Meanwhile, gains in productivity are being redistributed to the benefit of capital and the detriment of labour. The crisis we are experiencing is what Gramsci had in mind when he spoke of the old order dying while the new hesitates to be born. Such people are trying to imagine a different sort of future. They are looking for a new concept, a utopian project or political prophecy that will restore the vision of a society that has recovered its inner harmony. The almost universal suspicion of grand political schemes, and the total lack of faith in politicians, the technocracy and the media, give ample reason for doubt.
All elections produce smaller and smaller turnouts and ever larger numbers of blank ballot papers.
More and more people no longer even register to vote. On the left, the Socialist Party has practically no leaders with working-class backgrounds. The Communist Party lacks all political identity and has almost completely lost its social base. And yet, many people are trying to inject some measure of humanity into the relentless machinery of neoliberalism. They feel the need for responsible involvement and collective action.