Socialism of the Future / Future of Socialism

Chico Whitaker from Brazil, a member of the organising committee of the World Social Forum said that he would speak about socialism and the views of socialists in Brazil. He described Brazil as a country that is completely dominated by the United States. The influences of the media and the economic ties that Brazil has with USA help to create and sustain this ideological and material domination. The biggest preoccupation of the government in Brazil is to prevent deflation of the currency. Debts both internal and external are paid by cutting on the social expenditures. Like in Asia Brazil also now has a growing consumerist culture. The State is reduced to a minimum so as to take care of compensatory policies but not for inducing the development of economic activities. People can access - education, health, water whatever one wants if one has purchasing power. Resultantly there is growing social inequality, the gap between the haves and have-nots being among the widest in the world.

Brazil has a population of one hundred and seventy million of which fifty to sixty millions are integrated into the markets, more or less the same population as of a European country. So, the economy can function with these people and the rest are excluded. The hundred millions outside who try to work but they are not included in the economic system. The government follows the dictates of the IMF and the World Bank. The bigger problem with the capitalist system is that of corruption. The country also has its share of ecological problems.

Whitaker said that in Brazil people don’t speak about socialism. The top left organisations try to do things differently and try to control political power and trying also to control the economic power from the base of society. Hence the approach is one that begins from the bottom of society. He added that that was probably the way that would naturally lead to socialism, he added though that he did not know when the society would be called a socialist society. Often common people don’t accept the words, communist and socialist as easily as they do in India, due to the ideological influences they have been under.

The Workers Party that won the elections is not a socialist workers’ party and there is hope that greater changes will be possible. The election of Lula is something very interesting. He was a candidate four times before being elected, and these years a process of education from below was carried out and a popular organisation to control political power was built during the previous twenty years. That’s why the idea of the World Social Forum grew here. It is not called the World Socialist Forum, but the World Social Forum, because it is important to show that there must exist an alternative to World Economical Forum.

He said that it is important to get together and that change is possible by learning from one another. He asserted that all those who are trying to change the World should try and identify the objectives of change and try to fight for the change. In Brazil finally, a new president has begun a deeper process of change. His sole aim is not to bring about many big changes but to put some priorities in Government action. The biggest priority being the fight against hunger, followed by those of dependence on imperialist forces, corruption and the need to bring about social progress.

He said that they are working with some values and some conditions. The very first being change from below. The second being to work in order to change minds because that is the harder task. Trying to understand people’s expectations. Also touching upon problems like property by creating the concept of public property, the property of the community, in service of all the population. He said that their experience is testimonial of the struggle for socialism. A struggle that people of Brazil are living through their daily lives, trying to fight for another world, which is possible. And it is centred in, human beings and not in the material power of money.

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