regarding "Lebensraum" --- my question as to whether Nazi Germany and Italy's Mussolini HAD to opt for a war of conquest was essential ---- Does the sentence "Imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism" mean that once the era of competitive capitalism is replaced by monopoly capitalism (which I will define using the mainstream economists' preferred term as an industrial system dominated by OLIGOPOLIES in major markets so the "myth" of pure competition --- which is still taught in undergraduate economics courses and still dominates a lot of the "higher math" in graduate courses and in "the profession" --- only exists as a "yardstick" by which to measure the result of price setting in the real world as it departs from the "stories" on the pages of textbooks) --- THe result --- major industrial businesses are PRICE MAKERS not PRICE TAKERS with ALL the implications for long run dynamics that that entails.
If I remember (and the memory is vague) Lenin argued that the new phase of capitalism produced a great increase in profits that seek additional outlets for re-investment --- hence the interest in overseas operations. (I think Lenin underestimated the lure of resources as an incentive to grab hold either explicitly with colonialism or implicitly with the "informal empire" [as opposed to markets for the surpluses of the "home" country which was pretty much JA. Hobson's "take" on imperialism] such as the British developed in many Latin American countries --- I'm thinking of British investments in Chilean nitrates in the 19th century, American investments in Chilean copper in the 20th century --- ) But the question has always lurked in these discussions -- is POLITICAL control of a colony (or "informal control" of a nominally independent country) essential for the economic penetration of what we began to call the "third world" in the period after WW II when the economics profession discovered "economic development" as a worthwhile area of study? To return to the historical analogy -- was "Lebensraum" a requirement for the long run survival of Nazi Germany as an economy? Will the rise of China and the BRICS cramp the "style" of the US which from WW II till (recently?) has had the "run of the planet" --- especially with the end of Soviet communism and the re-integration of almost all so-called socialist countries into the world system? I appreciate the contributions of various comrades in attempting to help me answer these questions. On Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 1:48 AM Mark Baugher via groups.io <mark= mbaugher....@groups.io> wrote: > > > > On Jan 20, 2025, at 12:04 AM, stevencolatrella via groups.io > <stevencolatrella=gmail....@groups.io> wrote: > > > > But Hitler's entire project depended on four major goals: 1. Restore > slavery as a mode of production (see my just published translation of > Losurdo's "Western Marxism " on this), 2. Redistribution of colonies, that > is break up of the British and French Empires (Japanneeded thistoo), 3. > Destruction of the Soviet Union, and 4. All of that as a preliminary to > have the land, labor and resources of the European continent consolidated > to confront the United States on relatively equal footing > > You wouldn't include Lebensraum? > > Mark > > - > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#34754): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/34754 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/110699138/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: marxmail+ow...@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [arch...@mail-archive.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
