>This is beyond debate. Just off the top of my head: African slave
>labor in the U.S.; Coolie labor in the U.S.; the Duth and English
>colonial empire; current Chinese coolie labor; the unending theft of
>natural resources (gold/diamonds/oil/hardwoods/rare minerals); the
>current economic (IMF) indentured servitude regime...
Not historically - there's no question the colonies made Europe's takeoff possible. I'm talking about now - what is the contribution of the poor countries to accumulation? Places like Brazil are subordinate to some degree, but also have their own regimes of accumulation, and exercise hegemony over weaker neighbors. Places like Africa are fairly marginal to accumulation, which is why they're so poor.
Minerals are important, but they're not the motor of the system.
IMF regimes are political weapons, designed to maintain a hierarchy and keep countries in the system. I'm really asking about the economics of imperialism - what is the Southern contribution to value production?
Doug