In Ireland we do
share an electorate platform with the S.P. However, every country has different
strengths and weaknesses. In Ireland the partnership agreement has effectively gagged
the trade union movement, which has almost entirely wiped clear any memory of organised
struggle from the rank and file, where as in Britain this is much stronger. I
think the strategy we employ have to consider the real material forces, which
have emerged over the last 30 years, as its this understanding that exposes the
real material agent of social forces in society at large.
For instance it is
not uprising that women have been at the forefront of struggle in Ireland, as
the shifts in production to a service based economy has accelerated women in
the work place. This has intern highlighted women as key social force in
agitating against austerity as they have the most to lose. Another important
factor is how capitalism has shifted from industrial capital to financial capital
so often we hear that Marx was primarily concerned with industrial workers. Yet
although this is a complete misunderstanding of Marx’s class analysis it still
has a lot of purchase.
The point being that wage labour has no control over their
conditions increasingly capitalism under neo liberalism has drawn this
pool into an ever higher proportion. So regardless of people working in banks, industry
or in services their condition is bound to market forces revealing higher levels
of alienated labour with little or no means to alleviate these forces. This means that out of necessity we have to appeal
to the widest layers of society exhausting all political and economic reforms
at are disposal to highlights the inadequacies of bourgeois rule.
One of the most
important characteristics of the neo liberalism today is that capitalism hasn’t
the funds or recourses to buy off large sections of working calss, as it did in
late 60s. This is important when considering cuts in health, education and
housing not only does this expose reformist parties for their inadequacies at maintaining
a fairer type of capitalism. It also highlights a clear ideological argument
which is, if you want a health system, if you want better housing and education
the state will not be able to provide for these, as these demands curtails capitalisms
ability to accumulate. Therefore reformist demands, such as these will have to
be fought for, which means going against the logic of the system.
I can definitely
empathise with your argument about the media yet the media are limited to the strengths
and weakness of struggle. The greater the struggle on the streets the further
they isolate them self’s form being biased and as you said correctly supporting
the 1 percent. Philosophically the bourgeois logic stems from the notion that
the idea precedes the act. the reason why I mention this is that often the media
present the world, as individual actors all competing against one another in an
atomised existence .this in times of boom conceals the true social relations operating
to maintain the system. These social relations are forged into class antagonism
which emerges from the money form.
Yet although the media presents this false world dominated by these atomistic features, in periods of struggle consciousness is untied against the material forces of exploitation. It’s this combined and often contradictory consciousness that shapes the point of struggle against austerity. The reason why it’s combined is that by self interest it forces consciousness to generalise against the cuts, but its contradictory character can undermine the leaps being made by engaging in struggle with backward ideas stemming form reactionary views being disseminated by the media.
The reason why it shapes the point of struggle against
austerity is based on the strengths of the revolutionary party to intervene in
these arguments and push the movement forward. Unfortunately our rulers look
for weaknesses in the movement and try to break through those lines of resistance.
Fortunately our rulers globally are on the retreat yet with the huge consignment
of recourses at their disposal they can always turn this around. This is why we
have to be very concrete about our demands and know are strengths and
limitations we to go on the defensive and when to retreat.
In my opinion ironically
the ideological malaise of post modernity which prioritised political rights
over economic rights have given us a chance to unite the political economic sphere.
Issues like, LGBT, Race equality and Women’s Rights have become popularised in
society, as a default strand of struggle against Neo liberalism. Yet, as the economic
crisis grows in stature these two seemingly separate categories according to bourgeois
experts are being forced together. However, in order to seize upon this opportunity
we must purge the more conservative layers of the left to take advantage of
this situation.
However the strength
of revolutionary party can intervene in these forces, which questions and
eliminates the more reactionary ideas of the movement and push it, as a generalised
force against the cuts and more importantly beyond the logic of capitalism. Yet
this means appealing to widest layers of society even with those who seam to
have a reactionary consciousness. There is no such thing as pure consciousness
we are all tarnished by media bias, but in directly challenging the system we collectively
challenge racist and sexist ideas within society.
Gramsci was right when he used the term the organic intellectual
capitalism by it very nature pushes people into interdependency yet it relies
on a pyramid scheme to redistribute profit. When we question the nature of the
system through struggle we highlight the limitations of our rulers. More to the
point the oxygen that sustains capitalism is our own inaction and apathy collectively
we are the agents of change once we realise our power the bias of the media
will seam irrelevant and perversely mediocre.
