30s, the U.S. was a major creditor nation with massive reserves of gold. n addition, the recession had already been going for nearly four years when FDR first came to power. Obama has inherited an entirely different domestic and international situation. The U.S. is now the world's greatest debtor nation and the economic recession is just beginning. Even if Obama is forced at a certain stage to implement similar policies (again, as the result of mass pressure from below and the threat of revolution), it could only be by further increasing deficit spending, which would only lead to even more complications in the future. There is no easy way out for U.S. capitalism and imperialism. Anything they do to try and restore economic stability can only increase social and political instability, and vice versa.
So at root, very little will change, and Obama's room for maneuver will be limited. Having missed out on the boom, American workers will now be asked to "share the pain" in the interest of "national unity." But workers and the poor will share a lot more of the pain than the rich, as the Wall Street bailout already shows. We say: make the rich pay! Why should working people have to pay for the bosses' crisis?
Let's put it clearly: Will Obama repeal Taft-Hartley and other anti-labor legislation? Will he implement a national living wage? Will he abolish the HMOs and provide free, universal health care? Will he cut the military budget and invest much needed billions in education, housing and infrastructure? Will he nationalize the energy, auto and airline industries, all crucial for the functioning of the country, to be run under democratic workers' control? Will he stop the raids and deportations and grant amnesty to immigrant workers and their families? Will he launch a mass program of public works to create millions of union jobs, provide housing for all, modernize and expand public transportation and rebuild our crumbling infrastructure? Don't hold your breath.
Capitalism is in crisis: socialism is the solution!
Obama's election comes at a time of growing pessimism, not just about the current situation, but about the future itself. People need to believe that things can get better. This explains the revival in interest in the ideas of socialism. From McCain, Obama, Pain and Biden, to "Joe the plumber" and the Wall Street Journal, the words "socialism" and references to Marx are in the mainstream on a level not seen in this country since the collapse of the USSR. In Germany, where the crisis is also hitting workers hard, Marx's Capital is back on the best seller's list. The question on many people's minds is the following: Was Marx right?
Despite the decades of prejudices that have been built up against the ideas of Marxism and socialism, people are increasingly open to these ideas, since they can see in practice that capitalism isn't working. Remember, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, we were promised a "Pax Americana" of peace, full employment and a tomorrow brighter than today. What have we gotten instead? War, terrorism, cuts in social programs, millions of jobs lost and more spending on the military than ever.
|Anti-Bailout Rally, Wall Street, 25th September 2008
Millions of Americans say they uninterested in politics or economics - they're apparently apathetic and would rather watch Monday Night Football or Dancing with the Stars. But even if you are not interested in politics and economics, politics and economics are interested in you. On the basis of their own experience, increasing numbers of formerly apparently apathetic Americans are waking up to an active interest in politics and economics. Within the limits of the two party system, millions of Americans are in a confused way looking for a solution to their problems. Obama had record numbers of volunteers organizing in communities across the nation. For the first time, they felt they had a reason to get involved in politics. In the future, the skills they learned will be put to good use - but not for the Democrats or Republicans. The foundations for a future