Introduction

A 'capitalist state' too will have some features like provision of welfare and social safety nets that are against the theoretically pure version of capitalism. But states like the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US), which have been flag-bearers of unadulterated neoliberal capitalism since the 'radical conservatism' of the early 1980s, have been driven to the extreme in terms of privileging corporate power over all other forces. The state should have been strengthened to set right the terrible distortions caused by financial buccaneers, but every crisis response measure we witnessed since the crash of 2008 went in the opposite direction. The Scottish National Party (SNP) is aiming to take a seat in the European Union (EU) and even in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) for its future independent Scotland, thereby shielding the new state from economic or security shocks. Only revolutionary political change that places people first can conclusively end the depression.