The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-11-09
Reviewed by
DAVID RAMSEY

DAVID RAMSEY
THE volume under review repre-
sents a serious and, to a large
extent, successful effort to give a
factual and documental vertical
ton Of the MARKHAM analysis of
the decline of capitalism in terms
of the American scene. AS such
the book is full of very valuable
statistical material, especially in
the chapters on accumulation and
the composition Of capital, the fall
in the rate Of profit, and the dis
tribution of income and wealth.
The economic sections Of the
book prove the scientific validity Of
Marks prediction Of the inevitable
decay of capitalism as monopoly
capital became more and more Of
fetter upon the forces of produc-
ton. The facts assembled by Corey
are also a verification of the Comm
terms analysis of American capt.
talisn, made during the period Of
the Coolidge Hoover boom. It will
be remembered that the Comintern
showed that American capitalism
could not escape the consequences
of the contradictions within the
capitalistic mode Of production.
Consequently the Comintern pointed
to the imminence of the acute crisis
that arrived in 1929.
With the onset of the present
crisis, the capitalists threw their
burdens of unemployment and low
er living standards on to the work
ing class, the poor farmers and ever
increasing numbers of middle
class groups. The attempts Of big
business to prop up the capitalist
system through the New Deal have
only accentuated the underlying
antagonisms of capitalism, and are
preparing the way for an even
greater collapse.
Such in brief is the Marxist thesis
Of the decline of capitalism. The
facts assembled by Corey not only
verify the correctness of this an
slysis, but bear witness to the &C
curacy and power of Marks predic-
lions. In studying the data pre-
sented by Corey, it seems as though
Marx drew his concentrations from
the facts of today, and not that the
material represents a quantitative
verifcation of the economic laws
discovered by Marx more than seven
decades ago.
TAR less adequate than his straight
/ cumulative analysis is Corey's
attempt to present the dynamics OF
the decline and decay of American
capitalism. With some exceptions,
particularly in the field Of politics
where there are many significant
omissions, the facts are there. But
there are concepts and formula
lions that are not Marxist-Leninist,
and which do not warrant the blurb
that one can find in the book "a
convincing, unified economic, his
torical, sociological and tactical ex-
position of Marxism and its revolu-
tionary proposals"
To discuss those ideas of Corey
which do not jibe with the Marx1st-
feminist analysis of the American
scene would require an extended
discussion. Moreover, in the cur
rent issue of The Communist there
is a long critique of these points
and 1t would not be useful to dupli-
cate the arguments presented there.
It is only necessary to mention Co.
rey's false theory Of the "exhaus-
ton" of capitalism and his curious
conception Of an elmer imperial
ism" in America before the epoch
Of monopoly capitalism, as among
his most important distortions OF
Marxism- Leninism.
The weakest part of the book is
the concluding chapter on the COM
ing American Revolution. Here Co
rey neglectS or evades all the i'm
portant issues that confront the
revolutionary movement in the
United States today. For example,
he says nothing about the role OF
the Communist Party in organizing
the American toilers for the over
throw of capitalism. He makes only
two references to the Party; on both
occasions only in historical content.
and it's sections all over the world,
TAI