The majority of those who posture as capitalist intellectuals today are frighten zombies, posturing in a vacuum of their own making. The revolution is mankind's way of life today, this the age of revolution. Capitalism is under siege, surrounded by a global tide of revolution but still without a centre.
No one could have said it better than you comrade Khaye, the Masses are their own Liberators. Thanks you for an informative opinion piece. Amandla. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Castro Ngobese Sent: 21 February 2011 09:26 PM To: yclsa-eom-forum Subject: [YCLSA Discussion] The New Age: Opinion & Analysis: Masses are their own liberators by Cde Khaye Nkwanyana Opinion: Masses are their own liberators Khaye Nkwanyana The unfolding popular mass uprisings in Africa and Arabic states against unpopular regimes represent an important historical episode, not only to the Arab world but to the world as a whole. In addition, these struggles have opened, once again, vistas for renewed people's energies in an epoch where mass insurrections had occupied much of the back burner. The Tunisian youth and indeed its working class, on their own volition, went all-out against the Ben Ali regime, triggered by that potential student who committed suicide. No one ever imagined that this powerful forest fire would combust in Egypt as well so that for eighteen days, the masses would show resilience until Mubarak, like a bull, was finally tamed.It was combustible to the extent that it sparked similar revolutionary pandemonium in other Arab states such as Iran, Yemen, Algeria, Bahrain, and Libya among others, albeit in various degrees. This underlines an important element of stoicism from the Islamic working class, that they are no longer standing on similar ground to the ruling elite, and they are forcing a radical revolutionary paradigm shift. Before this year, less was imagined of the masses within Arabs states than they might have the revolutionary strength to challenge politically their own regimes' legitimacy, even toppling them, outside a framework born out of a religious cult. It is this reality that has sent shivers down the spine of many regimes in the Middle East, about the uncertainty of their longevity with the advent of these mass revolts. It is a spectre that has driven some to declare in advance that they will surrender power, in a bid to ward off this combustive wild fire. Indeed these revolutionary turmoils are about unpopular governments, but at bottom is the questioning of the neo-liberal policies and programmes that have displaced the centrality of the mass poor, and which have subjected them to the vagaries of market-oriented development and governance which are and have been in hegemony globally since the end of the bipolar world. Of course these mass uprisings against dictatorial regimes are not socialist per se and are not coordinated by a vanguard party directing the insurrections, but they do have a negative knock-on effect on capital. Fundamentally they weaken the imperialist stranglehold and pose very serious questions to the political alliances in the Islamic states. They are either pro or anti US foreign policies particularly towards the Middle East, and primarily towards the Palestine and Israel axis. While high praise is due for the victories led by the working class, the weaknesses of the left in these countries is regrettable. In the current conjuncture it will not allow the transformation process now under way to be thorough enough to put in place a firm base of altered property relations, shifted from the existing arrangements of the toppled regimes to benefit the overwhelming majority of citizens. The likelihood, under the circumstances, is the emergence of bourgeois states with strong religious leanings, hoisting very high modern democratic practices such as periodic elections, but with no real social transformation or the transfer of power to the people. Elite pacts in a democratic space are similar to elite pacts under an undemocratic regime, for they circulate within the elite in power and those adjacent to it, the tantalising spoils and patronage which the masses of people wait forever to receive. These are the dangers where a solid class party is absent in such historic moments or is in the rearguard recording history in the making from the sidelines. Imperialism will not rest to reclaim its space, to integrate and re-integrate these states back into its fold. If there is one lesson these mass uprisings have given, it is that no regime can lay claim to be invincible, particularly those that are still led by the founding independent state presidents. These presidents, and the monarchy-led states, behave as if they and their families are anointed to power, with political parties banned, against the will of the people. However, objective conditions will become ripe and the wave for change will be too lofty to swim against. The masses are their own liberators. Khaye Nkwanyana is the former deputy national secretary of the Young Communist League and is currently a SACP KZN PEC member -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . 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