John Simkin Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Merlin Press is one of the few publishers left that is willing to produce books that provide an alternative answer to our current economic problems. One of its imprints is the Monthly Review Press. This month they have published The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences by John Bellamy Foster and Fred Magdoff. This is what they say about the book: The bursting of the housing bubble and the ensuing financial debacle have left most people, including many economists and financial experts asking: Why did this happen? If they had been reading Monthly Review, and were familiar with such articles as “The Household Debt Bubble,” “The Explosion of Debt and Speculation,” and “The Financialization of Capitalism,” they would not have needed to ask. In their new book, The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences, Monthly Review editor John Bellamy Foster and long-time Monthly Review contributor, Fred Magdoff, update this analysis, exploring the whole course of what is now known as “the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression”: from the debt explosion and housing bubble to the subprime debacle and federal bailout. They argue that this latest financial crash, although greater than any since 1929, is itself a symptom of deeper problems connected to the stagnation of the “real” or productive economy of mature capitalism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stephen Turner Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Merlin Press is one of the few publishers left that is willing to produce books that provide an alternative answer to our current economic problems. One of its imprints is the Monthly Review Press. This month they have published The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences by John Bellamy Foster and Fred Magdoff. This is what they say about the book: The bursting of the housing bubble and the ensuing financial debacle have left most people, including many economists and financial experts asking: Why did this happen? If they had been reading Monthly Review, and were familiar with such articles as “The Household Debt Bubble,” “The Explosion of Debt and Speculation,” and “The Financialization of Capitalism,” they would not have needed to ask. In their new book, The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences, Monthly Review editor John Bellamy Foster and long-time Monthly Review contributor, Fred Magdoff, update this analysis, exploring the whole course of what is now known as “the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression”: from the debt explosion and housing bubble to the subprime debacle and federal bailout. They argue that this latest financial crash, although greater than any since 1929, is itself a symptom of deeper problems connected to the stagnation of the “real” or productive economy of mature capitalism. Capitalism, in the long term, is finished. my real worry is what comes next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 Capitalism, in the long term, is finished. my real worry is what comes next. I agree. What we currently have is a form of state capitalism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Hall Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Capitalism, in the long term, is finished. my real worry is what comes next. I agree. What we currently have is a form of state capitalism. John- What do you mean by state capitalism? How do you distinguish it from socialism? What are some representative state capitalist countries? What are some representative socialist countries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stephen Turner Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) Capitalism, in the long term, is finished. my real worry is what comes next. I agree. What we currently have is a form of state capitalism. And, as an Historian, you will be more aware than most that the present crisis offers huge opportunities to the far right, ergo my "what comes next" Time to start dusting down those Niemoller texts, John? Edited March 5, 2009 by Stephen Turner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dolva Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Next... ... comes a thrust by the ruling class to further divide the waged, and unwaged, slaves of the world. This is a basic format of Capitalism as the penultimate form of a disintegrating Bourgeoisie* system : Corporate Fascism. As Capitals aim is to dispose of unwanteds and destroy outdated infrastructures (to set in place a new global market to expand in), war is inevitable, Severance of communication, upgrading and implementation of the armed personell that protect the status quo, the elimination of any resisting vanguard of the future cannon fodder, the roboticisation of killing machines, the dispersal of toxins(biological, viral, mineral), et.c., education, is, at this point, while we can still dissemminate information globally, primary. There are many lessons from past struggles, just as Marx drew on the lessons of the Paris Commune in formulating the concept later known as Soviets forming the organisational structure that led to the Bolchevic victory, which itself drew on lessons from the 1905 Russian Revolution. These things are basic. In the face of modern weaponry, many techniques such as those outlined in Che's' "Guerilla tactics" need to be studied and updated. Old fashioned means of communication redeployed, (such as Gestetners, CB radios et.c..) (Oh, and practice kissing your children goodbye.) Then : Courage and Sacrifice to protect those unable to protect themselves. _________ wiki : *Bourgeoisie is a French word that was borrowed directly into English... . In the French feudal order pre-revolution, "bourgeois" was a class of citizens who were wealthier members of the Third Estate, but were overtaxed and had none of the privileges which the aristocracy held... . Bourgeoisie were defined by conditions such as length of residence and source of income. The word evolved to mean merchants and traders, and until the 19th century was mostly synonymous with the middle class (persons in the broad socioeconomic spectrum between nobility and serfs or proletarians). Then, as the power and wealth of the nobility faded in the second half of the 19th century, the bourgeoisie emerged as the new ruling class." The Proletariat (source of wage slaves) will play the role of this feudal class, but this time with the aim of replacing the love of money with a love of fellow humans. The current Aristocracy, the Bourgeoisie, will be replaced, and an implementation of Trotsky's contribution : "The Permanent Revolution", will ensure the progress to Anarcho-Syndicalism, the elimination of the State or Nation as a Structural Format, and ultimately Global Communism and true consensual Democracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Hall Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Capitalism, in the long term, is finished. my real worry is what comes next. I agree. What we currently have is a form of state capitalism. John- What do you mean by state capitalism? How do you distinguish it from socialism? What are some representative state capitalist countries? What are some representative socialist countries? Same questions for communism. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dolva Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Capitalism, in the long term, is finished. my real worry is what comes next. I agree. What we currently have is a form of state capitalism. John- What do you mean by state capitalism? How do you distinguish it from socialism? What are some representative state capitalist countries? What are some representative socialist countries? Same questions for communism. Chris -Communism : from primitive societies, to the communards in Britain during Cromwells Bourgeisee revolution to that proposed by Marx, a society of from each according to their ability, to each according to their need. An, as yet, unreached stage in human societal evolution. -Socialism : the stage where the proletariat dismantles the dictatorship by the Bourgeisee with their own. -No representatives as yet, nowhere/notime has the transition completed. (A work in progress) -Cuba, possibly Venezuela in transition, as well as a number of other sovereign nations, mostly in the Non Aligned Movement (of which Cuba is the current Chair) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Hall Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Capitalism, in the long term, is finished. my real worry is what comes next. I agree. What we currently have is a form of state capitalism. John- What do you mean by state capitalism? How do you distinguish it from socialism? What are some representative state capitalist countries? What are some representative socialist countries? Same questions for communism. Chris -Communism : from primitive societies, to the communards in Britain during Cromwells Bourgeisee revolution to that proposed by Marx, a society of from each according to their ability, to each according to their need. An, as yet, unreached stage in human societal evolution. -Socialism : the stage where the proletariat dismantles the dictatorship by the Bourgeisee with their own. -No representatives as yet, nowhere/notime has the transition completed. (A work in progress) -Cuba, possibly Venezuela in transition, as well as a number of other sovereign nations, mostly in the Non Aligned Movement (of which Cuba is the current Chair) Thanks for the reply, John, but I'm a little confused. Do you see Cuba and Venezuala as socialist or communist-leaning? And is it communism or socialism that you believe to be "as yet, unreached stage in human societal evolution?" Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dolva Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 (edited) Capitalism, in the long term, is finished. my real worry is what comes next. I agree. What we currently have is a form of state capitalism. John- What do you mean by state capitalism? How do you distinguish it from socialism? What are some representative state capitalist countries? What are some representative socialist countries? Same questions for communism. Chris -Communism : from primitive societies, to the communards in Britain during Cromwells Bourgeisee revolution to that proposed by Marx, a society of from each according to their ability, to each according to their need. An, as yet, unreached stage in human societal evolution. -Socialism : the stage where the proletariat dismantles the dictatorship by the Bourgeisee with their own. -No representatives as yet, nowhere/notime has the transition completed. (A work in progress) -Cuba, possibly Venezuela in transition, as well as a number of other sovereign nations, mostly in the Non Aligned Movement (of which Cuba is the current Chair) Thanks for the reply, John, but I'm a little confused. Do you see Cuba and Venezuala as socialist or communist-leaning? And is it communism or socialism that you believe to be "as yet, unreached stage in human societal evolution?" Chris No worries Chris, you're welcome, 1. I see Cuba as socialist in transition towards communism. I see Venezuela as capitalist in transition towards socialism. 2. Communism. ======== ps in addition, the CCCP was in transition for about four or five years when after the white army attacks(sanctioned by the western powers) and Trotskys successful marshalling of the red army in expelling them and the resultant famines and then Stalin's secreting Lenins last statement to the Supreme Soviet which warned against him and promoted Trotsky and Stalins subsequent rise to dictatorship and the elimination of the old guard completed with Trotskys assassination in Mexico as being the start of the transition back to capitalism completed in the nineties under 100%proofvodka Yel(hick)tsin. I see China as imperialist with an everpresent foxy emperor presiding over a Corporate Fascist state. Edited March 14, 2009 by John Dolva Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Hall Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Capitalism, in the long term, is finished. my real worry is what comes next. I agree. What we currently have is a form of state capitalism. John- What do you mean by state capitalism? How do you distinguish it from socialism? What are some representative state capitalist countries? What are some representative socialist countries? Same questions for communism. Chris -Communism : from primitive societies, to the communards in Britain during Cromwells Bourgeisee revolution to that proposed by Marx, a society of from each according to their ability, to each according to their need. An, as yet, unreached stage in human societal evolution. -Socialism : the stage where the proletariat dismantles the dictatorship by the Bourgeisee with their own. -No representatives as yet, nowhere/notime has the transition completed. (A work in progress) -Cuba, possibly Venezuela in transition, as well as a number of other sovereign nations, mostly in the Non Aligned Movement (of which Cuba is the current Chair) Thanks for the reply, John, but I'm a little confused. Do you see Cuba and Venezuala as socialist or communist-leaning? And is it communism or socialism that you believe to be "as yet, unreached stage in human societal evolution?" Chris No worries Chris, you're welcome, 1. I see Cuba as socialist in transition towards communism. I see Venezuela as capitalist in transition towards socialism. 2. Communism. ======== ps in addition, the CCCP was in transition for about four or five years when after the white army attacks(sanctioned by the western powers) and Trotskys successful marshalling of the red army in expelling them and the resultant famines and then Stalin's secreting Lenins last statement to the Supreme Soviet which warned against him and promoted Trotsky and Stalins subsequent rise to dictatorship and the elimination of the old guard completed with Trotskys assassination in Mexico as being the start of the transition back to capitalism completed in the nineties under 100%proofvodka Yel(hick)tsin. I see China as imperialist with an everpresent foxy emperor presiding over a Corporate Fascist state. Thanks a lot, John. I appreciate the specificity in your comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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