That's exactly the point, reforms will be eroded by imperialism turned inwards to protect wealth of the ruling class. The systems are allowed to continue in their current state funded by taxation until they're not (as profits continue to decline). If you accept Lenin's argument that imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism, then it is difficult to decouple how those social programs are funded and where the wealth is taken from
Yeah I could have been clearer, sorry, there are attempts to chip away, but they accelerate during times of economic downturn whether that is a capital crisis or for example completely isolating from global capital. What I mean is that it exists as it stands today at the pleasure of the ruling class who will take it away if they decide it is 'necessary' (maintain growth of their wealth).
I guess myself and some of the other comments are pointing out that even if it were founded through leftist action, that action did not go far enough to decouple the funding from imperialism (global capital) which makes the system itself founded and sustained by imperialism. The US not having social programs doesn't disprove this, it just means the left hasn't even evolved to the point where there is enough fear to toss out these programs funded by global capital here.
If there were concessions won today in the US that established a wealth tax on millionaires/billionaires and corporations to fund UBI, this would be good, but it would also be funded through the activities of the ultra rich and corporations, which are primarily imperialist in nature through the extractive relationship between the core and periphery. The rich would continue to get rich off exploitation and a piece of that wealth would be shared with citizens who then also get to share in the benefit of that exploitation of the periphery. It's why those distribution of wealth maps look so different between distribute within the country individually vs distribute equally across the globe.
That's exactly the point, reforms will be eroded by imperialism turned inwards to protect wealth of the ruling class. The systems are allowed to continue in their current state funded by taxation until they're not (as profits continue to decline). If you accept Lenin's argument that imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism, then it is difficult to decouple how those social programs are funded and where the wealth is taken from
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Yeah I could have been clearer, sorry, there are attempts to chip away, but they accelerate during times of economic downturn whether that is a capital crisis or for example completely isolating from global capital. What I mean is that it exists as it stands today at the pleasure of the ruling class who will take it away if they decide it is 'necessary' (maintain growth of their wealth).
I guess myself and some of the other comments are pointing out that even if it were founded through leftist action, that action did not go far enough to decouple the funding from imperialism (global capital) which makes the system itself founded and sustained by imperialism. The US not having social programs doesn't disprove this, it just means the left hasn't even evolved to the point where there is enough fear to toss out these programs funded by global capital here.
If there were concessions won today in the US that established a wealth tax on millionaires/billionaires and corporations to fund UBI, this would be good, but it would also be funded through the activities of the ultra rich and corporations, which are primarily imperialist in nature through the extractive relationship between the core and periphery. The rich would continue to get rich off exploitation and a piece of that wealth would be shared with citizens who then also get to share in the benefit of that exploitation of the periphery. It's why those distribution of wealth maps look so different between distribute within the country individually vs distribute equally across the globe.