Is an alternative possible?

from the International Socialist Review:



Is an alternative possible?
Phil Gasper reviews what Marx had to say about the transition from capitalism to socialism


THE REMARKABLE emergence of the Occupy Wall Street movement in the closing months of 2011 has not only shifted the political debate in the United States, putting issues of inequality, poverty and class front and center, but has also raised the issue of whether there is an alternative to a society based on competition, exploitation and repeated economic crises. These questions have been made even more urgent by the inability of capitalist governments to deal with the threat of global warming and potential environmental catastrophe.

Even some mainstream economists now admit that Marx’s economic theories provide the best explanation of why capitalism is mired in an intractable crisis—but they are careful to add that Marx’s theories of an alternative to capitalism have been refuted because the Eastern Bloc collapsed and “Communist China” has embraced capitalism. But to anyone who has read what Marx wrote about post-capitalist society, it should be obvious that the “socialism” that existed in these countries had nothing to do with the kind of alternative that he was proposing.

For Marx, the transition to a different form of society has to begin with a revolution that overthrows the minority that currently runs society (call them the 1 percent, the capitalists, or the bourgeoisie) and brings the working class (wage laborers or the proletariat) and its class allies to power. Unless capitalist control of the state is broken, they will use the military and the police to maintain their power. Attempts at building alternative forms of society without challenging the capitalist state are doomed to failure.

The ultimate goal of a worker’s revolution is the abolition of classes and the creation of a society in which “the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.” But it is impossible for a classless society to emerge immediately after a revolution. A revolution will take state power away from the old ruling class, but the classes that existed the day before the revolution will still exist on the day after. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.isreview.org/issues/81/critthink-alternative.shtml