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adam_mcphee 's review for:
The Extreme Centre: A Second Warning
by Tariq Ali
Most of Europe’s admired philosophers cannot interpret this world, let alone change it. Economists and sociologists, however, are discussing a number of possible alternatives.
An update of the litany against neoliberalism. I liked the part about England and Scotland at the time of the Scottish referendum, especially his idea that states-within-a-state are the ones most likely to push back against radical centrism. It strikes me as being true in Canada, with both Quebec and our indigenous population. Also a bunch on New Labour and the problem of unwritten agreements where politicians wait until after they leave office to collect on bribes for actions taken while in office (apparently it's well known that British PMs and foreign ministers rake in Saudi Arabian cash for sparsely attended speeches after leaving office).
The rulers of the world will see in these words little more than an expression of utopianism, but they would be wrong. For these are the structural reforms that are really needed, not those being pushed by the EU. What is needed is a complete turnaround, preceded by a public admission that the Wall Street system could not and did not work and has to be abandoned.
One conscious or sub-conscious function underlying this false optimism about the US’s imminent decline is to abandon effective opposition. It’s no longer necessary to ask questions. If an Empire is approaching its death agony, why waste time discussing the real symptoms? Such an attitude encourages one to decontextualize geopolitical problems, seeing them in isolation from the strategy or needs of the grand hegemon. In this view the world becomes a chessboard, with the pawns in control. None of the setbacks suffered by the United States – most seriously in South America where the Bolivarians have a universal appeal, unlike the jihadis and their supporters – justifies such a view.
The fact is that the globe still revolves, however shakily, around a fixed political, ideological and military axis. We are not even close to the twilight years of the American imperium. Nor is Washington in any mood to surrender its place in the world. It may be a ‘stationary state’2 at home for the time being, but it is hyperactive abroad. In fact domestic economic problems, whose seriousness should not be underestimated, make the Empire more violent abroad. Each new enemy, however peripheral, is described as evil incarnate and presented as such by global media networks, like a capitalist variant of an old Stalinist category – the ‘enemies of the people’ who should be imprisoned, tortured or exterminated at will.
Sick burn:
A century ago, in 1913 to be precise, Lenin warned:
We live in a very different world on many levels, but what the Russian revolutionary wrote a year before the outbreak of the First World War remains apposite.
An update of the litany against neoliberalism. I liked the part about England and Scotland at the time of the Scottish referendum, especially his idea that states-within-a-state are the ones most likely to push back against radical centrism. It strikes me as being true in Canada, with both Quebec and our indigenous population. Also a bunch on New Labour and the problem of unwritten agreements where politicians wait until after they leave office to collect on bribes for actions taken while in office (apparently it's well known that British PMs and foreign ministers rake in Saudi Arabian cash for sparsely attended speeches after leaving office).
Spoiler
The advice proffered to the Labour Party in Britain in 1958 by Professor H. D. Dickinson was rejected by Labour, but accepted by the Bolivarian leaders in Venezuela and Bolivia some forty years later:If the welfare state is to survive, the state must find a source of income of its own, a source to which it has a claim prior to that of … a profits-receiver. The only source that I can see is that of productive property. The state must come, in some way or another, to own a very large chunk of the land and capital of the country. This may not be a popular policy: but, unless it is pursued, the policy of improved social services, which is a popular one, will become impossible. You cannot for long socialize the means of consumption unless you first socialize the means of production.
The rulers of the world will see in these words little more than an expression of utopianism, but they would be wrong. For these are the structural reforms that are really needed, not those being pushed by the EU. What is needed is a complete turnaround, preceded by a public admission that the Wall Street system could not and did not work and has to be abandoned.
Spoiler
Since all Empires in human history have fallen, the American version will inevitably do so too. But when? Until now, despite many a setback, the signs of impending collapse or irreversible decline are few. Occasionally, left-liberals and fellow travellers attempt to paint a canvas highlighting the setbacks in lurid colours, while leaving all else in darkness. The implication is that the United States was once an all-powerful Empire but is now on the wane. The first claim of omnipotence was never the case, and a cold-eyed survey of the evidence suggests that the second assumption, too, is misjudged.One conscious or sub-conscious function underlying this false optimism about the US’s imminent decline is to abandon effective opposition. It’s no longer necessary to ask questions. If an Empire is approaching its death agony, why waste time discussing the real symptoms? Such an attitude encourages one to decontextualize geopolitical problems, seeing them in isolation from the strategy or needs of the grand hegemon. In this view the world becomes a chessboard, with the pawns in control. None of the setbacks suffered by the United States – most seriously in South America where the Bolivarians have a universal appeal, unlike the jihadis and their supporters – justifies such a view.
The fact is that the globe still revolves, however shakily, around a fixed political, ideological and military axis. We are not even close to the twilight years of the American imperium. Nor is Washington in any mood to surrender its place in the world. It may be a ‘stationary state’2 at home for the time being, but it is hyperactive abroad. In fact domestic economic problems, whose seriousness should not be underestimated, make the Empire more violent abroad. Each new enemy, however peripheral, is described as evil incarnate and presented as such by global media networks, like a capitalist variant of an old Stalinist category – the ‘enemies of the people’ who should be imprisoned, tortured or exterminated at will.
Sick burn:
Spoiler
Grillo’s anti-immigrant views are no secret. In 2011 he was quoted in the conservative press uttering remarks no different in tone and content to those of Britain’s Ukip. The difference is this: Grillo is a clown, Farage merely pretends to be one.Spoiler
The attempts to roll back neoliberalism are gathering momentum, but what to put in its place, and by what means, remain subjects for debate. The most successful movements are targeting the political structures of the state. Taking on its socio-economic base and transforming it on the South American model – state ownership of utilities and heavy regulation of capital – is an essential next step. This will not be easy in Europe. The power of the world financial system, both officially and through rogue elements, to try and paralyse an economy has been on display in several recent cases. They include Argentina, attacked by a vulture fund based in the Cayman Islands; Russia, subjected to US/EU economic sanctions as political punishment; and Iran, subjected to US/EU sanctions for exercising its sovereignty. Radical democracy alone will not be sufficient to repel these challenges. It will require alliances both from above and below to cement changes. We are many, but the few control the wealth, and have a military to back up that control.A century ago, in 1913 to be precise, Lenin warned:
Oppression alone, no matter how great, does not always give rise to a revolutionary situation in a country. In most cases it is not enough for revolution that the lower classes should not want to live in the old way. It is also necessary that the upper classes should be unable to rule and govern in the old way.
We live in a very different world on many levels, but what the Russian revolutionary wrote a year before the outbreak of the First World War remains apposite.