Re: [Marxism] Capitaism and anti-imperialism in Ireland

["Lüko Willms" <lueko.willms@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:56:20 +1200, Philip Ferguson wrote:

> This is a good example of the Provos' retreat.  Throughout their
> existence the declared goal of the Provos was a "32-County Democratic
> Socialist Republic".  NOT a bourgeois-democratic united Ireland.  And
> CERTAINLY NOT a divided, capitalist Ireland which the Provos would 
help
> administer which is what the situation now is.

  That declared goal still remains declared, what you can find out 
easily when you care to check sources. 

  But the war is not won by declarations, but by practical politics. And 
Sinn Féin has opted to "do the right thing", as they perceive it, and 
that is paving the way for the reunification of the Irish nation in one 
single independent 32-county state. 

  This under different conditions than 100 years before, when the 
economic advance of Belfast compared to the rest of Ireland helped to 
convert the (protestant) industrial bourgeoisie of the North from the 
leaders of the independence movement to partisans of a tight union with 
Great Britain. Today the south, especially Dublin, is very prosperous, 
of which one sign is that Ireland is no longer a source of emigration, 
but a destination of _immigration._ 

  The republic is part of the European Union, with less barriers against 
it than the UK, uses the Euro, and will more and more become a force of 
assimilation of the North into a practical union. There is one obstacle 
to overcome, and that is the sectarianism of the right-wing Unionist 
leadership in the North, and, as I see it, Sinn Féin is trying to find a 
way to talk to the base of the Unionists. 

  What do you, Phil Ferguson, think revolutionists in Ireland should do? 
Engage in a new bombing campaign? What else? 


Cheers, 
Lüko Willms
Frankfurt, Germany
--------------------------------
visit http://www.mlwerke.de Marx, Engels, Luxemburg, Lenin, Trotzki in German

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