I agree with these sentiments of Claire's and Mandla's, comrades. I hope some comrades on this forum have been following "The State and Revolution" which I have been blogging and mailing as a Communist University "course". It is relevant to this discussion. There are six parts, three of which have already gone out. Feedback would be most welcome.
At one point in the work, Lenin asserts, quoting Marx, that "the battle of democracy must be won." But later, he characterises democracy as a system of coercion by one lot of people over another, and therefore as a form of the state, which must wither away. As I understand it, this means that the battle of democracy must be won twice: first in its own terms, so as to obtain a majority mandate; and then second, to defeat and to transcend democracy itself, because communism is more and better than democracy - it is a "vast association of the whole nation... in which the free development of each is the free development of all". I am afraid the comrade who wrote that "society must be taught to respect the rule of law" would have been seized upon by Lenin and called an "opportunist" at the very least, if not a "renegade"! I would now like to introduce another element to the discussion, and to connect it to the preceding part. I feel quite sure that Cde Lindiwe Sisulu is running for President, and that all her actions are calculated to serve her own ambitions, and not the interests of the country. Sisulu is offering herself, in effect, as the future Margaret Thatcher of South Africa, and she is appealing to the (imaginary) part of the ANC constituency that was the basis of the COPE episode, as well as to the DA and to all the DA-aligned media. Her arrogance is most perfectly evidenced by her statement that she "really cares" for the people that she now wants to sack and abandon. She thinks that they are nothing and that they cannot affect her ambitions. She thinks that she can afford to sacrifice them in an arbitrary and careless demonstration of brutality. This is so as to build her CV for future application to the bourgeois ruling class, as much as to say: Look, I am prepared to do any dirty work and I will succeed to get all the blame on to my victims! We have seen with our eyes the police shooting at an unarmed gathering, shooting at the backs of fleeing people, cornered against a fence, a shameful sight to see. We have heard at the same time the voice of the lying commentator telling us that it is the demonstrators who were "violent." Unfortunately it is not unusual for people to believe their ears over their eyes. We have seen the cartoon of the traitor Zapiro (Jonathan Shapiro) who drew a picture, published in the Sunday Times, showing the demonstrators shooting at the police with pistols, which the lying Zapiro made up himself and which the Sunday Times willingly published - a total lie. This is all a piece of politics, comrades. For as much as we must not overlook political theory, we must also not be led to ignore the individual actors in this case, or in any other case. If we do that, we can allow somebody - Minister Lindiwe Sisulu - to carry out a petty-minded vindictive act under cover of an excuse that says she was compelled to uphold a principle. This is nothing of the sort. This is the action of a compulsive show-off and an insanely ambitious individual, testing her support among the ruling class, and receiving it, in a festival of ruling-class duplicity. I could say more. This is not the first time in history that a politician, ostensibly coming from the liberation movement, has demonstrated her credentials by turning on the freedom fighters and victimising them, so that she can receive the endorsement of the oppressors, and (she hopes) be appointed to do the work of the oppressors at a higher level. In struggle! VC 2009/9/2 Mandla Radebe <[email protected]> > Cde Claire u r spot on. > > > > One of the crucial elements of the ruling party’s 2009 elections manifesto > is ‘Decent work’. The ‘decent work’ concept has four strategic objectives > namely (full employment, worker’s rights, social protection and social > dialog). Cdes who use the silly arguments of the rule of law must then tell > us if the dismal of these cdes is within the ambit of what we (read, the > working class and the poor – including soldiers) campaigned for recently? > > > > Now that the poor masses of our people have voted and we are ministers we > think it is correct to disregard and disrespect their views and justified > concerns and can even dismiss them wantonly, *nogal*. The capitalist rule > of law should be challenged and defied if we r serious about building > socialism now! > > > > Cosatu and YCL are right on the button on this matter! > > > > > ------------------------------ > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *claire ceruti > *Sent:* Wednesday, September 02, 2009 7:22 PM > > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* [YCLSA Discussion] Re: YCLSA condemns the dismissal of soldiers > bythe Minister of Defence and Military veterans > > > > Eish comrades. I’m amazed to hear a communist make a giant general > statement like this: “No matter the size, society must be taught to respect > the rule of law”. > > > > Should we have respected the rule of apartheid law? We would still be > living with it if we had! So instead of making a broad statement, the > comrade really needs to tell us WHY we should respect a law that says > soldiers may not strike, or march on a certain day, or what-what. The > comrade who replied to you is very correct in pointing out that soldiers > felt like there were no more ‘legal’ channels to follow. People will end up > disrespecting laws that prevent them from getting justice. If it wasn’t for > that we’d never be able to imagine defeating capitalism, a system based on > the entirely legal theft otherwise known as exploitation. > > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 13:03:24 +0200 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: [YCLSA Discussion] YCLSA condemns the dismissal of soldiers bythe > Minister of Defence and Military veterans > > Cde Mxolisi, > > > > You are concluding on the result other than the root cause. The root cause > of the problem is that the soldiers undermined a court ruling. This is but > one of the organs of the state. > > > > I fully agree with comrade Tom, lawlessness is lawlessness and we must not > make a hullabaloo about it. Society should learn that this is but one > country rich in law and should always be taught to abide by the law. > > > > It is not correct that because those who broke the law are many then > dismissal is incorrect. No matter the size, society must be taught to > respect the rule of law. There is no due process in undermining organs of > the state. There is court proof that what the soldiers was against the law. > There is no need for a hearing, dismasal is the only way to send a message > that no matter your responsibility in the country, we are all expected to > function within the confines of the law. > > > > I believe that the inputs by Cde Tom, Cde Morgan and others will assist you > to grasp the base and not solve the result. The dismissal is the result of > disrespect for the rule of law - Isnt that simple? > > > > I remain. > > >>> "Mxolisi Mlatha" <[email protected]> 02/09/2009 10:14 >>> > > > Our country becomes a banana republic when we start firing > people without any due process. Any caring society must > always be weighted in favor of the poor, disadvantaged and > weak no the state. When workers (soldiers) are dismissed > without regard to due process and the outdrawn failures of > the state to respond to legitimate grievances then we are > fading into a banana republic.This is the only thing that > is right about your banana republic statement my comrade. > > Mxolisi > --- > Sent from UnionMail Service [http://mail.union.org.za] > > This message and any attachments relating to official business of the > Mpumalanga > Provincial Government (MPG) is proprietary to the MPG and intended for the > original addressee only. 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