Greg 14 Nov
>the socialisation of the means of production which was part and parcel >with this highest stage of capitalism has reached a point where the >bourgoeisie have created there own form of internationalised socialism - >the very process of this historical development has been the abandonment >of state-class hegemony in favour of mangerial states - this is the vital >weakness, the area where modest reforms become the site of class struggle >and have revolutionary implications. This begs the all too abstract question of what is socialism. But at the very least I see Greg's point: economic and political affairs are always social, although under capitalism the economy is understood to be privately owned and autonomous. Yes international affairs have accelerated to the point where they are managed internationally by managers. (The whole vital public relations side of this war is being coordinated by Alistair Campbell.) This is a feature of the fast emerging Empire. Hence for example the cliff-hanger in the Bundestag this week. Schroeder is confident enough that he must commit German troops for the first time for 50 years to aggressive foreign action, and 8 Green representatives will vote against. Schroeder probably correctly calculates that an election now would be favourable to him. The future lies in contributing to international power structures and the struggle for reforms must be on an international level. The stand of the Green dissenters will probably be finessed and Schroeder will win his vote of confidence. But this is a moment when as Greg suggests we are seeing a transition to an arena of the coordination of a socialised international capital by a coalition of managerial states. And the internal politics of these managerial states are shifting qualitatively to how they contribute to that international management of the globe. By any narrow definition of socialism this is not international socialism. But it is the international terrain for the battles of the era of socialism: for the socialisation of the means of production and the movement to the abolition of labour as a commodity. The multitude versus the Empire. Chris Burford London
