[lbo-talk] Marxism 2009

dredmond at efn.org dredmond at efn.org
Mon Aug 17 08:38:16 PDT 2009


On Mon, August 17, 2009 12:44 am, Bob Morris wrote:


> I genuinely don't understand why a left that put hundreds of
> thousands in the streets in Iraq war protests has done little during this
> crisis, one which seems custom-made for it and a once-in-a-lifetime
> opportunity.

Fear not. First of all, a moment of humility: the center of gravity of the world-system has shifted away from the US and towards East Asia, the EU and the developmental states of the global semiperiphery, all of which have junked neoliberalism. This shift is real, and permanent.

Second, in the US context, it's remarkable that the Great Recession hasn't resulted in a further swing to the Right. Think about it: 1970-71 = Nixon, 1975 = Carter's neo-Cold War austerity, 1980-82 = Reaganomics, 1990-91 = Clintonite austerity, 2000-01 = the oiligarchy. No such regression has happened this time around. (This isn't just Imperial decline -- I think the extraordinary growth of the digital commons also has something to do with this).

Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but once the economy starts to recover, which should be soon, my guess is US politics will become quite lively, especially on the state level.

-- DRR



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