Issue
Six
in this issue >>> » The failure of capitalism » Capitalism and the crisis facing young people
» Health of students in higher education » Study exposes global recession
This is a publication of the Communist Youth Organization of the Workers Communist Party of Iran
We are the 99% may 30th 2013
»The failure of capitalism Figures on the state of the European economy published over the past week are not only the expression of a deepening economic and social crisis. They have a profound historical meaning, pointing to the bankruptcy of the capitalist economic order. In its latest economic forecast, the International Monetary Fund has predicted that the euro zone area as a whole will contract by 0.3 percent this year, with France joining Italy and Spain as the three major economies in recession. The contraction itself is significant, but the fact that it takes place some five years after the onset of the financial crisis points to the underlying processes that produced it. The European economy is caught in a deepening downward spiral. Spain now has a Depression-level unemployment rate of 27 percent, with youth unemployment at 57 percent. More than six million Spanish workers are unemployed. In France the total number of job seekers who had not worked at all in the previous month rose to a record 3.2 million. Across the European Union 26 million people, representing 12 percent of the workforce, are unemployed. In Britain, economic growth in the last quarter was just 0.3 percent. While this prompted a sigh of relief in official circles because Britain had escaped a “triple dip” recession, the fact remains that the British economy is still 2.6 percent smaller than when the crisis began. Britain has experienced its deepest and most prolonged fall in gross domestic product in a century. In comparison, at the same stage—some 51 months into the crisis—economic growth had begun to recover during the Great Depression, the downturn in the 1970s and the recession of the early 1990s. What is more, the European economic outlook is worsening. In a speech delivered last week, International Monetary Fund deputy managing director David Lipton warned that Europe faced the risk of a “stagnation scenario”. “Investment is declining and unemployment continues to rise [and] financial markets remain fragmented.” The European situation, however, is only the starkest expression of the state of global capitalism as a whole. Growth in the US economy is an anaemic 2.5 percent, while unemployment remains at near-Depression levels, amid rising poverty and widening social inequality. While the Federal Reserve pours money into the finan-
cial markets, boosting corporate profits, real incomes for the mass of the population continue to fall. For the bourgeois media and its talking heads and pundits, the ever -worsening social position of the broad mass of the population is just another expression of the “new normal.” None of them ever feels the need to explain why, amid the greatest scientific and technological advances in history, growing portions of the population are being impoverished. But the significance of such a development was elaborated by Karl Marx more than 160 years ago. Such a phenomenon, he explained, shows that “the bourgeoisie is unfit any longer to be the ruling class in society, and to impose its conditions of existence upon society as an over-riding law.” At a recent forum in London, organised by the Bank of England, IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard outlined what he called the lessons from the crisis. It was a confession of intellectual and political bankruptcy. Blanchard admitted to being completely blindsided by the eruption of the financial crisis in 2008, believing such things would no longer take place. He had failed to understand the “plumbing” of the financial system and did not take into account the interconnectedness of the world economy, which led to a collapse of global trade in 2009. Furthermore, after admitting that “the traditional monetary and fiscal tools are just not good enough to deal with the very specific problems in the financial system,” he said he was unsure about whether so-called macro prudential tools to regulate the financial system could actually work. Blanchard is certainly not alone. Last September, in the wake of the US Federal Reserve’s decision to expand its policy of quantitative easing, Richard Fisher, a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, admitted that “nobody really knows what will work to get the economy back on course” and that no central bank “has the experience of successfully navigating a return home from the place where we now find ourselves.” The same bewilderment was on display at a meeting of top-level economists convened by the IMF after its spring meeting in Washington last month. Nobel Prize winner George Akerlof likened the economic crisis to a cat that had climbed a tree, did not know how to come down, and was now about to fall. Another economist chimed in that after five years it perhaps was time to get the cat out of the tree, while Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz explained:
The failure of capitalism “There is no good economic theory that explains why the cat is still up in the tree.” The bankruptcy of medieval scholasticism and of the feudal social order that underlay it was expressed in the discussions over how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. If the modern day theologians of capitalism and their discussions of cats up trees appear just as ridiculous, it is not a result of their personal failings. In the final analysis, they are unable to offer any explanation for the deepest crisis in three quarters of a century because the socioeconomic order they defend has become antagonistic to any further historical progress. While the ideologists of the ruling class seized upon the collapse of the USSR to proclaim the end of socialism, the economists and media pundits say nothing about the failure of capitalism. However, just under the surface of their bewilderment lies the growing fear that this economic breakdown will produce a tremendous upsurge in social and class struggles. Recently a major article in Time magazine noted that Marx had theorized that “the capitalist system would inevitably impoverish the world’s masses as the world’s wealth became concentrated in the hands of a greedy few causing economic crises … A growing dossier of evidence suggests that he may have been right.” The mass of statistics emanating from Europe
and elsewhere show that capitalism has entered a terminal crisis, with revolutionary implications. The intellectual disintegration of the defenders of the bourgeois order points to the fact that a conscious political struggle by the working class, on the basis of a program of socialist internationalism, will open up paths for it to lead society out of the downward spiral of social decay that marks the breakdown of the profit system. Nick Beams
Capitalism and the crisis facing young people Perhaps more than any other section of society, young people around the world have been made to bear the brunt of the capitalist crisis. In the five years since the 2008 crash, youth unemployment has reached Depression-era levels, young workers’ wages have plummeted, and education opportunities have collapsed. As with the attack on the working class as a whole, youth all over the world have been hit, including in the advanced capitalist countries. Throughout Europe, youth unemployment is at epidemic levels. Last Thursday, Greece’s statistics service said that the unemployment rate in February for people aged between 15 and 24 reached a staggering 64.2 percent—affecting nearly two thirds of the entire population of youth and young workers. This is up from 54.1 percent in March 2012. The cause is not hard to discover: the brutal austerity measures and economic collapse imposed on the country by the European banks, in alliance with the Greek ruling class. Other countries that have received “bailouts” face a similar situation. In March of this year, youth unemployment hit 55.9 percent in Spain and 38.4 percent in Italy. The situation is getting worse. This was
made clear in a report published last week by the United Nation’s International Labour Organization (ILO), which concluded that global youth unemployment will continue to rise for at least five years. The agency says it expects the youth unemployment rate worldwide to hit 12.8 percent by 2018, up from the current rate of 12.4 percent. The ILO report noted that “youth unemployment increased by as much as 24.9 per cent in the Developed Economies and European Union between 2008 and 2012, and the youth unemployment rate was at a decades-long high of 18.1 per cent in 2012.” The report added that this year there are 73.4 million young people unemployed throughout the world, “an increase of 3.5 million since 2007 and 0.8 million above the level in 2011.” More than one third of jobless youth have been unemployed for at least half a year. The portion of young people in developed countries who are neither employed nor in school has likewise grown significantly. Between 2008 and 2010, this group grew by 2.1 percentage points to 15.8 percent. Among those young people in Europe who do have jobs, one quarter were working part-time and 40.5 percent were working
under temporary contracts. The official youth unemployment rate in the United States is 16.2 percent, considerably more than twice the official rate for the population as a whole. But like the overall unemployment rate, this does not take into account the departure of millions of people from the labor force. The labor force participation rate for those under the age of 25 is at its lowest rate in four decades, producing a real unemployment rate of 22.9 percent. Moreover, the vast majority of jobs created since 2008 in the US have been lowwage, paying between $7.69 and $13.83 an hour, according to a study released last year by the National Employment Law Project. The disappearance of decent-paying work has led the wages of young people working full time in the US to fall by 6 percent since 2008—more than any other section of the population. Despair at the prospect of a lifetime in poverty—coupled with other social ills exacerbated by the economic crisis and government austerity policies—has driven a growing number of youth to suicide. One in six US high school students has seriously considered taking his or her life, and one in twelve has attempted it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since the outbreak of the economic crisis, the portion of US teens who
Capitalism and the crisis facing young people attempted suicide has shot up, from 6.3 percent in 2008 to 7.8 percent in 2011. Even as wages fall and jobs disappear, the prospect of a decent education is moving further and further out of reach for young people. Throughout the world, public education is being dismantled and privatized. The United States is leading this drive, with mass closures of public schools taking place throughout the country. Earlier this month, a public school district in Michigan shut down completely for lack of funds. Tuition at colleges has soared, saddling an entire generation of college graduates with a huge debt burden. Between 2003 and 2012, the portion of all 25-year-olds in the US with student debt rose from 25 percent to 43 percent. In the same period, the average amount of student debt owed by 25-year-olds doubled from $10,649 to $20,326. Lenders, meanwhile, have become increasingly aggressive and predatory in collecting debts from students who are less and less able to pay.
Young people in the United States and the other imperialist centers, deprived of the opportunity for decent employment and a future, provide the shock troops for everexpanding wars of aggression, sacrificing in the process their lives or limbs or their physical and mental health. In the aftermath of the 2011 revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security advisor under Carter and a leading figure in the US political establishment, warned about the potentially revolutionary consequences of a generation of educated young people with no future. “Populations of young adults…are especially explosive when combined with the revolution in communication technology,” he warned in his book, Strategic Vision. “Often educated but unemployed, their resulting frustration and alienation” leaves them “susceptible to ideological agitation and revolutionary mobilization.” Brzezinski was referring specifically to youth in “developing” countries, but the
Health of students in higher education In general, outcomes such as quality of life and well-being of young adults particularly university students have been described by a limited number of researchers. Despite the fact that several previous studies hade stated that psychological distress is elevated among university students, and may be significantly higher than in the general population student quality of life and wellbeing and its determinant and changes during the period of enrolment have received only limited attention in workenvironment and public health research internationally and nationally. On the other hand there is a substantial research literature addressing students’ health-related behavior such as alcohol consumption and tobacco/drug use. The scant research that has been done on the student well-being has tended to concentrate on selected segments of students such as medical students. Most studies have addressed only the role of academic-related factors in explanation of health disorders and not included other type of factors related to student life outside the university. In sum, there is a lack of research on student well being and quality of life in a longitudinal perspective. An improved understanding is essential in design and formation of higher education with superior quality. This area is significant either to examine how optional functioning and performance can be best obtained, and enhanced or to develop oppor-
tunity to exert a positive influence on the health of future generations through the assessment and reduction of the risks that may result in poor quality of life and wellbeing in later working life. Review of the existing literature concerning the health of university students suggests that the most frequent symptoms from which they suffer are depression, anxiety, sleeping problems, chronic fatigue, and back ache. The frequency of these symptoms has an influence on self-perception of health. The literature confirms that students who have fewer symptoms tend to evaluate their own health significantly higher. A variety of studies of college-student populations have demonstrated the prevalence of substantial psychological distress. These studies have found a higher level of distress among university students than their non-university peers. They show that the greatest difference between the student and general populations consist in role limitation due to emotional problems, with students showing higher scores on this scale. In recent years, there has been a public debate, even alarm, about a perceived increase in mental-health problems among university students. This particularly applies to American students, but may also be of concern
same could be said for Europe and the United States. Brzezinski, a veteran defender of the ruling class, is right to be worried. The disastrous conditions confronting young people must lead inevitably to political upheavals that will far eclipse those of 2011. Brzezinski and other commentators speak worriedly about the growing crisis of youth unemployment and indebtedness. None of them, however, has presented—or can present—any solution to the crisis. This is because the dismal prospects offered to young people are an expression of the failure of the capitalist system. Mired in crisis, the ruling class has sought to preserve its own position through a relentless attack on the entire working class. The coming mass struggles of youth and workers must be animated by a program and perspective aimed at doing away with the archaic and irrational capitalist system, in which all of society is subordinated to the enrichment of a tiny ruling elite. Young people must take up the fight for socialism. Andre Damon
in other countries. Such concern has been aggravated by observations made by the staff of student health-care organizations – which have been assembled into bodies of longitudinal material, both nationally and locally. Among increasing problems are emotional and behavioral difficulties, a range of psychological problems, and further problems related to developmental issues, relationships and academic skills. Research of students in higher education has shown a high prevalence of psychological distress and depression with reports of 10-50% clinically afflicted. Some studies has also shown an association between mental health problems and unwanted outcomes such as high alcohol consumption and attrition. But it is uncertain if heightened distress during the time in higher education is an effect of educational factors. Whose responsibility? An important goal of higher education today is life-long learning, and working life is now imposing ever greater demands for flexibility and continuing education. Naturally, it will be difficult to attract people in employment to university studies if the price of a university education is poorer health and an unhealthy work environment. Both the government and the universities must assume the responsibility of ensuring that attention is paid to students’ ill-health. Marjan Vaez
Study exposes global recession’s heavy toll on girls and women A study published by Plan International and the Overseas Development Institute reveals a sharp drop in basic conditions and quality of life for many of the world’s girls and women. While the world’s poorest have been worst affected on the whole, persistent and pernicious disparities exist between boys and girls in rates of infant mortality, levels of education, malnutrition, abuse, and neglect, and in conditions of child labor. The main cause of the poor conditions for girls and women since 2008 is that the crisis has worsened existing inequalities. These inequalities are life-threatening for millions of girls, worse now than they were even five years ago. “Girls are the largest marginalized group in the world,” Nigel Chapman, head of Plan International, a children’s rights organization, has said. “It is little surprise that the most vulnerable suffer more in times of austerity but to see the impact in higher mortality rates, reduced life expectancy, less opportunities and greater risks for girls and boys is stark.” The study opens by making an important observation: global poverty has been exacerbated by the shift away from the initial stimulus policies pursued by governments in the immediate aftermath of the crisis, money spent in effort to stabilize national economies. By the year 2010, governments focused on implementing austerity policies in order to pay for the bailout of the world’s financial elite and banking institutions, and hedge against a poor global economic outlook. The authors note, “Austerity measures are either being implemented or under serious consideration in 138 countries, including 94 developing countries.... This shift towards austerity has been most pronounced in the Middle East and Africa, where three-quarters of the region’s countries have seen their GDP contract by 5.3 percent on average.” Cuts to state-funded social services like basic maternity care, immunizations, schools, and food assistance negatively affect women and children especially. However, the effects of uneducated, malnourished and ailing populations reverberate throughout the entire society. When basic resources are scarce, children are prioritized and girls frequently lose out to boys. Infant mortality rates among girls and boys are extremely unequal. The study notes that for every percentage point drop in a nation’s GDP, the main measure of economic contraction, 1.5 boys die per thousand children compared with 7.1 girls. High food prices and dropping incomes are the primary culprit of the recent increase in child malnutrition. The ongoing financial crisis pushed food prices up to record levels in 2012. In 55 developing countries, food prices shot up over 80 percent. Women and children—especially girls, the study shows—eat less than boys and other male family members. This has led to unprecedented rates of wasting among girls in Bangladesh and Cambodia. It has also contributed to increased infant mortality among girls in the countries studied. When household budgets drop, or education and
transportation costs rise, boys are typically favored over girls for education. It is common that girls in poor households miss a lot of schooling, or drop out entirely. When the cascading effects of economic contraction and falling household income hit girls and women hard, it affects the entire society. Primary caregivers are usually women and girls. In both developed and developing countries, women are increasingly the main income earners as male unemployment rises and women take up one or more lower-paying jobs, typically in service jobs. Due to unaffordable school fees and transportation costs—no doubt exacerbated by war and political instability—children in Egypt, Sudan and Yemen have been taken out of school. Before the onset of the crisis, 46 percent of girls completed primary school in Yemen, compared with 74 percent of boys. In Nigeria, girls are 10 percent more likely than boys to drop out now than they were in 2007. Entrenched gender roles result in girls being kept at home when mothers take on more work. Many women must work long hours for little pay, leaving the basic needs of the household in the care of their daughters. Girls are also being married off earlier, placing them in danger of dying in childbirth, a leading cause of death for those under 20. Among girls aged 10-16 living in Brazil, parental unemployment sharply increased the likelihood that they would drop out of school to find work. For 16 year-old girls, the likelihood is about 50 percent. Young women in both developed and developing countries are worse affected by current high unemployment. Close to the onset of the crisis, the world saw one of the highest youth unemployment levels ever recorded, 79 million people aged 15-24 unemployed. Considered secondary earners and occupying low-wage, low-skill jobs, women and girls are more likely to lose their jobs. In North Africa, women’s unemployment increased by more than 9 percentage points, compared with men’s unemployment increasing 3.1 points. In Cambodia, 17 percent of all garment workers— 50,000—were made jobless due to the crisis. In poor countries, when girls end up working instead of going to school, they often seek work as domestics. This means taking on multiple risks by migrating, working for little pay and working inside people’s homes. Removed from the public sphere, abuse of domestic workers often remains hidden. Sharp increases in HIV and other sexually transmitted infections have been found in women aged 15-24 in developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, women are 59 percent of those living with HIV. In the Caribbean, young women are 2.5 times more likely to contract HIV, mainly transmitted via prostitution. In developed countries, where there have been massive cuts to the operations of the public sector, in which there is a greater share of women workers, these have contributed to making the existence of the poorest households—those headed by sin-
gle mothers—even more precarious. The authors focus on the sharply deteriorating social conditions in Greece, writing, “For instance, the unemployment rate among young women is 60.4 percent, compared with 46.1 percent for young men.... A staggering 67.4 percent of Greek women 15-19 were unemployed in late 2011—an almost 40 percent increase since 2008—compared with 44.5 percent of young men in the same age group. Unlike in northern European countries, tertiary education graduates also have high rates of unemployment and underemployment.” In developing countries, high unemployment, low wages and job insecurity send desperate young women into high-risk jobs, like drug peddling and sex work. In developed countries, high youth unemployment, costly tuition, and mounting student debt have brought about an increase in prostitution among young women—and men. Websites like SponsorAScholar.co.uk and SeekingArrangement.com put desperate young people in touch with wealthy older men. It is the authors’ position that austerity policies are counterproductive to economic recovery, and instead fiscal stimulus and social spending are required. The study contains policy proposals to mitigate the harshest effects of the recession and retain some of the gains toward Millennium Development Goals achieved in the five years before 2007 by investing in social programs immediately. Forecasting that the children whose conditions are reported on will have their entire lives determined by the consequences of this crisis, governments are advised to account for these children’s needs and listen to their opinions. Since none of the fundamental causes of the 20072008 global economic crisis have been resolved, austerity policies, and even the economic contraction they create, are preferable to spending in times of profound economic uncertainty. These conditions require that working people draw definite political conclusions. Nothing will create meaningful and lasting change in the inequalities reported in this study short of the mobilization of the international working class to reorganize society in order to meet human need. Kristina Betinis
Editors: Chia Barsen Editors' Assistant: Nazila Sadeghi, Siavash Shahabi iran.cyo@gmail.com http://cyo-iran.blogspot.com youtube.com/user/sjkiran1