IMGpapers 1968–75

Newspapers of the International Marxist Group and its forerunners, 1968–75

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Black Dwarf Vol. 13, No. 5, 22 September 1968 · pp. 4-5 of the scan · 1,184 words

The scan: v13-n5-22-sep-1968.pdf (PDF, Marxists Internet Archive, opens at this page)

Uncorrected machine reading. This text was read by machine (Apple Vision OCR) from a scan of a newspaper page, and the page was cut into articles by machine, at the headlines found by their type size. Nothing has been corrected: expect misread words, text from a neighbouring article, and titles that are the machine reading of the headline, some of them only fragments. Quote from the scan, not from this page.
How this article was cut and titled: headline found by type size in the OCR geometry (split_tabloid.py); 1-1 of 4; machine-segmented newspaper page; uncorrected Vision OCR.

page 4 of the scan

O ALL LABOUR PARTY COMRADES!

The Czechoslovak communists are opposed to conrvatism and reaction in the West as much as to conervatism and reaction in the East. They can receive no support" from any capitalist government, or from NATO, • from any opponent of world communism. Even Britain's abour government cannot support them, if it remains a overnment dominated by BEFORE OUR ABOUR GOVERNMENT CAN SUPPORT THE FREE COMUNISTS OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA IT MUST JOIN THEM IN HEIR STRUGGLE FOR COMMUNIST FREEDOM. It must isarm the bosses, ARM THE WORKERS FOR SELFEFENCE, strengthen itself against the establishment and apitalism in every way necessary, and NATIONALIZE THE 00 MONOPOLIES UNDER WORKERS' CONTROL. In other ords, it must become in practice what it is in name: i.e. a eal Labour Government. It is true that this will mean civil rar. As TROTSKY wrote (in "Where is Britain Going?" "It 3 necessary to understand clearly that if a real Labour Government came to power in Britain even in the most untralemocratic manner, a civil war would be revealed as nevitable. The Labour Government would be compelled to uppress the opposition of the privileged classes." But we lave no need to fear class war: throughout the world, ours s the winning side.

The Labour Government is the only democratically elected sovereign authority in Britain. Yet, despite Labour's four-year period in office, the employers and bankers still hold the lion's share of the state power, and are able to use it against the Government. We see this in the capitalist economic crisis, the wage-freeze obtained by the employers, the speculators' attacks and the price and rent rises. On every economic issue, the Labour Government has yielded to the superior force of the ruling class. To defeat our rulers nationally, we wil need a revolution. This should be bloodless and constitutional, provided the employers don't use violence.

By a Government Enabling Act if need be, all remaining industries and political power must be taken from the capitalist class. Without this power, the Government can do litte to freeze rents or prices, raise wages. through a fair incomes policy, or impose order and security on the economy. Given the the Government could, at the very least, do all it has promised for the working class.

In a month's time we could be beginning to plan production scienwithout waste. This would produce an immediate doubling of exports and a doubling of living standards, on the basis of a working week of thirty hours or less. We would all have time to educate ourselves in management, distribution, design, etc.

All tenants would be given the houses they are living in as their own - without further rent or other payments to make. They have a right to own their houses since most tenants have paid for them already in rents. Present owner-occupiers (subject to the agreement of Tenants' Associations would be left with their own houses, with mortgages annulled. The funds of loan sharks would be confiscated without compensation. Insurance companies like the Prudential would be taken over. Underutilized buildings such as Buckingham Palace, country mansions, etc. would be wholly or partially taken over and utilized. after consultation with their present occupants on a comradely basis.

THIS YEAR HAS SEEN THE OUTBREAK OF REVOLUTION ALL OVER THE WORLD. In March was the unprecedented gold crisis and the and Communist party. In May came the world labour movement's biggest demonstration of workers' power to date: ten million workers sponUnion itself. The world's conservatives especially the two "Great Powers" - are afraid. They are afraid of their own young and restless people much more than of each other.

The revolution's aim is this: workers' control. Victory will make workers free not only in streets and at meetings, but in their own places Workers will hire and fire their own managements, as was beginning to happen in Czechoslovakia before the Kremlin bureacrats of work. moved in their tanks — afraid that such freedom would spread into Russia.

"Trotskyists" _ mainly voung people in Eastern and Western Europe _ are the inspiration behind events in both France and Czechoslovakia. Their ideal is free and word-wide Communism. Their enemies are both United States Imperialism and the Kremlin bureaucrats.

Russia. So they helped De Gaulle stamp it out.

Workers control does not mean that management and managers will be abolished. On the contrary. Under a free Communist system, all workers will become Growing automation and "computerization" demands that work itself should become PRIMARILY the enjoyable work of controlling and managing production. The job of management will be much easier revolution because only machines, not people, will have to be managed. All people will be on the the management side. Managers, instead of having to treat people as If they were machines, will only have to deal with real real machines. machines never rebel against their masters and can do mechanical, routine jobs far more efficiently than humans. Under free Communism the working people themselves will become the managers and exploiters, managing far more powerfully than today's bosses because they will employ mechanical limbs and electronic brains especially made by man to be obedient and serve his interests unquestioningly. Trying to treat people as machines — as units of 'labour" and instruments for producing wealth — Is not only a barbarous survival from the past. It is also inefficient, and, in the long run impossible. The people will always rebel.

Under free Communism, Government will become omnipotent. There will be no people, only machines and things, to govern. The Labour Government in this country will, through a revolution, become all-powerful - because "Labour", i.e. the working people as a whole, wil themselves all join the Government, and become the Government. Through machines for communicating, like television, satellites and London's G.P.O. tower, Government everywhere will become world-wide and all-powerful, since the only things to be governed will be the unresisting machines.

WORKERS! STUDENTS! HOUSEWIVES!

This advertisement has been paid for by the "Lenin Club's" Campaign for a Stronger Labour Government. We are trying to raise £10,000 for a series of advertisements in the National Press. If you would like to help trade unionists provide the TUC and the Labour Party with an alternative and more powerful government, please send 10/- to John Crook (treasurer of the Lenin Club), 47 Quarry Rd., Tunbridge Wells, Kent. BRING ALL POWER TO THE WORKING CLASS, THE TRADES UNION CONGRESS AND THE LABOUR GOVERNMENT. TO "UNITE BRITAIN WITH FRANCE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND OTHER COUNTRIES IN A SOCIALIST UNITED STATES OF EUROPE!

page 5 of the scan

THE BLACK DWARF 1:

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taneously took over the factories of France for nearly a month. Now the same breath of freedom is spreading and battling against conservative bureaucracy throughout Eastern Europe, even entering into the Soviet

The United States Imperialists fear revolution because it would deprive them of their multi-million-dollar investments all over the world. The Kremlin bureaucrats were afraid of the French revolution because they knew that if it succeeded, it could not be controlled from Moscow and would spread the torch of workers' control into East Europe and

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