Communist Party of Poland | Bartosz Bieszczad
Dear Comrades and Friends,
It is a great honour for us to be here, on the Korean Peninsula in this important historical moment, possibly in the eve of yet another World War. We salute the brave Korean people, who proved many times in their long history that they can successfully defend their national sovereignty against external threats and aggressions. We are aware of the fact that in the XV century, the heart of civilisation was beating here. We are confident that Korean people will be reunited once again and they will decide on their own future themselves, without foreign interference.
Working people and the humanity as a whole have found themselves again under threat. Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism strives for the complete global dominance. Imperialist centres, based in the industrialized West will not hesitate to provoke yet another large scale military confrontation in order to preserve their monopolies and expand their dominance.
Imperialist dominance is aimed not only at maintaining financial and technological monopolies or acquiring natural resources, but above all at human resources, treated like raw materials and all other wealth. Imperialism transforms societies in the way most convenient for itself, without consideration for the most elementary human needs, material or social. Man is by nature a social and creative being, inclined to form strong bonds and to cooperate. These qualities have so far survived all historical social formations, although they have suffered many limitations with the emergence of formations based on social class divisions. But the social nature of man has been able to persist throughout history and even develop, on occasion leading to the overthrow of certain economic formations.
Today, imperialism seeks to eradicate the social nature of man. So-called “Western values” and among them hyper-individualism in particular are being imposed on societies as the new ideological superstructure of the imperialist formation. They present a model of a man “liberated” from social bonds and responsibilities, but in fact completely subservient to corporate interests in all aspects of life. Human relations are undergoing commodification; from stable structures they are being transformed into short term transactions. This aspect of the imperialist superstructure is designed to prevent the transformation of a class within itself into a class for itself, the attainment of class consciousness and the self-organization of the working class. There is now an increasing danger that atomized, individualized workers, subjected to ever more advanced means of social and technological control, will be incapable of producing the organizational forms necessary to overcome the capitalist system.
The struggle against imperialism is therefore also necessary in this ideological dimension. Ultraliberal ideology, which is the dominant current of bourgeois politics, has to be challenged and not endorsed under the illusory slogans of progressivism, according to which everything new is better. The dismantling of social structures is not progress, but a sign of the decay of the capitalist formation. Real progress, which can only be achieved under socialism, leads to the strengthening of human collectives and the social aspects of human life and not to their abolition.
Comrades,
Despite some convictions present in international communist movement, the material conditions of the contemporary imperialist system are not static, for example like a pyramid. They are undergoing dramatic changes, the pace of which has accelerated over last year. The task of the communist movement is not to dwell on whether we approve of events which are out of our control but to apply Marxist analysis to them to comprehend their dynamics and the actual implications for the working people and decide on the appropriate action.
First of all, all Eurocentric views which start from the assumption that the centre of the world is in the West have to be rejected. The most important events are happening outside of Europe and the US and they may determine on the future of the world.
Since the destruction of Soviet Union, imperialism has enforced a neo-colonial order on Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. But today it has found itself in a deep structural crisis of overproduction and over accumulation. It is unable to solve its internal problems or realize its external aspirations. Peoples of neo-colonies are aware of this weakness and in their majority they have refused to follow orders from their imperial overlords. They are striving to develop their own productive forces and to earn their rightful place in the arena of history.
These who don’t want to submit to the imperialist dictate are hypocritically accused by the West of “imperialism” and “colonialism”. Voices calling for the fight against “Chinese and Russian imperialism and colonialism” can be heard from countries like US, France and Great Britain. The Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki stated recently in the US that “Close relations between Poland and US are the best vaccine against Russian imperialism”. Numerous forces of the “golden billion” from the Right to Left are rallying behind this banner.
In this situation, it is necessary to ask the question – what do these changes mean to the labour movement?
In our view – the workers’ cause should be viewed predominantly as a practical problem, both at the stage of the struggle working class for state power and at the stage of building the socialist society. The most important obstacle to the realization of the just aspirations of the working class in our country and internationally is a legal and political framework established by the bourgeoisie, which prevents the realization of even our basic or minimal demands. Our bourgeoisie itself is part of the global bourgeois ruling class, which enforces their rule through governments and international institutions such as NATO, EU, IMF, World Bank etc. Those who think that workers’ aspirations can be realized within the imperialist system, under its domination or that question of imperialism has nothing to do with the struggle of working people are simply delusional.
The struggle against the domination of imperialism is the same goal of the working class as the struggle for decent labour wages and working conditions. The struggle against imperialism is above all a practical task. Everything that weakens imperialism is a revolutionary act and everything that strengthens it is counter-revolutionary. The allies of the working class are all forces that oppose imperialism – including national liberation and anti-colonial movements.
Imperialism is also a key factor limiting the development of societies that have embarked on the road to socialist construction and those that will embark on such a road in the future. Economic sanctions are routinely used by imperialism against socialist countries such as Poland in the past and Cuba in present in order to cripple their economies and destabilize their political systems.
The weakening of imperialism and liberation of entire regions from its control will enable the working classes that decide to embark on the path of socialist construction to diversify their trade and allow them to bypass the economic sanctions that often prevent the development of the productive forces and the satisfaction of the workers’ basic needs. Countries where workers have broken the chain of imperialism will be able to exchange goods and technologies with others, outside of the direct influence of imperialism. The weakening of imperialism will allow socialism to progress from the stage of being an ideal into a practical and realistic possibility.
Comrades,
The imperialist core is well aware of the crisis in which it finds itself and therefore seeks to start another war. Having provoked a conflict in Europe, it is now seeking to provoke an armed conflict in Asia. Our party condemns the criminal actions of imperialism and stands in solidarity with the labour, anti-colonial and national liberation movements around the world. We stand on the position that the struggle of the peoples of the world against colonialism and imperialism for social justice, for their rightful place in history is a just struggle. Bringing the entire world under imperialist hegemony will mean postponing the cause of socialism for generations. There will be no possibility anywhere in the world of realizing other forms of political system, not to mention socialism.
We need to mobilize and fight for peace, social and national liberation. Socialism will win!
