Socialism or Extinction e-book
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Enail received a Head Office from the author.
Socialism or Extinction: Climate, Automation and War in the Final Capitalist Breakdown by Ted Reese is now available on Kindle for just $2.99/£2.33.
A systematic theoretical/Marxist analysis of the unprecedented crises engulfing humanity, the book argues:
- that capitalism per se – because its ever-deepening dependence on exploiting labour makes the labour-intensity of plundering the environment increasingly necessary – is the cause of and can only continue to accelerate the climate crisis;
- that the overall rate of profit is trending historically towards (a permanent) zero and that the final expression of this is the tendency towards fully automated production, which is eliminating the sole source of profit/exchange value – the exploitation of commodity-producing human labour;
- that, drawing on the work of Karl Marx and Henryk Grossman, capitalism is heading unavoidably, in purely economic terms, towards a final, insurmountable breakdown that is destined to strike much earlier than a zero rate of profit – and, indeed, that the next, looming crisis will at some point see all fiat currencies collapse against precious metals, meaning a global digital currency that supplants exchange-value with use-value is now required;
- that the accumulation crisis is forcing the world’s imperialist powers into direct confrontation, meaning humanity faces not one extinction threat, but two;
- that the solution to the climate crisis requires: use-value to supplant exchange-value, ending the absolute economic need to plunder the environment; an incentivised transition towards a communal system of living in order to achieve massive efficiency gains; and the reversal of the alienation capitalism imposes between man and nature, in large part by ending the international prohibition of hemp, nature’s most prolific and versatile crop – and the key not only to reversing desertification and stabilising the climate, but to the next stage in technological and industrial development, ie a green industrial revolution that is actually green;
- that the productive forces, in line with their historical development, now demand democratic central planning of the economy as a whole – ie a public monopoly – meaning the all-socialist state and a Communist International remain necessary during the transition to (global, stateless) communism, a borderless world of equality and relative abundance for all.
I do not have the resources to print physical copies/send review copies. Please send reviews to this email address grossmanite@gmail.com, which I will try to reply to.
Link:
“… capitalism is heading unavoidably, in purely economic terms, towards a final, insurmountable breakdown that is destined to strike much earlier than a zero rate of profit – and, indeed, that the next, looming crisis will at some point see all fiat currencies collapse against precious metals,…”
How many times have we heard that before ! It might have been the view of Henryk Grossman but it wasn’t that of Karl Marx, who pointed out that “permanent crises do not exist” (Theories of Surplus Value. Part Two, p. 497). Grossman purely mathematical demonstration that capitalism would collapse were refuted at the time by Anton Pannekoek.
Capitalism goes through an endless sequence of boom/slump cycles (periods of expansion and contraction or stagnation) in which the periods of slump prepare the conditions for the next period of expansion. There is no such thing as a permanent slump. There is no reason to suppose that the capitalist economic system suffers from a fatal flaw that will lead towards its purely mechanical breakdown.
By coincidence the WSP (India) has just sent a chapter of a book they are preparing on “The Future of Capitalism” which has this to say on collapse theories:
“(1) A recession is an inbuilt consequence of capitalism.
(2) A recession can invigorate capitalism.
(3) Capitalism is not likely to collapse of its own accord any time.
(4) If collapse theories were true, all socialists would need to do is to sit back with folded hands.
(5) Even if capitalism did collapse, it wouldn’t necessarily mean that socialism would follow.
(6) Inauguration of Socialism is the task of the working class and can only come about by the actions of a class conscious majority understanding and wanting socialism.
(7) Collapse theories therefore undermine the real work of socialists, just as do time and energy spent on reforms and alternative systems within capitalism such as cooperatives, fair trade, communes etc.”Due to all these distortions made by different individuals is one of the reason why many peoples believe that Marx was a prophet, and that his prophecies were never fulfilled. Karl Marx never claimed or wrote that capitalism was going to collapse by itself, and he never indicated that the falling rate of profit was the cause of the periodic crisis either
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