Socialist party responds: What reality?

Terence Netto's article, 'Time for PSM to admit reality', comes at a time when the United States - the vanguard of world capitalism is facing the highest poverty rate in 50 years.

According to the US Census Bureau, 43.6 million Americans or 14.3 percent of the population live on less than US$22,128 per year.

This is the largest number of people living in poverty in the United States since 1959, when the federal government began the measurement.

Netto's article also comes at a time when disturbing reports show in TV screens of long queues of people waiting for free food in "advanced" Japan. It comes at a time when Greece - a peaceful European nation is facing serious economic crisis.

His article on reality also comes at a time when most people in Latin America prefer a socialist kind of system then a neo-liberal capitalist model.

It comes at a time when once again the US has backed a coup to dismantle the democratic elected government of Honduras which was leaning left and becoming left by the day.

It comes at a time when Marx's Das Kapital remain the most sought book to explain the crisis of capitalism in 2008 and it was recently reproduced in comic book version in Japan and has become a bestseller.

It comes at a time when the United Nations has praised Bolivia and Cuba for their green and energy-saving policies.

It is interesting to note Netto's preference for the word minuscule. Yes, it is the minuscule Cuba which has been torn in the flesh of the Empire. Cuba exported free medicine and doctors to the world while the US exported war and misery.

While Netto got excited like many in the mainstream media in reporting Fidel's statement that 'the Cuban model doesn't even work for us any more' yet he failed to rectify when Fidel retracted the statement a few days later, stating that what he meant was that the US free market is the one which is not working.

Rosa Luxemburg, the great German revolutionary socialist leader, talked about socialism or barbarism during World War I. Venezuela president Hugo Chavez (right) very recently spoke about socialism or death.

If socialism ideals are to seek a paradise in the world and if that has failed... then it too can be said that all the great religions also tried to seek a paradise and they too have failed.

Capitalism's contribution to mass suffering

On the other hand, it is capitalism which is responsible for the mass murder in the name of famine, war and food shortage.

Netto failed to highlight Fidel's major contribution in the article which he quoted and that was Fidel's fear about nuclear war and the world climate crisis. The world is on the brink of disaster - thanks to capitalism's fetish for profit and accumulation.

Now coming back to PSM and PKR. In certain ways, Netto's article is flattering for PSM as it seems to imply that PKR lacks quality and principles and PSM's merger with them can solve this problem.

This was the same logic used to merge Parti Keadilan Nasional (PKN) and Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) then. If that marriage then did result in a desired goal for Netto, then it is not necessary for this new marriage which he is proposing.

While we do not deny our minuscule size, yet PSM has let many successful rallies and coalitions including the coalition against privatisation of hospitals, GST and the FTA. Our record and our consistency has made many people proud of us and this is the fear which took BN 11 years to register us.

It is the mobilisation strength of the PSM which has made many including the Pakatan to take PSM as a serious ally to fight the BN. But to reconstruct this great achievements by saying that PSM finally got its registration because ROS wanted more opposition parties is very mischievous.

Pak Lah relaxed the bridles

Here Netto contradicts himself. In one instance, he portrays PSM as a minuscule organisation - too small and insignificant. Then he makes us look like the 'kingmaker' by saying why the BN finally registered us.

For the record, three important developments took place as part of Abdullah Badawi's (left) reform after the election.

Harakah's twice monthly publication was allowed to be printed twice a week again, Suara Keadilan was given its licence finally and PSM was registered.

Now it would be a little silly to say that PSM was registered to wreck the opposition. A little research on the part of Netto would have helped.

Maybe for Netto, politics is the art of the possible. This 1867 quote makes everything possible in politics. Where it is possible for PSM to merge with PKR to secure a few seats for itself or rather for a few of its individual members.

Yet, politics is more that. It is more than getting more seats. It is the question of ideology, characters and ideals which are at stake. If politics was so simple, I too would propose that PAS and DAP merge and call itself DAPPAS or PASDAP.

Netto may support PSM for its principles but not socialism as an ideology. But for us, we cannot separate this two. We are principled because we are socialist. We believe in equality and we believe that the human race is not all about killing each other and competition. It is also about love and caring and about solidarity.

Netto may have put socialism in the history books and may call it the end of history but for us, it is the hope for the billions. Not the billionaires.

As long as classes in society exist, class struggle will exist. As long as class struggle exists, socialism will always be alive. The end of socialism means the end of classes and exploitation.

S ARUTCHELVAN is PSM secretary-general.