On the 2008 Crisis, and Crisis Generally!

[ARomanCandle]

I've been thinking about crisis lately, as crisis events seem to lay bare the problems with the system and have a huge impact on mobilization (be it the Tea Party or Occupy movements).

During the 2008 TARP bailout, a lot of people on the left were stating that the money should have been given to the people, and that the financial institutions and corporations should have been allowed to fail. This idea was backed by many demand-side economists, with the bailout being seen as a political move to help the friends of the rich.

I've been reading a lot of Andrew Kliman, and I took him to say that without the bailout, the system would have receded further if not collapsed outright (which, with no alternative in place, would have been devastating).

I'm interested in your thoughts concerning the bailout generally (i.e. whether it was structurally necessary and not just politically expedient), along with a general question of:

If a bailout is structurally necessary to prop up the system, and there is clearly no revolutionary alternative (our jobs, obviously), then are leftists to support the propping up of financial institutions?

I'd also appreciate input as to Kliman's work on the falling rate of profit (and his thesis that only the destruction of capital can lead to a new boom).

[Slavic]

[QUOTE=ARomanCandle;2730315]I've been reading a lot of Andrew Kliman, and I took him to say that without the bailout, the system would have receded further if not collapsed outright (which, with no alternative in place, would have been devastating).

If a bailout is structurally necessary to prop up the system, and there is clearly no revolutionary alternative (our jobs, obviously), then are leftists to support the propping up of financial institutions?[QUOTE]

Leftists should not support the propping up of financial institutions. For one these institutions are the primaries at fault for the 2008 financial crisis; also these institutions are capital incarnate and support for them is continued support for the capitalist system. Also by leftists I am under the assumption you mean socialists as opposed to social democrats.

The only bailout that should of been supported would have been a direct cash payout to the individuals most hurt by this crisis; low-income home owners and peripherals. A direct cash payout would strengthen the proletariat's position within the capititalist system.

With regards to ecconomic collapse leading to devastation, particularly if there is no alternative in place. The goal of the socialist is elimination of capital through the destruction of capitalism. This is no easy feat and it is improbable that such dramatic change will not undergo without untold devestation and hardship. Whereas the capitalist system creates and profits off of devestation and hardship, the socialist system seeks to ease and eliminate devestation and hardship.