Doomed to Repeat It - An Echo from 1914 : Cleveland IMC (((i)))

In August 1914 the great Imperialist Powers of Europe were rushing toward war.
The Socialists of all the countries had pledged that if war began they would make "war against war" and would refuse to vote for the war appropriations in their respective parliaments. Yet when the showdown came, the bureaucracies of those "great" Socialist Parties all fell in behind "their own" ruling classes and voted in favor of the war budgets. It was the death of an illusion of international solidarity. Those old parties were in bed each with its own ruling class.

In Germany two Socialist representatives broke party discipline and voted against the War Budget, the best known being Karl Liebknecht. Eternal glory to them! It was an inspiration to millions of workers who did not want to go to war and slaughter other workers. In a few years the trend represented by Liebknecht had grown into a new Ineternational, the Third, Communist, International which opposed all the wars launched by various imperialisms.

When the World War had ended, various of the "Socialists" who had voted for the war thought that everything would go back to normal and they could be buddies with all the other Socialists again. But the split in Socialism was fundamental and continues right down to this day.

Now we turn to 2004 in the United States. There is an avowedly pro-war, imperialist presidential candidate named John Kerry whose only drawing card is that he is running against George "Monkey Boy" Bush. Kerry wants to win the Iraq war, supports Israeli occupation of Palestine, believes in the "Big Stick". He wants to "Make America Strong" when it is too strong already.

Yet hordes of "progressives" and even fake "socialists" are supporting him. Others, centrists, are devoting all their criticism and protest against Bush alone, which has the same effect of misleading the working class . Deja vu. They are in bed with their own ruling class.

The conditions exist that there will be a new rise in the movement against imperialism following those who, like Liebknecht in 1914, take a clear and courageous stand against the Iraq war, the oppression of the Palestinians, and the "Big Stick Policy" and call for the defeat of "their own" ruling class.

Its not all going to go back to "normal" after the election this time either, when all the "socialists" and "progressives" can be buddies again. Now we can see who is who. Now we can see who eats out of the bowl of vomit that is the US ruling class.

The new movement will grow, healthy, while those who supported the pro-war, ruling class candidate with his billionaire wife can run around and become committee persons for the Democratic Party or something.

More than 8 MILLION people lost their lives in WWI.

Quick Quiz...

What was it about?

Who started it?

What was accomplished?

Ask the same questions about Korea and Vietnam.......then consider Iraq.

Cleveland Indy Media Center