Kevin Robert Dean wrote:
>
> On Mon, 28 Apr 2003 19:15:04 EDT
> BrownBingb at aol.com wrote:
> >
> > CB: Doesn't have to be a catastrophe, just a depression.
> > If the U.S.standard of living drops for some years,
> > there will be resentment because of the memory of SUVism,
> > resentment at a palpable drop. This will be fertile
> > ground for socialist ideas.
> >
> >
>
> I still don't understand why leftists put this out as a
> theory of how Marxism will be revived. Depressions
> generally mean higher competition for jobs, a backlash
> against immigrants and minorities, weakened political power
> of the working class, and obviously a higher amount of
> power from the ruling elites.
First let's be a bit more precise. There have been many slumps, serious recessions, etc. in the history of capitalism, but there has been only _one_ Depression. (Jim Devine suggests that the slump of the 1870s might also be considered a depression.) We have no crystal ball, and while (as marxists) we know that there will be constant crises in capitalism, we can't predict the exact kind.
German inflation of the '20s plus the depression gave Hitler, not socialist revolution. The _first_ impact of a slump is to radically individualize the work force as every one scrabbles to survive. This is what happened in 1974. The slump of 1974-75 was extremely severe -- and it destroyed the last remnants of the movement of the '60s. It was all down hill from there.
> We should be looking for ways to make Marxism appealing
> during the good economic times....Difficult to make a case?
This is also misleading. The problem isn't to "make a case" for Marxism. The problem is to find and/or create situations in which anyone is apt to notice that there are people around making the case. Otherwise however good our case is, we are just talking to ourselves. We know how to make a good case. We have always known how to make a good case. There is simply, most of the time, no one around to listen to our case.
Carrol
> I don't know exactly how, but I think there is a way to do
> it...
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