File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1996/96-10-28.110, message 30


Date: Thu, 24 Oct 96 10:04:29 GMT
From: Adam Rose <adam-AT-pmel.com>
Subject: Re: M-I: Beneath the surface of Capital



Louis P writes:
> 
> It's also worth considering what James O'Connor has to say on the 
> subject. He focuses on the "second contradiction" of capital which has 
> to do with its ability to reproduce the social and physical conditions 
> that make its survival possible. This has to do with issues like 
> transportation, housing, ecology, etc.
>

These sorts of things are increasingly important to capital.

Japanse, and now Korean, investment into the UK in the electronics
industry is partly because British workers are low paid, by
European and South Korean standards. But a chip fab plant requires
an educated workforce, excellent communications, and also, a supply
of clean water. These are all the responsibility of the state 
in modern capitalism, and are crucial to the success of private
capitals. While it is true that capital has outgrown even the
largest Empires, it is not true that it has freed itself from
reliance on the state. It needs the state not only to provide
"armed bodies of men", but also to ensure the necessary resources
are in place to allow production to take place at all. The important
of the state in this respect is increasing, not decreasing.

This acts as a significant impediment to the mobility of capital, and
is an important argument against those who argue that if we improve
our working conditions in this country, multinationals will simply
move their investments elsewhere at the flick of a button.


Adam.



Adam Rose
SWP
Manchester
UK


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