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« Public services not private profit | Invitation to be part of a Convention of The Left »

War! -what is it good for? Well, capitalism actually

By Richard Searle

The economic system we all live under was born, as Marx succinctly put it, ‘red in tooth and claw’. The arms trade, the defence industry, security interests, national interests, which every way they call it,  they  are all prefaced on killing.   

There’s no polite way of putting it: for this economic system to succeed, continue and renew itself, others must die. The wars of the 20th century have killed millions. We have turned it ‘art of war’ into an industrial process   

In the eight short years of  21st century, and estimated one million more have joined the tally of war dead, from Central Africa and the Middle East, to the Caucuses and the Andes    How far we come from the slaughter of the trenches of WW1?

We now have high-tech wars in Afghanistan and Iraq where missiles fired from pilotless drones are directed from thousands of miles away in command rooms in the USA.  Those who fire the missiles never have to step foot in the country of those they kill. This is the iron fist of globalisation.

We can now turn on our televisions or Log-on and see wars being fought in real time.   Our society puts its best brains to work finding more efficient ways of killing people. Our governments subsidise the arms industries, gives bribes to the purchasers and justify this by saying it’s protecting jobs.  There exists an absurd and obscene contradiction at the very heart of capitalism. It provides the potential to extend life but is driven to end life. The combined defence budgets of the world for one year would eradicate world hunger, provide clean drinking for every person on the planet, an education for every child, could provide the medicine for every person with HIV and still have plenty of change left over.   Resistance to this logic, this drive to destruction, has always been there. It has been resisted by passive and active means. There have been those who have refused to fight and those who have turned their guns on their masters.  The 15th February 2003, turning point in modern history.   The convergence of global protests on one day in 2003 marked a first in human history. Protests moved through 12 time zones around the world, Those protests were organised from the grassroots up. They combined differing forces, movements and traditions. Those protests joined up the world as never before This is our immediate heritage not an event from another era.  It showed how far we have come together, our potential, our ability to communicate with new technology but it showed us how far we still need to go.    

Those protests were at once a victory in mobilisation, but within short space of time some participants read the 15th February as a defeat. The threat of war that had brought them on the streets had gone ahead. ‘We had marched in our millions but the bombs still fell’.   

Un-ravelling all the lessons, layers and contradictions of the 15th February 2003 provides the key to developing our strategies to stop the masters of war.   

What is the impact of 15th February ? Is it too early to tell?  

Discuss

This entry was posted on 13/02/2008 at 09:21 am and is filed under Peace, Statements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

One Response to “War! -what is it good for? Well, capitalism actually”

  1. Mark Krantz says:
    25/03/2008 at 01:40 pm

    Dear John and friends involved in organising The Convention of the Left

    RE Stop the War Demonstration at Labour’s Conference

    I am writing to outline the plans Stop the War Coalition are making for Labour’s Manchester Conference

    Subject to further discussion, agreement, and amendment from the Steering Committee of the Greater Manchester Stop the War Coalition which meets on 5th April we anticipate the following response to the proposals and initiatives of the Left Convention. Our chair of GMSTWC has discussed this matter with the national chair of the STWC, Andrew Murray.

    Demonstrating against the ‘war on terror’ policies of this government, and lobbying Labour delegates going to their conferences has become a STWC ‘Manchester’ tradition. GMSTWC lobbied Labour’s Spring conference 3 years ago while they were bombing Iraq. A national STWC/CND march of 50,000 marched under the slogan ‘Time To Go!’ at Blair’s last conference, while Military Families Against the War held their peace camp. When Brown held his Leadership conference we marched for a demand to ‘Change the policy not just the leader’.

    When Brown holds his conference this September, our members and partners in the STWC would expect the us to call a demonstration in opposition to Brown’s war. We would want our protest to be timed so that leading Labour Party members of STWC like Tony Benn, Walter Walfgang and MP’s like Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonald could attend the march.

    The form and focus of our demands this September have not yet been decided or agreed. The cost of Brown’s War, Bring the troops home! Dont Attack Iran! Welfare not Warfare! Defend Civil Liberties! Oppose Islamophobia and other similar demands are possible. Of course as STWC we are not able to go beyond demands agreed at our annual conferences. Sections of the coalition and individuals do support wider demands such as against privatisation or for stronger trades unions but as STWC we cannot endorse such calls. However this has not stopped STWC acting as an overriding and open force for unity in the movement. So for example last year the strikers from Remploy held their own trades union sponsored lobby of Brown over factory closures, and then the strikers were welcomed onto the STWC demo which they joined as a contingent.

    Subsequently, we will propose at our steering committee that the GMSTWC calls an anti war demonstration to coincide with the start of Labour’s September conference. This could now be called for the Saturday as they have brought the start of the conference forwards. Our national STWC steering committee meets in London on the 12th April and I am sure they will discuss our proposals.

    Although the GM STWC are unable to take a direct part in shaping or building a Left Convention or similar project as it is wider than the agreed scope of our organisation and our aims, we would request that speakers from the STWC be considered to join platforms of speakers at Convention of the Left where appropriate. We would request STWC stalls also where appropriate.

    There is likely to be a variety of protests and lobbies at Labour’s conference, some called by the Convention of the Left, and other bodies. In so far as they are of an anti war nature we are likely to publicise and/or support such initiatives.

    Further, wherever it is possible for STWC to be invited to send speakers to organised Convention of the Left rallies meetings, or conferences we are keen to do so.

    I hope this response will help clarify the approach from the GM STWC to those building the Convention of the Left so that all of us are able to effect the greatest possible pressure upon the Brown war cabinet.

    Please do not hesitate to call if necessary to clarify things. Please send a Convention of the Left delegate to our steering committee.

    Fraternally

    Mark Krantz, convener GMSTWC 07765 122 829
    Nahella Ashraf, chair and GM delegate to the national STWC steering Committee

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