April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal

the only big trade union organisation which has been able in the last few
years to organise efficient struggles to resist the bosses’ attacks in a sector
which, historically, has been the most involved in social conflict. This has
been without any support from the CGIL, and has meant clashing with the
shameful pro-boss attitude of CISL and UIL and with most of the political
parties.
The recent demonstrations called by the FIOM all over the country in
support of the FIAT workers and in defence of the national contract have
had huge turnouts, not only from workers in their sector but from activists
in the CGIL and other unions, and political activists on the Left,
disappointed with the stance of the unions and political organisations
which they are members of.
These demonstrations have not been only an expression of solidarity with
workers in struggle, but of the growing idea that Berlusconi and everything
he represents can only be defeated through class struggle and not through
political alchemy.
This is the most interesting element of the current situation in Italy. The
trade union opposition of the FIOM today represents the starting point for
rebuilding a political opposition not only to the grotesque Berlusconi
government, but also to policies that support industrial and finance capital
and the attacks on workers which are taking place in Italy, as in most other
European countries.
Faced with a parliamentary opposition which only intervenes in relation to
Berlusconi’s sexual exploits and hopes that the judicial system will make
up for its political impotence, an alternative is needed which is based on
struggle and on the concrete needs of workers. The demonstrations and
strikes of recent months show that this is a difficult but viable road ahead.
www.socialistworld.net
Silencing The Messenger
How The So-Called Guardians Of Free Speech Are Silencing The
Messenger
John Pilger 11 March 2011
As the United States and Britain look for an excuse to invade another oilrich
Arab country, the hypocrisy is familiar. Colonel Gaddafi is “delusional”
and “blood-drenched” while the authors of an invasion that killed a million
Iraqis, who have kidnapped and tortured in our name, are entirely sane,
never blood-drenched and once again the arbiters of “stability”.
But something has changed. Reality is no longer what the powerful say it
is. Of all the spectacular revolts across the world, the most exciting is the
insurrection of knowledge sparked by WikiLeaks. This is not a new idea. In
1792, the revolutionary Tom Paine warned his readers in England that their
government believed that “people must be hoodwinked and held in
superstitious ignorance by some bugbear or other”. Paine’s The Rights of
Man was considered such a threat to elite control that a secret grand jury
was ordered to charge him with “a dangerous and treasonable conspiracy”.
Wisely, he sought refuge in France.
The ordeal and courage of Tom Paine is cited by the Sydney Peace
Foundation in its award of Australia’s human rights Gold Medal to Julian