After the G8 summit in the French town of Deauville back in May 2011, the governmental and financial leaders of the 20 most powerful industrialized and emerging countries now want to meet in Cannes. Together with representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) the leaders of the “Group of 20“ (G20) will sit at one table to coordinate global “crisis response“ in the form of welfare cuts, austerity and imperialist interventions.
The crisis is capitalism
The crisis is far from over. Greece, Ireland and Portugal seem to be as good as bankrupt and are dependent on being “rescued“ by the IMF, the ECB and the EU. But especially in Greece it is becoming apparent what this dependance means for the people. The country’s sellout is in full swing. As part of the privatization policy former state sectors are being sold out to foreign investors, German ones being among them. Fought for social standards are being withdrawn, retirement age is being increased, wages are falling. The redistribution of wealth from bottom to top that can be witnessed in Greece in an extreme form is on the agenda all over the world.
Especially in Germany the degradation of the welfare state continues – benefits are being reduced, the labor market is being “flexibilized“, which for many people means nothing more than unemployment and social decline. The basic needs of people are being sacrificed to continue enforcing the profit interests of the financial and economic sector. This socialization of losses is being accompanied by a privatization of profits. That means less money for education, social security and health care while billions of public funds are being spent on so-called rescue packages. The FRG not only consistently enforces this policy in their own country, for example through Agenda 2010, but in this matter takes a leading role in Europe.
The G20 are obviously not interested in improving the living conditions of the wage dependent people. Much rather the financial crisis serves as legitimation for social degradation and the cutting of benefits with the goal of optimizing the objective conditions of capitalist exploitation. The needs of the people play no role in capitalism. And the things that mean unstable employment or joblessness and with that social exclusion for us, mean famine, disease and death in the Tricont and in parts of the emerging nations.
War on War
The agenda of the G20 no longer just contains economic issues. A common “security policy” is a topic of interest as well. Due to the triumph of neoliberal globalization that has been progressing since the ’80s and has been accelerated by the elimination of systematic competition, cases of military intervention being used to enfore geostrategic and economic interests are increasing. On the one hand, this shows that with the aid of institutions like the IMF and World Bank, global economies are being restructured in accordance to Western interests. And example of this can be seen in the way the FRG and France are dictating Greece’s budget reorganisation, or in the assertion of free trade zones in many parts of the Tricont.
On the other hand, direct military intervetions and the installation of puppet regimes are gaining importance. In Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya it is becoming apparent that these missions are not about the protection of human rights and democracy, but about securing resources and developing new markets with the desirable side effect of boosting the defense industry, with corresponding consquences for the local population.
International solidarity has to become practical
Ever since the G8 meetings have started having trouble legitimizing their existence, partly due to the summit protests of the anti-globalization movement, they are beginning to be superseded by the G20. It is a popular claim that the question of legitimacy is now no longer an issue, since G20 allegedly represents 2/3 of the world population. In essence, however, it is the governments of rich capitalist countries who hold a place at the table and act in the interest of the ruling class, not in the interest of 2/3 of the world’s population.
The global implementation of neoliberal capitalism makes actual international solidarity more important than ever before. The ruling class is doing everything it can to smother this solidarity. By way of constant agitation against the “lazy Greeks” who are to blame for “their crisis”, attention is being diverted from the common interests of wage earners here as well as in Greece. For the recognition of these similarities can be a weapon that is indispensable for the defense of social achievements and the successful fight for a revolutionary perspective beyond hunger, exploitation and war. Our solidarity must be toward the class struggles around the world that are fighting against imperialist influence.
Against G20 on the streets of Freiburg
This year, unlike i.e. during the G8 summit of 2007 in Heiligendamm, or the NATO summit of 2009 in Strasbourg and Kehl, no large, central summit protests are being held in France. Instead, we are heeding the call of the anti-globalization movement for decentralized campaigns – on the 5th November 2011, we will loudly protest prevailing conditions on the streets of Freiburg . Take part in the demonstration and take action against for a world without exploitation and war.
Demonstration, 05-11-2011, Saturday, 2:00 pm
Freiburg, Platz der Alten Synagoge