> > The crisis of this arrangement presents the opportunity for the
> > proposition of a new global order by the "global aristocracies" -
> > that is to say, the multinational corporations, the supranational
> > institutions and the other dominant nation states.
>
> The EU and East Asia's business networks aren't aristocracies. Judging
> from house organs like the ECB, the BIS and the Nikkei Shimbun, the
> multi-bourgeoisie seems quite aware that the US oiligarchy is a doomed
> atavism.
Hardt & Negri are simply using "aristocracy" in a metaphorical/idiosyncratic way, to denote non-US capitalist classes, as opposed to the "monarchy" of the US capitalist classes.
> > It is increasingly clear,
> > in fact, that the majority of the world is excluded from the primary
> > circuits of economic production and consumption.
>
> Eh? The majority of the world lives in cities and is indeed hooked up to
> those circuits. Relative immiseration and polarization are at all-time
> highs, but this isn't the same thing as absolute immiseration.
They are referring to the huge numbers of subsistence or welfare-dependent peasants remaining around the world --- including (e.g.) three quarters of the population of China -- who are neither wage earners nor capitalists.
> > Another priority would be reversing the processes of privatization
> > and creating common access to necessary productive resources - such
> > as land, seeds, information, and knowledge. Making resources common
> > is necessary for the expansion and renewal of creative and production
> > potentials, from agriculture to internet technologies.
>
> Knowledge is fine, but needs to be mobilized or utilized by someone or
> something to be effective. To paraphrase a classic slogan, one, two, many
> Vietnamese-style developmental states!
I'm glad to see that past warnings about lumping together Asian societies into a spurious "Asian development" model have finally sunk in, if only in a small way.
However, before you engage in further cheerleading for the Vietnamese crypto-bourgeoisie, consider that the "development" occurs for the benefit of their bank balances, and at the expense of peasants and wage earners, check (e.g.) the poverty rates cited below.
12 Apr 2004 12:10:45 GMT
Vietnam confirms ethnic unrest in highlands
By Christina Toh-Pantin
HANOI, April 12 (Reuters) - Vietnam confirmed on Monday that there had been unrest in two Central Highlands provinces at the weekend, breaking its silence over a protest that echoed widespread ethnic minority uprisings three years ago.
"In the past few days several extremists in some locations of the provinces of Daklak and Gia Lai, along with agitation from outside, have taken actions to disturb the public order," a statement from the Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry did not provide figures on the protesters -- which residents say may have numbered in the thousands in one city -- but said authorities had stabilised the situation and that the provinces were now "under normal condition".
The protesters destroyed public buildings and property in some communes, the ministry said.
A number of people with minor injuries were treated on Saturday at the General Hospital in Daklak, an official at the facility said on Sunday.
No independent confirmation could be obtained on the situation as Vietnam quickly slapped a ban on all foreigners, including tourists, from visiting the highlands, which are home to Vietnam's coffee belt.
* * * *
Major unrest in the highlands in February 2001 over religious and property rights was crushed by Hanoi and the region has since been under a blanket of security. Diplomats and foreign journalists must get clearance to travel to the area.
The latest flare-up unrest caught Hanoi and diplomats by surprise and were a setback in the government's attempts to win over the minorities with development aid.
"Vietnam's attempted to ameliorate this by throwing lots of money at the highlands," said Carl Thayer, who has written extensively on Vietnam and teaches at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.
Just last week, Vietnam's central bank signed a $20 million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank to improve health care services for the highlands, where poverty rates hover around 50 percent versus a national average of 27 percent.
* * * *
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP18187.htm