by Eric Trevett
Theory
without practice is sterile; practice without theory is blind.
THE
DEEPENING capitalist crisis arises from the over-production of goods that the
market is incapable of absorbing. The proof is plentiful to show that
capitalism is in ever deeper political and economic crisis. But this has not
put the capitalist class on the defensive.
All capitalist countries are engaged in
swingeing attacks on the working class, and to a degree the middle strata, from
democratic rights to economic and living standards.
Recent price hikes in transport and fuel costs
have provoked further indignation and the repercussions include many
individuals and families joining those already in poverty conditions.
The wages movement to offset the worst effects
has been lagging. Some workers have endured a three-year pay freeze. The scourge of unemployment is a huge problem
and the official figures cover up the reality. In some countries, like Spain,
the figure is 40 per cent.
What is to be done?
The labour and trade union movement has been weakened by politically motivated the
closure of the mining industry and the attack on manufacturing. This has been
another short-sighted action by the employing class and adds to their problems
in achieving the market’s capacity to absorb goods. It has also meant more
difficulty in resolving the balance of payments deficit.
There are three main areas of struggle going
on:
1) The trade-union led campaign against
the cuts.
2) Students, who have held a number of
large scale demonstrations on the issues of fees and grants.
3) The peace movement, leading with the demands
that Trident should be cancelled and British forces should be brought home from
Afghanistan.
Basically all three movements are directed at
defeating Government policies and therefore it is obviously necessary for them
to merge into a river of discontent and determination to defeat the austerity
programme.
Laws such as the one criminalising the
squatters’ movement are likely to be ignored as more people become evicted –
unable to cope with mortgages or cuts in housing benefit. Such action should be
supported and applauded.
The role of communists is to encourage the
widest participation and to encourage the movements to merge, but also to
campaign for an ideological shift in the main body of workers’ understanding of
capitalism and the necessity for socialism.
Without the guidance of the revolutionary
party the working class will not be able to escape from its continuing
exploitation. The movements on various issues may well give rise to a
revolutionary situation but without the guidance of a revolutionary party that
understands the necessity of smashing the state machine of the ruling class as
a prerequisite to building a socialist society they will not succeed.
Following such a revolution there will be a
sharpening of the class struggle as the old ruling class tries to re-establish
its authority. As stated above, our priority in calling for the merging of the
various movements that are opposing the austerity strategy includes the
essential struggle for working class unity around the revolutionary programme,
taking into account the specific conditions in Britain and its class
composition.
With the historic development of the labour
movement we see the formation of the Labour Party and general unions coming
into being – such as the dockers and gas workers and actions such as the match
girls strike. Those engaged in struggle saw the need for working class
legislation, especially to counter new laws seeking to make trade unions
financially liable for any loss of profits the employers suffered as a result
of industrial action.
The Labour Party was formed by the trade
unions and socialist societies. But it did not have the aim of creating a
socialist Britain in its constitution. It was a force for better representation
of the working class within capitalist society.
Only after the First World War did the Labour
constitution incorporate Clause Four, which called for the heights of the
economy to be taken into public ownership.
In the 1990s that Clause Four was replaced
because it hindered the right-wing policy of privatisation. And in Britain
major parts of the labour movement support a right reformist policy.
Labour is still the workers’ party by virtue
of the fact that the trade unions, trades councils and cooperative bodies are
the main source of its being and its financial basis.
Its leadership has often betrayed the
interests of the working class. But anger at such treachery by the leadership
should not blind us to the reality in Britain of a reformist ideology and the
myth of gradualism: the idea that socialism can be brought in piecemeal through
parliamentary democracy.
This overlooks the fact that the capitalists
have a state machine capable of negating Parliament – a state of Parliament,
councils, the armed forces, police and civil service. All swear their
allegiance to the crown.
To make the case for voting Labour in
elections and working within the labour movement – with the trade unions and
the Labour Party – is the best method of winning the working class for
revolutionary ideology.
In opening our columns to a discussion on
these issues we challenge anybody to put forward a more realistic strategy than
that contained in our 17th Congress document, discussed and debated over many
months and voted on and passed at our 17th Congress last December.
We face the future with confidence that the
working class will triumph and overthrow the exploitation and oppression of
capitalism.
The new technology forces society to embrace
the more fundamentally efficient means of production. Only in socialist
conditions can these new developments be used for the good of all humankind.
