Marx argued that capitalism had built in contradictions that would eventually make it unsustainable. He basically predicted capitalism would collapse under its own weight, but didn’t specify how long it would take to finish dying. Things like falling rates of profit, ever worsening crises, and the immiseration of the working class are all precisely the things we see unfolding around us today. At some point all these problems must reach a breaking point where the system as a whole can no longer function.

Arguably, Marx underestimated the ability of the capitalist system to adapt and it ultimately proved more flexible at kicking the can down the road than he gave it credit for. Marx also thought the crisis would hit the most advanced industrial nations such as Britain and Germany first. Instead, capitalism fueled imperialism exporting its worst exploitation to the Global South. The core countries got to enjoy relative stability partly because the worst human abuses and extraction happen elsewhere.

Lenin followed Marx’s logic and argued that Western capitalists used superprofits from colonies to bribe their own working class with higher wages to buy off revolutionary potential. Basically, the system managed to survive this long by making the Western working class comfortable enough to not want to burn it all down.

Who cares about them, the polls I linked show that there’s already a critical mass of people who support socialism. These are the rational people to focus organizing efforts on.

our whole society is inherently a social construct

It’s important to note that liberalism is fundamentally a right wing ideology which consists of two main parts. First you have political liberalism which focuses on all the wholesome ideas we hear about such as individual freedoms and democracy. But the second part is economic liberalism which deals with free markets, private property, and wealth accumulation. These two aspects form a contradiction. Political liberalism purports to support everyone’s freedom, while economic liberalism enshrines private property rights as sacred in laws and constitutions, effectively removing them from political debate.

As a result, liberalism inevitably justifies the use of state violence to safeguard property rights, over supporting ordinary people, which directly contradicts the promises of fairness and equality. Private property being seen as a key part of individual freedom under liberalism provides the foundational justification for the rich to keep their wealth while ignoring the needs of everyone else. Thus, all the talk of freedom and democracy ends up being nothing more than a fig leaf to provide cover for justifying capitalist relations.

Weird say to talk about a grounded article explaining how socialists adapt to real world material conditions in Cuba. Your whole assertion that this is somehow a win for the US is itself absurd. Do you even understand the purpose of markets or what role they play in an economy?

The Long Depression dissects the ongoing crisis of profitability that has defined capitalism since the 1970s which rendered all post-war booms fragile and temporary. It explains why a return to sustained high growth impossible without a massive destruction of capital value such as a major war or a deep depression.

Would you care to explain how, in your mind, these things are in any way connected.

nice find

Ultras are gonna ultra I guess.

the root cause is capitalism

nice

@geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml recommend reading so you get a bit of understanding on what’s actually happening in Cuba

also true

it’s just such a perfect allegory for how practically every startup out there works

anything but admitting that capitalism is working exactly as intended

Somehow people in other countries manage to do it, but I suppose it’s always possible that Americans are a special breed of stupid.

No, only an absolute imbecile would suggest that. My plan is to educate people and do what I can to help organize people outside a rigged political system in order to build an actual worker movement with teeth such as MAS in Bolivia. This starts with building unions, mutual aid groups, tenant organizations, and so on.

Because voting has been historically the most effective way to defeat fascism.