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Home / Capitalism or socialism: Namibia must make up mind
Capitalism or socialism: Namibia must make up mind
2018-04-27Staff Report 2 This article is written about the issue, which brought about ideological change in the liberation movements as well as present classes, which are benefiting from the economy of Namibia. We, in the whole of Africa, got our political independence but the struggle for economic emancipation is still going on. The colonialists and reactionary forces at the verge of their defeat had carried out their desperate Machiavellian tactics to maintain their colonial rule over our country. Therefore, at the dawn of the victory over the apartheid colonial rule the Western capitalist countries, through the Gang of 5, shamelessly came on board and worked hard to influence the outcome of the independence of our country to be in the interests of the capitalist world. Western countries resisted this development. Surely, the socialist system could have opened opportunities for those who were formerly disadvantaged and who were excluded and it could have led to poverty reduction. The radical political struggle of the working class did not succeed in introducing a socialist system in the country and that situation was exploited and used by the capitalist classes to perpetuate the capitalist economic system in the country. Another negative factor that prevailed then was the coexistence within the rank and file of the membership of the parties where we had multiplicity of classes. We had membership of proletariats, peasants, petty bourgeoisies, etc, with varying economic and political interests. The petty bourgeoisies in cahoots with commercial bourgeoisies became disruptive classes in their efforts to prevent the introduction of socialist socio-economic system in the country. This complex class situation is being used by big and strong capitalist countries to finance and develop capitalist countries to finance and develop capitalist economic systems not only in Namibia but in the African continent. In addition to these and because of these diversities the liberation movements did not always have a clear, sound and unifying ideology and class-consciousness. The worker-peasant alliance is being neutralised by lack of ideological platform from which they can fight for their class interest and, as a result, they became passive and inactive and thus remain socio-economic victims of the bourgeoisies. This situation also becomes a breeding ground for lumpenproletariat, who are unreliable and who cannot be perceived to be revolutionaries in the true sense of the world. The present economic situation in the country has brought African people, including former freedom fighters, into what I can describe as cash economy where their basic importance and the products they have to sell is only their labour. That situation will keep them perpetually in the circle of just only selling their labour without advancing into economic prosperity. Under this situation, it is very difficult to have a progressive revolutionary economic solution in our country. This capitalist economic system will just keep on making the rich richer and the poor poorer. The basic means of production do not belong to the majority but to the few economically rich bourgeoisies. In fact, the proletariat will never be owners of the means of production under this present capitalist system. I am writing this article against the backdrop of deepening world capitalist crisis and heightening of the poor people’s struggle for their survival. New Era, in its editorial of earlier this month, observed that “Namibia’s mineral resources are a sad paradox - a paradox of being a poor nation, and rich at the same time”. It is said that there is a “staggering figure of N$23 billion in money earned from the export of minerals produced locally during the 2017/2018 financial year”. What is worrisome is that it is revealed that “companies listed as producers of these minerals are all foreign owned, some without an iota of local ownership”. The point I am making here is that the amount of money which are nearly half of the budget of the country, which were gained through the mining revenue of our resources which were extracted from our country belong to foreign capitalist bourgeoisies while the Namibian people are wallowing in poverty. That is the result and consequences of the imposed capitalist economic system under which we are living today where huge profits are shipped out of the country. If it was under socialism, every person could have been employed and live a normal life while in a capitalist country there are and there will always be high rates of unemployment. Under socialism, the beneficiaries from the resources of the country are the masses of the given country while under capitalism the resources are owned by capitalist classes and they are the main beneficiaries. 2018-04-27Staff Report 2
