Forward To A Participatory Economy
AS USUAL, I was highly impressed with the column of Alex Kaure. The column ‘No participatory democracy without a participatory economy’ (The Namibian, 19 April) raises many pivotal issues.
The huge gap between the rich (have-yachts) and the poor (have-nots) is the elephant in the room in all discussions about Namibia.
It does indeed reflect the continuing pretensions about the liberal-democratic society, i.e. in that it has failed to serve the basic needs of all. The superficial focus on elections detracts from a serious dialogue or effort to create social equality. The historical situation shows that elections are in particular limited in bringing about fundamental transformation when there is a downturn in class struggle.
In other words, the working class only benefits from an election when it takes place in a period of upturn in struggle. In the final analysis, transformation is all about the balance of class forces.
In fact, the democratic participation of political actors requires a daily engagement in transforming the present and constructing that social equality we all should work very hard towards. Voting is only a very small part of it. Indeed, that democratic participation is by and large at an ideological level. The struggle is first and foremost a clash of ideas.
However, with regards to economic participation, the Namibian working class should probably be more pro-active. They should take over the Ramatex factory and all other empty factories or mines and run them through workers’ collectives as has happened for instance in Argentina. Such a collective should obviously not be run along the lines of this obsession with profit, but follow a humane approach that aims at equality for all. This is the only way to remove the elephant of social inequality from the room!
The Namibian working class benefits very little from all the diamonds and uranium in this country. First, the Anglo-American elite and now the Chinese elite are getting extremely rich on the backs of the Namibian working class. In the same way, Namibian oil will make the Brazilian elite wealthy. And, of course, not to forget the tiny number of Swapo-connected elite who are very rich as well. Enriching a few is without a doubt not what the liberation struggle was all about.
The time has come to struggle for a participatory economy. It is the right moment to wake up the Namibian working class. Awake!
R Negonga
Katutura