ABSTRACT

An on-going crisis in Marxist theory and practice has, unwittingly assisted capitalism’s capacity for survival. Countless millions are forced to ‘make do’ while an increasingly tiny minority ‘do’ astonishingly well. Its survival has nothing to do with any innate power of the market, or of ability, or of any inherent strength.

Why then does capitalism survive? First, there is the relationship between the state and capital. Second there has been no viable theoretical and practical structure to counter the rule of capital. While Marxism remains fragmented and disjointed, capitalism remains secure.

Trotsky, writing just months before his death remarked that “life is beautiful. Let the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression, and violence and enjoy it to the full” (Hallas, D. 1970 ‘Trotsky’, Marxist Internet Archive, www.marxists.org/archive/hallas/works/1970/08/trotsky.htm). The past, after all is but prologue. There must be a brighter future. There must be something better. This book argues for Marxism as the only rational answer to the madness of the world in the 21st century and calls for a return to a classical Marxist approach, to not simply interpret the world but, importantly, to change it.