RE: [Marxism] It's those damn petty-bourgeois at it again!

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Callum wrote:
> You see, this is the part where the mythology of revolution comes into it.
> Cuba was not 'blockaded by imperialism', it was blockaded by Western
> imperialism, it was very, VERY cosy with the other imperialist power of
> the day, the USSR. We all know the Beard's enthusiasm for the Soviet's
> invasion of Czechoslovakia - a 'principled anti-imperialist' stance, I'm
> sure you'll agree.


This is really an unscientific understanding of the term imperialism. If
you read Lenin's "Imperialism. the Highest Stage of Capitalism," you are
struck by the mountain of statistics that he deployed to buttress his
ideas, like this:

"Extremely instructive also is the story of the formation of the
International Rail Cartel. The first attempt of the British, Belgian and
German rail manufacturers to form such a cartel was made as early as 1884,
during a severe industrial depression. The manufacturers agreed not to
compete with one another in the home markets of the countries involved, and
they divided the foreign markets in the following quotas: Great Britain, 66
per cent; Germany, 27 per cent; Belgium, 7 per cent. India was reserved
entirely for Great Britain. Joint war was declared against a British firm
which remained outside the cartel, the cost of which   was met by a
percentage levy on all sales. But in 1886 the cartel collapsed when two
British firms retired from it. It is characteristic that agreement could
not be achieved during subsequent boom periods."

The plain fact is that the USSR had a negative trade balance with both
Czechoslovakia and Cuba. It supplied oil to both countries at prices below
that which it could command on the world market. Imperialism is not about
subsidizing countries, it is about exploiting them.

The Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia because it worried that "socialism
with a human face" could spread to other Eastern bloc countries and
eventually to the USSR. It was a threat to bureaucratic privilege not
profits. By contrast, the USA invades countries when investments and future
investment possibilities are threatened. The USSR never made a ruble as a
result of maintaining bases in Cuba. It had zero investments. In fact,
without these bases and military support, Cuba would have been in an even
more precarious situation than it was in. Perhaps you should use a
different word than imperialism if you lack the economic background to lend
it scientific precision.


________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism