Programme of the Communist Party of Finland
Programme of the Communist Party of Finland
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CONTENTS
Preface
I The future of humanity and the planet under threat
We blame the system
II Capitalism and class society in Finland
The current stage in the development of capitalism
The disastrous consequences of neoliberalism
Power is concentrated in the hands of a few
Finland as a periphery of the EU and NATO
The interests of big business and the majority of the people at odds
III The democratic turnabout
Decision-making must be democratised
Welfare and equal opportunities for all
Economy on an ecologically sustainable footing
Towards a different Europe
Peace and solidarity
IV Socialism
V Cooperation
VI CPF – the party of the future
Preface
We live in a time of rapid change, exceptionally strong threats and crucial choices. Climate change and the loss of biodiversity threaten the future of all humanity. The risk of war, even nuclear war, has increased. Finland and the world are prosperous and rich, but at the same time there is poverty, unemployment and inequality. Advances in science and technology have created more opportunities, but also enormous forces for destruction.
This cannot continue. It is necessary to seek alternatives and a fundamentally different course of development. There is no time to lose, as many problems have come to an ominous head.
We communists trust in humankind. We trust in people’s ability to resolve problems, to cooperate, to love and to create. Our knowledge and awareness of many crises have increased. We understand that the world cannot be improved by good will alone. To overcome the crises, we need structural social change, planned action and – as experience shows – fierce struggle and class struggle against right-wing forces, big money and capitalism.
We want to build a Finland, a Europe and a world free from the power of capital, from the threats of environmental destruction, from unemployment, inequality and war. Our goals are a democratic Finnish welfare society, a democratic Europe based on solidarity, peace, a just and ecologically sustainable world and a new human civilisation, socialism and communism.
I The future of humanity and the planet under threat
Human beings have developed economics, science and culture in a way that provides opportunities for general prosperity and development. However, the rich elite, the 1% of humanity, owns more wealth than everyone else combined. The rich also consume the most natural resources and emit the most emissions.
Poverty, the destruction of nature, disease, unemployment and the subjugation of women deprive the majority of humanity of the opportunity to enjoy a decent life. Every day, tens of thousands of children and adults die of hunger and treatable diseases. The gap between rich and poor is widening. Wars, environmental disasters, unemployment and poverty have driven millions and millions of people to become refugees and migrants.
Human communities have always changed the local environment, but we are now in a different situation. Never before in history has humanity been able to upset the balance of the atmosphere, oceans and nature on a global scale. Our unique planet is in danger of becoming uninhabitable for humans and many species as millions of years of accumulated carbon reserves are burned into the air and the planet’s treasures are plundered within a few generations. Environmental disasters will follow one another and humanity will face global ecological collapse if overconsumption of resources, climate change and the loss of nature are not halted. It is time to act, to radically change the way we produce and consume to save humanity and the planet.
The world is wasting massive resources on armaments and wars, when it should be combined to ensure the survival of all humanity and the conditions for human life. The United Nations has agreed to ban nuclear weapons and set targets for disarmament, but the arms industry and armies are developing ever more destructive weapons and methods of warfare.
However, the course of events is not inevitable and is not independent of us humans. The labour and civic movements have brought about many reforms. Through broad social and political action, we can also bring about changes that go to the root of the problems and make human and natural well-being the main criterion for development.
We blame the system
Capitalism has developed the forces of production and changed people’s lives in an unprecedented way. At the same time, it has subjugated people, the economy and nature to the profit motive of private capital. Capitalism cannot solve the major social problems produced by this system, nor can it take into account the needs of human, social, ecological and global development as a whole.
The concentration of production and capital has led to monopolies that play a decisive role in the economy and the market. In a system of imperialism, financial capital, seeking quick investment profits, dominates and subjugates the rest of the economy. Its constant need to expand and extend its profit motive into new areas threatens the very survival of both humanity and nature. Multinational corporations also increasingly control technology, information and networks.
The logic of capital’s profit motive is based on constant quantitative growth, accumulation for the sake of accumulation, production for the sake of production. Although there is a growing awareness of the threats of climate change, natural degradation and other environmental crises, not enough actions have been taken to stop them. Even good objectives have not been met by failing to address the power of big business and finance capital. A large market for environmental products has emerged, but this has not reduced the world’s consumption of fossil fuels and other natural resources. Although military operations are among the biggest polluters, they have been kept out of environmental agreements.
Capitalist circles and elites in the major powers have joined forces internationally to strengthen their positions. They use a variety of means to pursue their interests and their domination, such as international banks, capital controls, technological control, information supremacy, corruption and breaking up the labour movement. Where these means are not enough, they resort to military force and authoritarian means to secure the privileges of big business, investors and the rich elite.
At the same time, the centres of imperialism compete for markets, natural resources, control of knowledge and technology, and influence. The collapse of the Soviet Union encouraged the United States’ aspirations for hegemony. In the 21st century, the economic importance and influence of Asia, especially China, in international development has grown. China is emerging as the world’s largest economy and a powerful player in international politics. Many other emerging countries are strengthening their role, too. The United States is seeking to maintain its hegemony, for example by stepping up arms build-up, expanding NATO, restricting trade in advanced technology and building an alliance against China and Russia. The Russian leadership has also pursued its great power objectives through power politics and war.
The European Union is seeking to strengthen its role in the system of imperialism and to improve the competitiveness of large companies in the region through the common internal market, deregulating national regulations, reducing working conditions and opening up more export markets for companies. The EU and the European Central Bank have channelled more capital into the market, but in many areas the EU has lagged behind the United States and China.
Through many crises, the European Union has evolved into a closer federation. The contradictions in the integration of countries with different starting points have been reflected in the protests of citizens, the problems of monetary union and the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union. As the EU’s powers have been extended, legislative power has become distanced from citizens. The power of the Commission, the big governments, the European Central Bank and the lobbyists of big business has grown. The EU presents itself as a defender of peace and ’common values’, but is arming itself and building walls against others. The development of military action links it to NATO, the arms industry and imperialist power politics.
Policies based on the freedom of markets and capital movements have aroused resistance and demands for a different Europe and a different world. On the other hand, it has fuelled alienation, insecurity and the rise of nationalism, the extreme right and racism. This is a major challenge to develop international cooperation of the trade union movement, NGOs, the left and other progressive parties.
II Capitalism and class society in Finland
Finns have built and, through many struggles, renewed this country. Our country is one of the most prosperous in the world, but wealth and opportunities are unequally distributed, people are alienated from each other, from work and from nature.
The means of production, labour and natural resources are mostly subordinated to the control of big business and capitalist profit motive. The distribution of the value and surplus value created by the workers through their labour, their welfare and their opportunities for influence are still determined today by the class struggle between labour and capital, the exploited and the exploiters, the oppressed and the oppressors.
The current stage in the development of capitalism
The capitalist development of the economy has led to the concentration and monopolisation of capital and production. The market is dominated by large companies and banks, which are intertwined in many ways with each other and with the state administration. At the same time, scientific and technological progress, environmental problems and internationalisation are emphasising the social nature of production. There is a growing contradiction between the social nature of production and private profit-making.
Capitalists always seek to increase their profits by producing cheaper, faster and more.
Capital invested in the means of production therefore tends to grow faster than the demand for labour. This is the main reason why capitalism produces unemployment and casualisation. The greatest benefit from the increase in labour productivity is reaped by big business, whose profits have increased enormously.
The accumulation of capital and the restriction of workers’ purchasing power repeatedly lead to overcapitalisation and economic crises. When the economy is driven not by human needs but by the production and appropriation of surplus value, production for the sake of production, wasteful consumption and the recycling of money just to make money also develops. The share of money capital, increasingly detached from productive activity and focused on speculation and the pursuit of quick profits, has swelled. It subjugates the rest of society. Together with the deregulation of capital movements, it has increased the overall volatility of the economy.
The current development of capitalism is characterised by the growing importance of knowledge and new information technologies, the expansion of financial markets, internationalisation, many changes in the content and organisation of work, the transformation of the energy economy and the fact that nature is already in many respects beyond its limits.
Large companies combine market-driven flexibility with global value chains. At the same time, they seek to reduce labour costs by competing with workers and employees from different countries to see who can do the job more cheaply. Cheap labour has been outsourced to low-wage countries, but it is also done by migrant workers and in informal economy subcontracting chains in Finland.
The technology, forestry and chemical industries, which are energy-intensive and have often neglected to invest in upgrading and energy-saving solutions, play a key role in Finland’s economy. Finland’s per capita greenhouse gas emissions are among the highest in Europe. On the other hand, over-felling for industrial purposes is undermining the carbon sink and biodiversity of forests. Environmental problems are exacerbated by the fact that the mining industry can exploit our country’s mineral resources under lax legislation with little regard for the environment, other industries and local people.
By international standards, a small number of large companies play an exceptionally important role in the Finnish economy. They control most of industrial production, exports, financial markets, information technology and business research and development. Their ownership has become more international and investor-driven in the 2000s. At the same time, big business leaders and employers’ associations have stepped up their attacks on the trade union movement and collective bargaining.
The disastrous consequences of neoliberalism
Persistent unemployment and part-time work, the high cost of housing, desolation of the rural areas and widespread poverty show how neoliberal policies based on market and capitalist freedoms are robbing many people of the chance of a secure life, breaking relationships and crushing hopes. It is a waste of resources, the flip side of which is the enrichment of the rich, speculation, conspicuous consumption and capital export. People’s needs and lives are subordinated to the market.
The public sector is branded ”expensive and inefficient” by the right-wing. But the public sector often works more efficiently than the private, provides essential services for all, diversifies economic development, improves society’s ability to cope with exceptional circumstances and empowers citizens. Governments have privatised the most profitable parts of the public sector, converted the remaining part to market-based services and cut public services. This has made it more difficult, for example, to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and to transform the economy in a more ecologically sustainable direction.
State and municipal spending cuts, privatisation and EUâs neoliberal policies are eroding public services and social protection built through the struggles of the workers’ movement and the cooperation of the left and centre parties. At the same time, however, the well-being of more and more people depends on them. Austerity policies threaten the livelihoods and well-being of the unemployed, the elderly, families with children, students and many others.
Mass media, education, science and culture have become more important, but they have also become more commercial, concentrated and internationalised. Advances in information technology and social media have increased access to events, but the concentration of ownership, the power of international giants and their commercial algorithms are reducing the diversity of information and freedom of expression.
The development of working life and society requires a broad general education, an understanding of the big picture and cooperation, but the media and often education also emphasise fragmented knowledge and the image of society as a competition between individuals, where ”everyone is the architect of his own destiny”. The lack of resources in education, the erosion of the integrity of primary education, the narrow focus of vocational education in particular, and the difficulties faced by many families with children, have contributed to the overall decline in learning outcomes and to the exclusion of children and young people in need of support.
Power is concentrated in the hands of a few
The struggle of the labour and civil movements resulted in universal and equal suffrage, local self-government, the right to strike and many other democratic rights. However, this did not change the nature of the state into a representative of equal citizens and realiser of the common good. Democracy and fundamental rights are also today a matter of class struggle.
The state apparatus maintains bourgeois hegemony and safeguards the functioning of the capitalist system, if necessary, by force. It masks inequalities and class conflicts based on private ownership of the means of production. While the state acts as a regulator of contradictions, it is also the object of struggles between different forces.
Power in Finland is concentrated in a small elite of the largest owners and managers of banks and companies, business federations, key ministers, the president, and top European Union and state officials. Decision-making in municipalities and welfare regions is also concentrated and distanced from the people.
The most important decisions are made in a small circle, in the chambers of business and government. The role of Parliament and the European Parliament is mostly just to give a general stamp of approval to these decisions. These decisions are presented by the mainstream media as the realisation of ’economic necessity’, ’international competitiveness’ and ’security’.
The extensive involvement of most parties and trade unions in state administration has disconnected them from their membership and people’s daily lives. The co-operative movement has also become detached from the roots of the workers’ and consumers’ co-operatives.
Finland as a periphery of the EU and NATO
International interaction and cooperation have become increasingly important in the economy and in other areas. At the same time, the forces of big business and the state are intertwined at a new, supranational level in the European Union. As a small country, Finland is in a rather subordinate position in the EU and has had to adapt to the framework set by market freedom and the large Member States. The distancing of decision-making from citizens has undermined democratic empowerment.
EU policies based on market freedoms and fiscal austerity have increased pressure in Finland to reduce working conditions, cut public spending and privatise. It has also accelerated regional concentration and rural depopulation. However, in circumstances such as the Covid-19 crisis, the EU has been forced to abandon some of its economic discipline, the harmfulness of which has become obvious.
Finland’s political leadership has, step by step, tied foreign and security policy more closely to US policy and NATO. Through military cooperation agreements, arms procurement and military exercises, progress has been made towards NATO membership. Parliamentary parties have raised military spending to the top level in the EU. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland abandoned a security policy based on the primacy of foreign policy and military non-alignment and moved towards a policy based on armament, NATO and the US nuclear deterrent. Finland’s eastern border is becoming NATO’s border against Russia, and tensions are rising in Finland’s neighbourhood. Commitment to NATO weakens the possibilities of implementing a peace policy and to promote actively disarmament.
The interests of big business and the majority of the people at odds
The key role in the development of production and society plays the wage-earning working class, which does not own the means of production and has no independent status in its work. The share of traditional factory and construction workers has declined, while the share of service, information and expert tasks has increased. Work is often carried out in smaller units, subcontracted, part-time, temporary, freelance and self-employed. Job insecurity affects young people in particular, but unemployment, part-time and casual work and forced self-employment have become a problem across a wide range of ages and sectors. Immigrants play an important role in many sectors, but also face many difficulties in joining working life and obtaining decent working conditions.
The level of education and skills of the workforce has risen in line with scientific, technical and social developments. The share of information work and intellectual work has increased. But many changes are taking place in contradictory ways. While, for some, work autonomy is increasing and working conditions are improving, for most others the pace of work is accelerating, work is becoming more fragmented and contractual security is weakening. Access to knowledge and training is unevenly distributed. The labour market remains largely segregated along gender lines, perpetuating inequalities for women.
The number and share of people with a university degree has increased. In particular, more and more people working in technical fields and in state and local government have a university degree. Most of them approach the working class status. The power of big business also limits the autonomy of creative work and increases the precariousness of the position of graduates.
The erosion and privatisation of public services that began in the 1990s is making it harder for families with children, pensioners and people on low incomes to prosper. At the same time, they reduce women’s opportunities for equality. Pension funds have been multiplied while small pensions prevent a growing number of pensioners from enjoying their right to a secure old age. Inequalities in health, housing and education are growing, increasing the heritability of poverty and deprivation. High-income earners, on the other hand, are increasingly purchasing health and social services through private insurance.
The work of farmers and farm workers is the foundation of our country’s food supply. EU agricultural policy, the burden of debt and the conditions imposed by the food industry and retail chains are increasing the difficulties faced by most farmers. This concentrates production on large farms, reducing the opportunities for smaller farms to develop more ecological and animal-friendly production.
The majority of enterprises in Finland are so-called micro-enterprises and the number of self-employed persons in particular has increased. But most small entrepreneurs are in a dependent and subordinate position in the clutches of banks, wholesalers, large firms and state bureaucracy.
All in all, the interests, aspirations and desires of the vast majority of the people clash with the power of big money. Awareness of the common and convergent basic interests of this majority will not happen by itself. It is made more difficult by the diversity of experience, the employers’ attempts to undermine collective bargaining and pit workers against each other, the lack of trade union organisation and trade unionism, the bourgeois mainstream media and the individualistic consumerism fuelled by the market. People are also tied to the financial markets through bank loans and investment. Many people feel insecure, powerless and isolated.
Another difficulty is the denial of equal opportunities in information and social activities. The opinions of the left, the trade union movement and NGOs are silenced, their activities are hampered and many of their activists are discriminated. Prejudices against other peoples, ethnic groups and cultures are used to pit working people and people with fewer resources against each other. Many are discouraged by the constant competition, the trampling on human dignity and the mental defeat.
Few people, however, want to be content with the role of a subject and what the elite want people to think. Most want to influence decisions about themselves, do meaningful work, care for the environment and belong to a community that cares for others and builds a better future. We communists are engaged in this action and in the debate about alternatives – about how we can solve problems, what kind of society and world we want.
III The democratic turnabout
The serious problems of Finland’s and the world’s development cannot be solved by subordinating politics to the market or reducing it to a parliamentary power game. What is needed is a politics in which people are not the object of power but the author and purpose of politics.
The Communist Party of Finland wants to develop concerted action against neoliberalism, the right and big business in order to change the direction of politics, extend the rights of working people and the poor, limit the power of big business, achieve ecological restructuring, secure peace and open the road to socialism.
We don’t imagine that we can provide ready-made recipes and plan everything in advance. We look for and implement alternatives together with other people, organisations, civic movements and parties who want to change the direction of politics.
Decision-making must be democratised
Building a modern economy and society depends on the development of people’s skills and initiatives, both as workers and as citizens. The main obstacle to this is the power of big business. The realisation of democracy requires the breaking of the power of a small minority who own the means of production.
Active participation and influence requires and ensures that freedom of expression, public access to decision-making, the right to strike, the right to hold referendums and other democratic rights are respected. Full citizenship must be extended to working life, so that workers have the right to be informed and to participate in the decision-making of companies, institutions and agencies. Participation and empowerment also require professional and political organisation and democratic decision-making by trade unions, NGOs and political parties. No one shall be discriminated against on grounds of origin, language, gender, sexual orientation, conviction, opinion, disability, age or any other ground.
Democracy must also be extended to the economic sphere. This means a range of measures from public economic decision-making and the development of cooperatives to the nationalisation, social ownership and democratic control of banks and insurance companies, as well as key sectors of industry and energy.
The activism of the labour movement and civic action must increase the influence of the working poor and the poorest in the administration of the state, regions and municipalities. In state decision-making, there must be a shift from governmental and ministerial power to the development of a parliament as a functioning body of democracy. Local and regional self-government must be safeguarded through adequate state funding and the development of local democracy and participatory budgeting. Along with municipalities, regional governments must also have the right to tax and expand their activities. The Saami people’s right to self-determination and international agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples must be implemented.
The growing importance of information, its management and transmission underline the need to democratise mass information, education, research and cultural life. Everyone must have the opportunity to develop themselves and to enjoy the benefits of scientific knowledge and the arts. The role of minority languages and cultures must be strengthened. The domination of the commercial media and international information technology corporations by big business must be dismantled. The public service of the public broadcaster must be developed to promote democracy, freedom of expression and a diverse range of information. Cultural and opinion magazines and citizens’ movements must be given greater opportunities to provide information. The church must be separated from the state and the right to tax must be removed from the church.
Welfare and equal opportunities for all
In Finland, it is possible to ensure the right to decent work and well-being for everyone living here. The public authorities must ensure that everyone’s basic economic, social and cultural rights are fulfilled.
People’s aspirations for a better life, an ageing population, changes in working life and the growing service gap resulting from austerity policies pose major challenges for the development of public services and income security. Meeting these challenges is also an investment in the most important factor for economic and social development: the human being.
A comprehensive basic social protection system must guarantee an adequate income for every unemployed person, student, pensioner, sick person, disabled person and others who cannot get it otherwise. Pension systems, unemployment and health insurance must be reformed to eliminate poverty and ensure the economic and social conditions for a good life without unnecessary bureaucracy.
Public services must be developed to guarantee everyone’s right to health, education, culture, network connections and the care they need to live in dignity. In particular, basic services must be organised as public services with equal access for all. In order to take account of different needs, a human-centred service culture and governance must be developed, involving service users and workers in the development of services and ensuring a high level of professionalism and well-being of workers.
General working time must be reduced to six hours a day or 30 hours a week without reducing wages. Increased labour productivity and a fairer distribution of its results will make this possible. The reduction in working time must be implemented in such a way that new jobs are created and not by intensifying the workload.
We need to make income distribution and taxation fairer. Taxes on low and middle income earners must be reduced. Instead, taxes on large corporations, high capital and high income earners, and on the waste of natural resources must be tightened. Local and provincial taxation should be progressive and also apply to capital income.
To realise gender equality, the labour market must be desegregated along gender lines, equal pay for work of equal value, public services must be developed and gender impacts must be taken into account in decision-making. We must get rid of all forms of gender subordination.
We must secure housing as a fundamental right and eradicate homelessness. To reduce the cost of housing, we need to increase state-funded low-cost rental housing, introduce rent regulation, prevent speculation on land and set up non-profit municipal or regional building societies. Good housing also includes local services, public transport and green spaces.
State, provincial and municipal institutions and companies must be developed as pioneers in the fields of employment, democracy and environmental protection. They should be active in diversifying the productive structure and regional development. Concrete employment, social and environmental obligations should also be imposed on private companies, whose activities are supported by the public authorities in various ways.
Economy on an ecologically sustainable footing
Humans cannot live without interfering with nature, but this must not mean an indifferent instrumental relationship with nature. Economic and social activities must be adapted to an ecologically sustainable framework.
We need to stop overconsumption of natural resources, protect biodiversity and develop environmentally friendly technologies. This means a major ecological reconstruction of the economy, which must be carried out in a planned and equitable way. Production and consumption patterns must be changed so that the economy does not exceed nature’s capacity for sustainability and profitability. We need to move from a wasteful, single-use economy to a circular economy on the scale of society as a whole.
To stop global warming, we need to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources and increase carbon sinks. Finland must become carbon neutral. This also requires increasing the share of public transport, especially rail transport, renovating building
