Re: [Marxism] The consciousness of the masses

[Gary MacLennan <gary.maclennan1@xxxxxxxxx>]

Fools rush in I suppose but this thread tempts me as yesterday I attended my
first May Day rally for a number of years. I went because of my commitment
to the Justice for Palestine group that I am a member of.  So there I was
with a handful of old comrades from the "street fighting days" staring at
the working class and wondering what in the name of Jeezuss they were
contemplating about the brutal reality that was closing in around them.
There were a large number of people going around with t-shirts proclaiming
"Kevin Rudd (Labor Prime Minister) and Anna Bligh (State Labor Premier)
fighting for your jobs"

No one pelted them with rocks, so there would appear to have been at least
passive support for a most outrageous lie. TMeanwhile the workers guzzled
their free beer and chewed on their sausages and tomato sauce. There was a
totally depoliticised atmosphere -very much like your everyday barbecue -
but bigger. On the margins thee were four or five leftist stall distributing
literature and trying to get a discussion going about the trade union
movement.

One worker opined to a leftie near me that he had only come for the free
beer.  That provoked sad shakes of the head from my comrades.  But I
ventured to say about the worker after he left that he had not even come
close to speaking the truth.  The workers had not come in their thousands
for the freebies.  My best guess is that they are deeply frightened  by what
is happening in the economy and have reacted by holding ever closer to their
party and their leaders and that is the Labor Party and Rudd and Bligh and
the trade union bureaucracy.  That is IMHO the workers best guess about what
they should do in this crisis.

Now I make no apologies to anyone for saying that the workers are wrong and
very wrong to put their faith in what is incorrectly called "reformism".
Class collaboration is of course the more accurate description. Like
everyone or nearly everyone on the list I have spent a life time following
the kind of politics which flow from that particular estimation of
reformism. We have all paid a price one way or the other for that decision.


Yesterday on the what used to be called the "Red Contingent" that tagged
along behind the main unionist march I saw only Ian, Joe, Joyce, Carole,
Rosemary & Ian still turning up of all that "delirium of the brave" from the
70s.s The question inevitably arises, "Who is to blame for our total
isolation?"  Well I resist strongly the temptation to blame ourselves. And
let it be said without fear that it is a temptation to succumb to what is in
reality self-loathing. Sure we have made mistakes - huge ones. I think of
the absolutely crazy sectarian crap that passes for "party-building" and I
could weep over the senseless and meaningless splits here that have
continued to weaken us.

But we have not made the ultimate mistake of placing our faith in capitalism
and its avatars and that is precisely the mistake the workers have and are
making. However things will fall apart and the workers will not be able to
hold on to their illusions despite all the free beers and sausages. Then we
will have our fight with this rotten system and all who sail in it.

regards

Gary
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