Charles wrote:
Isn't the capitalist ruling class transnational in many ways ? For example, British, Japanese, Saudi and Israeli capital are part of the class that dominates the U.S. state, which is the big important state in the world today. In turn, the states of these countries and many other countries are influenced signficantly by transnational capitalists.
Jim wrote:
right. of course. Capitalism is an almost-global mode of production, so that the capitalist class is almost global. However, there are competing elites (some of which have state power) within that class. Some elites form coalitions rather than competing, of course, such as that of the Bushmeisters and the Israeli state.
============================= I hesitate to describe these other capitalists as "part" of the US ruling class. They constitute the ruling class in their own countries even though they are strongly allied to, influence, and rely on the protection of the dominant American one, whose geopolitical interests they share. Only in this loose sense, can the capitalist ruling class be said to be "transnational". But the three branches of the US government, including its vast bureaucracy and "bodies of armed men", implements the program of corporate America - in particular, that of its dominant sectors - rather that that of competing capitalists in other countries. The US government enters into trade and other agreements which frequently results in foreign corporations being favoured at the expense of weaker domestic ones, but this is only with the advice and consent of the US capitalist class as a whole, acting through its various lobbies, which is the initiator of such arrangements. If the share of US fixed and financial assets acquired by foreign investors were to increase, there would be a commensurate increase in their influence, but presently, even if they were to act in concert, their influence in Washington nowhere resembles the power wielded by the US-based corporations.
