Much has changed since the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the much-heralded “end of history”.  Francis Fukuyama has distanced himself from both neoconservativism and neoliberalism, Chris Hedges is more radical than the Communist Party USA, the Left is resurgent in Europe and promenading towards hegemony in Latin America.  Even in Washington DC, for the first time in a generation, Keynes is more in vogue than Friedman.

Progressive forces can thank natural tendencies of capital, not a few “bad apples” in the financial sector, for the uptick in class conflict and more favorable conditions for politicization.  As Marx wrote throughout Das Kapital, the tendency of the rate of profit is to decline (a debate and discussion best left for another time and place), the tendency of capital is to concentrate in fewer and fewer hands and bouts of overproduction periodically throw capitalism into disarray.  Marx’s contributions on crisis are incomplete, with much of them coming from Volume 3 of Das Kapital, which was prepared posthumously by Engels from Marx’s notes.  Lenin’s writings on the crisis of late capitalism and imperialism were a reaction to the Great War, the rise of finance capital and the hyper-exploitation of the undeveloped world, factors that led him to believe that unlike the bourgeoisie during the time of Marx, the bourgeoisie of the 20th century was reactionary and decadent, no different than the aristocracy of the 17th and 18th centuries.  The use of market mechanisms to develop productive forces in India and China may show that the bourgeoisie is still dynamic enough to be considered a progressive force, but for workers here in America it is impossible to shake the feeling that the present order has hit a standstill. On the other hand Lenin’s writing on monopolization and the impact of economic interests on foreign policy (read War is a Racket by Major General Butler) are surprisingly relevant. Yet, Lenin was a writer for his time and not for the ages (someone should tell the “Leninists” that What Is To Be Done was written for Tsarist Russia), so taken literally some of his writings seem dated, but the clarity of his thinking and his mode of analysis makes him someone that should not be ignored, even by those who reject his views on political organization.

This particular crisis has the potential to hit harder than previous ones in part, because deregulation has exposed many of capital’s more destructive tendencies.  Many of the structures built to bridle capitalism’s excesses and direct some of its output towards public goods were slashed.  As a result wealth has concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, our social safety net has been gutted and unions are on life-support.  Liberal commentators have succinctly called our time the Second Gilded Age.  During the First Gilded Age income disparity soared and vultures swindled their way to economic fortune during the chaotic transition from an economy based upon agriculture to one based on industry.  Today as we plod our way towards a post-Industrial economy, income disparity stands at its highest point since the Roaring 20s, and there appears to be no great technological leap to propel us in the way that revolutions in industry and computing have done in the past .

The Great Depression which followed the Roaring 20s paved the way for the New Deal and Scandinavian Social Democracy, but could this be a crisis that leads to even more fundamental change?  Confidence among the ruling class is low, so confidence among progressive forces should be high.  Wildcat occupations are sweeping Ireland, the Ukraine and elsewhere, student radicalism reigns in Europe and class struggle is reaching its apex in Bolivia and Venezuela (countries where “maximal” programs may be possible) .  The United States is taking baby steps away from conservatism and returning towards mainstream social liberalism.  Different places are at different stages of class identification and polarization and our tactics should reflect this, but the international movement towards social justice (read: socialist) is marching in the right direction.

What is to be done? (for the American Left)

1) Support for President Obama’s stimulus package

2) Advocacy for Employee Free Choice and Health Care Reform— Renegotiate NAFTA and other trade agreements, cancel foreign debt

3) Militant opposition to foreclosures and evictions (direct action, public education forums, lobbying for legislation)

4) Resistance to occupation — independent of the Democratic Party (Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Somalia)

5) Continued exploration of the prospects for a Left Regroupment and Refoundation

Si se puede?