Monday, February 2, 2009

What Is To Be Done?

The crisis of economic collapse will affect everyone but it is workers who will bear the brunt of the pain. They will be asked to work harder, to expect less, and to be patient in their misery. Many will be searching for answers as to "what went wrong?". After all, they played by the rules, they bought into every aspect of the American Dream as it was advertised, they did just as they were told and their reward is standing in line at a food bank and knowing they could lose everything over a health emergency for which they have no insurance. They look to the "experts" for answers and hear the same message reinforced over and over again. "It is just another recession" say the pundits and media,"after all the over-capacity is cleared out of the system and the bubble deflated we can get back to capitalism as usual."

What workers don't understand ( their heads filled with "liberal" and "conservative" mush) is that HUMAN LIVES are the "over-capacity" that is to be eliminated and bubbles and imperialism are the engines of a state-capitalist economy. Attempts will be made to create a "kinder, gentler" house of cards so as to avoid social unrest but the only real innovation will be the creation of a more elaborate facade to hide the theft perpetrated by one class from another.

So what can workers do? All the decision making seems to be in the hands of politicians and academics and the corporate pirates who made off with the last thirty years worth of wealth. Should workers want the "bailout" to succeed? Should workers support the "Stimulus Plan"? Should workers fight other workers to keep their jobs and be happy it is not THEM getting the pink slip?

I say NO. I say Workers should organize and force an end to the system which only serves to exploit them. Because they are not organized they are powerless and don't sense any possibility for determining their own future. Because they are not organized they thought voting for Democrats was their only possibility for exercising their power. A united force that was unwilling to "work harder" or "sacrifice more" could at this crucial moment demand full ownership and control and get it. They could scrap the absurd system of thievery, barbarity and inefficiency known as capitalism and design their own system of production, distribution and allocation. One that was fair, sustainable, and democratic. If not NOW,... WHEN ?
Dave Jones aka Troutsky