Why I support James Harris for President

James Harris and Maura DeLuca are the Socialist Workers Party candidates for President and Vice President.

If you have ever been disheartened listening to the so-called debates between the democratic and republican party politicians, you have excellent reasons for your feelings.  James Harris, the Socialist Workers Party candidate for President, offers a real alternative to the other candidates who offer nothing more than a continuation of the status quo.

One piece of information that is missing from these so-called debates is a critical view of the economic political system known as capitalism.  When we look at the history of the laws that capitalism must follow, we get a clear picture of the source of our problems.

The history of capitalism

Capitalism came about because problems arose that the feudal societies of kings and queens could not deal with.  A new class emerged that became dedicated to manufacturing commodities for a profit.  This new political economic system allowed technology to develop in ways that would have been impossible in the feudal epoch. 

However, even in the birth of capitalism, the treatment of working people was abysmal.  In Britain, people who had power forced farmers off the land and into crowded factories where the conditions for men women and children were horrendous.  During these same years, British authorities also controlled the economies of India and China where tens of millions of people starved to death.

Today, capitalist politicians follow a similar path.  In the United States there are about 40 million people who do not have enough food to eat.  While these conditions exist, the government is spending hundreds of billions of dollars to go to war against the people of Afghanistan, who are among the poorest in the world.     

Capitalism also brought with it something that was new and progressive.  This was the working class.  Workers organized and continue to organize to make improvements in our condition.  James Harris has argued that the only things we have were won through struggle.

The labor movement improved working conditions.  The women’s and civil rights movements forced people with power to mollify many discriminatory practices.  The anti-war movement worked to end the genocidal war against the people of Vietnam.  Understanding this reality means that improvements in our lives will not come about through voting, but by engaging in mass struggle.      

There is another aspect of capitalism that explains the problems we face.  Capitalism works, in a way, like a roller coaster.  At times the economy goes up, but it always goes down.  The reason why the economy deteriorates is because the percentage of profit on investment tends to decline.  This means that capitalists need to invest more and more capital for a smaller and smaller rate of profit.

The result of this state of affairs is that capitalists are obsessed with selling more and more commodities while they are also driven to cut costs.  Eventually the inevitable happens.  There are more commodities on the market than there are people willing to purchase those commodities.

In other words, workers see our jobs eliminated, not because of scarcity, but because of overproduction.  The root cause of the economic crisis of 2008 was not sub-prime housing loans.  The root cause of every economic crisis of the capitalist system is the accumulated effect of successful business practices.   

The cruelty of capitalist politics

Understanding this reality, we can see how the campaigns of the democrats and republicans are nothing more than campaigns to continue the international war against workers and farmers.

Willard Mitt Romney argues that he has created jobs for working people.  The facts are that working people actively worked to create every penny of the financial assets that Romney has at his disposal.  Capitalists need workers but workers do not need capitalists.

The politics of Barrack Obama can be classified as acts of cruelty that can only be supported by ardent defenders of the capitalist system.

Obama had the authority to stop the state of Georgia from executing Troy Davis, who was clearly innocent of the charges he had been convicted of.  Obama decided to ignore all the evidence supporting Davis and allowed the state of Georgia to carry out his execution.

Obama has set a record for the most deportations of any President.  The federal government separated at least 5100 of these deportees fromtheir children who were born in this country.  These children were placed in foster care and no effort was made to reunite them with their families.

Obama’s health care bill will charge some of the least affluent people in this country over $700 for fourth rate health care insurance.

What a workers government might accomplish?

On the other hand, James Harris supports the formation of a workers government in this country.  Such a government would view the human needs of people as more important than the profits of a tiny minority of the population.

A workers government could make rapid progress in eliminating poverty in the world.  Ending the discrimination against Black people, Latinos, and women would be a top priority.  All enterprises would, for the first time, make it a top priority to work in harmony with the environment.

However, these are not the primary attractions to a workers government.  Human beings are different from animals because we can do skilled work in a social environment.  In the system of capitalism, it is natural for workers to feel alienated because we spend our lives at jobs so others will benefit.

With a genuinely representative workers and farmers government, we will be able to see for the first time what our real human potential is.  Problems that appeared to be unsolvable in the capitalist framework, will be easily resolved.  Humanity won’t need to go to work to avoid homelessness, but to make this a better world for everyone.

More information about the presidential campaign of James Harris can be seen in the Militant newspaper which can be viewed at: themilitant.comhttp://www.themilitant.com/index.shtml