I think his ideas can reform a capitalist system. It’s probably one of many ways his ideas get off the ground. The big thing was changing the system, it’s not necessarily all about how you get there.
At a fundamental level, class struggle and the theory of the state means the working class must overwhelm the capitalist class, and this cannot be done within the framework of existing, bourgeois society. That’s why all lasting socialist states have come through revolution.
The problem is that a capitalist system will not allow itself to be reformed in this way, as the “reforms” that Marx poses are antithetical to the very foundation of capitalism.
To give some accessible examples; you can’t house homeless people or give people healthcare and higher education because homelessness and debt is a whip to keep the workers working for whatever wage and conditions are offered by a capital owner. You can’t deconstruct racism because it was invented in the first place to keep the working class at war with itself rather than struggling against the conditions set by the ruling class. You can’t stop imperialism because infinite growth requires infinite and unrestricted expansion into new territories.
The system of capitalism manufactures its own required conditions through cruelty and social inequality (and yet, it’s these very things that lead to resistance), and without those necessary components the whole system collapses. The ruling class will not allow this to happen, because this system serves their material interests, and thus fundamental change cannot happen until the working class; whose material interests are directly opposed to those of the ruling class; is in power. The ruling class will pay lip service and the occasional half-measure in order to obscure this reality and make “reformism” seem possible, but 1) that is all they will do especially in the absence of a real threat to their power and 2) they will always eventually claw back even the smallest and hardest-fought of crumbs. Crumbs are good and all but there comes a point where our energy is better spent fighting for the whole cake.
I disagree that you can’t have those reforms be done that way. I agree with you that the changes are not in-line with unchecked capitalism, but the whole concept of the “invisible hand” is just for show anyways.
To give some accessible examples; you can’t house homeless people or give people healthcare and higher education because homelessness and debt is a whip to keep the workers working for whatever wage and conditions are offered by a capital owner.
Corporations and bought politicians may try to prevent the help from trickling down, but help can actually reach people in areas that care about helping more than just extracting wealth.
I think the problem is that issues are pretty complex and always involve money being spent to address or fix the problems. The core issue is people have been hesitant to individually fund the solutions since it’s easier to spread the costs out among everyone (e.g., individual states understandably didn’t want to bear the burden alone and wanted the federal government to bear the costs). At this point in time though, that looks to be not an option blue states can count on anymore. Blue States need to individually fund these programs to help people in their state, and only afterwards could those help options scale to help people federally.
You can’t deconstruct racism because it was invented in the first place to keep the working class at war with itself rather than struggling against the conditions set by the ruling class.
I agree with you that racism isn’t something that will go away any time soon unfortunately. I believe social media has only made issues worse regarding this with all the bots and bad actors trying to stoke some people’s racism and hatred.
If those people have something/someone else they can blame for their problems then it’s another way of getting around people’s racial biases. Bernie Sanders for instance has been having success recently among people living in rural West Virginia to direct their frustration towards the billionaires causing their problems rather than towards working-class people.
You can’t stop imperialism because infinite growth requires infinite and unrestricted expansion into new territories.
The big corporations are more or less starting to hit that wall now where they can’t really expand too much more. Foreign markets have become more and more saturated with existing businesses which make it harder for these conglomerates to get a foothold. They’ve been underpaying about as much as they can get away with and cost cutting about as much as they can as well. They’ve big corporations have more or less sent themselves into a downward spiral where pretty soon no one is going to be able to afford their garbage. When a majority of people’s income is going forward their bare necessities rather than on things they want it doesn’t bode well for the corporations who have nothing left to fleece away.
The system of capitalism manufactures its own required conditions through cruelty and social inequality (and yet, it’s these very things that lead to resistance), and without those necessary components the whole system collapses. The ruling class will not allow this to happen, because this system serves their material interests, and thus fundamental change cannot happen until the working class; whose material interests are directly opposed to those of the ruling class; is in power.
The billionaires and big corporations have gotten a bit too greedy lately, the bubble they created where people are just comfortable enough not to care about how rich these people are is very close to popping. The fact that working class people can’t even afford to buy a home is a bad sign for these corporations, just where are they expecting working class people to have families after all?
The interests of working class people to have their needs met is growing by the day. If inflation keeps soaring as we have seen, then progressive change is going to be demanded from our representatives. I believe Blue states should be the focus for that since any corporate politician paying lip service can be primaried with an actual progressive willing to fund programs to help people.
The ruling class will pay lip service and the occasional half-measure in order to obscure this reality and make “reformism” seem possible, but 1) that is all they will do especially in the absence of a real threat to their power and 2) they will always eventually claw back even the smallest and hardest-fought of crumbs. Crumbs are good and all but there comes a point where our energy is better spent fighting for the whole cake.
The game is close to being up for the corporate leaders where they actually will need to do their jobs; people are needing these programs now more than ever since wages have not kept up with inflation. The demand is they either help their constituents or they lose their jobs at this point. They can try to push things back and try to keep getting their donor money, but people have caught on. The cake can be owned if we primary any Blue state congressperson that isn’t willing to pass progressive programs. If we wanted to make it even easier to primary people, then we could also vote in an alternative voting system in Blue states.
What do you mean? A reformed and reforged system is a new system.
I could give you a multi-hour long breakdown of my views but something tells you’re not interested in a long-form dialogue here.
Marxists do not advocate reforming capitalism, but overthrowing it and transitioning to socialism. That’s the big thing there.
I think his ideas can reform a capitalist system. It’s probably one of many ways his ideas get off the ground. The big thing was changing the system, it’s not necessarily all about how you get there.
At a fundamental level, class struggle and the theory of the state means the working class must overwhelm the capitalist class, and this cannot be done within the framework of existing, bourgeois society. That’s why all lasting socialist states have come through revolution.
The problem is that a capitalist system will not allow itself to be reformed in this way, as the “reforms” that Marx poses are antithetical to the very foundation of capitalism.
To give some accessible examples; you can’t house homeless people or give people healthcare and higher education because homelessness and debt is a whip to keep the workers working for whatever wage and conditions are offered by a capital owner. You can’t deconstruct racism because it was invented in the first place to keep the working class at war with itself rather than struggling against the conditions set by the ruling class. You can’t stop imperialism because infinite growth requires infinite and unrestricted expansion into new territories.
The system of capitalism manufactures its own required conditions through cruelty and social inequality (and yet, it’s these very things that lead to resistance), and without those necessary components the whole system collapses. The ruling class will not allow this to happen, because this system serves their material interests, and thus fundamental change cannot happen until the working class; whose material interests are directly opposed to those of the ruling class; is in power. The ruling class will pay lip service and the occasional half-measure in order to obscure this reality and make “reformism” seem possible, but 1) that is all they will do especially in the absence of a real threat to their power and 2) they will always eventually claw back even the smallest and hardest-fought of crumbs. Crumbs are good and all but there comes a point where our energy is better spent fighting for the whole cake.
I disagree that you can’t have those reforms be done that way. I agree with you that the changes are not in-line with unchecked capitalism, but the whole concept of the “invisible hand” is just for show anyways.
Corporations and bought politicians may try to prevent the help from trickling down, but help can actually reach people in areas that care about helping more than just extracting wealth.
I think the problem is that issues are pretty complex and always involve money being spent to address or fix the problems. The core issue is people have been hesitant to individually fund the solutions since it’s easier to spread the costs out among everyone (e.g., individual states understandably didn’t want to bear the burden alone and wanted the federal government to bear the costs). At this point in time though, that looks to be not an option blue states can count on anymore. Blue States need to individually fund these programs to help people in their state, and only afterwards could those help options scale to help people federally.
I agree with you that racism isn’t something that will go away any time soon unfortunately. I believe social media has only made issues worse regarding this with all the bots and bad actors trying to stoke some people’s racism and hatred.
If those people have something/someone else they can blame for their problems then it’s another way of getting around people’s racial biases. Bernie Sanders for instance has been having success recently among people living in rural West Virginia to direct their frustration towards the billionaires causing their problems rather than towards working-class people.
The big corporations are more or less starting to hit that wall now where they can’t really expand too much more. Foreign markets have become more and more saturated with existing businesses which make it harder for these conglomerates to get a foothold. They’ve been underpaying about as much as they can get away with and cost cutting about as much as they can as well. They’ve big corporations have more or less sent themselves into a downward spiral where pretty soon no one is going to be able to afford their garbage. When a majority of people’s income is going forward their bare necessities rather than on things they want it doesn’t bode well for the corporations who have nothing left to fleece away.
The billionaires and big corporations have gotten a bit too greedy lately, the bubble they created where people are just comfortable enough not to care about how rich these people are is very close to popping. The fact that working class people can’t even afford to buy a home is a bad sign for these corporations, just where are they expecting working class people to have families after all?
The interests of working class people to have their needs met is growing by the day. If inflation keeps soaring as we have seen, then progressive change is going to be demanded from our representatives. I believe Blue states should be the focus for that since any corporate politician paying lip service can be primaried with an actual progressive willing to fund programs to help people.
The game is close to being up for the corporate leaders where they actually will need to do their jobs; people are needing these programs now more than ever since wages have not kept up with inflation. The demand is they either help their constituents or they lose their jobs at this point. They can try to push things back and try to keep getting their donor money, but people have caught on. The cake can be owned if we primary any Blue state congressperson that isn’t willing to pass progressive programs. If we wanted to make it even easier to primary people, then we could also vote in an alternative voting system in Blue states.