From: "Neil (practical history)" <practicalhistory-AT-hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: AUT: War and Terror in the age of Global Empire
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 10:31:31 +0000


Whether revolution is dependent on capitalist crisis or precipitates it is a 
big question which I wasn't really referring to here. What I'm arguing 
against is the notion common amongst people in the anti-capitalist movement 
that capitalism can be abolished bit by bit, by closing down a big bad 
corporation here, an international institution there. The attack on the 
World Trade Centre, although coming from a completely different quarter, 
demonstrates the fallacy of that way of thinking by showing that even the 
destruction of one of the most important centres of capitalist organisation 
has no impact on changing capitalist social relations.

Neil



>From: cwright <cwright-AT-21stcentury.net>
>
>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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