Organizing is Key for the Working Class to Overcome Bourgeois Traps!

We are in one of the most important periods in human history. In fact, we are in the most critical phase of a long period of 150-200 years. What makes the current phase of this long period extremely critical is the exhaustion of capitalism as an economic order and that it is at an impasse. A century ago, working class leaders said that capitalism produced enormous wealth on the one hand and a horrible poverty, war and growing problems on the other hand. Today, capitalism, which has fully rotted, has put humanity in a bottleneck. Just as the diseased body surrounded by the infection suffer in fever and suffers from depression, capitalism is writhing in the crises it produces. Since the system is in predicament and exhausted, all problems from food to energy, from migration to the epidemic turn into a global crisis.

There have been great states in the past. From ancient Babylon to Rome, from China to the Ottoman Empire, these great states were the centres of production, trade, culture, in short, civilization. There were trade and trade networks between countries at that time as well. However, these trade networks were limited and majority of the world population lived in isolation from each other. But capitalism has connected the whole world as part of the same economic activity, transforming closed societies. As production went beyond national borders and became international, over time, all countries became connected to each other as links of the global production chain. For example, German industry needs natural gas produced by workers in Russia, or workers in South Africa need Ukrainian wheat to produce raw materials. Likewise, without various components from other countries, it would not be possible to produce export products that the government is proud of in Turkey! So much so that even the automobile (TOGG) marketed as “native and national” consists of parts produced in different countries. To put it simply, the fact that the chain stores are arranged in the same way in all countries shows what kind of international standardization capitalism has created. In summary, there is a global society organized according to capitalist production, having the same lifestyle and struggling with the same problems.

That is why labourers all over the world suffer from the same problems. Unemployment, high cost of living, intensifying poverty, hunger, younger generations being put into uselessness and decay, depression, collapse of the healthcare system, climate crisis, war and global migration problem, violence against women, corruption, destruction of democratic rights, etc. It is capitalism, which is a profit-driven system that creates all these problems. While the system, which has come to a deadlock, cannot produce a solution to any social problem, the crisis and chaotic conditions naturally frighten people and push them into seeking a safe haven. In these conditions, where the working class does not have a strong organization and cannot intervene in social/political developments through their own organisations, the workers are following the bourgeois political tendencies. The most reactionary/fascist sections of bourgeois politics provoke and use nationalism, religious and cultural differences in order to make the working class follow them. As in the case of immigrants or the discourse of "terror", they create a fake bogeyman in the form of “foreign enemy” and try to scare society into panic and tail the workers after them. Thus, by polarizing and dividing society on artificial grounds, they actually make people forget the real source of the problems.

As we have mentioned before, this method, which is defined as "redirecting the anger of the masses", is also called "the art of managing the masses". However, this method cannot be successful unless the society is frightened. In this respect, the political process in Turkey, especially since 2015, embodies a great experience. For example, the one-man regime attributes all the problems that hurt the workers to external forces and stokes nationalism. The regime is trying to redirect the anger of the unorganized masses from home to outside. It raises tensions in international relations and propagates that Turkey is facing an existential threat. The aim is to strike fear into society, to paralyze people's minds and change the direction of rising anger of workers. However, based on the experiences mentioned above the bomb detonated on the Istiklal Street in Istanbul was questioned more, since it was known how the regime, which is busy maintaining its existence at all costs, resorted to chaotic methods. Likewise, an important part of the society knows that launching an air operation in Syria under the pretext of "terrorism" and a possible ground operation are also connected with the upcoming elections.

The working people are trying to breathe under a sudden and sharp surge of impoverishment that is unique in the history of the republic. We are going through a period when unemployment hurts and young generations left without future are dragged into depression. But at the same time, plunder of state resources is underway. The capitalist class, especially the ruling circles, gets richer and richer. This picture increases the discontent and desire for change in society, and the vote base of the ruling parties (AKP-MHP) melts. The regime, unable to overcome its predicament, wants to prolong its life by increasing its pressure on society and by introducing war policies once again. It aims to deepen artificial social polarization by inciting nationalism and neutralize the opposition with war policies. However, the passivity of the opposition front (Nation Alliance), which falls into the trap of nationalism every time, also encourages the government. Also, it is the same government that is primarily responsible for the return of Syria to the battlefield, migration of millions of people and the suffering of all working people in the region.

Historical and present experiences show that in periods when war policies come into play, the unorganized society gets scared and surrenders to the "security first" discourse. They show also that war always brings destruction for the working people. Humanity has experienced this by suffering incredible pains in the first and second world wars. In fact, by looking at Iraq and Syria, and now Ukraine, we can see how the war has brought destruction for the working people. What they need is unity, brotherhood, being organized and solidarity.

The world is going through a chaotic period due to the problems caused by the capitalist system. While all social and environmental problems are escalating to a global dimension and turning into a crisis, national or local solutions to these problems cannot be found. The working class of every country, and of course the working class of Turkey, must work to strengthen international unity while weaving political and trade union unity at home. At a time when strikes and revolts follow one another around the world against the unbearable problems created by capitalism, we desperately need such an international unity. Then, the struggle of the workers shouting "freedom" in Iran, and the unity and solidarity of the workers who organize big strikes from Britain to the USA will grow even more! The strengthening of the consciousness of international workers’ solidarity will further strengthen the struggle of the world working class against capitalism and pave the way for success!