(1) Div., “Manifest – Krant van de Nieuwe Communistische Partij” 9 juni, HOC 2022 - Andrea Sörensen, “Communistische Partij van Zweden [SKP] over de NAVO “; “As communists, we are against the strengthening of any imperialist alliance. This also applies to NATO, especially as it is the strongest imperialist alliance in the world today. // There are many reasons for our resistance. - In the first place, the process poses a great threat to the peoples of the northern and Baltic regions, because the military attention of the competitors of the Swedish bourgeoisie will be more clearly focused on us. / Secondly, membership will mean that young people in our own country are at greater risk of being sent abroad to protect the interests of the Swedish bourgeoisie in particular and the common interests of the bourgeoisie of NATO member states in general to defend. // Thirdly, this is an expression of the strengthening of the position of the Swedish bourgeoisie in the imperialist system. The Swedish bourgeoisie is small but active, with large interests abroad. Amid the sharpening of contradictions within the imperialist system, it is necessary for it to take more steps to safeguard these interests.
(2) Passim: Why does the Social Democratic government, which was once against NATO, now want this membership? Do they have understandable reasons? - We see economic reality as the primary driving force behind politics. In 2021, the Congress of Social Democrats confirmed that "neutrality has served us well" and that Sweden "will not become a member of NATO". A year later, they are the driving force behind the accession process. This is a reflection of the rapid developments and changes within the imperialist system. // Competition between Western capital and Russian capital took a qualitative leap with the imperialist invasion of Ukraine. For the Swedish bourgeoisie, the defense of its own interests became more urgent. The Swedish bourgeoisie has made huge investments in the Baltic region, where it faces competition from Russian imperialism. At the same time, the Baltic Sea is of strategic importance not only to Sweden, but also to Russia. The general sharpening of the contradictions brings out these specific contradictions more sharply. // It is also important to point out that Sweden has important links mainly with the German and US markets, linking Swedish interests to German and US markets; and where important economic relations exist, political and military relations follow.
(3) Passim: The question of whether it is understandable or not is therefore not the main question. Of course it is understandable. It is understandable from the point of view of the Swedish bourgeoisie. We understand the reasons behind this development, but understanding does not mean accepting. // If it is officially realised, what impact will this membership have on Sweden and also on regional/international relations? - There are a few different consequences of Sweden's NATO membership. Most obviously, relations between Sweden and Russia will deteriorate further and economic and political exchanges between the two countries will decline. // The official achievement of membership will also bring Sweden closer politically, militarily and economically to the US, Germany and other major imperial powers in the West. At the same time, it will also lead to a political consolidation of the Nordic region within the framework of NATO.
(4) Passim: In general, this is part of a process in which the imperialist blocs in the world are consolidating. The sharpening of the contradictions makes it more and more difficult to remain neutral and to exist outside a block. This logic applies not only to Finland and Sweden, but to every capitalist country in the world, because every capitalist country is part of the same system. // As we can see there is no extensive protest from the Swedish public against NATO, does your party have a plan or call to prevent this membership? - The Swedish public remains relatively passive, although a significant proportion of them reject membership. However, they will not take to the streets with their opinion. // There are protests and demonstrations against this development, but they remain politically immature and the participants are ideologically fragmented. While parts of the movement support the Russian invasion and side with Russian capital in its fight against Western capital, other parts support the supply of arms to Ukraine and side with Western capital instead. None of them have managed to take a stand in support of the working people of Ukraine and Russia, and few have even managed to link this development with the capitalist system. / ()Passim: This ideological fragmentation manifests itself in confusion about what is going on and an inability to analyze and mobilize effectively. That is why we have chosen to distance ourselves from this movement as such and instead focus on our own work. // In this context it must be said that we are a small party. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to consider plans to stop or prevent membership. We are taking advantage of the situation to express our views, and we are also organizing protests against this development. We are on the cusp of an election campaign in which opposition to this development will take a prominent place. //
(4) Passim: What has been the effect of the war in Ukraine on Sweden so far (social, economic, political etc.)? - The war in particular and the sharpening of contradictions in general have affected Sweden in a number of ways. // It is clear that this development has enabled the bourgeoisie to officially reject neutrality and pursue NATO membership, which in turn will have a major impact on the security situation in our country. // Apart from that, we have seen the political climate change. The expressions of solidarity with Ukraine are immense and have reached extreme proportions. Russian folk music bands have been disbanded, Russian foodstuffs have been taken off the shelves and our party offices in the southern city of Malmö have been vandalized as a result of our resistance to arms supplies to Ukraine. //As in the rest of the world, prices of basic goods and housing have skyrocketed in recent months, raising the cost of living and putting additional pressure on people here. This is partly a result of the sanctions against and from Russia, but it is also a result of general inconsistencies within the system, which affect oil and gas prices, as well as a number of other factors. // Finally, what is your comment on the Turkish government's veto and its demands to accept the NATO membership of these two countries? - In Sweden, the issue has been portrayed as starting and ending with the Kurdish issue. Sweden has granted asylum to a number of Kurdish refugees from Turkey, who want Turkey extradited. The arms embargo that Finland and Sweden declared against Turkey in 2019 is sometimes mentioned. More often, however, the media focuses on the Kurdish issue. // This partly misses the point, because with this kind of reporting, Turkey's position within the imperialist system remains hidden and unclear.
(5) Passim: We can see that in many ways Turkey is more dependent on Russia than on the US. The volume of trade between Turkey and Russia is greater than that between the US and Turkey; Turkish investments in Russia are more important than Turkish investments in the US; the energy situation in Turkey makes it necessary to maintain at least friendly relations with Russia; the construction of a nuclear power plant in the south of Turkey by Russia is a very important motive for maintaining good relations with Russia; Turkey has bought Russian weapons instead of American weapons. // So one has to ask: what would be a good way to show Russia that Turkey does not automatically take the position of the US and its allies? Reject the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO. Ultimately, they may be unlikely to refuse Sweden and Finland accession, but they will have maintained a certain level of friendly relations with Russia through their actions. // We stand by it: the economic factor is the primary driver behind any country's policy.”
(6) Peter Wahl, “Beilage Marxistische Blätter nr. 1 / Der Ukraine-Krieg und seine geopolitischen Hintergründe“, Neue Impulse Verlag 2022; ”China’s
rise from developing country to superpower is not only unique in human history, but also a shock to the United States. This is not the place to discuss China’s model of society – state capitalism, socialist market economy, etc. However, two fundamental facts must be noted, which are also geopolitically highly relevant: – the overcoming of absolute poverty and increasing mass prosperity are, especially in comparison with India, which had similar starting
conditions, an expression of a development model oriented towards the social
community. The end of poverty opens up opportunities for individual
self-realization and material rights for hundreds of millions of people through
participation in the education, health system and culture. This is certainly
confirmed by the broad and growing approval of the population over the last few years, as well as by surveys carried out by western countries. The social
climate is very different from that of crises and catastrophes in western
societies; – The condition sine qua non of the rise was the role of the CP. As
always otherwise judges the country’s political system, this adds an extra
dimension to the usual geopolitical rivalry with the US, including an
ideological systemic conflict.”
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(7) Peter Wahl, “Beilage Marxistische Blätter nr. 1 / Der Ukraine-Krieg und seine geopolitischen Hintergründe“, Neue Impulse Verlag 2022; ”Here now – in telegram silence – the essential cornerstone of the systemic view of the world order: Firstly: the starting point is the fact that no state exists for all of itself, but only in interrelationship with others, with neighbors, rivals, like-minded people, etc. Accordingly, their foreign policy behavior arises not only because of the circumstances in one, but also because of the dynamics of the system in which something is an element. There is a systemic logic that constructs path dependencies. That does not mean that this system would be mechanical clockwork. As made by humans, it always creates different possibilities for action. / For example by replacing power-political confrontation with peace-oriented cooperation. / Second: There are no world stats. This is what distinguishes the international system fundamentally from the internal system of states. Due to constitutions, the legal system, the political system, etc., modern statehood has a high density of regulations that are supposed to keep the power relations and conflicts of society on the right track and to moderate them. On the other hand, interstate relations are more like what political theory describes as a ‘social state of nature’, which is far less ordered than tends to show anarchistic traits. Regulating forms of instruments of state exists here only in rudimentary form as international law, interstate treaties and international institutions. Above all, there is no legitimate supreme instance, such as a constitutional court and an executive body that implements its decisions. The UN Security Council, which should tend to be able to do this, is blocked by the concrete system when veto powers are involved in conflicts.‘
(8) Passim: Third: Even if under international law all have the same status, and normally the elements of the systems are not equal. The system is hierarchical. Whoever is at the top has formative influence on the flow. The more it goes down, the less room for maneuver and influence. Fourth: the position in the hierarchy depends on the power resources that a country has at its disposal: military, economic, technological, political networks and soft power. The assertiveness and options for action for one’s own national interests result from this. / Fifth: Because of all these factors, the central regulatory principle in the international system is the power-political balance of power. Norms, international law and institutional arrangements are only accepted by the big players as long as they do not call their vital interests into question. If possible, a great power does not want any normative commitments that could restrict power-political room for maneuvers. Here, too, the USA is the leading global power. // 3. In the epicenter: unipolar versus multipolar world order – from the power-political power relations there are systemic dynamics. For about a decade and a half after the end of the USSR, the system was unipolar, i.e. the United States was the undisputed sole superpower. It was the era of the American empire. Meanwhile the unipolar world order is coming to an end. In its place is a multipolar system. At its heart is the rivalry between the USA and China. At the same time, Russia is making a comeback as a great power. India is also striving to become a superpower. /
(9) Passim: The conflict between a unipolar and a multipolar world order has been at the center of the international system with increasing importance for about a decade. It forms its operating system, which not only shapes the behavior of the major powers, but also influences all important regional problems. The upheaval means a de-Westernization of the world and the end of 500 years of Euro-Atlantic supremacy. Barack Obama put it succinctly: ‘Those who think that America is in the doldrums or that it would lose its global leadership role are wrong. … America must always lead on the world stage. … I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being.’ Joe Biden is unbroken in the same tradition: ‘I want to ensure that America continues to rule the world’ because ‘no other nation has the ability to do so.’ Although barely acknowledged by the social left in Western Europe, for the USS power elites it is by far the top of their agenda. / In addition, the strategic goal of Chinese and Russian foreign policy is a multipolar world order, as already formulated in 2009 at the BRICS summit in Yekaterinburg: ‘We want a democratic and just multipolar world based on international law, equality, mutual respect, the cooperation, the common trade ns and collective decisions of all states.’ Or in the words of the Chinese stats and party leader: ‘We must not let the rains be determined by one or a few countries, which they impose on others or allow unilateralism in certain countries that want to set the direction for the whole world.”
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(10) Div., “Manifest – Krant van Nieuwe Communistische Partij” 19 december 2023 – Joke van den Boogert, “Griekenland: uitvalsbasis voor twee oorlogen”; ” Het was te verwachten gezien het strategische akkoord tussen Griekenland en de VS, waarbij vliegvelden, havens, een reeks militaire installaties, en alle civiele en militaire infrastructuur ter beschikking staan van de NAVO en de VS, zodra deze nodig zijn voor militaire operaties. Zoals nu, voor de oorlog tussen Israël en Palestina. Op het moment is heel Griekenland, van noord tot zuid, een uitvalsbasis voor twee oorlogen: namelijk die in Oekraïne en die in Israël. Het zat er al aan te komen, want in januari 2020 landden Amerikaanse helikopters op het vliegveld van Elefsina om vandaar via Rhodos naar bases in het Midden-Oosten te vliegen. // Vervolgens steeg in december 2021 een vliegende Griekse radar op in Elefsina en vloog tot aan Bulgarije om een flink deel van de Zwarte Zee te inspecteren en zo de NAVO een beeld te geven van de manoeuvres van de Russische strijdkrachten. Het ging hier om een routinemissie, althans zolang de krachtmeting tussen de NAVO en Rusland voortduurt. Bovendien vertrokken in februari 2022 twee C-130 transportvliegtuigen met oorlogsmaterieel voor de strijdkrachten in Oekraïne uit Elefsina. Die vervoerden duizenden Kalasjnikovs, plus nog ander materieel voor de oorlog en landden in Polen vlak bij de grens met Oekraïne. Er volgden nog twee vluchten met antitankgeschut en raketten. Dit soort missies gaan nog steeds door.
(11) Passim: Griekenlands betrokkenheid bij de oorlogen in het noorden en het zuiden van de regio neemt alleen maar toe, maar ook haar rol bij alles wat te maken heeft met vervoer van grondstoffen, zoals aardgas en aardolie. Zo’n 24 jaar geleden werden rijke aardgasvelden ontdekt in de zee bij Gaza. Dat aardgas wordt niet gewonnen, want Israël verhindert dat. Bovendien zijn de energiekolossen erg voorzichtig om veiligheidsredenen. Het grootste veld, Gaza Marine, ligt ongeveer 30 kilometer ten westen van de kust van Gaza. Dit veld werd in 2000 ontdekt door British Gas. Een rapport van de VN uit 2019 bevestigde de aanwezigheid van grote aardgas- en olievelden op Palestijns grondgebied en in zee ter hoogte van de Gazastrook. In dat rapport staat dat: “het bezette Palestijnse grondgebied zich op belangrijke olie- en aardgasvelden in de regio van de bezette Westoever en in de Middellands Zee ter hoogte van de Gaza Strook bevindt.” In het rapport wordt er voorts op gewezen dat de Palestijnen zelf geen baat bij deze rijkdom hebben, omdat zij die niet kunnen exploiteren vanwege de Israëlische bezetting. Via een bemiddeling door Egypte is Israël akkoord gegaan met de winning van dit Palestijnse aardgas vanaf 2024. Een belangrijke aanleiding waren de stijgende energieprijzen, vooral na het begin van de oorlog in Oekraïne toen Europa naar alternatieve mogelijkheden zocht om minder afhankelijk van Russisch’ gas te zijn. () Passim: Egypte en Israël zouden toezien op de winning en een deel van het aardgas zou van Israël naar Europa worden vervoerd via Cyprus en Griekenland. Afgelopen september sloten de premiers van Israël, Cyprus en Griekenland een samenwerkingsakkoord voor energie, veiligheid en defensie. De Griekse premier bezocht Benjamin Netanyahu in oktober om zijn steun aan Israël te betuigen na de aanval van Hamas. Uit bovenstaande feiten blijkt dat Griekenland (en Cyprus) steeds nauwer betrokken raakt bij de gevaarlijke Euro-Atlantische plannen in het oostelijke Middellandse Zeegebied als deel van het trilaterale akkoord van september onder de hoede van de VS. De inschattingen dat een genocide en/of verdrijving van de Palestijnen uit de Gaza Strook Israël vrij spel zou geven voor de winning van bovengenoemde aardgasvelden, nemen toe. De ontwikkelingen van de laatste weken duiden in elk geval in de richting van deze gruwelijke genocide met de Palestijnen als slachtoffer.”
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(12) Div., Manifest – Krant van de Nieuwe Communistische Partij” 2, Stichting HOC 2024 - Aris, “Politieke inleiding namens het partijbestuur – De actuele ontwikkelingen in binnen – en buitenland”; “The formation is now in full swing. On the surface, things don't seem to be going smoothly. The bourgeois media pays a lot of attention to tweets from Wilders, Omtzicht, Yeşilgöz and so on. So pay particular attention to the people and how their ideas would clash. There appears to be little concern about the content of the policy for the coming years, but mainly about the form of the cabinet. // But this is just the surface. Because in the background the ruling class is indeed busy with the content of the policy. The capitalist class is primarily concerned with economic developments. The capitalist economic crisis of 2020 was followed by only two years of recovery. In 2023, the Dutch economy will have gone through a months-long recession. Productivity is hardly growing anymore. The prospects for investment are bleak. There is a longer trend of shrinkage in industry, especially manufacturing, metal, chemicals, mechanical engineering and other branches. Capital is concerned about the deindustrialization of the Netherlands and the consequences this has for its competitive position.
(13) Passim: Capital sees a series of bottlenecks that prevent further capitalist economic growth, mainly limitations in infrastructure, the energy and transportation network, high material costs, shortages of cheap and trained labor, labor costs, but also concerns about the government's capacity to to continue to support capital in international competition. // The capitalist class is concerned about the vulnerability of the economy in the light of international developments. Signals are coming from all over the world about dire economic prospects. World trade is faltering. International conflicts escalate. But what the Dutch bourgeoisie is particularly concerned about is that the European Union is falling behind in the competition with other power blocs such as the US and China. // In the context of all these concerns and prospects, the ruling class is busy preparing numerous measures in various areas to improve the so-called 'business environment' and remove bottlenecks to the growth of capital. Some examples are as follows:
(14) Passim: 1. First of all, the 'green transition'. This is not about protecting the environment against real problems resulting from environmental degradation, climate change, etc. The so-called 'green transition' is a policy of the European Union and the Dutch government with large-scale investments and measures aimed at securing the competitive position and profits of big business. // An important element is the 'energy transition'. Not because capital cares about the planet, but because the grid is full and the energy infrastructure needs to be overhauled to create space for investments. But also to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas in the context of the interimperialist contradictions. This includes ambitious projects, such as investments in the power network or infrastructure for shore-based electricity that is important for shipping and trade. But also the rollout of, for example, the Delta Rhine Corridor, which creates infrastructure for the fast and cheap transport of hydrogen, electricity, CO2, and possibly also ammonia, LPG and propylene.4 Capital requires stronger state intervention and public-private partnerships to energy transition.5 // Also within the context of the 'green transition' is the objective of a 'circular economy'.6 This is sold as a way to reduce the burden on the environment with waste. But the projects are part of what is called 'strategic autonomy' in the EU, or reducing the dependence on the Netherlands and the EU for raw materials.7 This is in the context of the increasing inter-imperialist contradictions and the increasing use of protectionist policies in international relations.
(15) Passim: 2. Secondly, the 'digital transformation', which, in addition to the 'green transition', is seen as crucial in the current international competition. The Netherlands currently has a relatively good position, but capital is concerned that the Netherlands and the EU are lagging behind competing countries.8 The digital transition concerns the development of new technology, but especially the implementation of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, in production, trade and other economic processes. // In addition, there is a call for 'digitalization of healthcare'. There is talk of 'labor-saving medical technology', which immediately makes it clear what purpose this digitalization of healthcare serves: saving labor, but also organizing this sector so that it can fulfill its function efficiently and cheaply and can be further commercialized. 9 In a similar manner, there are calls for digitization of education. And more generally for measures to further adapt education to the interests of the business community. // Part of the digital transformation is the so-called 'digital government'. In other words, a government that can support capital more efficiently in all kinds of areas. New technologies such as artificial intelligence are used by, for example, the tax authorities, but also collect and analyze intelligence about citizens. // 3. Thirdly, investments in infrastructure to promote mobility, to expand the capacity for export, import and transit and to strengthen the competitive position of Dutch capital. This concerns projects for roads, but also rail, water and air. // 4. Fourth, reforms in the labor market. Strikingly enough, employer organizations are talking about more permanent jobs. What they mean by this is that the hiring of employees on a permanent basis should be simplified, while at the same time emphasizing that the “important role [of] temporary employment in the labor market remains guaranteed,” as VNO-NCW puts it.12 In other words, while Flexibility is maintained, dismissal protection and other obligations of employers with permanent employment contracts must be further elaborated. Capital demands more permanent jobs that are less permanent. //
(16) Passim: 5. Fifth, expansion of defense and the war industry, with the aim of strengthening the geostrategic position of the Dutch capitalist class, including within NATO and the EU, and stimulating the faltering economy by militarizing it. Employers' organizations are even calling for the NATO standard of spending 2% of GDP on defense to be laid down in law.13 For comparison: in 2018, 9.1 billion or 1.2% of GDP went to defense, this year it 21.4 billion and 1.95%. // 6. Sixth, 'control over labor migration'. This means that only refugees and migrants who are economically useful to capital are admitted.14 The EU's efforts to keep out refugees and select them outside the borders of the EU also fit into this context. The right to asylum is thrown into the trash. // This is of course not a complete list, but it does give an indication of the capital's agenda. Moreover, on all these points there are divergent and conflicting interests within capital, which are also indirectly reflected in political developments.
(17) Passim: The formation and role of the bourgeois political parties - The first round of formation failed due to – or under the pretext of – setbacks in public finances. These setbacks were first made very big and then very nuanced. // But there is a reality behind this whole thing: there is a price tag on the green and digital transitions and the other measures on the wish list of big capital. There are limits to the possibilities of the Keynesian policy that the Dutch government has implemented in response to the capitalist economic crisis of 2020.15 An adjustment is taking place towards stricter budgetary policy. The discussions between the forming parties about finances also relate to the question of which points and to what extent the Keynesian approach is necessary - which the PVV and BBB in particular place more emphasis on - or a stricter budget policy - which the VVD and BBB Emphasize NSC more. In any case, new rounds of cuts and attacks on the living standards of the population are imminent, because we will ultimately have to pay for both 'healthy public finances' and state support for the 'green transition'.
(18) Passim: From publications by employers' organizations and other mouthpieces of big business, it is clear that the bourgeoisie is asking for a 'stable cabinet'.16 The letter from VNO-NCW to former informateur Plassterk stated: “The Netherlands needs action and a focus on implementation ,” which means the implementation of the aforementioned plans of the bourgeoisie.17 The discussions in the formation about the form of the cabinet – a classic majority cabinet, a minority cabinet or an extra-parliamentary cabinet – are therefore actually about the question of how a 'stable cabinet ' can be formed. A cabinet that can push through capital's agenda in such a way that the contradictions within capital hinder the efficiency of the state as little as possible and that the population can be included in that agenda. // The role of social democracy in this formation is striking. We already have two informants from PvdA-GroenLinks, who apparently put a lot of effort into making a cabinet with the extreme right possible. Although Social Democracy in general did not achieve a good result in these elections, we should not underestimate the ability of Social Democracy to recover. In the form of PvdA-GroenLinks, SP or new forms.
(19) Passim: As long as social democracy remains at a distance from government participation and is not necessary for majorities in parliament, it is quite possible that it will fulfill more of an opposition role within the trade union movement and other movements. It is important that as communists at the grassroots level we jointly fight with other workers, students, pensioners and other working class people for our interests. But at the same time we must point out the objective role of the social democratic parties, which bear great responsibility for enabling the rise of the extreme right. // What is striking is the tendency of the social democracy to conduct opposition in such a way that it puts the population in the favor of the bourgeoisie. We have seen this strongly in recent years, for example, in the environmental movement, where social democracy completely misses the point with the approach that measures do not go 'far enough', which entails the assumption that the measures in themselves are fantastic. People were mobilized to push government policy 'even further'. But that is not a protest against the government and the EU that are damaging the environment, but rather support for their so-called 'green' demolition policy. // In our political work in the movement it is therefore important to understand the problems well and, on that basis, formulate the demands and choose the forms of struggle that will help the movement move forward.
(20) Passim: Because the policies that the new government will implement encompass all sectors of the economy and penetrate many aspects of our lives, from care and incitement to war to education and the environment. All these measures have a class character. For example, the digital transformation: new technology can improve living conditions. But who decides how technology is used and for what interests? In the hands of capital, the working class pays the bill and often even has negative consequences for them. For example, digitalization of healthcare does not focus on how new technologies can be applied for the health of the population or to facilitate the work of healthcare personnel, but on cost-efficiency and commercialization.
(21) Passim: Developments in the agricultural sector and farmers' protests - It is important to discuss developments in the agricultural sector. There have been regular farmers' protests for several years now, including in many other countries. What kinds of protests are these and what class interests do they represent? This is a complex issue that we have not yet fully explored, but there are certain aspects that we need to highlight. // The issue is complicated by the great internal stratification within the peasant class. There are large capitalist farms that accumulate capital based on the exploitation of farm workers, often with underpaid foreign workers working in appalling conditions. But there are also many smaller farming households that are not capable of capital accumulation, who live mainly from their own labor, and who often even have part-time jobs in other sectors to make ends meet. A significant portion of the smaller farming households in the Netherlands even live below the low-income limit. They are being pushed out by the competition from the large capitalist agricultural companies. // These smaller farmers are exactly the ones being screwed over by the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. This policy is aimed at securing cheap raw materials for the monopolies in the processing industry and trade. Concentration of production is of great importance for the competitiveness of European monopolies vis-à-vis the US, BRICS and other blocs. Subsidies and regulations are therefore encouraging the concentration of land and capital in fewer and fewer hands in the agricultural sector. While there were still 400,000 farming households in the Netherlands after the Second World War, there are now fewer than 60,000.
(22) Passim: In the same context of guaranteeing cheap raw materials, the EU arbitrarily draws up and adapts regulations for agricultural products, often under the pretext of health and food safety. Trade agreements are also being drawn up with other countries to import cheap agricultural products for European monopolies, with which farmers in Europe can often hardly compete. This has destroyed entire branches of the agricultural sector in various countries in Europe. At the same time, European policy also leads to a large surplus of cheap agricultural products that are intended for export, often with disastrous consequences for the agricultural sector in other countries. // While food in the supermarket is very expensive for the working class, the farmer sees very little of it. The money is swallowed up by industrial capital, commercial capital and banking capital. That is what the EU's Common Agricultural Policy promotes. Ultimately, capital also determines for the agricultural sector what is produced, how much, where and how – based on what is profitable for them. This is ultimately the cause of both the desperate situation of hardworking small farmers and the effects of the capitalist economy on the environment and animal welfare. As communists we support the struggle of the small farmers. // The lack of a class-oriented line gives far-right forces free rein among the farmers, gives agricultural capitalists free rein to put their stamp on the content of the protests and promotes a sterile approach, as if there were an irreconcilable contradiction between agricultural production and the environment."
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(24) Div., “Marxistische Blätter – Das Jubileumsheft: Mut und Marxismus“, Neue Impulse Verlag 2023 – Ingar Solty, “Krieg, Stagflation und Standortkrieg“; “ Global capitalism is currently in a state of the general crisis, which began [at the latest] in 2007 with the 'global financial crisis'. This has to do with the fact that the size of the world system has many dimensions. They always contradict the efforts of the Spanish state to manage the country's problems, because apparently solutions or problems have been brought under control, and individual crises have always been brought to light in other areas. // The dimensions of crisis – there are six dimension of crisis to see: [1] a deeply rooted crisis of capitalist accumulation; [2] a crisis of the social reproduction and the relation of sexes; [3] a crisis of the social group, which is associated with the four industrial revolutions and the conversion of Keynesian welfare into neo-liberal states and has led to a feeling of deep social insecurity right up to the 'middle'; [4] based on this, a crisis of culture and representation, which can also be counted as the rise of the rightwing authoritarian nationalism; [5) a crisis in the human-nature relationship, which includes the ecological limits of the culture as well as the current climatic catastrophe; and [6] a crisis that was created by the USA in 1945 and globalized after 1991. Here, the question is the challenge of the relative descent from a hegemonic power [USA] and the rising new one [China], this time without world war. /
(25) Passim: The individual dimensions always lead to very specific crises that reveal the vulnerability of the system. So the world order war as a 'fluid crisis' exacerbated the crisis of democracy. The corona pandemic leaves the vulnerability of the globalized 'just in time' products mercilessly exposed. And the Ukraine war did not only increases the economic crisis tendencies, but also acts as a catalyst for a new generation. / This is still a future dream, Already in the present are the pandemic, the trade contact of the USA with China and the Ukrainian government over the market reconfiguration of the supply chains ['DeRisking'] a new order form. However, this process is taking place in a very crisis-like manner. The collapse of supply chains in the form of the economy and the pandemic has already led to a global fall in raw material, energy and supply costs, which is also reflected in the prices of raw materials. The delivery problems with the monopoly-manufactured, strategically targeted microchips have caused massive losses in the industry worldwide. With the sanctions and counter-sanctions because of the Ukraine war, the population is now as high as it was in half a century. //
(26) Passim: Return of stagflation - Inflation is now also overriding the classic economic cycle of boom and recession phases. Because inflation is the result of supply and cost shocks and not yesterday's mass purchasing power as a result of successful wage reductions and strong tariff agreements, it is coming for the first time Crisis of the 1970s caused the inflation to decline, the persistent problem of inflation coupled with stagnation. / However, unlike then, there is an difference in the totality. The stagflation in the 1970s actually happened together with a wage-price-spiral. Although the surge in inflation was also a gift at that time, especially in 1973, the strong union against the backing of the Kenyan people's employment, robust socialist states and the growth of capital mobility meant that the society actually was not able to cope with record levels of employment and the real wage losses or send less. Keynesianism had reached its inner limits. The high interest rate policy of the US central bank Federal Reserve [FED] - the infamous 'Volcker shock' of 1979 - also pursued the domestic policy goal of dually calculating the power of the economy through recession and mass unemployment and of increasing the capital’s power over work to stand by. The summary book of trade compensation dates back to the 1980s - which can be seen in the decline in strike numbers, strike support, wage increases and falling wage rates - and the rise in capital profitability show how successful this neoliberal counter-revolt was at the time. //
(27) Passim: Wage-profit spiral - The neoliberal bourgeoisie still claims today that inflation is the result of a wage-price spiral. However, the economist Isabella Weber has analysed that the main cause today is not a wage spiral, but a profit-spiral. The collapse of the supply chains did give occasion to giant price increases, because corporations in this area did not have to worry about losing market share to competitors. / The actual profits of the capital have increased to the record level. In this way, they do not behave uniformly across companies and industries, but rather accumulate special information, while others are not in a position to pass on information. The district thus carries out a double redistribution. to force the capital to have a monopoly in addition. The fact that the states at the centre of the capitalist centre were ultimately turned to energy price deductions seemed to be an attempt to exercise the state's function as an 'ideal collective power' and to thwart the profits of the individual capitalists. On the other hand the cash flow is exacerbating the phenomenon that today income from capital eats up income from work. //
(28) Passim: Wage share is falling globally - The UN international labor organization rightly warns in its report 'world employment’ an employment outlook ‘about the trend of 2023' that 'the economic crisis' is 'eroding the available economic resources' worldwide. According to ILO calculations, the trend of the global wage rate falling is increasing: on a global average, it has fallen from 54.1 percent [p2004] to 52.6 [2019] and is expected to fall even further by 2023. / Even in Germany, according to the Federal Statistical Office, real wages fell by 4.1 percent in 2022. According to ING-bank, the population share of the population that has no income at all is almost a third of the population, according to the ING-bank the number of households that has totally non saving or even have to go into debt – is risen to about one third of the population. / In the meantime, inflationary pressures are being directed towards increased pressure on the population. Nevertheless, it is hardly possible to oppose something to the impoverishment of the working people. The terms of the collective agreement do not yet allow a valid agreement because it is unclear how inflation will develop in 2024. Certainly now that in Germany, even the powerful employment groups have succeeded at best in fighting for inflation compensation. / Although there can be no talk of a wage-price spiral and the producer price also gradually fell in the summer of 2023, the European central bank [ECB] is sticking to its goal of breaking off the top of the wage war. In an interview with the 'Financial Times', their spokesman Pierre Wunsch, that the ECB would 'continue to raise the interest rates until wage growth slows down'. The economic report by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell takes a similar approach. //
(29) Passim: Helplessness of the monetary policy - At the same time, the relative helplessness of the monetary policy in the system being too stable is once again evident in the Stagflation. The zero interest rate policy, which marked the desperate attempt to counter the stagnation tendencies through monetary policy stimulus and financial sector policy, led to real financial problems, which resulted in the resulting speculative bales bursting, as in the 'dot-com war 2001 or the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007. This policy led to bank failures and the consequences of austerity policy because the market radical 'old plan' to let the 'system-relevant' banks go bankrupt would still have been possible. / Also the 'industrial prizes’ demanded by the industrial capital in response to your case, since the kilowatt hour input in Germany as a result of the sanctions policy is three times as high as in the USES and seven times as high as Vienna in China, it seems always better than the requirements of the financial capital, bankruptcies of entrepreneurs and seclusion, in other words: de-industrialization, to tolerate as 'market preparations' including mass unemployment. Social security policy, however, would involve the subsidization of the capitalists to the condition of the transfer of property and the public hand, as in 2008 the banks would have been transferred to public service companies. / This is also why, as a result of the inflation and high interest rate policy, the national states, which suffer from the higher interest payments on their state debts, are now put under pressure.
(30) Passim: Today, the high interest rates are jeopardizing the ability of the USA and the EU to respond to the competition of the Chinese national corporations - especially in high technology, - with the continued emphasis on austerity policy and our active industrial policymakers. This is still starting to happen in the context of the Corona virus and emergency special funds, as well as with the 750 billion euro 'health and resilience plan' of the ERU member states and the creeping socialization of the national debt in the Euro-space through the one billion Euros ECB's 'corona-bonds' program. In an extreme case, there could be a new state budget- and Euro crisis available if the national states are no longer able to refinance themselves via the international capital market. The insistence of the Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner [FDP] on a return to the 'debt brake' and her announcement of social cuts amounting to 20 million Euros may be seen as a politically motivating attempt by politicians to present successes to some of the DP's clientele. But the situation in the capitalist center is different. In the USA, the Biden government's attempt to use the low interest rates to be the biggest [and in some parts quite progressive] economic stimulus program at the end of the Second World War on the crisis and the Chinese Hyper-competitive ability to regulate, most seriously not only the republic, but also neo-liberal forces in their own ranks. In his speech on the state of the nation on February 7th, President Biden recalled that the subsequent doubling of the US budget was due to Trump's radical tax increase policy in favor of capitalism and billionaires' coffers. He also demanded that the billionaires participate in the financing of necessary investments. /
(31) Passim: However, since there was little more than rhetoric with a sight on the new re-election in 2024. the Biden election in 2024, all comparison with Franklin D. Roosevelt did not make any proposals to purchase the large unproductive assets in order to use them for the planned reforms they tried once, The reduction of the oak and capital taxes is to be reversed and the low interest rates and the easier financial financing are possible. That's revenge today. / It hardly looks any different in the EU. The EAB will be working on its Corona-Bonds program in summer 2022. The hope of the southern European region on the European Union through the back door has thus become a barrier to a return to autistic politics, according to a proposal by the EU commissioner on April 26th. According to is own statement, this represents the 'most comprehensive reform of the European economic development system, the follow-up of the value and financial crisis' and pursues two 'central objectives': 'to strengthen the sustainability of the public sector' and 'to promote sustainable and inclusive economic development' There would be a need to reduce the soaring public debt and to make the EU more competitive //
(32) Passim: Things hardly look any different in the EU. The EXB completed its corona-bonds program in summer 2022. The hope of the Southern European government on European bonds through the back of the country has been dashed for a return to austerity politics, an advance by the European Union on April 26th. According to its own statement, this represents the 'most comprehensive reform of European economic management in the aftermath of the economic and financial crisis' and pursues two 'central objectives': 'to promote sustainable and inclusive growth'. There is a need to reduce the sharply increased public costs and to make the EU more competitive. // EU tries squaring the circle - The EU also tries squaring the circle. This takes place within the framework of the 'European Economical government’ that puts the national states in check. The old neo-Liberty convergence demands that the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 have been brought into play again: an annual budget deficit of three percent of the gross domestic product [GDP, a national debt not over 60 percent of the GDP. The regulations with the new surveillance and control measures that were developed when the European semester and the fiscal compact were introduced in response to the euro crisis. / In reality, the EU Commission wants all member states to reduce their debts, which means social cuts amounting to several billion Euros annually, because almost all EU states have higher deficits and debts than permitted. particularly in the crosshairs of the overweighing and sacrificial resources are allowed to come into the crosshairs of Greece [2022 budget deficit: 2.3 percent], Italy [8.0 percent: 144.7 percent]], Italy 8.0 percent; 144.7 percent], Spain [4.8 percent; 113.1 percent], France [4.7 percent; 111.6 percent] and Belgium [3.9 percent; 105.1 percent]. //
(33) Passim: The austerity dictate affects all states - at the same time, this time the austerity dictate is not only allowed to apply to subdues. At that time, Germany played the taskmaster of Europe and forced the Southern European states to reduce minimum wages, pensions, building and health expenses, privately voicing state property and eliminating land contracts; This meant that there was a humanitarian crisis in Greece in particular, but now they were also largely affected by the flood of capital, including the southern European states, which even benefited from it, and two countries included Germany, whose deficit of 2.6 percent this year is contrary to the battle for the three- percent mark and the debt have only been below the 60 percent mark a few times in the last 20 years [59.6 percent in 2019], but it is always the same again, also in 2022 [66.4 percent]. ,. Lindner's social cuts plans must therefore be understood in the context of this rejection of austerity politics. // Billionaire pots for success - The push for this politics is so strong because at the same time there is still a need to react to China's hyper-competitiveness in matters of future technologies [AI, 5th mobile technology, green technology] by imitating its strategic interventionism . / What is happening in the Catholic centers is therefore a risky attempt at a double strategy: on the one hand, billions of dollars in subsidies and subsidies for industry and, on the other hand, a policy of 'internal devaluation' of costs and wages. All of this is done in the name of competitiveness and location logic. /
(34) Passim: So the USA has declared the location of the European competition for foreign investments with the capital support within the framework of the 'Inflation Reduction Act' and its 'logical content' regulations, while at the same time they are trying to absorb Europe from China, and now in the social sphere Report come the expenses. The EU states are responding to the RRA on the one hand and as a result of the Ukrainian war and the Reduce balance sanctions, there are also billions of euros in energy costs. With their help comes the financing of the EU- capitalist states ; research and development’ - according to the motto 'privatizations wins, risks and losses socially' - and they attract microchip and other strategic functioning semiconductor catalytic investments, as in the case of TSMC in Dresden and Intel in Magdeburg. Added to this are local policy measures that require star cuts for corporations [such as the German ‘promised grow chaches'] / in view of the high interest rate policy and the country's economic situation, and in view of the declared goal oof budget consolidation, the necessity arises from this, the costs in the form of work around the base area is also under the form of deprecation expense. What's more: the internal transfer of costs and wages is itself part of the location's spirit. For Germany, this means that the extreme pressure of the heights as a result of the 'power of skilled workers' it is pushed by another force in the direction of the extension of the week or lifespan [42-hour week/pension at 70] and forced employment, for which the 'traffic light' has decided on an expansion law and is systematically recruiting etc. abroad. /
(36) Passim: The cuts are particularly severe this time because the EU states clearly demonstrated this at the NATO summit in Vilnius [11/12. July 2023] the court has made promises to invest at least 2 percent of GDP in upgrading every year. Foreign austerity package takes the necessary measures explicitly from the austerity-related customs. The victim of childcare from the age of the rearmament was only allowed here at the beginning of the year. / Let's now look at the fact that inflation and the high interest rate policy of the East are hitting the states particularly hard. For most of the south of the globe, they pose a risk of guild, because inflation is extremely widespread and unchecked, and there is now a new global recession because of the rise in inflation and currency Dollar or euro that are denominated, essentially they owe each other and this already appeared on the horizon in 1979 after multiplying and together with risk premiums for state bonds and the right to insolvency. //
(37) Passim: Distribution battles and mass escape - It takes no intelligence to suspect that rapidly increasing prices for foodstuffs may once again - as in the 'Arabic early days' - trigger heated conflicts of conflict, the possible possibility of violence as an ethnic and religious citizen loyal to the state – be the white, yellow or dark-colored, like in Syria afterwards, people who were able to escape in large numbers due to war and violence could drive up the number of asylum systems that have been put to death by the EU states with the communal village-like asylum systems' [CEAS] recently exploited 'fortress Europe' and at the same time, As in 2015, the right-wing authoritarian-actionist forces in the capitalist centers are giving suppuration. For this reason it is also crucial, in the name of tomorrow's sacrifice, to end the Ukrainian war as quickly as possible in order to at least eliminate this cause of inflation. / A new financial crisis is also happening because inflation naturally causes share prices to fall and therefore the capital assets of the bourgeoisie are disgraced. According to McKinsey, the total volume of assets increased rapidly from 440 million in 2000 to 1.54 trillion in 2020, this volume has fallen since the third quarter of 2022 for the first time in decades ur government securities fell by 20 percent.
(38) Passim: This raises bankruptcies like that of Silicon Valley Bank recently, because banks and institutional investors tend to invest in speculative, high-risk investments in an attempt to halt the collapse of investments. The hesitation of the capital states, which resulted from fear of 'competitive disadvantages', to sustainably tighten up the deregulated capital regulations after the glaring financial crisis of 2007, was allowed to take revenge. An indication of such transactions can be that the cash reserves of the large capitals, which were accumulated over the decades of constant growth, are dwindling at a rapid pace. // Interior and exterior land seizure limited? - One could now assume that this reduction at least reduces the structural or imperial pressure to find investment opportunities for surplus capital that is at risk of being disinvested. But all in all the aggravated private capitalism there are the value papers and the resulting redistribution towards capitalism, overall, the over accumulation. In neoliberal financial market capitalism who the capitalist country name of the EG to process this again and to bind surplus capital. The country's proximity to the land through the debt crisis broke up the trade policy of the previously closed-off and state-obsessed part of the global South and the name of a country through the replacement of public common goods [mobility, health, rent, education, etc.] complemented each other. /
(39) Passim: The question, however, is which geographical and social spaces are today in this form for a land-based own. In the past time, skepticism and resistance to neoliberal politics have arisen. This applies to the ranks and the mass protest against the extension of the pension age, but also to Germany, where, according to a survey by the market research company Kantar, 67 percent of the population reject the 'activated' ones set by the 'traffic light'. Even among DP supporters, 42 percent of respondents are against it. / With regard to the use of the land-based possibilities for investment, open compulsory politics have grown through the lever of and with the government debts. The all-running exploitation of the Ukraine through the transnational capitalism is the sweetest thing: they are received from the international currency fund with the help of the world's largest chapter isfons 'balcrock' orchestrated and, according to the reging in Kdieew, is supposed to be the largest privately approved public event since 1991. A new treasure war in the southern lands would certainly open up - from a capital perspective - other attractive domestic options. Particularly in view of the ongoing disputes over raw materials for the e-mobility transition - lithium and cobalt, for example - the desire for new safe investments is great. However, a wave of state prosecutions in Africa and elsewhere would not necessarily be what capitalism imagines as an 'entrepreneur-friendly investment policy'. /
(40) Passim: In addition, more than four decades of debt to the imperialist policies of the capitalist center states have undermined faith in the healing powers of market-driven social development in the global South. The attempt by the BRIC-states, which were expanded by six percent on January 1, 2024, to 'de-dollarize' their countries against the USA's goal of imposing a new bipolar world order on China, which Russia does not exclude from the USA and the EU [minus Hungary]. is also a result of skepticism and the growing influence of China in the world. The attractiveness of the Chinese development and the credibility of China also have to do with the fact that Chinese loans are 'softer' and that one associates them with the colonial past and the treated colonial rule. / The combination of profit-price spiral, over-accumulation, restrictive financial policy and the 'beggar they neighbor' - capitalism, in which the central capital states try to take away larger pieces of a barely growing cake in the name of the ability to work from one another, means - especially China as a result of the corona pandemic, it turns out to be a 'consumer of last resort' and a driver of global economics - as a global recession is very likely. The deepening crisis of global capitalism is coming to a head."
Marx Caesar Asimov 