Author Archives: malpagaia

CAPITALISM – a Great Reset or a Great Replacement.

Posted on by malpagaia

A Great Reset of capitalism from the top down.

Capitalism, our present socio-economic form of governance and productivity has long since become global, imperialist and dangerous, it now places too much emphasis on the accumulation of privately owned wealth, with far too little emphasis on meeting the social and cultural needs of humanity.

In our preparation for world socialist revolution and thereby the replacement of capitalism with socialism, the international working class will need to carefully consider some of the counter revolutionary forces working against us. For example, the World Economic Forum (WEF) should be seen as a very formidable counter revolutionary force that will need to be reckoned with. The WEF has a great deal of money, power and influence available for achieving its capitalist objectives. Take for example part of an introduction to a recent (2020) WEF project named ‘The Great Reset’ –

‘To achieve a better outcome, the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. In short, we need a “Great Reset” of capitalism..’ (weforum.org)

It can and probably should be assumed that in order ‘To achieve a better outcome’ within a ‘Great Reset’ of capitalism, the working class would inevitably continue to be exploited. Given the extent to which capitalism depends on the exploitation of the working class to generate profit and thereby the privately owned wealth that underpins the WEF and its members, we can safely assume that any proposed ‘revamp’ of ‘societies and economies’ would not be done on behalf of the international working class.

While capitalism in its current form – from an international socialist perspective, might well be regarded as being in an advanced state of decay, it is clear from the above WEF statement that the ruling class is determined to keep capitalism alive and well in one form or another. It now appears most likely that capitalism is to be either ‘reset’ from the top down with more or worse of the same damage it now inflicts on our planetary Biosphere in general and the international working class in particular, or it is to be replaced with an international socialism via a political program and party of world socialist revolution, from the bottom up. The WEF is clearly a counter revolutionary capitalist forum that has little or nothing in common with the ICFI/SEP/IYSSE program and party of world socialist revolution. In promoting their ‘Great Reset of capitalism’ project the WEF goes on to say –

‘Clearly, the will to build a better society does exist. We must use it to secure the Great Reset that we so badly need. That will require stronger and more effective governments, though this does not imply an ideological push for bigger ones. And it will demand private-sector engagement every step of the way..’ (weforum.org)

Knowing in advance that the ‘Great Reset.. will demand private-sector engagement every step of the way’, should be more than enough to alert the international working class that this WEF project cannot be trusted to bring about any meaningful improvement to their working conditions and livelihood. On the contrary, it would appear that the WEF’s ‘Great Reset’ project is designed to ensure that smaller ‘stronger and more effective governments’ will be subordinate to the ‘private sector’.

Be this as it may, from an international socialist perspective the WEF is indeed a capitalist force to be reckoned with and strongly opposed. The only force capable of doing so is the same productive force that produces the profit and thereby the privately owned wealth of the capitalist members of the WEF, namely the international working class. To overcome such a formidable opponent and thereby replace international capitalism with international socialism will require a critical mass of the international working class to join the ICFI/SEP/IYSSE program and party of world socialist revolution. Only then can one prepare for and participate in the program of world socialist revolution.

A Great Replacement of capitalism from the bottom up.

From the perspective of the international working class, capitalism is a powerful global force that must be reckoned with and replaced by an even stronger global force. Replacing international capitalism with international socialism can only happen from the bottom up via the productive force of the international working class. Capitalism depends entirely on the productive force of the international working class to design, produce, operate, maintain and defend all of its territory, property, goods and services. By virtue of its productive role, it is the much exploited human productive force that can and must unite to overthrow its capitalist owners and state power.

The capitalist ruling class has no respect for planet Earth other than it being a so called ‘god given’ resource for the  accumulation of their privately owned material wealth. Capitalist ruling classes have long since colonised planet Earth into seperate, competitive, antagonistic nation states, the most powerful of which now jealously threaten each other with more than enough nuclear weapons to transform planet Earth into a lifeless desert. Climate change, wars, poverty, pandemics and tens of millions of displaced refugees having to flee from all of the above negative impacts are a direct result of a fundamentally flawed and mostly corrupt capitalism.

The replacement of capitalist socio-economic forms of governance and productivity that place so much emphasis on the accumulation of privately owned wealth with socialist socio-economic forms that place an emphasis on meeting the social and cultural needs of society, is long overdue. The political program and party of world socialist revolution namely the ICFI/SEP/IYSSE is well advanced and prepared to provide the international working class with the necessary revolutionary political leadership. Rank and file committees of workers, students and others are being well informed and encouraged to develop throughout the entire planet on a daily basis via the pages of WSWS.org .

Meeting the social and cultural needs of society first and foremost would be a great step in the right direction for the human race in particular and our Biosphere in general. The establishment and development of federations of united socialist states throughout the entire planet would enable far more of our natural resources – including and especially that of human labour, to be put to better use. It would do away with the need for nation states to aggressively compete with each other, material wealth could be far more equitably distributed throughout the entire planet, wars, poverty, refugees and environmental degradation could become things of the past.

From a working class perspective, international socialism must be our next logical socio-economic form of governance and productivity, it would be one great step for humankind – from the bottom up.

Taffy,

Southern Winter 2020.

Preparing for THE revolution.

Posted on by malpagaia

While the ‘Extinction Rebellion’ movement is moving in the right direction and may well be a significant international source of hope and inspiration to many, like almost all such movements to date it too will fail, because of adopting a flawed strategy. Any resistance cum revolutionary movement that aims to take over and disrupt the day to day workings of the state by taking to the streets simply serve to empower the state to use its military and or police forces to eventually crush such movements.

Such a flawed strategy also serves to pit international waged workers against each other. The universal soldier and police are working class waged workers, albeit that they offer the strictest of obedience to their ruling class owners. Any resistance cum revolutionary movement that fails to unite the working class as a whole – including the universal soldier and police, prior to making its first public move, is thereby doomed to fail.

Uniting the working class as a whole in readiness for worldwide revolutionary change requires an international political program and party that clearly demonstrates long term political integrity, discipline, rigour and patient revolutionary leadership, all of which is essential criteria for the preparation and delivery of a successful world socialist revolution. Democratic rank and file working class committees need to be formed and developed within their respective work places, barracks, university campus, and neighbourhood centres with links to party national and branch centres.

While it may seem a bit like wishful thinking that the universal soldier and police would participate in preparation for a world revolution, it has happened on a national scale (ie Russia 1917) and could again happen on an international scale. Depending on the extent to which climate change and or war – particularly war between nuclear armed states, increases human suffering and destruction, the global social dynamic could become repressive enough to result in even the universal soldier and police starting to question their obedience to such failed and damaging ruling class laws and commands.

Only when a critical mass of the international working class has become sufficiently well prepared via their rank and file formations, should the first revolutionary move be made, that of simply downing tools and downing weapons ie not reporting for work or duty. At such a massive and well earned revolutionary point in time, there would be no need to go out marching onto the streets en-mass, it will suffice to just gather peacefully as and where and just wait out the days – not even weeks, that it will take for the state and its few remaining faithful public servants to say ‘please take us to your leaders’.

At such a point in time it will be game over for capitalism and its profit crazed forms of governance and productivity. The transition to more sophisticated and sustainable socio-economic forms of governance and productivity by way of federations of united socialist states could be relatively swift – ie a matter of months not years. As far as I know, there is only one such political program and leadership that meets the above criteria namely that of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) and the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) anyone can find it at WSWS.org.

 

 

A most pernicious threat.

Posted on by malpagaia

Humanity now faces the potentially devastating three pronged threat of – nuclear war(s), catastrophic climate change and technological disruption – better thought of as the pernicious abuse of AI (Artificial Intelligence). Albeit to varying degrees, the whole of humanity is at risk from the twin threats of nuclear war(s) and or catastrophic climate change. However, it is the international working class that is most at risk from the pernicious abuse of AI. It should be noted that the twin threats of catastrophic climate change and technological disruption are already underway and well advanced.

The owners of the ‘working class’, also known as the ‘ruling class’ are – albeit to a lesser extent, also threatened by nuclear war(s) and catastrophic climate change, both of which pose a serious threat to the continued accumulation of their privately owned wealth and well being. The ruling class is now also having to deal with the threat of an increasingly impoverished working class waged worker who is desperately wanting to increase their wages and hence, the possibility that they could unite internationally to revolt against and replace the existing socio-economic forms of governance and productivity with something more to their working class liking, such as a form of international socialism.

Because the ruling class are also threatened by nuclear war(s) and or catastrophic climate change, the working class should not be too surprised if the ruling class attempt to reduce if not eventually eliminate one or both of these twin threats. Meanwhile and in any event, the threat of a restless and potential revolutionary working class is already being urgently responded to by the ruling class through increasing authoritarian, dictatorial and military rule, with the pernicious disruption of AI rapidly being developed into what might well become their future weapon of choice.

The waged worker is most seriously at risk from the threat of a ruling class using AI to replace and eventually eliminate most if not all waged workers. As if the present 21st century level of worker exploitation, impoverishment, redundancy and replacement by AI enabled automation is not bad enough, the possibility of a future in which the working class becomes completely replaced and hence irrelevant is even worse. We can already see the beginning of this with the rapidly increasing production of gulag like incarceration and rehabilitation centres throughout the US and internationally. This is how a profit crazed ruling class is responding to increasing unemployment, drug abuse, petty crime and the mass movement of refugees seeking political asylum.

Having produced it all in the first place – for better and for worse, it is evident that we humans have the wherewithal to also eliminate the threat of nuclear war(s) and at least reduce the threat of catastrophic climate change. The threat of a profit crazed pernicious disruption of AI is not only avoidable, but it should be reversed. AI can and should be used to eliminate all and any threats to the safety and wellbeing of humanity throughout the entire planet, it should only ever be used for our mutual benefit.

The very thought of a future in which hundreds of gulag type internment centres containing millions of working class men and women made redundant and irrelevant by a rampant, profit crazed, data owning ruling class, being guarded by cyborgs until rehabilitated or dead, should be enough to scare the rest of humanity into ensuring that this doesn’t happen. The underlying problem here is the ruling class and their rampant, profit crazed capitalism. Unless the rest of us – working class, rid the planet of this problem, it is most likely that one or more of the above three pronged threat will bring life as we know it to an abrupt end.

The Productive Force – for better.

Posted on by malpagaia

In the class war now being fought between the working class and the ruling class, it is only the working class in its role as the global ‘productive force’ that can chose between being a force for better or for worse. At present it is a force for both better and for worse, albeit that the ‘worse’ has long since become dominant, unsustainable and life threatening on a global scale.

If we are to avoid the three pronged ruling class capitalist induced threats of nuclear war(s), catastrophic climate change and the militarization of artificial intelligence (AI), the global productive force must act sooner rather than later, because later will be too late to avoid a new level of barbarism. Nothing less than the international program of world socialist revolution will suffice in our effort to survive as a species and for life as we know it to continue here on planet Earth.

Human survival is now of the essence, social equality, cultural diversity, international trade and movement are secondary – albeit important considerations.

A world socialist revolution will need to organically grow out of the global working class productive force. It has already begun with the formation of independent democratic rank and file committees associated via their workplaces with the ICFI /SEP [i] program of world socialist revolution. This foundational component of a world socialist revolution will need to grow and develop throughout the entire planet as soon as possible. Independent democratic rank and file committees will need to be associated with work places, university campuses, regional centres and their nearest political branch head quarters of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP).[ii]

The working class productive force must now prepare itself for a world socialist revolution if it is to have any chance of winning the war between itself and a dominant militarized ruling class.

For a world socialist revolution to succeed in overthrowing a dominant militarized ruling class a critical mass of the global productive force will need to be united and well enough prepared physically and psychologically to withdraw its collective labour and intellect form the ruling class owners of production; long enough for their profit driven forms of governance and productivity to be closed down once and for all.

Then the work may begin whereby the working class productive force slowly but surely replaces the old capitalist system with a new and more sophisticated and sustainable socio-economic forms of governance and productivity. Socio-economic forms of governance and productivity that will do away with artificial barriers and the need for standing armies with their obscenely expensive military industrial complex, achieve a more sustainable level of social equality, more cooperative international trade and far greater freedom for cultural diversity and the movement of people throughout the entire planet.

[i] Information about which is made available on a daily basis via the pages of the World Socialist Website WSWS.org

[ii] ibid

 

The Productive Force

Posted on by malpagaia

– for better or for worse?

The ‘productive force’- according to Karl Marx, consisting of all waged and salaried labour – also known as ‘the international working class’ designs, produces, operates and maintains every built thing, including all artificial intelligence (AI) together with its rapidly increasing number of algorithms, all of which can now be incorporated into the machinery for peace or the machinery for war ie; for better or for worse.

With this in mind it should not be difficult to understand why the owners of the productive force – also known as ‘the ruling class’ are thereby totally dependant on their waged and salaried producers for everything they own, especially the accumulation of their privately owned wealth. Most if not all modern socio-economic forms of governance and productivity have been globalized and designed to maintain this relationship between the owners of the productive force and the actual producers, including the waged and salaried ‘universal soldier’. The socio-economic relationship between the ruling class and the working class is such that it increases the wealth, power and influence of the ruling class, gained through an increasing exploitation and impoverishment of the working class. Ultimately the above mentioned machinery for war only exists to protect the privately owned property and wealth of the ruling class. Moreover, for the universal soldier, most of whom are better paid and cared for than their fellow working class producers, there is a requirement or command of strict obedience and preparedness to sacrifice their lives during war(s), as part of their exploitation.

It can now be writ large on anyone’s digital tablet that we need to replace the dominant capitalist socio-economic forms of governance and productivity that place such emphasis on the accumulation of privately owned property and wealth for the ruling class; with socio-economic forms of governance and productivity that place the emphasis on meeting the social needs of the productive force – the working class. Doing away with the ruling class constructed artificial barriers between nation states and meeting the basic social needs of the productive force should eventually eliminate the need for standing armies and the obscenely expensive military industrial complex required to support them. A more sophisticated socio-economic form of governance and productivity could achieve a more sustainable level of social equality, more cooperative international trade and far greater freedom for cultural diversity throughout the entire planet. As indicated above, only the productive force itself is capable of achieving this, it alone has the incentive, the labour, the intellect and thereby the capacity for replacing the existing profit driven capitalist system with a more sophisticated and sustainable system throughout and on behalf of the entire planet and all of its life supporting systems.

For the global productive force to make such a revolutionary change in time to avoid what is now a three pronged capitalist threat of nuclear war(s), catastrophic climate change and the militarization of AI, it must first recognise itself as being the international working class engaged in a class war against the international ruling class. Then the productive force must unite and prepare itself to participate in a political program of ‘world socialist revolution’, such as the program of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) and its branches of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP). [i] Anything less than the unification of the productive force under the banner of a political program and party of world socialist revolution – as defined by Karl Marx and Leon Trotsky, is doomed to continue being threatened, exploited and impoverished by the capitalist ruling class. The productive force must now make a choice to be a force for better or for worse.

 

[i] Information about which is made available on a daily basis via the pages of the World Socialist Website WSWS.org

PaGaian Socialist – Newsletter #1 Equinox

Posted on by malpagaia

 

“But this is not yet the end of the road. No, it is only the beginning. Man calls himself the crown of creation. He has a certain right to that claim. But who has asserted that present-day man is the last and highest representative of the species Homo Sapiens? No, physically as well as spiritually he is very far from perfection, prematurely born biologically, with feeble thought, and has not produced any new organic equilibrium… Once he has done with the anarchic forces of his own society man will set to work on himself, in the pestle and retort of the chemist. For the first time mankind will regard itself as raw material, or at best as a physical and psychic semi-finished product. Socialism will mean a leap from the realm of necessity into the realm of freedom in this sense also, that the man of today, with all his contradictions and lack of harmony, will open the road for a new and happier race.”

(Leon Trotsky – 1932)

Quarterly newsletters from PaGaian Socialist will be timed to coincide with planet Earth’s Equinox and Solstice moments in recognition of their primal influence on the development of our human intellect and consciousness. The intention of PaGaian Socialist newsletters is to encourage the development of our spiritual, political and social consciousness in preparation for an urgently needed revolutionary social change. The planetary crisis in which the human and all other species are now immersed is the result of profit driven forms of governance and industry. The full extent of the threat to our planetary life support systems is deliberately camouflaged by an international capitalist ruling elite that cleverly uses deceptive religious and temporal spin to minimise the spiritual, political and social consciousness of a subordinate international working class.

As we approach the third decade of the twenty-first century, the life support systems of planet Earth – better known as Gaia, are rapidly deteriorating for the vast majority of species, so too the economic and social circumstances for the vast majority of the planet’s human population. If we are going to have any chance of stopping and reversing this deterioration and develop more ecologically and socially sustainable systems for most if not all species, then a more sophisticated socialist form governance and industry is now urgently needed.

Human productivity and the development of human consciousness has now been dated back for millennia to a time when stone tools, symbolic art and ritual burials first emerged, to be followed over millennia by the production of complex language, agriculture, pottery, metallurgy, industry etc. Although our human ancestors had evidently produced a spiritual consciousness many millennia prior to developing a more rational scientific understanding of their world, both science and spirituality are now essential elements in the further development, cultivation and sophistication of our human, spiritual, political and social consciousness.

PaGaian Socialist newsletters will combine principles for a ‘functional cosmology’ as defined and elaborated on by the late Thomas Berry, with a contemporary Earth based spiritual practice and internationalist, socialist, political perspective. The aim of PaGaian Socialist newsletters will be to present information that is careful, trustworthy, newsworthy and not least, revolutionary. As the author of PaGaian Socialist newsletters let me elaborate on my use of the terms ‘PaGaian’ and ‘Socialist’.

‘PaGaian’ – expresses a reclaiming of the term Pagan as meaning a person who dwells in country, yet with Gaian spliced in it expresses a renewed scientific and contemporary understanding of that country – as planetary. (‘PaGaian Cosmology’ -Glenys Livingstone Ph.D. 2005 xi) – italics mine.

‘Socialist’ – expresses my understanding of governance and productivity that places an emphasis on meeting the economic, social and ecological needs of the human, as distinct from profit driven forms of governance and productivity, with their emphasis on the accumulation of privately owned property and wealth, most of which becomes available to a relatively small percentage of humanity.

In this way, the combined term ‘PaGaian Socialist’ encourages the fulfilment of the human through permanent, spiritual and political revolution – ‘permanent’ in the sense that it is simultaneously a personal and a planetary revolution. My spiritual consciousness is mainly informed and inspired by the late Thomas Berry’s ‘Twelve Principles for a Functional Cosmology’ and my partner Glenys Livingstone Ph.D. author of ‘PaGaian Cosmology’. My political consciousness is informed mainly by the writings of Karl Marx and Leon Trotsky, whose political lessons are best represented nowadays by the international revolutionary socialist program and political party of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) and its Social Equality Party (SEP) as expressed daily on the World Socialist Website – WSWS.org

Equinox 2016.

At this moment of a Gaian Spring&Autumn Equinox, the alignment of the planet’s day/night shadow line can be viewed as an equally balanced vertical north/south orientation. At this particular time of year, the view from outer space is that of a planet clearly divided equally into two light and dark hemispheres. This planetary orientation is as good and natural a time as any for the human to not only celebrate this balance between the light and dark cycle of our planet, but also to become more aware of the importance of ‘balance’ as an essential aspect of cosmic creativity and thereby of human development. For this particular Equinox 2016 moment, I am using its natural cosmic balance to emphasise that equality must be an essential component of scientific socialism. Just as cosmic and planetary balance was essential for life to emerge and evolve, so too a more balanced ‘social equality’ is now emerging as essential if we are to halt and reverse the deterioration of the Gaian life support systems we are all so dependent on.

Just as an out of balance planetary axis and solar orbit would likely bring life as we know it to a wobbly end, so too millennium of un-balanced, artificial social inequality has driven the human into enslavement, exploitation, discrimination, poverty, wars and far too much unnecessary suffering. The geopolitical tensions that exist in 2016 are as widespread, intense and dangerous as they have ever been throughout human history, with some of the more powerful imperialist nation states now sabre rattling with nuclear weapons. The prospect of Gaia being plunged into a nuclear winter with all of its life destroying consequences is now possible because the human continues to suffer the burden of an artificial, un-balanced, social inequality – the essence of what Marx and Trotsky rigorously understood to be the struggle between a ruling class and a working class. The enslavement, exploitation, discrimination and impoverishment of a so-called working class by a so-called ruling class is not only incompatible with planet Earth’s natural more balanced order of things, it deliberately works against nature as a whole. Living with the burden of an all too often violent class struggle between a dominant ruling class and a subordinate working class is unsophisticated human behaviour – to put it mildly.

What we urgently need to do now is cultivate more sophisticated forms of relationship, governance and industry. To achieve this we must have a sufficiently empowering story going on between our ears, a primary story by which we can evaluate all other stories, be they spiritual or temporal. Gaian seasonal moments such as the Equinox and Solstice moments are not only a valuable expression of cosmic balance and natural creativity, the ritual celebration of them can also provide us with the text for a suitably sophisticated, unifying, primary story. As indeed it must have been for my Western European ancestors who evidently put in a great deal of time and effort building sacred places such as the more well-known Stone Henge in England and New Grange in Ireland, both of which were built-in recognition of and to celebrate planet Earth’s solstice moments and their seasonal harvests.

A primary story that is both personal and planetary, is essential for the expression of our inherent right to be, our right to habitat and for the fulfilment of our lives. Without a suitably sophisticated primary story of our own by which to evaluate all other incoming information, we will always be vulnerable to the daily waves of information that is more often than not biased and or deliberately misleading. This is particularly so in the context of commercial advertising, political propaganda and religious teachings, most of which is designed to win over our hearts and minds – not to mention our wages. Our personal primary story should enable us to cultivate a healthy body and mind – physically, psychologically and spiritually, that is capable of contributing to what a growing number of us humans now regard as urgently needed creative, revolutionary, social change.

For it to be our primary story, it must by definition be distinct from any other – secondary, story going on between our ears. Every one of the billions of cells that make up our body knows that ever since the emergence of the first living cell we have been in a seamless relationship with all of life on planet Earth. Every organ in our body knows that it is related to and must cooperate with every other organ in our body. Our animal body remembers and knows where and what it is – a planetary place and being. This biological information is being made more clearly available to us through science and must be among the foundation building blocks of our primary story.

Our primary story should also inform and be informed by a planetary consciousness that has been manifesting through and expressed by the human for millennia, at least since that time when our pre-historic ancestors started to deliberately observe then celebrate a rising and setting Sun, a waxing and waning Moon, with their daily, monthly and seasonal changes. Planetary consciousness manifests as a result of and in accordance with an evolving human consciousness. We can safely say that planet Earth, through the human, now deliberately reflects on and celebrates itself as conscious Self-awareness. This level of planetary consciousness has been made manifest through the productivity of the human, who from our earliest forms of carved objects to the recent photograph of planet Earth from the surface of her Moon, has continued to shape the material world in general and our social circumstances in particular, for the better and – unfortunately nowadays, for worse.

While the economic and social circumstances for most of humanity is clearly out of balance and thereby the cause of massive in-equality, poverty, violence, destruction and human suffering, a ritual celebration of the natural balance that occurs during planet Earth’s equinox and Solstice moments can have a very positive influence on our personal and social experience and hence – more importantly, the continuing development of our human consciousness toward an urgently needed planet wide, revolutionary social change.

“In this world, at this point, no political revolution is sustainable if it is not also a spiritual revolution – a complete ontological birth of new beings out of old… This time it will be a global consciousness of our global oneness, and it will realize itself on a very sophisticated technological stage; with perhaps a total merger of psychic and electronic activity.”  

(Barbara Mor – 1987)

 

malpataffy,

Equinox 2016 ce, 12016 he

Southern Hemisphere.

What will it take,

Posted on by malpagaia

to rid ourselves of the profit driven exploitation and impoverishment of most working families and the wars they are persuaded to pay for with their taxes and their lives? The bells are now tolling louder than ever for the death of capitalism but what will it take to finally put it out of its agony?

It could well be an international revolutionary industrial action on the part of any one of several industry groups that has a big enough international work force to have the desired catastrophic impact on the ruling class and their global financial system, thereby motivating a broader international working class follow on response.

As a starting point, I will quote from a recent report prepared by Kumaran Ira for WSWS.org dated 9th June 2016 –

“From the beginning, the WSWS and the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in the United States intervened in the Verizon struggle to provide a political leadership to the strike. Opposing pseudo-left groups’ attempts to subordinate workers’ struggles to the corrupt union bureaucracies and the Democratic Party, the SEP called on workers to form rank-and-file committees independent of the unions in order to organise the struggle. It insisted that the critical issue was establishing the political independence of the working class and a struggle of the working class for socialism.

The WSWS Verizon Strike Newsletter was circulated and recirculated between thousands of strikers and looked at as the only publication that gave workers a voice and provided a strategy to break the isolation of the struggle. Hundreds of workers also took part in online discussions hosted by the WSWS.

The central question confronting the working class is the building of the revolutionary party based on Marxist program to provide a political leadership to the working class. It requires mobilizing the working class on an international scale independently from the unions and their pseudo-left allies. This is the main task advanced by the ICFI and the WSWS.”

 A similar provision of revolutionary political information and leadership was provided by WSWS.org to striking US auto workers earlier during 2016.

Using the example of these recent industrial actions undertaken by US auto and communication workers, let us just imagine that following the political leadership of the ICFI program with direction from local SEP branch members and the daily pages of WSWS.org, a sufficiently large number of rank and file action committees are formed at or near their respective work places, within regional centres world wide. Within a matter of weeks following their formation, a network of international, independent, democratic rank and file committees of auto and communication workers are formed within their respective geographic regions, to unite and organise their industrial offensive. This they do according to a political program that is both independent of and hostile toward the capitalist ruling class and their industrial unions.

Using the theoretical example of a United International Auto and Communication Workers (UIACW) as a typically large industrial group, this is how such revolutionary industrial action could begin the serious struggle toward replacing global capitalism with an international socialism.

Day one (date to be announced).

  • At the end of their shift on this pre-determined date, the UIACW as a whole hand in resignation notices to their employers en-masse.

World wide, all casual and permanent waged auto-workers quit their jobs having determined in advance never to re-apply for them. For the purpose of this exercise they are now referred to as the Independent United International Auto and Communication Workers (IUIACW).

Day two.

  • Members of the IUIACW continue to develop their local rank and file SEP committees and electing their representatives.
  • Globally the auto industry comes to an overnight halt, attracting immediate world-wide attention that starts sending shock waves through all major stock exchanges and Governments.
  • Crisis meetings are held by auto industry owners and their newly redundant union representatives.
  • Other waged and salaried working classes, especially those within the relatively larger industrial groups start taking a keen interest in what amounts to breaking news of the single biggest voluntary withdrawal of productive force since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

Day three.

  • Stocks and shares in the auto industry start to fall sharply, dragging down several other major industrial sectors.
  • Governments and industry leaders make all sorts of threats against the now unemployed, IUIACW and their SEP representatives.
  • Rank and file local SEP committees of the IUIACW continue to inform, organise and prepare themselves for a period of prolonged unemployment and no wages.
  • Other waged and salaried workers start to witness for the first time in their lives the potential revolutionary power that exists within the rank and file of the international work force.

Day four.

  • Stocks and shares in all the major manufacturing industries continue falling with those in the auto industry reaching new lows, causing several European exchanges to restrict trading on some industrial sectors, sending even more shock waves throughout global financial markets.
  • Governments and industry leaders continue with threats that now include forcing the IUIACW back to work and or the hiring of new workers from the vast reserve army of the longer term unemployed.

The IUIACW expected and prepared themselves for such threats being made by Government and auto industry owners. Firstly the IUIACW had determined not to re-apply for their old jobs under any circumstances and secondly, they know it would take too long for the auto industry to employ and train a sufficient number of new relatively inexperienced workers in time to save the industry from a complete collapse. 

  • The IUIACW continues to be politically guided and informed through the leadership of their local SEP rank and file committees and daily reports on the WSWS.
  • Other waged and salaried working classes take increasing notice of the impact the IUIACW is having on the global financial system and the now panic-stricken threats being issued by Governments and industrial owners. World wide, these other workers also start to understand why the threats of Government and owners are being regarded by the IUIACW and the SEP as ‘hollow’ threats.

Day five,

  • World wide stock exchanges continue to restrict trading in most industrial sectors and several European and Asian exchanges cease trading in all industrial sectors.
  • Internationally Governments and key industry leaders hold emergency meetings to try to avoid the looming global financial crash and if possible save the auto industry.
  • The IUIACW through the SEP and WSWS calls on the international waged and salaried working class to join them in the worlds one and only Marxist revolutionary socialist program. A program that within a matter of days has demonstrated it is has the necessary force to overthrow the ruling class and begin replacing their political power and profit system with an international socialism capable of meeting the economic and social needs of the international working class.
  • Having already questioned the IUIACW/SEP as to why they quit their jobs rather than go on strike, other waged and salaried workers world-wide begin to see for themselves the empowerment of workers who become totally independent of their employers and their pseudo left unions.

Within a week we see the first signs of a developing Independent International United Working Class (IIUWC) being motivated by the revolutionary industrial action of the IUIAW and the political leadership of the SEP.

Day six.

  • All major stock exchanges stop trading fearing that the global economy is about to ‘crash beyond recovery’.
  • Governments and industry owners fear the worst and invite representatives of the IUIACW to negotiate an international agreement for their return to work.
  • During simultaneous press conferences held in key capital cities, the IUIACW/SEP representatives make it clear to a world-wide audience that they have absolutely no intention of returning to work under existing bourgeoisie governance and profit driven structures. At these same press conferences the IUIACW/SEP representatives also call on their fellow international working class to join them in their Marxist revolutionary socialist program to form an Independent International United Working Class (IIUWC) that is politically independent from all factions of the bourgeoisie owners of industry and their pseudo left unions.
  • World wide, waged and salaried workers in all industrial sectors become more interested in and supportive of the IUIACW with a rapidly growing number of them organising and preparing to join forces with the IUIACW to form an IIUWC/SEP alliance.

Day seven.

  • Another week, and another new world-wide political perspective beginning with the death of capitalism and the birth of international socialism.

 

Details yet to be imagined.

 

Robert (Taffy) Seaborne

2nd edit – Winter Soldstice 2016 .