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Recent articles by Wayne Price
Parution du journal Cause Commune Express #26 - Spécial lutte contre l... Nov 06 14 Someday We'll Be Ready, and We'll Be Enough Oct 24 14 Mortar: Volume 2 Jun 26 14 Could a Revolution Happen in the US?![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Will a Revolution Happen in the US in Time?
Why hasn't there been more rebellion in the US lately? What are the indications that a popular movement may develop which leads to revolution? What is meant by revolution, anyway?Throughout the USA there is discontent. Under the apparently placid political surface there is bubbling dissatisfaction. Yet there has been only limited rebellion, all kept within the limits of Democratic-Republican politics as usual. Certainly, to most people, the possibility of a revolution — an uprising against capitalism and its state — seems distant, if not absurd. I want to argue that a revolution is quite possible (but not inevitable). And I want to clarify what revolution means.Most political theorists ask why there are occasional rebellions and revolutions. I think it is more fruitful to ask why there are not more rebellions — popular struggles leading up to revolutions. Consider the unfairness of a tiny minority — the “one percent” — ruling over and getting rich from the big majority. Consider the dangers of ecological catastrophe, economic collapse, and nuclear war, not to mention many other issues of oppression and unfairness. Why do people put up with this? Why isn’t there at least a large movement to get rid of this system?
Could a Revolution Happen in the US?Throughout the USA there is discontent. Under the apparently placid political surface there is bubbling dissatisfaction. Yet there has been only limited rebellion, all kept within the limits of Democratic-Republican politics as usual. Certainly, to most people, the possibility of a revolution — an uprising against capitalism and its state — seems distant, if not absurd. I want to argue that a revolution is quite possible (but not inevitable). And I want to clarify what revolution means. Most political theorists ask why there are occasional rebellions and revolutions. I think it is more fruitful to ask why there are not more rebellions — popular struggles leading up to revolutions. Consider the unfairness of a tiny minority — the “one percent” — ruling over and getting rich from the big majority. Consider the dangers of ecological catastrophe, economic collapse, and nuclear war, not to mention many other issues of oppression and unfairness. Why do people put up with this? Why isn’t there at least a large movement to get rid of this system? Revolutions happen because people have not been sufficiently flexible to adapt social institutions to changing conditions. Conditions may change gradually (feudalism is being replaced by capitalism; global climate change develops over the decades, etc.). But popular consciousness lags behind the change, and those who benefit from existing conditions (such as the feudal lords or the owners of oil industries) resist gradual changes. At some point there develops extreme tension between the existing consciousness and institutions and the need for change. Then there is either an explosive revolution or social disaster. The question is, why does it take so long, even when the need for change has become drastic, for there to be a major movement for the necessary transformation: for revolution? Essentially there are three reasons. First, there is widespread ignorance and miseducation deliberately spread by the dominant institutions. From our schools, churches, newspapers, television news, and other forms of mass media, US people learn a heavily distorted view of the world. They have little knowledge of the power of the capitalist minority and the inequality of wealth in the country. They know almost nothing of the record of the US empire in other countries, especially the poorer nations. The white majority knows almost nothing about the oppression of People of Color. Economic theory is a closed book to most US people. US people are mainly in the dark about the dangers of climate change and the possible alternatives. To most, “socialism”, “communism”, “Marxism”, “anarchism” and “radicalism” are words spoken by the devil. The range of debate, between “conservatives” and “liberals”, Republicans and Democrats, is incredibly narrow and uneducating; it is almost unheard of for a significant issue to be be seriously debated. The US is a bourgeois democracy, which is to say, it is not a fascist or totalitarian state which simply suppresses dissent through police measures. Police measures are indeed used, but in an inconsistent manner. It is possible to learn the truth about these matters, if individuals are willing to look. There has always been a minority which is interested in looking at alternate sources of information (the writings of Noam Chomsky, socialist journals, radical blogs, etc.). But mostly this has been a tiny minority. The question is why don’t more people look at the alternate media and books which are available? (This is exactly what people do in periods of radicalization.) Growing DissatisfactionThe second reason for popular quiescence is a certain level of comfort, or at least, of being not too uncomfortable. This leads to people not looking for information outside the conventional wisdom. The political psychology of this was expressed by Thomas Jefferson in the US Declaration of Independence: “…All experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed”.Accepting that existing “evils are sufferable” was most obvious during the prosperity which followed World War II and lasted about 30 years (until the early '70s). Most workers felt that they were doing better than they had been, and better than their parents. They expected that their children would do better yet. From the many better-off workers to the expanded “middle class”, most (white) families had a house and at least one car, with only one parent having to hold a waged job. Under these conditions, the radicalism of the thirties died down. Other reasons for the post-WWII decline of the Left, included the anticommunist repression which drove the Communists and other leftists out of the unions, the universities, and public and private employment. Another was the ugly reality of the totalitarian Soviet Union, which was falsely labelled as “socialist” and “communist” by both its supporters and opponents. But the prosperity was the main factor, which permitted the repression to succeed with so little resistance. It is just this factor which has changed. The economy has continued to decline. A “jobless recovery” followed the Great Recession of 2008 and further decline (even a new Great Depression) is likely within the next five to ten years. The ecological/energy crisis is increasingly coming to affect ordinary people in observable ways, as climate change comes closer to total catastrophe. And other issues continue to affect the people (such as attacks on women’s reproductive rights or on African-American voting rights — things which were supposed to have been settled). Meanwhile the Federal government appears to be deadlocked and incompetent, unable to deal with the growing problems. “Polling by Gallup shows that since June 2009…public confidence in virtually every major institution of American life has fallen, including organized religion, the military, the Supreme Court, public schools, newspapers, Congress, television news, the police, the presidency, the medical system, the criminal justice system and small business….Banks, organized labor, big business and health maintenance organizations…had the confidence of just roughly a quarter of the population or less.” (NY Times 10/22/14; p. A3)So there is plenty of political unhappiness and social discomfort out there. One way it has shown itself in the growth of the extreme right. The “conservative” (really reactionary) Republicans shade into virtual fascists (those who want to overthrown bourgeois democracy, as expressed in threats to rely on “second amendment remedies” if they don’t get their way through the electoral process). But there have also been popular struggles that point in a different direction. The movement of Latinos and immigrants (first massively apparent in the 2006 May Day marches) is one. Since the Great Recession, there was the virtual occupation of the Wisconsin government by workers. There was the Occupy Wall Street movement, which spread over the country. There have been national movements for a higher minimum wage and for decent pay for fast food workers. Following events in Ferguson, MO, and elsewhere, there has been a movement against police brutality and racial oppression. 400 thousand people marched in New York City against climate change. I am not covering everything. (I leave out the impact of rebellions in other countries — the Arab Spring, the occupations and general strikes in Europe against austerity, the democracy movement in Hong Kong, etc.) Yet all of these struggles in the US have (so far) remained limited. They have died down or been defeated or kept marginal. The Wisconsin struggles, for example, did not go on to make a general strike against the governor’s anti-labor policies. Instead the union leadership pulled the movement into electoral activities — which were defeated. The Occupy movement made an impact which is still being felt; but its encampments were eventually dispersed by the police. The immigrant struggle has been channeled into Democratic Party politics — and gotten little or nothing for it. The Democratic Party continues to play the role it has since the Populist era, of drawing movements of opposition away from mass direct action into the dead end of electoral politics. This is how it weakened the Civil Rights and antiwar movements of the 60s and it will do the same to present struggles if we let it. The union bureaucrats know no other strategy — and the same goes for other liberal leaderships (of the Black community or of most ecological organizations). The Power of the Working PeopleWhich brings up the third main reason for a low level of rebellion. This is the sense that nothing can be done, that there is no alternative. The establishment, the ruling class and its institutions, seem all-powerful. What is the use of struggling? You might as well worry about whether there will be an earthquake.What people do not realize is the vulnerability of the ruling class. It has money and it has armed force (police and military). But we, the working class and the rest of the population, have our own potential power. We have numbers, being the big majority. As workers, we have our hands on the means of production, transportation, and communication — which we can shut down if we decide to, and can start up again in a different way, if we decide to. We have an appeal at least to the ranks of the military, daughters and sons of the working class and middle class. Everything would change with one big strike in a major city, one general strike which shuts down a city while workers occupy their workplaces and youth really occupy the downtown district (Wall Street or whatever). Our whole politics would change. The ruling class fears this like the fires of hell. Liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, union officialdom, will do all in their power to prevent this from happening, because it would show the people the power that we really have. They would rather push all opposition into the Democrats or even into independent electoral action (third parties), away from mass action. But it could happen, especially if radicals put efforts into advocating and educating working people about such a strategy. What is a Revolution?The first factor — the miseducation of the people — includes teaching people to fear and dislike the very idea of a “revolution”. This is peculiar for a country which prides itself on its founding revolution of 1776. The Declaration of Independence asserted, “Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government….Under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government”.But look at this statement by Naomi Klein, in her popular book This Changes Everything, about the need to stop the capitalist development of climate catastrophe. She strongly advocates the need for a popular movement to fight climate change and all forms of oppression. But instead of asserting the “Right of the People” to revolution, she writes, “…Let’s take for granted that we want to do these radical things democratically and without a bloodbath, so violent, vanguardist revolutions don’t have much to offer in the way of road maps”. (Klein 2014, p. 452). Since this is her only reference to “revolution”, it implies that revolutions are undemocratic, vanguardist (elitist) and violent, certain to end in bloodbaths. A popular revolution of the working class and all those oppressed by capitalism would be the most democratic transformation possible. Revolution is not defined by being “violent” or “bloody”. “Revolution” means “to turn over” (revolve). It means one class overturning another class. Under capitalism, it means the working class and its allies of all the oppressed overturning the capitalist class and its state and other institutions, and replacing them with new institutions. This is intended to develop a classless, nonoppressive, freely cooperative society. Such an overturn might be fairly nonviolent. This would be so IF the big majority of the population is united behind it and determined to carry it through — IF the workers boldly seize industry and transportation and manage it themselves — IF the ranks of the military (who mainly come from the working class) come over to the side of the majority — and IF the ruling class is demoralized (especially if revolutions have been successful in most other countries). All this is possible, but….iffy. For example, the October Russian revolution which brought the Soviets to power had minimal bloodshed. It was only later, when foreign imperialists pumped up counterrevolutionary forces into fighting a civil war, that the revolution became bloody (and the worst traits of the Bolsheviks were encouraged). It is likely that the US ruling class will try to resist losing its power and wealth, as violently as “necessary”. The problem of violence, of a “bloodbath”, depends on the extent of resistance by the capitalist class and on little else. This is the most arrogant, self-conscious, ruling class in the world, used to throwing its weight around as it choses. The best way to limit its violence is to be prepared: to organize the workers and oppressed as solidly and strongly as possible. This too shows the need for mass action and popular resistance. ConclusionWill there be a revolution? In time? Before ecological and economic or other catastrophes crash down on society? This is impossible to predict. What is lacking is organization, a layer of self-organized radicals, militants who are prepared to advocate revolution and to link this goal up to the daily struggles of the people. The formation of such self-organization is not a matter of prediction but of commitment.Citations Declaration of Independence (1776). http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters declaration_transcript.html Klein, Naomi (2014). This Changes Everything; Capitalism vs. the Climate. NY: Simon & Schuster. NY Times (10/22/14). “A Steady Loss of Confidence.” Pp. A1, A3. *Written for www.anarkismo.net
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In recent days, following the events of the demonstrations on December 1st for the presidential inauguration of Enrique Peña Nieto, during which the police forces, both of the Federal [national] and Federal District [Mexico City] forces, brutally repressed demonstrators - officials of the Federal District government, amongst whom were the head of government of the FD and the capital's attorney, have made statements declaring that those responsible for the clashes are anarchist groups.[Castellano] [Français] [Deutsch]
Announcing the Heat Index blog at www.heatindexatl.info
A post-conference report from the Workers Solidarity Alliance's 2012 Gathering in St. Louis MO In the last 5 months, some anarchists from Regina have been engaged in the difficult process of creating a revolutionary anarchist organization and debating its political influences. As a result of these meetings and debates, we are proud to finally announce the existence of Prairie Struggle Organization based in Regina. To hopefully start a dialogue with anarchists in the west of Canada and beyond, we feel it important to let you know why anarchist politics in Regina are taking this direction.
Since May 1, 2006 we have seen a slow opening up of mass struggles on a scale not seen in recent memory, amplified by the silent economic crash in 2008. From the massive day without an immigrant to the historic Arab Spring; the Wisconsin workers uprising to the prisoners strikes in Georgia and California; Occupy Wall Street to the rallies for Justice for Trayvon Martin; General strikes of students in Chile and Quebec and of workers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. People committed to real change cannot help but feel the wind in our sails. People are rising and refusing, struggles are igniting, common ground is revealing itself, we are beginning to feel and take back our power, everywhere.
The 6th Annual NYC Anarchist Book Fair will be held on Saturday April 14th, 2012 @ Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, New York City with workshops continuing through April 15th This issue is on Ecology, Industry, Crisis and Alternatives: bell hooks on Intersectionalism, Transit Organizing in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York City; Indoor Fish Farms, Solar Power, Green Building, "The Vegetarian Myth", Ecological & Economic Crisis, and more... Mayday is not only a time to remember the sacrifices of so many before us who fought against all authority – capitalism and the state, patriarchy and white supremacy, empire and ecocide – but also a time to reflect on and celebrate the achievements of our movements today. In recent months the world has again been changed by the actions of masses of ordinary people.
Common Action, a regional anarchist organization in the Pacific Northwest, has collectively decided to dissolve as of November 15, 2010. After several months of preparation, the UCL's website is now online at long last. The site contains all the latest news about the organization, archives of the federation's publications together with our basic documents, such as our Aims & Principles and our Constitution. [Français] more >>
Anarchism and the philosophy of pragmatism can add to each other. Pragmatism is explained as a philosophy of active experience and experimental naturalism. Pragmatism advocates radical, decentrlized democracy and industrial self-management, which is very close to anarchism. However pragmatists have often opposed reformist perspectives to revolution. The case for revolution is presented.
This essay is slightly expanded from one which was rejected by a US anarchist magazine for political reasons. It deals with a disagreement among activists: Should we propose that the movement raise a program of demands? I think that anarchists should, but with a more libertarian-democratic version than the liberals and state socialists. The essay is followed by a response to the political points raised by the editors of the anarchist journal.
This essay is an argument for moving towards national organization in the United States. It explores the limitations of political organization today, recent positive experiences, and possible ways to build on the present to push forward.
"We shall carry out all possible reforms in the spirit in which an army advances ever forwards by snatching the enemy-occupied territory in its path." - Errico Malatesta(1)
These are the points of unity for the entire collective, reflecting the ideas that inform our organizing work. more >>
Announcing the Heat Index blog at www.heatindexatl.info
A post-conference report from the Workers Solidarity Alliance's 2012 Gathering in St. Louis MO
Since May 1, 2006 we have seen a slow opening up of mass struggles on a scale not seen in recent memory, amplified by the silent economic crash in 2008. From the massive day without an immigrant to the historic Arab Spring; the Wisconsin workers uprising to the prisoners strikes in Georgia and California; Occupy Wall Street to the rallies for Justice for Trayvon Martin; General strikes of students in Chile and Quebec and of workers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. People committed to real change cannot help but feel the wind in our sails. People are rising and refusing, struggles are igniting, common ground is revealing itself, we are beginning to feel and take back our power, everywhere.
The 6th Annual NYC Anarchist Book Fair will be held on Saturday April 14th, 2012 @ Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, New York City with workshops continuing through April 15th
Mayday is not only a time to remember the sacrifices of so many before us who fought against all authority – capitalism and the state, patriarchy and white supremacy, empire and ecocide – but also a time to reflect on and celebrate the achievements of our movements today. In recent months the world has again been changed by the actions of masses of ordinary people. more >> |
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4What you write makes a lot of sense, but I think that what keeps most people from considering a revolution in the U.S. is inertia and fear of the unknown ("better the devil you know," etc.). I agree that the image of a revolution as necessarily bloody is promulgated by the powers that be, since that serves their interest.
I agree that it is the relative affluence and comfort of the majority--even in the face of stagnant real wages--that pushes the necessary immediacy of a revolution into the background.
Great article!
REBELLIONS IN NORTH AMERICA:
NEEDS OF ADVANCE, SYMPTOMS OF THE FUTURE
The present-day revolts exploiting in Mexico, and next in United States, announces the working-class uprising in NorthAmericaand in all over world as well, after a year markedby the international counter-revolutionary offensive:
• A year signed by the defeat of important struggles process, deflecting them with elections or blood;either for engagement in bourgeois rivalries competing the gov’t control (government against opposition) or to open and stated official terrorism (military coups): Brazil, Venezuela, Thailand;
• A year signed by the worsening of the world economic crisis, with new sacrifices being extorted of working people everywhere else: stagnation in Italy, European new recession, the serious deepening of the U.S. financial background,and at least,the announcer signals of a soon (and serious) general pauperism in Brazil;
• A year signed by the all-out military imperialist advance, result fromworking-class defeat in several local struggles: the turning of the revolutionary attempt into an international war in Ukraine, genocide in Gaza –and the offensive of Islamic State, expression of the defeat of2011-12’“Arab Spring”, failed revolution attempts turned into national-religious wars hawked by the world capitalism;
• A year signed by heavy imperialistintrusionsin the “internal” defeats of local struggles: such as Venezuela, the US’ interests-linked press ( yahoo.com and CNN ) give full support to the advancement of the right-wing/right-wing extremists in Brazil, the Euro-American interference get lost the Ukrainian revolt from the path of revolution, the Britain and US intrusion in Hong Kong social struggles - weakening and reducing them from a great struggle against capital to a struggle for elections and against China, Europe/France backing the military coup in Burkina Faso , etc.
Here are, when 2014 was considered a lost year for the revolution and for the working-class, his heroic and urgent resistance did not expect: great revolts happen in Mexico and the United States!
• There's a worsening of living conditions in both places: widespread costliness , unemployment and evictions in USA(e.g: Silicon Valley); in Mexico, attacks on workers of public service and retirees, followed by the necessary state terrorism - aggravated by the eternal and transparent symbiosis between the drug cartels and the government ;
• In Mexico, the disappearance of the 43 from Iguala is just like the executions in USA - Eric Garner , Tamir Rice and mainly , Mike Brown in Ferguson : the police terror unleashed rebellions, (in the same way it strengthened the movement in Hong Kong and detonated riots: 2008 in Greece and 2013 in Brazil - the military coup in Burkina had similar results);
• In both countries (Mexico and USA) : there is an increase of force deployment on the part of the state - death squads and attacks on protests/strikes in Mexico , Obama sending troops to Ferguson and threatens the entire San Francisco Bay - the threats pushed the struggle rather than intimidate ;
• The combat actions of working class shares have a common element since the beginning: attempts to sabotage of the economy - looting and attacks on businesses and banks in Mexico and the United States ( Ferguson , San Francisco , Oakland ). In United States , there was the boycott of "Black Friday" and the emblematic invasion of Apple hall in New York - lately occupations are taking place in the malls, subway and train stations, and an assault against the whole comercial-christmastime atmosphere in major urban centers. In Mexico, the struggle for the 43 from Ayotzinapa has been supported by several strikes of farm workers, of university students...in addition to block offs to the highways and the Acapulco Airport;
• In both countries, the authorities employs measures of distraction and demagogy to break the fights: anticorruption legislation, the arresting of the mayor from Iguala , statements of repudiation of the murder of 43 missing made by the same authorities who order such atrocities, arrests of some narco-cutthroats, Obama announcing federal investigation against the police officers involved in executions (while they grow together with the judicial smooth over the cop crime). Similar maneuvers can only be waged in reason of the internal weakness of sectors involved in the struggles and infiltrated groups in the political uprisings willing to save them from "bad politicians" or that the President make a "police reform";
However, it's demonstrated till now an unequal development in some aspects of the riots:
•In Mexico is clearly visible a more assumed trend in affront to state: Congress was attacked; police stations, political parties' offices and city halls were targeted by protesters. The payback actions against the police looks have been planned in acautious and consistent way .In the United States , this feature is more incipient: attacks on police in Ferguson and St. Louis and only now, two weeks after the start of the November 18th the protesters make more willful actions(except in the siege of the White House). Tough "symbolic actions" - against the Rockefeller Center in New York and around the headquarters of the N.Y.P.D. TV staff was rushed from some protests (Oakland);
•In Mexico there are a more uniform protest diffusion from offset, equally comprising several regions throughout the country. In the United States , the protests only started to gain the same strength in the first week of December, but reaching only a few central areas and their surrounding zones: Atlanta , Chicago, Minneapolis, Washington DC , New York , Missouri , California , Ohio , etc.;
• In Mexico the rebellion presents continuity since October, in USA, an interruption between September and November, but a renewal on US riots boosted the struggles in Mexico;
•As a result , in Mexico the rebellion objectives appear to be more strategic , putting first government and corporate targets on a large scale. In USA, the rebel reaction seems to be more immediate and therefore, more dispersed about the targets (Slogan in Mexico = "FUE EL ESTADO"!, in US = "I can't breathe !");
• In Mexico , the rebellion seems to be more systematic and organized, although this "organization" is already the result of the obtrusiveness of the "left-wing" of capital (the Mexican traditional parties and unions ), while in the United States appears to be more spontaneous - but not free of infiltration : the various NGOs and "human'" or "civil rights'" organizations are disarming the protests, screwing them to play the same chorus about respect thelaw and private property, making every walk in the streets with hands up, so that the police can better slaughter and arrest them. Such deceptive activities of “humanitarians” have also allowed the FBI shooting, track and make criminal record of anyone involved in the protests.
The international media has been trying unsuccessfully to promote a blackout on the rebellions in North America: first minimizing the revolt in Mexico to a simple "local trouble" (as if the police in Greece, Brazil, South Africa did not kill or kill less), then trying to "shield" the rest of the world from the effects of the rebellion in the United States. Attempts to deaf and blind everyone just has generated opposite effects: the streets of Athens burn in flames, there are clashes in Brittany (France), the demonstrations in Hong Kong, declared "dead ", recur...New riot flames bright the nights in Sweden. There are new clashes in Indonesia, protests in Haiti and Colombia. It’s necessary to extend the maximum the solidarity with the uprisings in North America, speaking their same language and against the same enemies: the state , capital and all its mercenaries !!! NOT ONLY COINCIDENCE BETWEEN THE STRUGGLES, BUT LINK BETWEEN THEM : TALK ABOUT LINKS BETWEEN REBELLIONS IS TALK ON INTERNATIONAL REVOLT - COMMON PROPOSALS, COMMON STRUGGLES, COMMON DATES, COMMON TARGETS !!!!
Look at our comrades that was stand up in Bosnia last February: "Serbians", "Croatians", "Bosnians" , arose against the state and the bosses as a single force .So do now in the United States : belying the media caricatures. "Black ", "white", "Chicanos", "immigrants" ,"Asians","indians" ... all standing in the metropolis of world capitalism for freedom , for the tomorrow, to save themselves...
THE REBELLIONS IN AMERICA ARE THE SIGNALS OF OUR FUTURE!!! A FUTURE OF COMBAT, BUT ALSO OF ADVANCE AND UNION!!! WORKERS OF THE PLANET,THERE WILL ONLY FUTURE WHEN WILL THERE BE UNION !!! THAT ALL IGUALAS AND FERGUSONS FROM ALL CONTINENTS ARISE TOGHETHER IN UNISON WITH THEIR BROTHERS OF SUFFERING IN NORTH AMERICA !!!
FIRE IN THE POLICE !!! DEATH TO THE STATE AND THE CAPITALISM !!!
Universal Revolution Initiative
December, 2014
revolucao_universal@yahoo.com
REBELIONES EN AMÉRICA DEL NORTE
NECESIDADES DE AVANCE, SÍNTOMAS DEL FUTURO
Las actuales revueltas que explotan primero en México, y enseguida en Estados Unidos, anuncian el levante de la clase trabajadora en América del Norte y también en el mundo todo, tras un año marcado por la ofensiva de la contra-revolución internacional:
• Año marcado por la derrota de importantes procesos de lucha desviándolos, con elecciones y sangre o para el alistamento en rivalidades burguesas disputando el control del gobierno (gobierno contra oposición), o para el terrorismo estatal abierto y declarado (golpes militares): Brasil, Venezuela, Tailandia;
• Año marcado por el agravamiento de la crisis económica mundial, con nuevos sacrificios extorsionados de la población trabajadora en todos los hogares: estancamiento en Italia, nueva recesión en Europa, profundización del grave cuadro financiero en Estados Unidos y finalmente, las señales anunciadores de un prójimo (y grave) pauperismo general en Brasil;
• Año marcado por el fuerte avance militar imperialista resultante de las derrotas de la clase trabajadora en las diversas luchas sociales: conversión de la tentativa de revolución en guerra internacional en Ucrania, genocidio en Gaza - y el avance del Estado Islámico, expresando la derrota de la “Primavera árabe” de 2011-12, tentativas fallidas de revolución transformadas en guerras nacional-religiosas conducidas por el capitalismo mundial;
• Año marcado por fuertes injerencias imperialistas también en las derrotas “internas” de las luchas regionales: a ejemplo de Venezuela, la prensa atada a intereses estadounidenses (yahoo.com y CNN) dan total respaldo al avance de la derecha/extrema-derecha en Brasil, la injerencia europea-americana para extraviar la revuelta ucraniana del camino de la revolución, la intromisión de Inglaterra y de los EUA en las luchas sociales en Hong Kong – debilitandola, reduciendo una grandiosa lucha contra el capital a una lucha por elecciones y contra China, Europa/Francia apoyando el golpe militar en Burkina Faso, etc.
¡He ahí que cuando se consideraba 2014 un año perdido para la revolución y para la clase trabajadora, su heroica y urgente resistencia no se hizo esperar: grandiosas revueltas tienen lugar en México y en Estados Unidos!
• En ambos lugares, hay un agravamiento de las condiciones de vida: carestía generalizada, desempleo y desalojos en Estados Unidos (Vale del Silicio), en México, ataques al funcionalismo y jubilados, acompañados del necesario terrorismo estatal – agravado por la eterna y transparente simbiosis entre los carteles narcos y el gobierno;
• En México, la desaparición de los 43 de Iguala es tal y cual en Estados Unidos las ejecuciones de Eric Garner, Tamir Rice y por encima de todo, de Mike Brown en Ferguson: el terror policial desencadenó las rebeliones, (de la misma forma que fortaleció el movimiento en Hong Kong y antes acionó las revueltas de 2008 en Grecia y 2013 en Brasil – el golpe militar en Burkina tuvo resultados semejantes);
• En ambos países (México y EUA): hay un aumento en las demostraciones de fuerza de la parte del estado – escuadrones de la muerte y ataques a protestas/huelgas en México, Obama envía tropas la Ferguson y amenaza toda la Bahía de San Francisco – las amenazas en vez de intimidar, encrudecieron los combates;
• Las acciones de combate de la clase trabajadora presentaron un elemento común desde el inicio: tentativas de sabotaje de la economía – saqueos y ataques a comercios y bancos en México y en Estados Unidos (Ferguson, San Francisco, Oakland). En Estados Unidos, hubo el boicot a la “Black Friday” y la emblemática invasión a la sede de la Apple en Nueva York – recientemente están ocurriendo ocupaciones en los centros comerciales, en las estaciones de metro y de tren, además de una embestida contra todo el ambiente comercial-navideño en los grandes centros urbanos. En México, la lucha por los 42 de Ayotzinapa ha sido apoyada por diversas huelgas de trabajadores rurales, de universitários..., además de los bloqueos en carreteras y en el Aeropuerto de Acapulco;
• En ambos países las autoridades utilizan de distracción y medidas demagógicas para quiebrar a las luchas: legislación anticorrupción, prisión del alcalde de Iguala, declaraciones de repudio al asesinato de los 43 de Iguala hechas por las mismas autoridades que ordenan tales atrocidades, prisiones de algunos matones del narcotráfico; Obama anunciando investigación federal contra los policiales envueltos en ejecuciones (mientras las mismas crecen juntamente con el respaldo judicial al crimen uniformado). Maniobras semejantes sólo pueden ser practicadas gracias a la debilidad interna de sectores em lucha y grupos infiltrados en las revueltas intentando que políticos los salven de los “malos políticos” o que el presidente haga una “reforma de la policía”;
Sin embargo, se demuestra hasta ahora un desarrollo desigual en aspectos de las rebeliones:
• En México se observa netamente una tendencia más asumida de afrenta al estado: el Congreso fue atacado, comisarías, comités de partidos políticos y alcaldías fueron los blancos de los manifestantes. Las acciones de revide contra la policía parecen haber sido planeadas de modo cauteloso y consecuente.En los EE.UU, esa característica es más incipiente: ataques contra la policía en Ferguson y St.Louis y solamente ahora, dos semanas después del inicio de las protestas de 18/11 es que los manifestantes (con excepción del cerco a la Casa Branca) hacen acciones más determinadas – todavía “simbólicas”– ,contra el Rockfeller Center en Nueva York y cercan la sede del departamento de policía de la ciudad. Equipos de TV fueron acosadas en algunas protestas (Oakland);
• En México hay desde el inicio una propagación más uniforme de las protestas, abarcando por igual diversas regiones en todo el territorio nacional. En Estados Unidos, las protestas sólo comenzaron a ganar la misma fuerza a la primera semana de diciembre, pero alcanzando solamente algunas áreas principales y sus adjacências: Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, Washington D.C.,Nueva York, Missouri, Califórnia, Ohio, etc.;
• En México, la rebelión presenta continuidad desde octubre, en Estados Unidos, una interrupción entre septiembre y noviembre. Pero la renovación de las revueltas en los EUA alzaran las luchas en México;
• En consecuencia, en México los objetivos de la rebelión aparentan ser más estratégicos, priorizando blancos gubernamentales y empresariales en larga escala. En Estados Unidos, la reacción rebelde parece ser más inmediata y entonces, más dispersa con relación a los blancos (Consigna en México = “¡FUE EL ESTADO”!, en los EUA = “I can’t breathe!”);
• En México, la rebelión parece ser más sistemática y organizada, aunque en mucho tal “organización” sea ya fruto de la intervención de la “izquierda” del capital (los tradicionales partidos y sindicatos mexicanos), mientras que en Estados Unidos resulta ser más espontánea – pero no redime de infiltración: las diversas ONGS y organizaciones de “derechos humanos” y “derechos civiles” están desarmando las protestas - forzándolos a seguir la misma línea del respeto a la ley y a la propiedad privada, haciendo que todos marchen en las calles con manos arriba, para que la policía pueda mejor reventarlos y arrestarlos. Tal actividad traicionera de los “humanitarios” también ha permitido al FBI fotografiar, rastrear y fichar los envueltos en las protestas.
Los medias internacionales vienen intentando, sin éxito, promover un apagón sobre las rebeliones en América del Norte: primero minimizando la revuelta en México a un simple “problema local” (como si la policía en Grecia, en Brasil, en Sudáfrica no matara o matara menos), después intentando “blindar” el resto del mundo de los efectos de la rebelión en Estados Unidos. Las tentativas de ensordecer y cegar a todos sólo ha generado efectos contrarios: las calles de Atenas arden en llamas, hay enfrentamientos en la Bretaña (Francia), las protestas en Hong Kong, declaradas “muertas”, vuelven a ocurrir...Las llamas de la revuelta alumbran las noches en Suecia. Hay nuevos enfrentamientos en Indonesia y protestas em Haití y Colombia. ¡¡¡Es necesario extender al máximo la solidaridad con las rebeliones en América del Norte, hablando su misma lengua contra los mismos enemigos: el estado, el capital y todos sus mercenarios!!! ¡¡¡ ¡¡¡NO SÓLO COINCIDENCIA ENTRE LAS LUCHAS, PERO CONEXIÓN ENTRE ELLAS: QUIEN HABLA CONEXIÓN ENTRE REBELIONES, HABLA EN REVUELTA INTERNACIONAL – PROPUESTAS COMUNES, COMBATES COMUNES, FECHAS COMUNES, BLANCOS COMUNES!!!!!!
Mirad hacia nuestros camaradas que se alzaron en Bosnia en febrero último: trabajadores “serbios”, “croatas”, “bósnios”, levantándose contra el Estado y los patrones como una única fuerza. Lo mismo hacen ahora en Estados Unidos: dediciendo las caricaturas de la prensa, “blancos”, “negros”, “chicanos”, “inmigrantes”, “asiáticos”, “indígenas”...todos se levantan en la metrópolis del capitalismo mundial por la libertad, por el mañana, para salvarse...
¡¡¡ LAS REBELIONES EN NORTEAMÉRICA SON LAS SEÑALES DE NUESTRO FUTURO!!! ¡¡¡ UN FUTURO DE COMBATES, PERO TAMBIÉN DE AVANCE Y UNIÓN!!! TRABAJADORES DEL PLANETA, SÓLO HAY FUTURO CUANDO HUBIERA UNIÓN!!! ¡¡¡ QUE LAS IGUALAS Y FERGUSONS DE TODOS LOS CONTINENTES SE LEVANTEN EN UNÍSONO CON SUS HERMANOS DE SUFRIMIENTO EN AMÉRICA DEL NORTE!!!!!!
¡¡¡FUEGO EM LA POLICIA!!! ¡¡¡MUERTE AL ESTADO Y AL CAPITALISMO!!!
Iniciativa Revolución Universal
Diciembre de 2014 (revolução_universal@yahoo.com)
REBELIÕES NA AMÉRICA DO NORTE:
NECESSIDADES DE AVANÇO, SINTOMAS DO FUTURO
As atuais revoltas que explodem primeiro no México, e em seguida nos Estados Unidos, anunciam o levante da classe trabalhadora na América do Norte e também no mundo todo, depois de um ano marcado pela ofensiva da contra-revolução internacional:
• Ano marcado pela derrota de importantes processos de luta desviando-os, com eleições e sangue ou para o alistamento em rivalidades burguesas disputando o controle do governo (governo contra oposição), ou para o terrorismo estatal aberto e declarado (golpes militares): Brasil, Venezuela, Tailândia;
• Ano marcado pelo agravamento da crise econômica mundial, com novos sacrifícios sendo extorquidos da população trabalhadora em todos os lugares: estagnação na Itália, nova recessão na Europa, aprofundamento do grave quadro financeiro nos Estados Unidos e finalmente, os sinais anunciadores de um próximo (e grave) pauperismo geral no Brasil;
• Ano marcado pelo forte avanço militar imperialista resultante das derrotas da classe trabalhadora nas diversas lutas sociais: conversão da tentativa de revolução em guerra internacional na Ucrânia, genocídio em Gaza - e o avanço do Estado Islâmico, expressando a derrota da “Primavera árabe” de 2011-12, tentativas falidas de revolução transformadas em guerras nacional-religiosas conduzidas pelo capitalismo mundial;
• Ano marcado por fortes ingerências imperialistas também nas derrotas “internas” das lutas regionais: à exemplo da Venezuela, a imprensa ligada a interesses norte-americanos (yahoo.com e CNN) dão total respaldo ao avanço da direita/extrema-direita no Brasil, a ingerência europeia-americana para extraviar a revolta ucraniana do caminho da revolução, a intromissão da Inglaterra e dos EUA nas lutas sociais em Hong Kong – enfraquecendo-a, reduzindo uma grandiosa luta contra o capital a uma luta por eleições e contra a China, Europa/França apoiando o golpe militar em Burkina Faso, etc.
Eis que quando se considerava 2014 um ano perdido para a revolução e para a classe trabalhadora, sua heroica e urgente resistência não se fez esperar: ocorrem grandiosas revoltas no México e nos Estados Unidos!
• Em ambos os lugares, há um agravamento das condições de vida: carestia generalizada, desemprego e despejos nos Estados Unidos (Vale do Silício), no México, ataques ao funcionalismo e aposentados, acompanhados do necessário terrorismo estatal – agravado pela eterna e transparente simbiose entre os carteis do narcotráfico e o governo;
• No México, a desaparição dos 43 de Iguala é tal e qual nos Estados Unidos as execuções de Eric Garner, Tamir Rice e acima de tudo, de Mike Brown em Ferguson: o terror policial desencadeou as rebeliões, (da mesma forma que fortaleceu o movimento em Hong Kong e detonou as revoltas de 2008 na Grécia e 2013 no Brasil – o golpe militar em Burkina teve resultados semelhantes);
• Em ambos os países (México e EUA): há um aumento nas demonstrações de força da parte do estado – esquadrões da morte e ataques a protestos/greves no México, Obama envia tropas a Ferguson e ameaça toda a Baía de San Francisco – as ameaças ao invés de intimidar, acirraram os combates;
• As ações de combate da classe trabalhadora apresentaram um elemento comum desde o início: tentativas de sabotagem da economia – saques e ataques a comércios e bancos no México e nos Estados Unidos (Ferguson, San Francisco, Oakland). Nos Estados Unidos, houve o boicote à “Black Friday” e a emblemática invasão à sede da Apple em Nova York – recentemente estão ocorrendo ocupações nos shoppings, nas estações de metrô e de trem, além de uma investida contra todo o ambiente comercial-natalino nos grandes centros urbanos. No México, a luta pelos 42 de Ayotzinapa tem sido apoiada por diversas greves de trabalhadores rurais, de universitários..., além dos bloqueios em estradas e no Aeroporto de Guerrero;
• Em ambos os países as autoridades utilizam de entretenimento e medidas demagógicas para quebrar as lutas: legislação anticorrupção, prisão do prefeito de Iguala, declarações de repúdio ao assassinato dos 43 de Iguala feitas pelas mesmas autoridades que ordenam tais atrocidades, prisões de alguns carrascos do narcotráfico, Obama anunciando investigação federal contra os policiais envolvidos em execuções (enquanto as mesmas crescem juntamente com o respaldo judiciário ao crime fardado). Manobras semelhantes só podem ser praticadas graças à fraqueza interna de setores e grupos infiltrados nas revoltas querendo que os políticos os salvem dos “maus políticos” ou que o presidente faça uma “reforma da polícia”;
Entretanto, demonstra-se até agora um desenvolvimento desigual em aspectos das rebeliões:
• No México observa-se claramente uma tendência mais assumida de afronta ao estado: o Congresso foi atacado, delegacias, comitês de partidos políticos e sedes municipais foram alvos dos manifestantes. As ações de revide contra a polícia parecem ter sido planejadas de modo cauteloso e consequente. Nos Estados Unidos, essa característica é mais incipiente: ataques contra a polícia em Ferguson e St.Louis e somente agora, duas semanas após o início dos protestos de 18/11 é que os manifestantes (com exceção do cerco à Casa Branca) fazem ações mais determinadas –todavia “simbólicas”– ,contra o Rockfeller Center em Nova York e cercam a sede do departamento de polícia da cidade. Equipes de TV foram corridas de alguns protestos (Oakland);
• No México há desde o início uma propagação dos protestos mais uniforme, abrangendo por igual diversas regiões em todo o território nacional. Nos Estados Unidos, os protestos só começaram a ganhar a mesma força na primeira semana de dezembro, mas alcançando somente algumas áreas centrais e suas adjacências: Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, Washington D.C.,Nova York, Missouri, California, Ohio, etc.;
• No México, a rebelião apresenta continuidade desde outubro, nos Estados Unidos, uma interrupção entre setembro e novembro. Mas a renovação das revoltas nos EUA turbinaram as lutas no México;
• Em decorrência, no México os objetivos da rebelião aparentam ser mais estratégicos, priorizando alvos governamentais e empresariais em larga escala. Nos Estados Unidos, a reação rebelde parece ser mais imediata e logo, mais dispersa com relação aos alvos (Slogan no México = “FUE EL ESTADO”!, nos EUA = “I can’t breathe!”);
• No México, a rebelião parece ser mais sistemática e organizada, muito embora tal “organização” já seja fruto da intervenção da “esquerda” do capital (os tradicionais partidos e sindicatos mexicanos), enquanto nos Estados Unidos aparenta ser mais espontânea – mas não isenta de infiltração: as diversas ONGs e organizações de direitos humanos e direitos civis estão desarmando os protestos, forçando-os a ler a cartilha do respeito à lei e à propriedade privada, fazendo todos desfilarem nas ruas com as mãos para cima, para que a polícia possa melhor trucidá-los e prendê-los. Tal atividade traiçoeira dos “humanitários” também tem permitido ao FBI fotografar, rastrear e fichar os envolvidos nos protestos.
A imprensa internacional vem tentando, sem sucesso, promover um blecaute sobre as rebeliões na América do Norte: primeiro minimizando a revolta no México a um simples “problema local” (como se a polícia na Grécia, no Brasil, na África do Sul não matasse ou matasse menos), depois tentando “blindar” o resto do mundo dos efeitos da rebelião nos Estados Unidos. As tentativas de ensurdecer e cegar a todos só tem gerado efeitos contrários: as ruas de Atenas ardem em chamas, há enfrentamentos na Bretanha (França), as manifestações em Hong Kong, declaradas “mortas”, voltam a ocorrer...As chamas da revolta iluminam as noites na Suécia. Há novos confrontos na Indonésia e protestos no Haiti e Colômbia.É necessário estender ao máximo a solidariedade com as rebeliões na América do Norte, falando a mesma língua dela contra os mesmos inimigos: o estado, o capital e todos os seus mercenários!!! NÃO SÓ COINCIDÊNCIA ENTRE AS LUTAS, MAS LIGAÇÃO ENTRE ELAS: QUEM FALA LIGAÇÃO ENTRE REBELIÕES, FALA EM REVOLTA INTERNACIONAL – PROPOSTAS COMUNS, COMBATES COMUNS, DATAS COMUNS, ALVOS COMUNS!!!!
Olhai para nossos camaradas que se levantaram na Bósnia em fevereiro último: trabalhadores “sérvios”, “croatas”, “bósnios”, levantaram-se contra o Estado e os patrões como uma única força. O mesmo fazem agora nos Estados Unidos: desmentindo as caricaturas da imprensa, “brancos”, “negros”, “chicanos”, “imigrantes”, “asiáticos”, “indígenas”...todos se levantam na metrópole do capitalismo mundial pela liberdade, pelo amanhã, para se salvar...
AS REBELIÕES NA AMÉRICA DO NORTE SÃO OS SINAIS DO NOSSO FUTURO!!! UM FUTURO DE COMBATES, MAS TAMBÉM DE AVANÇO E UNIÃO !!! TRABALHADORES DO PLANETA, SÓ HÁ FUTURO QUANDO HOUVER UNIÃO!!! QUE AS IGUALAS E FERGUSONS DE TODOS OS CONTINENTES SE LEVANTEM EM UNÍSSONO COM SEUS IRMÃOS DE SOFRIMENTO NA AMÉRICA DO NORTE!!!
FOGO NA POLÍCIA !!! MORTE AO ESTADO E AO CAPITALISMO !!!
Iniciativa Revolução Universal
Dezembro de 2014
(revolução_universal@yahoo.com)