Today, the “revolutionaries” of the USC do not even have the foresight of Chen Duxiu, as they abase themselves at the feet of Zelensky's corrupt regime, and its NATO backers. If socialists cannot raise demands directly in support of the specific interests of workers, when the bourgeoisie is seeking to enlist their support for defence of the fatherland, when can they raise such demands? And, for revolutionaries, whose goal is not simply defence of the bourgeoisie and its state, but is the raising of class consciousness, development of workers' self-government, as the means to its emancipation, and creation of socialism, that determines the kinds of demands raised.
“To strengthen this wave and to deepen it we need peasants’ soviets with the unfurled banner of the agrarian revolution, not after the victory but immediately, in order to guarantee the victory.” (p 72)
And, the same applies to workers. Not only is it needed to mobilise, in Ukraine – and in Russia – around demands to defend workers' living standards, hit by the war. It is necessary to demand greater trades union rights, and democratic rights for workers in the army. It is necessary to raise demands for all workers to get paid military training, provision of good quality body armour, the arming of the entire population, as well as the formation of workers' militia, under democratic workers' control, which also requires removing all fascists from any such organisations. It requires demands for placing all large businesses under democratic workers' control, so that they can be run to meet the needs of workers and their defence. But, of course, if Ukrainian – or Russian – workers were mobilised behind such a programme, Zelensky's government – and Putin's government – and NATO, would immediately turn on them, finding a new found common ground of the exploiters of all countries against the workers of the world.
But, that is why Ukrainian and Russian workers need their own agendas, and not those of Zelensky and NATO, or Putin. It is why they need their own, independent organisations, including the formation of soviets, and its why, instead of acting as liberal cheerleaders of Zelensky and NATO, the USC and others across Europe and North America should support and develop such an independent programme, of Ukrainian workers, supplemented by a focus attacking their own ruling class, and its NATO military arm, on the basis that “The Main Enemy Is At Home”.
Instead, the approach of the USC is exactly that of the Stalinists in China. It is not one of revolutionary socialists, whose sight is set on socialist revolution, but merely of liberals seeking a defence of a bourgeois nation state, and not even a particularly democratic bourgeois state at that. The whole thrust of the strategy and programme of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky was based upon how they could utilise any given situation to strengthen the position of workers, as against that of the bourgeoisie, and more rapidly move forward to socialist revolution.
“As quickly as possible, as boldly as possible, as energetically as possible, the revolution must be deepened, not after the victory but immediately, or else there will be no victory.
The deepening of the agrarian revolution, the immediate seizure of the land by the peasants, will weaken Chiang Kai-shek on the spot, bring confusion into the ranks of his soldiers, and set the peasant hinterland in motion. There is no other road to victory and there can be none.” (p 72)
No comments:
Post a Comment