Politics after Los Angeles
Following the collapse of the bureaucratic attempts to build socialism in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, propagandists for capitalism had a field day proclaiming the victory of their system. Some even wanted to say it was the high point of human political evolution — the end of history.
But two weeks ago the oppressed poor of Los Angeles had their say, and their message was loud and clear — capitalism has failed them. And this is not some temporary aberration: it has failed them for decades, and they expect it to go on failing them. Just as in Britain's crumbling industrial cities, there are generations of people who have never had a regular job, who have no hope of making it out of the slums, who are so hopeless and desperate about their future that they will risk their lives by going into the streets to loot shops and take whatever revenge they can against a brutal social and economic order.
If this is the end point of political and social development, the future is very bleak — a future of savage policing to protect fortified pockets of privilege against an ever growing and increasingly desperate majority.
It's true, capitalism is able to provide very well for some people, but a society that provides only for some prepares the way for its own collapse. In the aftermath of the uprising, George Bush made some pious noises about building better lives for the urban poor. But those noises have been heard before. The capitalist politicians know there is danger in what they are doing, but they also know they have little to offer but talk. Gross inequalities are inherent in the very nature of their system.
The giant corporations that are the source of the politicians' power are not about to stop plundering the world for profits. This means that the wealth that should be available to improve the lot of the poor everywhere will continue to roll around the world's stock markets rather than providing decent housing, jobs and services for the people who helped to create it.
Paradoxically, besides being a cry of desperation, the Los Angeles riots are also a symbol of hope. They certainly tell the world that the system we live under is not acceptable as humanity's future, and no amount of brutality and oppression can keep people down indefinitely.
But how can we avoid such a future? The Los Angeles riots tell us that undirected anger is not enough. How can people take control of their lives for more than a few days, and for more constructive purposes than revenge? How does the majority which opposes a future of injustice, inequality, environmental irresponsibility and war challenge the power of enormous corporations and military machines?
A big part of the answer lies in the creation of political parties to channel the power we saw in Los Angeles in creative directions. Around the world, some green and socialist forces are striving in this direction, though most remain small and can be subject to setbacks such as the recent rightward retreat of some Nevertheless, there is no alternative to building a systematic political challenge to the entire system of capitalism.