Author: Internationalist Perspective

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CAPITALISM’S DEATH WORLD

A Banksy mural in Gaza

On the very first day of Hamas’ sadistic rampage, the Israeli authorities took to the microphones to declare to the world that this was Israel’s 9/11. And indeed, there are some striking similarities. Between the tactics and goals of Al Qaeda and Hamas, as well as between the imperialist opportunities their actions created for the US and Israel.

Both Al Qaeda and Hamas attacked civilians indiscriminately. Both are guided by an Islamist ideology1, based on myths of a glorious past and an even better future in heaven, feeding on the anger and resentment that poverty, repression, and discrimination amply produce. What do they want? A real state, a vast territory under their control, ruled not by “the people” but by themselves, a state that imprisons and tortures anyone who dares to disagree (as Hamas does in Gaza), claiming their authority cannot be challenged because it is sanctified by religious dogma. They have utter contempt for human life, including sometimes their own. They are a clear expression of the death culture that capitalism in this epoch produces. They are racist, not in the strict sense of classifying people on the basis of skin color, but in the broader meaning of dehumanizing people on the basis of their “otherness”, the conditions under which they are born, like their ethnicity or culture.  

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NAUSEA

Sculpture by Tania Font

We publish below a text that originally appeared on the French website Lundimatin. Not because we agree with everything its author writes: we reject in particular her biological-determinist view “that perhaps the root of the problem, and of all the violence that shakes the world, is masculinity”. But we share the nausea she so passionately expresses. Her voice must be heard.

Nausea

The Israeli government is a shameful entity, a shameless colonial and imperialist power that has been committing heinous war crimes on a daily basis for 75 years. It kills, humiliates and arbitrarily imprisons children and civilians whose only crime is to dare to be Palestinian. Nausea at every demand of the government, its army and its fanatics. Anger and grief at every Palestinian death.

The Israeli government and the massacres it has committed since 1948 are the real enemy, the criminal – and therefore the one that must be destroyed. THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT.

Now I’m feeling sick again. The assimilation of an entire population, within which class struggle, racial discrimination and political differences exist, as they do in every country in the world, the assimilation of this entire population to its government, to its ethnic identity, is fascist, harmful and murderous thinking.  

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HOT AND COLD WAR

1. THE STARK PRESENT

The summer of 2023 has drawn to a close. The pandemic is in the lull, ‘normality’ has resumed but the grim atmosphere has not disappeared. The climate crisis is getting worse, disasters attributed to “Mother Nature” dominate the news. But the economic crisis also proliferates. What both crises have in common is that they affect people very unequally. They show that we live in a class society.

The Dow Jones, the so-called barometer of the US economy, has been doing quite well. Those with a lot of money can still make it grow. The rest of us are doing less well. Inflation is eroding wages. Millions of Americans are currently losing their health insurance. There are increasing numbers of homeless people. The gap between rich and poor is widening in every country, but globally, the gap is deepening between countries capable of playing a competitive role in the ultra-productive information economy and all the others.

Mass flight from poorer countries is the result. The information revolution has unified the global economy but at the same time it is expelling many. The deeper the global crisis sinks and the more the information technology increases productivity, the more ‘superfluous’ people there are.  

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An Anti-War Assembly in Milan

On September 15th the Centro di Documentazione Contro la Guerra organized an open assembly called “La Guerra in Ucraina non va in Vacanza” (The war in Ukraine doesn’t go on holiday) to which IP participated. The venue was located in a central nerve of Milan at the COX 18, an occupied space since 1976, also home to the well known Calusca City Lights, now the Archivio Primo Moroni, an extensive archival project of leftist literature. The purpose of the assembly was to denounce the barbarism that is still underway in the Ukraine after 19 months from its inception, with still no end in sight.

The assembly lasted about two and a half hours and the format was very open: after a concise introduction given by the organizers, in which they restated their position of “revolutionary defeatism”1, Sandro Moiso who writes for the journal Carmilla spoke for about 45 minutes delineating the current “world disorder”; afterwards, the floor was open to discussion.

Many people intervened without any formal restraints, stating their positions, adding nuances and posing questions. The tone was never academic and many voices were heard. According to the organizers the modest turnout of about 30 people was a bit disappointing since the aim was to open the discussion of the war to a wider audience and not only to “few experts who are already certain of everything ”.  

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UNA CONFERENCIA DE COMUNISTAS DE IZQUIERDA

En mayo pasado, por invitación de Perspectiva Internacionalista y Controversias, algunos comunistas de izquierda de seis países se reunieron en Bruselas para hablar y escucharse unos a otros.1 Aparte de PI, Controversias y algunos camaradas no afiliados, estuvieron presentes activistas de los siguientes grupos:

Old Mole Collective–Colectivo Viejo Topo

ex-FOR (Fomento Obrero Revolucionario)

Collectif Smolny

AAAP (Asociación Archivos Anton Pannekoek)

AFRD ( A Free Retriever Digest)

Bilan et Perspectives– Bilan y Perspectivas

Cercle de Discussion de sympathisants et sympathisantes de la Gauche Communiste de Paris- Círculo de discusión de simpatizantes de la Izquierda Comunista de Paris

Critiques Grand Large– Críticas Grand Large

Por razones logísticas, no pudimos invitar a todos los que nos hubiera gustado invitar. Algunos de los que invitamos no pudieron venir, pero enviaron contribuciones escritas (como el grupo con base en España, Barbaria). Algunos otros rechazaron nuestra invitación, temiendo que el debate degenerara en una confrontación hostil, o que las diferencias de posición fueran demasiado grandes para hacer posible una discusión significativa. Incluso algunos de los que asistieron a la conferencia tenían los mismos temores. Afortunadamente, entre todos los participantes había una voluntad de escuchar lo que otros tenían que decir.  

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UNE CONFÉRENCE DE COMMUNISTES DE GAUCHE

En mai dernier, à l’invitation de Perspective Internationaliste et de Controverses, quelques communistes de gauche de six pays se sont réunis à Bruxelles pour parler et s’écouter.1 Outre PI, Controverses et quelques camarades non affiliés, des militants des organisations suivantes étaient présents :

Old Mole Collective

ex-FOR (Fomento Obrero Revolucionario)

Collectif Smolny

AAAP (Association Archives Anton Pannekoek)

AFRD (A Free Retriever Digest)

Bilan et Perspectives

Cercle de Discussion de sympathisants et sympathisantes de la Gauche Communiste de Paris,

Critiques-Grand Large

Pour des raisons logistiques, nous n’avons pas pu inviter tous ceux que nous aurions voulu inviter. Certains n’ont pas pu venir mais ont envoyé des contributions écrites (comme le groupe espagnol Barbaria). D’autres ont décliné notre invitation, craignant que le débat dégénère en confrontation hostile, ou que les divergences de positions soient trop importantes pour permettre une discussion constructive. Même ceux qui sont venus à la conférence avaient des telles craintes. Heureusement, tous les participants étaient prêts à écouter ce que les autres avaient à dire. Personne n’a essayé de “gagner le débat”. Plutôt qu’une confrontation dans laquelle les participants ne cherchent qu’à renforcer leurs propres positions, les participants ont été exposés à des idées différentes. Les nuances ont été exprimées, et non écrasées.  

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A CONFERENCE OF LEFT COMMUNISTS

Last May, at the invitation of Internationalist Perspective and Controversies, some left communists from six countries gathered in Brussels to talk and listen to each other.1 Aside from IP, Controversies, and a few unaffiliated comrades, activists of the following were present:

Old Mole Collective

ex-FOR (Fomento Obrero Revolucionario)

Collectif Smolny

AAAP (Association Archives Anton Pannekoek)

AFRD (A Free Retriever Digest)

Bilan et Perspectives

Cercle de Discussion de sympathisants et sympathisantes de la Gauche Communiste de Paris,

Critiques Grand Large

For logistical reasons, we were not able to invite all those we would have liked to invite. Some whom we did invite were not able to come but sent written contributions (like the Spain-based group Barbaria). Some others declined our invitation, fearing that the debate would degenerate into hostile confrontation, or that the differences in positions would be too big to make meaningful discussion possible. Even some who did come to the conference had the same fears. Fortunately, among all the participants there was a willingness to hear what others had to say. Nobody tried to “win the debate”. Rather than a confrontation in which participants seek only to reinforce their own positions, there was exposure to different ideas.  

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The Titan and the Migrant Boat: A study in Contrasts

Fort Europe

June 22

Since its disappearance Sunday morning while diving to visit the Titanic’s resting place, the story of the Titan submersible has seemed like a movie we’ve all seen. A group of plucky adventurers or explorers are trapped in a seemingly inescapable situation and running low of air, food, water or whatever they need to survive. Sometimes it’s on a mountain. Sometimes in space. In this case, it’s at the bottom of the ocean. Somehow, due to their own ingenuity, the gang survive, although not all of them, and at the very last minute.

But this is not a movie. And no one is really expecting that miracle rescue. According to official reports, the air would have run out sometime between 6 and 8 AM this morning. That is, if they even survived that long. It’s cold at the bottom of the ocean with an ocean pressure of about 6,000 psi (about two tonnes), and the craft was essentially a cigar shaped vessel the size of a mini-van with a window that OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush (who is currently on the titan) admits he broke rules to make. He then charged passengers $250,000 dollars to ride in what now seems like a cheap death trap which reportedly uses a Logitech gaming console (retailing for about $50 on Amazon) to pilot it.  

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UN DEBATE SOBRE LA TRAYECTORIA DEL CAPITALISMO

El siguiente texto es una respuesta a Mcl (Controversias) que criticó lo que PI escribió sobre la trayectoria del capitalismo. Sus principales puntos fueron:

¿Cómo se puede afirmar que la decadencia del capitalismo, o retroceso social, comenzó en 1914 cuando, en general, el siglo XX fue una era de crecimiento creciente, aumento de la productividad y aumento de los niveles de vida?

¿Cómo se puede afirmar que la transición a la dominación real es un proceso aún en curso, mientras que mis estadísticas muestran que la transición de la extracción de plusvalía absoluta a la extracción de plusvalía relativa se completó en 1850?

Su propio texto se puede encontrar AQUÍ

Un debate sobre la trayectoria del capitalismo

UNA RESPUESTA A MCL

Estimado Mcl,

Para analizar la periodización del capitalismo, se parte de las palabras de Marx: “Aquí el modo de producción capitalista está acosado por otra contradicción. Su misión histórica es el desarrollo sin restricciones en progresión geométrica de la productividad del trabajo humano. Es infiel a su vocación cuando, como aquí, controla el desarrollo de la productividad. Por lo tanto, demuestra una vez más, que se está convirtiendo en un período senil en el que es más y más un sobreviviente”.  

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ET LA GUERRE S’ÉTERNISE

Otto Dix: Soldat soldat blessé (1916)

ET LA GUERRE S’ÉTERNISE

15 mois se sont écoulés depuis que les chars russes ont pénétré en Ukraine et la guerre continue. Des centaines de milliers de personnes sont tuées ou mutilées, n’est-ce pas suffisant ? Non, ce n’est pas suffisant. Pas pour les capitalistes des deux parties en conflit, enfermés dans leurs jeux de pouvoir, envoyant sans ménagement les enfants de la classe ouvrière dans les champs de bataille tout en vérifiant leurs comptes bancaires à l’étranger.

Il n’y a pas de fin en vue à cette guerre. Les deux camps préparent une offensive de printemps. Il semble que le massacre ne s’arrêtera que lorsque l’un des belligérants, ou les deux, seront à court de chair à canon. Cela devient un problème pour eux. Des centaines de milliers de personnes ont fui les deux pays pour éviter d’être enrôlées de force. En Ukraine, des applications spéciales circulent pour signaler les endroits où les recruteurs sont à l’affût. La Russie a encore des centaines de milliers de soldats en réserve, mais le Kremlin ne leur fait pas confiance. Sinon, pourquoi ne les envoie-t-il pas au front ? Ou bien est-ce pour maintenir l’illusion qu’il ne s’agit pas d’une guerre, mais simplement d’une “opération militaire spéciale” ?  

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