> To respond first to Ulhas's last question: "Is it the drive for higher
> profitability that behind this programme?" The answer is tautological,
> of course, that's what being a capitalist class _means_.
The question was specific to the US capitalism. The European and Japanese capitalisms have not found it necessary (or possible) to think of the rollback of the the entire framework of civil rights and the welfare state, if Chomsky is to be believed. Chomsky describes the US business as "the highly class-conscious business community, very Marxist in character, vulgar Marxist, fighting a bitter class war, and very aware of it. You read internal publications and its like reading Maoists pamphlets half the time." (Chomsky interview "Rollback" by David Barsamian).
> We can speculate, & note various small patches of
>the elephant, but it is obscurantist to attempt
>to offer a full answer in an e-mail post.
Yes, it is obscurantist to attempt to offer a full answer in an e-mail post! I am not expecting anything of that sort. :-)
Ulhas