In case you didn't notice, I didn't update this month as scheduled.
I blame physics. No, didn't get swallowed by quantum singularity, just lots of physics schoolwork.
Anyway, there will be no more updates for a while. But eventually it will get less busy & I'll be able to do this again in a few months. (I will check inbox from time to time though, so feel free to write.)
09 Julai 2008
13 Jun 2008
LOTW: Tear off their coat of red painted thin as it can be
Lyrics Of The Week
"Where" by AK47 out of Victoria, BC, Canada. The song is five years old, but extremely relevant to this moment right now.
WHERE
It's a crime against the people when their willingness to fight
is pushed into the swamp of dying Gandhi-esque surrender.
While the so-called vanguard brags about their fight
for peace, democracy and other bourgeois lies they use to cloud the workers' minds.
Where are we now?
Where are you leading us?
Where are we now?
Let those who take our flag and drag it through the filth of parliament
answer their lies and anyone decieved.
Tear off their coat of red painted thin as it can be.
And as election time comes around they will grovel for a seat.
"Where" by AK47 out of Victoria, BC, Canada. The song is five years old, but extremely relevant to this moment right now.
WHERE
It's a crime against the people when their willingness to fight
is pushed into the swamp of dying Gandhi-esque surrender.
While the so-called vanguard brags about their fight
for peace, democracy and other bourgeois lies they use to cloud the workers' minds.
Where are we now?
Where are you leading us?
Where are we now?
Let those who take our flag and drag it through the filth of parliament
answer their lies and anyone decieved.
Tear off their coat of red painted thin as it can be.
And as election time comes around they will grovel for a seat.
06 Jun 2008
LOTW: Pepsi or Coca cola, which equals that we have democracy.
Lyrics Of The Week
Short and simple, Knugen Faller tells it like it is on "Demokrati", track 10 on current playlist. Original lyrics in Swedish below, followed by my English translation.
Demokrati
Aftonbladet eller Expressen, vilken tur att vi har demokrati.
Pepsi eller Coca cola, vilken tur att vi har demokrati.
Vi får rösta hur vi vill, så frikostigt vart fjärde år.
Vi får rösta på big brother, vi får bestämma hur det går.
Vilken tur att vi har demokrati.
Democracy
The Evening Paper or The Express, which equals that we have democracy.
Pepsi or Coca cola, which equals that we have democracy.
We may vote how we want to, every fourth year give or take.
We may vote for big brother, we may decide how it goes.
Which equals that we have democracy.
Short and simple, Knugen Faller tells it like it is on "Demokrati", track 10 on current playlist. Original lyrics in Swedish below, followed by my English translation.
Demokrati
Aftonbladet eller Expressen, vilken tur att vi har demokrati.
Pepsi eller Coca cola, vilken tur att vi har demokrati.
Vi får rösta hur vi vill, så frikostigt vart fjärde år.
Vi får rösta på big brother, vi får bestämma hur det går.
Vilken tur att vi har demokrati.
Democracy
The Evening Paper or The Express, which equals that we have democracy.
Pepsi or Coca cola, which equals that we have democracy.
We may vote how we want to, every fourth year give or take.
We may vote for big brother, we may decide how it goes.
Which equals that we have democracy.
05 Jun 2008
Indian Maoists speak on Nepal current events
Getting rid of monarchy is great, but it's not everything.
Read, learn, & think, with help from the below:
1. statement from Communist Party of India (Maoist), who are leading an armed revolution in large areas of India;
2. interview with comrade Azad, spokesperson of CPI(Maoist)
Communist Party of India (Maoist)
Central Committee
Press Release: April 24, 2008
The verdict in Nepal is a verdict against feudal monarchy, Indian expansionism and US imperialism; it reflects the growing aspirations of the Nepalese masses for land, livelihood and democracy!
Oppose the moves of the imperialists, particularly US imperialists, and the Indian expansionists to meddle in the affairs of Nepal!!
The election results in Nepal have proved once again the overwhelming anger of the masses against the outdated feudal monarchic rule in Nepal, against the Indian expansionist's bullying and domination of Nepal, against US domination and oppression, and are a reflection of the growing aspirations of the Nepali masses for democracy, land, livelihood and genuine freedom from imperialist and feudal exploitation. It is these aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the masses that had completely trounced the parties that had either supported the King and/or the Indian ruling classes or hesitated to come out strongly against feudal, imperialist oppression and Indian intervention in Nepal. Hence, when an alternative like the CPN(M) came to the fore, with its open commitment to abolish the feudal monarchy once for all, abrogate all unequal treaties signed with India by the former ruling classes of Nepal, and ensure democracy and equality for the oppressed sections of society such as Dalits, adivasis, national minorities and women, the masses enthusiastically veered towards the Maoists. The CC, CPI(Maoist), hails the Nepali masses for routing the feudal, pro-imperialist, pro-Indian comprador parties and voting for a genuine change in the rotten feudal system in Nepal. It sends its fraternal revolutionary greetings for their victory in the struggle against the reactionary forces which is the culmination of a ten year process of historic struggles and battles where over 10,000 gave their precious lives.
These protracted struggles culminating in the election results have not only sounded the death-knell for the 239-year-old absolutist monarchy but also delivered a severe jolt to the continuous domination, interference, and bullying by the Indian reactionary expansionist ruling classes. Moreover, they have also sealed the fate of all the comprador-feudal electoral Parties which had proved themselves to be the most corrupt, country-selling, anti-people, loyal stooges of imperialists, feudal forces and Indian expansionists. In the eyes of the broad masses, these parties are narrow self-seeking robber gangsters who are out to fatten themselves at the expense of the vast masses of poor and the destitute. The results are a telling indictment against forces which had proved themselves to be a party to the oppression, suppression and exploitation of women, dalits, national minorities and adivasis.
The real test, however, begins now after the CPN(M) taking over the reins of power. It is a fundamental tenet of Marxism that no radical restructuring of the system is possible without the smashing of the existing state. It is impossible to make genuine changes in the system through measures initiated "from above", i.e. through state decrees and laws. Whichever Party may be in power, not excluding the most radical Maoists, one can only make laws at best, but to implement these it is imperative to mobilize the masses and advance class struggle against exploiters and oppressors and for radical changes for the liberation of the vast majority of poor. No ruling class will give up power without putting up a bitter struggle and carrying out sabotage and subterfuge against the oppressed class. Hence the real, bitter and most cruel struggle for power will now unfold soon after the elections. In fact, drafting Nepal's Constitution in favour of the poor and oppressed masses is itself a very arduous and bitter struggle. The reactionaries will oppose every change tooth and nail. Lacking a majority in the Constituent Assembly, the Maoists will be powerless to affect radical changes in the Constitution. Either they have to compromise and adjust with a section of the reactionary forces thereby sacrificing the class interests of the oppressed in whose interests they had come to power, or, they have to mobilize the people and intensify the struggle through all means, including armed insurrection, in order to implement genuine democracy and establish people's power. There is no other alternative.
The CC, CPI(Maoist), suggests to the CPN(Maoist) to beware of the conspiracies of the imperialists led by the US imperialists, the Indian reactionary ruling classes, and the feudal comprador forces of Nepal to engineer coups, political assassinations, creation of artificial scarcity through economic blockades and sabotage, and subversion of the democratic process, and calls upon it to be fully prepared to confront these reactionaries by armed means. The one and only guarantee for carrying through the radical revolutionary programme is to raise the political class consciousness of the vast masses, mobilize them into class struggle, arm and train them to fight the exploiters and all reactionary forces and defend the gains they had derived through long period of class and mass struggle. Nothing could be more dangerous at the present juncture than to become dizzy with success and underestimate the prospects of a reactionary backlash. One must keep in mind that the gains that can be achieved through a government that has come to power by means of elections are very much limited. Survival of such a regime depends on taking a conciliatory stand on several crucial matters. Hence to overestimate the prospects of radical restructuring of the society or economy by a Maoist government would be illusory and will dilute the possibility as well as the ability of the Party to continue the class struggle.
The CC, CPI(Maoist) also strongly condemns the Indian expansionists in trying to create public opinion prior to the elections in favour of the Koirala clique. They went so far as to get the National Security Advsisor, Narayanan, to openly state on TV that they favour a Koirala victory. They also got the media to propagate cooked up opinion polls putting the Maoists at third place and blacking out media reports when the Maoists began to sweep the polls, upsetting all their calculations. The Indian Expansionists, acting as the new-found gendarme of the US in the region, must stop its interference in the internal affairs of Nepal. The Indian Government must immediately rope in the RSS hoodlums that have been allowed to cross the border creating mayhem by attacking and killing the Maoists and the oppressed masses that oppose the feudal elements in the Tarai region. The RSS and its Hindutva gangsters are still desperately trying to prop up the crumbling monarchy and its vast financial empire. The Indian people and CPI(Maoist) strongly condemn these reactionaries meddling in the internal affairs of Nepal and seeking to prop up a crumbling archaic feudal order. The Indian expansionists must keep their hands off Nepal; it is for the people of Nepal to decide their own future.
The CC, CPI(Maoist) sees immense possibilities in present-day Nepal to carry forward the revolutionary programme by firmly relying on the masses and intensifying the class struggle for genuine land reforms and against imperialist/expansionist domination of the country, while guarding against all reactionary plots and schemes. This is possible if the main leadership of the Maoist party does not become part of the government but concentrates on the principal task of continuing the class struggle by mobilizing the masses. Otherwise there is every danger of unprincipled compromises with the reactionary parties and imperialists, degeneration of the party leadership and cadres, and emergence of strong bureaucratic class. In such a scenario, all the gains made would go down the drain and the reactionary parties would once again come to power by cashing in on the frustration of the masses.
Azad,
Spokesperson,
Central Committee,
CPI (Maoist)
Interview with comrade Azad, spokesperson of the CC, CPI(Maoist) on the present developments in Nepal
Q: The results in the April 10 elections to the Constituent Assembly in Nepal have been overwhelmingly in favour of the Maoists, a development least anticipated by even the keenest observers. How does your Party in India, the CPI(Maoist), look at the election results in Nepal?
Azad: As mentioned in my press release on behalf of my Party's central committee last week, the election results in Nepal have demonstrated the overwhelming anger of the masses against the outdated feudal monarchic rule in Nepal, against the Indian expansionist's bullying and domination of Nepal, against US domination and oppression, against comprador-feudal parties which allowed this to continue and betrayed the masses for too long. The results are a reflection of the growing aspirations of the Nepali masses for democracy, land, livelihood and genuine freedom from imperialist and feudal exploitation. It is these aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the masses that had completely trounced the parties that had either supported the King and/or the Indian ruling classes or hesitated to come out strongly against feudal, imperialist oppression and Indian intervention in Nepal. The royalists could not win even in a single constituency out of the 240 constituencies where direct elections were held. And leaders of the so-called mainstream such as Madhav Nepali, Sujata Koirala were rejected outright which came as a great shock to the ruling classes.
Hence, when an alternative like the CPN(M) came to the fore, with its open commitment to abolish the feudal monarchy once for all, abrogate all unequal treaties signed with India by the former ruling classes of Nepal, and ensure democracy and equality for the oppressed sections of society such as Dalits, adivasis, national minorities and women, the masses enthusiastically veered towards the Maoists. To put it in a word, the people of Nepal had come out resolutely against constitutional monarchy, Indian expansionism and US imperialism; the results reflect the growing aspirations of the Nepalese masses for land, livelihood and democracy.
Our Party looks at the election results in Nepal as a positive development with enormous significance for the people of entire South Asia. We send our revolutionary greetings to the people of Nepal for rejecting outright the monarchic rule and the comprador-feudal Parties during the April 10 elections to the Constituent Assembly. These results point to the real aspirations of the Nepalese people and should serve as a guide to the CPN(M) for its future course of action.
Q: What do you think are the reasons for the impressive results in favour of the Maoists in the elections to the Constituent Assembly in Nepal?
Azad: There are six major reasons:
One, the masses of Nepal had enough of King Gyanendra's autocratic and authoritarian rule. Constitutional monarchy is indeed an anachronism even in the 20th century leave alone 21st century. In fact, people of Nepal had put up with such a rotten, reactionary feudal rule too long a time. And when they found an opportunity to throw it out they grabbed it. There was never such an opportunity during earlier elections as all the parliamentary parties were either loyal to the King or displayed nominal opposition to the King. It is only the CPN(Maoist) which had shown its firm commitment to abolish the monarchy once for all and had come to the fore as an alternative to the bourgeois-feudal parties.
Two, the masses of Nepal had enough of bullying, intervention and domination by Indian expansionism. There is a general atmosphere of suspicion regarding the motives of the Indian ruling classes in Nepal. The people of Nepal had suffered too long under the obnoxious unequal treaties signed by successive rulers of Nepal with the Indian government such as the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, the Mahakali Treaty, and so on. The Indian rulers have always had an eye on the natural wealth of Nepal, its rich natural gas reserves, hydro-electric potential, forest products etc. Along with imperialist exploitation, oppression and plunder, the Indian CBB too is seen as an obstacle for the development of the local industry and trade. Besides this, Indian ruling classes have been continuously interfering in the political affairs of Nepal. They supported the monarchy all along and in the past few years took up the so-called two-pillar theory of supporting the King as well as the Nepali Congress. They gave training, supplied arms to the Royal Nepal Army, and sent all sorts of aid to contain the Maoist revolutionaries in Nepal. All these despicable acts had only fuelled the anger of the masses against Indian government. Now when an opportunity presented itself before them in the form of the CPN(M) they naturally voted for it which should be seen as a vote against Indian domination. None of the other Parties showed the guts to confront India. It was only the CPN(M) which categorically assured the people that it would do away with all the unequal treaties with India, ban obscene Hindi films, stop recruitment of Gurkhas into the Indian Army and provide them with alternative employment, and so on.
Three, the masses of Nepal had enough of the exploitation, oppression and intervention of the US imperialists. Throughout the rule of King Gyanendra and even until today after the humiliating defeat of his loyalist parties in elections, US imperialists has stood by his side rendering all aid to perpetuate his rule and to brutally suppress the Maoists. They had placed the CPN(M) on its list of terrorist outfits. This is a grave insult to the people of Nepal who view this as unwarranted meddling in Nepal's affairs. By supporting the discredited King the US imperialists became even more discredited and hated by even those who had no anti-imperialist consciousness or opposed to US imperialism as they see it as a protector of the feudal monarchy.
Four, the promises made by the CPN(M) to establish a democratic, federal, secular Nepal with freedom, democracy and equality for all the oppressed sections of society such as Dalits, adivasis, national minorities and women had an electrifying impact. For the first time, these oppressed sections were given considerable representation in the elections. Under such conditions, the oppressed masses came out enthusiastically in support of the Maoists. Women's turn-out, it is said, was equal to, and may be even greater than that of men—something unimaginable in a feudal country like Nepal.
Five, the most important factor is the positive impact created by the decade-long people's war led by the Maoists on the overall balance of forces in Nepal. The Maoists had established control over almost three-quarters of rural Nepal. Through the people's revolutionary governments in the countryside they had carried out several reforms which brought the masses closer to them. Most of the Parties had thus become irrelevant in the eyes of the people. The impact of armed struggle should not be underestimated. For instance, even in India if we see, the united Communist Party won an overwhelming majority of seats (31 out of 32 seats) in the elections to the state assembly in Telangana region in 1957. This, in spite of the fact that the CPI had withdrawn the Telangana armed struggle so much was the impact of the anti-feudal armed agrarian struggle on the people of Telangana.
Lastly, though a less important factor, mention must be made of the support of the local capitalists and a section of the traders who, even though are opposed to the Maoists in general, think that bringing them to power is the only guarantee for peace in Nepal. They fear that Maoists would once again take to arms if they are defeated in the polls. The local capitalists and small traders aspire to grow and develop in an atmosphere free from the hegemony and strangulation of imperialist and Indian expansionist capital. This they know none of the comprador-feudal parties can deliver and the only hope is with the Maoists.
Q: Now that the Maoists have come to power will they be able to carry out the promises made?
Azad: This is the most difficult question to answer. The immediate problem for the Maoists is to secure a coalition of forces that can meet the target of two-thirds majority in the Constituent Assembly in order to incorporate their radical reforms into the new Constitution. But to achieve two-thirds majority they have to rely on the reactionary comprador-feudal parties such as NC and social democratic UML. Needless to say, it is impossible to carry through the promised reforms with such a hotch-potch combination of forces. These Parties in the coalition will not be willing to be a party to the programme of the Maoists and will, moreover, try to subvert any radical changes which are aimed at curtailing their own class interests.
It is a fundamental tenet of Marxism that no radical restructuring of the system is possible without the militant mobilization of the vast masses into bitter class struggle. It is impossible to make genuine changes in the system through measures initiated "from above", i.e. through state decrees and laws. Whichever Party may be in power, not excluding the most radical Maoists, it can only make laws at best, but to implement these it is imperative to mobilize the masses and advance class struggle against exploiters and oppressors. Without this the liberation of the vast majority of poor is an impossible task. And for the CPN(M), even enacting the much-promised laws will be an almost impossible task given the present coalition in the CA. No ruling class will give up power without putting up a bitter struggle and carrying out counter-revolutionary activities against the oppressed class. Hence the real, bitter and most cruel struggle for power will now unfold soon after the elections. The reactionaries will oppose every change tooth and nail. And, lacking a majority in the Constituent Assembly, the Maoists will be powerless to affect radical changes in the Constitution. Either they have to compromise and adjust with a section of the reactionary forces thereby sacrificing the class interests of the oppressed in whose interests they had come to power, or, they have to mobilize the people and intensify the struggle through all means, including armed insurrection, in order to implement genuine democracy and establish people's power. There is no other alternative.
We must not forget the experiences of Indonesia, Chile, Nicaragua and other countries where the Communist Parties had come to power but were either thrown out in counter-revolutionary coups accompanied by counter-revolutionary massacres of Communist cadres, or threw out the Party in so-called elections as in the case of Nicaragua. The experience of Nicaragua is very much relevant in the context of so-called multi-party democracy.
Q: How do you envisage the future scenario in Nepal? Will India and US imperialism adjust to the new reality that had emerged in Nepal and support the Maoist government or will they create hurdles?
[B]Azad: We will be living in a fool's paradise if we think that imperialist America and expansionist India will be comfortable with the Maoists in power in Nepal or that they will adjust themselves to the new reality. Though they will have no other go but to continue diplomatic relations they will also continue to create an adverse situation for the new government if it does not obey their dictates. The fact is that the US rendered all help to its stooge parties in Nepal to defeat the Maoists. It tried its best to keep the monarchy alive as the King was the most reliable pillar for its rule by proxy in Nepal. And as for India, it received a slap in its face when its chief stooge—GP Koirala and his NC—tasted an ignominious defeat. Most of the stalwarts of NC were trounced and swept away in the flood of people's fury as their traitorous deals with India have by now become well-known to the Nepali people.
However, India has gained in another front. In the Tarai region it supported the two Madhesi parties which won a considerable number of seats with the backing of India. India will use the Madhesi trump card to create disturbances in Nepal if the new regime does not toe its line. Already Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) led by Upendra Yadav has demanded that the Maoists should make their stand clear on the demand for Madhesi autonomy (Ek Madhes Ek Prades) and had asked the Maoists to discontinue their relations with international forums like the RIM and CCOMPOSA. Both US and India will try by various means to bring the new government to toe their line. They can, for instance, hit at Nepal's belly—its economy—by paralyzing industrial production, blocking trade and supply lines thereby creating food shortages and shortage of consumer goods; in other words it can squeeze Nepal through an economic blockade. This it will do if it thinks the new regime is going too far. As it is, the situation in Nepal is already too delicate with almost 10 hours of load-shedding even in capital Kathmandu and a shortage of all essential commodities. Its powerful neighbours can alter the balance through economic blackmail which could lead to growth of social unrest and massive protests against the Maoists. Acute shortage of essential items and rising prices can lead to disenchantment with the fledgling regime and a dip in its popularity thereby giving an opportunity to the discredited parties to re-establish themselves. Thus the situation in Nepal will remain extremely delicate and unstable even though the Maoists had won an impressive electoral victory. Comrades Prachanda and Bhattarai know this well and hence they have been appealing for India's cooperation. They had gone on record saying that there will not be stability in Nepal without India's cooperation. The fact that Nepal is a small country sandwiched between two powerful and big neighbours—India and China—and that it is a target for the US imperialists makes the governance quite a difficult proposition. Hence we should not read too much from the electoral victory of the Maoists in Nepal. the Maoist face an extremely difficult task ahead in balancing all these forces and carrying on with their people's agenda through land reforms and indigenous industrialization towards a new democratic economy.
Q: Then do you mean the electoral victory of the Maoists and their capture of state power through parliamentary means is a futile exercise, and that it cannot bring the desired radical change in the social system?
Azad: I don't exactly mean that. The control of state power, if they really can control, does give the Maoists a means to defend the gains accrued during the long years of revolutionary war and to affect radical changes in the social system. But this cannot be will be difficult to achieve through the type of state power that has fallen into the hands of the Maoists at the present juncture. In fact, even in classical revolutions as in China, where the Communist revolutionaries had seized power through an armed revolution, Mao had warned of the danger of the rise of a new class by virtue of their positions in the state machinery. After Mao, the state had degenerated into a machinery of oppression and suppression of the vast masses. The lesson that we Communists had learnt from this experience is that the Party should concentrate on organizing the masses and mobilizing them to rebel against all types of injustice and exploitation perpetrated by state and Party bureaucrats.
In Nepal, where the Maoists have come to power in alliance with a section of the reactionary ruling classes, it is an even more urgent task of the Maoists to continue the class struggle by organizing the masses against all forms of exploitation and oppression. In this the YCL appears to have been doing commendable work and is so hated by the other parties. To the extent possible, the Maoists shcould use their relative control over the state to help the masses in their struggle for freedom, democracy and livelihood. But it would be an illusion to perceive the state as an instrument for bringing about a basic change in the lives of the people. This can Basic change could be achieved through continuation of class struggle for which, the state can, at best, render some help.
Q: Sitaram Yechuri of the CPI(M), among several others, have said that the Maoists of India have to learn from Nepal's experiences and take the parliamentary road to come to power. What does your Party say in this regard?
Azad: Why Yechuri alone? Even the DGPs of Jharkhand, AP and other states where Maoist movement is strong had said that before. Leaders of other reactionary ruling class parties had been harping on the same theme ever since the revisionists began participating in parliament in our country. Some like former RAW chief Thorakan have said that the Maoist victory in Nepal would have a demonstration effect on the Maoists of India.
Firstly, those who say this forget that the situation in Nepal and India are completely different. In Nepal the immediate political task before the entire Nepali masses was a struggle against the monarchy which circumstance had brought about a measure of unity among the various parliamentary parties and broad sections of people. The King himself, with the active guidance and aid from US imperialism had created a situation where all forces had to close their ranks and wage a struggle for democracy. The fact that hardly two per cent of the Nepali population supported the monarchy, as revealed by a 2008 Survey report, shows the basis for such a united struggle of the Nepalese people and the CPN(M) utilized such a situation. In India, it is a fight against the semi-colonial, semi-feudal social system of which the parliamentary system is part and parcel. All the major parliamentary parties are representatives of the comprador-feudal classes, obey the dictates of imperialists, and hence stand in the counter-revolutionary camp. Here the immediate task is struggle for land, livelihood and liberation for the vast majority of the masses.
Even in Nepal, to achieve these, class struggle has to be waged and parliament can do hardly anything to mitigate the sufferings of the masses. Now with the exit of the King, when the real questions confronting the people have come to the fore, it will not take much time for them to realize this universal truth.
Yechuris, Karats and Buddhadebs have over 40 years of experience in the Parliamentary pig-sty. But what basic changes have they brought in the system? Their parliamentary cretinism has done no good for the masses. The rich have grown richer and poor poorer even in the states where these revisionists have been in power. Without their support the ruling UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh would not have dared to carry out the anti-people policies. They had correctly dubbed themselves as "a barking dog that doesn't bite". They agree that they are powerless to do anything more than acting as "speed-breakers", as described by one of their spokespersons, in the path of the anti-people onslaught by the UPA government at the Centre. The fact is, they are not merely speed-breakers. They actually act as political brokers intermediating between the vast masses and the reactionary rulers trying to bring about class harmony in place of class struggle. In the states where they are directly in power they have become no less exploiters and oppressors than the Congress and the BJP. Singur and Nandigram are their laboratories for carrying through their pro-imperialist, pro-comprador big business policies. And in this they have become even more brutal thanks to the vast army of social fascist gangs at their disposal. These political prostitutes spin one theory after another such as "the bigger evil versus the lesser evil", that they have no power to stop the SEZs across the country, unless, of course, they come to power at the Centre to justify their hob-nobbing with Congress at one time, TDP at another and such antics. But in the same breath they hypocritically say that without SEZs, privatization, foreign investment, etc., West Bengal and Kerala cannot go ahead with industrialization, and so on.
No wonder, imperialist and comprador capital is very impressed by the performance of the Indian "Left". NRI industrialist Lord Swaraj Paul, who is the chairman of the Caparo Group which is setting up a component unit in Singur, was all praise for the CPI(M) and its leader Buddhadeb when he visited West Bengal as the head of a delegation of the United Kingdom branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
These social fascists have now become the blue-eyed boys of the World Bank, Tatas, Salems, Swaraj Pauls and the people of India will fare no better under a CPI(M) government at the Centre.
There is little wonder they have been asking the Indian Maoists to follow suit. Our Party firmly believes that a basic change in the system cannot be achieved through the parliamentary path but through class struggle. In our country this takes the form of armed agrarian revolutionary war. We, of course, do not reject other forms of struggle and organization, besides armed struggle and armed organization, and you would have realized this if you are a keen observer of our movement. This is of no consequence to our Mr. Yechuri who only dreams of seats in the Parliament like any other ruling class party. We, on the other hand, invite everyone opposed to imperialism, feudalism, comprador bureaucrat capitalism and the neo-liberal policies of the reactionary ruling classes of India, to come forward to wage a united militant struggle instead of whiling their time in an impotent anti-people Parliament and acting as lobbyists and power brokers. For revisionist chieftains like Yechuri, who are bogged down neck-deep into the morass of parliamentarism and bourgeois lobbying, such a revolutionary alternative is naturally an anathema.
Q: Prachanda had earlier said that he would be the first President of Republican Nepal but a few days ago he changed tack and declared that he would head the ministry. Do you think it is correct for anyone in a Communist Party to be the head of the government, chief of the Party and army at the same time?
Azad: We too had seen his statements in this regard. He still says he wants to be the President if it is acceptable to all i.e. by consensus. As such, the present Constitution of Nepal has no provision for an Executive President. It will take another two years for the Constituent Assembly to adopt the newly drafted Constitution and to arrive at a final decision on this. Hence comrade Prachanda might have reconsidered his earlier decision and decided to become the Prime Minister.
Now the question is not whether the Party chief should be President or Prime Minister. We have a different opinion altogether. We think that the Party chief should be neither. He/she should concentrate on developing class struggle and not get immersed in the administration of the state. If we believe that the role of the Party is to continue class struggle until the final stage of Communism then we can appreciate our viewpoint. The history of revolutions had shown that once the Party has led the revolution to final victory it also lays the basis for the rise of a new class of Party and state bureaucrats. When the Party and state completely coalesce then it will be terribly difficult to fight the rise of bureaucratic class and to mobilize the people against the wrongs done by the state. Hence it is very much essential that the party leaders remain with the masses, organize and guide them against each and every form of exploitation and oppression. In Nepal this becomes even more crucial as the Maoists have to share power with a section of the comprador-feudal classes.
Who should lead a government or any other body is for the Party to decide. Historically Party leaders have been in top positions of governments, like in China and the CPC and even elsewhere. It is not for us to stand on judgment about allocation of responsibilities of cadres or leaders in any other party. Only, one of the most important lessons of the GPCR was that no matter what the seniority of a comrade they should not lose touch with the masses. They should not stand above the masses and become like bourgeois bureaucrats but be accessible to the masses and integrate with them.
Q: Prachanda and Bhattarai had declared that they are willing to invite FDI and to create a business-friendly environment in Nepal. They also said that they would encourage capitalism. Is it correct for a Maoist party to invite foreign investment and develop capitalism?
Azad: Firstly we must understand the reality of Nepal. It is an extremely backward, semi-feudal country that lacks the minimum infrastructure and industrial production. It is a part of the Fourth World, if we can call it so. The UN has placed it in the category of Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Hence the first task in Nepal would be to liberate the vast masses from the feudal clutches and develop industry on that basis. As regards developing capitalism in Nepal there need not be any objection from revolutionaries as long as it is national capitalism and is properly regulated to meet the needs of the masses and is directed towards the growth of the internal economy and not for exports or for serving the imperialists. But if the encouragement is for inflow of foreign capital it will be detrimental to the interests of the country in the long run. The foreign capital would begin to control the economy of Nepal even if the Maoists are the major partners in the government just as it had done till now. The Maoists shcould consider encouraging indigenous capital and help its growth while gradually eliminating foreign capital. Both Prachanda and Mr Bhattarai had a meeting with businessmen under the aegis of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) as soon as the results became clear. There is pressure from businessmen for an investment-friendly environment, maximisation of profit, tax reforms, new flexible labour laws and a positive industrial policy.
In the past Maoists had opposed private institutions in health and education sectors. But now Prachanda has promised private-public partnership will be encouraged in health and education sectors. Mr Bhattarai has promised to remove whatever hurdles that may arise in the private sector. We have been hearing reports of talks between the Maoist leaders and the officials of World Bank. If these reports are true then it will could have dangerous consequences on the future of Nepal. Depending on FDI and adopting a pragmatic approach towards industrialization of Nepal in the name of overcoming the country's economic backwardness will only lead to opposite results and strengthen the hold of the imperialists and continue the prevailing backwardness. The key aspect for the development in any backward country is not capital but the expansion of the home market. This can only be achieved by raising the purchasing power of the masses. Once this grows it will act as the motor for the industrial development of the country.
Q: How do you foresee the future fraternal relations between your Party and the CPN(M)? Given the fact that the Indian state does not want the Maoists of Nepal to maintain relations with the Indian Maoists, and the demands by MJF in this regard is a clear indication of growing Indian pressure, will fraternal relations between the two Parties continue as before?
Azad: We believe and desire that fraternal relations between the CPI(Maoist) and CPN(Maoist) should continue as before. As long as both the Parties stand firmly committed to proletarian internationalism, international pressures and internal pressures will not come in the way.
Of course, there is bound to be increasing pressure from various quarters on the Maoists of Nepal to cut off their relations with other Maoist Parties. Particularly India and the US will exert utmost pressure in this regard. We do understand the complexity of the situation. However, we must keep in mind that every Communist Party is a detachment of the world proletariat. And any proletarian Party will place national interests subordinate to the interests of the world proletariat. Comrade Prachanda had correctly said that ideological ties between the two Parties will remain intact. And we believe the ideological debates and discussions have to continue. The various international fora such as CCOMPOSA should continue with their aims and activities in spite of the new situation that had arisen. Besides we will continue to deepen people to people ties between our two countries and oppose any form of interference and domination of Nepal by the Indian expansionists. We will promote solidarity for the Nepal people and revolution amongst the people of India on a wide scale. All this is our proletarian internationalist duty. We expect the same from our Nepal comrades.
Q: What do you have to say about comrade Prachanda's comment in his interview to The Hindu that "for the Indian Maoist party, its leaders and cadres, these efforts of ours provide some new material to study, to think about and go ahead in a new way. Our efforts provide a reference point."
Azad: As Marxists we must study critically any phenomena, particularly new experiences. Yet, we should not come to hasty conclusions and carefully observe the outcome of such efforts. All these need to be assessed from a class view-point and not a non-class approach. Marxism is a science and it gives the tools to analyse all social phenomena scientifically. This we need to do for the Nepal or any other experiment. Ofcourse, we have already many historical precedents, these too should be considered and the Nepal experience seen as part of this and not in isolation.
Q: Finally, is there anything you want to say to the people of Nepal and the CPN(M)?
Azad: Our Party, CPI(Maoist), sends its revolutionary greetings on behalf of our CC, entire Party rank and file, and the people of India to the CPN(Maoist) and the people of Nepal for their categorical rejection of monarchic rule and the comprador-feudal Parties through the elections to the Constituent Assembly. We wish to appraise them that the real battle for the transformation of their lives and the life of Nepal begins now. Lack of vigilance even for a moment could prove dear to the Maoists as well as the people of Nepal as vultures within and outside their country are only too eager to maintain the existing social order and itching to destroy all the gains achieved by the people and the Maoists. We wish to remind the CPN(M) and the people of Nepal to bear in mind the warning we had given in November 2006 when they decided to become part of the interim government. I repeat what we said then: "The agreement by the Maoists to become part of the interim government in Nepal cannot transform the reactionary character of the state machinery that serves the exploiting ruling classes and imperialists. The state can be the instrument in the hands of either the exploiting classes or the proletariat but it cannot serve the interests of both these bitterly-contending classes. It is the fundamental tenet of Marxism that no basic change in the social system can be brought about without smashing the state machine. Reforms from above cannot bring any qualitative change in the exploitative social system however democratic the new Constitution might seem to be, and even if the Maoists become an important component of the government. It is sheer illusion to think that a new Nepal can be built without smashing the existing state."
Our Party hopes that CPN(M) will take heed of our fraternal advice and We hope and sincerely feel that the CPN(Maoist) will continue the class struggle to achieve real liberation of Nepal from imperialism, feudalism, Indian expansionism and advance towards socialism and Communism. it has no other go but to continue the people's war to achieve the above aim as it is impossible to carry out basic transformation in the social system through the coalition of forces that have come to power at the present juncture.
Our Party will wage uncompromising struggle against the machinations and expansionist designs, the intervention and bullying and acts of subversion of the Indian ruling classes in Nepal and assure that we shall stand firmly by the side of the CPN(M) and the people of Nepal in their fight for genuine freedom and independence. In the long run it is only the victory of the revolution in India that can ensure real equality and mutual respect between the two countries. And our Party will step up its efforts to advance the revolution in our country to its ultimate victory.
Q: Before departing I would like to have a clarification regarding some recent reports in the media that the spokesperson of the CC, CPI(Maoist), Azad, and his wife Rama had died in an encounter with the police in the Eturnagaram forest in Warangal district of AP. So, after all, this had turned out to be just a rumour!
Azad: Need I to say anything more on this when you are face-to-face with the supposedly dead person? I only wonder at the incapacity of the media to verify facts before publishing. Every lie that is churned out by the media acquires a certain measure of credibility in the eyes of the people at least for some time. They create confusion and mislead public opinion. With regard to the so-called encounter that was supposed to have led to my death the first lies that were circulated in the media, though these were not repeated in the later news reports, were enough to create a dent in some people's minds. Even when the facts eventually come out it would be too late to correct the impressions created. Many people still think that Azad is dead. In last Tuesday's (April 22) Indian Express, for instance, there was a centre page article by former chief of Research & Analysis Wing, Mr. P.K. Hormis Tharakan who wrote that "CPI(Maoist) spokesperson and CC member, Azad (Gajarla Saraiah) and his wife Rama were killed in an encounter in Eturnagaram forest". This was in the context of his analysis of the electoral results in Nepal. One can imagine how great is the impact of news reports appearing in the media which can easily carry away an experienced senior intelligence officer of the Indian establishment! On the other hand, this also shows how raw is the brain of a former chief of RAW!!
Q: Wasn't Gajarla Saraiah alias Azad a member of the CC and CMC?
Azad: No. Even that is not a fact. The fact is that comrade Gajarla Saraiah (also known as Azad and Raghu) was a member of NT Special Zonal Committee until 2004 after which he was transferred to Maharashtra where he served as a member of the state committee and secretary of Gondia-Balaghat divisional committee until August 2006. He was never a member of the CC or the CMC as propagated by the media. He and his wife Rama were picked up by the APSIB from Kolhapur town in Maharashtra and brutally murdered after torturing them cruelly. Their bodies were thrown in the forest in Warangal and, as usual, the notorious SIB of AP projected this cold-blooded murder as an encounter. They also tried to make it appear that he was a senior member of the CC and CMC. The police in AP know very well that both these comrades were out of the state for over four years and yet had the audacity to claim that they were killed in Warangal forests. That is the power these licensed goondas of the state enjoy in a country that is said to be a Republic having a Constitution. Every encounter killing—and these run into thousands over the years—is a telling vindication of the Maoist thesis that Indian democracy is formal and fake. The lawlessness of the police and security forces had never come into question by the Courts and not a single officer in AP had been indicted for murder in spite of carrying out over three thousand murders in the past two decades.
Read, learn, & think, with help from the below:
1. statement from Communist Party of India (Maoist), who are leading an armed revolution in large areas of India;
2. interview with comrade Azad, spokesperson of CPI(Maoist)
Communist Party of India (Maoist)
Central Committee
Press Release: April 24, 2008
The verdict in Nepal is a verdict against feudal monarchy, Indian expansionism and US imperialism; it reflects the growing aspirations of the Nepalese masses for land, livelihood and democracy!
Oppose the moves of the imperialists, particularly US imperialists, and the Indian expansionists to meddle in the affairs of Nepal!!
The election results in Nepal have proved once again the overwhelming anger of the masses against the outdated feudal monarchic rule in Nepal, against the Indian expansionist's bullying and domination of Nepal, against US domination and oppression, and are a reflection of the growing aspirations of the Nepali masses for democracy, land, livelihood and genuine freedom from imperialist and feudal exploitation. It is these aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the masses that had completely trounced the parties that had either supported the King and/or the Indian ruling classes or hesitated to come out strongly against feudal, imperialist oppression and Indian intervention in Nepal. Hence, when an alternative like the CPN(M) came to the fore, with its open commitment to abolish the feudal monarchy once for all, abrogate all unequal treaties signed with India by the former ruling classes of Nepal, and ensure democracy and equality for the oppressed sections of society such as Dalits, adivasis, national minorities and women, the masses enthusiastically veered towards the Maoists. The CC, CPI(Maoist), hails the Nepali masses for routing the feudal, pro-imperialist, pro-Indian comprador parties and voting for a genuine change in the rotten feudal system in Nepal. It sends its fraternal revolutionary greetings for their victory in the struggle against the reactionary forces which is the culmination of a ten year process of historic struggles and battles where over 10,000 gave their precious lives.
These protracted struggles culminating in the election results have not only sounded the death-knell for the 239-year-old absolutist monarchy but also delivered a severe jolt to the continuous domination, interference, and bullying by the Indian reactionary expansionist ruling classes. Moreover, they have also sealed the fate of all the comprador-feudal electoral Parties which had proved themselves to be the most corrupt, country-selling, anti-people, loyal stooges of imperialists, feudal forces and Indian expansionists. In the eyes of the broad masses, these parties are narrow self-seeking robber gangsters who are out to fatten themselves at the expense of the vast masses of poor and the destitute. The results are a telling indictment against forces which had proved themselves to be a party to the oppression, suppression and exploitation of women, dalits, national minorities and adivasis.
The real test, however, begins now after the CPN(M) taking over the reins of power. It is a fundamental tenet of Marxism that no radical restructuring of the system is possible without the smashing of the existing state. It is impossible to make genuine changes in the system through measures initiated "from above", i.e. through state decrees and laws. Whichever Party may be in power, not excluding the most radical Maoists, one can only make laws at best, but to implement these it is imperative to mobilize the masses and advance class struggle against exploiters and oppressors and for radical changes for the liberation of the vast majority of poor. No ruling class will give up power without putting up a bitter struggle and carrying out sabotage and subterfuge against the oppressed class. Hence the real, bitter and most cruel struggle for power will now unfold soon after the elections. In fact, drafting Nepal's Constitution in favour of the poor and oppressed masses is itself a very arduous and bitter struggle. The reactionaries will oppose every change tooth and nail. Lacking a majority in the Constituent Assembly, the Maoists will be powerless to affect radical changes in the Constitution. Either they have to compromise and adjust with a section of the reactionary forces thereby sacrificing the class interests of the oppressed in whose interests they had come to power, or, they have to mobilize the people and intensify the struggle through all means, including armed insurrection, in order to implement genuine democracy and establish people's power. There is no other alternative.
The CC, CPI(Maoist), suggests to the CPN(Maoist) to beware of the conspiracies of the imperialists led by the US imperialists, the Indian reactionary ruling classes, and the feudal comprador forces of Nepal to engineer coups, political assassinations, creation of artificial scarcity through economic blockades and sabotage, and subversion of the democratic process, and calls upon it to be fully prepared to confront these reactionaries by armed means. The one and only guarantee for carrying through the radical revolutionary programme is to raise the political class consciousness of the vast masses, mobilize them into class struggle, arm and train them to fight the exploiters and all reactionary forces and defend the gains they had derived through long period of class and mass struggle. Nothing could be more dangerous at the present juncture than to become dizzy with success and underestimate the prospects of a reactionary backlash. One must keep in mind that the gains that can be achieved through a government that has come to power by means of elections are very much limited. Survival of such a regime depends on taking a conciliatory stand on several crucial matters. Hence to overestimate the prospects of radical restructuring of the society or economy by a Maoist government would be illusory and will dilute the possibility as well as the ability of the Party to continue the class struggle.
The CC, CPI(Maoist) also strongly condemns the Indian expansionists in trying to create public opinion prior to the elections in favour of the Koirala clique. They went so far as to get the National Security Advsisor, Narayanan, to openly state on TV that they favour a Koirala victory. They also got the media to propagate cooked up opinion polls putting the Maoists at third place and blacking out media reports when the Maoists began to sweep the polls, upsetting all their calculations. The Indian Expansionists, acting as the new-found gendarme of the US in the region, must stop its interference in the internal affairs of Nepal. The Indian Government must immediately rope in the RSS hoodlums that have been allowed to cross the border creating mayhem by attacking and killing the Maoists and the oppressed masses that oppose the feudal elements in the Tarai region. The RSS and its Hindutva gangsters are still desperately trying to prop up the crumbling monarchy and its vast financial empire. The Indian people and CPI(Maoist) strongly condemn these reactionaries meddling in the internal affairs of Nepal and seeking to prop up a crumbling archaic feudal order. The Indian expansionists must keep their hands off Nepal; it is for the people of Nepal to decide their own future.
The CC, CPI(Maoist) sees immense possibilities in present-day Nepal to carry forward the revolutionary programme by firmly relying on the masses and intensifying the class struggle for genuine land reforms and against imperialist/expansionist domination of the country, while guarding against all reactionary plots and schemes. This is possible if the main leadership of the Maoist party does not become part of the government but concentrates on the principal task of continuing the class struggle by mobilizing the masses. Otherwise there is every danger of unprincipled compromises with the reactionary parties and imperialists, degeneration of the party leadership and cadres, and emergence of strong bureaucratic class. In such a scenario, all the gains made would go down the drain and the reactionary parties would once again come to power by cashing in on the frustration of the masses.
Azad,
Spokesperson,
Central Committee,
CPI (Maoist)
Interview with comrade Azad, spokesperson of the CC, CPI(Maoist) on the present developments in Nepal
Q: The results in the April 10 elections to the Constituent Assembly in Nepal have been overwhelmingly in favour of the Maoists, a development least anticipated by even the keenest observers. How does your Party in India, the CPI(Maoist), look at the election results in Nepal?
Azad: As mentioned in my press release on behalf of my Party's central committee last week, the election results in Nepal have demonstrated the overwhelming anger of the masses against the outdated feudal monarchic rule in Nepal, against the Indian expansionist's bullying and domination of Nepal, against US domination and oppression, against comprador-feudal parties which allowed this to continue and betrayed the masses for too long. The results are a reflection of the growing aspirations of the Nepali masses for democracy, land, livelihood and genuine freedom from imperialist and feudal exploitation. It is these aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the masses that had completely trounced the parties that had either supported the King and/or the Indian ruling classes or hesitated to come out strongly against feudal, imperialist oppression and Indian intervention in Nepal. The royalists could not win even in a single constituency out of the 240 constituencies where direct elections were held. And leaders of the so-called mainstream such as Madhav Nepali, Sujata Koirala were rejected outright which came as a great shock to the ruling classes.
Hence, when an alternative like the CPN(M) came to the fore, with its open commitment to abolish the feudal monarchy once for all, abrogate all unequal treaties signed with India by the former ruling classes of Nepal, and ensure democracy and equality for the oppressed sections of society such as Dalits, adivasis, national minorities and women, the masses enthusiastically veered towards the Maoists. To put it in a word, the people of Nepal had come out resolutely against constitutional monarchy, Indian expansionism and US imperialism; the results reflect the growing aspirations of the Nepalese masses for land, livelihood and democracy.
Our Party looks at the election results in Nepal as a positive development with enormous significance for the people of entire South Asia. We send our revolutionary greetings to the people of Nepal for rejecting outright the monarchic rule and the comprador-feudal Parties during the April 10 elections to the Constituent Assembly. These results point to the real aspirations of the Nepalese people and should serve as a guide to the CPN(M) for its future course of action.
Q: What do you think are the reasons for the impressive results in favour of the Maoists in the elections to the Constituent Assembly in Nepal?
Azad: There are six major reasons:
One, the masses of Nepal had enough of King Gyanendra's autocratic and authoritarian rule. Constitutional monarchy is indeed an anachronism even in the 20th century leave alone 21st century. In fact, people of Nepal had put up with such a rotten, reactionary feudal rule too long a time. And when they found an opportunity to throw it out they grabbed it. There was never such an opportunity during earlier elections as all the parliamentary parties were either loyal to the King or displayed nominal opposition to the King. It is only the CPN(Maoist) which had shown its firm commitment to abolish the monarchy once for all and had come to the fore as an alternative to the bourgeois-feudal parties.
Two, the masses of Nepal had enough of bullying, intervention and domination by Indian expansionism. There is a general atmosphere of suspicion regarding the motives of the Indian ruling classes in Nepal. The people of Nepal had suffered too long under the obnoxious unequal treaties signed by successive rulers of Nepal with the Indian government such as the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, the Mahakali Treaty, and so on. The Indian rulers have always had an eye on the natural wealth of Nepal, its rich natural gas reserves, hydro-electric potential, forest products etc. Along with imperialist exploitation, oppression and plunder, the Indian CBB too is seen as an obstacle for the development of the local industry and trade. Besides this, Indian ruling classes have been continuously interfering in the political affairs of Nepal. They supported the monarchy all along and in the past few years took up the so-called two-pillar theory of supporting the King as well as the Nepali Congress. They gave training, supplied arms to the Royal Nepal Army, and sent all sorts of aid to contain the Maoist revolutionaries in Nepal. All these despicable acts had only fuelled the anger of the masses against Indian government. Now when an opportunity presented itself before them in the form of the CPN(M) they naturally voted for it which should be seen as a vote against Indian domination. None of the other Parties showed the guts to confront India. It was only the CPN(M) which categorically assured the people that it would do away with all the unequal treaties with India, ban obscene Hindi films, stop recruitment of Gurkhas into the Indian Army and provide them with alternative employment, and so on.
Three, the masses of Nepal had enough of the exploitation, oppression and intervention of the US imperialists. Throughout the rule of King Gyanendra and even until today after the humiliating defeat of his loyalist parties in elections, US imperialists has stood by his side rendering all aid to perpetuate his rule and to brutally suppress the Maoists. They had placed the CPN(M) on its list of terrorist outfits. This is a grave insult to the people of Nepal who view this as unwarranted meddling in Nepal's affairs. By supporting the discredited King the US imperialists became even more discredited and hated by even those who had no anti-imperialist consciousness or opposed to US imperialism as they see it as a protector of the feudal monarchy.
Four, the promises made by the CPN(M) to establish a democratic, federal, secular Nepal with freedom, democracy and equality for all the oppressed sections of society such as Dalits, adivasis, national minorities and women had an electrifying impact. For the first time, these oppressed sections were given considerable representation in the elections. Under such conditions, the oppressed masses came out enthusiastically in support of the Maoists. Women's turn-out, it is said, was equal to, and may be even greater than that of men—something unimaginable in a feudal country like Nepal.
Five, the most important factor is the positive impact created by the decade-long people's war led by the Maoists on the overall balance of forces in Nepal. The Maoists had established control over almost three-quarters of rural Nepal. Through the people's revolutionary governments in the countryside they had carried out several reforms which brought the masses closer to them. Most of the Parties had thus become irrelevant in the eyes of the people. The impact of armed struggle should not be underestimated. For instance, even in India if we see, the united Communist Party won an overwhelming majority of seats (31 out of 32 seats) in the elections to the state assembly in Telangana region in 1957. This, in spite of the fact that the CPI had withdrawn the Telangana armed struggle so much was the impact of the anti-feudal armed agrarian struggle on the people of Telangana.
Lastly, though a less important factor, mention must be made of the support of the local capitalists and a section of the traders who, even though are opposed to the Maoists in general, think that bringing them to power is the only guarantee for peace in Nepal. They fear that Maoists would once again take to arms if they are defeated in the polls. The local capitalists and small traders aspire to grow and develop in an atmosphere free from the hegemony and strangulation of imperialist and Indian expansionist capital. This they know none of the comprador-feudal parties can deliver and the only hope is with the Maoists.
Q: Now that the Maoists have come to power will they be able to carry out the promises made?
Azad: This is the most difficult question to answer. The immediate problem for the Maoists is to secure a coalition of forces that can meet the target of two-thirds majority in the Constituent Assembly in order to incorporate their radical reforms into the new Constitution. But to achieve two-thirds majority they have to rely on the reactionary comprador-feudal parties such as NC and social democratic UML. Needless to say, it is impossible to carry through the promised reforms with such a hotch-potch combination of forces. These Parties in the coalition will not be willing to be a party to the programme of the Maoists and will, moreover, try to subvert any radical changes which are aimed at curtailing their own class interests.
It is a fundamental tenet of Marxism that no radical restructuring of the system is possible without the militant mobilization of the vast masses into bitter class struggle. It is impossible to make genuine changes in the system through measures initiated "from above", i.e. through state decrees and laws. Whichever Party may be in power, not excluding the most radical Maoists, it can only make laws at best, but to implement these it is imperative to mobilize the masses and advance class struggle against exploiters and oppressors. Without this the liberation of the vast majority of poor is an impossible task. And for the CPN(M), even enacting the much-promised laws will be an almost impossible task given the present coalition in the CA. No ruling class will give up power without putting up a bitter struggle and carrying out counter-revolutionary activities against the oppressed class. Hence the real, bitter and most cruel struggle for power will now unfold soon after the elections. The reactionaries will oppose every change tooth and nail. And, lacking a majority in the Constituent Assembly, the Maoists will be powerless to affect radical changes in the Constitution. Either they have to compromise and adjust with a section of the reactionary forces thereby sacrificing the class interests of the oppressed in whose interests they had come to power, or, they have to mobilize the people and intensify the struggle through all means, including armed insurrection, in order to implement genuine democracy and establish people's power. There is no other alternative.
We must not forget the experiences of Indonesia, Chile, Nicaragua and other countries where the Communist Parties had come to power but were either thrown out in counter-revolutionary coups accompanied by counter-revolutionary massacres of Communist cadres, or threw out the Party in so-called elections as in the case of Nicaragua. The experience of Nicaragua is very much relevant in the context of so-called multi-party democracy.
Q: How do you envisage the future scenario in Nepal? Will India and US imperialism adjust to the new reality that had emerged in Nepal and support the Maoist government or will they create hurdles?
[B]Azad: We will be living in a fool's paradise if we think that imperialist America and expansionist India will be comfortable with the Maoists in power in Nepal or that they will adjust themselves to the new reality. Though they will have no other go but to continue diplomatic relations they will also continue to create an adverse situation for the new government if it does not obey their dictates. The fact is that the US rendered all help to its stooge parties in Nepal to defeat the Maoists. It tried its best to keep the monarchy alive as the King was the most reliable pillar for its rule by proxy in Nepal. And as for India, it received a slap in its face when its chief stooge—GP Koirala and his NC—tasted an ignominious defeat. Most of the stalwarts of NC were trounced and swept away in the flood of people's fury as their traitorous deals with India have by now become well-known to the Nepali people.
However, India has gained in another front. In the Tarai region it supported the two Madhesi parties which won a considerable number of seats with the backing of India. India will use the Madhesi trump card to create disturbances in Nepal if the new regime does not toe its line. Already Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) led by Upendra Yadav has demanded that the Maoists should make their stand clear on the demand for Madhesi autonomy (Ek Madhes Ek Prades) and had asked the Maoists to discontinue their relations with international forums like the RIM and CCOMPOSA. Both US and India will try by various means to bring the new government to toe their line. They can, for instance, hit at Nepal's belly—its economy—by paralyzing industrial production, blocking trade and supply lines thereby creating food shortages and shortage of consumer goods; in other words it can squeeze Nepal through an economic blockade. This it will do if it thinks the new regime is going too far. As it is, the situation in Nepal is already too delicate with almost 10 hours of load-shedding even in capital Kathmandu and a shortage of all essential commodities. Its powerful neighbours can alter the balance through economic blackmail which could lead to growth of social unrest and massive protests against the Maoists. Acute shortage of essential items and rising prices can lead to disenchantment with the fledgling regime and a dip in its popularity thereby giving an opportunity to the discredited parties to re-establish themselves. Thus the situation in Nepal will remain extremely delicate and unstable even though the Maoists had won an impressive electoral victory. Comrades Prachanda and Bhattarai know this well and hence they have been appealing for India's cooperation. They had gone on record saying that there will not be stability in Nepal without India's cooperation. The fact that Nepal is a small country sandwiched between two powerful and big neighbours—India and China—and that it is a target for the US imperialists makes the governance quite a difficult proposition. Hence we should not read too much from the electoral victory of the Maoists in Nepal. the Maoist face an extremely difficult task ahead in balancing all these forces and carrying on with their people's agenda through land reforms and indigenous industrialization towards a new democratic economy.
Q: Then do you mean the electoral victory of the Maoists and their capture of state power through parliamentary means is a futile exercise, and that it cannot bring the desired radical change in the social system?
Azad: I don't exactly mean that. The control of state power, if they really can control, does give the Maoists a means to defend the gains accrued during the long years of revolutionary war and to affect radical changes in the social system. But this cannot be will be difficult to achieve through the type of state power that has fallen into the hands of the Maoists at the present juncture. In fact, even in classical revolutions as in China, where the Communist revolutionaries had seized power through an armed revolution, Mao had warned of the danger of the rise of a new class by virtue of their positions in the state machinery. After Mao, the state had degenerated into a machinery of oppression and suppression of the vast masses. The lesson that we Communists had learnt from this experience is that the Party should concentrate on organizing the masses and mobilizing them to rebel against all types of injustice and exploitation perpetrated by state and Party bureaucrats.
In Nepal, where the Maoists have come to power in alliance with a section of the reactionary ruling classes, it is an even more urgent task of the Maoists to continue the class struggle by organizing the masses against all forms of exploitation and oppression. In this the YCL appears to have been doing commendable work and is so hated by the other parties. To the extent possible, the Maoists shcould use their relative control over the state to help the masses in their struggle for freedom, democracy and livelihood. But it would be an illusion to perceive the state as an instrument for bringing about a basic change in the lives of the people. This can Basic change could be achieved through continuation of class struggle for which, the state can, at best, render some help.
Q: Sitaram Yechuri of the CPI(M), among several others, have said that the Maoists of India have to learn from Nepal's experiences and take the parliamentary road to come to power. What does your Party say in this regard?
Azad: Why Yechuri alone? Even the DGPs of Jharkhand, AP and other states where Maoist movement is strong had said that before. Leaders of other reactionary ruling class parties had been harping on the same theme ever since the revisionists began participating in parliament in our country. Some like former RAW chief Thorakan have said that the Maoist victory in Nepal would have a demonstration effect on the Maoists of India.
Firstly, those who say this forget that the situation in Nepal and India are completely different. In Nepal the immediate political task before the entire Nepali masses was a struggle against the monarchy which circumstance had brought about a measure of unity among the various parliamentary parties and broad sections of people. The King himself, with the active guidance and aid from US imperialism had created a situation where all forces had to close their ranks and wage a struggle for democracy. The fact that hardly two per cent of the Nepali population supported the monarchy, as revealed by a 2008 Survey report, shows the basis for such a united struggle of the Nepalese people and the CPN(M) utilized such a situation. In India, it is a fight against the semi-colonial, semi-feudal social system of which the parliamentary system is part and parcel. All the major parliamentary parties are representatives of the comprador-feudal classes, obey the dictates of imperialists, and hence stand in the counter-revolutionary camp. Here the immediate task is struggle for land, livelihood and liberation for the vast majority of the masses.
Even in Nepal, to achieve these, class struggle has to be waged and parliament can do hardly anything to mitigate the sufferings of the masses. Now with the exit of the King, when the real questions confronting the people have come to the fore, it will not take much time for them to realize this universal truth.
Yechuris, Karats and Buddhadebs have over 40 years of experience in the Parliamentary pig-sty. But what basic changes have they brought in the system? Their parliamentary cretinism has done no good for the masses. The rich have grown richer and poor poorer even in the states where these revisionists have been in power. Without their support the ruling UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh would not have dared to carry out the anti-people policies. They had correctly dubbed themselves as "a barking dog that doesn't bite". They agree that they are powerless to do anything more than acting as "speed-breakers", as described by one of their spokespersons, in the path of the anti-people onslaught by the UPA government at the Centre. The fact is, they are not merely speed-breakers. They actually act as political brokers intermediating between the vast masses and the reactionary rulers trying to bring about class harmony in place of class struggle. In the states where they are directly in power they have become no less exploiters and oppressors than the Congress and the BJP. Singur and Nandigram are their laboratories for carrying through their pro-imperialist, pro-comprador big business policies. And in this they have become even more brutal thanks to the vast army of social fascist gangs at their disposal. These political prostitutes spin one theory after another such as "the bigger evil versus the lesser evil", that they have no power to stop the SEZs across the country, unless, of course, they come to power at the Centre to justify their hob-nobbing with Congress at one time, TDP at another and such antics. But in the same breath they hypocritically say that without SEZs, privatization, foreign investment, etc., West Bengal and Kerala cannot go ahead with industrialization, and so on.
No wonder, imperialist and comprador capital is very impressed by the performance of the Indian "Left". NRI industrialist Lord Swaraj Paul, who is the chairman of the Caparo Group which is setting up a component unit in Singur, was all praise for the CPI(M) and its leader Buddhadeb when he visited West Bengal as the head of a delegation of the United Kingdom branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
These social fascists have now become the blue-eyed boys of the World Bank, Tatas, Salems, Swaraj Pauls and the people of India will fare no better under a CPI(M) government at the Centre.
There is little wonder they have been asking the Indian Maoists to follow suit. Our Party firmly believes that a basic change in the system cannot be achieved through the parliamentary path but through class struggle. In our country this takes the form of armed agrarian revolutionary war. We, of course, do not reject other forms of struggle and organization, besides armed struggle and armed organization, and you would have realized this if you are a keen observer of our movement. This is of no consequence to our Mr. Yechuri who only dreams of seats in the Parliament like any other ruling class party. We, on the other hand, invite everyone opposed to imperialism, feudalism, comprador bureaucrat capitalism and the neo-liberal policies of the reactionary ruling classes of India, to come forward to wage a united militant struggle instead of whiling their time in an impotent anti-people Parliament and acting as lobbyists and power brokers. For revisionist chieftains like Yechuri, who are bogged down neck-deep into the morass of parliamentarism and bourgeois lobbying, such a revolutionary alternative is naturally an anathema.
Q: Prachanda had earlier said that he would be the first President of Republican Nepal but a few days ago he changed tack and declared that he would head the ministry. Do you think it is correct for anyone in a Communist Party to be the head of the government, chief of the Party and army at the same time?
Azad: We too had seen his statements in this regard. He still says he wants to be the President if it is acceptable to all i.e. by consensus. As such, the present Constitution of Nepal has no provision for an Executive President. It will take another two years for the Constituent Assembly to adopt the newly drafted Constitution and to arrive at a final decision on this. Hence comrade Prachanda might have reconsidered his earlier decision and decided to become the Prime Minister.
Now the question is not whether the Party chief should be President or Prime Minister. We have a different opinion altogether. We think that the Party chief should be neither. He/she should concentrate on developing class struggle and not get immersed in the administration of the state. If we believe that the role of the Party is to continue class struggle until the final stage of Communism then we can appreciate our viewpoint. The history of revolutions had shown that once the Party has led the revolution to final victory it also lays the basis for the rise of a new class of Party and state bureaucrats. When the Party and state completely coalesce then it will be terribly difficult to fight the rise of bureaucratic class and to mobilize the people against the wrongs done by the state. Hence it is very much essential that the party leaders remain with the masses, organize and guide them against each and every form of exploitation and oppression. In Nepal this becomes even more crucial as the Maoists have to share power with a section of the comprador-feudal classes.
Who should lead a government or any other body is for the Party to decide. Historically Party leaders have been in top positions of governments, like in China and the CPC and even elsewhere. It is not for us to stand on judgment about allocation of responsibilities of cadres or leaders in any other party. Only, one of the most important lessons of the GPCR was that no matter what the seniority of a comrade they should not lose touch with the masses. They should not stand above the masses and become like bourgeois bureaucrats but be accessible to the masses and integrate with them.
Q: Prachanda and Bhattarai had declared that they are willing to invite FDI and to create a business-friendly environment in Nepal. They also said that they would encourage capitalism. Is it correct for a Maoist party to invite foreign investment and develop capitalism?
Azad: Firstly we must understand the reality of Nepal. It is an extremely backward, semi-feudal country that lacks the minimum infrastructure and industrial production. It is a part of the Fourth World, if we can call it so. The UN has placed it in the category of Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Hence the first task in Nepal would be to liberate the vast masses from the feudal clutches and develop industry on that basis. As regards developing capitalism in Nepal there need not be any objection from revolutionaries as long as it is national capitalism and is properly regulated to meet the needs of the masses and is directed towards the growth of the internal economy and not for exports or for serving the imperialists. But if the encouragement is for inflow of foreign capital it will be detrimental to the interests of the country in the long run. The foreign capital would begin to control the economy of Nepal even if the Maoists are the major partners in the government just as it had done till now. The Maoists shcould consider encouraging indigenous capital and help its growth while gradually eliminating foreign capital. Both Prachanda and Mr Bhattarai had a meeting with businessmen under the aegis of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) as soon as the results became clear. There is pressure from businessmen for an investment-friendly environment, maximisation of profit, tax reforms, new flexible labour laws and a positive industrial policy.
In the past Maoists had opposed private institutions in health and education sectors. But now Prachanda has promised private-public partnership will be encouraged in health and education sectors. Mr Bhattarai has promised to remove whatever hurdles that may arise in the private sector. We have been hearing reports of talks between the Maoist leaders and the officials of World Bank. If these reports are true then it will could have dangerous consequences on the future of Nepal. Depending on FDI and adopting a pragmatic approach towards industrialization of Nepal in the name of overcoming the country's economic backwardness will only lead to opposite results and strengthen the hold of the imperialists and continue the prevailing backwardness. The key aspect for the development in any backward country is not capital but the expansion of the home market. This can only be achieved by raising the purchasing power of the masses. Once this grows it will act as the motor for the industrial development of the country.
Q: How do you foresee the future fraternal relations between your Party and the CPN(M)? Given the fact that the Indian state does not want the Maoists of Nepal to maintain relations with the Indian Maoists, and the demands by MJF in this regard is a clear indication of growing Indian pressure, will fraternal relations between the two Parties continue as before?
Azad: We believe and desire that fraternal relations between the CPI(Maoist) and CPN(Maoist) should continue as before. As long as both the Parties stand firmly committed to proletarian internationalism, international pressures and internal pressures will not come in the way.
Of course, there is bound to be increasing pressure from various quarters on the Maoists of Nepal to cut off their relations with other Maoist Parties. Particularly India and the US will exert utmost pressure in this regard. We do understand the complexity of the situation. However, we must keep in mind that every Communist Party is a detachment of the world proletariat. And any proletarian Party will place national interests subordinate to the interests of the world proletariat. Comrade Prachanda had correctly said that ideological ties between the two Parties will remain intact. And we believe the ideological debates and discussions have to continue. The various international fora such as CCOMPOSA should continue with their aims and activities in spite of the new situation that had arisen. Besides we will continue to deepen people to people ties between our two countries and oppose any form of interference and domination of Nepal by the Indian expansionists. We will promote solidarity for the Nepal people and revolution amongst the people of India on a wide scale. All this is our proletarian internationalist duty. We expect the same from our Nepal comrades.
Q: What do you have to say about comrade Prachanda's comment in his interview to The Hindu that "for the Indian Maoist party, its leaders and cadres, these efforts of ours provide some new material to study, to think about and go ahead in a new way. Our efforts provide a reference point."
Azad: As Marxists we must study critically any phenomena, particularly new experiences. Yet, we should not come to hasty conclusions and carefully observe the outcome of such efforts. All these need to be assessed from a class view-point and not a non-class approach. Marxism is a science and it gives the tools to analyse all social phenomena scientifically. This we need to do for the Nepal or any other experiment. Ofcourse, we have already many historical precedents, these too should be considered and the Nepal experience seen as part of this and not in isolation.
Q: Finally, is there anything you want to say to the people of Nepal and the CPN(M)?
Azad: Our Party, CPI(Maoist), sends its revolutionary greetings on behalf of our CC, entire Party rank and file, and the people of India to the CPN(Maoist) and the people of Nepal for their categorical rejection of monarchic rule and the comprador-feudal Parties through the elections to the Constituent Assembly. We wish to appraise them that the real battle for the transformation of their lives and the life of Nepal begins now. Lack of vigilance even for a moment could prove dear to the Maoists as well as the people of Nepal as vultures within and outside their country are only too eager to maintain the existing social order and itching to destroy all the gains achieved by the people and the Maoists. We wish to remind the CPN(M) and the people of Nepal to bear in mind the warning we had given in November 2006 when they decided to become part of the interim government. I repeat what we said then: "The agreement by the Maoists to become part of the interim government in Nepal cannot transform the reactionary character of the state machinery that serves the exploiting ruling classes and imperialists. The state can be the instrument in the hands of either the exploiting classes or the proletariat but it cannot serve the interests of both these bitterly-contending classes. It is the fundamental tenet of Marxism that no basic change in the social system can be brought about without smashing the state machine. Reforms from above cannot bring any qualitative change in the exploitative social system however democratic the new Constitution might seem to be, and even if the Maoists become an important component of the government. It is sheer illusion to think that a new Nepal can be built without smashing the existing state."
Our Party hopes that CPN(M) will take heed of our fraternal advice and We hope and sincerely feel that the CPN(Maoist) will continue the class struggle to achieve real liberation of Nepal from imperialism, feudalism, Indian expansionism and advance towards socialism and Communism. it has no other go but to continue the people's war to achieve the above aim as it is impossible to carry out basic transformation in the social system through the coalition of forces that have come to power at the present juncture.
Our Party will wage uncompromising struggle against the machinations and expansionist designs, the intervention and bullying and acts of subversion of the Indian ruling classes in Nepal and assure that we shall stand firmly by the side of the CPN(M) and the people of Nepal in their fight for genuine freedom and independence. In the long run it is only the victory of the revolution in India that can ensure real equality and mutual respect between the two countries. And our Party will step up its efforts to advance the revolution in our country to its ultimate victory.
Q: Before departing I would like to have a clarification regarding some recent reports in the media that the spokesperson of the CC, CPI(Maoist), Azad, and his wife Rama had died in an encounter with the police in the Eturnagaram forest in Warangal district of AP. So, after all, this had turned out to be just a rumour!
Azad: Need I to say anything more on this when you are face-to-face with the supposedly dead person? I only wonder at the incapacity of the media to verify facts before publishing. Every lie that is churned out by the media acquires a certain measure of credibility in the eyes of the people at least for some time. They create confusion and mislead public opinion. With regard to the so-called encounter that was supposed to have led to my death the first lies that were circulated in the media, though these were not repeated in the later news reports, were enough to create a dent in some people's minds. Even when the facts eventually come out it would be too late to correct the impressions created. Many people still think that Azad is dead. In last Tuesday's (April 22) Indian Express, for instance, there was a centre page article by former chief of Research & Analysis Wing, Mr. P.K. Hormis Tharakan who wrote that "CPI(Maoist) spokesperson and CC member, Azad (Gajarla Saraiah) and his wife Rama were killed in an encounter in Eturnagaram forest". This was in the context of his analysis of the electoral results in Nepal. One can imagine how great is the impact of news reports appearing in the media which can easily carry away an experienced senior intelligence officer of the Indian establishment! On the other hand, this also shows how raw is the brain of a former chief of RAW!!
Q: Wasn't Gajarla Saraiah alias Azad a member of the CC and CMC?
Azad: No. Even that is not a fact. The fact is that comrade Gajarla Saraiah (also known as Azad and Raghu) was a member of NT Special Zonal Committee until 2004 after which he was transferred to Maharashtra where he served as a member of the state committee and secretary of Gondia-Balaghat divisional committee until August 2006. He was never a member of the CC or the CMC as propagated by the media. He and his wife Rama were picked up by the APSIB from Kolhapur town in Maharashtra and brutally murdered after torturing them cruelly. Their bodies were thrown in the forest in Warangal and, as usual, the notorious SIB of AP projected this cold-blooded murder as an encounter. They also tried to make it appear that he was a senior member of the CC and CMC. The police in AP know very well that both these comrades were out of the state for over four years and yet had the audacity to claim that they were killed in Warangal forests. That is the power these licensed goondas of the state enjoy in a country that is said to be a Republic having a Constitution. Every encounter killing—and these run into thousands over the years—is a telling vindication of the Maoist thesis that Indian democracy is formal and fake. The lawlessness of the police and security forces had never come into question by the Courts and not a single officer in AP had been indicted for murder in spite of carrying out over three thousand murders in the past two decades.
01 Jun 2008
RR 1.6.08
{DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE THING}
This month's theme is democracy, one of the biggest illusions of all time. Many people are attracted to the general ideals of 'change', 'hope', 'revolution', & so on -- but a system with origins in ancient Greek slavery-dictatorship & refined through modern Western capitalist-dictatorships is not exactly the best way to fulfill these ideals.
As the saying goes: if voting changed anything they'd make it illegal.
So listen in for multi-genre music from around the world, making this point in subtle & not-so-subtle ways.
theme: democracy
1. Propagandhi - Bullshit Politicians
2. Camarada Kalashnikov - Demofarsa {download}
3. Ryan Harvey - The Times They Are Not A-Changin' {download}
4. AK47 - Where
5. Rev1 - Democracy
6. Crass - The Unelected President
7. NoFX - Murder The Government
8. Bad Religion - Politics
9. MDC - Politician
10. Knugen Faller - Demokrati {download}
11. Asta Kask - Demokrati {download}
12. Sahara Hotnights - Out of the system
13. C.B.V. - Art. 158
14. Slime - Deutschland muss sterben [Remix by El Gordo] {download}
15. Inadaptats - Demòcrates
16. Sepultura & Jello Biafra - Politricks
17. Submission Hold - Démocratie [words by Arthur Rimbaud]
18. Swingin' Utters - Politician
19. Toxic Walls - Ihr seid nicht frei, ihr glaubt nur dran
20. Union 13 - Govierno podrido
21. Toby Goodshank - Down With The Government
This month's theme is democracy, one of the biggest illusions of all time. Many people are attracted to the general ideals of 'change', 'hope', 'revolution', & so on -- but a system with origins in ancient Greek slavery-dictatorship & refined through modern Western capitalist-dictatorships is not exactly the best way to fulfill these ideals.
As the saying goes: if voting changed anything they'd make it illegal.
So listen in for multi-genre music from around the world, making this point in subtle & not-so-subtle ways.
theme: democracy
1. Propagandhi - Bullshit Politicians
2. Camarada Kalashnikov - Demofarsa {download}
3. Ryan Harvey - The Times They Are Not A-Changin' {download}
4. AK47 - Where
5. Rev1 - Democracy
6. Crass - The Unelected President
7. NoFX - Murder The Government
8. Bad Religion - Politics
9. MDC - Politician
10. Knugen Faller - Demokrati {download}
11. Asta Kask - Demokrati {download}
12. Sahara Hotnights - Out of the system
13. C.B.V. - Art. 158
14. Slime - Deutschland muss sterben [Remix by El Gordo] {download}
15. Inadaptats - Demòcrates
16. Sepultura & Jello Biafra - Politricks
17. Submission Hold - Démocratie [words by Arthur Rimbaud]
18. Swingin' Utters - Politician
19. Toxic Walls - Ihr seid nicht frei, ihr glaubt nur dran
20. Union 13 - Govierno podrido
21. Toby Goodshank - Down With The Government
30 Mei 2008
LOTW: And beyond all that, of course, damned money!, which makes us its slaves.
Lyrics Of The Week
Anticapitalist R&B music -- yes you read that right -- by Afrika, track 24 on current playlist. Afrika is originally from Equatorial Guinea (in West Africa), but lives in Basque Country (occupied by Spain & France) & is singing in the Basque language. Original lyrics in Basque at top, followed by translations (by Afrika &/or Kontrakalea Records staff, plus some small touch-ups on the English one by me) in Spanish, French, & English.
Revolution
Hilezkortasunera
aurrera goaz
bizitza birtual honetan
egungo partidan norabide
galdua
zuzen ibiltzerik
al dago munduan?
Ta guztiaren atzetik, ditzosozko diruak
esklabu bihurtzen gaitu.
oh! zoritxarrez
edozein gauza egiten dugu,
boterearen truke
ez...
kapitalismoaren bidean aurkitzen gara
indibidualtasuna nagusitzen da
interesak, m ozkinak,
gerrak azken finean...
tren honetatik jeisterik al dago?
Modernitateak garamatza
balorerik gabeko esistentzia
batera;
argiago esango dizuet,
murgiltzeko beharrean gara,
argiago esango dizuet
it's time
it's time to revolution
Revolution
Vamos camino de la autodestrucción, en esta vida virtual, andamos un poco despistados en la partida de hoy. yo me pregunto si hay un camino correcto a seguir y detrás de todo esto ¿cómo no?, se haya el maldito dinero, que nos convierte en sus esclavos.
no corrompemos fácilmente a cambio de poder.
nos sentimos atrapados por las garras del capitalismo, donde se potencia el individualismo, donde las ganancias e intereses económicos derivan en guerras... ¿en fin hay alguna manera de bajarse de este tren?
la modernidad nos conduce a vivir una existencia sin valores. os diré más claro que debemos hacer algo al respecto, os lo diré más claro aún es tiempo de revolución
it’s time to revolution
Revolution
Nous nous dirigeons vers l’autodestruction, dans cette vie virtuelle, nous sommes un peu distraits dans la partie d’aujourd’hui.
Je me demande s’il y a un chemin correct à suivre.
Et derrière tout ça, évidemment, il y a le maudit argent qui nous transforme en esclaves.
Nous nous corrompons facilement pour du pouvoir.
Nous nous sentons attrapés par les griffes du capitalisme qui privilégie l’individualisme, où les gains et les intérêts économiques dérivent en guerres...
Y a-t-il une manière de descendre de ce train?
La modernité nous conduit à vivre une existence sans valeur.
Je vous dirai plus clairement que nous devons faire quelque chose à ce sujet,
Je vous dirai plus clairement, c’est encore le temps de la révolution
It’s time to revolution
Revolution
We’re heading towards destruction in this virtual life, we’re a bit absent-minded in today’s game.
I wonder if there’s a correct path to follow
And beyond all that, of course, damned money!, which makes us its slaves.
We become corrupted easily in exchange for power.
We feel trapped by the clutches of capitalism, where individualism is highlighted, where profits and economic interests derive in wars...
Modernity leads us to live a valueless existence.
I’ll tell you clearly that we have to do something about it,
I’ll tell you even more clearly, it’s time for revolution
It’s time to revolution
Anticapitalist R&B music -- yes you read that right -- by Afrika, track 24 on current playlist. Afrika is originally from Equatorial Guinea (in West Africa), but lives in Basque Country (occupied by Spain & France) & is singing in the Basque language. Original lyrics in Basque at top, followed by translations (by Afrika &/or Kontrakalea Records staff, plus some small touch-ups on the English one by me) in Spanish, French, & English.
Revolution
Hilezkortasunera
aurrera goaz
bizitza birtual honetan
egungo partidan norabide
galdua
zuzen ibiltzerik
al dago munduan?
Ta guztiaren atzetik, ditzosozko diruak
esklabu bihurtzen gaitu.
oh! zoritxarrez
edozein gauza egiten dugu,
boterearen truke
ez...
kapitalismoaren bidean aurkitzen gara
indibidualtasuna nagusitzen da
interesak, m ozkinak,
gerrak azken finean...
tren honetatik jeisterik al dago?
Modernitateak garamatza
balorerik gabeko esistentzia
batera;
argiago esango dizuet,
murgiltzeko beharrean gara,
argiago esango dizuet
it's time
it's time to revolution
Revolution
Vamos camino de la autodestrucción, en esta vida virtual, andamos un poco despistados en la partida de hoy. yo me pregunto si hay un camino correcto a seguir y detrás de todo esto ¿cómo no?, se haya el maldito dinero, que nos convierte en sus esclavos.
no corrompemos fácilmente a cambio de poder.
nos sentimos atrapados por las garras del capitalismo, donde se potencia el individualismo, donde las ganancias e intereses económicos derivan en guerras... ¿en fin hay alguna manera de bajarse de este tren?
la modernidad nos conduce a vivir una existencia sin valores. os diré más claro que debemos hacer algo al respecto, os lo diré más claro aún es tiempo de revolución
it’s time to revolution
Revolution
Nous nous dirigeons vers l’autodestruction, dans cette vie virtuelle, nous sommes un peu distraits dans la partie d’aujourd’hui.
Je me demande s’il y a un chemin correct à suivre.
Et derrière tout ça, évidemment, il y a le maudit argent qui nous transforme en esclaves.
Nous nous corrompons facilement pour du pouvoir.
Nous nous sentons attrapés par les griffes du capitalisme qui privilégie l’individualisme, où les gains et les intérêts économiques dérivent en guerres...
Y a-t-il une manière de descendre de ce train?
La modernité nous conduit à vivre une existence sans valeur.
Je vous dirai plus clairement que nous devons faire quelque chose à ce sujet,
Je vous dirai plus clairement, c’est encore le temps de la révolution
It’s time to revolution
Revolution
We’re heading towards destruction in this virtual life, we’re a bit absent-minded in today’s game.
I wonder if there’s a correct path to follow
And beyond all that, of course, damned money!, which makes us its slaves.
We become corrupted easily in exchange for power.
We feel trapped by the clutches of capitalism, where individualism is highlighted, where profits and economic interests derive in wars...
Modernity leads us to live a valueless existence.
I’ll tell you clearly that we have to do something about it,
I’ll tell you even more clearly, it’s time for revolution
It’s time to revolution
23 Mei 2008
LOTW: Our hungry hearts and this old world's about to collide
Lyrics Of The Week
One of the best songs of all time. Track 6 on current playlist. By The (International) Noise Conspiracy from Umeå, Sweden.
Communist Moon
hey brother won't you please open up your heart for me now
and sister the best dreams to dream are still for free
no more dead time with you on my mind with you by my side
our hungry hearts and this old world's about to collide
let it begin tonight we'll win, let it begin tonight we'll win
let's all share our dreams, all share our dreams,
let's all share our dreams under a communist moon
all share our dreams, let's all share our dreams,
all share our dreams under a communist moon
hey sister I'm counting the minutes until you're here with me yeah
and brother if you want to join in please feel free
it comes everywhere it comes all at once below and above
from desperate times comes radical minds living armed love
let's all share our dreams, all share our dreams,
let's all share our dreams under a communist moon
all share our dreams, let's all share our dreams,
all share our dreams under a communist moon
let's all share our dreams, all share our dreams,
let's all share our dreams under a communist moon
all share our dreams, let's all share our dreams,
all share our dreams
we find hope in our hands, it'll see us through the night
and all of our dreams and all our plans will come alive tonight,
will come alive tonight
let it begin tonight we'll win, let it begin tonight we'll win
let's all share our dreams, all share our dreams,
let's all share our dreams under a communist moon
all share our dreams, let's all share our dreams,
all share our dreams under a communist moon
the moon up above will show you the love to
see us through the night, see us through the night
let's all share our dreams, all share our dreams,
let's all share our dreams under a communist moon
all share our dreams, let's all share our dreams,
all share our dreams under a communist moon...
One of the best songs of all time. Track 6 on current playlist. By The (International) Noise Conspiracy from Umeå, Sweden.
Communist Moon
hey brother won't you please open up your heart for me now
and sister the best dreams to dream are still for free
no more dead time with you on my mind with you by my side
our hungry hearts and this old world's about to collide
let it begin tonight we'll win, let it begin tonight we'll win
let's all share our dreams, all share our dreams,
let's all share our dreams under a communist moon
all share our dreams, let's all share our dreams,
all share our dreams under a communist moon
hey sister I'm counting the minutes until you're here with me yeah
and brother if you want to join in please feel free
it comes everywhere it comes all at once below and above
from desperate times comes radical minds living armed love
let's all share our dreams, all share our dreams,
let's all share our dreams under a communist moon
all share our dreams, let's all share our dreams,
all share our dreams under a communist moon
let's all share our dreams, all share our dreams,
let's all share our dreams under a communist moon
all share our dreams, let's all share our dreams,
all share our dreams
we find hope in our hands, it'll see us through the night
and all of our dreams and all our plans will come alive tonight,
will come alive tonight
let it begin tonight we'll win, let it begin tonight we'll win
let's all share our dreams, all share our dreams,
let's all share our dreams under a communist moon
all share our dreams, let's all share our dreams,
all share our dreams under a communist moon
the moon up above will show you the love to
see us through the night, see us through the night
let's all share our dreams, all share our dreams,
let's all share our dreams under a communist moon
all share our dreams, let's all share our dreams,
all share our dreams under a communist moon...
19 Mei 2008
LOTW: They scolded me in English, The gabachos told me, You're goin' back to your ranch
Lyrics Of The Week (better late than never, sorry...)
This is a fun ballad of some not-so-fun times of a bracero (migrant worker), sung for us by Lila Downs on track 17 of current playlist. Spanish original followed by my English translation below.
And since we're on the topic, go see the film La misma luna (English title Under the Same Moon), it's awesome in all kinds a ways.
El Bracero Fracasado
Cuando yo salí del rancho
No llevaba ni calzones
Pero si llegué a Tijuana
De puritos aventones
Como no traía dinero
Me paraba en las esquinas
Para ver a quién gorreaba
Los pescuezos de gallina
Yo quería cruzar la línea
De la Unión americana
Yo quería ganar dinero
Porque ésa era mi pirada
Como no traía dinero
Mucho menos pasaporte
Me aventé cruzando cerros
Yo solito y sin coyote
Después verán cómo me fue
Llegué a Santa Ana
Con las patas bien peladas
Los huaraches que llevaba
Se acabaron de volada
El sombrero y la camisa
los perdí en la correteada
Que me dieron unos güeros
Que ya mero me alcanzaban
Me salí a la carretera
Muerto de hambre y desvelado
Me subí en un tren carguero
Que venía de Colorado
Y con rumbo a San Francisco
De un vagón me fui colado
Pero con tan mala suerte
que en Salinas me agarraron
Después verán cómo me fue
Llegó la Migra
De la mano me agarraron
Me decían no sé qué cosas
En inglés me regañaron
Me dijeron los gabachos
Te regresas pa' tu rancho
Pero yo sentí muy gacho
Regresar pa' mi terruño
De bracero fracasado
Sin dinero y sin hilacho
De bracero fracasado
Sin dinero y sin hilacho
De bracero fracasado
Sin dinero
Y sin hilacho
The Failed Bracero
When I left the ranch
I didn't even bring underwear
But I did get to Tijuana
Just by hitching rides
Since I didn't have money
I'd stop at the corners
To see who'd let me eat their
Chicken necks
I wanted to cross the border
Of the American Union
I wanted to earn money
Because that's what I was crazy for
Since I didn't have money
Much less a passport
I got rides crossing hills
Just me alone and without coyote
Then you'll see, what happened to me
I got to Santa Ana
With my paws rubbed bare
The sandals I wore
Got used up real quick
The hat and shirt
I lost in the chase
That some white guys gave me
They almost caught me
I got out onto the highway
Dead hungry and tired
I got into a cargo train
That was coming from Colorado
And headed for San Francisco
I snuck by on a railcar
But with such bad luck
They grabbed me in Salinas
Then you'll see, what happened to me
The INS arrived
The grabbed me by the hand
They said I-don't-know-what to me
They scolded me in English
The white guys told me
You're goin' back to your ranch
But I was bummed
To go back to my homeland
As a failed bracero
With no money and no nothing
As a failed bracero
With no money and no nothing
As a failed bracero
With no money
And no nothing
This is a fun ballad of some not-so-fun times of a bracero (migrant worker), sung for us by Lila Downs on track 17 of current playlist. Spanish original followed by my English translation below.
And since we're on the topic, go see the film La misma luna (English title Under the Same Moon), it's awesome in all kinds a ways.
El Bracero Fracasado
Cuando yo salí del rancho
No llevaba ni calzones
Pero si llegué a Tijuana
De puritos aventones
Como no traía dinero
Me paraba en las esquinas
Para ver a quién gorreaba
Los pescuezos de gallina
Yo quería cruzar la línea
De la Unión americana
Yo quería ganar dinero
Porque ésa era mi pirada
Como no traía dinero
Mucho menos pasaporte
Me aventé cruzando cerros
Yo solito y sin coyote
Después verán cómo me fue
Llegué a Santa Ana
Con las patas bien peladas
Los huaraches que llevaba
Se acabaron de volada
El sombrero y la camisa
los perdí en la correteada
Que me dieron unos güeros
Que ya mero me alcanzaban
Me salí a la carretera
Muerto de hambre y desvelado
Me subí en un tren carguero
Que venía de Colorado
Y con rumbo a San Francisco
De un vagón me fui colado
Pero con tan mala suerte
que en Salinas me agarraron
Después verán cómo me fue
Llegó la Migra
De la mano me agarraron
Me decían no sé qué cosas
En inglés me regañaron
Me dijeron los gabachos
Te regresas pa' tu rancho
Pero yo sentí muy gacho
Regresar pa' mi terruño
De bracero fracasado
Sin dinero y sin hilacho
De bracero fracasado
Sin dinero y sin hilacho
De bracero fracasado
Sin dinero
Y sin hilacho
The Failed Bracero
When I left the ranch
I didn't even bring underwear
But I did get to Tijuana
Just by hitching rides
Since I didn't have money
I'd stop at the corners
To see who'd let me eat their
Chicken necks
I wanted to cross the border
Of the American Union
I wanted to earn money
Because that's what I was crazy for
Since I didn't have money
Much less a passport
I got rides crossing hills
Just me alone and without coyote
Then you'll see, what happened to me
I got to Santa Ana
With my paws rubbed bare
The sandals I wore
Got used up real quick
The hat and shirt
I lost in the chase
That some white guys gave me
They almost caught me
I got out onto the highway
Dead hungry and tired
I got into a cargo train
That was coming from Colorado
And headed for San Francisco
I snuck by on a railcar
But with such bad luck
They grabbed me in Salinas
Then you'll see, what happened to me
The INS arrived
The grabbed me by the hand
They said I-don't-know-what to me
They scolded me in English
The white guys told me
You're goin' back to your ranch
But I was bummed
To go back to my homeland
As a failed bracero
With no money and no nothing
As a failed bracero
With no money and no nothing
As a failed bracero
With no money
And no nothing
14 Mei 2008
Imperialist butchers continue dirty work in Afghanistan
Just about everybody knows what the US & UK are up to in Iraq. Yet, maddeningly, folks seem to have forgotten about Afghanistan. The slaughter there has never stopped; and, the excuse for this foreign invasion is no less flimsy! Additionally, the 'progressive' & 'democratic' ruling classes of Germany, France, Canada, & others are thoroughly involved in this massive crime. On the up side, similar to Iraq, the imperialists & their fundamentalist Northern Alliance puppets are having a tough time achieving their goals. Of course, this up side isn't much consolation given that the only sizeable armed resistance to them is the fundamentalist former puppets of the imperialists the Taliban. Anyway, please read more details of the situation below. Never forget, never forgive!
Afghanistan: Why the Nato escalation?
28 April 2008. A World to Win News Service. Afghanistan was at the top of the agenda at the early April Nato summit meeting in Bucharest, Rumania. The host country and France agreed to send more forces to Afghanistan, to serve in the combat areas. Nato already has about 37,000 troops in Afghanistan, including 14,000 from the U.S. and 7,700 from Britain. The U.S. also has 11,000 more soldiers operating outside the Nato mission. In addition, Washington has announced that it will deploy more than 3,000 additional troops to Afghanistan this year.
After floating the idea some time ago, French president Nicolas Sarkozy formally announced at the summit that he will send what he called “several hundred” fresh forces to the south of Afghanistan to reinforce the occupation in that region. France has already 1,500 troops in Afghanistan, but they are mainly stationed around Kabul and have not been directly involved in the war zone areas in the south and east of Afghanistan. The real numbers could amount to many times more than a “few hundred”, since France intends to send a battalion, which normally would mean 1,000 soldiers. In parliament Sarkozy was accused of deliberately downplaying this move, since it is even more unpopular than he is, and he is the least popular president in recent French history. Even more than the number of troops involved, what is significant is their deployment to a combat area and possibly combat operations against the Taleban. This issue of direct participation in the war has been a hot topic and an issue of tension between the U.S. and other Nato countries, including France, until now, and in particular Germany.
Yet, while the Bush government touted France’s decision as a sign of victory, unity and the Nato countries’ “commitment” to the “reconstruction” and “security” of Afghanistan, it was not even close to this claim. Of course it is not in the nature of these imperialist bloodsuckers to care about a real reconstruction of Afghanistan, a reconstruction that would benefit the people, but this move was not even a positive sign from the point of view of their own imperialist interests. It was a sign that they are further than ever from achieving their aims in Afghanistan and that their strategy is not succeeding.
It is an important development that Paris has reversed its long-standing and strongly held policy and agreed to deploy troops to the war zone, and this will have military and political consequences for France, but this doesn’t indicate any enthusiastic “commitment”, even by Nato standards (compared, say, to much smaller Holland and Canada). It is not yet clear whether this is a first step forward on France’s part or a gesture with no future. In addition, Germany, Italy and Spain are continuing to keep their troops out of the war zones. It is noteworthy that a year ago Italy and Spain agreed to send their forces into the hot zones if desperately needed, but they have not come through. Considering this, as well as the broader challenges the Nato occupiers are facing in Afghanistan, this summit result cannot be considered a success by any standard, certainly not for those who have been waging a broad and vigorous campaign to bring about an escalation in the number of Nato troops involved in combat.
This campaign was launched by the Bush White House, with the support of the British and Dutch governments. Canada threatened to pull out its forces if other Nato countries did not send more troops into battle. These desperate calls were the outcome of the political and military situation in Afghanistan in the last few years and in particular the Taleban’s growing strength over the course of the last year.
Contrary to the Iraq war, which from the beginning faced massive opposition within the Western countries, and turned into a disaster for the occupiers early on, the Afghanistan war was supposed to be a “good war” for the U.S. and its allies. The Western imperialist rulers even had the support of a section of the intellectuals, in a much bigger way than for the Iraq invasion. Initially the U.S. was confident of success and so preferred to leave a big share of the occupation to its junior partners while it dealt with the bigger challenge it faced in Iraq. As a result, Washington allowed the British to reduce their forces in Iraq in order to assume more responsibility in Afghanistan. And that was what they did.
With the encouragement of the U.S. and the UK Nato took over the leadership of ISAF (International Security Assistance Force), the invasion troops whose mission is to hold Kabul, and then took on responsibility for the security mission in the whole country during the 2005 parliamentary elections. The idea was to move away, slightly, from the Bush doctrine of “the coalition of the willing”, which turned out to essentially mean American unilateral action seconded only by the UK and a few other of its most servile allies, and more broadly draw other imperialist countries into sharing the burden by giving more responsibility to Nato. For the U.S, the point was to forge and consolidate a military contingent that could act as a reserve force for American interventions and occupations. However some European countries saw this as a way to (again, slightly) counter American “unilateralism”, or at least take a more active part in occupations and interventions without putting their troops formally under the direct command of the U.S., even though the U.S. remains the undisputed boss of Nato. So most of the more powerful members welcomed this new mission for Nato.
Then in July 2006 Nato moved into the combat area and took command of the war zone in the southern region of Afghanistan, while the equally hot eastern region of the country remained the responsibility of the “coalition” forces under direct U.S. command. The UK stepped up the number of its troops in Afghanistan to more than 7,000, and, acting through Nato, took the lead in Helmand province, one of the Taleban strongholds in the southwest. Canada increased its troop strength to 2,500 and took responsibility for the Kandahar area. The Netherlands also moved into the combat area. However some European countries, such as Germany, France and a few others resisted sending their forces to the war zones.
As the situation grew worse, including both oppression and violence on the part of the occupiers and their government and the general corruption produced by their rule, the people of Afghanistan become more aware of the nature and brutality of the occupier forces and the aims and goals they are pursuing. As the Taleban became stronger and the war spread to many regions and escalated, the number of occupation troops killed and injured increased. According to Nato figures, there were 9,000 attacks on Western and Afghan puppet government troops in 2007, a 30 percent increase. At the same time, according to the US -led “coalition”, it carried out 3,500 air strikes during the year, 20 times the level of two years earlier. The number of civilians killed by the occupation forces reached a record high. In 2007 alone, the war claimed 6,500 Afghan lives. This war not only failed to eradicate the Taleban, as Bush and Blair claimed it would quickly do; it has spread and multiplied them. This situation has led to growing frustration among the occupation powers and heightened the tensions between them.
Especially over the last year the U.S., British and other imperialists have been waging a campaign to convince or pressure the other Nato countries to take part in combat. There has been an alarmist tone to reports from imperialist circles, including the military, parliamentary and certain humanitarian agencies, highlighting the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, the resurgence of the Taleban and the real possibility that, as they like to put it “Afghanistan could become a failed state.” Such reports do reflect reality, and at the same time they are also part of an effort to mobilize public opinion for more intervention.
But this situation has given rise to divisions among the imperialist countries that surfaced when the U.S. demanded that Germany, whose forces are in the relatively stable north, send combat troops and helicopters to the war zones. The German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, sent an “unusually stern” request to Berlin. Germany’s defence secretary, Franz Josef Jung, replied, “I believe our focus should continue to be in the north.” German chancellor Angela Merkel made clear that the limited mandate was “not up for discussion”. (The Guardian, 2 February 2008)
Sending forces to the combat zones was not the only issue in this rising tension. The methods and tactics used in the fighting have also become a major source of angry controversy among the occupation powers.
“Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, told the Los Angeles Times, ‘I’m worried we have some military forces that don’t know how to do counterinsurgency operations… Most of the European forces, Nato forces, are not trained in counterinsurgency; they were trained for the Fulda Gap,’ a reference to the German region where a Soviet land invasion of western Europe was regarded as most likely.” (The Guardian, 16 January 2008)
This provoked an angry reaction from some of the countries involved in the fighting, including the Dutch general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who is the secretary general of Nato. The Dutch defence ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador to explain Gates’ remarks.
As background to this row, there have been long simmering differences between the UK and the U.S. regarding the tactics used in this war. British military commanders have accused the U.S. of “heavy-handed tactics”, including excessive aerial bombing – which regularly leads to civilian casualties. When the British suggested a plan to support local militia and civil defence forces in the south, American military commanders rejected it. U.S. general Dan McNeill, commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, said that the plan could fuel the insurgency. These differences seem to run deep and to be related to even more basic issues, although they are still somewhat obscure. Recent events provide some stark evidence of this: the arrest of two British diplomats in Afghanistan for allegedly negotiating with Taleban forces, and the rejection of Lord Paddy Ashdown for the post of UN special envoy to Afghanistan, who was unofficially said to be too strong a personality for the job. Both acts were supposedly carried out by the Afghanistan government of Hamid Karzai, but there has been no indication that the U.S. was displeased with these measures taken by the man they put in power.
As the saying goes, when things go wrong thieves fall out.
The Taleban’s new found ability to step up the war in 2007 was a big shock to many people. Throughout the last year Taleban carried out around 140 suicide attacks all over Afghanistan, and gained the control of at least four districts (velsewali) in the south, according to a January report by the BBC Persian service. In the past year alone approximately 800 police were killed, in addition to the heavy causalities suffered by the puppet army and the occupiers. Also the number of attacks against the Afghan army, mainly carried out by the Taleban, was several times higher than in previous years.
Musa Ghala was the biggest town in the north of Helmand to fall to the Taleban. Though they later lost it, they kept control of three other districts in the same province throughout the year. During 2007 Taleban activities spread to the western provinces of Afghanistan. The Taleban were able to seize several districts in Farah province, although they could not hold them for long.
At the same time the Afghanistan people experienced one of their worst years in terms of security. They were caught in a crossfire between the occupiers and the Taleban, and as a result, hundreds if not thousands were killed. A great many were killed by the air bombardment of the U.S.-led coalition forces and also by Nato forces.
Taleban have increasingly adopted the tactics used by Islamic fundamentalists in Iraq, suicide attacks or planting mines and even bombs on roadsides. The point is that the military tactics of both sides are reactionary because their goals are reactionary. Neither side has any interest in sparing the lives of ordinary people.
At the same time corruption within the puppet regime has increasingly disillusioned the people about any possibility of improvement of their situation. Opium and heroin production have broken all records. The occupation forces and regime officials blame the Taleban for this increase. It is true that the Taleban are benefiting from it, but various reports indicate the involvement of high governmental officials in the production, distribution and exportation of drugs too, including Hamid Karzai’s own brother, Wali Ahmad Karzai. He is well known as the largest heroin and arms smuggler in the region, a position he enjoys thanks to his relationship to the president.
The Afghanistan war turned out to be a disaster for the people. However, the occupiers will not pull out of the country for that reason. On the contrary, they are preparing for what they call a “long-term commitment”. While some of the junior partners find it difficult to cope with the newly worsening situation, the U.S. has no choice but to continue the war for years or decades ahead – unless the people drive them all out. For the U.S., the occupation of Afghanistan is not an isolated effort. It plays an important part of its strategy for the greater Middle East and to some extent Central Asia. For the U.S., victory or at least a relative control over Afghanistan is crucial as it vigorously seeks to materialise its threats against Iran. Its war in Afghanistan is also increasingly intertwined with the situation in Pakistan, home to 2.4 million Afghani refugees. Continuing U.S. support for President Pervez Musharraf is very much related to the expressed desire of American military commanders in Afghanistan to mount larger scale military operations on both sides of the border, targeting Pakistani as well as Afghani forces.
In addition, the Bush regime has performed a near miracle, reviving the prostrate forces of a Taleban who had earned the bitter hatred of millions of Afghanis. Now the U.S. has little choice but to deal with the consequences of its own acts. Contrary to the lies of the Bush regime, the Taleban (and their allies in Al-Qaeda), on the one hand, and the Islamic Republic of Iran (and its Shia fundamentalist allies in other countries) on the other, have neither much ideological affinity nor a common project, and in fact have been and remain enemies to the death. Still the U.S.’s efforts to stamp out anti-U.S. Islamic fundamentalism by waging war on the people have given that religious trend a great gift and allowed it to increasingly claim the banner of opposition to the U.S. This is driving a spiral that is both enormously dangerous in terms of the “war without end” the Bush regime once proudly promised and a nightmare for the people in Afghanistan and elsewhere – in fact, everywhere.
These factors are why the U.S. is adding 3,000 more American soldiers – badly needed in Iraq – to the 25,000 they already have in Afghanistan, in addition to escalating its pressure on the other Nato powers to supply more cannon fodder as well. Counting all of these forces, the approximately 5,000 men (all soldiers, but some not in uniform) of the so-called Provincial Reconstruction Teams and a similar number of foreign mercenaries employed by so-called “security contractors”, the total number of imperialist troops in Afghanistan today is about 65,000 – nearly three times the number they started with.
The other Nato imperialists have their own imperialist interests to consider and will not necessarily follow the U.S. strategy. Further, as the war unfolds, more people in the occupiers’ home countries are becoming aware of the goals of the imperialists and the disastrous outcome of this war for the people of Afghanistan and the people of the world as a whole. It is widely recognized that there is very little public support in Canada, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Poland, etc., for the war their country’s troops are waging (leaving aside here the question of public opinion in the U.S., fighting two wars). So far this fact has not been transformed into the kind of active factor that could help transform the equation.
The withdrawal of all the foreign forces from Afghanistan and stopping all military and political intervention by the imperialists and other reactionary powers in the region is the first step toward a solution for the people of Afghanistan. That is what the people in Afghanistan want and also what people around the world need.
Afghanistan: Why the Nato escalation?
28 April 2008. A World to Win News Service. Afghanistan was at the top of the agenda at the early April Nato summit meeting in Bucharest, Rumania. The host country and France agreed to send more forces to Afghanistan, to serve in the combat areas. Nato already has about 37,000 troops in Afghanistan, including 14,000 from the U.S. and 7,700 from Britain. The U.S. also has 11,000 more soldiers operating outside the Nato mission. In addition, Washington has announced that it will deploy more than 3,000 additional troops to Afghanistan this year.
After floating the idea some time ago, French president Nicolas Sarkozy formally announced at the summit that he will send what he called “several hundred” fresh forces to the south of Afghanistan to reinforce the occupation in that region. France has already 1,500 troops in Afghanistan, but they are mainly stationed around Kabul and have not been directly involved in the war zone areas in the south and east of Afghanistan. The real numbers could amount to many times more than a “few hundred”, since France intends to send a battalion, which normally would mean 1,000 soldiers. In parliament Sarkozy was accused of deliberately downplaying this move, since it is even more unpopular than he is, and he is the least popular president in recent French history. Even more than the number of troops involved, what is significant is their deployment to a combat area and possibly combat operations against the Taleban. This issue of direct participation in the war has been a hot topic and an issue of tension between the U.S. and other Nato countries, including France, until now, and in particular Germany.
Yet, while the Bush government touted France’s decision as a sign of victory, unity and the Nato countries’ “commitment” to the “reconstruction” and “security” of Afghanistan, it was not even close to this claim. Of course it is not in the nature of these imperialist bloodsuckers to care about a real reconstruction of Afghanistan, a reconstruction that would benefit the people, but this move was not even a positive sign from the point of view of their own imperialist interests. It was a sign that they are further than ever from achieving their aims in Afghanistan and that their strategy is not succeeding.
It is an important development that Paris has reversed its long-standing and strongly held policy and agreed to deploy troops to the war zone, and this will have military and political consequences for France, but this doesn’t indicate any enthusiastic “commitment”, even by Nato standards (compared, say, to much smaller Holland and Canada). It is not yet clear whether this is a first step forward on France’s part or a gesture with no future. In addition, Germany, Italy and Spain are continuing to keep their troops out of the war zones. It is noteworthy that a year ago Italy and Spain agreed to send their forces into the hot zones if desperately needed, but they have not come through. Considering this, as well as the broader challenges the Nato occupiers are facing in Afghanistan, this summit result cannot be considered a success by any standard, certainly not for those who have been waging a broad and vigorous campaign to bring about an escalation in the number of Nato troops involved in combat.
This campaign was launched by the Bush White House, with the support of the British and Dutch governments. Canada threatened to pull out its forces if other Nato countries did not send more troops into battle. These desperate calls were the outcome of the political and military situation in Afghanistan in the last few years and in particular the Taleban’s growing strength over the course of the last year.
Contrary to the Iraq war, which from the beginning faced massive opposition within the Western countries, and turned into a disaster for the occupiers early on, the Afghanistan war was supposed to be a “good war” for the U.S. and its allies. The Western imperialist rulers even had the support of a section of the intellectuals, in a much bigger way than for the Iraq invasion. Initially the U.S. was confident of success and so preferred to leave a big share of the occupation to its junior partners while it dealt with the bigger challenge it faced in Iraq. As a result, Washington allowed the British to reduce their forces in Iraq in order to assume more responsibility in Afghanistan. And that was what they did.
With the encouragement of the U.S. and the UK Nato took over the leadership of ISAF (International Security Assistance Force), the invasion troops whose mission is to hold Kabul, and then took on responsibility for the security mission in the whole country during the 2005 parliamentary elections. The idea was to move away, slightly, from the Bush doctrine of “the coalition of the willing”, which turned out to essentially mean American unilateral action seconded only by the UK and a few other of its most servile allies, and more broadly draw other imperialist countries into sharing the burden by giving more responsibility to Nato. For the U.S, the point was to forge and consolidate a military contingent that could act as a reserve force for American interventions and occupations. However some European countries saw this as a way to (again, slightly) counter American “unilateralism”, or at least take a more active part in occupations and interventions without putting their troops formally under the direct command of the U.S., even though the U.S. remains the undisputed boss of Nato. So most of the more powerful members welcomed this new mission for Nato.
Then in July 2006 Nato moved into the combat area and took command of the war zone in the southern region of Afghanistan, while the equally hot eastern region of the country remained the responsibility of the “coalition” forces under direct U.S. command. The UK stepped up the number of its troops in Afghanistan to more than 7,000, and, acting through Nato, took the lead in Helmand province, one of the Taleban strongholds in the southwest. Canada increased its troop strength to 2,500 and took responsibility for the Kandahar area. The Netherlands also moved into the combat area. However some European countries, such as Germany, France and a few others resisted sending their forces to the war zones.
As the situation grew worse, including both oppression and violence on the part of the occupiers and their government and the general corruption produced by their rule, the people of Afghanistan become more aware of the nature and brutality of the occupier forces and the aims and goals they are pursuing. As the Taleban became stronger and the war spread to many regions and escalated, the number of occupation troops killed and injured increased. According to Nato figures, there were 9,000 attacks on Western and Afghan puppet government troops in 2007, a 30 percent increase. At the same time, according to the US -led “coalition”, it carried out 3,500 air strikes during the year, 20 times the level of two years earlier. The number of civilians killed by the occupation forces reached a record high. In 2007 alone, the war claimed 6,500 Afghan lives. This war not only failed to eradicate the Taleban, as Bush and Blair claimed it would quickly do; it has spread and multiplied them. This situation has led to growing frustration among the occupation powers and heightened the tensions between them.
Especially over the last year the U.S., British and other imperialists have been waging a campaign to convince or pressure the other Nato countries to take part in combat. There has been an alarmist tone to reports from imperialist circles, including the military, parliamentary and certain humanitarian agencies, highlighting the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, the resurgence of the Taleban and the real possibility that, as they like to put it “Afghanistan could become a failed state.” Such reports do reflect reality, and at the same time they are also part of an effort to mobilize public opinion for more intervention.
But this situation has given rise to divisions among the imperialist countries that surfaced when the U.S. demanded that Germany, whose forces are in the relatively stable north, send combat troops and helicopters to the war zones. The German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, sent an “unusually stern” request to Berlin. Germany’s defence secretary, Franz Josef Jung, replied, “I believe our focus should continue to be in the north.” German chancellor Angela Merkel made clear that the limited mandate was “not up for discussion”. (The Guardian, 2 February 2008)
Sending forces to the combat zones was not the only issue in this rising tension. The methods and tactics used in the fighting have also become a major source of angry controversy among the occupation powers.
“Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, told the Los Angeles Times, ‘I’m worried we have some military forces that don’t know how to do counterinsurgency operations… Most of the European forces, Nato forces, are not trained in counterinsurgency; they were trained for the Fulda Gap,’ a reference to the German region where a Soviet land invasion of western Europe was regarded as most likely.” (The Guardian, 16 January 2008)
This provoked an angry reaction from some of the countries involved in the fighting, including the Dutch general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who is the secretary general of Nato. The Dutch defence ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador to explain Gates’ remarks.
As background to this row, there have been long simmering differences between the UK and the U.S. regarding the tactics used in this war. British military commanders have accused the U.S. of “heavy-handed tactics”, including excessive aerial bombing – which regularly leads to civilian casualties. When the British suggested a plan to support local militia and civil defence forces in the south, American military commanders rejected it. U.S. general Dan McNeill, commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, said that the plan could fuel the insurgency. These differences seem to run deep and to be related to even more basic issues, although they are still somewhat obscure. Recent events provide some stark evidence of this: the arrest of two British diplomats in Afghanistan for allegedly negotiating with Taleban forces, and the rejection of Lord Paddy Ashdown for the post of UN special envoy to Afghanistan, who was unofficially said to be too strong a personality for the job. Both acts were supposedly carried out by the Afghanistan government of Hamid Karzai, but there has been no indication that the U.S. was displeased with these measures taken by the man they put in power.
As the saying goes, when things go wrong thieves fall out.
The Taleban’s new found ability to step up the war in 2007 was a big shock to many people. Throughout the last year Taleban carried out around 140 suicide attacks all over Afghanistan, and gained the control of at least four districts (velsewali) in the south, according to a January report by the BBC Persian service. In the past year alone approximately 800 police were killed, in addition to the heavy causalities suffered by the puppet army and the occupiers. Also the number of attacks against the Afghan army, mainly carried out by the Taleban, was several times higher than in previous years.
Musa Ghala was the biggest town in the north of Helmand to fall to the Taleban. Though they later lost it, they kept control of three other districts in the same province throughout the year. During 2007 Taleban activities spread to the western provinces of Afghanistan. The Taleban were able to seize several districts in Farah province, although they could not hold them for long.
At the same time the Afghanistan people experienced one of their worst years in terms of security. They were caught in a crossfire between the occupiers and the Taleban, and as a result, hundreds if not thousands were killed. A great many were killed by the air bombardment of the U.S.-led coalition forces and also by Nato forces.
Taleban have increasingly adopted the tactics used by Islamic fundamentalists in Iraq, suicide attacks or planting mines and even bombs on roadsides. The point is that the military tactics of both sides are reactionary because their goals are reactionary. Neither side has any interest in sparing the lives of ordinary people.
At the same time corruption within the puppet regime has increasingly disillusioned the people about any possibility of improvement of their situation. Opium and heroin production have broken all records. The occupation forces and regime officials blame the Taleban for this increase. It is true that the Taleban are benefiting from it, but various reports indicate the involvement of high governmental officials in the production, distribution and exportation of drugs too, including Hamid Karzai’s own brother, Wali Ahmad Karzai. He is well known as the largest heroin and arms smuggler in the region, a position he enjoys thanks to his relationship to the president.
The Afghanistan war turned out to be a disaster for the people. However, the occupiers will not pull out of the country for that reason. On the contrary, they are preparing for what they call a “long-term commitment”. While some of the junior partners find it difficult to cope with the newly worsening situation, the U.S. has no choice but to continue the war for years or decades ahead – unless the people drive them all out. For the U.S., the occupation of Afghanistan is not an isolated effort. It plays an important part of its strategy for the greater Middle East and to some extent Central Asia. For the U.S., victory or at least a relative control over Afghanistan is crucial as it vigorously seeks to materialise its threats against Iran. Its war in Afghanistan is also increasingly intertwined with the situation in Pakistan, home to 2.4 million Afghani refugees. Continuing U.S. support for President Pervez Musharraf is very much related to the expressed desire of American military commanders in Afghanistan to mount larger scale military operations on both sides of the border, targeting Pakistani as well as Afghani forces.
In addition, the Bush regime has performed a near miracle, reviving the prostrate forces of a Taleban who had earned the bitter hatred of millions of Afghanis. Now the U.S. has little choice but to deal with the consequences of its own acts. Contrary to the lies of the Bush regime, the Taleban (and their allies in Al-Qaeda), on the one hand, and the Islamic Republic of Iran (and its Shia fundamentalist allies in other countries) on the other, have neither much ideological affinity nor a common project, and in fact have been and remain enemies to the death. Still the U.S.’s efforts to stamp out anti-U.S. Islamic fundamentalism by waging war on the people have given that religious trend a great gift and allowed it to increasingly claim the banner of opposition to the U.S. This is driving a spiral that is both enormously dangerous in terms of the “war without end” the Bush regime once proudly promised and a nightmare for the people in Afghanistan and elsewhere – in fact, everywhere.
These factors are why the U.S. is adding 3,000 more American soldiers – badly needed in Iraq – to the 25,000 they already have in Afghanistan, in addition to escalating its pressure on the other Nato powers to supply more cannon fodder as well. Counting all of these forces, the approximately 5,000 men (all soldiers, but some not in uniform) of the so-called Provincial Reconstruction Teams and a similar number of foreign mercenaries employed by so-called “security contractors”, the total number of imperialist troops in Afghanistan today is about 65,000 – nearly three times the number they started with.
The other Nato imperialists have their own imperialist interests to consider and will not necessarily follow the U.S. strategy. Further, as the war unfolds, more people in the occupiers’ home countries are becoming aware of the goals of the imperialists and the disastrous outcome of this war for the people of Afghanistan and the people of the world as a whole. It is widely recognized that there is very little public support in Canada, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Poland, etc., for the war their country’s troops are waging (leaving aside here the question of public opinion in the U.S., fighting two wars). So far this fact has not been transformed into the kind of active factor that could help transform the equation.
The withdrawal of all the foreign forces from Afghanistan and stopping all military and political intervention by the imperialists and other reactionary powers in the region is the first step toward a solution for the people of Afghanistan. That is what the people in Afghanistan want and also what people around the world need.
09 Mei 2008
LOTW: Workification is the total degradation
Lyrics Of The Week
This awesome little rant is brought to us by Purgjen from Moscow, & you can hear it on track 21 of current playlist. Original in Russian, followed by English translation by me (yes, 'workification' is not a real word, but neither is 'rabotejshen', it's part of why I like this song...).
Работэйшен = деградейшн
И МНЕ НЕСНЯТСЯБОЛШЕ СНЫ
ПРО ДОМ, ПРО ГОРОД И ОТНИ
И ЭТО ВСЕ ИЗЗА ТОГО
УТО НА РАБОТУ Я ПОШЕЛ
РАБОТЭШЭН ПОЛНЫЙ ДИГРАДЭЙШЭН
РАБОТЭШЭН ПОЛНЫЙ ДИГРАДЭЙШЭН
И МЫСЛИ ИЗ МЕНЯ УШЛИ
ОСТАЛИСЬ ТЕ, ЧТО НЕНУЖНЫ
И ВСЯ РАБОТА ЭТО БРЕД
И КРЫША ЕДЕТ СИЛЫ НЕТ
РАБОТЭШЭН ПОЛНЫЙ ДИГРАДЭЙШЭН
ЗАЧЕМ РАБОТАТЬ ЦЕЛЫЙ ДЕНЬ
ТОГДА НЕТ СМЫСЛА В ЖИЗНЕ СЕЙ
И СТАВИТЬ ДЕНГИЬ ВЫШЕ ВСЕХ
ИЗ СЕРИИ ТУПЫХ ПОТЕХ
РАБОТЭШЭН ПОЛНЫЙ ДИГРАДЭЙШЭН
Workification = degradation
AND I CAN'T DREAM ANY MORE DREAMS
ABOUT A HOUSE, ABOUT A TOWN AND FIRES
AND ALL THIS, BECAUSE
I WENT TO WORK IN THE MORNING
WORKIFICATION IS THE TOTAL DEGRADATION
WORKIFICATION IS THE TOTAL DEGRADATION
AND THE THOUGHTS LEFT ME
ONLY THOSE REMAINED, WHICH AREN'T NEEDED
AND ALL OF WORK IS DELIRIUM
AND YOU LOSE YOUR MIND WITH NO EFFORT
WORKIFICATION IS THE TOTAL DEGRADATION
WHY WORK THE WHOLE DAY?
THEN THERE'S NO SENSE IN THIS LIFE
AND PUTTING MONEY BEFORE EVERYTHING
IS FROM A SERIES OF STUPID JOKES
This awesome little rant is brought to us by Purgjen from Moscow, & you can hear it on track 21 of current playlist. Original in Russian, followed by English translation by me (yes, 'workification' is not a real word, but neither is 'rabotejshen', it's part of why I like this song...).
Работэйшен = деградейшн
И МНЕ НЕСНЯТСЯБОЛШЕ СНЫ
ПРО ДОМ, ПРО ГОРОД И ОТНИ
И ЭТО ВСЕ ИЗЗА ТОГО
УТО НА РАБОТУ Я ПОШЕЛ
РАБОТЭШЭН ПОЛНЫЙ ДИГРАДЭЙШЭН
РАБОТЭШЭН ПОЛНЫЙ ДИГРАДЭЙШЭН
И МЫСЛИ ИЗ МЕНЯ УШЛИ
ОСТАЛИСЬ ТЕ, ЧТО НЕНУЖНЫ
И ВСЯ РАБОТА ЭТО БРЕД
И КРЫША ЕДЕТ СИЛЫ НЕТ
РАБОТЭШЭН ПОЛНЫЙ ДИГРАДЭЙШЭН
ЗАЧЕМ РАБОТАТЬ ЦЕЛЫЙ ДЕНЬ
ТОГДА НЕТ СМЫСЛА В ЖИЗНЕ СЕЙ
И СТАВИТЬ ДЕНГИЬ ВЫШЕ ВСЕХ
ИЗ СЕРИИ ТУПЫХ ПОТЕХ
РАБОТЭШЭН ПОЛНЫЙ ДИГРАДЭЙШЭН
Workification = degradation
AND I CAN'T DREAM ANY MORE DREAMS
ABOUT A HOUSE, ABOUT A TOWN AND FIRES
AND ALL THIS, BECAUSE
I WENT TO WORK IN THE MORNING
WORKIFICATION IS THE TOTAL DEGRADATION
WORKIFICATION IS THE TOTAL DEGRADATION
AND THE THOUGHTS LEFT ME
ONLY THOSE REMAINED, WHICH AREN'T NEEDED
AND ALL OF WORK IS DELIRIUM
AND YOU LOSE YOUR MIND WITH NO EFFORT
WORKIFICATION IS THE TOTAL DEGRADATION
WHY WORK THE WHOLE DAY?
THEN THERE'S NO SENSE IN THIS LIFE
AND PUTTING MONEY BEFORE EVERYTHING
IS FROM A SERIES OF STUPID JOKES
02 Mei 2008
LOTW: The world is about to change its foundation; We are nothing, let us be all
Here is the lyrics to the battle hymn of the international proletariat, "L'Internationale" by Eugène Pottier. It is on the current playlist in different language versions on tracks 1, 5, 9, 14, 19, 27, 31, 37, 41, 44. If that's not enough for you, check out this page here.
Below is the original French version, followed by literal English translation (as found on Wikipedia). Often the lyrics are changed for rhyme & rhythm, some of the stanzas are cut out, etc. For lyrics in different languages check out this Wikipedia page & find links to the translations on the left column under 'languages'.
L'Internationale
Debout, les damnés de la terre
Debout, les forçats de la faim
La raison tonne en son cratère
C'est l'éruption de la fin
Du passé faisons table rase
Foules, esclaves, debout, debout
Le monde va changer de base
Nous ne sommes rien, soyons tout
[Refrain:]
C'est la lutte finale
Groupons-nous, et demain
L'Internationale
Sera le genre humain
Il n'est pas de sauveurs suprêmes
Ni Dieu, ni César, ni tribun
Producteurs, sauvons-nous nous-mêmes
Décrétons le salut commun
Pour que le voleur rende gorge
Pour tirer l'esprit du cachot
Soufflons nous-mêmes notre forge
Battons le fer quand il est chaud
[Refrain]
L'état comprime et la loi triche
L'impôt saigne le malheureux
Nul devoir ne s'impose au riche
Le droit du pauvre est un mot creux
C'est assez, languir en tutelle
L'égalité veut d'autres lois
Pas de droits sans devoirs dit-elle
Egaux, pas de devoirs sans droits
[Refrain]
Hideux dans leur apothéose
Les rois de la mine et du rail
Ont-ils jamais fait autre chose
Que dévaliser le travail
Dans les coffres-forts de la bande
Ce qu'il a créé s'est fondu
En décrétant qu'on le lui rende
Le peuple ne veut que son dû.
[Refrain]
Les rois nous saoulaient de fumées
Paix entre nous, guerre aux tyrans
Appliquons la grève aux armées
Crosse en l'air, et rompons les rangs
S'ils s'obstinent, ces cannibales
A faire de nous des héros
Ils sauront bientôt que nos balles
Sont pour nos propres généraux
[Refrain]
Ouvriers, paysans, nous sommes
Le grand parti des travailleurs
La terre n'appartient qu'aux hommes
L'oisif ira loger ailleurs
Combien, de nos chairs se repaissent
Mais si les corbeaux, les vautours
Un de ces matins disparaissent
Le soleil brillera toujours.
[Refrain]
The Internationale
Stand up, wretched of the earth
Stand up, galley slaves of hunger
Reason thunders in its volcano
This is the eruption of the end
Of the past let us wipe the slate clean
Masses, slaves, arise, arise
The world is about to change its foundation
We are nothing, let us be all
[Refrain:]
This is the final struggle
Let us gather together, and tomorrow
The Internationale
Will be the human race
There are no supreme saviours
Neither God, nor Caesar, nor tribune.
Producers, let us save ourselves
Decree the common welfare
That the thief return his plunder,
That the spirit be pulled from its prison
Let us fan the forge ourselves
Strike the iron while it is hot
[Refrain]
The state represses and the law cheats
The tax bleeds the unfortunate
No duty is imposed on the rich
'Rights of the poor' is a hollow phrase
Enough languishing in custody
Equality wants other laws:
No rights without obligations, it says,
And as well, no obligations without rights
[Refrain]
Hideous in their self-glorification
Kings of the mine and rail
Have they ever done anything other
Than steal work?
Into the coffers of that lot,
What work creates has melted
In demanding that they give it back
The people wants only its due.
[Refrain]
The kings make us drunk with their fumes,
Peace among ourselves, war to the tyrants!
Let the armies go on strike,
Guns in the air, and break ranks
If these cannibals insist
On making heroes of us,
Soon they will know our bullets
Are for our own generals
[Refrain]
Labourers, peasants, we are
The great party of workers
The earth belongs only to men
The idle will go reside elsewhere
How much of our flesh they feed on,
But if the ravens and vultures
Disappear one of these days
The sun will still shine
[Refrain]
Below is the original French version, followed by literal English translation (as found on Wikipedia). Often the lyrics are changed for rhyme & rhythm, some of the stanzas are cut out, etc. For lyrics in different languages check out this Wikipedia page & find links to the translations on the left column under 'languages'.
L'Internationale
Debout, les damnés de la terre
Debout, les forçats de la faim
La raison tonne en son cratère
C'est l'éruption de la fin
Du passé faisons table rase
Foules, esclaves, debout, debout
Le monde va changer de base
Nous ne sommes rien, soyons tout
[Refrain:]
C'est la lutte finale
Groupons-nous, et demain
L'Internationale
Sera le genre humain
Il n'est pas de sauveurs suprêmes
Ni Dieu, ni César, ni tribun
Producteurs, sauvons-nous nous-mêmes
Décrétons le salut commun
Pour que le voleur rende gorge
Pour tirer l'esprit du cachot
Soufflons nous-mêmes notre forge
Battons le fer quand il est chaud
[Refrain]
L'état comprime et la loi triche
L'impôt saigne le malheureux
Nul devoir ne s'impose au riche
Le droit du pauvre est un mot creux
C'est assez, languir en tutelle
L'égalité veut d'autres lois
Pas de droits sans devoirs dit-elle
Egaux, pas de devoirs sans droits
[Refrain]
Hideux dans leur apothéose
Les rois de la mine et du rail
Ont-ils jamais fait autre chose
Que dévaliser le travail
Dans les coffres-forts de la bande
Ce qu'il a créé s'est fondu
En décrétant qu'on le lui rende
Le peuple ne veut que son dû.
[Refrain]
Les rois nous saoulaient de fumées
Paix entre nous, guerre aux tyrans
Appliquons la grève aux armées
Crosse en l'air, et rompons les rangs
S'ils s'obstinent, ces cannibales
A faire de nous des héros
Ils sauront bientôt que nos balles
Sont pour nos propres généraux
[Refrain]
Ouvriers, paysans, nous sommes
Le grand parti des travailleurs
La terre n'appartient qu'aux hommes
L'oisif ira loger ailleurs
Combien, de nos chairs se repaissent
Mais si les corbeaux, les vautours
Un de ces matins disparaissent
Le soleil brillera toujours.
[Refrain]
The Internationale
Stand up, wretched of the earth
Stand up, galley slaves of hunger
Reason thunders in its volcano
This is the eruption of the end
Of the past let us wipe the slate clean
Masses, slaves, arise, arise
The world is about to change its foundation
We are nothing, let us be all
[Refrain:]
This is the final struggle
Let us gather together, and tomorrow
The Internationale
Will be the human race
There are no supreme saviours
Neither God, nor Caesar, nor tribune.
Producers, let us save ourselves
Decree the common welfare
That the thief return his plunder,
That the spirit be pulled from its prison
Let us fan the forge ourselves
Strike the iron while it is hot
[Refrain]
The state represses and the law cheats
The tax bleeds the unfortunate
No duty is imposed on the rich
'Rights of the poor' is a hollow phrase
Enough languishing in custody
Equality wants other laws:
No rights without obligations, it says,
And as well, no obligations without rights
[Refrain]
Hideous in their self-glorification
Kings of the mine and rail
Have they ever done anything other
Than steal work?
Into the coffers of that lot,
What work creates has melted
In demanding that they give it back
The people wants only its due.
[Refrain]
The kings make us drunk with their fumes,
Peace among ourselves, war to the tyrants!
Let the armies go on strike,
Guns in the air, and break ranks
If these cannibals insist
On making heroes of us,
Soon they will know our bullets
Are for our own generals
[Refrain]
Labourers, peasants, we are
The great party of workers
The earth belongs only to men
The idle will go reside elsewhere
How much of our flesh they feed on,
But if the ravens and vultures
Disappear one of these days
The sun will still shine
[Refrain]
RR re-broadcast by Blue Barn Posse in Kansas
Tune in to Blue Barn Posse Radio at 10pm (US central time) on Sunday night 3rd May '08, call-in number is +1-646-7168652. There will be news & talk as well as 1 hour of the current Revolution Radio show.
At the link above one can also listen to previous shows too.
At the link above one can also listen to previous shows too.
01 Mei 2008
RR 1.5.08
{DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE THING, PART ONE}
{DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE THING, PART TWO}
{DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE THING, PART THREE}
Red greetings to all,
Special long edition for International Workers' Day. Sprinkled throughout are different versions of the battle hymn of the international proletariat, "L'Internationale". Additionally there's a bunch of takes on the general theme here, whether 'general' calls for anticapitalist revolution, visions of a future society worth fighting for, or more specific ballads of the oppression & struggle of the proletariat, whose exploitation forms the basis on which the whole shit system is built on. 'The bosses are feeding on living corpses,' as Boysetsfire puts it. Even got some history lessons on the origins of IWD itself (US ska in second track, & Catalan punk in second-to-last track); read more background infos here.
Love to all the sisters & brothers living under the capitalist boot,
Hate to the class enemy,
Wake up call to those who can't yet see the difference.
And enjoy the music.
theme: "L'Internationale"
theme: Proletarian history
1. Táng Cháo - Yīngtènàxióngnài'ěr ("L'Internationale" Chinese version) {download}
2. The Strike - Shots Heard 'Round The World
3. Boysetsfire - The Force Majeure
4. Blue Scholars - Proletariat Blues
5. Al-lumumiyeh ("L'Internationale" Arabic version) {download}
6. The (International) Noise Conspiracy - Communist Moon
7. The Kieran Ridge Band - Laborer's Blues
8. Kadena - Welga
9. Maxx Klaxon - Internationale 2000 ("L'Internationale" new English version) {download}
10. Red Shadow (The Economics Rock & Roll Band) - Understanding Marx {download}
11. Four Letter Words - Kill My Boss
12. The Coup - 5 Million Ways to Kill a C.E.O.
13. System Of A Down - P.L.U.C.K.
14. Tetsuya Daiku - Intonasyonaalu ("L'Internationale" Japanese version) {download}
15. Claudes Claudes - Mao Mao {download}
16. Rapaces - Un système d'esclaves et de boss {download}
17. Lila Downs - El Bracero Fracasado
18. Asian Dub Foundation - Naxalite
19. Subversivos - A internacional ("L'Internationale" Portuguese version) {download}
20. Lamb Of God - Boot Scraper
21. Purgjen - Rabotejshen = Digradejshen {download}
22. P.O.W.E.R. - Class War
23. L'Internationale {download}
24. Afrika - Revolution
25. Blind Pigs - Capitalist Myth
26. Jeunesse Apatride - À ma révolution
27. Commandantes - Die Internationale ("L'Internationale" German version)
28. Randy - Proletarian hop
29. Z.E.N. - Abba oa Jeon Tae-il {download}
30. Kalash - State and Revolution
31. Vennaskond - Internatsionaal ("L'Internationale" Estonian version) {download}
32. Ska-P - El Vals del Obrero
33. Inadaptats - Orgull de classe
34. Reazione - Forse un giorno vincerà! {download}
35. Phil Ochs - Ringing of Revolution
36. John Lennon - Imagine
37. Xün Xürtu - Internatsional ("L'Internationale" Tuvan version) {download}
38. Inner Conflict - Which Side Are You On? [trad.] {download}
39. Mystik & 2 Bal Niggets - La sédition
40. The Suicide Machines - Red Flag
41. Pól Mac Adaim - An t-Idirnáisiúnta ("L'Internationale" Irish version) {download}
42. Phil Ochs - Joe Hill
43. Inadaptats - El cercle viciós de la moderació
44. Gong Law - Saamakhii Naa Naa Chaat ("L'Internationale" Thai version) {download}
{DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE THING, PART TWO}
{DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE THING, PART THREE}
Red greetings to all,
Special long edition for International Workers' Day. Sprinkled throughout are different versions of the battle hymn of the international proletariat, "L'Internationale". Additionally there's a bunch of takes on the general theme here, whether 'general' calls for anticapitalist revolution, visions of a future society worth fighting for, or more specific ballads of the oppression & struggle of the proletariat, whose exploitation forms the basis on which the whole shit system is built on. 'The bosses are feeding on living corpses,' as Boysetsfire puts it. Even got some history lessons on the origins of IWD itself (US ska in second track, & Catalan punk in second-to-last track); read more background infos here.
Love to all the sisters & brothers living under the capitalist boot,
Hate to the class enemy,
Wake up call to those who can't yet see the difference.
And enjoy the music.
theme: "L'Internationale"
theme: Proletarian history
1. Táng Cháo - Yīngtènàxióngnài'ěr ("L'Internationale" Chinese version) {download}
2. The Strike - Shots Heard 'Round The World
3. Boysetsfire - The Force Majeure
4. Blue Scholars - Proletariat Blues
5. Al-lumumiyeh ("L'Internationale" Arabic version) {download}
6. The (International) Noise Conspiracy - Communist Moon
7. The Kieran Ridge Band - Laborer's Blues
8. Kadena - Welga
9. Maxx Klaxon - Internationale 2000 ("L'Internationale" new English version) {download}
10. Red Shadow (The Economics Rock & Roll Band) - Understanding Marx {download}
11. Four Letter Words - Kill My Boss
12. The Coup - 5 Million Ways to Kill a C.E.O.
13. System Of A Down - P.L.U.C.K.
14. Tetsuya Daiku - Intonasyonaalu ("L'Internationale" Japanese version) {download}
15. Claudes Claudes - Mao Mao {download}
16. Rapaces - Un système d'esclaves et de boss {download}
17. Lila Downs - El Bracero Fracasado
18. Asian Dub Foundation - Naxalite
19. Subversivos - A internacional ("L'Internationale" Portuguese version) {download}
20. Lamb Of God - Boot Scraper
21. Purgjen - Rabotejshen = Digradejshen {download}
22. P.O.W.E.R. - Class War
23. L'Internationale {download}
24. Afrika - Revolution
25. Blind Pigs - Capitalist Myth
26. Jeunesse Apatride - À ma révolution
27. Commandantes - Die Internationale ("L'Internationale" German version)
28. Randy - Proletarian hop
29. Z.E.N. - Abba oa Jeon Tae-il {download}
30. Kalash - State and Revolution
31. Vennaskond - Internatsionaal ("L'Internationale" Estonian version) {download}
32. Ska-P - El Vals del Obrero
33. Inadaptats - Orgull de classe
34. Reazione - Forse un giorno vincerà! {download}
35. Phil Ochs - Ringing of Revolution
36. John Lennon - Imagine
37. Xün Xürtu - Internatsional ("L'Internationale" Tuvan version) {download}
38. Inner Conflict - Which Side Are You On? [trad.] {download}
39. Mystik & 2 Bal Niggets - La sédition
40. The Suicide Machines - Red Flag
41. Pól Mac Adaim - An t-Idirnáisiúnta ("L'Internationale" Irish version) {download}
42. Phil Ochs - Joe Hill
43. Inadaptats - El cercle viciós de la moderació
44. Gong Law - Saamakhii Naa Naa Chaat ("L'Internationale" Thai version) {download}
25 April 2008
LOTW: That's where I'll stay, Swimming upstream, I maintain against the grain
Lyrics Of The Week:
Well, many of you probably know this one well enough to sing along already. A classic by Bad Religion; track 13 on current playlist.
Against The Grain
Three thousand miles of wilderness
Overcome by the flow,
A lonely restitution of pavement,
Pomp and show,
I seek a thousand answers,
I find but one or two,
I maintain no discomfiture,
My path again renewed,
Against the grain,
Thats where I'll stay,
Swimming upstream,
I maintain against the grain
Here labelled as lunatic,
Sequestered and content,
There ignored and defeated
By the government,
There's an oriented public whose magnetic
Force does pull,
But away from the potential of the individual,
Against the grain.....
The flow is getting stronger
With smaller increments of time and eddies
Of new ideas are increasingly hard to find,
You need all that the other has,
Your right to seize the day
But in all your acquisitions you will soon
Be swept away,
Against the grain......
There's a common consensus
And an uncomfortable cheer,
A reverberating chorus that anyone can hear,
It sings leave your cares behind you,
Just grab tenaciously,
This lulling sense of purpose will
Destroy us rapidly,
Against the grain.....
Well, many of you probably know this one well enough to sing along already. A classic by Bad Religion; track 13 on current playlist.
Against The Grain
Three thousand miles of wilderness
Overcome by the flow,
A lonely restitution of pavement,
Pomp and show,
I seek a thousand answers,
I find but one or two,
I maintain no discomfiture,
My path again renewed,
Against the grain,
Thats where I'll stay,
Swimming upstream,
I maintain against the grain
Here labelled as lunatic,
Sequestered and content,
There ignored and defeated
By the government,
There's an oriented public whose magnetic
Force does pull,
But away from the potential of the individual,
Against the grain.....
The flow is getting stronger
With smaller increments of time and eddies
Of new ideas are increasingly hard to find,
You need all that the other has,
Your right to seize the day
But in all your acquisitions you will soon
Be swept away,
Against the grain......
There's a common consensus
And an uncomfortable cheer,
A reverberating chorus that anyone can hear,
It sings leave your cares behind you,
Just grab tenaciously,
This lulling sense of purpose will
Destroy us rapidly,
Against the grain.....
22 April 2008
Royal Bank Attacked March 5 in Ottawa
Originally posted anonymously at infoshop; also reposted at No 2010 Olympics On Native Stolen Land website.
Nature Helps Anarchists Hit Royal Bank of Canada... Again
The early morning of March 5th, 2008 saw yet a further taste of the royal dish of vengeance we are preparing for the Royal Bank of KKKanada, and all corporate sponsors of the ecocide/genocide of the 2010 Corporate Circus ("Winter Olympic Games") on unceded Coast Salish territories in the west. The windows of the 1st Ave and Bank St location of RBC, Ottawa, were thoroughly smashed. This time, Mother Nature provided the tools for the assault – a block of ice mixed with the poisonous salts of the city road crews, hardened to a beautiful projectile.
RBC finds itself the continued target of our campaign because of its complicity and blatant support of imperialism, racial profiling, and exploitation advanced by the Security and Prosperity Partnership (final ratification in 2010). The company's CEO, Gordon M. Nixon chairs the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), one of the key proponents of this exploitative and repressive NAFTA + "homeland security" initiative.
RBC is targeted for sponsoring and profiting off of the gentrification, environmental destruction, and colonialism which characterize – indeed, are the entirety of the 2010 Winter Games. This Corporate Circus will see further theft of the land of Indigenous peoples, as well as causing (already!) the repression of the poor of Vancouver.
Beyond the above, we target the RBC because it is a bank, the central component of the capitalist state which is responsible for global and domestic exploitation of the working classes for the profits of the ruling elite and their bourgeois puppets.
These attacks are carried out in solidarity with Indigenous peoples of Coast Salish, the poor of Vancouver, and all those who struggle against the Corporate Circus that serves nothing but the ultimate god of this society: profit.
Riot 2010!
~ Ottawa Anarchists
Nature Helps Anarchists Hit Royal Bank of Canada... Again
The early morning of March 5th, 2008 saw yet a further taste of the royal dish of vengeance we are preparing for the Royal Bank of KKKanada, and all corporate sponsors of the ecocide/genocide of the 2010 Corporate Circus ("Winter Olympic Games") on unceded Coast Salish territories in the west. The windows of the 1st Ave and Bank St location of RBC, Ottawa, were thoroughly smashed. This time, Mother Nature provided the tools for the assault – a block of ice mixed with the poisonous salts of the city road crews, hardened to a beautiful projectile.
RBC finds itself the continued target of our campaign because of its complicity and blatant support of imperialism, racial profiling, and exploitation advanced by the Security and Prosperity Partnership (final ratification in 2010). The company's CEO, Gordon M. Nixon chairs the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), one of the key proponents of this exploitative and repressive NAFTA + "homeland security" initiative.
RBC is targeted for sponsoring and profiting off of the gentrification, environmental destruction, and colonialism which characterize – indeed, are the entirety of the 2010 Winter Games. This Corporate Circus will see further theft of the land of Indigenous peoples, as well as causing (already!) the repression of the poor of Vancouver.
Beyond the above, we target the RBC because it is a bank, the central component of the capitalist state which is responsible for global and domestic exploitation of the working classes for the profits of the ruling elite and their bourgeois puppets.
These attacks are carried out in solidarity with Indigenous peoples of Coast Salish, the poor of Vancouver, and all those who struggle against the Corporate Circus that serves nothing but the ultimate god of this society: profit.
Riot 2010!
~ Ottawa Anarchists
Heraus zur Revolutionären 1. Mai in Berlin!
Below are calls to Revolutionary 1st May events in Berlin, Germany. First is call to 1pm demo by Revolutionary 1st May Coalition, followed by call to 6pm demo by Antifascist Left of Berlin (be there at 5 pm for music by Keny Arkana & Banda Bassotti). Hopefully I will do some English translations soon, but no promises since they're kinda long (especially the 2nd one).
Mit dieser Welt, einer Welt, die von der Logik des Profitsystems und der Ausbeutung der großen Mehrheit durch eine verschwindend kleine Minderheit beherrscht wird, werden wir uns nicht abfinden.
Wir wollen eine radikal andere Welt:
· eine Welt, in der Eroberungskriege - und Kriege insgesamt - nur etwas sind, was in den Geschichts-büchern steht und Gewalt eines Menschen gegen einen anderen nicht mehr vorkommt;
· eine Welt, in der eine kleine Anzahl von reichen Ländern nicht mehr die überwiegende Mehrheit der Nationen und Menschen der Welt dominiert und ausbeutet;
· eine Welt, in der Frauen und Männer in der Tat gleichberechtigt sind, in der das Patriarchat in all seinen Formen vollkommen abgeschafft ist und sich keine Frau vor der Gewalt oder der Misshandlung durch einen Mann fürchten muss;
· eine Welt, in der die Gesellschaft als Ganzes die Verantwortung übernimmt dafür zu sorgen, dass Kinder liebevoll und fürsorglich behandelt werden und keiner Misshandlung durch Erwachsene ausgesetzt sind;
· eine Welt, in der die Jugend nicht als Bedrohung angesehen wird, sondern als eine der treibenden Kräfte für die stets notwendige Erneuerung der Gesellschaft;
· eine Welt, in der die kulturelle Vielfalt respektiert und als eine Bereicherung der menschlichen Gesellschaft geschätzt wird;
· eine Welt, in der die jeweils lebende Generation sich als Treuhänder der natürlichen Umwelt begreift und dafür sorgt, dass sie intakt an die nächste Generation übergeben wird;
· eine Welt, in der die Menschen freiwillig und bewusst zusammenarbeiten, um die Bedürfnisse aller Menschen zu erfüllen und um sich selbst und die Gesellschaft als Ganzes weiterzuentwickeln.
So eine radikal andere Welt ist möglich! Das einzige, was die Menschheit daran hindert sie zu verwirklichen, ist das aktuell herrschende Profitsystem und die politische und militärische Macht, die von einer kleinen Minderheit benutzt wird, um diese Verhältnisse aufrechtzuerhalten und zu befestigen. Aber dieses System und seine Herrscher werden nicht von alleine fallen oder verschwinden: Sie müssen besiegt werden, und zwar weltweit durch
Der Alptraum von einer Zukunft, die das profit-über-alles kapitalistische/imperialistische System uns anbietet wird fast täglich noch dunkler. Überall auf der Welt sehen wir zunehmend Elend und Unterdrückung; Folter und Verschleppung; von den Obrigkeiten geschürten Hass und Intoleranz; Ausbeutung, Okkupation und Krieg. Auch im Jahr 2008 sterben täglich Zehntausende am Hunger. Im Namen von "Demokratie" und "Befreiung" hat die blutige Invasion und Besatzung von Irak schon über 600.000 Menschenleben gefordert und den Irak in einen kaum vorstellbaren Horror verwandelt. Und jetzt droht unter dem Deckmantel des sogenannten "Anti-Terror-Kriegs" ein Angriff auf den Iran - möglicherweise mit Atomwaffen -, der noch weitere Tausende Opfer kosten würde.
Überall auf der Welt sind deutsche Waffen und Soldaten im Einsatz, um im Namen des "Friedens" den Weltmachtanspruch der Deutsch-Imperialisten mit Eisen und Blei zu untermauern. Aus "Bündnistreue" werden Geheimgefängnisse und Verschleppung, Misshandlung und Folter von der Bundesregierung stillschweigend akzeptiert bzw. aktiv unterstützt.
Hier in Deutschland nimmt auch der Krieg nach innen ständig an Härte zu: Es wird offen über "Straflagern" für "kriminelle Jugendlichen" geredet; Rassistische Aus- grenzung und Diskriminierung wird in "Integration" umgetauft; Polizeiübergriffe und -gewalt gehören für viele zum Alltag und vielerorts gehört Faschogewalt zum Straßenbild; eine anti-islamische Hetzkampagne kriminalisiert eine ganze Religion; Frauen werden zu Sexobjekten und Gebärmuttern degradiert; der Abbau von politischen Rechten und Ausbau von Überwachungs- und Polizeistaatsmaßnahmen wird forciert; eine Welle des Sozialabbaus fegt durchs Land; Massenarbeitslosigkeit und Armut werden für permanent erklärt; Lohnkürzungen, Rentenkürzungen usw. usf. - all dies wird als Erfolg gefeiert. Jeder Unterschied unter den Menschen - Hautfarbe, Nationalität, Geschlecht, Religion, Sprache, sexuelle Orientierung, Alter usw. - wird benutzt um einen Teil der Bevölkerung gegen einen anderen auszuspielen und einen gemeinsamen Kampf gegen den gemeinsamen Feind zu verhindern.
Am 1. Mai, den internationalen Kampf- und Feiertag der Unterdrückten dieser Welt, machen wir sichtbar, dass es auch hier im Mitten Europas Menschen gibt, die auf nichts weniger zielen als diese weltweite revolutionäre Umwälzung von unten. Eine Umwälzung, die die Welt nicht aus "deutscher" oder "europäischer" Sicht betrachtet, sondern vom Standpunkt des Internationalismus aus: Die Erkenntnis, dass die Zukunft, die wir anstreben, nur realisiert werden kann, indem wir sie gemeinsam weltweit schaffen. Am 1. Mai 2008 werden wir unsere Verbundenheit mit den Menschen überall auf der Welt, die diese Vision teilen, zum Ausdruck bringen: vom Irak bis Frankreich, Iran bis den USA, Nepal bis Südafrika, Palästina bis Indonesien, Peru bis zur Türkei, Afghanistan bis Dänemark, China bis Polen, Indien bis Großbritannien usw.
Seit dem Massenaufstand 1987 in Kreuzberg steht die Revolutionäre 1. Mai-Demonstration vom Oranienplatz aus für diese Vision. Am 1. Mai 2008 haben wir vor zum 20. Mal in Folge eine revolutionäre Botschaft an die Welt zu senden. Wir sagen allen Menschen: Wenn du dich in dieser Vision wieder finden kannst, dann schließ dich uns an - komm zur Demo! Wir sagen allen, die Geschichte machen und nicht ihr Opfer sein wollen:
AM 1. MAI 2008 IST EUER PLATZ BEI UNS, ORANIENPLATZ, 13 UHR! Revolutionärer 1. Mai-Bündnis www.revolutionaerer-erster-mai.de Email: rev_erster_mai@yahoo.de
1.Mai Berlin - Privatisierung stoppen
geschrieben von Antifaschistische Linke Berlin
BERLIN Am 1. Mai auf die Straße? Na klar!
Die Stadt verändert sich. Unsere Kieze werden umgekrempelt. Nach Prenzlauer Berg und Mitte sind Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain und Neukölln als lukrative Innenstadtbezirke mit direkter Flussanbindung, schönen Altbauwohnungen und einer kreativen Subkultur entdeckt worden. Jetzt ist auch Kreuzberg really chique, en vogue, the place to be… Endlich gibt es auch hier die Musterbaustellen der neoliberalen Umwälzung. Die revolutionäre 1.Mai 2008 Demo richtet sich gegen die damit einhergehende Privatisierung, die Teuerung und die Verdrängung der nicht-reichen Bevölkerung aus dem Kiez.
Revolutionäre 1.Mai-Demo | 18 Uhr | U-Bhf. Kottbusser Tor
Special-Guests ab 17 Uhr: KENY ARKANA und BANDA BASSOTTI
Machen wir einen kleinen Spaziergang. Fangen wir Adalbert- Ecke Oranienstr. an. Hier hat sich erstmal wenig verändert. Keines der Häuser ist bislang saniert; dreckige Fassaden, an denen sich Verkehrslärm hochbrandet, Blumen Dileks Blüten schmücken das graue Trottoir. Man quetscht sich an den Absperrungen zur Straßenecke vorbei, mit Fahrrad, Einkaufstüten oder Kinderwagen. Wir laufen die Oranienstraße hoch Richtung Heinrichplatz und gehen leicht verwundert an einem Schaufenster neben dem Franken vorbei, das einen Laden ziert, der sich „Egoiste" nennt. Spinnen die? Weiter geht es an der bunten Outdoor-Fressmeile vorbei, Touristenfallen, nun ja, die ganze obere Oranienstr. richtet sich mehr und mehr nach Touristen aus, und wir biegen in die Manteuffelstr. ein. Plötzliche Vision: Hier also soll die Durchgangsstraße zur neuen Autobrücke über die Spree hin, hier sollen sie sich durchwälzen, die Automassen der täglichen 10 000 Besucher des geplanten Freizeit-Erlebnisparks auf der anderen Seite der Spree, Herzstück bildet die schon hingekackte O2Arena – Moment mal, 10 000, täglich? Wir spazieren zaghaft weiter, bis zur Wrangelstr. – in diesem Abschnitt nicht gerade ein Highlight, aber, das soll sich bald ändern – Aufwertungsgebiet ist sie geworden, schön nah am Wasser gelegen. Irgendwo sollen sie ja auch wohnen können, die anvisierten neuen Bewohner, die keine Lust haben auf Armut, Obdachlose und Punks vor ihrer Haustür. Die ihre Nasen rümpfen über migrantische Familien, aber das kreativ-authentische der Subkultur doch irgendwie ganz toll finden. Wir sind am Bethaniendamm angelangt, kurzer Flashback – stimmt, früher, da standen hier hunderte von Bauwägen, Sofas auf dem Gehweg. Musik und Gespräch waren zu finden; ganz schön sauber haben sie es hier schon bekommen, und wenn man die Häuser hochsieht, dann erkennt man den Zusammenhang – die Köpi ist längst umspült von schicken Lofthäusern, umgebaut fürs Wohnen mit Anspruch. Und wenn wir uns auf die Schillingbrücke stellen und unseren Blick in die Zukunft schweifen lassen, stehen wir plötzlich inmitten einer gläsernen Stahlbau-Umgebung. Fette Hochhäuser mit kalten Fassaden stapeln sich, wo einst der Oststrand, die Bar25 und die Maria zum Zeit verbringen einluden – lasst es bitte ein Albtraum sein…
Privatisation does not mean Privacy
Aber, wir sehen beim Schlendern auch einiges nicht. Wir sehen nicht, wie die Besitzverhältnisse gerade umgestülpt werden, wie eine ganz bewusste Politik der Privatisierung die Städte verändert, sie unbewohnbar macht für den Großteil ihrer BewohnerInnen. Was heißt das? In Kreuzberg erhalten zwölf Prozent aller Haushalte Hartz-Leistungen, rund zehn Prozent aller Menschen im Erwerbsalter sind Hartz-IV-EmpfängerInnen. Obwohl festgelegt ist, dass die staatlich geführte Wohnungsgesellschaft WBM ihren Wohnungsbestand nicht weiter verkaufen darf, werden zur Zeit mehrere tausend Wohnungen im Waldekiez und am Mariannenplatz verkauft. Sprich – die Mieten steigen, und zwar von den jetzigen 4,80 auf 6,03 Euro pro Quadratmeter. Um die 17 000 EmpfängerInnen von Hartz-IV, denen in der Praxis oftmals der volle Mietpreis eh schon nicht erstattet wird, wurden in Berlin im Jahr 2007 mit der Verpflichtung angeschrieben, ihre Mietkosten zu senken. Das bedeutet meistens, die eigene Wohnung verlassen zu müssen. Neben den vom Arbeitsamt tatsächlich angeordneten Umzügen sind es diese „stillen" Verdrängungen, die das Gros der Zwangsumzüge ausmachen.
Schikane auf dem Amt, kaum Chance auf dem Arbeitsmarkt, so wenig Einkommen, dass ein Leben in Würde kaum möglich ist – diese soziale Realität soll verschoben, unsichtbar gemacht und lautlos ins Abseits verdrängt werden an weniger begehrte Stellen der Stadt. Und wenn man die sprunghaft ansteigenden Mietspiegel der Kreuzberger Kieze betrachtet, dann ist das Muster der Verdrängung gut an ihnen abzulesen. Die Schere zwischen Arm und Reich geht immer weiter auf: Kreuzberg zählt zu den Berliner Stadtteilen, in denen sowohl die Best- wie die Schlechtestverdienenden leben. Das durchschnittlich erwartete Lebensalter liegt hier dennoch ganze 5 Jahre niedriger als etwa in Wilmersdorf.
Einen kleinen Vorgeschmack, eine Vorausschau des geplanten Modells der neuen Stadt kann man sich bei unserem Rundgang an der Ecke Liegnitzerstr./Reichenbergerstr. anschauen. Da prangt ein neu gebautes Gebäude, das uns bereitwillig über Schautafeln am Straßenrand Auskunft über seine Vorzüge gibt: man kann sich mit seinem Auto von der Straße per Fahrstuhl vor die Wohnungstür heben lassen, der Wagen parkt also vor der eigenen Wohnungstür, ist das nicht ein Traum? Keine Sorgen mehr vor Autoradioklau, kein Bodenkontakt mit dem noch nicht ganz befriedeten Kiez, auch die Nachbarn werden der eigenen Schicht entsprechen, sofern man sie überhaupt je zu Gesicht bekommt.
Aber nicht mit uns, wir sind auch noch da, wir sind überall!
Wasser wird teurer als Berliner Pils? Die voranschreitenden Privatisierungen machen nicht vor dem Wohnungsmarkt halt. Sie sind vielmehr einzuordnen in einen Prozess der von der EU vorgeschriebenen Öffnung von Wirtschaftszweigen für den Wettbewerb. Das heißt nichts anderes, als dass auch öffentliche Betriebe dazu angehalten werden, sich wie private Unternehmen zu verhalten. Wir befinden uns also in einer Entwicklung, in der bislang staatlich regulierte Ressourcenverteilung von Strom, Wasser und Gas nach ökonomischen Leistungs- und Profitkriterien umorganisiert werden. In den meisten Fällen ist die Liberalisierung der Märkte daher nur der erste Schritt, der eine vollständige Kommerzialisierung und Privatisierung öffentlicher Aufgaben nach sich zieht.
In Berlin wird z.B. die Wasserwirtschaft seit sieben Jahren von privaten Konzernen dominiert – 49,9% der Anteile an den Berliner Wasserbetrieben wurden im Jahr 1999 von der damaligen Großen Koalition aus SPD und CDU an die Wassermultis RWE und Veolia verkauft. Die Folgen dieser Kommerzialisierung der Berliner Wasserversorgung sind katastrophal: Seit 2004 sind die Wasserpreise um über 20 Prozent gestiegen und zählen nun zu den höchsten in ganz Deutschland. Im Interesse maximaler Profite wurden seit 1999 fast 2000 Stellen bei den Wasserbetrieben gestrichen und zahlreiche regulär bezahlte Arbeitskräfte durch LeiharbeiterInnen ersetzt.
Nur nützt es sicherlich nichts, dem Väterchen Staat nachzutrauern, der es schon gerichtet hat – es ist vielmehr so, dass es die politischen VertreterInnen sind, die unter dem vermeintlichen Totschlagargument „Sachzwang" die Verschärfung der Lage produzieren. Gern wird so getan, als würde die Privatisierung der maroden Berliner Haushaltssanierung helfen, doch ist es in Realität genau anders herum: um den privaten Konzernen RWE und Veolia die garantierte Rendite bezahlen zu können, muss das Land Berlin über Jahrzehnte hinweg auf hohe Einnahmen verzichten. Glaubt bloß nicht, dass man hier gegen nicht kämpfen könnte!
In der Spree Schmuddelwasser, an ihren Ufern virtueller Datenflow?
Bestes Beispiel für diese sich immer stärker institutionalisierende Mischung von der so genannten „öffentlichen Hand" mit privatwirtschaftlichen Akteuren ist die Verplanung des Spreeufers auf Kreuzberger und Friedrichshainer Höhe. Mediaspree e.V., ein ganz normaler gemeinnütziger Verein, der dem Berliner Senat ein wenig bei der Ausgestaltung der Spreeufer unter die Arme greift? Klingt alles erstmal recht harmlos. Aber verlagern wir unseren Spaziergang mal auf einen virtuellen Gang durch die Seiten der Mediaspree e.V. im Netz. Wir finden nur Großkonzerne und Investoren wie Anschutz, Hoch-Tief, Allianz, die Deutsche Post Immobilienentwicklung, aber auch die landeseigenen Betriebe BEHALA und BSR in der Liste der Mitglieder. Der Verein wird mit 300 000 Euro öffentlicher Mittel gefördert und ist Markenzeichen eines der größten Berliner Subventionsskandale der letzten Jahre. Durch Subventionierungen beim Grundstückerwerb in Form vom Verkauf städtischer Grundstücke zu Spottpreisen und Steuererleichterungen in Millionenhöhe formieren sich mafiöse Strukturen zwischen Senat und bauwütigen Investoren. Mit der Konstruktion des so genannten „Public Private Partnership" werden privatwirtschaftlich agierenden Investoren Aufgaben übertragen, für die die öffentliche Hand zuständig ist. Das sieht in der Praxis dann so aus: Auf einem Gebiet, das 8x so groß wie der Potsdamer Platz ist, soll eine abgeschottetes Areal von Hochhäusern und zugebautem Spreeufer entstehen – die Gebäude beherbergen Gewerberäume, teure Wohnungen, Vergnügungsviertel und Konsumtempel. Völlig ungeachtet des massiven Leerstandes von Gewerbeflächen in Berlin. Völlig ungeachtet der schon bestehenden Auswahl von kommerziellen Kultureinrichtungen und Einkaufszentren. Völlig ungeachtet der Bedürfnisse der AnwohnerInnen aus Friedrichshain und Kreuzberg, die nicht nur der Möglichkeit beraubt werden, die noch wenigen freien Flächen ihrer Stadtteile mit zu gestalten, sondern noch dazu mit Vertreibung, mehr Verkehr und Umstrukturierung ihrer Lebenswelt zu rechnen haben. Eure Rechnung allerdings, die habt ihr ohne uns gemacht!
Big brother is watching you Nun, letztlich muss man davon ausgehen, dass die bestehenden Pläne nicht zu 100% umgesetzt werden. Es wird nicht gelingen, alle BewohnerInnen der Kieze stromlinienförmig einzupassen. Und wenn die ökonomischen Interessen sich nicht allein über den materiellen Druck herstellen lassen, wird auf andere Durchsetzungsstrategien gesetzt: wer sich nicht freiwillig fügt, wird gefügig gemacht. Die in regelmäßigen Abständen stattfindenden, willkürlichen Polizeiaktionen gegen Jugendliche müssen in diesem Zusammenhang gesehen werde. Zumeist werden sich junge Leute mit migrantischem Hintergrund herausgepickt und drangsaliert, die Motivation der einzelnen Polizeibeamten drückt sich in rassistischen Sprüchen und respektlosem Verhalten aus.
Aber Repression ist nur die direkteste Disziplinierungsmaßnahme – Überwachung und Kontrolle tun es meistens auch schon ganz gut. Wer ist noch nicht von Ordnungsamt-Hanseln belästigt worden, weil der Hund nicht angeleint war, auf den falschen 2 Quadratmetern gegrillt wurde, das Fahrrad angeblich nicht verkehrstauglich war? Diese lästigen Erscheinungen gehören mit zum gesamten Bild, und wo es an Personal nicht reicht, müssen Kameras her. Nicht nur bei Banken und U-Bahnhöfen, sondern auch an privaten Häusern, um die Unbeflecktheit der Hauswände zu bewachen und dabei den gesamten Straßenraum gleich mit ins Visier zu nehmen. Dies ist z.B. an einem frisch renovierten Haus an der Ecke Wrangelstr./Taborstr. zu beobachten – kleine, illegale Modellprojekte von Hausbesitzern, die ausprobieren, wie weit der Kontrollwahn von der Bevölkerung toleriert wird. Aber wir lassen uns nicht drangsalieren, abfilmen und kontrollieren! Nirgendwo!
Kampf den Palästen! Setzen wir alles zusammen, dann ist ein neues Muster deutlich erkennbar: die Ausbeutungs- und Unterdrückungsstrukturen des Kapitalismus haben sich in den letzten Jahren auch hier in den westlichen Metropolen verändert. Immer mehr Menschen werden aus dem Kreislauf von Arbeits- und Ausbeutungsverhältnissen schlicht herausgedrängt, für die sich niemand mehr zuständig hält. Die Kluft zwischen denen, die besitzen und denen, die einen Kampf ums Überleben führen müssen, wird größer. Entgegen der Befriedungsstrategien und Lippenbekenntnisse der offiziellen Politik, sozialtaugliche Konzepte umsetzen zu wollen, scheitern auch jene, die tatsächlich glauben, eine soziale Politik sei innerhalb des bestehenden Apparats möglich. Staatliche Politik setzt immer weniger auf Integration und Linderung des größten Elends, um Unmut klein zu halten und zu kanalisieren, sondern immer mehr auf Repression – sei es über die immer härteren Disziplinierungsmaßnahmen durch die Bundesagentur für Arbeit oder durch direkte Kontrolle von Polizei und Justiz.
Das bedeutet logischerweise eine Umstrukturierung der Stadt – was wir gerade in Berlin erleben, sind Prozesse, die andere Städte wie Barcelona, London oder Paris schon längst durchgemacht haben. Arme Viertel am Rand, von Polizei schikaniert und ferngehalten von den sauber geleckten, glitzernden innerstädtischen Konsumtempeln der Reichen, die flächendeckend kameraüberwacht das Prinzip der Profitmaximierung garantieren.
Wie immer bleibt die Frage – Was tun? Die Stadt war immer schon ein umkämpftes Terrain – immer schon stießen in urbanen Gebieten ökonomische Interessen von Luxussanierung, Repräsentationsbauten und ausgebauten Verkehrswegen direkt auf die Bedürfnisse von BewohnerInnen; immer schon wurde um die gemeinsame Gestaltung des städtischen Raumes und um den Erhalt von gewachsener Kultur von unten gekämpft. Es gibt viele verschiedenen Formen, seine Wut, seinen Protest und Widerstand zu artikulieren. Und es ist gut, dass es diese verschiedenen Formen gibt.
Nehmen wir die Kampagne gegen Zwangsumzüge – sie mobilisiert seit 2006 gegen von der Agentur für Arbeit veranlasste Zwangsumzüge, berät Betroffene, macht Aktionen vor Ort, hat durch einen kleinen Filmclip, der in verschiedenen Kinos gezeigt wurde, eine breite Öffentlichkeit geschaffen. Die verglichen mit anderen Bundesländern relativ kleine Anzahl der direkten Zwangsumzüge wird darauf zurückgeführt, dass sich in Berlin schnell Protest entwickelt hat. Leute, schließt euch zusammen, helft einander, lasst euch nicht einfach vertreiben!
Nehmen wir den vorläufigen Erhalt des Hausprojektes Køpi – schon zigfach von der unmittelbaren Räumung bedroht. Gerade in einer Situation, in der die gesamte Umgebung des Hauses in der Köpenickerstr. „aufgewertet" wird, ist es städtischen Planungsstellen und Investoren ein Dorn im Auge. Die BewohnerInnen des Hauses haben in den letzten Jahren eine breite Unterstützungsbewegung geschaffen, haben Demos, Aktionen und Feste organisiert, haben juristisch und medial gekämpft und immer wieder klar gemacht: Køpi bleibt, linke Wohn- und Kulturprojekte sind Teil unserer Stadt und können nicht einfach weggefegt werden. Viva Køpi, Solidarität und Respekt, der Kampf geht weiter!
Nehmen wir die Initiative „Mediaspree versenken!" – innerhalb von 5 Monaten wurden 16 000 Unterschriften von Friedrichshainer und Kreuzberger BewohnerInnen für ein Bürgerbegehren gesammelt, um die geplante vollständige Bebauung der Spreeufer zu stoppen. Die Forderungen der Initiative waren die Einhaltung der Berliner Traufhöhe (Häuser dürfen nicht über 22m hoch wachsen), einen 50m breiten, unbebauten Mindestabstand zum Ufer und keine neue Autobrücke über die Spree im Bezirk Friedrichshain Kreuzberg. Die Initiative sprach vielen Leuten aus der Seele, sie wurde breit unterstützt und hat als vorläufiges Ergebnis tatsächlich die Pläne für die Bebauung des Osthafens gestoppt. Glückwunsch und weiter so, Spreeufer für alle, gemeinsam sind wir stark!
An den wenigen Beispielen schon lässt sich sehen – die momentanen Versuche, die Stadt umzustrukturieren, lassen sich bekämpfen. Mit schlichten Appellen an die offizielle Politik kommt man keinen cm weit – es funktioniert nur, wenn man sich zusammenschließt, Druck aufbaut, immer wieder aufzeigt: es geht nicht um die Fehler im System, sondern darum, dass das System selbst der Fehler ist. Sich hier einzurichten und darauf zu vertrauen, dass es ganz so schlimm schon nicht kommen wird hieße, die Macht und die Menschenverachtung des kapitalistischen Systems zu unterschätzen. Ein kleiner Seitenblick in andere Regionen der Welt sollte genügen, um daran zu erinnern, dass flächendeckendes Elend, Hunger und Krieg keine Randerscheinungen, sondern logische Konsequenz von Profitmaximierung und Ausbeutung sind. Wir sagen: es geht nur, wenn man eine radikale Alternative zu dem vorherrschenden System entwirft; es geht nur, wenn man im Hier und Jetzt seine Gegenutopie lebt und die uns gesetzten Grenzen nicht akzeptiert!
Der 1. Mai ist der traditionelle Kampftag gegen Ausbeutung und Unterdrückung, gegen die Barbarei des Kapitalismus und für ein menschenwürdiges Leben. Wir rufen euch auf, heraus auf die Straße zu kommen, euch den Demonstrationen und Aktionen anzuschließen! Zeigt, dass ihr nicht bereit seid, die Zerstörung eurer Kieze hinzunehmen - Beteiligt euch an den Demos am 1. Mai!
Revolutionäre 1. Mai-Demo 2008 18.00 Uhr | Kottbusser Tor | Kreuzberg 36
Mehr Infos auch unter: Programm rund um den 1. Mai 2008 in Berlin
Unterstützer aus dem Kiez: Berliner Mai-Schrei 2008
HERAUS ZUR REVOLUTIONÄREN 1. MAI 13 Uhr DEMONSTRATION! Berlin-Oranienplatz 1.5.2008
Mit dieser Welt, einer Welt, die von der Logik des Profitsystems und der Ausbeutung der großen Mehrheit durch eine verschwindend kleine Minderheit beherrscht wird, werden wir uns nicht abfinden.
Wir wollen eine radikal andere Welt:
· eine Welt, in der Eroberungskriege - und Kriege insgesamt - nur etwas sind, was in den Geschichts-büchern steht und Gewalt eines Menschen gegen einen anderen nicht mehr vorkommt;
· eine Welt, in der eine kleine Anzahl von reichen Ländern nicht mehr die überwiegende Mehrheit der Nationen und Menschen der Welt dominiert und ausbeutet;
· eine Welt, in der Frauen und Männer in der Tat gleichberechtigt sind, in der das Patriarchat in all seinen Formen vollkommen abgeschafft ist und sich keine Frau vor der Gewalt oder der Misshandlung durch einen Mann fürchten muss;
· eine Welt, in der die Gesellschaft als Ganzes die Verantwortung übernimmt dafür zu sorgen, dass Kinder liebevoll und fürsorglich behandelt werden und keiner Misshandlung durch Erwachsene ausgesetzt sind;
· eine Welt, in der die Jugend nicht als Bedrohung angesehen wird, sondern als eine der treibenden Kräfte für die stets notwendige Erneuerung der Gesellschaft;
· eine Welt, in der die kulturelle Vielfalt respektiert und als eine Bereicherung der menschlichen Gesellschaft geschätzt wird;
· eine Welt, in der die jeweils lebende Generation sich als Treuhänder der natürlichen Umwelt begreift und dafür sorgt, dass sie intakt an die nächste Generation übergeben wird;
· eine Welt, in der die Menschen freiwillig und bewusst zusammenarbeiten, um die Bedürfnisse aller Menschen zu erfüllen und um sich selbst und die Gesellschaft als Ganzes weiterzuentwickeln.
So eine radikal andere Welt ist möglich! Das einzige, was die Menschheit daran hindert sie zu verwirklichen, ist das aktuell herrschende Profitsystem und die politische und militärische Macht, die von einer kleinen Minderheit benutzt wird, um diese Verhältnisse aufrechtzuerhalten und zu befestigen. Aber dieses System und seine Herrscher werden nicht von alleine fallen oder verschwinden: Sie müssen besiegt werden, und zwar weltweit durch
Der Alptraum von einer Zukunft, die das profit-über-alles kapitalistische/imperialistische System uns anbietet wird fast täglich noch dunkler. Überall auf der Welt sehen wir zunehmend Elend und Unterdrückung; Folter und Verschleppung; von den Obrigkeiten geschürten Hass und Intoleranz; Ausbeutung, Okkupation und Krieg. Auch im Jahr 2008 sterben täglich Zehntausende am Hunger. Im Namen von "Demokratie" und "Befreiung" hat die blutige Invasion und Besatzung von Irak schon über 600.000 Menschenleben gefordert und den Irak in einen kaum vorstellbaren Horror verwandelt. Und jetzt droht unter dem Deckmantel des sogenannten "Anti-Terror-Kriegs" ein Angriff auf den Iran - möglicherweise mit Atomwaffen -, der noch weitere Tausende Opfer kosten würde.
Überall auf der Welt sind deutsche Waffen und Soldaten im Einsatz, um im Namen des "Friedens" den Weltmachtanspruch der Deutsch-Imperialisten mit Eisen und Blei zu untermauern. Aus "Bündnistreue" werden Geheimgefängnisse und Verschleppung, Misshandlung und Folter von der Bundesregierung stillschweigend akzeptiert bzw. aktiv unterstützt.
Hier in Deutschland nimmt auch der Krieg nach innen ständig an Härte zu: Es wird offen über "Straflagern" für "kriminelle Jugendlichen" geredet; Rassistische Aus- grenzung und Diskriminierung wird in "Integration" umgetauft; Polizeiübergriffe und -gewalt gehören für viele zum Alltag und vielerorts gehört Faschogewalt zum Straßenbild; eine anti-islamische Hetzkampagne kriminalisiert eine ganze Religion; Frauen werden zu Sexobjekten und Gebärmuttern degradiert; der Abbau von politischen Rechten und Ausbau von Überwachungs- und Polizeistaatsmaßnahmen wird forciert; eine Welle des Sozialabbaus fegt durchs Land; Massenarbeitslosigkeit und Armut werden für permanent erklärt; Lohnkürzungen, Rentenkürzungen usw. usf. - all dies wird als Erfolg gefeiert. Jeder Unterschied unter den Menschen - Hautfarbe, Nationalität, Geschlecht, Religion, Sprache, sexuelle Orientierung, Alter usw. - wird benutzt um einen Teil der Bevölkerung gegen einen anderen auszuspielen und einen gemeinsamen Kampf gegen den gemeinsamen Feind zu verhindern.
Am 1. Mai, den internationalen Kampf- und Feiertag der Unterdrückten dieser Welt, machen wir sichtbar, dass es auch hier im Mitten Europas Menschen gibt, die auf nichts weniger zielen als diese weltweite revolutionäre Umwälzung von unten. Eine Umwälzung, die die Welt nicht aus "deutscher" oder "europäischer" Sicht betrachtet, sondern vom Standpunkt des Internationalismus aus: Die Erkenntnis, dass die Zukunft, die wir anstreben, nur realisiert werden kann, indem wir sie gemeinsam weltweit schaffen. Am 1. Mai 2008 werden wir unsere Verbundenheit mit den Menschen überall auf der Welt, die diese Vision teilen, zum Ausdruck bringen: vom Irak bis Frankreich, Iran bis den USA, Nepal bis Südafrika, Palästina bis Indonesien, Peru bis zur Türkei, Afghanistan bis Dänemark, China bis Polen, Indien bis Großbritannien usw.
Seit dem Massenaufstand 1987 in Kreuzberg steht die Revolutionäre 1. Mai-Demonstration vom Oranienplatz aus für diese Vision. Am 1. Mai 2008 haben wir vor zum 20. Mal in Folge eine revolutionäre Botschaft an die Welt zu senden. Wir sagen allen Menschen: Wenn du dich in dieser Vision wieder finden kannst, dann schließ dich uns an - komm zur Demo! Wir sagen allen, die Geschichte machen und nicht ihr Opfer sein wollen:
AM 1. MAI 2008 IST EUER PLATZ BEI UNS, ORANIENPLATZ, 13 UHR! Revolutionärer 1. Mai-Bündnis www.revolutionaerer-erster-mai.de Email: rev_erster_mai@yahoo.de
International kämpfen gegen Ausbeutung, Unterdrückung undimperialistischen Krieg!
KEINE BEFREIUNG OHNE REVOLUTION! Kein Angriff auf den Iran! Keine Aus- oder Inlandseinsätze der Bundeswehr!
Besatzung ist keine Befreiung!
Für das Selbstbestimmungsrecht aller unterdrückten Nationen!
Kämpft gegen Vergewaltigung und alle Formen der Frauenunterdrückung!
Die Zerstörung der Umwelt stoppen!
Kein Überwachungs- und Polizeistaat!
Abschaffung von Isolationshaft und Folter!
Freiheit für alle politischen Gefangenen!
Kampf dem Rassismus und der Faschogewalt!
Stoppt die anti-islamische Hetzkampagne!
Keine Abschiebungen! Bekämpft die EU-Abschottungspolitik!
Die Offensive des Großkapitals zum Lohn- und Sozialabbau stoppen!
Nie wieder DeutSSchland! Eine andere Welt ist möglich!
KEINE BEFREIUNG OHNE REVOLUTION! Kein Angriff auf den Iran! Keine Aus- oder Inlandseinsätze der Bundeswehr!
Besatzung ist keine Befreiung!
Für das Selbstbestimmungsrecht aller unterdrückten Nationen!
Kämpft gegen Vergewaltigung und alle Formen der Frauenunterdrückung!
Die Zerstörung der Umwelt stoppen!
Kein Überwachungs- und Polizeistaat!
Abschaffung von Isolationshaft und Folter!
Freiheit für alle politischen Gefangenen!
Kampf dem Rassismus und der Faschogewalt!
Stoppt die anti-islamische Hetzkampagne!
Keine Abschiebungen! Bekämpft die EU-Abschottungspolitik!
Die Offensive des Großkapitals zum Lohn- und Sozialabbau stoppen!
Nie wieder DeutSSchland! Eine andere Welt ist möglich!
1.Mai Berlin - Privatisierung stoppen
geschrieben von Antifaschistische Linke Berlin
BERLIN Am 1. Mai auf die Straße? Na klar!
Die Stadt verändert sich. Unsere Kieze werden umgekrempelt. Nach Prenzlauer Berg und Mitte sind Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain und Neukölln als lukrative Innenstadtbezirke mit direkter Flussanbindung, schönen Altbauwohnungen und einer kreativen Subkultur entdeckt worden. Jetzt ist auch Kreuzberg really chique, en vogue, the place to be… Endlich gibt es auch hier die Musterbaustellen der neoliberalen Umwälzung. Die revolutionäre 1.Mai 2008 Demo richtet sich gegen die damit einhergehende Privatisierung, die Teuerung und die Verdrängung der nicht-reichen Bevölkerung aus dem Kiez.
Revolutionäre 1.Mai-Demo | 18 Uhr | U-Bhf. Kottbusser Tor
Special-Guests ab 17 Uhr: KENY ARKANA und BANDA BASSOTTI
Machen wir einen kleinen Spaziergang. Fangen wir Adalbert- Ecke Oranienstr. an. Hier hat sich erstmal wenig verändert. Keines der Häuser ist bislang saniert; dreckige Fassaden, an denen sich Verkehrslärm hochbrandet, Blumen Dileks Blüten schmücken das graue Trottoir. Man quetscht sich an den Absperrungen zur Straßenecke vorbei, mit Fahrrad, Einkaufstüten oder Kinderwagen. Wir laufen die Oranienstraße hoch Richtung Heinrichplatz und gehen leicht verwundert an einem Schaufenster neben dem Franken vorbei, das einen Laden ziert, der sich „Egoiste" nennt. Spinnen die? Weiter geht es an der bunten Outdoor-Fressmeile vorbei, Touristenfallen, nun ja, die ganze obere Oranienstr. richtet sich mehr und mehr nach Touristen aus, und wir biegen in die Manteuffelstr. ein. Plötzliche Vision: Hier also soll die Durchgangsstraße zur neuen Autobrücke über die Spree hin, hier sollen sie sich durchwälzen, die Automassen der täglichen 10 000 Besucher des geplanten Freizeit-Erlebnisparks auf der anderen Seite der Spree, Herzstück bildet die schon hingekackte O2Arena – Moment mal, 10 000, täglich? Wir spazieren zaghaft weiter, bis zur Wrangelstr. – in diesem Abschnitt nicht gerade ein Highlight, aber, das soll sich bald ändern – Aufwertungsgebiet ist sie geworden, schön nah am Wasser gelegen. Irgendwo sollen sie ja auch wohnen können, die anvisierten neuen Bewohner, die keine Lust haben auf Armut, Obdachlose und Punks vor ihrer Haustür. Die ihre Nasen rümpfen über migrantische Familien, aber das kreativ-authentische der Subkultur doch irgendwie ganz toll finden. Wir sind am Bethaniendamm angelangt, kurzer Flashback – stimmt, früher, da standen hier hunderte von Bauwägen, Sofas auf dem Gehweg. Musik und Gespräch waren zu finden; ganz schön sauber haben sie es hier schon bekommen, und wenn man die Häuser hochsieht, dann erkennt man den Zusammenhang – die Köpi ist längst umspült von schicken Lofthäusern, umgebaut fürs Wohnen mit Anspruch. Und wenn wir uns auf die Schillingbrücke stellen und unseren Blick in die Zukunft schweifen lassen, stehen wir plötzlich inmitten einer gläsernen Stahlbau-Umgebung. Fette Hochhäuser mit kalten Fassaden stapeln sich, wo einst der Oststrand, die Bar25 und die Maria zum Zeit verbringen einluden – lasst es bitte ein Albtraum sein…
Privatisation does not mean Privacy
Aber, wir sehen beim Schlendern auch einiges nicht. Wir sehen nicht, wie die Besitzverhältnisse gerade umgestülpt werden, wie eine ganz bewusste Politik der Privatisierung die Städte verändert, sie unbewohnbar macht für den Großteil ihrer BewohnerInnen. Was heißt das? In Kreuzberg erhalten zwölf Prozent aller Haushalte Hartz-Leistungen, rund zehn Prozent aller Menschen im Erwerbsalter sind Hartz-IV-EmpfängerInnen. Obwohl festgelegt ist, dass die staatlich geführte Wohnungsgesellschaft WBM ihren Wohnungsbestand nicht weiter verkaufen darf, werden zur Zeit mehrere tausend Wohnungen im Waldekiez und am Mariannenplatz verkauft. Sprich – die Mieten steigen, und zwar von den jetzigen 4,80 auf 6,03 Euro pro Quadratmeter. Um die 17 000 EmpfängerInnen von Hartz-IV, denen in der Praxis oftmals der volle Mietpreis eh schon nicht erstattet wird, wurden in Berlin im Jahr 2007 mit der Verpflichtung angeschrieben, ihre Mietkosten zu senken. Das bedeutet meistens, die eigene Wohnung verlassen zu müssen. Neben den vom Arbeitsamt tatsächlich angeordneten Umzügen sind es diese „stillen" Verdrängungen, die das Gros der Zwangsumzüge ausmachen.
Schikane auf dem Amt, kaum Chance auf dem Arbeitsmarkt, so wenig Einkommen, dass ein Leben in Würde kaum möglich ist – diese soziale Realität soll verschoben, unsichtbar gemacht und lautlos ins Abseits verdrängt werden an weniger begehrte Stellen der Stadt. Und wenn man die sprunghaft ansteigenden Mietspiegel der Kreuzberger Kieze betrachtet, dann ist das Muster der Verdrängung gut an ihnen abzulesen. Die Schere zwischen Arm und Reich geht immer weiter auf: Kreuzberg zählt zu den Berliner Stadtteilen, in denen sowohl die Best- wie die Schlechtestverdienenden leben. Das durchschnittlich erwartete Lebensalter liegt hier dennoch ganze 5 Jahre niedriger als etwa in Wilmersdorf.
Einen kleinen Vorgeschmack, eine Vorausschau des geplanten Modells der neuen Stadt kann man sich bei unserem Rundgang an der Ecke Liegnitzerstr./Reichenbergerstr. anschauen. Da prangt ein neu gebautes Gebäude, das uns bereitwillig über Schautafeln am Straßenrand Auskunft über seine Vorzüge gibt: man kann sich mit seinem Auto von der Straße per Fahrstuhl vor die Wohnungstür heben lassen, der Wagen parkt also vor der eigenen Wohnungstür, ist das nicht ein Traum? Keine Sorgen mehr vor Autoradioklau, kein Bodenkontakt mit dem noch nicht ganz befriedeten Kiez, auch die Nachbarn werden der eigenen Schicht entsprechen, sofern man sie überhaupt je zu Gesicht bekommt.
Aber nicht mit uns, wir sind auch noch da, wir sind überall!
Wasser wird teurer als Berliner Pils? Die voranschreitenden Privatisierungen machen nicht vor dem Wohnungsmarkt halt. Sie sind vielmehr einzuordnen in einen Prozess der von der EU vorgeschriebenen Öffnung von Wirtschaftszweigen für den Wettbewerb. Das heißt nichts anderes, als dass auch öffentliche Betriebe dazu angehalten werden, sich wie private Unternehmen zu verhalten. Wir befinden uns also in einer Entwicklung, in der bislang staatlich regulierte Ressourcenverteilung von Strom, Wasser und Gas nach ökonomischen Leistungs- und Profitkriterien umorganisiert werden. In den meisten Fällen ist die Liberalisierung der Märkte daher nur der erste Schritt, der eine vollständige Kommerzialisierung und Privatisierung öffentlicher Aufgaben nach sich zieht.
In Berlin wird z.B. die Wasserwirtschaft seit sieben Jahren von privaten Konzernen dominiert – 49,9% der Anteile an den Berliner Wasserbetrieben wurden im Jahr 1999 von der damaligen Großen Koalition aus SPD und CDU an die Wassermultis RWE und Veolia verkauft. Die Folgen dieser Kommerzialisierung der Berliner Wasserversorgung sind katastrophal: Seit 2004 sind die Wasserpreise um über 20 Prozent gestiegen und zählen nun zu den höchsten in ganz Deutschland. Im Interesse maximaler Profite wurden seit 1999 fast 2000 Stellen bei den Wasserbetrieben gestrichen und zahlreiche regulär bezahlte Arbeitskräfte durch LeiharbeiterInnen ersetzt.
Nur nützt es sicherlich nichts, dem Väterchen Staat nachzutrauern, der es schon gerichtet hat – es ist vielmehr so, dass es die politischen VertreterInnen sind, die unter dem vermeintlichen Totschlagargument „Sachzwang" die Verschärfung der Lage produzieren. Gern wird so getan, als würde die Privatisierung der maroden Berliner Haushaltssanierung helfen, doch ist es in Realität genau anders herum: um den privaten Konzernen RWE und Veolia die garantierte Rendite bezahlen zu können, muss das Land Berlin über Jahrzehnte hinweg auf hohe Einnahmen verzichten. Glaubt bloß nicht, dass man hier gegen nicht kämpfen könnte!
In der Spree Schmuddelwasser, an ihren Ufern virtueller Datenflow?
Bestes Beispiel für diese sich immer stärker institutionalisierende Mischung von der so genannten „öffentlichen Hand" mit privatwirtschaftlichen Akteuren ist die Verplanung des Spreeufers auf Kreuzberger und Friedrichshainer Höhe. Mediaspree e.V., ein ganz normaler gemeinnütziger Verein, der dem Berliner Senat ein wenig bei der Ausgestaltung der Spreeufer unter die Arme greift? Klingt alles erstmal recht harmlos. Aber verlagern wir unseren Spaziergang mal auf einen virtuellen Gang durch die Seiten der Mediaspree e.V. im Netz. Wir finden nur Großkonzerne und Investoren wie Anschutz, Hoch-Tief, Allianz, die Deutsche Post Immobilienentwicklung, aber auch die landeseigenen Betriebe BEHALA und BSR in der Liste der Mitglieder. Der Verein wird mit 300 000 Euro öffentlicher Mittel gefördert und ist Markenzeichen eines der größten Berliner Subventionsskandale der letzten Jahre. Durch Subventionierungen beim Grundstückerwerb in Form vom Verkauf städtischer Grundstücke zu Spottpreisen und Steuererleichterungen in Millionenhöhe formieren sich mafiöse Strukturen zwischen Senat und bauwütigen Investoren. Mit der Konstruktion des so genannten „Public Private Partnership" werden privatwirtschaftlich agierenden Investoren Aufgaben übertragen, für die die öffentliche Hand zuständig ist. Das sieht in der Praxis dann so aus: Auf einem Gebiet, das 8x so groß wie der Potsdamer Platz ist, soll eine abgeschottetes Areal von Hochhäusern und zugebautem Spreeufer entstehen – die Gebäude beherbergen Gewerberäume, teure Wohnungen, Vergnügungsviertel und Konsumtempel. Völlig ungeachtet des massiven Leerstandes von Gewerbeflächen in Berlin. Völlig ungeachtet der schon bestehenden Auswahl von kommerziellen Kultureinrichtungen und Einkaufszentren. Völlig ungeachtet der Bedürfnisse der AnwohnerInnen aus Friedrichshain und Kreuzberg, die nicht nur der Möglichkeit beraubt werden, die noch wenigen freien Flächen ihrer Stadtteile mit zu gestalten, sondern noch dazu mit Vertreibung, mehr Verkehr und Umstrukturierung ihrer Lebenswelt zu rechnen haben. Eure Rechnung allerdings, die habt ihr ohne uns gemacht!
Big brother is watching you Nun, letztlich muss man davon ausgehen, dass die bestehenden Pläne nicht zu 100% umgesetzt werden. Es wird nicht gelingen, alle BewohnerInnen der Kieze stromlinienförmig einzupassen. Und wenn die ökonomischen Interessen sich nicht allein über den materiellen Druck herstellen lassen, wird auf andere Durchsetzungsstrategien gesetzt: wer sich nicht freiwillig fügt, wird gefügig gemacht. Die in regelmäßigen Abständen stattfindenden, willkürlichen Polizeiaktionen gegen Jugendliche müssen in diesem Zusammenhang gesehen werde. Zumeist werden sich junge Leute mit migrantischem Hintergrund herausgepickt und drangsaliert, die Motivation der einzelnen Polizeibeamten drückt sich in rassistischen Sprüchen und respektlosem Verhalten aus.
Aber Repression ist nur die direkteste Disziplinierungsmaßnahme – Überwachung und Kontrolle tun es meistens auch schon ganz gut. Wer ist noch nicht von Ordnungsamt-Hanseln belästigt worden, weil der Hund nicht angeleint war, auf den falschen 2 Quadratmetern gegrillt wurde, das Fahrrad angeblich nicht verkehrstauglich war? Diese lästigen Erscheinungen gehören mit zum gesamten Bild, und wo es an Personal nicht reicht, müssen Kameras her. Nicht nur bei Banken und U-Bahnhöfen, sondern auch an privaten Häusern, um die Unbeflecktheit der Hauswände zu bewachen und dabei den gesamten Straßenraum gleich mit ins Visier zu nehmen. Dies ist z.B. an einem frisch renovierten Haus an der Ecke Wrangelstr./Taborstr. zu beobachten – kleine, illegale Modellprojekte von Hausbesitzern, die ausprobieren, wie weit der Kontrollwahn von der Bevölkerung toleriert wird. Aber wir lassen uns nicht drangsalieren, abfilmen und kontrollieren! Nirgendwo!
Kampf den Palästen! Setzen wir alles zusammen, dann ist ein neues Muster deutlich erkennbar: die Ausbeutungs- und Unterdrückungsstrukturen des Kapitalismus haben sich in den letzten Jahren auch hier in den westlichen Metropolen verändert. Immer mehr Menschen werden aus dem Kreislauf von Arbeits- und Ausbeutungsverhältnissen schlicht herausgedrängt, für die sich niemand mehr zuständig hält. Die Kluft zwischen denen, die besitzen und denen, die einen Kampf ums Überleben führen müssen, wird größer. Entgegen der Befriedungsstrategien und Lippenbekenntnisse der offiziellen Politik, sozialtaugliche Konzepte umsetzen zu wollen, scheitern auch jene, die tatsächlich glauben, eine soziale Politik sei innerhalb des bestehenden Apparats möglich. Staatliche Politik setzt immer weniger auf Integration und Linderung des größten Elends, um Unmut klein zu halten und zu kanalisieren, sondern immer mehr auf Repression – sei es über die immer härteren Disziplinierungsmaßnahmen durch die Bundesagentur für Arbeit oder durch direkte Kontrolle von Polizei und Justiz.
Das bedeutet logischerweise eine Umstrukturierung der Stadt – was wir gerade in Berlin erleben, sind Prozesse, die andere Städte wie Barcelona, London oder Paris schon längst durchgemacht haben. Arme Viertel am Rand, von Polizei schikaniert und ferngehalten von den sauber geleckten, glitzernden innerstädtischen Konsumtempeln der Reichen, die flächendeckend kameraüberwacht das Prinzip der Profitmaximierung garantieren.
Wie immer bleibt die Frage – Was tun? Die Stadt war immer schon ein umkämpftes Terrain – immer schon stießen in urbanen Gebieten ökonomische Interessen von Luxussanierung, Repräsentationsbauten und ausgebauten Verkehrswegen direkt auf die Bedürfnisse von BewohnerInnen; immer schon wurde um die gemeinsame Gestaltung des städtischen Raumes und um den Erhalt von gewachsener Kultur von unten gekämpft. Es gibt viele verschiedenen Formen, seine Wut, seinen Protest und Widerstand zu artikulieren. Und es ist gut, dass es diese verschiedenen Formen gibt.
Nehmen wir die Kampagne gegen Zwangsumzüge – sie mobilisiert seit 2006 gegen von der Agentur für Arbeit veranlasste Zwangsumzüge, berät Betroffene, macht Aktionen vor Ort, hat durch einen kleinen Filmclip, der in verschiedenen Kinos gezeigt wurde, eine breite Öffentlichkeit geschaffen. Die verglichen mit anderen Bundesländern relativ kleine Anzahl der direkten Zwangsumzüge wird darauf zurückgeführt, dass sich in Berlin schnell Protest entwickelt hat. Leute, schließt euch zusammen, helft einander, lasst euch nicht einfach vertreiben!
Nehmen wir den vorläufigen Erhalt des Hausprojektes Køpi – schon zigfach von der unmittelbaren Räumung bedroht. Gerade in einer Situation, in der die gesamte Umgebung des Hauses in der Köpenickerstr. „aufgewertet" wird, ist es städtischen Planungsstellen und Investoren ein Dorn im Auge. Die BewohnerInnen des Hauses haben in den letzten Jahren eine breite Unterstützungsbewegung geschaffen, haben Demos, Aktionen und Feste organisiert, haben juristisch und medial gekämpft und immer wieder klar gemacht: Køpi bleibt, linke Wohn- und Kulturprojekte sind Teil unserer Stadt und können nicht einfach weggefegt werden. Viva Køpi, Solidarität und Respekt, der Kampf geht weiter!
Nehmen wir die Initiative „Mediaspree versenken!" – innerhalb von 5 Monaten wurden 16 000 Unterschriften von Friedrichshainer und Kreuzberger BewohnerInnen für ein Bürgerbegehren gesammelt, um die geplante vollständige Bebauung der Spreeufer zu stoppen. Die Forderungen der Initiative waren die Einhaltung der Berliner Traufhöhe (Häuser dürfen nicht über 22m hoch wachsen), einen 50m breiten, unbebauten Mindestabstand zum Ufer und keine neue Autobrücke über die Spree im Bezirk Friedrichshain Kreuzberg. Die Initiative sprach vielen Leuten aus der Seele, sie wurde breit unterstützt und hat als vorläufiges Ergebnis tatsächlich die Pläne für die Bebauung des Osthafens gestoppt. Glückwunsch und weiter so, Spreeufer für alle, gemeinsam sind wir stark!
An den wenigen Beispielen schon lässt sich sehen – die momentanen Versuche, die Stadt umzustrukturieren, lassen sich bekämpfen. Mit schlichten Appellen an die offizielle Politik kommt man keinen cm weit – es funktioniert nur, wenn man sich zusammenschließt, Druck aufbaut, immer wieder aufzeigt: es geht nicht um die Fehler im System, sondern darum, dass das System selbst der Fehler ist. Sich hier einzurichten und darauf zu vertrauen, dass es ganz so schlimm schon nicht kommen wird hieße, die Macht und die Menschenverachtung des kapitalistischen Systems zu unterschätzen. Ein kleiner Seitenblick in andere Regionen der Welt sollte genügen, um daran zu erinnern, dass flächendeckendes Elend, Hunger und Krieg keine Randerscheinungen, sondern logische Konsequenz von Profitmaximierung und Ausbeutung sind. Wir sagen: es geht nur, wenn man eine radikale Alternative zu dem vorherrschenden System entwirft; es geht nur, wenn man im Hier und Jetzt seine Gegenutopie lebt und die uns gesetzten Grenzen nicht akzeptiert!
Der 1. Mai ist der traditionelle Kampftag gegen Ausbeutung und Unterdrückung, gegen die Barbarei des Kapitalismus und für ein menschenwürdiges Leben. Wir rufen euch auf, heraus auf die Straße zu kommen, euch den Demonstrationen und Aktionen anzuschließen! Zeigt, dass ihr nicht bereit seid, die Zerstörung eurer Kieze hinzunehmen - Beteiligt euch an den Demos am 1. Mai!
Revolutionäre 1. Mai-Demo 2008 18.00 Uhr | Kottbusser Tor | Kreuzberg 36
Mehr Infos auch unter: Programm rund um den 1. Mai 2008 in Berlin
Unterstützer aus dem Kiez: Berliner Mai-Schrei 2008
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