SVSocialist Voice Communist Party of Ireland

Páirtí Cumannach na hÉireann Partisan Patriotic InternationalistNumber 124 May 2015 €1.50

IN THIS ISSUEBack the busworkers Page 2ICTU strategy Page 2Hibernianism Page 4Victory for Vietnam Page 5Water charges Page 6Banking Page 6EU failures Page 7Real existing capitalism Page 8Euarado Galeano Page 10Venezuela workers Page 11Pride Page 12

‘Spring statement’= winter of austerity

The value of labour power, like that ofevery other commodity, is determinedby the labour time necessary for theproduction, and consequently for thereproduction as well, of this specificarticle as well. In so far as it has value,labour power itself represents nothingmore than a definite amount ofaverage social labour which has beenincorporated in it. Labour power onlyexists as a capacity of a livingindividual; its production presupposedhis existence; and therefore theproduction of labour is dependent uponthe worker's reproduction of himself,upon the worker's maintenance.Karl Marx

Socialist Voice 43 East Essex Street Dublin 2 (01) 6708707

Eugene McCartan

The much-hyped ‘springstatement’ jointlypresented by the ministerfor finance, MichaelNoonan, and minister forpublic expenditure,Brendan Howlin, promised

much and delivered little.Although it generatedreams of newsprint andhours of mind-numbingradio and televisioncoverage the dogs in thestreet know that peoplewill be none the wiser, andno better off. >>>

Socialist Voice page 2

Ireland

Back the busworkersIt’s in all our interests to support their strike

THE ESTABLISHMENT mediahave gone into overdriveabout the action taken by

Dublin Bus and Bus Éireanndrivers, members of both SIPTUand the NBRU. The first two-daystrikes took place on 1 and 2May, with two further strikesplanned for 15 and 16 May. Thedrivers will place pickets at morethan thirty sites around thecountry in an attempt to protectservices and decent jobs fromthe threat of privatisation.

We already have theexperience of the workers in theprivatised refuse-collectioncompanies, resulting in long andbitter disputes in Greyhound,which reneged on the terms andconditions. Experience tells usthat once services are privatised,workers’ terms and conditionsrapidly deteriorate while at thesame time the service getsworse.

The government wants to openup 10 per cent of public busroutes to competitive tendering,which can only result in workers’terms and conditions becomingthe main area of competition,which means lower pay andpoorer conditions.

Emergency talks, facilitated bythe Labour RelationsCommission, ended withoutagreement on Thursdayafternoon [30 April]. After thetalks SIPTU stated:

“After months of talks the bus

companies have refused tomeaningfully engage with SIPTUmembers on their six-point agendawhich outlines their concerns overthe proposed privatisation plans.In the face of this intransigenceour members have been left withno option but to embark on acampaign of industrial actionwhich will cost them financiallyand cause severe inconvenience tothe travelling public which they areproud to serve.”

The bosses at both publiclyowned companies havethreatened legal action againstthe trade unions in order torecover losses in income,together with fines.

It is in everyone’s interests tosupport the struggle againstprivatisation and the inevitableundermining of transportworkers’ terms and conditions.Privatisation will lead to furtherdeterioration in services, asprivate companies will cherry-pick routes and run services atpeak times and only a minimalservice for districts where thereis high unemployment.Privatisation will also affect ruralcommunities, where privatecompanies will again cherry-pick.

As the privatisation of routesexpands—as it will do—this canonly lead to global transportcompanies getting a foothold intransport in this country. Thenthe race to the bottom will hitbreakneck speed.

Spring statement

The government are attempting todress up further austerity in a new setof clothes. They announced that theywill have between €1.2 and €1.5billion available for tax cuts andspending increases, and this will bedone on a fifty-fifty basis. Theyproduced nothing of substance excepta number of tables that showbudgetary projections up to 2020,which are meaningless. What they areattempting is to predict governmentincome and expenditure as if there willbe no change in government policyover that period.So essentially, no change, and

permanent austerity. The tax cuts willno doubt benefit the professionalmiddle class. A few more low-paidworkers will be taken out of the USC,but any reduction in the USC willdisproportionately benefit the rich.Yes, the economy has “grown.”

Exports are up. Jobs are beingcreated—but in areas of low wagesand precarious terms and conditions,many from foreign direct investment.Emigration is still affecting

thousands of families. Profits for thebig foreign monopolies are growing,and revenue is buoyant because of thepractice of global corporationsdeclaring their global profits here inIreland and washing them through theIrish corporation tax system.House prices will continue to rise,

and rents for private rentalaccommodation will continue toskyrocket. More and more people willbecome homeless, and the waiting listfor public housing will continue togrow. And they will continue to prattleon about the “market” solving people’shousing needs.We also had both ministers making

the ludicrous claim that they hadovercome the boom-and-bust cycle ofcapitalism. The same boast was loudlyproclaimed by the former minister forfinance Brian Cowan just before thecrash. All wishful thinking.

The cycle of boom and bust isinherent in the system, and noamount of tinkering withcapitalism can change that fact.No, this was not a signal that the

crisis is over and that we are on ourway back with the “Celtic Tiger” mark2: it’s just another indication that it’sbusiness as usual, that the well-off willbe looked after, and NAMA willcontinue to reconnect the GoldenCircle.The “spring statement” was nothing

more that the starting-gun for the thegeneral election.

Socialist Voice

workers

A change of strategy at the ICTU

THE NEW general secretaryof the Irish Congress ofTrade Unions, Patricia King,

announced a change of strategyin a speech in April to the annualdelegate conference of thePublic Service Executive Union.Needless to say, the bourgeois press

reported only a couple of aspects ofthe speech, even though the event wasopen to the media. (The speech isavailable at www.ictu.ie and atwww.pseu.ie.)Patricia King set out her own core

values:

1All workers have the right to earn,and should have the prospect of

earning, a fair and decent wage,sufficient for a basic standard of livingfor themselves and their families.

2All workers should be confidentthat, through their trade union,

they can conduct normal negotiationswith their employer on their terms andconditions without fear.

3All workers are entitled to berespected in the work-place.

The attack on trade unionists inDunne’s Stores and the arrest aroundthe country of working-class activistsopposed to the attempt to privatisewater are a sure indication not onlythat these principles are ignored byemployers and forces within theestablishment but that these samepeople will use all means at theirdisposal to prevent any progressive orcivilised legislation in this society.The arrests and dismissals are

designed to intimidate and break anyspirit of resistance. The capitalist classshows contempt for workers’organisations and will do everythingpossible to block legislation oncollective bargaining or a living wage.

To quote Patricia King, their philosophyis clear and simple: “Nothing gets inthe way of profit-making, we will neverdeal with trade unions, and we will notpermit the commodity titled Labour tostand in the way of our profitprogress.”The attempt to split the public and

private sectors continues. Already thebourgeois press has started therhetoric about “pay increases” in thepublic sector, even though, under theterms of the Haddington RoadAgreement, there is a commitment topay restoration. The public sector ismost unionised, with high membershiplevels also in manufacturing, retail(large retailers and banks), andservices. In these sectors there havebeen pay increases and the protectionof conditions. It is in construction,contract cleaning, hotels andrestaurants, and in the communitysector, where union representation isweakest, that pay and conditions areworst.There has been no social dialogue

with the government and employerssince early 2009. Trade unioninfluence has largely been exercised bytrying to lobby the Labour Party as theminority party in government. Therehas also been lobbying of Sinn Féinand some of the other oppositiongroups.In the private sector, negotiations

have taken place locally withemployers’ groups on a company-by-company basis. There has been nodirect discussion with IBEC since2010. Patricia King reckoned that IBECwas now less representative ofemployers, with such groups as ISME,the Hotels Federation, RestaurantsIreland and Retail Excellence coming to

the fore as the main opposition.Ireland is a low-pay country, with 22

per cent of workers on low pay. Out ofeighteen OECD countries, Ireland issecond only to the United States,where 25 per cent of workers are onlow pay. 68,000 are paid only thenational minimum wage, while244,300 are on variable-hourcontracts.Every year the state subsidies

employers by paying €300 million infamily income subsidy, €77 million inJob Bridge, and €13½ million in JobsPlus. These subsidies are nothing morethan transfers to employers so theycan maximise profits at the expense oftheir workers.Patricia King believes the ICTU has a

central role to play in developing,supporting and organising strategy. Butorganising has to be closely linked toindustrial activity. The strength of thetrade union movement will bemeasured by its ability to exert itspower.The ICTU Charter for Fair Conditions

at work seeks a living wage, fair hoursof work, the right to collectivebargaining, respect and ethics at work,and public-sector procurement. Thischarter would be presented to allmembers of the Oireachtas individually,so that they have an opportunity tosign up; those who did not would bemade known to the electorate. Besidespoliticians, other groups andorganisations, such as companies,community groups, and non-government organisations, would alsobe asked to sign up.This would be a new strategy by the

ICTU in both organising and lobbyingand would be a welcome first steptowards achieving change.

New posterdesigns fromthe CommunistParty of Ireland

Socialist Voice

Ireland

page 4

The Challengefor TradeUnionism€4 (£3) Postagefree within Ireland, from ConnollyBooks

Forwardtogether IrelandNew pamphletfrom the ConnollyYouth Movementwww.cym.iefrom ConnollyBooks

Debt: a weaponagainst thepeople€3.50/£3 fromConnolly Booksconnollybooks@eircom.net43 East EssexStreet, Dublin betweenTemple Bar andParliament Street (01) 6708707

Tommy McKearney

ON 24 APRIl last, small groups ofpeople gathered at a number ofplaces around Ireland on the

ninety-ninth anniversary of thebeginning of the Easter Rising tocelebrate what they have designatedRepublic Day. Their efforts received noofficial support and went virtuallyunreported in the mainstream media.Two thousand miles away, Michael D.

Higgins, somewhat inaccuratelydescribed as the president of Ireland (hisremit covers only twenty-six counties),was joining members of the British royalfamily and heads of state of the BritishCommonwealth to commemorate thehundredth anniversary of one of theEmpire’s greatest military disasters, thecalamitous Gallipoli landings.Unlike those marking the historic

proclaiming of a republic in Dublin, theevent in Turkey received wide coverage inall sections of the national media. TheIrish establishment’s current position isthat the three thousand Irish men wholost their lives in a futile attempt to opena second front were heroes deserving ofrecognition on a par with those who diedattempting to establish an independentrepublic in Ireland.While holding no bitterness towards

the misguided men who left Ireland tofight for Britain’s empire in the First WorldWar, it is still perfectly reasonable to saythat what took place in Turkey last monthwas not an act of compassion: it was anevent with a blatantly political, not tomention cynical, purpose.Britain’s ruling class is adept and long

practised at using military pageantry tocreate a common, class-bound Britishidentity. Britain’s rulers encouragenostalgia about shared wartimeexperiences of struggle and hardship, andwork at promoting pride in these imperialadventures.Gallipoli commemorations were

taking place simultaneously in Londonand Turkey and were attended by everyavailable member of the royal family,splendidly draped in ceremonial militaryuniform while surrounded byrepresentatives of the Commonwealth. Amessage was being sent to those wishingto secede from the United Kingdom or tochallenge the status quo that the oldempire can still muster powerful support.Michael D. Higgins’s presence at the

commemoration conveyed a somewhatdifferent message but one that was

nevertheless also politically loaded.Disguised as a generous and long-overdue act of reconciliation, ostensiblydesigned to correct what the Irish Timesdescribed as an injustice carried out overthe past century against fellow-Irishmen,this once-radical member of the LabourParty was promoting a notion that thepeople of Ireland are a monolithic,seamless entity, all sharing a commoninterest; because by focusing on thenationality of the dead rather than on thepurpose of their armed assault onOttoman territory (described recently byan Australian journalist as “an imperialistinvasion of a foreign nation”) a distinctand tendentious narrative was beingperpetuated.There is nothing novel about this

message. It is to all intents and purposesthe anchor story of Hibernianism. Inother words, this is the promotion of acult of nationalism that rejects class asthe primary dynamic within society andseeks to replace it with the concept of ahomogeneous population—the type ofhapless masses once referred to by EndaKenny as “Paddy.”It was not by accident that Connolly

and Larkin frequently lamented themalevolent influence of the AncientOrder of Hibernians, an organisation withan ideology so enthusiastically endorsedby John Redmond and William MartinMurphy. In contemporary Ireland it isnow the ideology of those who speak of“wearing the green jersey,” or “We allpartied, and now we all must pay,” or thatother gem, “We’re all in this together.”This “all together now” line rings very

hollow among Ireland’s unemployed andminimum-wage workers as they reflecton a recent survey published in theSunday Times. Put simply, Ireland’srichest are wealthier now than they wereduring the peak of the “Celtic Tiger”period. This country is home to 13billionaires, while the 250 wealthiest areworth a combined €75.03 billion.Of particular interest to the hard-

pressed Irish working class is a referenceto two of our better-off “Paddys.” Theviscerally anti-union chief executive ofDunne’s Stores, Margaret Heffernan,enjoys a personal fortune ofapproximately €270 million, while few ofher employees earn a living wage. Thenthere is Denis O’Brien, the ultimateowner of the company installing watermeters, GMC-Sierra, who more thandoubled his fortune in the last six yearsand now has a tasty little pot of €5.343

billion to his name.Coming amidst the uncovering of

questionable practices surroundingSiteserv and IBRC, having evidence ofsuch gross inequality widely reported isdisconcerting for the elite. Moreover, it isextremely politically embarrassing for theerstwhile social democrats in agovernment coalition committed to free-market economics. Exacerbating theseconcerns is the realisation that southernIreland’s party-political landscape is in aprocess of change. Fianna Fáil and theLabour Party are struggling to retain apurchase on their traditional electoratewhile the as yet untested quantity thatmakes up Sinn Féin and other left-wingelements are battling to imposethemselves on the scene.From a ruling-class point of view this

is certainly not the time to risk releasing aradical democratic or socialist-republicangenie from the bottle. With the EasterRising centenary rapidly approaching,there will be the inevitable jockeying tograb monopoly over events. Fine Gael,Fianna Fáil, the Labour Party and SinnFéin will compete for control of thelegacy. For so long as the discourse isconfined to an argument over whoserelatives were in the GPO, or whether theProvos are legitimate heirs of the 1916volunteers, the status quo is safe.Of much greater significance would be

an intellectual battle for control of theRising’s narrative. Ireland’s right-wingestablishment does not want attentionfocused on the writings of JamesConnolly, or unpacking the meaning of adeclaration such as “the right of thepeople of Ireland to the ownership ofIreland and to the unfettered control ofIrish destinies, to be sovereign andindefeasible.”Applied to present conditions, these

concepts pose questions that our rulingelite would rather not answer. Preferablefrom their point of view is the confusionemerging from blurring the line betweenthose who took an anti-imperialist stancein 1916 and those who followed JohnRedmond’s call to defend an empire.With these many efforts in place for

dissembling, misleading, andbamboozling, it’s important that a self-serving agenda is not promoted underthe guise of compassion and inclusivity.We need a radical democratic programmefor this century, and that will not emergeby deferring to imperialism or peddlingthe pernicious myth of Hibernianism.

The malevolent influence of Hibernianism

page 5 Socialist Voice

Forty years ago

The malevolent influence of Hibernianism

ON THAT day in 1975 theforces of the People’sArmy of Viet Nam and the

National Liberation Front ofSouth Viet Nam, under thecommand of General Van TienDung, captured the SouthVietnamese presidential palaceand other important strategicsites in Sài Gòn (soon to berenamed Thành Pho Ho Chí Minhor Ho Chí Minh City).The assault on Sài Gòn was the

culmination of the Spring Offensive of1975, and its denouement on the lastday of April would precipitate the hastyevacuation of the US embassy and theformal surrender of the armed forcesand government of South Viet Nam.North Viet Nam and South Viet Nam—now under the leadership of theProvisional Revolutionary Governmentof the Republic of South Viet Nam—would be officially reunited as theSocialist Republic of Viet Nam on 2July the following year.Notwithstanding the contradictions

and difficulties that have been afeature of the continuing struggle tobuild a socialist system in Viet Nam inthe years since the ending of the war,the victory of the forces of theVietnamese Revolution over the UnitedStates and its domestic allies will forever stand as a testament to theability of people to successfully resist

imperialism and to vindicate their rightto self-determination and freedom inthe face of seemingly insurmountableodds.The struggle that a small band of

communists had begun some fortyyears previously would eventually cometo rank among the most epic strugglesin all of world history. Having startedout with educational and propagandawork among the masses, the nucleusof what eventually became theCommunist Party of Viet Nam formedthe Armed Propaganda and LiberationUnit in 1941. From its beginnings asan army of thirty-four men inpossession of two revolvers, seventeenrifles, fourteen flintlocks and one lightmachine gun, commanded by themilitarily self-educated 33-year-oldGiáp, the Viet Minh (League for theIndependence of Vietnam) in itsdifferent incarnations could eventuallyclaim credit for helping to drive theJapanese from Indochina, defeatingthe hated French coloniser, the militaryand political defeat of the UnitedStates and its South Viet Nam allies,and defeating both Pol Pot’s KhmerRouge and invading Chinese forces in1979.Writing in his book National

Liberation War in Viet Nam: GeneralLine, Strategy, Tactics (1971), thesenior Vietnamese militarycommander, the late General VõNguyên Giáp, attributed the gloriousvictory of 1975 to the fact that “ourpeople have fought unremittingly andachieved tremendous successes onthe path of national liberation andhave ushered in a new era for our

country, the era of independence,freedom and socialism, thuscontributing a worthy share to theworld’s revolution. Our people’s armedforces were born and have grown upwith our people’s revolutionary hightide, skilfully led by our Party, carefullytended by Uncle H� and staunchlysupported by our people. Starting fromscratch, they have become a powerfulbattle-seasoned revolutionary armywith a record of glorious victories. Thisis above all due to possession by ourpeople and army of an invincibleweapon: the Marxist political andmilitary line of our Party.”The key to the Viet Minh’s initial

survival and success throughout thefollowing decades was an adherenceto the fundamental principle thatmilitary action must have the supportof the people, and that the revolutionalways be subservient to its needs.What ultimately made victory possiblewas a recognition that “the spirit of thepeople is greater than armed forces,”and that “if we can rely on the people,no one can defeat us,” as Ho ChíMinh declared.They did rely on the people, and that

is why they were ultimately victoriousin the face of the most relentless andferocious military onslaught any peoplehad ever heretofore been subjected toin the history of warfare.On this the fortieth anniversary of

the ending of the Viet Nam war wesalute the revolutionary and heroicpeople of Viet Nam and the profoundcontribution they have made to thequest for freedom and justice in ourworld.

30 April marks the fortiethanniversary of the ending of the US war on Viet Nam

The end of the US war

Socialist Voice page 6

water charges

Alan Hanlon

ON 21 APRIL, Right2Waterorganised another peacefuldemonstration of the working

class opposed to the privatisation ofwater and the whole campaign ofausterity and forced emigrationlaunched in 2008.There were more than 80,000 on the

demonstration in Dublin from all parts ofthe country. Once more the bourgeoisyellow media tried to claim there wereonly 30,000 there. This is laughable, and aclear indication that the yellow presscannot report the truth but have to playalong with the government propagandamachine that the numbers are goingdown.Leaving aside the issuing of bills to

dead people, the €50 million paid inconsultants’ fees in 2013, the bonusculture, undrinkable water in parts of thecountry, and the Siteserv farce, thepropaganda continues.At the beginning of February, Irish

Water claimed that “over half thehouseholds expected to pay bills hadregistered their details with Irish Water.”They said 850,000 homes had providedtheir details, out of 1½ million customers.Unfortunately for Irish Water, 400,000 ofthese are homes with their own septictanks and wells or are part of groupschemes. They won’t in fact be paying anywater charges to Irish Water but areregistering to get Alan Kelly’s generousgrant of taxpayers’ money.So the actual figure was 450,000 at that

time, out of 1½ million households. Ofthese, about 35,000 returned theirpackages with no details but wereregistered anyway. An unknown numberwrote “Return to sender” or “No contract”on the envelope, and were also registered.Irish Water also got customers’ detailsfrom An Bord Gáis. In effect, then, fewerthan 400,000 had signed up by February.According to the 2011 census there are

1,994,845 dwellings in the state. Of these,334,374 were vacant at the time of thecensus. The figures for local property taxjust published by the RevenueCommissioners show that a total of 1.86million households made returns or wereexempt. This, according to the RevenueCommissioners, is a compliance rate of96 per cent. This, then, indicates a figureof 1.9 million households, which isconsistent with the census figure.There is a big difference between 1.5

million customers being claimed by IrishWater and the actual number of

households. Irish Water originally sentout over 2 million packs. Their web siteclaims 1.237 million registered, which is80 per cent—990,000 customers, or 66 percent of the total number.But of course the 990,000 includes the

400,000, as does the 1.5 million. So if the990,000 is taken as a percentage of theactual number of households, it is 49 percent—less than half. And bear in mindthat a considerable number of these wereregistered despite their wishes andunknown to themselves. An Bord Gáis,local authorities, the Department ofSocial Protection, the RevenueCommissioners, the Private ResidentialTenancies Board and other groups haveall either passed or will pass informationto Irish Water, meaning that the figure isdefinitely less than 49 per cent.Another aspect of the misinformation

emanating from Irish Water’s PropagandaDepartment is that the Department ofSocial Protection has made provision topay the household grant to 1.3 millionhouseholds. So even without the protestsit was factored in that more than 500,000would not register.Next we have the water meters.

Originally these were a water-conservation measure. When that didn’twork they were to discover the leaks. IrishWater claims that 49 per cent of thesystem is leaking. This was when the localauthorities were operating the system.Waterford City and County Councilsaddressed the water leak problem yearsago, but Phil Hogan abolished WaterfordCity Council when he set up the IrishWater quango.More than 500,000 meters were

installed up to January, according to IrishWater. They estimate that 60 per cent ofthe leaks are in the home, sohouseholders will be caught for repairingthe leak, regardless of whether it is anordinary tap leak or a public pipe runningthrough a garden. The very fact that so farnot every house has a meter means ofcourse that for the majority of householdsthe bills being issued are notional and notbased on actual usage. So much for the“conservation” claim.If this were not enough to discredit

Irish Water, at least two developers inWaterford have written to Irish Waterwarning it not to install meters or laypipes on estates that those developershave under bond with the local authority.If other developers around the countryadopt the same policy, Irish Water is ineffect dead in the water.

Lies, damned lies, and statistics Rise of shadow banking

Nicola Lawlor

BOTH THE EU Central Bank and theInternational Monetary Fund publishedreports recently on the growth and risk of

the shadow-banking sector.While estimating the size of the sector and

identifying some immediate risks, both reports failto identify the rise of finance, and in particular non-bank credit-creating entities, over recent decadesas a systemic aspect of monopolisation, stagnation,and over-accumulation.

Both reports also promote the “positive” aspectsof shadow banking and see it having a role inreleasing credit where other financial institutionsmight not venture. As the IMF put it, “the challengefor policy-makers is to maximise the benefits ofshadow banking.”

The IMF defines shadow banking as creditintermediation outside the conventional bankingsystem—or non-bank entities that create credit.This is a broad definition, making shadow bankingabout a quarter of total financial intermediation. Ittherefore includes pension funds, insuranceentities, hedge funds, structured investmentvehicles, mortgage services rights (collectors ofinterest and debt), and derivative productcompanies, which are often special-purposevehicles.

The Financial Stability Board has beenmonitoring shadow banking since 2011 and hasreported that the United States, Britain and theeuro area have the largest shadow-bankingsystems. Britain’s accounts for more than 360 percent of GDP, while those of the United States andthe euro area are closer to 200 per cent.

But Ireland (also included in the euro area)stands out. The shadow-banking system here hasbeen estimated to be in the region of €1.7 trillion—almost 11 times our GNP. This is without doubtrelated to global tax evasion and the fact that manycorporations pay less than 1 per cent tax, nevermind the official rate of 12½ per cent.

The growth of the shadow-banking system hascreated new risks and instabilities within thesystem, but it has also provided a much-needavenue for investment. Its importance as an avenuefor investment far exceeds the risks it creates withregard to the reproduction of capital, and so therehave been few serious attempts to control, isolateor regulate the sector. In fact the IMF makes itclear that, as regulation has increased in the normalbanking industry, shadow banking has grown, as ifto imply that regulation is futile and that shadowbanking should be embraced and normalised.

Seven years after the crisis erupted, the crucialrole played by finance, financial products andinvestment avenues is obvious. There will be noserious attempt to control capital merely tomitigate its worst instabilities by establishingpublicly funded bail-out mechanisms or to increasethe confidence of investors in finance. This ismonopoly capitalism in the twenty-first century.

page 7

struggle

Socialist Voice

Paul Doran

THE TWO STATEMENTS describevarious aspects of the euro andimperialism. In Portugal, since the

country became a member of the EECin 1986 and the European MonetaryUnion in 1999 there has been aconstant strategy of concentration andcentralisation of capital, socialregression, and—with particular impactsince the creation of the euro—attackson the social functions of the state, thewithdrawal of rights, depreciation of thevalue of work, weakening of theproductive apparatus, and attacks ondemocracy and sovereignty.This finding regarding Portugal is

easily illustrated with some figures. Inregard to employment, about 630,000jobs were destroyed since the entryinto circulation of the euro; the numberof unemployed increased by 145 percent.With regard to the evolution of GDP,

from 1996 to 2014 the Portugueseeconomy grew by a meagre 1.2 percent. If we consider the period sinceadopting the euro we find that thisanaemic growth becomes purely andsimply stagnation, the reality of the lastseventeen years, a period in which the

Three EU countries: same failed strategies

fall in public and private investmentwas steady and sharp.Looking at the rate of gross fixed

capital formation as a percentage ofGDP, an indicator that tells if thecountry is acquiring goods andequipment for developing productivecapacity, we find that in 2000 it stoodat 28 per cent; today it is 15 percent—little more than half!At the same time our Greek

comrades issued a statement headed“Imperialism and the ImperialistPyramid.” In it the Communist Party ofGreece comments on the role of theEU in retarding the economicdevelopment of Greece. Greece is one of the characteristic

examples, which of course has auniversal value because thephenomenon is not merely Greek.Our country has significant

productive potential, which wasselectively developed in the course ofcapitalist development while theassimilation of the country in the EUand generally its relation with theglobal capitalist market led to an evenbigger restriction of the utilisation of itsresources. We note briefly that Greecehas significant energy resources,considerable mineral resources,industrial and agricultural production,crafts, that can cover a large part ofthe people’s needs.Nevertheless, as a result of the crisis

and the whole course of theassimilation in the imperialist pyramid,Greece has been downgraded evenfurther. It is dependent on imports,while Greek products remain unsoldand are buried.In Ireland the government continues

its strategy of attracting foreign directinvestment, as shown in the latest CSOfigures. This will expose Irish workers toan even greater extent to the inherentboom-and-bust trajectory of capital andan Irish economy over-dependent onforeign direct investment.FDI is highly mobile and can move at

a moment’s notice. The results will be

catastrophic for tens of thousands ofpeople. In the Republic, half of FDI iscentred on Dublin, mainly in the docksarea around our tax haven at the IFSC.There is hardly any state involvement inFDI, which clearly suits all vestedinterests. The bulk of the investmentsare in financial services, which addsvalue to our economy and shows afalse growth, endearing Ireland to theparasites who lend us money.The huge growth in the docklands

shows clearly that FDI works for some,but another negative effect is in theprice of housing for local people in thedocklands and surrounding areas.With the rise of the Scottish National

Party and the clamour by Sinn Féin inthe six counties for a reduction incorporation tax to the levels applicablein the 26-county state we will soon seemore competition in this area. Theresult is plain for all to see: a reductionin people’s wages, another crisis in theRepublic, the victory of the EU and itsventure and its stated aim of creating areserve army of labour, and ourincreasing dependence on imports.What is really needed is an

alternative economy based on people’sneeds—an economy for the commongood, along the lines outlined in theCPI pamphlet published as far back as2009, which stated:The central economic strategy of all

parties that have made up the variousgovernments since the 1950s hasbeen to allow the economy to beturned into a banking and serviceeconomy, with an over-reliance ontransnational corporations. All theinherent weaknesses in this strategyare now clearly exposed.Cuba has shown that the proper use

of resources and the planneddevelopment of society across theboard—including health, education,and culture, its cutting edge the bio-technology industry—points a wayforward and shows that small nationscan have development outside thesphere of global capitalism.

AT THE END of April twocommunist parties issuedsignificant statements inrelation to the situation inPortugal and Greece. Theyare of interest to us here inIreland because of the

similarity of conditions: theimposition of massive debton the people, which is themain weapon for imposing

savage austerity.

Socialist Voice page 8

capitalism

Eoghan O’Neill

THERE ARE TIMES and certainprocesses in the production ofhuman needs that have become

the catalyst for change in society, achange in which the old order of doingthings—whether it is ruling, governing,trading, building, creating, destroying,or a myriad of different complexitiesthat steer human development—areincapable of satisfying, or can no longersatisfy, the new social and productiveforces in society.Over time, what once was the

exception to the rule becomes the rule,and those that once dominated andsteered the functions of society have,because of the development of society,been overtaken by new and moreadvanced forms of social and economicrelations.Primitive communal societies, slave

societies, feudal societies, capitalistsocieties and socialist societies, and thetransition from one type of society toanother, have been the constant andturbulent advancement of mankind.Masterful inventions and ingenuities,such as the wheel, the printing press, thesteam engine and internal combustionengine, the harnessing of electricity,natural resources and the elements,exploration in the fields of science,mathematics, engineering andcomputing, all of which and many more

have to one degree or another beendeveloped to satisfy our basic humanneeds, are based upon the stage ofdevelopment within a given society.It is very easy to settle into the notion

that what is shall for ever be, and thatwhat has gone before must remain as itwas, a relic of its time irrelevant to today’sworld. But humankind is not a victim ofits own self-importance: there has beenand continues to be a dynamicrelationship between ourselves and theworld into which we are born. The timeand the age in which one lives is just achance, a lottery of sporadicconsciousness, untamed anduncontrollable.Those who have been before us and

those who will come after us, just as weare now, are conditioned by theenvironment in which they are broughtup. The social and productive forcesevolve and develop as we master andmanipulate the material world around us.But there are limits to what can beachieved by any given society, and thatlimit is set by its productive forces. This isthe key to understanding the history andlineage of mankind, which Karl Marx andFrederick Engels correctly observed andfirst presented to the world in theCommunist Manifesto of 1848.To understand where we place

ourselves now, in 2015, in the grandscheme of things, and how we may seek

to shape and improve our future and thatof our children, we must bring Marxisttheory to the fore, as it alone can guidethe majority of people, the workingmasses, away from the abyss ofexploitation, poverty, and environmentaldestruction. Engels in his oration atMarx’s funeral said: “Just as Darwindiscovered the law and development oforganic nature, so Marx discovered thelaw of development of human history.”And it is these laws that we must studyand develop to get a real understandingof our place within society at this time.Without this guiding theory to direct ourpractice we will continue to walk blindlyinto a struggle without knowing who orwhat we are struggling against.To understand the development of

human history we must first of all go backto the basics: human needs. These needsat the primary level are food, water, andshelter, and then we have more advancedneeds, such as education, health,services, work, pastimes, relationships,etc. These needs are provided to sustainlife physically and culturally, and they areboth individual and collective needs.Human needs are “conditioned by the

stage of development” of society and aresatisfied by goods and services, which arethe material means by which we satisfythose needs. The ability, for example, tocall an ambulance in case of a medicalemergency is relatively new and ispossible only because an array ofdifferent fields have been sufficientlydeveloped and have merged to give usthis one vital service.All the small links form this one chain

for one particular service, and this chainis woven into countless other links andchains to form a social fabric, all servicingour human needs. This whole process,then, can only be thought of as social inboth fabric and delivery and is a productof thousands of years of humandevelopment.We are at a particular historical stage

of development—capitalism, and, asLenin critically observed more than ahundred years ago, the highest stage ofcapitalism—imperialism, where thecompetitiveness of industry has beenreplaced by the dominance of monopolycorporations. This has seen the merger ofindustry and finance, national andinternational business. The governments,groups or institutions that have a vestedinterest in the monopolies will ensuretheir dominance in the economy. Thestage of development we are at now reallyis a dictatorship of the monopolies.Being aware of this class divide brings

us to one of the fundamental aspects ofMarxism: class-consciousness. To beclass-conscious is to know which classyou belong to and, to that end, where

page 9 Socialist Voice

eurozone

your class interests lie. This raises thequestion, Why aren’t people more class-conscious? Just as there is class-consciousness, there is also a socialconsciousness, and people in their dailylives are not made conscious of the socialrelations that have been formed—theclass nature of society. They are aware ofthe distribution relations, in that theydeal with this every day of their workinglives: wages, rent, interest, etc.From social relations (class division)

emerge legal and political, moral andreligious, philosophical, scientific andartistic ideas, which form a socialconsciousness. This, taken as a whole,forms an ideology. This ideology is anexpression of the whole or a part ofsociety, and in a class society the ideologyof the dominant class, the class that ownsthe means of production, will reproduceits ideology and repress any alternativeideology, because it solely has the meansof doing so.The struggles of today, which may vary

from country to country and place toplace, all come back to a class struggle, a

struggle over the control, ownership andcommand of the means of production,i.e. the economy. Capitalism as ahistorically developed stage, and itsadherents create and reproduce theirideology to maintain and to proliferatetheir privileged position in society.The real existing conditions of poverty,

hunger, homelessness, exploitation etc.can only be eliminated by depriving thepossessing class of their privilege in oursociety. This has been and will continueto be the goal of communists, here inIreland and around the world. We need astrong revolutionary party of workingpeople that will challenge the dominantideology of the 1 per cent and theirlackeys, challenge for political power andeconomic power by setting about thedismantling of the capitalist system ofprivate ownership of the means ofproduction and its institutions andreplacing them with the only viablealternative: social ownership of themeans of production, i.e. socialism.

Facts about real, existing capitalism1 Three billion people live on less than $2.50 a day.2 500 people have more than $3 billion each in wealth.3 The richest 1 per cent have 46 per cent of the world’s wealth; the bottom50 per cent have just 1 per cent.4 Half of all children in the world live in poverty5 13 per cent of birds, 25 per cent of mammals and 41 per cent ofamphibians face extinction6 Arctic temperatures have increased by 5°C over the last 100 years. There willbe almost no summer sea ice left in the Arctic by 2020.7 Five monopolies (ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Glencore and Louis Dreyfus) control90 per cent of the global grain trade.8 21 per cent of land on earth is owned by a mere fifteen people, leaving therest to all 7 billion of us.9 The top 10 per cent of earners in Ireland receive more than 35 per cent ofall income; the top 1 per cent receive more than 12 per cent.10 Government debt went from €47 billion to €192 billion as a result ofprivate-sector inefficiency.11 The United States has militarily intervened in seventy-five sovereigncountries since the Second World War—the most war-hungry state on earth.12 Percentage change in disposable income in Ireland:

Celebrating fiveyears of Barrygruffwith Gruffwuff

�

Barry Healy

BARRYGRUFF, from Ireland and now basedin Vancouver, a finalist in the Canadian“Made in Blog” music blog awards, 2014,

has released a compilation, Gruffwuff, tocelebrate five years of his music blog,Barrygruff. It brings together nineteen previouslyunreleased and exclusive recordings that makeup some of Gruff’s favourite bands of the pastfive years, featuring Captain Moonlight’s hard-hitting “What Is Property?” Anderson’s beautifulacoustic “Things We Have in Common,” theguitar-driven “Three Shadows” by Hippies v.Ghosts, and the electronic “Barry’s Game” byImploded View.

This varied compilation is compiled byBarrygruff and Stephen Connelly. Connelly, an artstudent, designed the poster for the album.

Speaking about the album, Gruff comments:“Initially I thought an idea like this was just apipe dream, but the enthusiasm that met myinitial enquiries bowled me over. I couldn’t believehow eager everyone was to get involved. Blogginghas become quite a big part of my life over thepast number of years, and I wanted to dosomething really special to mark the occasion,and I think with ‘Gruffwuff’ that has beenachieved.”

He added: “It’s been curated and compiled bymyself and Stephen Connelly. The thinking behindthe project was pretty simple: we wanted to shinea light, brief as it may be, on some of the actsthat have lit up the blog over the past few years.”

http://barrygruff.bandcamp.com/album/gruffwuff.

Socialist Voice page 10

solidarity

History, lookingforwardSeán Edwards

WHEN EDUARDO GALEANO died, theUruguayan parliament held a specialsession to honour him; a previous regime

put him in jail. This reflects the changes in LatinAmerica, which Galeano’s writings helped bringabout.He wrote The Open Veins of Latin America in 1971,

reclaiming history for the people. The book is a historicalaccount of how Latin America was pillaged over thecenturies. After the wars of liberation from Spanishcolonialism, those who came to power were not the peoplewho fought in the wars but oligarchs who preferred to allythemselves with the British Empire rather than pursue areal independence, as they were not strong enough to ruleon their own. They later transferred their allegiance to thenew imperialist power, the United States of America.The book is written in a lively style, easy to read, and

committed. It recounts terrible tragedies and defeats butnever loses hope. It was an immediate hit with thoseinvolved in the struggle for a real independence and socialprogress, especially in Chile, where the Socialistgovernment of Salvador Allende was elected. As IsabelAllende recounts, “this breath of hope is what moves methe most in Galeano’s work. Like thousands of refugees allover the continent, I also had to leave my country after themilitary coup of 1973. I could not take much with me:some clothes, family pictures, a small bag with earth frommy garden, and two books: an old edition of the Odes byPablo Neruda, and the book with the yellow cover, LasVenas Abiertas de América Latina.”There followed a decade of major counter-attack:

“Operation Condor.” Following coups d’état made in theUSA, brutal military-fascist regimes were installed, coveringmost of South America. The open veins bled more thanever. Galeano himself was jailed in Uruguay, moved toArgentina, and had to flee the fascist coup there in 1976.He continued to write—about sport, politics, and

everything. Much of his work is light and cheerful,especially when he writes about football. (According tohim, every Uruguayan child is born shouting “Goal!”) Hehad a talent for writing short pieces, witty, pithy,entertaining, but always with a serious purpose. Anexample: he recounts how the conquistadores, arriving inAmerica, decided that the native people must be Muslims,because they washed themselves a lot, unlike Christians.He continued to be an inspiration to the people’s

resistance, and contributed to their victories. This wasacknowledged by Hugo Chávez when he presented BarackObama with a copy of The Open Veins of Latin America,though I suspect that particular copy remained unread.Galeano was a great writer, and a great hero of the Latin

American people.� A personal note: The first major book I read in Spanish

was The Open Veins, which is relatively easy to read; alsothe short pieces from Football in Sunshine and Shade. Irecommend them—and anything written by Galeano—toanyone learning Spanish.

Richard Bryant

WITH MORE beheadings inLibya come more punditson American television.

As a culture we seem keen toexplore political, military and theoccasional diplomatic solutionwhen it comes to the rise ofSunni extremism in Syria andIraq. I wonder if there are lessobvious religious approaches?No-one is going to invade Indiana or

Arkansas for considering the ReligiousFreedom Restoration Act. Yet theapproach by many in addressing eitherside of the issues has been exclusivelyreligious. Politics has become a meansto implement religious ideology.Certainly I believe this to be the case

in Indiana. The sooner we understandhow the fundamentalist impulse forcontrol (create religious uniformitythrough the appearance of a politicalprocess) functions within the Christiantradition the sooner we’ll begin to graspthe apocalyptic, exclusionist thoughtinspiring violence in North Africa, Syria,and Iraq.I think the key to defeating radical

and conservative interpretations of theQuran is to defeat radical andfundamentalist interpretations of theBible. If they both make similar claims,both venture into the realm of divineexclusivity, they both need to be subjectto serious criticism. Both Jesus andMuhammad were real men. The bookswhich relate their stories are sacred tobillions of people. However, both booksare historically constructed texts andnot manuals for running a society.Cobbled together, sometimes centuriesafter the events described, they are notinfallible guide books for living. Insteadthey are contradictory versions ofhistorical episodes that few agreerepresent authentic history, eitherChristian or Muslim.This conversation needs to occur

before new beheadings, morehyperbole and both faiths becomeentrenched in their belief that both arewrong and only one carries God’s trueimprimatur. There is much wrong withboth Islam and Christianity. The Quranand the Bible are not infallible texts.Both books are littered withinconsistencies, religiously sanctionedbrutality, and virtually identical claims ofdivine involvement in human affairs,

which Islam discredits in Christianityand Christians discount amongMuslims.There is an unwillingness to speak

honestly about the Bible among certainelements of Christianity. As the recentmurders at Charlie Hebdo demonstrate,any depiction or questions regardingthe historical role of the ProphetMuhammad can lead to violence. Bothtraditions have groups of people whodon’t want anyone to pose questionsthreatening age-old orthodoxies andinterpretations of scripture. Whileviolence isn’t a way of life in Americanevangelical culture, no-one wants todiscuss the brutality in the OldTestament, inconsistencies in gospels,and how one interpretation ofChristianity is shaping the Americanpolitical landscape.These same questions can be asked

throughout the Middle East, CentralAsia, and Africa. We see, from adistance, how one interpretation of theQuran is shaping the political landscapeof the Islamic world. Under the penaltyof death, many share the consensusthat the Prophet’s life and teachingsform an unquestionable body of work.In 1,400 years, this basic message hasgone unchanged and unchallenged.Christianity’s reformations have

stalled in the United States. Theimpetus of Luther, Calvin and Wesleyhas given way to something unique tothe consumer-driven culture of late-modern capitalism. Our faith, like ourlives, is a narcissistic expression of self-fulfilment cloaked in the language ofJoel Osteen’s God, love of stuff, and“me.” We understand that “this” is howGod wants us to be. Others, who havenot understood, are wrong. We don’twant the hard questions. We know whowe are. Them, they, the other, theindustrial-religious complex, tell us whoto hate and who to love.The world is trapped between

competing fundamentalisms. Toquestion the authority of the Bible andthe honour of the Prophet may be thefirst step to peace; it may be the onlyfair place to start. Someone must beable to ask harsh questions of bothChristianity’s and Islam’s most sacredtexts. No one life is worth a single wordof any book. Both can’t be right. Bothdominant versions, vying forprominence in the world today, arefundamentally wrong.

Both are wrong!Re-examining the texts

page 11 Socialist Voice

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world

The Venezuelan workingclass reinforces its supportfor MaduroPaul Dobson

WITH AN investment ofmore than $1.2 billionand 2.2 million bolívars,

President Maduro approvedforty-six projects from theworking class of thenationalised Venezuelan GuyanaCorporation this month, as thePresidential Council of theWorking Class was held inVenezuela’s industrialheartland.“We, the workers, want to make

our total and unrestricted support forthe first Chavista and working classPresident absolutely clear,” declaredJosé Melendez of the Unified Unionof Iron and Steel Workers.At the Council, President Maduro

announced the creation of a politicaltraining programme for the iron, steeland aluminium workers, designating apresidential team to work alongsidethe University of the Workers, theBolivarian University, and the Sucreand Ribas Missions.Maduro also called on the workers

in heavy industries to prepare a lawof the “socialist management of thebasic industries of Guyana,” with “theconcept of workers’ control as thecentral element,” and announced thecreation of the Hugo Chávez FríasAluminium and Briquette Complex.The National Executive also

received the sum of 457.8 millionbolívars from the nationalisedindustries as their end-of-yearsurpluses, with the Socialist CementCorporation contributing 250 million,Orinoco Iron 100 million, VenezuelanGlassworks 60 million, VenezuelanTechnological Industries 21 million,Orinoquia Telephones 15 million,Chery Cars 17 million, and ProductiveVenezuela Cars 3 million. Thesefunds go to the Socialist EfficiencyAccount and are used to financesocial missions. Maduro challengedthem to double this amount nextyear.

Venezuelan workers on strikeThe organised workers of the

largest private company in Venezuela,Polar Group, have stepped up a strike

that began on 23 March over Polar’srefusal to advance negotiations for acollective contract at the TurmeroBeer Plant in the state of Aragua.The dispute arose when, after

fifteen months, with only 18 of the106 clauses of the contract agreedupon, the president of Polar, LorenzoMendoza, refused to continue indiscussions that affected 620workers.Following continued hard-

heartedness from the oligarch,workers at other Polar plants havenow begun striking in support,including the National Union of Beer,Soft Drinks and Wine Workers. “Wehave decided to launch a solidaritystrike, in accordance with article 490of the Organic Labour Law, andcompletely support our comrades,”explained Frank Quijada.Following the month-long strike the

workers have repeatedly denouncedviolence from Polar against thestriking workers, calling for thegovernment to intervene and sanctionthe firm. “The firm have tried tocoerce our struggle and have sentarmed men to intimidate us.Nonetheless the workers maintain apeaceful strike . . .” stated JuanRodriguez of the Central Region ofthe Polar Workers’ Union. “We arenot afraid, but if anything happens toany of us then we hold the PolarCorporation responsible. Polar aretrampling on and intimidating theworkers . . . They are the violent ones. . . They are firing subcontractedworkers so as to not give them fixedcontracts. There are a large numberof protests.”Eloy Ordaz, communist member of

the regional legislative council,denounced Mendoza’s use of strike-breakers, while the CommunistParty’s National Workers’ Secretary,Pedro Eusse, denounced “theaggressive campaign againstrevolutionary union leaders and shopstewards.”Polar controls 82 per cent of

Venezuela’s beer market and morethan 70 per cent of the flour market,as well as having an important stakein soft drinks, water, mayonnaise,margarine, and vegetable oil.

Jenny Farrell

SOLIDARITY LIES at theheart of the film Pride. Itis a film about the

seemingly unlikely alliancebetween a mining community inWales and the London Lesbianand Gay group “Lesbians andGays Support the Miners.” Thisis a true story, and the hero ofthis film is Mark Ashton, acommunist from Co. Antrim.Pride is a tremendous film—

historically true, passionate, and funny.The writer, Stephen Beresford, saidabout the significance of choosing thismoment in history as the subject ofthe film: “The mining communities arelike the last bulwark in the industrialworking class. They represent a groupthat is being eradicated by the newworld, and this is the last stand-off.”It is a historical fact that the

charismatic Ashton was joint founderof the first LGSM group, from whichsprang a total of eleven groups inBritain. It is also true that thesegroups raised an amazing £20,000 forthe strikers. LGSM was the greatestsingle financial supporter of the minersduring this longest strike in the historyof the British working class; and theydid so at a time when Thatcher’sgovernment had sequestered thefunds of the miners’ union so that thestrikers would not get their strike pay,having described the miners’ familiesas “the enemy within.”Donations could no longer be sent

through the union’s national office, soAshton’s London LGSM group twinnedwith the village of Onllwyn in the DulaisValley. They visited the miners andtheir families in solidarity and to deliverfood, money, and other supplies. Andthey made friends with them.Ashton was one of the first to

recognise the common cause betweenthe two communities, both underattack from Thatcher, her subservientpolice force, and Murdoch’shomophobic and anti-union press.“Mining communities are being bullied,like we are, being harassed by thepolice, just as we are. One communityshould give solidarity to another. It isreally illogical to say, ‘I’m gay and Idefend the gay community but I don’tcare about anything else.’”Mark Ashton’s insight was what set

the whole LGSM movement in motion.The miners understood this gesture

of solidarity. Their community’srepresentative, Dai Donovan, who wassent to London to collect the firstdonation, spoke at the spectacular“Pits and Perverts” benefit concert forthe miners. He reiterated Ashton’sstance from the miners’ viewpoint.“You have worn our badge, Coal, notdole, and you know what harassmentmeans, as we do. Now we will pin yourbadge on us; we will support you. Itwon’t change overnight, but now140,000 miners know that there areother causes and other problems. Weknow about blacks and gays andnuclear disarmament. And we willnever be the same.”An older miner with wide cultural

interests uses the image of the GreatAtlantic Fault, the “dark artery” of coalthat runs from south Wales toPennsylvania, to express connectionsthat exist below the surface.Most of the characters in the film

are based on real people. When

Stephen Beresford began his researchfor Pride he tried to make contact withsurvivors of this time. He found adocumentary, All Out! Dancing inDulais, which LGSM made for theminers. This became an importantsource and inspiration for thecharacters.The real people then also became

involved with the film and haveunanimously pronounced it to be atrue reflection of the spirit of thosetimes. Some took part in the re-creation of pivotal events in the film:the “Pits and Perverts” benefit concertand the 1985 Gay Pride parade inLondon, where they walk behind theactors. In 1985, buses of minersjoined the parade. And even after thestrike was defeated, the miners andtheir union continued to champion gayrights. Solidarity really went both ways.Pride does more than relate the

facts: it celebrates this moment inhistory with charisma, passion, and atremendous sense of humour. Itdemonstrates in the lives of thoseinvolved the potential for solidarity totransform people. The film salutes thecourage and dignity of the oppressed,those who resist even in the face of anoverwhelming enemy. The scriptcelebrates the potential for humour asa source of strength and resistance. Ituses dance as a galvanising force. It isa truly wonderful film.I should not finish on a somewhat

disappointed note, but I will. The factthat Mark Ashton was a communist isplayed down in the film. This is ashame. He was a communist fromIreland and general secretary of theYoung Communist League from 1985until shortly before his death fromAIDS-related illness in February 1987,aged only twenty-six. If the film doesnot state this clearly enough, we do soon these pages, with Pride.

Socialist Voice page 12

Pride!Communist gay rights activist

celebrated in new film