Liberalism is the dominant ideology of the capitalist mode of production, and here are the four ways in which it is most often expressed. Notice that all of these “opposing” expressions support capitalism and private property rights (the top-down ownership of collectively-used utilities and resources by capitalists, landlords, and rentiers). What do George Bush, Ron Paul, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders all have in common? They’re all liberals – they all champion an ideology that supports the status quo relations of society, with slight variations to give the illusion of diametric opposition. When push comes to shove, they support capitalist interests first and foremost.
The difference between laissez-faire capitalism and state-interventionist capitalism is, to quote Eugene Debs, merely a disagreement over the spoils and not over the fundamental ideological principles – ultimately the capitalist class is still in charge and society is still structured with their interests and goals in mind. (And it’s worth mentioning that all of these forms of liberalism are state-interventionist to the extent that capitalist class interests need to be protected – imperialist foreign policy and tax breaks and bailouts for the rich are enacted by all variations of liberalism because these policies aid capital accumulation, the engine that keeps the system going.) Liberalism is irrevocably tied to capitalism, ideologically and materially.
Yyyyyeah but I’d still much rather live in the birb world than any of the others. I mean fuck capitalism but in the meantime make things better for those forced to live under it.
We definitely need to fight for bird liberalism as long as capitalism is a thing. It could give people a slightly-better level of financial stability and thus allow them more time to pursue passions and ideas. From there, an anti-capitalist could potentially gain more steam. I’m no accelerationist. I just wanted to emphasize that all forms of liberalism will still inevitably be tethered to the capitalist mode of production and the fundamental injustices associated with it.
QueerAnarchism 