tion of the bettering of the condition of the working-class under capitalism in so far as the same is possible under the laws governing capitalist production and accumulation. That is to say in so far as it affects the question of the impoverishment of the working-class. And in so far it does not in any way contradict the Marxian theory. It is quite different, however, when it comes to the abolition or limiting of the economic laws by "psychological tendencies" in the peaceful movement of the "sociological wave." Before we can accept his statements we must carefully examine into the question whether the tendencies of modern development do or do not limit the laws of capitalist production and accumulation, and if they do whether such limitations can abolish the whole capitalist system by degrees and transform it into a socialist system without the bursting of any shells. This brings us back to the purely economic question of the possibilities of capitalistic development, and the theories of the "expansion," "adaptation" and "adjustment" of capitalism brought forward by the Revisionists.
In an earlier chapter of this work we discussed at length the economic contradictions of the capitalist system. We concluded our examination with the statement that the great problem of capitalist economics is the disposition of the surplus-product created continually under that system. It is the inability to dispose of that product that is the chief cause of the temporary disturbances within its bowels, and which will lead to its final breakdown and replacement by the socialist mode of production and distribution.
The Revisionists with Bernstein at their head question the correctness of these conclusions, both as regards the crises within the capitalist system as well as with regard to its ultimate breakdown. Bernstein has nothing definite to say as to the cause of economic crises in the capitalist system, except to inform us that much could be said and has been said on either side, and that people who are interested in analogies might find very interesting analogies
