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I read your piece, Louis. I agree that this conception of "neo-feudalism" is very flawed (and I'm being generous). I have come to be convinced by the SSA (social structures of accumulation) approach -- we have had Capitalism since the enclosures destroyed the commons in England (maybe there was something like Capitalism in the Venetian City-States -- I won't go there!) --- But there have been varieties of capitalism that had their own social superstructure -- At base, it's the dispossessed wage worker who either works for a capitalist (or a super-structural entity financed by the capitalists --- the state, non-profits, foundations) or starves -- period, the end. THAT'S OKAY at first blush --- to get you to the dynamics of capital accumulation. BUT HOW IS THAT SYSTEM SUSTAINED? How come the injustices of the system (from the very beginning when it provoked the diggers in England through the wildcat strikes at warehouses and packing plants today) do not lead to the immediate expropriation of the expropriators as Marx hoped (and predicted) in Vol. I of Capital? That's where the various super-structures come in --- where some element of what Jim O'Connor called LEGITIMIZATION comes in --- (I would add, combined with REPRESSION) Fascism is one of these super-structures --- social democracy European style is one of them --- Pale imitation of social democracy in the US (1945-1981?? -78??) was one of them --- so is neo-liberalism as practiced here till now --- I do think the Reagan-Bush-Clinton neo-liberal version of Capitalism crashed and burned in 2008-2009 --- and Obama's efforts did not create anything new that was sustainable -- leading to Trump getting elected --- Putin's Russia, Brazil's Bolisano [sp?], Turkey's Erdogan [sp?], Trump's America --- are all groping towards a fascist TYPE control -- highly repressive (makes anything done in the US since the 1919 steel strike and the Palmer raids appear tame -- except for Southern racist terrorism in the Civil Rights struggles) --- with almost NO COHERENT economic policy --- That's what I think is going on --- and it's definitely capitalist but the new SSA has not been born -- (MY favorite recent book on the subject is David Kotz's THE RISE AND FALL OF NEOLIBERAL CAPITALISM --- I even reviewed it -- which is attached here ---) _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
