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The Deepening Crisis of World Imperialism, and Need for Broad Anti-imperialist Unity

(Paper presented by Com Sudhakar Reddy on behalf of the Communist Party of India to the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties, Johannesburg, South Africa, 3-5 December 2010)

Dear comrades,

First of all, please accept my greetings on behalf of the Communist Party of India (CPI) to all those participating in this important conference of the Communist and Workers’ Parties, hosted by the great South African Communist Party. It is only fitting that the SACP is hosting it, as it is a party which has gone through much stormy and bitter struggles in its history against apartheid and other grotesque forms of imperialism and colonialism in the course of its glorious history, full of ups and downs, battles of all kinds and varied and successful experiences, including the parliamentary democratic one at present as well as armed and underground one in the past. It has played a great role in uniting all the democratic forces of the country. It has played a crucial role in cooperating with forces of liberty led by the great Nelson Mandela.

All this is a great inspiration for us in India.

Dear comrades,

We are meeting here at the right time, which is also very crucial for the people of the world. It is not just symbolic that the theme of the conference is related with deepening crisis of capitalism and imperialism, the need for social alliance and united front against world imperialism, and the role of this struggle for peace, democracy and socialism. We have gathered here to chart out the path and role of us Communists in these historic times, for the Communists are and should be the foremost in these struggles. The theme of the conference, therefore, is closely related with the very lives of the peoples all over the world.

World imperialist economy went into deep economic crisis beginning with mid-2008. the crisis continues unabated. One crisis is not over, and another takes place, overlapping the previous one. This is a typical present-day feature. The bourgeois economists connected with the west and its leaders expected that the crisis would be over soon and the finance capital-led development would regain its easy and even-paced movement. Imperialist development has never been free from crises and crashes and collapses, and had never been easy and even-paced. But the present crisis has several features hitherto unknown or not so prominent. It shows not only the dominance of finance capital over the rest of the economy, including the productive one. It also shows the brittle and weak nature of this very financial dominance. Therefore, the people have all the potentials and prospects to fight back the present crisis.

It is perhaps for the first time that finance capital has become so isolated and cut-off from its productive base and fallen into such a deep crisis. When we met last in world conference held in New Delhi, we had agreed that it was a systemic crisis. Our analysis has been confirmed since. The crisis, which began in the leading imperialist country of the United States, has spread far and wide, and has been expressed in the crises with epicenters in Greece, Portugal, France and then in Ireland and elsewhere. The crises waves continue to rock the world imperialist system. The whole of Europe is shaken by the sudden crisis in Greece. The governments of the Western Europe have rushed to ‘bail-out’ the Greek economy, lest it should affect them and sink them. This again is the result of the financial weigh down on the whole economy and of the growing interconnection and globalization of the European and world economy, exacerbated by the misuse of the new technological and communication systems by the finance and the imperialist circles.

The latest in the series is the economic shake up in Ireland. The financial crisis there has reached a stage where the European Union/IMF have announced a bail-out of about a 100 billion euros. Besides, Britain has announced 7 billion pounds of separate loan. Britain has a huge stake in Ireland; at the same time the leading west European countries fear the Irish crisis would engulf their own economies.

Ireland had to announce an austerity plan, which includes reduction of the minimum wages, cuts in public service staff, reduction in pensions and other anti-people measures as well several financial ones. Such are the measures generally used by the imperialist circles to meet their crises: they shift their losses and problems onto the mass of the people.

Among the interesting factors and sources of the financial crisis is that a handful of the financial and other banks grow bigger than even a country’s economy several times over. The banks loan vast amounts of cash to purchase shares in other banks. Generally, the only collateral for those loans are the shares themselves. Thus, when one bank fails, large portions of the collaterals become worthless. The banks start to run out of cash, and they then turn to the government and the central banks and institutions for help or ‘bail-out’.

This is what is happening in many of the advanced imperialist countries.

We are witnessing a strange phenomenon today, where the leading western imperialist countries and groupings like the US and EU have to intervene and ‘bail-out’ the sinking economies, because this is directly related to their own economies. It is not in favour of the people that they intervene, but for the large financial interests.

The crisis grows unabated.

Growing People’s Movement

Europe and other parts of the world are witnessing a growing mass struggle against the imperialist and financial circles on the problems of unemployment, subsidies, cuts in the public spending, democratic rights, against the growing grip of the MNCs on the economic, social and individual lives, partial or total decimation of social security. Europe is witnessing the kind of people’s mass actions, with which we are so familiar in India. Mass historic actions have taken place in France in the recent weeks and months one after another, shutting down vast sectors of industries and services. Mass demonstrations broke out spontaneously and rallies were held in an organised manner in the European cities and capitals. Among the unique features of these movements is their massive and continuous character. A unique rally took place at the headquarters of the European union (EU) in Brussels recently with the participation of various sections of people drawn from different countries. Mass people’s actions continue to rock the European cities. This reflects the rising levels of mass movement against the domination by the monopolist governments, the bureaucracy, the MNCs, finance capital and the big and monopoly business.

The Indian Situation

The policies of globalization and liberalization are being followed actively in our country, leading to a serious situation on economic, and consequently on the social and political fronts. The government of India has been following a course of growth-led development. The rate of growth of the Indian economy is quite high, as also of China. And this certainly has some advantages. It contrasts with the western capitalist countries, and this fact has been of some help in times of the recent crisis. This is because we have a strong public sector, to save which our Party is fighting very hard. The struggle to save and strengthen the state and the public sector is among the key planks of our mass movements and political-economic course.

Yet the growth-led economy hides within it the growing contradictions of the capitalist path of development. The advantages of the growth are hardly reaching the mass of the people. The peasants are forced to commit suicides on a big scale, unable to free themselves of the heavy debts they are incurring. The rate of growth in the agricultural sector is much lower and tardy. It is unable to create jobs, and as result, there is a growing mass migration of the rural poor and marginalized peasants, creating further crisis and panic in the urban as well as overall employment market.

Sensex and stock market health is often presented by the government and the official circles as the sign of the good health of the Indian economy, but that is not true. Firstly, the sensex do not necessarily reflect the real state of the economy. And secondly, even the stock market is not in a good health, always. The increase, even doubling, of the sensex in the last few years have largely been the result of a surge in speculation. This speculation is partly driven by the FII inflows consisting mainly of the hedge funds and such other flows. They have used the routes like that of the participatory notes to enter the Indian market.

Quite often, mistakenly and deliberately, the wealth is measured by market values and market capitalization. This may not provide a real picture of the state of affairs. Paper money and its transactions particularly that represented by the stock market, does not always represent the condition of the productive side of the economy. Speculation and stock market often hides the real economy and exacerbates the crisis that has already set in.

As a result the markets fell heavily in 2008 and later. The market capitalization fell by 46% in the first half of 2008. The contradiction of the system is brought by the single fact that even when the sensex crossed 21000 mark, a farmer was committing suicide every 30 minutes in some place or the other in the country. The two extreme poles reflect the growing tensions in the economy, polity and society.

The problem in India is not that we have already been taken over completely by imperialist, monopoly and finance capital. What we are seriously concerned with is the weak-kneed policies of the present government. That threatens the existing structure and pillars of the economy built after the country’s freedom. Our party has been fighting for the creation and strengthening of a powerful state/public sector as the axis for the building of the country’s independent economy, which would curb the monopolies and solve the problems of the people. That way the people would have a strong base for raising their demands and problems, and try to solve them.

The path of liberalisation and globalization followed in the last two decades have widened the gulf between the rich and the poor and exacerbated all the contradictions. What we are concerned about is the threat to the public sector and the relatively independent path built around it. A course of disinvestment is being followed, started by the previous rightwing political combination and still continued in some form by the present one. We want the public sector not only to stay there but also to be strengthened.

India has a huge labour force, and therefore the problems related with employment/unemployment are also massive. The labour force in 1993-94 was estimated to be a little more than 345 million, which rose to nearly 430 million in 2004-05. The corresponding workforce was 327 million and more than 401 million respectively. There is an annual addition of 12 million persons to the labour force.

The difference between labour force and work force shows the extent of open unemployment. Open unemployment in 1993-94 was 18.18 million persons and in 2004-05 it rose to 28.75 million persons. Thus the unemployment rate hovers around 8%. The general trend of policies is anti-labour, with the industrial and labour machinery failing badly, and the judicial system too taking an anti-labour stance.

The economic, and employment and price crisis are not confined to the working class alone but affects the entire working population including the middle classes, better of consumers and professionals, who too are growingly dissatisfied with the government policies.

It is natural, and dangerous, that the rightwing reactionary forces take advantage of these critical situations and anti-people policies to foster communal-fascism, casteism and separatism, and to grow at the cost of the faulty government policies. Thus, we in India are facing twin dangers from right reaction and imperialism, helped by the thoughtless, neoliberal and big business oriented capitalist course full of contradictions, with little thought for the welfare of the people.

United People’s Action

The Communist Party of India (CPI) has been consistently struggling against anti-people policies of the ruling circles and for left and democratic alternative policies. It has launched mass struggles in the various states all over the country on people’s issues in the last few years. We have organized demonstrations, general strikes, processions, shut downs or the ‘bandhs’ as we term them, and nation-wide mobilizations including in form of ‘Delhi March’ in which people from all over the country gather in the national capital to raise their demands and protest against anti-people policies. ‘Dharnas’ (picketings) are also organized in the state headquarters and other places in large numbers.

The CPI is at the forefront of these struggles and is the main mass mobiliser. At the same time, we are also trying to organize joint struggles along with other left and democratic forces and parties. In recent times, several struggles, marches and all India strikes and actions have been organized together with the CPI (M), RSP, AIFB and other left parties as well as with progressive and democratic non-left organizations. Joint trade unions’ actions have broken out all over the country and in the national capital, led by the AITUC and other national and regional TU centres, in which even the trade unions belonging to the national bourgeois parties have taken part.

In the midst of these struggles, the left and democratic front governments in W. Bengal, Kerala etc have been a source of hope. The CPI and other left parties have strong bastions of bases in many of the Indian states.

So, we think that in order to fight the present crisis and to raise people’s demands, it is necessary to create a broad front of various forces fighting for a wide range of demands. At the same time, it is necessary to create through mass joint movements, a powerful mass unity against the finance capital, the MNCs and the monopolist policies and forces. In particular it is essential, and the present time is ripe, to create a broad-based anti-imperialist unity to bring about structural changes within the country as well as to strengthen the rising people’s movement all over the world.

Anti-imperialist Front: The Need of the Present Situation

The present-day world presents a favourable situation for the unity in principle and action of the various sections and classes of peoples of the whole world. Qualitatively new developments are taking place in different parts and countries, which show the rising consciousness of the masses who are coming into action. A whole lot of changes have taken hold of Latin America. A vast arena of kaleidoscopic changes has appeared in that great continent. In fact, it is a continental shift against imperialism, the US imperialism in particular, wherein the entire masses and countries are taking clear-cut positions against the globalization and liberalization imposed by the US. Almost a dozen countries have moved to the left and democratic positions using democratic institutions and mass movements, with the standing armies respecting the democratic verdicts. It is an entirely new transformation that needs to be studied. It is a living example of the formation of broad anti-imperialist fronts.

In Europe, a key centre of world imperialism, not only have mass movements of the broadest kinds appeared, but also the representation of the left, progressives and democrats in the legislatures have strengthened. New sections and classes are joining the mass upsurge on scales not seen in recent years. Mass movements in France, Portugal, Greece, Spain, Italy, Belgium etc have become a source of inspiration for us, and a source of hope. The European Union has become a centre of battles of the masses on unemployment and other questions. In fact the problems go much deeper to the structural questions, related with the forcible imposition of the financial capitalist system and policies.

Vast transformations are taking place in the African and the Asian continents, where the masses have begun asserting themselves in the broadest possible unity. South Africa itself is a source of inspiration and a lesson in using methods in bringing about the unity of the peoples and organizations.

In Nepal, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan etc mass activities of various kinds are taking place.

Role of the Developing World Today

The developing countries are a crucial component of the worldwide changes that are taking place today. Things have drastically changes over the decades, and the developing countries have begun asserting themselves as never before. They are no more the objects of history but now its subjects. They are no more the downtrodden and the poor helpless outcasts; today they are asserting themselves politically, socially and economically. The developing countries are today emerging as crucial economic factor, and that is a crucial change.

The developing countries are emerging as an important factor in the world economy and politics, and this is among the most notable changes in the contemporary world. They are no more only the sources of raw materials and grounds for colonial and imperialist investment. For the first time, they have become influential factor in the world economy, which world imperialism has to take into account. This is crucial for the worldwide anti-imperialist struggle and front.

The countries of the BRIC, South Africa and others maintain high rates of growth, at least two to three, even four times those of the advanced capitalist countries. The China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa and other developing countries have a major share of the world economy in terms of production and sales. These countries now pose a growing threat to the domination of the imperialist countries over the world economy. So much so that the US president has to go around the developing countries virtually pleading for jobs for the Americans. Exports from the developing countries in several items and commodities today pose a major threat to the domination of the big business of the advanced imperialist countries. Some of the developing countries have even mooted the idea of floating a new international currency at par with those of the advanced countries.

Thus the developing countries have begun to play an influential role in the world economy as productive and manufacturing centres, in addition to other contributions. This has contributed to a certain change in the balance of forces. The US imperialism is not always able to have its way. Even the imperialist circles are forced to recognize the constructive and important role and impact of the fast growing developing countries like China, India, Brazil, Venezuela, Vietnam and others. There are lot of potentials for the future.

The events show that while the high rates of growth have to be restructured within each country in favour of the people to solve the people’s and country’s problems, such rates at the same time they can be used to oppose imperialist economic and political domination at world level.

If the developing countries come together on the basic problems of the world, the anti-imperialist struggle at world level can be strengthened, in the course of which an anti-imperialist front can emerge.

In our opinion, the present situation contains lots of potentials for forging a viable broad and united anti-imperialist alternative at the international level.

With greetings and best wishes, thank you very much for your kind attention.