POSSIBILITIES

Because of environmental, social and psychological damage, the present recession may not be one that the global economy recovers from – or it may be that there will be a period of further booms and busts, but with ever lower highs and ever deeper lows until………..well one is reminded of the diminishing returns and devastation of health that results from habitual drug abuse. We know that we would need many planet earths to be able to continue capitalist growth – perhaps even an infinite number, as capitalism would presumably continue unsustainably using up the resources and destroying the living environments one after another. Capitalism as we know it is unsustainable. The only question is whether we will get rid of it before it destroys us as it destroys itself. There is only one other possible scenario that I can think of – which is a new form of capitalism where in the ruling class cooperate rather more, compete rather less and satisfy themselves with simply being rulers and having a superior life style – using the military and police to protect this - rather than constantly seeking to increase profit making, as they do now. It is possible that this would involve the rest of us existing as workers in prisons. It is arguable that this is already beginning as we see rising prison populations, rising numbers of profit making prisons and rising numbers of wealthy closed communities, of increasing size. These may grow up to the prison walls. We are anyway presently imprisoned in many ways by the money system. So, what do we want?



Born of the Beast.

In some ways I suppose it is true, as has been said, that revolutionary organizations have been small and ineffectual, ‘buzzing along the flanks of the broad masses’* But I think that, ironically, this applies more to the kind of groups that have been susceptible to the delusion that they can lead the beast. If ‘the beast’ is the majority accepting capitalism, with varying levels of consciousness, then whenever revolutionary groups have apparently succeeded in leading, it is perhaps only because that was where the beast was going anyway.

When speaking of ‘leadership’ here I do not mean ‘providing help, guidance, encouragement and information’; I mean ‘having an institution of Hierarchy’. My point is that any change of political leadership is necessarily a continuation of the hierarchical systems which have produced capitalism, which capitalism is used to maintain, and which, perhaps inevitably, maintain capitalism in some form. I believe that any such change will make relatively little difference to the nature of the beast. The distribution and types of deprivations are just shuffled around. So the moment of pretension to leadership - in the sense that this confers extra political power to a person or group – is the moment when whatever truth a person or group has to offer is fundamentally compromised, because they are incorporated into or are just in a symbiotic relationship with the beast as it is.

Hierarchical systems inherently involve inequality, and inequality produces abuse and conflict. - Whereas equality, although it involves challenges and difficulties, facilitates the optimum development of human abilities and produces optimum cooperation for the common good. Hierarchical systems are a result of both genetic and cultural evolution, but so is our ability to free ourselves from them. The development of consciousness enables us to supplement and change genetic evolution and cultural evolution with further cultural evolution. We can maximise the good or healthy and minimise or remove the bad or unhealthy in our nature and our culture. Of course we have to carefully study nature and ourselves in particular to know what is and is not healthy, remembering that there is a long as well as a short run. Consciousness of truth and health are inextricably linked.

Concerning true socialism/communism wherein there is no hierarchy, I think that the image of ‘buzzing along the flanks of the broad masses’ is only a superficial view. It is only the truth about how we sometimes feel – frustrated – rather than the full truth about what is going on. In searching my mind for a way to describe what I believe to be the truth of the matter, I remember some quotes from the novel ‘Ridley Walker’ by Russell Hoban. He is writing in these passages, I believe, about consciousness:

‘the thing that has no name that looks out of your eye holes’

‘what looks out of the eyes – it’s always in the womb of things and it’s always on the road’

Consciousness necessarily interacts with the rest of the world, and I think this is what Ridley Walker is referring to by ‘the tell’ and ‘Does it tell for you?’

I think that socialist/communist consciousness is a combination, in sufficient amounts of 1) care and concern for sentient life, 2) the discovery of what we actually want, that comes with the understanding that what is best for the community/environment is what is best for individuals in that community/environment (and thus vice versa), and 3) The socialist/communist analysis (with all knowledge of history, society and psychology being helpful).

- So, I think that socialist/communist consciousness is sufficient realisation of the truth about our situation that is there to be realised. Moreover, it is truth that we need to realise for the sake of our well being. I therefore think that socialist/communist consciousness is a natural and inevitable part of the healthy development of consciousness.

Ridley Walker says ‘you have to wake up into it’ and he says ‘come alive in it’. In the sense that the revolutionary consciousness of the masses has been in a bad spell, variously due to lack of understanding, hopelessness and stultifying consumerism, it wants to wake up and feel its power; in the sense that revolutionary consciousness has been gradually formulating it wants to continue this process of coming to life; and in the sense that it has been in the womb it needs to be born.

The moment of which we might say ‘we became aware’ is actually the culmination of a much longer process of becoming aware, and this is not only true of individuals but of society, of common consciousness. Awareness in any aspect, including the political is not just peripheral. Although this awareness may be still forming or may be suppressed, it is always at the centre of cultural evolution, where the future is being created.

So I do not agree that revolutionaries or revolutionary groups ‘have done nothing to affect the course of history either for good or ill’*. I think that where they have been mistaken about the ends, or the means, that this tends to do harm - except in the sense that we can learn from it. However, I believe that every revolutionary exposition of the truth has been helpful, and that things would have been worse without them. Humanity as a whole and individuals such as ourselves would have been all the more unaware of the problems and the solutions without the good efforts of the revolutionaries of the past, and the organisations that have provided support and in many ways made their work possible.

With his poetic words, ‘it’s always in the womb of things and it’s always on the road’, I think Russell Hoban is referring to the condition of awareness that is necessarily awareness of change – is ‘always on the road’, and the fact that every next moment of awareness is created out of a present moment – is ‘in the womb of things’ and must be born from it. I think that this applies not only to moment to moment changes, but to changes that happen over larger time scales, such a cultural phases or ages. Perhaps, in the sequence of events of present cultural change, the child has already been born. Perhaps the child is here, and is being nurtured by the kindness that still exists in people despite the dehumanising effects of capitalism. Hopefully this will be enough.

We have to remember that it is only a hundred and fifty years or so since Karl Marx and others clearly set out how capitalism works – how it is bound to be abusively exploitative and bound to be undemocratic. And although this has been very influential in some ways, in capitalist society it has not been the kind of information that quickly disseminates. However, I believe that this is changing, as it becomes more obvious that the terrible problems that we face are largely caused by the capitalist system, and as this results in a growing momentum in society for seeking an alternative. Presently most people in ‘the west’ still believe – curtesy of capitalist propaganda - that communism has been discredited; that it doesn’t work. But they do not know what ‘it’ is any more than most of those who live in so-called communist countries - or Islamic countries or any where else. If they did, of course, they would know that ‘it’ has not yet been properly tried. I always think in connection to this, that something worth having is in any case worth more than one attempt…………But my point here is, that I believe the amount of fertile ground for socialist ideas is increasing.

It may be that political consciousness is bound to increase exponentially, and that we have so far been in the ‘low x zone’; and that the spreading of socialist/communist ideas will now speed up in an interrelationship with increasing receptivity due to increasing familiarity. – And that this will counter and overwhelm any adverse rightwing reactions to financial recession and to other problems. Such reactions are largely the result, I believe, of anger due to the deprivations caused by capitalism combined with lack of knowledge that capitalism is the cause.

How we think as individuals and as communities often develops so gradually that do not notice the changes. But there can be growth spurts - and humanity as a whole badly needs one. Maybe we are due. In particular think that there is increasing awareness that what we have been offered so far is generally a false democracy, rife with corruption and prone to be disregarded whenever it is not just working in a perverted form to serve the ruling class. And so, I think that there is an increasing readiness to understand why that is: because democracy cannot properly function in capitalism. It cannot properly function without equality. And for equality we need common ownership, allowing for the development of autonomy in how we use our labour power and free access to goods and services.

It is a tribute to the power of communist ideas that the ruling class invests such efforts into obscuring and ridiculing them, and with the ruling class in charge of a globalised media, it is in some ways bound to be a bad time for truth. An increasingly small number of very powerful capitalists can keep the whole world on the same page of their version of the story. But these same global networks – particularly the internet, for the moment, also allow for a more swift exchange and spreading of revolutionary ideas than ever before. It is a window of opportunity. And I refer to it as such because – I may be wrong – but I think that there are probably those amongst the ruling classes who already have plans for closing that window, whilst keeping their own propaganda flowing. However, at this stage, I think that people would find ways to open it again, to smash it, or to find other ways out………….

Socialism only has to have a successful deciding affect on the course of history once. We do not know exactly when that might happen, if ever, only that by working for it that we increase the possibility and hasten the time. Such a change has to start in all sorts of small ways before it gets big. The increasing void that is left as leaders fail can be filled by personal knowledge and cooperation as equals in our communities of various sorts including the encompassing world community. This makes the work of spreading the message of socialism – and thus the organisation of socialists to do this work more efficiently - all the more important.

Real socialism has no separate classes, no money, no states and no leaders. It thus puts an end to all the divisions in society, and replaces them with mutual benefit which enables each of us to be fulfilled. It replaces the horrifically wasteful and abusive system of production for profit with production for need and with respect for each other and our environment. It is a wonderful new creation. To come into being it has had to form within the old creation and issue from it. The old creation is failing and dying. The new creation is very different and has the power to endure.

*FROM: The Impotence of the Revolutionary Group
by Sam Moss Published in Living Marxism, 1939



NOTES:

It has been said that the revolution will only arise out of necessity and not out of ideology. But I believe that the revolution has to arise from both ideological factors and from necessity. I think that the revolution will only be successful, strong and enduring if the true necessities are recognised, and that experience of socialist ideology, whether obtained directly from an organisation, or more indirectly and/or independently is essential for this. Recognition of thetrue necessities is to have the true ideology; the ideology that best expresses our situation and how we can best manage it for the common good. They unite, confirm and support each other. I think that socialist ideology will help to produce the day, becoming more and more well known and wide spread as the day approaches. And as part of the day it is socialist ideology which will enable people to maintain awareness of the true necessities, and to direct their energies most efficiently in meeting the needs of humanity.

Whilst revolutionaries/revolutionary groups exist there is the chance that they may have a powerful effect. I do not think of the socialist party as impotent. It is extremely potent, but the conditions have been such that this potency has not yet been understood and wanted by the majority. So it remains a potential energy; and it has so far endured as such.

An efficient study group that does it field work should not only be in touch with events when social upheavals occur, but should be able to predict them and very importantly be there laying out communism/socialism when people are seeking an alternative way. I think that war waged in the factories and through the unions and by revolutionary organizations are all manifestations of the class struggle. By supplying information, socialist organisations put the initiative into the hands of more working people like themselves.

Too much impatience can prevent clear understanding and lead to unhelpful action; however there is much that can usefully be done. Just putting the case when we have the opportunity in our everyday lives I think is important (not trying to force it on people – but when it is a natural and enjoyable part of conversation). But many more methods are facilitated by people joining as an organisation, such as making socialist material available and organising informative talks and discussions.

We need to take part in however small a way in creating the conditions in which the majority understand and want socialism. These conditions are obviously made by much that is beyond our control, but our contribution may be what makes the difference when things are in the balance. I have never understood the ‘it’s a huge task so we won’t bother trying’ attitude or the ‘no one else is trying why should i?’ Those attitudes are one of the main things that make it such a huge task. They defeat us. Things have to start and they have to get going. The knowledge of one can inform another and the actions of one can inspire another to action. History is made by everything in history.

Ideas are part of material reality and creative of it. If we were to become vanguards or leaders we would lose our cause. If we remain working for real socialism we may help to achieve it. The difference is this: with one ideology we certainly fail; with the other we have a chance of success.