EVEN sections of the bourgeois media, and the bourgeoisie that it represents, were yesterday able to describe the appearance of the current world economic crisis, evaluating it as either ‘just getting into its stride’ or ‘this crisis is only just beginning’.
This summation of the situation comes after the US and UK governments have poured trillions into rescuing their banks, and as far as the US is concerned its industries,witness the ‘nationalisation of GM’ by Obama – only to see production continuing to falter in the US, unemployment continuing to grow, and a political crisis emerge over how the US capitalists are to make the US workers pay for the gigantic indebtedness of the ruling class.
As well, this situation is only continuing because Russia and China, two of the main purchasers of US debt are, at the moment, too fearful of the economic, political and military consequences of disposing of it and allowing the USA to go bankrupt.
In the UK, the savage cuts and let inflation rip policy of the coalition has only succeeded in creating a nation of paupers, and a situation where the economy is unable to grow.
Also, the notion that the banks would be able to repay the 1.2 trillion in loans, guarantees and benefits that kept them afloat after 2008 has come down to earth with a bang.
The Royal Bank of Scotland, one of the banks that the nation has kept going since 2008, has just announced a £794 million loss on loans to Greece, and its share price is now in free fall.
Lloyds’ share price has also fallen by over 10 per cent to around half the price the government paid for its shares in its £21 billion bailout.
The notion that these banks will be able to repay the public purse was always utopian; the fact is that they will shortly require more subsidy, even to pay their bonuses, but this time round the working class will not be willing to cough up and will resist.
Nevertheless, it is this situation and the way that the crisis is now overwhelming the euro and the eurozone, with the British banks involved up to the hilt in Greek, Irish, Portuguese and Spanish debt, that has convinced the bourgeoisie that the crisis is just beginning, and will manifest itself in the biggest share, currency and business crashes ever, that will include the crash of the euro and the eurozone and a world slump that will massively destroy the productive forces.
The Bourgeoisie knows only one way of maintaining ing capitalism in this period where its historical crisis has become its death agony.
This way is to make a civil war against the working class of all of the capitalist states, and bring in regimes that will be able to carry out this civil war to make the working class pay for every penny of the crisis.
At the same time, the collapse of the euro and the eurozone will reopen all the old imperialist rivalries as to who is to dominate Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
This will lead to military clashes and adventures that will make the Iraq, Afghan and Libyan wars look like child’s play.
For the working class there is only one future, a socialist revolution to overthrow the collapsing capitalist system and replace it with a planned socialist economy based on satisfying people’s needs.
This international task requires the building of sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International in every country to lead the struggle for the victory of the world socialist revolution.
It was Marx who analysed the role of the working class as the revolutionary class that is produced by capitalism and is, in fact, the gravedigger of the capitalist system.
The deepening crisis of capitalism is summoning the working class forward to carry out its historic role.
Our duty is to build the revolutionary leadership of the working class so that workers uprisings will be carried through to victorious conclusions – the working class taking power and establishing socialism.
