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THE DANGER OF FASCISM AND THE PROMISE OF SOCIALISM: REFLECTIONS ON THE GLOBAL CAPITALIST CRISIS
Abstract
The fundamental contradictions of capitalism—social commodity production for profit maximization paired with private appropriation of profit and the means of production—put capitalism in a state of perpetual crisis that intensifies over time in both severity and scope. Thus it is axiomatic that the present historical juncture finds capitalism in yet another moment of its perpetual crisis. In need of clarification are the unique features of the current stage of the crisis as well as the question of whether humanity will continue to live under a degenerating capitalism or make a progressive break with the old society and begin construction of a new socialist system that avoids the mistakes of the past while remaining free of capitalism's fundamental contradictions. Degenerating capitalism and the social unrest that accompanies it raises the threat that the capitalist ruling class will resort to fascism in order to save their system, but it also creates opportunities for the working class to stage a resurgence of socialism in order to save humanity from a catastrophic decline of human civilization. This article will present a series of reflections on the current state of the crisis with the goal of determining how it affects prospects for the advancement of socialism on the one hand and the danger of fascism on the other. It will deal with the question of whether bourgeois democracy or people's democracy provides a way out of the morass of economic decline, environmental catastrophe, perpetual war, and looming fascism.
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