MI2 5DW. A monthly review of news and analysis from the Fourth International * 10 issues by airmail for only £30 from International Viewpoint, PO Box 112, Manchester JULY'S - still available - was a special double issue with documents from 15th World Congress of the Fourth International (send E5 plus £1.00 p&p) the proletariat any time soon. He is talking about a longterm trend, which will see the proportion of unemployed or underemployed workers permanently rise.
From a strategic viewpoint, we should take into account that the first socialist revolution (in Russia) took place in a country where the proletariat was a small proportion of the population.
Each revolution in capitalist productive technique necessitates a recasting of Marxist therry.
• Every capitalist constantly strives to gain a competitive advantage by replacing living labour by accumulated labour in the form of new machines and water - and housing
To this list is gradually being added health and educa tion. Retail chains are beholden to banks; those who make the biggest profits from purchases in the big shop ping malls - generally owned by banks - are the finances houses themselves
A rentier economy prevents the re-emergence of the 'Fordist' mass employment and mass consumption economy of the 'golden era'. Production is swiveled towards high-profit luxury consumption.
The rich and the middle clases can only consume so much, however. In addition, the service jobs they provide, for example jobs in restaurants and as domestic servants, are notoriously low paid.
Since neoliberalism substantially increases the proportion of wealth going to the ruling class, there will be no easy return to the Keynesian, welfare state, model of capitalism.
what would be the consequences if Rifkin's nightmare scenario began to come true? There would be a huge increase in the informal sector of the economy, including of course crime.
Masses of people would be dragooned into low-paid service jobs, picking up crumbs from the tables of the rich. Social and political instability would become chronic Only extreme repression would stop such a society becoming chaotic.
Already this is prefigured in the black ghettos of the United States. Drugs, crime, permanent surveillance and brutality from the police and large numbers of young men in jail are the stock-in-trade of daily life.
One solution which could be put forward to such a structural crisis of capitalism would be to simply pay people living incomes for being unemployed. This is impossible for two reasons. It would be a huge drag on profits before the pay-off in increased consumption occurred
More importantly, if a major section of society is simply paid for existing, then the bourgeoisie, the capitalist class loses its function. If huge numbers of people have ar automatic claim on a proportion of society's production irrespective of whether they work, the tyranny of the capitalist class collapses. Labour discipline would collaps if a guaranteed significant income awaited the unem ployed.
The tyranny of the bourgeoisie depends on unemploy ment being severely punished. If consumptionn rights ar
effectively socialised, the temptation to cut out the mid
dle-man will be overwhelming. Goodbye capitalist class.
This is effectively what Rifkin thinks will begin to hap
pen.
page 17 of the scan
soclalist resistance April 2004 17
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