We are learning this lesson of capitalist history once again. The post war boom which was to usher us through the golden gates of the 21st century is now officially dead. All over the capitalist world, political and economic crises abound. International competition intensifies as capitalists struggle to survive; banks fail, giant industries fail, the international monetary system itself lurches from one crisis to another; unemployment deepens while prices continue to rise and everywhere the class struggle sharpens.