Is it possible that L-F capitalism could be good?

[wet blanket]

I've been reading some bits of Marx's writings when I have the time, and it's seeming to me that the proletarian revolution(if it does indeed happen) is going to need to be a reactionary movement in a time of economic crisis. I agree with that idea, certainly no 'middle class' family is going to be willing to drop everything so they can participate in a revolutionary movement to overthrow capitalism. It seems to me that we should all support deregulation and go full throttle in the 'race to the bottom'(the theory that deregulated globalization is going to cause developed nations to adopt 3rd world policies in order to compete in the global labor market). What better way to educate the workers about the wealth concentration effects of capitalism than to let them experience exploitation themselves firsthand without the nanny state enforcing minimum wage laws and giving welfare/social security to soften the blow? I can almost guarantee that there will be a lot less faith in the political economy among the working people if their paid vacations are eliminated or work hours extended to maximize productivity, their benefits are stripped away to maximize profit, or perhaps if their pay dropped to a barely sustenance-wage.

Granted, there are a lot of terrible things that go with this scenario such as families on the streets and whatnot, but it took an economic crisis to set the first labor movement into motion, and I get the feeling that it's going to take a much bigger crisis and a 'no compromises' attitude on the labor movement's part in order to finish the job of getting rid of capitalism from society.
Adapting L-F policies and privatizing everything in existence would be an excellent chance(albeit extremely risky) for the western working class to experience exploitation.

Keep in mind when replying with your thoughts on this that I don't necessarily think that this is THE ONLY WAY or anything like that, but just a little musing that I had while at work.

[redstar2000]

It's not something we have to "advocate"...to all appearances, it seems to be something that the ruling class must do.

Thus, things like the struggle against globalization, repeal of old reforms, etc. will "fail" but are nevertheless a kind of "practice" for the revolution itself.

To the extent that such struggles actually "delay" the revolution, that's unfortunate. But it takes time for many workers to grasp the idea that the ruling class really is utterly indifferent to workers' pain and, in fact, their intransigent class enemy.

So, while seeking to delay (however partially or briefly) the natural evolution of late capitalism, people learn first-hand why it must be overthrown.

:redstar2000:

The Redstar2000 Papers (http://www.redstar2000papers.fightcapitalism.net)
A site about communist ideas

[wet blanket]

It's not something we have to "advocate"...to all appearances
Perhaps "we should all support" was a bad choice of words.

I guess what I was trying to say that the corporate globalization process is a bit of a 'necessary evil' when it comes revolution and that there NEEDS to be a 'crisis' and the people need to realize that they're being exploited in order for a class consciousness to develop... It just seems to me that the middle class is "stalling things" for lack of a better term.

[h&s]

Adapting L-F policies and privatizing everything in existence would be an excellent chance(albeit extremely risky) for the western working class to experience exploitation.

'Extremly Risky.' An understatment, if ever I heard one. Instead of making the people experiencing blatant exploitation, the people need to realise how they are being exploited at the moment, if they can't already see it.
Installing a system of mass privatisation and few rights could be good for us in gaining support, but that would just be like Stalin keeping his troops out of Poland to subject the Polish to the massacre of the Nazis, to make them support socailism.
Privatisation would just consolidate the power of the capitalist elite, and thus make socialist progress extremly difficult.

[wet blanket]

Stalin keeping his troops out of Poland to subject the Polish to the massacre of the Nazis, to make them support socailism.

Awful analogy... I'm talking about economic crisis and the revolutionary nature of the working class. Massacre and exploitation are two entirely different things, for one, the latter results in a class-conscious(revolutionary) proletariat and the earlier results in a dead one... bit of a difference there.
Try and stick with me here. Marx was very clear in stating that a worker's revolt will be a result of an economic crisis. The type of crisis that Marx was referring to in his day were actually quite frequent and happened on occasions of overproduction, a la the great depression on a much smaller scale.
However when the real Great Depression finally did come along instead of revolt, Keynesian economic policies were applied in a mildly successful attempt to give the government a bit of control over the economy. Then came the 1970's, and the government was faced with the dilemma of high inflation as well as high unemployment. So the problems of demand-side economics were met with the supply-side economics of today.... and we can all see how well they're working out.
All the while, we've been avoiding crisis with imaginary wealth, AKA Debt.
Truth is, the modern middle class consumer economy is nothing more than a house of cards built on a shaky foundation of debt, and it will collapse on itself eventually. When it does, enter the neoclassicals(and the labor movement, too if we're smart about it). Personally, I don't think that today's environment is very revolutionary at all. Right now, a large enough number of workers in western industrial nations don't have to deal with exploitation to the degree in which marx was writing about. It just seems to me, based on my reflections on history and the works of Marx and others, that eventually the proletariat is going to need to be exploited and experience a crisis if they are going to even think about revolution...

Try going up to an engineer as he's getting out of his BMW, being payed $80k a year, and telling him that he's being exploited by his employer. You'll get laughed at... However, if you were to tell him that when he's forced the sell himself for 10 dollars hourly for 50+ hours a week in order to compete in the global labor market, he just might listen to you.

Sorry if this was a little incoherent. I need some fucking sleep.

EDIT, I'm also leaving out the possibility of a reactionary fascist system being established as a result of economic crisis, which is a very viable option if the labor movement doesn't gain as much support as nationalist movements.

[h&s]

Awful analogy...
I know, I know...

Try and stick with me here. Marx was very clear in stating that a worker's revolt will be a result of an economic crisis.
We may be living in a 'good' period at the moment, but I can assure you a crisis will come, and I predict there will be many of them. As long as the system is capitalist, regardless of which type of capitalism, economic crises will arise, so we should not promote making the system worse to encourage these, as they will come by themselves.

eventually the proletariat is going to need to be exploited and experience a crisis if they are going to even think about revolution...

But they are exploited now, and they need to realise this. Its not just the middle-class that use debt to gain imaginary wealth, loan sharks do the same thing to the working class too, and everyone relies on debt for something.

Try going up to an engineer as he's getting out of his BMW, being payed $80k a year, and telling him that he's being exploited by his employer. You'll get laughed at...
Surprise, surpirse, I don't care about the middle-class! The working class united is strong enough for a revlution.

I'm also leaving out the possibility of a reactionary fascist system being established as a result of economic crisis, which is a very viable option if the labor movement doesn't gain as much support as nationalist movements
Which is why the working-class need to be educated now, to prevent that from happening.