******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. *****************************************************************
This goes to the heart of a serious contradiction in Australian politics. Economically Australia is dependent on China. Militarily it is linked to Washington. That military link is designed to protect Australia from the ancient fear of the Yellow Peril (historically China but also Japan in WW2). But the entry of the UK into then Common Market (later ERU) forced an economic turn to China that was strongest during the normative phase of neoliberal globalization (1989-2008). Somehow Australia was able to manage the contradiction of military loyalty to the USA and ever growing economic dependence on China. But we are going now thorugh what Koselleck called a "saddle time" when the structure and content of the post neoliberal paradigm is being determined. Fate has deigned to decree that during this period of struggle and uncertainty the most militarily powerful nation in the world is led by a dangerous unpredictable moron. It is unclear, to me at least, what the Trump project actually means. Bannon appeared to want a war with China and it may be that in Washington the Trump forces may be able to provoke a conflict with China. The tariffs that Trump is imposing would seem to point in that direction. What will Australia do? Will we follow the flag and join the fake "freedom of navigation" struggle and send a warship to confront the Chinese? In part we are a white colonial settler nation still that has exchanged the USA as mother country for the UK. And the logic of that relationship is that we join the drift to war. Certainly Australia has fought in all of the USA's wars since WW2. But Chinese money, trade and investment count. Well let's hope they do and that the desperadoes who want war will be marginalised. But I have to say that with the appointment of John Bolton things are not looking good. comradely Gary On Sat, Mar 24, 2018 at 11:37 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > My friend David Brophy comments on Sinophobia. > > http://www.abc.net.au/news/programs/the-world/2018-03-23/aus > tralia-accused-of-delaying-chinese-students/9582872 > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/opt > ions/marxism/gary.maclennan1%40gmail.com > _________________________________________________________ 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
