84 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
84 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
**A Question of Power** is a 1969 leaflet written by [Chris
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Pallis](Chris_Pallis "wikilink") and published by
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[Solidarity](Solidarity_\(UK\) "wikilink"). It is a short critique of
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the authoritarian nature of [capitalism](capitalism "wikilink"), the
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failure of [trade unions](Trade_Union "wikilink") and a call to working
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class actions.
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## Transcript
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*Few of us run our own lives*. This is because we have no control over
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the main decisions that affect us. These decisions are made by small
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self-perpetuating minorities. This situation cannot be "democratically"
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changed. What our rulers call "democracy" is a system which operates for
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their own protection. As long as their "democracy" is not seriously
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challenged, their dominating position in society is secure.
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*Their threatened use of violence* is intended to frustrate any
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challenge. It is implicit in the large [police](police "wikilink")
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force, the courts, and the [armed forces](Military "wikilink") which
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they control. The limited freedom that their "democracy" allows us is
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further restricted or curtailed altogether whenever they think their
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power is seriously threatened.
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*They hold the power to maintain their power*. This is key to their
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security. They determine the [kind of education
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provided](Prussian_Education "wikilink"), and the ways and means of
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providing it. By controlling what and how people are taught, those who
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rule us seek to preserve the structure of existing society. Children are
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educated first through the family - i.e. through the already-conditioned
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parents. Then the education factories (schools and
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[universities](University "wikilink")) take over. Their aim is to
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produce people conditioned to fit into this rat-race society.
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*Workers created trade unions and political parties to change all this*.
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But gradually adopting similar patterns of organization to those of
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their oppressors, and by concentrating the struggle almost solely on
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improving working conditions and living standards, the original
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revolutionary intentions have been bypassed. Working people have gained
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considerable material advantages but they have lost control of their own
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organizations. Today the hierarchies are in control. They can neither be
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removed nor brought back to the initial aim of freeing people.
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*Those who dominate production dominate society*. So long as they have
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their kind of industrial stability, control will remain in their hands.
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This control enables them to continue deciding what is to be produced,
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who is to produce it, where, when how, and in what quantities. All this
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conflicts with the interests of the real producers - the workers. Those
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who run our lives continually seek ways of blurring the conflict and of
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manipulating workers into accepting that management alone is capable of
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making these decisions.
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*The union hierarchy* assists them in this fraud. While acting as
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middlemen in the labour market, the union bosses do all they can to
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frustrate any awareness in [workers of their own ability to run
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industry](Workers'_Self-Management "wikilink"). In fact, so-called
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working class organizations are today an essential part of the set up.
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The formation of new unions or parties would not solve the problem. In
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today's conditions, they would suffer the same fate as the old ones.
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*But the system is contested*. There is a constant struggle in which the
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objective is self-management. In a large majority of disputes, workers
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have taken real democratic decisions to act without the consent of the
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union bureaucrats (so-called [unofficial
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strikes](Wildcat_Strike "wikilink")). This is one of the signs that our
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rulers' "industrial stability" is under strain. The strain is also
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visible in the education factories, where students are increasingly
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demanding the right to take decisions on fundamental issues. There are
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many other signs of the crisis that is affecting every aspect of this
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society.
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*Solidarity* participates in the struggle wherever possible. We try to
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expose the true situation. We seek to strengthen the confidence of
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working people in their *own* ability to manage their *own* lives - at
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work and outside of it. People's reliance on others to do things for
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them has led to defeat after defeat. It is time for victories\!
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Victories depend on people consciously taking action themselves. To help
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in the development of this consciousness is the only reason for the
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existence of *Solidarity*.
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## External Links
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- [A Question of
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Power](https://www.marxists.org/archive/brinton/1969/07/question-power.htm)
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at marxists.org |