6 October 1998
As national economies flounder and collapse in the latest and recurring round of crises, and governments worldwide try to cope, the voices of capitalism's left wing political parties bend, as always, to capital's dictates.Since it's inception, Canada's New Democratic Party has been the supposed voice of "social democracy", portraying itself as a movement aimed at helping working people, friendly to trade unionists, fighting on behalf of the "underprivileged" and "ordinary people". It perpetuates the myth that it is a party of socialists.
The NDP, like all "social democratic" parties, seems to have come to terms with the new capitalist order. Determined to "change" the party, leader of the NDP, Alexa McDonough has surrounded herself with a coterie of party "strategists" to push the party away from traditional "social democracy" (expansion of the welfare state, Keynesianism) to the open acceptance of the new capitalist catchword - Globalization.
McDonough says that "Part of what the party has come to grips with is that globalization is a fact. Globalization is not by some definition some kind of disaster. Globalization is a reality." ("Pragmatic McDonough nudges NDP to centre", Globe & Mail, Sept. 24, 1998)
Socialists have said all along that capitalism is a global reality, but that is where we part company with the NDP. The hidden message of McDonough and the NDP is that capitalism is as good as it gets, there is no way forward, no goal called socialism.
The NDP, along with England's Labour Party and other "social democratic" parties around the world have embraced capitalism wholeheartedly. They too have learned the capitalism cannot be significantly reformed.
McDonough and the NDP echo the so-called "Third Way" approach of England's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, leader of the Labour Party (now labelled "New Labour").
Blair has also been a convert to the new globalization. "Social democracy", he says, must come to terms with it. His "Third Way" is said to be a departure from a "social democracy" "preoccupied by state control, high taxation and producer interests; and beyond a new laissez-faire right championing narrow individualism and a belief that free markets are the answer to every problem. . . In the economy, our approach is neither laissez-faire nor one of state interference." ("What the Third Way stands for: Tony Blair", Globe & Mail, Sept. 24, 1998)
It is, supposedly, neither private capitalism nor state capitalism. Socialists point out that it is still capitalism nevertheless.
What does this "Third Way" entail? Blair makes it clear:
Surely this is a poverty of ideas and a tragic charade.
In the views of the NDP, the Labour Party, and company, in order to extend "benefits" to working people and give capitalism a so-called human face, capitalism must be made profitable. McDonough, Blair and Co., call this being "practical" and "pragmatic".
Socialists call this business as usual. We ask - What does this mean for the working class globally?
It means workers producing more profit for the state and for capitalists - in other words, greater exploitation of labour power. It means propping up an inherently recession ridden economic system. It means subservience to the power of capital.
One can see the results - more workers losing jobs, forced to part-time work as corporations "rationalize, realign and readjust". As capital becomes more "flexible" working conditions become harder, wages fall. Rivalries between competing capitalist interests lead to national strife and war. Malnutrition continues, poverty grows.
What is indeed tragic is that many of these left-wing parties have a base of working class supporters. McDonough, Blair and Co., act like the advance guard of capital holding out illusions to the working class. "Vote for us", they say, "and things will be a bit better". They would have workers embrace schemes to make capitalism even more productive.
We socialists, on the other hand, say that one does not cure the disease by treating its symptoms. A myriad of reforms will not alleviate capitalism's ills. The problem is capitalism itself!
Unlike Socialists, McDonough, Blair and Co., cannot see beyond the limits of capitalism. They argue that the foundations of capital and wage labour must be accepted, there is no other way.
Socialists argue that history does not have to end here. There is a solution. We call it Socialism - "a system of society based upon the common ownership and democratic control of the means and instruments for production and distributing wealth by and in the interest of society as a whole." All it takes is the immense majority of working people to recognize this and to make the conscious decision to implement real social democracy: socialism.
Capitalism is an economic system that does not have to be eternal. Like
former systems it can be ended. As we approach the end of the 20th century,
we have reached a time when fundamental change is demanded, not tinkering
with a crisis ridden, destructive and outmoded form of production.