Athens Meeting 18-20 November 2005, Contribution of CP in
Denmark
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From: SolidNet, Monday, November 28, 2005
http://www.kpid.dk , mailto:kpid@kpid.dk
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International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties
"Current Trends In Capitalism: Economic, Social And
Political Impact. The Communists' Alternative"
Athens, 18-20 November, 2005

Speech given by Betty F. Carlsson,
president of the Communist Party in Denmark, KPiD,

Neo-Liberalism is capitalism and imperialism of today.
The Communists' answer is struggle for socialism

Dear Comrades

Let me first of all thank the Greek Communist Party and all
communist in Greece for hosting another of these important
conferences. An international forum where CPs can meet,
establish bilateral and multilateral contacts, exchange
information and, first and foremost, discuss the recent
tasks of our movement is of significant importance.

Neo-Liberalism is capitalism and imperialism of today

In our Party's opinion capitalism today cannot be analysed
separately from neo-liberalism.

Neo-liberalism is capitalism, imperialism and the
imperialistic globalization of today.

It is a combination of extreme exploitation, some times in
new forms; it is a combination of domestic political,
economic and ideological pressures, backed up by
international pressure and military force if necessary.

Globalization is generally presented as an inescapable
process (nearly as a natural phenomenon) leading to greater
competition (which is regarded as a positive phenomenon),
welfare improvements and the spread of democracy around the
world.

But globalization is the international face of
neo-liberalism. Globalization is a worldwide strategy of
accumulation of capital in an alliance between the ruling
class of the United States of America and other centres of
the developed capitalist world and locally dominant
capitalist groups.

The neo-liberalists are talking about 'more market and less
state'. But in reality neo-liberalism is a systematic
exploitation of the governments and the peoples in
especially the poorer and the poorest countries in the
narrow interests of finance capital and the trans-national
companies.

The power and importance of the state-monopolistic
capitalism is not declining - on the contrary!

But the case is that the governments more and more directly
becomes an important tool for the finance capital and
monopolies and under new, never seen forms.

New markets are exploited, e.g. the former socialist
countries, and the third world are experiencing an extreme
exploitation. But also in the high developed capitalist
countries new possibilities of making profits are found.

One of the new ways are trough the so-called 'deregulation'
in the form of extensive privatisations, higher charges
for the users of public service, 'flexible' labour markets
with small minimum wages, cut downs in pensions and
unemployment-benefits, changes in the tax systems in favour
of the richest, etc. This all leads to a greater gap
between the poor and the rich.

Wages and profits

The exploitation finds new forms.

The profits are growing so explosively that you have to go
many years back to find periods with higher growth in
profits. On the same time the wage-earners' share of gross
national product, GNP, has declined. For the EU countries
the wages' share of GNP has been reduced from 74,4 percent
in 1962 to 69,2 percent in the 1990'th to the record low
share of 68 percent in 2004.

This enormous growth in the profits from about 1/4 to about
1/3 of GNP has been backed up by the tax policy in EU that
has been much in favour for capital. But the growing
profits have not led to higher investments, on the contrary
- and unemployment is still on a very high level.

Social consequences

The social consequences of neo-liberalism are becoming
still clearer. The gap between poor and rich is increasing;
the number of poor people is growing in the high developed
capitalist countries. And the concept of 'Working-poor' is
not any more reserved for the US and Great Britain.

Unemployment is presented as a question of too high
unemployment-benefits and as a private problem. The concept
of "workfare" is the new notion for the main principle
that the unemployed must work for their unemployment
benefit and of cause not to a payment below the normal
tariffs. If you do not work for the benefit, the benefit
will be stopped.

The concept of "employability", which is the core content
in workfare and programmes of 'activation' make
unemployment to the responsibility of each single person.
And by the assertion, that the unemployed are less worth
than the minimum wage, a general pressure on the wages is
created.

These concepts and activation-programmes have shown to be
useless not only in the US and in Great Britain, but in an
increasing number of EU countries as well. This leads to an
increasing number of poor and marginalised people.

A policy like this is especially harmful to immigrants and
descendants of immigrants, and this is a main explanation
to the growing dissatisfaction and protests among these
groups, which is seen in France, in Birmingham and also in
Denmark.

Political consequences

Neo-liberalism is also increased suppression of the
populations, fight against the trade unions and all
democratic and popular organisations.

And with the US-inspired terror-legislation after 9/11 it
is also a direct attack on democracy.

Therefore we believe, that you can conclude that
neo-liberalism is the economical, political, ideological
and military main doctrine today for the modern capitalism
and imperialism.

And it is very important to realise, that the greatest
enemy to mankind is the US-imperialism.

This is not just caused by a Mr. Bush or by his advisers.
They are just the tools. The thread is caused by the strong
American companies' aggressive strategy in trying to reach
world command and hegemony.

The new grand strategy of the US-imperialism asserts the
right of the United States to undertake preventive war at
will - preventive, not pre-emptive. Pre-emptive war might
fall within the framework of international law, for the
case that an attack is threatening.

The new main strategy gives in an effective way the US the
right to aggression world wide - everywhere in the world
where American economical, political and military interests
are threatened or where the US wants to promote the
interests of the monopolies.

Counting for half of the total expenses in the world on
military, research in new weapons that can be used in outer
space, the development of new small atomic weapons that can
be used on a so-called small-scale base, and in a
combination with the doctrine of preventive wars - these
realities makes the US to a tremendous and threatening
power that can be used against all peoples of the world.

This is a very serious thread on peace in the world and on
every population, who wants another way of development than
the neo-liberalistic.

In this connection NATO play a much greater role outside
its traditional geographical sphere of operation.

In this way the European NATO-countries are tied up to the
aggressive strategy of the US and the American monopolies.

The fight against EU is a fight against neo-liberalism

No doubt that the neo-liberalistic main principles behind
the draft of an EU constitution played an important role
for the fine results in the referendums in France and in
the Netherlands. The discussions about the so-called
service-directive also known as the Bolkenstein-directive
plaid a special role for these referendums, especially in
France.

More and more it has become clear for the European
population that there is a strong relationship between the
policy, which they are suffering from, and the policy of
EU.

The communists in the EU countries therefore must be very
aware of the service-directive and the treatment of it in
the EU.

The service-directive is a good example on what would
generally happen if the EU constitution comes into power.

The directive follows the Lisbon-strategy and is designed
to help the competitiveness of EU. This shall take place
through an extensive deregulation. No barriers for the
market forces are accepted. Especially this will have
severe consequences for the health system, for education,
supply of water, transport and not at least it will mean a
severe attack on the system of collective agreements on the
labour market.

The communist parties in the EU countries must take common
initiatives in the form of proclamations and other kinds of
action, etc., against this directive.

And we must reject all who claims, that it is possible to
turn the EU into a 'soft superpower' as an alternative to
the US.

In the EU you now hear worried words saying, that the
EU-countries just spend one third of what the US is
spending on military equipment and only one fifth of the
US-spending on military research.

This has generated a pressure on all EU countries on
spending at least 2% of their gross national product on
military.

The European Union represents the big companies established
in Europe, and they are not in any way different from those
in America or anywhere else in the world.

The plans for a development of the military side of EU is
first and foremost a question on how imperialism can best
manage the interests of the monopolies - and is in no way
in the interests of the European people.

Capitalism cannot be reformed

The so-called welfare states are capitalist countries as
well, with the same basic build in contradictions as in
capitalism in general.

For the welfare states the situation is a result of the
struggle of the working class up through history to gain
rights and benefits on economical, social and cultural
areas. But comrades, do not have any illusions about a
special Scandinavian capitalism with a human face.

The main contradiction in the welfare states is the same as
in all capitalist countries. And for the moment there is an
ongoing struggle in Danmarks as in other countries where
the government is trying to erode the rights and benefits
of the working class. This is in best harmony with the true
content of the service directive.

The capitalism of today in the form of neo-liberalism
cannot be changed into a capitalism with a human face, as
some in the anti-globalisation movement are preaching.

There is no capitalism with a human face, such a thing has
never existed - not in the childhood of capitalism and not
in the last century - and today it is no possibility as
well.

Struggle against neo-liberalism is a struggle against
capitalism and imperialism and struggle for socialism!

It is necessary to gather together the forces against
neo-liberalism as an aggressive form of capitalism and
imperialism. Neo-liberalism is nothing but capitalism in
its present historic form. It is therefore only possible to
fight neo-liberalism if its root - the capitalism system as
such - is the final target of the activities.

Capitalism has no ability of solving the basic needs of
humanity. Capitalism has never been able to do so.

But capitalism has shown an amazing ability to survive.
Here the ideological struggle plays an important role, not
at least the today where the ideological advocates of
capitalism all over try to make people believe that less
society, less collectivity and in stead more
individualisation is the road forward. To this an extensive
use of mass media is of importance as well as the use of
modern forms of communication. In fact you could talk about
the use of weapons of mass manipulation (WMM).

But neo-liberalism cannot be changed into a 'human'
capitalism or imperialism.

Imperialism and capitalism cannot be controlled in a
progressive direction or in a sustainable direction.

It is an old reformist way of thinking, which has refined
and hidden the exploitation and suppression, not at least
by an intense ideological struggle against the working
class and other segments and groups of the population.

The suppression of capitalism, exploitation, war and
barbarity can only by wiped out by the building of
socialism.

And for this there actually exists good conditions. It is
necessary to understand that the population in almost all
countries are in an objective contradiction to the monopoly
capitalism.

Hence the great task is to build anti-monopoly democratic
alliances. And this hold for the struggle against
privatisation of the water supply in Peru and for the
struggle for the right of the poor countries for having a
sovereign economic and political development and a fair
access to the world market - as it holds for the struggle
for a re-nationalisation of the railways in Great Britain,
against the introduction of student's fees on higher
educational institutions in France, for the struggle
against the Hartz-IV-plan in Germany or the activities
against the introduction of payment for former free public
services in Denmark.

Trough their active participations in concrete fights,
struggles and activities - small or big - people will
gather their own experience.

The creation of broad anti-monopoly alliances is the only
hope for a beating back of neo-liberalism and imperialism.

This is the only way to create the basis, from which new
steps towards an anti-monopoly democracy can be taken. This
can make the power of the people so strong, that it will
make the success possible - and from here it will be
possible to go further on the necessary road to socialism.