October 26, 2001
As I have aged, ever so slightly into my late twenties, it occurs to me that the last two years of my life have been among the busiest in terms of history ever.
We were supposed to be on the road to the end of history. All due respect to Fukuyama- and that may not be a lot- but he was resurrected immediately after the Nato war on Yugoslavia. We were told the last Stalinist was dead, long live liberal democracy.
Not quite. The system of plunder has always created the antithesis oppositionally. Now it has done so in large scale. I want people to ponder on the old Manifesto line:
"The development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers."
This line rings through my head as much as any these days, for reasons which are all good.
"Yeah, yeah", you think. "Stainsby is ranting on about the obvious again..."
There is a purpose to this particular one. We tend to be oblivious to the obvious almost as a human being no longer sees oxygen in the air they breathe. But we need to think on that phrase. We have forgotten that we are the agents of history, that one action can change the direction of the path- and do so viciously and do so without warning. I for one, realise that one of the great points that gets forgotten, however, is that we have two choices: Socialism or barbarism- but that both are also in the same direction we are heading in. One is where we act as the means by which history translates into reality without us submitting to the over-all bourgeois democratic version of fascism. The other is submission and surrender.
We also see the changes after the bombings of Yugoslavia. We had the Nov 30 actions in Seattle. That was what it was, the start of a new chapter in an old story. The story is much older that the manifesto- basic contradictions emerging and seeing themselves out through conflict. In that there is nothing new.
Remember, however, that the ruling class creates it's own antithesis. We forget this too often. We are, as the people arising to the greatest of challenges now, arising to the new levels created by modern capitalism. Modern capitalism has internationalised much- communications and cross border trafficking in capital and people. The antithesis to such a development was the cross-national and even cross continental levels of solidarity being engendered in the early stages of "anti-globalisation" struggle. The movement had a slowly growing and maturing consciousness. Confusion about the enemy has always been the weakest link, has it not? Hardt and Negri and other "new" thinkers seem to have added to that confusion.
A few bombs, anti-civil rights bills and all-out war tends to clear things up in a hurry. The globalised response to the bombings in New York have not been grasped by our own forces. I spend all day running into large numbers of activists- many of the same people that I was talking to before- about how they wish everyone else would keep fighting the monsters of Empire. Yet, those who have fallen by the wayside have been replaced by others. The people underestimate themselves. We are not weak, we are not so few and we will not surrender. That is clear. The antagonism bears fruit. The global consciousness has been transformed into what amounts to internationalism.
The resistance in the first world has taken a big imperialism reality pill. It has been swallowed and washed down with the elixir of true knowledge. We need to grasp this and also point to ourt brothers and sisters who rose up even before the bombs fell to transform the "anti-globalisation" movement into an anti-war, anti-imperialist war movement. This trasition has been very smooth.
We see demonstrations between 10-50 000 across Europe and North America. In producing these numbers, "yesterdays" movements have outstripped the sell-outs, the traitors, the liberal imperialist lovers in our ranks who wanted to surrender. There will be no surrender and the accomodators have lost. Sweeney is panicking, official labour across Canada is scrambling and the people are solidifying. Think about this: With the help of the skittish NGO crowds and "official" labour, we were looking at 100 + thousand for the demo on September 29 in DC. We lost all the big money and "official" support. The demo still attracted tens of thousands- and the demos in Europe were *enormous* in solidarity with the efforts to attack the war effort.
Take a step back for a minute. This is incredible news. The anti-war organising is starting at a level of consciousness that is incredibly higher than prior wars. Usually, the level of consciousness we are dealing with is *created* by a war- this is merely complimented. Down with isolation. Down with feeling beaten. Down with distrust, no faith, no future. The future is very bright indeed!!!
What has happened now is an exploding world war with a counterpole that is so very stark that it is also global. Our understanding, our approach and our very movement is global in scope. Our resistance is from Colombia to Palestine as well, and our first world fighters are beginning to see that. Palestinian solidarity groups are bursting with new recruits. Totality in analysis is taking over. We are understanding.
the Blosheviks, the Spanish revolutionaries and the post WWII anti-colonial movements had nothing on us in the way of potential organising. The level is clearly built up now: we are a global phenomenon. With each bill and each "terrorist" they arrest, 10 more people see these murderous bastards as the threat to humanity they are. They are becoming permanently visible. The cards they are playing show their weakness not their strength. Thier Empire is rotting, imperialism is seriously wounded, and their are few things more dangerous than a wounded tiger. But wounds lead to death.
Our strength remains who we are, and what our place in history is. We are the ones who will rescue this planet from the brink of the coming abyss. We are the ones who rise now for nothing else will matter later.
We are the grave-diggers of history- we have begun to help the tigers find their plot. Pessimism is the worst sort of realism in this day. They created us with all their tools. They created us with their hatred, wars and exploitation. We will destroy with the weight and duty of history. Maybe Fukuyama was right, but only a bit too soon. We will see our historical role play out but soon.
The school I attend reminds me of the bourgeoisie right now. They have come for our little anti-war movement ina clumsy fashion. Two days ago, security informs me that passing our literature on campus in forbidden. So is the hanging of banners. Initially, they denied knowledge of where our banners were going, but the story changed. Banners that do not advertise events are not allowed.
"our banner was for our teach in, though!", I protested.
Wrong, apparently- it wasn't an "approved" event. It's all so much smoke. They are running scared of a rag tag little grouplet. The administration is petrified of people howling about the school being a den of "toleration for terror apologists", is all that makes any sense. As I walked around yesterday, many people asked me about this. There are now emergency meetings of pissed-off students trying to organise against this. The administration have proven the same as the ruling class. terrifying in appearance, but unsure and losing their grip has terrified them into severe blunders. They have become their own grave diggers in the way that the school is now actually somewhat motivated against them.
Wolfowitz wants to rip Iraq in 3 directions. The protestations of even Papa Bush are not likely to stop this. The machine is in motion and the logic of imperialist wars takes on a self-leading property after awhile. The war becomes it's own justification. So long as that remains true, the division within their ruling circles and the contradictions there will only rise further. The tiger bites it's tail.
And as all of these mini dramas, at schools or in the Pentagon, as they continue- the people learn and learn fast. The contradictions are all rising. The words of Bertholt Brecht have never been more apt than now:
In the contradiction lies the hope.
My love to all of you fighting the good fight: In the struggle comes the greatest outlet of love we could ever possibly effect. That love and that vision are finally coming home and that home is global. Our strength is greater today.
Macdonald
------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby Rad-Green List: Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion. http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green ---- Leninist-International: Building bridges in the tradition of V.I. Lenin. http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international ---- In the contradiction lies the hope.
--Bertholt Brecht