Friday, November 21, 2008
Lenin's view of Obama
Lenin would say that Barack Obama is just a player in the capitalistic state and will be unable to make any real changes because there are too many threads tying the state with the capitalist class (373). Obama’s victory has been touted as change for the future, but Lenin believes the change the people want will never come from the state.
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Lenin would say that Barack Obama is just a player in the capitalistic state and will be unable to make any real changes because there are too many threads tying the state with the capitalist class (373). Obama’s victory has been touted as change for the future, but Lenin believes the change the people want will never come from the state. He says that the state is just an organ of the dominant class that perpetuates their ideals as universal (315). The state’s purpose, according to Lenin, is to maintain capitalism at any cost, which means maintaining the class struggle that produces surplus and profit (314). This surplus is appropriated by the state from the working class through the 1000 threads which bind the state and the capitalists (319, 330). Lenin thinks that for any change to occur a radical break would need to happen to the 1000 threads. Only a revolution that destroys the capitalist state could bring about a better MOP such as socialism (360). Barack Obama is incapable of changing the capitalist state without overturning it, therefore he will continue to not only operate from within it but to also enable its domination (342, 373).
I ultimately agree with Lenin even though I feel that Obama is aware of the threads and wants to act on behalf of the working class. The election of Obama and his cabinet (parliament) gives the working class the illusion of power and equality, but parliament is already filled with members of the dominant class working for the interests of themselves (343). Though Obama prides himself on being more like ‘us’ than like the capitalists who have served before him this isn’t entirely the case. He graduated from two prominent schools with many capitalist alumni, these underlying ties will further contribute to the threads which bind the state to the capitalist class. In addition, Obama’s cabinet just added Hillary Clinton who brings with her the ties from the previous administration. The VP elect Joe Biden brings almost 40 years of senate ties with him as well. As much as Obama is set on change for the future, I feel that Lenin would be correct in suggesting that he has no power to change the system as it stands. Without a drastic revolution and an overturning of the current MOP, the capitalists will remain tied to the state (and Obama), continuing to pass on the dominant ideals as universal (315). As much as Obama may intend on changing the inequalities suffered by the working class, his hands are bound by the 1000 threads.
As much as Obama would like to make changes in the lives of the working class, I highly agree with your indications of his inability to do so because the “thousands threads” firm the powers of the capitalist state. Obama is an open minded man who clearly cares about the lives of the working class. However, parliamentary still exists, and he will always be surrounded by the capitalists. Lenin would insist on a revolution by the working class, and would like for Obama to give up his powers. But although Obama is hoping for a good change, the change itself will never just come from him; he will always take the capitalist state into consideration. That is why these “thousands of threads” will always be there. And I totally agree with you when you said that as much as Obama wants to make changes for the satisfaction and happiness of the working class, “his hands are bound by the 1000 threads.” Great thoughts!
-wafa
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