Re: Doug Henwood/Mark Jones exchange (from LBO-Talk)

["Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The entire history of human kind can be viewed as a "long upwave of properity",
with "minor adjustments" along the way.  One can define the Black Death as a
minor adjustment.  There were people who went through the 30s without economic
pain. Some even got rich during the depression. Yet the French Revolution took
place, so did the 1848 /revolutions.  In the 20th century, two major socialist
revolution took place, each preceeded by a woerld war.

Capitalism has been buying second and third lives with imperialism overseas and
socialist compromises at home. Unless capitalism can pull a third rabbit out the
hat, this decade may be its last.  The bet is on the "New Economy", but instead
of being a rabbit, the New Economy may turn out to be of viper and may
accelerate capitalism's end.  As a desparation of last resort, there is always
war. The US has been pursuing a strategy of intense militarization of the peace,
with localized, casulty-free techno wars and TMD..

Marxists really do not have to waste energy hoping for a crash of the economy.
Revolutions are as inevitable as business cycles.  Those who buy into the "end
of history" are in the same fantasy boat with those who hope for the end of the
business cycle.  It is a fundamental truth that GREED, the driving force behind
capitalism, is self destructive. It is the nature of greed to escalate risk
toward suicidal ends. The very defintion of risk is built on danger.

As long as capitalism prevails, war is inevitable.  Yet war is the incubator of
revolution.  No revolution has ever been born without being delivered by foreign
war.

The fall of the USSR left the US an unopposed hegemonistic superpower.  But it
also exposed the US crusade for capitalism as the new evil, opposed by
increasingly large segments of the world's population, not just marxists.  As
Soros said, the music has stopped, but the people kept dancing.  But not for
long.

Henry C.K. Liu