On Saturday, David North, chair of the international editorial board of the World Socialist Web Siteaddressed more than 100 participants at a meeting held as part of the Frankfurt Book Fair on the theme “Back to the future: war, fascism and class struggle in the 21st century”.
In previous weeks, Mehring Verlag, the German-speaking publishing house of WSWSthe Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP – Socialist Equality Party) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) put up thousands of posters, distributed dozens of thousands of flyers and organized hundreds of discussions to promote this important event.
In his introductory speech, SGP President Christoph Vandreier immediately underlined the political significance of the event. He said that while US President Joe Biden was in Berlin discussing the escalating wars in Ukraine and the Middle East with Chancellor Scholz, David North was representing the other America – “that of the working class, where opposition to the policy of war and genocide in Gaza is as general as in Europe.
North, a leading member of the Trotskyist movement for over 50 years, has not only commented on the development of the war in recent decades, but actively fought it. He did so “always with the perspective of developing an international movement of the working class against the war and of building a revolutionary party which opposes capitalist madness with a socialist perspective.”
North represented the Marxism of the October Revolution and therefore understood the importance of basing revolutionary work on an accurate understanding of historical and political developments, as he elaborated in his book Leon Trotsky and the struggle for socialism in the 21st centurycontinued Vandreier. It was therefore a matter of focusing on clarifying political questions, which North addressed with incomparable clarity in his works, such as The logic of Zionism (The Logic of Zionism) et Sound the Alarm: Socialism Against War (Sounding the Alarm: Socialism Against War).
This latest collection features North’s speeches at May Day rallies over the past 10 years, which Vandreier says “strongly warn against the developments we are currently witnessing.” He added: “Many did not believe it was possible that the imperialist powers were, once again, prepared to commit genocide, risk nuclear war and, ultimately, set the entire world ablaze. But that’s exactly what’s happening today.”
North began his remarks by condemning the barbaric war waged by the imperialist powers and Israel. The assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was “another example of the total disintegration of democratic principles within what presents itself as the center of global democracy. It is an objective indication of the collapse of American and global capitalism, of the so-called democratic order, and of the descent of the capitalist world into outright barbarism.”
North pointed out that the first Auschwitz trial was held in the Fritz Bauer Hall, the location of the meeting, 60 years ago. He said a day would come when those responsible for the genocidal war against the people of Gaza would be held accountable for their crimes.
He emphasized that Sinwar’s life, like that of the Palestinian people as a whole, was marked by oppression:
He dedicated his life to fighting this oppression, and he gave his life for it. In this sense, his example is one that should be honored. But at the same time, it is necessary to learn lessons from the experience of the Palestinian people and all the oppressed.
The crucial lesson was that there can be no national solution to national oppression apart from the mobilization of the international working class.
North explained:
That is to say, the most fundamental lesson of Trotskyism, which has its roots in the theory of permanent revolution, is that the national struggle can only be resolved through class struggle, i.e. say only by the conquest of power, the overthrow of the capitalist system and all the atrocities of imperialist barbarism.
The title of the event was deliberately chosen, according to North:
All the horrors we observe today, the horrors of genocide, the resurgence of fascism, the danger of war resemble the realities of the 20th century, particularly the first half of the 20th century, and more specifically the 31 years between 1914 and 1945.
The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East were part of an intensifying global conflict for a new division of the world, he added.
“Back to the future,” he continued, also means that it is necessary to learn lessons from the past to develop a perspective for the future. “For there to be a future, the working class and advanced sections of youth must regain an understanding of Marxist analysis of the laws of capitalism,” North said.
The catastrophes of the 20th century were based not only on bad intentions, but on the fundamental contradictions of capitalism: those between social production and private appropriation, and between the international character of the production process and the system of nation states. “This is the reason for all geopolitical conflicts leading to war,” he continued.
Today, these contradictions were even more explosive than 100 years ago, because enormous technological progress had further strengthened the international integration of production. Every industrial commodity was now an international product, made up of parts from all over the world. At the same time, it created the basis for the abolition of capitalism.
He continued thus:
If capitalists are capable of organizing production on a global scale to make profit, why would the working class not be able to organize on a global scale to lead the world revolution? The two processes are closely linked to each other.
As Trotsky noted two months before the outbreak of World War II, there were only two solutions to the global crisis: war or revolution. There had been war, but also revolutions, which had been betrayed by Stalinism and social democracy.
North added:
We are now in the 21st century and we are faced with solving problems that could not be solved in the last century. The dangers are great, but it is also scientifically proven that the objective conditions are there to overcome these problems. But this ultimately requires that we resolve the one great problem that remained unresolved in the last century: the problem of the crisis of revolutionary leadership.
In conclusion, he pointed out that there had been numerous attacks against the International Committee of the Fourth International in recent times. The British historian John Kelly accused the Trotskyists, in his book Twilight of Trotskyismto have an “all or nothing” attitude and to reject the possibility of reformism. “Well, if there’s an argument against the prospect of reformism, it’s the state of the world political situation,” North said.
Huge opposition is growing, but no solution will be possible without basing it on Marxism. North concluded with an urgent appeal:
Study, read, understand the laws of development. Turn to the revolutionary force in society: the working class, and build the revolutionary party.
In the discussion that followed, North answered a number of questions from the audience, including on the role of subjective and objective factors in history, capitalism’s responsibility for climate change, and the rise of fascism.
Particular attention has been paid to the presidential election in the United States, where the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), the American section of the ICFI, is fielding its own candidates. When asked how he would respond to the argument about choosing the “lesser evil”, he said that the revolutionary movement was putting forward an alternative to all parties of capitalist reaction.
In reference to those who thought voting for Harris was necessary to stop Trump, North stressed that it was necessary to ask where Trump was coming from. “It is the product of a political, social, economic and cultural degeneration of our country.”
He declared:
Kamala Harris herself is fully associated with mass murder. Is she the “lesser evil”? Is the Democratic Party the “lesser evil,” the party that propagates war against Russia, war against Iran and war against China? The party of the CIA? Is this really a “lesser evil”?
He further emphasized:
Our politics is not focused on elections. We use elections for one purpose: to educate the working class and show workers the bankruptcy of the political system. Our goal is to politically educate the working class and young people, and give them the understanding necessary to wage a systematic and sustained revolutionary struggle against the existing system.
After the event, intense discussions continued at the book stand. Many participants purchased David North’s books and left their contact details to help build the Socialist Equality Party.
(Article published in English on October 23, 2024)
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