The crisis in Portugal

[TheRedAnarchist23]

As you might be aware there are many countries in Europe that are infinancial crisis: Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain. Here I will write of the crisis in Portugal and how it affects our lives.
Since the burgoise revolution of 1974 there has been talk of crisis, according to politicians our country is constantly in crisis, but that hasn't affected our lives much until now. Now the Troika got involved, the Troika is a fancy name given to the elements of the international monetary fund, the european central bank, and the european union. These are the ones responsible for the current situation: they made our government follow an "austerity plan" (in postuguese: plano de austeridade), this is a set of rules and goals the country has to acomplish; this is just an excuse to steal more money from the naive portuguese people: the salaries are getting cut, the prices and taxes are getting raised, and all in the name of austerity.
The politicians say we have to "hang in there" and wait for the plan to work, but the plan also involves mass privatization. How can a country gain money if it is selling its money-making companies?

The poor are getting poorer, the rich are getting richer and the middle class is disapearing.

The people in my country is naive and reactionary, expecially the older ones, some say they would want Salazar back, (Salazar was the big dictator of Portugal before the revolution) even my grandfather (who is a communist) sometimes says "isto até no tempo da ditadura estava melhor" (Transalation:even when it was a dictatorship the country was better).

Many people are losing their jobs, and the young can find jobs, so when they finnaly find one they will do anything to stay there: like working more than 9 hours, working on weekends, etc.

There have been many general strikes so far, many are the action of our syndicates (like the CGTP), others are made by workers ("Geração à rasca" roughly transalates to: generation that is facing dificult times), some people are starting to think "why strike? It never does anything, you lose a days salary for nothing".
When there is a demonstration, which usually occurs in strike days, the media only show part of it, never showing all the crowd, when there once was a student demonstration they only interviewed the ones who could not answer (the ignorants who would anwser "I'm here because everbody else is here), and they only show footage of people saying striking is useless; the government never reveals the real number of people who strike, the syndicates say 80 000 and the government says 8000, and every time there is a demonstration the police shows up, but that doesn't stop anarchists from throwing paint cans at bank windows.

Conclusion:

Troika- the emissaries of the capitalists.
crisis- a bold plan laid out by the capitalists to enrich themselves.
government- servants of the capitalists who execute their plan.
media- propaganda.
police- the mindless, ruthless servants of government.
syndicates- the ones who organize strikes, but don't do anything else.
workers- the ones who end up in misery.

[Lisboa]

We see on TV that a lot of portuguese people are immigrating to here.. Thought I'd never see that.

Solidariedade camarada :(

[Anarcho-Brocialist]

It seems like this is the contrivance of the bourgeois to engulf a nation dry of wealth and hoard it for themselves. Same shit, different country. And don't we dare speak out about it, we'll be called lazy bums who demand a hand-out. When in all actuality we make everything fruitful and we're expected to do so even when we're compensated at a rate not suitable even for the most paltry of standards.

[TheRedAnarchist23]

@ProvenSocialist
If you knew what you were talking about you would have said: worse shit, backward country with naive people who are only now starting to wake up.

[Luisrah]

Heck, the prime minister even suggested that the portuguese should emmigrate!

The route Portugal is taking will only lead to the same as Greece. The troika imposes more taxes, lower salaries, privatizations, and that makes our economy weaker, so we have to ''borrow'' more money (which is then given to the banks) and get into more debt, and to pay the debt the salaries are againd lowered, taxes become higher, cuts on public healthcare and education, and our economy gets weaker.
It is a vicious cycle that will only stop when the workers repel these attacks or there is no more money to suck from them. Maybe this will stop when the working and living conditions are like China. We'll start living in the factories...

[Dogs On Acid]

The problem is the only Union mobilizing the workers, the Communist Party controlled CGTP, isn't pitting the workers against the Capitalist system itself. All the talk is about "gaining back our rights" and "stopping the degeneration of working conditions". In other words, social-democratizing Capitalism. I've been to 3 demonstrations by CGTP, and guess what: I only heard the word Capitalism once! The rest is empty rhetoric. The CGTP should be mobilizing the masses for a Socialist uprising, instead it's just same old same old.

This is one of the reasons I'm starting to side with the Left-Communists on Unions, all I see is them trying to socialize Capitalism, nothing else.

[OCMO]

CGTP does that because we're on the defensive yet, the working class at this point as not showed, with few exceptions, that they want something else. Im sure you see people every day who even think that you deserve this and simpatize with the bosses and the government, and they aren't as few as they should be. If they aren't ready for a full stop one day, how do you think pushing things further will accomplish more? However, if you pay attention, the message both from the party and CGTP-IN, even more now that Arménio Carlos is the figure head, is becoming more radicalized. As the situation matures, and the people start to understand the benefits of socialism, i'm sure both the party and the union will take actions closer to the rupture with the capitalist system. Either way, with the party congress arriving you can expose your perception of the situation.

[Dogs On Acid]

CGTP does that because we're on the defensive yet, the working class at this point as not showed, with few exceptions, that they want something else. Im sure you see people every day who even think that you deserve this and simpatize with the bosses and the government, and they aren't as few as they should be. If they aren't ready for a full stop one day, how do you think pushing things further will accomplish more? However, if you pay attention, the message both from the party and CGTP-IN, even more now that Arménio Carlos is the figure head, is becoming more radicalized. As the situation matures, and the people start to understand the benefits of socialism, i'm sure both the party and the union will take actions closer to the rupture with the capitalist system. Either way, with the party congress arriving you can expose your perception of the situation.

The CGTP, from what I've witnessed, is far from being Radical. So many Communists in the demonstrations and not a single word on an "alternative" to Capitalism.

In fact there were Anarchists among the biggest demonstration a while ago in Terreiro do Paço, with signs saying "Enough with the walking protests, we want Revolutionary Syndicalism!". Many of these Anarchists were ordered to take down their signs by a couple of guys from CGTP. Ironic no?

[OCMO]

Not really, is a provocative sign, it's made to cause a reaction, so it did. The thing with portuguese anarchists is that apart of some actions to help homeless, wich is great, i'm wating to see any radical action from them too. They go on how walking parades don't accomplish anything and in the next moment promote demos wich in substance are exactly the same, only "edgier, or more disruptive". At least, these huge demonstrations and strikes, may not carry revolution all over it, but gives to a lot of people material conditions to no get a second job, to get food on their plates, send kids to college, get good medical care and get a confortable live without fear. I think that accomplishes more class consciousness than going to a city square shout Down with capitalism! and leave.

Besides, we can agree, that today CGTP isn't the most radical political organization around (world-wise), but we see that with our eyes, the majority of the working class doesn't see it like that, it see it far more radical than we see it, and that is good.

Remember what Mario Branco says:

"Se tu cantas a reboque
não vale a pena cantar
se vais à frente demais
bem te podes engasgar
a cantiga só é arma
quando a luta acompanhar"

To the non-portuguese speaking, the piece of song above can somewhat be based on a saying "putting the chariot ahead of the ox", translated to the use of music as a weapon to the struggle.

[Dogs On Acid]

The thing with portuguese anarchists is that apart of some actions to help homeless, wich is great, i'm wating to see any radical action from them too. They go on how walking parades don't accomplish anything and in the next moment promote demos wich in substance are exactly the same, only "edgier, or more disruptive".
How can such a small minority of the Left in Portugal accomplish anything but demos? It's not like they have Union funding.


At least, these huge demonstrations and strikes, may not carry revolution all over it, but gives to a lot of people material conditions to no get a second job, to get food on their plates, send kids to college, get good medical care and get a confortable live without fear. I think that accomplishes more class consciousness than going to a city square shout Down with capitalism! and leave.
I think you got your words mixed up. Demonstrations and strikes do not "give" material conditions for people to not get jobs. Strikes and rallies are the product of Material Conditions and the Material Realization of Class Struggle.



Besides, we can agree, that today CGTP isn't the most radical political organization around (world-wise), but we see that with our eyes, the majority of the working class doesn't see it like that, it see it far more radical than we see it, and that is good.
So basically if the people are Capitalist, the union supports Capitalism. If the People are Socialist, then the Union supports Socialism. So much for the "enlightened minority" that controls the Union. We are in a time of crisis, and now is a better time that ever to introduce revolutionary politics.


Remember what Mario Branco says:

"Se tu cantas a reboque
não vale a pena cantar
se vais à frente demais
bem te podes engasgar
a cantiga só é arma
quando a luta acompanhar"
Vir á frente demais do Sistema não é ir a paralelo com ele como a CGTP.

[OCMO]

Maybe they are a minority because they don't do much. I know anarchists who are very critical about the way they organize, because they rarely make a protest worthy of the name.
And i didn't mixed anything, demos and strikes create leverage in working place struggles and often it has resulted in the gaining of measures that ensure what i've written. Of course, the situation demands that kind of actions, but someone must do it, and that is what the union does, sees what needs to be done, and does it.

The third paragraph didn't made much sense, you don't seem to understand that right now thousands of people have problems related with their jobs, problems that makes them so tired and stressed that they don't care about anything else, just their job and its problems. The first thing to do is to resolve those problems in the short-term, when they see who releave them of their problems, they will want to listen what we have to offer. People right now, don't make the assumption of the relation of the problems they have and capitalism if they made, they were on our side, so is excused talking and talking about the system if people don't make the conection, and that is not walking alongside the system. If it were, there weren't comrades being arrested and MAI trying to penetrate in the union.
About the "enlightened minority", what are you talking about? If you are talking about me, i'm not even unionized, because i'm a student, if you are talking about the National Direction, they are elected by delegates who represent the base cells of the union. There is, in fact, a enlightened majority inside the union, that is, the majority of it's members who are communists and of course, others more attached with BE, catholics and others.