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Who’s Right on the Left? The liberalization of the left 
Dave Bedggood,University of AucklandDr.bedggood@auckland.ac.nz We live in the epoch of imperialism -the epoch of wars, revolutions andcounter-revolutions. The short 20
th
century came in with the Russian revolutionand went out with the Russian counter-revolution of 1991. But capitalism cannotresolve its fundamental contradiction. Once more we are in a world crisis whichopens up a revolutionary period. We need perspectives for this time of pre-revolutionary openings at centuries end.
What is Imperialism?
Lenin defined Imperialism as a necessary stage, the final stage, ofcapitalist development that results from finance capital’s attempts to resolve itsfundamental contradiction by the export of capital in the search for super-profits.Objectively capitalism has outlived its historically progressive tendency todevelop the forces of production. It now becomes parasitic on pre-capitalistmodes and increasingly destructive of the forces of production and ‘nature’posing the question of barbaric reaction or socialist revolution. As imperialistscompete in dividing and re-dividing the world market in the search of super-profits they are forced to go to war which raises the prospect of revolution.Therefore imperialism must bring wars, revolutions and counter-revolutions. The first imperialist war temporarily resolved the revolutionary crisisby suppressing revolution in Europe and by isolating, containing andbureaucratising the Russian revolution. However, the counter-revolution was notdeep enough to allow imperialism to drive home its victory. Mass communist andsocial democratic parties resisted further attacks at the expense of workers. Socapitalism could not for long forestall a further major slump and a secondimperialist war.Capitalism survived this revolutionary crisis only with the aid of Stalinism,which contained revolutionary upheavals during and after the war. First, Stalinismweakened the international working class and allowed Fascism to come to powerin Europe. Second, Stalinism subordinated the world revolution to the defense ofthe bureaucratic caste rule in the SU. Stalinism actively suppressed revolutionarymovements in Europe and East Asia. Even so the legacy of the Russian
 
revolution, workers property, remained intact and was extended by means ofbureaucratic conquests to Eastern Europe, East and South East Asia. One thirdof the world’s resources and more than half of this population remained outsidethe direct control of imperialism.Nevertheless this profound counter-revolutionary settlement allowedcapitalism to embark on a prolonged expansionary period – the post-war boom -which disoriented revolutionaries for 30 years. The boom created the impressionthat capitalism has outlived its internal contradictions. Yet despite state policieswhich prolonged the boom, world imperialism once more exhausted its capacityfor development with the necessary return of crisis as the expression of theinherent contradiction between the overproduction of capital at one pole and themass destruction and impoverishment of the world’s workers and peasants at theother pole.The postwar boom ended in a crisis of falling profits caused by the TRPFbringing with it a period of structural crisis (depression) lasting from the early1970’s to the present. We can divide this period into 3 phases in the crisis.[1] Social Democratic Austerity. This phase from the mid-sixties to theearly 1980’s saw SD government’s introducing austerity measures against theworking class but failing to make any significant inroads into governmentspending, restructuring etc.[2] Neo-liberal offensive. This phase from the early 1980’s to thecurrent is characterized by much more extreme attacks on the working classtypified by Reaganism in the US, Thatcherism in the UK and Rogernomics in NZand the restoration of capitalism in the SU and EE.[3] “Third way” Social Democracy. Beginning with the election ofClinton in the US and Blair in the UK, this right-wing social democratic phaseseeks to reconcile classes by transcending ‘left’ and ‘right’ in a end of centuryreinvention of late 19
th
century social liberalism. Posing as the end ofcommunism and end of history it is nothing more than a pax americana whenUS imperialism at the height of its world domination is able to impose itshegemony behind the mask of ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’.During both of the earlier phases of the crisis the Law of Value devaluedand further concentrated and centralised capital. However this was not enough torestore the rate of profit and to create the pre-conditions for new upward cycle ofcapital accumulation. Even the incorporation of most of the former workersstates back into the capitalist world economy failed to restore profits. Productivecapital has not been sufficiently devalued and continues to face a crisis of fallingprofits and overproduction. Excess capital looking for short-term gains hasexacerbated this fundamental tendency and created the symptoms of a ‘globalfinancial crisis’ in the world economy. Yet these symptoms will not go awayunless the underlying cause of overproduction of capital is temporarily offset by amassive devaluation of excess capital on a world scale. This brings us to the
 
third phase of the crisis – the contradiction between the Blairite politicaltranscendence of crisis and the reassertion of an impending massive devaluationof US capital.Such is the character of the “current global crisis” and it informs allattempts to render the crisis in discourse and practice.
The Current Crisis and the Liberalization of the 'Left'
 What distinguishes the “current crisis” from the previous two phasesduring the 1970's and 1980's is that it has the makings of a global, synchroniccrisis of overproduction.
1
No part of the world is able to “carry” the rest. Theability of the US economy to drive the whole world economy is now beingquestioned by its bourgeois apologists.
2
 Moreover, the global economy now includes Russia and the otherEuropean former ‘degenerated or deformed workers states’ that are now fully re-integrated into world capitalism. China, Cuba and Vietnam are well on the waytowards re-integration. Only North Korea resists but it is small, isolated and nearcollapse. The victory of capitalism over the workers states was a world historicdefeat for workers not because it destroyed the bureaucratic caste, but becauseit destroyed the workers property relations won as a result of the Russianrevolution of 1917.
3
Yet this has not been sufficient to allow capitalism toovercome its crisis and return to the path of accumulation. Rather, these formerworkers states are now fully exposed to the destructive effects of capitalist crisismaking the current crisis truly global.Thus the global crisis is not confined to a “financial” crisis.
4
While thisphase of the ‘current crisis’ started as a collapse of East Asian economies in1997 due to falling profits from overproduction of capital, it now envelops theformer Soviet Union and Japan, and threatens to overcome China and LatinAmerica. Far from being a financial contagion due to the so-called “Asian virus”we are witnessing a ‘Wall St Virus” since it is symptomatic of the inherentproblems of the global economy including the strongest economy –that of the USitself.
5
 This reality is making itself felt even in the highest ranks of bourgeoisapologists. Gone is the Social Democratic complacency of the post-war boom,and the neo-liberal triumphalism of the collapse of “communism”. These fanciesare being replaced by anxiety if not alarm at the possibility of a breakdown of theworld economy and a return to anarchy and revolution.
6
 The most significant point is that the source of the instability is clearlyseen to be more than an uncontrollable excess of speculative capital, but ratherthe failure of productive investment. Neo-liberalism, the ideology that providedthe cover for the radical deregulation of state intervention in the operation of themarket (LOV) is now giving way to a new orthodoxy. This is not a return to aclassic Keynesian intervention which is now widely rejected as involving crudeand unproductive state subsidies of capital and labour, but rather the
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