“ So for philosophers have interpreted this world in various ways. The challenge is how to change it now.” – Marx
The existing world order doesn’t do any justice to the vast majority of the people who toil day and night to put the human society in the working order. They produce grains yet get very little to eat. They produce clothes yet their children are half naked. They build houses for the rich and powerful yet they are mostly homeless. That is the irony. Marx had found out that the existing system, which is under the command of the capitalists, would never give any scope for justice to the people who work and produce. Hence, he called to create a new world. A new world where there is no exploitation of anyone!
Since Mr. Donald Trump became the President of the richest country for the second time, the people of the world are having second thoughts about the ability of the Mecca of Capitalism, the United States of America, to carry forward the business of the world. The champions of free trade are levying tariffs, accusing the poor countries that they are eating the jobs in the most powerful country. It was beyond the imagination of most of people a decade back that some thing like this would happen on the international arena.
In the early ninety’s, when the winds of Globalisation ( LPG – Liberalization, Privatization & Globalization ) started flowing from the land of so called free trade, every nation however small or big was expected to open her boundaries for the free flow of the goods manufactured by the Capitalist monopolists. Some countries protested while others simply followed the diktat to save their own trade and business. The Multinational Corporations of the USA and Europe entered the markets of the third world in a big way, dislodging small players from their own markets. Small manufacturing units either died in the dishonest competition or were simply bought by the MNCs. The market was flooded with goods made in USA and the European nations, with a promise that this would create new jobs and new business opportunities in the third-world countries. That was a big lie. The poor nations become dependent on the MNCs for all their consumer goods, manufactured thousands of miles away. The political class bent backwards to fulfill all the conditions and demands of the MNCs in the hope that they would invest in their countries. That was another lie. No investment came. Small shops vanished and big malls owned by the corporate giants entered the poor countries. All US Presidents since then have been votaries of free market regime with open international boundaries where goods could flow freely. It is a different matter that in those good would flow in direction only; from USA to Asia and Africa. Money would flow in the opposite direction. The western corporate giants were celebrating the hey days of capitalism.
Soon the tables turned. With cheap labour available in Africa and Asia, many international brands established their units in the third world countries. The children in the poor nations went to the schools and colleges in the hope of getting good jobs some where. A army of highly qualified and well trained personnel was slowly emerging in the third world countries. India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Sri Lanka soon started exporting the best hosiery to the western world. China became the manufacturing hub of the world. USA remained in illusion that her hegemony is now for ever. The twenty first century changed all this. Today the goods are flowing in all directions, from everywhere to everywhere. This was a going to be a nightmare for the ruling classes in the western world.
Now in the third decade of the twenty first century the strongest country in the world is crying like the weakest ! The votaries of free world want to shut their doors for the entry of goods from other countries. Mr. Donald Trump is in an illusion that with their dollars the US administration can blackmail the world. The crisis has began. The rot is deep within the capitalist system where profit rules everything else. When there is scope for consumption, the fear is created for consumption. How else would the war industry grow?
Marx had rightly explained the contradiction with the help of his theory of dialectics. The inherent crisis of Capitalism will create the way for the annihilation of Capitalism. The solution has to come from within, not from outside. Revolutions happen in the society, they can’t be exported or imported! Demonstrations took all over the USA against the policies of Mr. Donald Trump.
Marx and Engels almost two centuries back had very scientifically analysed all the struggle that happened over the centuries and came to understand that these were class struggles between the haves and the have-nots. The rich and the powerful trying to become more rich and more powerful. The poor and the powerless struggling to survive in a hostile situation.
Another blatant lie that the capitalists told the world is that they want to uphold the values of Freedom and The powerful countries never allowed the smaller countries to choose their own path of development. Whenever the Capitalist countries found that the their world country is on the verge of coming out of the morass of Capitalism, they would use war as the last tool to maintain their hegemony. Patriotism and such slogans came handy to justify their crimes in the name of war. They did it Vietnam and they did it in Chile. For a long time the colonial powers served the interests of their corporate masters by conquering new lands so that the products of the masters could be sold without any hindrance. All talk of liberty is a blatant lie. Capitalists have produced only free dictators and free looters.
Post World War II, the tactics changed. Instead of using military power, the capitalists turned to the money power to conquer new markets. In every third world country the American administration could find some politicians who would dance to their tune just to capture power. Compared to the benefits that would accrue after the regime change, the cost of purchasing such politicians was just a pittance. The white house had no hesitation in supporting even dirty dictators as long as they allowed their MNCs easy access to their minerals and market.
The entire continent of Africa paid a big cost to the dirty games of the power by the MNCs backed the military of USA.
It was not without any reason that that in almost all countries of Africa the Marxist ideology of unity and struggle attracted a large number of intellectuals and the working class people. Because the moment a population understands the real reason for their misery and backwardness, it refuses to bow down to the pressure of the dictators. Once the people understand that they are the real masters of their lands and lives they are eager to exercise that right in the right manner.
To suppress another lie, the media of the Western world created new myths. The religious-politics nexus to beat the march of the Marxists and Communists. They were called the enemies of religion and culture. The truth is that the Marxists never talked about any one’s religion. They only exposed the dirty nexus of the profit mongering politicians and the deceptive religious leaders. The revolutionaries never interfered with any one’s personal belief.
PROMISE OF THE FREE MARKET
In the year 1992, the Dunkel Draft was brought out in the name of free trade in the international arena. In the name of free trade Dunkel Draft got all the markets opened and available for the MNCs of USA. Free trade naver happened. All the markets of the third world countries were hijacked by the master planners of White House in the name of ‘No controls’. This was another lie. Corporates were not only controlling the markets but also the parliaments that were supposed to regulate these markets.
The media made us belive that the markets are now self regulated. This was a big lie. All the markets of the world were now being controlled by the World bank and International Monetary Fund.
The IMF and WB were disbursing loan to the developing nation with the condition that they would allow free entry of the goods of the MNCs. There was a clear cut order to stop all added tariffs on the goods manufactured by the US MNCs. They were shouting, “ No tariffs”!
In India the working class at that time had to fight to save the local industry so that the local jobs were saved. Simultaneously the working class was also fighting to safeguard the Public Sector Units which were sought to be privatized by the IMF and the world bank. All this was known as the LPG ( Liberalization- Privatization-Globalization). Unfortunately even the Government of India came under the pressure and a lot of privatization took place. The unity of the working class could save some of the sectors, but some sectors were privatised and the workers lost a lot in the turmoil.
At that time the US administration was calling all protections to the local manufacturers and traders as anti liberalisation and protested all subsidies given to the farmers at that time. It is a different matter that the US and other western powers never stopped giving subsidies to their own farmers. As a result the farm produce in the west became much cheaper than the farm produce in the Asian and the African regions, resulting in the suffering of the farmers in the poorer regions of the world. India witnessed a lot of farm suicides across the country. The impact of those days linger even today in some or other other way.
Surprisingly today the same US administration wants to impose tariffs on the goods coming from outside in the name of MAGA ( Make America Great Again).
CHANGED GOAL POSTS NOW
WTO ( World Tade organisation) the darling of the western capitalists and administration is now on the brink of death. The fact is that the rich countries are dictating terms to the poorer nations. A new international business model is emerging that can be called as a ‘ plurilateral trading system’ that favours the rich nations. In the new regime, with the new tariffs, the medium and small players and the agricultural producers would find it difficult to do business with US. On the other hand US products would continue to pour into our country because the US administration would continue to give subsidy to their producers!
THE DECEIPT OF WORKING CLASS
Very cleverly the corporate sector in India and elsewhere has discarded the sacred principle of eight hour working day. It took enormous struggle of the working class to get the eight hour working right. Now a ten hour and twelve hour working shift is common. There is a call to work 70 hours a week ( 14 hours a day) so that India can really progress on the path to become a super power. India will become a five trillion economy and one billion Indians would become slaves of the corporate masters.
In the name of development the Capitalist masters are privatising everything from water to education. Only air is yet to be privatised. The deceit is open now. People will not own anything except their labour.
But for the solid strength of their unity, the bank employees would have lost all their gains under the Modi regime. Modi Government tried to privatize the nationalized banks step by step . The Modi regime tried everything to dismantle the public sector banks by floating all dirty stories about competencies of the employees. They spread the lies that the nationalised banks were far far below the efficiency mark in resource utilisation. Another lie was floated that the nationalised banks were over staffed. The largest union of the bank employees, All India Bank Employees Association with their solid research rebuffed all the lies and came out with the truth that the nationalised banks are actually under staffed because new recruitment had frozen since Mr. Modi came to power. Another lie exposed. In fact it soon came to the light of all to see that the private bank employees are overworked and underpaid. Very clevelry Modi government stopped all talk of Privatization of the Banks for the time being. Marx was proved right again. Unity of the working class is the biggest weapon of the working class.
UNITY AND STRUGGLE
We are witnessing an upsurge in the protests and struggles all over the world against the mindless policies of the right wing politicians. All the working class people of the world have to be vigilant against all the onslaught on their rights won with the struggle over centuries. Science and technology have given a wonderful weapon in the hands of the working class; the social media. The form of our struggle has an added dimension now. The war of ideas on the information technology platforms. From streets to the mobile is a new form of struggle. But the principles of struggle remain. Fight all onslaught with the mighty power of unity of the working class.
“Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but the chains of poverty and a world to win!” – Marx – Engles (Communist Manifesto)
Let the working class beat the lies of the capitalists with the truth of their struggle and defeat their money power with the strength of unity!
