Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
>
> >Lull before the storm. With the progressing unification of Europe, US
> >will find tougher competition and eventual decline of the hegemonic
> >position in the financial markets. Stopping that by peaceful means was
> >virtually impossible. Iraq war was throwing a monkey wrench into the
> >process in several ways: by kicking European interest out of Iraq, by
> >tighter control of oil which would affect predominantly Europe and
> >Japan, and by getting Europeans fighting amongst themselves again. That
> >gave the empire a boost for a while - but it required drastic means. I
> >do not think that Clinton or Gore would use such means, so they had to
> >go.
>
> How do you know this? There wasn't a hint of it in the elite press -
> these were far right concerns. And I still want proof that "control"
> of oil has any economic effect.
>
(I don't accept Wojtek's argument at all, but) Isn't this accepting the capitalist (ideological) premise that "the economy" has an existence independent of or separate from other social relations? If one denies that separation, then it requires self-conscious abstraction, spelled out, to separate relations of control from relations of production, and it makes no sense to ask for proof that "control" has "economic effect." ???
Carrol