I largely agree with you, although I think you can find historical instances where the ruling class adjudges some degree of change necessary to act as a safety valve releasing mass pressures which threaten to overwhelm the system. The New Deal comes to mind in a period which saw the rapid growth internationally of the left. Of course, where a ruling class feels it has no room for concessions, as in tapped-out Italy, Germany, and elsewhere in Europe at the time, the move is mostly in the other direction. As you note, there's never perfect unanimity, and the reform/repression options are always up for debate.
Some on the left, including on this list, imagine that the US corporate and political establishment is currently faced with this choice -- ie. either a move towards greater repression under the Republicans, or a "prophylactic" move to dump them in favour of the Democrats to siphon off popular discontent. Bit what popular unrest do they see which would provoke this kind of reaction? There's a good deal of disillusionment about Iraq and the persistent disgruntlement about capitalist inequality and hardships, but there is no organized left of any consequence in the US -- inside or outside the DP -- which would have the ruling class contemplating extraordinary measures. If the Nader/Camejo ticket were to surprise, it would sit up and register the change in temperature, but I doubt it would start to panic just yet. Marv Gandall ----- Original Message ----- From: "Devine, James" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 9:37 AM Subject: Re: [PEN-L] Of Rumps and Dumps I haven't read this thread carefully, so I hope I'm not repeating anything. The "ruling class" almost never acts as a unified force that "dumps" someonw. However, I can imagine that sections of the ruling calss could turn against Bush. More importantly, the whole election process is set up in a way that filters out the anti-capitalist candidates. In the end, the differences within the ruling class can be settled by "letting the people decide," where of course the people don't have much choice and are highly influenced by campaign ads, the media, etc. The election then has the side-effect of helping to legitimate the system.
