By Ed Meek

Staffed with billionaires including Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, and Trump himself, a reputed billionaire, the present administration is made up the country’s lords — and we are their serfs

Capital’s Grave: Neofeudalism and the New Class Struggle by Jodi Dean. Verso Books, London, 169 pages, $24.95.

Jodi Dean, an American political theorist and professor in the Political Science Department at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, made the news last year when she lost her position because she expressed her pro-Palestinian stance on campus. She has since been reinstated. Although Bernie, AOC and the Squad, and other progressive Democrats, are characterized by Republicans as radicals, they are essentially center-left politicians who are willing to work within the system to enact beneficial change, particularly for the working class. Jodi Dean is a radical who wants a different system. She is not alone. Many Americans on the left and right want major changes. Hence the return of Trump.

In the light of the recent election, it seems like an apt time to consider what exactly has gotten us to this dire state of affairs. A majority of American voters asserted their displeasure with the status quo and voted for the candidate who promised to shake things up and lower inflation, deport undocumented immigrants, crack  down on crime, level tariffs on imports, implement an America-first foreign policy, ban trans persons from sports teams and bathrooms, allow states to determine policies on abortion, and buzzcut government jobs. The first three of these objectives are the most salient ones for his supporters, at least according to polls. Whether Trump will make sizable headway on any of them is up in the air. In any case, Americans, like many other voters in the world, expressed their unhappiness and anger with the current government by voting for the opposition.

In her short book, Dean makes an interesting argument as to why this has occurred and what she thinks should be done about it. The title refers to the end of capitalism and the advent of a new era of feudalism. Dean explains that capitalism is based on the premise that we produce goods and sell them for a profit. As a company develops, productivity should rise while the efficient company reinvests to create better products. Workers will be rewarded as profits increase. But global trade destroyed much of American manufacturing. There were cheap goods, but an enormous number of American jobs were wiped out because of cheaper labor costs elsewhere. In addition, automation has reduced the need for factory workers. What we are mostly left with are services. Jobs are plentiful in healthcare, education, restaurant work, sales, and law. And that includes the new “gig” economy of drivers, food and product deliverers, airbnb landlords, influencers, etc. These jobs are touted as great side-hustles that afford practitioners freedom and choice. The catch is that workers have few rights and no benefits. The huge winners in our winner-takes-all economy are the owners, while the losers are the workers, reduced to being serfs suffering from “catastrophic anxiety,” constantly worried about bankruptcy or losing their job or finding the rent raised or dealing with a pandemic. Service jobs are dependent on the economy and the workers are what Marx calls surplus people, needed when the economy is robust and expendable  during a slowdown.

In addition, companies no longer invest profits in research and development. Instead, they buy back their own stock, which increases dividends for themselves. They use their profits to lobby politicians for favorable (low) tax laws. They find no-tax zones like Ireland and move their headquarters there. Amazon gets tax breaks from cities and states because the mega-company promises to provide jobs. The latest scam by Musk and Trump involves investing in cryptocurrency and then inviting others to do so. Of course, that increases their own net worth. Sarah Kendzior (Hiding in Plain Sight) describes this as kleptocracy. The point is, this isn’t actually capitalism — it’s machinery that runs on the extraction of wealth.

Dean refers to the owners as lords and the workers as serfs in what she calls neofeudalism.  Staffed with billionaires including Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, and Trump himself, a reputed billionaire, the present administration is made up of the country’s lords — and we are their serfs. The characterization is apt for those millions of Americans who rent an apartment, purchase a car with loans, get health insurance through Obamacare, and live paycheck to paycheck with credit card debt and/or college loans to pay off each month. With an average household income of 80K in the US, this would fit the 50% of the country earning less than the average. With inflation and high interest rates, even Americans earning more than the average income find it difficult to keep up with the bills.

The wealth continues to become more and more concentrated with the top 1% holding 30% of the total net worth. The top 10% holds 60% of the wealth. The bottom half controls less than 3%. Dean’s position is that capitalism just doesn’t work and needs to be replaced.

The answer, she tells us, is communism with “Universal Basic Services” providing healthcare, housing, and education for everyone. Good jobs will be bolstered by unions. Unpaid “reproductive labor,” such as motherhood and caring for family and elders, as well as housework, would be included in what constitutes work. A key element of communism is the abolition of private property. Nearly all land is now privately owned: “in the US 100 families own about 42 million acres” according to Dean. How the abolition of private property would work out in this scenario is puzzling. “From each according to his ability to each according to his needs,” insisted Marx. Dean claims radical change of that type will be necessary to deal with the growing climate crisis if we are to thrive in the future.

In the next four years, it will be interesting to observe how Americans deal with the many changes Trump and his well-heeled friends are promising. Whether Americans are ready to demand the government provide them with universal basic services — and whether those services will evolve into good jobs — is a big question. Dean’s new book gives us plenty to talk about.

An interview with Jodi Dean about Capital’s Grave: Neofeudalism and the New Class Struggle

Ed Meek is the author of High Tide (poems) and Luck (short stories).