I am including only two online posts because the first one contains nine separate posts and three short videos regarding corporations. The latter have become a subject of some worry among leading social democratic critics who have expressed concern about the capitalist system. These commentators are all supportive of capitalism as a system; but much like Eric Zuesse who revealed his own concern with the statement "That’s not what capitalism was supposed to be.", they obsessively continue trying to reform the system. (I re-posted the article from Washington's Blog on Jan. 9, 2020 after discovering that it differed slightly because the quote did not appear in the original post on Strategic Culture Foundation.)
I have been on Transnational Institute's email list for a number of years, and I have never seen anything in their articles that indicated advocacy of a system other than capitalism. But they expressed concern about the new neoliberal phenomenon of transnational corporations based on evidence that the latter were wrecking havoc particularly on third world countries. I have learned much about these corporations from their reports, but I never had the feeling that they were suggesting another system might be better. They always seemed motivated by the necessity of reforming the system. As followers of my weblog know, I consistently held the view that the replacement of capitalism by radical socialism was a necessity for our survival. I long ago decided that capitalism created all sorts of fundamental problems and that the built-in evolution of the system led inevitably to fascism.
Late last year it became evident to me that the climate crisis had proceeded to such an extent that our human species, and most others, would become extinct because of capitalism's destruction of habitat that the Earth's planet needed to sustain most life forms. Because of this and because I am sick of reading about corporations, I didn't read all the articles. So, I recommend them to you as a last desperate attempt by capitalist apologists to bring about a reform of their system.
- Who Can NOW Say America Hasn’t Become a Mega-Corporate Dictatorship? by Eric Zuesse from Strategic Culture Foundation. (Note: I would like to pose a question for Zuesse as an answer to his
question in the title of this article: How is it that capitalism in the
USA turned out this way? Didn't you affirm back in September of 2019
"That’s not what capitalism was supposed to be."? The
same question can be posed about Nazi Germany, the British Empire, and a
host of other capitalist countries. So, why would capitalism not turn
out any different in the USA? Isn't it obvious that the system breeds inequality, exploitation, wars, etc? And, I am not referring only to the appearance of transnational corporations in the neoliberal phase that capitalism has entered in the leading capitalist nations!)
- Corporations as private sovereign powers: the case of Total by Alain Deneault from CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt). (Note: The author focuses on the "French" energy corporation as an example of a transnational corporation.) He concludes his essay with this statement about his examination of the example of a transnational corporation, Total:
We need to treat Total not just as a large energy corporation, but rather as a private, multi- and transnational, private, sovereign power that serves the interests [profits] of a highly diversified shareholder base and intervenes [power] in innumerable political, cultural, social, financial, industrial and academic issues. [my insertions]
- Rosa Luxemburg and debt as an imperialist instrument by Eric Toussaint from CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt). (Note: Toussaint quotes extensively from the writings of Luxemburg to explain how Western capitalist bankers use loans to control and oppress other countries.)
- Was the 1945 Yalta Conference a Mirage? by Michael Jabara Carley from Strategic Culture Foundation. (Note: Carley in this essay correctly argues that the Yalta Conference was a mirage because the Western capitalist powers have always been in a "cold war" (hostile relationship) with the Soviets except for a brief period during WWII. But he doesn't explain this as being a contest between ruling classes in Western capitalist nations vs the Soviet Union which did not allow capitalists. Although a very honest historian (very much like Eric Zuesse), he does not have a class or system analysis of WWII, the history of which has been re-written by mainstream Western historians (see his article entitled "History as Propaganda: Why the USSR Did Not ‘Win’ World War II"). It is essential to have a class or system analysis in order to thoroughly understand geopolitics, but one must first have a truthful history of WWII which historian Carley has.)
(Note on yesterday's Iowa primary elections and online posts: As followers of my weblog know, I don't see elections in any capitalist country as legitimate. By definition a capitalist nation is controlled by the capitalist class, and they forbid any party or candidate that advocates public ownership of many significant economic enterprises. I believe a quote attributed to Emma Goldman who said "If voting could change anything, they would make it illegal."
Here in the USA they have two political parties which are both controlled by the capitalist ruling class. The Democratic Party's handling of the primary election in Iowa is another sign that here in the USA, the center of the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire, the capitalist ruling class is starting to use rather overt methods to contrive the results of elections.
One candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, has advocated very mild social democratic reforms to the existing system, but they cannot tolerate even that. So, the ruling class increasing has resorted to various methods to rig elections. Their recent attempt in Iowa has all the characteristics of rigging, and has furnished much material for comedy. The last two posts reflect that.
I apologize for the lateness of this post. It is a result of computer problems I experienced yesterday and a dental problem I experienced this morning.
- Doomsday Clocks and Apple Watches by John Eskow from CounterPunch. (Note: This article discusses the more imminent of threats to the human species--global nuclear war implemented by the capitalist ruling classes that direct the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire.)
- Plastic Meets the Road and Capitalism’s Role in Climate Change by Paul Haeder from Dissident Voice.
(Note: He reports about the views of a recent visitor-speaker, Pat
DeLaquil, an energy policy expert, in Newport, Oregon. I know Newport
and Waldport, where Haeder lives, very well; so I was particularly
interested in the recognition by DeLaquil of capitalism's role in
environmental degradation. But we differ: Pat DeLaquil apparently
believes that there is still time for a capitalist economy which can
turn from its degradation. I do not: even if capitalism could
re-position itself to safeguard the environment (with which I totally
disagree)--it is too late.
- Greta Is Our MLK. That’s Not Necessarily a Good Thing by Lorenzo Raymond from Diversity of Tactics. (Note: This article has illuminated an issue that has vexed me since the days of Martin Luther King. Thus, I am giving this article special recognition by posting it first. Also, it was re-posted on today's Wrong Kind of Green that has run many of Cory Morningstar's articles that exposed who the backers were of Greta--the capitalist ruling classes.)
- Unitedly we fight against debt and all other oppressions! from CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt). (Note: This article, and the following one, lends support for my view that advanced capitalism in our era is mainly directed by the interests of major transnational financial capitalists located in the Neo-fascist US/Anglo/Zionist Empire.)
- Empires Feed on Africa and Congo's Treasure from Abby Martin's Empire Files (via YouTube). "With the Congo being arguably the biggest prize for imperialist powers, Abby Martin is joined by Kambale Musavuli, spokesperson for Friends of the Congo, to look at Empire's role in their history and current catastrophe."