A new historical vista is opening before us in this time of change. Capitalism as a system has spawned deepening economic crisis alongside its bought-and-paid for political establishment. Neither serves the needs of our society. Whether it is secure, well-paid and meaningful jobs or a sustainable relationship with the natural environment that we depend on, our society is not delivering the results people need and deserve. We do not have the lives we want and our children’s future is threatened because of social conditions that can and should be changed.

The current capitalist global crisis began with the severe contraction in the housing markets in mid-2007. Therefore welcome to Year Five.  This inventory of where things stand may begin with the good news: the major banks, the stock market, and corporate profits have largely or completely “recovered” from the lows they reached early in 2009.

Obama’s chief strategic goal, at home and abroad, is to manage a severe crisis in one kind of capitalism (private) by achieving a transition to another kind (state managed or state). Because the crisis of private capitalism inside the US is so serious and requires so many resources and so much focused policy attention, the global position of the US receives relatively less attention and a lower priority. The Obama strategy thus entails a retreat from the Reagan-through-Bush positions on the US role in the world (expressed by attacking them as “counter-productive”).