Editorial
Is
Neo-Liberalism Finished?
The crisis afflicting U.S. financial institutions is being characterized as a crisis of neo-liberalism. This is undoubtedly the case. It shows that the normal methods utilized by neo-liberalism have been inadequate to prevent the collapse of profits and that a direct handout of a least a trillion dollars from the U.S. government to the biggest finance capitalists is needed to prevent the collapse of the entire house of cards. In fact, the total may be many times that before the dust settles from the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
But if neo-liberalism is in crisis, does that mean that it is on its way out? If so, what will replace it? Some, including U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, are suggesting that the “greed” characteristic of neo-liberalism will be replaced by the “benevolence” of a return to Keynesian economics. Neo-liberal policies are presented as an aberration, the work of some overly greedy individuals rather than the only hope of salvation for a dying monopoly capitalist system.
If the policies of Keynesian economics were capable of maintaining the profits of the monopoly capitalists those policies would never have been abandoned in the 1980s. Nor has a miracle occurred during the past 25 years to restore the effectiveness of those policies. Keynesian policies are simply not an option for the monopoly capitalist system of today.
Neo-liberalism, which in simplest terms is the direct plunder of the public treasury by the biggest and most powerful monopolies, is not just a policy option. Rather, it was and is the only method remaining to keep the entire capitalist system from collapsing. In a very real sense, neo-liberalism represents the epitome of the imperialist system described by V.I. Lenin just prior to the First World War in his classic book, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. It is parasitic, moribund and reactionary to the core. If anything, it is the Keynesian welfare state that was the aberration, made necessary by the existence of a socialist alternative to monopoly capitalism and imperialism.
It can be concluded from this that although neo-liberalism may be in crisis, it is not on its way out. There is no possibility that it will be replaced by a kinder, gentler form of capitalism. Rather, as the crisis deepens and broadens, neo-liberalism will become increasingly vicious and barbaric. It will go after broader and broader sections of the people to rob them of their savings and their possessions. It will resort more and more to lawlessness and military aggression to achieve its aims. This is the nature of capitalism in its highest and final stage.
Those who think that the horrendous crimes against humanity committed by the imperialists of the twentieth century are a thing of the past, something that will never be repeated, are in for a rude awakening. Today, as never before, the alternatives are clear: capitalist barbarism or socialism. Either the imperialists/neo-liberals will plunge the world into its darkest period ever or the working class will rise to the occasion and save humanity from catastrophe by overthrowing the whole rotten imperialist system. There is no third way and no turning back the wheel of history.