Having just reviewed steps that we can take now to begin gutting capitalism helps us realize how very advanced the final steps are, and how completely impossible it is to accomplish them now, without decades of preparatory work. Capitalism will have to be thoroughly weakened and on the verge of collapse before any of these final steps can succeed. The century-old demand by revolutionaries that workers “seize the means of production” is thus seen to be completely unrealistic. This is the last thing we do, not the first. By the time we are in a position to do this, victory will be assured. By the time we are able to do this we will already be acting on a daily basis through our new social arrangements; we will already have reconstituted society.

      In any case, four of the final ways to gut capitalism are: (1) seize the land; (2) seize the factories, shops, and offices; (3) seize our residences; and (4) stop paying taxes. Without taxes governments collapse. To weaken a government to the point where it is no longer capable of collecting taxes or defending property is our task. If we can succeed at this, seizing the land and the means of production and reproduction will seem anti-climactic.

      As a final gesture we should demolish the great architectural symbols of capitalism. Blow them up — the fortress-like banks, the domed capitol buildings, the great ugly skyscrapers. We might keep one or two, as museum pieces, as reminders of the nightmare world that once haunted our every hour. We’ll keep Manhattan, but evacuate it, blow up the bridges and tunnels leading into it, and seal it off. Then we can stand across the river and look over at it in wonder that we could ever have tolerated a ruling class that could have built such a horror. It will be a mausoleum for our darkest age.