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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
Eyes glazed over at the numbers but the central thesis historicizing the rise of finance capital in the context of colonialism is undeniable. This book is so strangely prescient, including a section that seems to describe the late 20th century phenomenon of off-shoring to a tee. This really get cooking in the second half, when Vlad discusses the parasitism of rentier states and the untenable contradiction of a few wealthy nations plundering the rest via monopolistic and usurious economic policy.
Yeah, it was a slog at moments, but it came up due at the library so I finished the back half in 2 days and you know what? I’m glad I did.
Yeah, it was a slog at moments, but it came up due at the library so I finished the back half in 2 days and you know what? I’m glad I did.
informative
medium-paced
I haven’t read this book in at least a decade, but I felt like I needed to go back to this after reading Grace Blakely’s Vulture Capitalism.
Lenin still so perfectly explains how we have reached the present moment. The reactionary mercantilists with their tariffs to protect local industry that no longer exists, the delusion of the free market capitalists, the reality of the public/private partnership of imperialism requiring the marriage of global financial capital, the use of state backed force, and crushing debt instruments to subjugate smaller nations.
I’ve seen comments from people that a lot of Lenin is doing here is arguing with other writers. But substitute Kautsky and the opportunists with any social democrat in the west today. People like AOC or Bernie Sanders who talk of reforming capitalism for the working class but are imperialists, like their historical analog in Kautsky. They’re not simply apologists for financial capital or capitalist imperialists, they recognize that they benefit from it and do not challenge the system at all.
This should be required reading for any leftist or Marxist, even if you are not a Marxist-Leninist. It forms a strong basis for understanding how capitalism reached this point and how these exact same mechanisms and trends are still with us, over a century after the fact.
Lenin still so perfectly explains how we have reached the present moment. The reactionary mercantilists with their tariffs to protect local industry that no longer exists, the delusion of the free market capitalists, the reality of the public/private partnership of imperialism requiring the marriage of global financial capital, the use of state backed force, and crushing debt instruments to subjugate smaller nations.
I’ve seen comments from people that a lot of Lenin is doing here is arguing with other writers. But substitute Kautsky and the opportunists with any social democrat in the west today. People like AOC or Bernie Sanders who talk of reforming capitalism for the working class but are imperialists, like their historical analog in Kautsky. They’re not simply apologists for financial capital or capitalist imperialists, they recognize that they benefit from it and do not challenge the system at all.
This should be required reading for any leftist or Marxist, even if you are not a Marxist-Leninist. It forms a strong basis for understanding how capitalism reached this point and how these exact same mechanisms and trends are still with us, over a century after the fact.
bro really popped off on that one. truly he was a visionary and all his predictions have come true. nothing much to say really other than: READ THIS BOOK!
crazy that this bank stuff happened right as i was reading this - it’s all so much exactly the same.
we see the formation of a bank trust/monopoly as banks consolidate, themselves become titans of industry, push out any smaller lenders and credit unions… hearing about how much bigger jpmorgan chase is going to get as a result of this sbv crash after reading about the same thing in early 1900s and after recessions/the same failures… the cycle repeats itself.
we see the formation of a bank trust/monopoly as banks consolidate, themselves become titans of industry, push out any smaller lenders and credit unions… hearing about how much bigger jpmorgan chase is going to get as a result of this sbv crash after reading about the same thing in early 1900s and after recessions/the same failures… the cycle repeats itself.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
challenging
informative
slow-paced
I have a much better understanding of what imperialism actually is and how it is inevitable to capitalism. I do wish he was better at explaining some of the terms he uses, because their definitions are not always clear.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Informative and prophetic but slow-paced and dry. Reinforces that capitalism inevitably increases inequality.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
