Unregulated capitalism allows for a quickening of the process of accumulation of capital and the concentration of wealth into fewer and fewer hands. It also allows capital to externalize costs such as pollution leading to global warming, poisoned water, deforestation, and species eradication. Even the cost of wars for expansion and for control of raw materials become externalized to the "democratic" state which forces the working class to fight and pay for the capitals endless quests of expansion and geo-political control. The externalization of these costs become obvious as the 95% of us who are not of the capitalist class and who interact with capital only as workers and consumers are forced to pay for those costs with lowered quality of life, deteriorated environment, and diminished expectations for our families solvency. These conditions amplify to a point where pubic outcry becomes audible either as strikes or rebellions of the working class, outrage and organizing against environmental (or similarly problematic) conditions and even professorial admonitions against the greed of unregulated capitalism.
Regulation on the other hand is a last ditch attempt to salvage the system from its natural tendency toward this downward spiral of self destruction. In times of crisis the more "level-headed" capitalists and their apologists seek to tinker with the system at its edges in order to tame the outrage, indignation, burgeoning rebellion of the "lower classes" and the "bleeding-heart liberal elitists" who can not stomach what "pure capitalism" wrought.
The great depression gave rise to Keynesian regulation, liberalization of labors right to organize (NLRB), and consequently massive public works projects were initiated to tame the struggling masses which capital had lost the ability to employ and pacify. In order to save itself the state stepped in to bridle the untamed mustang of capitalism gone wild. But the true ideology of the capitalist class expressed itself through the likes of Ayn Rand, and Milton Friedman whose belief in the virtue of greed and unrestrained capitalism was embraced by a generation of enthusiastic youth who rejected the Keynesian order as creeping socialism. These "true capitalists" spread their ideology through the political, intellectual and media classes who admonished the working class with pablum such as "trickle down", "the end of history" and "the ownership society" as they sold their drivel to all comers. The Democratic Leadership Council signed on and the Clinton administration sold us a bill of goods by undoing the regulations of the Keynsian era which were designed to prevent a repeat of the collapse of 1929.
So we have come full cycle and the "cooler-heads" of the capitalist class again have stepped in to stave off total collapse before it gives rise to lower class rebellion. But this new urge for regulation is coming up against hard corp ideologues of "free-market" deregulation so reaching agreement for a bail out is harder than expected.
But both roads seek to protect the system of wealth accumulation which keeps accelerating the division between the rich and the poor, the North and the South, the East and the West and seek to justify its continued reign as the only possible system.
But capitalism is not the only system of production. And it has shown itself to be incapable of meeting the most basic needs of the mass of humanity to say little of the eco-system and other species. This current mode of production is based on the commodification of every thing and regardless of which wing of the capitalist class (the regulators or the free-marketeers) one sides with, this truth drives the actions of capital en-total.
We are long overdue for an uprising of the working classes to wipe away this destructive system and replace it with a centralized planned economy. Only a mode of production which socializes capital can take the type of action needed to educate the entire population from pre-school to graduate school, provide health care for all, protect our children and elderly from fear of hunger and abandonment, guarantee full employment at socially productive jobs and undo the worst damage to the environment caused by both forms of capitalism restrained and unrestrained.
Rather than a bail out of Wall Street we require a full take over of the banking system and financial institutions under workers control to provide full transparency in all transactions and a credit source for small business, home owners, working class people and the larger enterprises most of which should also be seized to assure they can be used to put people and the eco-system before profiteering.
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Guy Watson
Dennis Loo
Tom Cordle
Norwonk
Hipployta
Joan Walsh
Salon.com
Comments
Socialism requires a change in the level of social, economic and political activity on the part of the entire population and the working class in particular. The existing institutions which we are used to will not serve in a system organized to meet social need. In bourgeois democracy we are used to a permanent political class of lackeys who are schooled in the proper mores of capitalist norms. They are used to enriching themselves through their public service while they legislate to enrich the capitalist class at the expense of the working class. The stories of capitalist politicians enriching themselves through the relationships they develop in politics are legion. Just as the legislation which is written by the capitalists lobbyists and passed by our congress people and senators serves the ruling class with only a few bones thrown to the masses to keep us pacified when we get too unruly or uppity.
Socialism will not come about by a simple election of socialist candidates to a majority of the congress and senate. It will require new organizations of worker's democracy developed in the workplaces, the communities, schools, and the military. Workers, Students, and Soldiers councils will come together in locals and elect their own leaders who must be subject to immediate recall. The task of these councils will be to expropriate private capital and socialize it under workers control, organize production under a plan reflecting the need of the population, the environment and other species survival. Leaders will not be free to be above and apart from the people the way they are in our current system. They will be immediately answerable to the local councils from which they are elected. Far from the current form of elections for leaders socialist leaders will be organically connected to the factories, mines, farms, schools, military unit, communities, and offices they came from. Experts will be recruited from academia and the scientific community to consult with the worker's representatives; with the current accessablity of information broad based discussion of significant issues will replace the current mindless and mind deadening forms of entertainment and corporate news delivery. Socialism requires time taken out of the productive process for decision making on the shop floors across the nation. As production will not be for private profit social decision making will become the norm. Of course this is all speculation based on the experience of the Paris Commune 1871, the 1905 revolution in Russia, the general strike in Seattle in 1919, the Russian revolution of 1917, the Spanish Republic of 1936, the San Francisco General Strike of 1936, the factory occupations in Argentina in 2001 and numerous other cases where working people united to take control of their destiny. In all these cases workers took over control of their lives, the decision making process and in many cases production and military organization based on there own democratic councils.
What will worker's democracy look like in our country when our working class wakes up I can't say. But I expect it will be original and reflective of the creativity our people have always shown when given the opportunity to express themselves.
In my view, socialism will also require a maturation of human consciousness, to substitute a spirit of community, mutual support, and solidarity for the self-centered, competitive, me-first mindset that dominates most people's worldview under the capitalist system. I actually have been planning to post on this topic at more length in my own blog, and will do so soon. Stay tuned!