Wednesday March 25, 2009, 11:51 am
Consider the United States. In the last eight years alone, while vast fortunes accrued at record rates, an additional six million Americans sank below the poverty level; median family income declined by over $2,000; consumer debt more than doubled; over seven million Americans lost their health insurance, and more than four million lost their pensions; meanwhile homelessness increased and housing foreclosures reached pandemic levels.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All hail capitalism.
Someone long ago once said that "Capitalism is the
extraordinary belief that the worst of men for the
worst of reasons will somehow do the best for us all".
I suppose it's wishful thinking on my part, but I see
the current economic crisis as the death of capitalism,
and a golden opportunity to usher in Democratic Socialism
on a worldwide basis. I'm probably wrong, but I'm going to
hang around long enough to find out, one way or the other.
Thanks, Simon.
noted.

Wednesday March 25, 2009, 12:46 pm

Excellent article, Simon . . . and one well worth reading and digesting.

Recently, I keep hearing disparaging remarks concerning the fear of the United States becoming "socialistic." However, I have also not failed to note that those who are remarking the loudest are those in the minority who have gained from capitalism at the expense of their investors.

IMHO, capitalism is nothing more than a "pyramid scheme."

Wednesday March 25, 2009, 1:58 pm
Thank you for the article, Simon.

Wednesday March 25, 2009, 2:22 pm
Hi Tim, Just Carole and Brigitte : ) Good on you for commenting here - and thanks for your interesting points. : )

Wednesday March 25, 2009, 7:07 pm
Sadly at the point when opportunity knocks for a truly social democratic alternative,the temporary hegemonic victory of brutal capitalism,has made zombies of too many of the masses.Admittedly the victory was albeit unevenly complete by the 50s in US terms..and probably by the 70s in Britain,though remains more partial in modern day France..where rebellion is never far from stirring..Viva Les France.
It is not enough to have a capitalist downturn,there needs to be a movement to offer a true alternative..not just a slightly humanised,slightly more restrained,slightly less brutal system.
Some people will begin to wake up,and seperate themselve's from the Mad Murdoch Matrix (ooh I like that... Mad Murdoch Matrix..)..some will be fooled by the weaselly words of this type(apoigies to Weasels..not to Murdoch.. ) and be passive,some will be fooled and misdirect their anger towards ethnic minorities ..with a lot of help from those keen to disguise the true nature of the rotten system.Fascism fills such vacuums ,if progressive's don't have their act together..We've gotta be quick,broad,brave,united,non-dogmatic,democratic and reacting with sharpness to the ever changing crisis around us,and the nasty divide and rule tricks of the desperate elite.

Wednesday March 25, 2009, 8:38 pm
Hi "Angry Pandas Movement",
the people of Latin America are increasingly choosing more democracy and more socialism, and democratic socialism is growing somewhat in other parts of the world, too, such as Nepal, India, the Philippines and Malaysia.

And how can we forward the movement for democratic socialism? By educating and inspiring people with political news and action, raising their consciousness about politics, such that they see the benefit in participating in politics, and by recruiting people to political organisations, such as labour unions and Greens parties, and especially to democratic socialist parties. : )

Thursday March 26, 2009, 1:19 pm
No system is perfect, so both capitalism and democracy have their problems. US citizens wanted to be free, and to achieve that devised a few basic rules (their constitution). To work effectively capitalism needs some rules too. e.g. capital reserve ratios with which operators in the market comply.

A "free market" will self adjust; it will not necessarily do so in an orderly manner. Both capitaliam and democracy need to be flexible, which is why a constitution may be amended in certain circumstances, and why basic economic rules should similarly be amended.

Capitalism has imposed upon itself great problems just now, they need not be permanent, or apocalyptic. Our ancestors recovered from "The Great Depression"; we can recover from this one.

Lord Keynes said that in the long run we are all dead; more importantly the short run does not always become the long run, but the long run always becomes the short run. We therefore need to identify which is which because bubbles (the short run) have a funny habit of bursting when reality (the long run) sets in.

This self-imposed economic downturn needs timely, temporary, targeted, and global responses. Let us hope our policy makers devise them.

Thursday March 26, 2009, 1:46 pm
This insanity certainly was self-inflicted. The "free market" was never FREE, and supply & demand has been manipulated into Corporate Demands & you supply the cash.. the Stock Market is a joke, Vegas for the Corporations - without the fun.

Thursday March 26, 2009, 4:16 pm
Hi Mary, you wrote:

"No system is perfect, so both capitalism and democracy have their problems."

Hmmm... I wonder if you actually read the article before you wrote this, Mary. Capitalism is not merely "a system with problems." Capitalism ITSELF is the problem. Capitalism means legal robbery: the capitalist class robbing the wealth that working class produce in the corporations owned by the capitalist class. Capitalism means a system akin to feudalism, with corporate barons having more or less absolute authority over the commoners (workers) in their domains (corporations), and more or less absolute control of the production of life's essentials, such as food, water and housing, and these corporate baronies compete with each other like feudal barons did hundreds of years ago.

The economic power of the capitalist class in capitalism enables them to dominate the government of each nation, just as barons had a huge power over monarchical governments in feudal times. And the capitalist class naturally uses their power to make nations go to war, using military killing huge numbers of people and terrorising the rest into submission, so that the capitalist class can gain control over more workers, more natural resources (such as oil), and people to sell to in the way that the capitalist class want (e.g. forcing Third World governments to stop protecting their fragile industries, and e.g. imposing cigarette advertising on Third World countries by bullying their governments).

And this is merely "a system which has some problems"??? As I said, capitalism IS the problem.

For more information, I would very much recommend the famous pamphlet called "The Communist Manifesto", which is mostly a summary of the nature of capitalism. It is available to read for free on the internet, here : ) -

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/

"US citizens wanted to be free, and to achieve that devised a few basic rules (their constitution)."

Actually, the ruling class of the U.S. designed the constitution, which did not allow most people to vote. Only rich white men had the right to vote in that constitution. Working class white men, and all black people, Native Americans and all women were all excluded from the vote, even though it said: "all men are created equal, and have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" or words to that effect.

Plus the writers of that constitution were not only sexist and racist, they were also slaveowners, and they allowed slavery in the USA, in another complete contradiction to the constitution which they wrote.

"To work effectively capitalism needs some rules too. e.g. capital reserve ratios with which operators in the market comply."

I don't know what that means. And to work effectively TO WHAT END? To serve the greed of the capitalist class? It does that quite well. For the life, liberty and happiness of the working class majority? Capitalism always fails miserably at that. Even when we of the working class have fought for centuries to win higher wages and free health care, etc., we don't even have the liberty to determine our own lives - the capitalist class controls our lives - they dominate the government, and have totalitarian control in our workplaces.

"A "free market" will self adjust; it will not necessarily do so in an orderly manner."

The market is not a person. The market only serves the greed of the powerful - the capitalist class, because it is they who control the economy. There is no "invisible free hand". All that free market, economic neo-liberalism stuff is dogma based on blind faith. There is no evidence for it. It is the capitalist ideology that serves the ruling class the same way that the medieval church dominated people's beliefs in the past, ensuring that they kept in their place, as serfs of the barons.

"Both capitaliam and democracy need to be flexible, which is why a constitution may be amended in certain circumstances, and why basic economic rules should similarly be amended."

As I have shown you, capitalism IS the problem. The only way to ensure that we, the people get what we want (decent standards of living, control over our lives including at work, and saving our planet's ecosystem) is by making revolution: fundamentally changing the political-economic system by democratising the economy, with the people taking control of what is currently monopolised by a rich and powerful elite.

"Capitalism has imposed upon itself great problems just now, they need not be permanent, or apocalyptic. Our ancestors recovered from "The Great Depression"; we can recover from this one."

As I said, capitalism is the problem, and in the Third World, there has been a permanent crisis for decades, with 900 million people going hungry, and 30,000 children dying from poverty each day, because first world capitalism plunders the Third World to the tune of U.S.$500 billion net annually. Even in the first world, when there is no economic crisis, capitalism is the problem. Plus capitalism imposes terrorism, wars, etc. upon us.

"Lord Keynes said that in the long run we are all dead; more importantly the short run does not always become the long run, but the long run always becomes the short run. We therefore need to identify which is which because bubbles (the short run) have a funny habit of bursting when reality (the long run) sets in."

I don't know what you are talking about. But I do know this: Keynes was a mediator between the capitalist class and the working class, between capitalism and democracy. He got the capitalist class to submit their capitalist system to some democratic reforms, desired by the working class, so that the working class did not do away with capitalism altogether and democratise the lot (i.e. genuine socialism).

"This self-imposed economic downturn needs timely, temporary, targeted, and global responses. Let us hope our policy makers devise them."

No way. Instead, let's end the inevitable regular capitalist crises (and the permaent one in the Third World), and end the terrorist imperialism that our first world capitalist governments commit (and which causes a terrorist response), and end the capitalist wars. Let's end our exploitation at the hands of the capitalist class. Let's take control of our own lives. How? By building a mass movement to democratise the economy! By joining and building and participating in Greens parties and democratic socialist parties, and so on! : )

Thursday March 26, 2009, 4:17 pm
Hi Yvonne : ) You summed it up really well! : )

Thursday March 26, 2009, 4:24 pm
Hi again Yvonne : ) I mean I wouldn't have thought of putting it how you put it. : ) Thanks!

Thursday March 26, 2009, 7:52 pm
Thanks Simon

Thursday March 26, 2009, 8:05 pm
You're welcome, Roxann : ) It's great to see you commenting here! : ) Did you read the article, by the way? It's very educational. I bet if you read it, you will learn alot about capitalism! ; )

Thursday March 26, 2009, 8:45 pm
i've just been re-reading Frederick Engel's Condition of the Working Class In England,and what he wrote then about inbuilt regular downturns in capitalist production,is as true now ,as it was when he wrote it in 1840s England.
Thanks Simon,you write with intelligence and genuine passion..and yes I agree,re the need to develop participation in unions and social democratic partie's..I just wish there were some real social democratic parties.
All of the western formerly social democratic parties are now merely the best of bad alternative's.I hold by the view that we have to either transform these radically,so that they are both social and genuinely democratic (our own UK Labour Party is no longer either)..or create alternative movements,that are as I say broadbased,and not tied to vested interests.

Thursday March 26, 2009, 9:52 pm
Hi Angry Pandas Movement : )

I am happy to see you commenting here - and I thank you for your kind words : )

I agree with what you wrote about social democratic parties, except that I want to be clear that I am recommending that people participate in Greens parties and democratic socialist parties, not so much "social democratic" parties. (I consider the Greens to be more leftwing, more revolutionary than social democratic parties.) I can name some examples in each country. E.g. In Australia, I am a member of the Socialist Alliance, and I support the Greens party as my 2nd preference. (Australia has a preferentual voting system.)

In the USA, I would recommend the Greens Party, Ralph Nader and the socialist parties which are democratic (real socialism is democratic by definition, unlike the fake "socialism" of the USSR or maoist China), such as the Socialist Workers' Party.

As for the UK, I am sure that there is a Greens party and democratic socialist parties there. At the very least, there is R.E.S.P.E.C.T., Ken Livingstone, Tony Benn, the Scottish Socialist Party, Solidarity, etc.. I used to read news from the Communist Party of Great Britain... I don't know how democratic they are, though.... There is also the Socialist Workers Party, the Socialist Party (CWI), and probably more. In Australia, I simply got involved in activism, and I joined the organisation that I agreed with the most - the Socialist Alliance. I recommend the same in the UK. : )