Liberalism, which Luxemburg called by its more appropriate name-"opportunism"-is an integral component of capitalism. When the citizens grow restive, it will soften and decry capitalism's excesses. But capitalism, Luxemburg argued, is an enemy that can never be appeased. Liberal reforms are used to stymie resistance and then later, when things grow quiet, revoked. The last century of labor struggles in the United States is an example of Luxemburg's observation. "Social reform," Luxemburg wrote, "does not constitute an invasion into capitalist exploitation, but a regulating, an ordering of this exploitation in the interest of capitalist society itself."85
( Chris Hedges )
[ America: The Farewell Tour ]
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