168 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
168 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
************ Class Struggle *************
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from Workers Solidarity No 31
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WHY IS THE concept of class so important to
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anarchists? Why are we constantly talking about
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classes and class struggle? Some of our opponents
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accuse us of living in the past, they claim the
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working class is dying out. After all you don't see
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too many workers wandering around in donkey
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jackets, cloth caps and heavy boots. So that settles
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the question, doesn't it? No, it doesn't, so let us get
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away from silly caricatures and get down to
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basics.
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The modern world, like the societies that preceded it,
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does not consist of a single group of people who have
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more in common than they have dividing them. Sadly
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there is no single 'humanity', not yet. In every country
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there is still a division of people into classes which have
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conflicting interests.
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Classes are defined by their relationship to the means of
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production; their relationship to the factories, machinery,
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natural resources, etc. with which the wealth of society is
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created. Although there are groups such as the self-
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employed and the small farmers, the main classes are
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the workers and the bosses. It is the labour of the
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working class that creates the wealth. The bosses,
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through their ownership and control of the means of
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production, have legal ownership of this wealth and
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decide how it is to be distributed.
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STOLEN WAGES
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Only a part of this wealth is returned. Some is paid as
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wages, some as the "social wage" (hospitals, schools,
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public services, and so on). The rest is creamed off as
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profit. But labour creates all wealth. An apple on a
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tree is worth nothing until someone picks it, coal in the
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ground has no use until someone mines it. What is
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known as surplus value or profit is stolen wages.
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The working class is the majority in Ireland today. All
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who work for a wage, salary or commission are in its
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ranks. It consists of all who have to sell their ability to
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work to those in control. It makes no difference if you
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work in a factory, office, school, hospital or shop. It
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makes no difference if you work with your hands or your
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brain, whether you wear overalls or a suit, whether you
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earn 'good' or bad wages.
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WHAT ABOUT THE UNEMPLOYED?
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The unemployed also form part of the working class.
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Social welfare payments are made to those who have
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worked and those who may potentially provide some
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employer with their labour power. It is a condition of
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payment that a claimant is "available for and actively
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seeking work". Needless to say, the partners and
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children of workers are also part of the same class, as
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are the retired.
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The interests of the working class (wages, working
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conditions, jobs, useful public spending, etc.) are in
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constant and inevitable conflict with those of the boss
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class. They seek to maximise their profits and gain an
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advantage over their competitors at the expense of the
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workers.
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NONSENSE
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Anyone who talks about 'social partnership', about
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labour and capital working together for the benefit of all
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is talking nonsense. What rights we have and gains we
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have made have been the result of long and often bitter
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struggles. The bosses only give such rights and
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concessions as they are forced to. In times of recession,
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such as now, they try to make workers pay through job
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losses, cuts in real wages, cuts in public spending,
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productivity deals, etc. for the crisis that is a periodic and
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inevitable product of capitalism.
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Although capitalism oppresses people on many different
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levels, race and sex to name but two; it is the
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exploitation of our labour that is fundamental to the
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system. It is on this front that the fight for a new society
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will be won or lost. If we can reclaim that aspect of our
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lives, the system can be overturned and replaced with
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something much better.
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TAKING OVER
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The working class are brought together in large towns
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and cities. At work we co-operate with others. Each
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person has to do their bit so that the person at the next
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stage of production can do theirs. In the services it is the
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same; in hospitals, schools and offices. This means that
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the working class can be a force capable, not only of
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rebelling against injustice but of taking over and
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recreating society in its' own interests.
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As a class we have to think and act collectively. In a
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strike you need the support of your workmates and of the
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workers in supplier firms. Individual action won't get
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you very far. We have to co-operate. The same applies
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to the mammoth task of creating a new society. We
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cannot divide up an office or factory between all the
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workers there. We act as a group or not at all. This
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collective nature that is part and parcel of our class
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provides the basis for the solidarity and mutual aid we
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will need to scrap the old order and build a truly free and
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egalitarian society.
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POTENTIAL FOR CHANGE
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However just because someone is a worker it does not
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always follow that he or she will think of themself as a
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worker, or realise the potential for change that the
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working class collectively possesses. We all know of
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workers who sometimes identify with their boss, or
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unemployed people who become demoralised and totally
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isolated from any sense of belonging to the working class.
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And there are plenty of ignorant academics running
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around talking rubbish about a new 'sub class' and a
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'natural conflict' between those with jobs and those
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without.
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Class consciousness, an awareness of our common
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interests and the potential we have for real change,
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needs to be encouraged and strengthened. This is one of
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the tasks of an anarchist organisation.
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The struggle between the classes will only come to an
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end when the boss class and the state which protects
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their privileged position are overthrown. Nationalisation
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or state control of the means of production would not
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mean an end to class society. It would simply mean the
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replacement of individual capitalists by a bureaucratic
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state capitalism. Like their predecessors they would be
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in control and would have the final say about what
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happens to the wealth we create. Whether they like it or
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not this would be the logical outcome of the statist
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politics of the Workers Party, Sinn Fein and the Labour
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Left.
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THE WAY TO FREEDOM
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Only the direct control and management of production by
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the working class themselves can end the class division.
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A classless society is not possible without this.
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Everyone affected by a decision should have a say in
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making that decision. Production in an anarchist society
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would be managed by an elected workers' council in each
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workplace. Planning on a higher level would be subject
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to the agreement of delegates from the councils, delegates
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who would be subject to a mandate from their members
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and instantly recallable if they don't do the job they were
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elected to do. In such a society the wealth would be
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created and managed for the benefit of all. There would
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be no elite of bosses or rulers. This is the vital
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precondition for real freedom.
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Alan MacSim<69>in
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