Every three months the quarterly profits of the largest companies appear on newscasts, and Canadians gasp and sigh and really do not know what it all means. Big profits are usually reported as good, and low profits are said to be bad and an indication of trouble brewing in the future for that particular company. The ramifications of these profits on other sectors of the economy is rarely discussed. The impression left with the viewer is that these profits exist in isolation to other companies, the economy and people as a whole, and even apart from the Canadians who work for the particular monopoly. Usually the overall slant of the news is that hefty profits for the big companies means the economy is in good shape. Since 1992, the announced profits of the auto companies, the five big banks and certain other monopolies have been the subject of much admiration on the part of some and ire on the part of others. The announced profits in these cases have been enormous in all aspects: the total mass; in relation to invested capital; and, in growth. The curious thing is that the current news also contains items that say bankruptcies of businesses and individuals are at an all time high, that unemployment has "stabilized" at ten percent, more jobs are being lost than created, the absolute numbers of Canadians living in poverty is at its highest levels ever with one in four children socially abused through want, over twenty percent unemployment in Montreal, and the number of people on welfare and unemployment insurance benefits -Canadians paid minimal amounts not to work - has climbed to several million. British Columbia, which many argue is probably the single richest region for quantity and variety of natural resources in the entire world, has over nine percent unemployment and pockets of terrible poverty. Its forest industry is in crisis and the NDP government is openly speaking of cutbacks and massive layoffs of government workers in the style of the former NDP government of Ontario. Enormous profits exist hand in hand with high unemployment and increasing poverty and cutbacks of social services. Those industries most suitable, well-placed or wealthy enough to utilize the new digital technology have done so with speed and enthusiasm. The use of computers and machines operated by computers has increased tremendously since 1990. This coincides with the latest serious recession. From 1989 to 1991 over 100,000 manufacturing workers were laid-off in Ontario. Production plummeted. The auto monopoly Chrysler was even said to be in financial trouble. Since 1991, digital technology has been heavily introduced into the manufacturing sector and overall production now surpasses the level of 1989. Yet, only one-fifth of the manufacturing workers have been recalled and even they are in danger of being let go. For example, the recent collective agreement between the CAW union and GM calls for the elimination of 4,100 jobs in the near future. Production levels have increased but with the use of less living labor. Production per worker has gone up, which everyone knows is called increased productivity. But something else has also gone up: the mass of invested capital. The amount invested in expensive robotic, computerized machinery has risen. The big banks, through use of computers and other means, have eliminated tens of thousands of workers from their ranks but have greatly increased their control of the bookkeeping and financial services of individuals and business throughout Canada. The ratio between living labor employed in production, to dead labor congealed in buildings, machinery and raw materials has changed considerably. There is less living labor producing the same amount or even an increased amount of goods and services. There have been other changes as well, such as the manner in which work is organized. Outsourcing, contract work, part-time work, use of overtime and move intense labor have all contributed to less living labor in relation to what is produced. The increased exploitation of labor and use of modern technology have led to the phenomenon of the "jobless recovery." The quality and quantity of labor has been reduced but production has remained the same or even increased. This has produced, as well, a very real sense of insecurity resulting in a lower standard of living for the working class. But something else has appeared that is extremely dangerous if not squarely dealt with by the working class and people: the centralization and concentration of capital in fewer and fewer hands. The control over the national economy that is now in the hands of giant monopolies is leading to an economic disaster and war. The basic contradiction between social production and private ownership is at a breaking point. The huge monopolies such as GM and the banks, which are interested only in amassing more capital, use that immense socially produced value in ways that suit their private interests. This is the basic underlying cause of the economic, political and social crisis the country and the world is facing. Examine just the issue of the large profits of the auto industry and the financial institutions. These monopolies employ less living labor per unit of production than even six years ago. The law of value dictates that this phenomenon should result in a drop in the value of each unit of production and a fall in the rate of profit. This should have put downward pressure on the market price of the product. The high profits should have attracted other competing capital resulting in more production in those sectors and lower prices. The law of the "average" rate of profit throughout the capitalist economy demands that high profits in one sector are offset with increased production and competition, and a subsequent lowering of the market price for goods and services of that sector and therefore a levelling of the high profits. In the nineteenth century the competition of the marketplace meant rapid movement of capital from areas of low profit to areas of high profit resulting in overproduction in those areas, inability to sell goods, a collapse of prices and production, ruination of some capitalists and a rapid lowering of profits to the "average." The areas of low profit saw a decrease in invested capital and a higher market price and therefore a rise in profits to the "average." The differences in natural profitability of different sectors, for example the low "natural" profits of heavy industry, where large amounts of capital are required, were offset by the law of the equalization of profit to the "average": the market price of commodities varied around their real value (the amount of labor time required to produce them) by the formula - market price equals the cost of production, the cost of dead and living labor, plus the "average" amount of profit. In the nineteenth century this law was enforced with drastic consequences for both labor and capital giving rise to alternate periods of terrible recession and extraordinary growth. Growing Isolation of Israel The Israeli government warned the European Union last Wednesday that its delegation will not be welcomed in Tel Aviv if it visits the Palestinian Authority at its Orient House Headquarters in Jerusalem. "The government has stated its position. It will not agree to foreign visitors to the Palestinian headquarters at Orient House," Israel's ambassador to Ireland, Zvi Gabay, said. "We believe that the Palestinians have a right to act politically in the territories under their control, but not in Jerusalem.... The (Palestinian) headquarters is in Gaza. Anyone who wants to visit them should go to Gaza," Gabay told Irish radio after the Dublin government, which holds the current European Union presidency, announced a visit to the region. Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring and colleagues from Portugal and the Netherlands are set to leave within the next 10 days. The Israeli ambassador's position was condemned by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who stated: "Is he giving orders to the European Union? It's unbelievable. How can this be accepted? I don't think the Israelis have the right to give orders to the EU." The visit by the EU will be the second visit by European leaders in one month that have challenged the authority of the Israelis and to some extent U.S. imperialism. In October, President Jacques Chirac of France, on a tour of the Middle East to boost French influence and sell military equipment, angered the Israeli government by his statements of warmth towards Iraq and the President of Syria, Hafez Assad. Chirac was also the first "Western" leader to address the Palestinian Legislative Council, while he refused to speak in the Israeli Knesset. He also called for a Palestinian state and the return of the Golan Heights to Syria, raising the ire of the Israeli government, but receiving warm praise throughout the mass media in the Arab world. Both Israel and the U.S. are fierce competitors of France and other European countries in the worldwide arms trade. The no war-no peace situation in the Middle East makes for fertile ground for military sales and there is intense competition amongst the imperialists. The abundant oil reserves are another contentious issue. The people of the area must be very wary of the manoeuvring of the big powers and solve their problems by themselves. With imperialist meddling and control of the Middle East, there has been one war after another at terrible cost to the people. The people of Israel must act quickly to overthrow their state that is a product and tool of imperialism. Only then will they be in a position to negotiate a peaceful resolution of the historic injustices committed against the Palestinian people and bring genuine peace to the region. Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED]