New Delhi, November 20-22, 2009
Dr. Marie-Nassif Debs Lebanese Communist Party
Foreword
The
contradictions of capitalism often lead to large and small crises,
which rupture and explode every now and then, leaving in their wake
economic destruction which is reflected, inevitably, on the forces of
production. It can even be argued that these contradictions do not
explode and unravel except when the development path of the forces of
production starts approaching and threatening the narrow limits of the
private property of the means of production. In such instances, the
bourgeoisie resorts to actions with the aim of causing a crisis,
thereby attempting to prevent the forces of production from effecting
real change.
Examination
of the second half of the twentieth century shows that several crises
unfolded during that period; perhaps the most important of which is the
crisis of 1974, which came about due to the oil stoppage which in turn
was a reaction to the Israeli aggression on the Arab countries. The
crisis of 1981 was equally important, and lasted like its predecessor
for approximately 16 months, affected the economies of the large
capitalist countries and adversely impacted the forces of production
within these countries. In this context, one must also view the crisis
at the beginning of this century (in 2002-2003) which shook the global
capitalist system and exposed the stock exchange system of Wall Street
and the deception and lies embedded within it.
All
the above crises are no match to the current structural crisis which,
according to the most optimistic experts, is predicted to last for at
least three years with more devastating consequences than the crisis of
1929 and its ripple effects which eventually led the world to World
War 2.
In
the Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels point out that the
“bourgeoisie system of ownership and the modern bourgeoisie society,
which led to the development and creation of magnificent means of
production and exchange, now resemble a magician who is no longer able
to control the supernatural forces that have been unleashed. They add,
in the context of addressing the recurring crises that threaten the
existence of the bourgeois society, “each crisis systematically
destroys not only a group of products but also a large section of the
forces of production”; – As if the society goes back to a state of
temporary barbarism.
Based
on this understanding, it can be said that the bourgeoisie has so far
succeeded in transgressing beyond its small and large crises “through
the use of violence against the forces of production on the one hand
and through acquiring new markets and focusing investment against old
markets”. This leads, according to the Communist Manifesto, to
preparing the grounds for more universal and deeper crises; and it also
leads to a diminishing of the tools available for avoiding such
crises.
1.
How does the Crisis Manifests itself in our Modern Times?
Firstly,
the crisis manifests itself in a sharp manner in the production of
ownership and services; that is in the real economy. For the coupled
effect of the stacking of products and the reduction in markets, or in
other words the significant drop in demand as compared to supply, has
aggravated the situation which was already worsening due to the sharp
drop in the field of loans and borrowing.
This
is what happened last year in the United States, where the collapse
in the real estate prices led to a severe crisis in the building
industry and destroyed the lives of millions of workers in this sector.
This is in addition to the crisis in the automobile industry and the
drop in demand for both the supporting industries and for petroleum
products. This means an unfolding of a chain reaction affecting all
sectors of the American and world economies accompanied by an increase
in unemployment levels worldwide and a corresponding drop in the living
standards of the masses.
And
so, since the end of 2008, and according to the bulletin of the
National Office for Economic Research, the United States and with it
most exporting industrialized countries have been suffering from a
state of severe recession. Indeed, analysis refers to a negative
development that can continue through 2010; accompanied by a drop in
industrial production, a drop in gross domestic products and an
increase in the unemployed where the ILO predicts that more than 2
million jobs will be lost during this year – a number which, according
to some experts, is an underestimate of what has already taken place.
These
events are taking place at a time when large capitalist countries are
witnessing an increase in banking concentration; as well as significant
and direct intervention from the ruling authorities in these countries
to help struggling banks. In this regard, billions of dollars have
already been wasted, and even now the United States and the European
Union are examining the possibility of pumping a further 2300 billion
dollar as treasury bonds in order to finance the public debt and
maintain the profits of the banking sector while not addressing the
excessive salaries and bonuses of the senior employees within this
sector.
This
direct intervention has led some pseudo-leftist economists to claim
and to brag that the United States and the European Union are now
implementing the Marxist theory which refers to the necessity for the
intervention of the state. Even though what Marx actually meant by
intervention was in the context of a process of redistribution of
wealth, albeit partial, by taking from the bourgeoisie and giving to the
poor and struggling classes - that is by giving to the forces of
production, unlike what is happening today.
Secondly,
as for the rest of the world, including our world which is still
marching towards development, the consequences of the crisis are more
painful and more severe. These consequences are the following:
1.
In
large industrialized capitalist countries, there has been a
significant drop in the volume of imports from third world countries;
which had a very severe effect since the under-developed countries have
only raw materials to sell. Furthermore most of the ruling authorities
in these countries, particularly in the oil producing countries,
especially the Arab oil producing countries – most of these regimes are
directly linked with capitalisms’ interests, and therefore the
consequences of the crisis went beyond the direct drop in exports to
include, especially in the first half of 2009, a footing of a large
part of the crisis bill. The regimes of the oil producing Arab
countries have recently admitted that they have contributed in excess
of 800 billion dollars (some say 1.2 trillion dollars) to stop the
downward slump in the state of the American economy. Of course, the
above figure excludes the Republic of Iraq where the level of theft and
pillaging is unlimited.
2.
A
drop in liquidity and investment, accompanied by severe problems in
the banking sector, and a monetary crisis since the local currencies
are considered unsafe and since the debt of these countries is linked
to the dollar which is experiencing a reduction in its exchange rate –
or in other words witnessing a diminishing of its influence. It is
these developments that have prompted Saudi Arabia, for example, which
has very close ties to Washington, to suggest a few days ago, and for
the second time in recent months, its determination to reduce its
dependence on the dollar and diversify its reserve currency basket to
include its local currency and other foreign currencies.
3.
Lebanon
is no exception to the above with respect to the degree of influence
by the crisis and its detrimental consequences; particularly since it
has been transformed to rely completely on imports, including the
import of agricultural and industrial products that it has now ceased
producing due to both the civil war and repeated Israeli aggressions as
well as the nature of the bourgeoisie which focuses its presence in
the pecuniary banking sector (and the real estate sector which is a sub
sector of the banking sector). And so the wealth of this bourgeoisie
keeps increasing astronomically due to both is lending to the
government (including foreign currency debt) and its external
investments especially in Africa. This is particularly important since
this year the public debt has reached 50 billion dollars which makes
Lebanon amongst the countries with the highest ratio of public debt
with respect to GDP -Gross National Product Indeed, it can be said that
the large proportion of the public debt is from the banks – both the
local and foreign banking sector, and at high interest rates, which
makes Lebanon vulnerable to monetary and fiscal fluctuations,
especially since the Lebanese economy is directly and completely linked
to the dollar.
1.
Program and Solution
There
is more than one billion persons going hungry in our world, which is
equivalent to 1/6 of the total human population - a percentage which is
unprecedented in our human history.
At
a time when foreign aid supplied by the G8 group to the poor of the
world has not exceeded 21 billion dollars (according to the World Food
Programme – WFP); the total sum of bonuses in the banking sector in the
United States has reached 140 billion dollars – an increase of 23% in
comparison to 2008 figures (according to a report carried out by the
Wall Street Journal).
This
situation has led to political consequences including the
radicalization of the important changes taking place in Latin America.
It has also led to mass rallies and protests including, as an example,
the mass rallies and protests in Iceland and Greece, as well as
protests in Russia where communists took to the streets to protest
against the economic policies of the government. This is in addition to
the resistance movements, particularly the national resistance in
Palestine and Lebanon.
Currently
American Imperialism together with the European Union and Israel (in
our region and in Africa and Latin America) are trying to go on the
offensive in Asia by trying to control the routes of supply of oil and
gas and to maintain and strengthen their control over countries where
these are produced. American Imperialism is also trying in Latin
America to stifle and strangle the promising avant-garde movement of
the UNA SUR (Union of Countries of the South) at times by military coups
and at other times by resorting to an intensification of military
bases. Against this background, our parties should develop a program of
work and a staged plan with the aim of overcoming capitalism and going
beyond it.
For
the solution lies in going beyond capitalism and setting course
towards socialism yet again, while taking into account all the factors
which led to the failure of the past attempt through comprehensive
evaluations of it.
As
for the current stages of our plan, it is our opinion that our
gathering must focus now on ridding the world from neo-liberalism,
through focusing on the following:
*
Intensifying the struggle to eliminate indirect taxes and focusing instead on taxing wealth.
*
Defending,
maintaining and developing the public sector, and resisting ongoing
privatization attempts. This should be accompanied by tangible plans
within each country to re-launch the process of production and organize
the forces of production in trade unions according to the various
professions.
*
Intensifying
the struggle for correcting the wages of the workers and maintaining
the purchasing power of these wages; for putting an end to mass
layoffs; and for fighting the trend of cutting down on social benefits.
*
Intensifying
the struggle towards a reorganization of social welfare which provides
social and medical benefits to the workers and the poor; in addition
to focusing and calling for an improvement in public education.
*
Intensifying
the struggle for the redistribution of the excessive wealth owned by
less than 1% of the population of the world; in order to combat hunger
and achieve the social goals of the working classes through a
redistribution of the main part of the value of production.
Our
movement should go on the offensive, not only within each country
individually, but also by giving due importance to going on the
offensive on the international level by moving from the personal
conditions within each country to the general solution which unites us.
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