found no vein of popular support equivalent to the mass, progressive anti-fascism which so confused workers in the late 1930s: the antiwar movement is far larger and more international in its scope than would have been possible in the days before World War Two.
Indeed it is a paradox that even though the 1930s were still a time in which wars were to be fought with massed land armies, rather than the high-tech high-altitude slaughter wreaked by the US in today's brutal invasions, there is greater popular resistance now to the war and occupation - and this movement today has perhaps the most youthful and dynamic profile of any current focus of political activity.
Another potentially dynamic sector, one A where some of the key activists have no
•choice but to fight, is around asylum and migration issues, where refugees face a battle of life and death, and where migrant workers themselves are being forced the develop links at national and international E level, and to organise against brutal exploitation, low pay, and discrimination.
This issue raises the question of the wider fight for democratic rights, against all forms of racism and discrimination, which in turn needs to point to the class nature of the capitalist state and the "democracy" it upholds on behalf of the ruling rich - and it is useful to note that democratic demands have always played a role in successive transitional programmes' since 1848.
And the post 9/11 (and now London bombings) backlash against Muslims in general, feeding over into xenophobic attitudes to other ethnic minorities, has also created a political dynamic in which the most conscious layers of minority communities are looking for ways to defend themselves and opening up to the idea of new political alliances, including some•of the most oppressed and exploited sections of the working class.
For the left, these openings offer a crucial opportunity to break out of a cloistered existence as a permanent political minority: but they also pose a potential hazard. An opportunist approach, which would involve simply tagging along on the coat-tails of local Muslim activists or other ethnic communities, could result in a failure to fight for political development which is crucial for the development of any consistent and radical challenge. 1 principed programme, which real The starting point here, as in any other
principled programme, which rejects all forms of discrimination - on grounds of race, religion, sex, sexuality, or age - making clear that any concession or relaxation on this opens the door to oppression.
Just as the National Union of Mineworkers discovered it had strong support amongst perhaps unexpected quarters - feminists, and gay and lesbian activists - during the great strike of 1984-85, Muslim activists who may begin with bigoted views on sexuality need to recognise that they need the support of other people who face discrimination and recognise a common enemy in the ideology of capitalism and neoAnd as with the miners, those Muslims who widen their view of the fight for social justice will also build greater solidarity within their own communities as well as finding important external allies.
But any discussion of the elements that are most radicalised and dynamic in today's political situation has to raise the problem of reaching and involving young people.
Here too the key question, as always has been the timid and defeatist attitude of the trade union leaders and the rightward political lurch of the Labour Party under Neil Kinnock and Tony Blair.
For two decades, since the defeat of the miners' strike in 1985, "new realism" and then "New Labour" have ruled the roost in the TUC, setting a capitulationist line that has done nothing to encourage resistance, rebellion or defiance.
And if the damage has been done in powerful unions which are Labour's paymasters, it has been even worse in the National Union of Students, whose leaders in recent years have lacked the political independence from the Blair machine even to mount a credible campaign against the imposition of tuition fees and top-up fees.
Young people are therefore caught in a twoway impasse: the unions, which have generally failed to mount sustained organising drives on workplaces exploiting low-paid youth, appear increasingly irrelevant to them as young workers, while what should be their collective organisation as students has in many colleges and universities been reduced to little more than a social club and advice agency.
And another result of New Labour scrapping grants and imposing fees is that in place of the student radicalism of previous generations, many students are now compelled to work long hours in part-time jobs simply to survive, leaving little time or energy for political activity.
Clearly there are some issues - in addition to the massive mobilisation against the Iraq war -RIDICH STOPE WE SAY NON around which young people still prove that they are capable of a radical response, and in need of a more political programme to give voice to their concerns.
Some have responded on environmental issues and others have been involved in anticapitalist events such as the European Social Forum, many more have been involved the G8 and Live 8 activities, just as the previous generation responded to Band Aid.
the paradox is that while the issues at the core of the Live 8 mobilisations are deeply political, there is no simple formula that can ensure that young people make the connection between their progressive aspirations to tackle world poverty and hunger and the need to organise politically and take further action if they want to ensure that anything really changes for the better.
The left can't wave any magic wand to win the attention of a generation of youth who have understandably become more cynical about politics as the two main parties have converged towards the right of the political spectrum: but it is vital to find ways to popularise the basic issues of global solidarity, the inherent inequality of global capitalism, and the necessity for political organisation.
The excitement generated by George Galloway's frontal challenge to the US warmongers in the Senate needs to be followed up by bold and clear gestures that show a genuine alternative can be built, and that another type of politics is possible.
In many ways the key to galvanising the youth is to shake up the lethargy and defeatism at the top that has sapped the strength of the labour movement.
A recent YouGov opinion poll, for example showed a massive 89 percent of voters are opposed to private sector organisations being brought in to deliver public services such as health and education.
In other words just weeks after the unions gave millions to secure the reelection of Tony Blair, the New Labour offensive on the NHS, and the drive for City Academies, enjoys only the most marginal of public support.
Why are these policies forging ahead? Because the trade unions which should be leading the charge in defence of public services have done nothing, other than issue occasional strongly-worded statements, and the proud tradition of local resistance and campaigning against NHS cuts and closures has not been adapted to fight in today's conditions.
Is this because the unions can't win concessions? No, the recent confrontation with Blair's government over pension rights of public sector workers brought the threat of the biggest strike since 1926 - and a retreat by the government (although only until the autumn, after the election).
real fightback against privatisation, with local protests, pickets, lobbies, a threat to hold a strike ballot or two, or stage other forms of industrial action, could force the issues into the headlines, begin to rally around the wider public support and begin to change the climate - creating openings in which new activists, young and old, could get involved.
The soaraway costs of the Private Finance Initiative as a means to fund the building of new hospitals and other public services could also be a focus for campaigning - which logically raises the demand to "open the books" and publish all the figures revealing the profits coined in by the private consortia, which are presently shrouded in secrecy because they are "commercially sensitive"
Another area where government policies clash with public opinion is the privatisation of council housing through the establishment of ar. length management organisations (AL which has been thrown out in
-re there has been a concerted
Comn ..• can be rallied to fight back, and working people can be mobilised, when they get to see the issues clearly, and where they see a possibility of making things change.
There is no space here to flesh out a full and detailed set of demands, but an obvious conclusion from the above discussion is that a transitional programme for today's apparently quiescent class struggle needs to home in on the potential flashpoints and the issues on which the working class stands in political conflict with new Labour and global capital.
• An internationalist stand against imperialism and war
• Against racist laws and immigration controls
• For democratic rights and civil liberties against the extended powers of a strong state
• Against all forms of discrimination
• For trade union action and mass campaigns against privatisation and cutbacks in health care, education and other vital public services
• Restore grants and scrap all fees for further and higher education
• Solidarity with workers of the developing countries in the fight to cancel all debts to the ruling rich.