Throughout Europe capitalism is in crisis.
Germany, once the powerhouse of the European Union, is now in recession – a recession brought about by Germany’s suicidal decision to impose sanctions on Russia and to ban cheap Russian gas in favour of American gas that costs twice as much.
The French government has collapsed, as popular resistance stymies the government’s attempt to plug a €43 billion hole in the country’s budget by yet more stringent austerity.
Italy’s debt to GDP ratio remains the largest in Europe, and productivity remains low, with growth eluding the policy makers.
The rest of Europe is faring as badly. But added to this is the mad decision to massively increase expenditure on arms and the military, which can only be done by cutting back on social welfare and government support for employment and to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis, itself brought about by the sanctions against Russia.
The once stable states like Scandinavia and the Netherlands are suffering reduced economic activity combined with a rise in racist and divisive conflict, in a vicious circle of failure. Finland (9.9%) and Sweden (8.3%) are experiencing some of the highest unemployment rates in Europe as their governments gear up for war at “Europe’s frontline”.
Outside the EU, Starmer’s Labour Party is also putting the squeeze on welfare, while failing to find any new impulse to generate new economic activity. This economic failure is most acutely felt in the North where the Executive remains chronically under-funded, as public services wilt and the problems of ordinary workers grow. Sluggish growth in the economy has been matched by total disarray within the British political class. The resignation of Angela Rayner is only the latest episode in a farcical litany which epitomises the managerial Left’s profound unseriousness and lack of direction.
The South, too, is caught up in this maelstrom of decline, with, once again, the government clamouring for more and more resources to be wasted on ‘defence’ while the crises in housing, health, education, rural development and the cost of living remain completely unresolved. This stagnation is building up a debt which will increasingly have to be paid by future generations competing for fewer and fewer resources as the real value of wages declines.
And at the back of all this is the decline of the great master of capitalism, the United States. The US is mired in massive debt, which is no longer sustainable. As de-dollarisation continues apace, the breakdown of monetary seigniorage will further accelerate the end of American economic exceptionalism. The direct tribute expected from vassals and supplicants in Europe and further afield will not be sufficient to stem the tide.
Its efforts to force the world to pay the costs of bailing the US out are meeting stronger and stronger resistance, as its proxy war against Russia in Ukraine peters out to total defeat.
Its weaponizing of trade, through sanctions and embargos, has massively backfired, as the BRICS alternative grows in appeal, and the global South moves to assert itself in world affairs – at the US expense.
As we look at this searing landscape of failure and decline, it is clear that the entire system – which puts individual profits of the rich and greedy above the social needs of the majority – needs to be rejected and a new way forward found.
In Ireland we need first and foremost to recognise that the economic model of relying on foreign direct investment has come to an end. And if we are to maintain and grow employment, we must find a new way forward.
That means subordinating the interests of capital to those of the working people, as only the state has the power to amass the capital needed for investment in a modern society.
It means ending the misuse of public resources which are squandered on investors, on speculators and on vulture funds, and making the government answerable to the working people.
This will not, however, come about by declarations. We need action.
If the working class sit passively by as the system collapses, the crisis will be resolved at our expense.
Now is the time – in our trade unions, in our community organisations, and in all the single-issue campaigns we are involved in to demand a change,
Instead of war we must fight to maintain neutrality and to keep the Triple Lock.
Instead of war we must fight to defend and improve our social services.
Instead of the constant failure of a worn-out system we must fight for a new world, a world of justice, of equality, of respect for all of humanity.
Yes, now is the time for action: the time to break free of imperialism and the sectarian divisions sit fosters and build a new democratic Socialist Ireland.