Imperialism is political slavery which turned out not to be profitable over the long run.
I don't think it was a question of profitability which makes imperialism fail. Could you give an example?
This is how I see it:
Roman imperialism worked in some countries and not in others. They had 2 great things going for them:
1. they entwined the culture with that of their own.
2. they went to great efforts to better the infrastructures and make people's lives better.
Look at France, Italy, Germany, Britain etc. for examples of how well it all really went, for hundreds of years.
In other countries however, they did nothing for the infrastructure, enslaved people (instead of 'equal rights') and were continually at war in these countries.
The profitability in these countries was low due to their method of imperialism, instead of imperialism in its self.
Capitalism is economic slavery that plays its games within existing political structures (usually, unless a Bush goes to war).
The great thing about capitalism is that the slaves don't know they're slaves. They really think they are free.
There are two forms of work, as far as I can tell, within a capitalist society:
1. you work to make someone else rich
2. You work to keep the people who work to make other people rich happy and productive.
Capitalists say their theory is based on human greed. In fact, they created an economic system and later decided that human greed would fit their system, after they'd been critisized.
(unlike communism which is an economic system based on a philosophy: dialectic materialism, created by marx and Engels, based on dialectic idealism by Hegel).
The capitalists are even wrong their assumption that human greed drives capitalism.
Capitalism exists because people are sheep. They do what they're told.
The whole media, education and law system is created to indoctrinate people that they should do what they're told. And so they do!
A great example is when people say: "You have to obey the law."
Yeah? What if a law is passed which makes the gassing of Jews legal? Do you have to obey that?
That will get them thinking.
Then you add: "What makes you not want to carry out that law?"
If they have the nerve to say: "We're just following orders." I always refer to Nuremberg, where that argument was found to be severly lacking.
Actually it's not really profitable now for most people in the world. Why does it keep on sailing? Because the captains of industry that Capitalism celebrates are not actually the ones moving the ship forward. The economically poor and politically disenfranchised are the ones making things go, and they have very little to show for their efforts.
They are sheep.
It's occurred to me that technological advancement will never permit the worker class a life of leisure as envisioned by futurists in the Fifties and Sixties. The Market will always price commodities just beyond what the lower 80% of the socioeconomic ladder can reasonably afford.
The price of renting a house has stayed at roughly 1/3 of a working man's pay for more than 100 years.
You have to make sure the sheep have enough money to have a little fun (makes them think they are in control) and thus revert them from revolting.
For though sheep they may be, push a human into a corner and he'll turn into a rat.
About cars:
I pay tax on buying the car. I pay tax on petrol. I pay tax on driving the car. And I have to pay money to park it.
In London they've passed the so-called congestion charge. That means if you want to drive in London during the day, you have to pay extra to do so.
Yep. Less cars on the road, and the rich have more room to manouvre.
This phenomenon happens invisibly for all goods and services, and this is why robots, computers, jumbo jets, and DVD players have not brought about a revolution in quality of life. Ironically people have less leisure time now than ever before.
Yup. But you musn't forget that your leisure time will cost various capitalists money.
It makes you wonder why you get any free time at all? Tourist and leisure industry.
That's right, if you didn't have any free time, these capitalists wouldn't be able to make money out of you.
That's why societies where kids have to work 16 hours a day are less well off. Only certain capitalists can make money there.
Posted on Oct 14, 2003, 11:51 AM from IP address 80.79.97.145
