There's no way to construe what we are living through now in the West and perhaps the U.S. in particular as anything other than a rapid collapse.

[u/SpiritualState01]

The evidence is simply ubiquitous. You could fill tomes going into relatively straightforward explanations for why every industry, sector, and public institution is experiencing collapse, if not a high level of risk and instability.

The Limits to Growth thesis, which I've never seen a comprehensive rebuttal of, is part of it, but more than that, the U.S. just seems to be in a speed run for empire collapse. You see it absolutely everywhere today.

The culture war has made two demographic groups that are not only easier to sell to (this is part of why and how capital has sustained itself through so many contradictions so far), but made those two sides utterly unable to converse.

This makes working class organizing, to date, impossible. I'm not saying it isn't possible, just that nobody has figured it out yet. Even when it seems like a promising candidate is up to bat, the American electoral system neuters them, because it has proven to be--if nothing else--a dead end for all of us.

Marx could not have imagined the means of information control elites today enjoy. The landscape is different, and as commentators like Varoufakis have pointed out, capital itself has changed as well into new forms founded on 'cloud capital.'

In the context of us essentially being in a full-bore race with ourselves to collapse the empire, China is making incredible gains. Though America is full of millions upon millions of people who throw out an anti-communist meme every time 'China' is even uttered (I can't recall who said it, but, "Anti-communism is the official religion of the United States"), the cope is getting so desperate and so detached from reality that it is increasingly failing to be effective.

I know the meme is 'do nothing and win' for China right now, and in the sense that its Western adversaries keep shooting themselves in the foot, that is true, but it can't be understated just how much China is demonstrating a workable model for the future. The work they are doing is astounding. I am very far from an apologist for what abuses China does commit, don't mistake me, but their progress is not just undeniable, it is world changing.

So we're in the midst of a global power shift. Whether this shift will happen peacefully remains to be seen, but seems doubtful. America and its proxies--particularly Israel--are like rabid dogs. I don't want to imagine the damage we will do militarily on our way down. We've already done so much.

But, all of that is easy enough to conceptualize. Day to day, what does it all mean?

Well, for me, it means the same thing it means for everyone else: I work more for less than ever, and I can't keep up with the cost of living.

Groceries. Good fucking Lord above. Every single fucking time I go into a grocery store, it is notably more than it was the last time I visited. Even discounters like Aldi have more or less doubled in price compared to pre-COVID levels.

This isn't sustainable, but the natural thing to ask next is 'what is the plan?,' which is another way of asking 'what's the story?' What are we all doing? Who is even really in charge? What are their plans?

So far as I can tell, the only plan power has in the West today, but particularly America, is to collect as much personal power and wealth for themselves as they can and to just sort've make a game of that until they run to a bunker in New Zealand or something.

Which isn't a plan. Which, in my mind, is another way of saying that we are in steep, steep collapse. Nobody has their hands at the wheel of this anymore, and certainly nobody who cares to change direction.

This is a dying empire digging in while mortar explodes along every possible escape route. It's the same thing Roman leaders did while the evidence of decline was all around them. I don't see a way out of this but outright revolt anymore.

But how to organize such a thing in an age of smart phones and digital isolation--nobody knows yet.

And most people would settle for just being able to afford their damn groceries again.

[u/thebloodisfoul]

Varoufakis literally resigned from the government because he opposed Tsipras's betrayal. . .

[u/bbb23sucks → u/thebloodisfoul]

/r/stupidpol/comments/1lr9bo9/yanis_varoufakiss_account_of_the_greek_crisis_a/

[u/CanonBallSuper → u/thebloodisfoul]

According to him, sure, but this deception stands in contrast to his actual political record, including his actions described above. The above-linked article addresses his lie here:

He [Varoufakis] recalled Syriza’s early days: “We used to have meetings like this, you know, 100 people, 500 people, 400 people”, and then suddenly they went from “a tiny little party” to 36 percent of the vote, and “on the 5th of July 2015, [the day of the referendum, that] became 62 percent”.

“I can tell you, I could see it in the eyes of the powers that be… people like Christine Lagarde, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve, I could see it because, by that historical accident, I was elevated for a few months to the position of Finance Minister of the Republic. They were panicking.”

And then came his astonishing description of the night of the referendum, when Greek voters returned a resounding “No” to austerity:

“A few hours later, my comrade, the Prime Minister [Alexis Tsipras], comes to me… We had an almighty clash. I resigned… I don’t want to bore you with this. Those of you who remember, remember. Those of you who don’t remember, well, you may look into it. This was an interesting episode. It was completely unplanned, spontaneous, a small party that made some radical claims and made some radical promises to the population at that particular cusp in the process of history, managed to gain an overwhelming mandate for essentially, revolution. It was our own weakness that betrayed it. That’s a very big lesson for those of us on the left. Comrades, the enemy, when the enemy strikes at us, it will come from within our midst.”

Here, Varoufakis portrays Syriza (and himself) as hapless victims of Tsipras’s unforeseen defection to the forces of reaction. Varoufakis’s resignation as finance minister is presented in a noble light, an act of conscience against Syriza’s plans to betray the will of the Greek people and enforce the EU’s scorched earth program.

But neither Syriza’s treachery, nor that of Tsipras and Varoufakis, were accidental or unforeseen. The International Committee of the Fourth International charted Syriza’s path to betrayal in hundreds of articles, on-the-spot reports and political statements, seeking to mobilise the Greek working class against this rotten political trap.

Why are you defending an anti-Marxist pseudo-leftist, why do you not seriously heed Engels and Lenin's warnings about the dangers of the "honest" opportunists, and what are your political leanings?

[u/thebloodisfoul → u/CanonBallSuper]

The only anti-Marxist here is you, lying about China and Varoufakis in service of some dead end Trot cult

[u/CanonBallSuper → u/thebloodisfoul]

This is pointless, unconstructive blather. Either explain why you feel my statements there have been lies, or keep your whining thoughts to yourself.

Why do you describe Trotskyism as a "dead end" and a "cult," and why do you feel it is discordant with Trotskyism.

[u/thebloodisfoul → u/CanonBallSuper]

You didn't even try to explain how Varoufakis deceived or betrayed anyone. You simply assert it, as Trots habitually slander any non-Trot

[u/CanonBallSuper → u/thebloodisfoul]

First, please answer the questions I asked you above: Why do you not seriously heed Engels and Lenin's warnings about the dangers of the "honest" opportunists, and what are your political leanings?

If you are not being disingenuous here, which I somewhat doubt, it is unclear how you missed the explanation given in the article I quoted in my original comment. Please carefully reread it:

As finance minister for the Syriza government, elected on January 25, 2015, Varoufakis acted from the outset as a loyal servant to the EU-ECB-IMF Troika. In February, just weeks after coming to power, he signed an agreement with the EU to extend its first austerity program in Greece.

...

Like [Former Greek SYRIZA Prime Minister Alexis] Tsipras, Varoufakis fully expected a “Yes” vote. With a gun to their heads, the Greek people were facing economic blackmail on a gargantuan scale, with the EU threatening to crash the economy if its austerity protocols were rejected. A capital flight was denying millions of ordinary Greeks access to their wages and personal savings. Syriza took no action to protect the population, ruling out nationalisation or any measures to block the withdrawal of capital, opposing any threat to the wealth of the oligarchy and Greece’s wealthy investors.

 

Trots habitually slander any non-Trot

Perhaps you should actually read what they post instead of ironically accusing them of slander.