Only by the working class seizing political power,
dispersing the capitalist regime can the Greek masses have a future
From Tahrir to Wisconsin,
Puerta del Sol and Syntagma squares
Greece to show the way to the world Socialist revolution
Most of the world’s
‘left’ and imperialism try to characterize the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt,
Libya, Bahrain, Syria, Yemen, Jordan as an ‘Arab Spring’ or as a revolution in
North Africa and the Middle East. What they are consciously hiding is these
uprisings are expressions of a world revolutionary process, where uprisings of
the working class and fellow poor are threatening every capitalist regime on
the planet- the entire world capitalist system is under threat from the
prospect of a world Socialist revolution.
The 2007 crisis is
still with us. In 2008 the socialization of the debt of the major banks, with
the dismissals of millions of workers around the world, has only deepened the
crisis- already food, housing and energy prices were high. The suffering of the
world working class was rapidly increased. There is accelerating hatred for the
regimes that act for world capitalism- it is this which has caused, in regions
of extreme suffering, for the working class and lower middle class to explode
onto the scene against their regimes. The world economy has not grown- the
housing bubbles grow in India,
China, Spain, Greece and many other areas around
the globe. Imperialism has tried measures of reducing interest rates to still
encourage housing loans at the speculatively high rates. But these measures are
reaching their maximum- the world wide resistance of the working class has
placed a limit on certain food prices and on how far imperialism was able to
cut social benefits. But even the imperialist Bank of International Settlements
acknowledges that the cuts in wages, in pensions and other benefits, taken so
far, is not enough- in the USA
the regime needs to cut trillions of dollars of benefits. 2012 is an election
year so the Republicans and Democrats are jostling with each other (with
similar programmes) over who appears as taking responsibility for the attacks
[The Republicans want to raise the new bailout funds for the banks with 85%
from cuts and 15% from raising taxes, while the Democrats want to raise the
funds with 83% from cuts and 17% from raising taxes]. Either way, both stand
for a huge attack on the gains won by workers over many years. Imperialism is
acutely aware of the mass uprising in Wisconsin
when the attacks were accelerated against the masses- they want to avoid an
explosion all over the USA,
that the mass occupation of Tahrir square does not reach Washington and tears apart the imperialist
beast from within. Already the imperialist agencies are talking of raising
interest rates and the possibility of large imperialist banks that have their
tentacles all over the globe, such as JP Morgan Chase, collapsing under the
weight of fake balance sheets based on non-existent wealth. The imperialist
agencies acknowledge that every large imperialist country like France, Britain,
Germany, USA, Japan are all at risk as are indeed the larger semi-colonies such
as China, India, Brazil.
The crisis placed
on the working class in Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, is nothing else but a
reflection of the crisis of the main imperialist banks of the world- the
supposed bailout of Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland are nothing but bailouts
of the US, German, British and French banks, selectively carried out country by
country. Eastern Europe has been reduced to
semi-slave regimes of imperialism.
So now we have a
process of imperialist banks lending funds to Greece to bail themselves out- a
process which is unsustainable. Imperialism has to collect it at some stage
through a massive attack on the working class. As the imperialist Economist
puts it- what imperialism needs in Greece is to smash the unions. (in
other words, they need to smash the working class in Greece). In other words imperialism
is starting a process, where to continue increasing profits (and really their
crisis is not that they are making losses, but they have reached a limit of
growth of their profits), they are prepared to enslave not only the Greek
working class but the working class of the entire planet, for generations to
come. The attacks by imperialism in Greece will be repeated country by
country, across the globe. Thus the battle for Greece
takes on an important character- a working class victory in Greece would not only reverberate in Europe but across all the semi-colonies around the globe.
On the other hand, a defeat of the working class in Greece would embolden the
imperialists to go on the offensive further around the globe- even in this case
the working class would still meet imperialism with the most determined combat,
so the further victory of imperialism is by no means guaranteed.
Inspired by the
mass mobilizations in Tahrir square, the Spanish youth started to occupy the
central square, Puerta del Sol in Madrid and
other squares in cities around Spain
from the 15th May
2011 onwards. They were soon joined by pensioners and their worker
parents. These gatherings marked the beginning of a decisive break by the
masses from the control of the traditional parties such as the right Popular
Party, the Social Democratic PSOE, and the Stalinists. The PSOE and the Stalinists
nevertheless treacherously kept the organized working class demobilized and out
of the squares- leaving the masses isolated. The fake Trotskyists and
anarchists applied the same mechanism as the youth groups in Egypt- banning
criticisms of any party, and indeed banning all parties from the gatherings- in
so doing their objective was to prevent a revolutionary proletarian entity from
emerging, not only this, but it was through this mechanism that imperialism,
through the petty bourgeois youth groups and the fake Trotskyists, were able to
prevent a dual power from emerging. The SEP helped to isolate the masses by
writing off the gatherings as merely being undemocratic and being controlled by
the fake Trotskyists and with no policy to strengthen the proletarian wing
against the petty bourgeois. The FLTI correctly called for the formation of
factory committees and for worker delegates to go to the squares to contest
leadership with their demands. Although the occupation of the squares in Spain
has subsided for the moment, there is still the possibility that they could
re-emerge in the near future. It is our task to prepare the working class
vanguard to defeat the pro-imperialist forces in the coming battles.
The struggle for Greece
Inspired by the
Tahrir Square struggles and the Puerta del Sol mass occupations, the masses in
Greece started to occupy the squares in central Athens (Syntagma square) and
other city centres around the country since the 25th May 2011.
Greece is different from other countries in Europe in that here the resistance has been the most
sustained and ongoing. Over the past 2 years there have been 15 general
strikes. This shows that the Greek masses have not been defeated. It shows that
the masses are starting to break with the Pasok
( the Greek social democratic party), other bourgeois parties and the
Stalinist KKE. In the early part of May the regime sent fascist gangs into the
streets. In the aftermath the masses responded by from the 25th May
occupying the main squares across the country. Again the treacherous Social
Democrats, the fake Trotskyists and Stalinists, who control the unions have
deliberately kept the organized workers away from the People’s Assemblies. And
again the fake Trotskyist groups have attempted to impose from within the
assemblies a policy of destroying and neutralizing any attempt to develop an
alternate power to the bourgeois regime. The fake left want to turn these
assemblies into endless discussion groups, pressure tools for the masses to
blow off steam, to water down the demands of the masses, to contain the threat
of revolution. The SEP dismisses these assemblies as being controlled by the
petty bourgeois and has no policy for the proletariat to contest and dominate
the Assemblies. Thus from different angles the fake left, the Stalinists, the
social democrats work with imperialism against the masses.
In the beginning
of these assemblies, the petty bourgeois were dominating- this was demonstrated
by the masses chasing away striking workers from a state company that was being
privatized. This no longer happens- those who now attempt to shout
anti-immigrant slogans are shouted down by the masses. This shows that the
proletarian trend within the assemblies is getting stronger.
The start of mass
assemblies in Greece
marks a qualitative new phase in the struggle against the imperialist attacks;
it places on the agenda the seizure of power by the working class and the
dispersal of the imperialist bourgeois regime.
On the treacherous role played by the EEK leadership
The role played by
the leadership of the EEK (Revolutionary Workers Party of Greece) leadership is
really the most dangerous because they raise the banner of the Fourth
International together with a programme that self-limits the revolution and, despite
its call for soviets, leaves the bourgeois regime intact. The leadership
outlines a progamme calling for a ‘social’ revolution not a socialist
revolution. Comrades, how can we change the social relations of production
without the working class seizing political power? To put it clearly, the
workers need to seize political power in order to change the social relations-
the abolish the capitalist class and capitalist relations. The EEK leaders
further outline, despite the opportunist use by the fake left of the call for a
Constituent Assembly (CA), that it is necessary to still call for it as a means
of mobilizing the masses. The very turning of the masses to the streets and to
the squares shows a break from bourgeois parliamentarism- there have been 15
general strikes and each time the parliament has turned their backs on the
working class and implemented the bourgeois attack. Under these conditions, to
raise a call for a Constituent Assembly can only mean to turn the masses away
from their own organs of power, away from the squares and back into a bourgeois
trap. The call has to be for the dispersal of the bourgeois regime, all power
to the people’s assemblies- this is the path to the working class taking power
into its own hands. Further, the task of dispersal of the bourgeois regime
requires the immediate setting up of a workers’ militia and work over the base
of the army, to break it from the capitalist officer caste- the EEK leaders
raise no such task, even in the face of the rise of fascist gangs which
imperialism unleashes because they feel the proletariat breathing down their
necks. The only conclusion that we can come to is that, despite its
revolutionism, the EEK leaders policy stands for the preservation of the
bourgeois regime, through a constituent assembly- and this at a point where
they claim that Greece is imperialism’s ‘weakest link’. In other words, at
imperialism’s weakest point they play the role of a band-aid on behalf of
imperialism- this is where their policy leads.
A proposed way forward
To the rank and
file of the EEK and other working class fighters we propose the following
programme:
- The central theme in these assemblies
(which should be raised again in Spain, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain,
Syria, Libya) is what steps are to be taken for the working class to take
power, how to disperse the bourgeois parliament, and once power is gained,
how to maintain it.
- The occupation of every workplace and
the immediate setting up of factory committees there, electing delegates
whether they are immigrant, local, permanent or contract worker, unionized
or not; For the setting up of workers committees in every street and block
in the working class neighbourhoods; expelling the bureaucracy from the
unions, reclaiming them to support the process in the squares for the
working class to seize power
- For all factory committees and street
committees to send their delegates to the mass assemblies in the squares
in the cities around the country- for the working class to place their
demands and to contest for them;
- All power to the ‘people’s assemblies’
(or whatever term the masses have chosen for them), based on delegates of
workers from the factory and street committees and the rest of the
impoverished masses. This takes the notion of ‘our dreams don’t fit the
ballot boxes’ of the capitalist parliament, to the end. For a workers
government based on these assemblies. Elected representatives must be
subject to instant recall and not have the salary higher than an average
skilled worker. This means the active dispersal and dissolution of the
bourgeois parliament and regime; this means the immediate setting up of a
workers militia which is subordinate to the assemblies and which
incorporates the rank and file soldiers- the dissolution of the police and
the army- the general arming of the masses- this is particularly necessary
as imperialism is likely to intensify their sending of fascist gangs and
all their repressive forces against the masses.
- Outline of demands: - no repayment of
the debt- repudiate it; nationalization of all the banks, centralizing it
into one state bank, expropriating all imperialist and capitalist assets
without compensation, placing the bank under workers’ control; no
retrenchments, nationalize all industries, expropriating the capitalist
without compensation, placing these under workers control; share all the
work among all who can work; confiscate the riches of the capitalists. For
the sending of arms and supplies to the Libyan masses in their fight
against the Gaddafi regime and the Nato forces. For material support for
the Palestinian masses. The central question is who will implement these
demands? The capitalist parliament? A Constituent Assembly that is based
on the repressive apparatus, the police and army of the Greek state? No!
It is only a workers government based on the people’s assemblies, that
takes power in its own hands, that can meet these demands.
- The experience of Libya shows that
when the masses, arms in hand, are about to take power and smash the
bourgeois regime, that imperialism will try to infiltrate the movement and
destroy it from within and they will use every effort to smash the
revolution, including military invasion. Thus the question of extending
the revolution across Europe, from Portugal
and Ireland to Russia,
is immediately posed. Thus the question is posed of the masses, uniting
immigrant and local workers, taking to the squares in Berlin,
Paris and London
and indeed across Europe, taking forward
the Greek revolution as its example, combating the Stalinists, the social
democrats and fake Trotskyists, posing the question of the working class
taking power. [it follows that the capitalist EU must be abolished through
revolutionary means and in its place the Union
of Soviet Socialist republics of Europe
be fought for]. Indeed the same example needs to be followed in Washington and Tokyo.
It is through the working class taking power in the imperialist centres
that will open the way for the real liberation of the working class in the
Americas, Africa and Australasia. The enemy is at home! For a congress of
workers delegates from Europe and North Africa and the Middle East, in Athens to strengthen, centralize and co-ordinate the
fight for workers power in Greece
and in the entire region. This is not to say that the explosions that are
occurring in the semi-colonies and colonies should wait for the working
class to take power in the imperialist centres. No. These uprisings should
be taken to the end, with the working class taking power there, realizing
that for Socialism to develop, we also need the working class to take
power in the imperialist centres.
- Based on the above programme, for a
committee to refound the Fourth International, meeting in Athens.
22.07.2011