>Another point: I agree with Carrol that capitalism will not fall by itself,
>it must be abolished by a revolutionary action. However, the prospect for
>success of such an action depends on the overall health of capitalism. My
>hypothetical scenario is that first the malaise of capitalist anarchy must
>undermine the institutional foundations of the capitalist ruling class
>(e.g.
>through depression, war, or both,) but it will take a vanguard party AND an
>economic opportunity to move things into a non-capitalist direction.
>Wojtek
Mark Wain would like to add the following to his important observation on "an economic opportunity to move things into a non-capitalist direction" :
Fire and Imagination
By BOB HERBERT Hope has morphed into widespread gloom as widespread economic suffering becomes the new normal in America. http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/08/14/opinion/14herbert.html?sort=oldest&offset=5
121. Andrew Colesville, MD August 14th, 2010 10:49 am
Obama whom the ruling class handpicked as one of the Democratic Party actors in reserve on the stage of electoral travesty, was brainwashed into thinking being modest is a virtue that the bosses wanted and being unassuming is a way to overcome his humble pedigree that the bosses looked down upon. He thought being at the disposal of Wall Street would earn him the approval for reelection of the presidency.
He is not even a shrewd politician much less a bold and creative leader like FDR. He is a mediocre petty careerist that people should not count on for radical reforms of the politics, economy and social illness.
The political reality, as dictated by the Bourgeoisie Dictatorship, is such that people should more often than not elect presidents like Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, against their own fundamental interests, not once but twice. Moreover, people must endure the consequences of their anti-people policies such as unduly indebtedness due to stagnated wage level, misguided and unrealistic consumption penchant, unemployment, destitution, bankruptcy, foreclosure and declining political and social status. The capitalist ruling class does not tolerate anyone who is truly anti-bosses and for-people to be nominated let alone elected.
Political polarization usually accompanies with social polarization. The U.S. society has become an unprecedentedly stratified society and people’s politics arena will have to struggle with the ruling class political machine for dominancy. A parallel existence of two regimes is now conceivable as the Great Stagnation drags along. People should be able to plan and set up non-profit and non-capitalist people’s enterprises such as cooperatives, corporations, community banks, health care stations, grocery stations, etc. People’s own ideological, theoretical, literary, artistic, learning and entertaining stations should likewise be thinkable and feasible.
Working class is no longer a passive class that lives and acts at the behest of the bourgeoisie; it has to transform itself with people’s participation and help from a class in itself to a class for itself. With preparations of the relation of production that is more advanced than the capitalist one and of certain degrees of political and organizational sophistication that are capable of winning, they will then be in the position of revolution. Those that took place in the 20th Century failed eventually because the preparations for revolution were woefully inadequate.
People should shift their focuses away from Obama and others’ petty politics for bosses’ interests. Instead, they should concentrate in activities involving working class politics, ideology and economy.
Depression, defeatist sentiments, hopelessness, and bewilderment must stop. To let life drift along aimlessly under the guidance of false democracy and mendacity of bosses means waste of precious time. Revolutionary preparations have demanded, and continue to demand on courage of forsaking the muddle-headed past and embracing the bright future.