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January 21, 2012 - No. 3 There Is an Aim • There
Is
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Aim There Is an AimWorkers across the country are increasingly expressing their opposition to the monopoly interests acting with impunity with full government and official sanction. Because of its relevance in arguing that there is an alternative, this week TML Weekly Information Project is reprinting an article entitled "There Is an Aim," originally published in TML Daily in November 1992. Minor deletions have been made to remove examples which are no longer relevant. ***A political party, no matter what it calls itself, has an aim. This emerges from the very interests of the people within history. In other words, the aim is historical. At the same time, as it is to be justified according to the aims of the society at any particular time in history, all political parties claim to have an aim consistent with the interests of the society and in its service. These political parties even go so far as to accuse one another on the basis of whether they are in the service of the society or not. The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) is a political party of the working class. It has a class aim which is to emancipate the working class. By emancipating itself, the working class emancipates all of humankind and in this manner it serves the need of the society to advance from one stage to the next. According to the way our Party thinks, political parties are differentiated on the basis of whose class interests they serve. There are political parties which are parties of millionaires, with the aim of defending and maintaining capitalist exploitation and wage-slavery, in general, and pushing their own interests in particular, both nationally and internationally. Such parties work to eliminate any democratic movement which seeks to end capitalist exploitation and wage-slavery. The working class aim of ending capitalist exploitation and wage-slavery has not consumed itself during this period of retreat of revolution. On the contrary, the working class is confronted with the problems of democratic renewal nationally and internationally, a task which no other class can really accomplish. Leaving this fact aside for the time being, it becomes incumbent upon all organized workers to put themselves in the front ranks of the movement for democratic renewal. But, this is not what is taking place at this time. The organized labour movement has presented for itself an aim designed to keep the capitalist system going. They have taken this aim up dogmatically and fanatically, forgetting that many of the problems which cry out to be solved demand rising above such considerations. Organized labour is not ready at this time to do such a thing. This creates an atmosphere of passivity and disarray in the working class movement. What is quite clear is that the leaders of the working class look at the organized workers as their constituency. As a result, they act to prohibit any changes which would weaken their hold on their constituency. The aim and the methods used together manifest themselves in the form of determined opposition to bringing about any changes which would assist the movement for the elimination of capitalist exploitation and wage-slavery. As a necessity, such forces would seek a political party which would serve their interests. [...] It becomes anachronous to have parties which get support from organized labour but whose leaders defend the capitalist status quo, just as it is anachronous to have leaders of the organized labour who also defend the capitalist status quo. This gives rise to utter confusion, especially at crucial moments in history, [...]. The aim of the Party is to avert such confusion in the battles which lie ahead. It becomes incumbent upon the Party to not only pursue the aim of ending the state of ideological and political confusion in the class and organizational demobilization, but to also end altogether this confusion in the society as a whole. The Party has this aim not only in the immediate sense but in the strategic sense as well, and it must prepare the subjective conditions for the time when the working class will be ready to embark on creating a new society without the exploitation of persons by persons. This is the main feature when we say there is an alternative as it is not possible to bring about the necessary transformations without carrying out the uninterrupted work of ending ideological and political confusion in the working class and in the society. Empowerment and the Class QuestionPeople across the country are demanding to have control over their lives. They do not trust the political process and the politicians and they are demanding change. How should such a demand be interpreted? Is such discontent a reflection of a revolutionary crisis and that people are ready for change in the sense of replacing one kind of society with another? Or are the people demanding changes to some of the most brazen and glaring excesses within the present set-up? What becomes quite clear is that people are demanding an end to class privileges. In other words, they want to bring the movement to end the situation in society whereby privileges exist based on classes and notions of race, language and culture superiority, to its logical conclusion. This is how capitalist society prevailed over feudal society. Much change has taken place since that time witnessed by the fact that, in the first place, a feudal economic system no longer exists. But, within the system which replaced feudalism wealth has been increasingly concentrated into the hands of the very few in society. As a result, instead of privilege losing its social economic base, it favours the rich who become ever richer while the poor get ever poorer. The privileges which exist because of the condition of being rich find their expression in politics as well, especially when it comes to the electoral process and matters which concern the political functioning of society. People are becoming increasingly conscious that the privileges which result from being rich must go. They are fighting against class privileges. Their discontent is not directed against the abolition of classes. Abolishing class privileges does not mean eliminating classes. An attitude which is strictly based on the objective analysis of the situation will necessarily be based on the conclusion that the working class, if it is to have any standing in the society, must be in the forefront of ending class privileges. [...] In other words, the aim of the Party is to empower the people and it is not possible to achieve this without ending class privileges. The empowerment of the people is one of the most important problems which has emerged in history but not the only one. The achievement of this aim is not the be-all and end-all either, even though it is the most important problem at this time. Ending class exploitation and the system of wage-slavery is another problem which has emerged in history. It is in the interest of all to end the system of exploitation of persons by persons but only those who have nothing but their labour power to sell in terms of making their livelihood will take it up as their strategic aim. Others may take it up from time to time, while those who have gained from capitalist exploitation and whose livelihood and future depend on it will naturally be violently opposed. It may appear, in this instance, as if not many would favour the creation of a classless society. But this is a mechanical rendering of the class question. It is deficient in theory as it does not take into consideration the strivings of humanity in the social and scientific fields. It merely looks at the question from the point of view of those who may or may not approve of ending the exploitation of persons by persons, but does not make use of social science. The Aim Is a New Society
Once the aim is forgotten, however, and individuals begin to wage battles on the basis of prejudice and to relegate the problems of change to the ideological sphere, nothing can clearly emerge as an aim. Anti-communist prejudices are not the only ones which are loathsome. "Communist" prejudices are just as loathsome as are other forms of prejudice which completely divert from the aim of creating a new society. In place of theory which not only takes into consideration all that has been discovered to date but mainly relies on the conditions of our time, "theory" designed to pit one group of people against another is introduced. [...] Action and Analysis
A Communist Party, of course, has to go even further. It must not only fully join with all who are interested to create a society without class privileges but also organize the working class to lead the society to abolish classes altogether. A Communist Party would not be worthy of its name if its program did not take into consideration these two aims in the immediate and strategic sense. The way such a Party is organized, the methods it uses to achieve the required results, will not depend on passing circumstances. It will depend on these aims. The organizational principles of such a Party are not dependent on passing circumstances; only the tactics and tactical forms of organization can be based on such considerations. [...] Once questions such as these are settled, then other issues related to changes in methods of work and forms of political organization can also be discussed. (Originally published in TML Daily, Volume 22 No. 35, November 15, 1992) Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Action Plan Set for Implementation   On December 7, along with the Action Plan on the security arrangements towards a North American Security Perimeter, the Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) released its Joint Action Plan. The RCC was established to oversee the implementation of the demands of the monopolies in various industries for "harmonized regulations." Its membership has not been announced publicly, although it has been reported that it is made up of the heads of the regulatory bodies of Canada and the United States. The Joint Action Plan sets out 29 specific areas Canada and the U.S. will target for changes or new bi-national regulations in the next two years. In order to work out precisely what the monopolies want to see, the Council will hold meetings in Washington, DC on January 30-31 for "stakeholder organizations" to advise on implementation and technical aspects of the Plan. According to the RCC, "The session on the Joint Action Plan will be of interest to stakeholder organizations representing members with a direct interest in Canada-United States regulatory cooperation. At these technical review sessions, RCC officials and working group leads from both Canada and the United States will seek expert advice and technical input from stakeholders to finalize work plans for the implementation of the initiatives outlined in the Joint Action Plan." Canada Actively Adopting U.S. RegulationsRecent announcements reveal that the Canadian government is actively adopting U.S. regulations in various areas already. On December 29, the Ministry of Transportation announced that new child car seat safety regulations have come into force. According to a government news release, the updates include "aligning elements with those in the United States and incorporating specific Canadian testing requirements." The major changes include: "[A] new testing requirement using a three-point seatbelt to secure car seats in vehicles; changes to child seats' dynamic testing to adopt most of the U.S. testing parameters; changing the definition of an infant from 9 kg to 10 kg; an increase in the maximum allowable weight limit of child seats from 22 kg to 30 kg; introducing dynamic testing requirements for booster seats; and allowing harnesses to be certified for use on school buses by special needs children." On November 9, the Ministry of Natural Resources announced that Canada would adopt a U.S. platform for measuring and assessing the energy performance of commercial buildings. The new arrangement will allow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's existing ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager software tool to track and rate the energy performance of Canadian commercial buildings. In the auto industry, Canada and the U.S. have adopted joint emissions standards for light-duty trucks and are in the process of adopting similar standards for heavy duty trucks. Initiatives Contained in Joint Action PlanThe plan outlines the following areas where "regulatory alignment" will be sought: Agriculture and FoodFood Safety * Develop common approaches to food safety, in light of food safety modernization efforts in both countries, to jointly enhance the safety of the Canada-U.S. food supply and minimize the need for routine food safety surveillance inspection activities in each other's country (applies to products within the mandates of both the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration). * Enhance equivalence agreements for meat safety systems to streamline, simplify, and, where possible, reduce import and administrative procedures, while maintaining public health outcomes. * Establish mutual reliance on jointly acceptable food safety laboratory recognition criteria, test results and methodologies to ensure that food safety laboratory testing conducted in one country is acceptable to regulators in both countries and facilitate cross-utilization of laboratory results by industry and regulators (applies to products within the mandates of both the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration). * Streamline the certification requirements for meat and poultry, including, where possible, the reduction or elimination of redundant certification, data elements and administrative procedures for shipments flowing between Canada and the U.S. Plant Pests and Pesticides * Further align crop protection product (e.g., pesticides) approvals and establishment of maximum pesticide residue limits/tolerances in both countries. * Further align marketing application submission and review processes for veterinary drugs, including efforts to establish identical maximum drug residue limits/tolerances in both countries. * Develop a perimeter approach to plant protection with a view to leverage each country's efforts to mutual advantage and, where possible, streamline certification requirements for cross-border shipments. * Work towards a common approach to zoning of foreign animal diseases. Food Production * Create a common meat cut nomenclature system and regulatory alignment tool to jointly maintain the system. * Develop comparable approaches to financial risk mitigation tools to protect Canadian and U.S. fruit and vegetable suppliers from buyers that default on their payment obligations. TransportationAutomotive * Ensure greater alignment of existing motor vehicle safety standards, notably by developing a lasting approach to align and adopt motor vehicle standards that take into account each country's safety risks and needs. * Work together towards further alignment of the side impact and ejection mitigation standards. * Study areas where standards are not aligned (identification of controls and displays; lighting, i.e., daytime running lamps; and occupant protection) with a view to determine where greater collaboration in the standards development process could have been applied to have avoided this divergence, and adapt and fix standard setting processes accordingly. * Jointly review and establish a common collaborative regulatory standard-setting agenda for all new motor vehicle safety standards (e.g., rear camera, electric and alternative energy vehicles, quiet cars). * Work together on the development of regulations and standards to fully support the integration of intelligent transportation systems. * Refine and enhance the existing Air Quality Committee (under the U.S.-Canada Air Quality Agreement) work plan with regard to information sharing, technical work sharing, scientific collaboration and testing related to completed emission regulations for light-duty vehicles, which have been bilaterally coordinated. * Environment Canada, U.S. State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency to consider an expansion of the U.S.-Canada Air Quality Agreement to address particulate matter, the air pollutant most commonly associated with premature mortality, based on comparable regulatory regimes in the two countries. Rail * Align rail safety standards and establish a joint mechanism to conduct periodic reviews of regulations. * Work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from locomotives, building on the already extensive collaboration and coordination between both governments on locomotive air pollutant regulations. Marine * Establish a Canada-U.S. safety and security framework and arrangement for the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes system in order to align regulatory requirements. * Align the marine transportation security requirements to prevent duplication of services and remove impediments to cross-border operations and incorporate the ability to use alternative security arrangements in the Canadian regulations. * Align recreational boat manufacturing standards and develop a proposal for aligning the monitoring and compliance regimes. * Move to a common standard for lifejackets and consider developing mutual recognition arrangements for other marine safety equipment. Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products* Implement a Common Electronic Submission Gateway to allow industry applicants the ability to submit large electronic documents related to pharmaceutical products simultaneously to Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and further catalyze increased review and collaboration on these products between the two regulatory agencies. * Develop and adopt common monographs (e.g., including properties, claims indications and condition of use) for routine over-the-counter drugs. * Enhance collaboration on enforcement and compliance by increasing mutual reliance on each other's routine surveillance good manufacturing practices (GMP) inspection reports of manufacturing facilities for drugs and personal products, rather than having to conduct unnecessarily duplicative inspections in the other country. Workplace Health and Safety* Align and synchronize implementation of common classification and labelling requirements for workplace hazardous chemicals within the mandate of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Health Canada. Dangerous Goods* Work to better align Canadian and U.S. standards on the containment of dangerous goods. Unmanned AircraftAccording to the Regulatory Cooperation Council this is dealing with "aircraft weighing less than 35 kg used for flight testing, aerial photography, filming for television documentaries, or offshore geophysical surveys." * Establish a mechanism to share experiences on regulations related to unmanned aircraft systems, with a view to aligning regulatory approaches. (Government of Canada, Globe and Mail, Regulatory Cooperation Council) Read The Marxist-Leninist
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Going by the general
feelings which prevail in the society at this time, it is obvious that
not many are satisfied with the situation as it exists at this time.
The creation of a new society would win in the opinion polls, but what
kind of new society it will be is another matter.
Already the twentieth century gave rise to a new society based on
socialism. But socialism was transformed into pseudo-socialism by those
leaders who speculated on theory, that is on the achievements of the
natural and social sciences. They began to look at leadership and
authority in themselves, divorced from
the place they had in transforming the society on an uninterrupted
basis. Once theory is abandoned, then pseudo-theories abound. It is not
true that one theory gives rise to another. On the contrary, new
discoveries improve theories or give rise to theories. It is generally
true that what is sound in theory will be sound
in practice, just as the example of the Soviet Union showed that
pseudo-scientific theories assisted those whose aim was to restore
class privileges and class exploitation. It is not possible to abandon
theory and substitute it with a mechanical approach to the question of
the existence of classes. The general feeling
which exists for a new society means that the population is ready to
listen to proposals which could assist them to create such a new
society. In other words, the constituency for the building of a new
society is increasing in scope, encompassing increasing numbers of
people while, in terms of classes, it would be
in the interests of the working class to see such a transformation
taking place. In other words, the workers must be very eager to see
this work advance.
What it really boils down to is this: a
political party must have the ability to analyze and go beyond words to
establish itself in the reality of the working class so as to lead the
people to end class privilege. This is the minimum which can be
demanded from any political party.
Anything else would mean that the political party wants to profit from
the status quo and perpetuate it. Such a political party has to be not
only action-oriented, but also analysis-oriented and it has to choose
as its leaders, those who prove that they put their words into deeds.
What is emerging is the need for a criterion
of a political party within the present moment in history.
