EN COLERE !

source of photo: Agence France Press

"The revolutionary key to the situation in Europe and in the entire world is now above all in France!" - Leon Trotsky (1934)

two comments on the article by Jerome Metellus:

France: Battle over Pensions - Bring Economy to a Halt !
http://www.marxist.com/france-battle-over-pensionsbring-economy-to-a-halt.htm

J. Metellus wrote: "...After October 12, the movement against the attack on pensions has reached a critical threshold. The great days of action are no longer the centre of gravity, although they are still massive and increasingly militant, as shown by October 19. Now, the central axis of the struggle has shifted onto open-ended strikes and pickets blockading different sectors of the economy..."

[this shift is a tactical response of the movement against the deployment of police and security forces to suppress the social revolt, which is in fact a convergence of social forces against the racist and anti-worker neo-Gaullist regime. the movement started out as a workers movement in opposition to the neo-liberal pension "reform", but as it developed it was joined by the immigrant community and by students; social forces that have their own set of grievances against the Sarkozy regime. the strategy of coordinated labour power withdrawal and blockade of strategic sectors of the economy is hitting the financial oligarchy and the neo-liberal political class right where it hurts them. the development of this movement vindicates the analysis of Karl Marx and Rosa Luxembourg that it is the intensification of class struggle by the working class that serves as primary motor of social revolutionary convergence of social forces against capital. note that it was at the point that the industrial workers paralysed the energy industry, that the movement radicalised into a generalised social revolt against the Sarkozy regime.]

J. Metellus wrote: "The development of an indefinite general strike should be accompanied by democratic centralisation and coordination of the movement. Sectors on strike should coordinate at local and national level, on the basis of delegates elected by General Assemblies, and with the right of recall. A national inter-professional coordination of such delegates could centralise information, circulate it, discuss the movement from day to day and take the necessary initiatives to strengthen the strike. The national "Intersyndical" [trade union alliance], many of whom speak about quitting the movement after the Senate vote, cannot play this role."

[just as the movement has developed as a convergence of social forces, this movement must begin to develop convergent forms of organisation and a convergent program that makes political demands. this is the only way that the specific demands of the workers, the immigrants and the students will come to be implemented. this coordination of sectors on strike at the local and national level culminating in the development of general assemblies could become the basis for the refoundation of france and the emergence of a post-capitalist sixth republic. indeed. assuming the emergence of a post-capitalist sixth republic, as i wrote elsewhere: such a development would tear appart the core of the Franco-German Imperialist Entente and bring down the edifice of the so-called "European Union" (a political and economic front for the Franco-German financial oligarchy). a succesful overthrow of the neo-Gaullist regime by a convergence of worker led social forces would have a direct impact on Spain, Greece, and Iceland. it would paralyse on its tracks the effort to impose the anti-worker neo-liberal economic agenda, it would reverse the overall european trend towards anti-immigrant anti-Roma xenophobic racism, it would empower students accross the continent to revolt against efforts to destroy public education and school democracy through privatisations. i add: it would also be a direct hit upon the entire structure of atlantism in decline and have major geo-political consequneces in favour of multipolarism. France would withdraw its contingent form the AFPAK war and the process of integrating France into NATO (imposed by Sarkozy) would be reversed; meaning that a post-capitalist French Sixth Republic would join the multipolar bloc and ally itself to the Shanghai Pact and ALBA/UNASUR. a post-capitalist French Sixth Republic would also likely utilise its veto in the UN security council to thwart efforts by Anglo-British imperialism to impose Washingtons unipolar dominionist agenda. France is a major developed political-economy and a member of the G8, it also has its own nuclear arsenal. an alliance of a post-capitalist French Sixth Republic with the National Democracies of the West Eurasian Core (Ukraine, Belarus and Russia) would place the final nails in the coffin of the moribund and obsolete NATO imperialist infrastructure./n2]

photos source: World Socialist Website

refs.

The strike wave in Europe and the decay of bourgeois democracy

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/pers-o20.shtml

"...The growing struggles of the working class in Europe and internationally against mass unemployment and government austerity policies are exposing the reality behind the façade of bourgeois democracy. In every country, the government, whether conservative or nominally “left,” is cutting jobs and wages and slashing social programs in complete disregard for the overwhelming opposition of the population. Elections, parliamentary debates have no effect on policy. The state does the bidding of the financial aristocracy, tearing up the living standards of the masses in the interests of the bankers who are responsible for the economic crisis. The financiers and corporate executives are making more money than ever by exploiting mass unemployment and growing social distress to slash wages and increase the exploitation of the working class. Where the best efforts of the trade unions do not suffice to hold the workers in check and struggles break out that challenge the plans of the capitalists, most prominently in France and Greece, the state uses its powers of repression to smash strikes and protests. In France, the Sarkozy government has deployed riot police to break up workers’ blockades of oil depots and attack protesting students with tear gas and rubber bullets, arresting hundreds across the country..."

[the racist, anti-worker neo-Gaullist regime in France has unleashed the full power of its security forces to suppress the convergence of social forces aligned against the now discredited and desperate government: ]

French President Sarkozy moves to break strikes against austerity measures

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/fran-o21.shtml

"...President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to break strikes against his government’s pension cuts and social austerity policies yesterday, sending riot police and army civil service units to disperse picket lines and end oil depot occupations. Workers and students have mounted mass strikes for more than a week while debate in the Senate has continued over provisions of the pension “reform” bill. A final vote on the bill is expected by early next week..."

[Capitalism is political economy premised upon private ownership of the means of production and on the basis of private ownership of the said means, "the accumulation of (surplus) value by means of the exploitation of wage labor in the process of mass production of commodities". Rosa Luxembourg and the Venezuelan Communists would add that Capitalism also involves systematic police state repression in order to ensure private capital preservation and suppression of working class resistance. The actions of the Neo-Gaullist regime vindicate these analyses:]

How riot police broke the occupation of the Marseille oil depots

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/mars-o21.shtml

"...The French government gave the order Friday morning, October 15, to send in the CRS riot police to unblock the Fos oil depot occupied by workers near Marseille in southern France. The workers were blocking the site to protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension cuts and the partial privatisation of the French ports. The CGT (General Confederation of Labour) called upon workers not to show any resistance to the police..."

Workers face a struggle for power in France

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/pers-o22.shtml

"...Police action to break strikes and blockades in the oil sector has not ended France’s fuel shortage or curtailed strikes and protests by workers and students against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s deeply unpopular pension cuts. The French strike wave is the most developed expression of growing working class resistance to the drive by European governments to impose austerity measures in the face of overwhelming popular opposition. The refusal of the unions to organize broader strikes or protests against the police attacks on oil blockades must be taken as a serious warning. These organizations will mount no struggle to defend workers from state violence. On the contrary, they are sending Sarkozy a signal that he can employ even greater police violence with their tacit support..."

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PATRIA GRANDE !

Evo, Rafa and Hugo - The Leadership of The Second Independence.

Grounding the fifth international on the existing process of Latin American Second Independence as a model would give the Fifth International an objective and concrete basis in an existing process of class struggles that project themselves geo-politically and geo-economically. From this basis, the development of a new anti-imperialist, anti-colonial internationalism could be premised upon intercontinental and interegional multipolar networks that incorporate autochthonous anti-capitalist struggles in north america, western europe, asia and africa. The convergence of the PSUV with the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) is a perfect foundation for the V International, a first step already taken. The Sandinista Revolution of 1979-1990 is the direct precursor to the Venezuelan Bolivarian Revolution, the Ecuadoran Revolucion Ciudadana and the Indigenista Revolution in Bolivia. The Nicaraguan Sandinistas where the first to base their operational model on the premise of a "civic-military alliance" that seeks to construct an ''armed democratic socialism'' in defiance to USA/Atlantist imperialism. The proliferation, in context of multipolarism, of national spaces of “armed democratic socialism” that seek simulatenously to (1) transition from neo-colonial dependence to revolutionary democracy as the precursor for the emergence of existing socialism, and that (2) foster regional integration on the model of ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas) and UNASUR; would progressively undermine the hegemony of North Atlantism over the globalisation process.

Multipolarism as the new Internationalist Anti-Imperialism:

According to El Economista de Cuba (The Cuban Economic Review):

“América Latina padece todos los males de la globalización y la postmodernidad y ninguna de las ventajas prometidas: el crecimiento económico sin empleo; la concentración del saber en el Norte, deja fuera a nuestros pueblos de las tecnologías de punta, de la creación y desarrollo de centros de investigación científica; la destrucción del medio ambiente —envenenamiento de las fuentes de agua potable, tala de los bosques—, etc.; el desarrollo del modelo de crecimiento basado en las exportaciones a todo trance, la privatización de las empresas estatales y servicios de correos, salud, educación, seguridad social, originando un crecimiento sustancial de la pobreza; la apertura de las fronteras para el flujo libre de capitales, de flujos financieros y de mercancías provenientes del Norte, arruinando de este modo las economías nacionales, y no así el flujo libre de personas del Sur para el Norte; reducción del salario real; dependencia alimentaria del exterior; incremento de la Deuda Externa; etc.”

[“Latin America is a showcase for all the evils of globalisation and postmodernity without any of its promised advantages: economic growth without employment growth, the concentrtation of knowledge in the north, it leaves our peoples outside the circuit of advanced technologies, it prevents the development of scientific research centres, it destroys the natural environment – poisoning aquifiers, clearcutting the forests – etc. ; the model of development and growth based on exports at all costs, the privatisation of state enterprises and of postal, healthcare, educational, social security have resulted in the substantial growth of poverty; the opening of borders for the unrestricted flow of capital and of financial transactions, and for branded products from the north has bankrupted national economies , but not the migration of people from the south to the north; the reduction of real wages, food dependence of foreign dources, the increase of external debt obligations…”]

The emergence of ALBA, MERCOSUR and UNASUR as forums independent from the OAS has created a “multipolarisation effect” in Latin America. The United States has lost control of South America. The emergence of the Argentino-Brasilian geo-economic entente and of UNASUR have broken the power and influence of the State Department controlled OAS. The SUCRE monetary system is making inroads into commercial spaces formerly dominated by transactions in USA Dollars. BOLIVARIANISM emerges as the most radicalised expression of the overall political and social movement for the Second Independence of Latin America from the status of neo-colonial domination imposed by USA/North Atlantist imperialism in the mid 19th century (when the Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed). The Second Independence calls both for the development of a self referential and autonomous post-capitalist models of political-economy for sovereign Latin American nations, for PLURINATIONALISM and for the subsequent voluntary and democratic integration of sovereign peoples into the Latin American "patria grande" (greater fatherland). The Bolivarian Revolutionary government states that its goal in Venezuela is the construction of an "armed democratic socialism" (the Bolivarian concept of Revolutionary Democracy) based on participatory democracy, civic-military alliance, nationalisation of natural resources and planned infrastructural development; where poverty is to be eliminated by empowering the poor politically and economically - i.e organising the poor politically around communal councils and allocating economic resources and targeted social services to the politically organised poor in a decentral manner so that they can solve their own problems in situ.

Bolivarianism is one of the several new global south politics that have emerged in reaction to and against North Atlantist/Imperialist hegemony, the imposition of western political values and economic ideologies (such as neo-liberalism) which seek to rationalise the exploitation and looting of global south peoples and their natural resources to sustain an objectively, socially and ecologically, unsustainable hyper-consumeristic economic model in the nations that conform the North Atlantist Core (North America, Western Europe) . Bolivarianism calls for the creation of “a multipolar world where many worlds are possible, inclusive 21st century socialist ones".

The "Bolivarian-Zapatista" Organising Model as an effective form of social and class struggle:

Elsewhere, I have cited as a model for organising against the proto-fascist right, the ORANISING and CAMPAIGN models of the Venezuelan PSUV patrullas/ “Maquinaria Roja” of 2010 and the Zapatista "Otra Campaña" of 2006, specifically as they pertain basing campaign activity on existing social movements and existing social organisations ('las bases'); because these are successful examples of grassroots organising that do not operate on the premises of neo-liberal individuation and marketisation of political activity and discourse. a political program is not a brand, and marketing does not define culture. "one man one vote" is not democracy, only the first step towards democracy. the organising model of the PSUV has delivered victory after victory to the Venezuelan transition government, while the Zapatista "otra campaña" (which was global) was a direct influence upon the victory of Lopez Obrador / PRD and the formation of the parallel APPO government in Oaxaca. The reason the United States Embassy in Mexico ordered the PAN government to fix the election in 2006 was precisely because of the success of the organising model of the ''Otra Campaña''. The Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the Bolivian MAS also based their campaigns on this "Bolivarian-Zapatista model" in 2006 and 2009 respectively; the result was two major victories for the Segunda Independencia / Second Independence. In the Nicaraguan case the FSLN returned to power, in the Bolivian sense the Indigenista Plurinational Constitution was ratified in a referendum - the first indigenous peoples' constitution in the Americas -north, centre and south. Bolivia became the first Indigenous People’s Republic in the Americas, a polity where indigenous majority rule was achieved on the basis of the political marginalisation of the hispano-criollo comprador bourgeoisie and its North American transnational patrons.

The humble origins of 21st century socialism where the “Caracazo” food riots in Venezuela against neo-liberal adjustment policies in February 1989 and the Zapatista uprising against NAFTA in Chiapas, Mexico in 1994. They chanted QUEREMOS COMER ! ( we want to eat) and YA BASTA ! (enough is enough). Their call was taken up by the anti-globalisation demonstrators who gathered in Seattle in December 1999, the PIQUETEROS in Argentina who deposed a corrupt neo-liberal regime in December 2002, and latter by those who participated in the massive global anti-war movilisations against the imperialist invasion of Iraq in February 2003. They chanted FREE TRADE IS WAR ! and FREEDOM FRIES WHILE BAGDAD BURNS ! The Fifth International must recapture this spirit, and develop it further; as it works to establish spaces of eco-social construction and democratic empowerment for marginalised social actors, in a multi-polar context free of imperialist entities and globalised transnational oligarchies dedicated to the pursuit of unipolarist domination agendas. It must impart new dynamism to the class based struggles of trade unionists in Western Europe fighting against the destructive social effects of the financial bailout; of peace activists in the United States facing repression at the hands of the FBI and Homeland Security Gestapo; and the struggle of migrant populations against systematic police repression, of the foreclosed and the homeless for housing and dignity, of the landless and those displaced by the wars of capitalism in Colombia and Afghanistan. The Fifth International must be an international of hope for those who find themselves in the losing end of global capitalism, not a talk shop for ideologues or a forum for the restatement of failed political theories from the past. /n2

 

 

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(CC) Material on this Weblog is licensed by Miguel Angel Torres, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [6] license, except for links to articles that are posted with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed and credited to their author(s), inclusive Miguel Angel Torres.

GALLO ROJO !

[PCV Campaign Closing Statement:]


http://www.tribuna-popular.org/index.php/pcv/7319-pcv-derrotemos-la-campana-anticomunista-votando-gallo-rojo

Video: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xex4v1_pcv-derrotemos-la-campana-anticomun_news?start=4#from=embed


***

PCV: “Derrotemos la campaña anticomunista votando Gallo Rojo!

[Defeat the anti-communist campaign by voting for the Gallo Rojo]

LLAMAMIENTO A LAS Y LOS TRABAJADORES, AL PUEBLO VENEZOLANO

[Call to all workers - male and female, to the Venezuelan people]

Caracas, 22 sep. 2010, Tribuna Popular TP.- El Partido Comunista de Venezuela (PCV), en un llamamiento a las y los trabajadores y al pueblo venezolano, llamó hoy a derrotar la campaña anticomunista de la derecha fascista y el imperialismo, votando por los candidatos de la Alianza Revolucionaria en la Tarjeta del Gallo Rojo.

[The Communist Party of Venezuela, in a statement to all workers - male and female, and to the venezuelan people; called today to defeat the anti-communist campaign of the fascist right and of imperialism; by voting for the candidates of the Revolutionary Alliance in the Gallo Rojo ballot]

Así lo dio a conocer el secretario general del Partido, diputado Oscar Figuera, quien manifestó que la oposición fascista integrada en la MUD “Mesa de la Ultra Derecha”, ha retomado la vieja forma de hacer política imitando al dictador, Juan Vicente Gómez, quien a través del artículo 32, inciso 6º de la Constitución, prohibía las ideas marxistas.

[This is how secretary general of the party, deputy Oscar Figuera, expressed his intervention; and subsequently estated that the fascist opposition integrated around the MUD ('round table of the ultra-right') has revived outdated forms of political activity imitating former dictator Juan Vicente Gomez, who through article 32, section 6 of the constitution prohibited the expression of Marxist ideas.]

“Dentro de esa concepción retrograda, atrasada, cavernaria y cavernícola, con el respeto a los cavernícolas, sectores de la oposición han intentado instalar una matriz de opinión, queriendo contraponer democracia y comunismo”, recordó el dirigente.

[The secretary reminds us that, in context of this reactionary, backward, neanderthal conception - said in full respect to the neanderthals - sections of the opposition have tried to create a matrix of opinion, attempting to counterpose democracy to communism]

EL PCV reivindicó la sociedad comunista, aun no conocida por la humanidad, como proyecto profundamente humanista, “El comunismo es la democracia plena de los ciudadanos y ciudadanas, de los trabajadores y las trabajadoras. Es una sociedad de productores libres, asociados voluntariamente, sin explotados, ni explotadores”, señaló Figuera.

[The communist party has proposed the construction of a communist society, stilll not known by humanity, as a humanist project. 'Communism is the most complete form of democracy for all citizens and workers - male and female. It is a society of Free producers, voluntarily associated, without exploited and exploiters.']

Los comunistas venezolanos acusaron a los sectores de la oligarquía agrupados en la ultraderecha y al imperialismo, de tenerle terror a la sociedad comunista porque no les permitirá acumular riqueza sobre la base de la explotación del pueblo, “Porque es una sociedad donde no se necesitará patronos, explotadores. Donde el Estado no será un instrumento de dominación, sino que estará en control de los productores libres y organizados, desaparece la explotación del hombre por hombre”.

[The Venezuelan communists have acussed sectors of the oligarchy grouped around the ultra right and imperialism, of spreading undue fear about a communist society because such a society would negate them the opportunity to accumulate riches on the basis of the exploitation of the people. 'Because it is a society that would need no bosses, exploiters. Where the State will not be an instrument of domination, but will be under the control of free and organised producers, the exploitation of man by man will be eradicated.]

Figuera llamó al pueblo a analizar, que si son los enemigos nuestros los que se expresan así, es porque el comunismo es malo para ello, pero es bueno para el pueblo. “Los que nos han explotado históricamente, cuando nos dicen que algo es malo, es porque es malo para ellos, como explotadores, pero es bueno para el pueblo”, reiteró el dirigente comunista, candidato a la reelección por el Estado Guárico en la Lista de la Alianza Revolucionaria.

[Comrade Figuera called to the people to conclude, that if it is our enemies who express themselves in this manner, it is because communism is bad for them. ' Those who have exploited us historically, when they say that something is bad, is because it is bad for them as exploiters, but good for the people.' That statement was reiterated by the communist leader in his bid for re-election in Guarico State in the list of the Revolutionary Alliance ]

A continuación, trascribimos el Llamamiento a las y los Trabajadores, al Pueblo venezolano, leído a la prensa por el Secretario General del PCV.

[The following is a transcription of the call to all Workers - male and female, to the Venezuelan people, read to the press by the PCV General Secretary]

LLAMAMIENTO A LAS Y LOS TRABAJADORES, AL PUEBLO VENEZOLANO

[Call to the Workers - male and female, and to the People of Venezuela]

¡Derrotemos la campaña anti-comunista votando Gallo Rojo!

[We defeat the anti-communist campaign by voting for the Gallo Rojo]

El próximo domingo culmina proceso electoral en curso para la elección de diputadas y diputados tanto a la Asamblea Nacional como al Parlamento Latinoamericano. En varias oportunidades, el Comité Central y el Buró Político han trazado orientaciones de carácter político-electoral que se han dado a conocer a través de los medios de comunicación.

[Next Sunday concludes the electoral process for the selection of deputies - male and female, for the National Assembly and the Latin American Parliament. In many opportunities, the Central commite and the Politbureau have sketched orientation of a political-electoral character that has been disseminated via the public media.]

El actual proceso político venezolano, querámoslo o no, tiene su propia y contundente dinámica que incide en el ámbito nacional e internacional y contradice los designios imperialistas y de la contrarrevolución interna.

[The current Venezuelan political process, like it or not, has its own and clear dynamic that impacts the national and international context and contradicts the plans of imperialism and the internal counterevolution]

Sabido es que el PCV y la JCV, somos blanco principal de los ataques del enemigo de clase, a través de una intensa campaña anticomunista desplegada por la oligarquía, el imperialismo y sus lacayos políticos, quienes saben que jamás conciliaremos ni nos prestaremos a maniobras políticas que vayan en contra de la clase obrera, de los trabajadores, trabajadoras de la ciudad y del campo, de las clases y capas sociales aliadas con las que aspiramos a continuar profundizando y abriendo caminos a la democracia revolucionaria, la paz y el socialismo.

[It is well known that the PCV and JCV [Communist Youth] are the numner one target for attacks from the class enemy, through an intensive anti-communist media campaign promoted by the oligarchy, imperialism and its political flaks, who know that we will never surrender and that we will never collaborate with political manouvres that go against the interests of the working class, the urban and rural workers - male and female, the allied social forces with whom we aspire to continue to radicalise and open roads towards a revolutionary democracy, peace and communism.]

Por todo ello, hemos considerado oportuno en el PCV, hacer un llamado al pueblo venezolano a empeñarnos a fondo en estos días y especialmente el domingo venidero, para motivar y comprometer a todas y todos en las tareas prácticas de movilizar los votos, de llevar la mayor cantidad posible de electoras y electores a votar por el Gallo Rojo - PCV y así obtener la más alta votación histórica del PCV, como repuesta de todo el pueblo a la campaña anticomunista.

[Because of this, we consider it important for the PCV, to make a call to the Venezuelan people to intensify our effort these days and specially this comming Sunday to motivate concerted action in the practical task of movilising the vote, to elect the largest majority possible of deputies - male and female, to vote for the Gallo Rojo - PCV in order to obtain the highest historical proportion of votes for the PCV, as an answer of the people to the anti-communist campaign.]

La presencia comunista en el Parlamento continuará sirviendo para exponer, defender e impulsar nuestro programa y línea políticas, muy especialmente en el afán de impulsar nuestras reconocidas propuestas de una nueva Ley Orgánica del Trabajo y la Ley de Consejos socialistas de trabajadoras y trabajadores.

[The prescence of communists in the Parliament will serve to continue to expose, defend and promote our program and political line, specially as it pertains the promotion of our new Organic Labour Law and the Law for the Workers Councils.]

En varias oportunidades hemos denunciado los planes desestabilizadores, de sabotaje y terrorismo, que como parte de la contraofensiva reaccionaria de la oligarquía y el imperialismo estadounidense se viene ejecutando en el país. Por tanto nuevamente, alertamos sobre la necesidad de activar los planes de contingencia del movimiento popular revolucionario frente a cualquier intento de sabotaje del enemigo.

[In many opportunities we have denounced the destabilisation plans, sabotage and terrorism; that as part and subset of the reactionary counteroffensive of the oligarchy and imperialism in this country. So again, we warn about the need to activate contingency plans of the revolutionary popular movement against any attempt of sabotage that might be initiated by the enemy.]

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(CC) Material on this Weblog is licensed by Miguel Angel Torres, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [6] license, except for links to articles that are posted with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed and credited to their author(s), inclusive Miguel Angel Torres.

Pa' The Asamblea !

Is the Venezuelan National Assembly a Bourgeois Parliament ?

[Es la Asamblea Nacional Venezolana un Parlamento Burges ?]

I argue that it is not.

[yo argumento que no]

the congress of the fourth republic was a comprador bourgeois parliament; but not the national assembly that results from the 1999 bolivarian constitution of venezuela. a key point is to understand that the bolivarian process changed the structure of the political state in such a way that a legal foundation was created to allow for progressive structural transformation towards revolutionary democracy. a regular Bourgeois Parliament works to prevent social transformations away from capitalism. by no means do i argue that the AN is a "soviet" or anything like that either. i consider the AN a transitional legislative entity existing in context of a socio-political process of emergent revolutionary democracy.

[el congreso dela cuarta republica fue un parlamento de la burgesia compradora; pero no la Asamblea Nacional que resulta como producto de la constitucion venezolana de 1999. un punto clave es el entendimiento que el proceso bolivariano cambio la estructura del estado de derecho politico de manera que se creo una base legal que permite la transformacion progresiva estructural hacia la democracia revolucionaria. un parlamento burges comun y corriente trabaja para oponer transformaciones sociales contra el capitalismo. de ninguna manera tampoco argumento que la AN sea un "soviet". considero a la AN como una entidad legislativa transitoria que existe en un contexto socio-politico de democracia revolucionaria emergente.]

in order to arrive at the conclusion that the AN is not a bourgeois parliament; i begin by utilising categories of analysis developed by the Peoples Commissariat of Foreign affairs of the USSR during the 1964-1983 period (The Brezhnev Era):

[para llegar a esta conclusion empleo el "Esquema de Analisis geopolitico del Comisariado Popular para las Relaciones Exteriores de la CCCP entre 1964-1983" dentro del marco del Pacto de Varsovia y el COMECON]

Socialismo Existente/Existing Socialism (RDA/DDR)
Democracia Revolucionaria/Revolutionary Democracy (Cuba)

Democracia Nacional/National Democracy (Suecia en la decada de los 70/Sweden during the 1970's)

Estado Neocolonia/Neocolonial State (IV Republica en Venezuela/Fourth Republic in Venezuela)

Estado Imperialista/Imperialist State (EEUU/USA and its NATO cohorts)

Flag of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with eight Stars

[Bandera de la Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela con ocho estrellas.]

from this schema i conclude the following definitions of the nature of the state as prelude to defining the nature of the AN as a legislative entity:

[desde este punto de partida esquematico concluyo las siguentes definiciones de las condiciones del estado como premisa a definir a la AN como entidad legislativa:]

The Fourth Republic: The form of neocolonialism applied to specific Venezuelan conditions between 1953 and 1999; an oil neocolony postrate to the north american imperialist state; governed by a decadent, parasitical and racist comprador bourgeoisie and administered by a gerontocratic political class; and which utilised systematic police repression as means of social control .

[La Cuarta Republica: La forma del neocolonialismo aplicado a las condiciones especificas de Venezuela entre 1953 y 1999; una neocolonia petrolera postrada ante el estado imperialista norteamericano gobernada por una burgesia compradora decadente, parasitica y racista; administrada por una clase politica gerontocratica, que opero un aparato de control policial sistematicamente represivo para mantener control social.]

The Fifth Republic: A State of transition between neocolonialism and revolutionary democracy that implies the construction of the elements of national democracy and the achievement of national emancipation. this achievement then serves as ante-chamber or foundation for the emergence of an existing socialism adapted to Venezulean conditions in the context of ALBA and economic integration with Cuba. The direct precursor of the 5th Venezuelan Republic: Sandinista Nicaragua between 1979-1990.

The progressive administration of this "state of transition between neocolonialism towards revolutionary democracy" is denominated "Bolivarian Revolution"; a proposal to consolidate revolutionary democracy and the development of an ecological and social mode of production that is DIVERSIFIED as necessary basis for the possible construction of an "existing socialism" for the 21st century.

[Quinta Republica Venezolana: Un estado de transicion del neocolonialismo a la democracia revolucionaria que implica la construccion de los elementos de una democracia nacional y el logro de la emancipacion nacional. Este logro sirve como antesala o fundacion para la emergencia de una version del socialismo existente adaptado a las condiciones Venezolanas; en el contexto Latinoamericano del ALBA y de un proceso de integracion economica con la democracia revolucionaria Cubana. El precursor directo a la V Republica Venezolana: Nicaragua Sandinista entre 1979-1990.]

[La administracion progresista de este "estado de transicion del neocolonialismo a la democracia revolucionaria" se denomina "Revolucion Bolivariana"; como propuesta para consolidar la democracia revolucionaria y el desarrollo de un modelo productivo eco-social y DIVERSIFICADO como base necesaria para la posible construccion de un 'socialismo existente'del siglo XXI.]

after defining the nature of the Fifth Republic and placing the AN in context of it as LEGISLATIVE instrument of popular will, the AN (National Assembly) can be defined as:

[luego de haber definido la naturaleza de la quinta república, y colocándo a la AN en el contexto de la misma como un instrumnto LEGISLATIVO de la voluntad popular, la AN (Asamblea Nacional) se puede definir como:]

NOT a Bourgeois Parliament because it does not exist to legislate upon the collective interest of the comprador bourgeoise at the service of Atlantist imperialism; but a transitional legislative entity existing in context of a specific socio-political process that legislates in the interest of constructing a basis for socialism in law. the AN could NOT be called a "soviet" because it is not an assembly of elected and re callable workplace representatives, and although it includes indigenous representation it does not incorporate social corporative representation per se of socially organised sectors such as youth, soldiers or women.

[NO un parlamento burgués, ya que no existe para legislar sobre el interés colectivo de la burguesía compradora al servicio del imperialismo atlantista, pero mas bien una entidad legislativa transitoria; vigente en el contexto de un proceso específico socio-político que legisla en el interés de construir una base por el socialismo en el derecho. la AN no puede llamarse un ''soviet" porque no es una asamblea de delegaciones obreras; y aunque incluye la representación indígena, no incorpora la representación social-corporativa sui generis de los sectores socialmente organizados, como los jóvenes, los militares o las mujeres.]

/n2

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Kyrgyzstan !

The Demise of the "Tulip Revolution"

in Kyrgyzstan.

(photo from Peoples Daily, China)

events in Kyrgyzstan point to a deterioration of western political and economic influence in former soviet eurasia, and follow up to the demise of the so-called "orange revolution" in the ukraine this year, and the military victory of russia over the georgian NATO proxy in august of 2008. the obama regime has proven incapable of containing the crisis. ATLANTISM IS IN RETREAT. the multipolar bloc is the main beneficiary of the demise of pro-western regimes in the region, as the position of the Shanghai Pact powers is strenghtened at the expense of the West. Russian and China MUST extend Shanghai Pact recognition to the Kyrgyzstan Provisional Government and even extend military protection to it if necessary on pro-democracy, civic order and humanitarian grounds.

*

like the so-called "orange revolution" in Ukraine in 2004; the 2005 "tulip revolution" in kyrgystan was a stage managed event hyped by the western media as a "pro-democracy" movement. it was nothing of the sort, rather it ushered in the stablishment of a brutal pro-western police state regime that imposed brutal austerity measures on the population. the pro-western political elite around the figure of Kurmanbek Bakiyev amassed vast wealth through corruption and graft while the people starved.

*

notable is that this anti-western counter-color revolution began as a peaceful civic protest against draconian austerity measures imposed by the pro-western regime at the behest of the USA controlled world bank and IMF. Similar to protests and strikes in Greece against austerity measures dictated by the Franco-German Entente via its "European" smokescreen; the civic movement in Biskek focused its attention on denouncing the doubling of the price of fuel and water, as well as the removal of price controls on a number of basic food commodities. the regime committed political suicide when it ordered its western trained anti-riot police to shoot on the peaceful protesters. 74 protesters where killed and 700 others injured. the use of anti-riot police to supress civic socio-economic protests is a hallmark of all Western and pro-western "market democratic" regimes; notable is the utilisation of this tactic in divese places such as Pittsburg, Reykjavík, Copenhaguen, Athens and now Biskek since the financial crisis began in autumn 2008. in the West and among its proxys "rule of law" really means rule of the politically connected and economically endowed PLUTOCRACY through systematic police violence and brutality.

*

all who advocate FREEDOM FROM THE UNIPOLAR DOMINION OF THE UNITED STATES and seek AN END TO THE WESTERN DICTATORSHIP OVER THE GLOBALISATION PROCESS should extend critical support to the Kyrgyzstan Provisional Government. - n2

*
refs:


Ukraine election marks declining US influence in region

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jan2010/ukra-j21.shtml

Struggle for power continues in Kyrgyzstan

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/apr2010/kygr-a09.shtml

Russia recognizes new Kyrgyz leadership

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6944922.html

Russia sends extra troops to airbase in Kyrgyzstan

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6944786.html

__________________________________________________________________________________

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"Taliban"

i posted the following message in the forum hosted by the newest afghan insurgency website:

(websites of the afghan resistance/insurgency get taken down within a few hours after publication by NATO cyberwarfare censors...so I thought I would get my message in while I could...)

http://www.shahamat1.org/ [pashtun]

http://www.alemarah.info/english/ [english]

"I just want to take a minute to say that I fully support your effort to rid your country of NATO Western invaders. I think that you have every right to your land and to live according to your beliefs and  I think it is wrong for Western countries to impose their political and religious ideas on you. I think you are fully justified in defending yourself by force of arms. The Americans are hypocrites. Your Jihad for Independence against the terroristic NATO invaders is not any different than the American independence war against the British in the 1770's. The Americans and the Europeans only want to conquer your land to steal your natural gas reserves and use your country to build oil and gas pipelines. I do not believe that you were responsible for 09-11 and I think that the invasion in 2001 was staged on this pretext only to rob you of what is rightfully yours. You beat the Soviets, and I am sure you will beat the Americans and NATO. Keep up the fight."

note that the afghan anti-NATO insurgency DOES NOT call itself "taliban"; rather they call themselves "the mujahedin of the islamic emirate". the designation "taliban" is a disinformation term applied by the western media in order to confuse the public and conjure the paranoia of 0911. in fact there are three different insurgent fronts (two in afghanistan and one in pakistan) and none have anything to do with the mythical "al qaeda" organisation or with "osama bin laden". the three fronts of the Afghan insurgency are allied in jihad against the West and they are winning the war.

"Andean Mode"

"AMP column"

forms of contemporary popular asian culture from a second generation perspective

*

http://www.haussite.net/

***

FEW: [Working_Class_News] Bolivia Gets a New Constitution 57% to 43%

a step in the right direction; at least in terms of achieving indigenous majority rule (i.e. “indigenismo”), as there is no objective difference between the status of indigenous people in bolivia and the status of black africans under south african apartheid. yet, the idea of "andean capitalism" is a chimera. the masista theorists and propagandists that came up with the idea are basing their proposal on a misinterpretation of the premises associated with the heretical marxist concept of an "andean mode of production" attributed to the incas. the inca political economy was neither primitive communist - because the incas where civilised (in the sense of having a city based society and economy) - nor was it slavery, since there where no slaves in the inca empire. the incas believed that the land belonged to the inca who was the incarnation of the sun. they worked the land collectively and shared the produce.

like the notion of an alleged "asiatic mode of production" attributed to imperial china and the Byzantines (i.e. “the bureaucratic administration of peasant labour exploitation to support a militarist ‘oriental despotism’...”), or the "bureaucratic collectivist" system in the ussr and eastern bloc; the "andean mode of production" was a historical dead end. i.e. progress towards industrial urban based socialism, in the sense that karl marx advocated, could not be achieved from that starting point. in all cases it was required that a political economy that could serve as developmental precondition for progress, in the sense described by karl marx, was introduced from the outside through conquest. specifically (and respectively): the spanish conquest introduced into the inca dominions the iberian form of european feudalism; the latin seizure of constantinople ( a precursor to the turkish conquest) introduced western feudalism to the byzantine dominion; the western penetration of china in the 19th century introduced western imperialist capitalism to east asia (the maoist revolution of 1949 replaced this mode of production with bureaucratic collectivism); British and French investment in the 19th century Russian empire attempted to introduce industrial capitalism into a society functioning on the basis of the Byzantine version of the Asiatic mode. the attempt failed, resulting in the revolution of 1905 which sought to replace the Tsar with a liberal republic (a form of the state better suited to enforce capital preservation). Subsequently - through the successful application of the theory of permanent revolution-; the revolution of 1917 replaced that initial attempt at “progress” with bureaucratic collectivism; the voluntary dissolution of the Soviet Union (the USSR never “fell”) in 1989-1991 (re-) introduced the experiment of industrial capitalism into Russia on a neo-liberal republican form. The current putin-medvedev government has modified the project of re-introduction of capitalism towards a national-corporatist basis - with Russian ethnicism (in context of multipolar enforcement) as ideology. In so far as the Russian Federation is the political-economic product of the dismantling of the bureaucratic system in favour of Industrial Capitalism, the Russian Federation is a historically progressive entity; as it is the national-corporatist RF - and not the bureaucratic collectivist USSR - which embodies the necessary Industrial Capitalist historical precursor to possible Industrial Socialism.

Etc…

so what is the likely fate of "andean capitalism" in bolivia ? at best it will become a lot like south africa after apartheid, with features of zimbabwe under mugabe. the hispanic political class and financial oligarchy in la paz will be replaced by an indigenous political class and financial oligarchy organised around the MAS; just like in south africa the afrikaner white dutch elite was replaced by a black african ruling elite organised around the ANC. - n2

ref: the orthodox "marxist" modes of production:

(heretical "marxist" modes of production -understood to be divergences- in parenthesis)

Industrial Communism
Industrial Socialism
(bureaucratic collectivism - the leninist ussr)* [Nordic mode of production? **]
Industrial Capitalism and Imperialism (with fascism as a form of capitalist government)
Mercantilist Capitalism
Feudalism
(asiatic mode - imperial china, byzantines)
Slavery
(andean mode - incas)
Primitive Communism

* p.s. those who deny "bureaucratic collectivism" fall into three cathegories: those who say the leninist ussr was "really existing socialism"; those who say it was a "bureaucratically deformed workers state"; and those who say it was "state capitalism".... – n2

[** p.s.s assuming the existence of a “nordic mode of production” in Scandinavia (perhaps, “the technocratic administration of mass consumption to facilitate capital preservation and bureaucratic despotism”); while understanding that by nature modes of production premised on bureaucratic administration are historical dead ends (as demonstrable by the fate of the asiatic mode and bureaucratic collectivist variables), and that necessary MUST be the introduction FROM THE OUTSIDE - through CONQUEST- of an alternate mode of production that could function historically as a developmental precondition for progress towards industrial socialism - in the sense karl marx advocated – I propose that a Russian Federation military conquest of Scandinavia would be historically progressive for the Scandinavian region, because it would dismantle the Nordic mode of production (a historical dead end) and would in its place establish in Scandinavia (through the annexation of Sweden and Norway into the Russian Federation) the Industrial Capitalist mode of production which would be THE necessary precondition for possible progress towards industrial socialism.]

***

Question posted at RevLeft History Discussion forum:   [October 15th, 2010]

The Inca Empire representative of an "Andean Mode of Production"

[http://www.revleft.com/vb/inca-empire-representative-t143357/index.html]

The lattest development of "Andean Marxist Thought"; a historiographical tendency within the Bolivian MAS, is the development of a "Theory of the Andean Mode of Production" to describe the functioning of the Inca polity from a Historical Materialist perspective.

The Masista historiographers are basing their proposal on the premises associated with the "heretical marxist" concept of an alleged "Asiatic Mode of Production" attributed to the Han Chinese. According to the argument proposed; the Incan political economy was neither primitive communist - because the incas where ''civilised'' (in the sense of having a city based society and economy) - nor was it slavery, since there where no slaves in the Inca empire. The incas believed that the land belonged to the incanato who was the alleged incarnation of the Sun-God. they worked the land collectively in a cooperative fashion and shared the produce; which arguably does not make their political economy an example of Feudalism.

Like the notion of an alleged "Asiatic Mode of Production" attributed to Imperial China and the Byzantines (i.e. “the bureaucratic administration of peasant labour exploitation to support a militarist ‘oriental despotism’...”), or the "bureaucratic collectivist" system in the ussr and eastern bloc (the Bolivian M.A.S. official line on the "soviet question"); the "andean mode of production" is defined by the Masista historiographers as a historical dead end. i.e. progress towards industrial urban based socialism (via political liberalism and mercantilism), in the sense that karl marx advocated, could not be achieved from that starting point. In all cases it was required that a political economy that could serve as developmental precondition for progress, in the sense described by karl marx, was introduced from the outside through conquest. specifically (and respectively): the spanish conquest introduced into the inca dominions the iberian form of european feudalism; which was objectively ''more progressive'' since it could eventually lead to the emergence of capitalism and then socialism.

Is this sound historical materialist analysis ?, or a capitulation to internalised eurocentrism derived from five hundred years of cultural domination by Spanish colonialism and USA neo-colonialism, which dovetails with the formulation of a dangerous apologetics of Pizzaro's conquest of the Inca ?

Your thoughts ?


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(CC) Material on this Weblog is licensed by Miguel Angel Torres, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [6] license, except for links to articles that are posted with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed and credited to their author(s), inclusive Miguel Angel Torres.

Naderista !

FACT: barack obama is a neo-liberal imperialist. FACT: barack obama is just another elite establishment politician who is committed to the task of capital preservation. FACT: obama is funded by the financial oligarchy that engineered the global market crash in the first place. to refuse to face these FACTS is to engage in self delusion at a time when principled pro-working class, anti-capitalist initiative is necessary.

*

barack obama will preside over the imposition of austerity measures at home that will lead to the collapse of  middle class living standards and the lumpenisation of the working class. barack obama will consolidate the dominion of financial state capitalism and back it up with police state terror. barack obama is being selected to the office of president of the united states by the financial oligarchy that truly rules america precisely because their system is in need of a politically correct distraction as a precondition to driving ordinary people into third world living standards.

*

TO ASK AMERICAN WORKERS TO VOTE FOR OBAMA IS TO ASK THEM TO STAB THEMSELVES IN THE BACK.

*

that barack obama is african american does not make him objectively progressive in any sense. the continent of africa is full of pro-western dictators that preside over the mass immiseration of the african peoples and who rutinely subordinate their interests to the IMF/WB. obama's ethnic looks are NOT a basis to vote for him. to grant obama a vote because of his ethnicity is RACIST and IRRATIONAL. any "socialist" worth his salt should know this.

///

VOTE SOCIALIST where the Party of Socialism and Liberation is on the ballot: Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, New Jersey,New York, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.   

                   👇👇👇

 >>>[http://www.pslweb.org/]<<< 

Vote Nader where the Party of Socialism and Liberation is not on the ballot 

                     👇👇👇

>>>[http://www.votenader.org/] <<<

///

...if neither is on the ballot then ABSTAIN.

*

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE IS IT JUSTIFIED FOR A RADICAL SOCIALIST OR AN ANTI-CAPITALIST TO VOTE FOR NEOLIBERAL IMPERIALIST BARACK OBAMA !

"Talking Red"

i object that the only two legitimate alternatives to obama (a neoliberal imperialist) and mc cain (a neoconservative imperialist) - from the perspective of the RADICAL SOCIALIST sector – could be ralph nader at minimum, and the campaign recently initiated by the party for socialism and liberation at best (where it might be on the ballot). when i state this i am proceeding from the perspective that THE POINT of these campaigns is not to get-out-the-vote for nader or the psl. radical socialist and “marxist” persons should know better than anyone that the 2008 election is as fixed as where those in 2000 and 2004, and that given the reality of endemic voter fraud, through list purges and voting machine rigging, there is no guarantee the votes casted will be counted accurately. the aim is not either to seek to “pressure obama” or “keep him accountable” because obama is already bought and paid for by the business interests that fund him, and he has never been a part of “the left” to begin with.

Radical Socialists seek to become ACTIVE with these alternative left campaigns between now and november 4th, to organise in favour of platform positions that aim to expose the electoral public to social and ecological perspectives and SOLUTIONS that are marginalised from public discourse in context of this false election process. i interject the term “false”, because i am clear further; that the election constitutes a stage managed media event designed to refurbish the “democratic” credentials of united states imperialism at a time of domestic and global (food, energy and credit) crisis of neoliberal capitalism. by "legitimate" and "independent", i mean that the nader and psl campaigns are in no way connected (directly or indirectly) to the democrat party or receive funding from it or from neoliberal foundations associated with it. as i wrote before: i take issue with the idea that dennis kucinich and cynthia mckinney represent a progressive agenda, the first is actually a [bait and switch] democrat party agent of disinformation whose task is to mislead the subjective left into dead ends; [mc kinney] is a democrat party operative who presides over the hijacking and transformation of the united states green party into a democrat party front group which backhandedly campaigns for obama by not challenging him. the proof is in that the green party is calling for votes for mckinney only in so called "safe states". a legitimate effort to present a left antinomian agenda must take as its starting point the premise that a TOTAL break with the democrat party is necessary in order to articulate and build an independent campaign.

as a concluding objection, I propose that the correct choice for radical socialist candidates in the united states should be to BECOME INVOLVED with the party of socialism and liberation in states where they appear on the ballot, and with the nader campaign in states where the psl is not on the ballot.

http://www.votepsl.org/

http://www.votenader.org/

– neo.

Why I Support Ralph Nader in '08

· Adopt a single payer, Canadian-style, health care system
· (HEALTHCARE IS A HUMAN RIGHT)
· Cut the bloated, wasteful military budget
· (ABOLISH THE U.S. MILITARY)
· Adopt a Wall Street securities speculation tax
· (DEMOLISH WALL STREET)
· Support solar energy not nuclear power
· (SCRAP THE NUKES)
· Reverse U.S. policy in the Middle East
· (OUT OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN )
· Impeach Bush/Cheney
· (…AND THROW THEM IN JAIL)
· Adopt a polluter carbon tax
· (RELY ON BUSES, TRAINS AND BIKES)
· Crack down on corporate crime and corporate welfare
· (FORECLOSE THE GANGSTER CAPITALISTS)
· Open up the Presidential debates
· (FOR REAL)
· Repeal the anti-union Taft-Hartley law
· (…AND THROW MANAGEMENT IN THE BROOM CLOSET)

The above is the Nader-Gonzalez platform for 2008.

*

The Obama cult does not convince me. Like it or not, he is just another corporatist centrist. The return of "Kerry" style political branding. THE MAN with an African-American face. A sophisticated form of liberal deceit disguised with the veneer of identity politics. Neither Obama nor Hillary represent "change", but only the illusion of it. Granted that THE SYSTEM would never allow Ralph Nader to win and will do everything in its power to emasculate his candidacy- but principle is principle. My endorsement for Ralph Nader is directly related to the motto of this blog: "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

*

Good principles are perennial.

- Neo.

"21st Century Socialism"

The following commentary on the ongoing drama of the so-called "Venezuelan Road" was posted at >>>

*
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/redsquare2/message/4454

***
Re: Draft program of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela
*

thank you for this posting. i guess you could say this is as close aswe come to a manifesto for "21st century socialism" ?

*

>>"[Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez made his first public call for the creation a political instrument to unify the country'srevolutionary forces in December 15, 2006. Convened on January 12,2008, some 1676 congress delegates elected from almost 15,000socialist battalions -- local units of the PSUV -- will discuss and debate this draft program, as well as the proposed priniciples and statutes of the new party, over the next two months. In between congress sessions, delegates will return to their local regions and battalions to ensure the widest possible discussion of these documents among the ranks of the new party."

*

in principle this is a good move. the MVR and the coalition associated with it is much to disparate to be able to effectively handle a reinvigorated neoliberal opposition. the recent defeat of the constitutional rerform referendum was a warning that the war is not won yet for chavismo. i only hope that this political realignment leaves room for the independent movilisation of forces to the left of chavez. the neoliberal opposition has eclipsed the left opposition in venezuela.

*

>>"Taking as its starting point the championing and unconditional defence of the government of the Bolivarian revolution, led by President Hugo Chavez, and the will of the Venezuelan people to construct the socialism of the 21st century, the program of the PSUV is the instrument with which to set out the objectives, forms and methods of this revolutionary project, and express them at each moment through slogans that can facilitate the transition from the immediate reality to the end goal; slogans that, by definition, adapt themselves permanently to the immediate circumstances........."

*

this sounds like a step forward, but i am not comfortable with the equation of the personality of hugo chavez with the revolutionary process underway. the transformation of society - for it to genuinely evolve in a socialist direction - must be directly associated with independent efforts by the working class, farmers and the urban poor in venezuela. a flaw of the venezuelan road is the association of process with personality cults. this was a mistake in the ussr and remains a weakness in context of 21st century socialism.

*

>>"The program of the PSUV has as its objective making reality the slogan "in order to end poverty you have to give power to the poor", or better said: the people. That is to say, build a government based on Councils of Popular Power, where workers, campesinos, students and popular masses are direct protagonists in the exercising of political power."

*

the ostentible aim of socialism is to end the social condittion of poverty created by capitalism. my question would be: at one point do the councils replace chavez as focus of political power ? is the process thereby which chavez transfers power to these councils specified ? at what point does the process let go of political forms associated with capitalism - such as parliament ?

*

>>"The program of the PSUV proposes the socialising of political power, establishing the direct exercising of decision-making power by the masses in their organisations; their unrestricted right to scientific research and the free artistic creation, and the democratisation of access to all cultural policies."

*

a while back i was arguing in favour of the perspective that chavez should have delegated economic desicion making powers to the left sectors of the UNETE. i insist that the most advanced sectors of the liberated working class movement should be empowered as a first step towards socialising political power in venezuela.

*

more comments on this document will follow soon...

*

- neo.

Towards a post--Liberal metaphysics (neo/post-positivism)

Post-positivist deconstruction is the cutting edge of ex-humanism...

Postmodern dystopian film: Terminator (1984), The Truman Show (1997), Gattacca (1998), The Matrix (1999), Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Island (2005). This genre has opened a new field for metaphysics. The classical metaphysics is mysticism (Kabbalah, Gnosticism, Sufism); the new metaphysics is an exploration of the nature, applications and implications of virtual reality as a man made metaphysical space, emergent in the post-fordist era. What is real ? "Real" is whatever we perceive "real" to be, but real has no verifiable intrinsic essence per se. "Real" is defined by language and symbols; dynamic narratives and images. "Real" can be constructed and de-constructed.

The postmodern understanding and internalization of the implications of relativity, perspective and perception (dubbed 'post-positivism') debunks the narrative of "cogito ergo sum". The contention that "I am" is only a thought. To state that "I am" because "I think" is self contradictory. "I am" has no objective existence because it is a thought (an idea) that has no material basis, as such it can not be considered evidence of existence. Ultimately, no one can know for certain if they exist or not. If "I" is a tought, then what is considered to be "THE SELF" has no objective existence. The idea of "The Self " is a subjective construct - not natural. Ergo: "Identity" is both meaningless and disposable. The element of psyche that hides behind the notion of "The Self" is an aggregate of, mostly contradictory, subjectivities. Perfect subjective consistency would be impossible for humans to attain because they will always lack total information awareness. "Personae" (how the group subject perceives the single subject), is an entirely disposable and projected subjectivity. Subjectivities are the product of the psychic interaction of the subject with dynamic narratives and symbols of a de-ontological and social nature. The dynamic narratives and sub-narratives that inform humans evolve as organisms evolve in relation to time and space, dynamic narratives are to humans what software applications are to machines.

Post-positivist deconstruction also has implications regarding the notion of Time-Space. "Past" and "Future" have no objective existence outside thought. The past is selective memory - memory that can be deleted or edited. The future is only projection - at best educated wishful thinking. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, for a valid reason. "History" is the selective narrative of selective memory - no historical or journalistic narrative can claim to represent "truth", as long as in context of constructing a given narrative of events the historian or journalist subjectively decides what information to present or omit. Because it is a subjective process, the decision to omit or present information in context of a narrative will always be influenced by biases of a social, cultural -or even political- nature. No existing historical or journalistic narrative is "truth" - there only exist competing narratives of "the past" or "current events". The notion of "the present", is problematic because it assumes that time-space is not dynamic, it is thus premised on a false view of static reality that denies ongoing organic transformation processes that, although not perceptible to humans, do take place - case in point the problem of quantum physics. The "laws of physics" as perceived by humans break down at the level of quanta... "the present" is constantly ceasing to be and becoming and there is no guarantee that what comes-to-be is "better" than what ceases-to-be. The notion of "better" (constitutive to "progress") is subjective. So back to the original questions: What is "Real" ? What is "Truth"? Is "Truth" the same as "Reality"? What is real is relative to perception and perceptions can be managed. What is truth is limited to available - always imperfect - information. Truth is not the same as reality, because the information that premises notions of truth is always imperfect. Perhaps the substitute for an answer that will never be discovered is to recall and accept the maxim of Socrates: "I do not know what I do not know".

***

post-script:

Yesterday I understood that in Sweden, the managed appearance of "humanitarianism" is only a mask for xenophobic dislike of foreigners. The Swedish political class is very clever; they know that for geographical and historical reasons, latent xenophobia is part of the collective psychology in this society - like a hidden narrative in the collective subconscious. They focus group, they triangulate, they craft language and they spin it; they appeal to this latent fear of "the other" with targeted messages and coded symbols in order to collect votes. In Sweden, populism has been synthesized with perception management as a practical means to administer a nativist herd morality. The Swedish political class really believe in the narrative of "Sweden". They believe that it exists. The premise of all psychosis is to believe that a perception, that in fact has no material substance or basis, has a material substance and basis. Note that this is not a commentary on metaphysical belief systems, but a commentary on a perception that is popularly considered to be "materially true". Sweden is only a narrative, ultimately just an idea, and not a material entity. What "actually exists" in "material reality" are eight million blond people living on half a forested peninsula. Now I understand what Noam Chomsky meant when he defined the populism of the 20th century fascists and Bolsheviks as a dynamic application of "organic entity theories". The nationalism of the political class that governs the Swedish State is definitely organic, almost pathological. No wonder I am having so much trouble with the police... The anti-identity, anti-national narrative that I subscribe to is the living anti-thesis to the dynamic narrative the Swedish State promotes as a means to facilitate the collective management and control of the society. In entering into a post-collision jujitsu with the Swedish State, I have come to experience in situ what Nietzsche meant by the antagonism of Man against the Herd. Maybe the police are correct after all, when they say they must keep me under surveillance in a secured building in order to protect their society. I am a potentially disruptive element. I am Yin and the police are Yang. The Syndicalists and assorted leftists who associate with them are all wrong; it is not the cheap alcohol or the steady flow of welfare checks that keep the people loyal to the political class, and it is not the policy of "repressive tolerance" that maintains social cohesion. I am afraid it is much worse than that:

Swedish nationalism is a State-managed dynamic narrative that results in collective psychosis.

-veremos.

Social Democrat Liquidationist

The liquidation of the Social Democrat structure is a political necessity. The liquidation of Liberalism is a historical task. The former must precede the latter for the FREE STATE to emerge. One cannot happen without the other. They are complementary for synthesis.

***

In the post-modern society of the fragmented “self”; in the fragmented “culture” that emerged in the wake of the post-structuralist shock-wave; having transcended the cultural impact of the the World Wide Web and wireless applications; having experienced the lived moment of anarchy in context of the anti-globalisation upsurge: I conclude that “left” and “right” are meaningless words, that politics in the third age of the open society revolve around issues of Ecology, Technology, Identity and Life.

***

The Free Market Is Not Capitalism.

Socialism Is Not the Welfare State.

Autonomy Is Not Liberty.

Individuality Is Not Individualism.

Cooperation Is Not Collectivism.

***

[“POST-QUEER”: Social Constructivist, Anti-Essentialist, Anti-Sexualist, Incidentalist.
The notion of “Queer Nation” is a manufactured pseudo-community premised on essentialist and sexualist ideologies. “Queer Nation” is an idealist narrative.]

[“POST-INTERNATIONALIST”: Supra-National, A-National, A-Nativist, Counter-Colonialist. The active denial of “nationality” narratives and “national” illusions.]

***

INFO/ECOTOPIA: The Third Way should become a Third Sector: Not Private and Not State. The Third Sector would formulate and implement solutions to valid social and ecological concerns. Social Services (Safety Net, Healthcare, Education-Culture, Transparency); Ecological Sustainability Systems (such as Stable State Recycling and Sustainable Energy); and both “infrastructure” (extensive) and “social” (intensive access) expansion of the Wireless Mobile Flat Earth Network (The Grid) would be administered by non-profit NGO’s. The NEW GLOBAL PUBLIC SECTOR would be financed by a Tax on Global Financial Transactions (Tobin Tax) and Flat Bioregion-local Ecological Taxes; Existing National income, estate and capital gains taxes would be abolished. Energy becomes the new currency with the PHOTOVOLTAIC-HYDROGEN economy: An economic system where natural wealth, energy, human labour and information are valued before they are processed. The Wireless Mobile Flat Earth Network evolves into a TAX FREE forum of information and services exchanges.

***

AN OPEN SOCIETY BASED ON FREEDOM OF INFORMATION.

“A World Where Many Worlds Are Possible”

THE SOLUTION IS DECENTRALISATION.

(THINKGLOBALACTLOCALTHINKGLOBAL)