현시대 제국주의의 성격
바토즈 비에슈차드 Bartosz Bieszczad | 폴란드CP국제부원
자본주의의 최고단계인 제국주의에 대한 레닌의 중대한 노작이 출간된지 100년이 지났다. 당시 노동운동의 상당수는 여전히 생산양식의 질적변화에 대해 알지못했고 시대에 뒤떨어진 분석을 고수해 잘못된 결론으로 이끌었다. 예를 들어 많은 사람들은 노동계급의 필연적인 성장에 따라 이미 산업화된 국가에서 사회주의가 등장해야한다고 믿었다. 레닌은 제국주의의 연결고리중 가장 약한고리에 대한 이론을 제시했다. 이는 자본주의사회구성체의 약한고리부터 흔들리기 시작한다는것이다.
여기서 제국주의는 사회경제구성체의 한유형으로 이해할수 있다. 제국주의는 상호연결되고 상호의존하는 기관들의 전지구적시스템이다. 그런 기관들에는 민간독점체와 회사들, 금융기관들, 국가와 국제단체들, 다양한 정치조직과 네트워크가 있으며 이들은 거대자본과 부르주아의 이익을 보장한다. 레닌은 제국주의를 자본과 권력의 축적을 통해 정의했다. 지난 세기동안 이과정은 부와 자본이 더 적은 소수의 수중에 더 많이 집중되며 심화돼왔다.
이런 부와 자원은 세계경제의 절반이상을 차지하는 미국·EU(유럽연합)·일본·캐나다와 같은 소위 서방에 집중돼있고 최빈국168개국은 겨우 16%를 차지하고있다. 세계 100대대기업중 90개는 서방과 그의 동맹들에 바탕을 두고 그들의 소유하에 있다. 중국·인도·러시아에 한줌정도의 기업과 은행들이 있고 세계인구의 대부분을 차지하는 나머지 아시아·아프리카·라틴아메리카에는 없다. 미국·독일·일본·영국은 또한 해외직접투자의 형태로 자본을 수출하는 주요국들이다. 제국주의체제의 핵심이 지금은 더욱 미국·EU·일본이라는 축과 이들의 동맹에 있다는것은 의심할 여지가 없다.
제국주의세력은 이제 민중의 심리와 행동을 통제할수 있는 사회공학적인 수단을 이용한다. 지식재산이라는 법률적틀은 라이선스제를 통해 서방의 거의 완전한 기술통제를 담보한다. 전체기술의 소유권과 통제권은 제국주의독점체가 보유하고있으므로 그라이선스를 구입한 국가나 기업은 한낱 <사용자>에 불과하다. 이것은 이란·러시아·중국같은 나라들에 압력을 가하고 그들에 대한 통제를 보장하는데 이용된다. 지식재산의 법적제도는 또한 특히 <개발도상국>이라 불리는 나라들에서 생산력발전이 둔화되고 저해되는 이유중 하나다.
지리적팽창의 범위가 고갈된 제국주의체제는 이제 인간 그자체로 확대되고있다. 인간의 생물학적이고 사회적인 존재로서의 필요를 충족시키기 위한 기본적이고 근본적인 도구마저 빼앗고있는 제국주의체제의 쇠퇴신호이다.
제국주의내 모순은 우크라이나전과 함께 급속도로 심화되기 시작했다.
우리는 우크라이나에서의 군사적충돌을 미국과 나토가 러시아에 반대해 우크라이나인과 신나치를 대리부대와 <총알받이>로 세워 벌이는 대리전으로 인식하고있다. 나토의 목적은 러시아 천연자원을 빼앗고 나라를 분단시키는것이다. 우크라이나는 2014 (마이단)쿠데타이후 제국주의에 완전히 장악돼 러시아에 반대하는 전쟁을 위한 트램펄린처럼 이용됐다.
전세계적으로 최초의 사회주의사회가 등장하고 반식민주의민족해방투쟁이 등장하면서 많은 곳에서 성공적으로 제국주의체제 전지구적지배의 약한고리를 타격했다. 1990년대 동구사회주의권이 붕괴됐지만 제국주의적지배에 용감히 반대하는 많은 나라들에서 사회주의적생산관계는 여전히 우세하다. 20세기 사회주의의 존재는 생산수단의 사회적소유를 바탕으로 하는 중앙계획의 효율성과 잠재력에 대한 구체적이고 물질적인 증거를 제공함으로써 특히 산업화되지않은 나라들에게 미래의 사회주의로 향하는 길을 열어줬다. 제국주의는 얼마 안돼 기본수요도 충족시킬수 없거나 세계전쟁으로 파멸할것이므로 쇠퇴·퇴화, 궁극적인 위기단계에 처해 있다. 새로운 세계를 향한 돌파구는 반제반식민주의투쟁으로 제국주의연쇄고리의 약한고리를 끊어내는것부터 시작된다. 사회주의가 미래다!
The Character of Contemporary Imperialism
Bartosz Bieszczad | Communist Party of Poland
Comrades, first I would like to thank the organizers for the invitation and the possibility of presenting our views at this seminar. We would like to also express our solidarity and support with communist and anti-imperialist movements all around the world.
It has been more than 100 years since the publication of Lenin’s seminal work on imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism. At the time, the significant section of the worker’s movement was still unaware of the qualitative change in the mode of production and adhered to the outdated analysis, leading to false conclusions. Many believed for example that socialism had to emerge in already industrialised countries, following inevitable growth of the working classes. Lenin put forward the theory of the weakest link in the imperialist chain, where capitalist formation is challenged at its weak points – in colonial or semi-colonial states.
Imperialism is understood here as the type of a socio-economic formation. It is a global system of interconnected and mutually interdependent institutions: private monopolies and companies, financial institutions, states and international bodies, various political organisations and networks, which secure the interests of the big capital and bourgeoisie. Lenin defined imperialism through accumulation of capital and power. In the last century this process was deepened with even higher degree of concentration of wealth and resources in the hand of even smaller minority. This wealth and resources are concentrated in so-called West, with US, EU, Japan and Canada accounting for more than half of world’s economy and 168 poorest countries accounting for merely 16%. 90 out of the world’s 100 biggest companies are based in and owned by the West and its allies, with only a handful of enterprises and banks from China, India and Russia and none from the rest of Asia, Africa and Latin America, which constitute vast majority of world population. US, Germany, Japan and UK are also leading countries in export of capital in form of the Foreign Direct Investments. This data leaves no doubt that the core of the imperialist system is now even more centred on in US / EU / Japan axis and their allies.
Indeed, we quite often hear from the Western media the phrase “the whole world” while referring to their political positions. In the press we can read for example that “The whole world condemns Putin’s war” (CNN). Stoltenberg, General Secretary of NATO recently stated that Russia and Belarus will be “held accountable by the whole world”. But this “whole world” is restricted only to the West, with is 1.5 billion inhabitants! It can’t be considered as representative voice for the whole world by any measure, because the world has a population of nearly 8 billion, and the oligarchies of the West have questionable legitimacy even in their own countries!
This is not just a pure insolence on behalf of Western politicians, but a concrete demand and a very serious threat. You have to subordinate to this demand otherwise you will be kicked out of “the world” or “a civilized (or free) world”. Imperialism therefore places a claim for all global domination and control.
This control is exerted by direct economic, political and military pressure, but also by new means of technological and financial dominance. Imperialist domination has ceased to be only geographical, but has started to infiltrate deeply into the societies by means of modern technology and media. Imperialist forces are now able to apply sociotechnical means to control people’s psychology and behaviour. The legal framework of intellectual property (IP) ensures nearly complete western control over technology with its licencing system. States or companies who purchased the licence, became merely the “users”, when ownership and control over whole technology is retained by the imperialist monopoly. This advantage is being used to exert pressure and ensuring control even on the countries such as Iran, Russia and China. IP framework is also one of the reasons for the slowdown and hindrance of growth of productive forces, especially in so-called “developing countries”.
Accumulation of capital has also led to another shift in its politics. In the classical model of wages, workers were paid enough to allow them to survive and reproduce “the race of workers”, according to Ricardo’s law. Today, however, the reproduction and education of the workforce has become more expensive and emergence of global labour market allows bourgeoisie to purchase labour power without the necessity of providing the workers with conditions for local reproduction. We face here the new situation, where social structures and institutions, which in the past secured stable reproduction the workforce, started to hinder the profits of the monopolies. This led to a shift in ideological allegiance of the bourgeoisie from “conservative” to liberal. This is associated with promotion of individualistic lifestyles and attack on these institutions as evidenced by the social and demographic crisis. However, dismantling of these institutions, praised by the liberal left as a sign of “progress” overlooks the fact, that such institutions (nuclear and extended family, communities on the various levels) were present within humanity from the very beginning, answering to important human social and psychological needs. Destruction of these social structures and replacing them with liberal individualism cannot be therefore perceived as a sign of progress, but on the contrary – it is the sign of the decline of imperialist system, which has exhausted its geographical range of expansion and is now expanding into the human being itself, taking away his basic and fundamental tools to satisfy his needs as a biological and social entity.
Contradictions within imperialism started to inflate rapidly with the war in Ukraine. The legal frameworks which were supposed to guarantee certain rights to the states and individuals, both on international and national level, have collapsed. For example, article 8 of OSCE Istanbul Treaty says that signatories “… reaffirm the inherent right of each and every participating State to be free to choose or change its security arrangements, including treaties of alliance, as they evolve. Each State also has the right to neutrality. Each participating State will respect the rights of all others in these regards. THEY WILL NOT STRENGTHEN THEIR SECURITY AT THE EXPENSE OF SECURITY OF OTHER STATES”. This measure was clearly broken with declaration of accession of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden to NATO. Other allegedly non-political international organisations, such as sport associations have been politicized. Capitalism also forgot its “holy laws” of private property, by seizing and freezing foreign assets. In Poland, for example, many civil rights guaranteed by the constitution have been illegally suspended. The state is blocking access to the websites and media which challenge their political views, political leaders are arrested and held in jail for “influencing public opinion” (which is equated with “spying for Russia), activists are detained and their computers and other electronic devices confiscated merely for comments made on social media (8 cases so far). Monuments to our Soviet liberators are being systematically destroyed. The witch-hunt for “supporters of Russia” is in full swing, with all the media and political parties taking part. It has led to intimidation and firing of many people with moderate but critical views from their jobs. Physical intimidation has been also reported, with several cases of physical attacks on our friends and allies carried out. On the 9th of May, the Russian Ambassador was physically assaulted by Ukrainian “activists” on the Soviet graveyard in Warsaw. Polish police not only failed to protect the diplomat, but ensured impunity of perpetrators, whose identity and links with foreign owned NGO’s are well known.
Concerning the military conflict in Ukraine, we perceive it as a proxy war, waged by the US/NATO against Russia, with Ukrainians and neo-Nazis as their proxy units and cannon fodder. The objective of NATO is to take over Russian natural resources and divide this country. Ukraine since the coup 2014 has been completely seized by imperialism and used as a trampoline for a war against Russia. It is clear that the big part of the responsibility for this pitiful situation lies on Russian post-soviet elites. Russian elites, who emerged after destruction of Soviet Union committed a crime against their own country, believing that they will be treated as equals and incorporated into the global imperialist system and supply chains, but the West was only interested in taking control over its natural resources and it was not interested in existence of Russia as an independent state, regardless of its socio-economic system.
Comrades, the events of the XX century only confirmed the correctness of Lenin’s analysis on imperialism. The global dominance of imperialism system has been successfully challenged in many places in its weakest links, with emergence of the first socialist societies, with anti-colonial and national liberation struggle all around the world. Even despite the destruction of the eastern European socialist bloc in the 1990-s, the socialist relations of productions still prevail in many countries, which bravely opposes imperialist domination. The existence of XX century socialism paved the way for the socialism of the future, providing a concrete material evidence of the efficiency and potential of central planning on the socially owned means of production, especially for non-industrialised countries. Imperialism is in stage of decline, degeneration and ultimate crisis as it will be unable shortly to satisfy basic people’s needs or deteriorate into a global war. The breach towards the new world will come from breaking the weak links in imperialist chain by anti-imperialist and anti-colonial struggle. Socialism is the future!
