File spoon-archives/aut-op-sy.archive/aut-op-sy_2001/aut-op-sy.0109, message 214


From: "cwright" <cwright-AT-21stcentury.net>
Subject: Re: AUT: War and Terror in the age of Global Empire
Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 21:17:29 -0500


My concern here Neil is that if we treat 'boom and bust' as both given, then
we assume the successful resolution of crises.  That leaves no space for
revolution, in my opinion.  However, I do not think the attack would have
caused the kind of jitters it is if capital was not floating on credit.  The
avoidance of crisis for years now has been based on credit and debt (both in
the private sector, homes and the public sector.)  A monetary crisis could
signal the breaking point and this could well be the breaking point.
However, if it is, I think it would only signal the overall already existing
fragility of capital and the fact that the crisis which began almost 30
years ago is not over.  Certainly, the crisis in the computer industry has
only magnified and the upswing the economists looked for has not happened.
This is actually a critical sign.  The layoffs at Boeing and in the airlines
will have a substantive impact, and the fall in the stock market, should it
continue for much longer, will cause serious damage to the financial bubble.

What will this mean?  Hard to say.  I am not sure the kind of war Bush seeks
will pull capital's fat out of the fire.  This is not the kind of big
expenditure renewal of capital type of warfare.  Turning Afghanistan, a
country already in ruins, into smaller pieces of rubble, will not lead to
the kind of destruction of capital that would offer a renewed cycle of
accumulation.  Rather, I think that this is a moment capital wishes to use
to recompose the working class in its own favor, in part by acclimating the
working class to major loss of life again (a stated goal of Powell, Bush,
Cheney and several others in the media) and to 'necessary' layoffs.  This
may present, in capital's mind, the chance to finally break the working
class.  We shall see.

Cheers,
Chris
----- Original Message -----
From: "Neil (practical history)" <practicalhistory-AT-hotmail.com>
To: <aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 4:33 AM
Subject: Re: AUT: War and Terror in the age of Global Empire


> >From: Sergio Fiedler <s.fiedler-AT-unsw.edu.au>
>
> >>We are all surprised, however, of the enormous effectiveness of the act
of
> >>terror against the WTC to damage the system, particularly its ability to
> >>create political chaos and massive economic losses for
> >>capitalism,accelerating the process towards a new global recession.
>
> To me what happened in New York demonstrates the opposite - not
> 'effectiveness' but the dispelling of the illusion that capitalism is
> dependent on high profile symbols or institutions like the WTC, IMF, etc.
>
> The total destruction of the world's biggest financial centre hasn't
damaged
> capitalism in the least. Sure there will be economic losses but of course
> also economic benefits for whoever gets to rebuild the replacement for WTC
> (Bordiga's 'Murder of the Dead' mentioned by Tahir is good on this).
Falling
> share values and recession do not represent capitalism's downfall but a
> moment in the cycle of  boom and bust.
>
> The fact is capitalism is reproduced everywhere and everyday by our
> alientated activity in the marketplace (buying and selling of labour and
> commodities). Only a change in this activity on a global scale - new
> communist social relations - can halt this cycle.
>
> Neil
>
>
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>
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