Editorial
Are We
Witnessing a Crisis of Capitalism?
There is a debate raging amongst the
Left about whether or not we are witnessing a crisis of capitalism. Some in
this debate are arguing that this is a crisis of capitalism,
that U.S. imperialism is collapsing and has lost its hegemonic position
within the imperialist system of states. Others argue that capitalism is
extremely resilient, the U.S. economy is still the largest economy in the world
and that both the U.S. and world capitalist/imperialist system can recover from
the current crisis. They argue that various economies may be going into crisis
but that capitalism, itself, is not.
In a sense this debate is over the issue
of whether or not the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and its replacement
by socialism is necessary or possible. Those who are arguing that this is a
crisis of capitalism are actually suggesting that revolution is not necessary
because capitalism will implode due to its inherent contradictions. Those who
are arguing that this is not a crisis of capitalism are suggesting that, while
the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism is necessary it is not possible at
this time because capitalism is still too powerful and the working class too
weak.
In the opinion of Modern Communism both sides in this debate are right and both sides
are also wrong. First, of course this is a crisis of capitalism. Capitalism
goes into crisis on a regular basis, approximately every 10 years, and has done
so for its entire existence. Some of these crises have been relatively mild and
some have been relatively severe. Some have affected a few countries and some
have affected the entire world. Each time that capitalism goes into crisis huge
amounts of capital are destroyed and workers are forced to shoulder the burden.
This inevitably leads to questions about the usefulness of this system and the
need to replace it with a more humane and less destructive economic system. The
more severe the crisis, the broader is the questioning.
The issue that is really being debated
is whether or not this is the crisis
of capitalism, the crisis which brings the whole system crashing down. However,
this is missing the point. There is no crisis which, by its very nature and
severity, is the crisis which will
bring an end to capitalism and imperialism. At the same time every crisis has
the potential to bring capitalism to an end in one or more countries, those
countries where the link in the imperialist system is weakest. For example, at
the time of the First World War Russia was the weakest link in the imperialist
system and capitalism was overthrown in that country. At the same time, there
was no possibility that the capitalist system in the United States could be
overthrown because the U.S. was not a weak link in the imperialist chain.
So, if we look at the current situation
in Canada or the U.S. we may conclude that capitalism is still too powerful and
that revolution is impossible. This may or may not be a valid conclusion
because revolutions are extremely complex phenomena and a non-revolutionary
situation can transform into a revolutionary situation in a matter of weeks or
months. Furthermore, when the imperialist chain is broken in one place it
encourages breaks in other places, but whether or not the working class is able
to take advantage of such situations depends on its level of organization and
its preparedness to go into action. So, the real issue is not whether or not
capitalism is on the verge of collapse, but rather what the revolutionary
forces need to do to prepare themselves and conditions for revolution in their
own countries.
The situation at the end of the First
World War is instructive in this regard. Russia was not the only weak link in
the imperialist system at that time. Most of Eastern Europe, as well as Germany,
France and Britain were also shattered by the war and there was a very real
possibility that capitalism could fall in all of those countries. Yet
revolution succeeded only in Russia. Why? Because the Russian working class was
led by a revolutionary party with the theoretical, political and organizational
capacity to take advantage of the revolutionary situation in Russia, while
there was no such organization in any other country.
This underlines the fact that an
economic or political crisis, no matter how severe, is not enough to put an end
to capitalism, either in a single country or on an international scale.
Capitalism can recover from any crisis so long as it is able to make the
working class pay for it. There are those that think that the workers can
prevent this from happening if they strengthen their trade unions and mount a
militant fight-back. However, history does not support this thesis. The trade
union struggle is not insignificant or irrelevant, but unless and until the
working class is ready to challenge the capitalist class for political power it
will always be forced to pay the bill. And for that the trade unions are not
sufficient; a revolutionary political party of the working class is essential.
Therefore, in the opinion of Modern
Communism, the debate about whether or not this is a or the crisis of
capitalism should be put to rest. The debate that has to be waged on the Left
is how we can build a revolutionary organization capable of taking advantage of
the opportunities that the deepening economic crisis presents to us to
transform the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism from a necessity to a
possibility to a reality. That is a debate with the potential to renew the
revolutionary working class movement in Canada.