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A review by alanffm
Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism by Vladimir Lenin
3.0
Lenin's "Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism" is a short text which argues that imperialism is the inevitable outcome of advanced capitalistic enterprises. The main villains in this endeavor are the banks, whose tendrils stretch across the world and whose interests are not tied to nations or peoples. Lenin's citations are generally on point, and the examples he uses to show how a given capitalist enterprise will always be encouraged to strive towards monopoly and eventually imperialism are strong.
Unfortunately, Lenin misses a major point which undermines his text: imperialism is not just the product of capitalism, but a natural problem associated with any endeavor that requires creative production or output. Lenin's Marxism is frustrating and his constant need to use capitalism as a crutch - that is to say as a go-to excuse for the world's problems - blinds him to the real cause of imperialism and monopoly. Capitalism is a catalyst that optimizes the economy. Lenin assumes that optimization naturally favors monopoly, but that is, as far as my reading of the text is concerned, an assumption and not a fact.
Unfortunately, Lenin misses a major point which undermines his text: imperialism is not just the product of capitalism, but a natural problem associated with any endeavor that requires creative production or output. Lenin's Marxism is frustrating and his constant need to use capitalism as a crutch - that is to say as a go-to excuse for the world's problems - blinds him to the real cause of imperialism and monopoly. Capitalism is a catalyst that optimizes the economy. Lenin assumes that optimization naturally favors monopoly, but that is, as far as my reading of the text is concerned, an assumption and not a fact.