too many capitalists (fwd)

Steve, as always, you have enlightened us with systemic analysis of the
issues at stake here!

thanks,

Mine

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 03 Jun 2000 23:21:32
+0000 From: Steve Rosenthal <smrose@mailhub.exis.net> To: 
wsn@csf.colorado.edu Subject: too many capitalists

I agree with most of what Andy and Mine have said during the debate 
about population.  The problems of the world today are due to 
capitalism, not to overpopulation.

During the past week,  the New York Times ran several stories that 
substantiate this point.  First, U.S. president Clinton has been 
unable to get European government leaders to agree with any of the 
military or economic proposals he brought with him on his current 
trip.  The Europeans want the U.S. to discontinue its $5 billion a 
year tax subsidy to exporting US corporations.  The Europeans don't 
want the U.S. to break the anti-missile treaty by embarking on a 
missile shield for protection against "rogue states."  The U.S. wants 
Europeans (especially Germany) to increase military spending but only 
within a NATO framework led by the U.S., while Europeans want to take 
steps toward building a more independent military force.

These developments illustrate the continued development of 
inter-imperialist rivalry.

Second, the World Bank released a report acknowledging the immense 
decline in living standards in sub-Saharan Africa during the last 
decades of the 20th century.  They noted that, even if some progress 
is made in checking the AIDS epidemic in Africa, which accounts for 
some 70% of all AIDS cases worldwide, the epidemic will reduce life 
expectancy by 20 years.  The World Bank acknowledged that its 
policies and those of the IMF have contributed to some extent to the 
worsening conditions.

Nothing more profoundly illustrates the devastating effect of racism 
in the world capitalist system.  Imperialist exploitation of Africa, 
with the collusion of local capitalist elites in African countries, 
is destroying more lives in Africa today than during the height of 
the slave trade.

A note of clarification here:  I'm not suggesting that the AIDS
virus was created by imperialists to inflict genocide on Africans. 
It is possible that the AIDS virus crossed over into the human
population during imperialist experimental programs in sub-Saharan
Africa during the early or middle part of the 20th century.  What is 
more important, however, is that the epidemic has been shaped by 
contemporary imperialism and capitalism in Africa.  Migrant labor, 
prostitution and sex slavery, wars and the creation of large 
populations of refugees, the decline of already small health budgets 
at the insistence of IMF structural adjustment plans--these are 
factors that have concentrated the epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa.

Third, UNICEF reported in "Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls" 
that up to half of the female population of the world comes under 
attack at some point in their lives from men.  The report estimated 
that there are more females than males infected with AIDS in Africa.

What connects these three developments?

First, global capitalism is the most racist and sexist system the
world has ever known.  Despite all the hype about the efforts
capitalist countries have made during the past century to reduce
racism and sexism and to end colonialism, capitalism is worse than
ever today.  This is proof that the system cannot be reformed, which
means that its central problems cannot be ameliorated.  

Second, as inter-imperialist rivalry sharpens--as illustrated by 
the first point--imperialists are driven to intensify racist and 
sexist super-exploitation of the working class.  This deepening 
crisis demands the growth of revolutionary organization of the 
working class as the only solution.

Third, leading biological determinists--including many proponents of
the overpopulation thesis--have promoted the ideological argument
that male domination of women, racism, nationalism, and wars are
naturally evolved genetic traits of human nature.  This ideology
represents an attempt to portray inter-imperialist conflict, racism,
and sexism as natural, rather than as part of capitalism in crisis
and decay.  

Steve Rosenthal