Re: When right/left get fuzzy
At 28/05/01 21:51 -0700, you wrote: Britain's Beloved Welfare State Conservative Party Backs Policies Considered Liberal in U.S. By T.R. Reid Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, May 29, 2001; Page A10 The whole debate on this side of the Atlantic is several notches to the left of the American political conversation. The British are more European than American in their attitude toward tax-and-spend, said London political analyst Hugo Young. Brits are no readier than the French for the minimal state. [snip] Thank God! But thanks also to the fact that Britain is a much lesser imperialist power than the US. In this election campaign the main message is that the Conservatives have made no dent with their main platform of 8 billion pounds of tax cuts. Some polls put them up to 20 percent behind Labour. Depending on turnout they might even lose seats. This has been achieved by Labout promising again not to raise income tax, which is appalling low for higher earners. But at least this has created a concensus across the classes including the privileged intelligentsia that there needs to be a balance and that significant spending on the welfare state is important, and may even be too low. This is a shift from the last election in which Labour pledged to keep to the tax regime of the outgoing Conservative party. It shifts the centre of consensus slightly to the left in the UK and does indeed leave it in a position to have more dialogue with Europe. Even though that dialogue will be very complicated, William Hague's appeal to save the pound sounds increasingly desperate and unable to bring out more than the core vote of the Conservative Party which appears to have been trimmed to the low 30% of the population. So I do not agree with the Washington Post that left and right are fuzzy. The USA is, despite everything a more reactionary country, than the UK. I would ask progressive people from the USA to try to make a mind shift in linking up with progressives in other parts of the world in trying to workd out issues on which there can be effective cooperation in the struggle against US hegemonism. This is particularly important in international e-mail lists in which the volume of posts are dominated by contributors from the USA, partly because of the low cost of internet access in the US. Chris Burford London
Re: Pearl Harbor
At 27/05/01 17:54 -0400, Louis Proyect wrote: It was not Hitler's attacks on the Jews that brought the United States into World War II Indeed there is some evidence that the entry of the US was used by Hitler as the excuse to trigger the final solution. But Louis Proyect's post is more than a critique of a recent melodramatic film. He is using it to argue his consistent case that any compromise internationally with some imperialist powers at the time of the Second World War, was opportunist, and that the great international united front against fascism was unprincipled. Whatever evidence there is of the considerable negative features of the allied imperialist powers, that cannot disguise the general argument that the fascist powers were more aggressive in their new attacks on the international settlement and on bourgeois democratic rights within countries. We still benefit today from the positive effects of the victory of this international united front against fascism. Much of this ground has been covered over the last five years. The importance is the implications for today. Whatever he may say, the message is in practice clearly one of no compromises!. So long as Louis Proyect concentrates on trying to analyse history from a position he regards as completely correct, the longer will he be unable to engage in the current important issues of what compromises need to be made now, to forward a progressive agenda internationally, and within the USA . Needless to say, although he advertises his Marxism list at the bottom of every post, I do not consider his position to be marxist in methodology. In fact could Michael Pearlman give some attention to the provocative nature of this continued promotion. Although Louis Proyect recognises the existence of a number of marxism lists, the repeated promotion of his own creates an impression, coupled with his dogmatic style of writing, that he is claiming only one centre of marxism. It undoubtedly leads to some arguments on this list being more charged in tone than would be otherwise be necessary. I suggest it would be more constructive if he drew attention to his list, say, once a week on average, in association with what he considers to be a particularly useful contribution for PEN-L Chris Burford London
When right/left get fuzzy
Chris Burford responds: The British are more European than American in their attitude toward tax-and-spend, said London political analyst Hugo Young. Brits are no readier than the French for the minimal state. [snip] Thank God! But thanks also to the fact that Britain is a much lesser imperialist power than the US. = It is hardly equal to the task. It simply could not afford the level of commitments made by the US. But even this is to take the implicitly realist treatment of US/UK international relations inherent in your analysis for granted. The truth is that Britain's lesser imperialism is in fact a client imperialism in the service of US imperialism. What are British armed forces doing in Sierra Leone? Kosovo? The Gulf? British imperialism is lesser insofar as it involves the pathetic sight of a toadying Blair trying desperately to stay on message with regards to missile defense and all other aspects of US foreign policy. The day after the Financial Times ran a large article analysing the Bush administration's unexpected interest in Africa (Powell has been touring there), Blair reveals in an interview to the FT that the two unexpected key issues integral to his post-election government will be the environment and ... Africa. And, as the recent IMF thread has highlighted, it's a lot more than just the UK electorate that's not ready for the minimal state. The British power elite has never been ready for it, as evidenced by the developments made during the supposedly anti-statist Thatcher administration. It's one of the great ironies that the person committed to rolling back the frontiers of the state should have presided over its ever tightening-grip upon the social economy. New Labour has no such qualms about state power, unlike the increasingly irrationally dogmatic post-Thatcher Conservatives (including Thatcher, Rees-Mogg, McWhirter, etc., as well as Hague et al.), so who better than the shock troops of structuration theory to tighten the screws? At least they have some understanding of the structure-agency dilemma, instead of the false dichotomy of state and society posed by classical liberalism. = The USA is, despite everything a more reactionary country, than the UK. = E.P. Thompson could write enviously about the freedoms granted to US citizens by its Constitution -- a document singularly absent from the UK, all promises for a Bill of Rights to the contrary. We should be more precise about how, exactly, the US is a more reactionary country. It's certainly more powerful, but it's not at all clear that current regimes in Britain or France would be any less reactionary with the same power. = I would ask progressive people from the USA to try to make a mind shift in linking up with progressives in other parts of the world in trying to workd out issues on which there can be effective cooperation in the struggle against US hegemonism. This is particularly important in international e-mail lists in which the volume of posts are dominated by contributors from the USA, partly because of the low cost of internet access in the US. = This is a persistent refrain, addressing an unavoidable problem. Pedants might riposte that, on a US-based listserv, non-US contibutors ought to be making the mind shift. I don't believe either option is possible in the short run. Continued engagement in discourse with people of other backgrounds will accomplish mind shifts that are maybe more gradual, but also more fundamental, rather like the movement of a glacier. To my mind understanding the US is vital to an understanding of the global political economy, given the unassailable hegemony of the US at present and for the foreseeable future. Being able to interact so freely with US citizens of a critical disposition in a largely US milieu is helpful to that end. We can return the favour by bringing to light relevant materials from our own backgrounds/situations. That is why I argued with Rob that he should not lose heart regarding the relevance of Oz to all this. I think Oz is very relevant to all this. For example, our recent IMF discussions led into considerations of the British state, which is certainly relevant when looking at the transformation of Australia over the last 25 years or so. How was Gough Whitlam deposed? Why? With what means? Is it just a coincidence that, as Harold Wilson was being undermined from within, another scion of the British power elite intervened to depose a democratically elected government that threatened the status quo? At around this time East Timor had just been brutally annexed, was being brutally subjugated, while the British secret state was administering its own justice and order upon Northern Ireland (and getting ready to do the same elsewhere if necessary), Chile was being cleansed by Pinochet, Argentina's Peronists were toppled, Italy was a violent, corrupt anti-Communist mafia protectorate, Vorster et al. were getting to work in South Africa
DUST BOWL THREATENING CHINA'S FUTURE
EARTH POLICY ALERT Alert 2001-2 For Immediate Release May 23, 2001 Copyright Earth Policy Institute 2001 DUST BOWL THREATENING CHINA'S FUTURE Lester R. Brown On April 18, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, reported that a huge dust storm from northern China had reached the United States blanketing areas from Canada to Arizona with a layer of dust. They reported that along the foothills of the Rockies the mountains were obscured by the dust from China. This dust storm did not come as a surprise. On March 10, 2001, The People's Daily reported that the season's first dust storm-one of the earliest on record-had hit Beijing. These dust storms, coupled with those of last year, were among the worst in memory, signaling a widespread deterioration of the rangeland and cropland in the country's vast northwest. These huge dust plumes routinely travel hundreds of miles to populous cities in northeastern China, including Beijing, obscuring the sun, reducing visibility, slowing traffic, and closing airports. Reports of residents in eastern cities caulking windows with old rags to keep out the dust are reminiscent of the U.S. dust bowl of the 1930s. Eastward moving winds often carry soil from China's northwest to North Korea, South Korea, and Japan, countries that regularly complain about dust clouds that both filter out the sunlight and cover everything with dust. Responding to pressures from their constituents, a group of 15 legislators from Japan and 8 from South Korea are organizing a tri-national committee with Chinese lawmakers to devise a strategy to combat the dust. News reports typically attribute the dust storms to the drought of the last three years, but the drought is simply bringing a fast-deteriorating situation into focus. Human pressure on the land in northwestern China is excessive. There are too many people, too many cattle and sheep, and too many plows. Feeding 1.3 billion people, a population nearly five times that of the United States, is not an easy matter. In addition to local pressures on resources, a decision in Beijing in 1994 to require that all cropland used for construction be offset by land reclaimed elsewhere has helped create the ecological disaster that is now unfolding. In an article in Land Use Policy, Chinese geographers Hong Yang and Xiubein Li describe the environmental effects of this offset policy. The fast-growing coastal provinces, such as Guandong, Shandong, Xheijiang, and Jiangsu, which are losing cropland to urban expansion and industrial construction, are paying other provinces to plow new land to offset their losses. This provided an initial economic windfall for provinces in the northwest, such as Inner Mongolia (which led the way with a 22-percent cropland expansion), Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang. As the northwestern provinces, already suffering from overplowing and overgrazing, plowed ever more marginal land, wind erosion intensified. Now accelerating wind erosion of soil and the resulting land abandonment are forcing people to migrate eastward, not unlike the U.S. westward migration from the southern Great Plains to California during the Dust Bowl years. While plows are clearing land, expanding livestock populations are denuding the land of vegetation. Following economic reforms in 1978 and the removal of controls on the size of herds and flocks that collectives could maintain, livestock populations grew rapidly. Today China has 127 million cattle compared with 98 million in the United States. Its flock of 279 million sheep and goats compares with only 9 million in the United States. In Gonge County in eastern Quinghai Province, the number of sheep that local grasslands can sustain is estimated at 3.7 million, but by the end of 1998, sheep numbers there had reached 5.5 million, far beyond the land's carrying capacity. The result is fast-deteriorating grassland, desertification, and the formation of sand dunes. In the New York Times, Beijing Bureau Chief Erik Eckholm writes that the rising sands are part of a new desert forming here on the eastern edge of the Quinghai-Tibet Plateau, a legendary stretch once known for grass reaching as high as a horse's belly and home for centuries to ethnic Tibetan herders. Official estimates show 900 square miles (2,330 square kilometers) of land going to desert each year. An area several times as large is suffering a decline in productivity as it is degraded by overuse. In addition to the direct damage from overplowing and overgrazing, the northern half of China is literally drying out as rainfall declines and aquifers are depleted by overpumping. Water tables are falling almost everywhere, gradually altering the region's hydrology. As water tables fall, springs dry up, streams no longer flow, lakes disappear, and rivers run dry. U.S. satellites, which have been monitoring land use in China for some 30 years, show that literally thousands of lakes
Re: Re: Pearl Harbor
Chris Burford: But Louis Proyect's post is more than a critique of a recent melodramatic film. He is using it to argue his consistent case that any compromise internationally with some imperialist powers at the time of the Second World War, was opportunist, and that the great international united front against fascism was unprincipled. Not my position at all. I argue that the Soviet war against Nazism was progressive, as were the national liberation movements that erupted during the war. Britain and the USA's goals were no different than Hitler's or the Mikado. Whatever evidence there is of the considerable negative features of the allied imperialist powers, that cannot disguise the general argument that the fascist powers were more aggressive in their new attacks on the international settlement and on bourgeois democratic rights within countries. Actually, Chamberlain gave the green light to Hitler in 1938. This was the meaning of 'appeasement', to unleash the Nazi army on the USSR. The British ruling class and Hitler were united in their determination to wipe socialism off the face of the earth. The same kind of unholy alliance exists today with European social democrats sponsoring the KLA fascists in Kosovo. The KLA splits down a bizarre ideological divide, with hints of fascism on one side and whiffs of communism on the other. The former faction is led by the sons and grandsons of rightist Albanian fighters -- either the heirs of those who fought in the World War II fascist militias and the Skanderbeg volunteer SS division raised by the Nazis, or the descendants of the rightist Albanian rebels who rose up against the Serbs 80 years ago. Although never much of a fighting force, the Skanderbeg division took part in the shameful roundup and deportation of the province's few hundred Jews during the Holocaust. The division's remnants fought Tito's Partisans at the end of the war, leaving thousands of ethnic Albanians dead. The decision by KLA commanders to dress their police in black fatigues and order their fighters to salute with a clenched fist to the forehead led many to worry about these fascist antecedents. Following such criticism, the salute has been changed to the traditional open-palm salute common in the U.S. Army. (March 28, 1999 NY Times) We still benefit today from the positive effects of the victory of this international united front against fascism. What do you mean by we, white man? Much of this ground has been covered over the last five years. The importance is the implications for today. Whatever he may say, the message is in practice clearly one of no compromises!. You mean no NATO. So long as Louis Proyect concentrates on trying to analyse history from a position he regards as completely correct, the longer will he be unable to engage in the current important issues of what compromises need to be made now, to forward a progressive agenda internationally, and within the USA . I am a stubborn soul. Analyzing history from a correct position is to me like avoiding germs was for the late Howard Hughes. Needless to say, although he advertises his Marxism list at the bottom of every post, I do not consider his position to be marxist in methodology. I am genuinely flattered. In fact could Michael Pearlman give some attention to the provocative nature of this continued promotion. I also invite Michael Perelman to get into the act. I am too much for one person to deal with. I require a regiment to control. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: Re: the mita
Steve wrote: I'm afraid I never made the connection between Brenner and Warren. Must be something like the connection between Zeitlin and Pinochet. There is no connection between Zeitlin and Pinochet. I have no idea how you interpret things this way. All I said is that a professor in Chile named Andy Daitsman defended Pinochet's revolution using healthy swags of Zeitlin. Whatever Zeitlin thinks about Pinochet is an entirely different matter. My concern is how certain kinds of orthodox Marxism represented by Brenner, Laclau et al feed conservative trends in the academy. As Jaime Torras argues in the Fall 1980 Review of the Braudel Center, the Spanish academy utilized the Brenner thesis to institute a kind of neo-Kautskyism as official dogma. The reaction against the MR school was part of a conservatizing trend in academic Marxism. It was a way for academics to distance themselves from third world revolutions while clutching a cleaned up version of V. 1 of Capital to their breast. When you want to crawl your way to the top of the academy, there is a distinct disadvantage in identifying with third world revolutions. People will not only laugh at you, they might not give you tenure. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: Re: Re: the mita
Jim, I don't think this truism needs to be repeated in _this_ context, because what is at issue is not whether Marx was right or wrong in this or that particular, or even in this or that major corollary of his thought. The perspective Lou is arguing does not modify or correct Marx, it simply eliminates as garbage everything that makes Marx worth reading at all -- it dissolves the very core of Marx's thought and replaces it with a bourgeois radical critique of the moral evils of capitalism. What remains is neither Marxist nor materialist nor historical. Nor does it offer any serious basis for revolutionary praxis. Carrol A bourgeois radical critique of the moral evils of capitalism? Yes, its true. I am bourgeois to the core. Tonight when I get home I will have my manservant Nigel prepare my bath and make me a martini. Afterwards I will dine with George Soros at Le Cirque. I am moving him ever so slowly in the direction of embracing Marxism. As we know, a real measure of the success of our movement is how many people on Wall Street cite Karl Marx approvingly. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: the mita
Steve wrote: I'm afraid I never made the connection between Brenner and Warren. Must be something like the connection between Zeitlin and Pinochet. There is no connection between Zeitlin and Pinochet. I have no idea how you interpret things this way. All I said is that a professor in Chile named Andy Daitsman defended Pinochet's revolution using healthy swags of Zeitlin. Whatever Zeitlin thinks about Pinochet is an entirely different matter. My concern is how certain kinds of orthodox Marxism represented by Brenner, Laclau et al feed conservative trends in the academy. As Jaime Torras argues in the Fall 1980 Review of the Braudel Center, the Spanish academy utilized the Brenner thesis to institute a kind of neo-Kautskyism as official dogma. The reaction against the MR school was part of a conservatizing trend in academic Marxism. It was a way for academics to distance themselves from third world revolutions while clutching a cleaned up version of V. 1 of Capital to their breast. When you want to crawl your way to the top of the academy, there is a distinct disadvantage in identifying with third world revolutions. People will not only laugh at you, they might not give you tenure. Louis Proyect What Third-World revolutions really needed from proletariat intellectuals in rich imperial nations was not so much the latter's identification with the former as socialist revolutions in the belly of the beast, which didn't happen -- hence the former's collapse or retreat. You can't eat someone's identification with you, though you may be encouraged by it at times. Yoshie
Re: Re: the mita
What Third-World revolutions really needed from proletariat intellectuals in rich imperial nations was not so much the latter's identification with the former as socialist revolutions in the belly of the beast, which didn't happen -- hence the former's collapse or retreat. You can't eat someone's identification with you, though you may be encouraged by it at times. Yoshie Socialist revolutions in the belly of the beast? This is not really feasible at this time. What is feasible is for Marxist activists to provide solidarity to countries in struggle, whether Vietnam, Nicaragua or Cuba, etc. Brenner's diatribe against third worldism was a subtle cue that such activity had become dated. It was much more in the spirit of Marx to drive around in a jeep in places like Kenya looking for a progressive bourgeoisie to orient to, as Colin Leys did. No longer was there an interest in identifying peasant or working class insurgencies. Instead neo-Kautskyites on the payroll of a university would devote their time and intellect to promoting a third world version of the 19th century European capitalist class. While this venture might have been futile, at least it paid better and it wouldn't get you killed or tortured. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: Re: Re: the mita
Wow, Radical History Review allowed a Pinochet supporter be their webmaster?! http://chnm.gmu.edu/rhr/rhr.htm http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:YgZV_fFFqcE:chnm.gmu.edu/rhr/rhr.htm+An dy+Daitsman+hl=en http://www.google.com/search?q=Andy+Daitsman+hl=enlr=safe=offstart=10sa =N Jeesh... Michael Pugliese - Original Message - From: Louis Proyect [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2001 6:07 AM Subject: [PEN-L:12323] Re: Re: the mita Steve wrote: I'm afraid I never made the connection between Brenner and Warren. Must be something like the connection between Zeitlin and Pinochet. There is no connection between Zeitlin and Pinochet. I have no idea how you interpret things this way. All I said is that a professor in Chile named Andy Daitsman defended Pinochet's revolution using healthy swags of Zeitlin. Whatever Zeitlin thinks about Pinochet is an entirely different matter. My concern is how certain kinds of orthodox Marxism represented by Brenner, Laclau et al feed conservative trends in the academy. As Jaime Torras argues in the Fall 1980 Review of the Braudel Center, the Spanish academy utilized the Brenner thesis to institute a kind of neo-Kautskyism as official dogma. The reaction against the MR school was part of a conservatizing trend in academic Marxism. It was a way for academics to distance themselves from third world revolutions while clutching a cleaned up version of V. 1 of Capital to their breast. When you want to crawl your way to the top of the academy, there is a distinct disadvantage in identifying with third world revolutions. People will not only laugh at you, they might not give you tenure. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
BLS Daily Report
BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2001: The proportion of U.S. workers holding contingent jobs -- those expected to last a relatively short time -- declined somewhat between 1999 and 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To some extent, the strong economy during that period reduced contingent work, the agency suggests. During the same 2-year period, BLS says the use of various alternative employment arrangements held steady. The total number of independent contractors -- comprising the largest category of alternative arrangements -- rose to 8.6 million as of February 2001. However, their share of total employment (6.4 percent) was little changed from 1999. Judging by the pattern of self-employment, as shown in the monthly household survey, some categories of contingent or alternative work might be expected to increase if the economic downturn persists, BLS economist Steven Hipple said. You could expect some wage and salary workers to possibly move into self employment or independent contraction, Hipple said. During prior slowdowns and recessions, self employment has risen as a proportion of total employment, according to BLS data. In an article recently published in BLS's Monthly Labor Review, Hipple analyzed contingent worker data and found the robust economy had little effect on the total number of workers holding such jobs. Despite the economic expansion that continued into the late 1990s, both the number of contingent workers and the proportion of total employment composed of such workers changed little between 1997 and 1999, he wrote (Daily Labor Report, page D-1). New claims filed with state agencies for unemployment insurance benefits rose by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted total of 407,000 during the week ended May 19, according to the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration. The weekly total has stayed close to the 400,000 mark in recent weeks, moving up from early this year as layoffs continue in many industries. May employment and unemployment figures are scheduled for released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on June 1 (Daily Labor Report, page D-14; http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/businessnews/article/0,2669.2-51847 ,FF.html); The Wall Street Journal, page A2; The Washington Post, page E3). Many hospitals are winning sharply higher payments from insurers and the efforts of insurance companies to pass those costs along to employers and consumers are contributing to the most rapid surge in medical costs in years. Medical costs increased 10 to 15 percent in the first quarter for the biggest insurance companies after averaging 5 to 6 percent for a decade. Experts expect them to keep rising. Health maintenance organizations are asking the employers that are their biggest customers for increases in premiums averaging 18.3 percent, according to a preliminary estimate by Hewitt Associates, with proposed increases as high as 60 percent (The New York Times, page 1). A table that shows the national average gross cost of health care insurance for each employee, 1997 through projected 2002, is shown in a graph on page C5 of The Times. The data is attributed to Hewitt Associates. An important gauge of future economic activity rose 0.1 percent in April, gaining after two consecutive monthly declines and suggesting that the U.S. economy is starting to recover. The Conference Board said its Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose to 108.7 last month, after slipping a revised 0.2 percent in March and 0.2 percent in February. The improvement reflects the positive effect of the Federal Reserve's recent interest rate costs (http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/businessnews/article/0,2669,2-5184 7,FF.html). The U.S. economy grew far more slowly in the first 3 months of this year than the government previously estimated, reflecting a steeper drop in business investment in computer and other equipment and weaker consumer spending. The Commerce Department reported today that gross domestic product -- the country's total output of goods and services -- grew at an annual rate of just 1.3 percent in the January-March quarter. The anemic showing represented a big downward revision from the government's estimate downward revision from the government's estimate one month ago that the economy expanded at a rate of 2 percent, a figure that astounded analysts and raised hopes for a rebound (The Associated Press, http://www.latimes.com/bjsiness/updates/ap-economy010525.htm; http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/businessnews/article/0,2669,ART-520 30,FF.html; http://www.nandotimes.com/business/story/14724p-287587c.html). Signaling that the economy might not be as strong as investors hope, sales of new single-family homes fell during April after rising for 2 straight months (The Wall Street Journal, page A2). Americans bought fewer new homes in April, signaling a softening of the
Re: the mita
Lou says: What Third-World revolutions really needed from proletariat intellectuals in rich imperial nations was not so much the latter's identification with the former as socialist revolutions in the belly of the beast, which didn't happen -- hence the former's collapse or retreat. You can't eat someone's identification with you, though you may be encouraged by it at times. Yoshie Socialist revolutions in the belly of the beast? This is not really feasible at this time. What is feasible is for Marxist activists to provide solidarity to countries in struggle, whether Vietnam, Nicaragua or Cuba, etc. If that's not feasible, Third-World revolutions are practically doomed, though they may hobble along while trying to make accommodations to the world capitalist market. Even Cubans -- the best case of Third-World revolutions -- are having a hard time just getting by, increasingly dependent upon tourism foreign investment. Yoshie
Re: Re: the mita
If that's not feasible, Third-World revolutions are practically doomed, though they may hobble along while trying to make accommodations to the world capitalist market. Even Cubans -- the best case of Third-World revolutions -- are having a hard time just getting by, increasingly dependent upon tourism foreign investment. Yoshie This is not an accurate assessment of Cuba. This one is: Learn from Cuba, Says World Bank By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Apr 30 (IPS) - World Bank President James Wolfensohn Monday extolled the Communist government of President Fidel Castro for doing ''a great job'' in providing for the social welfare of the Cuban people. His remarks followed Sunday's publication of the Bank's 2001 edition of 'World Development Indicators' (WDI), which showed Cuba as topping virtually all other poor countries in health and education statistics. It also showed that Havana has actually improved its performance in both areas despite the continuation of the US trade embargo against it and the end of Soviet aid and subsidies for the Caribbean island more than ten years ago. ''Cuba has done a great job on education and health,'' Wolfensohn told reporters at the conclusion of the annual spring meetings of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). ''They have done a good job, and it does not embarrass me to admit it.'' His remarks reflect a growing appreciation in the Bank for Cuba's social record, despite recognition that Havana's economic policies are virtually the antithesis of the ''Washington Consensus'', the neo-liberal orthodoxy that has dominated the Bank's policy advice and its controversial structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) for most of the last 20 years. Some senior Bank officers, however, go so far as to suggest that other developing countries should take a very close look at Cuba's performance. ''It is in some sense almost an anti-model,'' according to Eric Swanson, the programme manager for the Bank's Development Data Group, which compiled the WDI, a tome of almost 400 pages covering scores of economic, social, and environmental indicators. Indeed, Cuba is living proof in many ways that the Bank's dictum that economic growth is a precondition for improving the lives of the poor is over-stated, if not downright wrong. The Bank has insisted for the past decade that improving the lives of the poor was its core mission. Besides North Korea, Cuba is the one developing country which, since 1960, has never received the slightest assistance, either in advice or in aid, from the Bank. It is not even a member, which means that Bank officers cannot travel to the island on official business. The island's economy, which suffered devastating losses in production after the Soviet Union withdrew its aid, especially its oil supplies, a decade ago, has yet to fully recover. Annual economic growth, fuelled in part by a growing tourism industry and limited foreign investment, has been halting and, for the most part, anaemic. Moreover, its economic policies are generally anathema to the Bank. The government controls virtually the entire economy, permitting private entrepreneurs the tiniest of spaces. It heavily subsidises virtually all staples and commodities; its currency is not convertible to anything. It retains tight control over all foreign investment, and often changes the rules abruptly and for political reasons. At the same time, however, its record of social achievement has not only been sustained; it's been enhanced, according to the WDI. It has reduced its infant mortality rate from 11 per 1,000 births in 1990 to seven in 1999, which places it firmly in the ranks of the western industrialised nations. It now stands at six, according to Jo Ritzen, the Bank's Vice President for Development Policy who visited Cuba privately several months ago to see for himself. By comparison, the infant mortality rate for Argentina stood at 18 in 1999; Chile's was down to ten; and Costa Rica, 12. For the entire Latin American and Caribbean region as a whole, the average was 30 in 1999. Similarly, the mortality rate for children under five in Cuba has fallen from 13 to eight per thousand over the decade. That figure is 50 percent lower than the rate in Chile, the Latin American country closest to Cuba's achievement. For the region as a whole, the average was 38 in 1999. ''Six for every 1,000 in infant mortality - the same level as Spain - is just unbelievable,'' according to Ritzen, a former education minister in the Netherlands. ''You observe it, and so you see that Cuba has done exceedingly well in the human development area.'' Indeed, in Ritzen's own field the figures tell much the same story. Net primary enrolment for both girls and boys reached 100 percent in 1997, up from 92 percent in 1990. That was as high as most developed nations, higher even than the US rate and well above 80-90 percent rates achieved by the most advanced Latin American countries. ''Even in education
Re: Re: Re: the mita
Jim Devine: I'm not the one who invented the term [semi-proletarian]. So you'll have to explain why it makes no sense. To me, it expresses the fact that the pure cases of theory (proletarian, non-proletarian) often don't exist in pure form in empirical and historical reality. We often see mixed forms, as when Trotsky, in his HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION, argues that Russia had an unevenly developing combination of capitalism and pre-capitalist social relations. Louis Proyect: Russia and colonial Peru had nothing in common. If an army had invaded Russia in the 15th century, destroyed the Czardom and pressed the lower ranks of society into gang labor working 14 hours a day to produce commodities for the world market, then we might be in the same ballpark. _nothing in common_? so we didn't have homo sapiens dwelling in both of those places? one of them didn't involve class oppression? one of them didn't involve capitalism in any way, shape, or form? I see nothing wrong with making analogies in order to understand what's going on (Peru was like Russia in some ways) as long as the analogy isn't taken too far (Peru was exactly like Russia). I would _never_ argue the latter. Nor did I. Saying that mixed forms rather than pure cases existed in both places is hardly taking an analogy too far. Rather, it's a simple methodological point, made by Paul Sweezy in the first chapter of THE THEORY OF CAPITALIST DEVELOPMENT for example: it's a serious mistake to jump directly from an abstract theory to an understanding of concrete, empirical, reality. Are you saying that an army had invaded [Peru] in the 15th century, destroyed the [Inca Empire] and pressed the lower ranks of society into gang labor working 14 hours a day to produce commodities for the world market? I'll assume you are. Though clearly we agree that merchant capital -- the world market -- played a role, gang labor working 14 hours a day is much more similar to slave labor than to capitalist proletarian labor. But in your previous message, you said that the latter prevailed in Peru. What took place in Latin America has to be examined on its own terms, not invoking Marx on mercantilism or Trotsky on combined and uneven development. I'm not an empiricist, so I don't think this (examining each case on its own terms) is a valid way to understand anything. It's perfectly possible to study individual, specific, cases (e.g., Latin America) while relating them to other cases (e.g., Russia) without losing track of the specificities of the case being studied. That is, one can say Louis is a man which says that he is like other men, without washing out all of his endearing individual characteristics. To say that each case must be examined only in its own terms (is this what you're really saying?) is totally anti-theoretic, leaning heavily toward stereotypes of post-modernism, full of sound and rhetorical fury but signifying nothing. When I file my final post on Brenner/Wood at the end of the week, it should be obvious that there was no parallel for what took place in Latin America during the 17th to 19th centuries. It has to be examined on its own terms. Brenner and Wood never spend one word describing the reality of this world. It is not feudalism, nor is it mercantile capitalism. But you said in the previous message it was capitalism (since work was done by PROLETARIANS)? that means that it was _like Russia_ in many ways! Thus, Latin America wasn't a unique case that should be analyzed solely in its own terms. Or did the oobleck mode of production prevail, one that was completely different from those of other countries, times, and places? summary of the issues: (1) the oppression of Peru involved markets and merchant capital, within the context of the Spanish Empire. -- Both Blaut Brenner would agree. (2) the oppression of Peru involved proletarianized labor (Louis' previous message) or it involved forced gang labor (Louis' current message). or maybe a combination of both (semi-proletarization)? Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~JDevine
Re: Re: Re: the mita
marxism Chronological -- Find -- Thread -- Re: Musings of a Brennerite From: Louis Proyect Subject: Re: Musings of a Brennerite Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2000 12:04:49 -0800 In what sense is Andy Daitsman a Brennerite given the above very un-Brenner-like remark on the other capitalisms? Does he cite Brenner to support his musings? Yoshie In the same sense that Genovese is a Dobbsian. When I cited Genovese to that effect, you merely replied that no-no, Genovese doesn't understand Dobbs and has him all wrong. It is a waste of time to try to connect the dotted lines between Dobbs and Genovese or Daitsman and Brenner, because you are uncomfortable with the reactionary logic. Sorry, I can't help you with that. As you know, Yoshie, when there was a debate on Blaut-Brenner on PEN-L, it unleashed a tidal wave of reactionary beliefs from Wojtek Sokolowski's oddball marriage of Barrington Moore and hatred for the black liberation movement to Ricardo Duchesne's outspoken belief that capitalism has a progressive role to play in places like Puerto Rico or India. If you put Daitsman's crackpot defense of Pinochet side-by-side with Ricardo's procapitalist Marxism, there's virtually nothing to distinguish them apart. Only Connect --E.M. Forster Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org/ Follow-Ups: Re: Musings of a Brennerite From: snedeker Re: Musings of a Brennerite From: Yoshie Furuhashi Chronological -- -- Thread -- Reply via email to - Original Message - From: Louis Proyect [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2001 7:07 AM Subject: [PEN-L:12326] Re: Re: the mita What Third-World revolutions really needed from proletariat intellectuals in rich imperial nations was not so much the latter's identification with the former as socialist revolutions in the belly of the beast, which didn't happen -- hence the former's collapse or retreat. You can't eat someone's identification with you, though you may be encouraged by it at times. Yoshie Socialist revolutions in the belly of the beast? This is not really feasible at this time. What is feasible is for Marxist activists to provide solidarity to countries in struggle, whether Vietnam, Nicaragua or Cuba, etc. Brenner's diatribe against third worldism was a subtle cue that such activity had become dated. It was much more in the spirit of Marx to drive around in a jeep in places like Kenya looking for a progressive bourgeoisie to orient to, as Colin Leys did. No longer was there an interest in identifying peasant or working class insurgencies. Instead neo-Kautskyites on the payroll of a university would devote their time and intellect to promoting a third world version of the 19th century European capitalist class. While this venture might have been futile, at least it paid better and it wouldn't get you killed or tortured. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: Re: Re: Re: the mita
Jim Devine: To say that each case must be examined only in its own terms (is this what you're really saying?) is totally anti-theoretic, leaning heavily toward stereotypes of post-modernism, full of sound and rhetorical fury but signifying nothing. No, rather I am saying that Marxists should apply the historical materialist method to Latin America in the 16th through 18th century. Marx himself never did this. If you are serious about doing this, you have to roll up your sleeves and engage with scholarly material. Although Wood makes frequent references to the region, she never bothers with a concrete analysis of concrete class relations. For that you have to look elsewhere. At least with Brenner, you don't even get an inkling that the New World even existed. But you said in the previous message it was capitalism (since work was done by PROLETARIANS)? that means that it was _like Russia_ in many ways! Thus, Latin America wasn't a unique case that should be analyzed solely in its own terms. Or did the oobleck mode of production prevail, one that was completely different from those of other countries, times, and places? There was capitalism in Russia, capitalism in Latin America and capitalism in Western Europe. Each region has its specific class relations and dynamics. Trotsky and Lenin analyzed Russia. Marx and Engels analyzed Western Europe. People like Celso Furtado, A.G. Frank, Mariategui, and Adolfo Gilly analyzed Latin America. My analysis rests on their work, not what Marx and Engels did not write. summary of the issues: (1) the oppression of Peru involved markets and merchant capital, within the context of the Spanish Empire. -- Both Blaut Brenner would agree. I just talked to Jim's ghost who is standing above my left shoulder and he disagrees with you. (2) the oppression of Peru involved proletarianized labor (Louis' previous message) or it involved forced gang labor (Louis' current message). or maybe a combination of both (semi-proletarization)? I am not interested in identifying the forms of labor. I am interested in identifying the specific nature of the way in which capital was created. Krupp used slave labor throughout WWII. It remained capitalist. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Daitsman on H-RadHist
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/logsearch/ Search results Your search for Andy Daitsman in returned 92 message(s). Result pages:1 2 3 4 (Next) Message logs 1-25 Network 1 Re.: Capitalism in Chile Author: Van Gosse Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 h-radhist 2 Capitalism in Chile Author: Chris Brady Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 h-radhist 3 Re: Re.: Fascismo and the Working Class Author: Chris Brady Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 h-radhist 4 Re: Re.: Fascismo and the Working Class Author: Chris Brady Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 h-radhist 5 Radical historian? Author: Chris Brady Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 h-radhist 6 Capitalism in Chile Author: Chris Brady Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 h-radhist 7 Re: Re.: Capitalism in Chile Author: Van Gosse Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 h-radhist 8 (no subject) Author: Chris Brady Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 h-radhist 9 Re: Two Revolutions in Chile Author: Brian Kelly Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 h-radhist 10 Re: Emergence of Capitalism (was Radical History Topics?) Author: Eliza J. Reilly Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 h-radhist 11 Re: Two Revolutions in Chile Author: Brian Kelly Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 h-radhist 12 Re: Fascism and the Working Class (more) Author: Buri Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 h-radhist 13 Re.: Fascismo and the Working Class Author: Chris Brady Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 h-radhist 14 Capitalismo en Chile Author: Eliza J. Reilly Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 h-radhist 15 Re: List Protocols-reply Author: Eliza J. Reilly Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 h-radhist 16 Re: Emergence of Capitalism (was Radical History Topics?) Author: andy daitsman Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 h-radhist 17 Re: Emergence of Capitalism (was Radical History Topics?) Author: andy daitsman Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 h-radhist 18 Re: Emergence of Capitalism (was Radical History Topics?) Author: andy daitsman Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 h-radhist 19 Re: Fascism and the Working Class (more) Author: andy daitsman Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 h-radhist 20 Re: Fascismo and the working class Author: andy daitsman Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 h-radhist 21 Re: Re.: Fascismo and the Working Class Author: andy daitsman Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 h-radhist 22 Re: Capitalism in Chile Author: andy daitsman Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 h-radhist 23 Re: More Chile stats Author: andy daitsman Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 h-radhist 24 The death of Salvador Allende Author: andy daitsman Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999 h-radhist 25 Biography in Context Author: Eliza Jane Reilly Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 h-radhist Result Pages: 1 2 3 4 (Next) Return to the top of this page Return to logs center Contact Us Copyright © 1995-2001, H-Net, Humanities Social Sciences OnLine Click Here for an Internet Citation Guide.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: A reply to Ellen Meiksins Wood
Anthony DCosta wrote: Upper middle class would be an overstatement. There are carpenters, maids, and the like who also fly. When I came to the US, I saved the airfare from my first job as rural dev consultant, it took me about two years. Remember also in 1959, Ravi may not:), the Indian rupee was overvalued, airfare probably was cheap for those who could raise the cash. But within 30% for sure. Unfortunately we can't blame people for being born into privilege. What she writes and how she does it is another issue. Even in India, what I would consider austere (internationally renowned) marxist academics in top state schools, exercise the luxury of smoking relatively expensive Indian cigarettes every day, perhaps equivalent to the daily wage of a rural landless worker. Can we sanction this academic/Spivak for their indulgence? i doubt you are addressing this in particular to me, but in case you are, i am not actively following the spivak discussion (all i know about her is that i once tried reading something she had written on heidegger and found the man himself a little easier to understand than her explication of him, but that points more to my inadequacies i am sure ;-)) and do not condone or criticize her lifestyle! i am skeptical that carpenters and maids can afford to fly to the US, but i accept your correction of my understanding of prevailing rates in those days, during which the error that led to my introduction into the world was yet to be committed ;-). --ravi
Re: When right/left get fuzzy
G'day Michael K, For example, our recent IMF discussions led into considerations of the British state, which is certainly relevant when looking at the transformation of Australia over the last 25 years or so. How was Gough Whitlam deposed? Why? With what means? Is it just a coincidence that, as Harold Wilson was being undermined from within, another scion of the British power elite intervened to depose a democratically elected government that threatened the status quo? At around this time East Timor had just been brutally annexed, was being brutally subjugated, while the British secret state was administering its own justice and order upon Northern Ireland (and getting ready to do the same elsewhere if necessary), Chile was being cleansed by Pinochet, Argentina's Peronists were toppled, Italy was a violent, corrupt anti-Communist mafia protectorate, Vorster et al. were getting to work in South Africa (and elsewhere in Namibia, Angola, Mozambique), while the West huckled the Soviet bloc into the Helsinki Accords in 1975. The screws were tighteninginternationally as the Jeane Kirkpatricks, William Simons, Samuel Huntingtons, Margaret Thatchers and Rupert Murdochs prepared to remake and remodel Western capitalism whilst declaring Cold War II. That's a very large structural adjustment whose reach and consequences went far beyond the dreams of its protagonists, never mind its victims. Yeah, it occurs that a combination of global recession and gawd-knows-what intrigue really hit governments with even a skerrick of welfarism in their kits: September 1973: Chile - Salvador Allende dies in right-wing military coup May 1974: West Germany - Willy Brandt (Günter Guillaume scandal) August 1974: New Zealand - Norman Kirk dies (Labour loses election following year) November 1975: Australia - Whitlam sacked by Governor General March 1976: The Perons overthrown in right-wing military coup April 1976: United Kingdom - Wilson resigns June 1976: Right-wing military coup in Uruguay July 1977: Pakistan - Ali Bhutto overthrown in right-wing military coup (Kissinger had just warned that Bhutto would have to pay a heavy price, for his nuclear weapons policy) That's most of the Anglophone world, Latin America and the Subcontinent all nicely parcelled up in less than four years - and the bloke in charge of the CIA during most of that time went on to become president and launch a dynasty, too ... Cheers, Rob (Ludlum)
Re: Re: Pearl Harbor
Chris Burford wrote: So long as Louis Proyect concentrates on trying to analyse history from a position he regards as completely correct, the longer will he be unable to engage in the current important issues of what compromises need to be made now, to forward a progressive agenda internationally, and within the USA . Please, Chris, avoid trying to judge the motives of others. Needless to say, although he advertises his Marxism list at the bottom of every post, I do not consider his position to be marxist in methodology. Please, again, rather than talking about Lou, try to discuss his issues. In fact could Michael Pearlman give some attention to the provocative nature of this continued promotion. Although Louis Proyect recognises the existence of a number of marxism lists, the repeated promotion of his own creates an impression, coupled with his dogmatic style of writing, that he is claiming only one centre of marxism. It undoubtedly leads to some arguments on this list being more charged in tone than would be otherwise be necessary. I suggest it would be more constructive if he drew attention to his list, say, once a week on average, in association with what he considers to be a particularly useful contribution for PEN-L I don't mind that he refers people to something on his list. Doug Henwood would be welcome to do so for LBO. Chris Burford London -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Re: the mita
Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: What Third-World revolutions really needed from proletariat intellectuals in rich imperial nations was not so much the latter's identification with the former as socialist revolutions in the belly of the beast, which didn't happen -- hence the former's collapse or retreat. And such revolutions aren't likely to happen in the rich imperial nations if their left intellectuals are interested only in affairs thousands of miles from where they sit. Doug
Re: Re: Re: the mita
And such revolutions aren't likely to happen in the rich imperial nations if their left intellectuals are interested only in affairs thousands of miles from where they sit. Doug You forgot to mention that I live on the Upper East Side. Slipping in your old age? Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: the mita
If that's not feasible, Third-World revolutions are practically doomed, though they may hobble along while trying to make accommodations to the world capitalist market. Even Cubans -- the best case of Third-World revolutions -- are having a hard time just getting by, increasingly dependent upon tourism foreign investment. Yoshie This is not an accurate assessment of Cuba. This one is: Learn from Cuba, Says World Bank By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Apr 30 (IPS) - World Bank President James Wolfensohn Monday extolled the Communist government of President Fidel Castro for doing ''a great job'' in providing for the social welfare of the Cuban people. His remarks followed Sunday's publication of the Bank's 2001 edition of 'World Development Indicators' (WDI), which showed Cuba as topping virtually all other poor countries in health and education statistics. snip It's not news to socialists that Cuba tops all other poor countries in health and education statistics, though it is news that the World Bank speaks well of Cuba. It doesn't mean, though, that Cubans have an easy time getting necessary medicines, adequate nutrition, and so on. Yoshie
Re: Re: the mita
At 12:00 PM 5/29/01 -0500, you wrote: If that's not feasible, Third-World revolutions are practically doomed, though they may hobble along while trying to make accommodations to the world capitalist market. Even Cubans -- the best case of Third-World revolutions -- are having a hard time just getting by, increasingly dependent upon tourism foreign investment. Yoshie This is not an accurate assessment of Cuba. This one is: Learn from Cuba, Says World Bank By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Apr 30 (IPS) - World Bank President James Wolfensohn Monday extolled the Communist government of President Fidel Castro for doing ''a great job'' in providing for the social welfare of the Cuban people. His remarks followed Sunday's publication of the Bank's 2001 edition of 'World Development Indicators' (WDI), which showed Cuba as topping virtually all other poor countries in health and education statistics. snip It's not news to socialists that Cuba tops all other poor countries in health and education statistics, though it is news that the World Bank speaks well of Cuba. It doesn't mean, though, that Cubans have an easy time getting necessary medicines, adequate nutrition, and so on. more specifically addressing Yoshie's previous point, the rise of tourism and foreign investment in Cuba has encouraged the rise of the dollarized sector, which has encouraged a rise in economic inequality within Cuba. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
Re: the mita
This thread is beginning to degenerate. A few important points have been made. Lou correctly maintains that it is important to understand how complex specific economic formations are. Even so, understanding is very difficult. People outside of California might have problems in understanding the specificity of the Californian economy. Even in Butte county, where I live, there are enormous differences between Chico and the outlying areas. Tim, who studies Chico full-time, has an imperfect analysis of the this small corner of the world. Given this complexity, it is dangerous to pretend that one can command adequate information about formations that are distant and time and space. Jim suggests that analogies can be a useful way of bootstrapping partial information. Lou says that doing so can be misleading. Both are correct. The main problem seems to be that people on the list insist on the complicating discussions by mixing in personal, emotional, and egotistical forces into what could otherwise be a fruitful dialogue. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University [EMAIL PROTECTED] Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901
Re: the upper east side!
Louis Proyect wrote: You forgot to mention that I live on the Upper East Side. well, doesnt kramer suggest that if you do not believe in society, law and order, you should just move to the upper east side? ;-) --ravi
Re: Re: the mita
Given this complexity, it is dangerous to pretend that one can command adequate information about formations that are distant and time and space. Michael Perelman So what is this? A justification for ignoring the facts about 16th to 18th century Mexico, Bolivia and Peru? If you took this kind of warning seriously, you never would have written The Invention of Capitalism which draws upon scholarly and source material written in and about England in this period. Guess what. The same kind of information exists for Mexico, Bolivia and Peru and I plan to draw on it for my final post. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: Re: the mita
In a really odd way the debate between Yoshie Lou is recapitulating that between Stalin and Trotsky, with Lou arguing for socialism in one country and Yoshie taking Trotsky's position. :-) Carrol Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: If that's not feasible, Third-World revolutions are practically doomed, though they may hobble along while trying to make accommodations to the world capitalist market. Even Cubans -- the best case of Third-World revolutions -- are having a hard time just getting by, increasingly dependent upon tourism foreign investment. Yoshie This is not an accurate assessment of Cuba. This one is: Learn from Cuba, Says World Bank By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Apr 30 (IPS) - World Bank President James Wolfensohn Monday extolled the Communist government of President Fidel Castro for doing ''a great job'' in providing for the social welfare of the Cuban people. His remarks followed Sunday's publication of the Bank's 2001 edition of 'World Development Indicators' (WDI), which showed Cuba as topping virtually all other poor countries in health and education statistics. snip It's not news to socialists that Cuba tops all other poor countries in health and education statistics, though it is news that the World Bank speaks well of Cuba. It doesn't mean, though, that Cubans have an easy time getting necessary medicines, adequate nutrition, and so on. Yoshie
Re: Re: Re: the mita
What I meant was that we must understand that our understanding is imperfect and that we cannot speak as if we could command absolute truths. On Tue, May 29, 2001 at 01:17:17PM -0400, Louis Proyect wrote: Given this complexity, it is dangerous to pretend that one can command adequate information about formations that are distant and time and space. Michael Perelman So what is this? A justification for ignoring the facts about 16th to 18th century Mexico, Bolivia and Peru? If you took this kind of warning seriously, you never would have written The Invention of Capitalism which draws upon scholarly and source material written in and about England in this period. Guess what. The same kind of information exists for Mexico, Bolivia and Peru and I plan to draw on it for my final post. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Re: Re: Re: the mita
What I meant was that we must understand that our understanding is imperfect and that we cannot speak as if we could command absolute truths. Michael Perelman Who is talking about absolute truths? I am simply preparing to describe extensive capitalist growth based on free wage labor in 18th century Mexico. I will obviously draw my own conclusions about this, but allow others to supply countervailing information. Needless to say, I won't hold my breath... Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: the mita
On Tue, 29 May 2001, Louis Proyect wrote: Jim Devine: To say that each case must be examined only in its own terms (is this what you're really saying?) is totally anti-theoretic, leaning heavily toward stereotypes of post-modernism, full of sound and rhetorical fury but signifying nothing. Lou responded: There was capitalism in Russia, capitalism in Latin America and capitalism in Western Europe. Each region has its specific class relations and dynamics. Trotsky and Lenin analyzed Russia. Marx and Engels analyzed Western Europe. People like Celso Furtado, A.G. Frank, Mariategui, and Adolfo Gilly analyzed Latin America. My analysis rests on their work, not what Marx and Engels did not write. Why not also rely on the works of, say, Petras and Zeitlin in addition to Frank? Why would you prefer the work of Frank over these two, aside from the fact that Frank's position supports yours? When you say you have researched Latin America, that is true, but it is a very selective research. Any positions that don't support a world systems/dependency approach are out not relevant to LA for you, even though authors who challenge those very positions have done very relevant research on Lat. Am. Or at least explain to us how Frank's understanding of Lat. Am. is superior to Petras's or Zeitlin's. Steve
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: the mita
Am. Or at least explain to us how Frank's understanding of Lat. Am. is superior to Petras's or Zeitlin's. Steve I have read Petras extensively. I consider him useful but ultraleft, especially on Nicaragua. However, he has not written that much about the 16th to 18th century which is of particular interest to me. As far as Zeitlin is concerned, I do plan to dismantle him at some point but for the post I am filing tomorrow my concentration will be on Colin Leys, another ortho-Marxist, neo-Kautskyite. Why don't you read and defend Zeitlin yourself? It would be of more use to PEN-L than the smirking provocations you waste our time with. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: RE: Re: Re: the mita
Mark Jones wrote: Are you also saying, that revolutions only happen when left intellectuals form vanguards? Nope. Doug
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: the mita
On Tue, 29 May 2001, Louis Proyect wrote: Am. Or at least explain to us how Frank's understanding of Lat. Am. is superior to Petras's or Zeitlin's. Steve I have read Petras extensively. I consider him useful but ultraleft, especially on Nicaragua. However, he has not written that much about the 16th to 18th century which is of particular interest to me. As far as Zeitlin is concerned, I do plan to dismantle him at some point but for the post I am filing tomorrow my concentration will be on Colin Leys, another ortho-Marxist, neo-Kautskyite. That's an interesting position. You have not read Zeitlin, but before even reading him you plan to dismantle him. Why don't you read and defend Zeitlin yourself? It would be of more use to PEN-L than the smirking provocations you waste our time with. How do you know I'm smirking when I write these posts. Amazing powers you have all the way over there in the Big Apple. I have read Zeitlin, what charges do I have to defend him against? That his former student is a Pinochetist? Steve Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: the mita
How do you know I'm smirking when I write these posts. Amazing powers you have all the way over there in the Big Apple. I don't know you if you are smirking or not, but I am glad that you don't deny you are writing provocations. I have read Zeitlin, what charges do I have to defend him against? That his former student is a Pinochetist? The question is not whether there are charges against him. Rather it is whether his analysis can clarify our understanding of such phenomena as indentured servitude, etc. Basically since you have done nothing but drop his name, I don't know if he is relevant to our discussions. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: the mita
It is a question of tone. On Tue, May 29, 2001 at 01:57:41PM -0400, Louis Proyect wrote: What I meant was that we must understand that our understanding is imperfect and that we cannot speak as if we could command absolute truths. Michael Perelman Who is talking about absolute truths? I am simply preparing to describe extensive capitalist growth based on free wage labor in 18th century Mexico. I will obviously draw my own conclusions about this, but allow others to supply countervailing information. Needless to say, I won't hold my breath... Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Re: the mita
It is a question of tone. Michael Perelman I had an impression it was a matter of epistemology. Like whether or not somebody in Chico can truly understand what is happening in another country and in another century. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: the mita
No, it had to do with epistemology only insofar as it does not make sense to write with absolute certainly. Sorry, if I was not clear. On Tue, May 29, 2001 at 03:15:55PM -0400, Louis Proyect wrote: It is a question of tone. Michael Perelman I had an impression it was a matter of epistemology. Like whether or not somebody in Chico can truly understand what is happening in another country and in another century. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: the mita
Jim Devine: To say that each case must be examined only in its own terms (is this what you're really saying?) is totally anti-theoretic, leaning heavily toward stereotypes of post-modernism, full of sound and rhetorical fury but signifying nothing. Louis Proyect: No, rather I am saying that Marxists should apply the historical materialist method to Latin America in the 16th through 18th century. Marx himself never did this. If you are serious about doing this, you have to roll up your sleeves and engage with scholarly material. Although Wood makes frequent references to the region, she never bothers with a concrete analysis of concrete class relations. For that you have to look elsewhere. At least with Brenner, you don't even get an inkling that the New World even existed. I think that it's a mistake to assume that every author -- or every author you dislike (for whatever reason) -- _must_ write about Latin America. That kind of standard can be used to trash anyone. For example, I never see you criticizing sexism or heterosexism. I never even see you deal with those subjects. Does this imply that you're sexist and hate gays? No. It's better to try to learn what can be learned from each author rather than splitting authors into two camps, bad guys and good guys and then throwing out the former. Splitting is very academic: one of the problems with academia is that people dwell on the competing schools vision, creating seemingly endless battles of various schools, rather than trying to draw out a synthesis. (In economics, on the other hand, there's only one Truth, neoclassical economics, there's only one God, Adam Smith's Invisible Hand, but the competing schools paradigm is applied within this framework.) Since the capitalist disease -- the cancerous world-wide expansion of capitalism -- seems to have started in Western Europe, specifically in England, it seems valid for the hated Brenner to study that area of the world. It's possible that this disease started somewhere else, but I've never seen you present the case for this possibility. But you said in the previous message it was capitalism (since work was done by PROLETARIANS)? that means that it was _like Russia_ in many ways! Thus, Latin America wasn't a unique case that should be analyzed solely in its own terms. Or did the oobleck mode of production prevail, one that was completely different from those of other countries, times, and places? There was capitalism in Russia, capitalism in Latin America and capitalism in Western Europe. Each region has its specific class relations and dynamics. Trotsky and Lenin analyzed Russia. Marx and Engels analyzed Western Europe. People like Celso Furtado, A.G. Frank, Mariategui, and Adolfo Gilly analyzed Latin America. My analysis rests on their work, not what Marx and Engels did not write. But that doesn't imply that Marx's concepts -- his general theory of historical materialism political economy, not specific stuff like his early belief in the automatic stage theory of history -- are wrong. You never showed that. You seem to be arguing the empiricist, anti-theoretical theory, but you never really present an argument. Folks like Trotsky knew that Russian capitalism was different from German capitalism, but they also didn't reject all lessons learned from studying Germany in their effort to understand Russia. Trotsky never threw CAPITAL into the dust-bin of history. summary of the issues: (1) the oppression of Peru involved markets and merchant capital, within the context of the Spanish Empire. -- Both Blaut Brenner would agree. I just talked to Jim's ghost who is standing above my left shoulder and he disagrees with you. so he thinks that markets played no role in Peru? (2) the oppression of Peru involved proletarianized labor (Louis' previous message) or it involved forced gang labor (Louis' current message). or maybe a combination of both (semi-proletarization)? I am not interested in identifying the forms of labor. you changed your mind, then. I am interested in identifying the specific nature of the way in which capital was created. doesn't this involve identifying different forms of labor? Krupp used slave labor throughout WWII. It remained capitalist. that's because Nazi society _as a whole_ remained capitalist. As Baran Sweezy quote Hegel to say, the truth is the whole. At this point, I think it's worth quoting Marx (volume I, chapter 10, section 2): Capital has not invented surplus-labor. Wherever a part of society possesses the monopoly of the means of production, the laborer, free or not free, must add to the working-time necessary for his own maintenance an extra working-time in order to produce the means of subsistence for the owners of the means of production, whether this proprietor be the Athenian [aristocrat], Etruscan theocrat, civis Romanus, Norman baron, American slave-owner, Wallachian Boyard, modern landlord or
Re: Re:the mita
Jim Devine: I think that it's a mistake to assume that every author -- or every author you dislike (for whatever reason) -- _must_ write about Latin America. Sorry, I was under the impression we were discussing the class character of 16th to 18th century Latin America. If it was feudal as Ellen Meiksins Wood states it was, it is necessary to examine how different classes related to each other. This requires reading material like Steve Stern's book on the Incas, D.A. Brading's Miners and Merchants in Bourbon Mexico: 1763-1810, etc. Since the capitalist disease -- the cancerous world-wide expansion of capitalism -- seems to have started in Western Europe, specifically in England, it seems valid for the hated Brenner to study that area of the world. But I reject the idea that capitalism started in the English countryside. But that doesn't imply that Marx's concepts -- his general theory of historical materialism political economy, not specific stuff like his early belief in the automatic stage theory of history -- are wrong. Not at all. For example, his writings on India are plagued with error but his method allowed Indian Communist M.N. Roy to develop an analysis of how England underdeveloped India. Folks like Trotsky knew that Russian capitalism was different from German capitalism, but they also didn't reject all lessons learned from studying Germany in their effort to understand Russia. Trotsky never threw CAPITAL into the dust-bin of history. Is that what I am doing, throwing Capital in the dustbin? I would never do that. I am too firm a believer in recycling. I think this is the solution to the never-ending Blaut/Brenner Battle. Latin American forced-labor modes of exploitation (the mita, etc.) were drawn into the whirlpool of an international market dominated by the capitalistic mode of production (i.e., Europe-centered industrial capitalism). So, as with U.S. slavery, the barbaric conditions of forced labor -- the mita and similar -- were combined with the civilized conditions of the world market dominated by industrial capital, we see the worst of both worlds. I reject this analysis. Modern South Africa's economy revolved around mining based on unfree labor. The AFL-CIO boycotted South African coal in the 1970s because it was produced by what they characterized as indentured servants. If this country was anything but capitalist, including most of all the mines, then we just have different ideas about what Marxism means and how to apply it. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: Re: the mita
--- Michael Perelman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Tim, who studies Chico full-time, has an imperfect analysis of the this small corner of the world... I think the difference is that I don't get paid to only sit around and think about it, and dream up theories and so forth. I very much enjoy being a lookie-loo on this list, but many of the arguments and the things people find important simply escape me. Maybe that reflects my lack of eduaction, but I think that in no small part it reflects you academics' disconnect with the real world. No offense intended; I'm learning a lot just reading through my hundreds of PEN-l messages, but I often find the list, well, arcane and obscure. I hold a broad marxist view of the world and am willing to keep it at that while trying to relate to the broad populace through my newspaper. I find discussion about 17th century Latin America interesting, but it's a long, long way from an interesting read on the Incas to encouraging Butte County workers to organize against their employers, to give just one example. There's been some excellent rhetoric (which I hope is reflected in action) on this list about supporting workers movements and so forth, but of late that seems to be eclipsed by heated arguments over subjects that not one worker in a thousand would understand. Theory's all well and good, and I appreciate the role of intellectuals, and I greatly admire some of the intellect apparent of this list, but I've got a newspaper to put out, I've got ads to sell, I've got bills to collect and others to pay, I've got to worry about whether or not my carriers are going to show up, etc, and then I have to find something to write about. For all this, I seem to have a paper that popular in at least some local circles, and has contributed to some, albeit small, political change. I guess I'm just trying to interject a bit of proportion to the conversations. I'll keep on the list and wade through the particulars of this or that take on whoever, but I would hope that PEN-lers at some point realize that they themselves are rather privileged to be having the conversation at all. Isn't the point to have some of real effect on the world, as opposed to being caught up in discussion group with no apparent relevance? Tim = Subscribe to the Chico Examiner for only $30 annually or $20 for six months. Mail cash or check payabe to Tim Bousquet to POBox 4627, Chico CA 95927 __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/
Relevance, was Re:mita
On Tue, 29 May 2001, Louis Proyect wrote: How do you know I'm smirking when I write these posts. Amazing powers you have all the way over there in the Big Apple. I don't know you if you are smirking or not, but I am glad that you don't deny you are writing provocations. I didn't even notice I was 'provoking'. I thought I was just pointing out some basic contradictions in your claims to superior knowledge or your attacks on people you have decided are 'eurocentric' or fools etc... As for arguing with your points, I think James Devine has done a far more apt job than I am able to do and all he has gotten for that has been the refusal to even admit that he is doing a good job of it, even though he disagrees with you. The way you argue I get the sense that Devine is a bigger enemy of the people than Reagan...and about as dumb a one also... I have read Zeitlin, what charges do I have to defend him against? That his former student is a Pinochetist? The question is not whether there are charges against him. Rather it is whether his analysis can clarify our understanding of such phenomena as indentured servitude, etc. Basically since you have done nothing but drop his name, I don't know if he is relevant to our discussions. He damn sure is. It's wierd, you ask me all the time to put out longer pieces. Every time I do something like that people (as I did about the work of Raymond Lau on the political economy of privatization in China about a year ago or so), end up discussing something else unrelated. The piece on Lau's work ended up generating a 'debate' on property rights...The debate was kind of interesting but not really related to any of the major issues that Lau's work dealt with. I guess you could say after that experience I just decided to go back to short comments. Or I humbly cede the all out debate to people who have demonstrated the capacity to do that with you (even though you don't even grant them that much...) Steve Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Re: Relevance, was Re:mita
At 10:59 AM 5/29/01 -1000, you wrote: The way you argue I get the sense that Devine is a bigger enemy of the people than Reagan...and about as dumb a one also... hey, I'm worse than that. I'm the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, all wrapped into one. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
RE: Re: Relevance, was Re:mita
hey, I'm worse than that. I'm the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, all wrapped into one. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine This brings to mind an equine image, but not the apocalypse dudes. mbs
left the mita running?
Doug Henwood cracked, And such revolutions aren't likely to happen in the rich imperial nations if their left intellectuals are interested only in affairs thousands of miles from where they sit. Louis Proyect riposted, You forgot to mention that I live on the Upper East Side. Slipping in your old age? When I was a kid, people didn't worry much about getting to the movie on time. They would just find a seat whenever they got there and watch the last 2/3 or 3/4 of the movie, wait for it to start again and then watch the part they had missed. When scenes showed up that they had seen before someone would ask isn't this where we came in? and they would leave. If it was a tedious movie, someone would ask isn't this where we came in? after about 10 minutes. Tom Walker Bowen Island, BC 604 947 2213
Re: Relevance, was Re:mita
OK. Tim and Tom are correct, except they did not mention the nastiness that is getting more frequent. I have not seen anything new for a while, so why don't we drop it. Thanks. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Re: Relevance, was Re:mita
OK. Tim and Tom are correct, except they did not mention the nastiness that is getting more frequent. I have not seen anything new for a while, so why don't we drop it. Thanks. -- Michael Perelman Actually I am taking the day off tomorrow to prepare my final post. After that we can go back to discussing the American stock market again, which is really what this list is about most of the time. I plan to cover: 1. Phillip Hoffman, Kenneth Pomeranz and the 'uniquely' capitalist character of British agriculture. 2. The difference between the Spanish and Incan mita. 3. Capitalist development in 'feudal' Mexico. 4. The movement to foster agricultural improvement in 'feudal' Spain. 5. The class character of contemporary South Africa. 6. Colin Leys' search for a progressive Kenyan bourgeoisie. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org/
Economic Reporting Review by Dean Baker, 5/29/01
Economic Reporting Review By Dean Baker You can sign up to receive ERR every week by sending a subscribe ERR email request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can find the latest ERR at http://www.tompaine.com/news/2000/10/02/index.html . All ERR prior to August are archived at http://www.fair.org/err/. All ERR after August are archived at www.tompaine.com ** * OUTSTANDING STORIES OF THE WEEK Some Hybrid Vehicles Are Here; Their Tax Status Remains Vague, by Matthew L. Wald in the New York Times, May 24, 2001, page C1. This article examines the current tax treatment of hybrid vehicles, which run partially on gas and partially on electricity. Vice President Cheney has proposed a $2,000 vehicle tax rebate for purchases of hybrids; however, under some interpretations of the current law on tax rebates for clean cars, Mr. Cheney's proposal may actually reduce the size of the rebates that apply to hybrids. Bleak Statistics Tarnish Nevada's Glitter, by Todd S. Purdum in the New York Times, May 19, 2001, page A1. This article examines Nevada's performance in recent years as measured by a variety of social indicators such as suicide rates, teenage pregnancy rates, and high-school dropout rates. These measures place Nevada near the bottom of the 50 states, even though the economy has experienced very rapid growth over the last decade. Temporary Jobs Have Become the Victims of a Slow Market, by David Leonhardt in the New York Times, May 19, 2001, page C1. This article reports on the sharp decline in the temporary employment sector in the last nine months. The workers in this sector have felt the effects of the economic downturn most severely. Tax Analysts See Big Gains For Top 1% Of Taxpayers, by David Cay Johnston in the New York Times, May 19, 2001, page C1. This article examines the timing of various provisions of the tax cuts approved by the House and Senate. It notes that many of the provisions that favor low or middle income families will lose value through time, largely as a result of inflation. In contrast, the provisions that primarily benefit upper income taxpayers tend to increase in value through time. TAX CUTS In Different Eras, Two Big Tax Plans, by John Lancaster in the Washington Post, May 20, 2001, page A5. This article compares the Reagan tax cuts passed in 1981 with the tax cuts likely to pass Congress this month. At one point the article asserts that the Reagan tax cuts were about the same size measured in relation to economy, placing both at approximately 2.1 percent of GDP. Actually, the $1.35 billion tax cut that is projected to pass Congress is less than 1.0 percent of the projected GDP for the 11 years included in this revenue loss estimate. This makes the Bush tax cut less than half as large as the Reagan tax cut. The article also poses the question, Why is Congress on the verge of cutting taxes by $1.35 trillion over 11 years, especially given the uncertainties about long-range budget surplus projections on which the cuts are based? This is a peculiar question, since there has never been a time in the post-war era when a ten year projection would have shown a better fiscal picture than it does at present. There are many reasons for questioning the merits of this tax cut, but the nation has never been more able to afford a tax cut of this magnitude than now. Bush Tax Cut Pares Government's Role, by Glenn Kessler in the Washington Post, May 21, 2001, page A1. This article examines the long-run impact of President Bush's tax cut. At one point it refers to arguments from some Democrats and experts on national finances that the tax cut set the nation on an increasingly tight fiscal path that potentially leaves little maneuvering room for future presidents and Congresses when the baby boom generation begins to retire. It is worth noting that this view assumes that future Congresses will behave in a qualitatively different manner than past Congresses, for reasons that are never explained. In the past, Congresses have repeatedly voted to raise taxes to meet important public needs. In the last two decades Congress voted for four major tax increases. In 1982, 1990, and 1993 it approved significant tax increases aimed at reducing budget deficits. In 1983, it approved a large increase in the payroll tax to keep the Social Security fund solvent. While none of these tax increases were very popular, relatively few members lost seats as a result of supporting these measures. The basis for concern about long-term budget shortfalls stems from a view that for some reason Congress will never again approve a tax increase, even if it is needed to meet pressing social needs. There is no apparent reason for thinking that this would be the case. Team Bush: Partisan but Nimble, by Richard W. Stevenson in the New York Times, May 20, 2001, Section 3, page 1. This article examines the economic views and practices of President Bush's top economic
Re: RE: Re: Relevance, was Re:mita
http://www.apocalyptic-theories.com/gallery/horsemen/durerhorsemen.html - Original Message - From: Max Sawicky [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2001 9:38 AM Subject: [PEN-L:12364] RE: Re: Relevance, was Re:mita hey, I'm worse than that. I'm the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, all wrapped into one. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine This brings to mind an equine image, but not the apocalypse dudes. mbs
Byrd Amendment pissing other countries off
Monday May 28 12:35 PM ET Fight Brewing Over Trade Law By KATHERINE RIZZO, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - A trade battle is shaping up over a law that lets American companies pocket tens of millions of dollars in fines that the government collects from foreign competitors. Foreign governments say the law violates trade agreements and they have started proceedings against the United States in the World Trade Organization (news - web sites). If they win, they could cripple American companies' ability to compete abroad by imposing fines of their own on U.S. goods. The law, passed last year, seeks to level the playing field for U.S. companies by giving them money when the federal government determines foreign competitors dumped their products in the United States at artificially low prices. The first checks are to go out later this year. Critics warn it could unleash a flood of litigation. ``It encourages people in the private bar to seek out cases. Ambulance-chasing. Not too many lawyers will be able to resist what essentially is a bounty,'' said John Simpson, president of the American Association of Exporters and Importers. The law was written with the steel industry in mind, and steel dominates the list of companies that have won trade complaints. Of the 360 punitive duty cases preliminarily qualified for payments, 46 percent involved steel. The chemical industry was a distant second with about 14 percent, but the list of industries benefitting runs the breadth of the economy: pasta, aspirin, garlic, tomatoes, uranium, and the humble Fourth of July sparkler. Diamond Sparkler of Youngstown, Ohio, the only remaining American sparkler maker, won an unfair trade complaint against its Chinese competitors, resulting in the U.S. government slapping a punitive duty on imports. ``Even with the 94 percent duty, we're still getting killed,'' said William A. Weimer, Diamond Sparkler's general counsel. ``We just can't compete with the wages we have to pay.'' Under the law, the punitive duty money collected on sparklers imported from China can go to Diamond instead of the U.S. Treasury, as it did before. American companies must apply to get the funds and will have to certify they're putting the money to a use allowed by law, such as training, new technology, health benefits and pensions. The law also lets unions apply for a share of the money. Companies that use steel, steel importers and some of America's trading partners say the duties alone are punishment enough for unfair trade practices, and putting money into the pockets of U.S. companies goes too far. The European Union (news - web sites), Australia, Brazil, Chile, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea (news - web sites) and Thailand have told the WTO that giving trade-violation fines to competing companies violates international agreements. Even if the United States prevails with the WTO, a separate challenge is threatened on another front. The Canadian government has warned that if duties levied against Canadian or Mexican products are given to competing American companies, Canada will view it as a violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canadian Ambassador Michael Kergin said his country worries the law provides an incentive to U.S. companies to file more trade complaints and the U.S. government to approve marginal claims. It is ``a fundamental change in policy direction which could have unfortunate consequences for international trade in general and the administration of trade remedy law in particular,'' Kergin said. The payment program was inserted last year into a farm spending bill by Sen. Robert Byrd (news - bio - voting record), D-W.Va. He used a procedure that made it impossible to kill the provision without dooming the entire Agriculture Department appropriation for fiscal 2001, which began Oct. 1. In defending the law, Byrd has said money doesn't change hands if foreign trading partners play by the rules. In addition, the duties don't last forever; each one is reviewed every five years and can be lifted if the government is convinced the aggrieved U.S. industry won't be harmed by revocation. Companies that buy imported steel and the export-import industry have been pressing for a repeal. The Bush administration hasn't indicated whether it would support such a move. David Phelps, president of the American Institute for International Steel, a trade association, predicted an international backlash if the law stands. ``The Byrd Amendment will increase the retaliatory use of the trade laws against U.S. exporters,'' he said. ``We are hopeful that the Bush administration will take a long, hard look at this embarrassment to U.S. trade policy.'' Meanwhile, the Customs Service is struggling to create a system for distributing the damages to U.S. industries. In the first six months, the agency collected $50 million. The Customs Service had expected to have details worked out and some proposed rules circulating by
Swimming against the tide of history
I just received this from Sid Shniad. It is very, very interesting. [Excerpt from Media Benjamin's interviews with Juan Antonio Blanco from the book Talking About Revolution. Blanco begins here by recounting his own experiences as one whose views have not always been in line with prevailing policy, even though he stands within the Revolution. This illustrates concretely how Cuba has dealt with such differences. He then goes on to talk about how it deals with dissenters -- those who are outside of and against the Revolution.] SNIP Q. You make a distinction between dissent within the system and anti systemic dissenters. How has Cuba historically treated, dissent within the system, and has the recent crisis and hostile international environment narrowed the space for such dissent? One of the historic problems with socialism around the world is that it never came to terms with accommodating dissent within the system. I know this firsthand because I have been, if you wish, a dissident within the revolution on many issues and for quite a long time. Q. Can you give us some specific examples? In the late 1960s I was teaching in the department of philosophy at the university. The department was a center for all kinds of creative thinking about socialism, and we published a magazine called Pensamiento Critico, or Critical Thought. We were trying to create a Cuban Marxist school of thinking using a non dogmatic approach to Marxism. As Che Guevara suggested, we approached Marxism with the natural attitude that somebody in physics might embrace Newton, without declaring Newton the last word in physics. Throughout the 1960s, we tried to update the Cuban population on the major trends of thinking of our time. Pensamiento Critico was the kind of magazine that wouId have been frowned upon in the Soviet Union because it included all different schools of thought, including bourgeois thought (which is, of course, one of the major schools of thought in modem times), liberal thinking, radical socialist thinking. You could read the writings of African Amilcar Cabral next to the works of the German Herbert Marcuse, and of course we would include Cuban thinkers as well. We also included critiques of the Soviet model. All this was something totally abnormal for a proper, prudent Soviet socialist publication. This experiment lasted until the end of the decade, when the Russification of the Cuban model began and derailed a number of original efforts like the one at our university. All of a sudden the direction of the department changed, a new curriculum was imposed, and Pensamiento Critico was shut down. I was not in favor of copying the Soviet model and made my views known. I refused to teach Soviet Marxism; I could not lie to my students saying something to them that I didn't believe in. So I had to quit my teaching job. Q. Did anything else happen to you? No, I did not end up in prison or anything like that, and I was able to get a job elsewhere. But during that time there was little room for public debate on issues like this. Amazingly enough, there is more room for debate today. There are openings today that did not exist 10 years ago. The existence of the non governmental organization I am now heading is a testament to that. The very existence of my institution, a nongovernment institution for the study of politics and ethics, would have been unthinkable 10 years ago. This is because according to the Soviet model, every non governmental organization, with the exception of the mass organizations promoted by the system itself, was perceived as suspicious. I find it very encouraging that during the most difficult moment in the revolution's history, we are moving toward a more pluralistic view of the construction of socialism. At one time the line of the party was the line period and if you spoke against that line, no matter how respectfully, you were perceived as a counterrevolutionary. This is not the case anymore. Within the party there is a growing trend for presenting alternative views and airing differences. So the logic that is prevailing today is not the logic of repression but the logic of democracy. The admission of religious believers into the party and into high posts of government, which happened at the Fourth Party Congress in 1991, was an important step. Perhaps more important than what it meant to the believers themselves is the psychological impact it had of opening the society to more points of views. These are, of course, views within the system, because they are religious people who in one way or another back up the system. Like anyone else, they may disagree with particular policies, but they believe in building a socialist society. So we are moving little by little into a policy of more flexibility. We are starting to understand that democracy is not a luxury, it is a necessity. If we want to save the system, we need to guarantee a plurality of views. Q. If there was, indeed, a more open
time
Tom Walker wrote: Doug Henwood cracked, And such revolutions aren't likely to happen in the rich imperial nations if their left intellectuals are interested only in affairs thousands of miles from where they sit. Louis Proyect riposted, You forgot to mention that I live on the Upper East Side. Slipping in your old age? When I was a kid, people didn't worry much about getting to the movie on time. They would just find a seat whenever they got there and watch the last 2/3 or 3/4 of the movie, wait for it to start again and then watch the part they had missed. When scenes showed up that they had seen before someone would ask isn't this where we came in? and they would leave. If it was a tedious movie, someone would ask isn't this where we came in? after about 10 minutes. Does this have something to do with the length of the workday, or the lump of entertainment fallacy? Doug
Overtaxed Infrastructure
Published on Monday, May 28, 2001 in the San Francisco Bay Guardian Overtaxed Infrastructure $1.3 Trillion Needed for Repairs Not Tax Cuts for the Wealthy by Ralph Nader Economic policy is taking on a surreal appearance in Washington. President Bush has gambled everything on a massive tax cut based on the quicksand of long-term projections of yet-to-be-achieved budget surpluses. A bipartisan majority in the Congress has enthusiastically endorsed the President's philosophy of tax cuts cure all with the Democratic opposition chipping away only at the margins. The final version of the tax cuts seems certain to be another bonanza for the wealthy. The richest one percent of taxpayers - citizens with annual incomes over $375,000 - would receive a third of the benefits of the cuts while the bottom 60 percent of the taxpayers would get only 15 percent of the benefits. Leaving the fairness issue aside, the decision to place tax cuts at the top of the nation's economic agenda seems unreal even in the fantasy world of Washington. It is as if President Bush and Congressional leaders see no unmet needs across the nation. In the real world there is a mounting backlog of delayed solutions to national problems ranging from health to affordable housing to a decaying infrastructure. The ability to deal with these and other unmet needs is placed at risk by a policy that puts tax cuts for the wealthy ahead of investments in the economic future of the nation. The neglect of the nation's infrastructure - everything from water plants to transportation systems - is a national disgrace that threatens not only the economy, but the health and safety of the entire citizenry. The American Society of Civil Engineers recently published a report card (www.asce.org/reportcard) that came up with a near failing grade of D+ across 12 critical areas of the nation's infrastructure. Ironically, the engineers estimated that $1.3 trillion was needed in the next five years just to repair current and looming infrastructure problems - a sum just about equal to the amount that President Bush plans to push out the door in the form of tax cuts. Without these resources, we gamble America's prosperity on an infrastructure whose pipes, schools, and airports are literally at the bursting point, says ASCE President Robert W. Bein, a civil engineer from Irvine, California. Here are some of the areas that the engineers cited as candidates for immediate action: Roads: One third of the nation's roads are in poor or mediocre condition, costing American drivers an estimated $5.8 billion and contributing to 13,800 fatalities annually. Bridges: As of 1998, 29 percent of the nation's bridges were structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Transit: Transit ridership has increased 15 percent since 1995 - faster than airline or highway transportation. Capital spending needs to increase at least 41 percent just to maintain the system in its present condition. Schools: Seventy-five percent of the school buildings are inadequate to meet the needs of school children. Drinking water: The nation's 54,000 water systems face an annual shortfall of $11 billion needed to replace facilities nearing the end of useful life and to comply with federal water standards. Wastewater: Some sewer systems are 100 years old. There is a shortfall of more than $12 billion annually in investment needs of the systems. Dams: There are more than 2,100 unsafe dams in the U.S. with 61 failures in the past two years. Not only are these critical needs for health and safety, but public monies that would go into these improvements would provide local jobs and stimulate a slowing economy. As Louis Uchitelle wrote May 20th in the New York Times, Democrats used to carry the flag for critical public investments to meet these needs, but the emphasis shifted under the Clinton-Gore Administration to keeping government less involved and preserving surpluses. Uchitelle also makes note of recent polls by Louis Harris and Associates which indicate that citizens do favor more spending on services they want such as education, health care, medical research, highways, police, and air traffic control. But neither the Bush Administration nor the Congress has the courage to test the waters and do the right thing in investing in programs that build the nation and meet real needs of the people. It is easier to pass out candy in the form of tax cuts than to go to the people as a community of citizens with a real economic program for the future. The nation will pay dearly for a White House and a Congress that dodged the hard choices and left our country in poor repair. Copyright © 2001 San Francisco Bay Guardian -- = David Richardson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://oakport.com ___ FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such
Re: Re: Sen. Jeffords leaves Republican party
In part Nathan Newman says: Unlike the implication sometimes made, I never treat Dems as a magic pill but merely a strategic advantage to make organizing more effective, since if there are NO decent bills to even vote on, it's very hard to mobilize anything.-- Nathan I agree. maggie Nathan Newman wrote: The last minimum wage bill from last year had all sorts of crap attached- that's what happens when its introduction is controlled by the GOP. The initial bill in the Senate will not have those kind of riders initially, although no doubt the GOP will try to pass amendments attaching them. Given that any House bill will have such riders, it will depend on negotiations in committee for whether the final bill is worth supporting, but progressives will have to mobilize to push a clean minimum wage bill and target the GOP for trying to gut it with bad amendments. Unlike the implication sometimes made, I never treat Dems as a magic pill but merely a strategic advantage to make organizing more effective, since if there are NO decent bills to even vote on, it's very hard to mobilize anything. -- Nathan - Original Message - From: Margaret Coleman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, May 28, 2001 8:32 AM Subject: [PEN-L:12287] Re: Re: Sen. Jeffords leaves Republican party Nathan Newman mentions (among other things, remarks reprinted below) the minimum wage legislation which might be revived now that the Senate has a democratic majority of one. Last I checked (about a year ago) there was a rider on this legislation which would destroy overtime laws in most states and go a long way towards getting rid of the 8 hour day. Apparently there is a rider which would allow employers to demand employees work additional hours without paying time and a half. While overtime laws are already weak at best -- not covering retail, restaurants or serving positions, they do keep the tendency of employers to underemploy labor in check. maggie coleman Nathan Newman wrote: Don't expect revolutionary changes, but do expect a significant progressive shift. Many of Bush's judicial nominations will now die in committee where they would have moved forward. Jeffords will take over the Environment committee where most of Bush's anti-environment energy bill will die a happy death. And popular bills that the GOP have blocked coming to the floor- such as minimum wage increases, a prescription drugs benefit for Medicare, and a patient bill of rights bill - will come to a vote and pass the Senate, putting political pressure on the House to pass them as well. Conservative Dems like Zell Miller and Ben Nelson will still throw many votes to the GOP, but the shift in agenda will highlight why it does matter which party is in control, not for revolution - since that is made at the grassroots not inside the Beltway - but for the legislative reforms that benefit people day-to-day. Nathan Newman - Original Message - From: ravi narayan [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2001 10:22 AM Subject: [PEN-L:12098] Sen. Jefferts leaves Republican party didnt see a post on this so far, and for those who may not yet have heard: sen. jefferts of vermont has left the republican party, as predicted, as outlined in his press conference this morning. of particular interest is that he slammed bush's education policy. this of course gives the democrats the senate majority. expect great revolutionary changes and the common good of the people to finally emerge ;-) --ravi
Re: RE: Re: RE: Sen. Jefferts leaves Republican party
This is in response to Max's answer about a third party -- his complete response is at the end of my comments: I like the idea of a front porch campaign -- a real time version of a list. And, I agree with most of your very broad outline. One question though, how would you define the working class? Marx's definition seems outmoded with corporate/international capitalism, especially in the computer age when so many traditional craft jobs have been mechanized (trouble shooting for all equipment in communications, robots in auto plants). I haven't been able to arrive at a satisfactory definition for myself. I don't like sociological definitions which tie class to income, because some production workers make far higher salaries than low level managers, especially where the managers are non-European background or female or both. maggie coleman Max Sawicky wrote: I'm not interested in galvanizing progressives. I want to galvanize the working class. My 5- point populist program would be: democratic money; fair trade; curb anti-competitive predation by corporations; labor rights, and fully fund the domestic budget. My targets, conversely, would be free trade/globalization, the Fed, monopolists, and budget balancers/tax cutters. I would run third party campaigns wherever the resources were available. I would target elections where the cause could be advanced, not necessarily those that strategically cause Dems to lose. I'll be starting my own political party shortly. There will be no membership drive. It'll be the internet equivalent of the 'front-porch campaign.' mbs What kind of 3rd party would you build? In the last couple of decades attempts have been made at several types of 3rd parties, both conservative and progressive, and they have all failed. Why do you think this is and what type of party would galvanize progressives? Of course, for conservatives, one could argue that the Right to Life Party has been successful in terms of influence, but they have not been successful in mainstreaming their party line. maggie coleman It does make a difference which party is in power. That's why we should look to third parties to build public support for progressive issues and exert pressure on the Dems. mbs
Re: time
Tom Walker wrote: Doug Henwood cracked, And such revolutions aren't likely to happen in the rich imperial nations if their left intellectuals are interested only in affairs thousands of miles from where they sit. Louis Proyect riposted, You forgot to mention that I live on the Upper East Side. Slipping in your old age? When I was a kid, people didn't worry much about getting to the movie on time. They would just find a seat whenever they got there and watch the last 2/3 or 3/4 of the movie, wait for it to start again and then watch the part they had missed. When scenes showed up that they had seen before someone would ask isn't this where we came in? and they would leave. If it was a tedious movie, someone would ask isn't this where we came in? after about 10 minutes. Does this have something to do with the length of the workday, or the lump of entertainment fallacy? Doug When Tom was a kid, movie-goers were all modernists who didn't give a damn about narrative order. Since then, we have become aesthetically conservative, as ticket prices have gone up. :-) Yoshie
re: time (was left the mita running?)
A meter is an instrument for measuring and recording the quantity of something, as of gas, water, miles, or time. Take your pick. Doug Henwood asked, Does this have something to do with the length of the workday, or the lump of entertainment fallacy? Tom Walker Bowen Island, BC 604 947 2213
An email from Slate
Here's a good article about ring-wing dorks in the UK and the USA. readme Triumph of the Dorks By Michael Kinsley Thursday, May 24, 2001, at 4:00 p.m. PT British Prime Minister Tony Blair is often described as an American-style politician. His opponent in the June 7 election, Conservative Party leader William Hague, seems at first like nothing else on earth, let alone in the United States. Yet Hague is also a recognizable American political type: the dorky right-wing political operative, to be blunt about it. The key difference is that in America these fellows are content to play the role of Rasputin: They don't aspire to be the czar. Precociously possessed by politics; rapturous conspirators and denouncers of conspiracies; middle-aged-looking when young, yet baby-faced as they approach middle age; they leave the actual running for office to less intelligent but glossier specimens with better social skills, like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Hague is going to lose bigpartly because he is such a dork. Nevertheless, it speaks well of British politicsand the British electoratethat an odd duck like Hague should be leading the ticket of a major political party. It shows that the British still have a long way to go if they aspire to the shallowness and professionalization of American politics. It also shows a cultural tolerance for human diversity that is in some ways more valuable than the legally imposed racial consciousness that goes by the term diversity in this country. In fact the British Conservatives have a recent history of leadership by odd ducks. In the 1970s their leader was Ted Heath, a fat bachelor who would be more likely to get arrested than elected if he went around the United States kissing babies. Then, for about 400 years during the 1980s, there was Margaret Thatcher, who had something closer to hypnosis than a conventional politician's charm. Both of these unusual characters actually led their party to victoryThatcher 17 times (or so). In America, the William Hague types don't run for office, but they do appear on television from time to time. For example, there is the sinister Grover Norquist, who carries half-a-dozen front groups around in his pocket as he pursues his sundry enthusiasms. Turn on Fox News at any hour and you might find Norquist identified as chairman of Citizens Against Taxing Rich People. Try again later and he'll be there again, this time as president of the Society for Renaming the Moon After Ronald Reagan. Then there's John Fund, an editor at the Wall Street Journal editorial page with supernatural powers that enable him to plant the exact same thought in the heads of all 147 conservative politicians and commentators appearing on television on any given day. The best-known although least typical example is Bill Kristol, editor in chief of the Weekly Standard. Kristol was known as Dan Quayle's brain when he served as that vice president's chief of staff. For a while, ABC used Kristol and George Stephanopoulos of the Clinton administration as paired commentators on This Week. The glamorous Stephanopoulos is still there; the affable but intellectual (and, worse, intellectual-looking) Kristol was soon dumped. The emergence of the Right-Wing Dork (RWD) as a recognizable political type, whether running for office in Britain or conspiring behind the scenes in America, is a significant development. (It may even be as significant as the roughly simultaneous emergence of the Leggy Blond Right-Wing Commentatressa development that has gotten far more attention, for some reason.) Washington has been packed with Left-Wing Dorks since at least the New Deal, but conservatives are supposed to value real work in the real world and are supposed to hold the capital's leech economy in contempt. Yet the RWD generally discovered politics at a tender age and has never done anything else. RWDs are drawn unquestioningly to Washington, where they work as aides to real politicians. Or, if they're lucky, they sink into a life of gilded socialism at a conservative think tank. Thanks to the conservative political revival of the past couple of decades, and the growing political activism of big corporations (a development fomented, as it happens, by Irving Kristol, the godfather of neoconservatism and father of Bill), the conservative ideas-and-agitprop industry is now a career track in and of itself. An RWD can go straight from college into a world of seminars, junkets, and political intrigue without ever holding anything most people would recognize as a private-sector job. There is obvious irony here. But there is poignancy here, too. Are the RWDs hypocrites, or are they selfless martyrs? These are bright, energetic, ambitious people who could probably thrive mightily in the private sector, yet they devote their lives to promoting other people's right to do so. They fight for lower taxes on
Re: Re: RE: Re: RE: Sen. Jefferts leaves Republican party
And what about those who want to be workers like the 79% of working age disabled persons who say they want to work but who cannot get hired or who have been axed due to an impairment or illness? Marta Margaret Coleman wrote: This is in response to Max's answer about a third party -- his complete response is at the end of my comments: I like the idea of a front porch campaign -- a real time version of a list. And, I agree with most of your very broad outline. One question though, how would you define the working class? Marx's definition seems outmoded with corporate/international capitalism, especially in the computer age when so many traditional craft jobs have been mechanized (trouble shooting for all equipment in communications, robots in auto plants). I haven't been able to arrive at a satisfactory definition for myself. I don't like sociological definitions which tie class to income, because some production workers make far higher salaries than low level managers, especially where the managers are non-European background or female or both. maggie coleman Max Sawicky wrote: I'm not interested in galvanizing progressives. I want to galvanize the working class. My 5- point populist program would be: democratic money; fair trade; curb anti-competitive predation by corporations; labor rights, and fully fund the domestic budget. My targets, conversely, would be free trade/globalization, the Fed, monopolists, and budget balancers/tax cutters. I would run third party campaigns wherever the resources were available. I would target elections where the cause could be advanced, not necessarily those that strategically cause Dems to lose. I'll be starting my own political party shortly. There will be no membership drive. It'll be the internet equivalent of the 'front-porch campaign.' mbs What kind of 3rd party would you build? In the last couple of decades attempts have been made at several types of 3rd parties, both conservative and progressive, and they have all failed. Why do you think this is and what type of party would galvanize progressives? Of course, for conservatives, one could argue that the Right to Life Party has been successful in terms of influence, but they have not been successful in mainstreaming their party line. maggie coleman It does make a difference which party is in power. That's why we should look to third parties to build public support for progressive issues and exert pressure on the Dems. mbs -- Marta Russell author, Los Angeles, CA http://disweb.org/ Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract http://www.commoncouragepress.com/russell_ramps.html
Re: re: time (was left the mita running?)
I think it is gas. Gene Coyloe Tom Walker wrote: A meter is an instrument for measuring and recording the quantity of something, as of gas, water, miles, or time. Take your pick. Doug Henwood asked, Does this have something to do with the length of the workday, or the lump of entertainment fallacy? Tom Walker Bowen Island, BC 604 947 2213
RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Sen. Jefferts leaves Republican party
This is in response to Max's answer about a third party -- his complete response is at the end of my comments: I like the idea of a front porch campaign -- a real time version of a list. And, I agree with most of your very broad outline. One question though, how would you define the working class? Marx's definition seems outmoded with corporate/international capitalism, especially in the computer age when so many traditional craft jobs have been mechanized (trouble shooting for all equipment in communications, robots in auto plants). I haven't been able to arrive at a satisfactory definition for myself. I don't like sociological definitions which tie class to income, because some production workers make far higher salaries than low level managers, especially where the managers are non-European background or female or both. maggie coleman I'm recycling my oldies here, but in a nutshell, I would define w.c. in terms of lifetime income (LI). LI is the present value of market-based consumption, gifts, and bequests. Those with insufficient LI to retire young or refrain from working are w.c. Where's the cutoff? It doesn't matter that much, IMO. I would include small biz, the self-employed, police. Most people have to work for their money, a few have their money work for them. It's about the Many and the Few. The fact that some low-paid schmo has a managerial hat, or that a shopkeeper has a modicum of capital, or that someone is in an occupation that obliges him to serve the political/military needs of the capitalist class is not a crucial distinction to me (as far as this exercise goes). A progressive program benefits all these types; no reason to exclude them. I think simplicity and fuzziness of definition in this context are virtues. At the very least, they save us a lot of time splitting hairs. I expect that in the context of a real political crunch, the distinctions in Marx (which may serve other purposes, in re: understanding the 'laws of motion' etc.) and academia tend to vaporize. mbs
RE: Re: Re: the mita
Doug Henwood wrote: such revolutions aren't likely to happen in the rich imperial nations if their left intellectuals are interested only in affairs thousands of miles from where they sit. Are you saying that Louis Proyect is not interested in America? Mark
