The imperialist and decadent phase of capitalism, which began in the first years of the last century, approximately, in the initial period was characterized essentially by: the concentration of production and capital; the fusion/symbiosis of bank capital and industrial capital and the consequent formation of a financial oligarchy; the exportation of capital; the allocation of the world among the international monopolistic groups; the allocation of the whole surface of Earth among the greatest imperialist powers. Today there’s no more colonialism, but imperialism remained and it accentuated some of its original characteristics: above all, parasitism.

But the phase of capitalist decadence is not to be intended as the end of its cycles of development, crisis and war, which instead continue to manifest themselves with growing destructivity. From crisis to crisis, a war and a reconstruction after another, the domination of bourgeoisie could remain for some time, together with the “continuous revolution of the instruments of production”. The problem is how much this system costs to humanity and to the whole planet in social and environmental terms. Above all, since it has arrived to its imperialist and decadent phase, capitalism is able to resolve its own contradictions only at the price of more and more unbearable catastrophes. The solution is up to proletarians, the only ones who can demolish this decadent system.

• leftcom.org Puntualizzazione sul concetto di decadenza