Date: Mon, 29 Apr 1996 11:30:30 +0200 (MET DST)
To: marxism-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU
From: malecki-AT-algonet.se (Robert Malecki)
Subject: European Farming...


I have been watching the debate on hogs and cattle as of late on the list. I 
would like to make some points. I do not consider myself and expert but i 
wish to present some stuff i thing is important in this area.

I think that modern farming in Europe has become the backbone of European 
capitalist economi. Although it is not capital from the capitalist that 
holds up this industry,it is the capitalist politician with the tax payers 
money that makes the whole thing work.

Subventions to the farmers is the biggest buget post of the common market! 
Every farmer gets money if he grows something and a lot of farmers get money 
if they don,t grow something! Talk about security!

The dynamic in all of this is being able to produce food here in Europe 
while keeping the third world countries on their knees.

Farming and economi is and internationalised economi and imperialist economi 
and the way things work all go in the interests of imperialism.

The farmers up to this point at least in Europe have had it pretty good. 
Naturally the rule of knocking out small farms and building larger and 
larger coroporate farms has been moving along at a good pace. 

I mean the little farmer with his five milk cows is hardly a reality except 
for sidewalk peasants (i was one for a while). 

What is interesting in this debate is not so much what happened in Argentina 
then. But what is happening in Argentina now, Naturally that goes for Europe 
also. Here in Sweden the farmers increased state subventions to farming with 
11billion crowns the first year of membership in the common market. The only 
complaints i hear is all the bureaucratic paperwork before youu get the tax 
money.The largest amount of wripping off the tax payers money by cheating is 
just in the farmers european budget. Over a third of the money payed out to 
farmers from the European Buget is stuff that does not exist!

Talk about the poor farmer.

But everything that is lined in gold does not glimmer. The problem facing 
the Europeans and this is also going to make the third world starve or be 
dependent even more on imperialism and the world bank is east Europe.

As the former soviet partners line up to join the common market and Nato. 
The farming stuff becomes the key. The Soviet union fairly conciously 
dismantled east europe of its industries after the second world war and 
moved them to russia. There are exceptions the Checks for example. And 
turned east europe into farmland.

That is what the whole axis of new membership to the union is all about. The 
imperialist would like to turn east europe into a get rich farmer capitalist 
industry. But in order to do that they are going to have to burn some of the 
bridges they built earlier. Who is going to get the shitty end of the stick 
on this issue is an important issue. Everytime the politicians try to do 
something about state money to farmers in Europe there are tractors and 
farmers creeping out of the walls to start riots and shit.

The character of these farmer rebellions are militant. But are they 
progressive in a socialist sense or a capitalist sense. That is the 
question. For people in the third world, for the east european farmers and 
for the rich farmers in the industrial countries their appear to be times of 
confrontation lying ahead of us.

How do communist intervene in these struggles. What line can we have in 
relation to internationalism and taking power do we approach this question. 
Do we do as the opportunist and support our own farmers in this struggle..

I mean their is an awful lot of stuff here to bite on. Food is a key 
question in every revolution. The imperiaalist know that. The stalinist did 
also, that is why for years poles had a ration of meat much larger then most 
people in Russia had.

Louis who appears to know something about this from Nicarauga should be 
helpful. Not only in drawing lessons but in the coming battles!

I will stop there for now.

malecki in exile... 




     --- from list marxism-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---