Athens Meeting 18-20 November 2005, Contribution of NCP of
the Netherlands
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From: SolidNet, Monday, 28 November 2005
http://www.ncpn.nl , mailto:manifest@wanadoo.nl
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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

Contribution New Communist Party of the Netherlands

Current trends in capitalism: economic social and political
impact. The communists' alternative

Contribution New Communist Party of the Netherlands to the
conference of communist and workers parties in Athens
November 18-20 2005.

The NCPN thinks all of us will fully agree this
international meetings are of growing importance. We thank
the Greek comrades for the organization of this excellent
form of international solidarity.


Political reality

The present crisis of capitalism produces new and
sharpening antagonisms. Also within the capitalist camp,
where the development and implementation of a neo liberal
policy by the capitalist economists and theorists are seen
as a way out of the crisis. This however will only sharpen
further mutual contradictions between capitalist blocks,
because in Europe that policy is motivated by the wish to
compete the US economically and to defeat the Asian
competitors or at least to neutralise them.

At the same time this policy will sharpen the antagonisms
between the capitalist class and the workers, by demolition
of the social achievements and security provisions and the
privatisation of public services. This results in
deterioration of the labour agreements of the workers and
the quality of services.

Since the 'fall of the wall' the contradictions between the
capitalist and socialist camp have been drastically
modified. The fall of the Soviet Union and its European
allies means a terrible loss for the working class all over
the world. However, Cuba has succeeded in overcoming the
enormous economic problems due to the disappearance of the
socialist trade partners and the continuing blockade of the
USA. The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea has
maintained itself as a socialist state, trying to find
solutions for its problems in its own manner. Vietnam is
maintaining and growing by developing an open-door-policy.
Also Laos knows well how to maintain and develop.

China has developed itself as an economic power, where the
big capital and its political representatives worldwide can
no longer go round about. Until recently the Western
investment capital quivered to invest on the Chinese market
and make use of the cheap and well educated and trained
workers and search markets for their products. Recent
developments indicate on large Chinese successes to enter
the Western markets themselves, sometimes as joint venture
companies, frequently also as pure Chinese companies. For
this reason the country stands under large political,
economical and ideological pressure of imperialism. China
'replaces' more and more the international role, which
played the Soviet Union in the past. Of eminent importance
therefore is the question if the Chinese course is a
socialist one, as indicates the CP of China itself.

The neo colonial North South proportions exist
undiminished, with as most striking and bitter example the
peoples pursued by famine and epidemics in Africa. However,
parallel to the sharpening of these antagonisms and in
interaction with that the resistance is growing. In Latin
America this has taken the form of popular movements, which
want to make an end to the plundering of raw materials and
demand improvement of the life conditions to require. These
movements have led to new left orientated governments in
Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay and Argentina, which open up new
perspectives for the whole continent. In the short term
there will be a very sense political situation in Bolivia.
In Central Asia resistance against the US dominance leads
to a growing alliance between Russia, Belarus (and other
republics of the former Soviet Union), with India, Iran,
China and recently also Pakistan.

Plunder is the only medicine for the capital

1. Seattle
In 1999 in Seattle a meeting took place of the world trade
organisation (WTO). During that meeting the breach
GATS-Treaty (General agreement on Trade in services) was
signed by the there present countries. This treaty provided
international legitimacy to the already worldwide in pace
process of privatisation of public services, by ratifying
the free trade in these services and makes that
enforceable. The privatisation and subjection to the laws
of the capitalism of public services and the therein piled
up community money were considered by the economists as a
remedy to give new impetus to the got bogged down
capitalist economy, that came to a deadlock.

2. Lisbon agenda and European Constitution
In Europe the GATS Treaty has been translated in the
'Lisbon agenda', which by the European leaders and European
representatives of NGO's, as well as entrepreneurs and
trade unions has been signed during the euro top in March
2000 in Lisbon. This 'Lisbon strategy' should have let
European capitalists pass by the USA economically in 10
years. After five years that objective did not appear to be
realized, which led to numerous new, mostly harder, neo
liberal plans. The design for a European Constitution is
completely penetrated with this new neo liberal ideology,
which hides behind the GATS Treaty and Lisbon agenda.

It is for this reason not at all astonishing that the Dutch
government of prime minister Balkenende, faithful and hard
working partisan of this ideology, already has told the
media that the design for the European Constitution,
concerning them, not at all has been shelved. The
dissentient voters against the Constitution, more or less
clear conscious of the fact that this neo liberal policy is
an enormous attack on their life, therefore were double
right. Right, because they have voted against the neo
liberal constitution, and right, because their vote against
the government have brought difficulties for the government
in their efforts to mislead the people.

No better service or lower tariffs, but shameless
enrichment. The people were promised lower tariffs and
better service, as a result of free market and competition.
Gradually the population will realise however that as a
rule public services and public utilities by privatisation
and competition have not become cheaper and no improvement
of service have been taken place. On the contrary the
citizens are faced - for the will of cost saving - with
worse service (establishments of mail offices have been
closed, so called unprofitable line of public transport has
been raised, energy companies have become inaccessible by
screening with so called 'call centres') and by killing
cut-throat competition services and tariffs of
telecom-companies have become completely non-transparent.
Also the population in all countries, where this
deforestation has been carried out in services that were
controlled checked in by the community, has become witness
of scandals and public debates concerning the shameless top
salaries, which granted the management of the privatised
companies itself.

If it is up to the Dutch capitalist economists, ideologists
and their political representatives, this process of
demolition and robbery of community supplies is not coming
to an end for a long time. The drinking water must still be
privatised, the privatisation of the public transport is
not yet round off, an important step is taken in the
privatisation of the healthcare on January 1st 2006, the
privatisation of the ether, radio and television must get
settled definitely (replacing its seizure), the
privatisation of pension funds must be round off and the
education must be further privatised.

In the Netherlands the proposal of the government for,
again, drastic changes in the organisation of the media,
means a next step towards the definite end of the public
broadcasting. That will complete the control of the media
by the representatives of the dominating class. A critical
sound, which brings up the discussion on the foundations of
the capitalist society, gets no serious and structural
opportunity on radio and TV. And if it is up to the ruling
class, driven into a corner, that will not be the end. The
EPP (European Peoples Party: the European Christian
democrats and conservatives) have submitted a proposal at
the Commission for Human Rights of the Euro Parliament, to
take sanctions against parties and organisations, which
advocate terms such as 'Class Struggle' and 'Dictatorship
of the Proletariat'. A straight, openly attack on communist
parties and organisations.

Strength and weakness of capitalism
To fight this process, which tears to peaces human
societies all over the world and prepares them to be ready
for the jungle of capitalist exploitation and enrichment,
it must be understood that the process originates from the
strength as well as from the weakness of the capitalist
economic system.

From strength because nearly the neo liberal instructions
of the capitalist think tanks are followed almost worldwide
and the enrichment of the capitalist class and its
household can be continued unbridled. From strength because
the political resistance of the Soviet Union and its allies
was broken and the capitalists got, temporarily, the
possibility to carry through their plans.

From weakness because capitalism as a economic and social
system has been burned out, no longer able, in large parts
of the world even, to satisfy the elementary needs of the
world population. As a bloodless vampire capitalism, after
the plundering and exploitation of the colonies, now needs
the enormous blood transfusion of the community money piled
up in public services and has strengthen the attacks on the
population in their own country.

War as an expedient for problems capitalism
Capitalism, however, is already much longer in trouble. The
'fall of the wall' has created temporarily new markets and
new impulses for capitalist entrepreneurs and
multinationals. But at the same time it becomes more and
more clear that the capitalist system is not able to
satisfy the needs and demands of the people who live in the
former socialist countries. These populations are
increasingly confronted with oppression by the capitalist
class and their lackeys, who are formed in these states,
and divided among themselves, are seizing power.

The economic expansion of capitalism and the ideological
weakness in the countries of the real existing socialism,
which made the fall of the wall possible, revealed the
differing interests of the various capitalist groups and
caused conflict between them. This dominated the
international relations after the 'fall of the wall',
together with the creation of new enemies, what was
necessary for the arms manufacturers to secure their
profits. The first and second Golf War; the bloody game of
the division into parts of Yugoslavia; the attack on the
World Trade Centre; the panic hunting on terrorists mostly
'fabricated' by themselves; the intervention in
Afghanistan, these are the 'feat of arms' of neo-liberal
capitalism.

Illusion and reality
The idle gossip and illusions, spread day in - day out by
the ideologists and advocates of capitalism, appear to be
accepted by a large majority of the populations,
particularly in the richer Western countries and the
countries which have only just recently to do with
capitalism and have still many expectations of it. Although
with a growing cynicism, under the external appearance of
resignation and nearly without insight in or a view on the
possibility of another society. The socialist ideal often
still has been too much damaged. It must be stated that -
under these conditions - we also do not succeed to make use
of the gap, which exists between the illusions of the
capitalist ideologists and the reality daily experienced by
the people, to win them for our points of view. Capitalism
has won the battle for the 'ideology' brilliantly.

That is due especially to the nearly complete mastering of
the media. The mentioning of stock-lists in each news
broadcasting, annoying advertisement breaks on all
TV-stations and an abundance of soap - and documentary
programmes, which incense the individualism and the need of
individual survival, provide daily proof for this.
Particularly young people are open to the sparkling fake
world of Coca Cola. At this moment Capitalism, always busy
to divide and rule, tries to shape the natural antagonisms
between young people and the elderly in its own advantage.

But that also is the consequence of the failing of reaching
people with communist points of view and of the reality in
that we are dealing with a floating population, instead of
a static one. Even if, in a certain situation, in a certain
period of time, on a certain spot, we were successful in
reaching people, a year later that same situation has
changed and many of the people who were there a year ago
have moved somewhere else. In that context they are no
longer or at least attainable with much more difficulty for
the communist movement, which has started the rebuilding.
Therefore we must search for the circumstances that change
with the migrating and mobile population. That is an
important difference between the situation before and after
the Second World War. Before that war the working
population was less mobile, permanent labour contracts were
the standard and the legal status and cultural situation of
people were comparable (in the Netherlands). The current
objective situation of a mobile population, with flexible
labour contracts, ideological has taken the form of
individualism and the individual fight for existence.
Solidarity and class struggle are called conservative and
harmful terms. But this is nothing new. The Communist
Manifesto already described the fight between the
necessarily uniting 'dependents on wage' and the in mutual
competition divided bourgeois, with at the same time a
middle class, which is becoming proletarian. And if the
population nevertheless is open to solidarity and class
struggle, capitalism tries to eliminate 'physical' the
advocates of that ideas.

Based on the above analysis of the developments on world
scale and the impact of them in the Netherlands, the
international communist movement must succeed in
reinforcing the unity: both ideological and
practical-operational.

Proposals:

1. The analysis that the capitalist, imperialistic ideology
masters the media entirely must be discussed and common
answers are to be found.

2. Find out which common possibilities there are to make
'breaches' in that ideological supremacy, on the bases of
the insight that the spread ideology stands always on
strained foot with reality, as the people do find out
sooner or later.

3. Particularly the role of the improvement of the joint
distribution of relevant information comes up for
discussion.
With good reasons for it:

The lines seem clear: capitalism, with al its social and
international ramification and acceptance, seems supreme at
the moment. However, the analytical and operational
instruments that scientific socialism has produced show
also the weaknesses of this apparently supreme economical
and social system. Weaknesses that are an acute, serious
threat for humanity. Weaknesses, which underline the
urgency of another, more humane social system: socialism, a
system for which people can be won.

Concerning rear-guard and advanced guard
The communist movement stands for the task to disprove the
aggressive bourgeois ideology, which claims that fights
against privatisation, against the blessings of the free
market, are fights of the rear-guard. The communist parties
must bring arguments and successful experiences that will
make clear that this fights in fact are forefront fights:
forerunners of a new, humane society. That means, however,
that the fight does not have mechanical be put up to
'preserve what is there' or 'to go back to how it used to
be'.

The fight against privatisation and demolition of public
services must be placed within the framework of the need of
a democratic and public management of public services. A
management, which is completely opposed to the corruption,
which appears, in the meanwhile privatised services and
which can be concluded from the recent scandals concerning
the top salaries of the management of those services. These
scandals also provide an insight in the selection
mechanisms for 'modern' management, where professional
knowledge, professional pride and having a 'heart for the
matter' are nothing, but where efficiency, cost saving and
making maximum profits are the guiding principles, and this
'mercenaries' are purchased with the blessing that they are
allowed to fill their pockets.

It is our task to show the workers in the world that
another society is necessary, and especially that it is
possible. A society in which the standard is not to fill
your own pockets and be 'a made man' on your fortieth. But
a society in which everyone makes a contribution to the
social production or reproduction and is respected for that
and get decent paid. It is our task to magnify the
weaknesses of capitalism, make them visible and translate
them into perspectives to act.

As soon as possible there has to be made a 10 points
program, which can serve as a leading cadre, at least in
all European countries, for joint action and to stimulate
the consciousness of the working population. In this
program a politic view in the socialist direction must be
elaborated. For example:

1. "Bring back the public services and supplies in
community hands"

2. "Determine maximum - and minimum income"

3. "No participation of Western troops in so-called peace
missions"

4. "Enlarging service and public security by creating more
jobs in the public sector"

5. "Right to education for everyone"

6. "For a democratic controlled, developing broadcasting
system that, in the most wide sense, serves the interests
of the working class "
etc...

Social position stipulates conscience
But how do we get these demands spread within the
population? How are those demands realised? How and with
whom do we act together? These are the tasks the communist
movement worldwide stands for. Of course there is an
interaction between these questions. The question about
'how?' is of course also determined by the question of
'whom?' For understanding and acting in the economical and
social reality the development of class conscience is of
overriding importance.

The roots for this class conscience are found in the
economic and social reality of the concerning working class
member. And that reality can differ within the, by
capitalist production dominated, society. That reality for
a civil servant within the government, who always is more
openly subservient to the capital, is different from the
reality for a worker in a sophisticated production
apparatus or an illegal, immigrant worker in the
horticulture.

It is the communist party, which is the guardian and
developer of scientific socialism, the theoretical
foundation for analysis and development of the class
conscience. Therefore the question of how to bring the
demands under the population, how to prick the 'false
conscience' created by the media, has to be seen in
consistency with the question of how to organise and
reinforce the communist parties.

Globalisation movement, European left and the advancement
of a powerful communist movement based on the
Marxism-Leninism

The resistance against imperialism takes place in several
manners and from several points of view. The efficiency of
the different forms of resistance is open for discussion,
as well as the degree and manner of mutual cooperation.
From a Marxist-Leninist point of view one can question a
range of initiatives. The NCPN regrets the developments,
which must lead to a European Left Party. We reject the
foundations and moreover consider it not necessary for our
party to participate as an observer. At the same time we
consider it incorrect to avoid bilateral contacts with
parties, which do take part in this process or has been
involved as an observer in the process. The NCPN rejects
the movement for the European Left party for principal
reasons, but wants to keep open all contacts with parties,
which take part or have an observer status. The restoration
of the communist movement only has started recently.

The NCPN is going for the advancement of a strong communist
movement based on Marxism-Leninism. We strive for
additional smaller, but actual and practical working,
concrete international forms of cooperation between
communist parties, whereby we moreover are looking for
affiliation to the trade-union movement in the countries
concerned. The NCPN considers the strengthening of the
communist influence in the trade unionism of decisive
importance, but the party does not escape from the
participation in the various social forums. The NCPN give
primacy to the advancement of the communist world movement,
but that cannot hinder contacts with and in WSF and other
anti-globalisation movements.

The NCPN rejects the attacks by right-wing parties in the
European Parliament on communist parties. However, that
attack offers also new chances for the communist movement,
to debate with progressives and others parts of the
population and to show them the growing ideological
similarity in the bourgeois and fascist ideologies. We have
to convince the working class that only socialism will
change the world.

NCPN, Oktober 2005
Wil van der Klift
International secretary
New Communist Party of the Netherlands