MJM
25th April 2002, 04:15
Got this in my email.
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the April 25, 2002
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
KNOW YOUR ENEMY: WHAT IS IMPERIALISM?
By Greg Butterfield
The word imperialism is used a lot by people in the
progressive and revolutionary movement. What does it mean?
Some people think imperialism is just a cuss word radicals
use to put down rotten government policies. But it's more
than that.
Imperialism is rooted in a particular economic system,
capitalism, and benefits a particular class, which Marxists
call the bourgeoisie or ruling class. The bourgeoisie is the
super-wealthy class of corporate owners, bankers and big
landlords.
Progressives know that the United States acts in an
imperialist way. The U.S. government, which represents the
ruling class, imposes its will on other countries by
economic, political and military means.
But imperialism is not a government policy put forth by one
administration or political party. It's the economic system
underlying all U.S. government policies, liberal or
conservative, Democratic or Republican.
Most people are taught that imperialism simply means a big
country bullying a small country. Sometimes that's true, but
it's not a complete definition. In the wrong hands, this
common-sense definition can be dangerously misleading.
The U.S. government often accuses other governments of
"imperialist" behavior. Washington takes advantage of the
common, but incomplete, idea of bigger country vs. smaller
country to turn public opinion against socialist and
progressive nationalist countries trying to maintain their
independence.
For example, when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, George Bush
the First called the Iraqi government imperialist. Bush
neglected to mention that Iraq was responding to
provocations from the U.S.-controlled Kuwaiti monarchy,
which was stealing Iraqi oil.
He didn't explain how Kuwait had been arbitrarily carved off
from Iraq under British colonial rule, or how the Iraqi
people made a revolution in 1958 to be independent of
U.S./British domination.
IMPERIALISM = MONOPOLY CAPITALISM
Not every capitalist country is imperialist. In fact, most
of the world's people live in poor, underdeveloped
capitalist countries like Iraq that are exploited by the
imperialist powers of the United States, Canada, Western
Europe, Australia and Japan.
Capitalism developed first and reached its most advanced
stage in those countries. Imperialism exists by keeping the
rest of the world enslaved and dependent on its
institutions, including the World Bank and International
Monetary Fund.
V.I. Lenin, the Russian revolutionary leader of the early
20th century, gave the most complete, scientific definition
of imperialism in his 1916 booklet, "Imperialism: The
Highest Stage of Capitalism."
He wrote: "If it were necessary to give the briefest
definition of imperialism, we should have to say that
imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism."
Using economic statistics and historical facts, Lenin showed
how capitalism's early, free-market phase led to the
creation of giant industrial and banking monopolies.
Cutthroat competition constantly bankrupted businesses. More
successful rivals gobbled these businesses up, until two,
three, four, or even a single monopoly dominated whole
industries.
This process of concentration into monopolies continues
today on a much bigger scale. Now giant monopolies absorb
other giant monopolies. Some recent examples are AOL Time
Warner, Walt Disney/ABC, ExxonMobil, DaimlerChrysler and JP
Morgan Chase.
BANKS DOMINATE
As industrial monopolies grew, so did their hunger for
profits. They fought monopolies from the other imperialist
powers for the right to dominate poorer countries.
Rather than just exporting goods to these underdeveloped
countries, the monopolies started to export capital-that is,
they built factories, hired local labor, and began to
produce goods at much lower cost and higher profit than in
their "home" countries.
Bosses tossed extra crumbs to some workers in the
imperialist countries to keep class peace at home, while
promoting racism and national chauvinism to stop workers
from uniting across borders.
The big banks came to dominate the expansion process. Banks
control the flow of money to the monopolies. Their
representatives sit on the boards of most big industrial
corporations and exert decisive influence over business
decisions.
Lenin said these five characteristics define imperialism, or
monopoly capitalism:
"1) the concentration of production and capital has
developed to such a high stage that it has created
monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life;
"2) the merging of bank capital with industrial capital, and
the creation, on the basis of this 'finance capital,' of a
financial oligarchy;
"3) the export of capital as distinguished from the export
of commodities acquires exceptional importance;
"4) the formation of international monopolist capitalist
combines which share the world among themselves;
"5) the territorial division of the whole world among the
biggest capitalist powers is completed."
Epoch of war and revolution
This territorial division of the world among the
imperialists inevitably leads to war.
As the fortunes of each imperialist country rises or falls,
those with the most power want to expand the proportion of
the globe they control. Those whose grip is weakening hold
on for dear life.
Rather than eliminating competition, monopoly capitalism
raises it to a higher and deadlier level.
Sometimes the imperialists fight each other directly. That
was the case during World War I, when Lenin wrote his
booklet on imperialism, and World War II.
At other times they fight for domination through local
proxies, like the U.S./German rivalry that tore apart
Yugoslavia. But both imperialist powers united to destroy
the Milosevic regime when it resisted their plans.
Finally, there are the wars of conquest fought to control
strategic countries like Afghanistan, or against governments
and popular movements that resist imperialist domination,
like Iraq or Colombia's FARC-EP.
But just as inevitably, the concentration of wealth and
political power into fewer hands leads to rebellions and
revolutions. Imperialism contains within itself the seeds of
its own demise.
SOCIAL PRODUCTION VS. PRIVATE OWNERSHIP
By expanding capitalist production all over the globe,
imperialism has created a huge working class with nothing to
lose and everything to gain by fighting for power.
Imperialism has made production social. That means thousands
of workers, often from dozens of countries, are involved in
the production, distribution and exchange of a single
product or service.
Yet the fruits of this collective labor are robbed from the
workers. The bosses, who own the factories, stores, etc.,
take it for themselves in the form of profit. Wages paid to
the workers often don't cover the basic necessities of life.
Others just get by, while millions go jobless.
But as Lenin pointed out, the monopolies are ripe for the
workers to take over and run themselves-to create social
ownership in harmony with social production.
Ultimately, that's how imperialism can be defeated: by
targeting the diseased economic system, not just its
political symptoms.
It's not enough to change a government policy or the party
in power. The whole system must be overturned and replaced
by one that puts people's needs first.
- END -
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the April 25, 2002
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
KNOW YOUR ENEMY: WHAT IS IMPERIALISM?
By Greg Butterfield
The word imperialism is used a lot by people in the
progressive and revolutionary movement. What does it mean?
Some people think imperialism is just a cuss word radicals
use to put down rotten government policies. But it's more
than that.
Imperialism is rooted in a particular economic system,
capitalism, and benefits a particular class, which Marxists
call the bourgeoisie or ruling class. The bourgeoisie is the
super-wealthy class of corporate owners, bankers and big
landlords.
Progressives know that the United States acts in an
imperialist way. The U.S. government, which represents the
ruling class, imposes its will on other countries by
economic, political and military means.
But imperialism is not a government policy put forth by one
administration or political party. It's the economic system
underlying all U.S. government policies, liberal or
conservative, Democratic or Republican.
Most people are taught that imperialism simply means a big
country bullying a small country. Sometimes that's true, but
it's not a complete definition. In the wrong hands, this
common-sense definition can be dangerously misleading.
The U.S. government often accuses other governments of
"imperialist" behavior. Washington takes advantage of the
common, but incomplete, idea of bigger country vs. smaller
country to turn public opinion against socialist and
progressive nationalist countries trying to maintain their
independence.
For example, when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, George Bush
the First called the Iraqi government imperialist. Bush
neglected to mention that Iraq was responding to
provocations from the U.S.-controlled Kuwaiti monarchy,
which was stealing Iraqi oil.
He didn't explain how Kuwait had been arbitrarily carved off
from Iraq under British colonial rule, or how the Iraqi
people made a revolution in 1958 to be independent of
U.S./British domination.
IMPERIALISM = MONOPOLY CAPITALISM
Not every capitalist country is imperialist. In fact, most
of the world's people live in poor, underdeveloped
capitalist countries like Iraq that are exploited by the
imperialist powers of the United States, Canada, Western
Europe, Australia and Japan.
Capitalism developed first and reached its most advanced
stage in those countries. Imperialism exists by keeping the
rest of the world enslaved and dependent on its
institutions, including the World Bank and International
Monetary Fund.
V.I. Lenin, the Russian revolutionary leader of the early
20th century, gave the most complete, scientific definition
of imperialism in his 1916 booklet, "Imperialism: The
Highest Stage of Capitalism."
He wrote: "If it were necessary to give the briefest
definition of imperialism, we should have to say that
imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism."
Using economic statistics and historical facts, Lenin showed
how capitalism's early, free-market phase led to the
creation of giant industrial and banking monopolies.
Cutthroat competition constantly bankrupted businesses. More
successful rivals gobbled these businesses up, until two,
three, four, or even a single monopoly dominated whole
industries.
This process of concentration into monopolies continues
today on a much bigger scale. Now giant monopolies absorb
other giant monopolies. Some recent examples are AOL Time
Warner, Walt Disney/ABC, ExxonMobil, DaimlerChrysler and JP
Morgan Chase.
BANKS DOMINATE
As industrial monopolies grew, so did their hunger for
profits. They fought monopolies from the other imperialist
powers for the right to dominate poorer countries.
Rather than just exporting goods to these underdeveloped
countries, the monopolies started to export capital-that is,
they built factories, hired local labor, and began to
produce goods at much lower cost and higher profit than in
their "home" countries.
Bosses tossed extra crumbs to some workers in the
imperialist countries to keep class peace at home, while
promoting racism and national chauvinism to stop workers
from uniting across borders.
The big banks came to dominate the expansion process. Banks
control the flow of money to the monopolies. Their
representatives sit on the boards of most big industrial
corporations and exert decisive influence over business
decisions.
Lenin said these five characteristics define imperialism, or
monopoly capitalism:
"1) the concentration of production and capital has
developed to such a high stage that it has created
monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life;
"2) the merging of bank capital with industrial capital, and
the creation, on the basis of this 'finance capital,' of a
financial oligarchy;
"3) the export of capital as distinguished from the export
of commodities acquires exceptional importance;
"4) the formation of international monopolist capitalist
combines which share the world among themselves;
"5) the territorial division of the whole world among the
biggest capitalist powers is completed."
Epoch of war and revolution
This territorial division of the world among the
imperialists inevitably leads to war.
As the fortunes of each imperialist country rises or falls,
those with the most power want to expand the proportion of
the globe they control. Those whose grip is weakening hold
on for dear life.
Rather than eliminating competition, monopoly capitalism
raises it to a higher and deadlier level.
Sometimes the imperialists fight each other directly. That
was the case during World War I, when Lenin wrote his
booklet on imperialism, and World War II.
At other times they fight for domination through local
proxies, like the U.S./German rivalry that tore apart
Yugoslavia. But both imperialist powers united to destroy
the Milosevic regime when it resisted their plans.
Finally, there are the wars of conquest fought to control
strategic countries like Afghanistan, or against governments
and popular movements that resist imperialist domination,
like Iraq or Colombia's FARC-EP.
But just as inevitably, the concentration of wealth and
political power into fewer hands leads to rebellions and
revolutions. Imperialism contains within itself the seeds of
its own demise.
SOCIAL PRODUCTION VS. PRIVATE OWNERSHIP
By expanding capitalist production all over the globe,
imperialism has created a huge working class with nothing to
lose and everything to gain by fighting for power.
Imperialism has made production social. That means thousands
of workers, often from dozens of countries, are involved in
the production, distribution and exchange of a single
product or service.
Yet the fruits of this collective labor are robbed from the
workers. The bosses, who own the factories, stores, etc.,
take it for themselves in the form of profit. Wages paid to
the workers often don't cover the basic necessities of life.
Others just get by, while millions go jobless.
But as Lenin pointed out, the monopolies are ripe for the
workers to take over and run themselves-to create social
ownership in harmony with social production.
Ultimately, that's how imperialism can be defeated: by
targeting the diseased economic system, not just its
political symptoms.
It's not enough to change a government policy or the party
in power. The whole system must be overturned and replaced
by one that puts people's needs first.
- END -