Platform Suggestions for a Bona Fide Left

Preamble

When a genuine left finally emerges it will have nothing in common with the present masquerade. Below I look at its position on three matters of particular importance, namely, the working class or proletarian revolution, the battle for democracy and the pressing need for economic and social development on a global scale. 

Working Class Revolution

First off, we have to stand by the Marxist view that proletarian revolution is the answer to the limitations of capitalism. Its central feature is the replacement of private ownership of the means of production with social ownership and the total transformation in how we work together.  This is the basis of a more human society where we thrive when others thrive.

Communism did not fail in countries such as the Soviet Union and China. It was defeated, and the primary reasons were the unfavorable starting conditions and the emergence of a reactionary ruling strata opposed to the transformation that it required. 

Because of the pull of old attitudes and ways of behaving, and the fact that the old division of labor between thinking and doing can only be gradually eroded, the transition from capitalism to communism after the initial seizure of power will be an intense and protracted  struggle between supporters and opponents of revolutionary change. It will be a rocky road with the prospect of serious setbacks along the way. 

A society where we transform our relations in production will have a far better economy than capitalism. It will perform well in terms of motivation, information and "economic calculation".

We need to be thinking about the development of a revolutionary movement.  This means, among other things, people not forming sects, the preservation of which becomes the primary purpose.  Rather, the focus has to be on developing a movement geared to eventually taking power. An important task at this stage would just be thinking about the possible circumstances in which a revolutionary movement would come to power, and how it would consolidate power and keep the economic wheels turning.

The Battle for Democracy

We have to be stalwarts in the battle for democracy and civil liberties. A radical left would find it far harder if not impossible to emerge and grow under tyranny.  Here are a number of fronts where we have to take a stand.

(1) In the case of Ukraine, we should excoriate NATO for its inadequate response to Russian aggression and demand it do what is necessary to ensure a speedy defeat for the Moscow regime. This would free both Ukraine and Belarus, and weaken the forces of national chauvinism and fascism in Russia and elsewhere.

(2) We should call for the establishment of a Palestinian state under UN auspices. A UN mandated force would provide security during the transition to an elected Palestinian government. The failure of this to happen would be sheeted home to the countries obstructing it. In particular, there is the US which could veto the process in the Security Council and fail to instruct its client state in Israel to pull out of the occupied territories. 

(3) Events in Palestine should remind everyone that we are overdue for a second Arab Spring. There should be an extensive exposure of the tyrannies in the region should be put under the spotlight, particularly those Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. At the same time we should be holding the western powers to account for supporting rather than undermining these regimes, and demand they prioritize democracy in their dealings with them.

(4) The same treatment should apply to the corrupt tyrants and election riggers in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

(5) We have to be the strongest opponents of the "communist" tyrannies in China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea. There is nothing "socialist" about these regimes that needs to be preserved. The only desirable outcome is free elections and for them to stop pretending to be socialist, much as we saw in eastern Europe 30 years ago. China of course is the biggest problem. Its  threat to democracy in Taiwan is best deterred by the western powers ensuring a Ukraine victory and imposing serious consequences for its present invasion preparations.  This regime will pose a long term threat to the prospects of democratic and proletarian revolutions.

(6) In bourgeois democracies the left has to defend democracy and civil liberties from the right and the fake left.  It has to  champion free speech and also counter the present toxic polarization of the population into "right" and "left" with their competing brands of lunacy. 

Pressing Need for Economic and Social Development

The economic and social backwardness of quite large regions, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, is a major problem.  The higher the level of prior development the better the prospects for a successful communist revolution.  The experience in Russia and China bears that out.  You cannot create a society of equality when it means sharing poverty and toil, and when  most people are still tied to traditional ideas. 

The left in the rich bourgeois democracies would help see the emergence of a public opinion that presses government and “civil society” to adopt aid and other policies that contribute to speedy development. Included here among others would be battling kleptocracy, ensuring extensive and well chosen infrastructure investments, and removing trade barriers to imports from “the South”. Insipid “sustainable development” is not enough.

This point of view is completely at odds with "anti-capitalism" that wants to "stop capitalism". Marxists do not want to stop capitalism because the more capitalism the more mature the conditions for proletarian revolution.  

When it comes to impacts on the environment, the solution is the development of technologies that reduce them - "technofix". "Degrowth" is an appalling idea.  Fortunately support for it will always be confined to a green fringe. Although, it is a sufficient force to be quite a nuisance. 

---