A POSTCAPITALIST PARADIGM: THE COMMON GOOD OF ...

system, generated by a quarter of a century old neo-liberalism within
which financial capital surpasses in size, rivals with, and imposes itself
on productive capital; the release of finances that followed the dissociation
of the dollar from the gold standard in Nixon´s time. Real economy
is replaced by virtual economy, in which millionaire transactions are carried
out in a split second from one computer to another without moving
a dollar. But what is more problematic –if there could be something more
problematic—is that the crisis will no longer be only financial, and from
now on its nature will present new complexity not restricted to the financial
component, as we remember from previous crises.
The present financial crisis ( I am among those who think it is not possible
to predict its end) unleashed in 2008 because of real estate indebtedness
(more specifically of housing) caused by the so-called subprime
mortgages in the United States. Allow me to emphasize that on this occasion
it breaks out outside the productive sector, strictly speaking,
which is not in correspondence with preceding crises. But it is fair to
say that it could have equally broken out in other spaces – any connected
to short-term credit enticements – and not only from a housing crisis.
The “Occupy Wall Street” Movement that has extended through the
United States, the continuous anti-system demonstrations by Chilean
students, the Movement of “the Indignant” against the brutal unemployment
and neglect of the working class in Spain and the most intense
deterioration of living conditions in Greece are indications of a response
to the crisis that is coming from somewhere else – from the masses,
from their outrage – and that demands attention. 177
South European economies, totally inserted in the crisis scenario, reveal
the generalized vulnerability and instability in which we find ourselves,
and announce a time of inability of capital which, I dare to think, will be-
177 I have read somewhere that today´s indignant persons were yesterday´s resigned
ones. This is possible, or almost certain. Perhaps this was highlighted to underestimate
them. However, if it were accurate, it would be very positive. Let´s
hope that all those who are still resigned will start to become indignant, to resist
and to say no as of tomorrow.
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