EDITORIAL
Preparing for a recession
"The economy appears to be slowing more sharply than
expected." That was the opening sentence of the Wall Street
Journal's top story Nov. 28.
Predictions of a decline in the capitalist economy, even a
recession, can be found in all the business press these days.
They are all agreed that a downturn has begun.
That's probably a safe prediction. After all, it's
practically a law of capitalist economics that what goes up
must come down. What isn't known is when the ups or downs will
come or how extreme they will be.
The capitalists and big bankers are preparing for a
recession. They are trying to put everything they can into
place. A capitalist recession--one that they may not be able to
foist onto other countries' backs as they have with other
recent downturns--is coming.
The capitalists' preparations aren't going to help anyone
but the rich. They are feverishly trying to protect capitalist
profits above all else. This will not protect the jobs, the
livelihoods, the housing and food, the everyday needs of the
working class.
The capitalists always try to turn the brunt of any downturn
onto labor and the most oppressed people--the Black, Latino,
Asian, Arab and Native peoples, women, as well as lesbian, gay,
bi and trans people. This has happened at every downturn, every
recession. But every economic assault on the workers and the
oppressed has inevitably given birth to an upsurge in the
movement of the working class.
The working class must prepare today to defend itself. The
unions and community groups should get ready to meet the coming
challenge.
This may be the era of the dot-com economy, but the
workplace hasn't changed all that much. Every computer is made
in a factory, every computer disk is made in a factory, and
every factory requires workers to manufacture the goods. No one
should think that the rise of the new technology has eliminated
the rest of the economy. But the coming period will require
some new thinking.
New strategies and tactics will be needed for the coming
struggles. What's needed is not to abandon the old militant
methods such as the strike, but to recognize that new methods
will also be needed. These include occupying, taking over and
operating the factories and offices in order to protect
jobs.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS ::
SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page