Tariffs, free trade or socialism: is there a way out of the crisis? | AGAINST THE STREAM

The world capitalist system is beset on all sides by crisis. Debt is sky-high, economies are stagnating and society is more polarised than ever. To add to this mess, the tapestry of world relations – the ‘rules-based order’ – is unravelling. Tit-for-tat tariffs that seek to export the crisis threaten to turn into trade wars that will tear up world trade.

The liberals see Trump as the wrecking ball causing the crisis. But is this true? By slashing the debt, raising tariffs and ditching the Ukraine war, he is actually trying to stabilise American capitalism, even if that comes at the expense of the rest of the world.

His efforts, however, will be in vain. Every attempt to solve one crisis will simply exacerbate another. Ultimately, tariffs will push up inflation, whereas his reckless cuts will prepare a gigantic backlash of class struggle. There is no way out on a capitalist basis because capitalism itself is the root of the problem.

For communists, therefore, the choice is not between tariffs or free trade. Rearmament and austerity are only ‘necessary’ as long as we accept the logic of the capitalist system. Our job, on the contrary, is not to tinker with the capitalist system, but to overthrow it.

To explain the communist alternative, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh of the international leadership of the RCI, met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International.

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0:00 - Intro
5:56 - Is Trump a stabilizing force?
37:43 - Protectionism or free trade
1:04:40 - Will EU rearmament make the working class safer?
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This episode was streamed on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.

[ChrisMackinder]

Against the Stream talks make the economics of capitalism - which are often presented with deliberately mystifying and jargon terms - much clearer. It is a scientific, analytical approach equipped to explain’new’ developments as well as ‘old’ ones.
Interesting how things are interconnected eg as Fred pointed out Coca Cola are using less aluminium and more plastic in the face of tariffs on imported steel and this has implications for the environment showing again how these issues can only be solved ultimately by tackling capitalism ✊

[comrade_quinn]

Wow the way you elaborated on the free trade vs protectionism question was incredible. So clear and concise. I’ve learned so much from this show since joining the RCA last August, every single episode illuminates a new detail of some subject or another. I can feel myself becoming more Marxist every week, keep up the fantastic work comrades! ✊

[Franganav_]

I've learnt a lot from you on how to adress questions disguised as attacks.
This is my favorite show ever!

[mutakovic]

What a insightful video. I realized I made my previous comment before I ended this video and you covered it all. Continue your great work. I hope you grow fast because this perspective needs to reach millions and millions of people.

[Lewis-wk]

As Rosa Luxemburg once said “Socialism or Barbarism”.I chose Socialism.

[redpaulxx]

Don't forget to "subscribe" and "like".

[wolfcookerBack]

Objective dialectical analysis - great assessment of the situation 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[SM-glyo]

Very interesting. Very thoughtful presentation.

[MaxSwenson]

15:19 I’m surprised to hear Marxists perpetuating the deficit myth when talking about countries like the US and the UK which both have monetary sovereignty. I understand that Modern Monetary Theory is based on the liberal system of capitalism, and so communists would disagree with the system itself. But when critiquing the material conditions of the world, which is currently primarily capitalist, shouldn’t we be focusing less on deficits and more on inflationary consequences of how governments are spending money? The question that get’s asked is “how are capitalist governments going to pay for social services?”, and the answers are either (liberal/“progressive”) tax the rich or (conservative) austerity measures. An accurate understanding of the monetary systems of countries with monetary sovereignty(can issue their own currency) would lead to a different question; “how are governments going to resource social services?”. Now, all that being said, I don’t think that a capitalist system is capable of effectively utilizing its resources for the true benefit of its people, and I do believe that a democratically run economy(socialism) would be better equipped to do so. But until we get there, I think it is vital that communists are not guilty of spreading the common misunderstanding of government deficits without focusing on the core issue of dealing with the potential inflationary consequences of irresponsible government spending. Anyway, just a noticing/wondering that I had.

[maza.]

it’s great how you guys respond to criticism in the comments without any hostility or adversity. you listen to their criticism with an open mind, and use your extensive knowledge to provide detailed holistic answers. good stuff as always guys 🫡

[ABXDPa]

Besides if you agree or disagree, it’s a good show

[haizeabezala]

Great Episode, as always. The Problem that I see with many people voting Trump, AfD and so on, is the huge price (in lives, rights, job and money) for the working class and discriminated and targeted minorities. Even if as you say, the voters will put them to test and is a transitioning learning period, the price is way too high, so the left has to work hard to prevent them coming to power or expanding their power.
The lesson that extreme right populist parties are not the solution doesn't have to be learned by them being in power and destroying countries, but before they do that, if it's possible.

I wouldn't let a friend put his or her arm in fire so that he or she learns that it burns, I rather prevent them from doing it.

[rfvtgbzhn]

29:45 I agree with the general point, but to build a factory you don't have to think ahead 30 years, something like 2 or 3 years is enough. It might take that long until the profits are higher than the invested sum, but factories are always built on loan, so they actually start making profits after something like 2 or 3 years, when they start production. I doubt that a lot of CEOs think beyond investment cycles, which usually are 10 years or below that.

[annesalfi]

Very interesting talk on tariffs. I wonder if you could expand that talk to include the threats against Canadian sovereignty?

[rfvtgbzhn]

34:22 actually from an individual point of view, this behaviour is just logical. No individual investor can change the system, so it's logical for them to just make as much money as possible as long as they can. This actually shows one of the major problems of capitalism: behaviour, that is rational for individuals in this system often contradicts the needs of the society or even just the ruling class as a whole.

[ronnysmobilephone]

You do realize The End Of History by fukiyama is a Hegalian expression, right?

[femtosecond]

Local government is the answer with a limited input from an oversight org. Communism is what we live in all over the world and the race is on to the revelation of such as institutions push identical agendas globally and its not called capitalism.

[marycorrigan]

I just listened to Victor Davis Hanson and he explained "Tariffs, free trade, and socialism.

[whitehawk]

Hi comrades of the youtube, is there any similar channel that operates in Spanish?

[thorinbane]

Too many think they started the war when if anyone listens to actual facts we have propagated this war and propaganda has kept us from listening to even our own media reports from before 2022. Ottawa citizen nov 8 2021 azov... CDN military embarrassment that the public found out about us training far right Ukraine's illegal in our charter. Not embarrassed about the training, but being found out. Operation Unifier CDN training Ukraine started in 2014.