Capitalism in crisis. World wide struggles. Questions to the labor leaders and left and radical movements.

Great Tunisian uprising.

Capitalism continues in crises. The European and US financial problems, the increased tensions world wide, US capitalism and its allies bogged down in Afghanistan and Iraq, the environmental crises. And then most recently the upsurge of mass action from Tunisia, to Greece, to Ireland, to France etc. Using a term more fashionable in the past, the objective situation is more favorable for the working class than it was. We would therefore like to address the same questions to two different sets of people. One the union and labor leaders and two the left and radical movement.

The question is this. Why is it when the system is in such crisis and there is so much working class anger and so many struggles that a clear program and a mass movement to carry out this program has not developed. We do not believe that the working class are to blame. We believe that the problem is one of leadership. Let us explain.

First and most important the union and labor leaders. You control organizations made up of tens of millions of members world wide. You potentially control major sectors of the world economy world wide. What you do with this potential power is the crucial question of this age.

You could go to your members with a program that every member, every worker and peasant, every person on the planet have enough to eat and have good health care, education and good housing. You could organize this though your existing organizations and where organizations do not exist by educating around this program you could build organizations. You could build an alternative to the crisis ridden capitalist system which is destroying the earth. This is what you could do. But you refuse to do so. Why is this?

The fundamental reason is that you do not believe there can be an a alternative system to capitalism. You do not believe that the working class can act independently and build a new world. So with this ideological approach you support capitalism. You believe that any serious challenge to capitalism would only lead to chaos. What this means day to day is that your tendency is to suppress any movement inside your own ranks or outside your own ranks to overthrow capitalism. Such movements threaten your view of the world. You also do not want the working class to have victories because you claim that the system is in crisis, you have to work with the system and so workers have to take concessions to to help it in this crisis. Victories would show this argument of yours to be incorrect. What this means is that each working class takes concessions to help its own capitalist class against other capitalist classes. Overall this is a race to the bottom. The other secondary reason why you the union and labor leaders do not lead is you are doing well materially in the capitalist system and do not want to risk this.

So the rising anger in the world cannot find a channel through which to move and fight. It is blocked by the union and labor leadership. The union and labor leadership, both trade union and political are the main obstacle to progress in the world today. As Trotsky said the crisis of the human species is the crisis of the working class leadership. It is the job of the left and radical movement to help the working class see the role of the union leadership, to see that they have forfeited their right to lead and to change this leadership. This means clarifying an alternative program and at the same time building alternative caucuses within the unions and workplaces and communities and mass parties to these leaderships.

But now to address the same question to the left and radical movements. We are working in the same objective situation, that is where there is the crisis of the system and the rising anger of the working class and youth. So how come the left and radical movements have not not been able to develop a mass base either? I believe that there are a number of reasons and the left and radical movement is having a great difficulty facing up to these.

One there is ultra leftism. This means approaching the working class and youth with a program which is so "rrreveolutionary" that it cannot connect with the working class consciousness and therefore cannot build a mass working class movement. Many of the left groups claim, I think incorrectly, to base themselves on the bolsheviks. But let us look. What were the main slogans of the bolsheviks. "Bread, Peace and land." Very simple plain demands. What today is the equivalent of Bread, Peace and Land. I do not think many of the left and radical groups are trying to work this out. Is it something along the lines of "Food for all, A Job for all, A home for all, An eight hour day, An end to all wars, Equal rights for all, an end to environmental destruction. For an international mass movement on direct action to win this program. "

Not as punchy as bread peace and land but it would have a chance to connect with the existing consciousness and from this to build a movement. The left and radical movement tends to have their own causes which they insist on keeping separate, tend to have language which veers between the ultra left, that is emphasis on revolution phraseology, and opportunist, that is no talk of fundamental change while at the same time being very left sectarian to each other. This left sectarianism also takes the form of so many of the left and radical groups putting their own perceived interests above the interests of the working class movement. This combination of tendencies put off working class and youth.

The left and radical movements are unable to get a mass base in this anger that is developing because of a combination of ultra leftism and left sectarianism and at times opportunism. It is not only the union and labor leaders who are to blame. They are the main culprits as they control the mass organizations but the left and radical movements must look at their responsibilities and mistakes also.

Remember keep up the campaigns to Free bradley Manning, Defend wikileaks and Defend Assange.

Sean.