Grimnir Wotansvolk
12-16-2009, 07:43 PM
Austrian and Marxist Theories of Monopoly-Capital: A Mutualist Synthesis (http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/econn/econn102.htm)
by Kevin Carson
PDF download (http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/econn/econn102.pdf)
If there is a failure on the anti-capitalist left to see the state as the source of the evils of capitalism, there is an equal failure on the libertarian right to welcome any reduction in the state's activities as a step in the right direction. But since state capitalism, as a system of power, combines statist and market elements in an overall structural pattern designed to promote the interests of the corporatist plutocracy, it stands to reason that we cannot let the latter determine what forms of state action to abolish first. Since the state is the executive committee of the ruling class, we can expect that neoliberal policies of "deregulation" and "privatization" will be adopted in the context of an overall strategic design favoring the state capitalists. To let our class enemies determine the agenda for "free market reform," therefore, is suicide.
No doubt the Romans welcomed the withdrawal of Hannibal's center at Cannae as a "step in the right direction" toward a general Punic exodus from Italy. To welcome any partial reduction in taxation or regulation, regardless of where it fits into the state capitalists' general strategy, is the same kind of folly.
I do not advocate the extension of the state in any area of life, even temporarily or for tactical reasons--no exceptions. And I will not be satisfied short of the final goal of eliminating the state altogether. But although we may agree that incrementalism is a viable strategy, it makes a great deal of difference in what order we dismantle the state. Since all its functions are aimed, directly or indirectly, at furthering the political extraction of profits, it stands to reason that the most central, structural supports of subsidy and privilege on which state capitalism depends should be the first to go; those that make it marginally more bearable for the lower classes should be the last to go.
by Kevin Carson
PDF download (http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/econn/econn102.pdf)
If there is a failure on the anti-capitalist left to see the state as the source of the evils of capitalism, there is an equal failure on the libertarian right to welcome any reduction in the state's activities as a step in the right direction. But since state capitalism, as a system of power, combines statist and market elements in an overall structural pattern designed to promote the interests of the corporatist plutocracy, it stands to reason that we cannot let the latter determine what forms of state action to abolish first. Since the state is the executive committee of the ruling class, we can expect that neoliberal policies of "deregulation" and "privatization" will be adopted in the context of an overall strategic design favoring the state capitalists. To let our class enemies determine the agenda for "free market reform," therefore, is suicide.
No doubt the Romans welcomed the withdrawal of Hannibal's center at Cannae as a "step in the right direction" toward a general Punic exodus from Italy. To welcome any partial reduction in taxation or regulation, regardless of where it fits into the state capitalists' general strategy, is the same kind of folly.
I do not advocate the extension of the state in any area of life, even temporarily or for tactical reasons--no exceptions. And I will not be satisfied short of the final goal of eliminating the state altogether. But although we may agree that incrementalism is a viable strategy, it makes a great deal of difference in what order we dismantle the state. Since all its functions are aimed, directly or indirectly, at furthering the political extraction of profits, it stands to reason that the most central, structural supports of subsidy and privilege on which state capitalism depends should be the first to go; those that make it marginally more bearable for the lower classes should be the last to go.