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Capital 2

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Clarissa

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In the 1970s, capital sucked all the juice out of the existing Fordist model. The growth slowed, and that meant a new model of capital expansion had to be found.

Since then, capital liberated itself from being tied to specific territory. It no longer has much use for borders, so borders become less relevant. I always find it extraordinarily entertaining when fierce anti-capitalists proclaim, “I’m for open borders! Border guards, customs, passports – enough of that already!” Today, there is nothing more capitalist than contempt for borders and citizenships. And the only line of defense – feeble as that defense might be – against the ravages of capital is the nation-state with its borders, passports, and national myths.

5 responses to “Capital 2”

  1. Editor (Retired) Avatar
    Editor (Retired)

    In other words, the international corporation is the mortal enemy of the nation-state. (I’m not sure if that sentence is true, but it seems logical.) Free-flowing capital and mass migrations of people both try to ignore borders.

    I have no idea if nation-states will be able to survive the pressure.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      At this point, yes, absolutely. Capital has no use for the nation-state any more.

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  2. NG Avatar
    NG

    “In the 1970s, capital sucked all the juice out of the existing Fordist model. The growth slowed, and that meant a new model of capital expansion had to be found.”

    Interesting post:

    “Neoliberal capitalism had, at its core, a basic contradiction: Rising profits spurred economic expansion, but at the same time the source of the rising profits—the suppression of wage growth—created an obstacle to expansion. With wages stagnating, and with government spending rising more slowly, who would buy the output of an expanding economy?”

    http://triplecrisis.com/neoliberal-capitalism-its-crisis-and-what-comes-next/

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Of course, Venezuela and Bolivia are a mess, Syriza and Podemos have sold out, Bernie’s socialism appeals to believers in Santa, but otherwise, the world is totally ready for socialism.

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  3. thelyniezian Avatar
    thelyniezian

    (Yes I know this is an old post but…)

    I suppose different ideologies and interest groups have different reasons for wanting open borders. For the capitalists, it’s access to markets, resources, talent, cheap labour, fewer tariffs and whatever else gets in the way of making as much money as possible; for the radicals, either some humanitarian stuff about not turning away the poor and refugees, or a way of eroding the power of the state (if you happen to be an anarchist). The result is the same but the aims are different.

    Or, maybe there are those who want it for rather more devious reasons- accelerationism. Opening up borders removes the reactionary hinderances preventing capitalism from its ever-progressing race to the bottom and eventual destruction, so the conditions will be right to finally bring in true socialism…

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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