Re: M-TH: Fiji
Rob Hope you've recovered from the Brumbies choking during the big one. I think one of the really interesting things about reportage on Fiji has been the lack of class in the pundits analysis. The way I read it is the post independence constitution perpetuated and strengthened the racial fix in Fijian politics. This fix pretty much guaranteed the ethnic Fijian elite's hold on power. The labour party, always multiracial but with strong Indian support, broke this fix when a substantial number of the urban working class/poor ethnic Fijians began voting for it on essentially class lines. This is obviously intolerable to the ethnic Fijian elite who have been trying to recreate, with little success , the racial straight jacket that under pins their power. I think their efforts are doomed long term as modernisation will depopulate and educate the rural areas on which their power is founded while at the same time creating a growing pool of proletarianised urban ethnic Fijians who will vote increasingly on class lines. If I where them I'd do a deal now as medium long term they could lose big time due to anything from the above to the Indians simple out numbering them greatly and winning a show down to outside intervention from say India (no more Uganda's) in a crisis in say ten years. I know this isn't fashionable but I'd give 2 and 1/2 cheers for capitalist pseudo democracy over traditional society any day. Cheers Bill > From: Rob Schaap <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 04:00:22 +1000 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: M-TH: Fiji > > Anyone got a detailed take on the removal at gunpoint of one of the few > serious left-reformist political leaders left in the world? I can't find a > single interview with a Fijian without a gun or a uniform! Rabuka started > all this 13 years ago, and Oz was happy enough to go along then. Now Fiji > is reaping what we helped sow (East Timor ain't the only East Timor, alas). > I read Speight (as a boojie on the verge of doing time for fraud) as the the > pointy end of an indignant Fijian bourgeoisie (whether he consciously plays > this part, I don't know, but quite a few of the better-to-do Indians seem > remarkably quiet as he hurls the country to the brink) and Kamisese Mara as > the pointy end of the old wholly-indigenous aristocracy. The fight is > between them - a class struggle Britain had sorted by 1830. And 90% of the > population are, absolutely invisibly and eerily silently, the meat in this > malignant sandwich. > > Anyway, now the army has claimed executive power (and they're no monolith on > this either - but, anyway, Mara is formally suddenly himself bereft of power > now) and Speight has responded by threatening to shoot Mara's daughter if > the army goes for him. It's civil war then, of course. But I sense the > military is closer to Speight than to anyone else on the balance of > sentiment. > > And as Oz Foreign Minister Alexander Downer waxes indignant about the > violent overthrow of an old-fashioned (ie pre-3rd way) social democrat (who > enjoyed 62% of the vote at last count), he's off to talk turkey with his > fellow democrats over in Rangoon ... > > Yours biliously, > Rob. > > > --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- > --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
M-TH: International trade
Word up thaxalotals O.K in a totally self serving move I wanta pick peoples brains for any recent references to marxian studies of international trade, by recent I mean after say 1980 (I'm nearing 40 so 1980's is recent). More will be heard from me soon. By the way what happened to Bob Malecki? Bill C --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
M-TH: death on a picket
Don't know if anyone noticed this but here's a sad piece of news , The port company in a touching show of sympathy is docking peoples pay for attending the funeral (who says business doesn't have a heart). This is the first death in a dispute since 1913, though some one bombed the wellington trades hall in the 1980's killing a care taker. 02-Jan-00 07:44 pm Christchurch, Jan 2 - A Lyttelton woman who died from injuries she received on a picket line will be seen as a martyr for the trade union cause, a union leader says. Christine Clarke, 45, died on New Year's Eve from serious brain injuries she received when allegedly run over by a four-wheel-drive vehicle while on a picket line at the Port of Lyttelton last Wednesday. The picket was protesting the Lyttelton Port Company's decision, now stayed while further negotiations take place, to contract out its coal loading work. Waterfront Workers Union president Les Wells said today Ms Clarke would be viewed as a martyr and rallying point for the whole trade union movement in New Zealand. ``Nobody comes along to a picket thinking they might be killed. The worst you can expect is a rap across the knuckles with a baton and arrest. But the risk is always there when you get in front of a vehicle,'' he said. He expected a big trade union presence at her funeral at the Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Wednesday. The unions involved in the dispute over the coal loading issue would keep Mrs Clarke's death separate from any negotiations but port workers were angry. He believed it was the first death on a picket line since 1912. Lyttelton parish priest Father Jim Consedine, a long-time friend of the Clarke family, said Ms Clarke would have found her sudden public status ironic. ``She was very self-effacing and humble and would have seen the irony in becoming a public figure in death,'' he said. He remembered her as a warm, open parishioner with a wonderful sense of humour. ``From an early age she showed a strong sense of justice and compassion for the underdog. She had a strong faith which sustained her through a difficult illness,'' he said. About two years ago she had a brain aneurism which was followed by a stroke but she had fully recovered, Father Consedine said. She has two children, aged 16 and 10, and had worked for Catholic Social Services, Marriage Guidance, and was electorate secretary for Green Party co-leader Rod Donald. Her family was appalled at the senselessness of her death but not angry with the driver who would have to ``live with whatever happened'', he said. ``There is a strong anger in the Lyttelton community at the Port Company for ignoring local issues rather than because of the incident. ``However the reason Chris was there remains unresolved. In this day and age these issues should not arise,'' he said. The driver of the vehicle had been charged with dangerous driving causing injury and would appear in the Christchurch District Court on Wednesday. Police have said it was likely the charges would be changed at that time, possibly to dangerous driving causing death. --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
M-TH: fool
Sorry thaxians, I just forwarded a message to Kim Bullimore to thaxis instead of privately - its not particularly important but cheers anyway. Bill Cochrane --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
Re: M-TH: Bougainville timor
G'dday Kim You are subscribed to the thaxis mailing list of which I'm a co-moderator with Rob Schaap. I thought you might be interested in the following assessment of the Bougainville situation by our local Strategic Studies Centre. They are a relatively right wing bunch but at least we are on speaking terms mostly, This appeared in a recent edition of our daily national the NZ Herald. On another tack some of the guys who are involved with the Strategic Studies Centre have been saying that the deployment of Aussie & NZ forces to Timor and their subsequent operations, at least initially, have involved far more in the way of potential conflict with Indonesian forces that has been reported, you heard anything like this??? Anyway cheers Bill Cochrane Where now with Bougainville? It is entirely possible that Bougainville will be the next crisis in the South Pacific. The New Zealand initiative of 1997/98 was the object of much congratulation but it can be seen now as little more than a temporary palliative. This is not to deny the undoubted diplomatic skills of our soldiers and administrators or the contribution that New Zealand forces made to the rebuilding of an infrastructure ravaged by ten years of civil war. But the fact remains that the agreements signed at Burnham and Lincoln merely papered over the cracks and bought a little time. That time is close to being up. The Bougainvilleans are ethnically and culturally very different from the dominant Melanesian people of the rest of Papua New Guinea. They never wanted to be part of the new PNG state when it was formed in 1975 and the fact that they became such was merely an accident of colonial history. Both the issue of independence and the associated issue of mining on Bougainville were raised at or around all the meetings that New Zealand sponsored but they were not resolved. Instead, there were declarations of goodwill and undertakings to address outstanding matters at a later date. It is now becoming clear that little of substance will change. The government of Papua New Guinea appears now to be intent on frustrating local attempts to form a reconciliatory administration, imposing instead government from Port Moresby. Supported by Australia, PNG has stressed that there can be no question of independence for Bougainville. The matter can thus not be the subject of a referendum. It remains to be seen whether and for how long such a line can be held. Recent events in East Timor are, of course, very relevant here as well as the long drawn out process towards independence for New Caledonia. The new President of Indonesia has also seemed at times to contemplate a referendum on independence for the province of Aceh. Even if that does not happen, it is clear that international attitudes to independence claims of this sort have changed very much over the last ten years. It is going to be increasingly difficult to plausibly resist the national aspirations of the people of Bougainville. It will not be enough to say it would create an undesirable precedent. The precedent has already been set. Neither will it be enough to say that Bougainville has insufficient resources to be independently viable. There are plenty of states with lesser resources (and some of them close at hand). It is the essence of democracy that people are free to make choices about their governance and even make what others judge to be bad choices. Policy options for Australia will be particularly difficult. Australian governments have taken such a strong line on PNG sovereignty that it will be hard to change course. On the other hand, Australia has been a very prominent supporter of East Timorese independence. It is going to be hard to draw a plausible distinction between that case and the claim from Bougainville (which has just recently been renewed). But unless Australia does change policy it faces the prospect of renewed conflict on the island with requests from the PNG government for assistance with counter insurgency. This is likely to be a lose-lose¹ situation. If Australia doesn¹t help or doesn¹t help enough, it will prejudice its relations with Port Moresby. If it does help, it is likely to find itself involved in incidents which will reflect badly on its human rights credentials. For New Zealand the issue is different. If Australia sticks with its no Balkanisation here¹ policy and Bougainville does come to conflict again, the question is, will we support Australia? There may still be a role at some point for the honest broker¹ who has been patiently sitting on the fence but it may be more difficult to convince the Bougainvilleans a second time around. In fact, it would be the fourth time, if previous attempts at peaceful resolution in 1990 and 1994 are counted. On the other hand, we could come out clearly for a right to self-determination. In part our choice here might be determined by how events unfold in other places in our region (in
M-TH: ha fucking ha
Don't know if any one mentioned it thus far but the NZ election took place with the expected result that the centre left emerged triumphant. Full results are at http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/partystatus.html but the guts of the matter is as follows; Labour, (centre left) 38.9% vote 52 seats Alliance, (left) 7.8% vote 11 seats National, (centre right) 30.7 % vote 41 seats ACT, (right) 7 % vote 9 seats Greens, (hippy tree huggers) 4.9% no seats NZ first, (centre popularist) 4.3% vote 6 seats. So we get a Labour/Alliance coalition with 63 seats out of 120. You might note that NZ first got less votes than the greens but gets six seats, this is due to NZ first winning an electorate seat and hence not being subject to the 5% cut off. The Greens might still get into parliament as not all votes cast get counted on election night (people voting outside their electorate etc) so if the greens can scrap up another 0.1% of the total vote or win a seat (which they are close to doing) then there will be some change round in the allocation of seats but the Labour/Alliance coalition will remain victorious ( the greens would probably support them at any rate). There where many sad little tory faces on the telly as this result became clear - ha fucking ha, with any luck its going to be a long miserable time for the new right. cheers Bill Cochrane --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
Re: M-TH: Is NZ a bloated semi-colony?
Gidday Dave Yeah I pretty much agree with the first paragraph, from my perspective differential rent on pastoral production was the basis for NZ's sad and deeply flawed little variant of fordism - fordism in the sense that Jessop has advanced (Bastard keynesian economics+welfare state+some way of paying for it). I'm getting into the business of trying to quantify some of the these flows and work shy wide boy that I am I was fishing to see if you had any quantitative data. Interestingly enough for this argument Dave Neilson has just recently marked a doctorate for a student of Rob Stevens that deals pretty much with the role of differential rent in the NZ & Aussie economies. I havent read it yet but I'll dig out the reference if you like. I'm probably closer to Rob Steven than you in that I see the economic patterns evident in the NZ economy prior to the seventies as being intimately related to the consumption patterns of the english worker, strongly prior to WWIIless directly post war. I've been trying to get a model of the NZ economy to fly thats built round a variant of the post keynesian idea of balance of payment constrained growth (thirlwall's law) that has our propensity to export being exogenously (to our economy) determined and an endogenous determination of the propensity to import. Sadly this is flying as well as a one winged jumbo at the moment- maybe its just a bad idea but I like it. I'd agree that NZ's existence has become, unlike myself, less bloated and more emaciated with time but would tend to see this as related to the decline in the differential rent on pastoral production that we have extracted from the carnivorous denizens of the core capitalist countries. As to the removal of protection for the internal economy I dont think this is reducible to the needs of international financial capital alone, though it very well maybe compatible with their interests, as I'm sure that international financial capital could have lived with considerably less in the way of liberalization in NZ - Why did we go so far so fast when other economies have been way more circumspect in pursuing this trajectory?\ cheers Bill -- >From: "Dave Bedggood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Re: M-TH: Is NZ a bloated semi-colony? >Date: Fri, Oct 8, 1999, 5:43 AM > > Gidday Bill, > Yes NZ earned differential rent on its pastoral production for much > of its history I agree. But a lot of this dissappeared into the hands > of the financiers, banks etc who had the mortage on the land etc. > i.e. much of it back to the motherland. That part which was retained > by the owners of the best land became the capital fund for a weak > national bourgeoisie which set up factories in backyard sheds with > tariff protection and then state subsidies to survive. > > I don't take the view that NZ was part of the centre living off the > British working class (like Rob Steven) or the periphery for that > matter, but like most of the white-setter colonies was a 'special' > sort of privileged semi-colony so long as protection was tolerated by > and profitable for imperial finance capital. I would venture to > say that the loss of this protection has sent NZ down the > semi-colonial stakes towards a less bloated and more emaciated > existence. > > What do you say? > Dave > --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
Re: M-TH: Is NZ a bloated semi-colony?
Dave, You make the claim that surplus value has been > pumped out of NZ by finance capital from the 1840's to > the present I'm interested in what empirical evidence you have regarding the inflows/out flows of surplus value in the NZ economy - my impression is that for chunks of our history, for instance part of the 50's,60's and early seventies, that our agricultural produce sold at prices considerably in excess of there value in foreign markets, indicating an inflow of surplus value. Naturally I stand to be corrected on this point. cheers Bill Cochrane --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
Re: M-TH: Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 00:59:30 PDT
Not that many people now probably realize it but I'm the other moderator of this list, I'm kind of in hiding at the moment but plan to emerge on a more frequent basis in the near future so if people want something and can't get hold of Rob try me. Bill C -- >From: "Macdonald Stainsby" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: M-TH: Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 00:59:30 PDT >Date: Tue, Sep 14, 1999, 8:00 PM > > > > Hi folks. I was wondering who moderated this list, can someone tell me? > > Macdonald > > __ > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com > > > --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- > --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
Re: M-TH: Re: thaxis homepage
Odd compared to what? the current subscribers, Rob . lets test the waters with a discussion of the dialectics of rubber -- >From: Russ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Re: M-TH: Re: thaxis homepage >Date: Tue, Jul 13, 1999, 2:19 AM > > Just had a thought- if I add 'fetishism' as well as 'commodity' to the > keywords I expect we'll attract some rather odd new Thaxians...! > > Russ --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
