The Vegan Marxist
3rd January 2010, 08:51
Global capitalism is a system based on private ownership of the world's wealth by a minority class of exploiters. Production is for the profit of a few millionaires, not the needs of the majority of the six billion people on this planet.
Under this system, the world is divided into nation states ruled by capitalist politicians and manipulated by giant corporations under the guise of organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), etc. These states compete economically, politically and militarily for control of resources, territory and wealth, or form strategic alliances where they have shared interests.
All the major problems of the world - poverty, exploitation, underdevelopment of the Third World, recession, war, environmental disasters, racism, national hatred, the oppression of women and young people - are caused and sustained by capitalism. Capitalist globalization has created science and techniques that could feed, clothe, house, educate and care for every single person in the world. But private ownership means a handful become unimaginably rich while hundreds of millions are in poverty.
Far from uniting humanity, capitalist globalization has been carried out by strong nations conquering the weak. To do this the rich Western powers use a variety of weapons, from unfair trade and debt bondage through to B52s and cluster bombs.
Capitalism cannot simply be reformed into a better system. It must be overthrown. There is no parliamentary road to socialism. Even the most democratic capitalist countries leave military power in the hands of an unelected group of generals and police chiefs, economic power in the hands of unelected heads of corporations and political power in the hands of unelected civil servants behind the scenes. Even where elections are held - and in many capitalist countries they are not - the people are left with no control over their elected representatives between elections and no real say about the running of their lives.
The modern Empire of the USA is different from empires that came before. Unlike the colonial empires of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the USA does not try to rule other countries directly. The former colonies are almost all politically independent, with their own flags and governments. But beneath the mask of self-rule, they remain deeply dependent and subordinate. They are semi-colonies.
The First World of advanced capitalist powers and its multinational corporations super-exploit the semi-colonial Third World. The IMF and World Bank put the Third World on rations. They use desperately needed loans as blackmail to make already impoverished countries carry out huge programs of cuts in services and living standards. They extract billions in debt and interest repayments to the West from Africa, South-East Asia, and Latin America.
The World Trade Organization fixes the rules of international commerce to help the rich nations, not the poor. Western corporations pay Third World workers a fraction of the wages they would receive in the West and suck massive profits out of them in sweatshops, which deny even the most basic rights and conditions to their workforce.
The September 11 massacre was a pretext for the USA to launch its war on 'terrorism'. This bloody campaign has already seen the USA murder more civilians than were killed in the World Trade Center attacks. In reality, the 'war on terrorism' is the continuation of globalization by military means. Just as capitalism demands the right to enter every area in the world and exploit every people in the world, so the USA now demands the right to take military action anywhere in the world, against anyone it declares a 'terrorist', including the governments of sovereign nations. This global military offensive proves beyond doubt that Imperialism is not a thing of the past - it is the essence of global capitalism today.
Under this system, the world is divided into nation states ruled by capitalist politicians and manipulated by giant corporations under the guise of organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), etc. These states compete economically, politically and militarily for control of resources, territory and wealth, or form strategic alliances where they have shared interests.
All the major problems of the world - poverty, exploitation, underdevelopment of the Third World, recession, war, environmental disasters, racism, national hatred, the oppression of women and young people - are caused and sustained by capitalism. Capitalist globalization has created science and techniques that could feed, clothe, house, educate and care for every single person in the world. But private ownership means a handful become unimaginably rich while hundreds of millions are in poverty.
Far from uniting humanity, capitalist globalization has been carried out by strong nations conquering the weak. To do this the rich Western powers use a variety of weapons, from unfair trade and debt bondage through to B52s and cluster bombs.
Capitalism cannot simply be reformed into a better system. It must be overthrown. There is no parliamentary road to socialism. Even the most democratic capitalist countries leave military power in the hands of an unelected group of generals and police chiefs, economic power in the hands of unelected heads of corporations and political power in the hands of unelected civil servants behind the scenes. Even where elections are held - and in many capitalist countries they are not - the people are left with no control over their elected representatives between elections and no real say about the running of their lives.
The modern Empire of the USA is different from empires that came before. Unlike the colonial empires of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the USA does not try to rule other countries directly. The former colonies are almost all politically independent, with their own flags and governments. But beneath the mask of self-rule, they remain deeply dependent and subordinate. They are semi-colonies.
The First World of advanced capitalist powers and its multinational corporations super-exploit the semi-colonial Third World. The IMF and World Bank put the Third World on rations. They use desperately needed loans as blackmail to make already impoverished countries carry out huge programs of cuts in services and living standards. They extract billions in debt and interest repayments to the West from Africa, South-East Asia, and Latin America.
The World Trade Organization fixes the rules of international commerce to help the rich nations, not the poor. Western corporations pay Third World workers a fraction of the wages they would receive in the West and suck massive profits out of them in sweatshops, which deny even the most basic rights and conditions to their workforce.
The September 11 massacre was a pretext for the USA to launch its war on 'terrorism'. This bloody campaign has already seen the USA murder more civilians than were killed in the World Trade Center attacks. In reality, the 'war on terrorism' is the continuation of globalization by military means. Just as capitalism demands the right to enter every area in the world and exploit every people in the world, so the USA now demands the right to take military action anywhere in the world, against anyone it declares a 'terrorist', including the governments of sovereign nations. This global military offensive proves beyond doubt that Imperialism is not a thing of the past - it is the essence of global capitalism today.