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13th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties
Athens, December 9-11, 2011
SOCIALISM IS THE FUTURE!
The international situation and the experience of the communists 20 years after the counterrevolution in the USSR. The tasks for the development of the class struggle in conditions of capitalist crisis, imperialist wars, of the current popular struggles and uprisings, for working class-popular rights, the strengthening of proletarian internationalism and the anti-imperialist front, for the overthrow of capitalism and the construction of socialism.
Contribution of the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP)
Henrik Stamer Hedin
The horrors of World War I and the ensuing revolutions in Russia and other countries ushered in a general crisis of the capitalist system and a revolutionary dynamism lasting for decades. Two world wars and an economic world crisis, which came as a surprise and a shock to many, seemingly went to show that capitalism had survived its time and was facing immediate collapse – that conditions were ripe for a new type of society: Socialism. A third of the world drew the revolutionary consequence of this and embarked on building socialism on the ruins left by World War II.
The failure of capitalism was especially conspicuous in Europe: Half the continent turned socialist in a short span of time, the European colonial powers lost their empires, and inside the individual countries the Communist parties became a force with which the rulers had to count.
The consolidation of capitalism within the European Union, beginning with the establishment of the Coal and Steel Union in 1951, convinced many that capitalism was nevertheless capable of resolving its internal contradictions, and this made the problems inescapably tied in with building of socialism appear more visibly. As we all know, these problems included, alongside economic difficulties connected with the complete novelty of the task of planning the development of an entire national economy, violations of socialism's own democratic standards and phenomena such as unsufficient distinction between differences of opinion and class contradictions, all stemming from the fact that the working of the new order of power had still to be understood thoroughly and experiences won. It is of no use denying these problems; what is important to realize is that they are not to be looked upon as moral issues at the origin of things, but they are effects of the struggle for survival of the new, still infant order of society – effects of the ups and downs of global class struggle.
Just like the first of these "ups of global class struggle", the subsequent "down" had its centre in Europe. The consolidation of capitalist Europe was a victory of the forces of l'ancien régime, and its outcome was a counterrevolutionary development taking speed around 1980 and culminating in the collapse of all socialist states in Europe without exception. The results obtained by the working classes in capitalist Western Europe came under pressure; the working class movement found itself on the defensive; its revolutionary branch was hit by a crisis, nobody had thought possible; and the Communist parties were weakened and fractioned.
This happened in virtually all countries of Europe, but to a much lesser degree in other parts of the world; heralded by the Cuban revolution, Latin America even experienced a revolutionary upsurge at the same time as reaction was triumphing in Europe, and in South Africa apartheid was crushed by revolutionary struggle. But in Europe, the continent of the October revolution, the defeat was universal with the consequences described, and that is the main reason why several, primarily European countries are represented here by more than one party ‑ my own country included.
But once again the wheel of history began turning toward the left, and once again the centre of developments was in Europe. It became apparent that the European Counterrevolution, far from showing the way to peace and the proclaimed blooming landscapes, had led to new wars, a new kind of oppression and abuse of former colonies, a sharpened exploitation of the working class in developed countries, and liquidation of democratic and labour rights. What had taken generations to build up, had been annihilated within the short span of 20 years. And as a culmination of all this, capitalism's internal contradictions erupted into a deep economic world crisis. Communists had predicted this, but had not been believed; now, more and more people were able to see that the analysis was correct and that the world was on the verge of a new era of crises and revolutions. The Communist world movement was rebuilt little by little ‑ witness the fact that we are gathered here today. And in individual countries, again especially in Europe, a movement towards reunification of the fragmented revolutionary forces is under way.
At the same time, revolutionary currents are gaining speed in Latin America, in Africa, in the Arab and Mediterranean world, and, most recently, in North America with the "Occupy"-movement. These developments are fueled by the global economic, political and moral crisis demonstrating capitalism's inability to solve the problems it has inflicted on the world. They all point to the truth of the slogan which is the theme of this meeting: "Socialism is the future!" And once again I must draw the attention to the developments in Europe, because what is happening on this continent is a profound crisis, perhaps a death crisis of the European Union project ‑ the very project which, a mere generation ago, seemed to offer a convincing alternative to socialism. This is not the case any longer. I need not say much about this ‑ I am sure others will. We are guests in one of the countries most severely hit by the crisis of the Euro and of the European Union; people here are suffering its blows every day and reacting to it under the leadership of ‑ whom? Our host party!
This is no accidental and passing crisis. This is no question of excessive consumption or of failures of policy or of greed in a few chance individuals. It is the great wheel of history turning. It is revolution knocking at our door. It is convincing evidence that socialism is the future, because socialism is necessary to solve the problems at hand, the problems of today and of the future. And if we seize the opportunity offering itself now, and if we do it wisely and decisively, soon socialism may no longer be the future, but the present.
