A Modest Proposal for The Empire

Greg Schofield g_schofield at dingoblue.net.au
Wed Dec 26 18:13:09 PST 2001


--- Message Received --- From: "Carl Remick" <carlremick at hotmail.com> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2001 16:52:37 Subject: Re: A Modest Proposal for The Empire "Yes. I think we're back to the gung-ho Onward Christian Soldiers self-righteousness that made imperialism so richly satisfying emotionally to the Victorians. Plus, we share the Victorians' enthusiasm for using high-tech weaponry against impoverished societies in order to Teach Evil a Lesson. As Hilaire Belloc had it: "Whatever happens, we have got / The Maxim Gun, and they have not." Well, we've got Daisy-cutters, and they have not."

All that might be true, also Napaleon dressed himself in the garb of Roman Emporers, the previous revolution in that of Ancient Greeks, Victorian Imperialists emulated the Apostles, early American Imperialism the sherrif in some Western. Repeated themes and echoes of the past are not uncommon in history - faced with a NEW situation the first temptation is to grab something old in order to give it shape.

At their worst the British were never as desperately self-righteous as Bush & Co. the disparity in military power never so great. So what is the point? Are you suggesting that despite the full history of Imperialism that capitalism is locked into repeating itself?

Could you explain how having one supreme Imperial power actually fits into Lenin's conception of Imperialism, where are the competing imperial powers, where is the dynamic for dividing the redividing the world's territories between themselves?

Comrade, why is it so hard to acknowledge that in terms of capitalism's development we have gone past the point where the older conceptions still hold water? Afterall the very theory itself suggests just such an outcome.

Greg Schofield Perth Australia g_schofield at dingoblue.net.au _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________

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