whose fault

Like Richard was saying in his piece yesterday capitalism is getting worried that the rage at BP and the criticism of its criminal behavior might spread to capitalism as a whole, to all the corporations. After all they are all criminal conspiracies. They break whatever laws they can get away with breaking, they hire lawyers to lie for them, they bribe politicians to change the laws to suit them, they terrorize workers who object by taking away their job.

The craftier capitalist politicians and journalists are trying to avert this danger by saying that the catastrophe in the gulf and all the other problems capitalism brings, wars and occupations, pollution and environmental destruction, mass poverty and starvation, that these are all our fault. It is us, we are not acting responsibly they claim. They want to blame us and take the heat of the corporations and their corrupt capitalist criminal system.

Look at the catastrophe in the Gulf. Ordinary people did not scheme to break every law and bribe the politicians and regulating agencies to get doing what was most profitable for them in the Gulf. The catastrophe in the gulf is the result of BP and its profit addicted capitalist system and their representatives in the White House, both in the Bush years and at the present time. Ordinary people are not responsible for the worst oil spill ever.

Look at the financial crisis and bail out of 2008 and 2009. Ordinary people did not bribe the politicians to get the laws changed so wall street and the financial swindlers could do whatever they wanted, could carry out their criminal conspiracies.

Look at the wars and occupations in the Middle East. Ordinary people did not lie and twist to claim there were weapons of mass destruction held by Hussein to justify their decision to invade Iraq and now Afghanistan. By the way Afghanistan is now the longest war in US history and it is increasingly going bad. And it is spreading to Pakistan with its nuclear arsenal which US capitalism helped the Pakistan regime develop.

Ask yourselves when was the last time you were asked your opinion on these issues and given an opportunity, a mechanism through which to directly decide on what should be done. The answer is we are not given such opportunities.

Before I go let me say a word again about my old friends the union leaders. never has there been so much evidence that capitalism is rotten from top to bottom. Never have so many people and the planet been suffering from the dominant system, from capitalism. But would you think this from listening to the union leaders. They will not even mention capitalism. They put hundreds of millions of our dues money into supporting the capitalist politicians and through this the capitalist system. These people are utterly cowardly and useless. They are totally cowed by the capitalist system. They have forfeited all right to be in leadership positions. Just like capitalism and the capitalist class have forfeited their right to rule so the union leaders have forfeited their right to hold the leadership of the workers movement.

But talking about things being our fault and not being our fault. There is one thing we have to take responsibility for. That is building a new combative anti capitalist leadership in the working class. If we are not involved in this, in building fighting anti capitalist caucuses in our unions, workplaces, neighborhoods, caucuses which oppose capitalism and its offensive against working people through mass direct action, caucuses which advocate a democratic socialist society as an alternative, then we also are part of the problem not part of the solution. We are also to blame.

Contact us at this blog and let us work for a solution.

Sean.