Suddenly Everyone On Wall Street Is A Socialist

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Suddenly Everyone On Wall Street Is A Socialist

30 09 2008 This piece, from Black Star News, is the only halfway decent review of the incipient crash I’ve seen yet. The real problem with most of the analysis is not that it is particularly wrong, but that the perspectives they find themselves mired in are shortsighted, lacking both realism and moral courage.

You may have noticed that many more Democrats than Republicans voted for the bailout deal. They are correct that failing to bail out wall street can/will result in global economic meltdown, the inability of companies (aka ‘bosses’) to pay their employees, etc.

What they fail (or refuse) to see is that this is an opportunity. A serious one. If employers fail to pay their employees, employees can and should demand increasing levels of control over every aspect of the business operation, including stakes in ownership, to be held communally.
If the mortgage industry, and the shadow economy fails, it should not be mortgage payers who lose their homes, but merely mortgage brokers who lose their shirts.

And if government cannot resolve the situation, which has been brewing for decades, if not since the very dawn of the capitalist era, then we should simply dismiss the predatory politricksters as the irrelevant parasites they are, and use our organized power directly against the bosses who predate even more directly on our labor and time than do the politicians.
Here’s a tantalizing snippet from the piece:

So here they come–all the corporate fascists, hat-in-hand, wanting the American taxpayer to bail them out.


These, the very same arrogant, and compassionless social terrorists who demonized as “socialist” anyone who even implied that maybe a crumb should be set aside for the poor or middle class. “Deregulate. Let the market work. Free us from the nuisance of social protectionism, and we’ll make America great.” But now that their greedy excesses have worked against them, all of a sudden socialism doesn’t look all that bad. In fact, it looks better with every day that passes–as long as we remember to privatize the profit, and only socialize loss.
…
When the average American is in a financial pinch, the banks don’t just give us money, they make us pay for it–dearly. So why shouldn’t we? Maybe we should give them an open-ended loan at the prevailing rate. Then allow them to pay off the loan by setting up a trust fund in which the banking community must contribute a percentage (to be determined) of their annual gross profits (That’s right, gross profits–we want ours off the top).


We could then use that money to help subsidize social security, universal healthcare, and other programs that benefit the American people. And the beauty of it is, since it’s a business transaction, we can both benefit the people, while at the same time, avoid the “evils” socialism. After all, we’ll be taking their money in the very best capitalist tradition.

And we must be sure to use our leveraged position to its full advantage. Therefore, as part of the formula that determines how much of their profits must go into this trust fund, we should take into account the minimum wage, the cost of living, and the level of disparity between the average worker and the compensation of top tier corporate executives (after all, if corporations can afford to pay their CEOs exorbitant salaries and benefits, certainly they should be able to contribute more towards their public debt).

Suddenly Everyone On Wall Street Is A Socialist.

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

http://www.rinf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3102

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

CP: Crisis signals capitalist disease

(Monday 29 September 2008)






COMMUNIST Party trade union co-ordinator Carolyn Jones rejected claims by "neoliberal apologists" at the weekend that the current crisis of capitalism was a one-off problem due to specific global circumstances.


Speaking to the party's executive committee, Ms Jones noted that the current crisis reinforces the inherent weaknesses in capitalism.

"This is a capitalist disease and there is a cure. Let's start with socialism and unite around our alternative left-wing programme," she said.

"We need to reclaim the discussion and aggressively renew our call based on the need to regulate the economy - nationalise the banks, curb the fat cats, take the utilities into public ownership and free the trade unions to do their job, namely, representing workers, improving pay and protecting jobs."

Ms Jones also welcomed the increased role given to trades councils at the TUC, saying that "they offered the ideal forum for pulling together the local campaigning work of the labour movement."

The CP executive committee also finalised plans for this year's Communist University of Britain being held at Ruskin House, Croydon from October 17-19.

Among the speakers will be Sue Webb (Communist Party USA), Bob Crow (RMT general secretary), John McDonnell MP, Derek Wall (Green Party), Manfred Idler (German CP), Eugene McCartan and Lynda Walker (Communist Party of Ireland), Erwin Marquit (editor of Nature, Society & Thought) and Joginder Bains (Association of Indian Communists).


BRS

[CherryBrandy]

It seems to me quite obvious why Hank wants this 700 bn deal so dearly.

He is going to step down from his current job and all he can think I want to go back to Goldman Sachs or one of the other buddies and it's just pure self interest. He was instrumental in getting America into the mess to some extent while he was working in the private sector and now again it's let's protect our interests. Hasn't anybody else seen than sticking out clearly ?

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Action-without-theory

Mixing punk and politics. Action unites us - theory divides us.

Now is the time to go in for the kill


The conservatives in Congress are turning on each other.

Banks are collapsing.

Share prices are plummeting.

It is the crisis of capitalism that everyone on the left knew was inevitable.
We are lucky to see it happening in our lifetime.

But where are we?

I had always assumed that at this moment our leaders would turn their theory into action.

The vanguardist organisation with the best analysis and the firmest roots in the proletariat would step forward - like the Bolsheviks in 1917.
Broadsheets would be printed and handed out on the street.

Charismatic leaders from the communist/anarchist/socialist/green movement would be making speeches to packed squares.
But in fact – there’s nothing.

We have all been sucked into the system and we are left watching the spectacle.

Bloggers blog to a few dozen geeks – while millions of workers walk down New Street in Birmingham, or Market Street in Manchester. A captive audience for old media propaganda.

Why aren’t we giving them explanations of how greedy capitalists kept making their millions while leading the rest of us to doom.

Why aren’t we encouraging the run on the banks to bring the fat cats down?

Telling people to move any money they have to mutuals or the nationalised Northern Rock would be sound advice – as well as a revolutionary act.

Why aren’t we targeting individual banks and all queuing up outside them in our lunch hours to spread panic?


Why aren’t we talking about post capitalist society? How we would organise support for each other through trade unions and tenants associations – the original forums for social networking.

Why aren’t we setting up soup kitchens and cheap cafes? A practical way of helping people who lose their income, and of bringing them together and defeating alienation.

Why aren’t we telling people to get one over on the banks by cancelling their mortgage direct debits and waiting for them to come and collect the money?

The commentators of the left are writing and speaking as if they want capitalism to survive.

The victory of the Thatcherite revolution is so complete that no-one dare risk their mortgage or their private pension by leading the struggle.

Is it really the case that the only hopes we have left are in little reforms with little ambitions?

When our grand children read our blogs will they conclude that while we talked big - at heart we were all just Darlingistas?

"What did you do in the great crash Daddy?"

"I'm glad you asked - I used the troubles at MFI to negotiate a great deal on a kitchen."

Is that to be our legacy?