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opinion / analysis
Wednesday May 04, 2005 19:11 by ? - ZACF
South African anarchist perspective on fighting privatisation Tens of thousands of working and poor people facing evictions, disconnections and attachments of property. This situation of misery is directly linked to the process of privatisation. Privatisation is the process of turning government services and government companies into profit-making activities. PRIVATISATION VERSUS PEOPLE
This means a few simple things:
PRIVATISATION = PROFITS THROUGH POVERTY
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP IS NOT AN ALTERNATIVE The point is simple. When we fight privatisation, we do NOT think that government ownership of these companies and services is a solution. On the contrary, there is NO difference anymore whatsoever between government-owned companies and privately-owned companies. Both are profit-driven, anti-worker and anti-union in nature. This means our struggle is a struggle against BOTH big business AND the government.
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP IS NOT SOCIALISM Therefore we are not against privatisation because we love the government and fear it is losing power because of privatisation. We hate the government, to be honest. The real reason we hate privatisation is because it hurts the working class. And that is more than enough reason.
WHY IS PRIVATISATION HAPPENING? Big business is trying to make the working class pay for the crisis through a set of neoliberal policies such as privatisation and casualisation. In other words, anti-working class policies such as privatisation exist to drive down the wages and living conditions of the working class in order to restore the profits of big business. This means that these policies are NOT caused by a few rotten politicians, or ignorant managers: instead these policies are the evil heart-and-soul of modern day capitalism. Therefore, our fight against privatisation is a fight against CAPITALISM itself, a fight against the profit-making system of low-wage jobs, expensive goods and services, undemocratic workplaces, war and racism.
THE FRAUD OF ELECTIONS Clearly, the government does not serve the people. It serves big business and the rich. This is shown by the fact that every government in the world is implementing neo-liberal policies, and in no case with a mandate from the working class. We should not participate in this rotten system, this political Mafia. The bosses and the politicians are in it together, the rich ganging up on the poor.
WORKING CLASS MUST RULE Is this possible? Yes, history shows examples of working class people taking control and running the world democratically, whether the Paris Commune, the Spanish Revolution, Hungary 1956, or "peoples power" in 1980s South Africa. The working class should own the means of production for our own benefit.
OUR AIMS
Long live the working class.
OUR DEMANDS CAN'T PAY - WON'T PAY Brought to you by BIKISHA MEDIA COLLECTIVE and the RED AND BLACK FORUM As revolutionary anarchists, we believe in a revolution by the working class that will overthrow the bosses and their governments, and create a society run and controlled by those who actually produce the wealth of the world. We believe that it is possible to live without government and to put in its place councils and assemblies where the "ordinary people" can decide what happens to this wealth. We believe in the equality of all and that maximum solidarity is needed between workers and other oppressed groups if we are to defeat those who live off our sweat.
BMC |