The hysteria of the media, predicting anything from riots to terrorist attacks against the G20 meeting in Docklands, has given this grand capitalist "mass" far more importance than it really has.

Past history shows that nothing ever comes out of such meetings, except grandiose statements of intent which never result in anything real for working people. And we can be sure that, despite Brown's farcical posturing as a "world leader" (no doubt to make up for being the bankers' poodle here!), nothing will come out of this one - certainly nothing that can help to protect the rest of us from the devastating impact of the present crisis.

A worldwide issue

Not that the present crisis is not international in scale, of course. Starting from the US it spread like wildfire to the most remote regions. Working people all over the world are now stuck in the same nightmarish boat! But how could it be otherwise? Capitalism has long brought the world into a single gigantic market, with a financial backbone linking all countries together.

However, contrary to what some claim, including in trade union circles, there is nothing wrong with the economy being international. Quite the opposite: the possibility of pooling resources and skills together on such a scale would mean a gigantic step forward for mankind - that is, if it was put at the service of the majority's interests.

But we live in a world ruled by a thin layer of capitalists whose only aim is ever-increasing profits. For them, this internationalisation was never a means to boost the world's economy for the benefit of all. It was merely a way of allowing the biggest sharks to expand their looting.

And it was this looting which caused speculative bubbles in most countries in the run-up to the crisis. Behind these bubbles were a small number of very big capitalist sharks, including giant banks like RBS, which made a fortune ripping off the planet. But of course, when the bubble finally burst in the US, the floor fell under the banking giants' feet and they spread the disease all over the world.

An assembly of thieves

We are told that the G20, IMF, UN, etc.., with their huge resources and ability to coordinate things worldwide, would be best placed to deal with the crisis.

But this has not happened, quite simply because these bodies are formed by trustees of the capitalists, whose only concern is to protect the profits of their masters against their rivals from other countries. This is why, even before the present summit, the G20 leaders failed to agree on a coordinated bailout - although they had all done just that in their own countries. None of them wants to be told how to use their national public funds, because they want these funds to be used only to bail out their home-grown profit sharks!

Above all, the G20 is a meeting of 20 clones of Brown, whose only aim is to help their capitalists masters force the bill of their crisis down the throats of working people. And this is why we cannot and should not expect anything from such summits of international bodies.

Capitalism is the problem

The fact that 80 years after the Great Depression and despite the lessons learned from this terrible period, the capitalist system has only managed to produce yet another world crisis, caused by the very same financial madness, only shows its total bankruptcy. Those who advocate "better world regulation" as a solution to the crisis, in order to tame the beast, are leading us up the garden path. Expecting the trustees of the capitalist sharks to regulate the profiteering of their masters is like dreaming that real sharks have become vegetarian!

Yes, we will need to rid this world, once and for all, of the constant threat of such mad, devastating crises, which deprive millions of working people of their livelihoods, destroy whole industries and turn entire regions into wastelands. But this will not happen as long as we allow capitalism to rule the world. Capitalism is the problem, with its mad profiteering, and it will have to be overthrown.

As we face the worse attacks on our conditions for generations, going to Brown or to the G20 with a begging bowl in order to save "our" bosses, as union leaders do, is suicidal. We, workers have no interests in common with the capitalists who caused this crisis. But we do represent a considerable collective force in this society and we will have to use it, if we are to stop the job slashers!