Capitalism, War and the Downfall of the American Empire

There is little doubt that the American Empire is the greatest empire in the history of humanity. Its influence extends to every corner of the globe. Its corporations control vast sectors of the economies of nearly every country on the planet. It posses the most powerful military force ever constructed. The United States of America is a giant, but it is clearly in trouble. A collapsing economy, a massive deficit, rising foreign powers, and two exhaustive wars are all threatening its position as the global super power.

The American empire has clearly reached the height of its success and is now in decline. Rocketed into the position of a major power after the Second World War, the United States quickly grew to super power status. After the fall of the Berlin wall, the US became the sole super power on the planet and quickly dominated the globe. This was a first in human history. But every empire must fall, no matter how large and powerful. This does not mean that America will collapse entirely as a major power in the short term; the decline of the Roman Empire spanned several centuries. But it is becoming more and more clear that America’s grip on the world is slipping.

The economic foundations of American dominance are crumbling. The currency is struggling, major institutions are failing, mass unemployment undermines domestic markets and a 1.3 trillion dollar deficit threatens to cripple her future development. She has been fighting wars on multiple fronts, leaving her military stretched and her population fatigued and unwilling to support further military action. The limits of American power are being clearly shown in Latin America. The persistent presence of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and a rising tide of leftists being elected throughout the continent show her weakness. A few decades ago, every one of these governments would have been overthrown by coups, carefully plotted in American embassies. But American imperialism is left powerless in the face of growing revolutionary movements in its own “backyard”.

One could write an entire book on nearly every line of this post. The topic is not one that could be covered extensively in any forum, let alone a four paragraph blog-post. But these are fascinating times we live in. I’ve often thought about what it would have been like to live in the tumultuous past and watch history being made. But it is becoming clear to me, that our grandchildren will look back on our time with the same reflections. It is a privilege to be witness to such a spectacle. We are watching the beginning of the downfall of the greatest empire that has ever existed. This is one of the most important events in human history and we will all have some part in it.

Comrade Obama – is the President a Communist?

I’m sick and tired of hearing all the right-wing demagogues saying that Obama is a Communist. I happen to be a Communist and I take great offence to being lumped in with the likes of Obama. Obama is a Capitalist – plain and simple. He is not going to nationalize the economy. He is not going to collectivize the farms. He is not going to hand control of industry over to working people. In fact, he is going to do everything in his power to help big business continue to plunder the United States and the world.

It is ironic that these idiots would scream Communism now. After all, we didn’t hear a whisper from them when George W Bush was out nationalizing banks! That’s right – NATIONALIZING BANKS. Of course, we commies called it socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. In any event, it was basically an admission that free-market capitalism had failed. The big corporations and their lackeys in Washington are changing tactics. The free market thing didn’t work out so well, so they’re going to go back to the corporate welfare thing.

Now I know what you’re thinking – that Obama is trying to bring in socialized medicine. There’s that word again – Socialism. Well first off, that really isn’t even strictly accurate. But the second thing you have to realize is that every other advanced capitalist country has it. If public healthcare makes Obama a Communist, then America is just one tiny island of capitalism in a whole sea of Communism. In fact, every other G8 country is Communist. So is Canada, all of the European Union, Israel, Brazil, Australia, Finland and North Korea – ah, okay forget that last one. You could also add to the list of Communists the 56% of Americans who support public healthcare.

With so many “Communists” in this world, what’s a guy like me to do? You see, I’m actually in favor of nationalizing the economy and handing over control of industry to the workers. I think that the people should democratically control the economy, that you should be involved in decisions in your work place and that you should be able to elect your boss. I think that the billions upon billions of dollars in profits that the big corporations make should be given to the people that earned it. I think that we should stop wasting money and lives on unwinnable wars, and put that money into healthcare, education and a general improvements in living standards. I think that politicians should be elected, recallable and make no more than the average wage of a worker. But if everyone says that what Obama is spouting is Communism, then what’s the point in even hoisting the red flag? No self-respecting commie would ever march under his banner.

Canadian versus American Healthcare

I am continually appalled by the lack of coverage in the American healthcare system. Millions upon millions of Americans have no coverage at all, and as Michael Moore’s movie Sicko points out, even the people who do have coverage are often untreated. It is estimated that in Texas alone, seven people die every day because of a lack of healthcare coverage. Thousands of Americans die every year because they can’t afford to pay. To put this in perspective, more people die from lack of treatment in America every year than the total number killed during the 9/11 attacks.

And yet, with talk of reforming the healthcare system in the good old US of A, comes dooms-day style attack ads. A frenzied campaign is underway to convince Americans that public healthcare systems are evil. They are told that bureaucrats in Washington will decide whether or not they get covered. They are told they will have to wait for months or years to get treatment. They are told they will not get to choose their own doctor and their doctors will not get to choose where they practice. An endless stream of half-truths, innuendo and out-right lies are employed to convince Americans that there is no way to fix their broken system.

For my American friends, I will relay some recent healthcare stories from my life in Soviet Canuckistan. Last year my appendix ruptured. When I went to emergency I was treated right away. I went under the knife that same day. It was a much more involved surgery than normal appendectomies because my appendix actually ruptured several days earlier. I spent a week in hospital recovering. My bill would have been covered 100% by our public healthcare system, but I chose to pay a little more to stay in a private room with a TV (yes, you can do that). The extra charges were covered by a private extended healthcare plan paid for by my employer (yes, you can do that too). The overall quality of care was excellent.

A few days after getting out of hospital my son was born (I know, rough timing). We were planning to do a home birth with a midwife. We chose the midwife we liked and the government paid the bill. But as my wife went into labour there were some complications. The home birth didn’t work out and we had to go into the hospital. After a gruelingly long labour, Nikolai was born. We had our midwife there, plus a whole team of others. A couple days later we took our new son home and again, paid nothing. We did not have to call anyone for approval. We did not have to ask what hospital we were allowed to go to. And through it all, we didn't even think about having to pay a bill.

One of the founders of Canadian healthcare, Tommy Douglas, was recently voted by the public as the single “greatest Canadian” in history. That is the extent to which we value our public healthcare system. It is so well supported that if any political leader even talked about privatizing healthcare it would be political suicide. Not a single major party in Canada advocates an American-style system. We are horrified at the thought. I am convinced, that if any government in Canada ever attempted to privatize healthcare, there would be a revolution.

CLC Sanctions the BCNU for Raiding HEU

It’s not often that I find myself praising the actions of Ken Georgetti. But in his ruling on the BC Nurses Union’s raid of the Hospital Employees Union, he is bang on. The BCNU has been trying to recruit members of the HEU to their union for months. The Canadian Labour Congress has now laid out escalating penalties for the BCNU. The BCNU is barred from taking part in local labour councils, the BC Federation of Labour and programs and services of the Canadian Labour Congress. It is hoped by everyone in the labour movement, that the BCNU will come to their senses and drop these divisive tactics.

At a time when the BC Liberal government is preparing an assault on public healthcare, the BCNU has decided to pick a fight with another healthcare union. Raiding is banned in the labour movement for the simple reason that it pits workers against each other instead of the bosses. Some unions have called for a “right to choose” policy in the CLC. So far there hasn’t been much enthusiasm for this move.

The argument that workers should be able to choose which union they belong to seems like a logical one at first, but a second look shows the flaws in such reasoning. To start with, unions are democratic organizations. If workers are unhappy with their unions, they can change them. They can elect new leaders, pass new policies, change their constitutions or implement whatever changes they want. When that is understood, the idea of switching unions seems a little strange. But the negative side of raiding is a bigger issue. It is not only bad for the workers involved, but for the labour movement as a whole. If there was an open season for raiding, the labour movement would spend more time fighting each other than fighting the bosses. Solidarity between unions would disappear as they would see each other as potential rivals. Divide and conquer is an old tactic and the bosses are quick to exploit any division that comes up.

The leaders of the CLC have taken the right stand on this one. They’ve stood up for unity in the labour movement. They’ve stood up for solidarity over division. And there is still the obvious point that needs to be made: two thirds of workers in Canada don’t have a union at all. Those are the workers we should be focused on organizing.