ONE of the very serious and major attacks of neoliberalism on the working class movement is its ideological attack. There has been huge propaganda by the ideologues of neoliberalism through various theories – that with increased reliance on markets there will be competition and improvement in the public services; that liberalisation and free run to the markets will benefit everybody through ‘trickle down’ of prosperity; that flexible labour markets will increase employment and pay; and that trade unions are anti-democratic and coercive and so de-unionisation will increase freedom of the workers, etc.

Through the vast resources at their command, through the sections of intellectuals subservient to the interests of neoliberalism and through the governments under their grip, international finance driven neoliberalism has been able to propagate its ideology to dominate the world. Many class collaborationist and reformist trade unions became victims of this propaganda and supported the neoliberal policies. In Europe and several advanced capitalist countries, such trade unions accepted that deregulation and privatisation were economically beneficial in the background of the crisis of that time. Many thought that it was unavoidable. The ‘There Is No Alternative’ theory was widely accepted. Indian experience too is not different. In the initial stages, several trade unions barring class oriented trade unions like the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, held illusions that neoliberalism would benefit the people including the workers.

CLAIMS PROVED WRONG

All these claims of neoliberal ideologues have proved to be wrong. The ‘trickle down’ theory has proved to be totally false. What is seen today is increased concentration of wealth. Despite the huge increase in productivity, despite the creation of enormous wealth by the workers, this wealth is increasingly cornered by a few. Inequalities have increased as never before. According to Oxfam’s report ‘An economy for the 99 percent’ released in January 2017, eight men own the same wealth as 362 crore people who constitute the poorest half of humanity in the world.  Between 1988 and 2011, the incomes of the poorest 10 per cent increased by just $65 per person, while the incomes of the richest 1 per cent increased by $1180 per person, ie, 182 times as much.

In India the gap between the rich and the poor is even wider. The richest 1 per cent of Indians now hold over 58 per cent of the country’s total wealth, higher than the global figure of 50 per cent.  Just 57 billionaires in India have the same wealth ($ 216 billion) as that of the bottom 70 per cent of the population of the country.

The type of economic growth under neoliberalism is widely described as ‘jobless growth’ or ‘job loss growth’. Unemployment has assumed alarming proportions. According to the ILO report quoted above, ‘’Long term unemployment in North America and Europe has increased compared to the pre crisis levels. In Europe, the share of unemployed people who had been looking for a job for 12 months or longer reached 47.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2016 compared to 44.5 per cent for the same period in 2012. More than two thirds people of this group were unemployed for over two years in the second quarter of 2016’.

The vast advances in science and technology are not utilised for the benefit of the people. Instead they are being utilised to displace people from work. In their greed for profit the big corporates are utilising technology to cut down the number of workers. Artificial intelligence, robotics etc are being developed which can be used in various fields including editing, medical treatment, hospitality, education sector etc in addition to automobiles, manufacturing etc. They are expected to displace workers in large scale further worsening the unemployment situation.

There is no evidence whatsoever that the withdrawal of trade union rights to workers has helped economic growth. ILO’s flagship report ‘World Employment and Social Outlook 2015’, which analysed data from 63 countries including the most advanced economies as well as selected African, Asian and Latin American countries over the last 20 years, suggests that ‘lowering protection for workers does not stimulate job growth’. It says that the study ‘suggests that poorly designed changes that weaken employment legislation are likely to be counterproductive for employment in both the short and the long runs.  

What is significant is that with all these measures and attacks on the working class and trade unions in the name of promoting investment and growth, neoliberalism failed to prevent crises, which are inherent to the capitalist system. Its unsustainability became evident in 1997 when a major financial crisis gripped the so called ‘East Asian Tigers’ and later it spread to many countries leading towards a major world economic recession from early 2001. And the latest global crisis that started in the USA in 2008 continues unabated despite all the attempts by the proponents of neoliberalism to show that there are signs of recovery here and there. A report of the ILO ‘World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2017’ says, ‘The forecasts for growth for 2017 have continually been revised downwards over recent years (from over 4.6 per cent forecast in 2012 to 3.4 per cent forecast in 2016) and there is persistent elevated uncertainty about the global economy’.

RISING DISCONTENT

Today, discontent against the impact of the neoliberal policies is growing around the world. Across the world workers are coming out in bigger struggles against the attacks on their working and living conditions, against the so called ‘austerity’ measures of neoliberalism. Huge strikes and mobilisations have been going on in many countries in Europe – in France, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Britain, and Germany etc and in the United States as well. In India 17 countrywide general strikes have been led by the joint trade union movement against the impact of the neoliberal policies since 1991 when these policies were initiated in the country.

The sustainability of neoliberalism, of globalisation is now being increasingly questioned worldwide. Not only this, the ability of the capitalist system to address the issues of humankind is also under scanner.

But in the absence of an organised credible Left alternative in many countries, the right wing forces are taking advantage of the discontent. This is witnessed in the election of Trump as president in the US. Trump was able to utilise the anger among the US white workers against liberalisation and globalisation policies by masquerading as a critic. He was able to gain their confidence by criticising off shoring of jobs, trade deals like NAFTA, TPP etc and promising to make the economy work for working class Americans. By raising the issues of racism, nationalism etc to garner support of white workers he projected the Muslims, people of colour and migrants as their enemies. In Europe too, the influence of rightist and racist forces is growing in several countries including France, Sweden, Netherlands, and Austria etc.

In India also we are facing a similar situation. BJP, a member of the right wing RSS parivar has been able to utilise the discontent of the people against the impact of the neoliberal policies implemented by the Congress led UPA government and the huge corruption scandals that emerged during its regime. It has been following the same neoliberal policies with increased vigour. The ‘Hindutva’ agenda of the RSS is meant to create communal polarisation for political gains. On the one hand RSS and its outfits foment communal passions, disrupt unity and divide society. On the other hand they support the international finance dictated policies of neoliberalism which benefit the big domestic and foreign corporates and business houses. The communal agenda of the BJP and RSS results in weakening the united struggles of the working class against the neoliberal policies.

The present situation in the country calls for building a strong Left that can champion a credible alternative to the neoliberal policies. The political resolution of the 21st Party Congress of the CPI(M) has pointed out that the fight against the Hindutva forces and other forms of communalism must be integrated and combined with the fight against the neoliberal policies and their effects on the working people. The review report of the Political Tactical Line adopted in the 21st Congress emphasised the need to build up the independent strength of the Party by taking up the issues of the people and leading struggles and movements.

It is thus necessary to take up struggles on the day-to-day issues that reflect the impact of the neoliberal policies on the conditions of the workers, link up the issues with the policies of the government and expose the politics that guide these policies. It is only through such campaigns and struggles and projecting the alternative policies of the Left that it will it be possible to defeat both the neoliberal policies and the communal danger that pose a serious challenge to the working people of our country today.

The working class and the toiling people must be made aware of the inevitability of crises in the capitalist system and its inability to address the basic needs of the people despite huge advances in science, technology and productive capacities. In this centenary year of the Great October Revolution we need to popularise the message that ‘Socialism Is The Alternative’ to the discredited capitalist system.