Hari and Micheal: Thanks for your comments.
What in your view accounts for Western capitalism’s resilience? Why hasn’t it exhausted its historic capacity for growth and produced immiseration of such depth and breadth that the masses would of necessity have to overthrow the system, as Marx and Engels and every successive Marxist generation has predicted? Clearly, the extension of the franchise helped contain and channel working class discontent in the streets into safe parliamentary channels. The legalization of the trade unions channelled workplace militancy into state-run collective bargaining systems designed to head off or hamstring industrial action. The gradual introduction of pensions, unemployment insurance, and other accoutrements of the modern welfare state cushioned the impact of crises and put a floor under poverty below the subsistence level. But where did the surplus required to support these reforms come from? I mperialism? Rapid technological advance in the workplace and in transportation, communications, agriculture and other sectors which greatly expanded markets and lowered the cost of production? A vast increase in military production which played a central role in recovery from the Great Depression and still provides essential support to the US economy? To answer Hari’s question, I addressed the “neoliberal” turn from the 80’s as a milestone which marked the end of the long period of Western capitalist growth discussed above which saw each working class generation better off than the preceding one. It marked the end of the union growth in numbers and bargaining power which secured that working class advance and now sent it into retreat. It's when it became apparent to many of us that it was more than subjective factors which had dampened working class militancy. A good indicator of this are statistics showing total hours lost to strike action falling off a cliff beginning in 1980. Finally, I appreciated Michael’s focus on the climate crisis as the factor which could finally bring about the “final crisis”, but one which threatens to engulf entire populations rather than just the capitalist ruling classes. What we know at present is that the crisis is stoking mass anxiety and action which is leading many to understand the capitalist system as its source. Whether they will go beyond demanding the reform of the system to seeking its overthrow and whether capitalism can accomodate the demand for reform has again become the central question. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#29099): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/29099 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/104479559/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: marxmail+ow...@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [arch...@mail-archive.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
