Two-party systems generally function very well for ruling classes in capitalist democracies. They solve the problem of transitions of leadership and act as a safety valve—if the population becomes too disgusted with Tweedledum, then Tweedledee is ready to take over with promises of hope, change and renewal. When Tweedledee is no longer welcome, the trick is played in the reverse direction, with the interests of those at the top now served by a new set of faces. It is truly remarkable how many times this particular game of two-card monte can be repeated. But if competition between the two parties for the spoils of office becomes too intense, or if sections of them come to take the ideology they spout for public consumption too seriously, or, worse still, if they come to represent the interests of sharply opposed fractions of capital, or the interests of other classes—all of which becomes much more likely in a period of sustained and irresolvable economic crisis—then the political system can rapidly become highly dysfunctional. That’s the situation that the US ruling class finds itself in today. They now have less than 48 hours to cobble together an agreement between the warring sides that will save US capitalism from perhaps its biggest ever self-inflicted injury. Will they be able to do it? Probably. Will it solve the underlying problems for more than a few weeks? Unlikely.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 06:24:00 +0000
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