To: goldsnow who wrote (14727 ) 10/1/1999 5:01:00 AM From: GUSTAVE JAEGER Respond to
I'm not surprised....socresonline.org.uk Hillel Ticktin has put it, 'The world disorder..seems to be continuing and indeed gathering strength' (Ticktin, 1994). The scale of such evidence of decline is matched only by the scale of assertion, masquerading as argument, depicting the ascendancy of capitalism. One might argue that the negative features described above are endemic to capitalist expansion and have been since its inception, proving in many ways that it is operating 'as normal'. While this is correct to a degree, the argument here is that these manifestations are no longer a by-product of antagonistic class relations in the quest to expand capital, but instead are the grotesque features of contemporary capitalist survival and stagnation. The manifestations are in fact the product of an essential aspect of decline; capital is becoming increasingly parasitic on its money form of existence and increasingly incapable of meeting social needs of both global and local dimensions. As argued later in more detail, the 'reciprocal' relationship between the world of 'value expansion' and the world defined by social needs has become strained to its break point. The profound squalor and social degradation are the manifestations of a qualitative turn within the capitalist system. The level of poverty and social exclusion, which the supposed 'triumph of capitalism' leaves in its wake, has reached astounding levels and can no longer be seen as a ('unfortunate') by product of its growth and development (as will be explained below). [...]Message 11231530
