Re: Republican Military Keynesianism Redux

["John Gelles" <jjgelles@xxxxxxxx>]

       o  This thread was inspired by the gang of 8 (now 21)'s
            musing on a Bush regime faced with an economy
            burdened by -- (1) debt, (2) a high trade deficit,
            (3) a vulnerable dollar, (4) a diminishing wealth effect
            and still vulnerable share prices, (4) a trend to corporate
            dominated global capitalist fundamentalism, (5) a weak
            environmental commitment, and (6) strong opposition
            to organized labor and egalitarian values, -- was ever
            going to avoid a 1930 scenario, was ever going to
            come to the aid of society to (1) "leave no child behind",
            (2) "refuse to balance the budget on the backs of the
            poor", (3) replace Clintonian drift and desire, (to do
            too much with too little to remake the world in an
            unwanted American image), with a Bush-team
            retrenchment aimed at a perfect balance between
            means and ends to hold on to American wealth and
            power while the world improved -- relying on its
            own good impulses and our own humility.

        o  Gelles imagined redux to the time (1) Reagan gave
            deficits a chance (hindered, as it was, by Volker),
            (2) Nixon took the US off the gold standard (in
            dealing with foreign central banks) and attempted
            price control, and, (3) Republicans, with Gorbachev's
            help, turned Soviet communism into a less imperial
            force and a reaching for a more open and free form
            of political economy, and turned Chinese communism
            into a struggle to become rich first and a secure
            international player afterward.

            Such imaginings implied that Bush might do well --
            and that what was learned in defeating Germany and
            Japan might supercede what was not understood in
            the 1930's.

        o  James Cumes, a member of the gang, suggested
            clean water Keynesianism as a project to do
            enormous economic and political good. He is
            certainly right about it. He is also right that the
            arms merchant problem associated with
            military Keynesianins is formidable. I would
            amend my enthusiasm for American capability
            in force projection and police protection to
            include all of James Cumes' concerns that we
            stop the murder of innocents as a byproduct
            of false practice of financing military power.

        o  Henry Liu recommends fundamental change to
            bring justice and democracy to the fore in
            the contest with terror and hate. I agree whole-
            heartedly with this. Keynesian fiance may help.
            Especially if it relies more on saving and less on
            taxes.  Taxation puts enough anger in the hearts
            of the "haves" to stir them to make war on change
            that appears to want to turn them into "have-nots".

            In my view, Keynesian finance will allow the
            "haves" to have "more" and all the "have-nots" to
            have enough:  not at the expense of raping the
            planet -- the "more" can be green and pure art,
            "enough" can be really enough and benign.

        o  The critique of American policy and institutions
            that is made by Chomsky and others (who see
            doom ahead for global capitalism) ordinarily
            condemns Stalinism in passing.  That's fine.
            But what the critique lacks is a replacement
            of money-power with something better on the
            horizon.

        o  The technophiles, like myself, do see
            information systems on the horizon. These can team
            up with money, and the spoken language, to advance
            the justice and democracy Cumes, Liu and I dream
            of.  Standing in the way of such progress is not
            Bush and American smugness. It is the extreme
            difficulty involved in organizing (1) production for
            earth's population and (2) cooperation between its
            producers.

        o  It is the gang's task, and that of the rest of PKT, to
            help society meet this difficulty. The French post-
            autistic economics idea that algebraic models are
            not the beginning and end of the study of political
            economy offers hope for guidance.

        o  A recognition by all of us, here, that historical
            research and theory construction must contribute
            to practical political ideas that can gain currency
            would also offer hope that useful understanding
            of "what we face and what to do" is possible.

            John Gelles   www.1944.org