The
process of development in the world is based on the struggle between
contradictions, and this struggle affects the appearance of the present world in
all its aspects:
1.
The contradiction between labour and capital;
2.
The contradiction between the liberation movements, the struggles of nations for
freedom and independence and the world imperialism;
3.
The contradiction between the imperialist countries, and the contradictions
between monopolies, cartel-trusts and multinational imperialist companies
themselves.
The
increase in unemployment, the strikes by workers and public employees,
migrations affecting millions of people in the world, the farmers' demands are
all faced with present military or pro-military states and class dictatorships
hidden under the mask of non-militarism. The world bourgeoisie is continuously
reinforcing the methods for "internal security" in order to suppress
the struggles of oppressed classes at an international level. World capitalism
is trying to seize the markets under the control of the former
social-imperialist Russia after its collapse, and to benefit from the cheap
labour of the working class of the Eastern bloc, putting it in capital's
service. This gives the opportunity to the capitalists to threaten the workers
in their own countries with dismissals and with the destruction of all the
rights they have won so far.
Capitalism
is invading all regions where the wages are low, thus increasing unemployment in
the advanced countries and causing the workers' standard of living to fall. It
is ripping the workers off by reducing their wages, increasing the rates of
unemployment and their contribution towards pensions, by cutting social
spending, medical services, etc. All the gains of the working class at the
international level after the October Revolution are being taken away from them,
and the contradiction between labour and capital is increasingly sharpening.
On
the one side, there is the increasing opposition of the workers, but on the
other, racist movements are also on the rise. This is because capitalism needs
such movements, which grow stronger in the absence of a real working class
party, in order to divert workers' discontent. It uses racist forces to inflame
xenophobia, as it gets ready to smash the workers' movement.
In
these countries all security laws are designed to frighten the people and keep
them under repression. The apparatus for repression is kept in perfect condition
for the stormy days to come as a result of the crisis. This is the fortified
state. Bugging devices, or legal espionage in other words, can find their way
into every house. The state is free to set up conspiracies and traps against
those who fight for the interests of the working class, because the bourgeoisie
is afraid of the working class.
The
theory of neo-liberalism minimises the role of the state in directing production
and distribution, increasing the rate of exploitation of people. This means the
end of the welfare state which was designed as a shield against the dictatorship
of the proletariat in the Soviet Union of Lenin and Stalin.
Capitalism's
slogan promoting privatisation means for the workers the intensification of
exploitation and usurpation of their rights. Under the pretext that state
intervention in production and distribution is harmful, working people's rights
are being taken away from them, and exploitation is becoming more intense,
resulting in mass redundancies. Capital and its monopolies which manage to
conceal their real faces are taking a new step, benefiting from the unorganised
situation of the workers and the betrayal of trade union leaders, and making new
contracts with the workers, decreasing their wages to a minimum.
These
welfare states dictate carefully to other states which policies are to be
pursued regarding income taxes, interest rates, and health care -which used to
be almost free of charge thanks to the struggle of the working class. Due to
this new policy and the demands of monopolies, insurance companies are being
privatised again. By increasing social security contributions and axing the
health service, the state is bringing private health care to those who have
private insurance and nothing to those who do not have it. It is continuously
decreasing state pensions and encouraging people to subscribe to private
insurance companies.
In
order to exploit the workers the bourgeoisie needs to further rip off the
workers' income, using different methods and with the help of the state. They
invest their accumulation in South East Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle
East. Accumulation of capital increases their power of competition.
Privatisation is spreading to all aspects of economic life. Pro-privatisation
theoreticians in imperialist countries try to deceive the masses with stories
about the advantages of privatisation such as falling prices, high quality
products, falling production costs and rates of unemployment.
Prices
are being determined by monopolies as they are in harsh competition at an
international level, a competition which only ends with the elimination of
rivals. It is again these monopolies which decide when production is not
profitable with the excuse of high costs in advanced capitalist countries. In
order to have a higher power of competition against other countries they are
decreasing the number of workers and exploiting the working people to the
maximum level possible. With every dismissal, the cosy and calm family
environment is being upset and the future of hundreds of thousands of people is
being destroyed.
Capitalists'
wealth is being multiplied with rising share prices in the stock exchange.
Poverty
is an inevitable outcome of the laws of the capitalist world. The intensity of
exploitation in capitalist countries is increasing parallel to the competition
with other imperialist countries to control and plunder new markets.
Europe
is uniting against the US and Japan. Economically and politically the world is
divided into three poles. US imperialism, which is the strongest, is trying to
control the energy resources in the Gulf of Iran, Central Asia, and the
Caucasus. With their "new order" and provocation of cultural clashes,
they are keeping the world under their control. Having intervened in Yugoslavia
the US claimed its share. The EU states, leaving no space for Russia, have
prevented the war from intensifying, succeeded in winning this market, and
emerged as a main ally in the Balkans.
At
present, there is a new inter-imperialist conflict for the Middle East and the
Caucasus and this conflict is of no benefit for the peoples of these regions. We
see on the one side the fight of the working class against the capitalists, and
on the other, the fight of peoples against imperialism which is trying to
re-divide the region for their sphere of influence.
The
struggle of the peoples for their independence is increasing day by day, as
imperialism which destroys nations' independence, fuels at the same time the
tendency to struggle. Many nations have succeeded in freeing themselves from the
influence of Russian social imperialism. However, they could not keep their
independence because of the treachery of the revisionists who are a close ally
of the imperialists.
These
countries are now becoming the dustbins of the European and US imperialists.
Monopolies, at the dawn of the third millennium, are trying to concentrate
capital and keep the world markets under their control.
German
and French insurance companies are merging, and the Swiss banks are merging and
becoming a single bank. Different industrial sectors in Germany, Britain and the
US are merging, getting a bigger share in the world market, thus succeeding in
keeping the world under their hegemony.
The
validity of what Lenin said is being proved once again. American, British,
French and the Dutch oil companies are fighting with each other for oil and gas
resources in the Gulf, Caspian Sea, Central Asia and Azerbaijan.
The
burden of this fierce injustice is being put on Iran, Turkey, Armenia,
Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Iraq. It is
obvious that it is these monopolies that decide who is going to rule the
country. The faade of European parliamentarism, which is ideal for the
anti-communist leftists, is increasingly being replaced by the direct rule of
the monopolies. European parliamentarism and American "lobbyism" are
serving capitalism more openly and widely. This faade of democracy in the name
of the demagogic welfare state is strengthening the position of banks and
monopolies within the state.
States
are so much in debt to banks that they have to submit to their blackmail. They
get loans from private banks and pay them back with the taxes they get from the
people; thus these banks increase their profit day after day. The state is now
privatising the transport services and offering it at the disposal of
capitalists who can take tolls for each junction and control the big highways.
The ministry of health is being replaced by private capitalist research centres.
Health services depend more and more on the laws of the market, i.e. supply and
demand . Only people who have money can live with dignity.
The
ministry of culture is becoming non-functional because of the privatisation of
crches, schools and universities. Big industries are handing over some of
their orders and research and development activities to universities in order to
lighten their financial strain, consequently influencing education and pedagogy.
Every ministry which is not directly taking part in the production process is
faced with closure.
The
ministries of interior, defence, foreign affairs and finance are becoming more
powerful in order to ensure exploitation and keep the popular movement under
control. A professional army and police force is being created to suppress
popular uprisings in periods of crisis and to prevent any fractions within the
army. Bourgeois parliamentarism, with its deceptive mask, is calling people to
participate in general elections, claiming that the citizens have freedom of
decision.
The
bourgeoisie makes propaganda on behalf of its deceitful democracy. People are
pushed to become more and more hostile towards each other. The workers whose
lives are wrecked are forced to move around in order to take even unsecured jobs
on temporary contracts. This is the new face of capitalism which buys and sells
anything with money.
Industrial
capital and bank capital are merging even further and emerging as finance
capital. Capital is being controlled and shared by a handful of people who hold
the authority to decide. They push the world into wars and into a state of
economic destruction in periods of crisis.
The
collapse of Hong Kong stock exchange was an artificial collapse. It is a
reflection of the financial blows which deepen the crisis of Japanese
imperialism and South East Asian "miracle". South Korea, which has no
independence, will not be able to cope with the repayment of the debt it has
borrowed from the imperialists. At the moment
there is a bitter inter-imperialist conflict over the plunder of China. These
contradictions characterise the situation in the South East Asia. Japan's
participation in these conflicts and its addition of this region into its sphere
of influence is worth observing. Whether China can maintain its independence or
whether it will become a semi-colony of the imperialists is yet to be seen. The
US, worried about China emerging as another power, is trying to find allies
against it. Dr. Hanlington's theories and warnings about possible threats from
China is a well thought-out aspect of this strategy.
Europe
is competing against the US not only in Yugoslavia but also in the Gulf, Asia,
Caucasus, the Middle East and Africa. The US is using Turkey as a base while
using Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as loyal allies. Iran, being considered as a
strong ally of the Europeans, is opening its market to competition and
orientating towards the former Russian Republics. France, uniting all
French-speaking countries, is trying to establish a front against the US. Russia
depends more and more on imperialist capital and is now situated under the
hegemony of Western capitalists.
The
world we live in is, contrary to appearances, shaking and heading towards war.
The imperialists are getting ready for this war and looking for allies. The
existing and future economic conflicts will result in regional wars which will
lead to another world war in order to get out of the crisis.
The
sophistication and increase of weapons and space discoveries, used as a tool to
become the strongest power, are continuing. Mankind can build their future only
with a socialist revolution, and they can make new October Revolutions, using
imperialist contradictions. This is the task of all communists in the world. The
world we live in carries socialism within it, and we will closely witness its
birth.
The
defeat of the proletarian class should not cause hopelessness and defeatist
feelings. On the contrary, this defeat will raise our consciousness and
vigilance vis-a-vis our enemy, the bourgeoisie. We must win. The path we will
walk along is full of difficulties, but there are no other alternatives.
We
are faced with two choices: either to die in capitalism's grip, or to choose the
path to Eden.
The
only path is the victory of socialism. This is the science and experience of
history; and those who fight against history are bound to disappear.
Iran
has been living in its own contradictory "waters" since the wide scale
1979 February revolutions. With the complicity of monarchists, religious people,
liberals like Besar Gigan and Bani Sadi, and especially when the working class
stepped forward and strengthened and radicalised its movement, world capitalism
has been an obstacle to the people's movement and the process of revolution.
These accomplices worked to save the military forces and capitalism in order to
eliminate the communists. Popular violence and armed struggle which were used
during the revolution cooled off, and its consequences have left marks up until
today. Iran is still in a crisis and does not seem to have reached a stable
state. Some major contradictions appear in this stormy situation:
The
first contradiction is the one between the wishes and demands that the people
fought for during the revolutionary period and the practise of the present
regime. The people are aware that they have neither independence nor democracy
or social justice. Instead of democracy, a cruel "Velayet e Faghieh"
theory has been introduced, which is no different from the Shah period.
The
Iran Islamic Republic is in pursuit of debt; new laws allowing foreign
investments have been passed. Parallel to this is the presenting of the Shah
period as an example, leading to heavy blows on the Iranian economy which is
already weak and sick. By submitting to the impositions of the World Bank and
the IMF the regime is assisting the new imperialist hegemony in Iran. For
instance, it has signed a contract with the French petrol company
"Total" who offered worse conditions than an American petrol company.
This shows that the Mullah regime can easily take the road of treachery and sell
off country's resources in order to maintain power.
The
regime's independence policy does not consist of building major industrial
branches, economic self-sufficiency, welfare and development. Independence is
something to be talked about only when there is something about armaments or
support for world terrorism. Capitalist Iran has got only one industry and it is
tightly tied to imperialism.
The
masses riots and reactions caused by various reasons emerge sometimes
forcefully and sometimes as a peaceful struggle. This was the case especially in
the oil industry and shoe factory workers strikes. Not long ago, people
disregarded the Iran Islamic Republics anti-democratic elections; and despite
the government's repression they arranged a warm welcome for the national
football team which was to play in the 1998 World Cup finals to express their
reaction. This contradiction forces the regime to arm the revolutionary guards
and the militia, and to launch military operations to cause uneasiness among the
people.
The
regime is trying to use the Velayet e Faghieh laws in a far more harsh way,
to concentrate power in the hands of a small minority, and thus obtain a more
rapid manoeuvre capacity. Conflicts between the trade bourgeoisie, industrial
bourgeoisie and liberal bureaucrats, inside and outside the government, are
increasing. These conflicts are caused by different economic interests, the
division of oil resources, the thought of how to guarantee their capital, and
worry about their future. The shape of these conflicts has emerged more openly
during the defence of the laws like Jameh Madani (civil society) and Velayet
e Faghieh. Also there are contradictions between different religious
formations: On the one hand, all religious currents are intended to be brought
together under the control of Hameneys (present religious leader) directives,
hence control them in the name of Velayet a Faghieh. These religious men
believe that one person has the authority to rule all other religious men, which
is the principle of religious belief. Whereas according to Shii's principle
there must be several religious leaders.
Velayet
e Faghieh which declares Hameney as the only religious leader, thus limits the
activities of other religious leaders, and prevents them from making use of
religion. Moreover, Shii leaders cannot claim that Humeynis fatvas are valid
forever, and this reduces their power and influence. Nevertheless, Velayet e
Faghieh sympathisers aim to centralise the government. They know that people
are not happy with the present situation and that waves of resistance are
increasing. With the help of the centralisation of power and Velayet e Faghieh,
the regime is orientating towards
setting up Hizbullah (the Party of God) groups. 'Velayet e Faghieh' is the base
for those who have the authority to say the final word. These contradictions are
continuing simultaneously with the pressure of the US which caused a partial
loss for the Iranian bourgeoisie in oil profits from the Azerbaijan Republic,
the Caspian Sea, and Central Asia. This, as a consequence, by whetting the
appetite of the bourgeoisie, is serving to deepen the contradictions among the
ruling elites. These contradictions appear in such a way that the power struggle
between those who support Rafsancani (former president), Nateg Nuri (candidate
for presidency) and Hatemi who has gained power can be seen openly.
Some
of the religious leaders are worried about their futures and are aware of the
contradictions between real life and religious dreams. They understand that the
countrys wheels cannot turn without production and protective measures in the
capitalist system. Religion cannot overthrow capitalism and has no such
intention; but none the less, it does not hesitate to use the deceitful rhetoric
of Islamic economy. Religion is an element which manipulates the masses within
capitalism, and therefore, reformist religious people are keen to rescue the
concept of religion.
The
aim is to bring back Montazeris attitude onto the agenda in accordance with
the present conditions. These new supporters of religion were part of the dark
dictatorship, and they were rewarded by the state in return for suppressing the
revolution. We should not forget the speeches of Khalkali, an old bureaucrat and
the torturer of thousands of revolutionaries. This person was among those whose
names were mentioned above. The acceleration of contradictions is a positive
development, which weakens and breaks the power of the leaders of Velayat e
faghieh, and thus contributes to mass riots. The cracks on the fearsome image
surrounding 'Velayet e Faghieh' have become a subject of mockery amongst the
people. It is very important to understand that these contradictions are the
result of the peoples continues and irreconcilable struggle.
The
struggle of the opponents of Velayat e Faghieh against Hamaneys tribe aims
to save the Islamic Republic, and is not concerned with peoples interests,
with freedom and democracy. Our line and our aim is completely different from
these new oppositions. We should be pleased about every kind of weakness of the
regime, and get organised to overthrow the Islamic Republic. We should choose
our slogans in accordance with the situation. Otherwise, it is possible
inadvertently to become a crutch for those like Montazeri, Soruche and Yazdis,
to lose belief in victory, and thus to call on the people to support them.
Communists
must call on the people to support the workers and explain them that the only
way to emancipation is to get the working class in power and to overthrow the
Islamic Republic regime. Communists must always keep the line clear between
themselves and others, and stop those who tell lies about unity. They must warn
people not to join those who have done nothing for the people. Let's be pleased
that they are fighting among themselves, and make use of their contradictions in
order to get people together and raise their consciousness.
To
depend on the inter-conflicts of the supporters of the Islamic Republic and to
respond to their call for support of one section of them would be a betrayal and
a heavy blow against the struggle for freedom and independence in Iran.
The
reformists consider the protests of Montazeri, Sarush and Tabarzadi, and
Hatemi's coming to power as something good. With their so-called activities
(only criticism) and collaboration, they are creating illusions. They are good
comrades of capitalism; they consider the new reformists as new saviours of
Iran, thus defend them.
It
is very natural for the communists to oppose and condemn all kinds of unjust
practices of the government. This is a must for them because of their human and
democratic character. But in this life and death struggle, they do not lose
sight of their fight, and they can never become a reserve force for the
bourgeoisie.
In
present conditions the slogan of the communists is the complete overthrow of the
regime of Islamic Republic, and it is a task to spread this slogan further. The
slogan based on the fight against "Velayet e Faghieh" is a
short-sighted one; it pushes the fight into an impasse, and presents the
leadership to Montazeri and Sarush's hands. The demand for the overthrow of the
regime is the main thing that distinguishes communists from reformists and
social reformists.
The
regime's foreign policy has engulfed in an impasse as a result of its
intervention in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Iraq,
Azerbaijan and the neighbouring Arab countries, and because of its transfer of
terrorists to Bosnia, Albania, Africa which are far from its borders. The hands
of the Tehran regime have the bloods of the massacres in Algeria, Lebanon and
Cairo (Egypt).
The
verdict of the Berlin court on the Mikonos case has exposed the Iranian regime
to the world. Iran, aware of its enmity with the neighbouring countries, is
losing its strength. The regime is trying to consolidate its position within the
country, after 19 years of experience of a bitter defeat. It is collaborating
with the imperialists and using the contradictions between Europe and the US.
The
murderer anti-democratic regime of the Islamic Republic must be overthrown. The
disagreement between the founders of the regime and its administrators is
pushing this power apparatus to death. In order to proceed to socialism there is
no other way than overthrowing this regime.
Some
forces claiming to be communist are supporting the state. The virus of
revisionism has poisoned their hearts and souls so much that there is no cure
for them.
At
the dawn of the Iranian revolution, they will spread their thoughts in the ranks
of the working class and consequently lead the revolution into a new defeat. The
Iranian bourgeoisie salute these hypocrites and praise them as good communists
who have learned from their experiences.
The
only way to get out of the crisis in Iran is the path of revolution supported by
the party of the working class. And it is inevitable to enter this path.
For
the communists who are preparing to play a historical role in the future and who
build the unique party of the working class based on the principles of
Marxism-Leninism, this is how they can prevent from becoming a reserve for
Sarush's "freedom movement".
If
the movement is not led by the party of the working class, a
"democratic" Islamic republic supported by the anti-communist leftists
will be the most possible advanced form, which is the limit they can get to.
Labour
Party of Iran (Toufan)