Syriza
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We should always watch what happens when popular movements become political parties and then transform into power-breakers. We saw the German Greens go into coalition. We saw Die Linke's principles begin to dissolve as it took control of city councils. We witness Podemos in Spain becoming pragmatists as the possibility of political office grows. We even saw the Pirate Party throw themselves in disarray. Obviously in the UK, our attention wil be focussed on Left Unity, already revealing that unity is still only an aspiraton to be achieved. This article is about the Syriza in Greece.
Quote:Syriza is transforming itself into yet another reformist left party that, instead of fighting for a new social order, is allured by the aura of power and ends up advocating a sugar-coated version of capitalism inside a neoliberal Europe.As for the articles actual alternative and solution, i suppose i can be generous on New Year's Dayand say that the concept of a workers' cooperative democracy is better than state-ownership, for at least it offers us a better opportunity to discuss the feasiblity of free access socialism and make dialogue that little bit closer and easier.
Here an article on one of Syriza's top economic advisers, who claims to be a Marxist:http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/23/syriza-john-milios-greece-eurozone
Quote:He is the first to concede the programme is radical. “I am a Marxist,” he says. “The majority [in Syriza] are.”The programme he sets out is radical but hardly Marxist (not that there is or can be any Marxist programme for dealing with capitalism's problems within capitalism; if there was such a thing as a "Marxist programme" it would have to involve taking all productive resources into common ownership, the ending of production for profit and the wages system, and bringing in production directly for use not for sale):
Quote:Milios rolls off the party’s priorities one by one. It would make concerted efforts to help those hardest hit by the crisis – free electricity for Greeks who have had supplies cut off, food stamps distributed in schools, healthcare for those who need it, rents covered for the homeless, the restoration of the minimum wage to pre-crisis levels of €750 a month and a moratorium on private debt repayments to banks above 30% of disposable incomeIf it comes to power after the elections on 25 January Syriza may be able to implement some of these measures, but we know what will happen in the medium term, in fact perhaps in a much shorter time. They will be governing within the context of capitalism (and in a coalition with other parties) and so will sooner or later be forced to accept its priorities: profits and conditions for profit-making. This has been the result of all governments that have come to power committed to trying to improve things for workers under capitalism. The article ends by invoking this possibility:
Quote:Ultimately, Syriza’s biggest challenge may not be Angela Merkel but the tortuous road it will have to take not to betray those who so want to see it in power."Betray" is probably not the best word as it suggests deliberate insincerity. A more appropriate word would be "fail".From our understanding of capitalism, we know they won't be able to avoid this but following what happens will be instructive for those who think capitalism can be reformed to work in the interest of the non-owning majority.
Just looked up John Milios on a research engine and see that he has written extensively on Marx, crises, commodity fetishism, etc. He's a serious Marx scholar. For example:http://philpapers.org/rec/MILMTAhttp://mymill.wordpress.com/2009/06/10/althusser-and-marxs-value-form-analysis/http://marxandphilosophy.org.uk/reviewofbooks/reviews/2014/942In fact in the first two above could he might even be arguing something we could agree with.He must know how capitalism works and, therefore, how Syriza is bound to fail. A bit surprising then that he is prepared to stake his reputation by getting involved in advising how a government should try to run capitalism. But I suppose academic economists, even Marx scholars, must find it tempting to have a go at something practical. Ernest Mandel was for a while an advisor to the Cuban government and there have been plenty of others who advised Chavez.
Quote:It would make concerted efforts to help those hardest hit by the crisis – free electricity for Greeks who have had supplies cut off,Call me a free-loader but surely this will entail means-testing because wouldn't everybody cease paying the electric bill and get cut off to entitle them to free electricity.
Quote:rents covered for the homelessThis is certainly achievable. I have read that a number of 'progressive' city/town councils in America of all places have adopted similar policies as it cuts down costs in other areas..law and order etc…
Quote:food stamps distributed in schoolsThe SSP proposals for free school dinners. I'm surprised that their other proposal for free transport hasn't been adopted by Syriza…After all it is mainstream policy in Scotland for all the political parties to have free bus travel for over 60s. I'll read the links now.
More details here from John Milios as to what Syriza's economic policy is likely to be if they win power in this month's elections. Syriza, I've just read, is an acronym in Greek for "Coalition of the Radical Left".http://news.yahoo.com/greek-leftists-wont-run-deficits-policymaker-says-193856885.htmlI think he realises, given his knowledge of Marx's analysis of capitalism, that what can be done is limited:
Quote:"We are going to boost growth and combat the humanitarian disaster." Syriza's recipe for boosting growth is through a fiscal stimulus, targeted at lower incomes in order to boost their spending power (…) Milios also said Syriza won't attempt to bring incomes back to pre-crisis levels, but will begin by helping the neediest..I think we can concede that a Syriza government might be able to mitigate a bit the "humanitarian disaster" but not that they will be able to boost growth by increasing demand. We'll see.
I think Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain are interesting developments.In response to severe austerity measures and despite a surge in Greece of the Right Golden Dawn, people have moved towards the left and are prepared to put their vote where their mouth is, so to speak. In contrast, the UK despite some worth trade union organised shows of strength, many still blames the immigrants for their misery (both problems in Greece and Spain, too, but electorally insignificant) and opts for Little Englander UKIP. LU/TUSC are absolutely no-where. In Scotland the left allies itself with pro-capitalist social democrats of the SNP. Why is this, i keep asking? France seems to share the British right-ward shift to Pen's National Front Germany is 50/50, i think, a growth in th Right but also a growth in the Left too. The Eastern Europe has a strong right tendency but surpising more libertarian regards internet etc Ireland now has the water tax which may act as spur and raise the profil of the left like the Poll Tax did for the SSP in Scotland but i doubt it..Sein Fein seems to be the party capturing the activists. For all the obvious faults Chavism and Evo Morales-ism has created a popular movement.At times, i feel like just giving up on the Brits, relegating them to tagging along on the coat-tails of the revolution when it comes rather than being in any way a motor for it. I meet ex-pats who live in foreign countries who emigrate abroad to get away from foreigners and who join UKIP because of other immigrants! They just can't fathom their own absurdity.He probably doubt it but i really wanted Stuart W to be correct on Left Unity, that it was going to be a springboard for radical ideas but each time i read about them, the more they return to the left-wing ghetto. Our "successful" left, the Green Party, shows exactly what happens when they accept the responsibility of running capitalism, even if in a couple of cities like Brighton…I'm torn between opting for a fairly orthodox conventional election campaign for May, or knowing full we will get the usual 0.2%, and get side-lined, adopting a campaign aimed at notoriety and outrage that makes Brand look moderate. Perhaps we should call in Ian bone as our election advisor and consultant !!http://www.classwarparty.org.uk/If the UK ever develop a left that resembles the more potent manifestations in Spain and Greece, we need to find an effective approach towards their members and supporters on how to convince them to take "one step beyond" to quote a popular 70s song by Madness. Morning rant over
A good quote from Naomi Klein on Syriza and for us to ponder as well. Klein is about to interview the head of Syriza. She asks a Greek comrade what she should ask him, and the person says: “Ask him: When history knocked on your door, did you answer?” As Klein concludes, “That’s a good question for all of us.”Just how do we recognise that knocking or even know if its from the front or back door ?Will the SPGB wait until history rings the bell and shouts through the letter-box?
Rather than use the alternative Podemos thread i think both parties can be discussed together because of their similarities.This may be of interest to those curious to know more detail on Podemos economics, under-consumptionist and Keynsianhttp://left-flank.org/2015/01/02/understanding-podemos-33-commonsense-policies/
Quote:it is clearly a strategy based fundamentally on saving capitalism from its inbuilt excesses (as Keynes intended) rather than overcoming capitalism as a system.You're right that there is a close parallel between policies of Syriza and Podemos. I don't think it is accidental but because the programmes will have been drawn up by the same kind of leftwing "Marxist" intellectuals in both countries who will have read each other's stuff.The Left Flank (an SWP fragment) article you link to says of a Podemos document on economic policy:
Quote:The new “emergency plan” was presented as a “discussion document” in a press conference, but in practice is being treated by Iglesias as Podemos policy. Its analysis is that the crisis is fundamentally one of “under-consumption” (which Iglesias agrees is “the problem”) caused by mushrooming socio-economic inequalities under neoliberalism (including a sharp decline in wages’ share of GDP) — a view that overlaps with those of Thomas Piketty, Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman. The solution is thus to increase consumer demand through expansionist public spending (a la Keynes). They then neatly tot up how exactly this can be funded though measures such as combating relatively high levels of tax fraud (mostly carried out by the rich), reintroducing inheritance and property taxes, and debt restructuring.Compare this with Syriza's programme here:http://www.transform-network.net/de/blog/blog-2014/news/detail/Blog/-5ed1064aab.htmlIncidentally, could Left Flank be those Counterfire (another SWP fragment) are criticising when they say:
Quote:Faced with the prospect of a radical left actually attaining office, some have written off a Syriza government before the first ballot has even been cast. Citing its leadership’s support for the eurozone, assorted pieces of the European left have been content to provide lectures about the dangers of “reformism” and “left Keynesianism”..
This is what i was meaning on another thread. That it should be us that Counterfire should be slighting and disparaging. We should be its target. I'm looking forward to your critiques in the coming issues of the Standard that we can use as a template in our criticisms so we can directly challenge the "radicalism" of Syriza and Podemos and their supporters on the left. LU have its fair share of those.Somehow we have to try and start steering the the narrative… and navigate a course towards a discourse discussing Marxist aspirations as real policies for workers movements…We have to show that at present the so-called alternative economic model is indeed utopian wishful thinking, digging up and resurrecting dead theories from the past…real zombie voodoo economics…Syriza and Podemos…the Burke and Hare of the left.
I would love to think of my old comrade ian bone as an election advisor, if it wasn't for the rather dismal reformist sludge th class war party has adopted.
Since we've got one, I'ive done a comment on the separate thread on him:http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/forum/general-discussion/ian-bone-stand-parliament
The CPGB, Weekly Worker on if Syriza wins?
Quote:The unfolding situation in Greece further reinforces the orthodox, classical Marxist view that the working class should not seek to come to power prematurely – and by that we mean not just in one country. Rather, we mean that the working class must have a reasonable chance of coming to power on something like a continent-wide basis and thus a realisticchance of implementing the minimum programme – that is our bottom-line perspective. If not, you are doomed to either carry out the programme of another class – carry out its historical mission – or become an agent of capital. Communists should therefore constitute themselves as a party of extreme opposition to austerity, not the instrument of austerity. And, unfortunately, as things stand at the present, there is no prospect whatsoever of, say, the Italian working class coming to the rescue of Greece – let alone France, Germany, Britain, etc. Hence we repeat our call for Syriza not to ‘take the power’.http://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1040/what-if-syriza-wins/I have heard similar conclusions being reached by SPGB members when discussing hypothetical situations facing ourselves in the future. But i think what CPGB fails to do in their article is explain why this dilemma is one that will always be faced by reformist parties who offer a platform of measures, some possible with difficulty, others simply not feasible under any circumstance.The pretty icing on the cake is seldom palatable but it is what people are being asked to vote for…I think the CPGB may well have to concede that our principled stand for socialism and nothing else is the valid one.Perhaps someone might like to write a letter and inform them
It might come as a shock but there is free transport in Scotland just now I should know I have a free bus pass for transport all round the county I live in as well as free train journeys at off-peak times .And as for free school dinners the Scottish government is going to re- introduce them , And who removed them ? the "great " new labour party arm in arm with the tories. In the days of the REAL labour party I got one third pint of milk as well as free school dinners. The only party with enough votes and left wing is the SNP thats a fact not conjecture . Still a free NHS in Scotland not so in England Cameron millionaire neo-con has the English NHS 33 % privatised and just look at the cut backs to make the SCottish government look bad the money given to it has been cut and no England doesnt subsidise Scotland that myth was shown to be a lie by Alec salmond who was a chartered accountant and no national doesnt equate with NAZI /Hitler another neo-con lie . I am a Socialist who votes for the SNP because it is a left wing party not like Labour now a right wing neo-con party just like the Tories.
No need to tell us that the Labour Party is no good. We've been saying that since they came into being in 1906. We've been saying the same thing about the SNP and the other parties too — because they all support capitalism in one form or another and think they can make it work in the interest of the majority class of wage and salary workers, But they can't. Neither (to stay on thread) can Syriza.
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