Only working-class solidarity can defeat racism!
Leaflet distributed at the "Ireland For All" march in Dublin.
18 February 2023
The number of working-class people who embrace racism is small. The fascist groups organising behind hatred of migrants are tiny.
Yet we should be afraid. The answer to racism and fascism is an organised and unified working-class movement. But we are far from that.
The government is pandering to the racists with threats to make life even harder for migrants and refugees. The Garda allow quite small groups to block roads and motorways - something that would not be tolerated with left wing demonstrators.
Above all, we can all sense the growing tide of desperation. People live lives of quiet despair. It's a truism that the right rises when the left fails and the left, over years, has failed to offer a coherent programme to fight endless austerity.
The best example lies with housing. The crisis is out of control. The government has announced it will not meet targets. It will never meet targets because the policy is designed to produce profit, not homes. Housing stress exists because of housing speculation by capitalism, not because of migrants.
Union leaders don't oppose the Housing for All policy. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions pulled off the streets when the policy was announced. They now sit on committees operating the programme.
The socialist groups avoid conflict with ICTU, posture in the Dail calling for "housing as a human right" and demand "affordable" housing. There is only one form of housing that can deliver for all - that's mass public housing, and in the private sector affordable because rents and mortgages are capped at a low fraction of average income.
That's what we must mobilise
around. No more liberal virtue signalling. No more cosy relations
with collaborators. We join with the workers in a direct challenge to the
bankers
and speculators, or the
fascists will mobilise against migrants and socialists.
It's as simple as that.