ckaihatsu
11th October 2008, 19:52
Your descriptions, references, and analogies are sharply accurate, as ever, [...]. This looming catastrophe of the absurd is threatening to bring Third World conditions to the denizens of the First World, but even worse in some ways because modern society has no recourse to stepping downwards to subsistence, family farming.
Thatcher is an asshole of the highest degree to push the Ayn Rand drug-mythology of a world of nothing but individualistic, intrepid individuals -- won't it be a sight as we individually stand around and individually watch as we individually waste away because no food is being collectively moved around?!
Food, like any commodity in the modern world, requires economic flows of capital (credit-based), as the article points out. The supply of credit is an international, not a national, issue, and so requires an international solution, one based on the self-assertion and organizing power of labor.
In order to get past the blockages that are now gumming up vital trade we should have a nationalization of labor, in the same way that Louisiana mobilized in preparation for the coming onslaught of Hurricane Gustav (not for Hurricane Katrina).
In the meantime it would not be rash to say that it may be time to start stockpiling food supplies for your own household.
Regarding a non-market-based system of supply, I recently made this one-page diagram -- feel free to check it out:
Supply prioritization in a socialist transitional economy
http://tinyurl.com/5mjhhh
Chris
--
--
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RevLeft.com -- Home of the Revolutionary Left
www.revleft.com/vb/member.php?u=16162
Photoillustrations, Political Diagrams by Chris Kaihatsu
community.webshots.com/user/ckaihatsu/
3D Design Communications - Let Your Design Do Your Footwork
ckaihatsu.elance.com
MySpace:
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CouchSurfing:
tinyurl.com/yoh74u
date Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 10:14 AM
subject [anticapdiscuss] fwd: Crisis: Grain piles up in ports
Imagine you have a stroke and your body freezes, seizes up in response. Would you support drastic intervention to get up and about? We're all connected. We're seeing a man-made catastrophe pending, looming, unfolding. In this chilling report from Canada's leading financial paper, the story's clear- no capital- no food, even for 'the big boys' and as hunger riots have flared this year.
Breaking this subordination of human needs to capital's needs,with the example below, requires a different social class with different interests to run the show. In modern times, that would be the working class as the only conceivable alternative since we, our class collectively, cooperatively make the products and make the wheels turn, under capital's priorities and management.
In the 80s, Margaret Thatcher triumphantly proclaimed: "There is no alternative (to capitalism)!" and "There is no such thing as society, only individuals."
How many people see the need for a socialized, planned, sustainable international economy? How many believe that such an alternative is even possible? A friend once called this revolutionary socialist/anarchist project 'managed social evolution'.
One thing we need is to develop demands, a program of change, in our various workplaces, schools, and industries that fight the corporate agenda and pose concrete alternatives. One would be to nationalize the banks/ railroads/etc. as part of an economy run by our class and allies for the20common good - the opposite of nationalizing banks and insurance companies to pay off their loses with our money in order to save capitalism.
In the 1980s, the Mexican government nationalized the bankrupt banking system to save them as instruments of capital's expansion and growing exploitation, leading to greater hardship for most people there and greater wealth for the few. Instead, we need a new form of government/power to use credit as a transition towards a non-money system of environmentally-sound production and exchange for human needs.
How to do this? That's where we need to find each other, organize ourselves around these long-term goals and develop such campaigns. Of course, this is not new; the marxist left and anarchists have long been trying in our different ways. Learning from their/our successes and failures has to be part of this project, of course.
What's more 'realistic'- expecting 'agents of change' like Obama to make things better or working for this alternative?
your thoughts? in solidarity and with some hope, [...]
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:19:55 -0400
Grain piles up in ports
Canada next in inability to finance shipments
John Greenwood, Financial Post
Published: Wednes
day, October 08, 2008
The credit crisis is spilling over into the grain industry as international
buyers find themselves unable to come up with payment, forcing sellers to
shoulder often substantial losses.
Before cargoes can be loaded at port, buyers typically must produce proof they
are good for the money. But more deals are falling through as sellers decide
they don't trust the financial institution named in the buyer's letter of
credit, analysts said.
"There's all kinds of stuff stacked up on docks right now that can't be shipped
because people can't get letters of credit," said Bill Gary, president of
Commodity Information Systems in Oklahoma City. "The problem is not demand, and
it's not supply because we have plenty of supply. It's finding anyone who can
come up with the credit to buy."
So far the problem is mostly being felt in U. S. and South American ports, but
observers say it is only a matter of time before it hits Canada.
"We've got a nightmare in front of us and a lot of people are concerned it's
going to get a lot worse," said Anthony Temple, a grain marketing expert based
in Vancouver.
The port troubles occur as financial institutions worldwide experience an
unprecedented level of failures; even the strongest global banks are taking
shelter in government bailouts. Yesterday, the U. K was expected to invest as
much as £45-billion ($87.01-billion) in three of the country's biggest banks,
while the U. S. government20rushed to put in place its US$700-billion rescue
package for beleaguered financial market players. Ottawa has so far resisted
pleas for direct financial aid for exporters.
Access to credit is key to the survival of maritime trade and insiders now say
the supply is being severely restricted. More than 90% of the world's trade by
volume goes by ship.
The Baltic Dry Goods Index, the main measure of shipping rates, is down 74% from
its high back in May when trade with China was still strong.
"The credit crisis has made banks nervous and the last thing on their minds is
making fresh loans," Omar Nokta, an analyst at investment bank Dahlman Rose,
said in an interview with Reuters.
While shipping has always been a cyclical industry whose fortunes rise and fall
with the global economy, analysts said the current crisis over the drying up of
credit is something they have never seen before.
Jason Myers, head of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said exporters
across Canada are getting caught up in the turmoil as customers delay payments,
forcing them to shoulder the cost.
"What some companies are saying is we can't pay you until our customer pays us,
so it becomes a question of who bares the financial risk and the cost," Mr.
Myers said. "We're hearing about it more and more."
What that means is that manufacturers are getting hit as revenue slows and
longtime customers disappear from the order book altogether. As profits
decl
ine, investment in product development starts to fall, too, he said.
The Canadian Wheat Board, one of the world's biggest grain marketers, has yet to
refuse a customer because of poor credit, according to a spokeswoman. "As of
this moment we haven't run into that problem," said Maureen Fitzhenry.
Officials at Viterra, Canada's leading grain handler, were not immediately
available for comment.
The meltdown in financial markets has resulted in a dramatic slowdown in
maritime trade, with major ports in Canada and the United States preparing for
sharply reduced activity after several of the busiest years on record.
Statistics from the Port of Vancouver have yet to officially register a drop but
at Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., among the biggest U. S ports, imports
have already declined 9% this year.
Thatcher is an asshole of the highest degree to push the Ayn Rand drug-mythology of a world of nothing but individualistic, intrepid individuals -- won't it be a sight as we individually stand around and individually watch as we individually waste away because no food is being collectively moved around?!
Food, like any commodity in the modern world, requires economic flows of capital (credit-based), as the article points out. The supply of credit is an international, not a national, issue, and so requires an international solution, one based on the self-assertion and organizing power of labor.
In order to get past the blockages that are now gumming up vital trade we should have a nationalization of labor, in the same way that Louisiana mobilized in preparation for the coming onslaught of Hurricane Gustav (not for Hurricane Katrina).
In the meantime it would not be rash to say that it may be time to start stockpiling food supplies for your own household.
Regarding a non-market-based system of supply, I recently made this one-page diagram -- feel free to check it out:
Supply prioritization in a socialist transitional economy
http://tinyurl.com/5mjhhh
Chris
--
--
___
RevLeft.com -- Home of the Revolutionary Left
www.revleft.com/vb/member.php?u=16162
Photoillustrations, Political Diagrams by Chris Kaihatsu
community.webshots.com/user/ckaihatsu/
3D Design Communications - Let Your Design Do Your Footwork
ckaihatsu.elance.com
MySpace:
myspace.com/ckaihatsu
CouchSurfing:
tinyurl.com/yoh74u
date Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 10:14 AM
subject [anticapdiscuss] fwd: Crisis: Grain piles up in ports
Imagine you have a stroke and your body freezes, seizes up in response. Would you support drastic intervention to get up and about? We're all connected. We're seeing a man-made catastrophe pending, looming, unfolding. In this chilling report from Canada's leading financial paper, the story's clear- no capital- no food, even for 'the big boys' and as hunger riots have flared this year.
Breaking this subordination of human needs to capital's needs,with the example below, requires a different social class with different interests to run the show. In modern times, that would be the working class as the only conceivable alternative since we, our class collectively, cooperatively make the products and make the wheels turn, under capital's priorities and management.
In the 80s, Margaret Thatcher triumphantly proclaimed: "There is no alternative (to capitalism)!" and "There is no such thing as society, only individuals."
How many people see the need for a socialized, planned, sustainable international economy? How many believe that such an alternative is even possible? A friend once called this revolutionary socialist/anarchist project 'managed social evolution'.
One thing we need is to develop demands, a program of change, in our various workplaces, schools, and industries that fight the corporate agenda and pose concrete alternatives. One would be to nationalize the banks/ railroads/etc. as part of an economy run by our class and allies for the20common good - the opposite of nationalizing banks and insurance companies to pay off their loses with our money in order to save capitalism.
In the 1980s, the Mexican government nationalized the bankrupt banking system to save them as instruments of capital's expansion and growing exploitation, leading to greater hardship for most people there and greater wealth for the few. Instead, we need a new form of government/power to use credit as a transition towards a non-money system of environmentally-sound production and exchange for human needs.
How to do this? That's where we need to find each other, organize ourselves around these long-term goals and develop such campaigns. Of course, this is not new; the marxist left and anarchists have long been trying in our different ways. Learning from their/our successes and failures has to be part of this project, of course.
What's more 'realistic'- expecting 'agents of change' like Obama to make things better or working for this alternative?
your thoughts? in solidarity and with some hope, [...]
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:19:55 -0400
Grain piles up in ports
Canada next in inability to finance shipments
John Greenwood, Financial Post
Published: Wednes
day, October 08, 2008
The credit crisis is spilling over into the grain industry as international
buyers find themselves unable to come up with payment, forcing sellers to
shoulder often substantial losses.
Before cargoes can be loaded at port, buyers typically must produce proof they
are good for the money. But more deals are falling through as sellers decide
they don't trust the financial institution named in the buyer's letter of
credit, analysts said.
"There's all kinds of stuff stacked up on docks right now that can't be shipped
because people can't get letters of credit," said Bill Gary, president of
Commodity Information Systems in Oklahoma City. "The problem is not demand, and
it's not supply because we have plenty of supply. It's finding anyone who can
come up with the credit to buy."
So far the problem is mostly being felt in U. S. and South American ports, but
observers say it is only a matter of time before it hits Canada.
"We've got a nightmare in front of us and a lot of people are concerned it's
going to get a lot worse," said Anthony Temple, a grain marketing expert based
in Vancouver.
The port troubles occur as financial institutions worldwide experience an
unprecedented level of failures; even the strongest global banks are taking
shelter in government bailouts. Yesterday, the U. K was expected to invest as
much as £45-billion ($87.01-billion) in three of the country's biggest banks,
while the U. S. government20rushed to put in place its US$700-billion rescue
package for beleaguered financial market players. Ottawa has so far resisted
pleas for direct financial aid for exporters.
Access to credit is key to the survival of maritime trade and insiders now say
the supply is being severely restricted. More than 90% of the world's trade by
volume goes by ship.
The Baltic Dry Goods Index, the main measure of shipping rates, is down 74% from
its high back in May when trade with China was still strong.
"The credit crisis has made banks nervous and the last thing on their minds is
making fresh loans," Omar Nokta, an analyst at investment bank Dahlman Rose,
said in an interview with Reuters.
While shipping has always been a cyclical industry whose fortunes rise and fall
with the global economy, analysts said the current crisis over the drying up of
credit is something they have never seen before.
Jason Myers, head of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said exporters
across Canada are getting caught up in the turmoil as customers delay payments,
forcing them to shoulder the cost.
"What some companies are saying is we can't pay you until our customer pays us,
so it becomes a question of who bares the financial risk and the cost," Mr.
Myers said. "We're hearing about it more and more."
What that means is that manufacturers are getting hit as revenue slows and
longtime customers disappear from the order book altogether. As profits
decl
ine, investment in product development starts to fall, too, he said.
The Canadian Wheat Board, one of the world's biggest grain marketers, has yet to
refuse a customer because of poor credit, according to a spokeswoman. "As of
this moment we haven't run into that problem," said Maureen Fitzhenry.
Officials at Viterra, Canada's leading grain handler, were not immediately
available for comment.
The meltdown in financial markets has resulted in a dramatic slowdown in
maritime trade, with major ports in Canada and the United States preparing for
sharply reduced activity after several of the busiest years on record.
Statistics from the Port of Vancouver have yet to officially register a drop but
at Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., among the biggest U. S ports, imports
have already declined 9% this year.