(Translation of a 17 June 2021 post.)
## Read English translation of philosopher Peter Sloterdijk’s book, Critique of Cynical Reason some twenty-five years ago. It was a study of the 1920s in Germany.
A few words :
National Socialism – Nazism (Fascism). Name of Hitler’s party in German : Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei. And in English : National Socialist German Workers’ Party.
Some information :
— In1889, the Second International was formed in Paris. Party in Germany was its axis and Karl Kautsky could be said to be its theoretician.
— From 1891 the party in Germany self-proclaimed itself as workers’ marxist party. Besides the party organ edited by Kautsky, around eighty publications in German language of which some forty were daily papers published from different cities in Germany. Before the war, in 1913 the party had more than a million and eighty-five thousand members. Amongst those elected for local bodies administration, there were 13 thousand party members. In the 1912 parliamentary elections, with thirty-five percent of the votes, the party was the largest group in parliament. For large scale propagation of science and scientific socialism, there were party libraries, party schools, party sports clubs, party health centres, party music and drama teams, and the party organised festivals. There were two and a half million workers in the party’s trade unions.
— A resolution passed, repeatedly for twenty years, in the congresses/conferences of the Second International : The coming war is a capitalist war. Workers in each country must transform the war amongst exploiters into a war against the exploiters in their own countries.
— In 1914, when the First World War began, the leadership of the party’s unions declared their support in the war to the government of Germany . And, on 3 August 1914 on a resolution in German parliament to support the government in the war, 96 members of the party voted in favour of the resolution and 14 abstained lest the party breaks … And, on the second resolution (2 December 2014) in parliament in support of the government, only one member, Liebknecht voted against the resolution.
— Like in Germany, in every country member parties of the Second International supported their governments in the war. And Lenin, who in his 1903 book, “What is to be done?” had popularised Kautsky’s ideas, was shocked beyond belief by all this. Then in 1918, when Kautsky criticised the Bolshevik Party government in Russia, Lenin denounced him in his pamphlet, “Renegade Kautsky”
— In January 1918 the self-proclaimed workers’ marxist party became an important part of the government in Germany. And, the workers’ upsurge that had emerged to challenge power/the state in Germany, was suppressed by the army with the support of the self-proclaimed workers’ marxist party and its trade unions. While crushing the workers’ uprising, the party even had its own significant leaders for decades, Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg murdered.
— Then, after defeat in the World War, a number of members of the self-proclaimed marxist/communist parties became members of Hitler’s party, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. In the Indian sub-continent, all hues of self-proclaimed communists joining parties that they themselves had called capitalist/landlord, has been going on for a hundred years now.
●National Socialist German Workers’ Party came to power in Germany in 1932-33. Hitler at the helm. Anti government activists/revolutionaries left Germany or were imprisoned. War situation and nationalist propaganda at its peak. Second World War began in 1939. In this situation … yes, in this scenario workers in Germany downed production by thirty percent. And, no targets for power to launch attacks!
A historian was surprised by the awesome worry spread over in documents of the secret services, police, managements, armed forces officers, top echelons in Hitler’s government.
●Well, it seems to be workers’ being, their very being that 100 workers in Globe Capacitor factory in 2015; 1500 workers in Bata Shoe factory during 1983-85; millions of workers in many cities in Germany during 1938-45; … did the impossible : without holding discussions, without meetings, without leaders, without representatives, without delegates, without handbills-pamphlets, without clandestine hints, … workers collective steps happen. Such collective activities seem to be normal. They are of visible scale every two-three months. Such visible collective acts from a few hours to a few days to a few years can be read in these two hundred years of factory workers existence. The key to an indecipherable riddle that we were stuck with for years was provided by a neighbour, a young temporary worker of Globe Capacitor factory in Faridabad in October 2015. Working in two twelve hour shifts, what the worker said, after dinner, was reported verbatim in the November 2015 issue of Majdoor Samachar. The very being of workers makes possible what otherwise seems/is considered impossible.
●●●From memory, some points from Sloterdijk’s book.
This time-period-duration-era is one of knowingly doing wrong. Whereas, in the nineteenth century dominant/prevalent conceptions were :
1). The reason for problems is ignorance.
2). Propagation of information, expansion of knowledge will solve the issues.
As per Sloterdijk, these conceptions of the nineteenth century were not right. Rather, they were wrong. It was not unknowingly but rather knowingly that wrong was being done.
And then, Sloterdijk seemed to be sidestepping the social essence of social subjects. He seemed to be lost in a maze of personal/individual solutions of social issues.
## Forty years ago, in 1982 the publication of Faridabad Majdoor Samachar commenced. And, from the very beginning, factory workers raised questions on the basic premises of Majdoor Samachar.
One basis of Majdoor Samachar was : “In the factory, union is a workers’ organisation. Attempt to remove wrong leadership and establish worker-side leadership in the union.”
And, some of what factory workers said on the character of unions, on the essence of unions were :
* If you want to operate a union then :
1. Someone with a say in the government should be backing you.
2. You should have the support of some important officer in the local administration.
3. You should have sweet relations with a faction of management in the factory.
4. You will have to cultivate some musclemen-bullies.
* — “Had made promises with the holy Ganges water in hand.”
— “Had taken oath with hand held on salt in a vessel.”
— “Had made promises with hand held over his son’s head …”
And, union leaders of red-yellow- white-black-tricolor flags went on to assist managements.
* “Union leaders take cuts. Not a big issue. Let leaders take cuts, cuts like a little salt in flour. But what is this, union leaders are engaged in gulping all the flour.”
●●It can be said that mechanistic sciences dominated the nineteenth century. Domination of “Definite- Accurate-This Is It”. Simply put : Two And Two Are Four.
“Two And Two Are Four” can be said to be the essence of mechanistic sciences.
On paper two and two are always four. The miracles that this two and two four has given, the miracles of science and technology are all around us.
And, we are also face to face with the role of science and technology in taking exploitation & oppression to new heights.
Science-technology can be said to be the carrier, the vehicle of production for the market using wage-labour. Science and technology seem to be the Ishwar-Allah-God of modern hierarchy.
●For religious, economic, cultural, political sects : definiteness seems to be an indispensable necessity. “This was. This is. This will be.” — this could be said to be the essence of any sect. Supporters and antagonists seem to be the axes of sects.
●●In divided societies, in hierarchic social formations two and two are rarely four. Sometimes two and two are thirty-five. Sometimes two and two are minus twenty-six. Sometimes two and two are zero. In hierarchic societies two and two are four only as a matter of fluke.
For some years it had become routine in Majdoor Samachar to take these two and two things amongst factory workers. And, many years after reading Sloterdijk’s book, by chance, we got an English translation of Dostoyevsky’s nineteenth century book, “Notes from Underground”. In this book there is a beautiful exposition of the two and two four thing.
## And in the nineteenth century itself, Karl Marx, who had almost internalised mechanistic sciences, in the context of major social transformations talked about this or that, instead of definiteness. It is this reading by Marx that keeps him relevant even today.
— And be it the marx-name-chanters of the Second International, the Third International (Communist International), or today’s organisations that bow to Marx, in the social sphere two and two are four for all of them.
— It seems that in the hierarchic societies of today, definiteness suits “marxists”. And all those that call themselves “marxist” organisations seem to be the organisations of “revolutionary intellectuals”. This or that person seems to be peripheral.
— Organisations of activists/revolutionaries also seem to be expressions of a social strata whose interests are in tune with :
*In the name of achieving equality, to propagate the conception of statising everything.
* To declare the state sector as public sector. Calls to defend the state sector.
* Achieve power, state power by any means. Besides statisation of everything, organisation and administration of a powerful army with captains-colonels-generals to hold on to power.
“State-capitalism” can be said to be the essence of different hues of “marxism”.
## Leaps in the productive forces that began in the 1970s have inflicted fatal wounds on the sway/domination of pandits. Blows dealt by electronics-internet to activists/revolutionaries are squeezing out of them their very life.
— In this context, interactions with factory workers since 1982 have provided us with direct experiences of our own irrelevance. During this period, throughout the world, we have seen “intellectuals” in general, and “revolutionary intellectuals” in particular becoming unserviceable/unemployable (नाकारा). Have seen the knowledgeable, the scientist becoming irrelevant.
— Reason? During these thirty-forty years, throughout the world communications between people have been becoming increasingly easy. Reach of everyone to what is available in different languages, besides becoming possible, is becoming simpler. Together with the innumerable experiences-reflections in the present, thousands of years experiences-reflections of our ancestors’ are available to us as something normal. Once in a while, material in English is put online by Majdoor Samachar. Google Hindi translation of some of that is being sent to us also by factory workers in this region.
●●ln science, quantum physics emerged in the twentieth century. Even in the context of the simplest like electron/particle, concepts of definite, accurate, exact have been found to be unemployable (नाकारा). For use at atomic levels, concepts of possibilities, probabilities, densities have been developed. Instead of the conceptual framework of definiteness, for atomic and sub-atomic levels a new conceptual framework of possibilities, probabilities, densities emerged.
## But … but even in the twenty-first century, definite-accurate-certain in the social sphere suite the rulers. It seems that tottering of hierarchies, the collapse of hierarchies in every sphere is accelerating. In this scenario, the increasing desperation of power is finding expression in identity politics throughout the world.
— Persons/parties in power, persons/parties enamoured with acquiring power are obsessively engaged in fanning confrontations amongst social strata which themselves are facing social murder/social death. But for increasing the pains, these attempts to hold on to modern hierarchies through increasing doses to identity politics, do not seem to have anything else in store.
## And, it seems that for conceptions regarding creation of new society, concepts of quantum physics could provide some points of departure.
## We are in vibrant times where the peaks of a few knowledgeable are rapidly shrinking and conversational interactions amongst seven billion persons are increasing.
●●During these twenty years, factory workers in Noida, Okhla, Udyog Vihar Gurgaon, Industrial Model Town Manesar, and Faridabad taking copies of Majdoor Samachar while going to work/coming after work, it has been rare to meet a worker who has favoured any organisation.
— Due to the constant pressures put by some friends, Majdoor Samachar became online from January 2016. Factory workers enthusiastically welcomed it and circulation increased significantly. Number of printed copies which had stabilised/been static around fifteen thousand copies per month also increased rapidly. During mid-2018 to February 2020 the number of copies printed : 18-20-25-28-30-32-35-36 thousand copies per month. Readers of Majdoor Samachar themselves had started taking the paper amongst factory workers in Noida, Okhla, Udyog Vihar Gurgaon, IMT Manesar, and Faridabad. Due to the whatsapp number in the paper, besides factory workers, some organisations began sending their material online to us.
●●The specificities of the bosses (saheb) and the specificities of an insignificantly fatal virus, Covid-19 made this virus fatal for the bosses. The bosses scared to death. Production in hundreds of thousands of factories shut down. March 2020 onwards, governments of the bosses imposed lockdowns for weeks and months in different parts of the world, throughout the world. This is a new scenario, a leap in the possibilities of radical social transformations. During this period, online conversational interactions with workers has further increased the liveliness.
But, leftists, rightists, centrists of different hues have been sending their material in increasing amount to Majdoor Samachar. We have not blocked anyone and in a day, two-three times removal of material from whatsapp has become another necessity. And, everyday leftists- centrists-rightists send such material that twenty-five year old memories of Critique of Cynical Reason have been refreshed.
It seems that in sects, knowingly doing wrong has become a pandemic. And, in political sects throughout the world, but especially in India (and Nepal, Pakistan, …) the level of politics has brought to the fore, these readings of the second half of the nineteenth century:
# To maintain hierarchy premised on wage-labour based production for the market, democracy is the best power apparatus. Democracy also is state power.
# Places where people become too political, there they invite their doom.
These readings were not for some specific country.
The relevance of these readings of the nineteenth century as paths to destruction are in a scenario of increasingly unstable, rapidly tottering-dispersing power, state power.
— 17 June 2021, Majdoor Samachar-Kamunist Kranti