Straight from the horse's mouth: Capitalism thrives on all kinds of violence Middle class Amerikans often do not believe it when they are told that capitalism thrives off of violence - whether that violence be the repressive power of bourgeois states or starvation imposed by capitalist markets. But the leading, class conscious imperialists know this, and in unguarded moments they will brag about their ability to turn suffering into profits. As an example of this, the June/July 2000 issue of Civilization magazine contains an article on investment manager Mark Mobius, who specializes in Third World countries. The article is unapologetically portrays Mobius as an imperial master, even enjoying much of the pomp associated with 19th-century monarchist empires. It's not terribly surprising that corrupt local politicians and businessmen would arrange fancy banquets complete with dancing flower-clad elephants for Mobius: He controls over $13 billion in investment capital. Mobius makes some telling admissions in this article. ITAL War is profitable for the imperialist bourgeoisie. END "Among the prime tenets that come canned in his most recent book, ITAL Passport to Profits: END 'The best time to buy is when everyone else is screaming that there's blood in the streets.' He first bought around $1million of [an Indonesian paper processing company's] stock in 1990, when Indonesia's iffiness and the relative value of the dollar combined to enable him to get the equity at half price." ITAL Oppressed nations cannot count on monopoly capitalist investment to develop their countries in a pro-people fashion. END Imperialists are looking to maximize their profits and retain their own monopolies. So they will not invest in broad preventive medicine programs, infrastructure (beyond what they need to get their goods in and out of the country), or basic industries like pharmaceuticals or steel. Beyond that, imperialist finance capital is fickle. It is not committed to the long haul, rather to maximizing short term profits. "Indonesia isn't the only place where there has been blood in the streets recently. If, for any reason at all, Mobius should judge [the Indonesian company] is a poor investment, he will not be shy about pulling the plug on the company, cushioning any losses with other recent bargains - the investing equivalent of distressed goods - picked up in Thailand, Russia, Brazil, or South Africa. Diffusing risk is a cardinal principle of investment in emerging markets." ITAL Power grows from the barrel of a gun. END "There's no clear record of who owns what [in Indonesia]. What does that mean? It means anybody can take what you have if they've got a gun. That's the reality. Who are the partners who cooperate [with local landlords] in getting forest lands [away from the peasantry]? The government and the military..." ITAL Bourgeois economic theory has nothing to do with the real world. END Mobius pines for a "frictionless market," where capital can cross borders effortlessly, but realizes that this is not the case now, largely due to the corruption inherent in capitalism. Local compradors - capitalists dependent on imperialist investment - snap up any crumbs left by the capitalists. Mobius admits this in a backhanded way: "The capital we bring in may be misused, but even if 10 percent is used in the right direction, you'll have taxes being paid. Some of those taxes - not all of them - will go into good infrastructure, water systems, telephone systems, and the whole level of society will be raised. So I have no doubt that the investments we make really have an impact." That's how pathetic the arguments for capitalism as an economic system are today - after giving the imperialists and the handful of local elites their cut, you're left with a fraction of 10% of the social capital to be spent on humyn necessities like food, clean water, and health care. This is also one simple reason why self-reliant socialism can meet these humyn needs far far better than capitalism: You don't have to siphon off the majority of society's resources to line the pockets and feed the appetites of a tiny, parasitic minority. Straight from the horse's mouth: Capitalism thrives on all kinds of violence Middle class Amerikans often do not believe it when they are told that capitalism thrives off of violence - whether that violence be the repressive power of bourgeois states or starvation imposed by capitalist markets. But the leading, class conscious imperialists know this, and in unguarded moments they will brag about their ability to turn suffering into profits. As an example of this, the June/July 2000 issue of Civilization magazine contains an article on investment manager Mark Mobius, who specializes in Third World countries. The article is unapologetically portrays Mobius as an imperial master, even enjoying much of the pomp associated with 19th-century monarchist empires. It's not terribly surprising that corrupt local politicians and businessmen would arrange fancy banquets complete with dancing flower-clad elephants for Mobius: He controls over $13 billion in investment capital. Mobius makes some telling admissions in this article. ITAL War is profitable for the imperialist bourgeoisie. END "Among the prime tenets that come canned in his most recent book, ITAL Passport to Profits: END 'The best time to buy is when everyone else is screaming that there's blood in the streets.' He first bought around $1million of [an Indonesian paper processing company's] stock in 1990, when Indonesia's iffiness and the relative value of the dollar combined to enable him to get the equity at half price." ITAL Oppressed nations cannot count on monopoly capitalist investment to develop their countries in a pro-people fashion. END Imperialists are looking to maximize their profits and retain their own monopolies. So they will not invest in broad preventive medicine programs, infrastructure (beyond what they need to get their goods in and out of the country), or basic industries like pharmaceuticals or steel. Beyond that, imperialist finance capital is fickle. It is not committed to the long haul, rather to maximizing short term profits. "Indonesia isn't the only place where there has been blood in the streets recently. If, for any reason at all, Mobius should judge [the Indonesian company] is a poor investment, he will not be shy about pulling the plug on the company, cushioning any losses with other recent bargains - the investing equivalent of distressed goods - picked up in Thailand, Russia, Brazil, or South Africa. Diffusing risk is a cardinal principle of investment in emerging markets." ITAL Power grows from the barrel of a gun. END "There's no clear record of who owns what [in Indonesia]. What does that mean? It means anybody can take what you have if they've got a gun. That's the reality. Who are the partners who cooperate [with local landlords] in getting forest lands [away from the peasantry]? The government and the military..." ITAL Bourgeois economic theory has nothing to do with the real world. END Mobius pines for a "frictionless market," where capital can cross borders effortlessly, but realizes that this is not the case now, largely due to the corruption inherent in capitalism. Local compradors - capitalists dependent on imperialist investment - snap up any crumbs left by the capitalists. Mobius admits this in a backhanded way: "The capital we bring in may be misused, but even if 10 percent is used in the right direction, you'll have taxes being paid. Some of those taxes - not all of them - will go into good infrastructure, water systems, telephone systems, and the whole level of society will be raised. So I have no doubt that the investments we make really have an impact." That's how pathetic the arguments for capitalism as an economic system are today - after giving the imperialists and the handful of local elites their cut, you're left with a fraction of 10% of the social capital to be spent on humyn necessities like food, clean water, and health care. This is also one simple reason why self-reliant socialism can meet these humyn needs far far better than capitalism: You don't have to siphon off the majority of society's resources to line the pockets and feed the appetites of a tiny, parasitic minority.