The COVID-19 pandemic is creating massive instabilities in the Western economies. The effects of this, combined with the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, has caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to lose about 1/3 of its value in less than a month, and that's AFTER the US pumped $2.2T in no-interest loans into the system. The worst of these losses may be yet to come, ultimately making the 2008 crash look tame.At the same time, the self-quarantining and forced quarantining to stop the spread of the Coronavirus is having roughly the same effect of a massive general strike that's rolling throughout the world economy, involving hundreds of millions of workers. Not only is it upsetting profits by bringing production to a standstill in many industries, but it's also teaching workers what happens when we fold our arms and say, "I won't work for capital": the system's control dissipates like a fog in a matter of days.We already can see somewhat of a forced political realignment as the crisis takes hold, workers' grievances are ignited, and politicians are forced to abandon cocky, neoliberal austerity in favor of panicked, emergency concessionary giveaways to placate the working class and keep in place their illusion that capitalism is a force of nature -- and one on which workers *gulp* depend to last indefinitely. ("No, seriously! Please believe us?").If there were a moment for the global communist movement to make a play, it seems to me that that time may be fast upon is. The question is, are we ready, and if not, what do we need to do and how long will it take to be ready? In other words, will we be able to act in time to seize this particular moment of crisis, and if so, what must be done to make the most of the opportunity? If not, and the bourgeoisie is able to superglue their system back together again somehow, what's at stake for us going forward? via /r/communism https://ift.tt/3dlFpkK
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