Balkan Conference

Article submitted by the Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)

Issue 1 / November 2008

Deep political, economical and social crisis: Actual duties of the Communist Left in Greece

This summer looked as an antechamber that leads us, in many ways and on various levels, in a new situation. Two top international events (the war in Georgia and the economic crisis) are reminding and underlining the deep systemic contradictions that get more acute, and the intensification of the antagonisms within the imperialist camp.

As far as Greece is concerned, one year after the last national elections the country finds itself in a profound political, economic and social crisis. All elements show that we are in front of imminent and important changes. All the available data must be correctly analyzed in order to trace the course that we must follow, the political orientation and the work that we must adopt and apply. More concretely:

1) While the chronic crisis of capital overaccumulation has, with each incident, heavy repercussions for the peoples and the working masses all over the planet, it "invites" us to observe (or, more correctly, participate in) the pangs of death of neoliberalism's "belle epoque".

2) The contradictions grow much bigger and more acute because of the economic crisis, but also because of the uneven development within the imperialist camp. Thus, we can claim that we approach the beginning of the end of the imperialist globalization, as the hegemonic USA become a Great Patient and try to manage their economic decline mainly through military means.

3) The social issue (poverty, exclusions, big gap between rich and poor) in various and continuously expanding neighborhoods of our planet has taken dreadful dimensions and intertwines with the globalization of the environmental-ecological destruction.

4) Capitalism does not present any alternative political and social proposal that would attempt to cure the neoliberal destruction. Been deeply sick, capitalism keeps applying on itself neoliberalism as a kind of homeopathic medicine. On top of the destructive "reforms" that have already been imposed, capitalism is proposing more deregulations, more liberalization and further strengthening of the "market forces".

5) The social discontent and resentment cannot be manipulated, despite the full use of the bourgeois Media propaganda and of all available blackmailing and persecution against those who refute the neoliberal capitalism as a supposedly "unique possible policy". The social consent is expiring; the mechanisms of social and political integration are crocked by the very moves of the neoliberal policy. The stagflation on the level of economy is accompanied by a political, cultural, moral and social stagnation.

By inference, 40 years after the world’s entrance in the crisis and the declaration of neoliberalism as its only political and economic cure, we are facing major disturbances, changes and upheavals. These are interlaced and occur on global, regional, national and class level.

In our country we already face the repercussions of the crisis and we resist a government that continues, with unabated intensity and great cynicism, the unfailing attack against the popular masses, displaying total indifference for the social discontent and for the rapidly increasing poverty. The "good old times" of the big bourgeoisie's care for the building and preservation of social consent passed for good. For the moment, there does not appear any alternative economic policy, nor any alternative political formation.

We are on the eve of three electoral stand-offs: elections for the "European Parliament" in June 2009, local government elections in October 2010, and early national elections in unknown time. But, even more important, we are witnessing social procedures that may very well lead to social insurrections, with unforeseeable political repercussions. In order to imagine what such a situation means, it is enough to project on larger level the cases of “Lefkimi” or of “EAS” (*), or a repression of the type of Temponeras' murder (**). Then, the situation could get out of control. The "front" of social discontent and anger will get so broad and unanticipated that will become the fear of the political system.

In this context, we must also take into account the heavy war atmosphere in the broader region: Caucasus, Middle East and Balkans - the real Bermudas Triangle.

It is understandable that the main lever of disturbances and changes is the international financial crisis, which will provoke all kinds of creaks. In Greece we will witness two sorts of political disturbances:

1) The increase of the efforts to redistribute the political cards, terms, personnel, and of the search for new alliances or even for the creation of “new” political formations originating in the already existing ones. The minimum aim would be the managing of the repercussions of the economic crisis and whatever that means on the level of the masses' manipulation and repression, but also on the level of a program for the bourgeoisie's political survival.

2) Simultaneously, the political unreliability of the classic managing policies (be it about their methods or about the very political formations who apply them) will continuously increase. More and more people will cease to believe that the "political stability" of the dominating system is a positive factor. Spontaneous revolts that put under dispute the forms and results of the neoliberal policies of the two main bourgeois parties will develop.

In these conditions, a real political vacuum is created. And it is doubtable whether the existing Left and its actual petty-political plans and tactics can fill it. On the one side we have the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), which follows a policy of self-satisfaction and sectarian self-isolation mixed with electoral "realism" and almost inexistent opposition to the government. On the other side, the Coalition (SYN) focuses all its efforts in its future electoral scores, unable or even unwilling to "catch" and exploit the critical social situation.

The question is raised in front of the Communist Left: Which targeting and which planning is demanded in front of such opening vacuum-opportunity and of the disturbances that are already widely felt? Who will speak in the name of all those who get deceived, afraid, marginalized, without perspective, and seek an outlet? Without communist work, it is possible that all these people will be transformed into a mass with wolfish attitude, giving life in rebellions with doubtful perspectives.

Hence, the key for a meaningful political intervention of the Communist Left is to move the correlation of power towards the Left, by developing the radicalism and by arming the masses with orientation and consciousness. Such a movement towards the Left will be real and essential, that is, social - if the Communist Left creates the conditions for the building of movements, resistances, collective efforts.

The Communist Organization of Greece (KOE) must get prepared in front of these developments, as we face a complex political and social scene. This scene still is anachronistic and full of holes, but at the same time disposes of a strong insurrectional potential in long term. The Communist Organization of Greece will get prepared by accelerating its work towards the development of resistances and revolts, in order that the combativeness and the collective organization of the masses will be increased. The actual period offers the best chances for the further politicization, revolutionarization and development of KOE.

This means an orientation of KOE inside the society: to be able to listen closely but also to offer orientation; to investigate and at the same time to organize; while the political element of the Left's unity and common action will continue to be deployed.

Today it is the time for initiatives and interventions targeting a large part of the society. The Left, in order to be worthy to be called so, must prove its genuinely left identity. Its practice owes to prove its anticapitalism in class issues, as well as its anti-imperialism by blocking the efforts of the imperialist globalization all over the planet and on each national front.

The return of politics is in the agenda; however, today it is necessary to redefine the essence of modern left politics. Movements, revolts, counter-power, hegemony: this four-fold orientation must occupy the theory and the practice of the Left (or at least of the Communist Left) today.

In one way or another, nothing is given. No one can be sure on where the next two or three years will lead. However, the orientation that we adopt (organization and unity of the people, movements-resistances-revolts) is a real challenge, and will become the essential fear of the rich and of their political personnel.

[Published in “Aristera!”, nr 251, 19/9/2008]