Communist Party of Ireland Socialist Voice...Communist Party of Ireland Páirtí Cumannach na hÉireann Partisan Patriotic Internationalist Number 180 February 2020 €1.50 Page 2

Communist Party of IrelandPáirtí Cumannach na hÉireann

Partisan Patriotic InternationalistNumber 180 February 2020 €1.50www.commmunistpartyofirerland.ie

Page 2 Workers’ rightsPage 4 Fine Gael

Page 4 BrexitPage 6 Democracy in Ireland

Page 8 SovereigntyPage 10 Saving the planet

Page 10 Economism//FascismPage 12 Che and Fidel

Page 14 TaxesPage 15 Chopin

Page 16 Caracas conference

Socialist Voice

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There are noshortcuts

“. . . For the Irish problem is a problem ofthe Irish race . . . rooted in the racial characteristics of the people themselves.”Captain Hugh Pollard (head of Information Section,Royal Irish Constabulary), in The Secret Societies of Ireland: Their Rise and Progress (1922)

Page 2 Elections come and go but there are noshortcuts for what our classneeds to secure arguesEugene McCartan

CLASS POLITICS

There are noshortcutsSOCIALISM

EUGENE MCCARTAN

OVER THE course of the generalelection campaign it was clearthat a general feeling of

bewilderment and boredom, in equalmeasure, was the reaction of manyworking families to the talking headspontificating on television and radio intrying to interpret or reinterpret what apolitical party said or meant to say, orwhich of the politicians won with thissound-bite as against that sound-bite.

The political commentators andanalysts, always eager to give their“considered opinions,” while beingpresented as non-partisan andobjective, carefully steer the people’sunderstanding into safe water, offeringtame solutions for the establishment.

Over the course of the electioncampaign, did politics get below thesurface to deal in any real way with theissues facing our people daily? Thequestions of an overworked labourforce, precarious employment, lowwages, all failed to make it to the studioperformances.

The same goes for the housing andhomelessness crisis, never mind theimpending environmental abyss that ourworld now stares into. While spokenabout a lot, they did not address whywe have such crises in the first place.

Elections within this corrupt andbankrupt political system become moreand more removed from the realconcerns of working people. Workers, inincreasing numbers, are recognisingthat solutions are not to be found in theinstitutions that control and govern theirlives. No matter who you vote for, thesame economic and social policies willbe pursued by whatever combination ofparties forms a government.

This is the same process that isdeveloping throughout the member-states of the European Union. There

are multiple political parties but only asingle economic model imposed uponthe working class, from Athens toDublin—slight variations on a singletheme: the primacy of the markets andmarket forces and securing theinterests of big business, the interestsof capital, i.e. money and those whoown and control it. All other mattersare secondary to securing thoseinterests.

Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, the GreenParty and Labour Party peddle thesame line. The system is the best thereis; all we need to do is tweak it a littlehere and there. All play for the “hard-pressed middle”—in other words, theprofessional classes, where thegreatest number of regular voters feelthey have a stake in the system.

The “coping classes,” who have theirown private health insurance, whosechildren attend well-financed schools,who rarely if ever use public transport,may be be feeling a bit of a squeeze inregard to charges for private child care,or rage against the universal socialcharge. The auction politics so evidentwas for securing these people’s votes.

Meanwhile on the formerly self-styled “revolutionary left,” Solidarityand People Before Profit could not door say anything that could distinguishthem from old-fashioned left-reformismand opportunism. All the partiesproclaiming themselves to be on theleft offered nothing more than areheated system, a better form ofcapitalism, tweaking spending here andnot there.

If working people want real,meaningful change, then electoralism isa dead end. At this stage of the strugglefor radical change, working people needto realise that their concerns will onlygather dust in the corridors of DáilÉireann without their own independentpolitical struggles within communities,within their places of work.

We need to build and develop ourown strength and organisation outsidethese mechanisms of control. This is anideological struggle, coupled withbuilding resistance wherever andwhenever we can.The future belongs to us, but

only if we organise to bring itabout. It will not be given to us ona plate. H

2 Socialist Voice February 2020

“Auschwitz Untold”stayed that way

LETTER

On 26 and 27 January, More4tvbroadcast a two-part documentarycalled “Auschwitz Untold: In colour.”

In at least one respect the word“untold” is a perfect description of thestory of the liberation of Auschwitz(above) as far as the role of the Sovietarmy is concerned. The documentaryended with one reference to theapproaching “Russian army” and onefilm clip showing Soviet soldiers, thoughnot informing viewers who they were butwith an (approving) description by anAuschwitz survivor that they were soldiersin a different uniform, and they spokeEnglish.

The rest of the conclusion of thisdocumentary concentrated on theliberation of other camps by the USarmy, with film clip after film clip andcommentary after commentarydescribing in detail one or other aspectof their role in liberating camps. This was“balanced” by one further reference toSoviet soldiers liberating camps.

And if we had not got it at this point,the end of the documentary then movedentirely to the United States, wheresome of the participants (Auschwitzsurvivors) now live.

Even after seventy-five years thesedocumentary-makers, along withpoliticians and “historians,” displayextraordinary levels of meanness andrevisionism in pursuance of theirunrelenting propaganda war. There is notmuch we can do about More4, but if welook a little closer to home—and at RTEin particular—there is more than enoughto get our teeth into.Declan McKennaCo. Dublin

We have an invigorated working class ready to do battle with the state

Socialist Voice February 2020 3

UNIONS

THE TRADE UNION Left Forumlaunched its Workers’ RightsCampaign in Dublin last month. The

campaign is centred on the abolition ofthe Industrial Relations Act (1990) andall anti-union legislation, to be replacedwith a Fair Employment Act that wouldguarantee—1 the right to union access2 the right to union recognition3 full collective bargaining rights4 an end to the voluntarist industrialrelations system.

The meeting was well attended, withabout sixty activists present. There werea number of excellent speakers from fiveunions, followed by a Q&A session and alively discussion on the way forward forthe campaign.

The campaign has a twin-trackapproach: getting anti-union legislationabolished and replaced with a FairEmployment Act, coupled with informingworkers of their rights as they are underexisting legislation.

Everyone received a copy of theTULF’s pamphlet “Know Your Rights inthe Workplace,” the latest WRC leaflet,and a to-do list describing a number ofactions and initiatives individual workersand union members can take toadvance the campaign’s aims. These areall available for downloading fromwww.tuleftforum.com/news/.

There will be a follow-up publicmeeting on “Know Your Rights in theWorkplace” in the near future, date andvenue to be announced.

So what can you do to support theWorkers’ Rights Campaign?

l Raise the 1990 act in your unionbranch for discussion.l Encourage your branch to endorsethe demand to repeal the 1990 act.l Distribute the WRC leaflet and“Know Your Rights” pamphlet in yourunion branch.l Send the pamphlet and leaflet to theunion executive.l Request the union to affiliate to thecampaign.l If you are a member of a politicalparty, community group, or tenants’association, ask them to affiliate tothe TULF Workers’ Rights Campaign.l Ask your union to donate funds, orto print some of its material.l Propose motions for section orregional structures.l Propose a motion for your union’sdelegate conference.l Follow up on resolutions anddemand action on them.l Invite someone from the TULF toaddress your union branch.l Suggest the same to otherbranches.l Help distribute the booklet andleaflet.l Get your union or branch to buycopies for distribution.l Volunteer to distribute leaflets etc. atyour or other union conferences.l If you cannot get a motion on the1990 act passed, try to get onedemanding the right to union access,recognition, and collective bargaining.l Offer a particular skill you think couldbe of use in the campaign.l Raise the issues in any otherorganisation you are a member of.The majority of workers are not

members of a trade union. Have youany ideas or suggestions on how toreach them?l Encourage friends and relatives tojoin a union.l Encourage non-union workmates tojoin the union.l Read the “Know Your Rights”pamphlet and discuss it in your unionbranch and work-place.l Get active in your union.l Join the Trade Union Left Forum([email protected]).l Follow the TULF social media(Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, andweb site).

So far four unions have adopted it asunion policy to abolish the 1990 act,namely Mandate, Connect, Unite, andthe civil service section of Fórsa,representing a total of 153,000 unionmembers. A number of other unions areto debate and hopefully adopt similarmotions at their conferences this year.

Working-class anger is growing.Workers are sick and tired of poverty payand poor working conditions. Confidenceis growing among the working class asthey see organised workers fighting backaround the world, from Chile to Indiaand throughout Europe, againstausterity, inequality, the effects ofcapitalism.

Confidence among ordinary workingpeople has been growing. The campaignagainst water charges awakened peopleto what can be achieved if we standtogether. The recent success of Frenchworkers’ general strike against theirgovernment has added fuel to this fire.

As we start the 2020s we have aninvigorated working class ready to dobattle with the state and which will notaccept the crumbs off the table anylonger. In the words of James Connolly—

Some men, faint-hearted, ever seekOur programme to retouch,And will insist, whene’er they speak,That we demand too much.

’Tis passing strange, yet I declareSuch statements give me mirth,For our demands most moderate are,We only want the earth. H

Workers’ Rights Campaign launched

POLITICS


BREXIT

EUGENE MCCARTAN

THE BRITISH state left theEuropean Union on the 31st ofJanuary, after nearly three years of

political theatre, manoeuvring,backstabbing, and manipulation.

How the ruling class now managethis process will depend very much onwhat the working class does. Many onthe left have adopted a wait-and-seeapproach, thereby allowing the ruling

forces a somewhat free hand asnegotiations open up on the Britishstate’s future relationship with the EU.

Not all voices in Britain haveremained passive. Some, like the LEFTgrouping, are attempting to mobiliseworkers to begin articulating andbuilding for the type of Britain they wishto see after its departure from the EU.

The EU will not be the same as itwas, now that a major country has leftit. Equally, among the member-statesworkers are beginning to assertthemselves. There have been a

FINE GAEL

ROLL UP! Roll up! On offer todaywe have for you all your needs,wants, and desires, neatly

wrapped in this leaflet, which explainsall our plans for you, our most valuedcitizen! Let all your worries fade away aswe promise you, the early risers, thesun, moon, and stars.

Friends, do not look back and dwellon the past: face forward, listen to whatwe have on offer for you today, as wecontinue to grow in our resolute beliefthat our country is the best little countryin the world to do your business in!

For too long our job in running thiscountry has been shackled andconstrained by having to provide andpay for public services and otherprovisions that distract us from our real

job of opening up the economy for theglorious entrepreneurs who are so eagerto take on those industries.

Our freedom to govern as we wanthas been denied, the freedom of ourentrepreneurs to excel has beenconstricted, the freedom of ourinternational partners to invest hasbeen limited. If we can’t offer thesecaptains of industry the freedom thatthey cry out for, what type of democracyhave we got?

Yes, we have overseen the worsthousing crisis in the history of thecountry, and, yes, there are more than10,000 people homeless, close to4,000 of them children; but we say toyou today, we will build those hotels!

We will also make public land freelyavailable for investment funds andconstruction companies to build those

houses for the trendy city-dweller, whowould love nothing more than to live the“Friends” life, with their shared facilities.Or those families, eager for the countryair: we have developers ready to buildmore housing estates on huge barrenlands. Go on, just take that long, sceniccommuter-belt drive to see what life youare missing.

You may say to us, What about therecord half million people and more onhospital waiting-lists, which have beenincreasing year after year. We say toyou: Exactly! That is exactly what youget with a public health service! So ourgoal, for your benefit, is to slash thatcash—your hard-earned tax money—ona failing public health service andchannel those much-needed subsidiesto the private hospitals that see your ill-health as the key to their success. They

Leaving the EU isjust thebeginning

An honest public message from Fine Gael

Yes, we have overseen the worst housing crisis in the history of thecountry, and, yes, there are more than 10,000 people homeless


number of mass workers’mobilisations, including general strikesin Greece and France. In particular,the Macron government, which cameinto office with the backing of the EUCommission and all the Frenchestablishment parties for itsprogramme of savage cuts andattacks on workers’ gains, is nowlocked in battle with the Frenchworking class over its economic andsocial policies.

The crisis within the EU ismanifesting itself both industrially and

politically. In many member-states thepopulist right is attempting to captureworking people’s frustration byidentifying and attacking the wrongenemy, thereby deflecting the people’sunderstanding onto those who are nottheir enemies but potential allies.The essential struggle about

and within the EU continues tobe for sovereignty anddemocracy.

Here in Ireland, workers and alldemocratic forces need to mobilise toensure that there is no “hard” British

border in our country, dividing ourpeople. We need to ensure that theIrish state is pushed to demand thatthe economic and customs borderbetween the EU and the British state isdown the Irish Sea, not across ourcountry.

We will find natural allies within theBritish labour movement who have along history of opposing British controland interference in Ireland. Those allieswill not be found within the Britishestablishment, or the political partiesthat serve their interests. H

want to take your sickness and turn itinto their profits. It’s a no-brainer. They’llmake it so comfortable for you that youwon’t want to get better!

Have we had to make cuts in a widerange of regional and communityschemes, education budgets, councilbudgets, welfare budgets, to sell off,give away and privatise public lands,services, and utilities? We hold ourhands up honestly and admit we have;but in our defence it was only becausewe actually have no say in the matter.

We had to bail out the Europeanbanking system by taking on 46 percent of EU-wide banking debt. We wereordered to! So, yes, we do have tocompensate, and will compensate, thewealthiest bankers, investors andindustrialists here at home, in Europeand the United States for generations tocome; because we’d rather have theTroika dictate policy from abroad thanhave it visible in the country.

However, we see this as anopportunity, as now they are fullyinvested in the country, and they want inon what we are giving away!

If you haven’t been convinced ofwhat we have to offer, then we havethree words for you: G! D! P! You see,we are all about growth—growth inflexible jobs, growth in consumption,growth in production, growth in foreigndirect investment. We need a modernwork force, available to work many jobs,any hours, at any time, for any amountof pay available.

Our industrial policy is thecommonsense approach. Make oureconomy as attractive as possible tothose who want to invest, so we don’thave to!

Don’t want to pay tax? No problem!Want to write off your expenses? Easy!Want to take control and ownership ofour water, health, education, transport,postal, energy and emergency services?Done, and done. We will follow those EUrules to the letter. After all, it’s the lawnow!

So, let us all party once more, andask not what your country can do foryou but what foreign direct investmentcan do for your country!

Look at how successful we are,boasting number 5 in the world fornumber of billionaires. Without us, andthose pursuing and implementing thesepolicies, they wouldn’t be here. Don’tworry about Fianna Fáil or Labour sayingor repeating more or less the samething: remember, we are the safe pair ofhands!

Don’t be taken in by the illusions ofSinn Féin, Social Democrats, Richie BoyBarrett, et al., proposing a fairer, bettersociety, a fairer, better capitalism. Theiranswer to all the problems more or lessboils down to taxing the rich and thetransnational corporations, to get afairer share of the wealth created. Anoble gesture indeed, but ultimately afruitless endeavour.

Folks, we are realists, and it’s thecapitalists with their FDI and TNCs, EUtreaties and laws, that are the bedrockof the Irish economy. They fuel ourgrowth on the basis of our implementingthe said policies, following their rules,and abiding by their laws. By interferingor meddling in their business, the nextgovernment risks being the next SYRIZA,leaving you and the whole country in aworse state!

Do these people think they can just

step in and make these demands? It’sthe equivalent of poking a tiger with asharp stick and expecting it to dance.They would be laughed out and theneaten alive in Europe and in theboardrooms. We know these guys;we’ve worked with them, and they trustus to have their interests taken care of.

So beware of false promises; as wassaid of us, they are writing cheques thattheir party can’t cash! It is we whoshould be grateful that they supply uswith so many flexible jobs for themodern family! Undermining themwould undermine our whole economyand send us spiralling into anothereconomic crisis. Don’t think for onesecond that any alternative party couldimplement their programmes; not in thissystem they won’t!

So we say to you, the good peopleof Ireland: Trust us to bring you forwardinto this decade, where we will ensurethat our whole economy is run efficientlyby the private market, where we can beleft with administering the rule ofcorporate law given to us by ourpartners in Europe. We say: No morefailing public services, only profitablecompanies! Let us help grow ourtransnational industries and financialservices by making it as cheap aspossible to set up here! Let us get thatnumber 1 spot for billionaires! Let us begood Europeans and pay back all theirdebts! Let us open our democratic armsand welcome foreign capital—butrestrict foreign nationals! We will win,and once we have all these other thingsin order we can then worry about theclimate emergency, and our individualbehaviour that has caused it.

That is our promise to you! H

POLITICS


PARTY POLITICS

EOGHAN O’NEILL

THIS IS OUR democracy. It boilsdown to political parties arguingover semantics on policy without

having any real substantive choice onpolicies.

I see, hear and read about the hopesof many people for a political change,where many believe that we are on theprecipice of a fundamental change inthe political landscape, not seen sincethe days of the Irish Revolution. Thehopes and dreams are sincere, andthere is a real demand and need for atotal shift in Irish politics. However, justchanging the faces and names of thosein government does not change thepower and class relations.

I welcome the downfall of themonopoly of the Big Two—Fianna Fáiland Fine Gael—and I really hope that aprogressive coalition can be formed tosit as the 33rd Dáil. That likelihood maybe slim, but nonetheless we do have a

duty to unseat the Two and vote in thosewho are proposing to bring about afairer, equal society, if for nothing elsebut to expose the nature of the beast.

However, if these parties’ alternativemanifestos are fundamentally based ontaxation—increase taxes on corporationsand the top 1 per cent, decrease taxeson lower-income families—to financethe budgets on public investment theyare proposing, then all that hope willvery soon be dashed.

Not to dismiss those who supportthose parties—Sinn Féin, SocialDemocrats, People Before Profit,Solidarity, Green Party, or even, at astretch, the Labour Party—but the“alternative” they propose is only analternative to the management of theactually existing capitalist system, asystem in which production is privatelyowned and run in the interests of a classof people who profit from theexploitation of our natural resources andthe labour of people around the globe.

They are all putting Fine Gael andFianna Fáil on trial—and rightly so—for

the debt and austerity that has plaguedour country, especially within the lastdecade; but nowhere have I seen thesystem itself (capitalism) and the majorinstitution enshrining the system inIreland (the EU) being even brought upas a talking-point, never mind being thefocus of an election campaign as a wayof explaining the crisis in our publicsystem, the economy at large, and theplanetary emergency that we all face.

I understand why this is the case,because it wouldn’t be a smartelectoral strategy if they want to getvoted in. However, I don’t believe in orsupport this electoral fetishism, ashortsighted and futile form of politics,devoid of class analysis. An element of“better being inside the tent thanstanding outside it” drives this. So,instead of looking at the source andthe reason why all these factors havecombined to create a real state ofemergency, each on their own andcollectively, these parties opt to focuson those carrying out the policies, andinsist that they would do it differently.

RETIREMENT

JIMMY DORAN

THE ESTABLISHMENT keeprepeating the mantra that in twentyyears’ time there will be far fewer

people working than there are now, andmore people in retirement. This hasnow become the accepted narrative ofthe mainstream media. And it is a lie.

This lie has been repeated so oftenit has now become fact and thecommon belief. But quite the oppositeis true: the work force in the Republictoday is in excess of 2.3 million, whichis substantially higher than thirty yearsago, when in the 1980s there werefewer than 1 million people working.

In 2028 the Irish state will have thehighest retirement age in Europe, at68. At 66 today we are two yearshigher than the EU average. We havealmost 30 per cent fewer older peoplethan the EU average.

According to the most recent EUstatistics, the average proportion of

The folly of our democracy

Leo Liberal lies

“We all partied”—Brian Lenihan

“We are living way beyond our means”—Charlie Haughey

“We will not stand idly by”—Jack Lynch

“It took Ireland thirty years to becomean overnight success”—Bertie Ahern

This pension theft is a direct transfer of wealth from the ordinary citizensto the business class


They have all successfully avoided theelephant in the room.

This is the folly of our democracy:that we think that changing agovernment will change the powerrelations—the class relations ofsociety. Buying into the electoralsystem and holding it up as the holygrail of democracy has been thegreatest weakness in building a strongleft movement. Political parties on theleft have pushed aside the classanalysis and theory informing theirpractice and substituted for them thecentrality of elections. These demandsthat they make will gain favour andsupport, but these same policies are incontradiction to the EU rules oncompetition and state intervention andsubsidisation in the market, and areagainst the interests of capital inmaximising profit; yet where is thisstated in their manifestos?

In essence, the promise of socialistand social-democratic reforms withincapitalism are incompatible with theinterests of the actually existingcapitalist system, and are illegal underEU rules; and ultimately, so long as noalternative system threatens it, they

will not be tolerated by the ruling classand its strata of collaborators.

The electoral campaigns being runby these parties hide this reality,because they are either not willing, donot understand, or do not want toexpose the class nature of society andthe class struggle that needs to bewaged. Possibly contrary to theirintentions, this can only strengthen thehand of the triad of imperialist powersin Ireland—the European Union, theUnited States, and Britain—andweaken the development of a class-conscious workers’ movement.

So I would argue that we need tobe outside the tent, because that tentis collapsing and is in danger ofsuffocating us all. We must use everyopportunity to highlight the barbarity,insanity and ecocidal path of thecapitalist system. This includes usingelections as a means of deepeningclass-consciousness and broadeningour class forces. Let’s vote for allthose who promise to promote thepeople’s struggles, but let’s not beseduced by the idea of changing thesystem within the Dáil, and beconscious and vigilant of false

promises.To change the system means to

struggle outside government, to buildthe progressive forces, to support thedemands of the working class alongwith the oppressed, marginalised andexploited people, at home and abroad.It means directing our efforts intobuilding collective movements, withcommon struggles, finding commonground and common cause for unitingand extending solidarity, creating atransformative programme of demandswith maximum support.

We must expose those who will tryto weaken and undermine this justcause for their own self-interest. TheCommunist Party of Ireland has takenon that task; and rather than directresources in elections its focus is onaccelerating and expanding oureducation programme, developing ourtheory in order to direct our action;and we welcome all those who wish tobe part of this process.

There is no alternative and noshortcut in building class-consciousness. We must be guided bythe time-tested slogan: Educate,agitate, and organise.H

people over the age of 65 is 19 percent, with the highest in Italy, at 22 percent, and the lowest in Ireland, at 13per cent. So there is no “pensions timebomb.”

This pension theft is a direct transferof wealth from the ordinary citizens tothe business class, who are more thanwilling to sell private pensions toworkers at extortionate rates, withabsolutely no guarantee of return.

This is classic neo-liberal tactics,perfected by Fine Gael’s Leo Liberals toconvince workers of the urgent need tofinance their own pensions and toremove this obligation from the state.

The increase of the pension age to

68 is the largest cut ever in the socialsafety net. It is the equivalent of a cutof €39,000 per worker, i.e. statepension = €13,000 p.a. × 3 years.

If you work until you are 68 and liveuntil you are 83, this cut is equivalentto a cut in pension of 20 per cent, i.e.€2,600 p.a. for 15 years = €39,000;higher if you die earlier. This is pensiontheft by the state.

Your pension is paid for over yourfull working life. It is deferred pay thatyou have paid for over years ofcontributions. It is the least you canexpect when you reach 65.

Of course politicians can retire at50, while workers are thrown under thebus.

All trade unions and the ICTU have apolicy of returning to the pension age of65. SIPTU intervened in the electioncampaign to stop the pension agebeing increased to 67 in 2021, whichhas forced politicians to react, eager tooutdo each other on the hustings andto win votes.

Fine Gael would be ideologically

opposed to reversing this policy, but thegombeenmen of Fianna Fáil might bewilling to compromise and grant thechange in order to gain office. If theyare forced to make this compromise inorder to win the election they will do soin the full knowledge that they will takethis money away from workers by someother method, a tax increase or cut.

Make no mistake about it: they willprotect their paymasters, the bankers,builders, and speculators, as theyalways do. There is no crisis Fianna Fáilcannot solve so long as they cantransfer the burden onto the workingclass and continue the transfer ofwealth from ordinary working families tothe richest in society.

Of course they are not unique indoing this in Dáil Éireann: the LabourParty, the Green Party and Fine Gael aremore than capable of it. Fianna Fáil, onthe other hand, are experts atconcealing it by convincing citizens thatit is their own fault, that Fianna Fáil aretheir protectors and can be dependedon to solve all the people’s problems.H

IRELAND


ECONOMY

TOMMY MCKEARNEY

FROM TIME to time a seeminglyminor event illuminates the natureof governance in a country. Such a

moment occurred last month when theCEO of Apple, Tim Cook, was honouredin Dublin.

There may have been a degree of

electioneering on Varadkar’s part whenhe presented the IDA’s inaugural“special recognition award” to Cook.Nevertheless he echoed a long-held viewamong Ireland’s ruling business class.He said Apple had played a key role inmaking Ireland the “tech capital ofEurope”; and, significantly, heemphasised that what he considerssuccess has come by looking to thefuture and opening the Republic to trade

and competition—all this glad-handingof the billionaire businessman fromCalifornia in spite of the fact that the EUCommission has ruled that Apple owesthe Irish state €13 billion (plus interest)in underpayment of taxes.

All very predictable from the leader ofneo-liberal Fine Gael; but there was moreto this event than meets the eye. A moveis afoot by several OECD member-states,led by France and now Britain, to imposea digital tax on American technologycompanies, assessed on their businessdealings in the markets in which theyoperate. If carried out, such a proposalwould hit the huge profits of Google,Facebook, Amazon, and—biggest ofthem all—Apple.

This frankly modest measure isbitterly opposed not only by the UnitedStates but also by the Republic’sgovernment. Hence the kowtowing toCook in Dublin.

How to explain this strangebehaviour? Why would an Irishgovernment constantly take steps todeny the state revenue that is badlyneeded? After all, no-one seriouslydenies that we have massivedeficiencies in the health service, ahousing and homelessness crisis,exorbitant costs of child care, and—aswe are told—a depleted pension pot asthe retirement age is stretched furthertowards the grave.

The answer to this apparent paradoxlies in the endless struggle to retaincontrol of society and its wealth. Thosenow in power—and this includessupporters of several political parties—

HOUSING CRISIS

DÓNALL Ó BRIAIN

FINGAL COUNTY Council, inassociation with the ResidentialTenancies Board, is now offering

training courses to help deal with thedesperate housing crisis in the Dublinregion, now virtually out of control.

The courses, however, are not fortenants but for landlords. The two

official bodies hope to “supportlandlords to gain a strongerunderstanding of their rental rightsand responsibilities” and to “equipthem with the knowledge of the latestlegislative changes” that affect theirnew or existing tenancies. Thisincludes the crucial agenda item of“how to end a tenancy.”

Anyone who though theResidential Tenancies Board had aduty to defend or to help in any way

Free trainingcourses forlandlords

How a minor event shines a light

Sovereignty, like a slow descent into addiction, can be lost imperceptibly.


are determined to ensure that the free-market system remains in place at allcosts. The alternative—to plan theeconomy and redistribute wealth fairlyand to where it is most needed—wouldchallenge the ruling class’s source ofpower, that is, its ownership of acontrolling share of the country’s wealth.

Illustrating this is the fact that almosthalf of all TDs are millionaires, and nowthere is the recently published Oxfamreport stating that Ireland has the fifth-largest number of billionaires per capitain the world.

Integral to this elite preservationstrategy is the presence of a significantnumber of foreign transnationalcompanies, with their non-unionisedemployment practices weakening thebargaining power of local organisedlabour. An inevitable by-product of thisprocess, and one that our compradorbourgeoisie is comfortable with, is asteady erosion of sovereignty.

Sovereignty, like a slow descent intoaddiction, can be lost imperceptibly.Moreover, as a people’s power to self-govern is eroded, their ability to fightback is seriously curtailed. As globalimperialism, overseen by the US rulingclass, is facing a challenge to itshegemony from the newly emergingsuperpower China, its exponents arestruggling to tighten their grip on powerand in the process becoming moreauthoritarian.

The ramifications of this arewidespread and complex, as effectivepower and control is increasinglyconceded to those governing the UnitedStates, supported by the EU.

One example among many. Theadvocate-general of the EU Court ofJustice recently published an opinion

that “the transfer of personal data toprocessors established in third countriesis valid . . .” This is basically saying thattransferring data, including credit-cardtransactions and personnel databases,from the EU to (principally) the UnitedStates should be allowed.

American corporations and securityagencies are therefore being invited ineffect to gather vast quantities of EUcitizens’ personal information. That ourconcerns are not groundless wasillustrated by a recent Morning Stararticle, “Apple drops plans for icloudencryption after FBI complains.”¹ TheFBI believed that the move would harmits investigations. Ominously too, Applealone has responded to more than127,000 requests from US law-enforcement agencies for informationover the past seven years.

Overwhelmed by hyperbolesurrounding so-called benefits, andtherefore the alleged need to encourageand maintain foreign direct investment,the Republic’s largest political partieshave offered no criticism of the high-tech giants. Nor is there any seriousanalysis of the influence exercised bythese corporations in the affairs of thestate. Consequently, practically noalternative is being widely discussed tohow the economy of this state couldprosper in their absence.

Unless we are happy to allow thisstate of affairs to continueunchallenged—and we are not—astrategy has to be devised for turning thesituation round. Faced with theundoubted hostility of the establishment,its political spokespersons, and itscompliant media, this will entail an uphillstruggle.

One avenue is to avail of an

opportunity that allows us to raise theissue in a context immediately relevantto the existing situation in Ireland. Thatissue is the housing and homelessnesscrisis. Late last year several newsnetworks in the United States werereporting that many large high-techtransnationals were donating money tothe state of California to help alleviate ahousing crisis in San Francisco.² Alongwith significant contributions fromAmazon, Google, and Facebook, theApple company was making $2½ billionavailable to the state government.

Surely it would be in order for theIrish government to make a similardemand upon these transnationals. Afterall, Tim Cook, on his recent visit,described the Republic as Apple’s“second home.”

Of course this is a reformistapproach; but then, at a certain level, sois asking for a pay increase. The point isthat by forcing this demand onto theagenda we would open a door to adeeper assessment of the role oftransnationals in the Republic. Asuccessful campaign would emboldenworking people, and if the transnationalsresist they are exposed for the rapaciouscapitalists they are. It’s an option worthconsideration.H

1 “Apple drops plans for icloudencryption after FBI complains,”Morning Star, 23 January 2020(https://bit.ly/2NTcsRY).2 “Amazon, Apple, Facebook andGoogle are spending money toaddress the affordable housing crisisthey helped create,” CNBC, 1December 2019.

LEFT: Apple plant in Co. Cork

with the rights of tenants (now amajority of the population of thegreater Dublin area) would be sadlydisappointed at the statement of theofficial spokesperson of the board,who gushed: “Landlords play a vitalrole in providing safe and healthyhomes . . . We hope to be able tosupport landlords in navigating thecomplex regulatory framework,” suchas “guiding them through a localauthority inspection.”

Equally gushing was thespokesperson for Fingal CountyCouncil, who sang the praises of “theinvaluable role landlords have inproviding homes for tenants in privaterented accommodation . . .”

Forget your prejudice againstlandlords and the common belief thattheir object is to make money out ofother people’s misery: they areapparently providing a crucial publicservice, and one that those who are

actually responsible for publicservices—the state and its variousagencies—recoil from in horror.

The whole thing is very indicative,and particularly worrying, consideringthat we already have fewer rights fortenants than any other country inEurope.

It will be interesting to seewhether a guide for tenants will nowbe dropping through letterboxes inFingal. H

THEORY


CLASS

RAYMOND Ó DUBHGHAILL

THE WORKING CLASS is already divided by capitalism. If weare to build a revolutionary movement we, as communists,must unite those divisions, not further deepen them. To do

so we need to combat the tendencies of tailism andeconomism in our own ranks.

The ruling class utilise a range of tactics designed toweaken the working class, but none of these is more insidiousthan the sowing of discontent and disunity. Capitalists useracism, sexism, sectarianism, homophobia, transphobia andany number of forms of bigotry and prejudice as a means ofdividing the working class and turning people against oneanother. The simple reason is this: a class divided cannot fighta united struggle.

Communists must bring together all elements of theworking class to fight for an end to exploitation; however, toooften there are obstacles in our way to achieving this, evenwithin our own movement.

Lenin describes tailism in What Is to Be Done? as thetendency of some activists to drag (like a tail) behind the most

progressive elements of the working-class movement, byreflecting in their politics only the most reactionary views of themasses.¹ This is a mistake, because, firstly, it underestimatesthe political and revolutionary potential of the working class, andsecondly, communists must be the revolutionary vanguard ofthe struggle, not lagging behind it as reactionaries within themovement.

The tendency of tailism can be observed in the dismissiveand confrontational attitudes some on the left take to mattersof social importance—women’s struggles, LGBT+ issues,racism, etc.—that are adjacent to class struggle. We havesurely all heard it said countless times that certain issues are“a distraction from class struggle,” or “not of any concern tothe working class.” It surely does not need pointing out that theworking class comprises people of all gender backgrounds,sexual orientations, races, and ethnicities, and these strugglesare of direct and immediate concern to them and their lives. Infact these struggles are inextricably linked to class struggle andshould always be regarded as such.

As communists, we assert that the primary contradictionthat shapes and defines the world is that of class struggle:between the bourgeoisie and the working class. However, itdoes not follow from this that our work or our analysis must

FASCISM

EOGHAN O’NEILL

THE RISE of the right wing, of fascist ideology, is inextricablylinked with the crises of capitalism, which are periodic andinevitable because of the internal contradictions within the

capitalist system, which can never be overcome, becausecapitalism is an antagonistic class-based system in whichdiffering class interests cannot be reconciled.

Fascism is the iron fist of capitalism, to ensure and secureprivate property, the private profits and rents of the capitalistclass. It is capitalism in its most violent and ruthless form.

As the capitalist system bounces from one crisis to thenext, and as the crisis deepens and widens, the working class,no longer content with the misery of poverty, hunger, debt,austerity, cuts to public services, the sale and privatisation ofpublic lands, utilities, and services, begin trying to advancetheir position and interests in society. When the working classbegins to organise itself as a real threat to the existing systemand the privileges of the capitalists and their private property, itis under these conditions that we find fascism rising up,financed by the ruling class to act as the henchmen, doingtheir dirty work on the ground.

The purpose of right-wing and fascist organisations is toprevent the working class gaining significant power. As theworking class deepens its class-consciousness, broadens its

struggle, organises itself industrially and militantly, anddemands more from a government than what a governmentcan provide, thus becoming more revolutionary, fascistmovements, propped up by the ruling class, try to step in andassimilate themselves as a voice of the workers. This is a ruse,a way to disarm the workers in order to smash the workers’organisations that are threatening to disrupt the profits of theruling class.

As the class struggle deepens, they use the crisis ofcapitalism as an excuse for state repression, censorship,imprisonment and even execution of the most advancedsections of the workers’ movement, while at the same timethey target the most vulnerable and marginalised in society,using them as scapegoats for the economic crisis.

Combating tailism and economism

The iron fist of capitalism

Our understanding of different forms of oppression and exploitationenriches our theory of class struggle; it does not stand opposed to it.


disregard all other contradictions and struggles as irrelevant.Quite the contrary: we must seek to unite struggles against allforms of exploitation in the revolutionary fight for communism.This is the very nature of class struggle.

In addition, Lenin critiques the narrow focus of economism,which he describes thus: “The Economists [limit] the tasks ofthe working class to an economic struggle for higher wages andbetter working conditions, etc., asserting that the politicalstruggle [is] the business of the liberal bourgeoisie.”² Heasserts that the fight for revolutionary gains must be waged ona political as well as an economic front. The task ofcommunists is to unite the working class in a revolutionarymovement, not to limit our focus to mere economic demands,which are in any case quantitative and not transformative.

To give a clear example of the limits of the politics ofeconomism, we can recall how women’s participation in thelabour market was initially opposed within the trade unionmovement, on the grounds that it was a means used bycapitalists for lowering wages for workers more generally.³ Sucha view seems absurd today, and demonstrates howeconomism can be a dangerous and counter-revolutionaryform of chauvinism. As communists, we do not ask forcapitalists to give workers a larger slice of the pie: we fight forworkers to take possession of the pie in its entirety.

There are many on the left who will seek to foment thedivides that capitalism creates, through patriarchy, racism,sectarianism, etc. They pit different forms of struggle against

one another and stoke hostility between different groups. Itmust be noted that there are of course bourgeois forms offeminism, LGBT+ activism, anti-racism etc. that are activelyopposed to the emancipation of the working class, and hostileto communism. This is not in doubt. However, it does notfollow that the struggles of women, trans comrades, victims ofracism and other forms of bigotry and prejudice are in any waycounter-revolutionary or anti-communist simply because thereexist bourgeois interests who attempt to co-opt them. To thinkand act otherwise is to fall into the trap of chauvinism.

Our understanding of different forms of oppression andexploitation enriches our theory of class struggle; it does notstand opposed to it. In practical terms, this means thatcommunists must be at the forefront of working-class strugglein all its various forms, fighting with our comrades and notagainst them. H1 V. I. Lenin, What Is to Be Done? The Burning Questions ofOur Movement (1902), atwww.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/ii.htm.2 V. I. Lenin, “A talk with defenders of economism” [1901]in Lenin, Collected Works (Foreign Languages PublishingHouse, Moscow, 1961), vol. 5, p. 313–320, atwww.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/dec/06.htm.3 Nicole Busby and Rebecca Zahn, “Women’s labour andtrade unionism: A dangerous combination?” (2016), athttp://dangerouswomenproject.org/ 2016/06/20/womens-trade-unionism/.

Fundamentally, fascism is for conserving the laws, customsand treaties that protect the ruling class and their right toprivate property: their right to own the means of production andtheir ability to exploit and extract profit from the labouringmasses.

Fascists and leading figures of the right prostitute the word“patriotism” to gain support from a public who are alreadyangry and disfranchised by the established political parties andthe state of affairs in society. Their “patriotism,” however, isnothing more than narrow nationalism and racism, dedicatedto the national interests of the ruling class, ensuring thesuppression of the workers’ movement.

Fascism is organised counter-revolution. Its analysis of crisisis superficial; and though they may pay lip service to populardemands and issues facing working people, in the final analysisthey do not propose to change the relations of class power.Just like social democrats, centrists, and revisionists, theirpurpose is unveiled in times of crisis. They drop the veil ofdemocracy used by other forces and implement their iron ruleof power in the interests of the ruling class, guaranteeing theprotection of private property for the owners of capital against aclass-conscious workers’ movement.

We witness this today in Latin America, where progressivegovernments are causing a crisis for capitalism and theimperialist empire of the United States when they nationaliseand put into public ownership their resources. As the Bolivarianrevolution has spread, so too has the growth in the extremeright and fascist forces, instigating coups and sabotage againstprogressive governments, supported and financed by theindigenous capitalist ruling class and the imperialist blocs. Their

private media mouthpieces then spread their propaganda tothe outside world. The thin veil of democracy slips away oncethey are able to establish some power in the country.

This is the common practice of imperialist hegemony,witnessed around the globe for more than a century.

Integral to the right-wing ideology is the centrality of war: aphilosophy of war, of war preparation, with the building up ofthe military-industrial complex for imperialist war practice.Going hand in glove with this war philosophy is a racistideology, the idea of a superior race, a smokescreen used as away to legitimise and desensitise one society from bombingand mass-murdering civilians of another society.

Again we must emphasise that fascism is capitalism in itsmost desperate form. Capitalism, fascism and war areinseparable; and there are very few things as profitable as war.Capitalism, with its internal contradictions, will remain inconstant crisis, therefore fascism will always threaten to rise inits interests; and therefore war is an inevitable part of thecapitalist system.

Without a Marxist class analysis of the causes of thecapitalist crisis and without offering an alternative, we leave thespace open for right-wing and fascist voices, with their lies,deceit, and hate. Without our exposing and opposing themthey become in the eyes of the public just another dissentingvoice, critical of the political establishment, which will garnerthem support.

Our duty as anti-fascists, anti-imperialists, is to expose theirhate, their lies, their deceit, wherever possible to block anypotential growth of their movement here in Ireland and, wherepossible, elsewhere around the globe. H

REVOLUTION


As we celebrate thesixty-first anniversary ofthe Cuban Revolution,a great Irish friend,loyal defender of Cuba,asked me to write forSocialist Voice aboutthe imprint of FidelCastro and ErnestoGuevara on the most

important event of thetwentieth century inLatin America—notwithout first clarifyingfor me, with the typicalfrankness and theclassic and imperativeIrish style: it had to bebrief. JavierDomínguez writes

ADIFFICULT AND risky task: tosynthesise in brief the role ofthese two historic figures. Sharing

risks with my Irish brothers and sisters,similar to the Cubans in the pleasure offacing dangers, here are my impressionsabout Fidel Castro Ruz and ErnestoGuevara de la Cerna and their fruitfulrevolutionary work.

The history of the Cuban Revolutioncannot be written without mentioningthe names of Fidel Castro and ErnestoGuevara—known all over the world forthe name given to him by the Cubansfor the interjection used by Argentines intheir daily speaking: Che.

Che and Fidel:Revolutionariesto the end


They had a mutual admiration. Chesaid that while imprisoned in Mexico hetold Fidel that he was a communist, andthat this could jeopardise the plans forthe expedition and the start of therevolutionary war in Cuba. Fidel’sanswer was categorical: “I will not leaveyou alone. You are leaving with us.” Andso Che, along with Raúl Castro, werethe two names that started the list ofthe eighty-two expeditionaries of theyacht Granma that left Tuxpán, Mexico,on 25 November 1956.

That response and firm attitude ofFidel made Che Guevara admire andcompletely trust the Cuban leaderthroughout his revolutionary life.

In an article published by Che,“Cuba: Historical exception or vanguardin the anti-colonial struggle?” he raiseswith respect to Fidel and his role in theCuban Revolution:Let us therefore consider the factorsof this alleged exceptionalism. Thefirst, perhaps the most important, themost original, is that telluric forcecalled Fidel Castro Ruz . . . FidelCastro did more than anyone in Cubato build the formidable apparatus ofthe Cuban Revolution out of the blue.Fidel is undoubtedly one of the most

relevant politicians of all time. Hisrevolutionary vision penetrated the mostremote places in the world to becomean example of self-denial, patriotism,and intransigence against injustice. Thetruth is that his career as a leaderdemonstrates a deep and sustainedunitary vocation.

The history of Latin America, theCaribbean, Africa, and Asia, themovement of non-aligned countries, theindependence and liberation of fraternalpeoples, and the defeat of theoppressive apartheid, to theunconditional support for the BolivarianRevolution, the creation of ALBA, andthe unitary bases within the diversitythat led to the constitution of theCommunity of Latin American andCaribbean States (CELAC), record FidelCastro’s prestige and moral authorityover the past six decades.

Fidel, like Che, was a profoundinternationalist. His statement “to beinternationalist is to pay our own debt tohumanity” deeply touched the Cubanpeople, whose children carried outhonourable internationalist missions,

both civil and military, in manycountries.

Since the initial days of the CubanRevolution, when it was not knownwhether he would survive this riskymission, Che had already told Fidel thatwhen the time came he did not wish tobe obstructed in his eagerness to fightfor a better future for the peoples ofLatin America, among whom he hadtravelled and whose misery increasedhis thirst for social justice. On thesetrips he came to the conclusion that thesolution to their problems was not theaction of a single man but the action ofan organised liberation movement on acontinental level. Hence the reason forits internationalist action in Bolivia.

After nine years of outstandingservice towards the Revolution—andconsistent with that agreement he hadreached with Fidel—in March 1965 heresigned his positions in the governmentand in the party, even as a Cuban.“Nothing legal ties me to Cuba anymore,” he said in his farewell letter.“Other lands in the world demand thesupport of my modest efforts.”

Che was not only an excellentsoldier, he was also a man of scienceand ideas. Among the manyresponsibilities he held in Cuba wereminister of industry and president of theNational Bank. His views on the Cubaneconomy and its economic model arewell known; he said:

The rationality of the economicmodel should be in consequence withthe social rationality of that model andnot the other way around. It is not aquestion of the quantity and quality ofprocessed material goods but of theway in which they are produced and ofthe social relations established in thatmethod of production.

The general conception in which theeconomic model to be followed wouldbe formulated is summarised in theanswer given by him to the journalistJean Daniel published in the Frenchweekly L’Express on 25 July 1963:Economic socialism withoutCommunist morality does not interestme. We fight against misery, but atthe same time we fight againstalienation. One of the fundamentalobjectives of Marxism is to make theindividual interest disappear . . . Ifcommunism neglects the facts of

conscience, it can be a method ofdivision but it ceases to be arevolutionary morality.In total agreement with Che, Fidel

stated:I have great confidence in socialismand I have very little confidence incapitalism . . . Capitalism stimulatesselfishness, corrupts people, does notdevelop the spirit of solidarity, offraternity among men, but selfishness,individualism, and therefore I preferthe socialist formula, even within anunderdeveloped country . . . Lifeforced us to use the socialist path fordevelopment; then we really have toforget capitalism and follow thesocialist path of development, which,in my opinion, is the only way out forthe Third World countries . . .Capitalism is a decadent system inhistory and will have to be overcomeby socialism; although socialism stillhas many faults, it has deficiencies;but the deficiencies are not in thesystem, they are in men . . .Fidel Castro and Che Guevara

contributed irreplaceable elements toMarxism and the theory of the strugglefor national liberation. Its legacy andaction have a marked influence on thestruggle for socialism and humanimprovement. Its thinking, which bringstogether the best of the traditions of theworld revolutionary movement, becomesa source of study and inspiration forpeoples in the struggle for nationalliberation.

In the early 1990s someoneannounced the end of history and thedisappearance of paradigms and eventhe possibility of finding new ones. Thestruggles of the peoples in all thecontinent are the most resoundingrefutation of that statement, usingimages of Che and the ideas of Fidel.They are and will be eternal paradigmsof peoples in their struggle for a betterworld. H

■ Javier Domínguez, a formercombatant of the Cubaninternationalist mission to Angola,worked for the Cuban Institute forFriendship with the Peoples (ICAP),generating international solidarity. Hevisited Ireland twice in the mid-1990s, working with the CubaSupport Group. He lives in Havana.

TAXES

DECLAN MCKENNA

“In many countries, the wealthy paylower effective taxes than far poorerpeople. We need to change course—or face the pitchforks.

“The ecological catastrophe fueled byclimate change and the socio-economicupheaval threatened by grotesqueinequalities of wealth and power havethe potential to destroy everything wecare about.

“Based on a mountain of inter-disciplinary evidence, it’s clear thatextreme inequalities of income, wealthand opportunity undermine democraticinstitutions, destabilize healthyeconomic activity, fuel social unrest,and prevent us from nimbly respondingto ecological threats. Yet our globaleconomy is on inequality autopilot,funneling wealth upwards at a dizzyingpace. A couple [of] thousandbillionaires now hold more than half theworld’s wealth and with it, much of thepower to change things—or to blockchange, as has been the case fordecades. In many countries, thewealthy pay lower effective tax ratesthan those with modest means.Without this revenue, governments

plead austerity or take on nihilisticlevels of debt.

“Meanwhile, a wealth-defenseindustry of tax lawyers and wealthplanners spend their waking hoursgaming tax laws and hiding trillions inwealth. An estimated 10 to 12% of theworld’s wealth is hidden in a maze ofoffshore secrecy jurisdiction, trusts andshell companies. A recent IMF studyestimates that 40% of foreign directinvestment—about $15tn—passesthrough ‘empty corporate shells’ with ‘noreal business activities.’

“This hidden wealth isn’t basking ona Caribbean island. Billions are flowinginto luxury real estate investments. Thecranes rising across our major cities,constructing luxury towers, are an affrontto residents facing a crisis in affordablehousing.

“In many countries, we are seeing abreakdown in social cohesion and a risein xenophobic nationalism and politicalextremism. People understandablybelieve the system is rigged againstthem, fueling a sense of unfairness anddiminished social trust. This process ofpulling apart, both within countries andbetween nations, will all but guaranteethat the global community will furtherpolarize and fail to adequately respondto the looming climate catastrophe. This

will be disastrous for everyone, includingthe planet’s billionaires and millionaires.

“The choice is stark: do we wantpitchforks or a working tax system?”

Chuck Collins said all that, and more.And who is Chuck Collins? Chuck Collinsis a member of the Americanorganisation Patriotic Millionaires, whichis composed of millionaires andbillionaires from around the world whoadvocate higher taxes on the wealthy.

He goes on: “I agree with [the] Dutchhistorian Rutger Bregman, who said lastyear, ‘Stop talking about philanthropyand start talking about taxes. The bloomhas come off the charitable rose.Perhaps the public has started to realizethat billionaire philanthropy has becomea taxpayer-subsidized extension ofprivate power, another elaborate taxdodge.’”

The Patriotic Millionaires consists ofan initial group of 123 millionaires andbillionaires from eight countries whobelieve that taxes are the “best and onlyappropriate way” to ensure adequateinvestment in the things societies need.

While it is hard to disagree with himon much of what he says, it is on thisvery point that we must part company.Whatever about cause and effect, wereject his vision of the solutions.

He manages to be both completelywrong and completely right. He iscompletely wrong in that he envisages anice capitalism, where the rich stay richbut “rejoin humanity” and rootthemselves in communities of “peopleand relationships of reciprocity,” wherecapital is shifted out of the “speculativefinancial sector and deploy[ed] in theservice of humanity.”

He is certainly right when he saysthat “philanthropy is not a substitute foradequately funded governments at thelocal, state and federal level.”

But he hits the nail on the headwhen he recognises that unlessunrestrained capitalism is brought toheel, the rich, including himself and his“progressive” millionaires andbillionaires, will face the pitchforks. Hewants to have his cake and eat it. He istrying to take out an insurance policyagainst both “excessive” capitalism andthe pitchforks.

He may want to bring about a “nicer”capitalism; but when push comes toshove we will still need our pitchforks.H

WEALTH

Who said that?


MUSIC

CHOPIN

JENNY FARRELL

FRYDERYK CHOPIN was born on 22February 1810 in Żelazowa Wola,near Warsaw, to a Polish mother

and a French father. He grew up inWarsaw but left Poland in 1831, shortlybefore the Polish popular uprisingagainst the tsarist oppressors. Hemoved to Paris, where he lived until hisdeath, aged only thirty-nine, on 17October 1849.

In Paris he made friends with someof the most outstanding progressivefigures of his time: with the greatFrenchwoman George Sand, whobecame his lover, the Hungariannationalist and composer Franz Liszt,the revolutionary French painter EugèneDelacroix, the great Polish poet andpolitical activist Adam Mickiewicz, theexiled German poet Heinrich Heine, and

others.Chopin always remained close to

Poland. During the 1830s and 40sEurope experienced political repression,unrest, and conservatism. In thisatmosphere the great significance ofnational cultures in shaping nationalconsciousness and the struggle forindependence became increasinglyimportant and apparent. This growingnational awareness was also reflected inthe arts and in music.

Polish music was no exception. ThePolish people, who suffered the tripleoccupation by Prussia, Russia, andAustria, who were deprived of theirindependence, who suffered terriblyunder the pressure of the Holy Alliance,whose national culture was beingsuppressed—this people proved throughits art that it was alive and fighting. Thegenius of a Mickiewicz in poetry, thegenius of a Chopin in music, reflect thisstruggle in their art.

Chopin wrote mainly music for thepiano. He chose smaller forms toexpress the struggle and aspirations ofhis people, frequently using Polishpeasant dance forms, such as themazurka and polonaise. He revived themusic of the whole nation. The folkmusic of Poland informed his harmoniclanguage.

Chopin’s music not only defined atradition in Poland but has contributedto our musical heritage internationally. Itis an assertion of Polish resistance,something that all independence-lovingpeople can identify with.

Polonaise in A flat major (1842)Chopin created seventeen polonaisesin total, his first when he was sevenyears old, and seven of these after heleft Poland. The later compositionsopened a new chapter in the historyof the genre in the direction of the“epic-dramatic poem.” Each of theseseven mature, dramatic works has itsown distinctive shape, style, andexpression.

The last three compositions aregrand dance poems. Chopin’s latePolonaise in A flat major (Opus 53,Héroïque) is written in a heroic tone. Onhearing it, George Sand wrote in one ofher letters: “The inspiration! The force!The vigour! There is no doubt that sucha spirit must be present in the FrenchRevolution. From now on this polonaiseshould be a symbol, a heroic symbol.”

Its stormy octaves in the middlesection have suggested to somecommentators the image of attackinghussars, to others an attackingcavalcade. Some have called it the“secret national anthem” of Poland.

However, Chopin did not leave a“story” to go with this polonaise. I thinkit is perhaps best understood as thetriumph of the Polish dance. The themeis confident and dance-like. It goesthrough various developments andreturns jubilant, proud and heroic in aclearly victorious coda. And it is in thiscontext of the triumphant people thatSand’s comment makes completesense.H

■ Listen to it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWBT6vOKu0Q.LEFT: Chopin

The triumph of Polish music


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CARACAS

SEÁN EDWARDS

LAST YEAR, 2019, was a year ofvictories for Venezuela, PresidentMaduro claimed at a ceremony on

23 January for the anniversary of the fallof the Jiménez dictatorship in 1958.

This was also the date chosen lastyear by Juan Guaidó to proclaim himself“interim president” of Venezuela. Hisargument, prompted by Mike Pence, wasthat the office was vacant, because oftheir non-recognition of the election ofPresident Maduro, and therefore shouldgo to the chairperson of the NationalAssembly, the office he held.

Enjoying the patronage of the UnitedStates, Guaidó was recognised by theUnited States and the European Union,together with their allies and clientstates, amounting to fifty-two states inall, which have intensified the economicwar against Venezuela, causing greathardship to the population.

The economic war is accompanied bya propaganda war, which excludespositive, or even impartial, reporting ofVenezuela in the corporate media.

Confirming President Maduro’swords, Juan Guaidó has gone from onedisastrous defeat to another. Theattempt to forcibly bring in so-calledhumanitarian aid to Venezuela fromColombia failed miserably; they evenburnt a lorry on the border, and the

media dutifully blamed the governmentforces.

His associates were caughtembezzling money supposed to be formilitary deserters; he himself was shownto have been brought across the borderby a criminal paramilitary drug-traffickinggang. He stood on a motorway overpassin eastern Caracas and called for amilitary coup, claiming that he wasspeaking from a nearby army base, butto no avail: the army stayed loyal.

Nothing works for Guaidó except themoney he gets from the United States—$450 million from the US Agency forInternational Development alone. Hislatest indignity: he no longer holds theoffice of chairperson of the NationalAssembly, on which he based his claimto the presidency. A majority of theopposition deputies have denouncedhim, have elected a new chairperson,and reached an agreement withPresident Maduro concerning theAssembly elections, due this year.

Never mind: he met his remainingsupporters, claiming to be the realNational Assembly, and continues hispretensions. The United Statesannounced its continuing support. It hasappointed him president of Venezuela;and what right have mere Venezuelans todisagree?

The commemoration was attendedby the participants in the InternationalAnti-Imperialist Conference being held inCaracas. Four hundred delegates fromseventy-two countries shared their

experience and expressed their solidaritywith Venezuela. A large delegation fromthe United States was particularlyimpressive, including Bahman Azad ofthe US Peace Council, who organisedthe Dublin conference on US and NATOmilitary bases in Dublin in November2018. Four of the brave defenders of theVenezuelan embassy in Washington arenow facing trial.

My own contribution to the groupdiscussing sovereignty referred to neo-colonialism as a class alliance. Forexample, in Latin America the oligarchiescannot rule without the United States,nor can the United States rule withoutthem. Naturally, I drew on our ownhistory in this regard.

In spite of the president’s bravewords, and the total collapse of Guaidó’schallenge, Venezuela is in a very difficultsituation. The economic war has inflictedcolossal damage on the economy, andthe country is surrounded by enemystates with ultra-right governments. Theimperialist offensive has had a number ofvictories, most recently with the fascistcoup in Bolivia, while Brazil andColombia are harbouring and trainingterrorists.

Venezuela has twice been declared a“clear and present danger to the UnitedStates,” by nice Mr Obama and nasty MrTrump, both determined to destroy theBolivarian Revolution initiated by HugoChávez. For the ultra-right wing of theopposition, elections would not beenough: they want to totally destroyChavismo, an objective shared by therulers of the United States.

The participants in the conferenceface a mighty task when they returnhome: organising solidarity withVenezuela.H

Anti-imperialist conferencebacks Venezuelan people

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