Working Class Monthly Published by the revolutionary soCialist organization

revolutionary SOCIALIST

Issue No. 7 May 2012 Price: Donation

THE FAR RIGHT ON THE RISE IN EUROPE

Breivik: only the Tip of the Iceberg!

Breivik became disillusioned with the party in 2004 as his views shifted even further towards the extremism which culminated in his murderous acts in 2011. The fact, however, that a mainstream political party propagated racist, anti-immigrant views in Parliament made it more acceptable in Breiviks mind to commit the crime that he did. If a rumour is repeated enough it will be believed by some to be the truth. The rumour that Muslims are seeking to take over Europe and forcing Sharia law on its population is one that is repeated day after day, and not only in Europe. The Norwegian Progress Party is worryingly far from the only far right party in Europe. In Holland there is the Party of Freedom (PVV), led by Geert Wilders, which advocated banning the Koran and revoking citizenship from Dutch Muslims and won 15.5 % of the vote in 2010. The far right Swiss Peoples Party (SVP) led by Christoph Blocher is the biggest party in Switzerland, winning 28% of the popular vote in 2007. In 2009 they proposed a referendum to ban the building of new minarets anywhere in Switzerland and, shockingly, 57% of voters in Switzerland supported the measure. In Austria there are two far right parties with seats in Parliament. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) and the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZO) were the only parties to increase their share of votes and number of votes in the 2008 elections, the FPO with 17.5%, the BZO with 10.7%. In 2010, the FPOs candidate for president Barbara Rosenau even made a speech where she proposed the repeal of the law banning pro-nazi speeches. The growth of the far right across Europe is something generally ignored by the British press for the most part. The phenomenon was given special attention recently though in light of the electoral suc-

cess of the Front National (FN) in France. The FN, led by Marine Le Pen, won 18% of the vote in the presidential elections, representing the votes of some 6.5 million people-the highest number of votes it has received in its entire history. Le Pen did not in any event make it through to the second round of voting in the elections as her father did in 2002, but the huge number of votes she received made it one of the most worrying developments in European politics for some time. The success of the FN in the elections can be put down to a number of factors. One of which is that during economic crisis the people suffering from the effects of the crisis tend to be radicalised. During his time in office, Sarkozys government has relentlessly argued that the average persons increasing impoverishment is anything but the fault of the rich French finance capitalists and the economic system that they benefit from. Rather, Sarkozy has blamed Gypsies, smashing up Roma camps. He has blamed illegal immigrants, ruthlessly deporting thousands. He has blamed Muslims for eroding the French way of life and subsequently banned the wearing of the burka in public. His election campaign even included an attempt to create a moral panic about halal meat. These lies propagated by the government and the press have been swallowed by many French voters who have subsequently seen the Front Nationals policies as the cure for their ills. The murderous acts of Breivik and the increasing acceptability of airing jingoistic, racist views on the political stage, in the press and in public are clearly intertwined. When Gordon Brown demanded during his time as prime minister that there had to be British jobs for British workers he endorsed a view that anyone living in Britain but not born in Britain is unwelcome. By promoting such views the ruling class wish to keep workers of different nationalities divided and blaming each other for the suffering that is in reality reaped by the capitalist system that they, the rich, benefit from. The result in Britain is the existence of such racist originations as UKIP, the British National Party and the English Defence League. It is only when workers of all lands, ethnicities, races, religions and nationalities realise their common interest is in uniting as one force against their oppressors, that capitalism and the racism it promotes can be overcome.

ar right extremism is undoubtedly on the rise across Europe. The actions of Anders Breivik, the man who murdered 77 people in Norway in July of last year, was but one of the most extreme results that the promotion of these far right views can lead to. Breivik is currently standing trial in Norway for his crimes. He began the first day of his trial with a close-fisted fascist salute to the worlds assembled media. Under questioning he calmly and methodically explained to the courtroom the planning of his crimes, the acquiring of his weapons, the identification of targets and in the same manner recalled his actions on the day he committed the murders. With the same air of calm, Breivik explained to the courtroom his motivations for the crime. He described himself as a militant nationalist and a militant Christian. Breivik feared the islamifaction of Europe. He viewed immigrants in Norway as invaders and the European Union as a project intent on creating a united Eurabia; a future Europe dominat-

ed by Muslims where ethnic Christian peoples and their way of life would be marginalised. He didnt believe that attacks on immigrant communities would prevent this from being achieved, but that it was the government, media and political parties, who embraced multiculturalism, who needed to be attacked.

Breivik planted a bomb in the governmental quarter of Oslo on 22 July that was intended to kill the Prime Minister and the political elite. When he successfully fled the scene of the bomb attack he identified his next target as the summer camp of the Norwegian Labour Partys annual youth summer camp on Utoya Island. On the island, Breivik shot Breivik joined the Norwegian Prodead 69 people-mostly teenagers- gress Party (FrP) in 1999. The Probefore he was arrested. gress Party argues that immigration is the root cause of crime and is a Much of the reporting in the press strain on the welfare state, which has been focused on portraying this they want to shrink. They advocate murderer as a madman. As the lat- tighter immigration controls, only est psychiatric report has confirmed accepting a limited number of refuhowever, Anders Breivik is not in- gees into Norway and are the second sane. He is a man who holds strong largest party in Norway, winning political beliefs and is willing to 22.9% of the vote in the 2009 eleckill and die for his beliefs. Whilst tions. he apologised to the family of a

pub landlord who died in the bomb blast in Oslo, Breivik holds no remorse for the killings of anyone on Utoya Island. He considers them belligerent and therefore legitimate military targets for their political views on multiculturalism arguing that, they had betrayed their country by embracing immigration. He thinks that the pub landlord on the other hand was a civilian. Whilst Breivik is clearly a troubled man (at one point in his mid twenties spending an entire year doing nothing but playing World of Warcraft in his bedroom in his mums house) his actions were clearly politically motivated.

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O
n the 27th of March the new Health and Social Care act was given Royal Assent. The previous bill passed through parliament where it was voted for by the ruling capitalist ConDem government. It represents the largest re-structuring and re-organisation of the National Health Service since its introduction in 1948. What is remarkable about the act is, that pretty much everybody involved in the health sector, from doctors to nurses, patients and administrators were opposed to the bill. The only ones in favour were the capitalist Tory government and their big business friends, who have just been served an opportunity to make huge profits from the privatization of the health service. The first and foremost reason for the bill was opening the NHS up for business. Of course, big capital always got something out of the NHS otherwise it wouldnt have been introduced in the first place. However with the on-going capitalist crisis and high insecurity on the market, the capitalists show their parasitic nature more and more. Under new regulations NHS hospitals will be able to make up to 49% of their income from alternative sources. This, more than anything, means taking on more private patients, offering them special (meaning better) treatment for cash. This obviously furthers the gap in healthcare in Britain. Quality care becomes a privilege of those with the money to afford it. Another change gives more financial independence to hospitals and GPs. By now, enabling private businesses to offer certain services in healthcare-like ambulance services-has already created massive new income sources in the end paid for with tax money. Richard Branson, always good at sniffing out the dough, has already set up his own health corporation, Virgin Care, which has already secured itself contracts with hospitals worth more than 1bn! The broad opposition the bill faced shows that there are absolutely no benefits for patients; especially if they dont have the cash for the new private options. Generally free market dynamics, such as driving costs down, will decrease the quality of health care for working class people. The effects ofa two-tiered health service are obvious, people in the poorest areas of Britain (e.g. Glasgow) have a life expectancy more than 15 years less than in the richest parts of the country (e.g. Kensington). This all seems absurd. Medicine has made incredible steps forward in the last 200 years and it would be no problem to provide them free to everybody on the premise that everyone deserves decent health treatment. However, human needs have never been a motive for the big capitalists and their politicians. The health and pharmacological corporations, such as GlaxoSmithKline, are some of the biggest and richest companies in Britain. They make billions from what should be every humans basic right. It also makes it obvious how much could be done if these companies and the NHS would not be run by big business but under the direct and democratic control of the working class. For that however, the profit oriented capitalist system has to be done away with all together.

The World is not your Oyster

A
ccording to a government survey in 2007, when young people were asked what they wanted from life they answered that they wanted the ability to enjoy life. And so they should. Those formative years in our lives are of critical importance to our development. It is a journey of discovery and learning, understanding the world around us and how we as individuals relate to it. This enlightenment should be enjoyed by all. However, the sad fact is that youths today are faced with such difficult circumstances there is little chance for enjoyment or optimism. The most recent figures show that 22.2% of 16-24 year olds are unemployed, university applications in England have dropped by almost 10% in a year and one in five live in poverty. But the problems facing young people start even earlier than that. The drive towards academies poses a real threat to the quality of schooling for those less privileged. Academies are publicly funded schools that operate outside of the jurisdiction of local authorities. They are granted more funding and greater control over their own finances. To become an academy a school has to be awarded an outstanding Ofsted inspection. The problem with this is that schools in less privileged areas receive less funding and find it harder to achieve good Ofsted scores. This nonsensical strategy means that, instead of trying to improve poorer schools, they are often neglected while more successful schools receive more and more money. This is not the only problem. Since they are elevated above local authorities, they are controlled by a highly centralised directive. This means we are left with an increasingly fragmented system of management without an obvious strategic plan for which there is no democratic accountability. Once they have left compulsory education, youths today are faced with very restricted options. While most people dont have rich families who can guarantee them a career and financial security, most are faced with a tough decision. Do they take on tens of thousands of pounds of debt and go to university or take a ridiculously low paid apprenticeship in the hope of finding a job afterwards? The rise in university tuition fees are well documented and the feeble claim that it wont affect applications has been disproven with a 9.9% drop in applicants in England (where fees have risen) compared to just 1.5% in Scotland (where they havent). Young people should be encouraged to learn and higher education should be available to all, not just those born into privilege. A similar problem is found with apprenticeships. The minimum wage for under 19s in an apprenticeship is just 2.50 an hour, a pittance. This is nowhere near enough to live independently and means our youth are forced to rely on external help. When this isnt forthcoming, the young people of this country simply join the queue of disenfranchised job seekers, a burgeoning group of dissatisfied people. Capitalism fails to provide young people with a real future. Young people should probably start to make their own future, one without capitalism.

Fracking Hell
true, and thats because it is. In no form of reality could it ever be safe or acceptable to drill holes into the earth and fill it with a mix of unnamed chemicals. This process has been proven to have numerous affects not only on the earth (with several small earthquakes being recorded throughout USA and more recently, in Blackpool), but on the people living near the wells. Plenty of videos can be found online of people whose water was so contaminated from nearby Fracking that they could set their own tap water on fire. The effects of Fracking include the death of animals, people suffering severe health problems, explosions of personal water wells, workers with burns on their skin from handling unsafe materials and much more. Along with the physical effects, it is clear that a large amount of emotional trauma is experienced as well as people feel increasingly powerless. One family in the US was being driven off their farm (passed down through the generations) because between the dying livestock and contaminated land, they just cant make a living. Due to its exemption from certain laws and regulations, fracking is completely legal and its chemicals known by few. This means that yet again the capitalists are free to blunder into a potentially devastating situation where the only concern is profits. The main selling point for fracking in the US is that they could become energy independent, but this comes at a price for the American people. Now the UK is jumping on the wagon towards a energy independent future. The wells are hardly going to be drilled in the backyards of the capitalists, nor are they going to have to bear witness to the suffering it causes. Instead, the working class will be the ones having their health and livelihood ripped away from them, while the capitalists will remain ignorant of the further suffering they have inflicted. It is clear that renewable energy needs to be developed, but this will not happen under capitalism. As it wont bring in profits theres no point in developing it, right?

he frantic scramble for new forms of energy has now reached new levels of immorality. Fracking is everybodys new favourite method of extracting a fossil fuel. Now our government has followed the US by commissioning thousands of fracking wells throughout the UK. Fracking involves drilling holes deep into the earth and pumping a potent chemical cocktail at high pressure into the holes. This causes cracks which release shale gas, which is then collected. According to experts, farming shale gas has few environmental downsides, and is actually more carbon-friendly than previous fossil fuels. Not only that but it is said to be perfectly safe. This may sound too good to be

Who we are
A brief summary of the political positions of the RSO The Revolutionary Socialist Organization (RSO) is fighting against capitalism and for a new socialist economic and social order. Every day it becomes more evident that the so-called free market has nothing to offer for most of the worlds population. Capitalism means hunger, poverty, environmental destruction, war and misery. Even in the richest countries in the world, millions live at or below the poverty line. In contrast, a small portion of the population owns the majority of the assets; in Britain 1% of the population owns more than a third of all assets. Two classes are facing each other in the capitalist society. On one side are the capitalists who own the means of production. They are faced by the wage earners who are forced to sell their labor power. Many workers today are isolated, discouraged, and full of capitalist political ideas and filled with capitalist prejudices. Nevertheless, only the wage earners through strikes and other collective forms of struggle can bring the capitalist mode of production to a halt and hit the capitalist class at the critical point, their profits. Capitalism in its neoliberal phase after the collapse of Stalinism in 1989-91 is politically and militarily on the rise world wide. The working class of the European countries is subject to massive social attacks. Trade unions and social democratic parties are unable to oppose this, but are perfectly integrated into the system. Their representatives participate in cutting public services and creating racist divisions. The Green Parties are not an alternative, they are bourgeois parties, some of which have a progressive rhetoric on human rights issues, but, where they participate in

government, show that they are part of the normal capitalist state. The different imperialist blocs are arming themselves. The imperialist global player is still the United States. But the EU is trying to downsize the military gap with the United States and is also more and more acting as a militarily independent bloc. In contrast, we support the resistance against imperialist wars and occupations and combine this with the slogan: The main enemy is at home. To secure its domination, capitalism is (also) using and fostering the division of the working class. We are fighting against the oppression of people because of their ethnicity, gender, age or sexual orientation and we oppose these divisions with the unconditional support of every fight for equal rights. We are for the socialization of large corporations and their transformation into co-operatives under democratic workers management and control. Capi-

talism can not be eliminated by a few votes or parliamentary reform. All attempts to overcome capitalism through reforms have failed (and have often led to bloody defeats). Only a fundamental upheaval, a revolution based on the active participation of large segments of the population can destroy the state of the ruling class, eliminate the bases of inequality, oppression and exploitation and create a free society. We are Marxists and follow in the tradition of the left opposition against Stalinism by Leon Trotsky. Our alternative is socialism. Our socialism is a free, democratic society built on elected councils. We refer positively to the Russian October Revolution of 1917. This revolution has indeed failed in the Stalinist degeneration in the twenties, but the idea of an alternative to capitalism retains its validity. Our socialism has thus nothing to do with the social

democratic parties, or with the Stalinist dictatorships in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Cuba and China. Capitalism is internationally organized and networked. Therefore, our revolutionary alternative has to be international and internationalist. The RSO is not the revolutionary party. None of the currently existing organizations can claim that for themselves. A new revolutionary party will emerge from a process of transformations and mergers. The RSO will try to play a positive role in this process to build such a party and therefore put forward a revolutionary alternative to capitalism. If you are interested in this project, then get in contact with us and support us in building a revolutionary and socialist organization!

Contact: If you want to know more about the Revolutionary Socialist Organisation, check out our English website: www.revolutionarysocialism.blogspot.com or e-mail us at: revolutionarysocialist@gmx.com or just simply talk to the person who sold you this paper.