Socialists
defend the rights of the human being not just in the legal and
political dimensions but in the most fundamental economic dimension
which was once called industrial democracy. Nationalism, presents
itself as a version of the ideals of justice and equality, yet look
what message nationalists have. The whole essence of nationalism is
support for one’s own ruling class – in its exploitation, in its
war, in its spreading of superstitions. Nationalism is setting for
the in- fighting of the various sections of this class over the share
of each in the process of capital accumulation. Nationalist present
themselves as anti-imperialism. The fact that the nationalism of the
bourgeoisie in the less-developed country or among oppressed
nationalities has, during a short period in history, found itself in
confrontation with certain features of imperialism, has led the left,
to embrace and whitewash nationalism. But the Socialist Party see in
nationalism the image of the capitalist class and nothing else. In
its opinion, nationalism is among the superstitions from which humans
should free themselves. Nationalism separates human beings from
their common human and universal character. Workers who, instead of
describing themselves as a part of the human family, view themselves
as British, Scottish or Irish have already bowed to nationalist
prejudice incompatible with socialism but also contradictory to the
social evolution and advancement of humanity. The era of workers’
strength on the political stage is once again arriving. The power of
the working class does not lie only in its size. This power
essentially rests on this class’s position in capitalist
production. The working class will triumph by virtue of being the
backbone of production in the existing society, the leader of the new
society and the social class having a real solution to human
suffering as a whole.
Just
as capitalism is a world system of society, so too must socialism be.
There never has been, and never can be, socialism in just one country
because its material basis is the world-wide and interdependent means
of production that capitalism has built up. The bulk of the wealth
produced in the world today is produced by the co-operative labour of
the millions employed to operate these means of production. What is
needed now, to establish socialism, is a conscious political decision
on the part of these billions across the world to run society in
their own interests. This will be done by taking the means of
production throughout the world into common ownership, with their
democratic control by the whole community, and with production solely
for use.
No longer will there be classes,
governments and their state machinery, or national frontiers.
Democratic control will involve the whole community in making decisions about the use of the means of production. Instead of government over people there would be various levels of democratic administration, from the local up to regional and world levels, with responsibility being delegated if necessary to groups and individuals.
The
‘national interest’ is an all time favourite for jingoists,
indeed a much bandied about term in any crisis. But what is it
supposed to mean?
Well, for one thing, the term is so designed, and used, as to distort our perception of reality. From the cradle to the grave we are discouraged from asking significant and searching questions - the type that might embarrass our betters and superiors. We are nurtured to mistrust our own ideas, to respect the views of our “betters.” Little wonder, then, that so many injustices prevail and that so many can speak in defence of the government line, unwittingly acquiescing in their own exploitation - albeit in the national interest. But this is how it is - so many are prepared to accept that the government embodies the people's “interests”.
The
national interest conjures up an image that we are all one big happy
family, all pulling and working together for the good of all; that we
all have something to be proud of, to defend and to benefit from. It
suggests an absence of strife and antagonism and that the real enemy
is 'out there'. We're meant to feel good about the national interest,
secure in the knowledge that the well-informed are thinking on our
behalf. It harks back to the 'bulldog spirit' of the blitz years,
when even the king and queen seemed half decent because they had been
bombed ('Gawd bless 'em all, Guv.') – even though most Londoners
didn’t realise the royal family were shooting off to Windsor
Castle, 50 miles away, every night and feasting on swan. In reality,
the national interest is anything the master class and their
executive deem it to be at any given time, or rather anything that
helps perpetuate their ideology and keeps them in power; anything
that can undermine the potential for political action geared towards
real change.
The national interest is the paternalistic jargon of a profit-hungry elite, trying to rationalise in our eyes the lengths they will go to accrue more profits at our expense. It is used by politicians largely to secure support for a course of action they are finding difficult to promote. It is designed to block serious discussion of an issue - who'll argue against the national interest and risk being denounced as unpatriotic? – and to marginalise opponents, thus stifling deeper understanding of issues.
Thus, the national interest is a government contemplating the selling of arms to Saudi Arabia or where ever. It is police wading into a picket line, truncheons swinging. The national interest is the Russia army intervening in the Ukraine, Israeli troops occupying the West Bank and Gaza and UK war-planes involved in bombing runs over Syria.
One thing is clear. While all the above can be pushed as national interests, none are in the interests of the working class. The interests of the majority - or the working class - are diametrically opposed to the interests of the master, or capitalist, class. True, we all have basic needs and desires, whichever class we belong to, but talk about shared interests in a two class society is nonsense. The capitalist class have one real interest - and let them deny it - to maximise their investment and to accrue more profit at our expense. How many people get trampled over or slaughtered in the process is of no consequence. Anything is legitimate in the pursuit of profit. Neither is much consideration given to environmental concerns. We, the working class on the other hand, own little more than our ability to labour by brain or by hand - an ability we sell to the master class. Our interest under capitalism becomes getting the best price for our labour. Indeed such is the onus on us to sell our labour power at as a high a price as possible that its consequences dominates every aspect of our lives. It has to be remembered that the master class depend on our complacency for their continued survival. Our silence, our willingness to accept everything they say without question, is the victory they celebrate every day.
Our
job should therefore be to doubt and question everything they say -
if we stand for nothing we fall for anything. For we do have
interests. As a globally exploited class, denied so many of the
benefits of civilisation in a world of abundance, it is in our
interests, our real class interests, to help put a stop to their
insane system, not just for the future of humanity, but for the
future of our planet. Our real class interests lie in establishing a
worldwide system of society, devoid of borders or frontiers, social
classes or leaders, states governments, force or coercion, money,
wages or salaries, a world in which production is freed from the
artificial constraints of profit and used to its fullest potential
and for the benefit of all. These interests are far removed from the
national interest we are supposed to identify and moreover, they
benefit all of today's classes.
Our
fellow-workers continue to butcher one another in a senseless round
of tit-for-tat atrocities. Many on the
political ‘left’ will argue that nationalism is somehow
progressive and different to imperialism and should therefore be
supported. As socialists, we say that this is a dangerous poison that
is being spread by the left and that no side engaged in such conflict
can either speak for the working class as a whole or be an example to
it.
History
is replete with minorities in existing states using terrorist methods
so that a new state may be formed or territory transferred from the
“ownership” of one state to another. The working class of wage
and salary earners is never in a position to benefit from this
process; it is only in a position to suffer. The working class – by
definition the class that does not possess any significant titles to
land or private property, including capital – has quite literally
nothing to gain from a situation where one group of rulers and owners
is replaced by another group.
In
the 19th century, when the modern capitalist system was expanding
across the globe, “national liberation” struggles, typically led
by a local growing capitalist class against the old autocratic
empires, were part of the process which swept away the old political
arrangements and opened the way forward for liberal democracy and the
development of capitalist methods of production. It was often argued
that it was in the interests of the working class during this time to
take the side of the capitalists against the old autocracies like the
Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, etc. It was said that this
process would open the way up for working class organisation and for
the development of an advanced industrial system which is a
prerequisite for a socialist society of abundance and free access to
available wealth.
Since
then, the capitalist system has become a world system. The alleged
justification for the working class taking sides in 'national
liberation' struggles has now gone if ever it existed and today all
such struggles are just deadly battles between sections of the
capitalist class, even though it is the workers – imbued with
nationalist poison – that naturally enough end up doing the
fighting and dying.
The
goal of the socialist movement is not to assist in the creation of
even more states and more nationalities, but to establish a real
world community without frontiers where all states as they currently
exist will be destroyed. In a socialist society, communities, towns
and cities will have the opportunity to thrive – and people will no
doubt feel an attachment to places that are real and tangible – but
the 'imagined communities' that are nation states will be consigned
to the history books where they belong.
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