Editorial note: If you have not yet read our mission statement above, please do so in order that you can put our blogs in context. 

19 November 2012

Last Wednesday 14 November 2012, in protest at the deepening recession being imposed throughout Europe by the Eurocrat elites in government, continental trade unions held co-ordinated general strikes in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece alongside smaller protests in Germany, France and Belgium and a token demonstration outside the offices of the European Union in London.

The result: sweet fanny adams.

Did the Europe-wide protests have the slightest impact on the determination of European politicians to forge ahead with policies predicated on ever-deepening austerity?

You must be joking!

We’ve been here before.

Western capitalism hit the buffers with the implosion of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. Over four years later, thanks to a batch of reflationary measures that were too limited, the US economy is still limping along. The 17-nation Eurozone,  which, instead of reflating, opted to cure economic meltdown by taking a knife to public spending, is now mired in a double-dip recession.

Since 2008 there have been countless protests against Europe’s austerity programmes – the Occupy Movement, the Indignados, etc – but to no avail. The demos have become a futile ritual. Those taking part have a chance to let off steam but that is as far as it goes. The little dogs bark but the steamroller forges ahead regardless.

One major reason for the protests’ lack of impact is the partitocracy, the alternation in power of two political parties, one on the right and the other supposedly on the left. The problem is that, throughout Europe, the party supposedly on the left has invariably abandoned any of the leftwing characteristics that it may have had at its origin. Europe’s so-called leftwing parties are now simply clones of the rightwing parties. Consequently, since both parties have the same rightwing agenda, then when power changes hands policies remain the same and those policies are the policies of the right, which has always supported austerity for the public sector.

Hence, those protesting against the austerity programmes that partitocratic governments are imposing on their peoples have no representation in their countries’ parliaments. Their views, therefore, are not taken into account.

What should be done in order to make protest effective?

We have two proposals:

1. Those on the left should abandon the traditional leftwing parties that have sold out and should form new political movements to secure parliamentary representation. Trade unions in particular, which are often umbilically linked to the traditional leftwing parties and provide much of their funding, should sever all links with them, supporting instead the new leftwing political movements.

2. Instead of demonstrating pointlessly, the left across Europe should get together to devise more focused, more subtle asymmetrical actions – coordinated and planned but not necessarily publicized in advance and implemented at international as well as national and local levels – in order to put effective pressure on those governments which, turning a blind eye to protest, are forcing austerity down the throats of their helpless populations.

Antigone1984:

Those new to the concept of partitocracy might care to check out our seminal essay on this topic  – “Partitocracy v. Democracy” – a link to which appears in item 2 below this post. The essay demonstrates that western democracy is a façade erected to mislead the gullible. Existing governments, accordingly, lack democratic legitimacy.

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 You might perhaps care to view some of our earlier posts.  For instance:

1. Why? or How? That is the question (3 Jan 2012)

2. Partitocracy v. Democracy (20 July 2012)

3. The shoddiest possible goods at the highest possible prices (2 Feb 2012)

4. Capitalism in practice  (4 July 2012) 

5.Ladder  (21 June 2012)

 6. A tale of two cities (1)  (6 June 2012)

 7. A tale of two cities (2)  (7 June 2012)

 8. Where’s the beef? Ontology and tinned meat (31 Jan 2012)

Every so often we shall change this sample of previously published posts.

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