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With capitalism dying, what’s left to protest?
How bad is the global recession? It’s so bad that even anarchists are out of work. That is if they actually worked, which they don’t. For anarchists, the problem isn’t supply and demand or the vagaries of the market, because there’s not much of a market for their services anyway. It’s just that capitalism is collapsing, so what’s left to protest? It’s pretty evident that some righteous steam has leaked out of the professional opposition movement. You could see it in the relatively mild melees at the G20 summit in London. The confrontationists did as much damage as they could, but judging from the television coverage, they lacked their usual gusto. Sure, hooded men attacked the Royal Bank of Scotland and vandalized the lobby. But that seemed futile since the failed bank is pretty much owned by the British people now anyway. In fact, the protest was so tame that the only fatality was due to natural causes. The bobbies never even got out their tear gas. Things have changed out there, that’s certain. Some experts are predicting, if not the end of capitalism, certainly the end of the George Bush no-fetters, grab-what-you-can variety of it. So who’s an anarchist to hate? The Americans will be out of Iraq pretty soon and have soured on foreign military adventures. Here in North America, we’ve never really had class hatred to exploit. Sure, the black hood gang can still hate the bankers who got away with fortunes as the economy tanked. But lots of people are mad about that. You don’t have to be a radical to despise the greed heads at AIG who collected bonuses after almost bankrupting the U.S. economy. But maybe the anarchists should thank the uber-materialists for fulfilling a prediction that goes back to Karl Marx. Marx believed that capitalism contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Certainly those seeds, if they exist, have been well watered over the past few years. Markets and industry are in crisis, companies are folding, some billionaires have been reduced to mere millionaire status and last week the G-20 ponied up another trillion dollars to bail out the global economy. And surely the protest crowd takes heart in the fact that the crisis has recharged calls for curbs on international trade. They’ve demanded protected markets for years. Now it seems that even industry itself is determined to calcify global trade. For evidence, look no further than the car business. The North American auto industry is so weak from the economic slowdown and its own strategic mistakes that it’s no longer a threat to foreign markets, if it ever was. At the same time, American workers are losing their jobs and their incomes, so they can’t afford to buy foreign imports. Emerging powers like India and China have used the liberalized global trade system to revolutionize their economies in ways not seen for 60 years. Life has improved for millions. But does the sudden economic introspection of countries like the U.S. and Britain mean that ends, too? Even in America, where deregulation has reigned as the prevailing financial dogma since the days of Ronald Reagan, there are calls for economic controls. Leading European powers are demanding much stricter supervision of financial markets. Where are we headed? All we know for sure is that it’s a time of massive change. Maybe things will get better sooner than we think, but they’ll never be the same. In retrospect, that might be a good thing, too. Dan Leger is director of news content for The Chronicle Herald. The opinions expressed here are his own. ( dleger@herald.ca) |
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Oh, I get it now, it's
Oh, I get it now, it's ironic.
Yes and No. The overall view
Yes and No. The overall view of anarchists in the mainstream is of jobless trust fund kids who try to unionize poor workers source of health insurance and whine by protesting or sabotage. The fact they oppose the government or leaders renders them harmless. And since todays anarchist opposes free Market economies they support goverment regulaltion. So now that they have what they want they are completely useless. Meaning it's time anarchists finally quit being stupid.
And since todays anarchist
And since todays anarchist opposes free Market economies they support goverment regulaltion.
you don't speak for me...I don't want the free market, but neither do I support government regulation.
Regulation is government.
Regulation is government. The Free Market is an unregulated market. The market is where goods are exchanged whether it is seed for garden or sex. If you believe in the regulation or banishment of parts or all of the free exchange of goods then you believe in it's governing. Someone has to call it bad: that is the governor.
for myself personally, i
for myself personally, i don't want a market, i want a community where we can support ourselves. maybe, i am psuedo primi. AAAHHHHH! oh well. time to go listen to some old timie music. love and peace, ofelas
The Free Market is an
The Free Market is an unregulated market.
At least when its convenient. The US frequently violates free trade principles when economic times get too tough.
Wow, racism/discrimination
Wow, racism/discrimination in a new (not) form . Lumping an "overall view" on a "labeled" group of people, then with an explanation of how they all "are" and "do", that makes them useless and stupid.
Take your opinion and..........you know the rest.
do not speak for me please.
spOOk
Cheers! That's what labels
Cheers! That's what labels like "anti capitalist" and "anarchist" do. When you take a name against the mainstream you lump those who don't support your politics together. It's way to complicated to pass moral judgement on anyone. And nothing says "moralistic" like resistance. Do not try to govern me or make me FEEL GUILTY with your anti capitalism.
I do not care how you feel
I do not care how you feel and did not try to make you feel anything except your opinion up your own ass.
I choose my own way, I lump myself into the "I" category.
spOOk
And that is authoritarian
And that is authoritarian social darwinism. Thank You for proving the writers point. No. you aren't special! Thats why you need these labels.
"I" never said "I" was
"I" never said "I" was special or what "I" like, "I" dislike or what "I" believe.
"I" do have personal ethic, honor system "I" choose to follow.
"I" am an individual but "I" am no better or worse than anyone else, "I" am no more special than anyone else.
"I" fail to see how that is authoritarian social darwinism. "I" also fail to see where you can assume anything you claim about myself from previous post you replied to.
"I" will form my own ideas about everything seeing as how "I" am responsible for myself and my actions and no one else.
"I" am now going to put this in my category of "I" can give a fuck less about this.
spOOk
You are an anarchist. This
You are an anarchist. This is not a mainstream view so this means you think you are special. Your repeated emphasis on "i" seperates you from they or we: different/special case. You don't care about a different opinion. That means you already think you know better and that makes you special and better than me. Better being an authoritarian social concept. But thank you for conceding.
"I" know what works for me,
"I" know what works for me, which does not mean that it works or is right for others.
"You" have the right to assume whatever the fuck you wish about me but that does not make it true or false. It is just a cat in a box.
spOOk
I just cant help but
I just cant help but interupt here because anon is definitely confused about subjective identity and asserting ones personal rights with authoritarian opinions.So trolling is becoming more conceptual,how disturbing.
For commodities and
For commodities and consumables 75% of global commerce involves affluent capitalist western nations,who use tariffs and subsidies to manipulate this socalled free market to benefit themselves,usually global bankers acting as investment middlemen ripping off the producer or their workforce,ie sweatshops,farmworkers in 3rd world countries.The free market is another farcical scam.
"Emerging powers like India
"Emerging powers like India and China have used the liberalized global trade system to revolutionize their economies in ways not seen for 60 years. Life has improved for millions."
http://lnk.nu/mirror.co.uk/u5z/
Also, this whole thing is completely ridiculous, just look at the Great Depression.
Or was this a joke? In which case, good one.
Resist the NEW WORLD ORDER,
Resist the NEW WORLD ORDER, aka GLOBAL FASCISM.
Just because capitalism is
Just because capitalism is in crisis, doesn't mean it's gone for good. Smash the fuck out of capitalism.
Obviously this article is
Obviously this article is being ironic, but a deeper issue this article has unwittingly uncovered, I think, is that those from places like Crimethinc and other anti-civ or anti-work groups that have rationalized protest and rebellion an end-in-itself (ironically mimicking the ruling class construction of what radicalism supposedly "really" is - the desire to smash things) because they aren't interested in any real constructive social or progressive libertarian vision will have little to do if change ever actually came. All they want to do is fuck shit up. They would be better off riding roller coasters all day, as that is what gets the adrenalin pumping.
If only it were that simple.
If only it were that simple. the poor getting poorer, the rich getting richer. getting richer, and enslaving us like they have so many others... that is whats left to protest.