John Peterson
May 27, 2002
Last summer's protests against the G8 in Genoa, Italy marked a turning point in the anti-globalization movement. Police brutality reached levels not seen in decades, with some 300 detained, dozens brutally beaten and one protestor killed - the first to be killed in Italy on a demonstration since 1977, and the first direct casualty of the current movement at the hands of the bourgeois state. Many of those arrested were tortured and forced to pledge allegiance to Benito Mussolini. This is the real face of the "peace-loving" bourgeoisie. The right-wing Berlusconi government declared open war on the working class and youth in Genoa, and the rest of the ruling class is preparing to do the same in their own countries. The resurgent arms race is a clear expression of this process. It is a sharp expression of the growing political and social polarization which has accompanied the unprecedented economic polarization between rich and poor on a world scale over the past decade. The period of relative political and social calm which accompanied the economic boom in the advanced capitalist countries is over.
But even more significant during these protests was the massive and conscious participation of the working class. Tens of thousands of metal workers and other trade-unionists were on the streets both during the G8 meeting and in the wave of strikes which swept across Europe in the aftermath of the Genoa repression. Since the 1960s there has been a protest movement - against nuclear proliferation, against war, against the degradation of the environment, against the policies of Reagan, Bush, etc. For the past 20 years, this movement was limited in size and scope, and was made up largely of older layers of activists from the 1960s, not connected in any significant way with the masses of workers and youth. Now things are qualitatively different. The radicalization of a fresh new layer of youth and the renewed participation of working class marks a new stage in the situation. There was an important trade union presence at the Seattle demonstrations, but generally the participation of the labor movement in these protests has been sporadic and un-focused. Yet more and more, especially in Nice and Genoa, they are making their power felt. The working class is just re-learning to flex its muscles after a long period of general hibernation.
We must keep in mind that these events are just the beginning of a process which will continue to grow in energy and scope over the coming period. At present, the anti-globalization movement is a very heterogeneous in composition, aims, methods, program, etc. It is largely made up of middle-class youth with a handful of advanced workers.
The youth and intelligentsia are a sensitive barometer of the restlessness and desire for change which is simmering below the surface of society. They are often the first to express the pent-up frustration and rage which has accumulated over the previous period. But on their own, in spite of their energy and good intentions, the youth and student movement cannot successfully and decisively fight against capitalist globalization. It is therefore indispensable that they unite with the broader labor movement. If the energy of the anti-globalization movement is to be harnessed to abolish the capitalist system as a whole, the working class must take the lead, guided by clear perspectives and a program for the socialist transformation of society. If not, all this energy could dissipate like steam without a piston-box - with disastrous consequences for the working class
The anti-war movement which has sprung up in response to Bush's "war on terrorism" and the war in Afghanistan is in many ways made up of the same layers as the anti-globalization movement. If we are to understand how to intervene in the anti-globalization and anti-war movement, we must be clear about the processes which are unfolding before us. The December, 1999 protests against the WTO in Seattle which gave birth to the anti-globalization movement came like a bolt out of the blue. In the heart of world capitalism, seemingly out of nowhere, tens of thousands of protestors converged on the supposedly peaceful and prosperous city to protest the organization responsible for setting policy on international trade. From environmentalists to trade unionists, trade-protectionists to nuns, a wide array of people from all walks of life came out on the streets to express their opposition to what was then a new buzz-word - "globalization". We explained at the time that globalization is nothing new. In fact it is as old as capitalism itself. Marx and Engels explained this as far back as 1848 in the Communist Manifesto.
So what exactly is "globalization"? Globalization is the process whereby the economic relations between different countries become ever more inextricably linked to the world economy, with each national economy dependent on the others. No country is self-sufficient, they are all compelled to exchange products with other countries. But the capitalist system is based on private ownership of the means of production and the quest for the highest profits for every individual capitalist. This makes healthy development impossible and inevitably leads to a situation where a small minority becomes massively wealthy while the majority of people on the planet see their living standards fall.
The inequality of the development of the world economy has reached staggering proportions. Only a tiny minority are benefiting from the increase in trade and the advances of science and technology. In a world where we can easily produce enough food for 10 billion people, hunger, starvation and misery are on the increase, with 800 million people suffering from malnutrition and 2.4 billion living under the poverty line. The amount of wealth and power concentrated in the hands of a few individuals and multi-national corporations is staggering. Microsoft's top three CEOs have a combined wealth greater than the total amount of money the US government spends on anti-poverty programs. A handful of companies control most of the world's wealth - 40% of the planet's GDP and 70% of world trade.
The division of the world economy between the different countries does not benefit all of them equally but condemns the underdeveloped countries to providing the more advanced countries with cheap labor and cheap raw materials (oil, minerals, agricultural products, etc.). This process increases inequality instead of reducing it. The poorer countries are forced to exchange products in which more labor is invested (as a result of their technological backwardness) for products coming from advanced countries, which are more expensive and easier to produce (taking into account the quality and quantity of the means of production in the advanced capitalist countries). It is quite clear who loses out in the process. For example, in 1960 Tanzania required 200 sacks of coffee to pay for an American tractor; now it takes more than 600.
However, we must keep in mind that the rise of an integrated world economy is not necessarily a negative thing in and of itself. It potentially provides the economic and material basis for international socialism. An economic system based on democratic planning and social ownership of the means of production would be an unprecedented step forward for humanity. The potential for continually improving the conditions of life of every person on the planet would be infinite.
The domination of the world by a few multinationals flows naturally from the development of capitalism which is based on the endless drive for individual profit. In order to achieve this, the capitalists are forced to compete against each other, increase their production, their sales, open up new markets, further exploit existing markets, and export capital to new countries in a constant search for cheaper labor and cheaper raw materials. They are able to impose prices, trade regulations, and economic policies on the rest of the world.
Although the capitalists will always ally with each other against the world proletariat, in the final analysis, all the so-called "multi-nationals" represent the interests of this or that national bourgeoisie. When they cannot impose their will by economic means alone, the multinationals turn their national government's political and military institutions in order to achieve their aims. They try to conceal their real interests by dressing up these interventions under the guise of defending our "national interests" or for "humanitarian" purposes. In reality, the only "national interests" they defend are those of big business. And as far as "humanitarian" missions we have seen in recent years the bombings of Yugoslavia, Iraq, Sudan, and Afghanistan. They also use international institutions like NATO and the United Nations (which were created and are dominated by the big powers themselves) as a fig leaf for their imperialist aims.
Another consequence of this unequal exchange which condemns the poor countries to a life of misery is that they are forced to take out loans from the big powers or from financial institutions created by them which leads to their complete enslavement. Because of their debts they are forced to accept the economic plans and the international relations imposed on them by the lending institutions. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization are all capitalist institutions trying to maintain the stability of the system. The big powers and the multinationals finance these institutions precisely because they control them and determine their policies. It is absolutely impossible to reform or democratize these institutions, because if they ceased to be useful for the multinationals they would stop funding them and would create new ones.
The policies imposed by the IMF and the WB on those countries receiving their "aid" are the same as those that capitalists all over the world use to increase their profits: attacks on state education and health care, layoffs and wage cuts, low levels of pensions and other benefits, "reform" of the labor laws, privatization of publicly owned companies and utilities, etc. In the poorest countries these policies are applied at an even faster rate and are combined with the looting of their natural resources by the multinationals. As a result, the gap between the rich and poor increases, as do poverty levels and the destruction of the environment the world over.
In many ways, the term "globalization" is a smokescreen to disguise the real nature of the capitalist system. The term which best defines today's capitalism, characterized by the export of capital from the advanced countries and the accompanying international exploitation of the working class and the peoples of the world by a few superpowers and multinational companies, is imperialism. This process is vividly explained in Lenin's Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Capitalism. We are not opposed to the dramatic increase in world communications, trade, knowledge, technology, etc. As has already been explained, this is providing the basis for the real liberation of humanity in the form of world socialism. What we are opposed to is the way in which this process develops under the capitalist system.
So what does this all mean? It means that the fight against the negative aspects of globalization is inextricably linked to the fight for the abolishment of the capitalist system itself. The power of the multinationals is based on their ownership of the means of production. As long as these parasites are not expropriated and their wealth put under democratic control of the many, it will be impossible to change the current state of affairs. But how do we go about harnessing the energy of the movement in order to overthrow the capitalist system?
First of all, we must recognize that in face of the attacks and the exploitation by the capitalists on an international scale, we must fight back with an international struggle of workers and youth. The internationalism of the protests has already been demonstrated with protestors travelling from around the world to each event. But the struggle cannot be limited to protests against this or that multinational or the attempt to close down this or that capitalist institution. While these protests are a vital element in the fight against the capitalist system, our ultimate task is not simply to shut down these meetings of capitalist ministers and financiers, or get the capitalists to "listen" to our "demands". We all know that our demands will fall on deaf ears! We must take the struggle not only to the meetings of the capitalists, but to our day to day lives - in our workplaces, trade unions, communities, and political activities.
Demanding a kinder, gentler capitalism is like "demanding" that the law of gravity stop working. Our main aim must be to put an end to the capitalist system, with the nationalization of the banks and big monopolies, the expropriation of the wealth accumulated by the multinationals, and to use it to plan the world economy, in a democratic way and with the participation of all the oppressed, in order to fulfill the needs of the many and not the profits of the few. A genuine socialist society is the only alternative.
But this radical change can only be carried out by a revolutionary movement of the working class. While capitalist globalization has brought with it tremendous misery and exploitation, it has also inevitably created the very force which can end the rule of capital once and for all. The working class is the largest and most powerful segment of society. It must stand at the head of all the other layers which are also suffering the consequences of capitalist oppression.
In modern society there are two great classes contending for economic and political domination - the bourgeoisie (capitalists) and the proletariat (workers). The bourgeoisie owns the means of production (industry, agribusiness, banking, etc.) but does no real productive work itself - it lives off the labor of others in the form of rent, interest, and profit. The proletariat on the other hand does not own the means of production and must therefore sell the only thing it does own - its labor power - its ability to work and produce more wealth than it is paid in wages. It does the actual work in producing the wealth of society. What we have is socialized production (you can't build a car on your own for example), andprivate appropriation of the surplus wealth created by the workers (pockted as profit by the capitalists). Instead of this surplus being used for things like health care, education, reducing the working day, etc. in order to improve the lives of the vast majority, it goes into the pockets of a handful of capitalists whose only interest their own enrichment. It also goes towards funding the massive state bureaucracy and military apparatus which is uses to keep the toiling masses of the world economically enslaved. Due to its role in the productive process (it actually runs things on a day to day basis), the working class is the only class which can freeze production and take the running of society into its own hands - democratically and in the interests of all working people.
For example, when a factory goes on strike, nothing is produced. The CEOs certainly don't come down and start making cars! They wouldn't have the first clue how to do it! On a small scale, this graphically poses the question who controls the running of society? In a strike, the workers of one or several factories face the owners of those factories and refuse to continue working for those conditions and wages. In a revolution, the entire working class faces the entire capitalist class and refuses to work for them any longer. If the revolution succeeds, then the working class will take its destiny into its own hands and decide how to run things in the interest of the vast majority of society.
Between these two main classes lies the petty-bourgeoisie. This is a layer of intellectuals, small business people, and semi-independent farmers which work themselves, but regularly also employ the labor of others. In their conditions of life they are isolated from the working class, and they develop a very narrow mentality. They are concerned with my property, my ideas, my well-being and so on. They aspire to become big capitalists, and dread being forced back into the ranks of the working class. Although they detest the big bourgeoisie for their excesses and for crushing them with high interest rates, high rents, and high prices for the goods they need to run their businesses, they also worship them and would do anything to "join the club". Their psychological outlook is thus very individualistic, and in general they scorn the working class for its alleged ignorance and lack of initiative.
As we have explained, it is often these layers (especially intellectuals and middle class students who have not yet entered the workforce) who are the first to express discontent at the sickness and barbarity of the capitalist system. They have the time, energy, and money to travel to these protests, to plan public meetings, to read books about the effects of globalization, and so on. This is a very important and progressive step, and these layers can be valuable allies for the working class (as in the case of Argentina), but on their own they simply cannot play an independent part in the struggle for socialism. Historically, they have either backed the working class which alone can offer them a better future with cheaper credit, a guaranteed market for their goods and services, etc., or they fall into despair and become the most rabid and desperate supporters of fascism. It is our duty to win them over to the cause of the working class - the cause of the majority of humanity. But only by breaking decisively with their individualistic prejudices, and by throwing their lot in 100% with the working class can they play an important role. If not they can be a severe hindrance to the movement.
We cannot over-emphasize that the participation of the labor movement is a vital component in this struggle. Contrary to the lies of the bourgeois media, the working class has not decreased on a world scale. Over the past twenty-five years it has grown dramatically, and with its growth, its power. In the advanced capitalist countries there were 112 million industrial workers in 1973; now there are 113 million. In the developing world, there were 280 million industrial workers in 1980; now there are 400 million - that is over 500 million industrial workers globally. When you add to that figure the hundreds of millions of millions of service sector and white collar workers and their families, the number of proletarians is even more imposing. The fact is, the working class is the most powerful force on the planet, and once it moves decisively there is nothing that can stop it.
The restructuring of industry over the last twenty years or so has not been a revolution. It was a response to the present stage of general stagnation of world capitalism. The markets have not been growing at the same pace as the post-war period, and the capitalists, in order to keep up their profit margins, along with the help of new technology, have been cutting everything there is to cut - the workforce, wages, breaks, warehouse stocks - with speed-ups, longer hours etc. In many service sector companies, there are huge concentrations of workers in one workplace whose conditions of life are very much like those of traditional factory workers. And for the millions working in fast food the conditions are often far worse. The pressure of these jobs, most of them non-union and with few benefits, will result inevitably in an explosion.
The US working class is already beginning to assert itself after a period of relative inactivity. Recently there have been a number of successful strikes, and several favorable contracts have been negotiated with just the threat of a strike. As the economy continues to fall and stagnate, the workers will more and more be forced to defend their wages and conditions. Opposition to the "war on terrorism" and Bush's policies at home and abroad will continue to increase.
This is the perspective we must keep in mind at all times - the working masses will mobilize to improve their conditions and change society - even in the United States. One look at the revolutionary process in traditionally conservative and well-off Argentina makes this clear. Workers around the world live and work under under very similar conditions, and similar pressures inevitably produce similar results. The world is more closely linked than ever, and the relentless squeezing of profit from the blood, sweat, and nerves of the world working class has never been greater. But everything has its limit - and those limits are being reached in one country after another.
Only a system based on the democratic control by the workers themselves over the means of production, distribution, and exchange can offer a way forward for the toiling billions around the world - starting with the US. The transformation of society along socialist lines can only be coordinated and led to successful conclusion if we have a working class perspective, tactics, and program. As Marxists we are committed to participating in the anti-globalization and anti-war movement, but we must firmly explain both its negative and progressive features, and work out a socialist program as a genuine alternative.