Daily Times

The stunning victory of
Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership of the Labour party is a turning point in British politics. It represents a political earthquake of monumental proportions. Michael Meacher, the veteran Labour politician, has correctly described the Corbyn campaign as “the biggest non-revolutionary upturning of the social order”. It has sent a message of hope for the workers and youth of the UK and far beyond. Moreover, it represents a massive defeat for the Westminster establishment and their right wing candidates. It represents an overwhelming vote for fundamental change, setting off alarm bells in the boardrooms of the banks and the City of London, fearful of an impending revolutionary situation. Jeremy’s victory appeared to come from nowhere. It is a reflection of a seething anger and bitterness within society, especially since the slump of 2008-2009.
The fall of the Berlin Wall, collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and the capitalist counter-revolution in China with the subsequent onslaught of corporate propaganda against socialism, communism and class struggle perpetrated demoralisation and retreat amongst the ‘left leaders’. Most ideologues of the so-called communist and socialist parties consciously or subconsciously started subscribing to Francis Fukuyama’s ‘theory’ of The End of History. Capitalism and with it exploitation, inequality, destitution and deprivation were declared the ultimate destiny of humanity; most ‘communist’ leaders opportunistically embraced capitalism and to outdo their new masters also became abettors of this rotten and inhuman system.
In countries like Pakistan these turncoats conveniently became progressives, democrats, secularists, rights activists and civil society. Their support for a decaying capitalism in the garb of ‘democracy’ coincided with the imperialist doctrines of the period. The outcome of this was the extreme misery and poverty inflicted by the system on teeming millions. The vacuum created by this capitulation resulted in the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, which demagogically opposed the west but not western imperialism as such. These obscurantist forces of reaction brought bigotry, terrorism, crime and other horrors, resulting in a bloody conflagration that has ravaged Pakistan and the region. In the last analysis the secularists and the Islamists have one thing in common: their same socio-economic base i.e. capitalism.
However, in a decade there was socialist resurgence. This time it arose at the dawn of the new millennium in Latin America with the rise of Hugo Chavez to power in Venezuela and spread to Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and across the Latin American continent. The Arab Revolution starting in Tunisia and then sweeping across the region from the shores of the Atlantic to the Arabian Sea followed this. The Occupy Wall Street Movement erupted in the US having deep impact throughout the world in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. The uprisings and ferment in Burkina Faso, Nigeria, South Africa and other countries of the black continent are part of this new rising tide of class struggle on a world scale. The strike waves in China have risen sharply with the sagging of the ‘Chinese miracle’ economic model. The triumphant general strike in India, largest ever in history, reveals the scale and ferocity of seething revolts underlying societies being plagued by capitalism’s drastic crisis.
In Europe, the rise and fall of Syriza, the astonishing upsurge of Podemos in Spain and similar new formations challenging the status quo in various European countries are on the rise. In the US, for the first time, the Bernie Sanders campaign for the 2016 presidential elections has put socialism on the map resulting in his unprecedented popularity. Even the word socialism is used more frequently in mainstream media and, instead of shying away from it, Sanders boldly defends socialism. A 2011 Pew poll found that 49 percent of those aged 18 to 29 had a positive view of socialism versus only 47 percent with a positive view of capitalism. An even more recent poll, from June 2014, found that 47 percent of US nationals would vote for a socialist, with 69 percent of those under 30 in favour. Bernie has successfully tapped into this mood and legitimised the idea of socialism in a way not seen in decades, if ever.
However, Corbyn’s victory for the Labour leadership in the UK will have greater resonance and impact in countries like Pakistan with socio-historical linkages as compared to such political upheavals in other European countries or far-flung Latin America. This radical change shows the turbulence of the epoch that we have entered with its sharp turns and sudden changes. Even The Financial Times, described Corbyn’s campaign as “popular insurgency” and blurted out the truth: “In another age, the 2008 crash might have triggered a revolution. Instead, Mr Corbyn and his fellow travellers are now capturing the seething popular resentment…The brand of unbridled capitalism that hands all the gains of open markets and economic integration to the top one percent, while piling austerity and insecurity on to the rest, is politically unsustainable.” In another article on August 29, The Financial Times wrote, “A spectre is haunting the liberal democracies — the spectre of populism — and the political times have the insurrectionary feel of 1848 when Karl Marx wrote that sentence…From the stomping exhilaration and fervour greeting Senator Bernie Sanders, to Jeremy Corbyn’s appearance among Labour’s sinners as the cleanser of Blairite wickedness, politics has become passionate and the devotees have fire in their bellies and stars in their eyes.”
Only a few months ago, Jeremy was written off as a “no-hoper”, someone allowed on the ballot paper “to broaden the discussion” and nothing more. The right wing made the blunder of not only letting him on the ballot — that was bad enough — they also widened the franchise to allow Labour supporters to vote “to keep the Left out”. They believed their own propaganda that “socialism” was dead and left wing ideas were unpopular.
This election result has placed socialism back on the agenda. Clearly, capitalism has failed. We are in the midst of the biggest crisis of capitalism since the 1930s. Salvation lies in taking over the commanding heights of the economy, expropriating monopolies, banks, health, education and industry without compensation and to be run not by bureaucrats but under workers’ control and management. Even if Corbyn does not go the whole hog this task has to be accomplished for the emancipation of society by a new generation that is up in arms against this system pulverising their lives. Socialist planning will allow the economy to give everyone a job and increase living standards. Putting these resources to use will increase the economic output by more than 20 percent a year. Such a socialist revolution in the UK will begin to create the material conditions of communism: the elimination of want. But it cannot and will not remain restricted to the UK. It will immediately trigger revolutions throughout Europe and will become a beacon of hope and a path of class struggle for the workers and the youth yearning for change across the planet.

The writer is the editor of Asian Marxist Review and international secretary of Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign. He can be reached at lalkhan1956@gmail.com