stellauk
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Most people I feel would agree with the statement that we are living in troubled times.
Perhaps some feel that the problems exist on the right - the Republicans, the Conservatives, that they are the ones causing all the political problems.
I disagree. Right wingers or people on the right, the Conservatives, the Republicans, the UK's BNP, the Polish Law and Justice party (we are approaching another Polish election to the Sejm and it is surprising just how similar the situation is to the US with the right wing constantly attacking the incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski) and even the Tea Party, these are all people being themselves.
All our biggest political problems exist on the left. They exist because socialism and Marxism are among two of the most abused words in politics. There is no solution, financial, political or economic, until we start to address these issues and find a consensus of opinion - left and right - to two very basic questions.
What is a Marxist? What is a socialist?
The problem is a simple one. Many of those who claim that they are, aren't.
This is very clear when we consider that Joseph Stalin described himself as a Marxist. He was anything but a Marxist.
Marx was an egalitarian. Stalin was anything but. Eastern European communism, within this Stalinism, was little more than a politicized version of organized crime. There was the elite, the Party, among the women the 'zhencheenka', and the proletariat. Marx sympathized with the peasants, Stalin stole their land.
Marx was a democrat. Stalin suppressed democracy in a regime so brutal it has yet to be matched by any other modern dictator. Over a 100 million Slavs were exterminated or murdered, millions more were displaced throughout Eastern Europe. Marx favoured higher wages and a decent income. Stalin cut wages systematically and created poverty. Marx said workers have no country. Stalin enforced patriotism. Marx was an atheist, Stalin turned him into an icon.
It can be argued that Stalin was the prime enemy of Marxism, diametrically opposed on every fundamental issue. This was because Stalin was never a communist, but was an evil conservative who formed his politics out of the defeat and collapse of the Russian revolution and transformed Russia into an anti-communist and state capitalist state. This explains the roots of Stalin's tyranny.
We are still experiencing the effects of Stalin today. Totalitarianism is becoming global, and the global ruling class, the capitalists, are doing all that they can to undermine the worker and to keep the working class subdued and exploited. They own almost all property, assets and are doing all they can to control the world's resources too.
Workers have no property and can only theoretically gain property by working for capital, selling their labour power in the market like any other commodity. Fear of unemployment is a permanent threat. Capitalism forces workers together in large workplaces where they are organized like armies under the command of a hierarchy of 'officers and sergeants'.
Political parties have a similar strategy. The media are employed in a culture of disinformation which prevents the workers from ever becoming informed enough so that they can organize and this is true both on the left as it is on the right.
The vast majority of people are 'wage slaves', forced through circumstance to serve the global ruling capitalist class, bossed around at work, and threatened by the fear and the social stigma of unemployment and social rejection. The working class expands with capitalism, competition forces the displaced together, and as the capital expands so too does the struggle of the workers. From this we get trade unions and political parties - particularly on the left wing.
However once in power the left wing political parties, like the right wing parties, are forced to share power with the ruling global capitalist elite. Socialism becomes compromised, and those who have struggled and led the struggle of the workers are forced to surrender that struggle, and this sometimes happens with a betrayal of the people who gave them their power. This happened with the Polish Solidarity movement after Lech Walesa took power. It happened again with New Labour in Britain under Tony Blair. Blair was a traitor to the socialist cause, that of the worker, and an even bigger enemy to the worker than Margaret Thatcher could have ever dreamed of being. We can see Obama being forced to make the same compromises.
We now have the fake solution - austerity. The global ruling class has reached a consensus that cuts are necessary, and this is an international consensus. US politicians have agreed a record $38 billion of cuts, all in the next 12 months. The need for cuts in the United Kingdom is causing the Conservatives, the ruling party in the coalition to renege on almost all of their election promises.
Cuts are designed to reduce government debt by reducing government spending. But what they achieve is - through cutting demand for goods and services - a fall in economic output. Any fall in economic output leads to a fall in the amount of taxation received and an increase in the amount of benefits paid out. This increases government borrowing and thus spending cuts are doomed to fail by their very introduction and implementation.
Commodities are necessary to sustain the economy, trade and to ensure income. This requires both capital and labour. Without capital there is no commodity, and therefore nothing to trade. Without labour there is also no commodity and nothing to trade.
This explains why the work ethic is central to Marxism. Without labour and activity the worker has no power. Marx would have hated the welfare benefits system because it is defeat for the worker, failure to sell one's labour, and a weakening of the struggle against the ruling global elite. Indeed the ruling global elite are aware of this, which is why unemployment is used as a strategy to undermine the employment market, undermine workers rights and workers' power. Welfare reforms do not lead to any job creation or any significant reduction in unemployment. They just change the rules by which welfare benefits are paid out. The status quo is maintained, as does the power dynamic.
This also explains why society is central to the values of socialism. Here again we can see how socialism is a term abused not just by the right wing but also by people on the left wing. Hugo Chavez claims to be a socialist. Then why is Venezuela pretty much a Third World country in South America? Gaddafi prides himself on being an 'Islamic socialist', and yet, after decades in power, Gaddafi still has to resort to using military force against his own people to maintain power. Is Libya one of the leading oil producers in the world? What concerns has Gaddafi ever shown for Libyan society?
Society for most people is that place in their home, their living rooms, their bedrooms, it is their desk in an office, their friends and family, the local shops and supermarket. Society is the websites they visit on the Internet, the bills they pay each month. This is the extent society has for most people when we really get down to the nitty gritty and examine the bottom line.
But society is out there, it exists, and whether we like it or not it affects our lives just as culture affects our identities and the way we think and interact with other people.
For so long the global ruling classes pretended to be our friends, simply because they needed the capital and were scared of the incessant wage demands by the unions when it transpired that all this new technology meant specialists and with specialists came costs. New technology costs money, and they wanted the technology because they saw a decrease in the costs for the same or greater profits.
And so they befriended the people, giving people credit and doing what they can to condition them into thinking that minimal investment and the short term return is always the best way. The ruling capitalists pretended to be our friends selling the illusions of prosperity, power and ownership, but in reality they were creating a greater need for capital through the creation of new debt.
This explains why generally in three decades there has been a general increase in poverty and unemployment rather than prosperity, workers are generally more subdued and exploited than they were and face more competition. This is not just competition from within the local community or society, but also internationally and we can see this through the outsourcing of jobs to poorer countries.
Again the concept of ownership is nothing more than a mere illusion. While people live in their homes and have freedom to use their homes as they wish, if they are still paying mortgages they cannot be seen to be owning their own homes, and ownership rests very firmly with the lender, who, should someone renege on their terms of borrowing, can take steps to recover the property.
This has created a society where many people are dependent on some larger institution for their income - whether it be a Government through either employment or welfare, or a larger corporation - part of the ruling global class - through employment.
Austerity and spending cuts are not a solution by any means, as we have seen above. What they achieve is to place the burden of the current economic crisis very squarely on the shoulders of the workers, i.e. the people. This serves to further increase the need to work for capital in order to survive and to undermine their position in society. It also serves to reduce the possibility of survival through poverty and to further marginalize the poor, and therefore increase the fear of becoming unemployed.
One of the biggest misunderstandings people have with Marxism and socialism is misunderstanding that it is a struggle for equality - Marx being an egalitarian - as opposed to a struggle for victory or to reverse the balance of power. Marxism is not anarchy, these are two very separate political concepts. The basic premise of Marx I feel is that labour is just as necessary for productivity as capital and that both go hand in hand to provide prosperity, not just for the elite few or the global ruling capitalist class, but for everybody.
It also needs to be understood that the balance of power rests not with the ruling global political class, but with the people. That part of the Polish Solidarity movement which has survived intact is that part achieved through the struggle and cooperation of people working towards greater freedom and democracy. The Citizens Platform party, occupying the political centre, has outlasted the right wing coalition of the Law and Justice party, the IRI (International Republican Institute), Lech Walesa and the parties sponsored by and set up through the Polish Catholic Church.
Similarly in Britain the coalition government headed by the Conservatives is in turmoil and ministers who are afraid of marches, demonstrations and strikes, which are planned and taking place, are busy backpedalling and rethinking their austerity policies. That global ruling political class only has power when the workers or people are divided, when they are disenfranchised, and when they give up that power voluntarily.
There is no need for a revolution, armed struggles, or indeed civil unrest. The global ruling political class can only play on our fears simply because they have no moral justification for their cause. I feel that Marxism and socialism require social cohesion and the contribution of everyone in society through sustained occupation and labour which together with capital ensures sustained economic output. However I am a Marxist who isn't anti-capitalist, I see benefits in both, I feel party politics have run their course, are outdated and our economic problems require effective solutions which can come from anywhere on the political spectrum - left or right.
Therefore I am not suggesting or advocating the change from the existing political solutions to an exclusively Marxist or socialist system, but rather that both are embraced and used as tools to make up the greater political whole for the benefit of everyone, irrespective of where they identify themselves in politics.
This is what I am putting out for discussion.
References
Coalition in turmoil - Kick 'em while they're down Sadie Robinson, Socialist Worker 12 April 2011
Austerity - A fake solution that only deepens economic crisis Social Worker editorial, 12 April 2011
Don't blame Marx for capitalism Colin Barker, Socialist Worker 30 August 2003
Cameron's immigration policy in chaos Yvette Cooper, Labour Party website, 14 April 2011
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Usually when you have all the answers for something nobody is interested in listening.
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That need to embrace change through Marxism. - 
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