By a commentator for the Earn Folket Media.
This is a chronicle. Analysis and standpoint are the commentator's own, and do not necessarily match the Earn Folket Media's line.
The City Council in Drammen has recently made a decision on how many refugees they will receive this year, and have decided by a barely majority that they only want to accept Ukrainian refugees. The debate in the city council and in the media afterwards have been characterized by chauvinistic statements on immigration and integration where the masses are set against each other.
The municipal council has set a claim to the state, with 29 to 28 votes, that Drammen will only receive refugees from Ukraine. The reason is, firstly, that Drammen has "many non-Western immigrants", and secondly, that it should be "integration inhibitory to settle even more with non-Western backgrounds".
Disputed decision is called racist
The further rationale is that the war in Ukraine is ongoing in Norway's "neighborhoods" and that it is therefore committed to prioritizing Ukrainians against refugees with a different background.
The decision has been described as racist and discriminatory, also by representatives from various bourgeois parties. A municipal politician from the Center Party was so upset that he was crying in the local debate. The opposition in the municipality has been hard against the decision, and the decision was called illegally by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Also within the parties that agreed to the decision, the decision has led to conflicts, and a representative from the KrF said that she would rather leave the majority coalition than join such a decision again.
Although the criticism of several teams is right in the obvious chauvinistic and racist content of the decision, the criticism lacks it to point out it mainly about why Norwegian imperialism initially has immigration.
Why is immigration today?
Regarding immigration to Norway, it is first important to state that the Storting has long ago adopted immigration stops. Thus, it exists, legally, not ordinary immigration to Norway. But through various agreements with European countries, the EU and some other countries (such as the United States and Canada), it is open to labor immigration from a number of countries. Secondly, Norway, through various conventions, has committed to accepting some refugees. And finally, refugees who meet a number of requirements can apply for and get family reunification. These are the formal frameworks, in short, that, despite the "immigration stop", is still a certain migration to Norway.
Immigration is exceptionally important for the economy of Norwegian imperialism. First, only this immigration increases that the population in Norway has increased in recent decades, as birth rates have long dropped. Secondly, we can see that in a number of very important industries - such as the construction industry, industry, public welfare and private service - is an ever -increasing proportion of workers immigrants or people with "immigrant backgrounds". The basis for migration is the wars and distress in the Third World, which has also increased dramatically over the last decades. These are the wars' wars, wars Norwegian imperialism have contributed to, and the exploitation of the oppressed nations - a exploitation Norwegian imperialism earns tremendously.
Imperialism has long reached a point where there is no longer room for welfare reforms without it happening at the expense of the acquisition of wealth for citizenship. The general crisis in imperialism, sharpened competition between the imperialists and falling profit rate, forces the bourgeois states to cut after cuts in the "social welfare schemes" - a trend that has been dominant for more than fifty years regardless of which government has been sitting at the helm. At the same time, prices are now shooting in the weather through increased inflation, following the cyclical crisis that hit the international economy in 2020. These crises, which break out at 8-12 years, are legally followed by the capitalist method of production.
Falling birth rates and the decay of imperialism
This development has now reached a point where it is becoming too expensive, even for large parts of the petty bourgeoisie and workaristocracy in imperialist countries, to feed a so -called "ordinary family". It is becoming more and more expensive with a life in relative abundance in imperialist countries. In addition, there are increasing demands on productivity, "efficiency", which many people are marking through career hunting, pressure and stress. These are probably some of the reasons why birth rates have fallen dramatically in Norway and other imperialist countries.
In addition, it often takes 18 years or more before a child born in an imperialist country begins to work. Therefore, these are mainly an "expense item" for a long time, both for the family and for the state. However, a refugee or immigrant can begin work immediately or after a few years to compare.
Thus, immigration becomes more profitable for the imperialists. It is a complete lie that "immigration costs too much". This is a bourgeois myth in the same way as the notion that capitalists are "employers" or "it costs to hire". In fact, workers produce both their own wages and profits that the bourgeoisie acquires. Thus, imperialism enriches just on immigration, even when it comes to refugees. The expenses for language learning and "integration" for a couple of years are low compared to the schooling of children born in Norway. In any case, these expenses pay back within a few years after they apply to work. In any case, the "cost" is covered by the values the workers themselves have created, and immigrants are over -represented among the most dividends in this country, ie those who are deprived of the most values of the state and capital.
Regarding the aforementioned birth rate, this has almost collapsed in imperialist Norway. This is a direct result of the increasingly poorer financial conditions for having children, an expression of the decay in imperialism. The birth rate is currently down to 1.4 children per woman in the imperialist Norway - and in comparison it must be 2.1 just to maintain the population. Thus, the state and capital are entirely dependent on tens of thousands of new immigrants each year just to retain the number of workers as before. Without this, profits from production in Norway will fall - unless the replacement increases even more than it does.
No humanism from the bourgeoisie today
Something that emphasizes the increased exploitation and decay in imperialism even more is the reintroduction of child labor in imperialist countries as a "new normal", as we see in the United States. New proposals to loosen the regulations for youth in work in the imperialist Norway also point out that the same trend is in the process of asserting itself here as well. Again, the cause of why imperialist countries need immigration is emphasized: The bourgeoisie needs immigration to safeguard the work capacity, for the workers are the source of this class wealth.
Immigration is thus not at all at the fact that the bourgeoisie "cares about human rights" or that they want to "save" masses from the Third World, as the bourgeoisie and their useful idiots in the bourgeois media desperately present it. Their support for Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people is just one of countless examples that shows how pervaded these phrases are, how little "humanitarian" the bourgeoisie is in reality - whether they believe in their own lies or not.
It is true that poverty and social problems are increasing in many neighborhoods and cities, as Drammen's politicians say they are concerned about. But this is due to solely imperialism itself. This is a consequence of the general crisis in imperialism, a tendency we see in the world. This in no way follows from so-called "immigration and integration problems". Social problems are primarily a consequence of poverty, and poverty is a consequence of the exploitation of capitalism.
Class struggle against the bourgeoisie's "split and rule"
The purpose of blaming immigration and immigrants - as much as when the bourgeoisie chooses to point to women and feminism, "weak" and "feminized" men, "lazy youngsters" and everything else - is to channel the frustration among the masses, a frustration Which increases in times of crisis, towards other parts of the masses, rather than the rage being directed at the actual problem that is imperialism itself and its ruling class, the bourgeoisie. In other words, the entire "immigration debate" is just an expression of the rulers' ancient tricks - "split and ruler". The masses will be excited with "cultural struggle", requirements for "law and order" or identity politics - all to avoid the rage turning to the common enemy of the masses: the bourgeoisie and their state.
Whether new workers come from Ukraine, Poland or Somalia, or if the border is hermetically closed to people on the run, none of the inherent problems in imperialism. Of course, this is the bourgeoisie completely clear. Therefore, the bourgeois parties, including Frp, are able to maintain the "art piece" to maintain the same number of refugees regardless of government, while at the same time they have talked about "integration problems" for forty years.
Communists and revolutionaries consistently defend the bourgeois-democratic rights to seek asylum from the wars' wars, or to migrate to seek work. Any anti -imperialist condemns all his heart The chauvinistic heat directed at the masses migrating from the oppressed nations, wherever they come from or what they believe in.
At the same time, by understanding some Marxism, we will reveal that the bourgeoisie is neither guided by humanism nor obedience to these rights when they allow immigration despite their "concern for the integration" - the basis and guidance they follow is solely the requirement to defend and increase profits. Distinguishing between different refugees, linking crime and social turmoil to immigration, or the monomane focus some people have on criticizing Islam, is just rhetoric for splitting the masses, including this to defending the profits.
The bourgeoisie spends a lot of time and effort trying to split the masses and set them up against each other, because they also know that if the masses are organized and accumulated to battle against their common enemy, there are no decisions that can help them out of the crisis they themselves have created.
References:
Drammen municipality will only receive Ukrainian refugees: - This must be a joke - NRK Buskerud
Opinions: Drammen municipality: says no to "non-Western" refugees
Record low fertility in 2022 - Statistics Norway