Enough is Enough Rally in Newcastle - October 1, 2022

The serious problems that the working class and people face are obviously calling out for solutions. The "Enough Is Enough" of the workers' movement is evidence that the pursuit of the anti-social offensive of the narrow private interests by the government far from providing solutions is actually the cause of instability and chaos. While the call is for "stability" and that everyone should pull together and shelve their demands, in fact the state is being restructured to attempt to make the anti-social offensive irreversible.

It is not simply a yearning for "stability" on their behalf; it is rather an imposition by police powers of these private interests. In that sense, "Enough Is Enough" is a resonant "No" to this imposition. What is then required is the transformation of the consciousness that the complete renovation of society is the necessity.

The old year, 2022, came to its conclusion with the executive posing as the saviour after the chaos that characterised the previous one. The Collins Dictionary made permacrisis its "word of the year" [1]. The present time is characterised by massive productive forces in a highly socialised economy, which, with modern science and technology, have developed to a point that they can no longer be contained and controlled by current forms of decision-making. In particular, they exist within a social relation where these forces are owned by a ruling class, a class which is divided into competing parts each with its own narrow private interests, and where the class that does the work as part of these forces, which comprises the vast majority of the population, is in a subservient relation. But this very situation has reached a point where the ability to predict developments and the consequences of particular actions is breaking down, and further, where the rich and powerful are unable to retain control, they resort to destruction. The collapse of society, catastrophic environmental damage and world war all exist as very real possibilities - as do alternatives, but at this point, the New has yet to come into being. The Old, whose time has passed yet still clings onto existence, deals with its predicament increasingly through war, both civil and international. How is stability even conceivable in such a situation?

As the economy is currently organised and directed, prices are controlled by the global monopolies and oligopolies through "market forces", which amounts to cartel price fixing. Inflation in the prices that businesses sell their goods and services that leaves the wage claim of their employees trailing behind is resulting in record profits in various cases [2]. Yet these powerful private interests who benefit from rising price inflation are, as with all things, losing control over that to which they are giving rise, and inflation threatens to spiral out of control, adding further to the chaotic conditions.

Without a fundamental change of direction of the economy that puts the human productive forces under human control and aims production at satisfying the needs of the people on a planned basis, and an anti-war direction for the economy and society, creating conditions for stability is impossible. People must constitute themselves as the authority via new democratic mechanisms that enable them to effectively direct the economy, including incomes, social programmes and prices, so that solutions to the economic crisis can be found.

This requires work taken up to renew the political process so that working people themselves are in control of the direction of the economy. This is the work which is progressing as 2022 has moved into 2023. As the Party's New Year slogan indicated: best wishes for the success of this work in 2023!

Notes
1. "Permacrisis", a term that describes "an extended period of instability and insecurity", has been named Collins Word of the Year 2022. It is one of several words Collins highlights that relate to ongoing crises the UK and the world have faced and continue to face, including political instability, the war in Ukraine, climate change, and the cost-of-living crisis. Six words on Collins' list of ten words of the year are new to CollinsDictionary.com, including "permacrisis".
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/woty
2. Some examples from 2022 include:
"Christmas period strikes to continue as posties attack Royal Mail 'gross mismanagement'", CWU, November 16, 2022
https://www.cwu.org/press_release/christmas-period-strikes-to-continue-as-negotiations-stop-posties-attack-royal-mail-gross-mismanagement/
"Polyflor profits hit £52 million as struggling workers strike", GMB, October 5, 2022
https://www.gmb.org.uk/news/polyflor-profits-hit-£52-million-struggling-workers-strike
Vidushi Tiwari, "Shell workers threaten to strike amid gas giant's 'record profits'", STV News, October 10, 2022
https://news.stv.tv/east-central/shell-workers-at-fife-and-aberdeenshire-plants-threaten-to-strike-amid-gas-giants-record-profits

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