10) SOCIALISM IS THE FUTURE!
Statement issued by the 13th
International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, held in
We salute
from Athens the growing popular struggles releasing huge emancipatory
potential against imperialism, against capitalist exploitation and oppression,
and for the social, labour and social security rights
of workers' all over the world.
The meeting
was held in critical conditions in which the deep and prolonged capitalist
crisis continues to prevail in the international situation, accompanied by the
escalation of the aggressiveness of imperialism which is expressed in the
decisions of the
It becomes
increasingly obvious for millions of working people that the crisis is a crisis
of the system. It is not faults within the system but the system itself that is
faulty, generating regular and periodic crises. It results from the sharpening
of the main contradiction of capitalism between the social character of production
and the private capitalist appropriation and not from any version of the
management policy of the system or from any aberration based on the greed of
some bankers or other capitalists or from the lack of effective regulatory
mechanisms. It highlights the historical boundaries of capitalism and the need
to strengthen the struggles for anti‑monopoly anti‑capitalist
ruptures, the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism.
In the
The anti‑people
offensive is strengthening which is manifested with particular intensity in
certain regions. The concentration and centralization of monopoly capital is
intensifying the reactionary character of economic and political power.
Capitalist restructuring and privatisations are being
promoted, aiming at competitiveness and maximisation
of profit of capital, at ensuring a cheaper labour
force and the regression of decades in terms of social and labour
rights.
The intensity
of the crisis, its global synchronisation, the
prospect of the slow, weak recovery intensify the difficulties of the
bourgeois forces in managing the crisis, leading to the sharpening of the inter‑imperialist
contradictions and rivalries while the danger of imperialist wars is being
strengthened.
The attacks
on democratic rights and sovereignty are intensifying in many countries.
Political systems become more reactionary. Anti‑communism is being
reinforced. There are generalised measures against
the activity of the communist and workers' parties, against the trade union,
political and democratic freedoms The ruling classes develop a multi faceted
attempt to trap the people's discontent through changes in the political
systems, through the utilisation of a series of pro‑imperialist
NGOs and other organizations, through attempts to channel the people's
discontent into movements with allegedly non‑political or even with
reactionary characteristics.
We salute the
people's and workers extensive struggles and uprisings, for democratic, social
and political rights against the anti‑people regimes in the Middle East
and North Africa, namely in Tunisia and Egypt. Despite the contradictions
which the current situation manifests, it constitutes a significant experience
that the communist movement should study and utilise.
Simultaneously we strongly condemn the imperialist war of NATO and the EU
against the Libyan people and the threats and interference in the internal
affairs of
These
developments confirm the necessity of strengthening the Communist and Workers'
Parties in order to play their historical role, to further strengthen the
workers and people's struggle in defence of their
rights and aspirations, to utilise the contradictions
of the system and the inter‑imperialist contradictions for an overthrow
at the level of power and economy, for the satisfaction of people's needs.
Without the leading role of the communist and workers parties and the vanguard
class, the working class, the peoples will be vulnerable to confusion, assimilation
and manipulation by the political forces that represent the monopolies, finance
capital and imperialism.
Significant
realignments in the international correlation of forces are under way. There is
the on‑going relative weakening of the position of the
Imperialist
aggressiveness intensifies. There are already several regional points of
tension and wars and they are multiplying: in Asia and Africa, in the Middle
East with the increasing aggressiveness of
There are two
paths of development:
‑ the capitalist path, the path
of the exploitation of the peoples which creates great dangers for imperialist
wars, for workers', people's democratic rights
‑ and the path of liberation
with immense possibilities for the promotion of the interests of the workers
and the peoples, for the achievement of social
justice, people's sovereignty, peace and progress. The path of the workers' and
people's struggles, the path of socialism and communism, which is historically
necessary.
Thanks to the
decisive contribution of the communists and the class oriented trade‑union
movement the workers' struggles in
We salute the
workers' and people's struggles and note the need to further strengthen them.
The conditions demand the intensification of the class struggle, of the
ideological, political, mass struggle in order to impede the anti‑people
measures and promote goals of struggle that meet the contemporary people's
needs; demand an organized workers' counterattack for anti‑monopoly and
anti‑imperialist ruptures, for the overthrow of capitalism putting an end
to the exploitation of man by man.
Today the
conditions are ripe for the construction of wide social anti‑monopoly and
anti‑imperialist alliances, capable of defeating the multifaceted
imperialist offensive and aggression and of fighting for power and promoting
deep, radical, revolutionary changes. Working class unity, the organisation and the class orientation of the labour movement are fundamental factors in ensuring the
construction of effective social alliances with the peasantry, the urban middle
class strata, the women's movement and youth movement.
In this
struggle the role of the communist and workers' parties at national, regional
and international level and the strengthening of their cooperation are
indispensable. The joint coordinated activity of the Communist and
Workers' Parties, of the communist youth organizations and the anti‑imperialist
organizations in which the communists have an important contribution
constitutes one of the most reliable elements for the expansion of the anti‑imperialist
struggle and the strengthening of the anti‑imperialist front.
The
ideological struggle of the communist movement is of vital importance in order
to defend and develop scientific socialism, to repulse contemporary anti‑communism,
to confront bourgeois ideology, anti‑scientific theories and opportunist
currents which reject the class struggle; combat the role of social democratic
forces that defend and implement anti‑people and pro‑imperialist
policies by supporting the strategy of capital and imperialism. The
understanding of the unified character of the duties of the struggle for
social, national and class emancipation, for the distinct promotion of the
socialist alternative requires the ideological counteroffensive of the
communist movement.
The overthrow
of capitalism and the construction of socialism constitute an imperative need
for the peoples. In view of the capitalist crisis and its consequences the
international experiences and practice of the socialist construction prove the
superiority of socialism. We underline our solidarity with the peoples who
struggle for socialism and are involved in the construction of socialism.
Only
socialism can create the conditions for the eradication of wars, unemployment,
hunger, misery, illiteracy, the uncertainty of hundreds of millions of people,
the destruction of the environment. Only socialism creates the conditions for
development according to the contemporary needs of the workers.
Working
people, farmers, urban and rural workers, women, young people, we call on you
to struggle together to put an end to this capitalist barbarity. There is hope,
there is a prospect. The future belongs to socialism.
SOCIALISM IS
THE FUTURE!
(The above
article is from the January 1-31, 2012, issue of People's