Re: GLOBAL KEYNESIANISM

Both Andy and Dr. Barendse have raised some important points.

I only want to add a small comment.

Andy's comment:
>>==================================
>>Taking a realist perspective,
>>capitalism has never been the capitalism of market ideology. Capitalism
>>has been about genocide, slavery, racism, state oppression, etc.


Dr. B's response:
>
>`Never' is a very long time but for the 20 th century this is largely
true -
>albeit, capitalism in the 20 th century has not been primarily about all
the
>bad things above but primarily about war and arming for war. It's strange
>but this is a thing which WST almost habitually overlooks, and that in
spite
>of the fact that something like 130 million people were killed in wars in
>the 20 th century. The 20 th century has been a century of wars but many
>WST-theoreticians act as if war is, well, a thing of the superstructure and
>has no impact on the economy at all. Maybe I could say cynically because,
>well, most of them have the good luck they're from one of the very few
>countries which was not bombed, occupied, plundered, or burned to the
ground
>by some foreign army in the twentieth century.
===============================================================

The issue of "military Kenesyianism" is particulary important and is
sometimes not taken into account. But in that context, we should keep in
mind that the deaths from genocide, slavery, racism, state oppression and
wage slavery far, far exceed the 130 million.  The several million killed in
the past few years in terrible wars is a relatively "small" number compared
to the tens of millions who die each year from unnecessary diseases of
poverty. I only say this in opposition to those who think that a "peace"
movement in and of itself would solve the core of the world's problems.  But
the main point of Dr. B's comment, that "military Kenyesianism" is
completely tied into the rest of the world economy, remains a very important
point.


Alan Spector