Opinion The party is over

The Left of the political spectrum has not had so much excitement in years

October 23, 2011 01:49 AM IST First published on: Oct 23, 2011 at 01:49 AM IST

The sudden eruption of the Occupy Wall Street protests around America and many others countries has taken the media by surprise. The sheer scale and spread of the protests seems to presage a worldwide revulsion against capitalism. The Left of the political spectrum has not had so much excitement in years. The CPM about to undergo a basic rethinking may even be tempted to postpone it and conclude that Lenin is alive and well after all.

That would be a mistake. The protests have a novelty as Americans have only been having a Tea Party style self indulgence which has been pro-free markets and anti-government if not anti-Obama. Suddenly,there is this other strand in American history anti-establishment and anarchist with its echoes in Thoreau and Emerson. Now we have a call for taxing the rich and taking over Wall Street. If this is not the death knell of capitalism,what is?

As protests go,the latest ones are so far fairly small. I recall the anti-Vietnam March on Washington or even the Civil Rights march which were much bigger. The anti-war protests over Iraq across Europe were gigantic as were the May 1968 protests in France which brought down the De Gaulle presidency. Indeed,only ten years ago,the anti-globalisation movement was having gigantic social summits in opposition to the Davos meetings.

The current movements are genuine but they lack a clear focus. Indeed one could say that had the Left been more alive,it could have given a lead to these movements. In US,the mood is one of despair and defiance but with no creative agenda. In Europe,especially in the Eurozone,the mood is bitter and resigned. The Greeks and Spaniards and the Portuguese know their economies are in serious trouble. Normally when there is unrest,one can ask for a change of government and hope for better. This time the protesters know that the government of whichever party comes in power will still have to pay back the debts. Yes it is true that the debts were incurred to benefit some,not all. But the principal gainers were the public sector workers in Europe who are now out in the streets since the world is asking back for the money which they have been living off.

Capitalism is not in trouble. Just look at its dynamism in Asia and Latin America and even Africa. The headlines scream that Chinas growth rate is plunging; but only from 9.4 per cent to 9.1 per cent. India is facing a catastrophe of only 7.5 per cent growth. It is not capitalism as such but its aged version in the rich countries which is sick. Capitalism has left the shores of its old home in the West and migrated South or East as you choose. The old capitalist countries are in trouble and their citizens know that the party is over. They had fifteen years of a boom between 1992 and 2007. They borrowed from the banks,maxed out their credit cards,piled on huge mortgages,all thanks to the banks. Now everyone is railing against them but how many could live without their debit and credit cards and their ATMs?

The protests may grow and if there is any suppression which leads to injury or death,they will erupt even more furiously. Faced with budget cuts and governments which cannot or will not do anything to make things better,the citizens are helpless. But when even your own government is in hock to the creditors and fearful of the rating agencies,what power do citizens have? With globalisation,there is no economic sovereignty left for even the most powerful governments. If you drop out of the global order and close your economy down with tariffs and renege on all your debts,you will have the illusion of freedom but the living standards will not be any better than if you stayed in.

The sad story is that the people in the rich countries have just realised that they are broke as are their governments. The party is over. The road ahead is hard work and savings and less consumption. The erstwhile poor countries now riding high have always known that. Their party is just starting.