addressing current major issues of political economy
At 13/11/02 20:47 -0500, you wrote: Because sectarian traditions of marxism cannot engage with the real world, and perhaps prefer not to. Chris Burford Then I am opposed to engaging with the real world, if this means taking the side of NATO against Yugoslavia. Louis Proyect, Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org 21 minutes later Louis Proyect returns with this retort which is, as so often, a barb, and a distorting barb, which diverts at a tangent from the main point. Yes it is strange that with the contradictions sharpening in the real world to such a dangerous degree we are asked to focus on judging which people are more revolutionary than whom, and we are invited to consider taking personal sides between two New Yorkers both with their own e-mail lists, who are both more than capable of rendering accounts to one another in private. Had Louis Proyect wished to demonstrate that his brand of marxism is not in fact subjective idealism and sectarianism (despite his bland description of his own list which he promotes with every email on this one) there are any number of aspects of current urgent questions of political economy he could contribute on. Of course his inability to do so does not hang or fall on what basis he disagreed with me about the atrocities in the former Yugoslavia and the damage they did to the unity of working people, including between peopel of muslim and christian cultural background. To divert to the tangent before returning to the main question:- If Louis Proyect would like to withdraw his expulsion of me from his own list, for falsely accusing me of supporting NATO (and ensure that my contributions will not be censored, and that he will not edit them out of the summaries of his list, and that I will not be thrown off again, then I will consider debating with him there and explaining yet again that the critical viewpoint I held, along with the UK Guardian and Ken Livingstone was different to his caricature.) Louis Proyect can demonstrate that his apparent brutal joke in his post of Sun, 10 Nov 2002 20:30:47 -0500 does not have a germ of truth in it. Many a true word spoken in jest. Not only am I evasive, I am downright deceitful. I always have Joe in the back of my mind when moderating Marxmail. Why should the host of an email list about marxism with several hundred members, want to joke on another list about being evasive and deceitful? Why would he not wish to demonstrate in a principled way that he can address major current issues of political economy rigorously and not distort them and mock those with whom he has a major disagreement? If Michael wants to encourage a reopening of Yugoslavia in the context of how leftists take up an effective stance in the current phase of the development of global government, perhaps he will indicate his welcome for such a thread. Louis Proyect could start with my full final post to his own list, and explain why he not only disagreed with it but he was unable not to tolerate the erroneous opinion and demonstrate its falsity over time on the sort of broad and non-sectarian list he claims on his web-page, incorrectly, to be running. Having commented on Louis Proyect's typical confusing tangential barb, which always takes ten times longer to explain than to fire, I will return to the thrust of Doug's question which I read to be why focus on contemptuous remarks about people not on the list (as well as personalised barbs towards people on the list) when we are all free to demonstrate our willingness to address and debate collectively the major serious developments in global political economy going on in front of our eyes. It is up to Louis Proyect to consider what perception he wishes to create for himself on this list, or whether it is sufficient to ask us to laugh with him (or at him?) over his joke that he is devious and evasive. Chris Burford
Japan poised to nationalise bank
Didn't Marx say somewhere that the only capitalist phenomenon that the bourgeoisie would nationalise, is debt? Can anyone help with the quotation? The story below is about the bourgeois state having to step in to supervise the writing off of vast sums of dead capital, in order to ensure the continued circulation of the economy and hopefully renewed exploitation of the workers and accumulation of capital once again. But if it does not destroy enough old capital or depress wage rates sufficiently it will be difficult to start accumulating again. Attempts to persuade the masses that their purchasing power is greater than it is, appear to be futile. Chris Burford London November 14, 2002 Japan poised to nationalise bank From Anatole Kaletsky in Tokyo AT LEAST one of Japan's big four banks is likely to be forcibly nationalised next month, in a move that will cost shareholders billions of pounds. The nationalisation will probably be precipitated by a symbolic bankruptcy of one of Japan's 30 most indebted companies before the end of the year. These stark predictions were made yesterday by Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of the Keidanren, the powerful Japanese industrial association, which includes the main banks among its members. Mr Okuda, who is also chairman of Toyota, the world's second largest carmaker, suggested that the controversial move will follow from the much tougher accounting standards, introduced on October 30. Mr Okuda seemed relaxed about the prospects of a large-scale bank failure and expressed confidence that the Government would be able to cope with the consequences without damaging the Japanese economic recovery, which was confirmed by firmer than expected GDP figures published yesterday. Mr Okuda, whose organisation has been closely involved in the Government's contingency plans for a financial crisis, said the Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, was now strongly supporting major reform of the banking system. Under reform plans published last month, Japanese banks would be forced to make much more stringent provisions than in the past for non-performing loans (NPLs) to insolvent and struggling borrowers. The total value of NPLs in the Japanese banking system is generally thought to be at least Y50 trillion ($400 billion). If the losses resulting from these new provisions reduced a bank's capital to below the level mandated by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Government would inject new capital and take control. This process would amount to a forced nationalisation, wiping out or massively diluting existing shareholders. Mr Okuda said that all of Japan's big four banks would survive the reform process, but the question was whether they will be privately owned or nationalised. He added ominously that of the four major banks two are very solid, but two are fragile. While Mr Okuda refused to identify the banks in these two groups, analysts are virtually unanimous that the two solid banks are Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui, while the two weaker institutions are UFJ Holdings and Mizuho Holdings, the world's biggest bank in terms of assets. Asked to explain why the banking crunch could come as early as next month, Mr Okuda explained that the rigorous new credit assessment regime could quickly drive one or more big borrowers into bankruptcy and this would threaten their bank lenders.
Re: Re: Re: Iran prof. persecuted
The sentence is symbolic as well as ridiculous. Aghajari had brilliantly resorted to the more or less identical argument that had been used by Marx: religion is the opium of both the people and state. Aghajari had criticized the Islamic principle of emulation (Taqlid) from religious leaders, arguing that the people are not monkeys to emulate. Mohammad Maljoo From: ken hanly [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PEN-L:32186] Re: Re: Iran prof. persecuted Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 12:36:15 -0800 If this fellow is sentenced to death how is that he is also sentenced to exile and banned from teaching for ten years? Is he allowed to return from the dead to teach as long as he doesnt insult Islam? Cheers, Ken Hanly - Original Message - From: Mohammad Maljoo [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 9:55 AM Subject: [PEN-L:32149] Re: Iran prof. persecuted Several days ago, a court in Iran has sentenced university professor Aghajari making comments during a student gathering to death for allegedly insulting Prophet Mohammad.The local court has further sentenced Aghajari to exile in desert cities of Tabas, Zabol and Gonabad and banned him from teaching for 10 years!!! The death sentence issued against the university him, too, has outraged the university students across Iran, who have been taging strike after strike in protest against the verdict. The majority of Iranian parliament members, too, have seriously condemned the verdict, and Parliament Speaker called the death penalty against him a shame for the country's judiciary system. Also two of Hamedan Constituency MPs presented their letters of resignation to show their objection to the verdict issued by their constituency's court. It is comparable with verdicts issued by Middle Ages courts in Europe.Of course, this event must be considered as a serious war between two dominant parties in Iran.The sentence is backed by religious leader as a private reprisal. Mohammad Maljoo From: Devine, James [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Pen-l (E-mail) [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PEN-L:32145] Iran prof. persecuted Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 07:58:14 -0800 from SLATE: ... the growing student protests in Iran over the death sentence given a prominent professor convicted of insulting Islam. (The professor, who's close to Iran's reformist president, had publicly said that people should be allowed to interpret Islam as they see fit.) Does anyone know anything about this case? is it simply that antagonism toward profs is universal? ;-) Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine _ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail _ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus
definition of foreign aid
foreign aid is the transefer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in rich countriesDo you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site
Cost of patenting pharmaceuticals
New Zealand's Pharmac agency buys prescription pharmaceuticals on behalf of the government for subsidised sale through pharmacies. It is detested by the pharmaceutical companies (and the US government) because of its hard nosed and efficient tactics which force down their prices. The following quote from Pharmac's chief executive is revealing as to the effect patents have on prices: Typically savings in the region of 80 per cent to 90 per cent are achievable when drugs come off patent, but lesser reductions are achieved in subsequent tender rounds. - Christchurch Press, 13 November 2002, p.A9 Bill The content of this message is provided in my private capacity and does not purport to represent the University of Canterbury.
Re: economy in novels
A student wants to read some novels to compare the views on capitalism they portray. Any suggestions? (something more contemporary than, say, Dickens' Hard Times). Post-WWII or thereabouts. Thanks, Mat The Cave by Jose Saramago? New translation reviewed in today's Christian Science Monitor. Kathy Campbell
Re: economy in novels
A student wants to read some novels to compare the views on capitalism they portray. Any suggestions? (something more contemporary than, say, Dickens' Hard Times). Post-WWII or thereabouts. Thanks, Mat * ...In the morning I walked to the bank. I went to the automated teller machine to check my balance. I inserted my card, entered my secret code, tapped out my request. The figure on the screen roughly corresponded to my independent estimate, feebly arrived at after long searches through documents, tormented arithmetic. Waves of relief and gratitude flowed over me. The system had blessed my life. I felt its support and approval. The system hardware, the mainframe sitting in a locked room in some distant city. What a pleasant interaction. I sensed that something of deep personal value, but not money, not that at all, had been authenticated and confirmed. A deranged person was escorted from the bank by two armed guards. The system was invisible, which made it all the more impressive, all the more disquieting to deal with. But we were in accord, at least for now (Don DeLillo, _White Noise_ [1984], Chapter 10) * -- Yoshie * Calendar of Events in Columbus: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html * Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html * Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/ * Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/
Re: economy in novels
On Thu, 14 Nov 2002, Mat Forstater wrote: A student wants to read some novels to compare the views on capitalism they portray. Any suggestions? (something more contemporary than, say, Dickens' Hard Times). Post-WWII or thereabouts. I think the greatest of all time is _JR_ by William Gaddis. It might be kind of hard to fit into a student schedule, though. Although the picture of capitalism should be perfectly clear after the first hundred pages or so. Michael
Re: economy in novels
Hey Mat, A friend (you know who you are) recently turned me on to Gaddis' _JR_. [It's difficult, but (so far) interesting.] If your student doesn't want something quite so formally experimental, he might try Richard Powers' _Gain_ (which is really great); Paul Erdman wrote dimestore econ novels in the 70's--the most well known is _The Crash of '79_. And, of course, there's always _Bonfire of the Vanities_. If you want early in the century, you could do worse than Frank Norris' _The Pit_ and _The Octopus_. I also think it might be interesting to compare these to the non-fiction narrative of Michael Lewis, who is a pretty fair storyteller. Christian
Re: Economy in novels
The Scarlet Empire, David M. Parry, 1906. This one is definitely not post WWII, but it is notable for its explicit treatment of the point of view of American right-wing industrialists. Parry was president of the National Association of Manufacturers at the time he wrote the novel and the N.A.M. was engaged in its infamous open shop campaign of union busting. The novel, set in the undersea socialist dystopia of Atlantis projects the dire consequences of legislation establishing an eight-hour day. For a stark contrast, pair that chestnut with Gabe Sinclair's _The Four Hour Day_, 2000 http://www.fourhourday.org/, Taken together, the two novels neatly bookend the 20th century and its distracted economic thinking. In my view, they also clearly show why the central economic question is the determination of the hours of work, not the determination of the prices of commodities. To the extent that political economy focuses on the latter and neglects the former, it is an exercise in mystification. Tom Walker 604 255 4812
RE: Re: RE: Re: soc. from below
Title: RE: [PEN-L:32176] Re: RE: Re: soc. from below Michael Perelman, I can't respond to you directly (for some silly e-mail reason). But I must continue this for a little bit, since I want to make sure that misrepresentations don't end up unanswered. I wrote: Louis, if you want to set yourself up as a villain, you may do so. But I was not. I try to aim my discussion at the list as a whole. Louis Proyect writes: But when you use some far-fetched pretext for opening up such a discussion--like a review of Steven Pinker--it only can be seen as an attempt to bait me into a discussion we've had countless times--to the point that I've announced that I am dropping out. I don't know how many times I have to say this: I responded to your review of Johnson only because I found that it was inaccurate. Call me old-fashioned in this post-modern age, but I like to look for the truth (even though it's hard to find). I suppose that I am really quite unusual in terms of mailing lists that I look for new information or insights to keep me interested. So far, I've seen none from you that I haven't heard before. You won, Jim. You are a true socialist. I am the avatar of Vishinsky trying to drag the workers' escutcheon through the mud. This is untrue: I have never portrayed myself as a true socialist. In fact, I think it's bad for pen-l to focus on personalities. I'm not trying to get anyone to love me on pen-l. If people want to hate me, that's okay (as long as they don't get physical about it). I wrote: It is a total misrepresentation to say that I said that socialism from below [was] the road to salvation and the opposite side taking you straight to hell. That's a black-white presentation of the two sides, as you say, but I didn't do it. Louis: Of course you did. What else could be the purpose of dropping Stalin's name numerous times in a post about whether women's brains are different than men's? the original article by Johnson mentioned Stalinism both directly and indirectly (e.g., the quote from Chomsky). Further, I didn't know you were offended by criticisms of Stalinism. I thought you had been a Trotskyist (and hadn't dropped the whole package), while I assumed that Trotskyists were quite critical of Stalin and Stalinism. Look at Trotsky's THE REVOLUTION BETRAYED, for example. The fact is that the Russian Revolution failed, leading to the rise of a powerful new stratum, a self-selecting elite (the CPSU). There were lots of things that happened that were out of socialists' control (imperialist invasion, the division between the peasantry and the workers, the poverty of the country, the civil war, etc.) that encouraged that result. However, we can learn from this experience to fight and/or delay the development of the new elite; history isn't totally out of the left's control. One thing is to NOT focus on building the party (as the Maoists and Trotskyists do, for example) but instead use any organization as means to build up the workers' power and the power of other dominated group. The latter kinds of power are the main bulwarks not only against the restoration of capitalism but against the creation of a new stratum running the country in the workers' name (and taking advantage of their powers). Louis: I have no idea what use a socialist activist could make of the advice that they should use any organization as means to build up the workers' power and the power of other dominated group. One might as well advise them to pursue the good and shun evil. Since I am only responding to misrepresentations in this post, I will not respond to this, except to note that this is the kind of thing that people in Solidarity talk about a lot. Louis: The real questions being thrashed out by the left in Australia, for example, revolve around what attitude to take toward the Labor Party. Whether it is a capitalist party or not. Whether there is such a thing as a labor aristocracy. Whether or not to join the same caucus as the Labor Party youth on campus, etc. Your musings about true socialism hover over all this like Platonic Ideas and have about as much value. As I've said before, it's okay with me for you to focus on tactics, strategy, and the like. But I see no reason why pen-l as a whole shouldn't deal with the bigger picture. By the way, pen-l has discussed stuff that's much more abstract and academic in the past (e.g., neo-Ricardian vs. Walrasian economics). If Michael Perelman didn't object to that, I don't see why pen-l should be prevented from talking about basic socialist principles. (After all, his book TRANSCENDING THE MARKET gets into utopian socialism.) The basic principle is that power corrupts, i.e., that if we rely on wise leaders to make decisions for working people, we're bound to be disappointed. So the wise leaders must be held responsible in a democratic way. Louis: Power corrupts? But don't
Re: Re: British 1950's atrocities against the Mau Mau
At 02:56 AM 11/13/2002 -0500, Michael Pollak wrote: On Sun, 10 Nov 2002, Diane Monaco wrote: The G8 countries presently expropriate two times what they give in aid to the sub-Saharan African countries. Diane, do you have a URL or other cite that lays out the stats for this? Michael Michael, the best information can usually be found from the non-governmental groups rather than official government statistics -- unless you know which statistics will tell the story. There are some trends and specific statistics to look for: 1) The aid from rich countries to poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa has in fact fallen since 1990. 2) Per capita aid to sub-Saharan has fallen to almost half of what it was (prior to 1990) since 1990. 3) Trade liberalization is one-sided with the bullying rich countries supporting and being supported by the IMF. Typical IMF aid packages insist that the poor countries open their markets to a degree greater than the openness of the rich countries' markets. As a result, exports have drastically fallen in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, if the 1980 export levels of sub-Saharan Africa had just been maintained -- forget about any increases -- the sub-Saharan countries would have $300 billion per year more than what they have now. A sort of active non-governmental group in Africa these days is Oxfam, see their website at: http://www.oxfam.org/eng/ Oxfam also provides some great analysis from the field -- for example from a few days ago: 12 Nov 2002 Oxfam Briefing on Ethiopia Crisis Media Unit Oxfam GB - UK Regions: Africa, Ethiopia Two failed rains have left Ethiopia in the grip of a brutal drought. At the moment 6 million people are in need of food but by March next year this could increase to 14 million. If this worst-case scenario happens more people could be affected than in 1984 with 2.2 million tonnes of food needed. The country is in a better position to respond this time with improved logistics, communications and government systems. But the geography of Ethiopia makes it very difficult the country is landlocked and the roads are poor. It can take anything from 3 6 months to move food to the areas that need it most. Paul Smith-Lomas, Humanitarian Director at Oxfam said: Ethiopia is facing a huge humanitarian crisis. People are only just starting to recover from the drought that hit the country two years ago and this could not have come at a worse time. The priority is to to get food into the country now. But we also need to help Ethiopia break the cycle of poverty by tackling the underlying causes which range from a collapse in coffee prices to a never ending debt burden. Notes to editors: Where are the worst affected areas? The south and east regions of Ethiopia are the worst affected. Here people rely on their livestock. Over the past six months more than hundreds of thousands animals have died because of failed rains. Children have, therefore been without milk and are particularly vulnerable. Now the food crisis has extended to almost all of the country. Where is Oxfam working? Oxfam is working in Afar, east Harraghe in Oromiya region and intends to scale up work in parts of Somali region and the north-east and far south of the country. What is Oxfam doing about this crisis? Oxfam has been working in Ethiopia since 1974 and has 100 staff working in the country. Oxfam are distributing food in East Harraghe (Oromiya region) and we are looking to expand. In Afar Oxfam has been incinerating animal carcasses to stop the spread of disease as well as repairing deep wells. In Shinile (Somali region) Oxfam are preparing to start tankering water and plan to provide in Boloso Sorie (SSNPR region) Oxfam are gearing up to provide food and supplementary feeding for children. Why does this keep happening? Ethiopia is a very poor country and people are only now starting to recover from the drought in 2000. In the 1960s Ethiopia used to export food but a combination of factors have brought about this crisis including. · Poor rains The first rains this year failed completely. The second, between June and September have been extremely sporadic. · Lack of investment in development. In Ethiopia livestock are like peoples bank balance. Poor rains mean that many animals have died leaving people destitute, and children malnourished. · Land ownership: Most of the land in Ethiopia is owned by the government which means that farmers are discouraged from investing in irrigation systems, this also exacerbates environmental degradation. · Trade rules: Coffee makes up 60% of the countrys exports and the last three years have seen prices plummet to a thirty year low. As a result of this collapse the country is losing around twice as much as it gained in debt relief. The coffee crisis has meant that many coffee farmers have been much more vulnerable and the government do not have the money to deal with this crisis. We are taking donations: if members of the public want to help they can call
Re: Re: Re: British 1950's atrocities against the Mau Mau
At 12:45 AM 11/13/2002 -0800, soula avramidis wrote: see that is a capital revolving door account, but a terms of trade account ould give you more. and a price/ value analysis (cissors like) would give even more. it is a lot in any case than what the price fetish conceals. see barrat brown i think, Soula, I believe the book you're referring to is: Fair Trade: Reform and Realities in the International Trading System by Michael Barratt Brown Another good reading: Short Change: Africa and World Trade by Michael Barratt Brown and Pauline Tiffin Diane and later a guy called koehler probably was at waterloo in canada sometimes ago. Michael Pollak [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Sun, 10 Nov 2002, Diane Monaco wrote: The G8 countries presently expropriate two times what they give in aid to the sub-Saharan African countries. Diane, do you have a URL or other cite that lays out the stats for this?
Re: economy in novels
A student wants to read some novels to compare the views on capitalism they portray. Any suggestions? (something more contemporary than, say, Dickens' Hard Times). Post-WWII or thereabouts. Thanks, Mat * ...Our sentence does not sound severe. Whatever commandment the prisoner has disobeyed is written upon his body by the Harrow. This prisoner, for instance -- the officer indicated the man -- will have written on this body: HONOR THY SUPERIORS!...Can you follow it? The Harrow is beginning to write; when it finishes the first draft of the inscription on the man's back, the layer of cotton wool begins to roll and slowly turns the body over, to give the Harrow fresh space for writing. Meanwhile the raw part that has been written on lies on the cotton wool, which is specially prepared to staunch the bleeding and so makes all ready for a new deepening of the scriptSo it keeps on writing deeper and deeper for the whole twelve hours. The first six hours the condemned man stays alive almost as before, he suffers only pain. After two hours the felt gag is taken away, for he has no longer strength to scream. Here, into this electrically heated basin at the head of the Bed, some warm rice pap is poured, from which the man, if he feels like it, can take as much as his tongue can lap. Not one of them ever misses the chance. I can remember none, and my experience is extensive. Only about the sixth hour does the man lose all desire to eat. I usually kneel down here at that moment and observe what happens. The man rarely swallows his last mouthful, he only rolls it around his mouth and spits it out into the pit. I have to duck just then or he would spit it in my face. But how quiet he grows at just about the sixth hour! Enlightenment comes to the most dull-witted. It begins around the eyes. From there it radiates. A moment that might tempt one to get under the Harrow oneself. Nothing more happens than that the man begins to understand the inscription, he purses his mouth as if he were listening. You have seen how difficult it is to decipher the script with one's eyes; but our man deciphers it with his wounds. To be sure, that is a hard task; he needs six hours to accomplish it. By that time the Harrow has pierced him quite through and casts him into the pit, where he pitches down upon the blood and water and the cotton wool. Then the judgment has been fulfilled, and we, the soldier and I, bury him (Franz Kafka, In the Penal Colony [written in 1914, first published in 1919], Trans. Willa and Edwin Muir) * Cf. John Frow, In the Penal Colony, _Australian Humanities Review_ April-June 1999, http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/AHR/archive/Issue-April-1999/frow3.html -- Yoshie * Calendar of Events in Columbus: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html * Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html * Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/ * Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/
Aesopian Language on Maillists, was Re: soc. from below
Devine, James wrote: Michael Perelman, I can't respond to you directly (for some silly e-mail reason). But I must continue this for a little bit, since I want to make sure that misrepresentations don't end up unanswered. Back in the early '70s I read extensively in the exchange of polemics between the USSR and PRC (actually between the Central Committees of the two parties). In the earlier stages (before a formal break occurred), the USSR focused its criticisms on _Albania_, not China; the PRC focused its criticisms on _Yugoslavia_, not the USSR. It was of course an open secret: Albania equals China; Yugoslavia equals USSR. This debate gets confused because similar Aesopian language exists both here and on LBO. The result is that innumerable issues that ought to be and could be debate with minimal rancor can't be, on either list. Science (or sometimes cbcox) gets vulgarized on LBO so it (he) can stand in for LNP. The _Nation_ gets heroized on Pen-L so it can stand for Satan. (Our two combatants lack the sophistication, however, of the Central Committees of the respective CPs of PRC USSR, so they descend much more quickly into naming each other.) Now Pinker=Nation=DH=Jd, and there is no way principled debate can emerge from that mass of identities. (Apparently now CJ=LPN=Satan as well, thus adding further confusion.) I take it for granted that when you say that you use stalinism for a current practice, not for Stalin you are describing your own intentions accurately. There could be a useful discussion of that if the Aesopian battle had not muddied the waters, but as long as that battle continues, such fairly obvious points will get lost no matter how carefully you sort out the misrepresentations -- and it will also continue to be difficult for others to discuss rationally any issues that intersect that battle. Carrol
Re: definition of foreign aid
At 01:47 AM 11/14/2002 -0800, soula avramidis wrote: foreign aid is the transefer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in rich countries Oh so true, Soula! And there are several ways to look at it: 1) Trade practices by rich countries that prevent poor countries from exporting their goods keeping them dependent on aid, e.g. relatively more trade restricting production subsidies by rich countries than on the poor countries' side. 2) Aid that is actually borrowing -- and of course laden with all the usual borrowing costs -- e.g., recent rich countries' aid contribution increases to the World Bank's poorest country lending program and the African Development Bank. What do bank and lending imply? 3) A combination of the above two as represented by rich country engineered IMF aid packages that include borrowing and trade liberalization (reduce subsidies) demands on the poor countries' side ONLY -- the US alone has increased its farm subsidies by more than 30 billion dollars!. How many US farmers are there away? At any rate and regardless of how one defines aid, it is a fact that the world's richest country -- the US -- gives slightly more than 0.09 percent of its GDP to the world's poorest countries. That's pathetic! Diane
Re: economy in novels
At 08:31 PM 11/13/2002 -0600, you wrote: A student wants to read some novels to compare the views on capitalism they portray. Any suggestions? (something more contemporary than, say, Dickens' Hard Times). Post-WWII or thereabouts. Thanks, Mat These three are roughly about the same time period: WWI to the depression. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby Laxness Independent People Silone Fontamara Joanna
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Negri explains the multitude
At 02:34 PM 11/13/2002 -0500, you wrote: The U.S. is under the control of a frightening gang of lunatics hellbent on war with a good bit of the world. Why are Toni Negri and The Nation magazine such urgent enemies? Doug Who says they're enemies? I think Carrol and I are saying, in different ways, that Negri is a waste of time. As for the Nation, I stopped reading it a few years ago because it was too depressing. Don't really know what's going on with it now, but I find Harpers more interesting. Joanna
Re: Re: economy in novels
Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: (Franz Kafka, In the Penal Colony The Christian criticism of the 1940s and 1950s turned this work upside down, into a justification of Divine Justice. Carrol
RE: Aesopian Language on Maillists
Title: RE: [PEN-L:32210] Aesopian Language on Maillists cbcox writes: Back in the early '70s I read extensively in the exchange of polemics between the USSR and PRC (actually between the Central Committees of the two parties). In the earlier stages (before a formal break occurred), the USSR focused its criticisms on _Albania_, not China; the PRC focused its criticisms on _Yugoslavia_, not the USSR. It was of course an open secret: Albania equals China; Yugoslavia equals USSR. This debate gets confused because similar Aesopian language exists both here and on LBO. The result is that innumerable issues that ought to be and could be debate with minimal rancor can't be, on either list. Science (or sometimes cbcox) gets vulgarized on LBO so it (he) can stand in for LNP. The _Nation_ gets heroized on Pen-L so it can stand for Satan. (Our two combatants lack the sophistication, however, of the Central Committees of the respective CPs of PRC USSR, so they descend much more quickly into naming each other.) Now Pinker=Nation=DH=Jd, and there is no way principled debate can emerge from that mass of identities. (Apparently now CJ=LPN=Satan as well, thus adding further confusion.) the comment on Aesopian language is right on target. I tend to respond only to the text in front of me and to the author of it, unconscious or perhaps semi-concious of the stormy controversies swirling about, partly _because_ they are in Aesopian language. (For one thing, I don't know at all what's happening on LBO.) Part of the problem is that I don't understand all of the controversies going on, so I shut them out. For the record: from what I've read, I don't like Pinker. I am ambivalent about the NATION. I like most of what Doug Henwood says (in his magazine and on pen-l). But I should not be equated to him. If CJ is Charles Januzzi (sp?), I don't equate him with Louis (LPN?) at all. As for Satan, he doesn't exist. JD
Re: Re: economy in novels
Stephen Hymer's Monthly Review article on Robinson Crusoe is an excellent example of using novels to teach economics. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: Re: Re: economy in novels
Title: RE: [PEN-L:32217] Re: Re: economy in novels no, they count as propaganda. They use a lot of references to things that are true (according to current knowledge) to back up a world-view that says that markets are the natural state of the world and the best way of doing things (perhaps aided by wise technocrats). Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine -Original Message- From: Michael Perelman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 9:42 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PEN-L:32217] Re: Re: economy in novels Do most economics principles texts count as fiction? -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Re: economy in novels
Do most economics principles texts count as fiction? -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: economy in novels
On Thu, 14 Nov 2002, Devine, James wrote: Do most economics principles texts count as fiction? No, they count as propaganda. It's possible for something to be both, even to be great at both, to be great literature and great propaganda. Shakespeare's _Richard III_, for example. Michael
Re: economy in novels
Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: (Franz Kafka, In the Penal Colony The Christian criticism of the 1940s and 1950s turned this work upside down, into a justification of Divine Justice. Carrol Here's a bit about Kafka's life that Mat might pass to his student, in case s/he gets hermeneutically challenged by a Christian reading: * ...Mention has already been made of Kafka's work as an insurance assessor in the Workers' Accident Insurance Institute, and its possible role as a source for his imaginative fiction. Indeed [Max] Brod thought it self-evident that, as he put it, 'whole chapters of the novels _The Trial_ and _The Castle_ derive their outer covers, their realistic wrappings, from the atmosphere Kafka breathed in the Workers Accident Institute'. He also recalls Kafka's anger at the meekness of workers mutilated in avoidable industrial accidents, who approached the Institute as suppliants instead of storming it and smashing it to bits.[21] To this we might add Kafka's experiences of the family businesses, the fancy-goods store owned by his father and the asbestos works in which he was for a time a partner. Undoubtedly, these provided him with first-hand experience of industrial relations, practices, and conditions. In 'Letter to his Father' Kafka recalls Hermann Kafka's 'tyrannising' way with his employees, whom he regarded as 'paid enemies', to which Kafka adds that his father was in turn their 'paying enemy'.[22] In his diary he expresses his sympathy for the women in the asbestos factory whose work threatens to turn them into dehumanized, exploitable objects before they escape at the end of each shift (5.XI.12; D1[_The Diaries of Franz Kafka 1910-13_, ed. Max Brod, tr. Joseph Kresh, London: Secker and Warburg, 1948]: 231). His professional duties brought him into contact with industrial enterprises in and around Prague, with the devious ways of employers unwilling to pay the appropriate accident insurance premiums for their workers, and often with the complicity of workers themselves. And he was himself, of course, also an employee, familiar with the uncertainties and frustrations of his class. It has only recently been realised that, in 1912, as Anthony Northey reports: Kafka the insurance agency employee was also involved in the creation of an Association of Officials of the Workers' Accident Insurance Institute, the closest these white-collar workers could come to forming a union: Kafka was treasurer of the Association for a brief period. Thus, Kafka occupied the two conflicting position of factory-owner and union leader at the same time.[23] He was evidently underpaid for his level of qualifications, and as a Jew was lucky to find employment at the Institute -- he happened to know the President in 1908, Dr. Otto Pribram, himself a converted Jew. In 1917, Kafka wrote to Brod that the Institute was now 'closed to Jews' (13.XI.17; LFFE [_Letters to Friends, Family, and Editors_, ed. Max Brod, tr. Richard and Clara Winston, NY: Schocken, 1978]: 165). His professional experiences undoubtedly inform his fictional presentations of technology, for example in _The Man who Disappeared_ [Amerika/America] and 'In the Penal Colony'. They are also reflected in the detailed attention to the conditions of employment imposed on K. in _The Castle_. Andrew Weeks has traced the parallels between this novel and the protracted struggle of Habsburg civil servants (the white-collar 'trade union' to which Kafka belonged) for a code of service, illuminating the connections with a class struggle very close to Kafka's heart.[24] Issues of status, autonomy and dependence, are already present, for K. at least, 'between the lines' of the letter which seems to confirm his appointment as the Castle's land-surveyor, but in which he perceives a threat to reduce his existence to 'life as a worker. Service, foreman, work, conditions of pay, duty, worker, the letter was swarming with it' (DS [_Das Schloß (The Castle)_: 35). K. is fearful that such a life, planned for him by the Castle, will be one of subjugation, effectively nullifying the threat he poses, in his own mind, at least, to the established order [21] Max Brod, _Franz Kafka: a Biography_, tr. G. Humphreys Roberts and Richard Winston (New York: Schocken, 1973), pp. 82-4. [22] 'Letter to his Father', in _Wedding Preparations in the Country and other Posthumous Writings_, with Notes by Max Brod, tr. Ernst Kaiser and Eithne Wilkins (London: Secker and Warburg, 1954), p. 181. [23] Anthony Northey, _Kafka's Relatives: their Lives and his Writing_ (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1991), p. 96. [24] [W.J.] Dodd (ed.), _Kafka: The Metamorphosis, The Trial and The Castle_, [London: Longman, 1995], pp. 171-88. (Bill Dodd, The Case for a Political Reading, _The Cambridge Companion to Kafka_, ed. Julian Preece, pp. 138-139) * -- Yoshie * Calendar of Events in Columbus:
Re: Re: Negri explains the multitude
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 11/13/02 02:17PM I am quite sure that Toni Negri's terminology stands a very good chance of becoming part of everyday academic discourse down the road. Louis Proyect, Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org probably not, but how can one not like a guy who writes that money has only one face, that of the boss, it's so gangster movieish... michael hoover
Re: economy in novels
A student wants to read some novels to compare the views on capitalism they portray. Any suggestions? (something more contemporary than, say, Dickens' Hard Times). Post-WWII or thereabouts. Thanks, Mat J.K. Huysmans, _Against the Grain [A Rebours]_ (1884), Chapter 16: * After the aristocracy of birth, it was now the turn of the aristocracy of money; it was the Caliphate of the counting-house, the despotism of the Rue du Sentier, the tyranny of commerce with its narrow-minded, venal ideas, its ostentatious and rascally instincts. More nefarious, more vile than the nobility it had plundered and the clergy it had overthrown, the bourgeoisie borrowed their frivolous love of show, their decrepit boastfulness, which it vulgarized by its lack of good manners, stole their defects which it aggravated into hypocritical vices. Obstinate and sly, base and cowardly, it shot down ruthlessly its eternal and inevitable dupe, the populace, which it had itself unmuzzled and set on to spring at the throat of the old castes! Now the victory was won. Its task once completed, the plebs had been for its health's sake bled to the last drop, while the bourgeois, secure in his triumph, throned it jovially by dint of his money and the contagion of his folly. The result of his rise to power had been the destruction of all intelligence, the negation of all honesty, the death of all art; in fact, the artists and men of letters, in their degradation, had fallen to their knees and were devouring with ardent kisses the unwashed feet of the high-placed horse-jockeys and low-bred satraps on whose alms they lived! ...It was the vast, foul bagnio of America transported to our Continent; it was, in a word, the limitless, unfathomable, incommensurable firmament of blackguardism of the financier and the self-made man, beaming down, like a despicable sun, on the idolatrous city that grovelled on its belly, hymning vile songs of praise before the impious tabernacle of Commerce. Well, crumble then, society! perish, old world! cried Des Esseintes, indignant at the ignominy of the spectacle he had conjured up,--and the exclamation broke the nightmare that oppressed him. * -- Yoshie * Calendar of Events in Columbus: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html * Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html * Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/ * Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/
Re: Re: economy in novels
Perphaps Goebels succeeded utterly in hijacking the word propaganda, but in the 70 years or so since that hijacking, no one has really come up with a word to serve the original quite neutral or even positive meaning of the term -- namely, truthful writing intended to deepen the understanding of those who have already grasped the truth of that which is being explained but require a deeper understanding if they are to act successfully on the basis of that truth. Education or political education works in some contexts, but is not always or ususally satisfactory. I think it's worthwhile to cling to the term (with whatever parenthetical explanation is necessary) whenever that is at all possible. Carrol Michael Pollak wrote: On Thu, 14 Nov 2002, Devine, James wrote: Do most economics principles texts count as fiction? No, they count as propaganda. It's possible for something to be both, even to be great at both, to be great literature and great propaganda. Shakespeare's _Richard III_, for example. Michael
Re: economy in novels
On Thu, 14 Nov 2002, Carrol Cox wrote: Perphaps Goebels succeeded utterly in hijacking the word propaganda, but in the 70 years or so since that hijacking, no one has really come up with a word to serve the original quite neutral or even positive meaning of the term -- namely, truthful writing intended to deepen the understanding of those who have already grasped the truth of that which is being explained but require a deeper understanding if they are to act successfully on the basis of that truth. Perhaps so, but that's not what's going on in the case of Richard III. It's propaganda in sense of being a lie. Richard III was actually a very nice guy. The view of him in Shakespeare's play is pure Tudor propaganda to make their usurpation look legitimate, because after a monster like that, anything would look like deliverance. Of course it contains deeper truths about human nature that are beautifully put and that's what makes it great art. But there's no doubt that there's a big political lie at the center of it. Michael
Re: soc. from below/my conclusion
In a message dated 11/14/02 8:44:08 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: The fact is that the Russian Revolution failed, leading to the rise of a powerful new stratum, a self-selecting elite (the CPSU). There were lots of things that happened that were out of socialists' control (imperialist invasion, the division between the peasantry and the workers, the poverty of the country, the civil war, etc.) that encouraged that result. However, we can learn from this experience to fight and/or delay the development of the new elite; history isn't totally out of the left's control. One thing is to NOT focus on "building the party" (as the Maoists and Trotskyists do, for example) but instead use any organization as means to build up the workers' power and the power of other dominated group. The latter kinds of power are the main bulwarks not only against the restoration of capitalism but against the creation of a new stratum running the country "in the workers' name" (and taking advantage of their powers). Comment It is my intent to illustrate what I consider profound questions of theory: Marxist theory or the historical abstraction, and doctrine - Marxian proletarian ideology and policy. The two categories are not the same. "The fact is that the Russian Revolution failed," is a theoretical fiction and practical fiction and outright lie. First and foremost, the Russian Revolution was in fact the Russian Industrial Revolution - a revolution in the mode of production. Specially, it was part of the revolutionary/evolutionary transition from agricultural relations as the dominant productive activity in Russian society to industrial production as the dominant productive activity in that society. The Soviet political revolution was not the fundamentality of the Russian revolution, which was an industrial revolution pure and simple. The terms feudalism, capitalism and socialism confuses the issue and hides the economic exchange that sits upon a specific state of development of the productive forces and gives definition to the concept mode of production. A distinct mode of production preceded the emergence of industrial society. Industrial society emerges on the basis of the physical elements of manufacture as it evolved under conditions where the primary forms of wealth are represented in/by the ownership of enormous tracts of land - agriculture. There were distinct stages in this transition to industrial society spanning hundreds of years. The growth of manufacture is the fundamentality, although transitions in forms of wealth, as accumulation, are extremely important. The Russian Revolution as such could not and did not fail. What failed or rather was overthrown, was the Soviet political form - Soviet Power, and the CPSU (B). I would venture to say that the Soviet party was overthrown, then Soviet Power was defeated but the bureaucracy has until this day to face fundamental defeat. Politics cannot defeat bureaucracy because it evolves in the realm of history as part of the fundamentality of the infrastructure. We are in the process of discovering this in America as the revolutionary process continues to unfold. The evolution of a privilege stratum in the Soviet Union is apparently a complex issue to those who cannot draw a line of distinction between the political form or political shell that manifest historical class and historic cultural attributes of a distinct society and the various classes and strata characteristic of a distinct mode of production. For instance, a certain management system is characteristic of all industrial societies without exception. A certain division of labor within any sector of the industrial infrastructure will evolve no matter what the political form of rule. Machine operators will always occupy a certain place in the industrial infrastructure different from a teacher or technician or engineer or clerical worker or party official or electrician or plumber or baker no matter what the political shell or cultural heritage. Under every form of industrial society that has existed on earth the industrial worker - in heavy industry, represents a privilege stratum as compared with the agricultural worker or for that matter the average worker in light industry or the average teacher. Not a privileged class - the teacher is just as much proletariat as the autoworker, but strata. The political strata that runs the country - administer the political and economic functions, is privileged as an attribute of the evolution of the societal division of labor in general and this applies to industrial society. Politics, thinking, voting, democracy, being nice and pure of heart or political doctrine does not govern the law of the qualitative growth and evolution of bureaucracy in human history. Administrations is a historically evolved feature of society that goes through qualitative and quantitative changes with every transition in the mode of production and
Re: Economy in novels
I am impressed by both the scope of offerings - and the volume of replies to this question! I am surprised however, by the lack of The Jungle by old Upton Sinclair; the lack of Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressel (altho' I guess it could be classed as old - tho' if Shakespeare's old Richard remains eternally youthful - I agree - then so does Tressel). I second Haldnor Laxnesss I.Silone Smebene Ousmene - but I do miss other 3rd world writers. (I don't know what world Iceland or Italy is - OK)... Try: Mulk Raj Anand Coolie Untouchable Abdul Bismillah The Song of the Loom; Chaman Nahal Azadi Premchand Ghodan - The gift of a cow. Sarat Manesh For an appreciation of Sarat see: http://www22.brinkster.com/harikumar/SocialistArt/SARAT_BLAND.htm I also enjoy Yashar Kemal - virtually anything. Oh - And as an explicit and especial antidote to Jim Devine for his sci fi - I offer Nikolai Ostrovsky How the Steel Was Tempered. Hari K
Re: Re: economy in novels
Michael Pollak wrote: On Thu, 14 Nov 2002, Carrol Cox wrote: Perhaps so, but that's not what's going on in the case of Richard III. It's propaganda in sense of being a lie. I agree it was a lie -- but sticking to the old vocabulary, it was (lying) agitation rather than (lying) propaganda. It was oral (not in print at the time of its intended propaganda effects) and rather than appealing to and explicating principles it depended on various stock responses in the audience. Richard III was actually a very nice guy. The view of him in Shakespeare's play is pure Tudor propaganda to make their usurpation look legitimate, because after a monster like that, anything would look like deliverance. To be fair to Shakespeare, had not the sainted Thomas More started this strain of agitation? And the two Henrys had pretty much wiped out anyone with even an indirect link to the more legitimate kings prior to Henry VII. Hence by Shakespeare's time there wasn't all that much need for Anti-Yorkist propaganda, there not being any Yorks left. It's been an awfully long time since I read the history plays, but I sort of remember a good deal of the excitement for someone today -- i.e. someone who knows what Shakespeare was going to write later -- was to see his grip on his material suddenly begin to firm up after the total chaos/dullness of Henry VI Part I (with the second and third parts being little better). Suddenly with RIII we have the Shakespeare we recognize now. Of course it contains deeper truths about human nature that are beautifully put and that's what makes it great art. Being rather skeptical of the (non-trivial) existence of anything that can be called human nature I'm not sure I can buy this. It's wonderful art because that fellow sure could spin words-- and particulrly he could pen some awfully good polemics for women on the losing side (though with a subtext that was pretty anti-woman). Carrol But there's no doubt that there's a big political lie at the center of it. Michael
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Negri explains the multitude
Chris Burford wrote: At 13/11/02 14:34 -0500, you wrote: The U.S. is under the control of a frightening gang of lunatics hellbent on war with a good bit of the world. Why are Toni Negri and The Nation magazine such urgent enemies? Doug Because sectarian traditions of marxism cannot engage with the real world, and perhaps prefer not to. By the way, the editor of the Nation, Katrina vanden Heuvel, is very antiwar. People who hate certain Corn and Cooper pieces should note that most don't appear in the Nation - they're in the LA Weekly and such. And even if you think the Nation is a limp social imperialist rag, you have to concede it's been against every U.S. intervention I can think of and has never been particularly red-baiting. So go find better enemies. Doug
Re: Negri explains the multitude
Doug Henwood wrote: Chris Burford wrote: At 13/11/02 14:34 -0500, you wrote: [clip] Why are Toni Negri and The Nation magazine such urgent enemies? Doug Because sectarian traditions of marxism cannot engage with the real world, and perhaps prefer not to. By the way, the editor of the Nation, Katrina vanden Heuvel, is very antiwar. [clip] Doug, I _really_ wish you wouldn't equate all those who dislike the Nation, etc. with merely one obsession of yours. It's undignified. As Joanna said, the main objection to the Nation and Negri is that they're so damn dull for the most part. And being against the war is something that I expect a whole lot of people to be -- it no more wins brownie points than refraining from rape is a plus for someone. Some things we ought to be able to take for granted. It would sound odd to praise Cox on the grounds that he is a good speller; it's equally odd to praise the editor of what pretends to be the leading left periodical for being (forsooth) against the war. Is she still committed to getting Democrats elected? The _Nation_ used to be rather fun to read, and for many years I looked forward to every week (even though I always had real disagreements with many of its positions). But now it has become a pretty complete bore, and had for a couple of years before I finally let my subscription drop in '98. And of course it's not the enemy. Since when have you been so commited to immediate relevance on maillists. How come you didn't interrupt the thread on sex on the left with such a challenge to deal with the lunatics in the white house before we talked about anything else. Does it make a leftist an enemy if he/she doesn't go all out for variety in sex? Carrol
Re: RE: Aesopian Language on Maillists
Devine, James wrote: If CJ is Charles Januzzi (sp?), I don't equate him with Louis (LPN?) at all. As for Satan, he doesn't exist. the death of Satan was a tragedy for the imagination -- Wallace Stevens
Re: economy in novels
Oh, of course, I left out the old testament of capitalism Robinson Crusoe and the new testament Lost Illusions (Balzac) cause you said you wanted more modern stuff. Joanna
outsourcing the State
[preparing for GATS] (11-14) 12:32 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush plans to subject as many as 850,000 federal jobs to competition from the private sector, administration officials said Thursday, a sweeping reform long sought by Republicans and stiffly opposed by labor unions. Nearly half of the government's civilian work force could be affected by the plan to be published in the Federal Register on Friday. After a 30-day public review period, Bush can impose the new rules without congressional approval. This is inherent to getting the taxpayers the best deal for their dollars and the best service from the government, said Trent Duffy, spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget. Bush and his fellow Republicans have long favored opening public sector jobs to competition from outside government. They argue that competitive bidding will force government bureaucracies to improve service and lower costs -- or lose business to the private sector. Public employee unions are expected to fight the proposal, which could cost their rank and file jobs. The Bush administration officials are at war with reliable and experienced rank-and-file federal employees, said Bobby L. Harnage Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees. They are systematically conspiring to bust their unions, gut their civil service protections and hand over their jobs to politically well-connected contractors. The proposal comes at the heels of last week's GOP victories in congressional elections ,which emboldened Bush and his agenda. The White House is poised to beat back union opposition to another administration initiative, this one in Congress: the creation of the Homeland Security Department. Current federal rules allow for public-private competition, administration officials say, but the regulations are so cumbersome that private firms are often reluctant to seek government contracts. Under the plan, commercial activities conducted by the government -- from lawn mowing to hanging drywall and secretarial work -- will be open to competition. There are 850,000 such jobs in the federal work force; Bush has set a goal of putting 50 percent of those jobs up for grabs in the first stage of the plan, officials said, with the intention of eventually opening the total 850,000 to competition. White House spokesman Scott McClellan would not talk about the job prospects of the affected employees, but said, What we're trying to do is make government work better for the American taxpayer. Traditional high-ranking government positions would not be subject to the proposal, according to administration officials who outlined the proposal. One reform would encourage agencies to complete competitive bid reviews within a year. Under current rules, the competitive bid process can take four years -- a delay that scares off private sector bids, officials said. Rules under which the government buys goods and services will be streamlined to allow for more competitive bidding, officials said. The Government Accounting Office has determined that public-private competition will save taxpayers 30 percent on each contract. Expecting opposition from public employees unions, administration officials argue that the initiative would encourage unions to compete and win contracts; it does not mandate that the private sector takeover the jobs. Bush picked this new fight with federal unions one day after it became clear that he had won another battle with them. With Republicans ready to take full control of Congress, Democrats were largely abandoning their demands for union protections at the new Department of Homeland Security. The House easily passed a bill that would establish the department on Wednesday, and the Senate was ready to follow suit.
RE: Aesopian Language on Maillists
the death of Satan was a tragedy for the imagination -- Wallace Stevens Satan is NOT dead, 'e's just pinin' for the fjords. Tom Walker 604 255 4812
Re: RE: Aesopian Language on Maillists
well, wouldn't you be? Joanna At 05:50 PM 11/14/2002 -0800, you wrote: the death of Satan was a tragedy for the imagination -- Wallace Stevens Satan is NOT dead, 'e's just pinin' for the fjords. Tom Walker 604 255 4812
Re: outsourcing the State
This is inherent to getting the taxpayers the best deal for their dollars and the best service from the government, said Trent Duffy, spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget. It's called building a permanent Republican party gravy train. The only thing inherent in the plan is the stench of corruption. The Government Accounting Office has determined that public-private competition will save taxpayers 30 percent on each contract. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! And they charged poor Andy Fastow for pilfering the petty cash box! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Tom Walker 604 255 4812
Re: Re: outsourcing the State
- Original Message - From: Tom Walker [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 6:09 PM Subject: [PEN-L:32236] Re: outsourcing the State This is inherent to getting the taxpayers the best deal for their dollars and the best service from the government, said Trent Duffy, spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget. It's called building a permanent Republican party gravy train. The only thing inherent in the plan is the stench of corruption. The Government Accounting Office has determined that public-private competition will save taxpayers 30 percent on each contract. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! And they charged poor Andy Fastow for pilfering the petty cash box! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Tom Walker 604 255 4812 = The Bush administration officials are at war with reliable and experienced rank-and-file federal employees, said Bobby L. Harnage Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees. They are systematically conspiring to bust their unions, gut their civil service protections and hand over their jobs to politically well-connected contractors. An altogether contrasting approach, on the other hand, has been to make the government again lose its autonomy, not to the economist, but now to the economic system whose agents within a pluralistic political regime play the policy influencing game that determines the policy outcome. The lobbies compete for policy outcomes; the government is a de facto playground where this competition or conflict results in policy outcome. The government has no ego, no identity in this approach. It is best described as the *clearinghouse government* approach to political economy modeling. [J. Bhagwati, Political Economy and International Economics]
http://sixcool.diy.163.com/
why marxism doesn't work
http://www.theonion.com/onion3842/marxists_apartment.html
Re: why marxism doesn't work
At 07:47 PM 11/14/2002 -0800, you wrote: http://www.theonion.com/onion3842/marxists_apartment.html OK. That was too, too silly. How could three male roommates ever achieve socialism? Now with three female roommates, things might be different :) Besides, is it possible to have socialism in one dorm room while the rest of the world is in chains (fraternities)? Joanna
Re: Re: why marxism doesn't work
- Original Message - From: joanna bujes [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 7:59 PM Subject: [PEN-L:32239] Re: why marxism doesn't work At 07:47 PM 11/14/2002 -0800, you wrote: http://www.theonion.com/onion3842/marxists_apartment.html OK. That was too, too silly. How could three male roommates ever achieve socialism? Now with three female roommates, things might be different :) How would you divvy up the chocolate? :-) Ian
Re: outsourcing the State
The Repugs may well overreach themselves. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Re: Re: why marxism doesn't work
Oh that's easy. Whoever doesn't get the chocolate gets the next fuckable man. Joanna At 08:07 PM 11/14/2002 -0800, you wrote: - Original Message - From: joanna bujes [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 7:59 PM Subject: [PEN-L:32239] Re: why marxism doesn't work At 07:47 PM 11/14/2002 -0800, you wrote: http://www.theonion.com/onion3842/marxists_apartment.html OK. That was too, too silly. How could three male roommates ever achieve socialism? Now with three female roommates, things might be different :) How would you divvy up the chocolate? :-) Ian
question from Michael Yates
I received an email asking for suggestions of books which discuss the relevance of Marxism for an understanding of contemporary political economic circumstances. Any suggestions? Michael Yates -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
here's how to criticize Corn
Title: here's how to criticize Corn from the L.A. Weekly 11/14/02, in response to David Corn's article there (last week @ http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/50/news-corn.php): "COMMIES" AND OTHER ANACHRONISMS In "Behind the Placards" [November 1-7], David Corn alleges, I believe correctly, that the Workers World Party was the hidden force behind the October 26 anti-war mobilization in Washington. Corn points out that the WWP considers all Stalinist regimes beyond reproach and uncritically supports any Third World despot who incurs Washington's displeasure. He further alleges, again correctly in my opinion, that the WWP operates not in the open, but through a series of front organizations to place its political stamp upon the big demonstrations it excels in organizing. These politics, Corn argues, are unlikely to persuade the growing number of Americans who are coming to doubt the wisdom of going to war against Iraq. Then, Corn counsels the anti-war movement to eschew a "simplistic leave-Iraq-alone" position, and laments the fact that most speakers failed to address the question "What to do about Iraq?" He is disappointed that Jesse Jackson was the only speaker to state that Saddam Hussein "should be held accountable for his crimes," and that little emphasis was placed on the "idea that revived and unfettered weapons inspections should occur in Iraq before George W. Bush launches a war." In short, Corn is urging the anti-war movement to reject the politics of the Workers World in favor of those of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, most of which accepts Bush's intentions as honorable, and differs with him only over questions of tactics. Within the political framework Corn favors, however, certain questions seldom get asked: Why, for instance, is the Saddam regime any more of a "problem" than the numerous other blood-drenched dictatorships and aggressor states that the U.S. government, far from leaving alone, has actively propped up over decades, including two - Pakistan and Israel - that are not merely trying to obtain nuclear weapons, but actually possess them? By what authority, other than that of sheer military might, is the supplier of such regimes able to hold ä "accountable for their crimes" Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic or anyone else? Isn't the U.S. government, which would reel in horror at the very thought of foreign inspectors coming anywhere within miles of its arsenals, a trifle hypocritical in demanding, on pain of blitzkrieg, "unfettered" access to those of a vastly weaker state? The WWP's political framework, however flawed and "simplistic," permits such questions; that of the Democratic Party and the mass media does not. If forced to choose, I'll take the WWP's framework any day. So also, I venture to say, would most people in the world, who see the main threat to peace as coming from Washington, not Baghdad. The growing legion of doubters in this country can only become effective when they figure out "what to do" about their own government - something they will never accomplish while operating, like David Corn and most Democrats, on the basis of that government's assumptions. -James Creegan New York City While it is surprising to hear words like "commies" from Nation writer David Corn (you might want to check out our nation's labor history for other helpful uses of the term), it is also true that the WWP was behind the Washington march. The issue is not their politics, but their style. That is to say, those of us who have worked with them in the past are aware they will foist a larger agenda on any event they organize. That's the same reason we find it distasteful, though often necessary, to work within the Democratic Party, who will also promote their own, business-friendly, centrist agenda. In these days of such a weak left in this country, you take your allies as you can, and hope that the movement broadens. I personally am glad that, for example, anti-Vietnam War activists didn't stay out of marches due to "commie" influence or we'd probably still be fighting that war. -Ty Brown Nashville, Tennessee --- Jim Devine
Re: Japan poised to nationalise bank
--- Chris Burford [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Didn't Marx say somewhere that the only capitalist phenomenon that the bourgeoisie would nationalise, is debt? Can anyone help with the quotation? The story below is about the bourgeois state having to step in to supervise Basic deal is a simple one: Koizumi lets American private equity (expect a consortium led by Lone Star or even Carlyle Group because they really do think no one notices) gobble up one humongous bank (after having its 'bad' debt written off at taxpayers' expense), and the US let's him have a cheaper yen. I suppose he'd have to give up 4 to get the yen back to a resonable level though. C Jannuzi __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site http://webhosting.yahoo.com
Re: why marxism doesn't work
pretty silly stuff...there's a problem of aggregation...not to mention imagining a pocket of apartment socialism in a sea of capitalism Cheers, Anthony xxx Anthony P. D'Costa, Associate Professor Comparative International Development University of WashingtonCampus Box 358436 1900 Commerce Street Tacoma, WA 98402, USA Phone: (253) 692-4462 Fax : (253) 692-5718 xxx On Thu, 14 Nov 2002, Ian Murray wrote: http://www.theonion.com/onion3842/marxists_apartment.html
Re: Economy in novels
I am surprised however, by the lack of The Jungle by old Upton Sinclair There are other worthwile works (I mean authored by others) of the muckraking period to consider. I'd start listing some, but, to be honest, I'm not paid to maintain my interest in 19th and early 20th century American literature and my immediate knowledge has fallen to the wayside. I've often thought of using some of Sinclair's stuff to get university students interested in 20th century history. Upton Sinclair was one of my favorite writers actually, back when I had time to read fiction. And I'm glad someone else thought of Robinson Crusoe, too! More suggestions: Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser O. Henry's short stories C. Jannuzi __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site http://webhosting.yahoo.com
Re: Economy in novels
The whole book is at gosh.com Sister Carrie, by Theodore Dreiser The Lure Of The Material--Beauty Speaks For Itself The true meaning of money yet remains to be popularly explained and comprehended. When each individual realises for himself that this thing primarily stands for and should only be accepted as a moral due--that it should be paid out as honestly stored energy, and not as a usurped privilege--many of our social, religious, and political troubles will have permanently passed. As for Carrie, her understanding of the moral significance of money was the popular understanding, nothing more. The old definition: Money: something everybody else has and I must get, would have expressed her understanding of it thoroughly. Some of it she now held in her hand--two soft, green ten-dollar bills--and she felt that she was immensely better off for the having of them. It was something that was power in itself. One of her order of mind would have been content to be cast away upon a desert island with a bundle of money, and only the long strain of starvation would have taught her that in some cases it could have no value. Even then she would have had no conception of the relative value of the thing; her one thought would, undoubtedly, have concerned the pity of having so much power and the inability to use it. __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site http://webhosting.yahoo.com
Re: Re: RE: Aesopian Language on Maillists
Joanna Bujes wrote: well, wouldn't you be? Joanna At 05:50 PM 11/14/2002 -0800, you wrote: the death of Satan was a tragedy for the imagination -- Wallace Stevens Satan is NOT dead, 'e's just pinin' for the fjords. Not really. I'm one hour away from 'em by bus, 40 min. by car.
There will always be an England
From today's Cryptic Crossword in the Guardian: 3, 14 down: King showing affection to his daughter is widely seen as a warmonger. (5,9) Answer: Henry Kissinger Louis Proyect, Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
