Empire and economic periphery

[Chris Burford <cburford@xxxxxxxxxx>]

At 24/11/01 23:08 -0500, Yoshie wrote:

> As I wrote in another post, I think that capitalism at present doesn't
> modernize the periphery; if anything, it tends to de-modernize, producing
> an increasing number of dissolved nations, failed/failing states,
> criminalized transnational networks of
> production/distribution/consumption, & reactionary ideologies (including
> fundamentalist Islamism but far from limited to it) to go with them, all
> of which have been barely managed by the Empire's police actions, UN
> protectorates, & the like.
> --
> Yoshie


Quite.

Empire has not addressed the tendency of capital to uneven accumulation
except by way of handwringing periodic "forgiveness" of debts, and partial
access to rich markets while the market system under the uncontrolled
fetishised domination of finance capital perpetuates, and even accelerates,
the same process of uneven accumulation.

The police action against Osama bin Laden will prove to be an expensive way
of insuring the skyscraper temples of capital. It is likely to sow further
dragon's teeth. After all the anthrax terrorist is probably a singleton.
The "police action" could prove to be an even better dispersant, than
container, of terrorism.

Empire needs to get back to the economic drawing board. And the multitude
need to hold them to it.

Chris Burford

London