Socialism for the 21st Century

I want to start a thread here that can be a forum for examining what possibilities exist in the now, that is, our current collective spatial/ temporal space, for creating a more equitable and just global economic structure. I especially want my comrades at CAJA to participate, as well as any other interested persons out there in cyber space, so that we can get a diverse and wide ranging array of opinions within these parameters (sorry, I just don’t have time to argue with reformers): We reject the global structure of advanced capitalism as a predatory, unjust and unsustainable way to produce, allocate and distribute services and goods. We reject any authoritarian, totalitarian or class- based system which enforces hierarchical or bureaucratic State power over that of the People. My hope is that the ideas developed here can form the basis for a community wide discussion format such as a conference or symposium, eventually finding expression as a much needed opposition movement and/or alternative political entity of some kind. Within those sideboards, anything goes.

It is my belief that a “socialism for the 21st century” will incorporate and be a synthesis of, the revolutionary traditions which have preceded us, namely Marxism, anarchism, syndicalism, communism et al..and that to the degree that we who adhere to these theoretical systems can explain our arguments and reasoning while avoiding sectarianism, dogma, doctrine and over the top polemics we can contribute to this necessary, I believe critical, discussion. Of course one needn’t adhere to one of these “isms” to participate. Please provide sources or references to help others locate relevant information.

Current anti-capitalist discourse is centered on two main areas, which are at once inter-connected, and approached somewhat differently by different interest groups. These are the issues around what is termed “globalism” or “globalization”, which tend to be centered in the economic realm and those of human –rights, for which the language of democracy and law tend to dominate. Because the United States is at once the worlds largest economy, the center of global capital expansion, the most powerful military apparatus and hence the most entrenched force for global exploitation our task as subjects of this hegemon is to explore the opportunities available to us within this limited space in order to effect change.

How are the social movements in the global South, those of the indigenous peoples, of land reform and the re-distribution of wealth, those rejecting privatization and other neo-liberal economic programs relevant to our experience here? How do the global economic institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization affect development, trade and self-determination? What are the contradictions that lead to crisis and openings for radical change and what structures can replace the current model and eliminate those contradictions? Is trade unionism still a viable movement? Why is there such a propensity for anti-capitalists to splinter off into groups with seemingly minor theoretical differences? What new divisions of labor, forms of production and class relations need to be explored and defined? What role does culture play in this project? Let’s get down to it.