[Marxism] Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Politics
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == A documentary based on Tom Ferguson's book can be seen free at: http://goldenruledocumentary.blogspot.com/ -- Ian J. Seda-Irizarry Department of Economics 818 Thompson Hall University of Massachusetts-Amherst Phone: (413)-687-3889 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
Re: [Marxism] In and Out of Crisis
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == > > > I am beginning more and more to think that there isn't really ever any real > crisis of capitalism without workers making it such. That is, there is no > economistically determined crises but only class produced ones. > Overproduction is only overproduction as long as capital cannot increase > the > rate of exploitation. There are adjustments that occur but as long as the > capitalist class can make the workers pay for these adjustments these > really > shouldn't be viewed as crises. > > Brad Hi Brad Surely the distinction is between a political and an economic crisis. Just because an economic crisis does not result in a political crisis or a crisis of legitimation does not mean it is not an economic crisis. I suspect that what is at work here is the differences in the rhythmics of the crises. the economic crisis seems to have come and gone and even set to return at quite bewildering speeds. Thee is a tendency for economic crises to result in political crises *ceteris paribus*. I do think that the economic disaster of 2008 is developing into a political crisis. However the political crisis is operating much more slowly. Nevertheless it is very real. Why for instance do we have the feeling that Obama is looking more and more like a President in his last term than someone who is just a year into his first term? The political crisis seems to be developing around him and no one can foresee the consequences. comradely Gary 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
[Marxism] The Iranian Tsunami
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == > The Iranian Tsunami > By Conn Hallinan > Foreign Policy in Focus > March 12, 2010 > clip - > > Earthquakes, like the recent Haitian and Chilean > monsters, are not subtle events: They flatten buildings, > crush houses, and turn infrastructures into concrete and > steel confetti. But earthquakes can also generate a > power that remains largely unseen, until a huge tsunami > rises out of the sea and obliterates a coastline. > > This metaphor comes to mind when Amin is talking about > the political earthquake in Iran. Amin can't use his > real name, nor can he afford to identify where he lives > or works. Being an active trade unionist in Iran is a > dangerous job description. "If three workers meet they > get thrown into solitary confinement," he said in an > interview for Foreign Policy In Focus. > > When most Americans think about the recent upheavals in > Iran, they think of marches demanding democracy and > challenging the June 12 presidential election. The face > of those protests is the "Green Movement" - so called > because its supporters wear green -that put millions of > people into the streets of Tehran and other large cities > throughout the country. > > Largely unseen and rarely reported on, however, are > thousands of strikes, slow-downs and sit-ins by workers > challenging the erosion of trade union rights and the > government's drive to privatize the economy. Tehran's > economic policies will impoverish tens of millions of > people - and they aren't passively accepting the > situation. Cutbacks and Resistance > > http://www.fpif.org/articles/the_iranian_tsunami > 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
[Marxism] Blog Post: Conversations on the Trail
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Here is an excerpt. Full at http://blog.cheapmotelsandahotplate.org Soon after we began the hike, we saw an ATV trying to climb a series of rugged rock steps. The driver had to get out of his vehicle and tie it to a tree so that it wouldn’t tip over backwards as he maneuvered up the steps. He pushed a button to raise the ATV’s body and then yanked, tugged, and pushed it over the rocks. Then he was on his merry way. A few minutes later, we stopped to rest and have a snack. A small dog was chasing after the ATV, and we thought it belonged to the driver. A woman walked by and asked us if we had seen a dog; a couple down the trail had lost theirs. We met her again hiking back to the trail head. She was from Mexico, near Monterrey, and had come to the United States with her parents when she was young. They had settled in the mining town of Price, Utah, where her father had worked in the coal mines. He only got work in non-union pits, so when he retired he had little savings. In poor health, he and his wife returned to Mexico, where they have friends and where it is cheaper to live. They had never learned much English, so they were happy to return to their homeland. Their daughter spoke English very well. She had moved to Moab a dozen years ago, and she now held two jobs, one at the local hospital and another at a Mexican restaurant. Immigrant-bashing is a staple of right-wing rhetoric in the United States, and it has increased during the current economic meltdown. I wonder what Glenn Beck and all the other haters would say to this woman and her parents. The good Mormons of Utah (Beck, by the way, is a Mormon) were happy to use up the bodies of the parents of our fellow hiker. It didn’t matter one bit that they couldn’t speak English. And somehow they managed to survive in a hostile and stark environment for many years without benefit of English fluency. Her father reminded me of my great-uncle, Alberto Benigni, who never mastered English but somehow managed to work in the mines from age nine to sixty-five. The children of immigrants always learn the new language. The hypocrisy of the xenophobes is shown when they denounce the teaching of English as a second language in our schools. Sink of swim, they say. Believe me, it will be the nation that sinks if we don’t encourage immigration. If the pasty-faced former alcoholic Beck and the dope-addled Rush Limbaugh are characteristic of the native stock, we are in a whole lot of trouble. We need more Mexicans, Indians, Chinese, Russians, you name it. We should take heed of what Karl Marx said, in a different context to be sure, about the English potters. He said that their health would have been still worse—from their wretched employment in potteries—had they not married people from healthier districts. During the final years of my teaching at the University of Pittsburgh campus in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, long after the steelworkers had died, retired, or left the region in despair, and no longer sent their ambitious kids to college, I was never more happy than when I had immigrant students. While the "American" students spent their time drinking and attending fraternity affairs, the foreigners were busy studying. 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
Re: [Marxism] The Art of Political Lying
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Twenty-five years ago Christopher Hitchens [sic] began a defense of Noam Chomsky [sic] as follows: "In his imperishable Treatise on the Art of Political Lying, published in 1714, Dr. John Arbuthnot laid down a standard for falsifiers and calumniators that has yet to be excelled: 'Detractory or defamatory lies should not be quite opposite to the qualities the person is supposed to have. Thus it will not be found according to the sound rules of pseudology to report of a pious and religious prince that he neglects his devotions and would introduce heresy; but you may report of a merciful Prince that he has pardoned a criminal who did not deserve it'..." michael perelman wrote: > > In 1712, John Arbuthnot, chiefly known as a satirist, considered second > only to Jonathan Swift, was also the Queen Anne's doctor and a Fellow of > the Royal Society, proposed the publication of a book with two volumes, > titled, The Art of Political Lying. Sadly, the book never appeared > although it would be more relevant than ever today. Arbuthnot praised, > "the noble and useful art of political lying, which in this last age > having been enriched with several new discoveries" (p. 8) Obviously, he > did not have the Internet in mind, but perhaps something similar had > recently happened in England. > > see more at > > http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/the-art-of-political-lying/ > 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
[Marxism] The Art of Political Lying
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == In 1712, John Arbuthnot, chiefly known as a satirist, considered second only to Jonathan Swift, was also the Queen Anne's doctor and a Fellow of the Royal Society, proposed the publication of a book with two volumes, titled, The Art of Political Lying. Sadly, the book never appeared although it would be more relevant than ever today. Arbuthnot praised, "the noble and useful art of political lying, which in this last age having been enriched with several new discoveries" (p. 8) Obviously, he did not have the Internet in mind, but perhaps something similar had recently happened in England. see more at http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/the-art-of-political-lying/ -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 530 898 5321 fax 530 898 5901 http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com 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
Re: [Marxism] Repo 105
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Carrol writes: " In the consciusness of U.S. workers capitalism enjoys a higher and more solid legitimacy than ever before." I don't think so. It certainly enjoys far less legitimacy than it did during or directly after WW2. Pretty sure it enjoys less legitimacy than it did pre-2007. - Original Message - From: "Carrol Cox" 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
Re: [Marxism] Repo 105
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Bill Stephens wrote: > > > if so it's a wrong- headed attempt to relegitimize capitalism or at > the very least it serves to further delegitimize the bankers. the last > thing these guys need is more understanding among the masses of > exactly how fraudulent their business practices are. and this is stuff Except perhaps in some Platonic world of ideal forms, "legitimacy" is not an objective state of affairs but a matter of consciousness. That is, the staement, "X delegimizies capitalism" has no material content. It would have confent if andonly if it translates, "X has led the working class to consciusly rejevty capitalism." That is obviously not the case at present. In the consciusness of U.S. workers capitalism enjoys a higher and more solid legitimacy than ever before. Marxists and other socialist revolutinaries may see it as lacking legitimacy, but that, to use one of Lenin's favorite cliches, buttyers no parsnips. It certainly does not constitute even a tiny step towards revolution. And Brad is obviously correct. Among left liberals, some of whom might under some conditions move towards a socialist perspective, explanation of conditions in terms of bad people constitutes a satisfactory deense of capitalism. Carrol 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
Re: [Marxism] [microsound] Glenn Beck, 'Social Justice' & Liberation Theology
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On a personal note, I met many christians in the FMLN who certainly did not shirk from military discipline. Some historians would argue that the whole idea of social justice is embedded in the judeo-christian tradition, in particular among the prophetic tradition thereof. On the protestant side, you have such denominations as the Mennonites, the Church of the Brethren, the Hutterites, the Quakers, and others, who espouse similar anarchist-communist principles. If anyone is interested, you can check out "The Politics of Jesus" , by John Howard Yoder, for a very good presentation of their brand of liberation theology. We should not forget the influence of the Highlander Center on the Civil Rights movement. It was founded by Miles Horton, who studied theology under Neibuhr at Union Theological Seminary in NYC. There is also some good work by Cone on Black Theology of Liberation, and of course there was Malcom X's views on Jesus. http://www.jesusradicals.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIAcY7VpZo0 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_theology On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 5:51 PM, New Tet wrote: > Should a class conscious world-wide socialist movement ever gets under way, > can > religious people, lay and ordained alike, have a significant and edifying > role in it? > > As you likely know, Glenn Beck went after "religion" the other day, inciting > a > chorus of protest from various sectors, including some conservative and > liberal > religious professionals. He coupled 'social justice' doctrines preached in > many > sects with evil Communism and Fascism. > > So far, none of Beck's detractors I've read, heard or seen has defended > communism > from the implied slur against it. In this, they play it safe while ceding > considerable > ground to Beck. > > I presume that most of you reading this understand that communism and > fascism are > irreconcilably and diametrically opposed the one to the other. I would argue > that > even Soviet 'communism', in spite of its apparent similarities with Fascism, > was > ideologically and in practice a world away from National Socialism. > > But this is a tangent, really > > It would be more interesting (to me, at least) to discover if Marxian > Socialism owes > anything to Judaism and Christianity. > > From the SLP I learned that the early Christian church had organized itself > under a > system of common ownership, as illustrated in the Acts of the Apostles. > > I suppose that in those days any viable form of communism meant a more or > less > equal partnership in a subsistence economy. Vows of poverty, once so common > in > most major religions, especially Christianity, perhaps became doctrine as a > result > of this realization. > > Anyway, my beef with this latest Glenn Beck flap started out because I > expected > someone, anyone, of his public detractors to point out that Liberation > Theology > has been largely accepted by at least one of the major branches of > Christianity. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Theology > 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
Re: [Marxism] doubling of maternal deaths
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == At 10:43 14/03/10 -0400, S. Artesian wrote: > >The legacy of Milton Friedman, . >Ronald Reagan, that gift that keeps on giving. Gift is a German word. I would have totally missed that, except that the same word is used in Dutch: "Gift" means "poison." The full report from AI is worth browsing and can be downloaded at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/dignity/pdf/DeadlyDelivery.pdf - Jeff > > >- Original Message - >From: "Paula" >> >> According to Amnesty International, US deaths from pregnancy and >> childbirth have doubled over the past 20 years, so that 'the lifetime risk >> of maternal deaths is greater in the United States than in 40 other >> countries, including virtually all industrialized nations'. >> http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/12/maternal.mortality/index.html?hpt=Sbin >> >> Paula 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
[Marxism] [microsound] Glenn Beck, 'Social Justice' & Liberation Theology
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Should a class conscious world-wide socialist movement ever gets under way, can religious people, lay and ordained alike, have a significant and edifying role in it? As you likely know, Glenn Beck went after "religion" the other day, inciting a chorus of protest from various sectors, including some conservative and liberal religious professionals. He coupled 'social justice' doctrines preached in many sects with evil Communism and Fascism. So far, none of Beck's detractors I've read, heard or seen has defended communism from the implied slur against it. In this, they play it safe while ceding considerable ground to Beck. I presume that most of you reading this understand that communism and fascism are irreconcilably and diametrically opposed the one to the other. I would argue that even Soviet 'communism', in spite of its apparent similarities with Fascism, was ideologically and in practice a world away from National Socialism. But this is a tangent, really It would be more interesting (to me, at least) to discover if Marxian Socialism owes anything to Judaism and Christianity. >From the SLP I learned that the early Christian church had organized itself under a system of common ownership, as illustrated in the Acts of the Apostles. I suppose that in those days any viable form of communism meant a more or less equal partnership in a subsistence economy. Vows of poverty, once so common in most major religions, especially Christianity, perhaps became doctrine as a result of this realization. Anyway, my beef with this latest Glenn Beck flap started out because I expected someone, anyone, of his public detractors to point out that Liberation Theology has been largely accepted by at least one of the major branches of Christianity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Theology -- View this message in context: http://old.nabble.com/Glenn-Beck%2C-%27Social-Justice%27---Liberation-Theology-tp27898399p27898399.html Sent from the Marxism mailing list archive at Nabble.com. 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
Re: [Marxism] Repo 105
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Forgot to add-- I "kind of" agree-- the real crisis of capitalism is made by the workers-- but workers don't "make the crisis" any time they want, out of thin air, without there first being a material disruption in accumulation. This is really a crisis for capitalism-- and crises are essential to the reproduction of capital, the rearranging of debt, etc. Now to convert it into a springboard for mass revolutionary action... yeah, that's the ticket. - Original Message - 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
Re: [Marxism] Repo 105
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Yes and no; maybe and so what? It does and it doesn't. The point being that it's fun reading what happens when greed becomes fear; it's entertaining to see how deep and broad the deception of self and others is embedded in the "gentleman's world" of finance. And it's even more fun when they send each other to jail, even if it is a minimum security prison with needlepoint classes. Is it the revolution? Obviously not. Does it expose how corrupt the bourgeoisie are, a corruption born of necessity? Sure does. Do we think corruption caused the crisis-- of course not. Corruption is the necessary partner, the consort of capital. Meanwhile-- yes it was back in 2007 when banks were reporting consecutive quarters of increased problems in mortgage repayments that Sam and Leo said that this isn't a crisis of profitability. They were wrong. Of course it was, just as 2006 was the peak for profits; just as the peak always precedes, and announces, the real problems in expanded reproduction. Brenner, if I recall the video debate correctly, waffled, unfortunately, not sticking to his guns, if he had any, and maintaining that yes, this is the opening round of a crisis brought on by the tendency of the ROP to decline. - Original Message - From: "brad bauerly" > > But all this talk of criminal behaviour is only the means to glaze over > the > real issue. It is an attempt to relegitimize capitalism. This person, > that > person it makes no difference. > > Brad 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
Re: [Marxism] Repo 105
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On 14-Mar-10, at 12:40 PM, brad bauerly wrote: > But all this talk of criminal behaviour is only the means to glaze > over the > real issue. It is an attempt to relegitimize capitalism. This > person, that > person it makes no difference. if so it's a wrong- headed attempt to relegitimize capitalism or at the very least it serves to further delegitimize the bankers. the last thing these guys need is more understanding among the masses of exactly how fraudulent their business practices are. and this is stuff is very easy to understand as opposed to derivatives. 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
Re: [Marxism] Repo 105
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == But all this talk of criminal behaviour is only the means to glaze over the real issue. It is an attempt to relegitimize capitalism. This person, that person it makes no difference. Brad 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
Re: [Marxism] In and Out of Crisis
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == >Wasn't it 2007 that Sam and Leo were saying there was no crisis? --- I doubt they ever said anything like that. I do remember them saying that it wasn't part of a long-term crisis of profitability (ala Brenner). But the data on that is pretty clearly in their favor (2006 being the peak year for US profits in almost 40 years!!). I am beginning more and more to think that there isn't really ever any real crisis of capitalism without workers making it such. That is, there is no economistically determined crises but only class produced ones. Overproduction is only overproduction as long as capital cannot increase the rate of exploitation. There are adjustments that occur but as long as the capitalist class can make the workers pay for these adjustments these really shouldn't be viewed as crises. Brad 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
[Marxism] Human Rights in the USA? China's View
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Xinhua March 12, 2010 http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-03/12/c_13208219.htm Full Text of Human Rights Record of the United States in 2009 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
Re: [Marxism] Repo 105
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I just finished re-screening _The Smartest Guys in the Room_ the other day. And I have to say, the names Enron created for their off-the-books, debt storage vehicles were much, much better than anything we've seen since. Condor, JediII, Chewko, Raptor... Good stuff. But I'm still holding out hope. Free poor Andy Fastow! Where was his bailout? >Before he resigns, I'm sure Geithner will pardon Andy Fastow and have him >beatified. > >Poor Andy Fastow, suffering because he was a man ahead of his time. 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
Re: [Marxism] doubling of maternal deaths
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The legacy of Milton Friedman, David Stockman, George Gilder, Newt Gingrich, Bill Clinton, Georges Bush, Obama and of course the man without whom none of the others could ever have occupied their positions of power-- Ronald Reagan, that gift that keeps on giving. Gift is a German word. - Original Message - From: "Paula" > > According to Amnesty International, US deaths from pregnancy and > childbirth have doubled over the past 20 years, so that 'the lifetime risk > of maternal deaths is greater in the United States than in 40 other > countries, including virtually all industrialized nations'. > http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/12/maternal.mortality/index.html?hpt=Sbin > > Paula 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
Re: [Marxism] Repo 105
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Before he resigns, I'm sure Geithner will pardon Andy Fastow and have him beatified. Poor Andy Fastow, suffering because he was a man ahead of his time. - Original Message - From: "Shawn Redden" 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
Re: [Marxism] Repo 105
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == At the very least, it should put the Treasury Dept. under even more pressure to release the AIG e-mails. If this stuff doesn't land him in the clink, those should. If TurboTax Timmy were a REAL public servant he'd kill himself and spare the people all those expensive court costs. Bailouts and fraud got us broke these days. I'd bet $1 that Obama's game is to try and keep him until November, and then kiss him goodbye, Rummy-style. Solidarity, Shawn At 6:43 PM -0500 3/13/10, Greg McDonald wrote: > >Mike Whitney thinks this will land Geithner in jail. So far I haven't >seen any reaction to the news. Good report, BTW. > >Greg McD > 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
[Marxism] Mario Savia
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I knew a little about Mario Savia and the Free Speech Movement but not much at all of his later history. The comments about the worsening situation for higher education in the US are also interesting. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100329/saul/single Greg Adler 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
