Re: Fw: Margolis on the tail wagging the dog
Forwarding stuff by right-wingers (like another Canadian columnist, whose name escapes me now who was anti-NATO during the anti-Milosevic bombing campaign and had in earlier years done lotsa agit-prop for Jonas Savimbi) is well... Michael Pugliese Michael, I don't know who the above Canadian columnist whose name escapes you is but I am anti-Nato too and against Milosevic's being tried for war crimes at Hauge, for example. Those who are trying him have no right to do so unless they are willing to sit in the same chair he is sitting, Clinton and Madam Not-so-bright included, and this has nothing to do with whether Milosovic committed any crimes or not. Kemal committed many crimes too but he did not sit in a chair for any trial, for example. Kemal won his war after all. Now, does this make me a right-winger? To put it differently, are all of those who are anti-Nato and anti-anti-Milosevic right-wingers? By the way, being anti-anti-Milosevic is not being pro-Milosevic, just as being anti-anti-Kemalist does not mean being Kemalist, for your information. Could it be possible that you attempt to sum apples and oranges every once in a while or is it just my imagination? Best, Sabri
Re: Margolis on the tail wagging the dog
Sabri, Put me in the anti-NATO camp and I'd send Milosevich home to Serbia if it were up to me, since they could sort it out far better. I'd say using the sort of reasoning which props up US foreign policy and the use of its deadly power, Milosevic has not only argued his case well but won it. Milosevic is far from the worst the 20th century gave us and he is on trial while many others who should be aren't. The irony is, had he been taken seriously in the first place, things would never have got so far out of hand. That's one problem with the 'imperial presidency' approach since the Reagan era. The US regimes think if they engage people they disagree with or dislike at a top diplomatic level (and the zealots at the State Department have a lot to do with this), not only does it raise their opponent, but it lowers the regal status of the office. And just look at that part of the world now. No wonder more and more living in the wreck of what was all of Yugoslavia are getting nostalgic. You never know what you had til you've lost it. Be careful what you wish for, you might get it. Etc. Etc. I'm sure I'll get bombarded with all sorts of statistics and analysis (probably from analysts at merchant banks, right) about what progress former Yugoslav countries are making, but I'll believe it when they are ready to host another Olympics. Charles Jannuzi
US tax dollars NOT at work (was re: Nader)
I'm sure Sawicky will want to discuss the House of Harkonnen or the BEIC or something, but just to back up my point about the overall inefficiencies of letting companies fill government services, at least the American way, let's just start with Carlyle Group's IT Group (recently sold to Shaw Group, who apparently wants IT Group to clean up oil and chemical messes for companies that buy from Shaw Group). Anyway, how many other companies have such huge backlogs on their government contracts? Well, let me find out. I'll keep looking and posting. You know for sure there must be problems with all the gov't contracts Enron and Global Crossing got. Here is IT Group (interesting for a number of reasons including that it specializes in parasitizing tax dollars, as many CG holdings do): http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105STORY=/www/story/10-06 -2000/0001332023 The IT Group Revises Earnings Outlook Year-End Debt Level of $625 Million Expected to be Achieved Backlog Projected to Grow to Record $5 Billion Range PITTSBURGH, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The IT Group, Inc. (the Company) (NYSE: ITX) announced today that it expects earnings per share in the third quarter of 2000 to be between $0.17 and $0.20. The Company also said that it now anticipates that fourth quarter earnings per share will be in the $0.25 to $0.30 range. The revised 2000 outlook now anticipates ranges for revenues of $1.42 to $1.45 billion, operating cash flow of $148 to $152 million and earnings per share of $0.75 to $0.83. Cash earnings per share for the year are anticipated to be in the range of $1.15 to $1.23. Anthony J. DeLuca, chief executive officer and president of The IT Group, said, Our revised outlook is due primarily to a revenue shortfall resulting from what the Company believes are short-term project start-up delays caused by various client and regulatory issues, technical personnel shortages and unexpected federal government funding delays in our Outsourced Services business. In addition, earnings in the third quarter have been negatively impacted by poor performance on two projects which are now complete and the delay in the completion of certain real estate restoration transactions, most of which are expected to close in the fourth quarter. Backlog Growth Recently the Company has successfully bid a diverse range of major and strategically important new programs. The Company is nearing the completion of negotiations for a $200 million, 30-year operations and maintenance program at a major Superfund site, which provides for advance funding of approximately $38 million. We believe negotiations for this program can be concluded in the next week and will be the subject of a separate announcement, Mr. DeLuca continued. We are also currently in the negotiation phase of several federal facility management contracts, the awards of which are expected to be announced in the fourth quarter. With these and other wins, the Company expects to report a record level of backlog approaching $5 billion by the end of the year. The backlog strength, combined with anticipated federal government appropriation increases in 2001, we believe positions the Company well for the future. Deleveraging Plan Although operating cash flow will be short of earlier projections, we remain confident a debt level of approximately $625 million at year end can be achieved. Our confidence is supported by continued progress in working capital management, including the Superfund site program advance funding mentioned above, which is expected to be received in December, as well as the proposed sale of certain non-core assets. With an increase in third quarter revenue over second quarter revenue, the Company's focus on working capital management is expected to result in a debt level at the end of the third quarter consistent with the debt level at the June quarter end, Mr. DeLuca concluded. The IT Group, Inc. is a leading provider of a comprehensive range of outsourced services addressing the infrastructure, consulting, engineering and construction, water, civil works and facilities management needs of a broad variety of public and private sector clients. Additional information about The IT Group can be found on their new web site at http://www.theitgroup.com . The IT Group's common stock and depositary shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ITX and ITXpr, respectively. Statements regarding the intentions, beliefs, expectations or predictions of The IT Group, Inc. and its management, including, but not limited to, those statements denoted by the words anticipate, believe, expect, should, confidence and similar expressions are forward-looking statements that reflect the current views of The IT Group and its management about future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements as a result of a number
Re: US tax dollars NOT at work (was re: Nader)
You might ask, if IT Group has so much trouble filling the work it's been contracted for, how in the freak does it get so many contracts. I wish I had no idea, though knowing what I know about Carlyle Group holdings, it seems pretty obvious: insider connections, perhaps even phone calls from former government officials to current government officials. The revolving doors prefected Carlyle style. This company smells of Enron, too. http://www.prnewswire.com/gh/cnoc/comp/141700.html The IT Group Jul-31-2001 NEW STORY The IT Group Announces World's First Commercial Capstone Microturbine Landfill Gas System for Burbank, California Jul-17-2001 The IT Group Awarded $31 Million Everglades Watershed Restoration Project Jul-16-2001 The IT Group Announces Second Quarter Financial Results Conference Call And Webcast Jul-9-2001 The IT Group Announces an Agreement to Form a Joint Company With Hydro Quebec To Serve the Hydroelectric Power Industry in the U.S. Jun-1-2001 The IT Group, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend on Cumulative Convertible Exchangeable Preferred Stock May-3-2001 The IT Group Announces the Award of an Air Force Contract Valued At $100 Million Apr-18-2001 The IT Group Announces First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call And Webcast Apr-4-2001 The IT Group Announces Award of $14 Million Design/Build Contract for The National Park Service Mar-12-2001 The IT Group Provides Additional Information About $3 Billion, 50-Year Military Family Housing Privatization Project at Fort Meade, Maryland Mar-7-2001 The IT Group Announces Award of First Phase of 50-Year Military Family Housing Privatization Project at Fort Meade, Maryland Valued at Approximately $3 Billion Mar-1-2001 The IT Group, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend on Cumulative Convertible Exchangeable Preferred Stock Feb-14-2001 The IT Group Announces Fourth Quarter and Year-End Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast Jan-18-2001 The IT Group Enters Agreement for Sale of Excess Northern California Land For $12 Million Jan-16-2001 Robert Perciasepe, Assistant Administrator of EPA, to Join The IT Group As Vice President, Consulting and Technology Jan-16-2001 The IT Group Announces $42 Million in Commercial Project Awards Including Strategically Important Watershed Restoration Projects Jan-10-2001 The IT Group Implements Strategy to Accelerate the Resolution of Project Claims and Monetize Non-Core Assets with Expectations of Generating $30 to $35 Million for Debt Paydown Jan-3-2001 The IT Group Announces Selection for Air Force Environmental Engineering Contract of Up to $25 Million Dec-13-2000 The IT Group Announces Court Approval of $200 Million Water Treatment Operations and Maintenance Agreement at Iron Mountain Mines Superfund Site In California Dec-12-2000 The IT Group Announces Alliance with Environmental Network International to Develop Customized Web-Based Procurement System Dec-1-2000 The IT Group, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend on Cumulative Convertible Exchangeable Preferred Stock Nov-30-2000 The IT Group and WETCO Agree to Provide New Environmental Remediation Technologies and Services to Agribusiness Nov-28-2000 The IT Group Announces Award of Up to $26 Million EPA Technical Support Contract Oct-23-2000 The IT Group Announces Award of Up to $145 Million Army Facility Management Contract Oct-19-2000 The IT Group Announces $200 Million Water Treatment Operations and Maintenance Agreement at Iron Mountain Mines Superfund Site in California Oct-19-2000 The IT Group to Release Third Quarter Financial Results and Broadcast Investor Call Live Over the Internet Oct-6-2000 The IT Group Revises Earnings Outlook Sep-28-2000 The IT Group Announces the Award of $65 Million EPA Contract Sep-25-2000 The IT Group Announces Award of Four Outsourcing Contracts Totaling $36.6 Million From the Department of Defense Sep-22-2000 The IT Group Awarded $5.9 Million Watershed Restoration Contract For The Everglades Program Sep-13-2000 The IT Group Awarded $11 Million Contract at Oak Ridge Department of Energy Facility Sep-1-2000 The IT Group, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend on Cumulative Convertible Exchangeable Preferred Stock Jun-13-2000 The IT Group and the Carlyle Group Announce Two Million Share Stock Purchase Program Jun-7-2000 The IT Group Announces the Award of a $200 Million Air Force Center For Environmental Excellence AE Contract Jun-1-2000 The IT Group, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend on Cumulative Convertible Exchangeable Preferred Stock May-9-2000 The IT Group Announces $29 Million Contract Award for Stapleton Airport Remediation May-1-2000 The IT Group Announces Award of $24 Million Contract for City of Fresno Apr-27-2000 The IT Group, Inc. Reports On-Target First Quarter 2000 Results Apr-11-2000 The IT Group Announces Awards of Up to $110 Million in Army and Navy Outsourcing and Design/Build Contracts Apr-5-2000 The IT Group Signs E-Business Agreement With Pratt Whitney Apr-4-2000 The IT Group
EGG: another Carlyle Group holding cleaning up on terror
Not too long ago we were discussing (two of us were anyway) EGG as another Carlyle Group holding that warranted more investigation. One EGG-related story is like something out of the X-Files (an analogy that comes frequently to mind when you start researching the Carlyle Group). Apparently their private army out in Nevada went on strike for higher wages. This part of EGG provides security to top-secret military facilities north of Las Vegas. It's hard to see it as a victory for American labor, since it was an in-house union whose members dress like Serb militia and say things like, if you find out what I do, I'll have to kill you. The most interesting part of EGG (for me anyway) is their lock on airport x-ray detection equipment. It looks to be a monopoly actually, now that they have acquired Vivid. Also, more on this later, they apparently have moved into the area of 'biodetection', an area that will apparently include tie-ups with Japanese companies because they are the leaders. Still, look for EGG and/or another Carlyle Group holding getting the right to market things like anthrax detectors to the US government. http://instruments.perkinelmer.com/overview/background-ds.asp?s=1ss=3 Instruments Home About Instruments Background Analytical Instruments | Detection Systems MISSION To provide our customers with the highest level of service through: Consistent evolution of imaging and detection technologies Continuous improvement of manufacturing processes Technical and commercial support Our aim is to be the market leader in each of our business elements and geographic markets. BACKGROUND Formerly known as EGG Astrophysics, PerkinElmer Detection Systems is the world's leading supplier of X-ray security screening systems and metal detectors. The company has been providing security equipment to airports, correctional institutions, government agencies, courthouses, hospitals and schools for over 25 years. More than two-thirds of all commercial airports in the world utilize PerkinElmer (EGG) X-ray technology to screen luggage for explosives, firearms, other weapons and drugs. As a division of PerkinElmer, PerkinElmer Detection Systems has access to extensive search and development facilities as well as a large resource base. PerkinElmer Detection Systems is dedicated to providing state-of-the-art X-ray technology unmatched in the industry. The Company also provides a worldwide network of technical support and customer service representatives available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to meet customers' needs effectively and efficiently. PerkinElmer Detection Systems' extensive product line includes: Conventional X-ray Systems Advanced X-ray Systems Cargo Screening Systems Metal Detectors Training and Testing Systems In January of 2000, EGG Astrophysics was merged with Vivid Technologies, Inc. of Woburn Massachusetts to form PerkinElmer Detection Systems. Vivid Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1989 by X-ray security system experts who pioneered the development of airport X-ray in the early 1970s. Vivid became a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of automated explosives and contraband detection systems. Utilizing dual energy X-ray technology, Vivid's systems can be configured to meet the checked baggage screening needs of the world's busiest airports. Through June 30, 1999, Vivid had shipped and installed approximately 380 systems including 100 Model APS for hand baggage and parcel inspection. Vivid's systems have been selected for use in 21 countries including at 42 airports such as London's Heathrow and Gatwick Airports, Brussels Airport, Paris' Charles de Gaulle and Orly Airports, Zurich Airport, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia, Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok and Terminal One at JFK International Airport in New York. Copyright ｩ 1998-2002 PerkinElmer, Inc. All rights reserved. See important Disclaimers and Privacy Policy. C. Jannuzi
Thu., 4/18: Peace Activism during the War on Terrorism
Critical Perspectives on Wars, Classes, Empires Peace Activism during the War on Terrorism Speaker: Eric Swank Eric Swank -- a professor of sociology at Morehead State University and researcher who has published on media portrayals of peace movements and attitudes of Gulf War protesters -- will discuss his current research on what motivates anti-war activists. His talk will explore the ways in which collective identities, political conversations, interpretations of the military, outlooks on authorities, and family upbringings influence the desire to protest the War on Terrorism. (Cf. Prof. Swank's vita: http://people.morehead-st.edu/fs/e.swank/vita.html) Thursday, April 18, 5:00 p.m. 115 Stillman, OSU, 1947 College Rd., Columbus, OH Sponsors: the Student International Forum and Social Welfare Action Alliance. OSU Campus map: http://www.osu.edu/map/linkbuildings/stillmanhall.html. Calendar of Events: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html. For more info, contact Yoshie Furuhashi at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 614-668-6554; or Keith Kilty at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 614-292-7181. Download the flyer for the event at http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/swank.doc. Download the flyer for other upcoming SIF/SWAA events at http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar10.doc. Please spread the word! -- Yoshie * Calendar of Events in Columbus: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html * Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html * Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/ * Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/
Difference between corporations and party responsibility
On 2002.04.16 07:28 AM, Ian Murray [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: - Original Message - From: Sabri Oncu [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PEN-L [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, April 15, 2002 3:11 PM Subject: [PEN-L:24950] Re: Binary scheme of democracy and centralism Miyachi wrote: From the viewpoint of Stalinism, the content of centralization of power is not considered as a pair of centralization of leadership and decentralization of responsibility, but only centralization of leadership has been put forward. Dear Miyachi, I have served at a few of the most Stalinist institutions in the world: US financial corporations. They talked about centralization of leadership and decentralization of responsibility incessantly. This is the way the US financial corporations are organized and I doubt that non-financial corporations are significantly different. Responsibility without authority is one of the most painful experiences I have ever had, where, in this context, with authority I mean ability to make decisions. What is the point of decentralized responsibility if those who are responsible have no ability to make decisions? Best, Sabri = To protect the leadership. It's called the musical chairs theory of unaccountability. Ian Thank you for your reply As for decentralized responsibility, party cell duty is regular report to central committee and maintain party's program. If he has not ability to this duty, simply he must give up, or choose to change his duty. Here no command exists. Only member's will and passion is required. In a sense This type of organization is network-type like Al-Qaeda. On the contrary, for example, in US financial corporations as you, You may decision business yourself, but you must seek profit in decentralized responsibility. If you fail to raise profit, you fire. It is the difference between party and corporation. In reality you obey corporations as unpaid worker but wage form of payment hide this ruler-ruled relationship. Below is from Capital The wage-form thus extinguishes every trace of the division of the working-day into necessary labour and surplus-labour, into paid and unpaid labour. All labour appears as paid labour. In the corvée, the labour of the worker for himself, and his compulsory labour for his lord, differ in space and time in the clearest possible way. In slave 1abour, even that part of the working-day in which the slave is only replacing the value of his own means of existence, in which, therefore, in fact, he works for himself alone, appears as labour for his master. All the slave's labour appears as unpaid labour. [8] In wage labour, on the contrary, even surplus-labour, or unpaid labour, appears as paid. There the property-relation conceals the labour of the slave for himself; here the money-relation conceals the unrequited labour of the wage labourer. Hence, we may understand the decisive importance of the transformation of value and price of labour-power into the form of wages, or into the value and price of labour itself. This phenomenal form, which makes the actual relation invisible, and, indeed, shows the direct opposite of that relation, forms the basis of all the juridical notions of both labourer and capitalist, of all the mystifications of the capitalistic mode of production, of all its illusions as to liberty, of all the apologetic shifts of the vulgar economists. If history took a long time to get at the bottom of the mystery of wages, nothing, on the other hand, is more easy to understand than the necessity, the raison d' etre, of this phenomenon. The exchange between capital and labour at first presents itself to the mind in the same guise as the buying and selling of all other commodities. The buyer gives a certain sum of money, the seller an article of a nature different from money. The jurist's consciousness recognizes in this, at most, a material difference, expressed in the juridically equivalent formula: Do ut des, do ut facias, facio ut des, facio ut facias. [9] Regards MIYACHI TATSUO Psychiatric Department Komaki municipal hosipital 1-20.JOHBUHSHI KOMAKI CITY AICHI PREF. 486-0044 TEL:0568-76-4131 FAX 0568-76-4145 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Anti-coup and mass demonstration
On 2002.04.16 06:24 AM, Devine, James [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In leftist theory, democratic centralism refers to the organization of the revolutionary political party. The theory says that when a party's membership decides on a policy (a line, a program) it is binding on members of that party, including its leadership. Though they may disagree with it at party forums, they should not do so openly, when non-party people are around. Though there are likely organizations in Venezuela that are organized in a democratic centralist way, the mass demonstrations in favor of Chavez don't fit that description unless they are simply as part of a party. It looks to me instead that there's a lot of spontaneity going on. That is, people were demonstrating in favor of Chavez because they liked him, not because they belonged to a party-type organization. The Bolivarist organization did not simply orchestrate the anti-coup movements. (Of course, if my facts are wrong, I'd like to be told.) BTW, in practice, most democratic centralist organizations end up not being democratic. The rank and file end up being manipulated by the central committee or its leader, i.e., end up being passive followers rather than active, democratic, participants. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine -Original Message- From: Charles Brown [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, April 15, 2002 1:08 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PEN-L:24943] Bureaucracy (speculative rant alert) ... G'day Charles, Sorry, Rob, Leninist democratic centralism is alive and well in Venezuela , where all power resides with the masses and their elected representatives in the CENTER ! Viva Bolivarian Bolshevism ! Either we're talking about different 'democratic centralisms' or we're watching different Venezuelas. Or both. ^ CB: I'm talking about V.I. Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks and the Russian Revolution in 1917, and his theory of democratic centralism, which is very well demonstrated by the overwhelming majority of the masses of people in Venezuela since 1998 and their authentic representatives in the Party led by President Chavez. What are you talking about ? ^^^ So much for bloody , middle class, fake democracy. Er, at least I tried to attach an argument to my speculative rant ... ^^^ CB: The evidence for my argument is all over the world news for the last few days, and specifics of the argument should occur to you without my spelling out for you , but here it is. The middle class mass that demonstrated and gave a pretext for the coup by the Venezuelan oligarchy, represented a minority of the whole population, and thus democracy in this situation was represented by Chavez and his organizations. The masses in the streets backed up their center. About as vivid an example of democratic centralism as there ever was. Of course, the masses have to have a republican structure , i.e. it is not direct democracy, in their struggle with the bourgeoisie. They have to have leaders because the struggle with the bourgeois requires strategy and tactics, in analogy to a military conflict. The class struggle has aspects that are like war ( Should be obvious from the whole history of the 20th Century). It is democracy with a socalled center: democratic centralism. This term was originated by Lenin, and Venezuela's governing Party is good example of its practice since 1998. I don't know detail of Venezuela's coup and return Chavez. But Important is non-party mass demonstration, which often go ahead of party action. In 1917, Anti-war, anti-poverty demonstration mount to reach top in August, when Lenin did not prepare or decide uprising. After these demonstrations,Lenin returned to Russia and decide uprising. So real historical process is never determined from one party's program or action. Party and mass action dialectically intensify each other and in final stage, part of party apparatus(probably military) and part of non-party mass attack and destroy enemy's central power. Regards MIYACHI TATSUO Psychiatric Department Komaki municipal hosipital 1-20.JOHBUHSHI KOMAKI CITY AICHI PREF. 486-0044 TEL:0568-76-4131 FAX 0568-76-4145 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Whores of war
I stole that title from the name of a website that led me to the latimes article. Anyone want to guess how many of these companies are at least partly owned by Carlyle Group (though some go back to its 'competitors') ? Better get a pencil and a notepad. One has to wonder how much of this spending shows up as foreign aid in the budget? http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-26555apr14.story April 14, 2002 Talk about it E-mail story Print THE NATION U.S. Companies Hired to Train Foreign Armies Times Headlines German Car Buyers' Favorite Pickup Parent's Fate Tied to Life-or-Death Decision for Son Powell Visits Lebanon, Syria to Call for Peace Israel Arrests the Leader of Arafat Faction U.S. Cardinals Are Called to Vatican more By ESTHER SCHRADER, TIMES STAFF WRITER WASHINGTON -- When the Pentagon talks about training the new Afghan National Army, it doesn't mean with its own soldiers. The Green Berets and other elite U. S. troops are needed elsewhere. Instead, the Defense Department is drawing up plans to use its commandos to jump-start the Afghan force, then hire private military contractors to finish the job. It would be the most vital role yet taken on by a somewhat clandestine industry accustomed to operating on the fringe of U. S. foreign policy by training foreign armies. As the United States pushes its antiterrorism campaign beyond Afghanistan, the role of these private companies promises to grow right along with it. The war on terrorism is the full employment act for these guys, said D. B. Des Roches, spokesman for the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency. A little-known but increasingly essential addition to the modern battlefield, the firms, studded with retired American generals, have been training the world's more ragtag armies since the 1970s when a group of Vietnam veterans discovered that there was money to be made marketing military expertise--and sold Saudi Arabia on a plan to teach its army how to guard its oil fields. Business has burgeoned in the messy post-Cold War world. The firms--modern-day mercenary companies armed with Powerpoint presentations instead of weapons--operate today in more than 40 countries, often under contract to the U. S. government. For the Pentagon, with one-third fewer soldiers than a decade ago but a growing number of entanglements in unlikely places, hiring out the training of foreign armies has become indispensable. Every U. S. military operation in the post-Cold War era has involved significant levels of support from private military firms, from the Persian Gulf to Somalia, Zaire, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo and Croatia. But the industry has met with growing criticism by military experts who charge that the firms work with little oversight and less accountability, particularly when hired by foreign governments. Plans to use the firms in Afghanistan are still preliminary. Although training of an Afghan military force has begun, there is no timetable for turning the task over to contractors. With Afghanistan still volatile, Pentagon officials are grappling with just how private trainers, who typically do not carry weapons, should be employed. Since Sept. 11 and the Pentagon's launch of the war on terrorism, the stock prices of the publicly traded contractors have soared. Already, trainers from private military companies are in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, where Al Qaeda operatives are believed to be hiding. Executives of several private military companies have met with Pentagon officials about training other armies in Central Asia. A lot of people have said, 'Ding ding ding, gravy train,' Des Roches said. But in point of fact, it makes sense. They're probably better at doing these sorts of missions than anyone else I could think of. Boasts retired Army Lt. Gen. Harry E. Soyster, an executive at MPRI, the most prominent of the private contractors: We've got more generals per square foot here than in the Pentagon. Although the most successful of the U. S. firms carefully screen their employees, prohibit them from carrying arms and generally reject contracts with governments the U. S. considers unsavory, they operate in a world populated by a darker breed of ex-soldiers who serve as guns for hire to thugs throughout the world. Competing military companies in Britain and South Africa have hired out their employees as combatants in Angola and Sierra Leone. And employees of the U. S. companies have sometimes taken up weapons themselves, employees of the firms say. We're talking about places where the governments have very little control over their territory . . . where our government has no control over what these firms tell the sometimes very questionable people they work for about how to fight, said Deborah Avant, professor of political science at George Washington University and an authority on the role of the private sector in war. The more and more we put these people in riskier and riskier areas, the
jobs for oxymorons
History/Programming: The International Spy Museum. Washington, D.C. The International Spy Museum is the first public museum in the United States solely dedicated to the tradecraft, history and contemporary role of espionage. The 60,000 square foot project located in Washington, DC expects to attract 500,000 visitors per year when it opens in June 2002. The museum will celebrate the art of spy craft by establishing itself as a leader in collecting, researching, and exhibiting artifacts as well as creating interactive and evolving displays relating to espionage. This is a for-profit museum. We have an immediate opening for an Historian/Programmer. You will research, develop, organize, and conduct public programs for the general public, scholars and professionals in the intelligence community. You will conduct research in support of museum programs and temporary exhibitions and training for staff and volunteers. Working with Director of Education, you will conceptualize and develop temporary exhibitions and identify and coordinate with experts in the intelligence community to present programs addressing current issues and scholarship. You will create vital interpretive programs and materials for the Museums various audiences. You will build and expand the Museums local, national and international presence, profile and reputation through programs and exhibits. Advanced degree in U.S./Public History: Specialty in Intelligence, Politics, and/or Foreign Policy or related discipline and five years' teaching, internship, and/or research experience is required. Teaching and/or museum experience highly desirable. The International Spy Museum receives funding from the District of Columbias Revenue Bond and TIF Programs. As a consequence, we are required to give preference to qualified candidates who reside in the District of Columbia. Please e-mail a cover letter, resume, a list of three references and your salary requirements to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: EGG: another Carlyle Group holding cleaning up on terror
EGG, a key Carlyle Group holding, has technology and products in biosensors from this acquisition. They then branded just about everything to do with the field of detection as 'Perkin-Elmer'. http://www.princetonappliedresearch.com/press_releases/030899.html Press Releases EGG TO ACQUIRE PERKIN-ELMER'S ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS DIVISION FOR $425 MILLION; REVIEWS STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES FOR TECHNICAL SERVICES UNIT Oak Ridge, TN - EGG, Inc. announced today that it plans to acquire Perkin-Elmer's Analytical Instruments Division, a leading producer of high-quality analytical testing instruments for $425 million. The transaction is the latest in a series of acquisitions, divestitures and consolidations intended to drive EGG growth in commercial technology markets. EGG expects to close this transaction during the second quarter. EGG also announced that it will explore strategic alternatives for its Technical Services business unit and has engaged Goldman, Sachs Co. to conduct the review. In 1999, EGG anticipates Technical Services will have a sales level of approximately $450 million. The unit provides management, engineering, scientific, technical and operations support services to government customers, including the U.S. departments of Defense, Treasury, Customs Service, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Internal Revenue Service. EGG said that it is committed to maintaining a high level of service to its customers and fulfilling all contractual obligations during this review period. Today's announcement of our intention to acquire Perkin-Elmer's Analytical Instruments is an important milestone for our Company, said Gregory L. Summe, President and Chief Executive Officer of EGG, Inc. This is truly a strategic acquisition for us - one that will allow us to build scale in our existing Instruments and Life Sciences units and to better position our Company for continued growth. Perkin-Elmer has a strong global distribution network, a widely recognized and respected brandname and is a leader in innovation. Today's actions will greatly accelerate our efforts to focus on high growth electronics, aerospace and life sciences businesses. EGG expects the acquisition to be non-dilutive in 1999, excluding any acquisition-related charges, and accretive in the year 2000 and beyond. Both companies' Boards of Directors have approved the transaction. Its completion is subject to approval by certain government regulatory agencies. Perkin-Elmer Analytical Instruments generated 1998 fiscal year sales of $569 million. Its systems are widely used to achieve product uniformity in drugs and medicines, ensure the purity of food and water, protect the environment, measure and test the structural integrity of many different materials, and much more. In addition to products, the company provides consumables and services. The division sells to traditional analytical instruments and life sciences markets. The acquisition will complement EGG's Instruments and Life Sciences product offerings and extend and strengthen EGG presence in such areas as pharmaceuticals and food (bacteria) screening. Ownership of the brandname Perkin-Elmer will be transferred to EGG. Under EGG's leadership, Perkin-Elmer Analytical Instruments, which holds strong positions in the majority of its major product lines, will receive the resources needed to increase its market presence and to accelerate new-product development. Perkin-Elmer has pioneered the commercial specialty development of many analytical techniques over the last 50 years, establishing a reputation for high-quality analytical instruments. Headquartered in Connecticut, its Analytical Instruments division has an employee base of 3,100 and has a sales presence in over 100 countries. EGG has completed several other recent transactions, such as the $250 million acquisition of Lumen Technologies and the purchase of Life Science Resources Limited, which have added critical mass and technologies in the optoelectronics and life sciences markets. Forward-Looking Information and Factors Affecting Future Performance This press release contains forward-looking statements. For this purpose, any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as believes, anticipates, plans, expects, will and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the results of EGG to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, including among others, the factors set forth in Exhibit 99.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 25, 1999, which Exhibit 99.1 is incorporated by reference in this press release. EGG, Inc. is a global technology company that provides products and systems to medical, telecom, aerospace, semiconductor, photographic and other
Italian general strike
As some 11 million Italian trade unionists go head-to-head with the rightist Berlusconi government in the first general strike that country has seen for 20 years, LabourStart is pleased to announce that we've launched a special page with full coverage of the strike, here: http://www.labourstart.org/italy/ Check this page regularly for continuous updates. Eric Lee --- LabourStart: http://www.labourstart.org ---
Re: Re: Argentina, Australia and Canada
Grant Lee wrote: Louis, I'm sorry you feel that way. I took your reference to Lenin meant that you favoured the national front tactics of the early 1920s, which did involve bourgeois nationalists (in dependent countries). This only confuses things further. Lenin advocated support for nationalist movements as a means to an end: communism. This becomes clearer when you read his article on ultraleftism, which urges support for social democrats in terms of the way a rope supports a hanging man. I suggest nearly all of the world remains under the control of imperialism in the sense in which you use the word. This dissolves the concrete into the universal. If imperialism is the latest stage of capitalism, then of course it exists everywhere. However, we need to be able to distinguish between exploiter and exploited. For example, as I understand it, Michael Perelman is working on a book that will look at ecological imperialism. When Bolivian peasants were being forced to pay for water, it was a multinational corporation that was doing the charging. Bolivian corporations do not generally come to places like the USA and Australia to seize control of natural resources, do they? In 1900, Australia had a much higher standard of living relative to the rest of the world --- in fact probably the highest --- when it was officially six British colonies and dominated by British finance capital. The standard of living has declined significantly since then. I am puzzled. I just posted the UN data that indicated that Australia ranks SECOND in the world in terms of standard of living indicators. What kind of drop is this supposed to be then? Argentina ranked among the top nations in the world in the early 1900s but ranked SEVENTY-FIFTH in 2001. It has probably dropped lower. That is what we are dealing with, isn't it? What would the highest stage of colonialism/imperialism mean if not direct rule for the purposes of economic exploitation? (Exploitation being inherent in all capitalist relations of production.) Lenin spoke in terms of super-profits. In third world countries, you have a reserve army of the unemployed and repression against trade unionists and the left. This leads to maquiladoras and all the rest. If Guatemalan multinationals were coming to Canada in order to pay the natives 3 dollars a day to sew dresses for K-Mart, we'd be entitled to speak about all capitalist relations of production being generalized or some such thing. This does not happen, however. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
Binary scheme of democracy and centralism
Binary scheme of democracy and centralism by miychi 15 April 2002 21:34 UTC 1.Binary scheme of democracy and centralism Charles: As Lenin was a dialectician, we can be sure that these opposites are to be treated in both their unity and opposition, as you do below. Basically it is a way of relating the masses and their leaders for struggle and for long term operation of the country. ^^^ a correct reading of Lenin $B!G (Js work makes clear that Lenin never made a binary scheme of democracy and centralism. Lenin speaks about centralization of leadership by the party, decentralization of responsibility to the local sections, and obligation of regular reporting and publicizing within the party as condition to realize them, and centralization of secret function and specification other functions of movement. as for democracy-inner-party democracy, he regards it as a condition to realize centralization of leadership and decentralization of responsibility to local sections, in other words, as a historical concrete or a variable form. ^^^ CB: Definitely, democratic centralism is to be treated in a historically concrete manner. Thus, the unity of democracy and centralism in the Venezuelan Bolivarian movement is unique. What do you think of the operation of the principle of democratic centralism in Venezuela as we have learned of the events there ? ^
Binary scheme of democracy and centralism
Binary scheme of democracy and centralism by Sabri Oncu 16 April 2002 04:49 UTC They were the ones who possessed the centralized power. They are not gone because we, who worked under them, way below the corporate hierarchy, ^^^ CB: Is this corporate hierarchy a bureaucracy too ? ^ had no means to say: Fuck you! When you sign up for a financial corporation, or any corporation for that matter, you accept the hierarchy that comes with it and know that you need to give them a 15 day notice before you leave but they can get rid of you any time of their choosing.
Bureaucracy (speculative rant alert)
Bureaucracy (speculative rant alert) by Devine, James 15 April 2002 21:33 UTC In leftist theory, democratic centralism refers to the organization of the revolutionary political party. The theory says that when a party's membership decides on a policy (a line, a program) it is binding on members of that party, including its leadership. Though they may disagree with it at party forums, they should not do so openly, when non-party people are around. ^ CB: By and large, we can be more specific than leftist theory , and attribute democratic centralism to Leninist theory. On the other hand, Lenin's theory of democratic centralism can be generalized beyond the specific Bolshevik situation as a way of analyzing and organizing the relationship between the working class masses and its leadership whereever the class struggle is hot, as in Venezuela. Though there are likely organizations in Venezuela that are organized in a democratic centralist way, the mass demonstrations in favor of Chavez don't fit that description unless they are simply as part of a party. It looks to me instead that there's a lot of spontaneity going on. That is, people were demonstrating in favor of Chavez because they liked him, not because they belonged to a party-type organization. The Bolivarist organization did not simply orchestrate the anti-coup movements. (Of course, if my facts are wrong, I'd like to be told.) CB: It is highly unlikely that the response of the overwhelming numbers of workers and of the soldiers who remained loyal to Chavez was essentially spontaneous. It evidenced a high level of consciousness. The organization of the Bolivarists in the poor neighborhoods has been reported for years before these events. This is most likely precisely an example of CONSCIOUS , emergency struggle by masses led by a party as Lenin discusses it in _What is to be done ?_, as opposed to spontaneous struggles such as rebellions/riots in U.S. cities over the last 40 years, and the consciousness demonstrated by the workers and soldiers is most likely the result of prior party work and democratic centralist methods. BTW, in practice, most democratic centralist organizations end up not being democratic. The rank and file end up being manipulated by the central committee or its leader, i.e., end up being passive followers rather than active, democratic, participants. CB: Most ? Do you have stats on this ?This is a standard anti-democratic centralist claim and opinion. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
Re: Bureaucracy (speculative rant alert)
BTW, in practice, most democratic centralist organizations end up not being democratic. The rank and file end up being manipulated by the central committee or its leader, i.e., end up being passive followers rather than active, democratic, participants. CB: Most ? Do you have stats on this ?This is a standard anti-democratic centralist claim and opinion. Standard because historically substantiated, Charles. Democratic centralism leads to bureaucratic centralism and, ultimately, an apparat not unlike a ruling class, whose being (and material interests) is unlike that of its 'constituency' and whose consciousness comes to reflect this. It's a process of substitutionism. First, the party stands for the class on the grounds that those not yet in the party (the vast majority of the class) could not yet be expected to know its own interests (just what you'd expect a middle class intellectual minority to think, I suppose). Then, to disagree with the party (or, rather, what current power relations within the formal party determine) is to be a counter-revolutionary, an enemy of your class. So you're removed. Top-down nonsense like this ain't Marxian revolution at all - not in the medium term anyway. Read Marx on The Paris Commune, mate; it's all about ever revocable delegates from, for, of and by the people. Theory ain't nothin' without social practice (praxis), so the revolutionary engine is the people, not a bunch of abstractly-theorising elitists selflessly throwing pearls before swine. There's much spilled blood in the very guts of the notion, I reckon. Cheers, Rob.
New Welfare Study from EPI
NEW DATA SHOW WELFARE FAILS TO HELP FAMILIES MAKE SUCCESSFUL TRANSITIONS TO WORK FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, April 16 2002 CONTACT: Nancy Coleman or Karen Conner, 202-775-8810 Report available online at http://www.epinet.org From 1997 to 1999, while most of the nation experienced a surge of economic prosperity, one group of Americans was conspicuously absent from the party. Families who moved from welfare to jobs during this period found themselves less able to pay for basic necessities like food, housing, health care, and child care, says a new study released today by the Economic Policy Institute. Former Welfare Families Need More Help, by economist Heather Boushey, paints a picture of the rising hardships suffered by families newly off the welfare rolls and struggling to make a go of it in the low-wage workplace. The report documents the clear need for continued and expanded help from the government in the form of programs such as child care and health care that are essential if welfare families are to make a successful transition to work. The findings of this study support criticisms found in a survey reported in the Washington Post. Governors and welfare directors in 39 states think President Bushs welfare plan is simply not workable because it increases the hours people will be required to work, but cuts federal grants that states use to provide temporary support to transitioning workers in areas like housing and child care. With welfare reform, the government said that the best antipoverty program was a job, said Heather Boushey, author of the study. But welfare reform will ultimately fail if jobs dont offer families a ladder out of poverty. Most former welfare recipients left welfare and went to work. However, the earnings from the types of jobs available to most former welfare recipients continued to leave too many families without adequate and affordable child care, regular and preventive medical care, and affordable housing. Nearly half of the families that recently moved from welfare to full time work faced critical economic hardships like the lack of food, eviction, or the inability to receive needed medical care. * Under welfare reform critical hardships rose 9.3 percent among families that recently left welfare for full-time, full-year employment. * Under welfare reform critical hardships rose 10.1 percent among recent recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)/Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) working part-time. * Recent AFDC/TANF recipients working part-time also experienced an increase in food insecurity, (up 10.5 percent since 1997), and the lack of health insurance increased 8.2 percent. * For families with a full-time worker, the largest increases in hardships overall were found in the inability to pay child care and housing bills. Indeed there is evidence that homelessness has been increasing in some localities. Although child care expenditures have increased on both the federal and state level, only 12 percent of eligible families receive assistance through the Child Care and Development Fund. More than six million children are eligible but not enrolled in the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Immediate steps should be taken to bring eligible families into existing support programs, particularly in light of the Presidents proposals to raise work requirements, said Dr. Boushey. Over the long-term, fundamental reforms should focus on closing the gap between earnings and the costs of basic necessities. Heather Boushey is an economist at EPI and co-author of Hardships in America: The Real Story of Working Families, which examines the true costs of living in every community in America. Former Welfare Families Need More Help is an expansion of that report. The Economic Policy Institute is a non-profit, non-partisan economic think tank founded in 1986. The Institute is located on the web at http://www.epinet.org -30- Economic Policy Institute 1660 L STREET, NW, SUITE 1200 WASHINGTON, DC 20036 202/775-8810 FAX 202/775-0819 www.epinet.org
Re: RE: RE: Fw: Margolis on the tail wagging the dog
I fail to see your point. . Why not criticise the substance instead of the source-- as Jim does? Anyway there is lots of similar stuff from lefties emphasizing the importance of the Israel Lobby. James Petras for example but here is Herman ages ago(in the link below). Herman considers the point Jim brought up re the strategic ally explanation and rejects it for some of the same reasons I allude to in my post. You have some objection to forwarding material from right-wing columnists even if it is more or less correct or even if it is not represents an interesting and reasonably well argued point of view? Why? http://www.zmag.org/Zmag/articles/july94herman.htm Cheers, Ken Hanly - Original Message - From: michael pugliese [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 12:35 AM Subject: [PEN-L:24965] RE: RE: Fw: Margolis on the tail wagging the dog Just a side note...ad hominem! Eric Margolis was one of a zillion Western journalists that trekke to Afghanistan in the 80's to do some Reaganite agit-prop for the anti-Soviet mujahdeen. Wrote a book reprinted after 9-11. If I had time to do a search on Margolis and Hekmatyar, the leader who loved to throw acid in woman's faces, I betcha I'd find some tributes. Forwarding stuff by right-wingers (like another Canadian columnist, whose name escapes me now who was anti-NATO during the anti-Milosevic bombing campaign and had in earlier years done lotsa agit-prop for Jonas Savimbi) is well... Michael Pugliese
FW: AUT: Re: The Coup *Will* be Televised: Hugo Chavez's Downfall and the Venezuelan
--- Original Message --- From: Jon Beasley-Murray [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Louis Proyect [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 4/16/02 12:25:12 AM Louis, I'm sorry that by some freak of internet you only received the last two sentences of the first of two longish texts I sent out yesterday. Thanks to Michael P, readers of aut-op-sy will also think that my commentary on what's been going on in Venezuela is brief indeed. I'll gladly pass on the full texts of both pieces. Take care Jon Jon Beasley-Murray Spanish and Portuguese University of Manchester [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.art.man.ac.uk/spanish/jbm.html http://www.art.man.ac.uk/lacs/ On Mon, 15 Apr 2002, Louis Proyect wrote: On Mon, 15 Apr 2002 15:38:49 -0700, Jon Beasley-Murray wrote: The current regime lacks any legitimacy, however much it may have paraded invented rituals for the cameras, and will survive only through repression or apathy. But the multitude is waiting for other alternatives, and other possibilities The multitude is waiting for other possibilities? This must be a reference to Spinoza-ist communism which will be ushered in by broken Starbucks windows. I would think the one thing that Argentina and Venezuela dramatize is the need for the working-class to organize itself politically as a class in order to create a new STATE that reflects its own needs. Both Venezuela and Argentina are potentially wealthy countries that can provide a level of income and security that are much higher than Cuba's, let alone the average 3rd world country. It continues to amaze me that these silly quasi-anarchist formulas about the multitude have any credibility. With hunger and disease rampant in Argentina, the STATE can deliver food and health care that is urgently needed. By polemicizing against the need for SOCIALISM let alone a left social democratic or populist government in the Chavez or Peron mold, the autonomists reveal themselves to be an anti-working class current. They are for pie in the sky in the future, while people go to sleep hungry today. -- Louis Proyect, [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 04/15/2002 Marxism list: http://www.marxmail.org --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Hugo Chavez's Return and the
Jon Beasley-Murray [EMAIL PROTECTED] Add to People Section To: Louis Proyect [EMAIL PROTECTED], aut-op- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: AUT: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (fwd) -- Forwarded message -- Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 14:42:25 +0100 (BST) From: Jon Beasley-Murray [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Jon Beasley-Murray [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: GARETH X. WILLIAMS [EMAIL PROTECTED], Subject: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised text number two... Jon Beasley-Murray Spanish and Portuguese University of Manchester [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.art.man.ac.uk/spanish/jbm.html http://www.art.man.ac.uk/lacs/ - The Revolution Will Not be Televised: Hugo Chavez's Return and the Venezuelan multitude So this is how a modern coup d'etat is overthrown: almost invisibly, at the margins of the media. Venezuela's return to democracy (and democracy it is, make no mistake) took place despite a self-imposed media blackout of astonishing proportions. A huge popular revolt against an illegitimate regime took place while the country's middle class was watching soap operas and game shows; television networks took notice only in the very final moments, and, even then, only once they were absolutely forced to do so. Thereafter television could do no more than bear mute witness to a series of events almost without precedent in Latin America--and perhaps elsewhere--as a repressive regime, result of a pact between the military and business, was brought down less than forty-eight hours after its initial triumph. These events resist representation and have yet to be turned into narrative or analysis (the day after, the newspapers have simply failed to appear), but they inspire thoughts of new forms of Latin American political legitimacy, of which this revolt may be just one (particularly startling) harbinger. By Friday night, Caracas, Venezuela's capital, seemed to be returning to normal the day after the coup that had brought down the increasingly unpopular regime of president Hugo Chavez. In the middle classes' traditional nightspots, such as the nearby village of El Hatillo, with its picturesque colonial architecture and shops selling traditional handicrafts, the many restaurants were full and lively. Those who had banged on pots and pans over the past few months and marched the previous day to protest against the government seemed to be breathing a sigh of relief that the whole process had eventually been resolved so quickly and apparently so easily. A Step in the Right Direction was the banner headline on the front page of one major newspaper on the Saturday, and the new president, Pedro Carmona (former head of the Venezuelan chamber of commerce), was beginning to name the members of his transitional government, while the first new policies were being announced. Control over the state oil company, PDVSA (the world's largest oil company and Latin America's largest company of any kind), had been central to the ongoing crisis that had led to the coup, and its head of production announced, to much applause, that not one barrel of oil would now be sent to Cuba. Not all was celebration, it is true: the television showed scenes of mourning for the thirteen who had died in the violent end to Thursday's protest march, but the stations also eagerly covered live the police raids (breathless reporters in tow) hunting down the Chavez supporters who were allegedly responsible for these deaths. Elsewhere, however, another story was afoot, the news circulating partially, by word of mouth or mobile phone. Early Saturday afternoon, I received three phone calls in quick succession: one from somebody due to come round to the place I was staying, who called on his mobile to say he was turning back as he had heard there were barricades in the streets and an uprising in a military base; another from a journalist who also cancelled an appointment, and who said that a parachute regiment and a section of the air force had rebelled; a third from a friend who warned there were fire-fights in the city centre, and that a state of siege might soon be imposed. My friend added that none of this would appear on the television. I turned it on: indeed, not a sign. Other friends came by, full of similar rumours, and with word that people were gathering outside the national palace. Given the continued lack of news coverage, we decided to go out and take a look for ourselves. Approaching the city centre, we saw that indeed crowds were converging. But as we drove around, we saw almost no sign of any police or army on the streets. In the centre itself, and at the site of Thursday's disturbances, some improvised barricades had been put up, constructed with piles of rubbish or with burning tyres, marking out the territory around the national palace itself. The demonstration was not large, but it was growing. We then headed towards the city's opulent East Side, and
democratic centralism
[was: RE: [PEN-L:24984] Re: Bureaucracy (speculative rant alert)] Rob writes: Democratic centralism leads to bureaucratic centralism and, ultimately, an apparat not unlike a ruling class, whose being (and material interests) is unlike that of its 'constituency' and whose consciousness comes to reflect this. It's a process of substitutionism. [to bring up a concept that Trotsky used to criticize Lenin in 1905 (?)] First, the party stands for the class on the grounds that those not yet in the party (the vast majority of the class) could not yet be expected to know its own interests (just what you'd expect a middle class intellectual minority to think, I suppose). Then, to disagree with the party (or, rather, what current power relations within the formal party determine) is to be a counter-revolutionary, an enemy of your class. So you're removed. Top-down nonsense like this ain't Marxian revolution at all - not in the medium term anyway. Read Marx on The Paris Commune, mate; it's all about ever revocable delegates from, for, of and by the people. Theory ain't nothin' without social practice (praxis), so the revolutionary engine is the people, not a bunch of abstractly-theorising elitists selflessly throwing pearls before swine. Rob is talking about what democratic centralism usually means _in practice_, while my emphasis is on what it originally meant in _theory_. My reading of history is that there are substitutionist forces in all or almost all organizations, including social democratic and pro-anarchy ones. For example, look how the Blairites took over the Labour party in the UK or how the FAI ran the CNT in Spain during the Civil War. On a more mundane level, it seems like every progressive organization in the U.S. -- including pro-environment organizations -- has been taken over by its national office staff, while its members are bombarded with fund-raising mail all the time and are expected to be passive followers. In sum, substitutionism of the sort that Rob describes is not unique to the tradition that follows Lenin. But, contrary to Trotsky's implications, there is no inevitability of substitutionism -- there is no iron law of oligarchy. If rank and file members of the working class are well organized for their own goals and are concious of their self-organization, that limits the substitutionism by the party. If the party rank and file are well organized, that limits the substitutionism by the central committee or the national office. That is, subsitutionism is a symptom of a social movement's decline. (The rise of Stalinism in the USSR reflected the decline in working-class power after 1917.) Though it can allow that movement's tradition to persist in hard times, usually that tradition is corrupted. The elite then usually fights to prevent the revival of the movement, since that would threaten their power. Instead, the elite wants to act in the movement's name. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
RE: Re: RE: RE: Fw: Margolis on the tail wagging the dog
Ken writes:I fail to see your point. . Why not criticise the substance instead of the source-- as Jim does? Anyway there is lots of similar stuff from lefties emphasizing the importance of the Israel Lobby. James Petras for example but here is Herman ages ago(in the link below). Herman considers the point Jim brought up re the strategic ally explanation and rejects it for some of the same reasons I allude to in my post. You have some objection to forwarding material from right-wing columnists even if it is more or less correct or even if it is not represents an interesting and reasonably well argued point of view? Why? since the New York TIMES, the Wall Street JOURNAL, and most other US news sources are right-wing, to avoid all right-wing sources is to cut off a lot of info. Besides, Margolis might be in the process of moving left, for all we know. Politics are fluid. I don't expect Pat Buchanan to go anywhere but right, but some of the lower-level righties might do so. For example, there's Kevin Phillips, who was shoved to the left by the Ross Perot campaign. (There's also Arianna Huffington, but she's _sui generis_.) JD
RE: Margolis on the tail wagging the dog
Ken writes:Certainly one could expect support for Israel as a strategic ally but how is Israel loyal when it deliberately ignores US presidential demands to withdraw. Israeli actions make a planned attack on Iraq much more difficult--by alienating all of Iraq's neighbours and also threatens stability in places such as Bahrain which are militarily important for the US. I'm not convinced that the US really wants Sharon to pull the troops out. Instead, the US wants to _look like_ it want Sharon to do so. The problem with the Israeli actions that make [the] planned attack on Iraq much more difficult is that it's the nature of international relations (or of imperialism, for you guys) that events can't be predicted. No-one really knew that the Intifada would go the way it did, with people deciding not to give up passively to Israeli domination but to do so explosively. Then, I am sure that a lot of people in Washington DC are extremely sympathetic to Sharon's blitzkrieg. (Colin Powell was sent on a slow boat to the Levant rather than sped into impose his President's Diktat. That's because it wasn't really a Diktat. It was done for show.) Israel is a U.S. ally in the sense that it will never do anything against the U.S. directly and has done stuff in the past such as bombing Iraq. The Mossad works hand in glove with the CIA and seems to do its dirty work sometimes. (The US elite has been willing to forget events such as the bombing of the USS Liberty in 1967. This was at the start of the period when the US/Israel friendship deepened.) Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
PK speaks
April 16, 2002 Losing Latin America By PAUL KRUGMAN Many people, myself included, would agree that Hugo Chávez is not the president Venezuela needs. He happens, however, to be the president Venezuela elected - freely, fairly and constitutionally. That's why all the democratic nations of the Western Hemisphere, however much they may dislike Mr. Chávez, denounced last week's attempted coup against him. All the democratic nations, that is, except one. Here's how the BBC put it: Far from condemning the ouster of a democratically elected president, U.S. officials blamed the crisis on Mr. Chávez himself, and they were clearly pleased with the result - even though the new interim government proceeded to abolish the legislature, the judiciary and the Constitution. They were presumably less pleased when the coup attempt collapsed. The BBC again: President Chávez's comeback has . . . left Washington looking rather stupid. The national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, didn't help that impression when, incredibly, she cautioned the restored president to respect constitutional processes. Surely the worst thing about this episode is the betrayal of our democratic principles; of the people, by the people, for the people isn't supposed to be followed by the words as long as it suits U.S. interests. But even viewed as realpolitik, our benign attitude toward Venezuela's coup was remarkably foolish. It is very much in our interest that Latin America break out of its traditional political cycle, in which crude populism alternated with military dictatorship. Everything that matters to the U.S. - trade, security, drugs, you name it - will be better if we have stable neighbors. But how can such stability be achieved? In the 1990's there seemed, finally, to be a formula; call it the new world order. Economic reform would end the temptations of populism; political reform would end the risk of dictatorship. And in the 1990's, on their own initiative but with encouragement from the United States, most Latin American nations did indeed embark on a dramatic process of reform both economic and political. The actual results have been mixed. On the economic side, where hopes were initially highest, things have not gone too well. There are no economic miracles in Latin America, and there have been some notable disasters, Argentina's crisis being the latest. The best you can say is that some of the disaster victims, notably Mexico, seem to have recovered their balance (with a lot of help, one must say, from the Clinton administration) and moved onto a path of steady, but modest, economic growth. Yet economic disasters have not destabilized the region. Mexico's crisis in 1995, Brazil's crisis in 1999, even Argentina's current crisis did not deliver those countries into the hands either of radicals or of strongmen. The reason is that the political side has gone better than anyone might have expected. Latin America has become a region of democracies - and these democracies seem remarkably robust. So while the U.S. may have hoped for a new Latin stability based on vibrant prosperity, what it actually got was stability despite economic woes, thanks to democracy. Things could be a lot worse. Which brings us to Venezuela. Mr. Chávez is a populist in the traditional mold, and his policies have been incompetent and erratic. Yet he was fairly elected, in a region that has come to understand the importance of democratic legitimacy. What did the United States hope to gain from his overthrow? True, he has spouted a lot of anti-American rhetoric, and been a nuisance to our diplomacy. But he is not a serious threat. Yet there we were, reminding everyone of the bad old days when any would-be right-wing dictator could count on U.S. backing. As it happens, we aligned ourselves with a peculiarly incompetent set of plotters. Mr. Chávez has alienated a broad spectrum of his people; the demonstrations that led to his brief overthrow began with a general strike by the country's unions. But the short-lived coup-installed government included representatives of big business and the wealthy - full stop. No wonder the coup collapsed. But even if the coup had succeeded, our behavior would have been very stupid. We had a good thing going - a new hemispheric atmosphere of trust, based on shared democratic values. How could we so casually throw it away? Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
Re: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Hugo Chavez's Return and the
it will continue to do so. The current regime has legitimacy, but this legitimacy does not come from paraded invented rituals for the cameras; it comes from the multitude's constituent power. And the multitude is also waiting for other alternatives, and other possibilities. This is the same article that was posted yesterday and it generates just as much eyestrain as the day before. Scientific studies conducted at the Institute for Eye, Nose and Ear Research in West Passaic, New Jersey have found that improperly formatted email posts can induce epileptic seizures. Dr. Sidney Weintraub, the director of the Institute, recommends the use of Internet Exporer, Netscape Navigator versions higher than 5.0 or Opera in order to eliminate the dreaded staircase effect. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
RE: Re: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Hugo Chavez's Return and the
oOoPS! ;-) sINCE cHRIS bURFORD and lnp3.exe have requested it, I'll change my e-mailer from this web based webbox.com to the Opera/Eudora mailer. BTW, another Dr. Sidney...this one Sidney Gottlieb at UCLA shot up an elephant with LSD-25. Some people might say he shot me up too? Michael Pugliese --- Original Message --- From: Louis Proyect [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 4/16/02 8:56:26 AM it will continue to do so. The current regime has legitimacy, but this legitimacy does not come from paraded invented rituals for the cameras; it comes from the multitude's constituent power. And the multitude is also waiting for other alternatives, and other possibilities. This is the same article that was posted yesterday and it generates just as much eyestrain as the day before. Scientific studies conducted at the Institute for Eye, Nose and Ear Research in West Passaic, New Jersey have found that improperly formatted email posts can induce epileptic seizures. Dr. Sidney Weintraub, the director of the Institute, recommends the use of Internet Exporer, Netscape Navigator versions higher than 5.0 or Opera in order to eliminate the dreaded staircase effect. Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
rate of return on capital
I am looking for information on the rate of return on capital in developing countries and how it compares to the rate in developed countries. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance, Diane
RE: Re: Bureaucracy (speculative rant alert)
From the Trotsky archive at MIA. ...n the chapter Down With Substitutionism in Party II of the book, Trotsky writes in what could be a description of Stalinism : In the internal politics of the Party these methods lead, as we shall see below, to the Party organisation substituting itself for the Party, the Central Committee substituting itself for the Party organisation, and finally the dictator substituting himself for the Central Committee. M.P. Leon Trotsky Our Political Tasks First published: 1904 as Nashi Politicheskiya Zadachi Translated by: New Park Publications Transcribed by: Andy Lehrer in 1999 for the Trotsky Internet Archive On-Line Edition's Forward by the Transcriber Preface Part I: Introduction: The criteria of Party development and the methods of evaluating it. Part II: Tactical Tasks The content of our activity in the proletariat. Part III: Organisational Questions. Part IV: Jacobinism And Social Democracy On-Line Edition's Forward by the Transcriber Our Political Tasks is Trotskys response to the 1903 split in Russian Social Democracy and a spirited reply to Lenins What Is To Be Done? and One Step Forwards, Two Steps back. A passionate, insightful attack on Lenins theory of party organisation and an outline of Trotskys own views on party structure, this controversial work was later disowned by Trotsky after he joined the Bolsheviks. Though it is far from Trotskys best work on a literary level (the young Trotsky tends to be repetitive, excessively sarcastic, overly verbose and generally in need of a good editor), the work is, nevertheless, a remarkable insight into the young Trotskys thinking and a vibrant expression of his commitment to revolution. It is, at times, hauntingly prophetic in its predictions of where the Leninist conception of democratic centralism may lead. For example, in the chapter Down With Substitutionism in Party II of the book, Trotsky writes in what could be a description of Stalinism : In the internal politics of the Party these methods lead, as we shall see below, to the Party organisation substituting itself for the Party, the Central Committee substituting itself for the Party organisation, and finally the dictator substituting himself for the Central Committee It is very difficult to find an edition of this work in any language, as the books line on the party is not consistent with that of most Trotskyist organisations. Our Political Tasks fell into obscurity after the 1917 Revolution only to be used and misrepresented by Trotskys enemies during the leadership struggle, which followed Lenins death. The book (and, implicitly, the Marxist tradition of spirited debate and critical thought) was used to attack Trotsky for being insufficiently Leninist and to smear him with the accusation of Menshivism, (for an especially viscous example see Stalins1927 speech The Trotskyist Opposition Then and Now). In fact, Our Political Tasks outlines a political position which, while critical of Lenins, is also clearly revolutionary and distinct from what would become Menshevism. This version is based on the English language translation published by New Park Publications in the early 1970s. Spelling and typographical errors have been corrected (and hopefully not replaced with new spelling and typographical errors) and several of the translations more egregious grammatical errors have also been corrected. For another criticism of Lenins position on party organisation from a left wing perspective, see Rosa Luxemburgs Organisational Questions of the Russian Social Democracy later republished as Leninism or Marxism? For Lenins views, see What Is To Be Done? and One Step Forward, Two Steps Back. For Trotskys later views on the 1903 split see chapter 12, The Party Congress and the Split in My Life. --- Original Message --- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 4/17/02 7:08:03 AM BTW, in practice, most democratic centralist organizations end up not being democratic. The rank and file end up being manipulated by the central committee or its leader, i.e., end up being passive followers rather than active, democratic, participants. CB: Most ? Do you have stats on this ?This is a standard anti-democratic centralist claim and opinion. Standard because historically substantiated, Charles. Democratic centralism leads to bureaucratic centralism and, ultimately, an apparat not unlike a ruling class, whose being (and material interests) is unlike that of its 'constituency' and whose consciousness comes to reflect this. It's a process of substitutionism. First, the party stands for the class on the grounds that those not yet in the party (the vast majority of the class) could not yet be expected to know its own interests (just what you'd expect a middle class intellectual minority to think, I suppose). Then, to disagree with the party (or,
Re: rate of return on capital
Diane Monaco wrote: I am looking for information on the rate of return on capital in developing countries and how it compares to the rate in developed countries. Can anyone point me in the right direction? One version of that can be estimated by looking at BEA's direct investment data for the U.S. http://www.bea.gov/bea/di/di1usdop.htm - divide profits by the capital stock. When I've done it, I've been surprised at how low returns are in some developing countries, and how high they are in some developed ones. Doug
Query- Samuelson cite
I'd appreciate any help. I'm traveling and not near a library. Paul Samuelson, conceding in the Cambridge Controversy the economics is not a science, said something like micro is only a parable. But it is a good parable. Does anyone know the cite for that? I think it must have been 1973 or 1972, and I think it was in the QJE. I'm looking for the citation but would be delighted to also get the exact quote. Gene Coyle
Re: Re: rate of return on capital
One version of that can be estimated by looking at BEA's direct investment data for the U.S. http://www.bea.gov/bea/di/di1usdop.htm - divide profits by the capital stock. When I've done it, I've been surprised at how low returns are in some developing countries, and how high they are in some developed ones. Doug We have to be careful not to draw the conclusion, however, that workers in Europe are more exploited than they are in Africa based on this formula. The rate of profit is only one indicator that has to be factored in when evaluating the level of exploitation in one country or another. For example, a highly mechanized factory in France owned by some electronics multinational might generate a higher rate of return than a cocoa plantation on the Ivory Coast. But so what? Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
dem. cent. Venezuela
[was: RE: [PEN-L:24983] Bureaucracy (speculative rant alert)] I wrote: In leftist theory, democratic centralism refers to the organization of the revolutionary political party. The theory says that when a party's membership decides on a policy (a line, a program) it is binding on members of that party, including its leadership. Though they may disagree with it at party forums, they should not do so openly, when non-party people are around. CB:By and large, we can be more specific than leftist theory , and attribute democratic centralism to Leninist theory. It's from Lenin, but much of what's been written on democratic centralism comes from his epigones (Stalinists, Trotskyists, etc.), who are within the broad tradition of Marxism. A lot of it also came from Kautsky, from whom Lenin learned his stuff (see WHAT IS TO BE DONE?) The phrase Leninist theory is quite ambiguous since it is a contested theory (even more than Marxist theory), with Lenin's epigones fighting over it. Even Lenin himself did not follow a consistent theory all through his career (see, for example, Tony Cliff's multi-volume book on Lenin). It's unclear that such a dynamically changing vision can or should be distilled into an ism. In retrospect, it was a major mistake by 20th century revolutionary leftists to attach too much prestige to any single individual, including Lenin. (It was probably a mistake to do this to Marx, too. The poor old guy must roll in his grave every time his name is invoked.) CB: On the other hand, Lenin's theory of democratic centralism can be generalized beyond the specific Bolshevik situation as a way of analyzing and organizing the relationship between the working class masses and its leadership whereever the class struggle is hot, as in Venezuela. Democratic centralism has always referred to a mode of party organization, not to a mode of analysis. You can stretch the meaning of this phrase if you want to (as academics so often do), but it makes it incoherent to me and to most other people. Though there are likely organizations in Venezuela that are organized in a democratic centralist way, the mass demonstrations in favor of Chavez don't fit that description unless they are simply as part of a party. It looks to me instead that there's a lot of spontaneity going on. That is, people were demonstrating in favor of Chavez because they liked him, not because they belonged to a party-type organization. The Bolivarist organization did not simply orchestrate the anti-coup movements. (Of course, if my facts are wrong, I'd like to be told.) CB: It is highly unlikely that the response of the overwhelming numbers of workers and of the soldiers who remained loyal to Chavez was essentially spontaneous. It evidenced a high level of consciousness. I didn't say politically unconcious. In fact, I put the word spontaneity in quotes for a reason, because spontaneity is a vague and confusing concept. Rather, what I was saying was that much of the opposition to the coup came _from below_ (based on the short- and long-term class and national interests of those participating) rather than being orchestrated by the Bolivarist or any other organization. CB:The organization of the Bolivarists in the poor neighborhoods has been reported for years before these events. This is most likely precisely an example of CONSCIOUS , emergency struggle by masses led by a party as Lenin discusses it in _What is to be done ?_, as opposed to spontaneous struggles such as rebellions/riots in U.S. cities over the last 40 years, and the consciousness demonstrated by the workers and soldiers is most likely the result of prior party work and democratic centralist methods. It's important to remember that the Bolivarist movement did not spring full-blown from the head of Chavez. It also is part of the movement _from below_ mentioned above and discussed below. It did do a lot of organizing work. But we should also remember that most Latin American countries have not undergone the kind of sometimes-deliberate atomization that the U.S. African-American community has. (Here in L.A., it seems that wherever there was a prosperous middle-class black neighborhood, a freeway would be built or there'd be urban renewal of some other sort.) That is, there were strong kinship, religious, and community networks that existed before the Bolivarists came along. BTW, in practice, most democratic centralist organizations end up not being democratic. The rank and file end up being manipulated by the central committee or its leader, i.e., end up being passive followers rather than active, democratic, participants. CB: Most ? Do you have stats on this ?This is a standard anti-democratic centralist claim and opinion. it is also an accurate description of the vast majority of so-called Leninist (Stalinist and Trotskyist) party organizations _in practice_ -- and also applies to social democratic and a lot of other types of political groups. No I
Bureaucracy (speculative rant alert)
Bureaucracy (speculative rant alert) by bantam 16 April 2002 15:13 UTC BTW, in practice, most democratic centralist organizations end up not being democratic. The rank and file end up being manipulated by the central committee or its leader, i.e., end up being passive followers rather than active, democratic, participants. CB: Most ? Do you have stats on this ?This is a standard anti-democratic centralist claim and opinion. Standard because historically substantiated, Charles. ^^^ CB: I don't see any historical substantiation adduced here. So, I assert the opposite. It is a historical distortion. What is democracy , Rob ? ^ Democratic centralism leads to bureaucratic centralism CB: What's bureaucratic centralism ? Bureaucracy has been historically substantiated to be a muddle headed concept. What concept are you putting forth in bureaucracy that is not already in centralism ? You must be mean more centralized than you prefer. However, you are just asserting these. You haven't demonstrated that a good balance between democracy and centralism has not been maintained in many parties aspiring to democratic centralism. and, ultimately, an apparat not unlike a ruling class, whose being (and material interests) is unlike that of its 'constituency' and whose consciousness comes to reflect this. It's a process of substitutionism. First, the party stands for the class on the grounds that those not yet in the party (the vast majority of the class) could not yet be expected to know its own interests (just what you'd expect a middle class intellectual minority to think, I suppose). Then, to disagree with the party (or, rather, what current power relations within the formal party determine) is to be a counter-revolutionary, an enemy of your class. So you're removed. Top-down nonsense like this ain't Marxian revolution at all - not in the medium term anyway. Read Marx on The Paris Commune, mate; ^^^ CB: I already did. Read Lenin on Marx on these issues. ^^^ it's all about ever revocable delegates from, for, of and by the people. Theory ain't nothin' without social practice (praxis), so the revolutionary engine is the people, not a bunch of abstractly-theorising elitists selflessly throwing pearls before swine. CB: This sounds more like intellectual email lists and universities than historically existent democratic centralist parties, which parties have been a lot more in touch with masses of people ( like in Venezuela !) than said email lists and universities. You really kid yourself when you claim that Communist Parties have not been in close conection with masses. As if Nazism or U.S. Nazism in Vietnam could have been defeated with the Parties detached from the masses. ^ There's much spilled blood in the very guts of the notion, I reckon. Cheers, Rob.
ICDSM-Ireland - Solidarity with people of Palestine
Display all headers Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2002 12:54:51 -0700 From: jane kelly [EMAIL PROTECTED] To:[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], cp-of- [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], right- [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], liberez- [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [right-left] ICDSM-Ireland - Solidarity with people of Palestine PRESS RELEASE - OPEN LETTER To Media - Politicians and to Friends CDSM-IRELAND - SOLIDARITY WITH PEOPLE OF PALESTINE John Kelly Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic Ireland E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Fax/phone - +044 45787 14.4.2002 DISTURBING THE PEACE - The Israeli army could learn from the way the German troops operated in the Warsaw Ghetto. These are the words of an Israeli General Staff commander quoted in the Israeli press . Haaretz April 1 2002. Here is acknowledgement of rampant militarism as essentially fascistic be it then as in the days of the second world war or now in the era of the New World Order. The events of September 11 furnished an altogether too perfect rationale, some might say cover, for Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory and the subsequent slaughter or forcible expulsion of Palestinian people. State terrorism by Israeli forces to effect the seizure of land with the obvious agenda being Israeli expansionism. A process aided and abetted hugely from Washington. In recent years the Pentagon has shipped to Tel Aviv on behalf of its Israeli protectorate, strategically located to police the oil rich states of the Middle East, military hardware in the form of helicopters and assorted missiles capable of mass destruction amounting to an approximate value of at least three billion dollars. Media coverage of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people consistently omits facts of this kind related to Israels tremendous preponderance of destructive weaponry contrasted with the slingshot like situation of the Palestinian respondents to Israeli onslaught. Consider if you will the text of an interview conducted by David Hanly a presenter with Irelands national broadcasting service RTEs Morning Ireland radio programme Friday April 12th 2002. Hanly is speaking to Mary Kelly a nurse from Cork in Ireland who is currently located in Nablus Palestine where she has placed her own life on the line as a peace activist and nurse amongst Palestinians in crisis. Bias and lack of balance characterize this exceptionally patronizing supposed interview which by implication is supportive of the acts of State terrorism by Israel in contravention of mandated international laws and most especially in violation of the Geneva Convention. Hanly is sycophantically adherent to the party line when he omits mention of Israeli military supremacy choosing instead to project into the public domain allegations as to Palestinians secreting arms in ambulances entering into Palestinian refugee camps. Mary Kelly quite correctly calls on Hanly to provide the source of his information. - TEXT OF INTERVIEW WITH MARY KELLY BY RTES DAVID HANLY - 12.4.2002 : David Hanly (DH) Well go to the middle east now to the Middle East now Specifically the town of Nablus, a town of 180 000 people which was invaded by Israeli forces a week ago. Mary Kelly is working with the Red Crescent in the town, Mary Kelly good morning to you Mary Kelly(MK) Good morning. DH Tell us about your daily life. MK Ive been in Nablus here for three days. It was very difficult to get into the town because there was many checkpoints so we ended up coming over the mountains doing a journey of four hours. And the first place we came to was the hospital, Rafidia hospital and thats the place Ive been mostly based since Ive been here. The first thing I want to say is that I want to appeal all the medical people in Ireland to please protest about the fact that were not allowed to bring medical aid to the people here. There is a complete crisis in this hospital. The Israeli government actually agreed that oxygen could be brought into the hospital for emergency surgery, but now theyve reneged on that. The oxygen is being held up at the checkpoints. Thats the first appeal I want to make today because the situation is very serious. Also the fact that daily our ambulances are being shot at and this is totally in contravention of everything that medicine is upposed to be about. Ambulances are supposed to have safe passage. But I mean Ive been out on the ambulance several times. We get constantly held up by tanks. Made get down from the ambulances. The drivers are forced to strip to show theyve no weapons.
RE: ICDSM-Ireland - Solidarity with people of Palestine
[right-left] ICDSM-Ireland - Solidarity with people of Palestine PRESS RELEASE - OPEN LETTER To Media - Politicians and to Friends CDSM-IRELAND - SOLIDARITY WITH PEOPLE OF PALESTINE John Kelly Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic Ireland at this point I had to ask myself why I should read any further. -- mbs
dem. cent. Venezuela
dem. cent. Venezuela by Devine, James 16 April 2002 18:33 UTC Thread Index [was: RE: [PEN-L:24983] Bureaucracy (speculative rant alert)] I wrote: In leftist theory, democratic centralism refers to the organization of the revolutionary political party. The theory says that when a party's membership decides on a policy (a line, a program) it is binding on members of that party, including its leadership. Though they may disagree with it at party forums, they should not do so openly, when non-party people are around. CB:By and large, we can be more specific than leftist theory , and attribute democratic centralism to Leninist theory. It's from Lenin, but much of what's been written on democratic centralism comes from his epigones (Stalinists, Trotskyists, etc.), who are within the broad tradition of Marxism. A lot of it also came from Kautsky, from whom Lenin learned his stuff (see WHAT IS TO BE DONE?) CB: Epigones are ? Are followers of Hal Draper his epigones ? ^ The phrase Leninist theory is quite ambiguous since it is a contested theory (even more than Marxist theory), with Lenin's epigones fighting over it. Even Lenin himself did not follow a consistent theory all through his career (see, for example, Tony Cliff's multi-volume book on Lenin). It's unclear that such a dynamically changing vision can or should be distilled into an ism. CB: It wasn't so ambiguous to Lenin that it prevented him from taking definite and effective action. This is a key principle of both Marx and Lenin: not to get caught up in academic style ambiguities so as to fail to unite theory with action. Actually, compared with most other theories in this area, Lenin's is relatively unambiguous. And certainly in the spirit of Leninism, it would be out of character to emphasize any ambiguities so as to reach the conclusion that there is just too much uncertainty about Lenin's ideas and theory that it cannot serve as a guide to our action. The development in Lenin's thinking might be your overlooking that he is very concrete, so as things develop , he develops. In retrospect, it was a major mistake by 20th century revolutionary leftists to attach too much prestige to any single individual, including Lenin. (It was probably a mistake to do this to Marx, too. The poor old guy must roll in his grave every time his name is invoked.) ^ CB: I don't see any proof put forth here to support the proposition that Lenin shouldn't have the prestige he has. I very much doubt that Marx would be upset that he has had so much influence after his death if he could know it. He certainly spent a lot of time developing a very distinct point of view, and he was very picky about criticizing pretty much everybody else except Engels. So, the modesty you suggest doesn't immediately square with much of his style and personality. ^ CB: On the other hand, Lenin's theory of democratic centralism can be generalized beyond the specific Bolshevik situation as a way of analyzing and organizing the relationship between the working class masses and its leadership whereever the class struggle is hot, as in Venezuela. Democratic centralism has always referred to a mode of party organization, not to a mode of analysis. You can stretch the meaning of this phrase if you want to (as academics so often do), but it makes it incoherent to me and to most other people. CB: A key thing about the Party and party democracy ( the democratic in democratic centralism) is that it be closely connected with the masses. You can't be democratic if you are not connected to the masses. The democratic in democratic centralism must be the extensive connections between the masses and its leaders in the Party. It's incoherent to you because you have an idea that practictioners of it have not been connected to the masses. If you don't get the emphasis on connection between the party and the masses, then you don't understand the democratic in democratic centralist theory. Though there are likely organizations in Venezuela that are organized in a democratic centralist way, the mass demonstrations in favor of Chavez don't fit that description unless they are simply as part of a party. It looks to me instead that there's a lot of spontaneity going on. That is, people were demonstrating in favor of Chavez because they liked him, not because they belonged to a party-type organization. The Bolivarist organization did not simply orchestrate the anti-coup movements. (Of course, if my facts are wrong, I'd like to be told.) CB: It is highly unlikely that the response of the overwhelming numbers of workers and of the soldiers who remained loyal to Chavez was essentially spontaneous. It evidenced a high level of consciousness. I didn't say politically unconcious. In fact, I put the word spontaneity in quotes for a reason, because spontaneity is a vague
BLS Daily Report
RELEASED TODAY: The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.6 percent in March, before seasonal adjustment, to a level of 178.8 (1982-84=100), the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. For the 12-month period ended in March, the CPI-U increased 1.5 percent. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) also increased 0.6 percent in March, prior to seasonal adjustment. The March level of 174.7 was 1.2 percent higher than the index in March 2001. RELEASED TODAY: Real average weekly earnings were about unchanged from February to March after seasonal adjustment, according to preliminary data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A 0.3 percent increase in average hourly earnings was offset by a 0.3 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Average weekly hours were unchanged. Lingering weakness in the U.S. labor market makes it unlikely that private industry employers will feel pressured to boost workers' annual wages by more than about 3.5 percent over the remainder of this year, according to new Wage Trend Indicator figures released April 16 by BNADesigned as a leading indicator of private industry wage trends, the WTI predicts turning points six to seven months in advance of when they are evident in the government's employment cost index. Compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ECI is the government's broadest measure of compensation. BLS is scheduled to release first quarter ECI figures on April 25 ( Daily Labor Report, page D-1). DUE OUT TOMORROW: Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers: First Quarter 2002 application/ms-tnef
Re: Binary scheme of democracy and centralism
CB: Is this corporate hierarchy a bureaucracy too ? Sure Charles. This one is bureaucracy at its worst. Do you have any doubts? If you do, I strongly recommend that you seek employment with, say, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Barclays Global Investors, Merrill Lynch Investment Management, Putnam Investment Management, PIMCO and the like. Just try it, if you get the job, you will see what I mean. Sabri P.S: We are talking about organizational forms, Charles. This has nothing to do with the objectives of the organizations, however well/bad meaning they may be. There is an interesting book by Oliver Williamson that I bought a while ago but have not read yet. It is entitled something like Institutions of Capitalism or some such name. He is the founder of this transaction costs economics and will most likely receive a Noble Prize in the next few years. I met him a few times in some social gatherings as a matter of coincidence and had a chance to chat with him on the topic, although I must confess what he explained was way above my head. Read it, and if I understood anything from Oliver, you will see that Gunder Frank is right in that, Oliver doesn't know how Marxist he is.
Re: Difference between corporations and party responsibility
Miyachi wrote: Thank you for your reply As for decentralized responsibility, party cell duty is regular report to central committee and maintain party's program. If he has not ability to this duty, simply he must give up, or choose to change his duty. Here no command exists. Only member's will and passion is required. In a sense This type of organization is network-type like Al-Qaeda. On the contrary, for example, in US financial corporations as you, You may decision business yourself, but you must seek profit in decentralized responsibility. If you fail to raise profit, you fire. It is the difference between party and corporation. I am not sure if there is a serious difference between party and corporation, except from the objectives. Both are organizations with objectives. If in a democratically centralized party, that is, in a party where leadership is centralized whereas responsibility is decentralized, what is required is only the member's will and passion, and there is no command, why do we need leaders, or a program? Will and passion would suffice, wouldn't they? Also, how are we going to decide whose duty is what and whether a person has the ability to perform his/her duty? I think these are important questions to discuss. Thanks Miyachi for your contributions, Sabri P.S: I am against commands of any kind, by the way. Just say please, please.
Millions on Strike in Italy
Millions on Strike in Italy Tue Apr 16, 6:39 PM ET By CANDICE HUGHES, Associated Press Writer ROME (AP) - Millions of Italians staged the biggest strike in decades Tuesday to protest the government's plans to make it easier to fire workers. Airports were almost deserted, few trains were running, and banks, schools and post offices were closed. Workers by the thousands gathered in piazzas throughout the country for mostly festive rallies headed by union leaders and center-left politicians and sprinkled with celebrities supporting the general strike. In Rome, Oscar-winner Roberto Benigni, of Life is Beautiful fame, brightened up a huge demonstration in the Piazza di Popolo. It's a grand demonstration, he said as the crowd roared its approval. Everything is beautiful. In Bologna, demonstrators danced to the music of rock bands. It's the joy of being united, explained Matteo Pallacani, a 22-year-old draped in a scarlet Che Guevara flag and wraparound sunglasses despite a pouring rain. The strike did not bring Italy to a standstill, but it slowed it down considerably. Hospitals were providing emergency services only and many factories stayed off the job. Fiat Group said nearly half its workers took part; unions claimed it was 90 percent. About half the usual number of passenger trains were operating, said state railway spokesman Carmine Amodeo. Many people knew of the strike beforehand so they avoided being stranded at stations, he added. Many foreign carriers, including British Airways, Iberia and Lufthansa, canceled flights; Alitalia, the national airline, scratched more than two-thirds of its flights by midday, said a spokeswoman. At Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport, international check-in counters were almost deserted. Milan's two airports, Malpensa and Linate, were also at a virtual standstill, said Claudio Bianco, head of the Malpensa-Linate press office. The strike, organized by Italy's top three unions CGIL, CISL and UIL, is labor's response to conservative Premier Silvio Berlusconi's vow to reform Italian labor laws, some of the most restrictive in Europe. CGIL spokesman Alessandro Valentini said participation was very high even in the more conservative north. In many factories, virtually all workers had put down their tools, he said. Talks with unions that the conservative government had hoped would avert the strike broke down last month. Tensions were aggravated by the slaying of one of the architects of labor reform amid suggestions from Berlusconi's circle that unions fostered a charged atmosphere that contributed to the crime. The killing was claimed by the leftist Red Brigades terrorist group. The main impasse is over a reform that would eliminate rules requiring employers to take back workers found to have been fired for unjust causes. Employers complain those rules hamper their ability to get rid of unneeded workers. Under the proposed reform, employers would have to pay the workers compensation but not take them back. The government insists the reforms are necessary to make the Italian economy more competitive and attract foreign investment. The unions say the reforms will cost dearly in hard-won job security, widen the gap between rich and poor and undermine Italy's social stability.
Request for help
Friends, There is a news piece at ntvmsnbc. It is here: http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/146569.asp The piece is in Turkish. That means, unless you know Turkish, you will not understand what the hell this piece is about. Believe me, it is a good article about Venzuela, USA and the coup. Among other things, it claims that the lectures from the US about fredoom and demcoracy are garbage (hey, I am being polite here). If you scroll down the above quoted page, you will see someting like this: --- NTVMSNBC KULLANICILARININ TOP 10'u Bu haberi di?er okuyucular?m?za tavsiye eder misiniz? hay?r 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 kesinlikle - When there, just click on 7 please. This is a voting mechanism to determine the TOP 10 list of articles read from ntvmsnbc, which gets read by a decent number of people. Give your helping hand to this poor friend from Turkey please, Sabri P.S: As you can see, living in Berkeley is a wonderful thing. You get to learn a few tricks from the local pan-handlers.
Re: The exchange value of currencies
Not at all, Chris. Exchange value of currencies does not belong to any Marxist theory, as Marx believed in a gold currency for ever. Actually, exchange value of currencies depends on the sign of the balances of trade, with a reversion of the law when the currency of world system's metropolis has been imposed as the common currency, like today's dollar. And this is completely out of Marxist theories. RK - Original Message - From: Chris Burford [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 12:50 AM Subject: [PEN-L:25010] The exchange value of currencies The organic composition of capital is the measure of the exchange value of currencies. Is this a correct application of marxism? Chris Burford
Re: Difference between corporations and party responsibility
On another note, what happens if there are more than one democratically centralized parties, each claiming to be the vanguard of the working and allied classes? Which one gets to lead the revolution? Sabri P.S: I lost the count of such vanguard parties in Turkey. There are way too many.
RE: Re: The exchange value of currencies
Romain writes:... Exchange value of currencies does not belong to any Marxist theory, as Marx believed in a gold currency for ever. It's more accurate to say that Marx _assumed_ that gold was the international currency, since he hadn't thought of a world dominated by a single hegemon that could impose its fiat money on the world the way the US did. (Contrary to myth, Marx was no seer.) Some later Marxists made the gold standard a dogma, though. Given the gold standard, Marx's theory did have a role for exchange rates. Somewhere in volume III of CAPITAL, he wrote that if too much fiat money was produced, the exchange rate between it and gold would fall (so that it would lose value relative to gold). (This is hardly controversial, by the way.) Actually, exchange value of currencies depends on the sign of the balances of trade, with a reversion of the law when the currency of world system's metropolis has been imposed as the common currency, like today's dollar. And this is completely out of Marxist theories. to say that the dollar standard is completely out of the Marxist theories is to assume that there's nothing to Marxist theory but quotes from old books and dogma. I believe that this assumption is wrong, that the basic concepts from Marx (which do NOT include the gold standard) can be applied to new situations and new theories. -- Jim Devine
RE: Re: Difference between corporations and party responsibility
Sabri Oncu writes: On another note, what happens if there are more than one democratically centralized parties, each claiming to be the vanguard of the working and allied classes? Which one gets to lead the revolution? the one that's correctly following Lenin. It should be obvious, comrade! JD
The exchange value of currencies
The organic composition of capital is the measure of the exchange value of currencies. Is this a correct application of marxism? Chris Burford
RE: Re: Binary scheme of democracy and centralism
Sabri writes:There is an interesting book by Oliver Williamson that I bought a while ago but have not read yet. It is entitled something like Institutions of Capitalism or some such name. He is the founder of this transaction costs economics and will most likely receive a Noble [sic!] Prize in the next few years. I met him a few times in some social gatherings as a matter of coincidence and had a chance to chat with him on the topic, although I must confess what he explained was way above my head. Read it, and if I understood anything from Oliver, you will see that Gunder Frank is right in that, Oliver doesn't know how Marxist he is. My impression is that Williamson studies non-market institutions in order to show that corporate hierarchies are a good thing. One of his arguments is that other forms of organization lack the single-mindedness of a corporation (referring to the profit-seeking lust that they have). When I read his stuff years ago -- in preparing an article that Michael Reich and I got published in the REVIEW OF RADICAL POLTIICAL ECONOMICS -- I concluded that there was a basic conflict between capitalists and workers at the center of his theory. Capitalists were striving to attain the collective good for all that worked for the corporation, while disgruntled workers were mere free riders, undermining the collective good. But maybe I mushed his views up with some of the other orthodox authors. JD
Re: rate of return on capital
One reason why some developing countries are reported to offer high rates of return (in the popular press) is simply outside and inside manipulation of their equities markets. I've seen this time and again when the venture banks latch onto a flavor of the month market and hype it. In 1996 I kept getting phone calls from a bunch in the Philippines with promising market sector and key company picks. I didn't bite. Up until 1997, wasn't that the Asian miracle. All that capital getting high rates of return for doing nothing much of anything. Charles Jannuzi
Re: New Welfare Study from EPI
NEW DATA SHOW WELFARE FAILS TO HELP FAMILIES MAKE SUCCESSFUL TRANSITIONS TO WORK Wouldn't a more accurate title say how welfare REFORM--you know, the new new welfare for the new new economy-- fails to help, and then there is the issue of so many jobs not providing a living wage. Anyway, the title reads like another conservative rant against welfare. C. Jannuzi
Murdoch Launches New China Channel
The Financial Express March 30, 2002 News Corp's Star TV Switches On New China Channel Beijing, March 29: The Asian satellite TV unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, Star TV, has begun transmitting a new channel made for China in the affluent southern province of Guangdong, a company official said on Friday. News Corp spokesman Wang Yukui said the channel, called Xingkong Weishi, began transmission on Thursday, and is available via cable to about a million homes. It is one of three foreign-owned channels that won permission late last year to be aired in ordinary Chinese homes in a series of deals showing China's willingness to slowly open up its broadcast media. While most foreign media giants looking for ways to profit from China's fast-growing media market are likely remain confined to supplying programmes, Star and two other foreign channels will be able to tap potentially lucrative advertising revenues. AOL Time Warner Inc's Hong Kong-based CETV channel and HongKong's Phoenix Satellite TV -- 28 per cent owned by News Corp -- also won airing rights in Guangdong last year, making the province a test-bed for foreign programming. Before they were given those rights, foreign broadcasters were allowed to broadcast only to hotels above three stars and to foreigner-approved residences. Analysts say Beijing is loathe to yield its grip on the media in the sensitive run-up to a leadership reshuffle later this year and during China' s first year in the World Trade Organisation. Packed with game shows, a situation comedy and a dance show mostly produced in China, Xingkong Weishi will be shown in many homes in Guangdong hooked up to cable, Mr Wang of News Corp said in Beijing. Of course we hope that more people can watch this channel. But that would require further agreements, he said. Mr James Murdoch, son of Mr Rupert Murdoch and chairman and chief executive of Hong Kong-based Star Group, attended a launch party for the new channel in Guangzhou on Thursday night, Mr Wang said. - Reuters © 2002: Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. All rights reserved throughout the world.
Re: Request for help
Sabri, I clicked on 7 but I didn't give them my credit card #. Gene Sabri Oncu wrote: Friends, There is a news piece at ntvmsnbc. It is here: http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/146569.asp The piece is in Turkish. That means, unless you know Turkish, you will not understand what the hell this piece is about. Believe me, it is a good article about Venzuela, USA and the coup. Among other things, it claims that the lectures from the US about fredoom and demcoracy are garbage (hey, I am being polite here). If you scroll down the above quoted page, you will see someting like this: --- NTVMSNBC KULLANICILARININ TOP 10'u Bu haberi di?er okuyucular?m?za tavsiye eder misiniz? hay?r 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 kesinlikle - When there, just click on 7 please. This is a voting mechanism to determine the TOP 10 list of articles read from ntvmsnbc, which gets read by a decent number of people. Give your helping hand to this poor friend from Turkey please, Sabri P.S: As you can see, living in Berkeley is a wonderful thing. You get to learn a few tricks from the local pan-handlers.
Re: RE: Re: Binary scheme of democracy and centralism
You are absolutely correct. Devine, James wrote: My impression is that Williamson studies non-market institutions in order to show that corporate hierarchies are a good thing. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Request for help
Sabri, I clicked on 7 but I didn't give them my credit card #. Gene Thanks, It is okay. When you came to Berkeley, you can buy me a beer or two, as our Vietnam vets say here. By the way, I was serious with my this request. The article I mentioned is unusual for MSNBC in the sense that it is against the current, that is, defying the correct line. I was quite surprised to see an article like that there. Apparently, its author remembered his college days, when he was out in the streets in the 1970s, protesting against the US imperialism. Best, Sabri
Re: Binary scheme of democracy and centralism
Michael writes: You are absolutely correct. Devine, James wrote: My impression is that Williamson studies non-market institutions in order to show that corporate hierarchies are a good thing. I don't know whether he studies market or non-market institutions but other than that what Jim said was more or less what he told me or what I recall from the things he told me: hierarchical and/or centralized forms of governance for the institutions of capitalism are/can be better than other organizational forms. Moreover, he had no urge to make use of the word democracy as he was making his claims. As I heard many times in the business world: We are a business, we are not a democracy! Here is another one: We are not in the business of doing good. We do business and good comes out of it! More or less, that is, as far as I recall. Sabri
Re: Re: Binary scheme of democracy and centralism
- Original Message - From: Sabri Oncu [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PEN-L [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 8:30 PM Subject: [PEN-L:25023] Re: Binary scheme of democracy and centralism Michael writes: You are absolutely correct. Devine, James wrote: My impression is that Williamson studies non-market institutions in order to show that corporate hierarchies are a good thing. I don't know whether he studies market or non-market institutions but other than that what Jim said was more or less what he told me or what I recall from the things he told me: hierarchical and/or centralized forms of governance for the institutions of capitalism are/can be better than other organizational forms. Moreover, he had no urge to make use of the word democracy as he was making his claims. As I heard many times in the business world: We are a business, we are not a democracy! Here is another one: We are not in the business of doing good. We do business and good comes out of it! More or less, that is, as far as I recall. Sabri Would that Williamson and his fellow apologists do some actual economic anthropology and sign up for a stint as a mail room clerk or executive assistant, a cosmetics salesperson or an air traffic controller or load trucks or be a school bus driver to see how accurately their categories, narratives and explanations map the actual lobotomizing practices of today's big firms. Business administration depts. are the breeding grounds for authoritarian, autocratic personalities and they ought to be dismantled and rolled into those remaining departments that could teach them something about democracy and manners Ian
Re: Binary scheme of democracy and centralism
Jim writes on Williamson: I concluded that there was basic conflict between capitalists and workers at the center of his theory. Capitalists were striving to attain the collective good for all that worked for the corporation, while disgruntled workers were mere free riders, undermining the collective good. Interesting. This means, I was a free rider then, but luckily, as the CEO of my current one man company, I am a happy capitalist striving for the collective good of all. I am proud or what? I guess there is a serious theoretical problem here but hey! However, what is more interesting is his recognition of the basic conflict between capitalists and workers. I guess this is basically what led me to conclude that he doesn't know how Marxist he is, based on my intuition and what I heard from him. Can Jim or anyone else who knows about transaction costs economics give a summary of what it is? Best Sabri
EU demands for dismantling the CAP
[you'll need to click on the article link to get to the other links which lay out the demands country by country] http://www.guardian.co.uk/globalisation/story/0,7369,685670,00.html Secret documents reveal EU's tough stance on global trade The documents are at the foot of this article. To read them you need Adobe Acrobat Reader. Get it here. John Vidal, Charlotte Denny and Larry Elliott Wednesday April 17, 2002 The Guardian The European Union is demanding full-scale privatisation of public monopolies across the world as its price for dismantling the common agricultural policy in the new round of global trade talks, secret documents leaked to the Guardian revealed yesterday. The sweeping requests for the opening up of sensitive sectors of its trading partners' economies including water, energy, sewerage, telecoms, post and financial services are contained in a 1,000-page draft document prepared by Brussels officials for approval by member states next month. Europe has spelled out in detail a long list of restrictions which it wants its trading partners to drop. These include requirements that New York estate agents be US nationals, a ban in Mexico on foreigners owning land within 50km of the border and rules in Korea restricting the sale of alcohol to licensed providers. Many of Europe's demands are likely to meet with bitter opposition from its trading partners, resentful that Brussels is dragging its feet on opening up its own markets in key areas. In some areas, such as energy and postal services, Brussels wants other countries to break up national monopolies which its own member states have been reluctant to tackle. The draft negotiating strategy has provoked alarm among development campaigners who fear the ultimate goal is to push poor countries into privatising public services like health and education. We are shocked by how the the EU is preparing to trample over its claims to be in favour of sustainable development in the naked pursuit of the interests of European multinational service corporations, said Dave Timms from the World Development Movement. These documents confirm our worst fears about these negotiations. The EU is targeting sectors where there is no evidence that liberalisation benefits developing countries. With Brussels under mounting pressure from its trading partners to scrap its expensive system of agricultural subsidies and tariff walls in the new round of talks launched in Doha last November, Europe's top trade official, Pascal Lamy is hoping to make major gains at the negotiating table in the increasingly lucrative global trade in services, particularly in the financial sector. The EU wants its companies to be able to compete on an equal footing with local firms which will require its trading partners to scrap rules banning foreign competition and ownership in sensitive parts of their economies. The strategy is the fruit of years of lobbying by Europe's financial services sector which is hoping to expand throughout Latin America and Asia. With the City of London, home to the most sophisticated financial industry in Europe, Britain is likely to be a big winner; Mr Lamy's initiative has enthusiastic backing in Westminster. Read the documents here EU requests: Argentina EU requests: Australia EU requests: Brazil EU requests: Canada EU requests: Chile EU requests: China EU requests: Colombia EU requests: Egypt EU requests: Hong Kong EU requests: India EU requests: Indonesia EU requests: Israel EU requests: Japan EU requests: Korea EU requests: Malaysia EU requests: Mexico EU requests: New Zealand EU requests: Pakistan EU requests: Panama EU requests: Paraguay EU requests: Philippines EU requests: Singapore EU requests: South Africa EU requests: Switzerland EU requests: Taiwan EU requests: Thailand EU requests: Uruguay EU requests: USA EU requests: Venezuela
Re: Re: Binary scheme of democracy and centralism
Transactions cost economics -- this will be brief after 6 hours of classes, 2 hours at the gym -- starts with Ronald Coase, who explains that firms arise to minimize the cost of negotiating via markets, say by writing a contract with specific requirements. Robertson refered to firms as islands of planning. But planning gets unwieldy if the organization gets too big, so socialism is a no-no. Williamson was at Carnegie, where he picked up a great deal from Herbert Simon about dealing with uncertainty, but then he rejected Simon later. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Re: Re: Binary scheme of democracy and centralism
There's a bit of the TC approach in John Commons as well.. Ian - Original Message - From: Michael Perelman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 10:07 PM Subject: [PEN-L:25027] Re: Re: Binary scheme of democracy and centralism Transactions cost economics -- this will be brief after 6 hours of classes, 2 hours at the gym -- starts with Ronald Coase, who explains that firms arise to minimize the cost of negotiating via markets, say by writing a contract with specific requirements. Robertson refered to firms as islands of planning. But planning gets unwieldy if the organization gets too big, so socialism is a no-no. Williamson was at Carnegie, where he picked up a great deal from Herbert Simon about dealing with uncertainty, but then he rejected Simon later. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
