Re: Spain: colonizer and colonized

[John Paramo <albatrosrojo2000@xxxxxxxxx>]

David wrote:

> 2. the point indeed is that slavery is part of the
> primitive accumulation, but in and of itself, the
extraction of wealth, even the combined social
> labor of slavery does not create the distinguishing
> social relation of production of capital.

Fair enough.  Slavery *might* had been part of the
primitive accumulation of capital (particularly in the
British colonies in North America) and to a lesser
degree in Brazil - but not in Spanish America or when
introduced in colonies or semi-colonies under the yoke
of imperialism.  The latter simply prevented
accumulation by imposing upon the colony/semi-colony
the burden of imperial domination.  But agree that
extraction of wealth is not synonimous with system
development.


> 4. My remark about the inability of slavery as a
> system to reproduce itself
> is based on my readings of the Caribbean which show
> colony after colony
> unable to provide anything for its own sustenance in
> terms of means of
> subsistence, infrastructure, education, welfare,
> even the cultivation of
> land.

Yes, but I think we must clarify that in most - if not
all- cases this was primarily due to the existence of
colonialism and later imperialism, not just limited to
the practice of slavery per se.  Being udner the joke
of colonialism / imperialism affected the colony /
semi-colonies from the lack of transfer of techniques
and technology to taxation to monopolistic/
semi-monopolisitic practices of the Metropolis, etc 
Under these circumstances slavery or even serfdom,
would have had very limited impact in the primitive
accumulation.

JP

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