What the Fuck????
Nelson Mandela, Dr. King, Even Mother Teresa. I can see the justifications for them winning the Nobel peace prize. Barak Obama? the last time I saw anything about him in the news it was weighing the merits of sending 40 000 more soldiers to Afghanistan.
Is the state of the world so far gone that an American president who goes 12 months without starting a new war or doing anything to end the two wars his country is already in deserves a prize for peace?
A preemptive award is another argument that I heard. Barak Obama is attempting to enter a nuclear disarmament deal with Russia, he is attempting to end the war in Iraq, give him the prize and he will live up to it. Fuck that! George Bush signed more treaties than Obama has so far and Bush was pure evil. Obama's government has not done anything for ending the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Following this preemptive line of argument give me the Nobel Prize for chemistry....it might motivate me to discover the cure for cancer.
My problem is not that this makes the Nobel peace prize look bad, the committee has done that for themselves. The problem is this cheapens all the previous winners including my buddy the 14th Dali Lama.
The Nobel piece prize has today entered into the realm of "American democracy", it is now nothing more than a sad joke that fools the ignorant!
Showing posts with label imperialism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label imperialism. Show all posts
09 October 2009
13 June 2009
THe World Economy
It is not entirely fair, or for that matter accurate to simplify a globally integrated economy down to simple imperialism, therefore the following is very small part of what we are currently facing:
Global integration makes a lot of sense in the lens of capitalist growth. The traditional theory of imperialism holds, namely that domestic capital in advanced countries has fully saturated home markets and needs to find both new markets and/or cheaper sources of raw materials to increase profitability.
What is unique about the current period (and would be unique to any period of capitalist development) is the level of technology in the "home" nations.
Higher levels of technology by definition require larger capital investments, and ever increasing freedom/complexity of financial markets in order to facilitate these investments (and to get profit out of the colony).
As we are at the highest level of technology thus far in human advancement, modern imperialism requires the highest level of capital investment and most advanced financial markets the world has ever seen to be successful. All of this is fairly obvious and mundane.
Where this point becomes more interesting (to me at least) is that with greater levels of capital investment, (higher levels of development) it is easy to argue that greater levels of military security should also be a priority. This will come as no surprise to the portions of the world who live under perpetual occupation of the American military.
The two large contradictions here are that, 1. The very capitalists who rely on their home state for unprecedented military security are more often than not advocates of a shrinking the state at home (as the larger the state the more of their domestic profits are necessary to sustain it). And 2. The very same high level of technology that precipitates the need for military security in colonies (or subjugated nations, or whatever the popular thing is to call the countries we are fucking over today is), allows for easy destruction of large capital investments by small groups of unhappy, or aware citizens of these nations (ie "terrorism"). Technology facilitates the easier destruction of technology.
As per the development of any system, modern global capital holds within itself contradictions that have the potential to be its undoing.
Global integration makes a lot of sense in the lens of capitalist growth. The traditional theory of imperialism holds, namely that domestic capital in advanced countries has fully saturated home markets and needs to find both new markets and/or cheaper sources of raw materials to increase profitability.
What is unique about the current period (and would be unique to any period of capitalist development) is the level of technology in the "home" nations.
Higher levels of technology by definition require larger capital investments, and ever increasing freedom/complexity of financial markets in order to facilitate these investments (and to get profit out of the colony).
As we are at the highest level of technology thus far in human advancement, modern imperialism requires the highest level of capital investment and most advanced financial markets the world has ever seen to be successful. All of this is fairly obvious and mundane.
Where this point becomes more interesting (to me at least) is that with greater levels of capital investment, (higher levels of development) it is easy to argue that greater levels of military security should also be a priority. This will come as no surprise to the portions of the world who live under perpetual occupation of the American military.
The two large contradictions here are that, 1. The very capitalists who rely on their home state for unprecedented military security are more often than not advocates of a shrinking the state at home (as the larger the state the more of their domestic profits are necessary to sustain it). And 2. The very same high level of technology that precipitates the need for military security in colonies (or subjugated nations, or whatever the popular thing is to call the countries we are fucking over today is), allows for easy destruction of large capital investments by small groups of unhappy, or aware citizens of these nations (ie "terrorism"). Technology facilitates the easier destruction of technology.
As per the development of any system, modern global capital holds within itself contradictions that have the potential to be its undoing.
01 June 2009
An ode to General Motors
On this day of bankruptcy (I believe the largest one ever?)
"Crisis of every kind-economic crisis most frequently...in their turn increase very considerably the tendency towards concentration and monopoly." From Lenin's Imperialism pamphlet.
Go Ford! A little more protectionism (ok a lot more) and the market is all yours. Of course now that the tax payers are about to assume control of GM perhaps the greater democracy....I can't even finish that ridiculous concept.
On another note:
Workers of GM this should be your hour! The state of our union (the UAW) has become even more pathetically transparent than normal. There is no left in the UAW, do something you liberal pieces of excrement! Is this not a time for action? Please for the sake of the workers in the UAW, in America, in the World. Do not let this opportunity pass you by! This is worker ownership of the means of production (and government and private), but control is the logical step......I implore you, throw out the old owners, we make the cars, we should control the industry!
"Crisis of every kind-economic crisis most frequently...in their turn increase very considerably the tendency towards concentration and monopoly." From Lenin's Imperialism pamphlet.
Go Ford! A little more protectionism (ok a lot more) and the market is all yours. Of course now that the tax payers are about to assume control of GM perhaps the greater democracy....I can't even finish that ridiculous concept.
On another note:
"Some employee-owned companies have failed, however, because management, mindful of their employee owners, often gave in to wage demands.
For this reason, industry experts say, the Obama administration structured the G.M. and Chrysler plans to lessen the union’s voice in management. The retirees’ health fund has six public-appointed trustees and five union-appointed trustees. Though the union health trust owns 55 percent of Chrysler, it will hold just one seat on the Chrysler board. And at both automakers, the health fund’s shares will be nonvoting.
Workers of GM this should be your hour! The state of our union (the UAW) has become even more pathetically transparent than normal. There is no left in the UAW, do something you liberal pieces of excrement! Is this not a time for action? Please for the sake of the workers in the UAW, in America, in the World. Do not let this opportunity pass you by! This is worker ownership of the means of production (and government and private), but control is the logical step......I implore you, throw out the old owners, we make the cars, we should control the industry!
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