The End of Empire

(excerpt)

SR: There’s been a revival of Marxism: for example, commentators have noted that since 2008, sales of Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto have risen. You describe yourself as a ‘non-Marxist socialist’. Can you elaborate? 

CW: I think that a Marxist analysis is indispensable for any understanding, not just in the modern world but for our historical situation. I think in the end it’s inadequate but it is indispensablebecause how do you talk about oligarchy, plutocracy, monopolies, oligopolies, asymmetrical relations of power at the workplace between bosses and workers, the imperial tentacles, profit maximizing and so forth. That’s not Adam Smith. That’s not John Maynard Keynes. That’s Karl Marx.

It’s inadequate in the end because of the cultural issues. You have to deal with death, you have to deal with dread, despair, and disappointment. You have to deal with anxiety, insecurity, fears and so forth. And Marx just didn’t go in that direction. And people say, ‘well, you can go with Freud’. Yeah Freud got some interesting things to say, no doubt about that. But it’s indispensable and, in the end, inadequate. But it’s a beautiful thing to see the revival of a Marxist analysis. I think Marx was the great secular prophet of 19^th century Europe. And that makes a difference.

socialism-or-barbarism:

amodernmanifesto:

Trade union leaders met Tuesday with President Barack Obama to give their support to his plans for massive cuts in social programs upon which tens of millions of workers depend.

The hour-long, closed-door meeting at the White House was the first act in a carefully orchestrated campaign to convince the public that unprecedented cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps and other welfare programs are the only alternative to economic disaster in the form of the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

Pitting the workers against their union leaders and the “union bureaucracy” is not the best thing to do, in my opinion. I see this mostly with anarchists/Trotskyists and it’s incredibly divisive and counter-productive. Most union leaders are elected by their workers themselves and are always working class. This site has an incredibly Trotskyist bias and just an overall biased approach as well, it doesn’t base anything in fact and its only purpose seems to be to spread biased propaganda.  

Agreed - the site reads like vulgar propaganda sometimes, and it’s a bit scary. However, this is one of the only articles out there I can find that highlights union leaders’ unflinching support for massive cuts that have already been agreed to between Obama and Congress. Now we can see the AFL-CIO, Moveon.org and a host of other progressive institutions will be standing (UNCRITICALLY) behind the president’s grand bargain.

The $4 trillion, 10-year plan includes the commitment to $1.1 trillion in spending cuts that Mr. Obama and Congress have already agreed to, he added, as well as additional spending cuts that include $340 billion in savings from Medicare and Medicaid. And, Mr. Carney said, Mr. Obama “insists as the essence of balance that revenue be included — $1.6 trillion in revenue.”

That’s from the New York Times. We won’t see these progressive groups mentioning the pain of the spending cuts in days to come, they’ll just be campaigning for the compromise.

Interestingly, this Financial Times article reported on the meetings with business leaders he’ll be having today. He’ll be meeting with heads of Wal-Mart, Ford, American Express… BUT, gotta meet with progressives first and get them on board for the cuts, then the executives… nice strategy (gag). The FT article was pretty upset that Wall Street has not been invited for meetings.

Of course, as they said, the wealthy don’t care about a little more income tax for them at this point - how does that hurt them? The DO want the people at the bottom to hurt, and business and the right are committed to making this happen. Now labor’s agreed to it, and Obama will get his way. As some Goldman Sachs dude said in the FT article:

“The business community vigorously supports efforts to conclude a bipartisan fiscal accord,” Mr Blankfein wrote. “I believe that tax increases, especially for the wealthiest, are appropriate, but only if they are joined by serious cuts in discretionary spending and entitlements.”

Prepare to hurt, America. And prepare to have progressives ignore you. In this case, thanks to World Socialist Website for your staunch criticism. Even though you are a bit crazy now and then…