StockholmSyndrome
7th October 2010, 03:41
Tonight I attended a citizen's forum with the Democratic Congressman in my district who is running for re-election in November. He was speaking to a group of moderate voters on matters such as the federal budget, the economy, health care reform, and the wars.
With almost every point he made, I was reminded of something that either Marx or another communist or socialist thinker had once explained, and a light went on inside my head. I am now convinced that the majority, if not all, of government officials know what is really going on with the economy (stagnation, crisis of over-accumulation, the need for war, imperialism, need for new markets to invest surplus, etc.). In other words, Congress knows very well the Marxist explanation for what is happening, and they agree with this explanation, but they use it to their and the bourgeoisie's advantage by taking measures to prop up the capitalist system whenever there is a crisis.
Of course, I knew this was true before I attended this forum. I have studied and understand the history of capitalism, and the functions of the state and fascism. But I have to say that watching this Congressman speak and explain his positions in person really took me aback.
The unnamed Congressman in question admitted that World War II is what got the US out of the Great Depression. He admitted that the Health Care Reform legislation was designed to "save the private health insurance industry". He admitted that the top income bracket in the country consists of 30% of consumer spending (since the people who actually make all this shit can't afford to buy it), and thats why the Bush tax cuts must stay in place in order to keep the economy afloat. He admitted that the goal in an economic crisis is to "save the banking sector so that they can start lending again", and, I thought to myself, repeat the entire cycle until the next crisis rolls around.
To me, it seems that this Congressman knows perfectly well that we are trapped in an irrational system. We can either keep repeating the same old shit over and over again, which will keep him in a job, or we can have a complete, revolutionary transformation of the entire economic system. There IS No Alternative.
With almost every point he made, I was reminded of something that either Marx or another communist or socialist thinker had once explained, and a light went on inside my head. I am now convinced that the majority, if not all, of government officials know what is really going on with the economy (stagnation, crisis of over-accumulation, the need for war, imperialism, need for new markets to invest surplus, etc.). In other words, Congress knows very well the Marxist explanation for what is happening, and they agree with this explanation, but they use it to their and the bourgeoisie's advantage by taking measures to prop up the capitalist system whenever there is a crisis.
Of course, I knew this was true before I attended this forum. I have studied and understand the history of capitalism, and the functions of the state and fascism. But I have to say that watching this Congressman speak and explain his positions in person really took me aback.
The unnamed Congressman in question admitted that World War II is what got the US out of the Great Depression. He admitted that the Health Care Reform legislation was designed to "save the private health insurance industry". He admitted that the top income bracket in the country consists of 30% of consumer spending (since the people who actually make all this shit can't afford to buy it), and thats why the Bush tax cuts must stay in place in order to keep the economy afloat. He admitted that the goal in an economic crisis is to "save the banking sector so that they can start lending again", and, I thought to myself, repeat the entire cycle until the next crisis rolls around.
To me, it seems that this Congressman knows perfectly well that we are trapped in an irrational system. We can either keep repeating the same old shit over and over again, which will keep him in a job, or we can have a complete, revolutionary transformation of the entire economic system. There IS No Alternative.