Tuesday 4 August 2015

No to War with China



NO TO WAR! SHUT DOWN THE US BASES! DEFEND RED CHINA!

12-07-15 – Eight. That was the number of warnings given to US P8-A Poseidon surveillance aircraft by the Chinese Navy as it provocatively flew through the South China Sea on May 20, 2015.[1] The US plane had aboard a CNN reporter who was able to record the alleged Chinese “aggression” in the area in order to better help Washington make the case for war against the People’s Republic. The notion of of the Chinese state being increasingly “assertive” in the region is a flagrant absurdity, which turns reality on its head. For years, it has been the US which has been the bellicose aggressor, relentlessly goading China into reacting militarily, which would then “justify” a US response. China has shown incredible restraint to what would be simply unacceptable behaviour if anyone other than the US engaged in it. We need scarcely imagine what the response from the US and their allies would be if the Chinese were flying spy planes up and down the east coast of the US mainland. Yet the US, in its self-appointed role of global cop, arrogates to itself the “right” to patrol any patch of the globe, at any time. 

Who Is the Biggest Aggressor in the South China Sea?
Above: Map showing the activities of various countries on island and reefs in the South China Sea. Predominant are Vietnamese flags, followed by the Philippines, Taiwan and Malaysia. Chinese flags are in a small minority. On May 13, US Assistant Sectrary of Defense, David Shear, said to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee “Vietnam has 48 outposts; the Philippines 8, China 8, Malaysia 5 and Taiwan 1”.[2] Yet almost all we hear is about Chinese aggression! 

Washington’s reckless and criminal war provocations are echoed by Canberra, which in turn has linked in with Tokyo against China, the world’s largest and most powerful socialist state. Driving the US “pivot to Asia”, with its increasingly shrill war threats, is none other than the dire recession afflicting the capitalist world, particularly in the US, Europe, Australia and Japan. The five remaining socialist states – China, Vietnam, DPRK (North Korea), Laos and Cuba – have been relatively unaffected by the capitalist economic crisis devastating the West – also known under the pseudonym of “austerity”. China, with its massive size, has even been able to drive some economic growth amongst its trading partners, or in the case of Australia, almost single-handedly prevent it from a generalised economic collapse. The spectacular economic success of the People’s Republic of China demonstrates the superiority of socialism over capitalism, as did the Soviet Union during the 1930s while the West was in the midst of the Great Depression. Yet many are confused over the nature of China’s economy and politics. Some who are simply unable to attribute economic success to socialism react by labelling China as “capitalist”, or having “restored capitalism”. The first query of why China is not now in recession if its economy is “capitalist” doesn’t appear to have dawned on them. This question is a huge one to address, and needs to be discussed. For now, we will simply point to China’s 10% GDP growth rate for the last thirty years – “down” to around 7.5% now – and the instance of workers in China leaving some jobs in search of higher wage increases than the ones they are receiving![3] Needless to say, an economy where often employers struggle to pay their workers enough to convince them to stay in the job, does not sound very “capitalist” at all.

Unfortunately, some left parties here square the circle by claiming just that, absolving themselves of  the duty to defend a revolution which finally overturned capitalism in 1949. Unconsciously, such left parties are carrying the can for the very ruling class they claim to oppose. Their  hostility to Red China is not what workers in Australia can afford to engage, especially given the very real threat of war against China being launched from Australian soil. Recently, scrambling denials by the Australian government that the US plans to station B1 bombers in Australia[4] have merely confirmed that in fact, US war plans against the People’s Republic are currently at an advanced stage. The US already has 2500 troops stationed in Darwin, and the forthcoming “Talisman Sabre” war games off the coast of central Queensland will for the first time involve Japan and New Zealand. These war games are literally a dry run for strikes against China, using the fig leaf of a coalition, in much the same way as the “Coalition of the Willing” which invaded and destroyed Iraq in 2003. Workers internationally have a vital interest in not only preventing an imperialist war against China (which could easily morph into a world war) but also in overturning the very source of war in our time – the system of private production for private profit.

Revelations released by whistle-blower Edward Snowden have brought to light the massive spying powers of the “Five Eyes” alliance and their respective intelligence agencies – US (National Security Agency – NSA), UK (Government Communications Headquarters – GCHQ), Canada (Communications Security Establishment Canada – CSEC), Australia (Australian Signals Directorate – ASD) and New Zealand (Government Security Communications Bureau – GSCB).[5] Operating in secrecy from the public of all five nations, these agencies carry out unlimited interception of communications with the aim of suppressing any dissent to the aims of US imperialism. This does not mean that the US and its allies are targeting “terrorists” – far from it. These arms of imperialism are using their own state terror to wipe out any domestic opposition to their war agenda from “their own” working classes, as well as working toward the undermining and/or overthrow of any state, socialist or not, which attempts to chart a course independent of the US empire. It also means that secretive US bases such as Pine Gap can and are being used both to spy on all communications of Australian (and indeed global) citizens – from fax right through to email. In addition US spy bases such as Pine Gap are reportedly being used to direct drone attacks wherever the US desires. Most recently, this has been used against the anti-imperialist Houthi rebellion in Yemen, assisting the Saudi/Israeli war against what they claim is an Iranian ally.[6]

Recently, Australian workers were subject to an orgy of nationalism in relation to the centenary of the Anzac landing at Gallipoli in 1915. These maudlin commemorations were not just to remember the fallen, if they ever were. One of the principal reasons for the reanimation of the Anzac mythology at this particular time is to once again psychologically prepare the masses for another war – most likely in this region against China. It was, and is, the organised misuse of history to rally workers behind, or at least not to question – US imperialist rampages across the planet. As ever, Canberra will be a willing participant in such atrocities. The sacking of SBS journalist Scott McIntyre for tweeting comments questioning Australia’s sordid history in wars for the British empire,[7] was a sharp warning that ANY anti-war sentiment in the current period will be harshly dealt with. The Australian ruling class is prepared for any course of action in its drive to restore the rate of profit for the billionaire class, even if this means backing yet more US led wars of slaughter – in Libya, Syria, Ukraine…or China.

Recognising this, some within the progressive movements call for an “independent” Australian foreign policy, assuming that such independence will result in the Australian government upholding “peaceful” international values. We sympathise with the sentiment behind such a view, and indeed join with their calls for the closing down of US bases and spy installations on Australian soil. However, we must emphasise that “Australia” already is “independent” in foreign policy and everything else. The Australian ruling class willingly allies itself closely to the US ruling class, seeing its interests as best being served being a “deputy sherriff”. There is no arm twisting by the US or any other imperialist power, and no subjugation of “Australia”. As unpalatable as it may be to accept, the Australian ruling class is every ounce as reactionary as the US empire it serves, and divesting itself from the US, even if it did occur, will not change its political outlook. The reactionary pro-war politics of the Australian ruling class, whether it is lead in the charade of the national parliament by a red or blue (or green) team, stems from its defence of world capitalism, which in this period of dire recession, drives it to wage reckless wars against millions of innocents. 

In this respect, the only “independence” worth striving for is the independence of labour from capital. In international terms, this comes about through breaking the chains of imperialism, from removing your nation from the world capitalist system. The five socialist states, through various roads, have achieved independence by overthrowing capitalist rule, and embarking on the road to socialism. As many former colonial countries have found, political independence while remaining within the bounds of world capitalism in practice often falls well short of sovereignty. Iraq, Libya and Syria can attest to this fact, having been almost destroyed by US led imperialist war over the last ten years. 

The People’s Republic of China has every right to defend itself against the baleful and menacing provocations by the US in the South China Sea, up to and including the building of airstrips and bases on reefs and atolls. In any case, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines are doing exactly the same thing! Unfortunately in this battle, the nationalist administration of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is allying with the very imperialist power that murdered at least 3 million of its citizens during the 60s and 70s, against China. Rather, the socialist states should be allying with themselves against the US for mutual protection and benefit. Nonetheless, workers here and in the Asia-Pacific need to rally in defence of Red China, and not just because of an opposition to war, as important as that is. Workers also need to rally in defence of Red China because they enjoy what we need to begin to avoid the worst depredations of capitalist decline – a socialist state. Only by the workers seizing and holding state power here in Australia and throughout the region can we put in place measures which can lead to the end of unemployment, poverty, racism and indeed war itself. We are under no illusions that this is an easy path. Yet our road to socialism will be made much easier by allying ourselves with the workers in our region who, through incredible mass sacrifice, have already attained state power. Workers here need to align ourselves with the socialist states of China, the DPRK, Vietnam (despite the currently wrong position of its leadership) and Laos, against the imperialist alliance of the US, Australia, Japan, New Zealand AND US vassal states like the Philippines and Taiwan. A war between the US and China is ultimately a war of capitalism versus socialism. Workers must ensure that we are on the socialist side in this battle. 

The US “pivot to Asia” is code for war against China. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is one aspect of the war, the military encirclement and goading of China in the South China Sea is another aspect, the funding of parts of the Uyghur movement in the east of China is another, as is the political backing of the pro-capitalist “Umbrella Revolution” in Hong Kong and the feudalist “free Tibet” movement. Workers have an interest in steadfastly opposing all attempts by the US and its allies to undermine or overthrow the People’s Republic of China – and not just to avoid a potential world war. Workers should defend Red China in order to make the leap towards socialism here an easier task. For it is only with the triumph of socialism will “peace” and “independence” become a reality.

NO TO WAR!   SHUT DOWN THE US BASES!   DEFEND  RED  CHINA!

MARXIST-LENINIST GROUP
0421 408 692


[1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3090728/China-navy-warns-U-S-spy-plane-disputed-South-China-Sea-CNN.html
[2] http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/who-is-the-biggest-aggressor-in-the-south-china-sea/
[3] http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/496c9daa-3afc-11e2-bb32-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3dssa5peY
[4] http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/may/15/tony-abbott-says-us-defence-official-misspoke-on-b-1-bombers-in-australia
[5] http://www.giswatch.org/en/communications-surveillance/unmasking-five-eyes-global-surveillance-practices
[6] https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/massive-pine-gap-expansion-snowden-leak,7842
[7] http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/scott-mcintyre-will-sue-sbs-for-discrimination-over-anzac-tweets/story-e6frfm9r-1227358882683

Mobilise Unions to Win a Living Wage



MOBILISE UNIONS TO WIN A LIVING WAGE! FOR A WORKERS’ REPUBLIC!

12-07-15 – Even a cursory glance at the figures show shocking stats for Australia, which are getting worse. Inequality is growing fast, with many amongst the working class “dropping off the edge”. A large factor behind the growing inequality is unemployment, which now stands at a 12 year high. The official figure of 6.4%[1], however, is known to be basically hogwash, and closer to triple 6.4 in reality. Anyone with one hour of work per week is regarded as “employed”. There are around 1 million unemployed, with youth unemployment (15 to 24 year olds) at 14%, but 20% in some regions.[2] In times past, Australia’s “welfare state” would have catered for at least the basics for those without work. But those halcyon days, at least in the view of social democrats, are long gone and have been replaced by a punitive and ever increasingly repressive state towards all workers, but especially those reliant on some form of     social security, either through age, disability or illness.

Above: Graphic showing the prevalence of those living below the poverty line in Australia, based on 2013 figures.
 
As many who receive the below the poverty line social security payments will tell you, Centrelink policies often result in the treating a welfare recipients as criminals, taking something which is not theirs. This is especially the case for the unemployed, but it also metes out similar treatment to single parents, who have suffered drastic cuts to their income. Demeaning “Work for the Dole” programs stigmatise and label, but almost never create desperately needed jobs. More often they create a situation of slave labour. And try calling Centrelink for assistance – you will likely be waiting on the phone for half an hour or more. Around a quarter of all phone calls made to Centrelink in the year 2014 were simply not answered, according to a report by the Australian National Audit Office.[3] Centrelink is continually destaffed and defunded, and is thus not able to provide decent service. 

The privatisation of the former Department of Social Services has led to massive corruption, as revealed by the ABC 4 Corners program on the 23rd of February this year. Unemployed citizens have become a commodity which are used by the privatised job agencies to fraudulently claim government funding for finding a job seeker a job, regardless of whether it has actually taken place. One anonymous job agency whistle-blower estimated that around 80% of claims by job agencies for government funding involve some level of falsity.[4] What is more, job agencies are inching closer to having the power to breach welfare recipients if they, for example, do not turn up for an interview – which is unlikely to help in any case. If the private sector is able to suspend government supplied welfare payments to citizens, a new stage of corporate/government integration has been reached.

Young people in Australia today (those born after 1990), have virtually never known anything but government cuts to public and social spending, and the resultant increase in the cost of living being passed on to working people. People of previous generations often hark back to the post war and succeeding decades, when unemployment was very low, and a decent social security safety net was maintained. Public healthcare and education was generally provided, as was a measure of public transport and roads without tolls. Housing was affordable, and one wage was enough to raise a family. Many believed that this was “Australia”, where a “mixed economy” operated, which ensured a more or less egalitarian society. The virtual abolition of all these measures and more in the last thirty years has many yearning for a return to the “good old days”. Yet it should be clear now, that the high point of social democracy, or the “welfare state”, is never returning, and can’t be brought back even by those who believe in its ideals.

Global capitalism is simply at another stage to what it was during the salad days of the “welfare state”. The conditions which allowed for post-war social democracy to “shine” included: the recent destruction of physical capital and working class human beings from World War II, which opens avenues for reconstruction and hence labour shortages; the immense military victory of the Soviet Union (USSR) over fascist Germany which led to the extension of the socialist bloc, providing a counterweight to US led imperialism. The ruling classes of the West also wanted to prevent “their own” working class from looking to the socialist bloc with its guaranteed employment and provided education and healthcare. Hence it launched the vicious Cold War against the USSR on the one hand, while delivering substantial welfare for the workers over which it ruled. Without conditions such as these, the post war “welfare state”, as was experienced in Australia, could not have come to fruition. 

If there is one stark example which demonstrates above all that a “welfare state” in today’s capitalist economy cannot return, we need only glance at Greece. After years of unbearable austerity imposed on Greek workers by the “Troika” ( the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission), the “left-wing” SYRIZA party – in reality a social democratic front - was elected on January 25 this year. Within hours of being elected it formed government with the ultra-right wing Independent Greeks. It has spent every day since back flipping on its bombastic claims that it was against austerity. It refused to break with the European Union, NATO, and even the Troika itself. It has been withdrawing public money from schools and pensions to pay the IMF. This is in a context where there is 25% unemployment, and yet still it implores the Greek workers to back it – while enduring more austerity. At the same time, SYRIZA fails to mobilise its members against the threat of the fascist Golden Dawn, which is now the third largest party in parliament. A “government of the left”, of which SYRIZA is the classic example, remains a capitalist government overseeing a capitalist state which runs a capitalist economy. And capitalism in 2015 is in dire economic crisis – it cannot and is not able to deliver welfare, let alone jobs, to the workers it subjugates. This is the case whether there is a right wing conservative government, such as the Abbott Liberal gang in Australia, or a “left wing” government such as the Tsipras/Varoufakis led SYRIZA in Greece.

The class betrayal of SYRIZA was typified by its pledge to raise the aged pension eligibility to 67 years, as demanded by the Troika. Believe it or not, this pension eligibility age is still less than what it has been raised to in Australia. The Labor Party raised it to 67, and the Liberal Party raised it to 70. This means that Australia now has the highest pension age in the world.[5]  By comparison, Russia has a retirement age of 60, as do the socialist states of China, Vietnam and the DPRK (and women in the DPRK can retire at 55). Australian rulers are more or less implying that workers should die before claiming the pension. This abominable situation has come into being with barely a peep from the leaders of the Union movement – a movement which 35 years ago was one of the strongest in the world. Today, Australia’s Union leaders, with barely a few exceptions, have refused to defend even basic living standards for Australian workers. In Queensland, the treachery of the leadership of the public sector Unions meant that not one minute of industrial action was organised against the then LNP government’s moves to terminate the employment of up to 25 000 workers in 2012. Workers are still paying for this through high unemployment and an ever increasing lack of services. 

This inexcusable inaction, in the face of the largest assault on workers in more than 100 years, has led many workers to believe that “nothing can be done”. Yet this sentiment can be turned around IF workers and those with some experience in the left and Union movements, act to give a lead. Some left parties and other progressive organisations have links with some Union leaders, and mistakenly believe that these relationships must be maintained at all cost. On the contrary, cosy relationships with sell-out Union leaders ultimately will have to be broken if workers in this country are to overcome the current impasse. Workers and the left cannot continue to be dogsbodies for Union misleaders who in turn ultimately serve the ALP. Endless appeals to the government or to the ALP or to the Greens to “do something” have got us nowhere – we have tried this for decades with essentially no result. What is needed is for the Union movement to independently wage a struggle for demands which are in the immediate interests of working people. This requires a struggle to replace the current treasonous leadership of the Unions with a pro-working class political leadership. Current Union officials can either join with such a movement, or be removed by mobilised workers. The most class conscious and politicised workers emanating from such a struggle can then form the basis for what will be required to lead workers through a dangerous international political situation – a revolutionary vanguard party.

Workers and their supporters here should be aware that the full spectrum of open attacks by the ruling classes on living conditions are only occurring in the world’s capitalist states – particularly Greece and Spain, but all of Europe, the United States, Japan and Australia. Workers in the five remaining socialist states, on the other hand, are not facing what we know as “austerity”. Working people in China, Vietnam, the DPRK, Laos and Cuba have relatively stable working and living conditions, as a result of their respective successful workers’ revolutions having removed them from the world capitalist economy. While in some areas living and working conditions in the socialist states still have some way to go, they do not face universally hostile state repression, either in the workplace or in society generally. This is why, however distorted these socialist states are from the “ideal” – even if an “ideal” was even possible – workers here need to defend these states against threats from internal and external counterrevolution, as part of the struggle for workers’ revolution on these shores. Ultimate protection and immunity from capitalist imposed “austerity” can only be ended by the successful establishment of an Australian workers’ republic, which can then play a role in the international extension of socialism.

In the meantime, workers and their allies need to raise and fight for demands which, if achieved, can both alleviate immediate suffering AND help assemble the political leadership so desperately required. Such demands could include:

·        PERMANENT JOBS FOR ALL WORKERS!

·        A 35 HOUR WEEK WITH NO LOSS IN PAY!

·        A MINIMUM WAGE FOR ALL THOSE UNABLE TO WORK!

·        RETIREMENT AT 60 WITH FULL BENEFITS!

·        FULLY PROVIDED HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION!

·        A LIVABLE HOUSE FOR ALL CITIZENS!

If the rulers and their lackeys claim that the system cannot allow these demands to be met, we reply that we will move towards replacing your system with a system that will. For a workers’ republic!

MARXIST-LENINIST GROUP
E: mlgroup271@gmail.com
www.ML-Group.blogspot.com.au
0421 408 692                                   


[1] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-12/unemployment-data-january-abs-jobs/6088070
[2] http://www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2015/03/youth-unemployment-rising#
[3] http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/public-service/centrelink-leaves-26-million-calls-unanswered-20150520-gh5iow.html
[4] http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2015/02/23/4183437.htm
[5] http://www.news.com.au/finance/australias-official-retirement-age-of-70-highest-in-the-world/story-e6frfm1i-1226903204989

Drive Out Wicked Campers!



DRIVE OUT WICKED CAMPERS! DEMOLISH SEXISM! FOR WOMEN’S LIBERATION!

25-07-2015 – Many workers and supporters of women’s rights have rightly been shocked and appalled by the degenerate and grotesque sexism repeatedly displayed by Wicked Campers. The obscenely offensive slogans scrawled across their campervans for rent, scrape the bottom of a barrel that rarely surfaces. “Normal” sexism is unfortunately a daily occurrence in a society which is based on the oppression of women, as is reflected in the unrealistic fashion and body images constantly displayed in the mass media. Malevolent sexism, on the other hand, does not always surface. Wicked Campers have crossed this line, and then some.

Wicked Campers also brandish some racist and homophobic slogans, but most is directed at women. Yet Wicked Campers are not just a particularly poor example of the worst of society’s sexism. It is also a reflection of bourgeois morality becoming more and more decadent and self-indulgent as the capitalist system moves into an advanced state of decay. However, it is also a part of the “normal” functioning of the system of production (or in the case of Wicked Campers – renting) for profit. Under this system of business which is supposedly “natural”, business owners are “free” do whatever they wish to make a buck. This can include exploiting the labour of others, trashing the environment, or even a depraved public visual assault of women.

Above: Wicked Campers utilise obscene levels of sexism to turn a profit. Capitalist private property rights mean that business owners can virtually do whatever they please if they are in the process of “business”. 

Under capitalism, the right to private property trumps all others. This is reflected in the fact that despite numerous rulings upholding complaints to the Advertising Standards Bureau[1], this body has no power to direct Wicked Campers owner John Webb to remove the sexist slogans. In some respects, the “authorities” aspire to an orderly and “harmonious” society – but only in order to create the best conditions for the turnover of private profit. Business owners, including medium sized capitalists such as John Webb, must have free rein in the same way that Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer can ruthlessly exploit labour and even threaten the very existence of civilisation with carbon emission pumping coal mining and the like.

If business owners have unfettered rights under this system and therefore the “right” to display vulgar sexism to promote their sordid business, a question is posed for workers and supporters of women’s liberation. How exactly can the abomination of Wicked Campers be fought and overcome? The organisers of today’s rally have responded by placing a central demand forward – for the Queensland government to legislate against the public vilification of women. We admit we are non-plussed by this demand. Let us briefly examine just some of the moves of the current Queensland Government, since the ALP (Australian Labor Party) limped over the line to defeat the previous LNP (Liberal National Party) government. For a start, the ALP restarted the privatisation of state assets, when it announced weeks after being elected that sales of public housing would resume.[2] The continued privatisation of public housing will disproportionately affect women, especially single parents, for whom housing is often an almost unbearable cost. Another almost unbearable cost for working class women is electricity bills – but the latest ALP government budget includes measures which will inevitably lead to the privatisation of the generation and distribution of electricity. Plus, the ALP has reopened the Borallon Jail near Ipswich, at a cost of around $150 million dollars of taxpayers money.[3]  Needless to say, this is hardly a progressive government…

It has also been put forward that the Australian Greens Senator Larissa Waters moved a resolution in the Senate condemning Wicked Campers. The motion, seconded by Labor’s Senator Claire Moore, passed unanimously. All well and good? Not likely. The former federal ALP/Greens government carried out perhaps the most severe attack on women in 100 years when it pushed single parents (the overwhelming majority of whom are women) from the single parenting allowance to the miserably low Newstart allowance.[4] This unconscionable assault drove many women already struggling deeper into poverty – courtesy of the ALP and the Greens. To imagine therefore, that the QLD state ALP government can actually become a friend and protector of women, is a dangerous illusion.

It is an illusion, however, which the ALP state government, as well as the Federal Liberal government, is happy to foster. The QLD ALP government recently announced that it was spending $31 million to “tackle domestic violence”.[5] This money, will be used to set up a new Domestic Violence court, establish women’s refuges in Brisbane and Townsville, and set up a Domestic Violence Death Review Unit. So the state will review your passing if you lose your life through domestic violence – how does this help? In addition, the women’s refuges will operate on a 72 hour basis. That is, women fleeing from a domestic violence situation will have sanctuary for three days, after which they are on their own. And setting up an entirely new court, with highly paid judges and overpaid legal fraternity attending is hardly going to prevent new cases of domestic violence from occurring. What we have is the ALP government (and the LNP government before it) posing as defenders of women, and launching a campaign which will increase their powers, especially police powers, while not even beginning to address the reasons why the problem exists in the first place. 

This is why we suggest the demand for the state government to pass laws against the vilification of women is misplaced. If the government does pass such a law, whom, pray tell, will enforce it? COPS! And who will try those accused of breaking such a law? THE COURTS! And where will those who are convicted of breaking the law be sent? TO PRISON!  Ergo, the demand for the government to pass such a law leads directly to calls for, or actual, increased taxpayer funding for cops, courts and prisons. Firstly, this will not make women safer, as it doesn’t address the reasons why violence against women occurs. Secondly, increasing the power of the capitalist state apparatus inevitably means it will be used to even further suppress the working class – when ultimately the capitalist state is the source of the violence – especially against women.

The cops, courts and prisons are key elements of the armed fist of the capitalist state. A state, as Lenin emphasised, is an organisation of violence for the suppression of a particular class by another class. In capitalist society, based on production for private profit, the capitalist state acts to protect the interests of the capitalist class – the aforementioned Gina Rineharts and Clive Palmers – by suppressing the working class. Yet the oppression of women is built into the capitalist system through the constant fortification of the three pillars of class society – the family, private property and the state. A state which holds women in a permanent state of oppression cannot therefore be used as one of its tools for liberation. Women can only be liberated from this oppression through the uprooting of private property and the overturn of capitalism on a worldwide basis. This will require the taking of state power by the working class as a first step towards the implementation of a classless, socialist society. Such momentous struggles - no less than workers’ revolution - will inevitably entail a struggle against the cops, courts and prisons of the capitalist state. Yet, the demand for legislation outlawing vilification of women, despite its intentions, is in practice a demand for more cops on the streets. Supporting a special domestic violence court is also in practice a demand for more judges. Wittingly or unwittingly, the demand for legislation outlawing the vilification of women in practice is a demand to strengthen the armed and violent wing of the capitalist state. A beefed up capitalist state will not only use this power against workers – it will be used to deepen the oppression of women. Thus in our view, the demand for legislation on this issue is counter-productive.

The vilification of women (as in the example of Wicked Campers), like the problem of domestic violence, are both examples of the abuse of women which is a related aspect of the oppression of women in capitalist society. However, they are symptoms but not causes. To address the problem of Wicked Campers and domestic violence requires addressing the reasons which lead to the abuse of women by some men, whether business owners, or husbands and partners. Ultimately, violence against women is related to the increasing inequality generated by the capitalist economic crisis, which has been in deep recession since 2008. Jobs are being slashed in all industries, throwing thousands out of work, heaping pressure on men and women to somehow put food on the table and maintain a roof over their heads, and that of their children. When men and women actually have jobs, due to the recession workplaces are often extremely stressful, with staff overworked and subject to relentless bullying and harassment by management. The pressure that workers endure, daily being threatened with either the sack or being bullied if they do not work at breakneck speed, is too much to ask anyone to handle. Treacherous Union misleaders, who do nothing to organise resistance to often unbearable working conditions, only exacerbate the unhealthy mental and physical state of workers. Most men are able to take out their rage at this injustice in safe ways, such as playing sport, engaging in political activity to address important issues, gaming online or in some other way. Unfortunately, some men take out their rage on their female partners, terrorising them or physically harming them. Of course some men need to be removed from their families for the safety of the rest of the family and the community. However, if no action is taken to address the underlying economic and political causes of domestic violence, simply targeting men, or using cops to target men, will only drive the problem underground. This could later emerge in false solutions like “men’s rights” groups.

It is no coincidence that violence against women increases in direct proportion to the increasing inequality as a result of the economic crisis of the capitalist countries. Even the example of Wicked Campers is a reflection of the crisis. Business owners, due to the razor sharp competition to turn a profit, are prepared to take any measure to gain a competitive edge over their rivals. Not all business owners resort to John Webb style desecration of women, but many are prepared to do similar things, like desecrate the wages of their workers, or the natural environment, or turn to corrupt business practices, and so on. Turning around this situation cannot be addressed by “working within the system”, by lobbying parliament, and certainly not by allying with the cops – the sworn enemy of working class women and men. What is required is nothing less than women’s liberation through socialist revolution – the seizing of state power by the armed workers, and the initiation of a planned, socialist economy based on common ownership of the means of production. This in turn will require the forging of a Marxist vanguard party, comprised of the most class conscious women and men, to lead workers and all of the oppressed against their class adversaries, nationally and internationally.

While we forge a path towards liberation, the class adversaries of women’s liberation, who often pose as allies, need to be clearly identified. The ALP, the Greens, the cops, courts (even a special “domestic violence” court) prisons, local, state and federal governments and parliaments are all essential components of the capitalist state, and thus cannot be integrated, into the struggle for essential justice for women. Rather, the women’s liberation movement and its supporters need to fight for demands which will ease the economic burden on working class women and men, and thus dramatically lessen the aggravation caused to personal and social relationships. With regard to Wicked Campers, the movement could call on Unions to instruct their members to refuse to serve Wicked Campers at Service Stations, council parks, restaurants and so on. This could be backed up by women’s liberation/Union mobilisations to march on and picket Wicked Campers depots. This is an important issue. Down with Wicked Campers! For women’s liberation!

MARXIST-LENINIST GROUP
E: mlgroup271@gmail.com                         PH: 0421 408 692
www.ML-Group@blogspot.com.au


[1] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-16/pringle-wicked-slogans-arent-just-harmless-fun/5598858
[2] http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-labor-government-to-sell-non-strategic-assets-20150305-13w9j7.html
[3] http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/borallon-prison-to-reopen-in-2016-20150708-gi7dcc?skin=dumb-phone
[4] http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/a-singleminded-struggle-to-get-by-20130822-2se9f.html
[5] http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/special-domestic-violence-courts-will-be-trialled-/2698098/