Looking at Things from the Other Side

I notice that we seem to spend a lot of time and trouble examining the strengths and weaknesses of the progressive movement in America, but we hardly ever mention how things are going for the class enemy. I've been trying to look at things from their point of view, and I conclude that they're in a heap of trouble.

Their friends aren't so friendly

Since1973, it has been clear that their imperialist rivals gained the strength to end the "American Century" far sooner than domestic capitalists wanted. Every other politician or major speaker for capitalism, including the President in his State of the Union Address, talks about "improving our competitiveness." Nobody ever specifies whom they're competing against, but it's mostly the other industrialized nations.

Under  capitalism, whether you're talking about micro or macro, the main way to compete is to cut costs, and the main cost of any enterprise is labor. Between 1973 and 1980, they might not have been completely clear among themselves about this competition thing, but by 1980, with the election of Ronald Reagan, their policy was clear as glass and cold as ice. They would compete by cutting the working class at home and abroad. The other industrialized nations had already reached the same conclusion, but it may be argued that the American capitalists did it more aggressively and more successfully.

The capitalist class can't cut the working class forever without expecting a certain amount of fightback; consequently they have maneuvered to disarm us as much as possible. They attacked our ability to exercise our hard-won civil rights, especially through "tort reform" schemes that make it harder and harder to even get legal representation. Much worse, they attacked our right to organize and take collective action. These attacks have met with some success, but they want much more.

As the "American century" ended 72 years early (1945-1973), capitalist unity was disintegrating. Even though the American capitalists brandished by far the greatest military power, they couldn't get everyone else to behave as ordered. Even their "backyard," Latin America, began a long-term trend of acting independently.

They played the only card they had -- more and more military intervention, but that isn't working out for them very well. The occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan have been such a long-term drain on their resources that their industrialized competitors, who don't spend so much on military, continue to gain on them. When the opportunity to take over oil-rich Libya came up, imperialist America faltered while the French and English rushed in.

Mother nature doesn't like them

Also in the 1970s, people began to realize that rampant capitalism was on a course that could end life on this planet. The capitalists have tried denying it, hiding it, joking about it, and pretending to do something about it while really not. The near-nuclear-meltdown and destruction in Northern Japan underlines the problem before the world. The environmental deterioration's continuous worsening can only lead more and more people to question the system they are forced to live under.

They can't even trust each other

The big-time financial capitalists and real estate operators brought themselves and the rest of capitalism to their knees in 2008. Capitalism as a whole responded, and continues to respond, by printing money. Their own "conservative" wing keeps reminding them that they can't do that forever, but they have no other option.

Their own military might confines them

In 1917 and 1941, America had a simple and direct way to resolve deep financial crises and inter-imperialist rivalry. World War is lousy for all workers, but it works out pretty good for the capitalists, at least for those on the winning side. But they got so good at destruction during World War II that they developed weapons that could destroy Earth right out from under them. Some capitalists, at least the saner ones, don't want to do that while they have no other planet to go to. That option is closed. At least, we hope it is closed.

The victims aren't sleeping so well

Even though the capitalist class has a strangle hold over most information sources, people are noticing that things aren't right and figuring out what to do about it. workers and progressives who had been divided by sectarianism, xenophobia, chauvinism, anti-communism, and other capitalist-inspired divisive tactics are beginning to reach out to one another. Egypt has inspired us. There are more Americans willing to take to the streets in protest now than at any time in our lifetimes, and one may safely predict, since capitalist aims aren't going to change, that more and more of us will join in.

That's my look at the world from the capitalist point of view. Not great.