by Stefan Engel, Monika Gärtner-Engel and Gabi Fechtner
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Chapter VIII in the book “THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE HAS BEGUN!“
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1. Enlargement of Marxist-Leninist Strategy
The finite existence of humankind
The planet Earth evolved over a period of about 4.6 billion years. This process included phases of the higher development of nature, interrupted by phases of the mass extinction of liv ing creatures. The most extensive mass extinction took place about 252 million years ago:
Three quarters of all land life and even 95 percent of life in the ocean disappeared within a few thousands of years. (170)
“Within an astonishingly short period of time,” that is after about one million years, “new eco-systems”(171) with plants and animals developed. Only in the very recent history of the Earth, several million years ago, did human beings evolve as the highest form of developing matter.
Of course, the existence of the human species has always been finite. It can come to an end when enormous natural catastrophes or the cooling of the sun make life on Earth impossible. However, a global environmental catastrophe as well as a nuclear world war would mean a shortening of the lifespan of humanity caused not by the laws of nature, but by human hands.
Modification and enlargement of Marxist-Leninist strategy
Since Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Marxist-Leninist strategy includes the goal of overcoming the disruption and destruction of the unity of humanity and nature by the capi talist mode of production.
The accelerated transition of the global environmental crisis to the global environmental catastrophe already necessitated an enlargement and further development of the strategy of the Marxist-Leninists. The question of the environment became a question of the system, and the struggle to save the natu ral foundations of life became the most important task of the international socialist revolution alongside the struggle for social and national liberation.
The changed starting situation requires a modification and additional enlargement of the strategy of the international socialist revolution. It no longer suffices to make the saving of the environment from the profit economy a part of the class struggle. The decisive majority of the working class and the broad masses must commit themselves to the struggle to save humanity from the maturing of the global environmen tal catastrophe. It must become deeply ingrained in their thoughts, feelings and actions that this will only become pos sible through the revolutionary overcoming of the imperialist world system and the building of socialism and communism. They can be confident that the process of the global environ mental catastrophe will turn billions of people against the imperialist world system.
Thus, the necessity of the international socialist revolution is no longer based on the class interests of the working class alone, but also on humanity’s interest in surviving and, to this end, preserving the natural environment. The indissoluble con nection between the proletarian class struggle for the united socialist states of the world and the struggle to save humanity arises from this common strategic goal.
The book Dawn of the International Socialist Revolution already opposed any playing down of the situation, but also the spreading of any doomsday mood:
The maturing of the global environmental catastrophe is not the inescapable fate of humanity despite the irreversible dam age that already has occurred. The basis of this catastrophe is the present stage of imperialism, and this basis only remains unchangeable if the imperialist world system and its domina tion of humanity and nature can be maintained.(172)
Bourgeois and petty-bourgeois fallacies
Imperialist environmentalism advocates a whole bundle of illusory strategies for “adapting to climate change.” The sole aim of this ideology is to maintain capitalist society at all costs, to secure advantages for one’s own monopoly capital and state in the international competitive struggle, and to under mine the growing environmental consciousness of the masses for this purpose.
The UN adopted guiding principles for this in the year 2001 and a work program in 2006. Based on these, more than 50 countries drew up “National Adaptation Programs of Action,” which quite correctly describe some of the expected consequences. However, as solutions they suggest only certain arbitrary, completely insufficient and mostly non-binding measures.
Strict selection criteria apply to the measures of these pro grams of action. To be implemented they must serve the busi ness of making maximum profits under the flag of the compat ibility of ecology and capitalist economy. Fifty years of such imperialist “adaptation” have led the world straight into the global environmental catastrophe that has now begun.
A further bourgeois variant follows the thesis that geoengineering(173) would be able to stop the progressing environmental destruction. The marine biologist Terry Hughes criticizes the illusion that geoengineering could reverse the destruction of the coral reefs. For a research study he examined 300 projects for reconstructing coral reefs. They cost US$250 million, but they only succeeded in reconstructing coral reefs the size of two soccer fields. By comparison: the world’s largest coral reef, the Great Barrier Reef off the northeast coast of Australia, has an area of 70 million soccer fields! Hughes concludes:
Instead of further spreading the message that “smart scientists can solve the problem, they can reconstruct the reefs,” we should concentrate on fighting the causes of reef death.(174)
Since such “solutions” obviously are more than dubious, “luxury escapism” is increasing. This is a name for a new billion-dollar business where the super-rich buy land, entire islands or bunker complexes in order to secure themselves places of refuge from the consequences of expected environmental catastrophes, “political unrest,” or also simply to evade tax authorities.(175) In the first place, though, this open show of decadence will undoubtedly evoke outrage on the part of billions of people who are affected. Revolutionary strategy and tactics must make use of that outrage to create clarity about those who are really responsible for the catastrophe and about the way to end their power.
2. Further Development of the Proletarian Strategy and Tactics of the Environmental Struggle
The crucial question is how long the ruling international monopolies and their imperialist governments will succeed in keeping the working class and broad masses of people from struggling for the socialist alternative.
In connection with the intensified inter-imperialist rivalry, the imperialists are increasingly shifting the crisis burdens onto the masses. Proceeding from solely ruling international finance capital, a tendency to open reaction, fascism and war is emerging worldwide. Genuine socialism instead of rightward development and imperialist barbarism becomes an essential guideline of proletarian strategy and tactics.
Where will the masses turn to? To the socialist future? Or will they be deterred from this goal by confusing bourgeois and petty-bourgeois maneuvers?
Changes in proletarian strategy and tactics
Marxist-Leninist strategy and tactics is the conscious application of the dialectical method to lead party building, class struggle and the preparation of the international socialist revolution and develop them to a higher level. It realizes the fundamental unity of theory and practice. The changes in the new starting situation give rise to two fundamental, independent yet interwoven strands of the strategy and tactics in the environmental struggle:
• Where qualitative leaps in the global environmental catastrophe have already resulted in irreversible and uncontrollable processes of destruction and self-destruction, a determined struggle must be taken up to contain the catastrophic developments and to take drastic protective measures.
• In the case of features of the global environmental crisis which have not yet completed the qualitative leap to irreversible and uncontrollable processes of the global environmental catastrophe, the struggle aims at stopping or reversing these developments, to the extent this is still possible.
The solution of both sides of this strategy and tactics in the environmental struggle becomes identical in the prospect and struggle for a socialist society as the only salvation from the threat of a full-blown global environmental catastrophe. Marxist-Leninist strategy and tactics must create clarity for this, mobilize and encourage, convince, and organize struggles.
Firstly, it must build on the knowledge, principles and guide lines already established: The international industrial proletariat must be the leading force; the main force must be the international working class. The struggle to save humanity as part of the struggle for socialism must become an integral part of the work on the main line of struggle in the large-scale industrial enterprises. This is the only way that the international industrial proletariat can assume its leading role.
Secondly, the environmental struggle and the struggle to save humanity do not have a unified class basis, but encompass proletarian, petty-bourgeois and bourgeois forces, unless they belong to the imperialist and anticommunist camp. Allies of the working class are all those oppressed and exploited worldwide. They form the direct and indirect reserves of the proletarian class struggle and the struggle to save humanity; they are changing in quality and quantity. They include broad masses of people who are affected by the environmental catastrophe: farmers, fishermen, indigenous peoples, critical and progressive scientists, academics, forces reaching far into petty-bourgeois and enlightened bourgeois circles, as well as people from the devastated or doomed regions, and anti-imperialist governments in such countries. The proletarian strategy and tactics of the environmental struggle must take account of this potential through an equally flexible and principled alliance work. The society-changing environmental struggle must weld all these forces together, without accepting a bourgeois or petty-bourgeois claim to leadership.
Thirdly, for humanity the development of a global environmental catastrophe is a new experience. Humanity must continue to do research on its foundations and laws, deepen and concretize the knowledge already gained, recognize new phenomena and essential changes, and determine their quality using finer concepts. To this end, scientific environmental research must work with the dialectical-materialist method, act in the interest of the oppressed and exploited, and join in their rebellion. Theoretical work must never be neglected in the turmoil of events.
Fourthly, it becomes the general major task of the Marxist-Leninists and all progressive people to help socialism gain new esteem among the masses and to win them as fighters for this goal. In close connection with the movement “Don’t Give Anticommunism a Chance!” the Marxist-Leninists must fur ther develop agitation and propaganda for genuine socialism as the way out for saving humanity.
Fifthly, the understanding of a society-changing struggle is expanded. The solution of the social question through the socialist revolution and the building of socialism/communism under the leadership of the working class interpenetrates more and more with the existential questions of humanity and so enormously expands the potential of these struggles. The environmental struggle, active resistance against fascism, imperialism and war, the struggle for women’s liberation, and the struggle over the burning economic and social questions of the masses must be conducted as a school of class struggle. The struggle must not drift into reformist or petty-bourgeois environmentalist illusions.
Sixthly, the environmental struggle remains the second most important line of struggle of the revolutionaries, but its importance is growing by leaps and bounds, and under certain circumstances it can even become the most important task in the proletarian class struggle.
Seventhly, the questions of the future of the youth become identical with the existential questions of humanity. The strategy and tactics in youth work and the life school of the proletarian mode of thinking must be expanded to include the struggle to save humanity.
Eighthly, the strategy and tactics in the environmental struggle must develop and strengthen appropriate forms of organization corresponding to the different levels of consciousness: from awakening environmental consciousness in temporary forms of organization such as citizens’ action groups, to a more developed environmental consciousness in all non-party self-run organizations of the masses and an international resistance front against the consequences of the environmental catastrophe, to an environmental consciousness identical with socialist and communist consciousness. People with this consciousness organize in revolutionary parties.
The strengthening of Marxist-Leninist parties and of independent, non-party, democratic, internationalist and financially independent self-run organizations of the masses with openness in world outlook for socialism, on an anti-fascist basis, must be organized as a reciprocal relation. This excludes most bourgeois NGOs insofar as they are strictly anticommunist in orientation. They even engage in systematic work to subvert the mass movements and seek to prevent the development of socialist consciousness.
Ninthly, it is imperative that the strategy and tactics pro mote international formations for coordination and cooperation of the working-class movement, the different mass movements, and the revolutionary movements. National and international forms of organization of the united front against imperialism, fascism and war gain importance. The solution of the environmental question underlines that today no elementary problem of humanity can be solved anymore on a national level!
All this demands an all-round program of self-transformation of the working-class and environmental movements, the women’s and youth movements, and of the revolutionaries of the world.
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170 “Auslöser für größtes Massensterben der Erdgeschichte identifiziert” (Driver of the largest mass extinction in the history of the Earth identified), geomar.de, 19 Oct. 2020
171 Elena Bernard, “Massenaussterben: Neues Leben in Rekordzeit” (Mass extinction: new life in record time), scinexx.de, 13 Feb. 2023
172 Stefan Engel, Dawn of the International Socialist Revolution, p. 195
173 Geoengineering here means the use of technology to mitigate the consequences of climate warming.
174 Monika Seynsche, “Kritische Bewertung der Korallenschutzprogramme”(Critical evaluation of the programs to protect coral reefs), share.deutschland radio. de, 8 June 2023
175 nzz.ch, 14 Mar. 2022