Translated "Avante!" article by Albano Nunes, Member of the Secretariat of the CC
Corruption cases involving the high spheres of the economic and political power, became so frequent, that the ranking is being used ( 2014.12.03) to classify countries, as if it were a macroeconomic index. Portugal, following the ranking ought to stand at the 34th position, what would be considered reasonable. Besides, in the O Público (2014.11.30), on the José Socrates’ preventive imprisonment, there are “other cases of European political leaders involved in legal issues concerning corruption or similar practises”, recalling great figures as the deceased Andreotti, accused of liaisons with the Mafia, or Berlusconi and Sarkozy which, although all these scandals, carry on playing a full political activity, the latter seeking to be positioned to return as the French head of state.
Not commenting on the news intentions, which frequently use relativism on situations, dilute responsibilities, trivialize behaviours, forwarding unto the moral field, issues which, in their essence, are but of political and class nature, to be underlined as something the media, submitted to the capital has always hindered. In other words, concerning the Portuguese current situation, the problem causes remain in the right-wing policy itself, which, as the PCP’s Secretary-general has highlighted, is a seed and fertilizer of the list of corruption cases which have become public. And talking of corruption, one is talking about capitalism’s own nature, a system founded upon exploitation, the run to the maximum profit, fierce competition, individualism values and save yourself, a system which permanently nurtures illicit, immoral (but common and perfectly acceptable at the light of bourgeois morality) and criminal behaviours.
None of this is new. Marx, when analysing capitalism unveiled all this process. And Lenine, when characterizing imperialism, underlined that the merger of the economic and political powers, would necessarily increase its exploiter nature and the system’s decadence. Currently, upon the USSR and socialism disappearance as a world system, capitalism defects and contradictions, are freely expressed, and when the capitalist accumulation process is clearly evident, the tax rate profit drop law , one assists to the unlimited growth of the financial capital domain( performed by an over-production and over-accumulation cyclical crisis, which prolongs with no ending in view) together with the speculative character acceleration, rentier and predator of the great economic and financial groups, that dominate the world economy.
Corruption is systemic. It is inheriting to the capitalist system functioning. Offshore are untouchable, as the speculative capital movements are not even taxed, as it is not compatible with the favours, bribes , capital laundering general practices, indispensable for great business which, within a framework of high inter-monopolist and inter-imperialist competition, from weapons to narcotics and unto public services privatization. The issue is, a moral component being obvious, generally agitated by the dominant class, in order to promote “unpolluted” saviours and anti-democratic solutions, is, above all, a political issue and constitutes one better reason for the struggle for an alternative to the capitalist system, for socialism and communism.