Three
Nearly there.
Through the 1990s and the early 2000s it became popular across the west for a generation of old lefties to deny the possibility in the modern world of taking on capitalism - because it had gone global. Never an old leftie, the UK's Tony Blair built his (lucrative) career on it. Blair's ideological 'reconciliatiion' with capitalism (read, 'never had a problem with it - but now don't ya just adore the wealthy?') led the to the moral swamp that engulfed his cronies and their followers as they squeezed every penny out of their MPs expenses. New Labour MP? Two fingers up to the poor.
Moving from the dross to the big picture, we have already seen what the new 'global' capitalism meant. Finance capital in the west bet on western debt. Global corporations re-based themselves on Chinese and other BRIC countries' cheap labour. The City of London and New York led the first aspect and US, and EU corporations led the second. If western workers fought against their 30 year decline in living standards, the erosion of their social wage or the new 'flexibility' demanded of labour, why then big capital would take its assets and it tax payments elsewhere and leave the rest of us impoverished for good.
This view was always straight-forward political propaganda. Big capital never 'chose' to remain rooted in the UK or the US or anywhere else for that matter because the rest of us tip-toed around our increasing poverty hoping we would not be noticed. Big capital went where the bottom line took it. In the west's current recession, profits, on average, are still rising. Most major UK corporations, including 'household names' like Boots, already barely pay any tax. They live above brass plaques in villages in Switzerland or the Cayman Islands. Anybody who could make a faster buck by re-locating to Asia has already gone there. The City of London pays (minimal) taxes to the British government because the (small) fee involved ensures a 'long term, stable and business friendly environment, including its tax regime.' Whichever party is in power!
The point here is that capital has already organised itself to exploit the new world. The deed is done. The question for the rest of us is; what can we do about it?
In the first place, inevitably following the shape of capitalist reorganisation, the fight back has become (unevenly) global. The energy centre of the world in the Middle East is surrounded by revolution and popular led change. China remains the country with most social turmoil according to UN figures. Movements of resistance are bubbling up in Southern Europe and in central Latin America. Resistance is futile droned the Daleks (and globalisation's new admirers.) But resistance is inevitable; and growing.
What have we discovered from the resistance so far? We have discovered that the 'new' global capitalism is weaker than it has been since the the first quarter of the twentieth century. Hundreds of millions of Chinese workers have just forced an increase of a third in their standard of life. Against Apple. Against Unilever and Nike. Against the power of the Chinese Communist Party. In Greece, 12 million people just forced the EU to liquidate half of the country's debts. And they have only just begun. Britain propped up the sick man of europe, Turkey, for a whole century against internal revolt and a Russian war. Today the west's combined forces cannot prop up a prime minister in Afghanistan; or Egypt.
The dominant political economy of the world is weaker and more split than it has ever been outside of World War. An anti-austerity government in Greece could use financial alliances with China over ports and shipping to break the power of the EU and IMF. Nothing could now stop any real pressure for a new, peoples bank carved out of the mess of Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and Nat West in Britain. A serious Socialist government in Spain, Italy, France and even the UK would have no difficulty seizing assets from tax avoiders and shutting down the tax havens (most of which are European sovereign territory.)
What's missing? The fog of fear about the infinite capacity of capitalism is dissolving. What's missing are people and organisation who will stand and lead. All the old working class leaderships, both east and west, have compromised themselves into dust. It is a pretty pointless exercise trying to breath life into the dead. We have to start again. From the beginning. What sort of economics and what sort of politics do we need? We have time but history is speeding up and capitalism will find its new, nastier forms of rule and new vicious types of mastery based on its new decaying reality if we don't assist its exit in the coming months and years.
Moving from the dross to the big picture, we have already seen what the new 'global' capitalism meant. Finance capital in the west bet on western debt. Global corporations re-based themselves on Chinese and other BRIC countries' cheap labour. The City of London and New York led the first aspect and US, and EU corporations led the second. If western workers fought against their 30 year decline in living standards, the erosion of their social wage or the new 'flexibility' demanded of labour, why then big capital would take its assets and it tax payments elsewhere and leave the rest of us impoverished for good.
This view was always straight-forward political propaganda. Big capital never 'chose' to remain rooted in the UK or the US or anywhere else for that matter because the rest of us tip-toed around our increasing poverty hoping we would not be noticed. Big capital went where the bottom line took it. In the west's current recession, profits, on average, are still rising. Most major UK corporations, including 'household names' like Boots, already barely pay any tax. They live above brass plaques in villages in Switzerland or the Cayman Islands. Anybody who could make a faster buck by re-locating to Asia has already gone there. The City of London pays (minimal) taxes to the British government because the (small) fee involved ensures a 'long term, stable and business friendly environment, including its tax regime.' Whichever party is in power!
The point here is that capital has already organised itself to exploit the new world. The deed is done. The question for the rest of us is; what can we do about it?
In the first place, inevitably following the shape of capitalist reorganisation, the fight back has become (unevenly) global. The energy centre of the world in the Middle East is surrounded by revolution and popular led change. China remains the country with most social turmoil according to UN figures. Movements of resistance are bubbling up in Southern Europe and in central Latin America. Resistance is futile droned the Daleks (and globalisation's new admirers.) But resistance is inevitable; and growing.
What have we discovered from the resistance so far? We have discovered that the 'new' global capitalism is weaker than it has been since the the first quarter of the twentieth century. Hundreds of millions of Chinese workers have just forced an increase of a third in their standard of life. Against Apple. Against Unilever and Nike. Against the power of the Chinese Communist Party. In Greece, 12 million people just forced the EU to liquidate half of the country's debts. And they have only just begun. Britain propped up the sick man of europe, Turkey, for a whole century against internal revolt and a Russian war. Today the west's combined forces cannot prop up a prime minister in Afghanistan; or Egypt.
The dominant political economy of the world is weaker and more split than it has ever been outside of World War. An anti-austerity government in Greece could use financial alliances with China over ports and shipping to break the power of the EU and IMF. Nothing could now stop any real pressure for a new, peoples bank carved out of the mess of Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and Nat West in Britain. A serious Socialist government in Spain, Italy, France and even the UK would have no difficulty seizing assets from tax avoiders and shutting down the tax havens (most of which are European sovereign territory.)
What's missing? The fog of fear about the infinite capacity of capitalism is dissolving. What's missing are people and organisation who will stand and lead. All the old working class leaderships, both east and west, have compromised themselves into dust. It is a pretty pointless exercise trying to breath life into the dead. We have to start again. From the beginning. What sort of economics and what sort of politics do we need? We have time but history is speeding up and capitalism will find its new, nastier forms of rule and new vicious types of mastery based on its new decaying reality if we don't assist its exit in the coming months and years.
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