Socialist Voice Review:
June and July – 2022
What is wrong with Socialist Voice? Nothing much really. What is right with Socialist Voice? Nothing much really.
That’s the problem. There is not much to argue with in the content, it is just that the content amounts to very little. Certainly, nothing that could not be provided by any progressive anywhere.
“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it. Karl Marx
To be specific: the June edition does not provide a single vision for the future. Nor is there a single organisational proposal or guideline in the entire edition. There is scarcely a reference to any of the important everyday issues/events that are (mis)shaping our lives. Nothing on NATO or Ireland’s race to join it, no alarms on the increasing probability of nuclear war, nothing on the environment, nothing on Ukraine, no exposure of the EU position on Ukraine, no demand that peaceful efforts should replace militarism and war promotion, no comment on the muzzling of progressive media or the complicity of the mainstream media in supporting and promoting wars, ‘sanctions’, disinformation, etc. No defence of Julian Assange. No comment on the changing face of international relations. No assault on the ever-increasing imposition of ‘sanctions’. Nothing related to health services or the oft-stated campaign for an all-Ireland health service. No mention of the ever-increasing levels of hard and ‘soft’ drugs – across the classes. No mention or even a reference to how many of the ‘measures’ introduced to deal with Covid-19 will be used to enforce ‘order’ in the handling of other emerging, manufactured or imaginary ‘emergencies’ and attacks on labour rights just to mention some of the most urgent issues in our world today.
At least an opinion piece on national wage agreements provided a basis for some critical thinking and analysis. Besides a direct confrontation with the Connolly Youth Movement – such bravery – who else was held to account or who would have felt threatened by a single word in the June Socialist Voice?
July Socialist Voice? Ditto. Or, maybe even worse. There is another go at the Connolly Youth Movement. Ukraine? NATO? Not a word from the Party. That is left to quite a good statement from the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA).
Hardly a word on any of the main political and economic issues of the day. But, wait! Three articles are dedicated to gender issues. Another article challenges a former member of the Party for allegedly not being sufficiently on board on gender issues – presumably by CPI standards. While this flurry of activity may have been caused by the proximity of Dublin Pride and related events it is, nonetheless, strange that the CPI is so in touch with this issue in our little world and so distanced and distracted from other issues that devastate the lives of many millions of people both in our little world and throughout the world.
Is there a single issue or campaign – on any issue – being led by the CPI? There have been so many declarations – public housing, all-Ireland health service, etc, etc but no tangible results or organisational mechanisms to pursue any of these declarations. Of course, there is plenty of ‘we must’, ‘we need’ ‘they should’…….
If the argument is that Socialist Voice is not designed to provide such a leading platform then it is legitimate to ask from where, or by what means, does the Party provide such a leading role? If you go to the Party website for inspiration you won’t find it there. If you are a member of the Party attending branch meetings, you certainly won’t find it there either.
Not much point in having a Party that neither offers or provides any direction or leadership. Repeated whinging and whining and bouts of nostalgia are no substitutes for real political action – critical analysis along with determined, confident and focused responses.
How can people outside the party be encouraged to be involved politically when even members of the party are not encouraged to be involved in planning strategic activities? Planning and strategy is strictly the preserve of the various strata of leadership and the result of that ‘strategy’ is everywhere to be seen, or not, depending on how you look at it.
For a Party that places so much emphasis on the words of Karl Marx, it is strange that it has not found a way to take on board one of the most fundamental of his statements.
The continuing failure of the CPI to grasp basic principles of organisation, leadership and direction, places it in the role of just about any other pressure group.
Unfortunately, even within those confines, the CPI is less organised or effective than most of them – all the while deluding itself that: “The Communist Party of Ireland is a voluntary organisation of the most politically advanced members of the working class and other sections of the people exploited by the capitalist system who are prepared to work for the achievement of a united, independent, socialist Ireland (Article 7 of the Constitution of the Party).
“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.”
Exactly.