The Euro Crisis and the nation state

Marxists have always argued that the two greatest fetters on the means of production in today’s society, and therefore on the progress on human society and culture, are the private ownership of the means of production and the nation state. This is demonstrated in the current Euro crisis most strikingly.
Private ownership of the means of production dooms production to anarchy. This can be counteracted temporarily and can therefore sometimes seem not to be the case. But the laws of capitalist production, which are denied by the bourgeois and their professors, inevitably assert themselves “with iron necessity” in the words of Marx.
In a stampede for profits, capitalists are inclined to produce too many goods for the market. Not too many useful objects, but objects which cost more than people can afford. Ten capitalists all produce goods for a workers last bit of cash, particularly in years of boom. But that worker can only buy one of those goods, despite almost certainly having need for many more. Thus, nine capitalists fail to sell their goods. They have produced too much. On a world scale, this results in a crisis of overproduction.
This crisis can be averted temporarily but various means- conquests of new markets and credit being the most important. But since capitalism has now penetrated into every nook and cranny, credit was and is the most potent temporary counter.
Credit was handed out to all and sundry, whose wages were being held down by capitalists across the globe “to stop inflation”. But inflation persisted and thus real wages plummeted. Credit was therefore necessary for workers to maintain their living standards. The problem is that eventually, credit must be paid back. And this did not and furthermore could not happen. Therefore a crisis was inevitable, and would firstly manifest itself in a financial crisis.
Where such a crisis manifests itself is often a complete accident. Hegel once wrote “necessity expresses itself through accident”. It was inevitable that in such an orgy of speculation and lending the crisis would first manifest itself as a crisis of financial capital. But exactly where and when was not possible to predict. It happened to break out first in America, but it could have happened elsewhere. Regardless, it is clear that this crisis is not ultimately a “credit crunch” (i.e. a lack of credit without cause), but a crisis of overproduction. Furthermore, since the productive forces are now completely international, the world market is completely international, it is a world crisis of capitalism.
This crisis demands a swift decline in the living standards of the workers and oppressed layers of society if capitalism is to survive. Thus, it has sparked an explosion of the class struggle internationally. The workers and peasants of the Arab world are balancing the books of justice. Students across Latin America have demanded the abolition of private education. Workers of Wisconsin State in America have been protesting in the streets. In Britain, the lumpenised poor, unemployed and severely oppressed rioted against the status quo. “Enough!” was shouted by the workers internationally.
In Europe, the crisis of overproduction has resulted in unprecedented events. Many governments, who too borrowed staggering sums of money, are struggling to pay their debts and defaults are now looking likely. Greece has only staved off such events through ‘bail outs’ from the European Union. Italy and Spain both have debts over the whole of their GDP, and their economies are stalling. Thus, unless the German and French governments are willing to ‘bail out’ these substantial debts for an indefinite period, the euro is likely to collapse.
The German and French ministers and people are now asking themselves if they are prepared for such action. What is in it for them? Is it likely even to help? Is such a plan sustainable? Angela Merkel and Nikolas Sarkozy both admitted the possibility of a reduced Euro-zone for the first time in a G20 meeting last week. A storm is heading for the Mediterranean.
In order to prevent such crises from taking place, crises with the most horrific human consequences, it is necessary to socialise the means of production, to take them out of private hands and plan the economy. The most effective way to plan the economy and ensure it is done in a way which benefits the majority is to democratise production. This way, demand and supply can be harmonised too.
The nation state is not suitable for an international economy. In the euro zone, problems of an international nature, which cannot be dealt by any single country, are being dealt with over the heads of democracy by the European Central Bank (ECB) or the ‘European Financial Stability Facility’. The solution to this is to have a European government which can take international decisions and act democratically in the name of the people of Europe.
Therefore a solution exists: a United Socialist Federation of Europe. But the ‘leaders’ of the current European Union have no intention of working towards such a goal. Their priority is Capitalism. Thus it falls on the workers of Europe to transform the situation. If they don’t their living standards will plummet. They have nothing to lose.