Part 008 - PAMPHLET 032 008

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conflict was acute and the bourgeoisie was driven into a corner by the miners, following the working class' defeat of the Tories' Industrial Relations Act. Since the advent of the Labour government in 1974, there have been definite set- backs. Workers have been forced (mainly by the social-democrats in the trade union leader- ship) to accept the "Social Contract" and other forms of wage control, while prices have gone on rising faster than pay, and an effective fall in living standards has resulted. Labour has achieved by ideological means what the Conservatives failed to do by direct state re- pression. This was possible because of the low political level of the working people in the absence of a leading Communist core, and the collaboration of the trade union leaders with their class brothers in the state bureaucratic section of the bourgeoisie. To bring down the real value of wages is a strategic objective of the ruling class, as Marxist political economy shows. Capitalists always seek to improve their competitiveness and increase their profits by introducing more sophisticated machinery, thus increasing the productivity of labour, cutting production costs and often reducing the labour force. This increases unemployment. It also means that out of the total invested in the production process, an ever-increasing proportion is represented by machinery, and a decreasing pro- portion by wages paid to workers. But since only labour can be a source of surplus value, this means that the rate of profit (the return on capital invested) will tend to fall. The total profit of capital could only be maintained by increasing production, but this comes up against the contradiction that the working class is too poor to buy the goods it itself pro- duces. Nevertheless, despite this contradiction, the capitalist class and its state are bound to try to drive down workers' living standards, and no amount of social-democratic soft-soap can hide that fact. This tendency can only be resisted by the working class mobilizing and hitting back; a key object for attack at the present time must be the latest version of the "social contract", which in one form or another has played a central role in capitalist strategy since 1974. In order to drive down the real value of wages, the Labour government elected in 1974 worked for the destruction of the unions as independent working class organs; this represents a major step towards a fascist corporate state. At the end of the Second World War, the working class had no intention of returning to pre-war conditions; under its pressure, the post-war Labour government brought in the Welfare State. But, as is the way with all gains made by the working class under capitalism the ruling class has tended to turn it into a weapon for use against it. The Welfare State system means that workers receive a considerable portion of the value of their labour power in the form of "social benefits". These are paid for by taxation and other deductions; they do not appear in the net sum received in the pay packet. This gives the capitalists an effective means of pushing down workers' living standards, since they are able to make cuts in the social services, and it is very difficult for workers to use traditional methods of struggle (such as strikes) in fighting back against this particular form of attack. New ways of countering this are evolving, and these need to be summed up well so that they will be developed more effectively in the future. Together with capitalism's attacks on the living standards of the working people goes its offensive against hard-won democratic rights a move towards fascism. The main dan- ger of fascism comes from the trend towards a corporate state, backed by the threat of using the type of measures which the British government is using in Northern Ireland in response to the mass struggles - including armed struggle - of the nationalist population. The introduction of the Prevention of Terrorism Act is one indication that these methods are now being put into effect here. This is not to underestimate the threat posed by open Nazis like the National Front. A very important aspect of the trend towards fascism, which it is essential for work- ing people to resist, is the promotion of racism. The latter is encouraged by the immigrat- ion policies of both the major parties of the bourgeoisie. Racism has gained a certain influ- ence in a situation where people are extremely disillusioned with the major parties of cap- italism, and Labour has lost a great deal of credibility with most working people. Racist