EDITOR: The following is Kevin Zeese’s response to a private e-mail from a young acquaintance who chided him for quoting Karl Marx in “Labor Day Reflections” :
I’m not a Marxist and not advocating Marxism, but Marx’s economic analysis of capitalism is right on the point right now.
The more important question — what about the analysis of late stage finance capitalism? Does the division of wealth where workers get such a small share of the GDP and cannot afford to buy or borrow enough to purchase goods and materials workable? I could leaving Marx out, not give him credit for the analysis, but that would be deceptive and presents other problems.
Many in the U.S. have been brainwashed to be totally pro-capitalism and even when it is not working don’t want to believe we need major changes. We need to come up with an alternative to finance-capitalism tied closely to the government and state-socialism. Neither works. Please don’t say free market! (If you think that turn off the TV.) That is a mirage. For me it is democratizing the economy which involves lots of necessary changes that give people more power of their jobs, their economic life and more influence over the larger economy. A lot of that is already happening, see Economic Democracy is Gaining a Foothold in the United States. Here’s more about what it would mean: http://itsoureconomy.us/issues/.
K. Z.
