Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The world capitalist system is beset on all sides by crisis. Debt is sky-high, economies are stagnating and society is more polarised than ever. To add to this mess, the tapestry of world relations – the ‘rules-based order’ – is unravelling. Tit-for-tat tariffs that seek to export the crisis threaten to turn into trade wars that will tear up world trade.
The liberals see Trump as the wrecking ball causing the crisis. But is this true? By slashing the debt, raising tariffs and ditching the Ukraine war, he is actually trying to stabilise American capitalism, even if that comes at the expense of the rest of the world.
His efforts, however, will be in vain. Every attempt to solve one crisis will simply exacerbate another. Ultimately, tariffs will push up inflation, whereas his reckless cuts will prepare a gigantic backlash of class struggle. There is no way out on a capitalist basis because capitalism itself is the root of the problem.
For communists, therefore, the choice is not between tariffs or free trade. Rearmament and austerity are only ‘necessary’ as long as we accept the logic of the capitalist system. Our job, on the contrary, is not to tinker with the capitalist system, but to overthrow it.
To explain the communist alternative, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh of the international leadership of the RCI, met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International.
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0:00 - Intro
5:56 - Is Trump a stabilizing force?
37:43 - Protectionism or free trade
1:04:40 - Will EU rearmament make the working class safer?
___
The Revolutionary Communist International is fighting capitalism in over 60 countries – join us! marxist.com/join
This episode was streamed on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.
Spotify – open.spotify.com/episode/6e8YzQo5PUhrcR96qgGN2g?si=3bd9c255f1544ee1
Apple Music – podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
The world capitalist system is beset on all sides by crisis. Debt is sky-high, economies are stagnating and society is more polarised than ever. To add to this mess, the tapestry of world relations – the ‘rules-based order’ – is unravelling. Tit-for-tat tariffs that seek to export the crisis threaten to turn into trade wars that will tear up world trade.
The liberals see Trump as the wrecking ball causing the crisis. But is this true? By slashing the debt, raising tariffs and ditching the Ukraine war, he is actually trying to stabilise American capitalism, even if that comes at the expense of the rest of the world.
His efforts, however, will be in vain. Every attempt to solve one crisis will simply exacerbate another. Ultimately, tariffs will push up inflation, whereas his reckless cuts will prepare a gigantic backlash of class struggle. There is no way out on a capitalist basis because capitalism itself is the root of the problem.
For communists, therefore, the choice is not between tariffs or free trade. Rearmament and austerity are only ‘necessary’ as long as we accept the logic of the capitalist system. Our job, on the contrary, is not to tinker with the capitalist system, but to overthrow it.
To explain the communist alternative, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh of the international leadership of the RCI, met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International.
___
0:00 - Intro
5:56 - Is Trump a stabilizing force?
37:43 - Protectionism or free trade
1:04:40 - Will EU rearmament make the working class safer?
___
The Revolutionary Communist International is fighting capitalism in over 60 countries – join us! marxist.com/join
This episode was streamed on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.
Spotify – open.spotify.com/episode/6e8YzQo5PUhrcR96qgGN2g?si=3bd9c255f1544ee1
Apple Music – podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
