Great novelist of the Victorian era, Charles Dickens in his celebrated novel “A Tale of Two Cities” wrote “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us.” Today, we are witnessing a similar situation.
All around us, darkness looms large. Capitalism, which had long reached the stage of monopoly and imperialism in its most decadent state, has become utterly reactionary, wantonly corrupt and despotic. The global capitalist economy is in a deep crisis. Almost every nation’s budget shows significant deficits, which increase debt. There is no denying that the debt-financed sham growth is pushing the economy to the brink. Unemployment has risen to an unprecedented level, making the economic crisis worse by further squeezing the market.
Capitalism denies any obligation to its workers. Income inequality has increased drastically while real wages are declining. As the workload, speed, and working hours increase, whatever perks and rights that may have existed are reduced. Furthermore, the increasing automation in all areas of production by ongoing developments in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) is not being utilised to reduce working hours or enhance the quality of life.
Instead, under capitalism, it is less expensive for business owners to use technology like this, and they have already done so by laying off employees.
The agricultural crisis, which includes declining productivity, climate change, sharp increases in the cost of inputs like seeds, fertilizer, and other supplies, debt, and a variety of other issues, is also disproportionately affecting peasants, especially in developing nations. The capitalist-imperialists are taking one step to escape the crisis’s deadlock, only to be overtaken by another, more serious crisis. Not even the much-heralded globalisation era’s investment in the service sectors has been able to rescue the capitalist economy from its catastrophe.
Hence, as a means of artificially stimulating their respective internal markets for survival, imperialist nations are employing every conceivable strategy to preserve their home markets, including inciting civil wars or waging wars of aggression. Millions of people are consequently uprooted from their homes. While some people are relocated due to the loss of their livelihood, others are victims of war.
Today, in the absence of the Socialist Bloc, apart from preventing the war, universal access to healthcare, education, and employment, as well as other pressing demands of the populace, is becoming increasingly complicated.
In order to survive the condition, the capitalist-imperialist countries are turning to fascism. In addition to repressing individuals, fascism in the cultural sphere divides people according to caste, creed, religion, gender, and other traits by utilising technological components of science and religious fads in thought. It also makes people unconcerned with social issues. Shibdas Ghosh, a notable Marxist philosopher of this era, said, “Fascism is a historically conditioned form of counter-revolution in which capitalism seeks to stave off revolution by an anticipatory move. It is designed to save the crisis-ridden, chaos-discredited capitalist order from collapse in the face of mounting dissatisfaction of the people against the existing system.”
Analysing the common characteristics of fascism, he wrote, “They are mainly economic centralisation, the maximum concentration of political power in the state, rigid firmness in administration- all this leading to more and more identification of the interest of the monopolists with that of the state- and cultural regimentation.”
Regarding the form of fascism in different countries, he held that “As to its form also fascism presents no stereotyped pattern. It has assumed different forms in different countries to suit the local conditions. Somewhere it has adopted the form of individual dictatorship, somewhere the autocratic rule of a military junta and yet in some other countries it has assumed the democratic garb, keeping the parliament still alive but limiting its power by way of economic and political centralisation.” [Shibdas Ghosh, Selected Works, Vol. II, pp. 55-56] The subsequent turn of events has completely vindicated it.
While the United States of America is facing pressing difficulties, including skyrocketing unemployment, job losses, low wages, fiscal severity, crushing debt, rising prices, inadequate housing and healthcare, and an increasing number of climate disasters, the ruling class is focusing on trivial subjects to distract from the problems. The US, which once boasted of equality, fraternity, and liberty, is today an abode of inequity, with equality among or for those buried for good and liberty reserved for a select few ultra-wealthy individuals in the ruling class. Racial polarisation, the increased militarization of police, and the demonization of protest movements like Black Lives Matter were all hallmarks of Donald Trump’s first administration.
Now, the whole world is stunned by the announcement of Donald Trump that the US will ‘take over’ and ‘own’ the besieged Gaza after resettling Palestinians residing there. Such an announcement is tantamount to talking about ethnic cleansing. His ‘America First’ agenda is aimed at US dominance over the world. His restrictions on citizenship and policy of mass deportations are creating a hateful mindset.
Furthermore, the United States has initiated the majority of the world’s military conflicts since World War II. Worst among them are the Korean War, the Wars against Vietnam, the Afghanistan War, the occupation of Iraq under a fraudulent pretext, the Kosovo War, the proxy-war against Syria, precipitating armed group conflicts in Sudan and backing the lethal attack of Zionist Israel on Palestine and Lebanon.
The battle of Eurozone nations to repay debts accrued over decades is known as the European debt crisis. The leaders of Europe have been battling populist nationalism, war, and a faltering economy. Russian armies attacked Ukraine militarily on February 24, 2022. The rivalry between US-led NATO and Russian imperialism is what started this conflict. Similar to this, the struggle between Iran and Israel is a proxy war between two strong imperialist factions, one headed by Russia and China and the other by the United States. The victims are defenceless civilians. Throughout the 200-day Israeli attack, 42,510 individuals were killed in Palestine alone, 38,621 of whom were civilians, including 10,091 women and 15780 children.
Since 2019, Sri Lanka has been dealing with a serious economic crisis that has resulted in shortages of fuel, food, and medications. In 2021, the Sri Lankan Government officially declared the worst economic crisis in the country in 73 years. Inflation increased to 50% annually. Persistently high fiscal deficits were the primary cause of Sri Lanka’s economic disaster. Hence, it has chosen the arterial path – Sinhala nationalism as a potential cover for ethnic chauvinism and absolutism in an effort to settle the issue.
Bangladesh’s disastrous economic predicament and the divisive policies of the dictatorship are driving the nation into unrest. So, the brutal fascist tyranny unfolded in Bangladesh.
India’s debt has increased from 49 lakh crore in 2014 to 205 lakh crore in the past ten years. The debt per Indian rose from Rs 43,124 to Rs 1,09,373 as a result. As a result, the working millions are suffering from extreme poverty, joblessness, rising costs of living, and the commercialisation of healthcare and education. Every day, almost 48 farmers commit suicide. In the enforcement of labour codes, the government is seizing workers’ hard-won rights. Any voice that has the ability to express criticism is being silenced by the current regime. The government is implementing the policies of privatisation, commercialisation, communalisation, centralisation, and vocationalisation of education through the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
In order to create a hyper-nationalist narrative, the government is promoting unsubstantiated claims of fictitious technological accomplishments and inflated notions about ancient Indian knowledge systems while escalating its assault against scientific temperament. In addition, the ruling dispensation is encouraging division among the people on the basis of region, language, caste, and religion. In Manipur and other parts of the country, there are violent protests and new forms of instability. It is surprising to note that the violence is said to have been incited by the government.
There is a bright side to this gloomy time, too. We have seen the sincerity with which young people and students from several nations are resisting capitalism, imperialism, and various kinds of oppression. On 27-28 June 2024, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital, against Netanyahu’s government and called for a quick election, a cease-fire in Gaza, and the release of Hamas-held prisoners. As people streamed into the city, several protesters brandished placards that said “Crime Minister” and “Stop the War”. Students, young people, women, labourers, peasants, and ordinary citizens from all walks of life joined the recent popular revolt in Bangladesh against the violent repression of the Hasina regime. The huge rebellion against misgovernance that took place in Sri Lanka in 2022 has resulted in the election of a left President.
In India, Farmers’ protests against the black agricultural laws and the Electricity bill, as well as the nationwide movement calling for justice for the victim of the horrific gangrape and murder of a PGT doctor in her own RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, gave India’s poor and oppressed people new hope.
However, we are all aware that no movement can succeed in its desired objective unless its leadership adhere to a correct ideology founded on a high culture and ethics.
Therefore, a global, well-coordinated, and peace-loving anti-imperialist movement based on the philosophy of scientific socialism with true Marxists at its centre is the only entity that can act as a bulwark against the war-mongering imperialists. Only then can demonic imperialist powers in the various nations be deterred.
Additionally, the Students’ Movement ought to be an integral component of this movement. To combat massive frequent attacks on education, culture, and humanity, all of the struggling student organizations of the world that are dedicated to left and democratic ideas must unite and create strong, cohesive and united student movements. Students and young people from different nations should simultaneously support all democratic mass movements led by workers, peasants, women, youth, and oppressed people in general. When the finance capital threatens the very existence of the working class, no fight can be fought in isolation, and the broadest coalition possible is a sure way forward.
