-Caveat Lector-
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Rejected posting to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 16:40:51 -0500
From: "L-Soft list server at America Online (1.8d)"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Nurev Ind Research <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The distribution of your message dated Thu, 08 Mar 2001 16:48:50 -0500 with
subject "[Fwd: rkm> The rise of capitalist elites]" has been rejected because
you have exceeded the daily per-user message limit for the CTRL list. Other
than the list owner, no one is allowed to post more than 7 messages per day.
Please resend your message at a later time if you still want it to be posted to
the list.
------------------------ Rejected message (165 lines) -------------------------
Received: from smtp-hub.mrf.mail.rcn.net (smtp-hub.mrf.mail.rcn.net
[207.172.4.107])
by listserv.aol.com (8.8.8/8.8.8)
with ESMTP id QAA07848 for <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
Thu, 8 Mar 2001 16:40:50 -0500 (EST)
Received: from smtp02.mrf.mail.rcn.net ([207.172.4.61])
by smtp-hub.mrf.mail.rcn.net with esmtp (Exim 3.16 #5)
id 14b89M-0000vY-00; Thu, 08 Mar 2001 16:40:44 -0500
Received: from 66-44-22-198.s706.apx3.lnh.md.dialup.rcn.com ([66.44.22.198]
helo=starpower.net)
by smtp02.mrf.mail.rcn.net with esmtp (Exim 3.16 #5)
id 14b89J-0003kM-00 ; Thu, 08 Mar 2001 16:40:42 -0500
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2001 16:48:50 -0500
From: Nurev Ind Research <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Organization: Nurev Independent Research
X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.75 [en]C-STAR032398 (Win98; U)
X-Accept-Language: en
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: Activist Mailing List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
CC: Eternera Mailing List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Fwd: rkm> The rise of capitalist elites]
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: rkm> The rise of capitalist elites
Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 17:57:23 +0000
From: "Richard K. Moore" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The rise of capitalist elites
Central to Smith's model of a market economy was the condition that all buyers
and sellers must be small. In this way, prices could not be influenced by
individual actors, but would reach a fair and reasonable level - through fair
competition between sellers, and comparison shopping on the part of buyers. In
Smith's model, very large producers - who had the power to dominate markets - were
specifically forbidden. The dynamics of capitalism, on the other hand, lead
naturally toward monopoly. While Smith's arguments helped pave the way for
capitalism, it is the natural dynamics of capitalism which have prevailed, not the
enlightened dynamics which Smith prescribed.
If one central principle could be identified, which best characterizes the essence
of the Industrial Revolution, that principle would be 'economy of scale'. That's
what factories, and steam engines, and mass production are all about. By
concentrating lots of equipment, resources, and workers all in one place, it is
possible to produce more and cheaper products than with many small operations. In
a large operation one can use more powerful and efficient equipment; one can
demand discount prices from suppliers; one can set up an efficient distribution
system - and there are many other advantages as well. Unless there are sufficient
regulatory restrictions placed on the size of an operation, the natural tendency
is for the large to gobble the small, and the larger to gobble the large, '...and
so adinfinitum'. And this is exactly what has happened, right up to the current
day - with its mega retail stores, global fast-food chains, transnational
corporations, and the increasing concentration of world commerce into the hands of
a small number of huge operators.
In order to understand the dynamics of capitalism, recall the capitalist paradigm:
'wealth accumulation through initiative & innovation'. Building factories showed
one kind of initiative, and lobbying for new economic policies showed another.
The entrepreneur and the investor, in pursuit of greater wealth, must always ask
themselves the following question: 'Given my available assets, what strategy will
bring me the greatest future returns?' The answers to this question are as varied
as the human imagination, and it is that 'creativity in pursuit of ever-greater
wealth' which has guided the course of history ever since capitalism took hold.
Industrialists, bankers, and financiers formed the core of the capitalist
community, and as such they were clearly an important and influential segment of
society. Governments looked to this community when financing was needed for wars
and other government endeavors, and it was from this community that Finance
Ministers and other important government officials would usually be selected. The
interests of government and the interests of capitalism became intertwined, and
government policy increasingly came to favor the further advance of capitalism -
and the further concentration of wealth and power into fewer hands. This is the
scenario that unfolded first in Britain, and later in every other nation which
adopted capitalism. Today, with globalization, we see this trend in its ultimate
form: the establishment of a centralized world government (the WTO, IMF, etc.)
which is totally dominated by the interests of global corporations.
The strategies - which capitalists have used to increase their wealth - have
included imperialism (and its necessary wars), government subsidies, favorable tax
regimes, sweetheart government contracts, and many others - leading ultimately to
today's neoliberal globalization. Capitalism can be best understood not as an
economic regime, but rather as an elite political movement. Economic regimes,
under capitalism, have varied considerably, depending on market conditions and
political circumstances.
Often, when political pressure from below threatened to shift the balance of
political power, capitalist elites have responded with semi-socialist economic
regimes, in order to co-opt the political threat. We saw this under Franklin
Roosevelt with his New Deal, and we saw it after 1945, with Labor governments in
Britain, and socialist governments in Europe. But during such defensive
intervals, capitalist enterprises continued to grow nonetheless - and when
pressure from below subsided, the economic regime began again to pursue its
inevitable evolution toward today's rampant hyper-capitalism.
In the final analysis, capitalism amounts to the usurpation of political power by
a particular species of wealthy elite. Unlike aristocracies of old, which sought
primarily to _rule society, capitalist elites seek always to _change society in
order to create ever-more ways to increase their wealth. From their point of
view, societies and populations are simply a means to an end. For this reason,
the history of capitalism includes frequent episodes of coldly-calculated
genocide.
Whole populations have been intentionally decimated, because their continued
existence was considered counter-productive to capitalist development. The
mass-slaughter of Native Americans and Australian Aborigines are the classic
examples, but there have been many others, such as in East Timor. In Guatemala,
the murder of indigenous populations is underway at this very moment - as mining
is being developed by foreign operators.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, a pattern of wholesale genocide is unfolding as the IMF
intentionally destabilizes economies, the CIA stirs up civil wars, and
pharmaceutical companies use WTO rulings to prevent the distribution of AIDS
medicines. From the point of view of capitalism, people have value only if they
contribute to the wealth-accumulation process. And if they have no value they are
expendable - subject to being cleared away to make room for development.
One of the most recent capitalist innovations has been the privatization of
national water supplies, implemented by means of conditions attached to IMF
loans. In the year 2000, twelve nations, mostly in Africa, were subjected to
water privatization in this way. Water prices have subsequently risen
dramatically, threatening the survival of the poorest segments of society. The
net effect of this innovation is to deny water to 'valueless' locals, and make it
available to export-oriented agribusiness operators. Once again, in the capitalist
equation, populations must perish so that wealth accumulation can continue.
--
============================================================================
Richard K Moore
Wexford, Ireland
Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
URL: http://cyberjournal.org
A community will evolve only when
the people control their means of communication.
- Frantz Fanon
"One cannot separate economics, political science, and
history. Politics is the control of the economy. History,
when accurately and fully recorded, is that story. In most
textbooks and classrooms, not only are these three fields of
study separated, but they are further compartmentalized into
separate subfields, obscuring the close interconnections
between them" -- J.W. Smith, The World's Wasted Wealth 2,
(Institute for Economic Democracy, 1994), p. 22.
Permission for non-commercial republishing hereby granted - BUT
include and observe all restrictions, copyrights, credits,
and notices - including this one.
============================================================================
.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
