Any Left-wing party that comes to power in Namibia, Zimbabwe or any peripheral country today would be in the exact same position as Syriza: It would lack the political and economic power to bring about radical changes. The reality of a global system policed by imperialism makes it impossible for poor countries to break with capitalism and to begin to build socialism.
By Shaun Whittaker
Syriza (or the
Coalition of the Radical Left) won the Greek referendum of the 5 July 2015, on
the basis of an unequivocal anti-austerity political platform. The Thessaloniki
Program of Syriza demanded the scrapping of most of the public debt of the
country, while their social-democratic agenda proclaimed, amongst others, that
the party would: raise the minimum wage by 10%; increase income tax to 75% on
all incomes above R6 million; combat the banks’ secret measures and the flight
of capital; nationalise the banks; cut military expenditure; use buildings
owned by the government, banks and churches for the homeless; open dining rooms
in public schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to children.
The mobilization
around the referendum undeniably constituted an insurrectionary moment when 61%
of the Greek people voted against the austerity measures.[1] As usual, with
liberal-democratic elections the left-wing wins when there is an upturn in
social class strife. The Tsipras leadership, unfortunately, were flabbergasted
by this outcome as they expected a narrow victory, and did not have a strategy
in place about how to move forward.
Nevertheless, the
aftermath of the referendum could not prevent the Greek working people from
being humiliated by the diktats of the troika, which compelled the entire
country to be subjected to their rapacious ideology. Consequently, the
unemployment rate in Greece hovers around Great Depression levels of 24.9% (May
2015), while youth unemployment is 49.7% (March 2015). Malnutrition soared to
54% and there has been a 35% upsurge in suicides in Greece since 2011. A
staggering 92% of the so-called bailout funds ended up primarily with banks of
Germany and France.
Moreover, all this
has been followed by massive privatizations – at rock-bottom prices – of
several Greek airports, islands, ports, and so forth, first and foremost to
German big business. In other words, a mass looting of Greek resources –
directed by the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the
International Monetary Fund – has taken place under the guise of a bailout. So
the euro has come to epitomize the dominance of German capital in particular.
Is the spectre of ‘herrenvolk democracy’, in the words of Domenico Losurdo, [2]
again haunting the rest of Europe? Or is this simply a new form of colonialism?
The irony in Greece is that the biggest tax evader is apparently a huge German
construction company called Hochtief, which owes an estimated one billion
euros. Be that as it may, the country has been saddled with an odious debt that
simply cannot be repaid.
And what has
transpired in Greece is of historical global significance as it is not only an
emergency for that country or the nation-state in general, but it is, at root,
an unprecedented global capitalist catastrophe that we are dealing with. The
immediate onset was the 2008 Great Recession, but has become an economic
downturn for the working people with no end in sight. Of course, fragile
countries like Greece experienced the crisis first, but all countries on the
periphery of global capitalism, such as Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy and
Puerto Rico, have experienced the consequences more harshly, and have become
much more subordinated to financial capital.
What are the
implications of this capitalist crunch for South Africa, Africa and the working
class in general? What is undoubtedly disconcerting about the Greek statistics
is that these are so familiar to the people of the Global South. The South
African unemployment rate, for instance, is 25% (July 2015), but has been like
that for a very long period already. In Namibia, 90% of the population cannot
afford a decent house because of the deregulation of the finance sector, and
the skyrocketing house prices. The repression in Zimbabwe emerged as a result of
the resistance against austerity there.
Indeed, what is
unfolding in Greece has been occurring in Africa and the Global South since at
least the 1980s, with the implementation of neoliberal or structural adjustment
programs. The difference is that the Greek people are resisting because they
compare their current social situation to their previous social democratic
setup, while the people of Africa (and the Global South) compare neoliberalism
to colonialism (or apartheid). And with the connivance of the African ruling
elite, this neoliberal setup has been presented as being ‘liberation’ and the
best possible world.
South Africa was
already among the most unequal societies, but this was worsened by the
combination of the global hegemony of neoliberalism, and the dreadful deal
negotiated by the African National Congress (ANC) during the secret economic
negotiations in 1994 that agreed, for instance, to the private ownership of the
South African Reserve Bank. In fact, all the other countries of the Global South,
such as Namibia and Zimbabwe, long ago implemented the bitter medicine of
austerity under the smokescreen of ‘liberation’.
However, South Africa
– unlike Greece – is not peripheral to the global economy. If anything, it is a
sub-imperialist country in terms of its economic dominance of southern Africa,
and its political influence on the continent. Nevertheless, because of the high
level of social inequality and the militancy of the working class, South Africa
represents a weak link in the global chain of capitalism.
The situation in
Greece exemplifies a crisis of liberal democracy. The implementation of the
austerity measures – despite the liberal-democratic referendum – represents a
huge defeat for the Greek working class. The working class has since begun to
realise that Syriza – which has effectively collapsed after just eight months
in power – was a left-reformist or social-democratic party that was not
committed to the concerted fight against austerity. However, the European
ruling elite chose to make an example of Syriza, and to embarrass that party in
order to send a tough political message to the rest of the European working
classes – especially those in Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Italy.
The elite will not
negotiate away their political and economic power. And the financial
aristocracy is immensely powerful as they control the flow of money through the
privately-owned central banks where unelected and unaccountable technocrats
decide the fate of millions despite the outcome of democratic elections. The
German Finance Minister Schäuble was quoted as having said that ‘elections
don’t make any difference’. So, liberal-democratic parliaments have again been
shown to be marginalized, and to not reflect the will of the people. If
anything, there is probably a fascist or military government on the horizon in
Greece. And this should serve as a warning to the people of South Africa and
the Global South – the only way to ultimately maintain these austerity measures
is through force.
For the left-wing, the
inference is that liberal-democratic elections are an essential tactic in terms
of doing political conscientization, but will not bring about social
transformation. Rather, the left-wing should prioritize the organising of
grassroots democracy through workers’ committees, civics, women’s and youth
organisations, etc. There is simply no parliamentary road to fundamental
change.
With Syriza in the
process of disintegration due to its compromises and reformism, the political
lesson for the working classes is that thorough-going change only comes about
through direct action. The way forward for the left-wing is through mass
engagement, i.e. general strikes, marches, sit-ins, factory occupations, etc.
The implementation of a left-wing program would only materialize through
collective action.
The situation in
Greece shows that the rise and fall of political parties reveal the shifts in
mass consciousness. And the left-wing leadership should be able to gauge this
correctly. What Syriza should have considered was to permanently mobilize the
Greek working class, the Spanish working class, the Irish working class – but
in particular the German and French working classes – i.e. the working classes
of the most industrialized economies. In the final analysis, the anti-capitalist
struggle is about the balance of social class forces. The ruling elite – and
finance capital in particular – would not give in at the negotiation table when
they comprehend that the working class is timid in the streets.
Compared to the Greek
workers, though, the South African working class is in a much more powerful
position. The South African/Azanian left-wing realises that socialism cannot be
constructed in one country only. As much as this Left ought to link up with a
working class in an industrialized country, the rest of southern Africa
constitutes the logical terrain to which the far-reaching struggle should be
extended to as a point of departure. This is partly the case due to the
sub-imperialist nature of the South African ruling elite. This state of affairs
should be reflected not only in the strategic and philosophical features of the
left-wing, but also in the organisational aspect of the left-wing.
Simultaneously, the Left ought to be mindful that xenophobia in South Africa
could lay the foundations of a fascist movement that could smash the working
class movement.
One of South Africa’s
notable progressive intellectuals, Patrick Bond,[3] recently alerted the
leftists in a superb article entitled ‘South Africa: Exploding with rage,
imploding with self-doubt – but exuding socialist potential’ (2015) that: ‘If
world interest rates are pushed up by the U.S. Federal Reserve later in 2015,
if the local stock market finally peaks and mass consumer debt defaults kick in
(given that more than half the country’s borrowers are officially
“credit-impaired”), South Africa’s economy might also find itself vulnerable to
a full-on crash. Then the left’s transition from a war of position to genuine
war of movement would be as vital in South Africa as it is in Greece or Spain
this year, even if national elections are only in 2019.’
Stated otherwise, the
South Africa Left ought to engage in direct action. And this should be led by
an action-orientated mass workers’ party. Bond also points out that the
left-wing activists in the United Front seem to have ‘differing notions’ of
what a left-wing political party should look like and that ‘inadequate
groundwork’ has been laid for the discussions around such a party. Furthermore,
he forewarns that the United Front should not repeat the mistakes of the United
Democratic Front (UDF) with its ‘excessive caution by a petit-bourgeois
leadership’. And, it could be added, that the South African Left must not
replicate the blunders of Syriza. What is required is a bold leadership with no
illusions about reformism.
It also ought to be
clarified that any left-wing organisation that comes to power in Namibia,
Zimbabwe or, for that matter, any peripheral country today, would be in the
exact same position as Syriza. For, it would lack the political or economic
power to bring about radical changes. The reality of a global politico-economic
system – policed by imperialism – makes it impossible for undernourished
countries to break with capitalism and to begin to build socialism. There are
many crucial warnings for the leftists today in the Greek situation.
A key lesson for the
South African radicals is that – if they were to obtain power – they would have
to extend the anti-capitalist revolt straightaway to the rest of southern
Africa and beyond – and would need to have the solidarity of at least one
working class in an industrialised country. On the other hand, the only way to
build socialism in Namibia or Zimbabwe is through linking up with the rest of
the sub-region and in particular the working class of South Africa. It is high
time to initiate a sub-regional left-wing structure.
Instead of the
outdated social-democratic program of Syriza, the Left ought to hoist the
banner of an anti-capitalist political program that would include the
democratic management of the financial sector, job sharing as a way to overcome
mass unemployment, decent public housing, a basic income grant, etc. A dialogue
is also warranted on the shortcomings of a single currency, the gains of
decentralization and in general multilinear approaches4 to socialism given the
uneven and combined development of capitalism.
The defeat of Syriza
– a broad left party – has once more raised the matter of the character of the
political party that could bring about radical socio-economic shifts. A
non-sectarian party of dedicated activists is certainly needed, yet it should
not be an elitist vanguard group but a mass workers’ party that should have a
solid base among the urban and rural working classes. Such a working
class-based party ought to concede to the highest level of internal democracy
through the right to tendencies, not allowing the leadership to wear two
political hats yet actively encouraging the rank and file to do so.
Daniel Bensaïd[5] in
his seminal paper ‘Revolutionary Strategy Today’ (1987) puts the issue beyond
dispute when he declared that: ‘...we should aim to build a single organisation
with a democratic internal regime allowing the remaining differences to be
discussed and overcome in the light of common experience. The decisive
criterion is agreement on how to conquer political power’. In other words, do
leftists capture political power through the ballot box or through mass action?
A preference should be selected. Ultimately, it will be a choice between either
perpetuating a society based on debt, unemployment and wage slavery or fighting
for the post-capitalist ‘communal luxury’ as envisioned in the Paris Commune.6
So, the Syriza
project is over, but the struggle continues.
About the Author:
Presented at the
Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA), Tshwane, 9 September 2015. Shaun
Whittaker is a member of the Marxist Group of Namibia, and can be contacted at
socialistnamibia@gmail.com
References:
[1] OKDE-Spartacos
(2015). Greece: NO! End the negotiations. Socialist Action,
July 5
[2] Losurdo, Domenico
(2015). War and revolution – Rethinking the 20th century. Verso
[3] Bond, Patrick
(2015). South Africa: Exploding with rage, imploding with self-doubt – but
exuding socialist potential. Monthly Review, Volume 67, Issue 02 (June)
[4] Anderson, Kevin
(2010). Marx at the margins – On nationalism, ethnicity and non-western
societies. The University of Chicago Press.
[5] Bensaïd, Daniel
(1987). Revolutionary strategy today. International Institute for Research and
Education (IIRE). Notebooks for Study and Research, No. 4.
[6] Ross, Kristin
(2015). Communal luxury – The political imaginary of the Paris Commune. Verso.
