[lbo-talk] doug henwood's interview ...in italian

[Doug Henwood]

I realize that this is posted mainly a pretext to launch a few  
thousand words of YoshieThought, but I don't recall saying anything  
like this to Marco d'Eramo. While I think a public works program  
would be just dandy - as would a large energy R&D program - it seems  
very very ambitious, given the politics of the U.S. It would take  
either a huge mobilization or an economic crisis - -or some  
combination of both - for it even to enter the realm of possibility.  
And I don't think I'd ever say that "plenty of profits" was a selling  
point, because I think that U.S. capital (as a whole - I'm not  
talking about concrete vendors) would rather forego such profits than  
enlarge and/or legitimate the public sector.

Doug

On Nov 6, 2007, at 11:17 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:


> <http://montages.blogspot.com/2007/11/time-between-ashes-and- 
> roses.html>
> A Time between Ashes and Roses
>
> Observing that a majority of capitalists have abandoned the Republican
> Party for the Democratic Party (58% of campaign contributions have
> gone to Democrats and 42% to Republicans so far), Doug Henwood, the
> editor of the Left Business Observer, notes in his interview with Il
> Manifesto (Marco d'Eramo, "Primarie Usa: Pioggia d'oro sui candidati
> democratici," Trans. Yoshie Furuhashi, 4 November 2007, p. 3):
>
>    «L'unica soluzione -- conclude Henwood -- sarebbe per i
>     democratici un grande piano di opere pubbliche, visto che
>     le nostre infrastrutture -- ponti, strade, ferrovie, reti  
> elettriche,
>     aeroporti - stanno letteralmente andando in rovina. Questo
>     piano consentirebbe aumento dell'occupazione, la ripresa
>     economica e anche succosi profitti per il capitale. Ma nessun
>     democratico si sogna di proporlo perché per finanziare
>     queste opere pubbliche bisognerebbe reintrodurre una
>     parziale progressività fiscale e questo, nei tempi che corrono,
>     è una tabù, un'eresia che ti può mandare al rogo
>     (politicamente parlando)».
>
>     The only solution -- concludes Henwood -- for the Democrats
>     would be a grand plan of public works, inasmuch as our
>     infrastructures -- bridges, roads, railroads, electrical grids,
>     airports -- are literally falling apart. This plan would allow job
>     growth, economic recovery, and also plenty of profits for capital.
>     But no Democrat dreams of proposing it because, in order to
>     finance these public works, it would have to introduce a little
>     fiscal progressivity, and this, for the time being, is a taboo, a
>     heresy that can condemn you to be burned at the stake
>     (politically speaking).