Re: [OPE] capital's roads to recovery?

Hi Jerry,
no doubt what you propose is a relevant issue. I would however add a
second line of debate:

1) what new perspectives does the present crisis present for the working
class and for the struggle for socialism?

2) Does the present crisis alter in a significant extent the very
unfavorable relation of forces in which workers and socialists, as well as
Marxists, have been in the past decades?

3) to what extent can the present crisis contribute to a significant
upsurge of the working class in the class struggle?

4) In what way and to what extent can Marxist intellectuals contribute to
such an upsurge?

comradely,
Claus.

>
> Hi all:
>
> There is much debate in the inner circles of capital and the state about
> possible ways to get out of the economic crisis. But, what do Marxists
> - from different theoretical perspectives - have to say in reply to that
> question?
>
> Let me tell you what I DON'T want to hear from you in response to that
> question. I don't want to hear:
>
> a) "there is no way out of the economic crisis other than socialism".
>
> I don't want to hear that because there isn't at present a international
> socialist movement which is organized enough to succeed and the
> working class internationally is still in the embrace of reformism. That
> can and, hopefully, will change but not, most likely (imo), before capital
> itself
> succeeds in restoring international capital accumulation.
>
> b) "it's not our role to advise capitalists and the state about how they
> can
> get out of the crisis".
>
> Even if true, the reason I don't want to hear this is because it misses
> the _point_
> of my question. The point isn't to advise capitalists. The point is for us
> to discuss,
> compare, and critique our alternative Marxian perspectives on what would
> have to
> be done for the international capitalist economy to expand again. The
> object for
> such a discussion will be to see how our differing theoretical
> perspectives inform
> our understanding of a major global economic issue today.
>
> Obviously, the question revolves in large part over our different
> perspectives
> on what is required to increase the rate of profit. But, there what is
> obvious
> begins to end - especially once we begin to consider the alternative ways
> in which surplus value can be increased, the demand for means of
> consumption
> and means of production, the level of employment and income, the
> devaluation
> of existing fixed capital and technological change, liquidity and credit,
> foreign
> exchange markets, and states' ability to impact the economy through
> taxation,
> spending, regulation, and monetary policy.
>
> Can what has been successful in the past again be successful for capital
> today?
> Or, is there something about the current crisis which suggests that the
> old routes
> to recovery will be obstructed and impassable? If so, can these
> bottlenecks
> be broken and, if so, how?
>
> So, what do you think? What are the possible ways in which capital _can_
> recover?
>
> In solidarity, Jerry_______________________________________________
> ope mailing list
> ope@lists.csuchico.edu
> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/ope
>

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Received on Thu Jan 22 08:27:18 2009