What is to be done (in the USA)?

[proletariandan]

I've looked around and haven't found a discussion of what has been bothering me, so I figured I would start one out. A long, heated discussion on Marxmail recently centered around whether it is more effective for Marxists in the US to work inside the Democratic Party or to form an independent, opposition party. This discussion actually grew out of an article which declared the death of the Green Party US, who's poor performance in the Presidential elections revealed the weaknesses of the organization. Despite being a *gasp* reformist party, there are many anti-capitalists within the Greens, including the late Peter Camejo, an ex-SWP member who was Ralph Nader's 2004 running mate.

In my view, the main reason for the internal problems within the GPUS and overall failure of the US left in seems to be the geopolitical structure of the US. Unlike individual European countries where the radical left has had some success at the ballot box (and perhaps more like the EU taken as one 'nation') the US does not have a single industrial or political capital. It has at least 3 major industrial/business capitals - Chicago, LA, and NYC - none of which are the political capital of the country or even their respective states. This is logical, as the bourgeois founders of this country were all-too aware of the necessity of keeping the government both figuratively and physically out of the people's reach.

The GPUS (and if I'm wrong I would appreciate informed criticism) is really a federation of individual state parties, each of which are forced to play by the election rules of their state. Parties are fairly strong in states like CA and IL; the Greens recieved 10% of the latter's Gubernatorial vote in 2006. Living in Illinois, I've toyed with the idea of joining the Greens, but sadly know little substantial about the party.

Because each US state has its own sociopolitical composition and government, which is often more accountable and accessible than the federal government, it seems to make sense for Marxists to focus on organizing a party structure at the state level. As tempting as it may be to focus on national or even international questions (as some parties seem to do almost exclusively) I think at this time these represent a distraction that should be saved for when a party has built roots in a given state.

One advantage of working at the state level is that many state constitutions provide grounds for referenda to be held. These referenda could be used to overturn the ballot-access restrictions and single-member district plurality systems that have allowed the Democrats and Republicans to concentrate nearly all power in their hands.


As far as the US goes, Chicago has a fairly large number of “active” Marxist parties – ISO, PSL, Solidarity, SP, SPUSA, SA, RCP, Sparts – it seems like if only these groups could put aside their (currently, anyhow) irrelevant doctrinal disagreements and focus on getting the message of socialism out, some progress could be made.


I could write more, but I would love to hear what other American or even Illinoisan comrades think about this issue.

PS. If this is not the most appropriate forum, please feel free to move the post or let me know.

[rocker935]

I live in Illinois. Im not currently part of any parties bkuz im only 17 and live in a boring suburb of chicago. The only party i've run into was the RCP, and I hate them. I don't know a whole lot about the other organizations but I wouldn't blame them for refusing to work with the RCP. But your right, it would be better if some organizations found some common ground.

[Bilan]

I've looked around and haven't found a discussion of what has been bothering me, so I figured I would start one out. A long, heated discussion on Marxmail recently centered around whether it is more effective for Marxists in the US to work inside the Democratic Party or to form an independent, opposition party. This discussion actually grew out of an article which declared the death of the Green Party US, who's poor performance in the Presidential elections revealed the weaknesses of the organization. Despite being a *gasp* reformist party, there are many anti-capitalists within the Greens, including the late Peter Camejo, an ex-SWP member who was Ralph Nader's 2004 running mate.

That poses the question wrongly. The importance of the American political system is secondary (but really, IMO, worthless) compared to a party which actually organizes against the bourgeois political system, rather than within it and trying to change it from there.
The left communists have the right approach on this.
furthermore, there are plenty of decent political parties in the States. Such as PoWR and the ICC.


The Democratic Party is a bourgeois party. So is the Green party. You're wasting your time even thinking about it.

[KC]

Get active with your union or a local community group. Leftist groups are basically bankrupt.

[Bilan]

And the unions in America aren't? :rolleyes:

[KC]

No.

[Bilan]

Oh really?

[KC]

Yep.

[proletariandan]

That poses the question wrongly. The importance of the American political system is secondary (but really, IMO, worthless) compared to a party which actually organizes against the bourgeois political system, rather than within it and trying to change it from there.
The left communists have the right approach on this.
furthermore, there are plenty of decent political parties in the States. Such as PoWR and the ICC.


The Democratic Party is a bourgeois party. So is the Green party. You're wasting your time even thinking about it.


I agree that the Democrats (and likely the Greens) are a dead end, but writing off any party that participates in bourgeois politics seems like a mistake. At worst participating in bourgeois politics gives you an opportunity to get a revolutionary socialist message out. The US is not Russia or Cuba; anyone who plans on overthrowing the bourgeois electoral system without participating in it is quite frankly out of their mind (in the current conditions, anyway).

Of course, I think a party should be explicit about their opposition to the system and their participation in it being a tactical move rather than loyalty. The insurrectionist path should never be ruled out but neither should participation in elections.

I've never heard of the PoWR or the ICC and despite what they say I am confident in saying that they are no less insignificant and sectarian than any other leftist groups. If you have evidence otherwise, please share. Whether you have the right political line (hardly an objective measure) doesn't matter if you aren't willing to work with comrades who don't.

[KC]

Obviously the Left Communists' principle of abstaining form electoral politics is wrong, but I think it is correct to say that any attempt right now to build a meaningful political party is going to fail on any level higher than local (and probably there, too). The level of consciousness and political involvement isn't high enough yet for that, which is where our focus should first lie.

Hence my earlier statements; it is most beneficial to work in unions and community groups than it is in leftist organizations or political parties.


Whether you have the right political line (hardly an objective measure) doesn't matter if you aren't willing to work with comrades who don't.

It also doesn't matter if you aren't able to apply your political line to real world circumstances.

[Bilan]

I agree that the Democrats (and likely the Greens) are a dead end, but writing off any party that participates in bourgeois politics seems like a mistake. At worst participating in bourgeois politics gives you an opportunity to get a revolutionary socialist message out. The US is not Russia or Cuba; anyone who plans on overthrowing the bourgeois electoral system without participating in it is quite frankly out of their mind (in the current conditions, anyway).

That is just simply not true.
The bourgeois electoral system exists to perpetuate bourgeois order; and you want to use it against itself? That is a line which only those who are out of their mind would adhere too.
Structually, it can not work.

And from the point of view of a socialist, it negates the entire basis of action:

Socialism will not and cannot be created by decrees; nor can it be established by any government, however socialistic. Socialism must be created by the masses, by every proletarian. - Luxemburg




I've never heard of the PoWR or the ICC and despite what they say I am confident in saying that they are no less insignificant and sectarian than any other leftist groups. If you have evidence otherwise, please share. Whether you have the right political line (hardly an objective measure) doesn't matter if you aren't willing to work with comrades who don't.

I don't think that the ICC put its political line above the actions of the class, and I doubt that PoWR does either.
And there's a difference between 'working with other comrades' and participating in the electoral system.

BTW, you should look both those groups up, as well as The Communist League.

[KC]

The bourgeois electoral system exists to perpetuate bourgeois order

Bourgeois society is structured to perpetuate bourgeois order as well.


Structually, it can not work.

What does this even mean?


And from the point of view of a socialist, it negates the entire basis of action:

Socialism will not and cannot be created by decrees; nor can it be established by any government, however socialistic. Socialism must be created by the masses, by every proletarian. - Luxemburg

You obviously don't understand the tactic of entering into parliament for the purposes of agitation and propagandizing. Nobody ever said that it is possible to establish socialism through entering into electoral politics.


I don't think that the ICC put its political line above the actions of the class, and I doubt that PoWR does either.

There is a reason these parties are so small and meaningless in any real sense, just like every other leftist sect.


BTW, you should look both those groups up, as well as The Communist League.

Why? They are all small and meaningless besides perhaps on the most local levels.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

I've never heard of the PoWR or the ICC and despite what they say I am confident in saying that they are no less insignificant and sectarian than any other leftist groups.

If you've never even heard of either how can you make any sort of judgment?

[KC]

If you've never even heard of either how can you make any sort of judgment?

Well, it is easy to make a judgment that they are insignificant.

[Die Neue Zeit]

BTW, you should look both those groups up, as well as The Communist League.

I would recommend both the Communist League / Workers Party in America (http://www.workers-party.com/) and the SP-USA.

[Bilan]

Bourgeois society is structured to perpetuate bourgeois order as well.

That's an inescapable, unavoidable fact. Parliamentary politics isn't.




What does this even mean?Essentially, that the idea is stupid.




You obviously don't understand the tactic of entering into parliament for the purposes of agitation and propagandizing. Nobody ever said that it is possible to establish socialism through entering into electoral politics.I understand, I just think its stupid and pointless. You want the bourgeois press on your side, or to present what you say fairly? Who, just who, do you think you're outreaching to in Parliament, or in your stupid election campaigns? The whole thing is just a big fucking waste of time and money. but if you're up for it, get ready to water down your politics, just like everyone else did.



There is a reason these parties are so small and meaningless in any real sense, just like every other leftist sect.do go on.

[KC]

I understand, I just think its stupid and pointless. You want the bourgeois press on your side, or to present what you say fairly? Who, just who, do you think you're outreaching to in Parliament, or in your stupid election campaigns? The whole thing is just a big fucking waste of time and money. but if you're up for it, get ready to water down your politics, just like everyone else did.

See? You don't get it.


do go on.

About what?

[Bilan]

[/i]See? You don't get it.

Mix up of words. I don't agree with it.
But correct me on where I don't get it.




About what?


Obviously what I quoted when I said that.

This:


There is a reason these parties are so small and meaningless in any real sense, just like every other leftist sect.

Well, what's the reason they're all so small and meaningless?

[Jay Rothermel]

I think this "big picture" perspective piece by Workers World leadership is AN answer to the question "What is to be done in the USA"... I include below some excerpts, but encourage comrades to read the entire article.

Jay Rothermel



http://www.workers.org/2009/us/jobs_0122/
What can win jobs?

By Fred Goldstein


Published Jan 15, 2009 9:01 PM

The intensifying capitalist crisis, which is bringing greater and greater suffering daily, is leaving the workers and the oppressed with no alternative but to organize a fightback. The deadly waves of unemployment, foreclosures, homelessness, hunger and repression are spreading while the ruling-class politicians and experts debate over the terms of the so-called “stimulus package.”

....

....From bailout to fightback

The struggle is in its early stages and the workers are on the defensive. It is natural that at this stage popular organizations want to take advantage of the term “bailout” to expose the handouts to the banks and the bosses. But, as the struggle progresses, the concept of the capitalist government bailing out the people has to be shifted to the concept of the workers fighting back.

The funds to stem the crisis have to be put under the supervision of the workers, the unions, community organizations and other mass organizations—and not the bosses. It is the masses who are suffering from the crisis. They should be empowered to deal with it.
Only the masses will enforce a living wage, job guarantees, union rights, anti-racist practices and rights for women workers. The capitalists are skilled and experienced at manipulating government subsidies that are supposed to go for creating jobs. Instead they turn things around to maximize their profits. Relying on profiteering capitalists—and there is no other kind!—to save the working class is the worst possible course to pursue.

There must be a movement toward creating organs of popular power at the local, regional and national level to stop the layoffs and defend the workers’ right to a job; to demand a guarantee of jobs or income; an end to foreclosures and evictions; to organize the unemployed and the employed into a united movement demanding jobs for all.
As the crisis unfolds, the question must be raised, what is the cause of the crisis? Paul Krugman, a liberal economist, cites the fact that the U.S. economy could create $30 trillion worth of goods and services in the next two years. That would be sufficient to vastly reduce unemployment.
Krugman, who recently won a Nobel Prize for economics, restricted his commentary to a criticism of Barack Obama’s economic program. He brushed by the fundamental question. He did not bother to ask why, when there is the economic capacity to employ all the workers, is unemployment going through the roof?

The answer is that while the U.S. economy can produce $30 trillion worth of goods and services, it is in the form of commodities that must be sold for profit and only for profit. Human need means nothing to capitalism.
It is not as if the masses of people do not need the $30 trillion worth of goods and services. In fact, right now they are being deprived of the very means of life by an economic storm artificially created by capitalism itself.
The masses have been impoverished for more than 30 years by union busting, wage and benefit cuts, massive destruction of jobs at living wages and their replacement by low-wage jobs. At the same time the corporations have vied with each other to capture markets and sell more and more—purely to make more profit. They fostered every kind of debt—credit card debt, mortgage debt, auto loan debt and so on—to keep the profits rolling in.

Finally the entire edifice has come crashing down in a crisis of capitalist overproduction. There are too many autos to sell at a profit. There are too many houses to sell at a profit. There is too much steel to sell at a profit. And so on. It has led to the wave of layoffs, foreclosures, evictions, hunger and homelessness.

As a system of exploitation for profit, capitalism itself is at the bottom of the crisis. As the workers and the oppressed awake to demand their rights, the ultimate aim must be the destruction of capitalism and the erection of a system run for human need, not for profit. That system is socialism.

Goldstein is the author of the recently published book “Low-Wage Capitalism: Colossus with Feet of Clay.” See lowwagecapitalism.com for information about the book and how to order it.
Articles copyright 1995-2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

http://www.workers.org/2009/us/jobs_0122/

[Pogue]

I think that what should be done is that all American workers should join an revolutionary union like the IWW and struggle with their brothers from all corners of the globe against capitalism. No party, with its focus on national parliamentary politics or any form of 'political' struggle is doomed to fail.

[FreeFocus]

The imperialist First World is generally not the nexus of revolutionary activity, nor will it be.

[Bilan]

The imperialist First World is generally not the nexus of revolutionary activity, nor will it be.

Oh god, don't tell me you're moving over to the side of Third Worldist self-hating wanks.
Fucks sake.

Of course the first world is not the nexus of revolutionary activity. The nature of modern capitalism has developed the world economy in such a way that nation states accumulate wealth, and though little of this actually trickles down to working class people (shock-horror!), its created a firmer inbalance between national economies (i.e. Globalisation).
Further more, you've completely forgotten recent history (intentionally?). The recent general strikes were not in 'developing nations' (btw, first world is a pretty archaic term), but in places like Spain, Belgium, Greece, whilst also being in less developed places, such as Colombia.

Why? Because the national accumulation of wealth is purely on a fictitious basis. The Developing world and the Developed world both live off of borrowed money which does not exist.
The illusion of wealth crumbles to reveal its coercive class structures openly and clearly once the circulation is ruptured.

Furthermore, going back only 30-40 years, developed countries were heavily and in alot of cases violently politically active - such as in Australia, we had strike waves, anti-war movements growing in strength and militancy, so on so forth.

Going back to the First World War, Australia had a general strike which almost brought the Western Front to its knees.

These are occurences which are general everywhere. Australia just being an example.

You could look at the UK - for example, with the poll tax riots, and anti-capitalist movement - or America - Do I need to go there? - or France, or anywhere.
The struggle against capitalism is everywhere capital rules.

What third worldists dont understand is the nature of modern history, or in particular, just what happened in the 70's and 80's. They see the rise of Globalisation and the widening of the Wealth Gap on an international scale, and workers in the West being 'bought out'. That's just not what happened, at least, not here.
It was after the strike waves in Australia that even the communist party was turning on the workers - Communist party bureaucrats had Trade Unionists arrested, and agitators arrested, and quite comfortably hopped into bed with the bourgeoisie. Funny that, I can recall Communists in Nepal doing much the same only a few months ago.

The point is that struggle increases relative to crisis, because the crisis of capitalism destroys all facades and reveals it for what it is: a violent, coercive system based on the systematic exploitation of the working class.

Drop the 'Third Worldist' crap. You're from the developed world, work from where you are - the possibilities are endless (http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=O0_LMCmsm4I).

[Jay Rothermel]

".... all American workers should join an revolutionary union like the IWW and struggle with their brothers from all corners of the globe against capitalism. "

What concrete steps lead from the union membership of today -- whether in the IWW or other unions -- and the global One Big Union you refer to in the comment above?

Comradely, Jay.

[Pogue]

".... all American workers should join an revolutionary union like the IWW and struggle with their brothers from all corners of the globe against capitalism. "

What concrete steps lead from the union membership of today -- whether in the IWW or other unions -- and the global One Big Union you refer to in the comment above?

Comradely, Jay.

I don't understand the question. Are you aksing what to do after we have organised a critical mass, or something else?

[Jay Rothermel]

Starting today, what from your political perspective are the next tasks and how do they lead to the end result of a majority of American workers being cadre of One Big Union like the IWW? As a revolutionary, what role do you and your comrades play in bringing this about?

90 years ago the Communist Int'l started generalizing the lessons of the Bolsheviks on the ABCs of communism, which informs the Fred Goldstein article I posted the link to above. Those lessons (the 'what is to be done' lessons) have guided communists ever since. Your comments indicate you reject them. So my question is: rejecting Leninism, what is to be done to achieve your stated goal of ".... all American workers should join an revolutionary union like the IWW and struggle with their brothers from all corners of the globe against capitalism. "

--Jay

[BPSocialist]

Shooting all the KKK inbred rednecks!!!

[Bilan]

BPs, don't post stuff like that, please.

[Jay Rothermel]

Bail Out the People document
A guide to action

Published Jan 22, 2009 8:11 PM

Following are excerpts from a Bail Out the People Movement draft document adopted at the Jan. 17 Fightback Conference in NYC. The paper outlines a plan of action including International Women’s Day; Wall Street actions on April 3 and 4; May Day; a march on Washington, D.C., in the fall, along with a People’s Assembly; support for the March 21 March on the Pentagon; as well as the need to build an army of organizers for the coming battles. The document can be read in its entirety at www.bailoutpeople.org (http://www.bailoutpeople.org).



In 2009, more and more lives are going to be devastated by the biggest global economic crisis since the depression of the 1930s. This crisis is the challenge of a lifetime for those of us who have made a commitment to fighting for the rights of people. What we do or fail to do will prove decisive in the coming battle over whose interests in society shall prevail.


Part of the legacy of Dr. King is the understanding that no election or president—however historical and inspiring—can be a substitute for a mass movement in the struggle against war or for social and economic rights.


The following draft program is a work in progress. It does not address every issue and concern. Like the Fightback—it will grow: A real jobs program that guarantees either a union wage job or income to all; an immediate moratorium on foreclosures, evictions, layoffs, utility shut-offs and prison construction; an indefinite extension of unemployment benefits; expand unemployment insurance to all who are unemployed; no cutbacks in social programs including tuition hikes and public transportation fare hikes; health care for all, no privatization; stop all federal raids, arrests and deportations of undocumented workers; reconstruction in the Gulf Coast; fight for right of return of Katrina/Rita survivors guided by a people’s elected reconstruction authority; prosecute racist killer police and set up civilian police accountability boards; a cleanup now of communities impacted by environmental racism and establish elected environmental control authorities; support anti-war GIs and veterans’ organizations’ demands including those for health care, benefits and jobs.
Articles copyright 1995-2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

[BPSocialist]

BPs, don't post stuff like that, please.

Sorry gov'ner:(!!!

[Jay Rothermel]

http://www.workers.org/2009/us/permanent_job_loss_0319/


Capitalist bosses plan permanent job loss

By Fred Goldstein
Published Mar 12, 2009 8:46 PM

The loss of 651,000 more jobs in February and the jump in the official unemployment rate to 8.1 percent have produced important admissions in the capitalist press that every worker should pay close attention to.

The New York Times, one of the most important voices of U.S. big business in the United States and around the world, ran a lead story on March 7 showing that at least 650,000 jobs have been lost in each of the last three months—for a total of 4.4 million jobs in all since the downturn started in December 2007. In the last four months, 2.6 million jobs have disappeared.

But the important point of the story was the prominently placed quote from John E. Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia bank: “These jobs aren’t coming back,” said Silvia. “A lot of production either isn’t going to happen at all, or it’s going to happen somewhere other than the United States. There are going to be fewer stores, fewer factories, fewer financial services operations.”

“The acceleration,” concluded the Times, “has convinced some economists that, far from an ordinary downturn after which jobs will return, the contraction under way reflects a fundamental restructuring of the American economy.” [Editor’s note: This sentence was pulled from the story in the late edition of the Times. However, the headline still contained this phrase: “Experts See Rapid Drop as Sign of Permanent Restructuring.”]

The auto industry is cited as an example. Car sales have dropped from 17 million annually a few years ago to 9 million today. “Even if sales increase to 10 or 12 million, that still leaves a lot of unneeded factories,” said the Times. And Silvia put it bluntly: “That’s a lot of workers that are not coming back. That’s a lot of steel, a lot of rubber, a lot of suppliers that are not coming back.”

*What overproduction means*

The market for autos is not shrinking because people need fewer autos. On the contrary, tens of millions of workers without cars or with cars that are broken down, who live in rural areas or in areas with poor or no mass transportation, desperately need autos.

U.S. capitalism has built its transit system based upon highways and roads. The public transportation system has been starved at the behest of the auto bosses and the oil and tire industries. Consequently, in most areas of the U.S. an automobile is essential to get and keep a job, to shop, to visit, etc. But tens of millions of people earning low wages or who are jobless cannot afford to buy cars at a price that will give the auto barons a profit.

Capitalism is now suffering from a crisis of overproduction—not overproduction of what people need but of what can be sold at a profit. This is not only in the auto industry but in housing, commercial real estate, electronics, appliances and so on.

While there has been little talk about the growth in the permanent army of unemployed planned by the capitalist class, it is implied by their own predictions. In fact, as noted in Workers World of March 12, the Obama administration’s most optimistic scenario for a recovery of the economy—growth of 3.4 percent by 2010—still calculates that there would be 7.9 percent unemployment. In other words, the recovery would be a recovery for the capitalists but the workers will still be facing mass unemployment, approximately at the level it is today.

And this is the optimistic viewpoint!

This is a virtual admission, without saying so, that capitalism from now on cannot function without growing mass unemployment of a permanent character. Add to this the projection that 8 million people will be facing foreclosure in the next few years.

This makes it clear that the bosses, the bankers, the mortgage brokers and Wall Street in general are planning to deepen the war on the working class and the oppressed. And it is equally clear that the workers must gear up, get organized and plan a counteroffensive against this brutal campaign of layoffs, foreclosures, evictions and cutbacks.

*Perfect storm engulfs the globe*

The present crisis is a global crisis. U.S. capitalism is the center of world capitalism. It is financially, industrially and militarily dominant and every thread in the world capitalist economy is tied in some way to Wall Street—from Berlin to Bangkok, from Mumbai to Manila, from Rome to Rio. All the symptoms now exhibited in the U.S. are being reproduced worldwide, often on an even more drastic scale.

The present crisis represents a perfect economic storm in which the factors of long-term growth that have propelled U.S. capitalism forward over the last 70 years have gone into reverse. But unlike a perfect storm in nature, which is random, this perfect storm is driven by the fundamental contradictions of the predatory capitalist profit system of exploitation.

Private property has come into extreme contradiction with the vast socialized apparatus of global production created by capital itself in pursuit of profit. The system can no longer be propped up by violent militarism and other artificial means, as it has in the past.

The growth of militarism, the scientific-technological revolution, the globalization of capitalist exploitation and superexploitation, the creation of fictitious capital and credit, the relentless pauperization of the working class—all these factors artificially kept capitalist accumulation and profits going for generations after the Great Depression. But now they have run their course.

*Wars used to stimulate economy*

How did U.S. capitalism emerge from the collapse of the Depression and sustain itself for 70 years? The fundamental turning point was World War II. After the 1929 to 1933 crisis subsided, there was an upturn in 1934 which lasted until October of 1937. But then came a profound second crash that frightened the Roosevelt administration and the ruling class.

World War II was the historic turning point that opened up a new phase of U.S. capitalist development. It choked off a prerevolutionary development among the working class in a period of furious class struggle and restarted a moribund system.

There was a turn toward war preparation, the beginning of the militarization of the economy. Then came the war itself. The massive war production—tanks, jeeps, planes, ships, uniforms, food, etc.—restarted capitalism. When the smoke cleared, more than 50 million people were dead. Europe and much of Asia were in ruins. Massive means of production had been destroyed as well as residential buildings, bridges, railroads, roads, dams, canals, ports and so forth.

In the period since World War II, U.S. capitalism has relied on various artificial methods to keep the system from collapsing. War and war preparation were a basic stimulant for decades during the post-war period. The Korean War, the Vietnam War, the military buildup during the Cold War—all served to generate capitalist production and profits, as the system could not rely on the civilian economy to automatically keep it going. But by the end of the 1980s, even the $2 trillion Reagan military buildup in a “full court press” to undermine the Soviet Union and the socialist camp was insufficient to sustain capitalist prosperity.

The continuous development of the scientific-technological revolution, the restructuring of capitalist industry, the relentless anti-labor campaign of union-busting, extracting concessions, destroying benefits, driving down manufacturing wages and steadily expanding the low-wage service economy—all this enormously increased inequality in the national income in favor of capital at the expense of the workers. All this served to bolster profitability for the bosses and bankers.

The collapse of the USSR and Eastern Europe in the 1990s and the opening up of China to capitalist investment gave imperialism a brief period of unprecedented global expansion. The monopolies seized this opportunity to create global networks of exploitation and vast superprofits as they engineered a worldwide wage competition among the international working class and promoted a vicious race to the bottom.

The structure of globalized production has now turned into an epidemic of globalized layoffs and mass unemployment, from Eastern Europe to the Baltic states, from east and south Asia to Latin America.

To keep the system going, militarism, technological development and anti-labor attacks were supplemented by borrowing, financial injections to save banks and corporations, speculation, credit bubbles, mortgage schemes, exotic financial instruments and all manner of fraudulent schemes to make profits based on trading in fictitious capital.

*Crisis deepens despite militarism*

In the present crisis, none of these measures are available to restart the system in any significant way. The two wars underway are draining the coffers of U.S. imperialism. Overall militarization has largely been accomplished.

New rounds of military development are technology intensive, such as laser-guided bombs, satellite-guided missiles, predator drones, high-tech missile ships and fighter planes. Current imperialist wars are limited and heavily dependent on air power.

Although the trillion dollars (open and hidden) spent annually on the military is essential to the system, the size of the capitalist economy has grown and any significant stimulus through military expansion would have to be on a much greater scale than is possible at the moment.

Only a massive war mobilization on a vast scale for a catastrophic military adventure could hold the prospect of diverting the crisis. This long-run danger to all humanity is inherent in this crisis.

The long period of creating low-wage capitalism, with a working class in debt and living closer and closer to the poverty level, has intensified. As this trend deepens it only further aggravates the crisis of overproduction by further reducing the buying power of the masses.

And, of course, the credit option has completely run its course as a mechanism for reviving capitalist accumulation on a vast scale.

The recent period of technological development has raised the cost of capital and made it so productive that the last recovery of 2002 to 2004, following the dot-com technology bust, was a “jobless recovery” during which almost 600,000 jobs were lost! This is what led the banks and the Federal Reserve, with the complicity of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Treasury Department, to foster the housing bubble.

Capitalism has reached a point where, even if the trillions of dollars that the ruling class is spending in an attempt to mitigate the crisis were to result in a revival, it would be weak and short lived, leaving many millions unemployed. Capitalism is entering a period of permanent and deepening crisis for the masses.

In the present crisis the historic methods of reviving the profitability of capitalism, of restoring capitalist accumulation and prosperity, appear to have run their course, as they did leading up to the Great Depression. This is what has the ruling class running scared.

Working class leaders, labor leaders, community organizers and activists in all spheres must come to grips with the prospect that there is no way out of the crisis except for mass intervention and mass struggle.

The multinational working class must interfere with the automatic processes of capitalist crisis. The layoffs must be stopped. The foreclosures and evictions must be stopped. The wage cuts and short hours must be stopped. Food must be available for all, no matter what. Medical care must be made available to the masses. And this can only be achieved by unified mass mobilization and struggle. There is no other way, all the stimulus packages and bailouts notwithstanding.

Ultimately the movement must regroup ideologically and recognize that it is the capitalist system that has brought the multinational working class and much of the middle class to the brink of ruin.

The only way out of the crisis is to liquidate capitalism itself, which can only be done by the workers and the oppressed taking into their own hands the economic powerhouse they have built and putting it on a socialist basis—that is, creating a system that functions to satisfy human need rather than to produce profits for a privileged few.