On Monday 20th August Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP for Brighton and Hove, was arrested at a protest against the controversial fracking development in Balcombe in Sussex. In an era of daily political scandals in Britain the news was significant and received enthusiastically by the public. They were happy to learn of an MP who was willing to fight for something that she believed in even to the detriment of herself. This was of course admirable. However, except for raising awareness of the fracking issue (and perhaps her profile) Lucas' actions are unlikely to achieve anything.
The Green Party, which Lucas is part of, is a party which aims to further the importance of environmental issues in politics and ultimately to make the economy and society as a whole environmentally friendly and sustainable. These are of course noble and even necessary aims in today's world. The effects of 'climate change' are becoming more pronounced and therefore worrying. However the Green Party has a 'supra-class' approach to politics and this is a fatal flaw.
Capitalism is a mode of production which requires the continual growth of capital (or in the words of Marx the 'self-valorisation of capital'). It is necessary for the economy, and therefore profits, to grow continually otherwise the system collapses with disastrous consequences to society. We are living through such a period and its horrific consequences are evident to all.
In order to compete, nationally and internationally, capitalist firms must fight for the most profitable resources, technologies etc. They then produce as much of their commodity as possible that they think they can sell in a particular 'market'. Since each firm is competing for the same consumers, more is inevitably produced than can be purchased. This is true in a boom or in a slump. Therefore capitalism itself is wasteful and anarchic.
This is not something which the Green Party understands. They want an economy which is sustainable (and therefore planned) and not wasteful without changing its nature. It wants a capitalism which is not capitalism. It wants to square the circle.
Before the events involving the Green Party's only MP in Balcombe, there was another sequence of events which made this fatal flaw evident. The Brigton and Hove council, which had many Green councillors, decided to implement a programme of significant attacks against refuse workers' pay and conditions. This would adversely affect not only the workers in question but the environment as there would be more rubbish on the streets and less recycling. However it was necessary to implement such cuts due to budget constraints. This provoked a prolonged strike from the refuse workers and public indignation, many of whom voted for the Green Party's candidates. Eventually a deal was made between the council and workers but the Green Party's reputation was tarnished. It was forced to implement a policy it was opposed to by the demands of the system they were working within.
The latest events involving Lucas further demonstrate their flawed approach. Despite being the MP in the region and having a Green council, they could not prevent the beginning of the fracking process in Sussex. This is ultimately because capitalism is a system based on the private ownership of the means of production. This means that regardless of who is voted into parliament decisions concerning production are made by private firms. They are not democratic by nature. Ms Lucas wanted to control them democratically but of course could not. Then when this failed she tried to occupy the site with sympathisers. This failed for the same reason: the private ownership of the means of production. This prompted the state to intervene with force, which is ultimately what the state is for.
Capitalism is a mode of production which is necessarily wasteful and anarchic. It is not possible to control it democratically, plan it and make it sustainable. This is exactly why socialists aim to socialise the commanding heights of the economy i.e. to place the economy under the democratic control of the working class. Only then can the economy as a whole be planned and made environmentally friendly and sustainable. The Green Party must learn this otherwise it is doomed to further frustrations.
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