Does anyone else get the feeling things are going to greatly change in the next decade?

[white_wolf]

As I look at OWS and all the other global protests around the world against austerity measures, I get the feeling that something has to give. The capitalists have gotten too greedy for their own good and they've overplayed their hand. I don't think we will see the rise of a socialist state in the Marxist sense, because Americans are simply not ready for it yet. Capitalism is still viewed as workable system by the majority of the people in the U.S. I do think we will see the rise of a very strong social-democratic party that will greatly reform the system, in possibly different ways than we see in the Scandinavian countries. I think we will see the rise of a party that demands higher taxes on the rich, single-payer or even socialized healthcare, free education, a much stronger social-safety net, much stricter regulations on the market, and a push for polices that benefit the rise of worker owned co-ops. I think that worker owned co-ops are one part of socialism that could actually benefit from America's favorable views towards entrepreneurs, and it would greatly weaken the stigmata some people have towards socialism.

What do you all think?

[northoftheborder]

1. I am more pessimistic about the chances of this country changing that much.

[TBF]

2. It depends upon which people you are talking about.

Of course the bourgeoisie are "not ready for it". It's not in their interest to be.

But are working class folks ready for change - you bet they are. The question is more one of mechanics. When someone figures out how to harness the energy and fight back I think the support will be there. It's not going to be protests like Occupy or third parties that do it. That is good for awareness raising but it's not really threatening to the status quo. If unions, however, build and strengthen (unionize the service sector is obviously where this needs to go) then we could see some real resistance.

[jwirr]

3. I do not think we are going to have much choice. With oil prices going up and climate change we

are going to be changing in many ways. The real question is are we all going to be working together or are we going to let the 1% continue to lead us into divisions that will only make life miserable for us.

[socialist_n_TN]

4. Agree jwirr...........

Change is coming whether we want it to or not. We MIGHT be able to survive if we can change the economic/social/political paradigm, but humanity will see a massive die-off if we don't. It's going to be rough either way.

[white_wolf]

5. This is the great flaw in capitalism.

In my opinion, a flaw that is perhaps even greater than it's internal contradictions and exploitative nature, is it's short sightedness. Why the hell are we still depending on fossil fuels, there has to be a better source of energy, the only problem is there is too much profit in oil.

[Starry Messenger]

6. I do too.

My hope also is that "right-to-work" will be lifted out of the states that have that. Greater labor organization would give a stronger hand to labor and they wouldn't always be chained to party politics. Even if a labor party doesn't rise, greater pressure would force more socialist concessions from the existing parties. The Democratic Party took most of its best ideas from the commies and socies. They knew they were facing some stiff competition.

[joshcryer]

7. Not in the US. I think technologically we're looking at a very dramatic shift.

But it won't affect politics in the US or EU or even Latin America or anywhere, really, for the status quo will fight back against the technological changes.

[silverweb]

8. I have hope.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]And I agree with you that worker-owned coops would be a wonderful step here in the U.S.