This blog argues for socialism. We believe there is much greater support for socialism in the US than is generally accepted. We believe the main problem is that the union leaders who control the unions and the resources of the millions of their union members support and argue in favor of capitalism. And along with the support of the union leaders for capitalism we have the fact that there is no mass workers' party campaigning for socialism. These factors combine to keep socialism as an organized force very weak. But what is the general sentiment in relation to socialism and what is the potential? This is a very different thing.
#Only 53% of American adults think capitalism is better than socialism.
#20% say socialism is better, 27% are not sure.
Adults under 30 are more divided.
#37% prefer capitalism.
#33% prefer socialism.
##30% are undecided.
Those in their 30's are more pro capitalist.
#49% are for capitalism.
#26% for socialism.
Adults over 40 are the most pro capitalist.
#Only 13% believe socialism is better.
However, whatever way you look at these survey results, even if you take the most unfavorable from the point of view of socialism there is potential mass support for socialism. And this is in spite of the mass media and its anti socialist pro capitalist non stop propaganda barrage and in spite of the union leaders echoing this propaganda and taking organizational measures against socialists in their ranks.
So where does this leave us socialists. The issue is how to realize this potential support for socialism, how to realize the potential of the working class and its anti capitalist opinion.
The union leaders will not lead unless they are forced to. This means if they are threatened of losing control of the movement by more radical and left forces. The left groups in their crisis are not capable of developing a mass base in the present situation. It will take some other factor to bring about change. It will take a major shift in the day to day experience of the US working class which will force them to conclude that they have to confront capitalism and seek to build an alternative society, that they cannot go on in the same way any longer.
The two main objective factors that have let US capitalism survive and keep its own working class under control has been its tremendous economic power at home and its dominance abroad from which it extracts enormous wealth. These have allowed US capitalism when challenged by its own working class to make concessions. What has to be seen now is that both these factors are coming to an end.
US capitalism is in debt as never before. According to the New York Times, Feb. 2nd, US government deficits will not return to levels that are considered sustainable for the next ten years. If even then. Not only the Federal government is in debt. The State governments are in debt also. They are close to $400 billion in the red. At the same time US capitalism is increasingly losing its markets to rivals such as China. The result of this is very easy to see. US capitalism will not be able to make the kind of concessions it made to its own working class much longer. It will come after the US working class to make us pay.
The crucial thing to see here is that this will will change consciousness. Yes there will be many confusions and cross currents but the main general process will be an understanding that the rich are holding onto everything they can and making the working class pay. This will polarize the classes and increase class consciousness. It will force the working class into action and struggle. In the course of this the socialist ideas will increasingly come to the surface in a mass form and find a way to organize themselves.
The other factor that will change consciousness will be the crisis of US capitalism in its foreign policy and its wars and occupations abroad. These are crucial to its looting of the rest of the world and to its gaining more wealth abroad which it can use to make concessions to its own working class at home and this in turn can help keep the US working class more supportive of the existing system. But success abroad depends on economic health at home. As Summers, the economic adviser to Obama says: "How long can the world's biggest borrower remain the world's biggest power."
US capitalism is bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is getting pulled into Pakistan, it has neither the money or the human power to fight the wars it needs to to maintain its world dominance. As it loses this world dominance it will be less able to make concessions to its own working class and this in turn will force its own working class to take independent action, to transform and build its unions and to build a mass working peoples party.
Those of us who run this blog are very optimistic. The opinions shown in this survey indicate the potential for the future. The increasing crisis of US capitalism will force it to increasingly attack the US working class and the US working class will have to fight and through this process the support for socialism will express itself and increase and be realized.
Just one note to defend ourselves from what tends to be said by the union leaders. They say that when people like myself explain what we do above that what we are saying is that we want the working class to suffer more so that they can become more left. This is entirely untrue. We are one hundred per cent against any loss in jobs, cuts in wages, reduced living standards and so on. We fight on this basis unlike the union leaders who give away jobs and wage rates and benefits. But here is the problem. We are very small and with little influence. It is the union leaders who have control over their millions of members. However they will not lead their members forward. In fact they hold them back. This means that they prop up capitalism. The reason that the crisis of US capitalism will have to get worse before the US working class becomes more radical and takes action is because of the refusal of the union leaders to lead. The union leaders are to blame for the working class not being able to find the way forward at present to build their unions into mass tens of millions of members and fighting independently and they are to blame, with their boot licking of the Democrats for the working class not being able to find their way to build a mass Working Peoples Party. The fact that the US working class will have to go through worse suffering is the fault of the Union leaders. Nobody else is to blame.
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