Struggling to survive

[randyjohnson]

Because of George Bush, my parents are struggling to survive. My dad lost his weekly bonus at work and sometimes he's only able to work four days a week because of this recession.

I give my parents some money once a month but they're still struggling. My mom is having to use the little spending money she has to pay bills. They're barely able to make it.

If things get worse, my dad may be out of a job altogether and he may go under. Bush may have high hopes of getting us out of this recession but I have serious doubts.

Bush got us into this recession and many people like my dad are suffering. I doubt that John McCain can end this recession either.

Bush's dad also got us in a recession and it took a democrat to get us out of it. Republican Presidents tend to get us into recessions. Democrat Presidents don't.

President Hoover was a republican and he was the President when the Great Depression began. At the moment George Bush is as popular as Hoover and that's not very popular.

I doubt that McCain can do a better job than Bush. On November the 4th Obama is going to be my choice.

[Mindtoaster]

:confused::confused::confused:

Obama does not have the working class's interests at heart. He is a bourgeois politician and will always side with the ruling class.

His open and vocal support for using our money to bailout Wallstreet is one of many recent examples.

Are you a socialist?

[Martin Blank]

I understand your argument, Randy, because I've heard it a lot over the last couple of months. People are rightly scared by what's been happening in the economy and in society, but that's no reason, especially at this point in time, to buy into the propaganda that this system can fix itself.

Recessions are not created or ended by politicians. They are either cyclical (meaning they are a regular occurrence as a result of the way capitalism engages in production) or systemic (meaning they are a product of the contradictions and shortcomings of the capitalist system itself). The reason why the two-party monstrosity alternates back and forth is as a means to control you.

The Republican is usually picked at the point of the beginning of an economic crisis because they are seen by the ruling class as able to impose harsh social control that can keep working people in line while they are losing their jobs and livelihoods. The Democrat is usually picked in the middle of an economic crisis because they can keep you and other working people from getting "out of control" because of the continuing attacks.

And they work together in the system as a whole to keep various elements in line: those who will scream for "law and order" in a time when people are scraping by to survive look to the Republicans; those who are seeking a smiling face and the "I feel your pain" solace look to the Democrats.

But if you look past the smiling (or sneering) faces, and read their economic programs, they are virtually indistinguishable. Both Obama and McCain have pledged to give billions to Wall Street out of the pockets of Main Street.

Both of them offer billions more in "corporate welfare" to the capitalists and only a meager "tax-break" bribe or "stimulus" to the "middle class" (which you will never see, if you have student loans, credit card debts or owe the IRS). Both of them oppose any meaningful relief for working people (moratoriums on foreclosures, repudiation of credit and utility debts, "public works" programs to rebuild infrastructure, etc.).

Even when they mouth words about "stopping foreclosures" or "rebuilding infrastructure", it is always done from the perspective of aiding "businesses", not working people.

And a similar "unity of purpose" can also be seen in their agreements on international policy and "war on terror" issues, and on domestic policy and "homeland security" questions.

You may still feel that, in spite of these facts, Obama might be a "lesser evil" to McCain and still vote for him. If you do, however, you should be aware that you will be sadly (and angrily) disappointed. Whatever you think he's going to do to help your family get through this crisis will not happen. Obama is no FDR. Hell, he's not even a Lyndon Johnson.

I would recommend looking past the speeches and rhetoric and seriously analyzing what he's going to do and, more importantly, who will actually benefit from his plans.

When you've done that, then we can have a real conversation.

[GPDP]

What CL said.

[BraneMatter]

I live on Social Security Disability, and the buying power of my small check each month has steadily declined, along with product quantity and quality per dollar spent. Prices just keep going up.

Bush has fleeced this country for trillions of dollars, enriching the war contractors, oil companies, and the bankers and Wall Street gang. Now they want another trillion for the bankers and Wall Street.

You would think there would be massive demonstrations in the streets over this bailout, but other than a few protestors in front of the Stock Exchange, all the protest seems mostly confined to phone calls and emails to Congress.

How do we incite the people to class consciousness in this situation, to help them understand this is class warfare going on?

[Martin Blank]

How do we incite the people to class consciousness in this situation, to help them understand this is class warfare going on?

Educate! Agitate! Organize! The liberals and conservatives leading the protests against the trillion-dollar bribe won't be displaced by us unless we start talking to and organizing our co-workers, neighbors and families. As the old adage goes: If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.