>Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2002 15:48:43 -0700 (PDT) >From: Labour Welfare Party <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> ===================================== >> http://www.icda.be/trademarkets.htm >> BACKGROUND >> "Trade, Development & Monstrous Markets" By: Henry C.K.Liu >> >> "Poverty is in reality a phenomenon of social despair. The habitually >> unemployed, the unemployable, the underemployed and the working poor >> in developed countries have higher absolute incomes or public >> assistance payments than the middle class in other less developed >> countries, whose members nevertheless do not consider themselves poor >> because they have not lost hope in themselves or self-respect for >> their own lot. " >> >> An economy is a comprehensive and complex entity of which trade is >> only one sector. Yet nowadays, neoliberal economists and >> policy-makers tend to view trade as the economy itself, downplaying >> the importance of the public sector and other non-market social >> sectors of the economy. >> >> Neoliberals promote market fundamentalism as the sole, indispensable >> path for economic development, despite the fact that data of the past >> decade have shown that trade tends to distort balanced development in >> a way that hurts not only the less developed, but the developed >> economies as well. Currently, in the United States, the mecca of >> free-market entrepreneurism, the statist sectors - government >> spending, health care, social and education services and defense - >> are keeping the economy afloat, while finance, entrepreneurial >> ventures and high-tech manufacturing languish in extended doldrums. >> >> Unregulated markets lead naturally to the emergence of monopolistic >> enterprises. Thus "free" markets are inherently self-destructive of >> their own freedom. Free markets depend on enlightened statism to >> remain free. Unregulated labor markets lead to slavery. For many >> human social activities, the market has no positive function. Free >> markets for human relationships, for example, lead to prostitution. >> Free markets in power breed corruption. Socio-economic Darwinism will >> eventually deplete the economic food chain: the fittest cannot >> survive when all the weak that the strong need to exploit in order to >> survive disappear. Government, from monarchy to democracy, exists >> solely to protect the weak from the strong. >> >> Globalization since the end of the Cold War has been viewed >> increasingly as neo-imperialism by many even outside of the radical >> left. This view is amply supported by field data. It has become >> obvious to many in both developed economies and emerging markets that >> the undervaluation of labor is indispensable for the creation of >> surplus value that economists call capital. This capital then must >> seek new investment opportunities in less developed economies where >> labor is even cheaper. The investment opportunities of this adventure >> capital point not to the beneficial development of the less developed >> economies. This capital seeks higher return than it could get at home >> for the benefit of its owners by exploiting even cheaper labor >> overseas. Capital has acquired enormous market power for the >> suppression of the value of labor both at home and abroad. >> Neoliberals rationalize that globalization, while undeniably >> exploitative, nevertheless produces tangible collateral benefits, >> even to the exploited. >> >> The infamous Lawrence Summers World Bank memo, in which he, as chief >> economist, argued that the export of pollution to poor countries >> represented "immaculate" economic logic because Third World lives >> were worth less, is a classic example of warped neoliberal mentality. >> >> This neoliberal approach of course was the same argument presented by >> the defenders of 19th-century imperialism in which moral >> rationalization was used to justify economic exploitation. Neoliberal >> values, namely capitalistic democracy and market fundamentalism, >> become the new smiling mask for economic exploitation not different >> from the "white man's burden" of 19th-century Eurocentrism. The >> recurring financial crises associated with financial globalization in >> the past two decades have revived economic nationalism worldwide with >> parallels to the political nationalism against imperialism of the >> previous century. >> >> John Atkinson Hobson (1858-1940), an English economist, wrote in 1902 >> one the most insightful critiques of the economic basis of >> imperialism. Hobson provided a humanist criticism of classical >> economics, rejecting exclusively materialistic definitions of value. >> With A F Mummery, he developed the theory of oversaving that was >> given a generous tribute by John Maynard Keynes. Hobson's second >> major contribution was his analysis of capitalism on which Lenin drew >> freely to formulate the theory of imperialism as the highest stage of >> capitalism. "Imperialism is capitalism at that stage of development >> at which the dominance of monopolies and finance capitalism is >> established; in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced >> importance; in which the division of the world among the >> international trusts has begun, in which the division of all >> territories of the globe among the biggest capitalist powers has been >> completed." (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, 1870-1924, Imperialism, the >> Highest Stage of Capitalism, Chapter 7 - 1916) >> >> Thus, until the Cold War, practically all anti-imperialist movements >> were also anti-capitalist. Hobson did not touch on the economics of >> environmental pollution associated with globalization. For all the >> evils of 19th-century imperialism, environmental pollution was not >> one of them. >> Critics of globalization, from the left to the right, have focused on >> four issues: 1) labor standards, 2) corporatism, 3) environmental >> abuse and 4) global financial architecture. >> >> A new focus on Hobson's ideas may yield useful insights in the >> current debate on globalization economics. Specifically, Hobson's >> view of the economic system from the standpoint of human values is >> worth discussing. Hobson believed that the contradictions of >> production and consumption, cost and utility, physical and spiritual >> welfare, individual and social welfare, all find their likeliest mode >> of reconciliation and of harmony in the treatment of global society >> as an organism, and not as a collection of competing economies in the >> market arena. >> >> Karl Polanyi is also worth a revisit in this hour of self-induced >> imminent collapse of the globalized market economy. The principal >> theme of his Origins of Our Time: The Great Transformation (1945) was >> that the world market economy in effect collapsed in the 1930s. Yet >> this familiar system was of very recent origin and had emerged fully >> formed only as recently as the 19th century, in conjunction with >> capitalistic industrialization. The current globalization of markets >> following the fall of the Soviet bloc is also of recent post-Cold War >> origin, in conjunction with the advent of the information age and >> finance capitalism. >> >> Prior to the coming of capitalistic industrialization, the market >> played only a minor part in the economic life of societies. Even >> where market places could be seen to be operating, they were >> peripheral to the main economic organization and activity of society. >> Polanyi argued that in modern market economies, the needs of the >> market determined social behavior, whereas in pre-industrial and >> primitive economies the needs of society determined economic >> behavior. Polanyi reintroduced the concepts of reciprocity and >> redistribution in human relationships. >> >> Reciprocity implies that people produce the goods and services they >> are best at producing, and share them with others with joy. This is >> reciprocated by others who are good at producing other goods and >> services. There is an unspoken agreement that all would produce that >> which they could do best and mutually share and share alike, not just >> sold to the highest bidder. All find their fulfillment in separate >> productive livelihoods. The motivation to produce and share is not >> personal profit, but personal fulfillment, and avoidance of social >> contempt, ostracism, and loss of social prestige and standing. This >> motivation is still fundamental in finance capitalism, with the >> emphasis on accumulating the most financial wealth, which is accorded >> the highest social prestige. The annual report on the world's richest >> 100 as celebrities by Forbes is a clear evidence of this. The opinion >> of figures such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are regularly sought >> by the media on matters beyond finance, as if the possession of money >> itself represents a diploma of wisdom. >> >> Edward Luttwak explains in his recent book Turbo Capitalism, >> "Super-winners are not only respected and admired for what they do >> but also for what they know, or rather for what it is assumed they >> must know. They are often asked to pronounce on the great questions >> of the day, even those far removed from their fields of competence. >> During 1997, for example, both the champion software marketeer Bill >> Gates and the champion currency speculator George Soros were >> constantly and respectfully cited in the American media on a great >> variety of subjects, including public education and the control of >> narcotics. Their interviewers assumed as a matter of course that the >> extent of their wisdom corresponds to the size of their incomes. Far >> from being condemned for greed, winners are held in the highest >> regard, and the greatest winners of all have almost an odor of >> sanctity." >> >> Many religions consider the attitude toward money as often more >> indicative of a person's true worth than the mere possession of it. >> The same might be even more true for societies. This explains why >> modern societies, whose members would be obsessed with a >> single-minded quest for material wealth, would be constantly faced >> with recurring crises of values. The pursuit of maximization of >> wealth leads inevitably to the betrayal of human values that would >> otherwise forbid unconscionable exploitation of and impersonal >> disregard for others. >> >> Maximization breeds abuse. The Confucian doctrine of the Path of the >> Golden Mean (Zhongyong Zhi Dao), a concept of avoiding excesses, is >> instructive on this point. More is not necessarily better; most is >> seldom best, and best is the mortal enemy of good, as Voltaire has >> insightfully pointed out. A rich man amid masses of poverty will not >> find himself a paradise on Earth. A society that celebrates only the >> best will waste the good. The relentless pursuit of absolute beauty >> will result in ugliness, which explains why the art world is often >> infested with revolting characters. The fact that the historical >> record of socialist politics is littered with betrayals of the humane >> ideals of theoretical socialism should not diminish the valor of >> those who have placed their hopes on the noble vision, just as the >> materialistic efficiency of unregulated market capitalism is no >> testimony on the moral validity of greed. >> >> - ---snip--- >> >> >> -------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Workfare-defeat: a list for discussion about the international >> resistance to workfare To subscribe, post to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with >> "subscribe workfare-defeat" in the BODY of the message >> ** This material may be freely distributed, provided this ** >> ** footer is included in full. ** >> > > >-------------------------------------------------------------------- > Workfare-defeat: a list for discussion about the international > resistance to workfare To subscribe, post to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with > "subscribe workfare-defeat" in the BODY of the message > ** This material may be freely distributed, provided this ** > ** footer is included in full. ** >
