First Published: The Workers’ Advocate Vol. 11, No. 13, November 29, 1981.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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Every day the capitalists try to discredit socialism and tell the workers that it is not a worthy goal to fight for. They have especially been using the ongoing crisis in Poland towards this end. The Polish people face many great problems, such as the widespread shortages of food and other goods, massive inflation, the threat of a Soviet invasion, etc. The U.S. imperialists are shouting -- "See, this is what socialism brings!"
This is nothing but a lie. The crisis in Poland proves the bankruptcy, not of socialism, but of the capitalist system which has long been restored in that country.
With the defeat of the Nazis at the end of World War II, Poland embarked on the socialist road. But in the mid-1950's, revisionist traitors in Poland with the help of the Khrushchovite revisionists in the Soviet Union set Poland back on the capitalist course. Today not a shred of socialism remains in Poland, the Soviet Union or any of the East European countries under the Soviet Union's sway. Among all the former socialist countries, only Albania remains socialist.
The economic collapse in Poland is the outgrowth of its capitalist system. The working masses are exploited there just like in other capitalist countries. The fruits of their labor go to enrich a ruling class of bureaucrats, who control the state sector of the economy, and of businessmen and rich farmers who control large sections of trade and agriculture. This upper crust lives like lords while the masses starve.
The Polish regime has also subordinated the country to foreign imperialism. Soviet social-imperialism dominates the country economically and militarily. Western imperialism, too, has huge economic interests there. Poland is $27 billion in debt to the Western banks and governments. Throughout the 1970's Poland imported large amounts of capital equipment, including whole factories, from the West, much of which is dependent on imports from the West of spare parts, materials, etc. In the face of worsening economic conditions, there is no money for these imports and production has fallen heavily. Meanwhile the bankers are demanding their pound of flesh. The Polish people are groaning under this tremendous burden.
The Polish workers have risen in powerful protests against this capitalist-revisionist tyranny many times -- in 1970, 1976, and 1980. These just and courageous actions have fully exposed that Poland is not a socialist society where the workers rule, but a society ruled by bloodsucking exploiters.
However, the workers' struggle faces great difficulties. It has alarmed the Soviet Union which remains poised to militarily invade and restore its full domination. On the other hand, the leadership which has come to the head of the movement, composed of Lech Walesa and the other leaders of the Solidarity trade union, are actively sabotaging the workers' struggle.
These traitors are not for fighting against the capitalist order. The self-proclaimed goal of the Solidarity leaders is to get the union a place in government, alongside the bourgeoisie, in order to jointly administer the capitalist economy and the sellout of Poland to foreign imperialism, especially to the West German and U.S. imperialists. Thus not a word is said against the fleecing of Poland by the foreign bankers. Indeed, the Solidarity leaders flaunt their love for Western imperialism. Thus, just after Reagan's election, Walesa declared that this was "a very good sign for the world and Poland, because he is a strong and consistent leader who will make things better for the world." What shameless admiration for Reagan who is hated throughout the world for being a notorious enemy of the workers, a racist and a rabid warmonger!
The American capitalists in turn shower these Reagan-lovers with praise and money, and they promote these reactionaries as the alleged vanguard of "renewal" and even "revolution" in Poland. This is also done by the AFL-CIO labor big-shots and their opportunist hangers-on. Meanwhile the apologists of Soviet revisionism such as the "Communist" Party, USA of Mr. Gus Hall shamelessly justify the threats of Soviet invasion.
The road of emancipation of the Polish workers lies not in tinkering with the revisionist regime, and certainly not in being crushed by Soviet tanks. Instead it lies in class struggle leading to socialist revolution. The Polish workers must work to overthrow the capitalist regime and end all foreign domination. For this the working class must reconstruct a genuine Marxist-Leninist party. Only such a party can defend the workers' cause from the treachery of the Solidarity leaders or any other traitors and lead them towards the proletarian revolution.