This is the final part of Alan Woods' 4 part article on Marxism and the United States where he looks at the situation in the USA today, with immense polarisation of wealth between the extremely rich and the extremely poor. The years of boom have come to an end. Unemployment is rising. In spite of its immense power US capitalism has entered a phase of terminal decline, together with the rest of the world. And this is reflected in a questioning on the part of many ordinary working Americans of the society they live in. Marxism can explain why all this is and also offer a way out to the American workers.
After the ILWU dockworkers' struggle in the USA, we now have the struggle of
the New York transit workers to improve their conditions of life. This is only
the latest in a series of important battles which have been fought on the trade
union front in recent months. It highlights the real situation facing American
workers and also exposes the real nature of the so-called "democratic"
state. John Peterson provides an overview of the Marxist theory of the state
starting from the class interests in this and other labour conflicts.
On January 18, Washington DC resounded with protestors. Along with San Francisco and other cities, an estimated half a million Americans pledged their solidarity with protestors the world over, rallying under the slogan: No to the War on Iraq! Other slogans included, "Regime Change Begins At Home", "Axis of Evil - Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld", and "Dissent is Patriotic". John Peterson looks at the developing antiwar movement in the United States.