As one can see, such a mode of conducting the class struggle is dependent
on there always being new areas of the world system into which to
relocate, and this is dependent on the existence of a significant rural sector
that is not yet engaged in the wage-labor market. But the latter is precisely
what has been diminishing as a secular trend. The deruralization
of the world is on a fast upward curve. It has grown continuously over
500 years but most dramatically since 1945. It is quite possible to foresee
that it will have largely disappeared in another 25 years. Once the whole world system is deruralized, the only option for capitalists is to pursue
the class struggles where they are presently located. And here the odds
are against them. Even with the increased polarization of real income not
only in the world system as a whole but within the wealthiest countries,
the political and market sophistication of the lower strata continues to
grow. Even where there are large numbers of persons who are technically
unemployed and deriving their income, such as it is, from the informal
economy, the real alternatives available to workers located in the barrios
and favelas of the world system are such that they are in a position to
demand reasonable wage levels in order to enter the formal wage
economy. The net result of all of this is a serious pressure on profit levels
that will increase over time.