Marlon Pierre-Antoine on the Anniversary of the Iraq War & Rebuilding the Antiwar Movement

Click here to watch.

1 Million dead – no more! March against the 7th anniversary of the war this Saturday!

March 20th is the 7th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, a war that
has taken the lives of thousands of soldiers and nearly 1 million
civilians’ lives. The United States spends more on its military than all
other countries combined – $857 billion in 2010 alone. Both mainstream
parties agree that Iraq will continue to be occupied after the official
withdrawal date next year. Socialist Alternative invites you to protest this
horrific war on Saturday. We demand an end to this war that is
destroying our economy and breaking the people of the Middle East!

WHERE: The Corner of 1st St and 4th Ave in front of the U.S.
Department of Justice

WHEN: Saturday, March 20th @ 5PM

March 4th – Continue the fight!

SIGN THE E-PETITION: GOV. CULVER – IOWA SAYS NO TO CUTS & AUSTERITY!

Tens of thousands on the streets of California – in strikes, walkouts, and protests. Thousands more across the country – in New York City, Minneapolis, Chicago, Orlando and more. Militant union locals, socialist parties, student groups – coming together.

Socialist Alternative was an early endorser of the Californian workers’ and students’ call for March 4th. And in Cedar Rapids, our branch responded by organizing a relatively small but important protest that marks the next phase of the national and international struggle, as well as here in Iowa. On the local news tonight, almost without precedent it was reported that there are people in the Hawkeye State organizing and saying NO to the bipartisan consensus of cuts, cuts, cuts. We went on camera and put forward our program – let the rich pay for the crisis they made, full funding for human needs instead of War and Wall St. – and boldly stated, when asked, that to realize that program a socialist transformation of society would have to be carried out by the people.

So, what’s next? All the organizations and individuals involved in March 4th must build on this empowering experience. To begin, we should turn out for the strongest possible coalition to demonstrate on March 20th – the seventh anniversary of the predatory, imperialist Iraq war that has cost the Iraqi and American masses so much pain, and only benefits big business interests. But we also have to look beyond that, as well.

To win, the working class, including the students and the unemployed, need a fighting program, concrete demands to struggle for. We need  a mass political party that not only represents us, but is *made* of us – democratic from the ground up, with no illusions in the ‘benevolence’ of the ruling elite to grant us concessions. In short; March 4th has shown that in America there is a desire to struggle. What we need now, then, is a vehicle for that struggle.

We urge everyone reading this to sign our petition against Governor Culver’s program of savage cuts and attacks on our living standards. Click here to view it.

And, if you agree with our view that there is a burning need to restructure politics & the economy along truly democratic lines, we encourage you to join Socialist Alternative, the organization where the most conscious, determined elements of the working class come together to learn the history and the art of the labor movement, and to lay the foundation for that political vehicle our class so desperately needs.

[A video of a speech by S.A. member Tiffany Van Tomme will be uploaded soon.]

media links:
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/86428902.html – Protesters want education rights
http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=12087439 – Cedar Rapids group takes part in national day of action

March 4th drawing closer: march with us to defend education and social services!

76th Avenue & Kirkwood Boulevard SW
3:30-4:30PM

You can join our facebook group here. Let us know by email if you would like a sign or banner to hold at the event!

PROTEST & RALLY ON MARCH 4TH
TO DEFEND EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES IN IOWA

Workers and students in Iowa and Across the country are paying for a recession we didn’t create; say NO to a 10% ($600 million) cut to the state budget that will hit our vital social programs- food stamps, medicare and education- when we need them the most.

$332 million in cuts are to education. The Free Lunch Program is being slashed, as is the College Aid Commission that helps low income students afford higher education

We can’t afford to sit back and let our welfare be sacrificed for profit. Student and worker organizations from California to Vermont to Iowa will be protesting on March 4th to demand a reversal of the cuts packages, a federal bailout of state budgets in deficit and an economic recovery program that puts human needs- not war and Wall Street- in priority. Join us!

For more information, contact socialistiowa@gmail.com or call (319) 210-332

VIDEO: Marlon Pierre-Antoine on the crisis in Haiti

Say No to Culver’s Cuts – Mobilize in C.R. to defend social services and education!

By Marlon Pierre-Antoine

In the corporate media there is total consensus: Democratic Governor Chet Culver is being ‘forced’ to implement a 10% ($600 million) across the board cut to the state budget due to the world economic recession’s impact on Iowa. With the support of both his own party and the Republicans, no program is off limits – Medicare, food stamps, public education and more are all on the chopping block, hitting working people hard but particularly the state’s poorest residents, such as the thousands of unemployed workers who have lost their jobs since the beginning of the recession or the nearly 800 public sector workers who will be laid off as a result of the budget. According to Culver, further cuts will be ‘necessary’ in 2011.

This recession was caused by rampant financial speculation, at the heart of the capitalist system itself, which amplified the effects of the housing bubble’s collapse in late 2008. In its aftermath the bipartisan policy at both federal and state levels has been the same: bailouts and ‘golden parachutes’ for the rich, service cuts and layoffs for the poor. There are 113,100 unemployed workers in Iowa – 6.7% of the total labor force, a figure that is even higher among those under 29.

Fifty-nine percent of this year’s round of cuts, $332 million, will be to education, hitting the free lunch program for low income students, early childhood education and Iowa State University, among others. The state’s College Aid Commission’s budget is being slashed by $6.3 million, condemning high school graduates who can’t afford the prohibitive cost of college to a life of low-wage jobs in the service or retail sectors.

The contemptuous attitude of capitalism’s public representatives towards ordinary working people is shown by Culver’s assurance to the rich that any tax increases are “off the table.” This budget is a blatant attempt by Corporate America to make workers, students, and middle class people foot the bill for their crisis. This phenomenon is not unique to Iowa – similar budgets are being forced through across the country, most notably in California where a fight-back movement has emerged, with mass demonstrations and school occupations that have forced Governor Schwarzenegger to concede more funding to education.

For the Californian workers and for us in Iowa, the battle has just begun. The unions and and student organizations in California that initiated the movement there have called for a National Day of Action to Defend Education on March 4th. Local actions are being planned across the country, and Socialist Alternative in Cedar Rapids will be protesting in opposition to the cuts and for a solution to the state’s budget crisis that benefits students and working people. We are appealing to the American Federation of Teachers in Cedar Rapids, the Hawkeye Labor Council, student organizations, the Linn County Green Party and all progressive community organizations to join our branch in building an opposition to the corporate parties and their anti-worker, anti-poor attacks. We didn’t make this crisis; we refuse to pay for it!

• NO slashing social services, NO layoffs, NO tuition hikes, NO college grant cuts
• Funding for human needs, not war and Wall Street
• For a massive public works program to rebuild downtown Cedar Rapids and provide jobs at union wages and conditions
• For a federal bailout of the Iowa state budget
• No support for the pro-cuts politicians! Unions, socialists, Greens and community groups should run pro-worker candidates against Governor Culver and the state Democrats and Republicans.

Take Action to Defend Education on March 4th!

The Cedar Rapids branch will be organizing a local action on March 4th in defense of education and social services. For us this will be the opening round of an ongoing campaign against Democratic Governor Culver’s 10% across-the-board cuts to the state budget, which will wreak disastrous effects on the Iowan working class, especially the worst-off among us. Below is an article from the latest issue of Justice on March 4th.

Take Action to Defend Education on March 4th — They Say Cut Back – We Say Fight Back!
Jan 7, 2010 Pete Ikeler, Professional Staff Congress of the City University of New York
All across the country, education is under attack. State governments have slashed the budgets of public universities, raised tuition, and cut jobs. Just last month, the University of California Board of Regents decided to increase tuition by 32% – that means students will have to pay $2,500 more each year. Students in the State and City Universities of New York have also endured tuition hikes for each of the last three semesters; a new round of cuts totaling almost $150 million is now on the table. But these are only the most recent examples. We know that the money is there! Trillions, yes, trillions, have been handed to warmakers and big banks. At a time when enrollment in community colleges and job training programs is at an all-time high, state governments are cutting the funding! They use as their excuse the loss of tax revenue resulting from the current economic crisis. Capitalism cares about short-term profits, and public education isn’t a profitable “industry.” But we have to make it clear: We didn’t make this crisis, and we won’t pay for it! It was the billionaires on Wall Street who caused this, not the students, educators, and parents. We need a public education system that offers free, quality education for all. Not just so we can be prepared for a harsh life under American capitalism, but so we can learn about the things that interest us and grow as human beings. Students in California have shown the way through militant action. They’ve occupied buildings and staged massive demonstrations on the Berkeley, Santa Cruz, and Davis campuses. For March 4, student groups and teachers’ unions across California have called a statewide day of action. But they are not alone! This call has been actively supported by students and educators in New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Illinois, and across the country. The call has now gone out for March 4 to become a national day of action in defense of education. Get in touch with Socialist Alternative to find out what’s going on in your area. Be a part of the fight to take back education and run it in the interests of students, workers, and the community – not for capitalists and their politicians! We demand: No Cuts, Layoffs, Fee or Tuition Hikes Fund Human Needs, Not War and Wall Street For a Federal Bailout of State Budgets Build Actions on March 4 to Defend Education and Tax the Rich!

Where is the world economy going?

Lynn Walsh reports on the world economy in 2010 – is the ‘Great Recession’ finally over? Has capitalism ‘dodged a bullet’ or are we entering into a period of prolonged stagnation, weak recovery and structural crisis? From Socialism Today #134, http://socialismtoday.org/index.html

Is the worst post-war economic downturn coming to an end? Are the green shoots of recovery really visible, as many politician would have us believe? Opinion is divided, with some commentators counting down to the next crisis. What is clear, is that this is a time of acute economic instability. Any growth is likely to be slow, with governments and big business out to offload the costs onto working-class people. LYNN WALSH reports.

WORLD CAPITALISM HAS been shaken to its foundations by the economic crisis that has unfolded since the end of 2007. Nobody disputes that it is the worst crisis since the 1930s. “The downturn has been global in scope”, comments the Organisation for Co-operation and Economic Development (OECD), a grouping of 30 advanced capitalist countries, “even though its financial epicentre was in the OECD area. Indeed, trade and financial linkages prompted a synchronised collapse in activity and trade after financial markets froze in the second half of 2008”. (OECD press release, 24 June 2009)

World trade, the engine of globalisation, collapsed with a 16% fall expected for 2009. The cumulative output losses since the beginning of 2008 have been severe: minus 5.14% for OECD-Europe, minus 8.4% for Japan, minus 3.55% for the US, with an OECD average of minus 4.7%. In Britain, the cumulative loss has been minus 5.54%, and the recession may continue longer than in most of the other advanced capitalist countries. Ireland and Iceland have suffered cumulative losses of about minus 9% of output, while Turkey has fallen by minus 13.92%. (Source: Office for National Statistics, Economic and Labour Market Review, October 2009) There have been even deeper falls in some of the central and east European countries: 18.4% in Lithuania, 16% in Latvia, 14% in Ukraine, and 13.2% in Estonia.

The economic crisis is also a serious political blow to capitalism, especially to the prestige of the advanced capitalist countries. “The financial and economic crash of 2008, the worst in over 75 years, is a major geopolitical setback for the United States and Europe”. (Roger Altman, The Great Crash 2008, Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb 2009)

The leaders of world capitalism are consoling themselves that they survived a ‘near-death experience’, and are suffering ‘only’ a ‘great recession’ rather than a ‘great depression’ – a catastrophic slump and prolonged period of depression. They have been encouraged by the revival of growth in the US (3.5% in the third quarter) and the rebound on world stock exchanges. Their optimism, however, is premature. Assessments made by the main economic agencies, such as the OECD, IMF, etc, that a recovery will be “slow and fragile”, remain valid.

The return to GDP growth, which is likely to be very limited this year in Europe and Japan, is heavily dependent on state intervention, through support for the banking system and fiscal stimulus programmes. Many capitalist commentators fear that, when these programmes have run their course (and unless there are further stimulus programmes), the world economy will slide back into recession, giving rise to a so-called double-dip recession.

Regardless of the return to positive growth figures, unemployment will continue to rise sharply for the next year or so. Even according to official figures, which underestimate the true situation, there will be a rise of over 25 million unemployed from the low point of late 2007. Moreover, any recovery will be held back by the enormous burden of debt which weighs on the global economy. Huge private losses made by the banks and finance houses have been transferred to the state, while the general injection of additional credit into the system by central banks will also increase state deficits. The fiscal stimulus programmes will also enormously increase state debt, which will act as a drag on future growth. The ‘green shoots’ of recovery, hailed by many capitalist leaders, are in most cases sickly weeds, growing in barren soil.

Can the stimulus packages work?

MASSIVE STATE INTERVENTION has so far avoided a catastrophic collapse and a prolonged slump. Leaders of the advanced capitalist countries avoided the mistakes made by their counterparts after the 1929 crash, when they stood aside and let the system collapse. On this occasion, they intervened on an unprecedented scale. The United Nations (World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009) estimates that governments worldwide have used around $18 trillion (or about 30% of world gross product) to bail out the banks and support the financial system. At the same time, the major capitalist countries have implemented fiscal stimulus plans totalling about $2.6 trillion (about 4% of world production), to be spent over 2009-11. However, the UN report comments that, in reality, it would require a stimulus of 2-3% of world gross product a year to make up for the estimated decline in global aggregate demand.

It is likely that, at best, it will take five years or more for the major economies to make up the losses of 2008-09. The OECD recognises that there will be a growth in structural, long-term unemployment, and that capital stock is likely to be reduced on a long-term basis, reducing the output capacity of major economies.

The return to positive growth in the US, the world’s largest economy, and the sustained growth in China (expected to be around 9% this year) have been major factors in the limited recovery of the global economy (see box). The return to growth in the US is almost entirely due to the stimulus package (see box). Given the continued rise in unemployment and the mounting debt burden faced by the majority of working people, the economy will slide back without a new stimulus package. However, Barak Obama is currently emphasising the need to reduce the federal government deficit, rather than pushing for a new package. US consumer demand for manufactured products (which account for over 70% of the US economy) are still a decisive factor in world output and trade. Weak or negative growth in the US spells crisis for major exporters such as China, Japan and major European manufacturers like Germany.

Growth in China has been sustained on the basis of massive state intervention, with a $585 billion package of expenditure and loans. This reflects the major role still played by the state in the Chinese economy, despite the recent growth of private capitalism. However, most of the expenditure is concentrated on infrastructure projects, rather than raising the wages and living standards of the masses of workers and peasants. The Chinese regime is still counting on a revival of its export markets in the US and Europe.

A new bubble?

MUCH OF THE optimism among investment bankers and economic commentators about ‘green shoots of recovery’ comes from the rebound of shares since March 2009 (up around 60% from the low point, though still around 25% lower than the previous peak). There is special enthusiasm among speculators for financial assets (shares, bonds, property, commodities, etc) and for investment in so-called ‘emerging markets’, that is, economies like China, South-East Asia, Brazil, etc.

The downturn has not been so severe in these economies as in the advanced capitalist countries. But the main reason for the surge of investment is the phenomenal profits that can be made on the basis of cheap credit. Banks, hedge funds and other financial institutions are flush with money as a result of the government bailouts in the US, Britain and Europe. Moreover, on the basis of state guarantees of their assets, they are able to borrow money at very low interest rates. In general, they have not returned to normal levels of lending to business, so the cash is being channelled into speculative activity.

The quantitative easing of the Federal Reserve Bank and other central banks has also hugely increased the liquidity of financial institutions. Mainly on the basis of printing money (rather than the issuance of government bonds, which is a form of borrowing), the US Federal Reserve is purchasing up to $1,800 billion of US government bonds, mortgage-backed securities, and various other forms of securitised debt. This represents a massive injection of liquidity into the finance sector. Given the relatively low rates of interest that can be earned on government bonds, the finance houses are using their credit to invest in shares, commodities, and other more profitable assets.

Added to this injection of liquidity is the fall in value of the US dollar. Paradoxically, given the US downturn, the dollar rose in value during 2008, mainly because governments and speculators internationally saw US government bonds as a ‘safe haven’ for their cash. But since March, the dollar has been falling quite rapidly. Through ‘short-selling’ the dollar (a way of profiting from the fall in the value of the dollar), speculators have been able to borrow dollars effectively at negative interest rates (as low as 10% or 20% negative on an annualised basis). They are then using the cash to buy shares, bonds, commodities, currencies, etc, both in the advanced capitalist countries and in the semi-developed countries (emerging markets). Speculators in these markets have been able to make gains of between 50-70% on these short-term, speculative investments.

These easy profits undoubtedly represent a ‘recovery’ for speculators. But this new bubble is far from representing a real recovery of the US or global economy.

“One day”, warns Nouriel Roubini, “this bubble will burst, leading to the biggest coordinated asset bust ever”. (Mother of All Carry Trades Faces an Inevitable Bust, Financial Times, 1 November) Sooner or later the dollar will stop falling, and speculators will no longer be able to borrow at such huge negative interest rates. The Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing programme, moreover, is scheduled to end by spring 2010. Any rise in US interest rates, which may come if GDP growth continues, would also undermine this speculative activity. Such “an unravelling may not occur for a while, as easy money and excessive global liquidity can push asset prices higher for a while. But the longer and bigger the carry trades and the larger the asset bubble, the bigger will be the ensuing asset bubble crash. The Fed and other policymakers seem unaware of the monster bubble they are creating. The longer they remain blind, the harder the markets will fall”. (Roubini) A crash of these highly speculative financial markets would undoubtedly cut across any revival of global growth.

Dangers for capitalism

WHAT ARE THE prospects for the global capitalist economy? There is likely to be a weak, fragile recovery, which could last for a few years, but could be equally cut across by a new downturn once the state stimulus packages run their course. Capitalist leaders are themselves uncertain whether there will be a revival of self-sustained capitalist growth. Short-term fluctuation will continue, as always under capitalism. But there is likely to be a prolonged period of feeble growth or stagnation, with depressionary features. There will undoubtedly be a period of structural unemployment which, together with squeezed wage levels and social spending cuts, will erode capitalist markets.

Intervention by the major capitalist powers has so far prevented a meltdown of the banking and finance system. Nevertheless, there are still huge amounts of bad debts concealed within the system, which may lead to renewed crisis in the banking system in the next few years. Bankers and speculators are vigorously fighting off attempts to impose tighter regulation of the finance sector. The current speculative bubble on stock exchanges, especially in emerging markets, show that the stability of the global economy will still be threatened by speculative excesses. Many serious capitalist commentators take it for granted that it is only a matter of time before the next crisis. “The clock ticks inexorably towards another disaster…” writes Francesco Guerrera. (Countdown to Next Crisis, Financial Times, 16 October)

Some, with good reason, also fear the political backlash against the system: “When the next crisis hits, and it will, [the] frustrated public is likely to turn, not just on politicians who have been negligently lavish with public funds, or on bankers, but on the market system. What is at stake now may not just be the future of finance, but the future of capitalism”. (John Kay, ‘Too Big to Fail’ is Too Dumb an Idea to Keep, Financial Times, 27 October)

Moreover, finding an exit strategy from the policy of ultra-low interest rates, super-loose money supply, and quantitative easing (printing money) is fraught with danger for the capitalists. At the moment, quantitative easing is not having an inflationary effect. This is because of the strong deflationary trends in the world economy, with falling demand and global overcapacity underlying a general fall in the prices of manufactured goods. At the same time, banks are hoarding much of the credit they have accumulated under the quantitative easing programmes. However, as soon as growth revives and banks begin to put more of their reserves into circulation through loans to businesses, there will undoubtedly be a serious danger of inflation replacing deflation. Premature withdrawal of monetary stimulus could provoke another downturn. On the other hand, a delay in reining in the excess liquidity could cause an explosion of inflation. “There is danger no matter how the central banks react. Successful monetary policy could be like walking along a perilous ridge, on either side of which lies a precipice of instability. For all we know, there may not be a safe way down”. (Wolfgang Muchau, Countdown to the Next Crisis is Already Under Way, Financial Times, 18 October)

Together with support for the finance sector, state fiscal stimulus programmes have hugely boosted government deficits. Many current deficits of the advanced capitalist countries have been pushed above 10%. Given the reluctance of capitalist governments to increase taxation on big business and the super-rich, these deficits will weigh on the economy for a long time ahead. Governments will attempt to reduce the deficits through cutting state expenditure, which will mean a further assault on working-class living standards. At the same time, financing state deficits will take a growing proportion of global savings (an estimated 25% in the OECD countries). This will reduce the capital available for both public and private investment.

Growing inter-capitalist tensions

A PERIOD OF weak growth will aggravate all the inter-capitalist tensions in the world economy. According to the head of the World Trade Organisation, Pascal Lamy, there is already ‘low intensity’ protectionist war. This is likely to become more intensive in the coming years.

Above all, the role of the US dollar will be threatened. Being able to pay its debts in its own currency has been an enormous advantage for US imperialism. But the price is the huge accumulation of debt with the rest of the world. At a certain point, this debt will become absolutely unsustainable, with a collapse of the US bond market and the value of the dollar. Capitalist leaders internationally are well aware of this problem, but are completely unable to steer an orderly transition to an alternative system of reserve currencies (either through a shared system based on major currencies such as the euro, yen and yuan, or on special drawing rights [SDRs] administered by the IMF). A collapse of the dollar would mean global currency chaos and could itself provoke a new, even deeper downturn in the world economy.

Some of the semi-developed countries, such as Brazil, India, and South-East Asian countries appear to have escaped the worst effects of the current crisis. In particular, the increase in commodity prices (through continued demand from China and speculative dealing in commodity futures) appears to have benefited commodity producers. But this sheltered position will be short lived. The underlying social contradictions in these countries are becoming more acute every day.

Since 1980, world capitalism has managed to find its way out of successive crises through a series of financial bubbles – in financial assets, housing, commercial property, and commodities. But the crisis that has unfolded since 2007 marks the end of this road. There may well be new bubbles and speculative excesses. But they will not provide the huge, inflated cushion on a comparable basis with the last 20 to 30 years. World capitalism has entered a new, more acute period of crisis.

Cedar Rapids Says NO to Escalation & War!

The Cedar Rapids branch of Socialist Alternative, with Women for Peace
– Iowa and local supporters, held an anti-war, anti-escalation march
in downtown Cedar Rapids on December 18th, attended by eighteen
people.

The public mood was decisively in favor of our stand against Obama’s
war. After half an hour of protesting on a downtown sidewalk with our
signs, receiving honks of support from drivers-by, we led the group
down to the Wells Fargo branch where Democratic Congressman Dave
Loebsack keeps his office, chanting along the way “Obama don’t lie to
me, your wars won’t bring democracy!” and “What do we want? Troops
out! When do we want it? Now!” Outside of Wells Fargo our guests Paul
Street, Wendy Barth (the 2006 Green Party candidate for governor), the
Women for Peace leader Charlotte Martin and S.A. member Tiffany Van Tomme all gave short speeches that went over great with the crowd and even evoked support from locals crossing the street nearby. Videos of the speeches are forthcoming soon!

Trotsky on Marxism in the U.S.

From the essay ‘Marxism in our Time’
an introduction to Marx’s Capital
1939

The North American republic has gone further than others in the sphere of technique and the organisation of production. Not only Americans but all of mankind will build on that foundation. However, the various phases of the social process in one and the same nation have varying rhythms, depending on special historical conditions. While the United States enjoys tremendous superiority in technology, its economic thought is extremely backward in both the right and left wings. John L. Lewis has about the same views as Franklin D. Roosevelt. Considering the nature of his office, Lewis’ social function is incomparably more conservative, not to say reactionary, than Roosevelt’s. In certain American circles there is a tendency to repudiate this or that radical theory without the slightest scientific criticism, by simply dismissing it as “un-American.” But where can you find the differentiating criterion of that?

Christianity was imported into the United States along with logarithms, Shakespeare’s poetry, notions on the rights of man and the citizen, and certain other not unimportant products of human thought. Today Marxism stands in the same category.

Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace imputed to the author of these lines, “a dogmatic thinness which is bitterly un-American” and counterposed to Russian dogmatism the opportunist spirit of Jefferson, who knew how to get along with his opponents, Apparently, it has never occurred to Mr. Wallace that a policy of compromise is not a function of some immaterial national spirit, but a product of material conditions. A nation rapidly growing rich has sufficient reserves for conciliation between hostile classes and parties. When, on the other hand, social contradictions are sharpened, the ground for compromise disappears. America was free of “dogmatic thinness” only because it had a plethora of virgin areas, inexhaustible resources of natural wealth and, it would seem, limitless opportunities for enrichment. True, even under these conditions the spirit of compromise did not prevent the Civil War when the hour for it struck. Anyway, the material conditions which made up the basis of “Americanism,” are today increasingly relegated to the past. Hence the profound crisis of traditional American ideology.

Empiric thinking, limited to the solution of immediate tasks from time to time, seemed adequate enough in labour as well as in bourgeois circles as long as Marx’s laws of value did everybody’s thinking. But today that very law is in irreconcilable contradiction with itself. Instead of urging economy forward, it undermines its foundations. Conciliatory eclectic thinking, with its philosophic apogee, pragmatism, becomes utterly inadequate, while an unfavourable or disdainful attitude toward Marxism as a “dogma” – is increasingly insubstantial, reactionary and downright funny. On the contrary, it is the traditional idea of “Americanism” that have become lifeless, petrified “dogma” giving rise to nothing but errors and confusion. At the same time, the economic teaching of Marx has acquired peculiar viability and pointedness for the United States. Although Capital rests on international material, preponderantly English, in its theoretical foundation it is an analysis of pure capitalism, capitalism in general, capitalism as such. Undoubtedly, the capitalism grown on the virgin, unhistorical soil of America comes closest to that ideal type of capitalism.

Saving Mr. Wallace’s presence, America developed economically not in accordance with the principles of Jefferson, but in accordance with the ideas of Marx. There is as little offence to national self-esteem in acknowledging that as in recognising that America turns around the sun in accordance with the laws of Newton. The more Marx is ignored in the United States, the more compelling becomes his teaching now. Capital offers a faultless diagnosis of the malady and an irreplaceable prognosis. In that sense the teaching of Marx is far more permeated with new “Americanism” than the ideas of Hoover and Roosevelt, of Green and Lewis.

True, there is a widespread original literature in the United States devoted to the crisis of American economy. In so far as conscientious economists offer an objective picture of the destructive trends of American capitalism, their investigations, regardless of their theoretical premises, which are usually lacking anyway, look like direct illustrations of Marx’s theory. The conservative tradition makes itself known, however, when these authors stubbornly restrain themselves from definitive conclusion, limiting themselves to gloomy predictions or such edifying banalities as “the country must understand,” “public opinion must certainly consider,” and the like. These books look like a knife without a blade or like a compass without its indicator.

The United States had Marxists in the past, it is true, but they were a strange type of Marxist, or rather, three strange types. In the first place, these were the émigrés cast out of Europe, who did what they could but could not find any response; in the second place, isolated American groups, like the De Leonists, who in the course of events, and because of their own mistakes, turned themselves into sects; in the third place, dilettantes attracted by the October Revolution and sympathetic to Marxism as an exotic teaching that had little to do with the United States. Their day is over. Now dawns the new epoch of an independent class movement to the proletariat and at the same time of – genuine Marxism. In this too, America will in a few jumps catch up with Europe and outdistance it. Progressive technique and a progressive social structure will pave their own way in the sphere of doctrine. The best theoreticians of Marxism will appear on American soil. Marx will become the mentor of the advanced American workers. To them this abridged exposition of the first volume will become only an initial step toward the complete Marx.