Hazlan Zakaria  7:12 PM Nov 20, 2011.

Political power may not be the only route to displacing capitalism, as putting in place rakyat-friendly socialist structures in place may pave the way for justice and equality to boot out the ‘already crumbling capitalist agenda’.

Saying this today, Malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran (left) asked: “Why do we have to wait until we have political power? Why can’t socialists have their own banks, own initiatives, own factories and our own companies now? What is stopping us?”

These were the questions the technopreneur asked his audience at the PSM organised Socialism 2011 forum in Kuala Lumpur today.

This ‘socialism by the bootstrap’ approach, Premesh argued, is relevant in a world currently on the cusp of change.

From land to manufacturing to the capital markets, modes of production have all been “disrupted” by the changes brought about by technology. Now, it’s no longer about actual production activities or the financial markets, but the “ownership of platforms that allow production to happen.”

Apple’s iPhone and Facebook’s social networking site, Premesh said, are examples of such platforms that function through crowdsourcing applications from users.

Premesh, who co-founded independent news portal Malaysiakini along with Steven Gan, advocated that socialists latch on to this new trend.

Enablers for change

Kiva, Vitana and Bootstrapper, he said further, are key examples of non-profit social-entrepreneurship platforms that are enablers to change and go against the grain of for-profit capitalist financial ventures.

Like Apple and Facebook which involve the masses and crowdsources content, the online-based non-profit financial establishments crowdsources funds from the average person for distribution to needy individuals.

And like social-entrepreneurships, he believe that socialism can start small and go viral by gradually establishing a strong presence that will endear itself to the public and eventually displace capitalism and solve social woes in the interim.

“We should build socialist structures now from within, and then take over as the remains of capitalism crumble around us,” said Premesh.

If socialists fail to master the new mode of production, they stand to lose everything.

“Don’t let the capitalists control the new mode of production, like they did with land, manufacturing and capital,” he warned.

While still dedicated to bringing about a shift in political power, Premesh stressed that bootstrapping socialism in more modest ways than taking over government is just as important.

Real socialism impossible without power

Premesh’s views were contrasted, however, by a fellow socialist from Australia, who insisted on political power beingthe still holy grail towards realising socialism.

“Creating real socialism is not possible unless we have state power,” argued the socialist youth movement Resistance activist Melanie Barnes (above).

Political power is necessary to push through the changes necessary and weather the storm of resistance from “capitalists will not give up without a fight.”

Barnes gave the example of Venuezela, where socialist worker-cooperatives thrived and showed the way towards bring about change by way of a state that was more amenable to socialism than in countries whose governments are controlled by capitalists.

Studies in Venezula have shown that workplace democracy can also be the precursor to social consciousness, as having a say in workplace matters empower the public to engage in increasingly bigger issues until truly socialist society can be built.

Barnes also encouraged, however, the exploration of new socialist initiatives such as  those that Premesh advocated to advance socialism on the whole.

She remained steadfast, however, in her belief that the true battle for socialism must focus on wresting state power.

She said she is encouraged by the global climate and such developments as the Arab Spring taking place in the Middle East and the anti-capitalist Occupy movement which first took place on Wall Street in the US takes the rest of the world by storm.

Learn from past socialist states

PSM activist Chan Choon Kai joined both Barnes and Premesh in saying that whichever way one chooses to advance socialism, activists must learn from history to avoid making the same mistakes.

Recounting the failures of Soviet Russia, Maoist China and the Yugoslavia of Josip Broz Tito, Choon (right) warned that the monolithic bureaucratic state machineries had led to corruption, cronyism and oppression.

As such, said Choon, whatever initiatives are taken must include efforts to “democratise” socialism and ensure the opinions and input of the masses are taken into account.