The Fourth Crisis

The current crises in capitalism have inspired the very finest of the bourgeois historians and economists, to ”sound the alarm”, so to speak. One historian has compared this situation to three previous crises in American history, that of the Civil War, the Great Depression and World War 2. For that reason, he refers to the current situation as the Fourth Crisis.

He certainly has a point. The longest war in American history, that of the twenty year war in Afghanistan, has just come to an end. As American troops pulled out, amid great confusion, they gave the Afghans a ”parting shot”, in that an unmanned drone fired a missile into a car. Ten civilians were killed, including seven children.

In addition, the Covid virus is still raging out of control, causing countless deaths and suffering. The medical system in the country is on the verge of collapse.

Unemployment is wide spread, so that working people are unable to pay the rent. Landlords are once again evicting tenants, forcing so many working people onto the streets. The more ”fortunate” are reduced to living in vehicles, while others are seeking shelter under bridges. Hunger has forced workers to rely upon food banks, which is a form of degradation. Yet so many food banks are running out of food. Now parents are being forced to send their children to school hungry, without breakfast.

On the southern border, the journalists report that perhaps ten thousand refugees are camped under a bridge, desperate for a better way of life. Many of them are from Haiti, a desperately poor country, and there are an estimated thirty thousand more refugees on the way north.

The agents of the Border Patrol have been caught on video, mounted on horse back, ”herding” those people as if they were cattle, striking them with the reins of the horses.

As well, the recent collapse of an apartment building, merely serves to drive home the point that the infrastructure of the country is rotting, in desperate need of repair. That includes the roads, bridges and tunnels, among other things.

The politicians in Washington are well aware of these ”issues” which are gripping the country. They are also well aware that the government is due to shut down at the end of September, at which time it runs out of money, unless the national debt limit is once again increased. Further, a couple of weeks later, the country is scheduled to default on the various loans, unless the politicians can come to an agreement. The economists maintain that such an event could result in the loss of six million jobs. They in turn are badgering the politicians to come to an agreement, in order to avoid a default, but are not at all optimistic. After all, the politicians are ”at each others throats”.

The Democratic Party controls the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives, if only by a very slim margin. Yet they are fighting among themselves. President Biden has met with politicians who are classified as ”moderates”, as well as with politicians who are classified as ”progressives”. He is trying to persuade them to come to an agreement. The journalists are reporting that there is no indication that an agreement is in sight. In fact, they are impressed by the level of tension within the capitol. It is extremely high. In fact, they have never seen the level of anxiety at this level.

Biden reports that he is at a stalemate, that he has made no progress in his attempts to bring the various factions, within the Democratic Party, to an agreement. He has apparently blurted out the truth. The journalists are reporting that the ”Biden agenda is in limbo”.

President Biden and Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, have sent to Congress, which is to say the Senate and the House of Representatives, several bills. They are being referred to as ”Reconciliation and Infrastructure” bills, in order to ensure a ”social safety net”, for all Americans. The cost of these bills is in the neighbourhood of five trillion dollars! As the American national debt is reported to be at twenty eight trillion, there are some awkward questions which have been raised, such as just how the money is to be raised. The ”progressives” have dared to suggest raising taxes on the billionaires, technically referred to as the bourgeoisie. They refer to this as ”taxing the rich”, ”forcing the billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes”. The billionaires, the monopoly capitalists, have another word for it. They consider such a proposal to be complete madness.

Those of us who are Marxists, Communists, have been calling for such proposals, for many years. These so called ”progressives” deserve our unconditional support!

Another one of the finest of the bourgeois historians has even gone so far as to write a book on the subject. (I mention no names because I do not want to face a law suit) In his book, he maintains that the American empire is in a ”horrific state”. As he phrases it, quite bluntly, ”The American empire is coming to an end”. He blames it on the ”growing deficit”, the ”devastating effects of industrial development”, as well as ”tax cuts for billionaires”, and ”corporate bailouts”, also known as corporate welfare. He maintains that Washington is populated with a ”motley collection of imbeciles, con artists, thieves, opportunists and war mongering generals. That is just the Democratic Party!” (He very likely meant that last statement as something of a joke.)

From this rather accurate description of the current political situation, he proceeded to predict economic ruin, as the country defaults on the national debt, the value of the American dollar collapses, the military dissolves and the country enters another Great Depression.

So far so good, as his analysis is completely valid. In fact, the journalist who conducted an interview with the author of the book, stated that after reading his book, he ”could not decide whether to slash his wrists immediately, or to wait until morning”. No doubt, this is the bourgeois journalists idea of a joke.

That same journalist neglected to focus on the one qualifying statement the historian made: ”short of a sudden and widespread popular revolt” ! (my italics) Of course, the bourgeois historian thought there was little chance of that, or ”was not likely”, as he phrased it. In fact, the historian merely dismissed the possibility.

His analysis is correct, as are his predictions for the future. Yet these predictions are dependent upon capitalism proceeding upon its merry way. A Revolution, or a ”widespread popular revolt”, as he phrased it, as he cannot bring himself to utter the dreaded ”R word”, is sure to turn things around completely. Yet the bourgeois historians, scholars and economists, intellectuals one and all, cannot even imagine the possibility. The very word, Revolution, is too terrible to mention!

I have deliberately chosen to quote the most highly respected, conscientious bourgeois scholars. Even they can see the ”writing on the wall”. Without doubt, the American empire is on the verge of collapse, and the subsequent suffering of the common people, the members of the public, the working class, is about to become ever more intense, ”short of a sudden and wide spread popular revolt”, as the bourgeois author phrased it. Short of Revolution.

Even the bourgeois journalists are concerned. They are openly speculating on the possibility of an end to the ”democratic republic”. They are careful not to mention that the democratic republic to which they are referring, is their very own bourgeois democratic republic. They would have us believe that democracy is ”majority rule”. It most certainly is not. Democracy is a method of class rule.

Under the current democratic republic, we have democracy for the monopoly capitalists. The billionaires are in charge. Yet for the working people, technically referred to as the proletariat, it is a dictatorship, the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. The capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, must be overthrown, and then crushed, by the working class. This alternative, democratic method of rule is referred to as the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. Democracy for the working class, the proletariat, but a dictatorship for the billionaires, the bourgeoisie.

I have documented, in a previous article, the fact that the American empire has already fractured, into no less than three separate republics, with no doubt more to follow. It is merely a matter of time before each republic declares independence. It is strange that the bourgeois scholars have missed this. Or perhaps not so strange, as they may be incapable of imagining this.

This is my none too subtle way of hinting that the Revolution is very close. Even the bourgeois scholars can see the ”storm clouds”. Time is not on our side, the side of the Marxists, the Scientific Socialists, the Communists. Bear in mind that the uprising is bound to happen, as an Act Of God, or a law of development, if you will. And then a new government will be established. The only question being, what kind of government?

The vast majority of working people are not aware of the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin. Left to their own devices, they cannot be expected to establish the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. That is the duty of intellectuals, Scientific Socialists, Marxists, Communists, most of whom are middle class, petty bourgeois. At least they used to be middle class, until they were ruined by capitalism.

Without that leadership, the American empire will merely break up into a number of smaller, squabbling, capitalist republics.

With that in mind, may I make the following suggestions:

1) That all adult Americans join the two mainstream political parties, Democratic and Republican, and offer full support to the ”progressive” politicians in Washington, as well as in the state capitols

2) Call to ”Unite the Left”, in that all those who consider themselves to be ”Leftist”, including those parties, groups or individuals, who consider themselves to be socialist, democratic socialist, Communist, anarchist, Marxist Leninists, or merely those fighting for democratic reforms, should come together

3) Form an American Communist Party, Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, ACP, DOP. Only a Party which calls for the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat is a true Communist Party. Only such a Party can provide the proletariat with the leadership it so desperately needs

4) Draw a clear distinction between all progressive people, and those who are social chauvinists, socialists in words, chauvinists in deeds. The social chauvinists are devoted servants of the bourgeoisie, determined to sabotage the socialist revolution

5) Organize an insurrection. The women have established themselves as excellent organizers, as have the students, so no doubt the students can help in this. It would be a mistake to place too great a burden on the students, as they are too young to have been tempered, and could easily collapse under great pressure. Yet the capitalists have to be overthrown, and the insurrection will likely have to take place within all fifty states, or at least all major cities. That is a tall order, yet no doubt the women can manage it, with the help of many men

I can only stress the fact that the current situation is revolutionary. The experience of all revolutions, especially the three revolutions of Russia, in the early twentieth century, confirmed that which Lenin referred to as the ”fundamental law of revolution”. As he stated: ”for a revolution to take place it is not enough for the exploited and oppressed masses to realize the impossibility of living in the old way, and demand changes; for a revolution to take place it is essential that the exploiters should not be able to live and rule in the old way. It is only when the ‘lower classes’ do not want to live in the old way and the ‘upper classes’ cannot carry on in the old way that the revolution can triumph.” (italics by Lenin)

Even the bourgeois scholars can see that the situation is revolutionary. The social chauvinists are also supremely well aware of this, just waiting for a spontaneous insurrection, so that they can set themselves up as the new rulers. All the more reason for the creation of a truly Communist Party, Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

I have chosen to write this article in a popular manner, complete with repetition, for the benefit of the advanced members of the working class. No doubt they can perform an invaluable service to the middle class intellectuals, most of whom are currently being ruined by capitalism. Together they can take part in a successful, socialist revolution, and establish the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.