Author: Gerald Mcisaac

In March and April, three banks have failed. Those banks had combined assets of close to $550 Billion. Now in May, the journalists are reporting that three other banks are ‘’teetering on the edge’’, while six or eight others are ‘’moving ever closer to default’’. The journalists have compared this to a ‘’slow motion train wreck’’.

The economists are concerned with ‘’contagion’’, in which other banks could fail, due to a ‘’run on the banks’’. As almost all banks do not have sufficient cash on hand, to cover all deposits, their fears are well grounded. 

Those who draw their money out first, before the banks fail, will be fortunate. The rest will lose all but a quarter million. 

In order to reassure those with considerable money in the banks, the head of the Federal Reserve has just stated that ‘’the U.S. banking system is sound and resilient.’’ He then went on to assure one and all that there is no danger of any financial collapse. 

It is significant that he said this with a ‘’straight face’’. It is entirely possible that he practiced this speech, this bare faced lie, in front of a mirror. Or possibly there was no need to do so. 

As Lenin stated, the capitalists ‘’cannot act contrary to their nature’’. It is their nature to lie. They lie constantly. The joke among the working people, is that: ‘’You can always tell when the capitalists are lying! Their lips are moving!’’

There is certainly some truth to this. The only reason he went to such length to reassure depositors, that the banking system is stable, is because it is on the verge of collapse!

In fact, a few economists are predicting the collapse of possibly four thousand regional banks! Those same economists are predicting that the stock market will lose half its value! Nonsense!

Such starry eyed optimism! As soon as all ‘’regional banks’’ collapse, and depositors lose an estimated ten to twenty trillion dollars, how is it that the stock market can expect to lose a mere half of its value? The stock market is about to lose far more than half!

Within a short time, only the ‘’central banks’, those that are considered to be ‘’Too Big To Fail’’, will remain standing. All ‘’regional banks’’, those that are considered to be ‘’Too Small To Succeed’’, will ‘’go down the tubes’’. 

Bear in mind that the assets of one of the regional banks that just failed, was worth over $300 Billion! Even that is ‘’Too Small To Succeed’’! Clearly, only the banks that have assets of over $1Trillion, qualify as ‘’Too Big To Fail’’!

That which applies to banks, also applies to businesses! Any business with assets of less that $1Trillion, can be considered to be a ‘’small business’’, and as such, is ‘’Too Small To Succeed!’’

As the ‘’regional banks’’ collapse, so too countless ‘’small businesses’’ will also collapse. Those with hundreds, or even thousands of employees, will be unable to pay their work force, as those companies will have no money in the bank! ‘’Too Small To Succeed’’!

Workers are not about to work for free! Without a work force, all the assets in the world, will not save a business from bankruptcy! The Power of the Proletariat!

Within a short time, we can expect only a few, perhaps a half dozen, central banks to be left standing. They will be ‘’propped up’’ with tax payer money. At the same time, we can also expect to see a very few exceptionally large businesses, multi national corporations, to be left standing.

The extreme wealth of the ‘’Chosen Few’’, the ‘’Monopoly Capitalists’’, the ‘’Multi Billionaires’’, the class of people known as the ‘’bourgeoisie’’, will be increased dramatically! A few of them may even achieve their lifelong goal of becoming a ‘’Trillionaire’’!

The ‘’other side of the coin’’, so to speak, is that of ever more wide spread unemployment, homelessness and hunger. A Second Great Depression! Far more severe than the First Great Depression!

The suffering of the common people, the working class, the proletariat, as well as the family farmers, is about to become far more intense! Further, the middle class, the petty bourgeois, is about to become wiped out! They are about to join the ranks of the proletariat!

The economists are correct, when they predict ‘’widespread devastation’’! Unless the capitalists are stopped!

The class struggle is about to become simplified! The petty bourgeois, the middle class, as well as the family farmers, are about to become members of the proletariat! Workers against capitalists!

As I have mentioned in previous articles, those middle class people will bring with them their awareness, of the Revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin, to the working class.

To such people, I can only stress the fact that you have no future under capitalism. You have a bright future under Socialism. 

With that in mind, consider the advice of Lenin, concerning the importance of a proper Communist Party: ‘’It is only under the leadership of such a Party, that the Proletariat is capable of displaying the full might of its Revolutionary onslaught, and of overcoming the inevitable apathy and occasional resistance of that small minority, the labour aristocracy…only then will it be capable of displaying its full might, which, because of the very economic structure of capitalist society, is infinitely greater than its proportion of the population’’.

At the time that Lenin wrote this, in 1920, the proletariat in Russia was in a minority. Now in North America, the proletariat is in the vast majority. Their strength is far greater than they suspect! The only thing lacking is the proper leadership, an American Communist Party. 

Lenin went on to say that: ‘’It is the Communists Parties’ principle task at the present moment to unite the scattered Communist forces, to form a single Communist Party in every country (or to reinforce or renovate the already existing Party) in order to increase tenfold the work of preparing the proletariat for the conquest of political power – political power, moreover, in the form of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat’’. 

It is significant that at the time Lenin wrote this, the ‘’most advanced strata of the proletariat’’, had embraced Soviet power, as well as the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. 

Such is no longer the case. That is no cause for despair on our part. It just means that we have our work cut out for us. It also means that we have got to learn from the mistakes of our Revolutionary ancestors. In this way, we can honour their memory. As I have covered this in previous articles, there is no need to repeat it here.

As for the hard core pessimists, who think that it is ‘’no use’’, that ‘’nothing will change’’, may I suggest that you give yourself an attitude adjustment. Or at least remain silent. Otherwise, the Revolutionary forces, which are about to be unleashed, will treat you like the Counter Revolutionary that you are! Such an experience is guaranteed to be most unpleasant!

Under far more difficult circumstances, Lenin was able to form a Communist Party, and raise the level of awareness of all common people, the proletariat and the peasants. The same is true of other great Revolutionaries. They ‘’blazed the trail’’, so to speak. We have merely to follow in their footsteps, while avoiding their mistakes. Now that we have the internet, it should not be terribly difficult. 

Take inspiration from the following slogans:

Workers of the World, Unite!

Scientific Socialism!

Dictatorship of the Proletariat!

On May 1, it was announced that JP Morgan Chase, a huge bank, one that is ‘’Too Big To Fail’’, had just bought First Republic Bank, immediately before the stock market opened. Now the capitalists can breath a big sigh of relief, as they have just ‘’averted a broader financial crisis’’. Now that one of the ‘’Chosen Few’’ has bought a ‘’regional bank’’, one which collapsed because it was ‘’Too Small To Succeed’’, the capitalists are convinced that they have ‘’contained the contagion’’. 

Fools! We can only marvel of the stupidity of such simple minded souls! They think that just because a ‘’central bank’’, bought up a ‘’regional bank’’, one which ‘’failed’’, then that will prevent a ‘’run’’ on all banks!

Common people are not entirely stupid! They are well aware that the banks have no where near enough money, to cover all deposits! In fact, the banks are short by somewhere between  nine and nineteen Trillion dollars! Only the first quarter million is insured! 

It is just a matter of time, before that sad fact sinks into the thick skulls, of those who have considerable money in the bank. After all, there are numerous small businesses which count on having cash in the bank, in order to pay their bills, as well as make payroll. No doubt, the smarter ones will attempt to draw their money out, before the banks collapse! 

This is bound to give rise to an old fashioned -1929!- run on the banks! The ‘’fortunate few’’, the ‘’early birds’’, will be able to ‘’grab their cash’’, while the ‘’vast majority’’, the ‘’johnny come latelies’’, will be left reciting the old refrain, ‘’if only I’da’’!

As previously mentioned, there is one lonely bourgeois economist, who is giving an honest assessment of the financial situation. This is not to say that he is principled. After all, he is a capitalist. It is simply a fact that he has found that such an approach is profitable, as so many fellow capitalists listen to him. He advises them on the best way to protect their capital, and they pay him for this. 

He expects a financial collapse, as countless regional banks ‘’go down the tubes’’. This will in turn lead to a Second Great Depression. He maintains that this week is ‘’critical’’. He is very likely right about that. 

Bear in mind that First Republic Bank had assets of $233 Billion, on March 31. Yet within a month, it was broke! Even with all those ‘’assets’’, it was still Too Small To Succeed! This now famous bank, which was worth such a fortune, was still ‘’thrown under the bus’’. This is to stress the fact that the middle class is being quickly wiped out!

In fact, all ‘’small businesses’’ are now living on borrowed time! The monopoly capitalists, the billionaires, are about to see to that!

The monopoly capitalists plan a repeat of the Great Depression. After the ‘’crash of 1929’’, the monopoly capitalists did not lose a dime! They made sure that it was the ‘’lower classes’’ that paid the price! 

Now with the banks about to fail, and the country facing default, the billionaires are planning, once again, to place the burden of the Second Great Depression, on those same ‘’lower classes’’, the proletariat and the middle class, the petty bourgeois. 

It is not just the lower strata of the middle class that will be ruined. The ‘’upper middle class’’ strata will also be ruined. Those who own rather sizeable businesses, can expect to face bankruptcy. The billionaires, the members of the monopoly capitalist class of bourgeoisie, will see to that! Only the largest banks and multi national corporations will be left standing! Only those that are Too Big To Fail!

With that in mind, may I suggest, to those ‘’upper middle class’’ people, that you do not have any future under capitalism. On the other hand, you have a bright future under Socialism! 

After the Revolution, there will be an urgent need, for people who have experience, running a business. Such well respected people will be put to work, and paid accordingly. 

That stands in stark contrast to the members of the bourgeoisie, the billionaires, those who do no work, under capitalism. They merely ‘’invest’’ their capital, and demand a ‘’proper rate of return’’, on that capital. They have no marketable skills!

Now to return to the members of the upper strata of the middle class.

No doubt, all such people are well educated, aware of the Revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin. May I suggest that it is in their best interest to take part in the formation of a true Communist Party, one which calls for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. 

There is no time to waste. That honest bourgeois economist, predicted financial devastation within ninety days. He was perhaps being optimistic.   

The Covid Pandemic. The country facing default. The banks failing. No doubt the capitalists can now understand what Shakespeare meant, when he wrote in Hamlet, ‘’When sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions’’.

Yet the capitalists would appear to be ‘’shouldering their burdens’’ rather well. Faced with financial ruin, an ‘’economic disaster’’, in the form of a Second Great Depression, they have decided upon a course of action that is simplicity itself. They have decided to do absolutely nothing!

In March, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank went broke. The economists are referring to this as ‘’two of the largest bank failures in American history’’. A third large bank, First Republic, was ‘’on the brink’’, but managed to recover. Temporarily!

Then in April, First Republic was once again ‘’in need of financial assistance’’. For that reason, it was ‘’given a capital infusion’’ of $100 Billion by other banks. The Federal Reserve gave it a $70 Billion ‘’line of credit’’, and other banks donated $30 Billion. Perhaps they thought that this was sufficient to‘’prop it up’’. Indeed, this worked, for one whole week!

At the end of that week, the price of a ‘’share of stock’’ in that bank was selling for $3.51, down from a high of $145. As the capitalists see it, the ‘’stocks were down 97 percent’’. Now the FDIC is preparing to ‘’place it in receivership’’. 

The lesson here, is that trying to ‘’prop up’’ a bank that is failing, is like ‘’pouring water into a dry well’’! It does not do a ‘’world of good’’!

Now the capitalists are ‘’expressing concern’’ that the ‘’investors’’, those who ‘’play the stock market’’, may be ‘’getting jittery’’. They are afraid of a ‘’panic’’, a ‘’run on the banks’’, as those with money in those banks, attempt to draw that money out, before the bank fails. Their fears are well grounded! The banks do not have enough money to cover the deposits!

As the economists so politely state, ‘’it is not clear that the central banks can contain the international banking crisis’’. 

News flash! This banking crisis is not limited to America! It is international! So how can the central banks possibly contain an ‘’international banking crisis’’?

But within the country, the ‘’central banks’’, the ‘’chosen few’’, those which are classified as ‘’Too Big To Fail’’, will not be allowed to fail! Even if they cannot ‘’contain the crisis’’! They will be supported, with tax payer money!

On the other hand, as the capitalists phrase it, ‘’there are doubts over the viability of thousands of regional banks’’.

This is their stilted way of saying that ‘’thousands of regional banks’’, which they consider to be ‘’Too Small To Succeed’’, are about to be ‘’thrown under the bus’’, about to go broke!  

This is not something they advertise! Yet the Treasury Secretary, while testifying before a Congressional Committee, ‘’let slip’’ that ‘’community bank customers’’, those with over $250 thousand in those banks, were ‘’not necessarily protected’’. Bear in mind that those deposits total $19 Trillion!

With that in mind, many economists, in the finest tradition of belly crawling, are assuring investors that ‘’all is well’’. The banking industry is absolutely not ‘’teetering on the brink of collapse’’. Although even they are forced to admit, in the interest of ‘’covering all the bases’’, that the ‘’ultimate outcome is difficult to predict’’.

By contrast, one of the more honest economists, has no doubts about the ‘’ultimate outcome’’. He expects a ‘’panic’’, a ‘’run on the banks’’, a ‘’repeat of the stock market crash of 1929’’. He thinks that the ‘’coming week’’, the first week of May, will be ‘’critical’’. He also says that, ‘’ninety days from now, the stock market will look vastly different’’.

Bear in mind that this economist is by no means ‘’Left leaning’’. No one has ever accused him of being a Communist! He is devoted to capitalism, right to the very core of his being. His one and only concern is with making a profit. For that reason, he has made a business of giving advice to other capitalists, concerning the best way to invest their capital.

As I write this, the journalists are reporting that they expect the FDIC to ‘’place the First Republic Bank in receivership’’, on Sunday, preferably ‘’before the Asian markets open’’.

In conclusion, I can only stress that which Lenin pointed out, in Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism: ‘’Crises of every kind -economic crises more frequently, but not only these- in their turn increase very considerably the tendency towards concentration and monopoly’’.

Now that the capitalists are faced with a ‘’perfect storm’’ of crises, and not ‘’merely’’ financial, the monopolies are about to become far more complete. Thousands of ‘’regional banks’’ are about to ‘’go bust’’. The very few ‘’central banks’’ will be left standing. Financial pillars!

Along with the ‘’regional banks’’, almost all small businesses are about to ‘’bite the dust’’. 

Middle class people, take note! You are about to join the ranks of the proletariat! Very soon!

No doubt, the intellectuals among that class will soon become active, raising the level of awareness of the proletariat. As I have covered that in a previous article, there is no need to repeat it. Equally without doubt, they will take part in the creation of a true Communist Party, one which calls for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. 

I mention this out of a sense of urgency. We are on the brink of Depression. As well, we are also on the brink of Revolution. No one can predict just when it will break out. Now it is up to us to prepare. With that in mind, may I suggest that the slogans should include:

Dictatorship of the Proletariat!

Workers of the World, Unite!

Scientific Socialism!

The title of this chapter may seem to be rather strange, but I have deliberately chosen it, as it correctly expresses the concern of numerous journalists. Many of them are well respected, considered to be among the finest in their profession, even though ‘’Left Leaning’’. Their presentations, concerning the ‘’debt crisis’’, accurately states the facts. At the same time, their analysis is frequently in direct contradiction to those facts! 

Yet this is characteristic, of the rather strange behaviour of middle class journalists. As Lenin pointed out, middle class people, those whom are technically referred to as ‘’petty bourgeois’’, are members of the most patriotic class. Their position in society leads to this patrIotism! It is clearly painful for them, to even consider the possibility that their elected leaders, in Washington, would deliberately allow the country to default! They consider this to be nothing less than an act of treason! 

For the sake of those who are not familiar with American politics, perhaps a little background is in order. 

In American bourgeois politics, there are basically two political parties, Democrats and Republicans. The president, Joe Biden, is currently a Democrat, and the Democrats control the 100 member Senate, by the slimmest of margins. 

On the other hand, the Republicans control the 435 Member House of Representatives, also by a razor thin margin, of 221-211.

This is significant, as the Republican Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, can afford to ‘’lose’’ only four votes, in order to get a bill passed, by the House. 

Yet the American government is close to ‘’default’’, which is to say that they have no money to pay their bills. They have reached their ‘’debt ceiling’’. They cannot go any deeper into debt, without the approval of the House, as by law, the House controls the money.

In fact, the government ‘’reached the debt ceiling in January’’, according to the economists, and has since ‘’resorted to extraordinary measures’’, other wise known as ‘’creative book keeping’’, in order to pay the bills. Such book keeping is commonly referred to as fraud.

Still, the economists are pointing out that the default cannot be avoided, and may happen as soon as early June. Unless, of course, the government is allowed to ‘’increase the debt ceiling’’, so that they will be allowed to borrow more money. As the House controls the money, it is up to the House to act. Or not!

So now it is up to the Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, to gather enough votes, within his own Party, to raise the debt ceiling. Otherwise, he will be blamed for the American default.

With possibly a mere five weeks remaining, before the country is unable to pay its bills, it is up to Kevin McCarthy, as Speaker of the House, to come up with a bill to increase that debt ceiling. In fact, he made a supreme effort, and did just that, on April 26. 

That bill is widely seen to be DOA, Dead On Arrival. It has absolutely no chance of being signed into law. Both the Senate and President Biden have vowed to kill the bill.

Some of the finest of the bourgeois journalists, who make a career of covering Washington politics, are reporting that the Republican Members of Congress are deeply divided.

In particular, they have identified no less than eight Members of Congress, whom they refer to as the ‘’Five Families’’. This is their less than subtle way of comparing them to the Mobsters, of New York City. 

Be that as it may, it is clear that the journalists have a very low opinion of those Members. They think that those particular Members are placing their own personal concerns above the interests of the country. 

In this, the journalists are absolutely correct!   

For some time, there was speculation that the Republican House Members could not possibly agree to any bill, which involved raising the debt ceiling. Yet over a period of several days, and in the process of ‘’tense negotiations’’, McCarthy managed to get together just enough votes, to get such a bill passed. 

The critics point out that in order to get that support, McCarthy had to make numerous concessions. Up until the moment the bill was sent to the ‘’House Floor’’, to be voted on, changes were being made. 

These changes are significant, as the ‘’spending bill’’, that which ‘’raises the debt ceiling’’, is tied in with that which is  referred to as ‘’dramatic cuts to the social safety net and its safety infrastructure’’.

That is putting it politely! 

In terms of the ‘’social safety net’’, it will ‘’end critical food assistance’’, so that the hungry will not receive food stamps. Also, there will be dramatic cuts to Medicaid, with so many people being deprived of medical coverage. Others will have to pay a great deal more. There will be no housing assistance, for those who need it most. The number of homeless people is expected to sky rocket. The promise of President Biden, to forgive student loans, will be cancelled. Those with student loans will be forced to continue making payments. There will be cuts to early childhood education, as well as cuts to Veterans Affairs. There will be no support for that which is referred to as ‘’Green Energy’’. There will be far fewer people in the IRS. In fact, it is anticipated that ‘’countless people will lose their jobs’’, and not just in the IRS! 

As concerns the ‘’safety infrastructure’’, there will be far fewer rail safety inspections, as well as fewer air traffic controllers. Both air and rail travel are about to become far more dangerous! 

Certain journalists are referring to this as a ‘’symbolic victory for McCarthy’’. They are of the opinion that it will ‘’give him leverage, in order to negotiate with Biden’’. Nonsense! Such is hardly the case! Negotiation is out of the question! The two are deadlocked!

McCarthy was forced to include all of those demands, in order to secure sufficient votes to get the bill through the House. If he ‘’negotiates away’’ even one demand, then the Member who insisted on that demand, will change his vote, and then the revised bill will not pass the House!

On the other hand, Biden can not possibly agree to any of those demands, because it would cost him the next presidential election! Not that the bill will ever get to his desk, because it first has to be passed by the Senate! Not about to happen! Especially as the Democrats are just as deeply divided as the Republicans!

One journalist, in particular, described this in rather dramatic terms. She is of the opinion that the Republican Members of Congress, are using the ‘’threat’’ of ‘’driving the country into default’’, for their own purposes, that they are ‘’holding the American economy hostage’’. As she stated, now that McCarthy has finally brought the bill to the floor of the House, the ‘’ransom demands’’ have finally been announced: Massive cuts to social and safety programs!

In support of this bill, a great many of the more ‘’Right wing’’ economists are predicting that the ‘’debt ceiling can be breached with only minimal impact.’’

In fact, that ‘’minimal impact’’ would include a dramatic increase to the suffering of the ‘’common people’’, the working class, the proletariat! Yet that is of no concern to the monopoly capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie! 

In all fairness, we have to admit that they have a point! It all depends upon your class outlook! The members of the capitalist class, the billionaires, care not in the slightest, about the members of the working class!

Naturally, the opinion of the more honest, ‘’Left leaning’’ economists, which is to the effect that ‘’breaching the national debt’’, could well lead to ‘’economic disaster’’, is largely ignored. 

In fact, it is fast approaching! Neither Biden nor McCarthy is in any position to negotiate!

This is to stress the fact that the ruling class, in this case the monopoly capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, have come to a state of crisis. They ‘’can no longer rule in the old way’’. It is also a fact that the ‘’lower classes’’, in this case the working class, and the -soon to be ruined!- middle class, are supremely well aware that they can ‘’no longer live in the old way’’. This is the very definition of a ‘’Revolutionary situation’’, as per Lenin, in Left Wing Communism, An Infantile Disorder. 

Yet that in no way changes the fact that the working class, the proletariat, is still not aware of itself as a class, with its own class interests. It is still less aware of the Revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin. Through no fault of its own, I might add. After all, those Revolutionary theories are only mentioned in university. 

My point is that the creation of a true Communist Party, one which calls for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, is urgent. Only such a Communist Party can provide the proletariat with the awareness, the direction, which it so desperately needs.

For now, as always, the working class is struggling. Yet this struggle is not focused! How can it be focused? They are not aware that the capitalists are the enemy! They are not aware that the state apparatus must be smashed, and replaced, with the Dictatorship of the Proletariat! They are not aware of the need for Revolution!

In a previous article, I compared this class struggle to two boxers, one of whom is blindfolded. Of course the capitalists are supremely class conscious, focused on squeezing as much money from the working class as possible. By contrast, the working class is not aware of itself as a class, that the capitalists are the class enemy. For that reason, the working class can be compared to the boxer who is blind folded, swinging wildly, striking out in all directions. For that reason, I say: remove the blind fold! Raise the level of awareness of the working class! Allow the working class to focus their anger, to strike out at their class enemies, the capitalists!

Of course that comparison is an over simplification. Yet it serves to make the point. It is absolutely necessary that the working class become aware of themselves as a class, aware of the Revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin, aware of the necessity of smashing the existing state apparatus, aware of the necessity of replacing it with the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Then, and only then, can the Socialist Revolution be successful. 

With that in mind, we can only hope that those who are taking part in this Revolutionary Movement, will take advantage of the internet, and either download or buy the Revolutionary works of Marx and Lenin. As I have covered this in a previous article, there is no need to repeat it here.

Then perhaps a few working class intellectuals, can take part in the creation of a true Communist Party. It is very likely that a number of  middle class intellectuals will join in. As their world comes ‘’crashing down’’, as ever more middle class people become impoverished, the smarter ones will realize that they have ‘’no future’’ under capitalism. 

The Revolution is bound to happen, and soon. At that point, one of two things will happen. Either the state apparatus is smashed, and replaced with the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, and we will embrace Socialism. Or a different group of people  will take over the current state apparatus, and set themselves up as the new rulers. More capitalism!

That choice is in the hands of the Revolutionaries.

But now to return to the current situation. 

It is significant that the journalists are focused on the ‘’political infighting’’ which is taking place in Washington, mainly within the two parties. There is a reason for this!

As Lenin pointed out, in State and Revolution, ‘’Take any parliamentary country, from America to Switzerland, from France to Norway and so forth -in these countries the actual work of the ‘state’ is done behind the scenes and is carried on by the departments, the government offices and the General Staffs. Parliament itself is given up to talk for the general purpose of fooling the ‘common people’’’. 

While the journalists are focused on the politicians, who are making speeches, the actual ‘’work of state’’ is being done ‘’behind the scenes’’. These speeches are nothing more than a ‘’smoke screen’’, a ‘’diversion’’, a ‘’decoy’’, a ‘’red herring’’, to put it in popular terms. 

The journalists have ‘’taken the bait’’, are focused on the speeches of the politicians, are speculating on the possibility  of the unthinkable, a government default…while the people in charge, working ‘’behind the scenes’’, have already decided on that default!

The fact of the matter is that ‘’someone’’, who is working ‘’behind the scenes’’, has been very busy, ‘’pulling the strings’’ of various politicians. These politicians are mere ‘’puppets’’, who ‘’dance to his tune’’. He writes the speeches, and the politicians recite them!

That certain ‘’someone’’, is very likely the individual who is focused on becoming president, once again. Whatever the expense! If that means sending the country into default, then so be it! He can then come to the rescue, like a knight in shining armour, riding on a white horse!

It has, very likely, already been decided, that the country will go into default, and that will result in ‘’widespread economic devastation’’. President Biden will then get the blame, and theRepublican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, will easily win the next presidential election. Or so they think! That is their plan!

The journalists, in turn, are also ‘’dancing to his tune’’, whether they know it or not. They are dutifully reporting on the speeches of the politicians. In this way, they too, are doing their part in ‘’fooling the common people’’. 

Yet it is clear that the crisis in capitalism is coming to a conclusion. Marx and Engels had a few words to say on the subject, in the Communist Manifesto: ‘’In times when the class struggle nears the decisive hour, the process of dissolution going on within the ruling class, in fact within the whole range of old society, assumes such a violent, glaring character, that a small section of the ruling class cuts itself adrift, and joins the Revolutionary class, the class that holds the future in its hands. Just as, therefore, at an earlier period, a section of the nobility went over to the bourgeoisie, so now a portion of the bourgeoisie goes over to the proletariat, and in particular, a portion of the bourgeois ideologists, who have raised themselves to the level of comprehending theoretically the historical movement as a whole.’’

No doubt those ‘’bourgeois ideologist’’ will be a most valuable addition to the Revolutionary Movement, especially those who are theoreticians. Equally without doubt, they will assist the working class intellectuals in creating that which is so urgently needed, an American Communist Party, Dictatorship of the Proletariat. ACP, DP. 

Late April, 2023. The countdown is on. Six weeks until D Day. ‘’Default Day’’. The day America Defaults on its national debts, unless the ‘’debt ceiling’’ is raised. D Day may also go down in history as ‘’Depression Day’’, as it is also in danger of entering a Second Great Depression!

That is the opinion of the more honest of the bourgeois economists, although they dare not mention the dreaded D word, that of Depression. Instead, they use such expressions as ‘’economic catastrophe’’, ‘’collapse of the stock market’’,  ‘’deep recession’’, ‘’high inflation’’, and ‘’high unemployment’’. What is that but a Depression?

Not that the leaders of the country are terribly concerned. In the finest tradition of true visionaries, they are focused on the ‘’big picture’’. The presidential election of November, 2024, is a mere eighteen months away, and that has managed to secure their undivided attention. 

Nero fiddled while Rome burned!

Indeed, President Joe Biden has just announced his candidacy for a second term in office. He is running for re-election! No surprise there. 

As well, the former president, Donald Trump, has also ‘’thrown his hat into the ring’’. He too wants to run for president, once again! 

‘’So what’’, if the country defaults!

Mind you, it is entirely possible that President Joe Biden, and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, will come to some sort of an agreement, to raise the debt ceiling, yet again. No one is quite sure just what kind of agreement that could be, as there are various factions within the Republican Party of the House, and none of those factions seems to know just what they want! Yet they are not about to budge, until they get it, whatever that is!

The journalists who closely watch the political maneuvering, within the House of Representatives, have given the name of ‘’Five Families’’ to the various ‘’factions’’ within the Republican Party. They are speculating that perhaps Trump is ‘’calling the shots’’ from ‘’behind the scenes’’. His plan may be to force the country into default, blame it on Biden, and once again become president, in order to ‘’Make America Great Again’’.

It may well be that Trump deserves credit for being far more cunning, than most people think!

Biden is certainly ‘’caught between a rock and a hard place’’. If he agrees to their list of demands, -which are constantly changing!- he is almost guaranteed to lose the next election. If he does not agree to their demands, then the country faces default. On his ‘’watch’’, no less! He will be held responsible!

The current list of demands, of the ‘’Five Families’’ within the House, includes that of ‘’remaking national energy policy, to suit the oil and coal companies, throwing the unemployed off Medicaid and food stamps, defunding the IRS and cancelling the cancellation of the student debt’’. For Biden to agree to those demands, would result in political suicide!

Yet even if, by some minor miracle, the two sides do come to some sort of an agreement, and avoid default on the national debt, that in no way changes the fact that the banks are grossly over extended! 

According to the FDIC, there are currently ‘’4,844 insured commercial banks’’ in the country. This is to say that each deposit, in those banks, is insured, up to 250,000! No more!

Yet as possibly all banks are over extended, facing bankruptcy, the FDIC has decided to support those that are ‘’Too Big To Fail’’, while ‘’throwing under the bus’’ those that are ‘’Too Small To Succeed’’! The ‘’Fortunate Few’’ may amount to no more than five or six! Several thousand American banks are about to go broke!

The alternative is to ‘’prop up’’ all banks. That only requires money! At least, nine Trillion, although estimates go as high as twenty three Trillion! 

Yet the Treasury Secretary claims that the government is not about to allow those banks to go broke. Fine! Just where do they plan to get their hands on that much money? There are only two options. Either from the tax payers, or ‘’create it out of thin air’’!

If the tax payers are ‘’on the hook’’, for all those Trillions, then the national debt will  have to be raised, immediately, to well over fortyTrillion!

The alternative, to ‘’create money out of thin air’’, as suggested by the Treasury Secretary, would lead to raging inflation! Far more than what we have now! This despite the fact that the Treasury Secretary denies that this is inflationary! She must be on drugs!

Either way, with a government default, or massive bank failures -possibly both!- the working people of the country are about to face an ‘’economic catastrophe’’, to use the expression of the economists. Their suffering is about to become far more intense!

Unless, of course, the capitalists are overthrown! That is only possible through Revolution! And that is where the women have a key role to play. 

As Lenin stated, ‘’There can be no Socialist Revolution unless very many working women take a big part in it.’’ Yet that is most difficult, as Lenin also stated that ‘’one of the hardest things in every country has been to stir the women into action’’.

May I suggest that in the case of America, a great many women have already been ‘’stirred into action’’, so that the  Socialist Revolutionary Movement is now even stronger than most people think!

In the past, American women have proven themselves to be excellent organizers.

Without doubt, one of the biggest, most successful protests, which spread around the world, was the Women’s March, on January 21, 2017. It took place on the day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump. It was supremely well organized!

As well, a great many women have taken part in the ‘’Me Too’’ Movement, which started in October of 2017. This ‘’prompted women from around the world to publicly share their experiences of sexual assault or harassment’’, according to the Internet.

It is reasonable to assume that the leaders of those protests were mainly middle class, petty bourgeois. Especially as the journalists report that the Me Too Movement was started by young women, who were anxious to ‘’break into’’ acting, to get a role in a movie. They found that the ‘’price’’ for such a role was ‘’sexual services’’ with certain very rich and powerful men, within the industry. 

For many years, this has been considered to be a ’’reasonable request’’, among the entertainment industry. In fact, it is nothing other than a ‘’polite’’ form of rape. 

From the viewpoint of the Revolutionary Movement, it is most significant that the women are in motion. Further, the fact is that they may be middle class, for the moment, but likely not for long!

As the crisis in capitalism intensifies, the middle class will be almost completely ‘’wiped out’’! Those who have a ‘’mere’’ few million ‘’in the bank’’, or at least in ‘’regional banks’’, are about to lose almost all! The FDIC covers only the first quarter million!

The vast majority of banks are about to ‘’go under’’! The popular understanding of ‘’small business’’ is about to expand, to include those, such as regional banks, which are worth less than tens or hundreds of millions!

Those who have money in those ‘’small, regional’’ banks, are about to lose them! Those who have money invested in small businesses, are about to lose that! Those who have money -capital- invested in stocks and bonds, are about to lose that! The stock market is about to ‘’crash’’! A repeat of the ‘’crash’’ of 1929! On steroids! Welcome to monopoly capitalism! Imperialism! 

That is the ‘’one side of the coin’’, so to speak. The ‘’other side of the coin’’, is the fact that many of the middle class people, who are about to lose their life sayings, are well educated, aware of the Revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin. After all, university education is mainly limited to the middle and upper classes. As well, it is only in university that those theories are even mentioned! And then only with a view to distorting them!

Yet no one has ever accused middle class people of being ‘’entirely stupid’’. Once these people are financially ruined, they will no doubt re-examine those Revolutionary theories, in a ‘’new light’’. 

They will face the fact that they are ‘’ruined’’, and have ‘’no future’’ under capitalism. On the other hand, they have a ‘’bright future’’ under Socialism! After the Revolution, there will be a ‘’big demand’’ for people who know how to run a factory! As well as numerous other enterprises, for that matter!

After all, there is a big difference between running a machine, and running a factory!

With that in mind, we can expect the intellectuals, among the ‘’soon to be ruined’’ middle class,  to ‘’take the bull by the horns’’, and take part in the formation of a true Communist Party. After all, they will soon realize that such a true Communist Party is necessary! Only such a Party can give proper direction. 

It is very likely that many of those intellectuals will be women, as so many of them are now taking a leading role in the Revolution.

Perhaps it would be helpful to let them know what to expect. 

After the Russian Socialist Revolution, of 1917, Lenin spoke of the role of women. He pointed out that under capitalism, ‘’In all civilized countries, even the most advanced, women are actually no more than domesticated slaves’’. He went on to say that ‘’One of the primary tasks of the Soviet Republic is to abolish all restrictions on women’s rights. The Soviet government has completely abolished divorce proceedings, that source of bourgeois degradation, repression and humiliation.’’

Perhaps as a means of stressing the importance of this, Lenin went on to state ‘’The status of women up to now has been compared to that of a slave; women have been tied to the home, and only Socialism can save them from this’’.

Lenin further went on to say: ‘’But you cannot draw the masses into politics without drawing in the women as well. For under capitalism, the female half of the human race is doubly oppressed. The working woman and the peasant woman are oppressed by capital, but over and above all that, even in the most democratic of the bourgeois republics, they remain firstly, deprived of some rights because the law does not give them equality with men; and secondly -and this is the main thing- they remain in ‘household bondage’, they continue to be ‘household slaves’, for they are overburdened with the drudgery of the most squalid, back breaking and stultifying toil in the kitchen and the family household.’’

Of course, after the Russian Revolution, under Socialism, the law was changed, so that men and women were equal. Yet changing the law was merely the ‘’first step’’. 

Lenin went on to say that ‘’The second and most important step is the abolition of the private ownership of land and factories. This and this alone opens up the way towards a complete and actual emancipation of woman, her liberation from ’household bondage’, through transition from petty individual housekeeping to large scale socialized domestic services…To effect her complete emancipation and make her the equal of the man, it is necessary for the national economy to be socialized and for the women to participate in common productive labour. Then women will occupy the same position as men.’’

This brings us to a popular misconception. Many people, on the Left, think that under Socialism, women will be expected to do the same type of work as men, to work the same hours, and produce the same amount. Such is not the case! As this subject is of such exceptional importance, I have decided to quote Lenin, at considerable length.

As Lenin explained: ‘’Here we are not of course speaking of making women the equal of men as far as productivity of labour, the quantity of labour, the length of the working day, labour conditions, etc., are concerned; we mean that the woman should not, unlike the man, be oppressed because of her position in the family. You all know that even when women have full rights, they still remain factually down trodden because all house work is left to them. In most cases house work is the most unproductive, the most barbarous and the most arduous work a woman can do. It is exceptionally petty and does not include anything that would in any way promote the development of the woman.

‘’In pursuance of the Socialist ideal, we want to struggle for the full implementation of Socialism, and here an extensive field of labour opens up for women. We are now making serious preparations to clear the ground for the building of Socialism, but the building of Socialism will begin only when we have achieved the complete equality of women and when we undertake the new work together with women who have been emancipated from that petty, stultifying, unproductive work. This is a job that will take us many, many years.

‘’We are setting up model institutions, dining rooms and nurseries, that will emancipate women from house work…This is a matter for the women themselves…our task is to make politics available to every working woman’’

In my opinion, too many people, on the Left, are focused on ‘’demanding equality’’, women with men. 

For one thing, such a demand requires women to work the same hours, the same labour conditions, the same productivity, and so forth. That is simply not reasonable, especially under capitalism. As most women are also responsible for house work, it merely adds to their burden!

Lenin went on to say: ‘’It is the chief task of the working women’s movement to fight for economic and social equality, and not only formal equality, for women. The chief thing is to get women to take part in socially productive labour, to liberate them from ’domestic slavery’, to free them from their stupefying and humiliating subjugation to the eternal drudgery of the kitchen and the nursery.’’

The equality of women is possible only  under Socialism, and that, only after a great many years!

In the interests of the ‘’chief task’’, of the ‘’women’s movement’’, that of fighting for ‘’economic and social equality’’, to ‘’liberate them’’ from the ‘’drudgery’’ of ‘’domestic slavery’’, may I suggest that women fight for such things as day care and nurseries. 

It may help to think of these demands as part of the Revolutionary Movement for Scientific Socialism. But then, that is precisely the case!