Yesterday a
milestone was passed in the social and political situation in Greece and
throughout Europe. Impressive mobilizations rolled across the country:
half a million in Athens and rallies of thousands of people gathered in
Thessaloniki, Patras, Larissa, Volos, Heraklion, etc. This places
Greece on the threshold of a revolutionary situation. It means that, for
the first time in decades the developed capitalist countries of Europe
are faced with the prospect of a revolution with continental dimensions.
Yesterday a
milestone was passed in the social and political situation in Greece and
throughout Europe. Impressive mobilizations rolled across the country:
half a million in Athens and rallies of thousands of people gathered in
Thessaloniki, Patras, Larissa, Volos, Heraklion, etc. This places
Greece on the threshold of a revolutionary situation. It means that, for
the first time in decades the developed capitalist countries of Europe
are faced with the prospect of a revolution with continental dimensions.
Half a million protesters in Athens – Uprising across the country
June 2, Syntagma Square. Photo: Rania H.Yesterday’s
gathering in Athens, apart from its impressive size, had many new
elements. The awkwardness and blind rage that characterized the first
days of the movement have given way to enthusiasm. The masses have
acquired a sense of confidence through the collective show of strength.
While the early days were focused on the idea of a silent angry people,
yesterday the mood had changed. The people shouted ingenious slogans
against the government and the “Troika”, and everywhere groups of people
were spontaneously formed in which everyone wanted to express an
opinion on the movement and on the next steps to be taken.
At the
same time, in the most advanced part of the protesters, especially in
the youth, an interest to seek a political solution for the "next day"
was evident the This explains the enormous interest in participating in
the People’s Assembly of Syntagma Square, which was attended by 10,000
people, patiently waiting to participate, although very few were able to
speak.
From 9.30 pm onwards, the density of the protest made it
impossible even to approach the site of the assembly. The predominant
element in the meeting was the spontaneous opinions voiced by ordinary
workers, unemployed and young people expressing the need to continue the
struggle.
Many proposals were made: to "besiege the parliament on
the day the austerity measures are put to the vote; to" to fight to set
up popular meetings in every neighborhood; "to put into practice the
decision of the People’s Assembly for an indefinite general political
strike"; "to fight the media propaganda with an organized campaign in
the neighborhoods and squares”. On one point all were agreed: "next
Sunday there will be a million people in the streets of Athens!”
The situation becomes revolutionary
The
masses are erupting onto the scene very dramatically and are
consistently to the forefront. The climate in the neighborhoods this
week highlights the potential for mass assemblies. The enthusiasm from
the protests is being carried into every workplace, thereby putting
tremendous pressure on the leadership of the unions to take action.
Already the GSEE leadership has been forced to call a 24 hour strike of
all those companies that are soon to be privatized on Thursday 9th
June. For the first time these workers will be engaged in coordinated
action, while another 24 hour general strike was announced for 15th June.
It
is certain that this general strike will be different to those we saw
last year. Coming as part of the general escalation of the mass movement
that has developed in the squares, it will have a much greater
participation than before in the private sector. And it will be combined
with the most widespread popular protests in decades. This strike will
not mobilize only a part of the working class, but will tend to embrace
the vast majority of the working class and trade unions. It will put the
proletariat in the head of a struggle that is not a struggle for
economic demands alone, but a political struggle of the masses in the
streets. This strike therefore will have an inner tendency to become a
lasting general strike, regardless of the intentions of the bureaucracy.
What is revolutionary situation?
In
the writings of Lenin and Trotsky, we can find the definition of what
is a revolutionary situation. In his book "The failure of the Second
International" (1916) Lenin explained:
“What,
generally speaking, are the symptoms of a revolutionary situation? We
shall certainly not be mistaken if we indicate the following three major
symptoms: (1) when it is impossible for the ruling classes to maintain
their rule without any change; when there is a crisis, in one form or
another, among the “upper classes”, a crisis in the policy of the ruling
class, leading to a fissure through which the discontent and
indignation of the oppressed classes burst forth. For a revolution to
take place, it is usually insufficient for “the lower classes not to
want” to live in the old way; it is also necessary that “the upper
classes should be unable” to live in the old way; (2) when the suffering
and want of the oppressed classes have grown more acute than usual; (3)
when, as a consequence of the above causes, there is a considerable
increase in the activity of the masses, who uncomplainingly allow
themselves to be robbed in “peace time”, but, in turbulent times, are
drawn both by all the circumstances of the crisis and by the “upper
classes” themselves into independent historical action.“…..The
totality of all these objective changes is called a revolutionary
situation. Such a situation existed in 1905 in Russia, and in all
revolutionary periods in the West;…”
Trotsky in 1940, in the Emergency Manifesto explained the necessary conditions for the victory of the proletariat:
“The
basic conditions for the victory of the proletarian revolution have
been established by historical experience and clarified theoretically:
(1) the bourgeois impasse and the resulting confusion of the ruling
class; (2) the sharp dissatisfaction and the striving towards decisive
changes in the ranks of the petty bourgeoisie, without whose support the
big bourgeoisie cannot maintain itself; (3) the consciousness of the
intolerable situation and readiness for revolutionary actions in the
ranks of the proletariat; (4) a clear program and a firm leadership of
the proletarian vanguard—these are the four conditions for the victory
of the proletarian revolution.” (Manifesto of the Fourth International
on Imperialist War and the Imperialist War).
All
these elements have developed in Greece today. The ruling class begins
to understand that they cannot govern as before; to lie and deceive the
masses, i.e. with the old, gentle, "democratic" means. The suffering and
indignation of the masses have been growing over a long period. The
masses have already begun to move independently of the ruling class.
The
ruling class finds itself in a state of unprecedented confusion because
of the impasse. They are absolutely unable to reach to a unified
strategy. Some say: “we must completely capitulate to the foreign
lenders and see where we can go from there". Others suggest that Greece
should "renegotiate with the troika”, while still others say we must
"get out of the euro now in order to strengthen the country’s
competitiveness." Some say: "let’s form a national government", while
others urge Papandreou to continue carrying out the dirty work until he
gets the boot. Some, are even secretly studying the possibility of a
coup, in an attempt to put the brake on the movement of the masses. This
scenario was outlined in a leaked report by the CIA in the bourgeois
press last week.
The desertion of 16 PASOK MPs from the government
over the issue of new cuts and taxes, shows that the pressure of the
movement has destabilized the government’s parliamentary group for good.
New Democracy and LAOS, fearing that they will go down together with
Papandreou’s sinking ship, are now keeping their distance from the
government, trying to speculate on the result of a future election.
The
traditional mainstay of the bourgeoisie, the middle classes have been
radicalized and are now in the streets. The proletariat again and again
shows its readiness to act. All the basic elements for a revolutionary
situation have matured. The only thing that is lacking is a clear
programme and firm leadership of the proletarian vanguard. That is all
that is needed quickly to convert the revolutionary situation into a
victorious revolution which will expropriate the exploiters and
eliminate capitalism, setting in motion a movement that can lead to the
victory of socialism in Greece, the Mediterranean and throughout Europe.
The leadership of the Left is acting criminally
Ever
since the beginning of mass movement on the streets, the Left leaders
have adopted an unacceptable attitude. The leadership of the Communist
Party sends ultimatums to the people located in squares, urging them to
"finally make the right policy proposals!" (See main article in
Rizospastis on 3 / 6). The task of a Communist Party leadership is not
to ask the movement to “make the right policy proposals”, but to
participate actively in the movement, to try to raise the of
consciousness and help the masses to formulate the correct demands.
Last
Friday, the Stalinist leadership of the Communist Party made complete
fools of themselves in front of the eyes of thousands gathered in the
Syntagma Square. That afternoon a demonstration of PAME, the trade union
faction of the Communist Party, ended up in the Square. There they
delivered a 15-minute speech, during which the Communist Party called on
the people assembled on the squares ex cathedra "not to trust anybody else except PAME".
When
the speech was over, in order to avoid mixing up the protesters in the
square with the Communist workers, the organizers of the PAME demo
immediately ordered members of the Communist Youth to form "chains" and
immediately, the "Communist" left the square. In this way, the Stalinist
leadership of the Communist Party has proved eloquently their organic
inability to connect with the real mass movement. They have shown that
they regard it simply as a means of strengthening the Party’s position
in the parliamentary elections.
On the other hand, the leadership
of SYRIZA refuses to enter the movement openly and boldly. It is a very
serious mistake just to ask for elections, without making any proposal
on how to further develop the movement, when people are on the streets,
getting self-organized, ready to get rid of the government and the
"troika" altogether. It is also an incorrect attitude of the CC of
Synaspismos (decision 29 / 5) to ask Party members to participate in the
movement, while pretending to be “non-partisan"; " … In this
movement we participate as citizens, trying to listen and learn, we take
part in uniting our voice with thousands of angry in each square of
the country …. ".
The rank and file of the Left parties
should respond to this damaging attitude. The position of comrade Alexis
Tsipras (President of Synaspismos) and comrade Aleka Papariga
(Secretary of the Communist Party) must not be confined to party offices
and television panels. The place of the leaders of the Left in these
moments is in Syntigma and the other squares. If the Left fails to
participate openly and boldly in the movement, with appropriate ideas
and suggestions that will help lead to victory and the final overthrow
of the capitalist system of slavery, the core of the movement will be
occupied by all sorts of petty-bourgeois and professional "patriots" who
are trying to obscure the social content of the movement, replacing the
class struggle with nationalist confusion.
The working class must lead the struggle!
The
outbreak of this mass movement in the squares, found the labour
movement in a state of fatigue and frustration, mainly because of the
devastating role of the union bureaucracy, which up to now imagined they
could defuse the militant mood of hundreds of thousands of workers with
an occasional 24-hour general strike. So naturally, the initiative in
the fight against the government and the “Troika”, passed from the
unions to broader sections of people, who had not been involved in
mobilizations in the last few years.
Unemployed university
graduates, skilled and unskilled unemployed, young people without work
experience, middle class people devastated by taxes and robbing banks
and the collapse of the market, workers without any union or political
affiliation, students who are just beginning to be politicized,
pensioners and housewives: people from all layers of the working society
form the main basis of this mass movement in the squares.
These
layers have a fresh and combative mood. They don’t have bureaucratic
leaders above them to put the brake on the mobilization and so far, they
have created a movement that has proved to be persistent and long
lasting. On the other hand, as is perfectly natural, these layers’
together with explosive anger and militancy, display inexperience of
mass protests and are desperately seeking appropriate political slogans,
appropriate fighting methods and specific political demands.
In
these circumstances, therefore, the need for a distinct contribution of
the working class and the labour movement in the struggle is decisive.
The decisions of the People’s Assembly of Syntagma Square calling for a
general strike clearly recognize this need. Without paralyzing the
economic centers of the system, there cannot be any fundamental change
in society. But very little has been done until now to realize the
general political strike demand.
Most of the leading layer in the
Popular Assembly in Syntagma Square are under the false impression that
the general strike is a merely a militant auxiliary to the
demonstrations in the squares. In reality, it represents a decisive
escalation of struggle and reflects a new, higher stage of this
struggle. We must understand that the general strike cannot be organized
by shouting slogans outside the union offices and workplaces, but must
flow from the demands of the workers themselves through the trade unions
and workplaces.
In working-class neighborhoods and workplaces, we
must create action committees and elect strike committees to prepare
for the strike. That is the only way to guarantee its success. Finally,
it is vital to make clear that a general political strike will lead to
the downfall of the government. It must not bring to power a government
of bourgeois political careerists, but rather one of elected
representatives of the people coming out of the movement itself.
Therefore,
the democratic organization of the movement is a crucial issue, not
only for the growth but also for the solution of the question of power
in order to serve the interests and aspirations of the indignant working
people. The views put forward by different groups of intellectuals
within the movement on "direct procedures” and “democracy through sms
and e-mails”, which are portrayed as "direct democracy”, have nothing to
do either with the immediate issues or democracy.
What we need now
What we need now is:
- Popular Assemblies in every neighborhood, with assemblies in the workplaces to elect recallable action committees everywhere.
- Popular
Assemblies in the central squares of all major cities that are composed
of elected and recallable representatives at neighborhood workplaces
meetings and. - The create of a Pan-Hellenic Central Committee
elected by the recallable representatives of the Popular Assemblies of
the different cities.
Finally, at the heart of the struggle should be the following two demands:
- A complete write-off of the debt created by Greek and foreign exploiters and thieves!
- To
abolish forever the nightmare of debt, poverty and unemployment we need
to place the control of the financial centers and the concentrated
wealth of the country (banks, insurance companies, infrastructure,
transport and big firms in every industry) under social ownership,
through the democratic control of the working people, as a step forward
the victory of the revolution throughout Europe and the world!
Athens, 6 June, 2011.
