https://www.marxist.com/a-world-on-the-brink-revolution-looming.htm The speed of the economic collapse is astonishing. The shock to the global economy from COVID-19 has been far faster and more severe than the 2008 financial crisis and even the Great Depression. The economic collapse in the USA is as severe as it was during the Great Depression. But whereas the contraction after 1929 stretched over a four-year period, the coronavirus implosion played out over the course of four months. Following the Wall Street Crash of 1929, stock markets collapsed by 50 percent or more, credit markets froze up, leading to massive bankruptcies and unemployment soared, while GDP contracted sharply. But all of this took around three years to develop. In the current crisis, a similar economic and financial collapse occurred in the space of three weeks. It took only 15 days for the US stock market to fall 20 percent from its peak – the fastest such decline ever seen. And within a few months or weeks, unemployment in the USA reached 40 million. Consumption, capital spending and exports are experiencing an unprecedented freefall. To quote the words of Nouriel Roubini: “Not even during the Great Depression and the second world war did the bulk of economic activity literally shut down, as it has in China, the US and Europe today.” ........ Who is going to pay? That is the question that nobody wishes to ask, let alone answer. Martin Wolf, chief economist of the Financial Times, writes: “The pandemic has forced vastly greater fiscal spending even compared with the financial crisis. This now raises the question of how this debt is going to be managed and who is going to pay.” (FT, 5/7/20) But the answer is clear. The full weight of the crisis will be placed on the shoulders of those least able to pay: the poor, the old, the sick, the unemployed and the working class in general. But the middle-class will not emerge unscathed, either. Financial Times, which pointed out on 9 March: “Paying for the pandemic will raise all the same questions. A return to austerity would be madness – an invitation to widespread social unrest, if not revolution, and a godsend for the populists. Over time – a long time – the fiscal bills will have to be paid. Liberal democracy, however, will survive this second great economic shock only if the adjustments are made within the context of a new social contract that recognises the welfare of the majority over the interests of the privileged.” (FT, 9/3/20) Just how this miracle is to be achieved the Financial Times does not explain. But these lines are very revealing. They show that the strategists of capital are coming to the same conclusion as the Marxists. The bourgeoisie is caught between a rock and a hard place. They understand that revolution is implicit in the present situation. And they are not mistaken. https://www.marxist.com/a-world-on-the-brink-revolution-looming.htm My take: All you who scorn that people are averse to revolution better wake up because millions of people are suffering needlessly during this pandemic. At the same time the wealthiest tax-dodgers are getting wealthier while feeding off the bailout trough. Enough is enough!
The World Is On The Brink: Revolution Is Looming The revolution is more than just looming. It started in 2015 and was in an active though nascent stage until 2020 when the pandemic and attendant economic collapse gave it fresh impetus.
The World Is On The Brink: Revolution Is Looming Looming or not, the manufactured facts and opinions you offer to support your premise are basically not true. I would say that the economic situation in the U.S. can be fixed overnight by putting freedom of choice back in the hands of the people. Government authoritarianism doesn't work in America.
The choice to go to work or not. The choice to eat at a restaurant or not. I think you know the drill.
You foresee a revolution because you can't eat at a restaurant? I know I'm simplifying your comment, but I'm not seeing the massive shut downs that others apparently are.
No, I don't foresee a revolution. Sorry you were confused. I was explaining to someone a couple of the choices we no longer have as Americans. I haven't seen any shutdowns around here either mostly because businesses out here in the boonies mostly ignore authoritarianism and unreasonable government intervention in private lives.
Well I can either go with an assessment of the US economy by the IMF or your assessment. I think I will go with the IMF. https://www.theepochtimes.com/imf-us-economy-recovers-stronger-than-anticipated-in-2020_3537898.html You are always posting about the bourgeoisie and workers on PF. So I have to ask. Have you ever done any work? I mean real work. Here's an idea. Go to Miami and preach your revolution to Cubans who have actually experienced Marxism. Then report back here to PF and tell us how it went.
Good luck with this revolution. Duly noted keep this crap out of my back yard. I tend to ventilate trespassers
NOTHING that requires the labor of others is a "basic human right". I agree with the OP on the spending and the day will come when we finally have to deal with the insanity the Republicans and Democrats have delivered with their ridiculous spending.
It doesn't have to be the violent vision that too many have. People could simply quit paying taxes in mass.
That's a good one! Or they could refuse to accept welfare and stimulus money, because that stuff is bankrupting the nation. So many options for revolution, really.
