Egypt:The Reactionary Right Strikes Back

[Rakhmetov]

The reactionaries attack demonstrators! This tactic will backfire as workers will become more radicalized and may even turn toward socialism as they will be forced to read up on theory.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110202/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt

[Nolan]

Mubarak supporters were on the street in significant numbers for the first time on Wednesday. Across the Nile River from the chaos in Tahrir Square, around 20,000 pro-government demonstrators held a rally in front of Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque in the upper-class neighborhood of Mohandiseen. ...

And the comments section is full of gems like this:


Of course one has to visit the Communist Party USA's website to see who they support! They support the Muslim Brotherhood, and Tunisa actually has a communist party that started their revolt. Who would've thunk that? Be careful when pinko libs support 'democracy', cuz it aint so!

But it is Yahoo.

[Proukunin]

I hope this leads to socialism, Im tired of waiting for revolution.

[Tommy4ever]

I hope this leads to socialism, Im tired of waiting for revolution.

It won't. :(

[Proukunin]

It won't. :(

We can only be hopeful:thumbup:

[RedTrackWorker]

We can only be hopeful:thumbup:

We don't just have to be hopeful, we can analyze the situation and point to policies that can guide the revolution to victory.

On another thread, Tommy4ever posted his stance that it can't work, saying that the LRP statement was good but "needlessly schismatic".
I replied:

How is there "little [basis] in reality for a socialist revolution"? The only real weakness I know of compared to the only successful example of workers taking over society is the part you call "schismatic," i.e. that they do not have a revolutionary party already built by the workers rooted there. Especially given that now the revolution has gone quite far in the most populous Arab state with the largest industrial working class (but without that working class in the lead of that revolution in some kind of self-organized way as it was at least partially in Tunisia), they have time to learn through experience the necessary political lessons, put to the test different leaderships and construct such a party to lead the fight to take power into their hands. In many respects, they are far better placed to take power than the workers in Russia in 1917 were, or the Chinese workers of the 20's, who showed they could have taken power.

He didn't reply but I guess didn't change his mind either. I am far from saying that these revolutions will achieve the dictatorship of the proletariat soon but I found the idea that someone can say "It won't." in the face of such courageous actions by the workers and poor, spreading across a region that is a weak link for the world imperialist system, that threatens the stability of another weak link (China) and could inspire workers and poor across the world who in almost every country are facing capitalist attacks due to the world economic crisis and in many, many countries have already had general strikes and riots against the government due to this--I find that kind of "confidence" that these revolutions can't succeed...distasteful.
In December, the key task of revolutionary-minded workers was building the revolutionary party--and now, after these revolutionary uprisings, that is still the key task and it should be that much more clear. These events show that the masses are moving to revolutionary ideas, are demanding tactics and strategies that challenge those far left groups who adapted to "realism" or what have you.

[Tommy4ever]

@ RTW:

I didn't say that the revolution would fail. I simply said that it will not be a socialist revolution. Because it won't.

Across the globe socialists simply lack the mass support to be the leading force behind revolutions - Egypt is no different.

[Psy]

@ RTW:

I didn't say that the revolution would fail. I simply said that it will not be a socialist revolution. Because it won't.

Across the globe socialists simply lack the mass support to be the leading force behind revolutions - Egypt is no different.

Socialist vanguards were never leading forces behind any revolution. The way it works is there is massive uprising that causes class consciousness not the other way around. The act of the proletariat fighting the ruling class is the way the bulk of the proletariat becomes interested in alternatives to capitalism.

[JazzRemington]

Evidently, the security forces and police are organizing the reactionary population against the demonstrators. A few of the pro-government people that were apprehended by the demonstrators were carrying IDs issued by the security forces and a lot of them were plain-clothes cops. I guess the same thing is the case with a lot of the looters, they're either criminals that were released during a prison raid in Egypt a few days back or working (in)directly for the security forces and police (again, IDs were found).