Sumber: Progressive International
We are meeting at a remarkable moment, a moment that is, in fact, unique in human history, a moment both ominous in portent and bright with hopes for a better future. The Progressive International has a crucial role to play in determining which course history will follow.
We are meeting at a moment of confluence of crises of extraordinary severity, with the fate of the human experiment quite literally at stake. The issues are coming to a head in the next few weeks in the two great imperial powers of the modern era.
Fading Britain, kanthi umum nyatakake yen nolak hukum internasional, ana ing ambang istirahat saka Eropa, ing dalan kanggo dadi luwih satelit AS sing wis ana. Nanging mesthine apa sing paling penting kanggo masa depan yaiku apa sing kedadeyan ing hegemon global, dikurangi dening bal wrecking Trump, nanging isih duwe kekuwatan sing luar biasa lan kaluwihan sing ora bisa ditandingi. Nasibe, lan karo nasibe donya, bisa uga ditemtokake ing Nopember.
Not surprisingly, the rest of the world is concerned, if not appalled. It would be difficult to find a more sober and respected commentator than Martin Wolf of the London Financial Times. He writes that the West is facing a serious crisis, and if Trump is re-elected, “this will be terminal.” Strong words, and he is not even referring to the major crises humanity faces.
Wolf is referring to the global order, a critical matter though not on the scale of the crises that threaten vastly more serious consequences, the crises that are driving the hands of the famous Doomsday Clock towards midnight – towards termination.
Konsep "terminal" Wolf dudu entri anyar ing wacana umum. Kita wis urip ing bayangan kanggo 75 taun, wiwit kita sinau, ing dina Agustus ora iso lali, sing Intelligence manungsa wis nyipta cara sing bakal enggal ngasilaken kapasitas kanggo karusakan terminal. Iku cukup pecah, nanging ana liyane. Ora banjur dimangerteni manawa manungsa wis mlebu jaman geologi anyar, yaiku Anthropocene, ing ngendi aktivitas manungsa ngrusak lingkungan kanthi cara sing saiki uga nyedhaki karusakan terminal.
Tangan Jam Kiamat pisanan disetel sakcepete sawise bom atom digunakake ing paroxysm pembantaian sing ora perlu. Tangan wis oscillated wiwit, minangka kahanan global wis ngalami évolusi. Saben taun Trump wis dadi kantor, tangan wis dipindhah nyedhaki tengah wengi. Rong taun kepungkur dheweke tekan sing paling cedhak. Januari kepungkur, analis ninggalake menit, dadi detik: 100 detik nganti tengah wengi. Dheweke nyebutake krisis sing padha kaya sadurunge: ancaman perang nuklir lan bencana lingkungan, lan rusake demokrasi.
Sing pungkasan bisa uga katon ora cocog, nanging ora. Demokrasi sing nyuda minangka anggota trio sing surem. Siji-sijine pangarep-arep kanggo uwal saka rong ancaman penghentian yaiku demokrasi sing sregep ing ngendi warga sing prihatin lan ngerti kanthi lengkap melu musyawarah, pambentukan kebijakan, lan tumindak langsung.
That was last January. Since then, President Trump has amplified all three threats, not a mean accomplishment. He has continued his demolition of the arms control regime that has offered some protection against the threat of nuclear war, while also pursuing development of new and even more dangerous weapons, much to the delight of military industry. In his dedicated commitment to destroy the environment that sustains life, Trump has opened up vast new areas for drilling, including the last great nature reserve. Meanwhile, his minions are systematically dismantling the regulatory system that somewhat mitigates the destructive impact of fossil fuel use, and that protects the population from toxic chemicals and from pollution, a curse that is now doubly murderous in the course of a severe respiratory epidemic.
Trump has also carried forward his campaign to undermine democracy. By law, presidential appointments are subject to Senate confirmation. Trump avoids this inconvenience by leaving the positions open and filling the offices with “temporary appointments” who answer to his will – and if they do not do so with sufficient fealty to the lord, are fired. He has purged the executive of any independent voice. Only sycophants remain. Congress had long ago established Inspectors General to monitor the performance of the executive branch. They began to look into the swamp of corruption that Trump has created in Washington. He took care of that quickly by firing them. There was scarcely a peep from the Republican Senate, firmly in Trump’s pocket, with hardly a flicker of integrity remaining, terrified by the popular base Trump has mobilized.
Serangan nglawan demokrasi iki mung wiwitan. Langkah paling anyar Trump yaiku ngelingake yen dheweke ora bisa ninggalake kantor yen dheweke ora puas karo asil pemilihan November. Ancaman kasebut ditindakake kanthi serius ing papan sing dhuwur. Kanggo sebutno mung sawetara conto, loro pensiunan komandan senior militèr senior sing dihormati nerbitake surat terbuka marang ketua Kepala Staf Gabungan, Jenderal Milley, nyemak tanggung jawab konstitusional kanggo ngirim tentara kanggo mbusak kanthi paksa "presiden tanpa hukum" sing nolak. kanggo ninggalake kantor sawise kekalahan Pemilu, nimbali ing pertahanan kang jinis unit paramiliter kang dikirim menyang Portland Oregon kanggo neror populasi liwat bantahan kuwat saka pejabat kapilih.
Many establishment figures regard the warning as realistic, among them the high-level Transition Integrity Project, which has just reported the results of the “war gaming” it has been conducting on possible outcomes of the November election. The project members are “some of the most accomplished Republicans, Democrats, civil servants, media experts, pollsters and strategists around,” the Project co-director explains, including prominent figures in both Parties. Under any plausible scenario apart from a clear Trump victory, the games led to something like civil war, with Trump choosing to end “the American experiment.”
Again, strong words, never before heard from sober mainstream voices. The very fact that such thoughts arise is ominous enough. They are not alone. And given incomparable US power, far more than the “American experiment” is at risk.
Nothing like this has happened in the often troubled history of parliamentary democracy. Keeping to recent years, Richard Nixon – not the most delightful person in presidential history – had good reason to believe that he had lost the 1960 election only because of criminal manipulation by Democratic operatives. He did not contest the results, putting the welfare of the country ahead of personal ambition. Albert Gore did the same in 2000. Not today.
Forging new paths in contempt for the welfare of the country does not suffice for the megalomaniac who dominates the world. Trump has also announced once again that he may disregard the Constitution and “negotiate” for a third term if he decides he is entitled to it.
Some choose to laugh all this off as the playfulness of a buffoon. To their peril, as history shows.
Kaslametané kamardikan ora dijamin dening "halangan parchment," James Madison ngelingake. Tembung ing kertas ora cukup. Iki didegake kanthi pangarep-arep iman sing apik lan sopan santun. Sing wis dirusak dening Trump bebarengan karo co-conspirator Senat Mayoritas Pimpinan Mitch McConnell, sing wis dadi "badan musyawarah paling gedhe ing donya," kaya sing diarani awake dhewe, dadi guyon sing nyenengake. Senat McConnell nolak malah nimbang usul legislatif. Keprigelan kasebut yaiku kanggo wong sugih lan numpuk pengadilan, saka ndhuwur nganti ngisor karo pengacara enom sisih tengen sing kudu bisa njaga agenda Trump-McConnell reaksioner kanggo generasi, apa wae sing dikarepake umum, apa wae sing dibutuhake jagad iki kanggo slamet.
The abject service to the rich of the Trump-McConnell Republican party is quite remarkable, even by the neoliberal standards of exaltation of greed. One illustration is provided by the leading specialists on tax policy, economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman. They show that in 2018, following the tax scam that was the one legislative Trump-McConnell achievement, “for the first time in the last hundred years, billionaires have paid less [in taxes] than steel workers, school teachers, and retirees,” erasing “a century of fiscal history.” “In 2018, for the first time in the modern history of the United States, capital has been taxed less than labor” – a truly impressive victory of class war, called “liberty” in hegemonic doctrine.
Jam Kiamat disetel Januari kepungkur sadurunge skala pandhemen dingerteni. Manungsa bakal cepet pulih saka pandemi, kanthi biaya sing larang. Iku biaya sing ora perlu. Kita bisa ndeleng kanthi jelas saka pengalaman negara-negara sing njupuk tindakan tegas nalika China nyedhiyakake informasi sing relevan babagan virus kasebut ing 10 Januari. Utamane ing antarane yaiku Asia Wétan-Tenggara lan Oseania, lan liya-liyane sing ngetutake, lan nggawa mburi. sawetara bencana, utamane AS, diikuti dening Brasil Bolsonaro lan India Modi.
Sanajan ana kesalahan utawa ora preduli saka sawetara pimpinan politik, pungkasane bakal ana sawetara pemulihan saka pandemi kasebut. Nanging, kita ora bakal pulih saka leleh es kutub, utawa tingkat njeblug kobongan Arktik sing ngeculake gas omah kaca sing akeh banget menyang atmosfer, utawa langkah-langkah liyane ing perjalanan kita menyang bencana.
Nalika ilmuwan iklim sing paling misuwur ngelingake kita "Panik Saiki," dheweke ora wedi. Ora ana wektu kanggo mbuwang. Sawetara sing nindakake cukup, lan luwih elek, jagad iki dikutuk dening para pemimpin sing ora mung nolak tumindak sing cukup nanging kanthi sengaja nyepetake balapan menyang bencana. Keganasan ing Gedhung Putih adoh banget ing kriminalitas sing nggegirisi iki.
It is not only governments. The same is true of fossil fuel industries, the big banks that finance them, and other industries that profit from actions that put the “survival of humanity” at serious risk, in the words of a leaked internal memo of America’s largest bank.
Humanity will not long survive this institutional malignancy. The means to manage the crisis are available. But not for long. One primary task of the Progressive International is to ensure that we all panic now – and act accordingly.
Krisis sing kita adhepi ing wektu unik sejarah manungsa iki mesthi internasional. Bencana lingkungan, perang nuklir, lan pandemi ora ana watese. Lan kanthi cara sing kurang transparan, padha karo saprateloné dhemit sing ngubengi bumi lan nyopir tangan kaping pindho saka jam Kiamat menyang tengah wengi: rusaké demokrasi. Karakter internasional saka pageblug iki dadi jelas nalika kita nliti asal-usule.
Circumstances vary, but there are some common roots. Much of the malignancy traces back to the neoliberal assault on the world’s population launched in force 40 years ago.
The basic character of the assault was captured in the opening pronouncements of its most prominent figures. Ronald Reagan declared in his inaugural address that government is the problem, not the solution – meaning that decisions should be removed from governments, which are at least partially under public control, to private power, which is completely unaccountable to the public, and whose sole responsibility is self-enrichment, as chief economist Milton Friedman proclaimed. The other was Margaret Thatcher, who instructed us that there is no society, only a market in which people are cast to survive as best they can, with no organizations that enable them to defend themselves against its ravages.
Unwittingly no doubt, Thatcher was paraphrasing Marx, who condemned the autocratic rulers of his day for turning the population into a “sack of potatoes,” defenseless against concentrated power.
Kanthi konsistensi sing nggumunake, administrasi Reagan lan Thatcher pindhah bebarengan kanggo numpes gerakan buruh, alangan utama kanggo aturan kelas kasar dening para master ekonomi. Kanthi mengkono, dheweke ngadopsi prinsip-prinsip utama neoliberalisme wiwit wiwitane ing interwar Wina, ing ngendi pangadeg lan santo pelindung gerakan kasebut, Ludwig von Mises, meh ora bisa ngontrol kabungahane nalika pamrentah proto-fasis ngrusak sosial Austria sing sregep. demokrasi lan serikat pekerja sing nistha sing ngganggu ekonomi sing sehat kanthi mbela hak-hak wong sing kerja. Minangka von Mises diterangake ing 1927 klasik neoliberal Liberalisme, five years after Mussolini initiated his brutal rule, “It cannot be denied that Fascism and similar movements aimed at the establishment of dictatorships are full of the best intentions and that their intervention has for the moment saved European civilization. The merit that Fascism has thereby won for itself will live on eternally in history” – though it will be only temporary, he assured us. The Blackshirts will go home after having accomplished their good work.
Prinsip sing padha menehi inspirasi dhukungan neoliberal sing antusias kanggo kediktatoran Pinochet sing nggegirisi. A sawetara taun mengko, padha sijine menyang operasi ing wangun beda ing ajang global ing pimpinan AS lan UK.
The consequences were predictable. One was sharp concentration of wealth alongside of stagnation for much of the population, reflected in the political realm by undermining of democracy. The impact in the United States brings out very clearly what one would expect when business rule is virtually uncontested. After 40 years, 0.1% of the population have 20% of the wealth, twice what they had when Reagan was elected. CEO remuneration has skyrocketed, drawing general management wealth along with it. Real wages for non-supervisory male workers have declined. A majority of the population survives from paycheck to paycheck, with almost no reserves. Financial institutions, largely predatory, have exploded in scale. There have been repeated crashes, increasing in severity, the perpetrators bailed out by the friendly taxpayer, though that is the least of the implicit state subsidy they receive. “Free markets” led to monopolization, with reduced competition and innovation, as the strong swallowed the weak. Neoliberal globalization has deindustrialized the country within the framework of the investor rights agreements mislabeled as “free trade pacts. ”Adopting the neoliberal doctrine that “taxation is robbery,” Reagan opened the door to tax havens and shell companies – previously banned and barred by effective enforcement. That led at once to a huge tax evasion industry to expedite massive robbery of the general population by the very rich and the corporate sector. No small change. The scale is estimated in tens of trillions of dollars.
Dadi terus nalika doktrin neoliberal dicekel.
As the assault was just beginning to take shape, in 1978, the president of the United Auto Workers, Doug Fraser, resigned from a labor-management committee that was set up by the Carter Administration, expressing his shock that business leaders had “chosen to wage a one-sided class war in this country – a war against working people, the unemployed, the poor, the minorities, the very young and the very old, and even many in the middle class of our society,” and had “broken and discarded the fragile, unwritten compact previously existing during a period of growth and progress” – during the period of class collaboration under regimented capitalism.
Pangenalan babagan cara kerjane jagad iki rada telat, nyatane kasep kanggo nyegah perang kelas pahit sing diluncurake dening para pimpinan bisnis sing enggal-enggal dibebasake dening pamrentah sing patuh. Konsekuensi ing saindenging jagad ora kaget banget: nesu, nesu, ngremehake institusi politik, dene sing ekonomi utamane didhelikake dening propaganda sing efektif. Kabeh iki nyedhiyakake wilayah sing subur kanggo para demagog sing bisa nyamar dadi penyelamat sampeyan nalika nyuduk sampeyan ing mburi, sauntara iku nyalahake kahanan sampeyan dadi kambing hitam: imigran, kulit ireng, China, sapa wae sing cocog karo prasangka sing wis suwe.
Mbalik menyang krisis utama sing kita adhepi ing wayahe bersejarah iki, kabeh ana ing internasional, lan loro internasional dibentuk kanggo ngadhepi. Siji mbukak dina iki: Progressive International. Sing liyane wis dibentuk ing pimpinan Gedung Putih Trump, sawijining Internasional Reactionary sing kalebu negara paling reaksioner ing donya.
Ing Hemisfer Kulon, Internasional kalebu Brasil Bolsonaro lan sawetara liyane. Ing Timur Tengah, anggota utama yaiku kediktatoran kulawarga Teluk; kediktatoran Mesir al-Sisi, mbok menawa sing paling keras ing sajarah Mesir sing pahit; lan Israel, kang dawa ago dibuwak asal demokratis sosial lan pindah adoh menyang tengen, efek mbadek saka pendhudhukan ingkang dipun danguaken lan brutal. Persetujuan saiki antarane Israel lan kediktatoran Arab, sing ngresmikake hubungan tacit sing wis suwe, minangka langkah penting kanggo nguatake basis Timur Tengah Reactionary International. Wong-wong Palestina ditendhang ing pasuryan, nasib sing tepat kanggo wong-wong sing ora duwe daya lan ora grovel kanthi bener ing sikile para master alam.
Ing sisih wétan, calon alami yaiku India, ing ngendi Perdana Menteri Modi ngrusak demokrasi sekuler India lan ngowahi negara kasebut dadi negara nasionalis Hindu sing rasis, nalika ngremukake Kashmir. Kontingen Eropa kalebu "demokrasi iliberal" Orban ing Hongaria lan unsur sing padha ing papan liya. Internasional uga nduweni dukungan kuat ing institusi ekonomi global sing dominan.
Loro internasional kasebut kalebu bagean sing apik ing jagad iki, siji ing tingkat negara, lan gerakan populer liyane. Saben-saben minangka wakil utama saka pasukan sosial sing luwih akeh, sing duwe gambar sing padu banget ing jagad iki sing kudu muncul saka pandemi saiki. Siji pasukan kerja keras kanggo mbangun versi sistem global neoliberal sing luwih keras, sing entuk manfaat banget, kanthi pengawasan lan kontrol sing luwih intensif. Sing liyane ngarepake jagad sing adil lan tentrem, kanthi tenaga lan sumber daya sing diarahake kanggo nyukupi kabutuhan manungsa tinimbang panjaluk minoritas cilik. Iki minangka jinis perjuangan kelas ing skala global, kanthi akeh aspek lan interaksi sing rumit.
Ora exaggeration kanggo ngomong sing nasib eksperimen manungsa gumantung ing asil saka perjuangan iki.
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1 komentar
No exaggeration at all, our friend.