Sometimes, Lenin paints a lovely picture:
Of course, I don’t care about their shareholders or their gold-plated investors, but the simple fact is that we have a struggle to make sure they don’t make us pay for their crisis. After all, the capitalist class has a procedure for situations like this: cut your losses, shred papers, fire staff, take the profits, retreat behind some gated communities with armed guards, let everyone else fight over the scraps, and wait patiently for a decent investment opportunity. Didn’t these motherfuckers just come for your social security recently? Wasn’t it only months ago that the UK government was talking about cutting disability benefits and the entitlements of single mothers? Aren’t they pushing for a roll-back of your state pension entitlements? And how many people no longer have a pension to speak of because it has disappeared into a financial black hole? If these people have the monopoly of political initiative, they’ll be able to use this crisis to roll back your rights even further. They’ll say that trade unions are distorting the market by artificially raising wages and discouraging hiring, and they’ll want new laws restricting membership. They’ll say that social security distorts the market by disincentivising labour and encouraging widespread abstention from work. They’ll say that pension entitlements are unsustainable with an ageing population, that the retirement age needs lifting since people are living so long, and that the taxes paid by corporations and the rich to help fund such bleeding-heart programmes are discouraging investment. If people resist, they’ll say that violence is being promoted by political extremists and that for the time being certain rights need to be suspended until such time as people prove themselves mature enough to have them restored. Oh, but, don’t worry: they’re your friends, and they’re there to help you. Just be patient and the wealth will trickle down.
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