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Exploring the Nature of Capitalism
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We are at the start of a new century. A century which promised so much.

 Yet it is threatened by forces greater than we, inhabitants of a capitalist world, have ever seen. And, largely, they have been invoked by us.

But for capitalism, they would not threaten.

What will happen in the next fifty years?

Will we see an ice free Arctic? acidified oceans? rising sea levels?

And then, there’s ‘global warming’, desertification and massive species loss!

All these seem very likely, even in my lifetime.

And there is another set of problems looming in this 21st century. They threaten the world as surely as increasing levels of greenhouse gasses. And they, also, are a consequence of capitalism.

As the empires of Western Europe have crumbled, the institutions in their post-colonial territories, established by them to ensure continuity with the colonial past, have become decreasingly effective.

Post-colonial territories are suffering turmoil and chaos as they metamorphose into communities which exhibit similarities with the pre-colonial communities from which they came.

And we will not, willingly, let them do so!

We still know that the world needs ‘developing’ and we know that wherever countries and communities are disintegrating, we have a deep responsibility to step in and save them from themselves.

Perhaps that’s because, as the Director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, in testimony to the US Senate Select Intelligence Committee on 10 January 1995, claimed:

it’s important to remember that the world is already awash in weapon systems. These range from the relatively simple small arms and mines, to more advanced hand held surface to air missiles, to increasingly advanced anti-ship cruise missiles.

Any country with hard currency can and will get these systems.

And:

 In the last six years, Washington has stepped up its sales and transfers of high-technology weapons, military training, and other military assistance to governments regardless of their respect for human rights, democratic principles, or nonproliferation. All that matters is that they have pledged their assistance in the global war on terrorism.
(Rachel Stohl (2008))

Perhaps our continued concern is, as Obafemi Awolowo claimed in 1947,  “the result of a later compunction of conscience which usually dawns on any evil-doer who is not hardened beyond redemption”.

• We invaded their territories;
• forcibly included them in European empires;
• created poorly established ‘post-colonial’ nations;
• co-opted them into our ‘Cold War’;
• supplied them with both weapons and military training;
• fomented insurrection within their territories;
• and blame them for the ensuing chaos.

Now,  they are killing each other, and the weapons have been (and are being) supplied by us!

Is it any wonder that so many post-colonial nation-states have become dysfunctional?

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 7th, 2010 at 4:15 am and is filed under Capitalism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.