There are a few other facts closer to home that show it has forfeited the right to exist. At the moment in the US there are at least 11 million people unemployed. If we add the underemployed, that is those with some work but not enough work, the figure rises to 21 million. This is one in eight people unemployed or underemployed.
We need to think about this and use our imagination. First what a waste of lives and talents and abilities and resources. Second what suffering in terms of poverty and depression and despair of all those with no work or not enough work. Thirdly all this labor power is going to waste while the country needs better schools, hospitals, homes, roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Capitalism cannot give these 21 million people good full time jobs. It cannot utilize their labor power. It has forfeited the right to exist.
What is needed is a program of public works at union rates and conditions and under workers control and management to give all these workers jobs and to build all these new facilities and this new infrastructure that is necessary.
And by the way. When we are talking about wasted resources. What about all the people in the prisons in this country? The US has 5% of the world's population but 25% of the world's prison population. This is also a sign of the inability of US society to realize the potential of its people. The highest proportion of its population of any country in the world in its prisons. What an incredible waste. And what a sick joke it makes of the claiming that the US is the land of the free.
I see Obama is planning to launch a big stimulus plan to create jobs. A stimulus plan along the lines which I propose above is what is needed. What Obama has in mind is likely to be very different. He has surrounded himself with economic big mouths and swindlers who filled their pockets in the economic swindles that led up to the recent crash. These are the people who caused the present crises that he is expecting to get the country out of the crises.
Take for example his National Economic Adviser, Lawrence Summers. Before getting on to his economic outlook this is the sexist reactionary who had to flee Harvard for saying that women were inherently incapable of becoming experts in the hard sciences. This is the person that Obama has as his main economic adviser. Does Obama believe this about women also?
But about economics. At an economic seminar some years ago an economist stood up and challenged the Greenspan policies. Greenspan was present. Greenspan's policies were basically to give everything the Federal Reserve could to the banks and big capitalists and they would manage everything themselves. Self regulation you see. Let the foxes make the rules for the henhouse. Greenspan's policies have been a disaster. They are buried in the financial collapse of the past months. Greenspan, this bagman for big capitalism, has been so humiliated that he has even admitted he was wrong.
But what is more relevant for the Obama government is that at this same seminar Summers stood up and defended Greenspan against his critic. Summer, now Obama's main economic adviser, supported the catastrophic economic policies of Greenspan. And he has not admitted he was wrong. He is hoping people forget his support for Greenspan and his policies. So the big question is, what is Summers doing in Obama's government? This arrogant sexist right wing economist and self styled know it all will be in there doing all he can to prop up the most right wing elements of capitalism. He will be in there representing these people whenever he gets the chance to whisper in Obama's ear.
This is even recognized by some of the capitalist politicians themselves. Senator Tom Harkin, D., has said he is concerned that Summers is spouting the same "trickle down" economics aswas spouted by the Bush presidency.
Obama is a Democratic Party capitalist politician. To reassure the capitalist class he has surrounded himself with people like Summers and others like him. He does not intend to take measures which would be opposed by capitalism. Unless there is an explosive movement from below which threatens capitalism and its system then the tens of millions of unemployed will be left to mass poverty and misery. The task for the working class movement and activists is to build a movement that will threaten and shake capitalism to its foundations and which will open the road to a democratic socialist alternative.
Sean. Chicago.
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