The Socialist Correspondent has the aim of exposing capitalism and promoting socialism. Based on Marxist principles, it will aim to establish a discussion forum for those seeking to better understand developments in a world run by capitalism, following the defeat of the Soviet Union. It will seek to assist those fighting capitalism and imperialism and it will promote the values and principles of socialism. The journal will be published several times per year.
Marxist Point of View
Future issues will carry a Commentary on the political situation in the world from a Marxist point of view. These Commentaries will take as their starting point that the 21st century is radically different from that of most of the 20th century in which progressive forces, led by the Soviet Union, made considerable gains. The Socialist countries along with the forces of national liberation and the working people in many capitalist countries forced concessions from capitalism and imperialism. The defeat of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries has reversed this dramatically. We now live in a world run by capitalism. It does not make it a more peaceful world but one that is more dangerous. The need to discuss and to find successful ways of fighting capitalism and its continuing drive to war is one of the aims of the Socialist Correspondent.
The working class in Britain
The article, "What and where is the working class in Britain?", by Helen Christopher, introduces a discussion, of this question, to be continued in succeeding issues. Linked to this, it is intended to carry brief analyses of different industries in Britain. The first of these is the coal mining industry in Britain, by Barry Johnson.
The defeat of the Miners' strike in 1984/85 by the Thatcher Government paved the way for some twenty five years of continuous attack on the whole of the working people by successive British governments. The current extremely weak state of the political and industrial labour movement in Britain is a reflection of this. There have been many changes to the composition and nature of the British working class over the last 30 years. The discussion of the nature and state of the working class, alongside analyses of industries, will seek to clarify and understand these changes.
International nature
The Socialist Correspondent is of the view that to understand the state and nature of British Capitalism one needs to view it in a global context.
For this reason, but also cognisant of the fact that British Imperialism has not been the dominant capitalist state for some considerable time, the journal will carry material of an international nature. After all, it is a world struggle against imperialism. A victory anywhere against capitalism is a victory for all working people.
The Socialist Correpondent will seek to describe and explain events elsewhere in the world, normally ignored or distorted by the capitalist media.
In this first issue there is an article on Cuba, a country which continues valiantly to maintain and develop socialism in a very different, and arguably far more difficult, context than when the revolution occured in 1959. Gina Nicholson, following a recent visit, brings to life some aspects of what it means for the people of Cuba.
60th Anniversary of Indian Independence
Even when there are defeats for imperialism, it does not give up the fight or retire from the fray. As Lenin wrote, after a defeat, the capitalists fight a hundredfold to regain their lost position. They fight to reverse defeats in a variety of ways.
One of these ways is to re-write history, and to appropriate and distort the struggles which led to capitalism's defeat. Britain's Empire was huge, straddling continents, in which "the sun never set and the blood never dried". India was at the centre of the British Empire. This year is the 60th anniversary of Indian Independence. It is also the 150th aniversary of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The British imperialists termed it the "Indian Mutiny", thus giving it a particular ideological spin. Both of these momentous struggles/events continue to have considerable significance today.
Divide and Rule
British imperialism's 'turning defeat into victory' is exemplified by its partition of India into India and Pakistan, as a condition of independence. Imperialism encourages and uses divisions among people, whether it be race, colour, religion or something else, to further its own ends. And, of course, it blames the people for their divisions, often explained as merely a fact of life.
In the case of India, it fomented the Pakistan Map divisions (having drawn the Pakistan map the lessons of the Indian "Mutiny"), and eventually, when it was forced to concede independence, it institutionalised the divisions by partitioning India into two separate nation states based on religion. This tore apart communities which had lived together peacefully for a very long time. India and Pakistan, divided as two separate hostile entities are easier to deal with, exploit and manipulate. This practice of 'divide and rule' is not unique to the Indian sub-continent but it can be found in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Ireland and elsewhere. Partition has been one of the most effective ways of Imperialism 'turning defeat into victory', and retaining control.
