Comments by "Kim O\x27Brien" (@kimobrien.) on "Is a capitalist-socialist economy inevitable? | Big Think" video.

@Scott Covert The road to socialism is paved by the class struggle. Capitalism creates both the class that will replace them and the class struggle necessary. Ultimate victory is not inevitable but made possible from the lessons of the history of the class struggle itself. Creation of a Marxist cadre party of worker Bolsheviks stepped in the historical lessons of the class struggle is the most powerful weapon that can be used in the struggle.
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@alephii We need to rebuild union power. Make every job a union job.
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@alephii That's the company line that the union is a form of communism as in Stalinism and you need freedom to make your wage contract with the bosses alone. A union movement that can lead successful fight backs will be both democratic and have no problem with recruitment. With capitalism you're the slave of the capitalists power to set your wage and conditions. Union dues were collected voluntarily up until the beginning of WW2. You paid your dues and wore your monthly union button on your shirts lapel. There were no probation periods and scabs and freeloaders quickly learned the facts of life. No one was ever forced to attend a union meeting what your referring to is the so called right not to pay dues made into law by the anti labor Taft Hartley Act whose purpose was to halt further unionization after the war. The law allowed states to decide if a union contracts could include dues checkoff it was directly written for the Southern states where segregation was an obstacle to unionization. It also required union officers from the shop steward on up to sign loyalty oaths or lose all union bargaining rights and created the decertification process.
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@letsgowinnietheflu5439 The 13th Amendment outlaws slavery. "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." the 1st Amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" So. how is going on strike illegal?"
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@majesticgrey4769 "I never promised you a rose garden" nor does Cuba need to be a utopia? Why do people such as yourself think communists should leave? Is it because you're afraid we will convince a majority because capitalism is failing? After all if it so great and its political leaders so smart why do you worry about a few people like me?
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@icecold7184 The capitalist are already thinking about launching another World War in the drive to defeat their world market competition with the threats made against China.
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@majesticgrey4769 First you statement about innocent folks on holiday is just inflammatory nonsense like your early silliness about driving a people's car. None of that can be said about Cuba. It was also untrue about the Russian revolution before the death of Lenin and the rise of Stalin and the counter revolutionary bureaucracy. In fact the arbitrariness probably didn't begin until near the end of Stalin's rule. Arbitrary arrests serve no purpose except to prove no one can escape state power. Such was also true during the red scare period in the USA when people were arbitrary accused of being communists and fired from their jobs. The government went to the extreme of going after supporters of Trotsky despite Trotsky been deemed one of the worst Enemies of the Stalin. A simular counter revolution was carried out in the United States after the victory in the civil war. The new Southern States Reconstruction governments were crushed in a counterrevolution recognized with the Hayes Tilden compromise. According to the Government the body count in Vietnam meant victory over communism. Seems rather hypocritical to be bringing up body counts since capitalism is responsible for the fastest methods of mass death nor is it innocent of anything claimed about either Stalin or Mao.
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@popopop984 The liberals who are trying to save capitalism are more dangerous then the Republicans because their hypocrisy is not as clearly visible as the conservatives. Both parties are reactionary and can not be reformed. Instead a new party based on a fighting union movement is what is needed.
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@letsgowinnietheflu5439 I probably break the law by waking up in the morning do you think I care?
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@fin31337 The workers need to use union power to take control of industry. Then run it for human needs without the slightest concern for the bosses private property.
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@majesticgrey4769 Yes if you get into that car of yours that you family bought to drive to college and decide to go on trip like you say you'll end up in trouble with men who wear uniforms and carry guns. You may not like the free accommodations they provide along with the baloney sandwiches either. Best thing for you to do is your homework and stay out of trouble listen to what mom and dad say before "going communist.".
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@Ryanowning Did your Professor tell you that? That America was the exceptional nation and world leader?
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@rjvowels Communism is not a new doctrine with its holy priests. Rather it is ones sides history of both victories and defeats in the modern class struggle with the other important class in the modern world the capitalists. Socialist revolution is not inevitable defeat is also possible as in the rise of Stalinism and then the defeat in Germany flowing from the ultra left errors of the Stalinist in the class struggle. Then the swing to the right with the popular front ending in more defeats in France and Spain. The Moscow trials were the ultimate betrayal of a regime that had no possibility of self regeneration. It took until 1959 and the Cuban revolution before a genuine revival of the revolutionary movement would occur. The Cuban revolution continues to make history just like the early days of the Russian Revolution with the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky.
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@fin31337 In 1924 Lenin realized Stalin should be removed from his postilan as General Secretary because of his crudeness. He however died shortly afterwords. All knew from the great French revolution of the danger of bureaucracy but as mistakes were made it became clearer that Stalin was leading a self perpetuating privileged bureaucratic tendency feed by the mistakes especially in the countryside among the peasants. The bureaucracy began attacking the very theoretical truths of Bolshevism murdering all the old Bolsheviks in the 1936 to 1938 Moscow trials. A regime of central planners who are murders of the revolution can only move back to social differentiation with more and more privileges which can only move back to capitalism without a new revolutionary Marxist leadership developing to reverse that. Central planning is a technique not a principle. You can't plan everything centrally even if you wanted to.The commanding heights of the economy basic industry need central planing every barbershop does not. . .
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@fin31337 Well you can read the documents from when the arguments and events were taking place. Plus if you don't like my explanation which relies upon looking at human actions from their material interests then your end up looking at things in an idealist manner concluding with such simplistic theories like it doesn't work or it wasn't "real socialism" as if one can make things that aren't real or we are trying to build a perpetual motion machine. If you've got a better explanation I'd like to hear it. Something other than human nature as if human nature is fixed for all time and all places. What is possible in any society and the ideas of that society are determined by the level of material development and organization of the productive forces. It should be easier to advance beyond capitalism today because the productive forces are greater and the mistakes of the past are better understood. The last two most important revolutions of the 20 th century were the Russian and Cuba so it seems that we are overdue for another somewhere.
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@GregSmithFL I don't think the country will split because the Red/Blue divide is based in the two capitalist parties. The workers who vote for those parties now will desert them for a new labor party. Unlike Russia the number of farmers is small so they may join the labor party of have their own small party. I don't think we need to worry about invasions that just leaves some kind of military or fascist attacks. Amusing we get past all that without a civil war than the problems post (1917) 1924 the rise of a Stalinist bureaucracy should be avoidable since his rise was also connected to the destruction and poverty caused by the civil war.
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@bicqtran History is the teacher and already has provided the lessons if one is willing to use their mind and look at the facts.
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@alephii Right we don't need laws except of course we have laws and so the statement that we don't need laws or coercion is untrue because we have that now. Keep talking about the idealist libertarian vision of a no law society except for the right to own as much property as possible enforced by police and military violence. Why does the state need to intervene to prevent a contract requiring dues checkoff? It was just another way for the capitalist state to intervene in union business protecting boss rights and to prolong segregation in the south. Companies with national contracts could now try and drive the unions out of plants in the South. It was dreamed up as a way to try and bankrupt the union movement. Let me know when paying the tax to the capitalist government becomes voluntary in your libertarian utopian dream world.
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@alephii You have lack of historical knowledge. Racism is a new ideology that developed with capitalism and reached its height with Imperialism capitalism highest stage. It has been under assault from material and economic development as man makes his own history and the development of the world economy. The American Imperialists left their 20 year war in Afghanistan in defeat. Now Putin with the dreams of a Russia Czar has invaded Ukraine.
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@rogerjohnson2562 The real greedy one was Reagan ($200,000 yr.) the only "labor leader" (former President of SAG) ever elected President with the support of PATCO. Upon striking Reagan called up military controllers and gave them an ultimatum. Go back to work or be terminated, permanently replaced and blacklisted from future employment. This was just another way to reintroduce boss family destroying slavery. The controllers main issue was stress and hours not pay.
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@alephii Do you read anything in the bible or in ancient texts about people being inferior because of skin color? Capitalism is part is history. It's basic work is done. You living in capitalism's final stage Imperialism. A world market with national capitalist classes fighting among each other for markets and resources. You may not like or want war but war wants you.
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@alephii You first kill the economic motivation for war and you kill the root cause of war. One of the Charges brought against King Charles was he was going about the country fighting useless wars for taxes. The same can be said of the American capitalist fighting useless wars for Imperialist profits.
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@andynull8869 Your wrong they don't have a plan that's why things keep going wrong with economics and wars keep breaking out. The capitalist are driven by profit and they are divided into national ruling classes with most of them being American and the next largest group Chineses. The US Imperialist Empire has been losing its grip on the world and as it does other Imperialist powers are stepping in.
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