reliant struggle, this refusal to subscribe to the Stockholm-Syndrome-like state in which the Middle East finds itself, so much so that it is forced to be happy over “democracy” that comes in the form of breadcrumbs, that has not allowed Kobanî to fall.

Emphasis Mine

A superior economic and political system can defeat an inferior one because the superior one mobilises more resources and used them mor wisely.

This is achieved by having a more thorough-going democracy. It is not a democracy that only exists once every few years; but it is a democracy that lives and thrives on a daily basis.

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France jails people for irony

Ali Abunimah writes France jails people for irony.

This incident sums up the sheer hypocrisy of France’s national mood. Anything mocking and denigrating Islam and Muslims is venerated as courageous free speech, while anything mocking those who engage in such denigration — even using the same techniques — can get you locked up.

…

It may seem surprising that French authorities can charge and jail people so quickly. These summary trials and long custodial terms are the result of a change in the law in November in which the charge of “defending terrorism” became a criminal offence subject to fast-track trials.

France’s Human Rights League recently said that when the change in the law was being debated, it had “demonstrated that it would be ineffective for security, dangerous for liberties and damaging to the credibility of the justice system”.

The group said that the slew of summary convictions of “drunks and fools” vindicated its warnings. Many of these people are now likely to end up on the state’s planned “anti-terrorist register.”

Musician and author charged

Prosecutions for expression do not take place only under the “defending terrorism” law. This week the rapper Saidou of the band Z.E.P. and the sociologist Said Bouamama will be indicted in Lille for “public insult” and “incitement to discrimination, hate, or violence”.

The prosecution was brought by a right-wing nationalist group, as MR Zine reports, because of Said’s book Fuck France and a Z.E.P. song with the same title.

The song’s refrain states: “Fuck France and its colonialist past, its paternalist smells, stenches, and reflexes. Fuck France and its imperialist history, its capitalist walls, fortresses and delusions.”

Z.E.P., ironically, stands for “Zone d’expression populaire” — Popular Expression Zone.

It is only a matter of time before these laws are used with renewed vigour against a whole range of speech that might upset the French state, especially those who advocate for Palestinian rights and for the boycott of Israel.

Emphasis Mine

So, free speech is part of white privilege.

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Israel ‘systematically mistreats’ Palestinian children in custody

Juan Cole reports that Israel ‘systematically mistreats’ Palestinian children in custody.

Some 700 Palestinian children per year are arrested and face “ill-treatment” by Israeli forces, according to a new report by a children’s rights group.

In the report, Child Rights International Network said that “during 2014, an average of 197 children were held in military detention every month, 13 per cent of whom are under the age of 16.”

“Arrested children are commonly taken into custody by heavily armed soldiers, blindfolded with their wrists tied behind their backs before being transported to an interrogation centre,” the CRIN report said.

“Children questioned about their experience frequently report verbal and physical abuse during the arrest.”

According to research conducted by Defense for Children International — Palestine cited by the report, some 56 percent of children report having experienced “coercive” interrogation techniques during their time in Israeli custody.

Some 42 percent say they signed documents in Hebrew, despite the fact that most Palestinian children do not speak or understand the language.

Additionally, 22 percent of detained children say they underwent up to 24 hours of solitary confinement, in violation of international standards.

Emphasis Mine

Can you imagine the sheer depth of racism that must pervade Israeli society for this type of child abuse to be unremarkable? And for the Western media to gloss over such a report?

Here, in Australia, the systemic abuse of children in churches, schools, youth organisations, etc is currently the subject of an ongoing royal commission. Daily, the media has reports about the latest scandal to emerge from this inquiry.

Yet, on the subject of the pervasive child abuse by the IDF, the Australian media is silent.

Racism blinds one to such horrors.

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Your mood vs. your reality

Seth Godin discusses Your mood vs. your reality.

And industrialists have built an economic system in which compliance to a boss's instructions is seen as the only way to avoid the unhappiness that comes from being penalized at work. And so fear becomes a dominant paradigm of our profession.

Emphasis Mine

Violence through starvation is built into the Capitalist system.

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Mexico: Missing student struggle reflects deeper issues

David T. Rowlands writes that Missing student struggle reflects deeper issues in Mexico.

Post-NAFTA Mexico is an increasingly apocalyptic wasteland of crony capitalism and violent state-directed political repression. The embattled, chronically under-funded network of rural teacher training colleges, to which thes abducted students belonged, represents one of the last remaining bastions of the progressive ideals of the 1910-20 Mexican Revolution.

Addressing the problem of structural, ethnically-based inequality, a problem common to all Latin American societies, was one of the key aims of the revolution.

At the core of the revolution, which started in 1910 as an armed revolt against an autocratic ruler, was a strong vein of democratic aspirations and social reform.

Many of leading activists recognised that building a strong public education system was one of the essential keys to bringing the impoverished and largely indigenous masses into the fold of a new and fairer nation. Close to 50 normal rurals were established in the 1920s to train the children of illiterate farmers from small communities to become teachers.

After graduating, these normalistas — often the first members of their family to receive any sort of education — returned to their villages and towns to helping to educate the next generation.

Politically, these colleges have always been associated with left-wing political views. The students see themselves as the vanguard of a revolutionary wave that would undo the indigenous dispossession that was the founding sin of modern Mexico and Latin America in general.

When a student is selected to attend one of these colleges, they are inculcated with the idea that a public educator is by their very nature a social activist, dedicated to the improvement of the lives of others.

Emphasis Mine

This is why Capitalist fear free, public education: it creates people who want to change the system, instead of compliant workers and consumers.

But therein lies the contradiction in the current Capitalist economy—the jobs that compliant, unthinking workers can do are disappearing as the jobs are being automated or sent off-shore. The well-paying jobs that remain require a highly educated workers who are creative and flexible thinkers. The problem for the Capitalists is how to control these workers?

As always, when the state runs out of incentives to maintain control, it reverts to naked force.

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All Lives Matter: from Ferguson to Palestine

Heike Schotten argues that All Lives Matter: from Ferguson to Palestine.

Each of these “arguments” purports to justify state violence. In the first, Palestinians and African Americans deserve death because of their terrorist and/or criminal natures. Killing happens because the nature of the murdered invites it. In the second, Palestinians and African Americans are actually the ones doing the killing, not cops or Israel, so there’s not really a problem with state violence at all. Killing happens because the murdered are killing themselves.

It doesn’t matter that these arguments are inconsistent with one another, much less which one of them is, uh, “true.” Like a racist shell game, the only thing that matters is the one thing that is consistent between them: the reversal whereby the victim is portrayed as the aggressor and the aggressor, the victim.

For Giuliani, David Brooks, Darren Wilson, and the likes of FOX News, it is white people in general and white police officers in particular who are the victims of demonic, terrifying, criminal black people. For Netanyahu, Charles Krauthammer, and the rest of the Zionist lineup, it is Israel who is the victim of evil, terroristic, life-denying, Muslim/Arab Palestinians.

In another place, I have described arguments like these as a form of slave morality. They are reactionary attempts to portray oneself as a victim of forces beyond one's control and a moralizing justification of extracting compensatory revenge against them.

The thing is, when it comes to American cops and Israeli soldiers, they are not the weaker power. They are avatars of the state — two of the most powerful and heavily armed states in the world at that. Their victims are the subordinated, segregated, and formerly enslaved, on the one hand, and dispossessed, indigenous refugees on the other. To drop the white hankie and play victim is fundamentally to obscure the unequal relations of power that characterize white supremacy in America and Zionist supremacy in Palestine.

Emphasis Mine

Here we have the ideological superstructure of the mass media and opinion disguising the horrific violence that is daily perpetrated against the oppressed throughout the world. Racism is blatantly being used to justify this state violence, and to divide the working class against itself.

By having white people separate themselves from the non-whites, the state is able to demonstrate violence without fear of a backlash from the whites. This lack of solidarity also sows mistrust between whites and non-whites thereby sabotaging any chance of unified action.

White privilege includes relative safety from state violence.

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The mode of production as society's structure

Dan Little supports Marx's view on The mode of production as society's structure.

The template of historical materialism as a "Gray's Anatomy" for modern capitalism has often been criticized as being mechanistic, over-simplified, and even fictional. But in its heart the scheme is a perfectly intelligible hypothesis about how several aspects of contemporary society fit together. Property relations define individual interests, and the system of wage labor defines the opportunities available to working people. Legislative and governmental policies have effects on the property system, and the class that owns the bulk of this property is perfectly capable of recognizing the consequences of this policy or that. Having the means to influence government, the owning class is able to shape government policy and personnel in ways that are compatible with its interests. Likewise, owners of property are able to recognize the advantage of being in a position to influence public consciousness and the terms of public debate. So the components of the "ideological apparatus" — think tanks, newspapers, publishing houses, television networks — are intensely contested, and the power of the owning class to influence the content of these outlets is great. Here again we have a fairly simple empirical argument for the conformance of the organs of social consciousness to the needs of the propertied class. And if it seems far fetched to hold that the owners of wealth are very willing to exert their power in these ways, just look at the recent announcement of the 2016 election-year budget of the political network funded by the Koch brothers — $889,000,000 (link)!

It is no longer common in sociology to find value in Marx's theory of capitalist society. But really, the structuralist view he arrived at in the 1850s and 1860s seems pretty prosaic today in the context of an economic system that systematically creates astronomical wealth for the one percent and stagnant poverty for the majority of society. Median household income in 2012 in the United States was $51,371, and almost all states showed a decline in median household income between 2000 and 2012 (link). And it is almost tautological to say that the property system explains both facts — the explosion of the wealth and income of the one percent and the stagnant or declining incomes of the majority of the population.

Or as Marx concludes Chapter Six of Volume I of Capital:

On leaving this sphere of simple circulation or of exchange of commodities, which furnishes the “Free-trader Vulgaris” with his views and ideas, and with the standard by which he judges a society based on capital and wages, we think we can perceive a change in the physiognomy of our dramatis personae. He, who before was the money-owner, now strides in front as capitalist; the possessor of labour-power follows as his labourer. The one with an air of importance, smirking, intent on business; the other, timid and holding back, like one who is bringing his own hide to market and has nothing to expect but — a hiding.

Emphasis Mine

In essence, the mode of production defines how a society operates, and what is considered property. In a slave society, property includes slaves, land, and money. In a feudal society, property includes serfs, land, castles, and armed retainers. In a capitalist society, property includes land, factories, machines, patents, financial instruments, and money.

Property ownership defines the composition of the ruling class. Those who owned slaves were the rulers in a slave society, Those who had serfs, castles, and armed retainers were the feudal lords and ladies in a feudal society. And so on.

And the state exists to defend and extend those property rights. This defense is ideological, legal, and physical.

The ideological defense of any society has been that it is natural. This was true of slave and feudal societies as well as capitalist ones. Each of these societies was argued to be the best fitted to human nature. The problem is that our understanding of what human nature is develops over time in response to material improvements in society.

The legal and physical defense of property lies primarily with the criminal justice system which is backed up by the military.

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Kurdish journalist on Rojava's inspiring revolution

Dylan Murphy interviews Kurdish journalist on Rojava's inspiring revolution.

This revolution is developing cooperatives based on a social economy as its economic alternative. The communes will be a primary force within the people's assemblies.

The cooperatives that have been founded are being given enough space within the economic sphere to sustain themselves. There exists the strength in the three cantons to found an economy along a socialised principle in the agriculture, livestock, industry and service sectors.

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The Kurdish struggle is a mixture of national liberation, resistance to genocide from ISIS, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, as well as a socialist revolution.

The development of a socialist society and economy has enabled the development of a successful military resistance which has enabled the Kurds to survive. This is similar to what happened in Vietnam where a nationalist struggle against imperialism became a communist revolution.

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Interview with SYRIZA activist Sissy Vovou

Vivian Messimeris does an Interview with SYRIZA activist Sissy Vovou.

I am one of the militant cadre of SYRIZA and there are thousands of us. We see that we have some signs of reconciliations with the existing political system, which is a totally bourgeois political system. We can see that some signs are very worrying. We are fighting and we are winning some battles and losing others. Now that we will become the government, well we hope that we will become government; we will try very hard to implement the priorities that will assist the working class and the unemployed. As for socialism this is a road, this is not tomorrow but a process that we have to work through. I want to say to the people who make these criticisms; we should be working together to achieve these things. If not for socialism, then at least for a more humanitarian situation and for a fairer distribution of income between rich and poor and between men and women. We must be inside the game. I beg these people, make your criticisms that’s fine, but we need your solidarity and support.

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The path to Socialism is not a dogmatic recipe. As the Russian, Chinese, Cuban, Vietnamese, Venezuelan, and Eucadoran revolutions have shown, there are multiple paths to Socialism with many road-blocks, pit-falls, regressions and reactions along the way. Not all of these revolutions had a Bolshevik party. All of them have been under attack from Capitalism both from within and without.

Each country has to be cognizant of its history, culture, political and economic development. SYRIZA has grown along a trajectory that is particular to Greek history and politics. One has to remember that a Communist uprising was brutally suppressed in the Greek Civil War of 1946-49. The ossification of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) dates from this period. The repression due to the Greek military junta of 1967-74 has also an effect on the direction of Greek politics.

One could see in the rise of SYRIZA a national struggle against the economic oppression through austerity by Germany and France. This struggle has enabled SYRIZA to put forward a concrete programme of action that addresses the immediate needs of the Greek people along with a vision of what a future Greek society should look like. This programme is not explicitly socialist, but originates from socialist principles.

The Greek revolution may develop along a trajectory similar to Venezuela and Eucador in that there is a long period of dual power accompanied by intense political debate and civil strife aided by the USA. To secure SYRIZA's position, similar victories need to happen in Spain, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, and Portugal. These are the nations that have been devastated by the austerity programmes demanded by the troika (ECB, IMF, EC).

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Greece: Is SYRIZA radical enough?

Ed Rooksby asks Is SYRIZA radical enough?.

The very possibility of this dynamic however is rooted in the moderation of the initial demands—in the way in which these articulate the everyday concerns of the mass of the Greek population. What anti-capitalist forces operating within SYRIZA grasp is that revolutionary social change must emerge from ordinary people’s collective experience of the way in which modest, common sense measures to improve their lives and defend their dignity run up against the limits of what the current order will allow.

This experience thus reveals the system’s essential inhumanity—in a sense we might say its extremism—and demonstrates concretely, in a way that abstract declarations of "the need for socialism" simply do not, the imperative to push beyond capitalist limits in order to secure the very basic conditions for a decent and humane society.

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SYRIZA is definitely far more radical than the Capitalists are prepared to tolerate. SYRIZA is demanding that human beings be considered before Capital. That is heresy to the Capitalists.

Workers must find their own way to Socialism. We can suggest paths, but workers must reflect upon their own experiences and desires in order to work out a programme of action.

A communist party is the repository of past experience and theoretical knowledge that is available to the workers. But the workers must make their own conscious transformation and development to Socialism.

Austerity in Europe has awaken people to the objective cruelty in the Capitalist system in the interests of Capital are paramount. But is it enough for people to question the Capitalist system itself?

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