Friday, October 07, 2005
The Impact, Relevance And The Role Of The Left In The Age Of Neocolonialism
The defenders of capitalism speak of the fall of the Berlin wall as the symbolic fall of communism.15 years after the German reunification (before which the country had an
unemployment % of just 5.1%^), the unemployment rate is 11.6%^. Even more alarming is the disparity between the western part of that country where the unemployment rate is 7.6%^ and the east where it is a staggering 17.7%^.I think it can be fairly said that 15 years is a substantial enough time to conclude that the fall of the wall has only increased the problems of the Germans. Had Germany not adopted socialistic policies subsequently and instead depended on the free market things would have been much bleaker.
For the first time since independence the left in India is part of the ruling coalition and has over 60 Mp’s in the Lok Sabha.After the Manhohan Singh government voted to refer Iran to the security council in an act of shameless dancing to the whims of Bush and Co the left has lambasted the Congress. Going back to Europe both Chancellor Schröder of Germany and President Chirac of France were bitter critics and opponents to the U.S led illegal war in Iraq.True the leftist Social Democrats and The Greens may not be able to form a government of their own in Germany this time around. But they have ensured that the pro America, Christian Democrats will not be able to form a government without their support.
Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela has been such a strong force against globalisation and American imperialism that right wingers in the U.S.A have been yelling for his assassination. Mr.Chavez has said about the damage capitalism has caused in his country ,“ An infernal machine that produces every minute an impressive amount of poor, 26 million poor in 10 years are 2.6 million per year of new poor, this is the road, well, the road to hell."Here in India Medha Patkar and the Narmada Bachao Andolan have been fighting against anti - people development projects such as the Sardar Sarovar dam.They may be fighting a losing battle.But they have exposed beyond doubt the dubious motives of vested interests at work.
From Fidel Castro to Michael Moore to Arundathi Roy, there are leftists at different spheres and levels who are “ a collective pain in the ass^’’ of,the neoimperialists.Sure U.S.A’s diplomatic manipulations through sanctions through its mouthpieces like the WTO and IMF may have forced some leftists to relax their policies(like in West Bengal)to survive.Maybe losing the battle to win the war is not so bad.Like in any other system there are black sheeps, like China’s anti people dictators.But they are not the real lefties.They are evil people who justify their wrongs by claiming to subscribe to a system and ending up misrepresenting and disgracing it.
Those who think the Left is dead are doing so at their own cost.It is very much alive,if not kicking.Yes we are certainly the underdogs in this David Vs Golaith kind of situation against the neocolonialist.But then again you know who won that battle.The road ahead is tough and curbing the imperialist forces is no mean task.But we have already taken big steps in the direction of not living as subjects of the American Empire.Like Arundathi Roy says," Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."
Sources-
^1-Proffessor Fatemi www.fatemi.com
^2-Official German measure
^3 and ^4- Fedaral foreign office of Germany
^4-Arundathi Roy
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24 comments:
In the UK, there is a lot of old labour voices that want New Labour to become the same old left tinged party.
But left is recognized [Fidel Castro to Michael Moore to Arundathi Roy] only by the power of the establishments they oppose.
Left has never been constructuve.
Eventhough these forceful voices or movements has done good things in a short run, they have not proved to be successful in the long run... (I agree that neither it happens in democratic way)... since it needs collective support.
Hi Siddharth,
Thank you for visiting my blog site. I'm afraid that I'm missing some of the cultural references in several of your postings, but am enjoying others. I will visit more often.
Kim
I don´t feel sorry that the old regime in East Germany has collapsed. At least, it depended on the control the state´s Secret Service had on the people..
But the "blooming landscapes" that chancellor Kohl announced after the reunification (that made him win the elections in 1990 again) certainly didn´t grow up well. It sounds sarcastically when in 2005 conservative politicians blame the east german people by making their "proletarian socialisation" responsible for high rates of violent criminality there (Mr. Schönbohm), or by demanding that "the frustrated people of the East" should not influence the election results (Mr. Stoiber)..
No wonder, that the Christian Democrats did not get the brilliant result they (and everybody else) had expected - although Mrs. Merkel herself is from East Germany..
so essentially u are against private property and progress of any kind?
Oh yes, I am from a leftist background. My grandfather was one of the first men to have built the communist party in Tamil Nadu, I also have an uncle who is a central committee member of the CPI(M). My dad and mom fell in love because they both came from communist families. :) Certainly, there's a lot of the left in my blood!
The major argument that is levied against the left is that its policies are backward and economy unfriendly. I find P.Sainath's writing [He writes quite often in the Hindu, next to the editorial, for those of you who don't know] explosive and convincing. When we say the left's policies are anti-people, which people are we talking about? The majority dilutes into the class of non-people because they have no forum to voice their issues. Most people who argue against the left do so on the basis of superficial understanding without really thinking about why its doing what its doing. Your sis has a good collection of Sainath's writing. There's one particular article on the media and poverty in India, I think you should put it up on your blog. Ask her for it.
the voices of the left u speak of derive their fame and recongnistion from the insititutions they oppose, not from themselves. if arundathi roy didnt oppose the USA would u read her??
the german problem is largely because the german workforce frm the east wasnt employable (the left made them unemplyable, wat use does a garment factory supervisior have in east germany when, the same garment can be produced at half the cost in china?? and producing it in china reduces cost and thereby price, the left govt produced garments thereby having specialiesd ppl in that area, who later become unemployable, but the left still wants to produce garments in east germany and the consumers have to pay a high price, who suffers?? the middle class (those whom the left speaks for)
in the UPA govt th eleft pushed thru the NREG (legalising corruption, in other words, and ur happy bout that??) who suffers becaue of that?? the middle class (salaried too) they have to bear the brunt of higher taxation.
and secondly what did socialism and indias dabbling with left result in?? govt employees demanded jobs (given thru nepotism at times)okie that is alright, but they were told also that they didnt have to work, its their birthright to earn have that job, get a salary but not work (our experiences wit govt offices will teach us that)
i serioulsy doubt chavez motives, he wants ocntrol of the oil there, and he is using the left ot achieve his goals
BRownie the lefts economic policy can kill an economy itll lead to disaster, even their social policies like NREG if implemented thru out the country is a prescription for economic collaspe of indian economy.
the left is dead, especially their policies, they have no relevance to day, but MARX is relevant today. THE QUESTIONS RAISD BY MARX ARE VALID, BUT HIS ANSWERS ARENOT. the only economic system possible to day is a market based one. here is my post on that
Cho Ramaswamy said " If the left has any future in India - India has no future left "
Very well written, indeed. Very well written. Whenever i look at the frabric of the Left, i always see fine strands of sarcasm inter woven with deep rooted bitterness. This is evident in your essay as well. Quelle bonne surpris !
Is democracy the perfect choice of government ? Thats a whole different debate. Having said so , the impact of bringing down the wall can not be judged solely by employment rates. The parameters need to be more wide and comprehensive.
I most definitely riducule Mr. Singh's stance and his ability as a Prime Minister. He appears to be very intelligent , dignified yet spineless.
The Left in India are plenty in number. We have 60 odd ones in the Parliament as well. I dont know how they got there.Well if the people voted they deserve them !
I dont want to deviate from the issue on your blog. its definitely well written. to add to the words of Ms. Roy ......On a quiet day, I can hear her breathe... her last few breaths
Hugo Chavez is a wannabe Fidel Castro and he has oppressed his own people as badly as any capitalist ever did if you investigate the facts and ask Venezuelans themselves.
United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi has written to the four Left parties to consider returning to the UPA-Left Coordination Committee, as the Cabinet decision to offload equity in Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited has been "put in abeyance."
This shows that, with out the support of Left our Manmohan Singh Government is very dificult to continue.
That was some information. It does seem like today's major battle is between the right and the left. Unfortunately however, at least here in the US, the right seems to have grappled the nation with an iron fist. The leftists here were boosted by Michael Moore's movie, his books and his vocal views on the Bush Administration, and fought a valiant, yet futile battle against the powerful and wealthy Republican party. The forte of the neocolonialists of contemporary times is that they are canniving and crafty, unlike the Europeans were, over a century ago.
They perpetrate entire wars based on lies and deception, false intelligence reports, the technology of computers to sketch entire weapons labs (such as the ones that were presented by Colin Powell to the UN) that never existed. They release videos from terrorists every now and then to justify their continuation of the so-called 'war on terror'. They are playing with fire, and a dirty game, to add to that. The day this empire declines, (which is a natural phenomena of rise and fall) these folks are going to be in serious trouble.
That was some information. It does seem like today's major battle is between the right and the left. Unfortunately however, at least here in the US, the right seems to have grappled the nation with an iron fist. The leftists here were boosted by Michael Moore's movie, his books and his vocal views on the Bush Administration, and fought a valiant, yet futile battle against the powerful and wealthy Republican party. The forte of the neocolonialists of contemporary times is that they are canniving and crafty, unlike the Europeans were, over a century ago.
They perpetrate entire wars based on lies and deception, false intelligence reports, the technology of computers to sketch entire weapons labs (such as the ones that were presented by Colin Powell to the UN) that never existed. They release videos from terrorists every now and then to justify their continuation of the so-called 'war on terror'. They are playing with fire, and a dirty game, to add to that. The day this empire declines, (which is a natural phenomena of rise and fall) these folks are going to be in serious trouble.
Oops, sorry about the double post.
Thanks to call me Friend.
First visit here.
Have you visited West Bengal? Ask the Bongs about improvement in their state and they would say most parts of the state looks the same as it used to be 25 years ago. No industries.. Not many engineering and medical colleges to cater the needs of studious young Bongs. They come all the way from there to Karnataka to study. Even arts colleges are far and few. The colleges in the rural area would be closed for long duration of time every year, thanks to the 'strike'. SFI's politics corrupts the young minds even in big cities. Everything is cheap, silly and bloody politics in Bengal. You might ask why communists are still being elected. The reason being the land reformation they did 25 years ago. But, after that? None to write about.
Even Kerala has no industry. Who would like to invest in states where the workers dont want to work?
When the Berlin Wall came down the German people were very happy. Hugo Chavez is a tyrant who kills his own people. Michael Moore is a Leftist and a buffoon. He does not speak for most Americans I assure you. Communism failed, because it didn't work. Dictators took over - Lenin,Stalin,Ceaucescu,Tito,Honecker, Castro and their ilk. People want freedom not totalitarianism Sidd.
The left needs a kind of reform, a new formulation of its project and aim in a language that reflects on the future´s problems. I think Vatsan is right, Marx´s answers were given for the 19th century. The left must realise all these changes that happened in the societies since then - which are still going on and will be continued ..
We must leave the dogmatism behind and build up a new theory and praxis as a synthesis from the best of the old and the new ideas.
Christian do you advocate Marxism with a new face ? Is that what you want ?
@christian and PAUL,
the problem with the capitalists and the left is that they seldom realise that either one alone wont work, left needs to adopt the market mechanism and the changes it brings about, rationalisation of economic activities world over, the concept of an isolated economy is dead, its one single global economy, and market mechanism is the way forward.
capitalists on the other hand seldom look at the areas of marekt failure, areas where the market fails to allocate resources properly and results in the skewed distribution of resources, its stupid to say that the market will take care of all social problem, it wont and the market will fail. the best work on that is still by MARX, his book, if viewed as a criticism of capitalism is good, and the rightwingers have to try and solve the issues raised by marx. just because marx is a leftist if a capitalist doesnt read his work, he is being stupid and dogmatic, knowledge if useful, shud be accepted irrespective of the source.
the way forward is a middle path, between the left and the capitalists, a mixed economy but of a much better form, atleast in so far as economic policy is concerned.
Interesting. Again, do you advocate Marxism albeit reformed? Yes or no?
In my eyes the marxist theory is a very good persperctive, but it´s only one among other views (that does not mean that it is irrelevant which perspective you take) that can´t reflect the whole of reality alone. Any theory is more or less a reduction of reality, so one should not stick to only one theory.
paul ur question to christian reminds me of MR Bushs u with us or against us.
its not that simple,
Thank you Vatsan! No, Paul, I´m not a marxist, but I think Marx is one of the most important philosophers of the 19th century.
One question to you, Vatsan: a mixed economy, as you said, between the radical left and the radical capitalists could have many faces: Social Democracy, "social market economy" (as in some European countries), Clinton´s "third way", "socialist market economy" (as in China) or something else.. Which form do you prefer?
sidharth
if u ask me, its always aggregation and concentration/ hoarding. the communists aggregate and concentrate power at one point. the capitalisits aggregate and concentrate/hoard money. they think money is power.
the collective harm done by both communism and capitalism to mankind is is by and large the same in terms of scale.
its like choosing which eye to lose.
the way forward will be to balance both. and infuse humanity and conscience in the youth so that they bring about a new world order.
things have to be tackled at micro level with least damage to the environment.
otherwise its a case of devastation of 1,000 at a time or 100 over a span of 10 days. its all the same....
seri rombo pesitten, soda kedaikuma?
:))
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