On A Fifth International: Yes, Because We Must

  1. Die Neue Zeit
    Die Neue Zeit
    http://www.zcommunications.org/on-a-...by-andy-lucker



    By Andy Lucker



    In November 2009, at the International Encounter of Left Parties, held in Caracas, Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez declared, “the time has come for us to convoke the Fifth International.” This flare threw nearly every socialist organization in the world into a frenzy, deciding what it should be.

    What About One Through Four!?

    Chavez argued that capitalism rapidly developed in Europe, leading to their earlier creation of oppositional socialist movements and political Internationals. For example, the First International was the oldest, most basic (and vague) of Internationals, composed of socialists, like Karl Marx and Frederich Engels, and even anarchists (before the Paris Commune). An anarchist International—which ran with many different official titles—was formed as a result of the centralist tendencies within the First, which resulted in the expulsions of anarchists, like Bakunin. Shorty after anarchists and state-socialists went their separate ways, their Internationals became less mobile and dissolved. The Second International formed after the First dissolved, but failed to remain true to its principles, including Social Democrats who supported nationalism and capitalism to the most disgusting extents, like defending World War I.

    The Third International, the "Comintern" (Communist International), was originally a split from the Second, and was called for by Bolsheviks in Russia. (For theoretical disagreements, I recommend V.I. Lenin's The War and the Second International, New York: International Publishers, 1932.) This included most anti-capitalist organizations interested in joining it in the world. However, as the Russian Revolution came into full swing, much distrust developed between many anarchists and Communist Party members. While debate within the International was held somewhat openly, the free flow that was had before the Paris Commune was never found again. After the Russian Civil War, anarchists were still being persecuted in Russia, and eventually, even tried and true Leninists who held true to their principles against capitalism, like Leon Trotsky, were even persecuted . So, on the run from the new Russian state, Trotsky formed the Fourth International, calling for a political revolution to overthrow Stalin and his political bureaucracy.

    Why Another?

    While there are problems with Marx, Bakunin, expulsions , Social Democrats, Lenin, and Trotsky, these were all valiant attempts to unite the Left. Chavez sees the Bolivarian Revolution as seriously threatened by imperialism—and he should, after a US-backed coup in 2002—and follows his fear with the notion that a Fifth International should be based around anti-imperialism. This suggestion seems basic, however, its subtle conclusions are not quite so basic.

    President Chavez’s, Julio Chavez is a well known figure in Venezuela. Julio did an interview during the five-month PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) Congress (ending in April 2010). Julio seems to be the intellectual origin behind many of Hugo’s ideology, which made the interview with Kiraz Janicke and Frederico Fuentes (“The First Socialist International of the 21st Century,” April 28, 2010, VenezuelanAnalysis.com) quite revealing.

    In it, Julio Chavez defended Chavez’s reasoning for the Third World to begin a new, Fifth International. He argued it should be composed of:

    not just specifically those raising the historical project of socialism, but that anti-imperialism should be the common element that brings us all together.

    This does not sound inherently bothersome to most socialists, but it flows directly to his bizarre conclusion:

    We say that this call has to have a broad character, and it is possible that in some countries, such as in the Middle East, there are organizations and movements fighting against some expressions of imperialism and international Zionism as such, but that are not socialist in essence, in the programmatic sense. But, undoubtedly, they are fighting imperialism. That’s why we say that it could be that in some Islamic countries that do not have socialism as an ideological element, for example the case of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, which is anti-imperialist, that this element will be an element that will convoke as many parties, organizations, movements of the world to raise the battle, the confrontation with imperialism.

    Broad characters are great, but principles are priceless. For decades, Communists defended the idea that socialists should unite with capitalists to make capitalism better, to the point that we should later exist in a stage where the capitalist nation-state would move onto a transition to socialism. But the fact is that capitalism involves deception and exploitation, which is why it is inherently unfair and unprincipled, and should be opposed by everyone.

    In the same sense, sexism, racism, homophobia, authoritarianism, and other oppressions exist. How are we to unite with the right for Iran to exist as a homophobic, sexist, authoritarian regime that massacres any group or individual that steps even slightly out of line with its nation-state? This defense of Third World politics is unprincipled. Just like the way Nikolai Bukharin and Joseph Stalin argued for a “popular front” to fight right-wing governments (by defending liberal capitalism), Julio Chavez is suggesting we ally with anti-imperialist sexists to move away from capitalism.

    Capitalism is not the only problem!

    Every human society in all of world history has had natural needs to fulfill as a species. We need to eat, so we make functions out of the objective world by producing, consuming, and allocating food, and we call this an economy. We need to continue existence, so we procreate, rear and socialize, and sexualize, and these fulfill kinship necessities. We need to feel, so we attach emotions, get creative, and communicate, and these fulfill cultural necessities. We need to make decisions, so we participate, learn empowerment, and seek policies to be fair, and these answer political questions. Massively effecting one sphere of social life may effect others, but none of them reins supreme over others.

    We could not have the military industrial complex without schools to rear children with nationalism, banking-system educational methods, racist media campaigns, and a state that seeks war. Ending imperialism, or even capitalism, does not constitute maintaining all principles. Defending Iran against the United States today seems comparable to siding with the Taliban in the Afghan-Soviet War of the 1980s. Only a heterosexist man who is not a part of the politically repressed opposition in Iran would defend the Iranian state to the point of seeking it as an ally.

    Sadly, this partially explains why President Chavez has reasoned his attempted alliances with countries like Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia. This is the depressing aspect of the interview with Julio Chavez; he explains what appears to be the ideological backdrop for some of Hugo Chavez’s kookiest actions and statements. It is an embarrassment for the Left, making it difficult for us to argue our defense for what we want… “Yes, I want a world in which all people have a right to sexually choose their consensual partner, which is why I align myself with the Iranian government immediately after their President’s anti-Semitic babblings.” Hopefully, this will not be the attitude of the whole Fifth International, if it comes to be.

    A Participatory Socialist International

    On January 21, 2010, Michael Albert of ZNet put out a call for a Participatory Socialist International, following Chavez’s call for the Fifth International. Albert’s call was followed by a draft proposal, which ZNet Sustainers can sign on to endorse as a proposal to future congressional assemblies to ratify a Fifth International’s existence. The proposal includes principled approaches to resolving sexism, racism, capitalism, authoritarianism, pollution, and international relations. (The proposal is available online, at < http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/groups/people-for-a-psi>.) It’s a worthwhile attempt to get more than strictly anti-capitalists onboard and expanding the Left’s social scope, while touching on some common problems of the Left globally, but will it be taken seriously by the rest of the global Left?

    My guess is not entirely. But, that is not to say that we should not participate to get as much of its program accepted as possible, and continually propose and re-propose those strategic points omitted from a future Fifth International’s program. We don’t make democracy by abandoning decisions; we participate! If a Participatory Socialist International can be constructed, or a Socialist International made as participatory as possible, I will be there! If there are problems of sexism, racism, authoritarianism, or capitalism to be fought against in an upcoming Fifth International, we all must be there to be an end to these viruses, before they gain intellectual support to excuse them. If we are not there, then the sexist betrayers in the anti-imperialist movement will more easily create a new misogynist state, and we must smash unprincipled activity it at its root.

    In other words, please:

    - Participate in the creation of a Fifth International!
    - Sign the online petition to endorse a PSI!
    - Make sure the First Socialist International of the 21st Century is not dominated by a new oppression!