I would argue that capital’s capacity to offer reforms has totally degenarated, there is no slack in the present crisis conditions with which to appease even a socdem wave, which is why we are seeing escalating repression and militarisation of the state apparatus, despite no serious radical left force yet having entered the political arena in the uk, for example
given that escalating repression, processes of radicalisation are accelerating even among those who might have remained moderates in an earlier era given a higher capacity for capital to grant concessions and appease such moderates
edit: to your last point: I am not defending social denocracy as an ideology, I am however interested in the real effect of such a mobilisation, given present conditions, on class consciousness in the medium term – what we would prefer to see is not a relevant category imho
So, on your view, the reason why voting for democratic socialists will fail is not because successful reforms will distract us (in the short-term), but because our present economic situation won’t allow such reforms to occur at all?
If this is true, then we are already at a historical crossroads. (I don’t know whether it is or isn’t true; I certainly don’t know enough about the situation in the UK to weigh in there.)
I’m not convinced capital is in a position to offer concessions in much of europe, given the crisis of capitalism; referring particularly to the plummeting global competetiveness of western economies, that puts us (those of us in the core) in a fundamentally novel political situation, just as you say in your second paragraph
distraction becomes a risk when concessions are a possibility, but I’m not convinced european capitalists are in a position to offer any – which is (potentially) why we see car factories being turned to military production, which is insulated from global markets in a way consumer goods production is not
I would argue that capital’s capacity to offer reforms has totally degenarated, there is no slack in the present crisis conditions with which to appease even a socdem wave, which is why we are seeing escalating repression and militarisation of the state apparatus, despite no serious radical left force yet having entered the political arena in the uk, for example
given that escalating repression, processes of radicalisation are accelerating even among those who might have remained moderates in an earlier era given a higher capacity for capital to grant concessions and appease such moderates
edit: to your last point: I am not defending social denocracy as an ideology, I am however interested in the real effect of such a mobilisation, given present conditions, on class consciousness in the medium term – what we would prefer to see is not a relevant category imho
So, on your view, the reason why voting for democratic socialists will fail is not because successful reforms will distract us (in the short-term), but because our present economic situation won’t allow such reforms to occur at all?
If this is true, then we are already at a historical crossroads. (I don’t know whether it is or isn’t true; I certainly don’t know enough about the situation in the UK to weigh in there.)
I’m not convinced capital is in a position to offer concessions in much of europe, given the crisis of capitalism; referring particularly to the plummeting global competetiveness of western economies, that puts us (those of us in the core) in a fundamentally novel political situation, just as you say in your second paragraph
distraction becomes a risk when concessions are a possibility, but I’m not convinced european capitalists are in a position to offer any – which is (potentially) why we see car factories being turned to military production, which is insulated from global markets in a way consumer goods production is not