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Michael Roberts' blog on the *Inclusive Capitalism* conference sponsored by Lady Rothschild was a good read (as usual). The last paragraph struck me as particularly interesting "Both Lady Rothschild and Thomas Piketty believe in capitalism. Both reckon that capitalists can be made to or persuaded to act to reduce inequality, create a better environment and adopt moral policies in investment. Piketty wants more and higher taxes to do this; Lady Rothschild wants shareholder power. But ‘responsible’ or ‘inclusive’ capitalism won’t and can’t deliver." It is the phenomenon that Piketty and the good Lady represent that interests me. I think they are like the canaries in the 19thC coal mine. They are flopping about , showing signs of distress and in so doing presaging a tremendous explosion. The distress of the canaries is genuine, but it does nothing to halt the build up of methane. Truly, the strength of the forces at work in today's world is such that it seems that agency has made way for structure. The assaults on the poor and the ecosystem are remorseless. The crucifixion of Greece, for instance, is a species of madness. None of it makes economic or moral sense, as Habermas points out. But it is not only the canaries like Prince Charles and Lady Rothschild that are getting alarmed. For every beautiful soul anguished by the spread of inequality, there are plenty of hard men and women who are determined to do whatever it takes to protect existing capitalist social relations. And that means that if Greece needs to be sacrificed to act as a warning to Podemos and Sinn Fein, then so be it. In the coming struggle, the beautiful souls will have no role to play. Only the courage and strength and solidarity of the working class can save us. comradely Gary _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
