Thoughts on Mubarak's departure/resignation?

[Le Socialiste]

Mubarak's out, the military's in. What, in your opinion, should be the Egyptian peoples' next steps? The military has proven itself to be an opportunist organization, funded by the U.S. government. Given this, what are the options do the people on the ground have? What route should they take?

[Threetune]

Mubarak's out, the military's in. What, in your opinion, should be the Egyptian peoples' next steps? The military has proven itself to be an opportunist organization, funded by the U.S. government. Given this, what are the options do the people on the ground have? What route should they take?



I think your quote from Marx is apt. "We develop new principles for the world out of the world’s own principles. We do not say to the world: Cease your struggles, they are foolish; we will give you the true slogan of struggle. We merely show the world what it is really
fighting for, and consciousness is something that it has to acquire, even if it does not want to." - Karl Marx
The great gain for the world and not only the Egyptian masses is the leap in ‘consciousnesses’ about the revolutionary condition of the world. Of course the people of Egypt or anywhere else can’t simply get control of the existing capitalist state and make it work in their interests, and they are in the process of learning that. Any illusions of that kind being put about by the ‘opposition’ parties can only have a short shelf life when they meet up again with the realities of global economic crisis which kick-started the revolution there in the first place.
Ideally I would like to see a revolutionary communist party there telling the workers that they will need to smash the existing state and construct their own state that will defend their revolution against the inevitable counterattack from imperialism and its local stooges. To what extent the workers already understand this I have no knowledge. It would be encouraging to see them maintaining their street/district/workplace organisations and arming themselves for the inevitable class struggles to come.
It would be even more encouraging to see a communist party intervening to arm those committees with that theoretical understanding, but in the absence of such a party at present the fight may be more protracted and confused.

[Catma]

I think this is the most confusing and least understood step in any revolution. Who is in charge? What bodies exist to determine the will of the people? How do you form those bodies?

I don't have any answers. Even direct observation of the situation right now is immensely difficult because of the chaos.

[Threetune]

Mubarak's out, the military's in. What, in your opinion, should be the Egyptian peoples' next steps? The military has proven itself to be an opportunist organization, funded by the U.S. government. Given this, what are the options do the people on the ground have? What route should they take?

I think your quote from Marx is apt. "We develop new principles for the world out of the world’s own principles. We do not say to the world: Cease your struggles, they are foolish; we will give you the true slogan of struggle. We merely show the world what it is really
fighting for, and consciousness is something that it has to acquire, even if it does not want to." - Karl Marx
The great gain for the world and not only the Egyptian masses is the leap in ‘consciousnesses’ about the revolutionary condition of the world. Of course the people of Egypt or anywhere else can’t simply get control of the existing capitalist state and make it work in their interests, and they are in the process of learning that. Any illusions of that kind being put about by the ‘opposition’ parties can only have a short shelf life when they meet up again with the realities of global economic crisis which kick-started the revolution there in the first place.
Ideally I would like to see a revolutionary communist party there telling the workers that they will need to smash the existing state and construct their own state that will defend their revolution against the inevitable counterattack from imperialism and its local stooges. To what extent the workers already understand this I have no knowledge. It would be encouraging to see them maintaining their street/district/workplace organisations and arming themselves for the inevitable class struggles to come.
It would be even more encouraging to see a communist party intervening to arm those committees with that theoretical understanding, but in the absence of such a party at present the fight will be more protracted and confused.

[Le Socialiste]

I think this is the most confusing and least understood step in any revolution. Who is in charge? What bodies exist to determine the will of the people? How do you form those bodies?

I don't have any answers. Even direct observation of the situation right now is immensely difficult because of the chaos.


The problem is the lack of clear leadership and the absence of any revolutionary socialist, communist, or anarchist parties/groups within the movement. The people have already established their own respective street/district organizations as a means of securing and protecting various areas and neighborhoods, so if they can manage to build off of that to form a broader chain of command and communication - they'd have a firm base. The problem is, again, the lack of any revolutionary body that can help in this process and reorient the people from the ouster of Mubarak, to the complete dissolution of the current state. That all said, the military is now in charge of the country. The fact that they're funded by the U.S. government/military doesn't help.



It would be encouraging to see them maintaining their street/district/workplace organisations and arming themselves for the inevitable class struggles to come.
It would be even more encouraging to see a communist party intervening to arm those committees with that theoretical understanding, but in the absence of such a party at present the fight will be more protracted and confused.


I agree. They should keep and build off of their present structures - hopefully within the broader sense of the class struggle and revolution. I would also add that the lack of direction can only be harnessed towards the total overthrow of the state (again, hopeful within the contours of the class struggle). Nice points, all.

[Threetune]

Well it starts again, protesters resisting the army instructions to leave the square. There is clearly an advanced level of political consciousness among some of the workers, but what we don’t know is how widespread it is. As with every revolution, sections of the disgruntled upper and middle class want the workers to help with the battles, but now they want them to go home and behave themselves like good slaves should. It is looking increasingly as if at least some of the workers are developing a consciousness that goes beyond the limited and ultimately reactionary aspirations of the military and their sycophants nationalist supporters among the little bourgeois ‘revolutionists’.

[Threetune]

Apparently I can.t post a link to anothe site so If anyone wants it:

France 24.com 'Thousands of protesters return despite army pledges of reform '