Upon returning to Europe I notice how little actually has changed here. It seems as if the whole continent just took a break while I was gone and started right back up with me. Here in Norway I witnessed a pre-seminar for this years national convention of the teacher’s union’s student group and as always, it was an (overly) consensus-driven milieu. Although the average member probably has opinions spread, but somewhat left of the center, it is hard to make out much of any exact political differences.

Quite different in Germany: Here the bourgeoisie media is currently attacking, with all their force, the ex Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF) members who are now eligible to apply for parole. Currently the Federal German bureaucracy and the is working on the parole application, which has to be signed by the Federal German President in order to be effectuated.

Christian Klar, who was sent to jail for 9 murders and 11 attempts of murders in 1985 (all members of the RAF were tried collectively), is one of those eligible for parole. And the media, as well as the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) try to make a case for him not being released — ever. Their case is based on the letter below, which he sent to the German newspaper Junge Welt January 15th 2007. Markus Söder, general secretary of the CSU, reacted by saying that: “Now it shows that such a person can never be set free.” He had to “stay behind bars for the rest of his life. Parole is unthinkable.”

I suspect that some of you might think that no-one who has killed 9 people should ever be released again. However, I believe you must agree that if the law is such that anyone else who committed the same crimes is eligible for parole, then one can not simply take that right away from him individually.

I will not in any way defend the murders or other actions of the RAF, but this letter written by Klar could have been written by me (minus the somewhat intellectualized vocabulary). If you can be send to prison for decades for writing this kind of stuff, also i should be there.

This is Christian Klar’s letter (it was written in connection with the annual Rosa Luxemburg conference in Berlin):
“Dear friends, the theme of this year’s Rosa Luxemburg conference ‘We can do it differently’ means — as I understand it — first of all the appreciation of the inspiration that for some time has been coming from some Latin American countries. After two decades of socially devastating prescriptions of the international proprietor class, finally the rights of the masses are being given into there and in addition, a perspective is being developed.

But what does it look like in Europe? From here, the imperialist alliance that puts itself in charge to castigate from the

skies every country that resists the current redistribution of profits, and to turn its entire mode of existence into a pile of rubble, rolls on. The propagandist spadework is being carried out by governments and huge PR-agencies spreading ideologies that celebrate everything that reduces humans to their being used.

Anyway, also here it is true: ‘We can do it differently.’ Where else should the power to fight come from? The special factor [in Europe as opposed to elsewhere] would be to wrestle the great sectors of society that are currently crashing down in Europe from the the hands of their chauvinist “saviors” [read: that the left fights neo-nazis and other rightwingers who have support amongst the unemployed]. Otherwise it will not be possible to finalize the defeat of the capital and to open the door to another future.

It has to be emphasized time and again: the world is historically ripe for future generations to step into a life that can offer full development of their human potential and in which the ghosts of human alienation from human societal designation have been exorcized.” (thanks to corrections by Acido Domingo)

The German original (Junge welt, January 15th):

“Liebe Freunde, das Thema der diesjährigen Rosa-Luxemburg-Konferenz “Das geht anders” bedeutet – so verstehe ich es – vor allem die Würdigung der Inspiration, die seit einiger Zeit von verschiedenen Ländern Lateinamerikas ausgeht. Dort wird nach zwei Jahrzehnten sozial vernichtender Rezepte der internationalen Besitzerklasse endlich den Rechten der Massen wieder Geltung gegeben und darüber hinaus an einer Perspektive gearbeitet.

Aber wie sieht das in Europa aus? Von hier aus rollt weiter dieses imperiale Bündnis, das sich ermächtigt, jedes Land der Erde, das sich seiner Zurichtung für die aktuelle Neuverteilung der Profite widersetzt, aus dem Himmel herab zu züchtigen und seine ganze

gesellschaftliche Daseinsform in einen Trümmerhaufen zu verwandeln. Die propagandistische Vorarbeit leisten dabei Regierungen und große professionelle PR-Agenturen, die Ideologien verbreiten, mit denen alles verherrlicht wird, was den Menschen darauf reduziert, benutzt zu werden.

Trotzdem gilt hier ebenso: “Das geht anders”. Wo sollte sonst die Kraft zu kämpfen herkommen? Die spezielle Sache dürfte sein, dass die in Europa ökonomisch gerade abstürzenden großen Gesellschaftsbereiche den chauvinistischen “Rettern” entrissen werden. Sonst wird es nicht möglich sein, die Niederlage der Pläne des Kapitals zu vollenden und die Tür für eine andere Zukunft aufzumachen.

Es muss immer wieder betont werden: Schließlich ist die Welt geschichtlich reif dafür, dass die zukünftigen Neugeborenen in ein

Leben treten können, das die volle Förderung aller ihrer menschlichen Potentiale bereithalten kann und die Gespenster der Entfremdung von des Menschen gesellschaftlicher Bestimmung vertrieben sind.”