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It'd be helpful if people were to recognize that SYRIZA isn't a monolithic entity, but a coalition of diverse contingents representing a wide array of differing political and programmatic viewpoints. Unfortunately Synaspismós, a reformist organization, dominates SYRIZA as its largest member. Its spearheaded moves to moderate the coalition's politics, and this has created a rift between SYRIZA's partner groups. Although, at this point the largest demographic within SYRIZA no longer belongs to any one organization within it; over the last couple of years its membership has been swelled by nonaffiliated members. Certainly we should point out and agitate against these reformist tendencies within SYRIZA, but we needn't generalize this to include the whole of the membership. To do so would be dishonest. There's a struggle currently being waged between the party's moderate right and its left (currently known as the Left Platform). On Feb. 3 the Left Platform put down four amendments before the Central Committee:
• That Syriza should avoid taking important initiatives without involving the collective bodies of the party (this was a reference to meetings like the one with Schäuble).
• That Syriza should reaffirm that it will re-nationalise all the privatised companies, starting with those that are of strategic importance to the economy.
• Commitment to a government of the left (and not the centre-left, let alone one with sections of the “patriotic-populist” right); initiatives for joint action and a united front to KKE and Antarsya and other left forces.
• That Syriza should realise that the EU leaders, the IMF, and the USA, despite all their differences, will share an intense hostility to a government of the left operating outside the strait-jacket of Memorandum-restricted parliamentary democracy. Syriza should prepare for confrontations to come, and realise that a government of the left cannot play off the different big-power blocs to gain a position of tolerance.
Users here who blanket SYRIZA as a completely reformist, non-revolutionary coalition need to take these struggles for the party's leadership into account. Tsipras is clearly going out of his way to portray the coalition as a loyal partner of the austerity-driven agenda set down by the troika, but members of the Left Platform have taken their disagreements with this shift public in recent months. As a whole, SYRIZA currently holds over 500 branches with a membership of 30,000. With all this, I can't help but agree with DEA member Panos Petrou:
"Socialist ideas become significant only to the extent that they become rooted in the working class."
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. . .Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
SocialistWorker.org
International Socialist Review
Marxists Internet Archive
Can't believe it took 3 pages to get a sensible non-ideological post in this thread.
In all honesty lets try and keep the flaming, spam and off topic posts down. This isn't my subforum and not my place to be handing out verbals (and frankly I don't want to and don't think any other mod does either) so lets try and keep the one liners (ranting about how the members of the board are insane), the posting of pictures without commentary, the bringing up of past events (which will only lead to a shit storm and tendency war), etc..to a minimum.
Why only re-nationalize the privatized companys? Looks weak to me, sounds like the soft shelled reformists around here talking.
Apenas um rapaz latino americano apoiado por mais de 50 mil manos
I've responded to this question before in an earlier thread, so I'll just link you to that post:
http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.p...9&postcount=19
Here's the gist of my argument:
Here's SYRIZA's 40-point program (if you haven't read it already).
"Socialist ideas become significant only to the extent that they become rooted in the working class."
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. . .Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
SocialistWorker.org
International Socialist Review
Marxists Internet Archive
SYRIZA should not be looked upon as either a working class or class neutral entity. They are a party or bourgeois and petty-bourgeois reformists, liberals, and other anti-marxists. They're 40 point program is the same type of program any social-democratic party would have, especially when they can use it in an opportunist fashion during such a crisis.
What happens with these types of parties when they do get into power, when they are faced with situations of capitalist crisis? They cave, they fall to the will of the bourgeoisie, and they become the ones promoting austerity. To put your faith into a bourgeois-liberal coalition party, and to promote class collaborationism in the name of defending reforms, is handing the working class the rope to hang itself with.
It's this sort of opportunism that members of certain "Internationals" and view points partake in, which is severely damaging to the working class, and the struggle against capital. The working class must continue to fight austerity in the streets, must organize into a truly revolutionary vanguard party, and must seize power for themselves. Not wait for the bourgeois and petty-bourgeois reformists and liberals to swoop in and save them.
I think it is fairly significant when the youth wing of the main opposition party pulls an action like this and is not condemned for it by the leadership.
But I'm confused by DNZ's position, because this is an example of an economic issue (minimum wage) being used to radicalize the working class struggle in Greece, something he condemned as "economism" when we were discussing transitional demands.
Clearly, real revolutionary politics does work by transitional demands, and the specific author who analyzed that and wanted to systematically use it is just too unpopular for us to admit?
If you've actually read their program, it says in plain english what their plans are, which are completely based on transitional demands. It's impossible for the greeks to fall for another P.A.M.E. and Papandreou, the consciousness we've seen in recent months is reflected in SYRIZA's rise.
For student organizing in california, join this group!
http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=1036
http://socialistorganizer.org/
"[I]t’s hard to keep potent historical truths bottled up forever. New data repositories are uncovered. New, less ideological, generations of historians grow up. In the late 1980s and before, Ann Druyan and I would routinely smuggle copies of Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution into the USSR—so our colleagues could know a little about their own political beginnings.”
--Carl Sagan
If you've actually read their program, it says in plain english what their plans are, which are completely based on transitional demands. Syriza's rise is in coorespondance with the rising consciousness we've seen.
For student organizing in california, join this group!
http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=1036
http://socialistorganizer.org/
"[I]t’s hard to keep potent historical truths bottled up forever. New data repositories are uncovered. New, less ideological, generations of historians grow up. In the late 1980s and before, Ann Druyan and I would routinely smuggle copies of Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution into the USSR—so our colleagues could know a little about their own political beginnings.”
--Carl Sagan
Papandreou was in the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), not PAME. I've read their program, but thanks for throwing out the assumption that I haven't. I'm not even entirely sure as to what you're trying to say in your two posts here - are you agreeing with me or criticizing what I've said?
"Socialist ideas become significant only to the extent that they become rooted in the working class."
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. . .Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
SocialistWorker.org
International Socialist Review
Marxists Internet Archive
I think he's agreeing with you, and was saying others haven't read their programme.
Ah, okay. I wasn't sure.
"Socialist ideas become significant only to the extent that they become rooted in the working class."
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. . .Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
SocialistWorker.org
International Socialist Review
Marxists Internet Archive
Sorry I was agreeing with you. I mistook PASOK for PAME, the trade union, which was my bad.
For student organizing in california, join this group!
http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=1036
http://socialistorganizer.org/
"[I]t’s hard to keep potent historical truths bottled up forever. New data repositories are uncovered. New, less ideological, generations of historians grow up. In the late 1980s and before, Ann Druyan and I would routinely smuggle copies of Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution into the USSR—so our colleagues could know a little about their own political beginnings.”
--Carl Sagan
Although you weren't far off, PAME is linked to PASOK.
EDIT: This is wrong and I made a mistake.
Last edited by CyM; 25th February 2013 at 14:02.
I think PAME is KKE's union.
For student organizing in california, join this group!
http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=1036
http://socialistorganizer.org/
"[I]t’s hard to keep potent historical truths bottled up forever. New data repositories are uncovered. New, less ideological, generations of historians grow up. In the late 1980s and before, Ann Druyan and I would routinely smuggle copies of Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution into the USSR—so our colleagues could know a little about their own political beginnings.”
--Carl Sagan
Oops, alright, now I fucked up.
