Develop of Working Class Consciousness

[cullinane]

The main worry for the ruling bourgeoisie of the US and say for example Britain is the danger of growing discontent to the the war in Aghanistan which could lead to a mobilisation of the working class. The mobilisation of the working class against the
war would imply the development of class consciousness and thus corresponding class
organisation. Such developments in class relations can lead to the increasing organisation of the working class as a class and its break away from the structures
and ideologies that have obstructed its existence as a class (trade union reformism for example). The war against Afghanistan by the imperialist
bourgeoisie (for geopolitical and natural resources gain) means the possibility of the proletariat challenging its own imperialist bourgeoisie.
How do others on this forum see the chance of development of the working class political conciousnes?

Regards,

[gooddoctor]

the flagging support for this war certainly is benefiting us. i see it as a sort of silver lining. people are looking for answers, they can't believe that the power politicians would betray them in such a way. they are coming to us on the left, the most vocal against the war and it is helping to radicalise people.

[RedCeltic]

During the era of Vietnam many socialist/communist parties where met with an upsergance of new membership because many of them had spoken out against the war. It's too early to tell if that will be the case here in the US... general fealings are in support of the war... however it is clear that it has added support to organisations abroad. Malte for example mentioned the rise in support noticed in the recent elections in Germany which is partly due to their speaking out against the war.

[cullinane]

Comrades,
As RedCeltic points out it certainly is too early to tell!
Within the anti war movement it is unfortunate to see many pander to the liberal illusion that by pressuring their national government through the practice of lobbying, they can somehow influence their respective leaders to adopt kinder and gentler policies globally.
People for peace call for the terrorists responsible for the attacks to be brought to justice under international law rather than resorting to violence and thus more deaths.
This is the fundamental thinking behind current liberal public opinion. It sees imperialism as a policy and believes capitalism can be pursuaded to pursue more humane policies.
However as we know, war is a continuation of politics by other means. Imperialism is the normal expression of the capitalist system. The struggle against war is a struggle against the class which rules society and which holds both the productive forces and its destructive weapons. Its impossible to prevent war by moral indignation. As long as the bourgeoisie has at its command the banks, the factories, the land, the press, and the state apparatus, it will always be able to drive the working class to war when its interests demand it.

How do you see on this forum see the working class consciousness develop within the anti-war movement from pacifistic idealism towards a critical revolutionary outlook?

[gooddoctor]

well, the point is that this war has thrown up a whole bunch of issues that people just weren't talking about before. it is the most flagrant display of hypocracy by the west since vietnam. at the moment i believe that imperialist war should be combatted by whatever means possible until the revolution. that doesn't mean that i'm going to neglect the battle against the imperialist new labour government though. people need a reason to leave the comfort of their everyday lives to radicalise themselves, the war is the perfect opportunity for this. otherwise, raising consciousness amongst the working class is extremely difficult considering the corporate media propaganda machines in place.

[AgustoSandino]

first of all the clear majority of people in the west support the war and rightly so. Second of all, those of you are trying to make broad political movements should be careful not to confuse the sympathy people hold with you on one issue with a general sympathy for all of your stances. It's one of the reasons I was turned off from socialism, aside from the fact that its wrong, I saw organizations here perverting their cause by expanding their scope to include a ridiculous amount of ridiculous issues.

[RedCeltic]

While I don't doubt what you have experienced in Peru is true I don't think that it relates to the situation at hand. As for the Socialist Party USA... we have had a long stance against war that dates back to our founding in 1901 by Eugene V. Debs... who later protested against WWI.

It is not mearly in the opposition to war that people in the viet nam era where drawn to socialist organisations, but a growing Consciousness ... people questioning the govt. where drawn to socialism because it seemed right to them.

As I said, It's too early to tell, and if things remain as they are, I doubt this war will cause more to look to socialism, at least here in the US most support the war.

But rest assured, America starts to see her young laddies come home in body bags, and she'll be singing a diffrent tune. I'm not saying if that will or won't happen here... I'm simply saying if it does, don't be supprised if more turn away from capitalism and to socialism.

(Edited by RedCeltic at 11:21 am on Oct. 31, 2001)

[cullinane]

You mentioned interesting point on the difficult task of developing working class consciousness gooddoctor and redceltic. Workers already have a proletarian instinct, what they need is the education to transform this into a proletarian position. A political position. The present acquiescent state of the working class is not the fault of the working class. It is not as if the political apathy of the working class is due to the
subjective character of individual workers -an inherent selfishness wilfully chosen by them because they just don't care. Neither is the conservatism of the Western working class a product of what Trotskyism calls the reactionary character of the leadership of the working class movement. The problem is much deeper than the subjectivist notion of the trotksyist " crisis of leadership".
It is the product of the existence of inherent political character of the trade unions themselves and social democratic political organisations. These bourgeois
institutions institute and sustain the fragmentation of the working class rendering it impossible for workers to organise themselves into a class against capital. The
working class must replace these bourgeois institutions with appropriate proletarian organisations if it to successfully challenge capital.