Here , here.
Charles Brown
>>> "Dave Bedggood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 05/03/99 06:29PM >>>
In reply to Bob I think he is cutting and pasting history when he
says that we are back pre-1914. This is like saying that today Russia
is imperialist and that the redbrowns in Russia are the equivalent
of the Nazis. Objectively and subjectively we are way ahead of 1914.
Objectively, 1917 has created a legacy which will speed up
capitalism's demise. In 1914 most of the world was yet to feel the
full effects of the world market and capitalist social relations.
Russia, the East and the whole colonial world has had another 80
years of capitalism and developed a proletariat that has the
potential to dig capitalism's grave everywhere. Restoration of
capitalism has come up against big problems especially since it
coincides with yet another world crisis of overaccumulation which
cannot call forth Marshall plans but rather has to impose massive
destruction of the historic gains of workers.
So objectively the historic defeat of 1991/1992 has yet to wind the
clock back to 1940 let alone 1914. The US/NATO is doing its
best to totally erase the last remnants of post-capitalist society,
but it has to use force and that is generating massive opposition in
the Eastern bloc, and elsewhere outside the Western Alliance. In
other words while 1991 was a world historic counter-revolution it
only exaccerbated the objective over-ripeness of imperialism.
Subjectively, we are not back to 1917 either. 1917 gave us a
revolution in a backward country. It was held back by the completion
of the bourgeois revolution in Germany at the hands of mutinying
troops and striking workers. Since then most of the world has
experienced decolonisation and/or degenerated workers states. You
could say that capitalism still had tasks to complete. The 2nd WW was
defeat, but it cost imperialism Eastern Europe and China and the
decolonisation of the 3rd world. These bourgeois or post-capitalist
revolutions won democratic rights, mass workers organisations and
welfare states. Despite the counter-revolution of the late 80's and
90's in the East and the onset of a NATO world order, the gains made
by the masses in the 80 years since October have yet to be rolled
back.
Therefore the problem today is not one of a return to 1914
either in objective or subjective terms, but the ongoing crisis of
revolutionary leadership. Even here we are not back to 1940 yet.
Stalinism was the major barrier to the 4I until recently. Despite
its degeneration, the elements of post-war Trotskyism have the
seeds of a new international which can rapidly form a new world
party. Many of us understand the need for a party capable of uniting
objective and subjective realities through a revolutionary programme.
We have a crucial test of those Trotskyist elements in the current
NATO war against Yugoslavia. The task is to block the military
counter-revolution that NATO is embarking on. This is the
continuation of the counter-revolution of 1918 - to eliminate any
vestige of a post-capitalist alternative to capitalism. Not satisfied
with restoring the market, imperialism has to remove any political
challenge to its direct domination in the ex-workers states.
Today NATO draws the line in blood in Yugoslavia. A victory against
Yugoslavia will allow NATO to impose military solutions in every
region where it forments nationalist splinters to setup compliant
client states. After Yugoslavia it will be the CIS and then China.
We can see that workers all around the world are spontaneously coming
to the defence of Yugoslavia. Most are not all Stalinists or
apologists for Milosovic. They recognise the fundamental principle
that a victory for imperialism will be another nail in the coffin of
the revolution.
The crucial test for these elements who what to make up the new
vanguard is how to mobilise this opposition to NATO along working
class lines. As well as rejecting the SD solutions of UN/OSCE (e.g.
break from the pro- bourgeois leaderships of the USEC and IGMETAL),
we have to separate ourselves from all those on the centrist left who
want to put conditions on the defence of Yugoslavia either by
supporting the KLA or refusing a military bloc with Milosovic (mainly
the Stalinophobe pro imperialist democracy left). The revolutionary
unity of objective (crisis-ridden imperialism smashing ex-workers
state) with the subjective (workers unconditional defence of
Yugoslavia) is possible with a programme of mobilising independent
international working class action against NATO. Inside Yugoslavia
this is expressed by building multi-ethnic militia; outside, by
militant strike action against NATO forces as Greek and Italian
workers show us the way.
Dave
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