Re: M-TH: hoaxes and the health of capitalism

[Charles Brown]

 
>>> Chris Burford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 02/10/00 06:02PM >>
I have just looked up the first reference to Marx again that caught my eye:

"The public debt becomes one of the most powerful levers of primitive
accumulation. As with the stroke of an enchanter's wand, it endows
unproductive money with the power of creation and thus turns it into capital."

So reduction of the public debt from this point of view is progressive even
if it is not revolutionary ... or should we think otherwise?

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CB: One of my slogans is " repudiate the U.S. national "debt" ". That would be a 
radical reform.  It can be put in popular terms. Why should the government on behalf 
of the people owe a bunch of bankers a debt. They should owe us with all they have 
been ripping off, and all the money put into protecting their investments overseas.


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Hugh:
>Except to lull us into thinking that it's never been stronger, of course,
>and that our best political hope is a weaker capitalism with a kinder,
>gentler regime. Maybe Doug should run for president.


Please no, third party attempts within the US two party system are a major
recipe for wasted efforts. But what of a half-way goal of a "weaker
capitalism with a kinder gentler regime"?

Why not? And a weaker capitalism would be less able to resist further
advances... 

So what about restriction of the power of rentier capital and landed
capital, and increased legislation and monitoring to promote social
production controlled by social foresight? Not red-blooded enough for Hugh,
but a step on the way? No?

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CB: Marxists struggle for reforms and for revolution. How would the above be struggled 
for in a revolutionary manner ?

Revolutionaries in the U.S. struggled for many reforms such as legalization of 
industrial unions, unemployment insurance, welfare for the poor, Social Security, 
anti-racist and anti-lynch laws, etc.


CB




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