David Shemano writes:
>The next time I am at Disneyland and ride the "Pirates of the Caribbean,"
>I will soak back and appreciate for the first time the Marxist-historical
>implications...
David should read the Armand Mattelart and Ariel Dorfman analysis, "How to
Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic."
Michael Pugliese
P.S. And a bio of Walt Disney by Mark ? (he wrote a bio of Phil Ochs,
blanking on his last name)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Devine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2001 3:16 PM
Subject: [PEN-L:12146] Re: RE: Re: Origination [sic] of Capitalism
>
> >Michael Perelman wrote:
> ><<<Keynes, Treatise on Money
> >
> >139: "The booty brought back by Drake in the Golden Hind may fairly be
> >considered the fountain and origin of British foreign investment.
> >Elizabeth paid off out of the proceeds the whole of her foreign debt and
> >invested a part of the balance (about o42,000) in the Levant Company;
> >largely out of the profits of the Levant Company there was formed the
East
> >India Company, the profits of which during the seventeenth and eighteenth
> >centuries were the main foundation of England's foreign connections; and
> >so on.>>>
> >
> >and Ian Murray wrote:
> ><<"England gained naval superiority over Spain largely through the action
> >of the Elizabethan Sea Dogs. These private adventurers, in collusion with
> >the English Crown, engaged in all sorts of violent activities directed
> >against Spain in the New World. Besides plundering Spanish Ships and
> >settlements, such Sea Dogs as Drake, Cavendish, Clifford and Raleigh
> >engaged in what might be termed state-sponsored terrorism. ... >>
>
> David Shemano writes:
> >The next time I am at Disneyland and ride the "Pirates of the Caribbean,"
> >I will soak back and appreciate for the first time the Marxist-historical
> >implications.
>
> next time you do so, listen to the lyrics of the song: one of the things
> the pirates brag about doing is embezzling. (Alas, the "Pirates" have been
> bowdlerized. Instead of chasing a woman (without good intent), one pirate
> is trying to get the cake she's carrying.)
>
> >However, is the argument that New World piracy was a "but for" cause of
> >English industrial development? IOW, if there were no pirates, England
> >would not have developed "capitalism?"
>
> I hope that's not what they're saying. Loot of this sort -- in this case,
> specie -- doesn't really help a country develop capitalism. If production
> can't be expanded, it simply encourages inflation. The ripping off of gold
> from the New World encouraged the so-called "price revolution" (which also
> encouraged David Hume and others to develop early versions of monetarism).
> Pirate looting of gold from the Spaniards has the same effect. (Stealing
of
> real commodities doesn't have this negative effect, of course, while the
> sabotage effect of privateers on the Spaniards is important.)
>
> There are some exceptions, however. The Mercantilist states wanted to run
> balance of payments surpluses -- accumulate specie -- in order to develop
a
> big war chest. If the money is accumulated in the state's coffers, it
> doesn't cause inflation until it's spent.
>
> The other exception results from the fact that until 1800 or so, there was
> a steady flow of specie out of Europe and to India and China (and I don't
> have time to explain why). The inflow of specie from the New World helped
> deal with the resulting illiquidity problems that had encouraged barter
and
> the dilution of currency.
>
> Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
>
