The Power Is In The Streets

I FULLY support the call by Alexactus Kaure (‘A call to rally academics, intellectuals and scholars,’ The Namibian, January 21) for the intellectuals of Namibia to wake up and to become socially relevant.

As a country, we are faced with so many crucial social issues yet most of our intellectuals are completely silent about them.We have just had a political revolution on this continent and it is so vital to debate the implications of this historic event and to draw lessons from it. As a radical intellectual, I therefore offer some views on the Tunisian revolution.There are many similarities between Namibia and Tunisia. Both have escalating food prices, huge unemployment, elite enrichment and high levels of corruption. Although the Namibian elite are not yet as autocratic as their Tunisian counterparts, Kaure refers to their actions as ‘the endless buffoonery of an insensitive ruling elite presiding over a society riven by class inequalities and social alienation…’ It would seem that we are well on our way to the Tunisian-type elite.Ben Ali boasted for decades about the stability in Tunisia, but rigged the elections and turned the country into a police state. While the elite lived in opulence, the people starved and suffered. What is quite clear at this time was that this revolution was largely organised by unemployed youth (the ‘lumpen’ element). The trade unions and civil organizations seemed to have become radicalised only once the unemployed youth acted.It is not certain, nevertheless, which way the Tunisian revolution would go at the moment. They have many enemies and countless hurdles. Power lies in the streets. The situation is extremely fluid. The army refused to shoot on the people and arrested members of the elite. The army chief might have political aspirations. The Tunisian people formed popular committees to initially defend themselves against the police and the presidential guard. The purpose of such political violence is to disorganize the popular revolt and to try and keep the old elements of the regime in the ‘unity government’ to limit the transformation. Left-wing leaders of the Communist Workers’ Party expressed concerns about being assassinated.Instead of wasting their political energy on a ‘unity government,’ the Tunisians should rather form genuine people’s assemblies with the goal of calling a constituent assembly. This is a bottom-up democratic process. A left coalition should include the Islamists, communists and other progressives. However, without regional or international support, the Tunisian revolution would not go very far. This is why we should start an international movement in solidarity with the Tunisian revolution. Victory is going to be difficult. Our approach should be, as Antonio Gramsci always cautioned, ‘optimism of the willpower, but pessimism of the intellect.’The greatest lesson from the Tunisian revolution is that real change only comes from the direct action of the working people. This, of course, was the central theme in the brilliant writings of Rosa Luxemburg. The status quo political parties, the parliament and the courts cannot bring about a qualitative transformation. The working people should not bother with the status quo institutions. Only the mass action of the working people can bring about fundamental change to their socio-economic conditions. Power lies in the politics of the streets.Another lesson from Tunisia is that a party of the working class is necessary to guide and defend such an historic event. Alexactus Kaure, in his article about intellectuals, called attention to the importance of theoretical clarity in moments of qualitative change. This is where radical intellectuals can play a role. We agree that the left should draw the correct conclusions from Tunisia, that any radical change should have an ideological direction otherwise it would lose focus and would easily be diverted by its enemies. We are merely at the beginning of the transformation process in Tunisia and should watch closely to learn.The article by Alfredo Hengari (‘When Africa’s largest country is carved into two, The Namibian, January 21) pointed out the obstacles facing Southern Sudan. Of course, we share their joy and excitement about their political independence. Unfortunately, they will get the same kind of political independence that Namibians got. They will have a flag and a national anthem, but no economic freedom for the people. The people of Southern Sudan will continue to starve and suffer. That is why their radical leader (John Garang – Africa’s Chavez) was assassinated many months ago. The oil wealth will go to the elite and the multi-national corporations. This is the lesson. The struggle continues.C. SimasikuWindhoek