[lbo-talk] Behind the News: Heightened Intra-capitalist Conflict under Secular Stagnation

[David Martin]

The CIA is not a creature of the executive branch but of Wall Street and
the corporatocracy, and, just like capital itself, it is rife with
contradictions and conflicts. Looking at Steve Bannon's resume -- from the
Security Studies program at Georgetown (the academic arm of U.S.
intelligence agencies) and naval intelligence officer to Goldman Sachs and
Hollywood propaganda films and Breitbart, I can say with a high degree of
confidence that he is a covert operative serving an intelligence agency
with a non-official cover. (I've known operatives with similar resumes as
well as look at John Perkins' resume as an EHM). So what we are witnessing
is factional warfare breaking out within the CIA and military, as one
faction stole the election from another. One faction wants to provoke a
crisis with Russia to provide a pretext for expanded military spending
(e.g. Boeing and Lockheed Martin) while the other wants to integrate Russia
into the global capitalist system more deeply to obtain its vast natural
resources (e.g. ExxonMobil). This latter faction is also in alliance with
the vulture capitalists (Mercer) and Wall Street investment banks (Goldman
Sachs) that profit from financial speculation and crises, but the
volatility and the deflation from financial crises negatively affect the
production planning and commodity realization for global commodity
producers with a manufacturing base in China (e.g. Silicon Valley). Like a
"Godfather," Trump  is now threatening the other faction with shots across
the bow to get them in line. It is no accident that in midst of this
conflict that Trump created a crisis with phone call with the President of
Taiwan -- threatening to disrupt the GVCs of Sillicon Valley) or that he
has threatened the largest military contractors with loss of contracts
(e.g. Air Force One, F-35). That is, Trump is creating crises that threaten
the other faction from which they must seek his protection -- and force
them to kneel before the Godfather and kiss his ring, while he rewards the
vulture capitalists, Wall Street investment banks, Big OIl, and
CIA/military faction who support him with cabinet posts. A little carrot
and stick from the carrot face and yellow top.

What do you think? What am I missing in this analysis? Thx! D