People before profit "Without social justice there is no freedom. My political goal is democratic socialism, a peaceful and democratic society for all people, free from exploitation."(Gesine Lotzsch leader of Die Linke)
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The Enigma Of Capital
ReplyDeleteDavid Harvey explains how finance capital, freed in the 1970’s from restraint sort new ways to maximise profit through privatisation of common property, asset stripping and urban development of peasant economies and the exploitation of cheap labour from the former Soviet Union and Eastern European states, along with low-wage countries in Asia, immigration and women joining the labour force.
The following collapse of industry and wages and rising unemployment in the advanced capitalist countries reduced consumer demand. To stimulate demand a cheap credit bubble emerged; with people getting into massive debt while the rich got even richer and even when the bubble burst the rich didn't suffer.
Harvey points out, the capitalists ensured that their control of the state would protect their financial institutions, squeeze the economy and public spending and attack the trade unions which was their class project. He looks into the barriers to this - working-class resistance to deindustrialisation and unemployment, peasant organisations opposing the exploitation of their land, finite natural resources causing imperialist wars to be fought over their control, popular risings opposing climate change and environmental destruction and peace campaigns, all form a pattern of global resistance.
David Harvey concludes that capital never solves its crisis tendencies, it simply moves them around. He sees the necessity to combine all the anti-capitalist forces to oppose international capitalism because the future of human life on earth is at stake.
David Harvey re-works and re-theorises Karl Marx analysis to show that capitalism may have reached a point where it cannot get over crisis and get back to a compound growth rate of 3% per annum needed to sustain the capitalist system. Capitalism can solve this as long as it makes people pay the price of its crises: lost jobs, lost pensions, destroyed environment, wrecked public services and vast amounts of capital destroyed in wars.
ReplyDeleteHarvey argues for a united Left across a broad range of struggles and across the globe. Harvey's focus seems to be to look beyond the traditional labour movements which may contradict the traditional Marxist view that the working class as central to a socialist challenge to capitalism. The Left has to respond to the crisis of international finance capital and present a socialist alternative this is the challenge that Marxist’s have to respond to if they are to have any role to play in the 21st century struggle between capital, labour and nature.
Europe Against Austerity
ReplyDeleteFightback against Austerity – Organise across Europe
European wide conference against cuts and privatisation
Saturday 1 October 2011, 10am-5pm
Camden Centre, Bidborough Street,
London WC1H 9AU
Register for the conference today:
£3 Unwaged / £5 Waged / £10 delegate from organisation
http://www.europeagainstausterity.org/
Supporters
ReplyDeleteKen Loach
John McDonnell MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Caroline Lucas MP
Kate Hudson
Tony Benn, President Coalition of Resistance
Imran Khan, the People’s Charter
Andrew Burgin, Secretary Coalition of Resistance
Bill Greenshields, Chair Communist Party of Britain
Lindsey German, Convenor Stop the War
Paul Mackney, former UCU General Secretary
Clare Solomon, President ULU Students Union
Hilary Wainwright, Red Pepper
Lee Jasper, BARAC
Len McCluskey, Unite General Secretary
Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary
Jeremy Dear, NUJ General Secretary
Chris Bambery, Secretary Right to Work campaign
ReplyDeleteSevim Dağdelen German MP for Die Linke (Left party)
To contact the Coalition of Resistance about the conference email: coalitionofresistance@mail.com
ReplyDeleteCommunist Party of Britain members attending the European Conference Against Austerity & Privatisation were Andy Bain, Steve Johnson and Andy Chaffer.
ReplyDelete