That question also points to the necessity of a revolutionary party.
What will replace capitalism if there is no revolutionary party to lead
the revolution and the revolution takes place anyway? Look to history.
One of two things happens. One is that after much death and destruction
the powers that were in charge in the first place simply reestablish
power and the revolution was for nothing. The second is that the entire
social order disintegrates and a new social order evolves into place
that is progressive over the previous one only slightly if at all. The
presence of a revolutionary party with a sense of direction and the
discipline to purposely pursue that direction will shorten the period of
suffering that is inevitable and work to establish a new and more just
social order. Of course, it is virtually impossible to construct a
perfect social order, but at least the suffering and destruction can be
ameliorated until the next conflict.
On 7/31/2016 11:23 AM, Alice Dampman Humel wrote:
The other question besides “how”, is what will replace it, if we insist on thinking in those terms?
On Jul 31, 2016, at 11:19 AM, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:carjar82@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Agreed. Capitalism must be removed. But the question is, How? An
uprising, a full out revolution with no solidarity support by the
People, opens up the potential of a military takeover. A dictatorship
that would continue the brutal practices of corporate capitalism.
Only worse.
Attempting to eliminate capitalism through the building of a new
Party, like the Green Party, building outside the Establishments Two
Headed Party, runs the risk of being slowly taken over by the Ruling
Class, as they have done with the old Democratic Party.
For the well being of the majority of Americans, I support the slower
road. But that calls upon an all out effort to educate Americans, to
involve all of us in the political process. Without Solidarity, our
fate will be determined by the forces of violence. And that is
always deadly.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/31/16, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:http://themilitant.com/2016/8029/802920.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 80/No. 29 August 8, 2016
(editorial)
Capitalism can’t be reformed
We are living through an irreversible crisis of the capitalist system
— a slow-burning depression that is building toward an even greater
catastrophe. This drives never-ending imperialist interventions and wars
in the Middle East and elsewhere as the old order continues to unravel
with no end in sight.
The capitalists have no solution. That’s why the two main bourgeois
parties are in crisis, the Democrats even more than the Republicans.
The Obama administration denies there is a problem. The economy is doing
great, the president says. This is echoed by Hillary Clinton, who vows
to continue the great “progress” of the last eight years. Many workers
ask, “What progress?”
Donald Trump wins a hearing because he talks about the crisis: high
unemployment, low wages, women without access to childcare. But his
answers are anti-working-class demagogy: promising to “make America
great again” and “safe again,” and to create jobs by putting “America
First” and negotiating better trade deals. Scapegoating immigrants and
blaming all Muslims for terrorism — in fact the largest number of
victims of Islamist terrorists are Muslims — serve to divide working
people. Blaming trade pacts for the economic crisis obfuscates the real
enemy: capitalism.
The Bernie Sanders campaign — and the Occupy movement that hopes to gain
control of the Democratic Party — is no better. Their mantras — campaign
finance reform, more liberal Supreme Court judges, tax the rich — also
take workers’ eyes off the real problem. There is no better, more humane
capitalism. It can’t be tweaked or reformed. It must be replaced.
Working people, the producers of all wealth, can see our potential power
reflected in the fear the rulers have of us, and how hard they try to
convince us to accept our lot in life. “The Revenge of Unrealistic
Expectations” is the title of a July 24 opinion piece by Robert
Samuelson in the Washington Post, attacking all those who pine for a
“romanticized world” of higher wages and low unemployment. But workers
and farmers will not accept the rulers’ vision of the world.
All the bourgeois candidates, from Trump to Clinton and Sanders, assert
that it is your vote Nov. 8 that matters. Their message is have faith in
the elections.
Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate Alyson Kennedy is spot on
when she says that whoever wins the election, the bosses will keep
trying to boost their falling profit rates on our backs, the worldwide
capitalist economic crisis will continue, the imperialist order will
keep unraveling.
The only road out of this crisis is for working people to act to end the
rulers’ class dictatorship, like workers and farmers did in Cuba in 1959.
The party joins every battle that increases the self-confidence of
working people, our discipline in struggle, our class consciousness and
understanding of our own worth. This includes union fights to improve
wages and conditions, protests against police brutality and for a
women’s right to abortion, and actions like the Sept. 8 United Mine
Workers union march on Washington, D.C., to that demand health care
benefits and pensions for retired miners be maintained.
“Workers need a revolutionary party to educate and organize the working
class to fight for political power,” Kennedy says. “That’s what the
Socialist Workers Party is.”
Related articles:
‘Socialist Workers Party is revolutionary party we need’
Working class is capable of reorganizing society
Socialist Workers Party files for Louisiana ballot
‘Workers are so open to discuss politics’ of SWP
Join the Socialist Workers Party campaigning
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