[TLDR (too long didn’t read): If you are reading this, chances are it behooves you. This Reader is about wither HR when the political pendulum veers excessively to the right. For a quick overview, just read the bolded text]. Traducir/traduire los/les Readers; usar/utiliser deepl.com
—Even those who promise to transform everything end up administering the same order.
—The new fascist leaders present themselves as offering the people an ‘efficient synthesis’, a promise of order without guilt, a strong state without hesitation, Capitalism without moral progressivism. (Alejandro Mora D.)
1. The good thing about being part of the ruling class in a society is that the accumulated material, economic, and military power gives its members crystal-clear clarity about their class interests –along with an iron will to defend them at any cost. This ruling class is part of the commercial-industrial-financial bourgeoisie, subordinately linked to transnational corporations and to US imperialism. Yes, let us not kid ourselves, there is no longer a truly national bourgeoisie with which the popular sectors can forge an alliance.
2. The ruling class is not concerned about being a minority in the social body. For it, cohesion is more important than numbers. Let us, therefore, be clear about the characteristics of the strategic enemy we face.*
*: According to Gramsci, the ruling classes subjugate the peoples and the popular masses, not only with the coercion or force of their armed apparatus, but also with the consensus created by their ideological apparatus: such as:
- schools and the entire educational system;
- the conservative sectors of the Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim churches;
- television news and entertainment programs; and finally
- through the massive use of social media in a devious way.
3. The result is a population deprived of class consciousness, a population that does not understand its objective interests and whose greatest aspiration is to distance itself from the poor behind it in order to be as close as possible to ‘those at the top’. Therefore, there is no cohesion, only dispersion, disorientation, and lack of direction.**
**: “The nature of the people is fickle; it is easy to convince them of something, but difficult to keep them convinced.” (Machiavelli)
4. The Center-Left that, on a path marked by failures, set out to ‘humanize’ Capitalism by declaring the class struggle abolished, replaced it with a ‘dialogue-and-the-harmonious-coexistence-of-diversity’ —only to ultimately follow the agenda set by The Right… There is no longer any consistency or continuity between the people and those who claim to represent them. For a long time, the masses follow The Left, only to be met with disappointment after disappointment. Over and over, those who identify/ied as Center-Left (and even left-wing) progressives fail/ed to deliver on their program and, on the contrary, adopted the program and agenda of the reactionary Right, distancing themselves from the social demands most felt by the vast majority. This is what leaves the people in the clutches of fascism.
And now, what are we going to do? This is undoubtedly the most difficult question, but we must try to answer it
5. Marx’s statement that “the emancipation of the workers will be the work of the workers themselves” rings true. I do not believe that the people united can advance without a party. The mission of bringing socialist consciousness to the popular movement is the primary function of a party, but not just any party, and in no case one with a reformist agenda. We are talking about a party that provides leadership, is not alien to the popular movement, but is born from it and is organically linked to it. The people united are potentially capable of fighting for their emancipation and for a country for all, one that is just, fair and fully supportive of human rights.
6. There is also a great responsibility for all of us who feel we are on the genuine Left. Let us not always lament what others do. They do what they have to do to succeed, using all the means at their disposal. We have to build an alternative that allows us to change things, otherwise we will continue to be the dog that barks at the Right, but does not bite. Ergo, we need a genuine Left capable of opposition., This is the essential task of this historic moment in which fascism is becoming global; it calls for the construction of a new type of Left Party whose objective is the triumph of indispensable social and structural changes, centered on human rights and one that builds a staunch opposition to Capitalism. It must be a party that is capable of bringing together all the scattered factions into a single fist and presenting to society as a whole a project and program that unites the popular sectors, breaking the ideological hegemonies of reaction and reformism, creating a new common sense.
7. On the international stage, the party will practice independence, self-determination, and solidarity among peoples, and will be anti-fascist, anti-imperialist, and will defend multilateralism.
8. All this is not the end, though. It is just the beginning of a task more serious than what we have been part of (or not) in the past. And those who hear this call know that the task is great… but so is the moment. Will the people, as protagonists, organized, conscious, and mobilized, be able to defend the people victoriously? (Pedro Sandoval, Chile)
Claudio Schuftan, Ho Chi Minh City
Your comments are welcome at schuftan@gmail.com