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Mark L. wrote: James Madison and the American founders were very big on the idea of checking power. It's remarkable that, in this day and age, that very crucial aspect of their thought is simply neglected across the "respectable" political spectrum. Shouldn't we sort out two strands in Madison's political theory? - One is that the common people must not be allowed political power. - The other is that power should be distributed among the various business interests so that no one interest dominates. The first strand remains a given for the ruling class. You observe that the second theme does not matter much to them today. Isn't that because sharp lines between business interests have nearly disappeared at the top, and because the distribution of economic power among capitalists has polarized, marginalizing middle and small capital to an unprecedented degree? There are relatively minor conflicts among capitals that develop into political and regulatory skirmishes: Wal-Mart has grievances against MasterCard and VISA; the entertainment "content providers" and the cable and other dissemination channels sometimes have trouble dividing the revenue stream. At the financial top, though, capital seems much more labile and undifferentiated, nothing like the classic antagonisms of agriculture versus transportation, industry versus merchants, industry versus finance, heavy industry versus light industry, middle-sized firms versus monopolies, etc. Some of these antagonisms helped divide the ruling class on FDR in the 1930s (to the point of support him or mount a coup against him), but what is a similar material basis today? (Plug: See my No Rich, No Poor for more.) Mr. Hodge would like to smudge the two themes in Madison. ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com