More Agit-prop

Here is a letter to the editor published last Friday:

It hardly seems that a day goes by that some conservative defender of liberty isn't calling President Barack Obama or his policies "socialist" on the opinion page of this paper. And it is not just the new president which draws their ire; both the government and the state are also named as co-conspirators in this subversive, left-wing plot.

As someone who both identifies as a socialist and has studied this economic system for many years, I would like to assure each and every one of these understandably frightened but deluded individuals that Obama, the capitalist government, and the capitalist state are doing everything in their power to save the "free enterprise" system from its own self-destruction. And through their massive intervention they have, at least for the time being, been fairly successful.

Socialism is actually a democratic system of worker ownership and control, and while the capitalist state has been forced to become a majority shareholder in a number of criminally negligent banks and corporations, you can rest assured the workers have gained less than nothing in these deals. And just as soon as these syndicates have been returned to profitability, the government will hand them back to their corporate cronies so they may continue pillaging the very conservatives who so fervently defend their God-given right to do so.

So by all means, resist coercive state power; just remember it is a capitalist state whose job, first and foremost, is to promote and defend private property and accumulation. Obama is actually its top salesman.

Here is a rant that is less diplomatic:

Capitalism Doesn't Work

Most ten year olds can now explain the fatal flaws in market fundamentalist or “neoliberal” theory. The lefts task is not to ridicule those still feeding on the corpse of Ronald Reagan, but to provide a safe warm “hot tub” to self-identified “progressives” and left-leaning liberals who can no longer paint more rose color on their glasses, who can no longer lie to their children or bridge/golf partners nor, in good conscience, throw another dime at political parties, charities, or environmental non-profits . These professional/managerial coordinators, civil servants and trade union loyalists now stare into their lattes and wonder how the “change they could believe in” turned into yet another Middle East quagmire, how their fair-trade campaign only led to more sweat-shops, palm plantations and death squads, how they were sent so suddenly from solid middle class to precarious indentured servitude practically overnight. Greenpeace, Amnesty, Sierra Club, Oxfam and Global Exchange have all had their chance but CO2 keeps rising, prisons keep overflowing, forests keep disappearing, children keep starving and WalMart keeps selling. Once the “progressives” leave their fear and illusions behind, the working class will fall in almost immediately. They can keep their faith in Jesus while sending “free markets”straight to hell.

It is time to put the lie to all market “reforms”, mico-credit lending, fair-trade exchange, campaign finance reform, corporatized unions, and “public options”. To all environmental impact statements, NPRs and “public television”, “human rights”, banking regulations, all peace marches, and all progressive campaigns to help the poor. No more clean coal and cap and trade and supporting the troops. Women in Pink, Women in Black. Women in Blue. Women on Bikes. Recycled Cans. It's all been tried, it has all failed. Capitalism absorbs and is nourished by them all.

There can be no social justice or peace as long as productive property remains in private hands. All attempts to change capitalist-state policy will, after decades of struggle and millions in donations, be temporary, compromised, half-measures, at best, destined to be overturned at the first opportunity. This is because the States first priority is to protect private property and all issues of social justice annoy, interfere with and threaten private property. All war is class war and capitalism creates classes and all class conflict. All racial, ethnic and gender conflict is exacerbated by competition. Capitalism is based on competition. This is not to announce the end of conflict, just the beginning of politics.

There can be no environmental justice as long as commodities are exchanged for profit. Money can buy temporary protections but always at the cost of marginalized communities because sustainability, like wealth production, is a zero sum game. Someone must lose for someone to gain. Something must die for something else to live. In our present circumstance, capital must die for the planet to live. All efforts to preserve specific spatial nodes, specific life forms or specific ecosystems will fail unless the entire LIFE/ SPIRIT system can thrive and nothing can thrive when it is on the auction bock.

There can be no democracy under or even within capitalism. Votes, and those who cast them, are commodities, like socks and mustard. Discourse is tweeted, paneled, lectured and Spectacularized into fair and balanced facelifts, boobjobs and hair cuts, always hair and more hair and still more hair.

The next crash will be less fun than the last and so on. The fun is gone from capitalism. This critique is not just more “economic determinism” but when you get to work tomorrow ( assuming you still have a job) try doing less. Try doing it your way rather than the boss's. Take a long break. Work on something you feel is important. See what that determines.