Neue Debatte - Special Edition - Long Essay on Left Strategy #002 - 04/2017 | Page 23
3 On nations and global capitalism
the socialist movement ever was to forget about this truth and gath-
er under the banners of nations, nationalities and nation states - till
today.
Ironically a system-inherent trend works in opposite direction. Capi-
talism has to promote the working class. The achievements of indus-
trial and economic processes call for a sophisticated workforce, for
better trained labourers, scientifically skilled lab workers, university
educated engineers and competent employees in white collar de-
partments. During the last half-century the performance of the work-
force has changed in terms of worldwide economic convergence and
integration in transnational companies. It is astonishing that the
Communist Manifesto of 1848 has foreseen this process:
“National differences and antagonism between peoples are dai-
ly more and more vanishing, owing to the development of the
bourgeoisie, to freedom of commerce, to the world market, to
uniformity in the mode of production and in the conditions of
life corresponding thereto.”
The medal of globalisation has two sides to be reckoned. On the one
side the capitalist world economy is caught in its own unsolvable in-
ner contradictions growing worth and worth. They are forced to rein-
vest surplus values in profitable enterprises but they lack investment
opportunities. They roam the world with billions of vagabonding su-
perficial capital. They enlarge their companies to worldwide produc-
ing industrial and trade monsters. As global players they cover the
earth with financial cobwebs the central spiders being banks and
other capital concentrating institutions beyond the reach of national
legislations. Nowadays they are even able to bring down state econ-
omies by financial gambling and speculating against them. They con-
cuss politics in depending countries and command all international
institutions. The United Nations for example are everything but unit-
ed. Today the world is under the thumb of global top gangs of world
economy dominators. But whom am I telling this? You are the pro-
fessor of economics, Yanis, not me.
3.3 Globalisation changing personal attitudes and views
Globalisation and concentration of economic and political power
does not only reduce the nation states to unimportance but engen-
der perspectives for a future shape of the wold. On the reverse side
of the medal the kraken type globalisation generates most precious
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