Capitalism On The Edge

Written By: Lars Ulrik Thomsen

How can we define the present crises and what is its historical context? Is this crisis an accumulation of previous crises? What is the main link in the chain of political tasks for the labour movement?

What would Lenin say about the current crisis? With his keen ability to go to the heart of the matter, he would surely say the following:

“The current crisis is a crisis for capitalist production conditions. As Marx and Engels described it in “The Communist Manifesto”: The bourgeoisie is chasing the globe for profit!” (1)

This is the real problem behind the current crisis. All human considerations; environment, health, the utilization of nature’s resources have been neglected for the sake of profit.

The question is, have we not reached the point where the old societal system is turning into a new one? This is what Marx predicted in the financial analyses in Capital. (2)

Therefore, the current crisis is also an opportunity to raise the debate on the transition to another social system.

The crises we are experiencing today are an accumulation of crises over many decades; economic crises, environmental crises, refugee crises, wars of imperialism, the exploitation of the weakest countries, the violations of international law and the UN Charter, to name but a few.

In other words, we must see the current pandemic in a larger context. It is not only a crisis for world health, but also a deep crisis for capitalism. (3)

Another vital question that has to be defined is the dialectic between the general crisis in capitalism and the different types of crises mentioned above. This question has to be analysed in the context of the epoch and the way it progresses. (4)

In my view the general crisis of capitalism is evident through the following aspects:

• the effects of austerity policy in the major EU countries

• the effects of the climate crisis in the broad perspective

• the effects of the refugee crisis in Europe and worldwide

• the effects of the new economic crisis and its background

• the effects of the wars of imperialism and its costs

• the effects of third world exploitation

• the effects of violations of the UN Charter and international law

• the effects of the present Corona crisis

Discussing the various aspects, it is important to find the main link in the chain and show how the contradictions can be solved. Which aspect is the dominating and decisive link? (5)

The decisive link is the fight for national sovereignty. The Corona crisis has shown that EU is without any significant influence in the present situation. The European Commission is divided because of disagreement on the next budget, and the various member countries have decided their own measures to counter the crisis. (6)

In other words there is no longer a role to play for the EU. This is an important lesson that has been underway for some time, and the crisis around Brexit has accelerated this process.

The crucial point of the debate will be the attitude to the aid packages currently being made by governments. In doing so, they repeat the disgrace of the 2008 financial crisis, where deficits are socialized while profits are privatized!

So the coming class struggle will primarily be on a national level and the main subject will be the payment for the monstrous packages for banks and monopolies.

This will definitely be the major conflict in the coming months and years.

Bibliography

1) “The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilisation. The cheap prices of commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all Chinese walls, with which it forces the barbarians’ intensely obstinate hatred of foreigners to capitulate.” Marx/Engels Selected Works, Vol. One, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1969, pp. 98-137;

2) “The transformation of scattered private property, arising from individual labour, into capitalist private property is, naturally, a process, incomparably more protracted, violent, and difficult, than the transformation of capitalistic private property, already practically resting on socialised production, into socialised property. In the former case, we had the expropriation of the mass of the people by a few usurpers; in the latter, we have the expropriation of a few usurpers by the mass of the people.” Capital; Chapter Thirty-Two: Historical Tendency of Capitalist Accumulation.

3) Comparing with the Bird-flue crisis in 2006, the effects of the Covid-pandemic are far greater today.

4) “The crisis is a structural moment and an expression of the dialectic of transition. The general crisis is not identical to the various crises in which capitalism moves more or less manifestly; For the dialectical quality of decision of the crisis that can only be grasped from the overall historical movement of the epoch, their model does not give an appropriate measure.” Das Mass der Epoche, p. 23, Wolf-Dieter Gudopp, Wissenschaft & Sozialismus e.V. 1995.

5) “Political events are always very confused and complicated. They can be compared with a chain. To hold the whole chain you must grasp the main link. Not a link chosen at random.” Lenin’s Collected Works, 2nd English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1965, Volume 33, pages 237-242.

6) The EU-summit February 2020 was unable to agree a budget for the coming years, since then the financial ministers have agreed to a temporarily budget.