Tfw you remember that a Trump presidency will further class awareness when he bungles the economy

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Lol hardly. This is only true for a developing economy in a world where capital flight is not a big issue. This is not true for an already developed economy that's the biggest importer in a globalized world. And besides even if it does help industry, how do you know that 1. It would be enough to recover the U.S. economy? 2. Even if prosperity does come, how will it get to workers, considering the way the US economy is currently set up? I can't believe leftypol really believes in that pro-capitalist nonsense of "if we just encourage local instead of foreign porkies…".

Also remember he wants to cut taxes for the rich significantly. If that happens, there would have to either be cuts to social spending or just huge deficits. You think that would mean prosperity?

ffs read up on the fucking transition from slaveholders to feudalism

What the hell are you smoking, capitalists have gone all in on the free trade line.

How many economists have come out against the TPP, again?

No. Protectionism is the second-to-last resort of capital in crisis (with the last resort being imperialism, of course). It is a necessary evil (from the perspective of capitalism, at least) but it is certainly not good or a welcome change for the working class. It just prolongs the inevitable collapse.

The current system isn't going to survive the lack of an actual replacement for cheap fossil fuels, and international trade is almost entirely driven by said cheap fossil fuels.

Porkies prefer free trade, but that doesn't mean that protectionism is all that good. Most big manufacturers have gone global a long time ago, and tariffs will hurt them but they won't make them necessarily bring jobs back to America. My point is that the fact most porkies want free trade doesn't mean we should automatically assume the alternative is pro-working class.

Yeah, because the fall of Roman slave society lead to the return of tribalism instead of the rise of a new socio-economic system like, say, feudalism.

The decline of the Roman Empire saw the complexity of Roman society collapse (based on multiple environmental factors), which resulted in what would eventually become the feudal system.

There was no smooth linear progression, just awkward ham-fisted attempts by Marxists to fit the collapse of a complex society like the Roman Empire into a model that claims inevitable human progression.

Which you can see in the childishly Pollyanna'ish "nature/dialectical materialism finds a way" handwaving of any concerns about the end of cheap oil

nice porky maymay

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there's a place more suitable for your kind
>>>Holla Forums

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No one claimed it was a smooth transition retard, the only important part is that slave society declined and feudalism rose. No one claims any kind of prescribed way for this to come about.

Are Marxists still struggling to fit the complex societies outside Europe into this model?

No, societies outside Europe were organized differently and therefore developed differently. European economic development is simply the most important because it became dominant over the world and supplanted the systems of all other nations.

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Last I checked capitalism and class society in general existed prior to the large scale exploitation of fossil fuels. Even declining oil reserves did cause a collapse (and subsequent mass die off), class society wouldn't be destroyed by such a thing, if anything it would be strengthened.
Either way, you primmo fuckstains won't be getting what you want.

Reminder that the post-1970s economy is a repeat of the untrammeled transnational capitalism of the 1800s, and can be halted in its tracks exactly the same way. We did it before, and we can do it again.

Obviously, short of one-world syndicalism, mere protectionism is far from perfect. Even within socdem reformism, more sophisticated protectionism such as foreign aid through FairTrade subsidized countervailing duties would be superior, and a worthy goal is regulatory/economic harmony to eliminate the exploitative international arbitrage that necessitates protectionism.

But right now, protectionism is the first step we absolutely have to take.

Protectionism can work. Do you even infant industry argument? South Korea's car industry could only develop because of protectionism and subsidies. Read Ha-Joon Chang.

That doesn't mean protectionism always works in every situation. Anyway, you also need to ask - whom does it work for? 'Cause under capitalism the main benefactors will always be the ruling class.

a revolution of faggots.

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Wew.