Finland: 1st of May statement of the Red Action
We hereby share a summarization of the 1st of May statement of the Red Action of Finland, published by Punalippu on the 26thof April.
Red Action of Finland has published a 1st of May statement, calling for mobilization on the day of struggle for the international working class, denouncing the misery and destruction brought by imperialism, from the intensifying crisis and its impact on the masses, to the militarization and the increased imperialist exploitation of the oppressed countries.
Red Action writes: “On the 1st of May, the day of struggle of the international working class, we revolutionaries march under our red flag amid the sharp intensification of the general crisis of imperialism. Imperialism, the final stage of capitalism, proves that it is a dying system that has nothing to offer the broad masses of the world but misery and destruction. We march shoulder to shoulder with our comrades around the world, demonstrating that the world’s workers and oppressed peoples constitute the majority that will build the world of the future.”
Red Action goes on to present the current conditions of the crisis in Finland, highlighting the rapidly increasing amount of people living under poverty, with “958,000 people in Finland who, for example, cannot afford to pay rent, mortgage payments or bills on time, or who are unable to keep their homes warm enough.”, as well as the increased concentration of wealth on even fewer people, and increased inflation. They write: “Inflation is accelerating as the bourgeoisie attempts to shift the burden of the costs of the wars it unleashes on the masses, in an effort to hold on to its profits. Inflation is accelerating faster than expected. […] It is to be expected that rising energy prices will have a major impact on the intensification of the struggle, particularly in the oppressed nations, where rising oil prices will significantly exacerbate the poverty of the working-class and peasant masses. This will also have a significant impact on the further intensification of the crisis of Finnish imperialism.”
Red Action goes on to describe how the imperialist nations are again preparing for war, writing: “Everywhere, imperialists are beating the drums of war to protect the interests of a small group of exploiters. They are launching new wars of aggression against oppressed nations to seize new markets and sources of raw materials and cheap labor in order to resolve their own crises. They demonstrate that the sovereignty of nations, democracy, and human rights apply only to a small portion of the world’s population, just as in slave-owning societies only the free were considered human.
[…]
Here in Finland, we proletarian revolutionaries are fighting for a socialist revolution. That is how we can strike a blow against Finnish imperialism. Finland is not innocent simply because it is a weaker imperialist power than the United States, for example: it benefits from the subjugation of oppressed nations.”
Red Action concludes their statement with a call: “Today, a revolutionary storm is rising from the oppressed nations. Sooner or later, it will sweep over Finland as well. We cannot demand special privileges or remain on the sidelines of the world’s storms. We must move forward toward socialism; we must be prepared for the explosion of mass struggle. The times we live in call for us to move forward fearlessly and with confidence in building the revolutionary movement in response to the deepening crisis of the imperialist system, seeing that the world is not at peace, that masses are on the move everywhere, everywhere they are seeking revolution, everywhere they are rising up in massive explosions—this is visible, if one is willing to see it. It is time to clear all obstacles from our path and build a powerful revolutionary movement.
To the streets on the 1st of May against crisis and militarization!
1st of May – the day of struggle of the international working class!
Down with the butcher State! Forwards in the construction of the revolutionary movement!
It is right to rebel!”
You can read the full statement of Red Action here:
