Marxism 9

Chandra Prakash Jha Marxism, as we keep saying, is not astrology but a dynamic science to comprehend the changes in the historical perspective and an ideology to change it, to eventually the state of "human emancipation". The monopoly, finance capital and Stock exchange phenomena along with the concept of the fictitious capital (paper money had some kind of immateriality, e money has none) had just began to take shape when Marx, was writing Vol.3. Applying the laws of the development of capitalism, he just alluded to future developments. The basic analysis remains valid, though many developments in the strategies of capitalism could not be foreseen by Marx, which are witnessed in the globalization phase of the finance capital. The crisis of 1930s was the crisis of the surplus products and the present crisis is the crisis of surplus capital(fictitious) with its changed character from inter-national to "global" in the sense that it is no more Geo-centric either in terms of its source or investment. This capital is not interested in investment in productive economy but risk free profit maximizing sectors like real estate, insurance and in "political" sector to be able to accumulate by "dispossession" as David Harvey calls it etc. The objective factor of crisis of capitalism has presented itself but the subjective factor, the organized working "class-for-itself" is absent. The link between "class-in-itself" -- the class consciousness -- is vital. As Marx writes in the preface of "A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy" that corresponding to the stage of development, the "idea of the age" the ruling class ideas perpetuated by ruling class ideological apparatuses. Our task is to radicalize the social consciousness to challenge the ideological hegemony. Marx had rightly envisioned that with the expansion with the capitalism the process of concentration and centralization of capital there would be expansion of work places that would work as a platform for the labor socialization that would pave the way for transformation of the class-in-itself to the class-for-itself. In globalization with the contract system of labor; informalization of the labor process and outsourcing has changed the scenario and weakening of the labor movements all over the world is its cause and effect simultaneously. Had the occupy movements or the anti-corruption spontaneous mass out pour in India had been organized ones, things would have been different. Highly and lowly paid workers have no time to think about history or the dynamics of the labor policies, and for the well paid educated class, the world population reduces down their immediate kinship. I am not being pessimist but just over viewing the objective conditions.Things have been further aggravated by ruling class tactic of overplaying the minor or superfluous contradictions like that of communalism in India or race in the US and Europe. There is the urgent need of a NEW Intentional. In such a situation, one has to concretely identify the issues and the potential revolutionary forces and work out strategies to organize the working people, the peasants and agricultural and industrial workers along with the youth, particularly the students. The main task before the radical intellectuals is radicalization of the social consciousness, as given the enormous strength of the state's coercive power, present state is that of mass movements. Old style underground movement without the pervasive overground support, is counter productive. This attempt of the fb group -- Understanding Capitalism -- that has undertaken to present the summary of Capital is in the same direction and during discussions that would follow would focus on its translation/application to the contemporary global finance capital.