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Re: AUT: questions

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Just a point of information really. What we must not forget about the =
Vietnam War (and I grant the term is US-centric, the people of Vietnam =
having suffered many wars) was the last war fought under the Bretton =
Woods system. A system which was itself a replacement for the Gold =
Standard which WW1 and then WW2 destroyed. When the US went into Vietnam =
they were still operating under Bretton Woods where the "free" world's =
currencies were valued in terms of the dollar and the dollar was =
gold-convertible. In Vietnam the US went into a war where they were =
pumping out dollars into a region that, through historical experience of =
the unreliability of paper money in retaining value from the original =
inventors of the paper specie (i.e. China), had a cultural drive towards =
exchanging paper for "the real thing", i.e. gold. As a result of the =
deficit-spending transfer of a lot of dollars into a region that wanted =
to convert them into gold, the US suspended gold convertibility in 1971 =
and abandoned it definitively in the pivotal year of 1973 (Vietnam, Yom =
Kippur, Oil Crisis...). I would argue that by breaking Bretton Woods and =
"floating" the dollar, the US floated their role as global cop. In so =
doing they (i.e. the US State and ruling class composition that =
determines US SD & DOD foreign policy) tied themselves into a system =
where they cannot afford to lead militarily unless they are the =
monetarily recognised leaders and vice versa. That is that the US state =
is the only state that can deficit spend on defence without suffering a =
currency crisis because all the "hot money" in the world uses the dollar =
as a reserve currency - this is the reward of global military hegemony. =
But, OTOH, if another currency (say the Euro, as some US policy debaters =
apparently fear, but I would say, not realistically at present) were to =
become the global reserve currency then the US would be unable to =
deficit spend on (non-productive) military capital (due to the =
resumption of normal currency crisis mechanisms) and would lose the =
necessary financial edge to maintain a world dominating military reach. =
By the same token, the state (and the EU is not a state - yet) that took =
over the global reserve currency role with their currency, would be able =
to use that to build up a military power to match. Financial power is =
military power, I don't think that's controversial (was it not Lenin who =
said that "finances are the sinews of war"?). Vietnam ended in the =
destruction of a capitalist order (Bretton Woods) whose replacement =
(post-Bretton, post-Cold War, "post-modern") is now trying to assert =
itself and may well be beaten in the current open-ended struggle (you =
think they're going to stop at Iraq? - they already told us, up front, =
that this "War Against Terrorism" would go on maybe a hundred years..., =
indefinitely..., maybe forever...). Despite seeming similarilties in the =
extension of US military power to the third world in defence of US =
interests (and in some way they are more directly material and less =
ideological than they were in Vietnam), we must recognise that the =
framework of teh global capitalist order is fundamentally different. =
Today the value of teh US dollar stands entirely on the perception of US =
power, without any component of intrinsic "gold" value.
  From: Montyneill@xxxxxxx=20
  <SNIP>


  Multiply this by how much? And on the other side, there is no evidence =
that this will be a economy-inflating war, the last one of which was =
Vietnam.=20

  <SNIP>
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Just a point of information really. =
What we must=20
not forget about the Vietnam War (and I grant the term is US-centric, =
the people=20
of Vietnam having suffered many wars) was the last war fought under the =
Bretton=20
Woods system. A system which was itself a replacement for the Gold =
Standard=20
which WW1 and then WW2 destroyed. When the US went into Vietnam they =
were still=20
operating under Bretton Woods where the "free" world's currencies were =
valued in=20
terms of the dollar and the dollar was gold-convertible. In Vietnam the =
US went=20
into a war where they were pumping out dollars into a region that, =
through=20
historical experience of the unreliability of paper money in retaining=20
value&nbsp;from the original inventors of the paper specie (i.e. China), =
had a=20
cultural drive towards exchanging paper for "the real thing", i.e. gold. =
As a=20
result of the deficit-spending transfer of a lot of dollars into a =
region that=20
wanted to convert them into gold, the US suspended gold convertibility =
in 1971=20
and abandoned it definitively in the pivotal year of 1973 (Vietnam, Yom =
Kippur,=20
Oil Crisis...). I would argue that by breaking Bretton Woods and =
"floating" the=20
dollar, the US floated their role as global cop. In so doing they (i.e. =
the US=20
State and ruling class&nbsp;composition that determines US SD &amp; DOD =
foreign=20
policy)&nbsp;tied themselves into a system where they cannot afford to =
lead=20
militarily unless they are the monetarily recognised leaders and vice =
versa.=20
That is that the US state is the only state that can deficit spend on =
defence=20
without suffering a currency crisis because all the "hot money" in the =
world=20
uses the dollar as a reserve currency - this is the reward of global =
military=20
hegemony. But, OTOH, if another currency (say the Euro, as some US =
policy=20
debaters apparently fear, but I would say, not realistically at present) =
were to=20
become the global reserve currency then the US would be unable to =
deficit spend=20
on (non-productive) military capital (due to the resumption of normal =
currency=20
crisis mechanisms) and would lose the necessary financial edge to =
maintain a=20
world dominating military reach. By the same token, the state (and the =
EU is not=20
a state - yet) that took over the global reserve currency role with =
their=20
currency, would be able to use that to build up a military power to =
match.=20
Financial power is military power, I don't think that's controversial =
(was it=20
not Lenin who said that "finances&nbsp;are the sinews of war"?). Vietnam =
ended=20
in the destruction of a capitalist order (Bretton Woods) whose =
replacement=20
(post-Bretton, post-Cold War, "post-modern") is now trying to assert =
itself and=20
may well be beaten in the current open-ended struggle (you think they're =
going=20
to stop at Iraq? - they already told us, up front, that this "War =
Against=20
Terrorism" would go on maybe a hundred years..., indefinitely..., maybe=20
forever...). Despite seeming similarilties in the extension of US =
military power=20
to the third world in defence of US interests (and in some way they are =
more=20
directly material and less ideological than they were in Vietnam), we =
must=20
recognise that the framework of teh global capitalist order is =
fundamentally=20
different. Today the value of teh US dollar stands entirely on the =
perception of=20
US power, without any component of intrinsic "gold" value.</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE=20
style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
  <DIV=20
  style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>=20
  <A title=3DMontyneill@xxxxxxx=20
  href=3D"mailto:Montyneill@xxxxxxx";>Montyneill@xxxxxxx</A> </DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>&lt;SNIP&gt;</B></DIV><FONT=20
  face=3Darial,helvetica><FONT size=3D2>
  <DIV><BR><BR>Multiply this by how much? And on the other side, there =
is no=20
  evidence that this will be a economy-inflating war, the last one of =
which was=20
  Vietnam. =
<BR><BR>&lt;SNIP&gt;</FONT></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>

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