Re: [sixties-l] Re: Jacobs on Global Capitalism

From: wmmmandel@earthlink.net
Date: Tue Aug 14 2001 - 14:10:41 EDT

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    Marx was right in his analysis of capitalism, and history has proved him
    wrong in what to do about it, for his solution -- abolition of the
    market and of production of commodities (goods made for sale, their
    usefulness being immaterial) -- meticulously applied by Stalin and all
    the Communist-led governments, has proved to be yet another failed
    Utopia.
            Last night, on C-Span, I watched a jam-packed press conference called
    by the anti-globalization movement. Its spokespeople are suing the
    government on the basis of the organized brutality against them in the
    major demonstrations this past year. The globalization they oppose is
    simply the further development of what Lenin, and German
    Social-Democrats before him, called the imperialist stage of capitalism.
    They oppose impoverishment of non-imperialist countries by the IMF and
    World Bank. They are against racism. Their bill of demands is one that
    Marxists can support totally. The difference is that they offer no
    Utopia, but a deconstruction of that which Marxism undertook to oppose.
    Their technique is the fullest use of democracy, above all freedom of
    assembly.
            Marx wrote that philosophers had only explained the world, but the job
    is to change it. It is the anti-globalization movement which organizes
    that effort today, and not minuscule parties splitting sectarian hairs
    over seizure of power by the working class, which shows not the
    slightest interest in doing so.
                                                    Bill Mandel

    Jay Moore wrote:
    >
    > Capitalism is a world system. Looked at as such, I don't know how we can
    > doubt that at the present time the rich are getting richer and the poor are
    > getting steadily poorer. What Marx called the "general law of capitalist
    > accumulation" applies to the relations of regions and countries as well as
    > to classes within those regions and countries.



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