Why the crisis isn’t going away, what you can do about it

A short course on the current economic crisis.

1) The current crisis is a crisis of capitalism. It is not a crisis of socialism or any other economic system. Only capitalism has this kind of crisis that leads to people losing their jobs, their homes and even the food on their table. It is as bad as a war.

2) While there are greedy individuals and corporations involved, the greed and corruption did not cause the crisis. Capitalist crises are not caused by bad individuals or evil corporations. It is just that it is only during a crisis that these bad sorts are exposed, in the scramble to find blame. Why don’t they blame capitalism? They should, because it is capitalism that causes these economic crises. Crisis is built into the capitalist system.

3) The driving force of capitalism is profits. Profits rule and capitalists must constantly expand their profits or they fail. Everything is produced for profit, not for need. So when there is overproduction, when more has been produced than can be sold at a profit (and usually an increase in profits is required), then a crisis is reached.When nothing can be sold, there is a capitalist crisis. Autos, for example, are in a crisis of overproduction. Not that there aren’t millions of people who need a new car, but the autos that are being produced cannot be sold at the rate of profit demanded by the industrial capitalists and the bankers (finance capitalists).

5) We are now in the downward spiral of a capitalist crisis of overproduction.

6) A capitalist crisis is the result of an economic system. This is not a natural force like a flood or a tornado. It can be controlled and even reversed. But not through capitalist measures. Only by replacing capitalism with socialism can this crisis be truly ended.

7) That can be done, but not easily. Not overnight. But throwing out capitalism is the only solution possible. Let’s do it!