On 2010-11-22, at 5:38 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
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> On Nov 22, 2010, at 5:31 PM, SA wrote:
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>> I think the premise can be questioned. You could argue that American capitalism is thriving like never before. Wall Street is making billions, profits are soaring, unprecedented attacks on the working class (slashing SS and Medicare, quasi-privatizing education) are on the table to an unprecedented degree, along with huge further tax cuts despite an alleged fiscal crisis. And all without a peep of protest. Pointing to the possibility of another crisis down the road just begs the question - why wouldn't that crisis merely have the effect of finally letting them push through all the stuff they haven't been able to get before?
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> If their society doesn't collapse around them, which I'm more and more thinking is a real possibility. Remember what Greenspan said about the housing market in 2005.
It's unclear to me at least whether the US ruling class would in a deeper crisis undertake the necessary reforms to revive economic growth and maintain its global supremacy, or whether there is nothing it can can do to prevent an economic collapse or an inexorable slow decline like Britain, France, and other former imperialist powers.
So isn't it the case that there are two sides to the question, and that we can only speculate on whether the economic and political system has become so dysfunctional that it is no longer possible for American capitalism to reform itself? Such outcomes only become clear in retrospect, no?