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Them and us hunger highflyers and HIMARS

Marxist Analysis · 2026-05-13

Core Argument

The article argues that capitalism in its current phase of decline is defined by a grotesque and intensifying contradiction: the simultaneous explosion of luxury consumption for a tiny elite and the systematic immiseration of billions, including in the advanced capitalist heartlands. This is not a temporary malfunction but the logical expression of a system in irreversible decay. The ruling class responds to crisis not by meeting human needs but by pouring trillions into military spending, while preparing a new wave of austerity. The only progressive resolution is the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and the construction of socialism.

Theoretical Grounding

The analysis is rooted in the Marxist tradition of political economy and class analysis, drawing on Marx's concept of the "economics of the madhouse" — the irrationality of a system that produces wealth and poverty side by side. It explicitly invokes Karl Kautsky's historical analogy of the late Roman Republic, where ruling-class decadence and mass impoverishment coexisted in a society "already doomed to death." The article also channels Rosa Luxemburg's famous formulation — socialism or barbarism — as the stark choice facing humanity. The framework is one of capitalist decay and the impossibility of reformist solutions within the existing order, consistent with the classical Marxist tradition of the revolutionary party.

Conjunctural Relevance

The article is situated in the immediate aftermath of the 2022 cost-of-living crisis, the war in Ukraine, and the post-pandemic inflationary surge. It provides specific data points:

  • The global luxury goods market projected to grow from $349.1 billion to $419 billion by 2027.
  • India's ultra-high-net-worth individuals grew 11% between 2020 and 2021, while India accounts for 33% of those newly plunged into extreme poverty worldwide.
  • Food speculation by the top five investment banks generated an "obscene" £4 billion in extra trading revenues after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
  • In Britain, grocery inflation hit 13.9% in September 2022; 10 million adults and 4 million children were unable to eat regular meals.
  • 330,000 excess deaths in Britain are attributed to austerity policies.
  • US military assistance to Ukraine exceeded $15 billion; Lockheed Martin's share price rose 14%; Rheinmetall expects 25% sales growth.
  • 50 paid employees of arms companies work inside the UK Ministry of Defence.

The article connects these phenomena to the political conjuncture: the Truss government's collapse, the wave of strikes across Britain, and the preparation of a new round of austerity to fill a £70 billion hole in public finances.

Where the Argument Continues

This article is a snapshot of a recurring theme in the IDOM corpus: the class polarisation of the cost-of-living crisis. Readers should consult:

  • Earlier IDOM articles from 2022 on inflation, energy bills, and housing (referenced in the text).
  • Later IDOM analyses of the strike wave in Britain and Europe, which develop the argument that workers are beginning to fight back.
  • Against the Stream episodes covering the war in Ukraine and the political economy of NATO expansion, which deepen the critique of militarism and the arms industry.
  • Marxist texts on the tendency of the rate of profit to fall and the theory of capitalist crisis, which provide the deeper structural explanation for why the system cannot reform itself.

Connections

  • Karl Kautsky, The Class Struggle (1892) — the Roman Republic analogy is drawn from this text.
  • Rosa Luxemburg, The Crisis of German Social Democracy (the "Junius Pamphlet") — the source of "socialism or barbarism."
  • Karl Marx, Capital — particularly on primitive accumulation and the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation.
  • IPES Food report on food speculation (2022) — empirical basis for the argument on hunger.
  • openDemocracy investigation (2022) on arms company staff inside the UK Ministry of Defence.
  • IDOM articles on the energy crisis and the housing crisis from mid-2022.

Key Quotes

  1. "Capitalism is incapable of offering a decent and dignified existence to workers and the poor, yet provides unimaginable luxury for the elite. While billions struggle to find enough to eat, the billionaires dine like royalty. The necessities of life are increasingly unattainable, yet capitalist governments plough billions into instruments of death. To quote Marx, these are the economics of the madhouse."

  2. "The rich are literally stealing bread from the mouths of the poor."

  3. "The mouthpieces of the British ruling class have officially outdone Marie Antoinette, declaring: 'let them eat nothing.'"

  4. "All the largest defence companies have seen their share prices go up since Russia's invasion of Ukraine... These merchants of death often have a direct line to governments."

  5. "The profound crisis of capitalism, combined with the most incompetent political leadership in living memory, is preparing an avalanche of class struggle. Fat cats take heed."

  6. "Rosa Luxemburg explained that only two roads are available to humanity: socialism or barbarism. As the gulf widens between them and us, the battle to determine which course we will take falls to the working class, who must fight to bring down this senile system and build a socialist society, before it is too late."