[Marxism] Meanwhile..."Sharp Drop in Jobs Adds to Grim Picture of U.S. Economy" (NYT)

["Charles Brown" <charlesb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The point of this escapes me. Recessions are not news nor are they,
really, of much political importance. They have been a standard
feature
of capitalism since 1825 -- and in fact are mecessary for the health
of
the capitalist system. If one doesn't come now, it will come next year
or the year after. And after the recovery in another 5 to 7 years
another one will come.

Their main political effect is that they individualize the work force
as
everyone scrambles for personal survival, thus having a dampening
effect
on mass movements.

Carrol

^^^^^
CB: Yes. Seems to me that Marxists should emphasize Marx's Absolute
General Law of Capitalist Accumulation which refers to the secular trend
or continuous process of immiseration of masses while there is
concentration of wealth at the other social "pole".  The business cycle
is ,of course, cyclical. Immiseration , such as the massive prison
population in the US, is secular or continuous.

Marx's theory of the business cycle, if he had one, is scattered
through the volumes.  He didn't even put it in the one volume he
finished. If he considered it important for Marxists to predict the
business cycle, or focus on reforming  it under capitalism, it seems he
would have finished it and made it clear in Volume I. Marxists' solution
for the business cycle is to end capitalism.

 I say Marxists should focus on pointing out the operation of the
General law of accumulation , which generates mass immiseration.  In
2008 in the US that includes constantly banging on the giant prison
population and other forms of immiseration. Even in the boom phase of
the business cycle , there is mass pauperism and immiseration.



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