The System Of KCK As The System Of The Free People
Understanding the system of the KCK is intertwined with the understanding of the means of production. The basic contradictions and conflicts of the world we live in, particularly the painful situation of the Middle East, are obvious. This has become a reason that barbaric massacres have been committed on ancient peoples and cultures.
The road of destruction, which was opened by opportunists, was not lessened this. Because the economic system was put in place for profit rather than for the needs of society, nature has been subjected to great destruction; it has reached a level of natural disaster from which it cannot return. This ecological catastrophe has affected humanity as a whole, without discriminating between class, sex or culture. The statist civlization, which does not see itself as a part of nature but rather the master of nature, has pulled the wood on which humanity stands out from under them, divided the nature that sustains us, and then began to create a huge catastrophe.
Women, as the first colony and first slave, was subjected to a more subtle and difficult slavery that was different than that of the feudal era. She has been turned into a decieved, self-detatched, fragmented phenomenon that has lost her history and identity. In the words of Abdullah Ocalan; she has not just become a subject of trade, but has become the queen of all commodities. Slavery of this subtle nature is being reproduced and spread throughout society step by step via the personality of women.
Capitalist modernity has turned woman, the creator of life, into the biggest weapon of the system that aims to destroy life and society. The destruction which wreaked havoc on woman’s identity has opened the way for further destruction of society. It is not difficult to see that in every country and continent, in every people and culture, the modern statist civilization is a civillization of destruction and degradation.
In the Middle East in general and particularly in Kurdistan, the millenia-old conflicts which have continued until the current century made this region a region destroyed by the capitalist system in the most thorough way. The economic mentality, built on the economy and politics of the authority of the racist nation-state, is reflected in the colonization of the Kurds. There has been an unprecedented era of genocide and societal destruction. The Kurds people have been divided, destroyed in every way, and left blinded, unorganized, unmanaged, unconcious and helpless; that is, they have reached a place where they no longer know if they are dead or alive. This genocidal era that was imposed on the Kurds in the 20th century had international approval. In fact, the Kurdish people have been ignored, and the genocide that colonialist nation-states have inflicted on the Kurdish people has been approved of in a practical and official way. From the start, NATO and the UN made the decision to approve the genocidal policies of the colonizing states in every international institution and treaty. The system limitlessly and unconditionally accepted and defended every genocidal policy carried out on the Kurdish people.
Consequently, all Kurdish attempts to remove themselves from this situation are not just directed against the colonizing forces, but also against the international capitalist system. Kurds have been oppressed by their obstruction and deception. The great power of capitalist modernity was one of the principal reasons that Kurdish uprisings and rebellions have always been defeated. Their support for the genocidal system of the colonizers, the perspectives they advanced, and their willingness to stand in place of the colonizers when it was necessary became the essential reason for Kurds’ failure.
These forces have made every attempt to continue their exterminatory age by obstructing and invalidating Kurdish rebellions and uprisings on the one hand, and on the other hand have used Kurds to prop up colonialist nation-states. They used the Kurds as a trump card in order to keep them in line as docile members of the system. When the time came, they accepted bribes, sold their houses, told them what to do, and accepted political support from the colonialist forces against the Kurdish issue.
The aim of this was to control Kurdish regions and make them dependent on these forces; in this they were successful. The people of the Middle East, who had lived in harmony for thousands of years, were now subjected to war and extermination; the Middle East has been kept in a state of interference and never been allowed to think for itself, manage itself, or defend itself. It was not allowed to remove itself from the thought, organization or principles of the capitalist system by advancing its own thought, organizational forms or political models. Intellectual dependence has been kept alive; the licenses and tools of capitalist modernity have sometimes even been sanctified in an organizational and political way by the right-wing in the name of leftism.
The concept of the state is among the most sacred of concepts. It is led by racism and religious extremism at every level. Sexism is always produced as both a reason and a natural outcome of this. Though there may be some who want to come out from under the agency of the state, there is no other option outside of the capitalist system which is the center of oppression, colonialism, and violence.
Annihilation has been written down as the fate of the Kurdish people. The Kurdish people, whose extermination has been legally decided, have been punished in the most severe way for every attempt to escape this decision. Though every society has existed based on its ties to the system, the Kurds were not given permission to escape their own decimation. Here, among the struggle for revival, independence and victory, the KCK system emerged to stand against the era of extermination of the Kurdish people.
The system of KCK is one which solves social and historical problems. The KCK system is a system which fortells the organization of democratic society and embodies the relationship between the state and democratic society. It forecasts autonomy and embodies the will of organization at every level. It takes fundamental democratic relations based on free and equal participation seriously. Consequently, the KCK system is the reorginzation of free, equal, organized, and resolute social life.
Abdullah Ocalan was the one who defined and theorized the advanced KCK system as a problem-solving model and made it a subject of current debate. In particular, the KCK system was envisioned as an organized and political structure of the democratic nation against the nation-state institutions which brought society to the level of extermination. The KCK system is a realized expression in line with democratic modernity and practical society, against capitalist modernity which is embodied by capitalism, industrialism and the nation-state.
Important discussions and activities are being conducted in order to better understand, explain, and implement the KCK system. Social problems that statist civilization has built over the course of five thousand years have become cancerous. Human society is under a heavy burned from which they cannot escape. No serious solutions to the man-made problems of the statist civilization have been suggested. Those models which have been presented as solutions mostly end up escalating these problems.
On the other hand, social issues of our age have now reached a level in which humanity can no longer carry on. i.e., either humanity solves these problems, or is crushed under their weight. In this respect, there is no longer the chance to simply live without solving these problems, postpone their solutions, or present ineffective solutions. This makes the solution for these man-made social problems one of the most critical duties of humanity.
The KCK system includes the expression of society and humanity’s free and independent will in an organized way. It is the conciousness and stance of freedom and independence envisioned by unity and integration. This means that the KCK system is libertarian and independent; however, this freedom and independence is not envisioned in terms of separatism, isolation, or contraction, but rather in terms of unification, integration, and consolidation. Consequently, one can define democratic autonomy as freedom and independence based on the principles of unity and integration.
The KCK system is not the separatist type of independent system envisioned by different states, nor is it the autonomous national and cultural system that is defined by free culture and language. It is not a democratic autonomous system which looks to solve problems in its region alone, nor is it a real-socialist or Soviet system that looks to only solve socio-economic problems. Without a doubt, the KCK system is not any of these systems by itself. However, in terms of the autonomy aspect, the KCK is not far from all of these systems. Consequently, one can define the KCK system as a system which solves problems – particularly Kurdish problems – by criticizing and throwing out the disfunctional aspects which do not solve modern social issues and by synthesizing the functional aspects that do.
The Kurdish issue is a widespread and disastrous problem which has not been rectified by any model of solution; it requires a model of solution that unites all of these models and can advance. Here the system and model of the KCK has been revealed as the conclusion to this situation. The biggest difference between the KCK and other systems is that all other previous systems were based on the statist paradigm and envisioned within a statist system. Paradigmatically, the KCK system is different in its roots. It is not a democratic paradigm based on the statist paradigm. This means that paradigmatically, the KCK system is different from all the other proposed solutions. Actually, the most fundamental reason for the failure to find a solution in other models was that they were thoroughly intertwined to the statist paradigm.
The problem-solving power of the KCK system is the result of a paradigm shift, or a democratic paradigm shift, which was based on the inability of other models to find a proper solution. Since the KCK system is based on democracy – i.e., it has a deeper relationship with freedom and equality – it is a force and structure that finds solutions to every type of problem. Its desire for independence has passed the path of separatism and is based on unity.
Firstly, the KCK system is the result of a lack of solution to social problems, the failure of other systems to implement previously-suggested solutions, and a will to develop alternative solutions to those problems which had not been solved.
Second, without a doubt it is different from the solutions of all other models. However, it is not far from them as a whole. It embodies an advanced synthesis that includes all of their positive aspects.
Third, It is different from the other paradigms. Other models attempt to solve problems based on the statist paradigm; but the KCK system seeks to solve all social problems by unifying democracy and autonomy based on the democratic paradigm.
This model is first and foremost designed to be a solution to the Kurdish issue. Nowadays, the characteristics that can find a solution for the Kurdish issue – which is one of the heaviest and most disastrous problems facing humanity – can also be used to solve all the other problems. The level of the massacre of humanity in Kurdistan, where the assimilation-based genocide has been practiced in a multidimensional manner for almost a century, is one of the most severe of the social problems developed by the statist system, and perhaps even the most important. Humanity has only witnessed physical genocides, but has not witnessed anything like that which has been imposed upon the Kurds; i.e. a centuries-old genocide that consists of the synthesis of both massacres and assimilation. The model of the genocide of the Kurds surpasses any societal genocide developed by capitalist modernity; it embodies the highest level of brutality. Consequently, today it has become the most severe and complex problem facing capitalist modernity and the global system today. In this respect, a model which can produce a solution to the Kurdish problem will be a system of finding solutions to all modern social problems built by the statist system.
When Abdullah Ocalan first presented the KCK system, it was a model of solution for the Kurdish issue. His definition, theory, and principles of his practice were based on bringing a solution to the Kurdish problem. However, in general terms, it is not limited to the Kurdish problem alone; it is not a Kurdish-specific or Kurdish-only model. The system that is able to solve the Kurdish issue has the power and will to solve all of the social issues created by the statist system today. This model is a solution for the most fundamental and serious social issues humanity faces today. For example, there is no other model which solves women's issues. For example, it is the model of solving the problem of becoming a free, organized, and voluntary power for all social segments, that is, reaching democratic participation. That is the model of democratization. It is the model that solves the problems of hardworking people. It is the model that solves the economic problems of the society that lives under the statist system. It is not just a model that solves the problems of natural society; it solves the severe ecological problems of nature which has come to face-to-face with destruction. Yet it is the model that solves society's social issues. It is the model to solve political problems, diplomatic problems, and legal problems. The world has eliminated all politics and social morality and uses morality and politics to exert pressure, exploit, and sharpen its own cunning; this is the model which preserves the structure and truth of political and moral society by destroying all of this. Therefore it is the model to solve problems of safety and problems of societal self-defense. As a matter of fact, the armies developed in the name of the defense are the core of the development of the statist system, which in turn is based on every type of oppression, exploitation and oppression. In truth, it is never discussed that all social problems are constructed and developed under this colonialist system. Therefore, one of the most important dimensions of liberating society from these man-made problems is that they can truly solve the defense issue of all society with a true self-defense force. When self defense is left to others, without a doubt they turn their authority into systemic pressure and colonialism.
Here, the KCK system has the willpower and the skill to solve all problems that have arisen in all areas of community life, from the economy created by the statist system to security.
In this respect, it has the feature of being a force which can solve the Kurdish problem, and has the will to solve all other social problems. It has taken on the burden of resolving women's issues, revealing the organized free will of women and revealing the structure of a democratic society that will enable her to participate effectively at the level she deserves.
It will be able to solve minority issues with the freedom of language and culture. It has the power to solve all problems of the working people that comes from oppression and colonization. It has the power to envision a solution to the problem of the destruction of nature. The KCK system has the power and the will to solve problems faced in all areas of society. Therefore, in its will to create life under a democratic society, it embodies the alternative to the societal breakdown built by capitalist modernity. In this respect, it has the will and the power to produce solutions to the modern-day problems of all social sectors.
Again, it is not only limited to solving the social problems of Kurdistan, it also aims to solve the main problems of all societies around the world. In this respect, it is not just a local or regional system, but a universal one.
The statist system in general, and the capitalist modernist system in particular, has done everything in its power to brainwash people and invalidate everything they do, in order to make societies unconscious and unorganized. They use all of their technical skills and media to make it so people cannot think, organize, or see the truth; the state desires to bring people to say, "just let our father the state take care of us". It is first and foremost necessary to overcome this situation mentally, organizationally, and practically. It is absolutely imperative that all walks of life, in particular women and youth, overcome this situation, which is created and aggravated by capitalist modernity. In addition to this, the existing disorganization must be overcome and and the economic, social, political, cultural, legal and defensive dimensions of democratic society must absolutely be developed; i.e. organization of a democratic society must be built. A concious and organized society at this level acts like a cure. The creation and development of the organization of democratic society is based on the foundation of the system of democratic confederalism; hence, the society must become organized and free-willed, attain its own solution to its problems, and organize its own life with its own power. Without this, of course, there will be no democratic autonomy. Without a democratic society there will also be no democratic autonomy.
In these terms, first of all, serious and original changes and developments need to be constructed within today's social perspective. All of the social milleu must utilize democratic awareness and organization. Organized and concious participation must be made all the highest levels of social life of the democratic confederalist system. Women and children in particular are the most aware and organized on this subject, and their participation is critical. Free development and social democracy are tied together with this. There is a general definition of this: "The level of social freedom is directly proportional to the organization and participation of women; i.e. their level of freedom." Thus, people must liberate themselves from their existing situation, overcome the existing lack of conciousness and make themselves aware, overcome their lack of organization and organize themselves, destroy their enslavement and live at a level of organization that makes them the center of a free and democratic life. The same things apply to the youth in the same manner. While women embody the path to freedom and provide control, there is no doubt that the youth reveal the power of dynamism and the spirit of creation. The humanitarian perspective and democratic life embody equality and freedom. In these terms, it is necessary to first and foremost develop change and renewal in all levels of society, especially among the youth and women. Step by step organization is not a topic of discussion. The realization and development of this consciousness and organization on the basis of a system of democratic confederalism, the emergence of a democratic society as a democratic confederalist society, and the attainment of such organized and unified voluntary power is also of great importance for the realization of a democratic autonomous solution. It is possible to express this in short.
The KCK system forecasts the regression, restriction and limitations of the existing reality of the nation state. Today, the state has become everything, and society has become nothing. Every field of life has been annexed by the state; it wishes to expand itself even more. Society as a whole has been estranged from life and become meaningless. It has been turned into slavery; turned into a piece of the state. Society is being destroyed, but the real meaning of this destruction is that a new society is being realized. A social genocide that capitalist modernity imposes on every society in every corner of the world is emerging in the place of the age of racist destruction of the previous ages. The state shapes the soul, emotions, thought, and all characteristics of life. It creates ideology, culture, soul, language, organization, and social life.
It says, "I determine everything; no one else can interfere." It eliminates society and takes its place. Without a doubt, no one can speak of democracy, freedom, equality, humanity, generosity, or brotherhood in such a situation. This is fascism, despotism, and genocide in its most severe form. Thus, in places in which the state is like this, there is no doubt that social problems are experienced at the highest level. Just social problems? No. There are also problems concerning the destruction of nature. Social nature is exterminated by oppression and exploitation by way of its own internal contradictions. As a matter of fact, this is the stage we have arrived at today: both nature and society are being destroyed at the highest level, and many think that we are approaching doomsday.
No doubt, this is a dangerous situation. There has never been a historical period in which the statist system was like this. The existing nation-state mentality and the nation-state structure is at odds with the reality of the statist system. This is embodied in division and differentiation. At this point, in order for people to reveal the problems that threaten nature and society and make the world a free place to live, humanity has no option but to weaken, limit and restrict the rabid and fascist nation-state. People must make this official in certain areas of life.
Therefore, it is necessary to have a struggle that shrinks and limits the existing statist system, and removes society from the genocidal situation. In this way, the state withdraws itself from the role of public safety. It becomes sensitive to democracy. It takes on a structure that cooperates with democratic society and agrees with its role.
For this, there must no doubt be a struggle against the existing fascist nation-state system from all sides. In a struggle of this manner, the nation-state system must be driven to the edge. This is the most basic and important reason for the creation of the KCK system.
In order for people to develop the KCK system, first and foremost there must be organization of a democratic society. Secondly, there must be an effective struggle against the existing nation state and the state must be forced into sympathizing with democracy. I.e., the aim is to force the state to accept the truth of democratic society, merge with it, and integrate with the people. Only in this way is the realization of the democratic autonomous system foretold by KCK possible. In other words, it means the development of the KCK system – on the one hand, to fight for the advancement of the organization of democratic society, and on the other hand, to lessen the influence of the government my limiting the state. That is, the struggle, education, and widely spread ideological propaganda for the organization of democratic society. Developing democratic consciousness and organization in all areas of society from economy to politics and culture, building social self-defense and making its own security means the reorganization and limitation of the state by way of a multi-faceted, effective, active democratic political struggle against the nation-state structure. The ideological struggle means propaganda and education. First, the women and youth will bring democratic organization to all of the milieu of society – this is the meaning of the construction of democratic confederalism. The political structure means the lessening and diminishment of the state and the effective practices of a political society. When it is necessary, this struggle also means the struggle for self-defense, the development of resistance, and the innovation of an official struggle for defense. In this way, the KCK system embodies the functional, active, and effective nature of struggle.
In order to the develop the KCK system in the Middle East, everyone – but especially Kurds – must be conscious, organized, and participate in the struggle, because the existing Middle Eastern system was formed by the partition of Kurdistan and the imposition of genocidal regimes on Kurdish society. Backwardness, despotism, anti-democracy, and regional fascist dictators took power in Kurdistan and are supported by it. Thus, social solidarity, democratic unity, and the brotherhood of peoples have not been realized. In order to advance democracy in the Middle East, brotherhood and the democratic unity of the Middle East must be built, and the conditions that existing regimes have created to divide Kurdistan and exterminate the Kurds must be destroyed. Backwardness must be destroyed in Kurdistan. The backwards system that is embodied by the existing oppression, repression, fascism and genocide of society must be broken – in Kurdistan, the place where it is most obvious. Of course, this will be carried out first and foremost in Kurdish society by the democratic and free social and national struggle that was developed by Kurdish society; i.e., the Kurdistan revolution, the Kurdistan Freedom Movement. The nation-state system, which continues to practice social genocide in Kurdistan, will eventually break down and fall apart.
Thus, the Kurds will be able to participate in life in the Middle East as an organized and conscious democratic nation, on a free, equal basis, with other societies.
Kurdish women, Kurdish youth, and Kurdish workers will organize themselves and built themselves a free and democratic life on the basis of the democratic Kurdish nation, i.e., the creation of Democratic Confederalism in Kurdistan will lead to an organized solution of the will of the nation. As they will do this in Kurdistan, they can also do the same with Kurdish groups living outside Kurdistan. Outside of Kurdistan, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, they will likewise advance the organization of democratic society among Kurds living in these other regions of the Middle East and in Europe. Thus, with the construction of Kurdish democratic free will, they can help destroy despotism and advance democracy in the region. They will play a role as a democratic force. Partially by routing the racist nation-state system and playing a role as proponents of democracy, and partially by establishing democratic brotherhoods and ties with the societies where they live, they will be a force which builds unity and enlightens the region.
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