NSC Editorial Comment

Vic Ratsma

With the ascent of the United States to the status of the world's only superpower, and with their documented and openly declared ambitions for world hegemony, there can be little doubt that we have entered the highest stage of the capitalist system: Imperialism. It is bound to be a period of great upheavals, as people everywhere resist being dominated and controlled by a foreign power and struggle with all means at their disposal to undermine the invader.

This invasion does not come only by military force, although that certainly is an important aspect of it. No, U.S. imperialism penetrates our individual societies through many channels, our economies, our cultures, our social value systems, our media, etc.

The word 'imperialism' is often intertwined with the word 'globalization', the latter being understood as having a more benign meaning. As socialists, globalization is certainly not a foreign concept to us, as we believe in international working class solidarity and a world order that, among other things is based on equality, co-operation and the maximum fulfillment of basic human needs. The capitalist form of globalization however is based on maximum private profits extracted from the resources that belong to other nations and cheap labour these nations can provide. Based on such exploitation, no country will ever succeed in closing the ever-widening gap in living standards that exists today.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the architects of capitalist globalization declared communism dead and relegated to the scrap heap of history. They ought to have known that this was wishful thinking on their part, but I suppose it was good propaganda, meant to discourage those who still held hopes for a renewed socialism and to indoctrinate into believing that the new capitalist world order was "inevitable" and could not be stopped. Of course this is utter nonsense! Anyone who has the means to take a look around the Internet has no trouble finding hundreds if not thousands of political parties and movements under progressive labels like 'communist', 'socialist', 'labour', 'workers', 'revolutionary', 'peoples' etc. Obviously, socialism is anything but dead. What this multitude of parties and movements, often existing in the same country, does indicate however is a lack of unity among them. The existence of differences of opinion about the specific form of socialism one should strive for is in and of itself not an unhealthy phenomenon. In fact, discussions about different ideas and methods are absolutely essential if one is to arrive at a process that leads to the defeat of capitalism and the formation of a socialist society. No one, but absolutely no one has the ultimate formula for success, nor can any one group impose its will on an uncooperative society.

In its eleven years of publication, Northstar Compass has continuously attempted to improve unity among all progressive forces, with special emphasis on those active in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Having myself been editor many years ago of a small trade union publication, I am well aware of the problems and difficulties that the publishing of a monthly magazine like Northstar Compass presents. Besides the financial challenge, which never ceases to exist, and having to rely totally on volunteer labour, the selection of articles, the layout, the printing and ultimately the distribution of Northstar Compass presents a never ending challenge that can only be met through the enormous dedication of our chief editor, Michael Lucas and his team of contributors and co-workers. They. Are the heart and soul of the International Council for Friendship and Solidarity with Soviet People and of its publication Northstar Compass. They deserve our compliments as well as our gratitude. Still, without you, the reader and subscriber, little would be accomplished. The imperialist juggernaut currently is on the rampage around the world and can only be stopped by a united progressive left force. But in order to achieve unity and cooperation of left forces anywhere requires the participation of all of us. The influence of Northstar Compass will grow the more you use it to persuade and influence your friends and colleagues. Together we can do it.

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