2011, A Year Replete With Revolts, Uprisings And Occupation

Uprisings, revolts and occupation are keeping their undeniable marks on 2011. In recent times, a year with so much and so wide protests from periphery to world metropolis are rare. In this crises-ridden period, the competition-charged, tumultuous year saw status quo questioned and challenged. In recent times, capitalism with its fundamental contradictions of capital accumulation has never encountered so vigorous and wide social criticism and rejection.

The globe eclipsing status quo has created conditions for protest and uprising, and also trammeled these. With these contradictory acts, status quo has illegitimated itself, and has provided legitimacy to protest and uprising against institutions for coercion and ideological hegemony that capital builds up to dominate public life. As captive of income- and opportunity-inequalities, people in countries are giving tongue to their dissatisfaction with the status quo, its philosophy, policies, politics and economy. As democratic practice, people are dissenting, disapproving and denouncing dominating power’s contempt of life and liberty. People are declining to acquiesce to the destruction of peace on the earth.

People in countries were passing days while corporate personhood was taking control of peoples’ life and bare minimum spaces essential for people’s existence. It was capital’s indifferent campaign to destruct all life on the earth.

The prevailing system with its all its brutality – poverty, unemployment, wars, intervention, and indifferent elites indulging in luxury and speculation – has provided logic to protest in countries. Working people are being deprived of their rights. Narrowed down space for dissent and curtailed rights have ignited revolts. In 2011, people began resisting mainly through nonviolent protest marches and occupation. Internet based social networking has turned into a tool to communicate and propagate. In 2011, with industrial action, by striking valiantly, labor in scores of countries heroically stood in front of capital. In Third, Second and First Worlds, student activism, their protests and marches, occupations of educational institutions and media centers unmasked the dominating system that does not hide its profit motive in the area of public instruction. In 2011, riot and anarchic acts, only a few in numbers and only in a few countries, reflect dire living condition, and encroached democratic space. These are initiatives by an impatient section to ensure jobs, homes, security and freedom from the tyranny of capital.

The Arab Spring and the Occupy Movement are two key moments in the worldwide protest process in 2011. These are junctures. In terms of magnitude and force, these two surpassed the Seattle Uprising in 1999, the Prague Anti-globalization Protests in 2000 and the Iraq War Protest in 2003. In terms of significance, these two influenced and will influence societies and politics at regional and world levels.

Tyrants, Empire-allies, caricature characters in politics, financial and political institutions, coercive apparatus, all had to face protests by people from Australia to Middle East, from North Africa to North America, from Wukan, a China village, to the US cities, from a mining giant headquarter to ports and auction house. Tunisia, Italy, Malaysia, Morocco, Russia, Bahrain, Greece, France, the UK, backward, conservative societies and advanced capitalist countries, all came under questioning by its citizens. Madrid, Athens, San Francisco, Paris, Philadelphia, London, Leeds, Los Angeles, and hundreds of cities and towns saw protest marches. Election thievery sparked protests, sometimes violent. In 2011, tens of thousands of “mass incidents”, huge demonstrations and protests, reflected undercurrents in today’s Chinese society. Striking oil workers occupied the main square in Zhanaozen, a Kazakhstan town, for more than six months. In the last days in 2011, police firing on the protesting Kazakh oil workers killed at least 10 people. During the last days of the year, protesting people continue making supreme sacrifices in Egypt, a geostrategically important area, where an alliance between retrogressive forces and imperialism has been completed. In Lens Creek Mountain, West Virginia, USA, people marched more than 50 miles to save ecology and a glorious history.

Occupy Wall Street, the Occupy Movement that began on September 17 with a few thousand protesters in New York to condemn greed and capitalism has become a political expression in the entire US, and broadly, a worldwide approach with broad coalitions. In France, Marseille Chamber of Commerce was occupied. In Kerala, India, a soft drink plant was occupied. And, 2011 saw similar many more.

Within days, the Occupy Movement became a world symbol with the universal slogan “We are the 99%”. Jobless and homeless, union members and priests, nurses, teachers and students stood in protest, peacefully marched down streets, built camps with libraries in parks and city squares, tried to make their stand in the face of forced evictions. But capital’s dictatorial force prevailed. Occupy Movement protesters have been arrested, their camps bulldozed.

Occupy Movement campaigned to move homeless people into buildings foreclosed by banks, stood by labor’s struggle, and has tried to widen its support-base. Defying cold, rain, snow falls and evictions in countries, Occupy Movement protesters are still undaunted, and hope to re-occupy public spaces.

Now, it is Occupy Everywhere. It’s a new discourse and dynamics of political action. It is not an isolated act of protest. Rather, it is now a worldwide process, an expression of revolt against capitalist economy and politics.

Labor, either in unions or defying status quoed union leadership, in countries has joined the waves of uprising, and in countries has determined pace of politics for a period, may be for a short one. Labor worldwide is trying to assert its position. In 2011, labor made strikes at Australian coal mines and walked outs at giant Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Chile’s state-owned copper giant, African gold producers, and scores of mine owners in countries had to face labor action in the year.
At least in a country, a new law banning street protest has been enacted. At least a country now plans to use its political power to detain its citizens for indefinite period. Police reportedly went undercover at an Occupy camp to find out protesters’ intentions. Police spies infiltrated protest groups at least in a country. In countries, public servants, hardly a few thousands in number, are wielding the power to define limits of “democracy” for millions, and in actual sense, billions. The year 2011 once again exposed these truths.

In 2011, by violating fundamental rights of people, and even by violating bourgeois democratic norms, ruling classes in respective societies have quashed its claims to rule, have confirmed its void moral standing, and have provided people the logic to reclaim fundamental features of bourgeois democracy and public spaces. In 2011, ruling machines in countries are breaking its laws the machines are committed to safeguard, and breeding contempt of the laws enacted to secure existing property relations and perpetuate dominance over people. In countries, honesty is an abandoned concept within forces of and institutions for hegemony. So, the logic to reclaim comes from Abraham Lincoln. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln said while debating Stephen Douglas: “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”

In 2011, capital’s “holy” alliance is being exposed. States with their inherent inefficiency and incompetence continue to stand as inefficient and incompetent. With their monopoly of coercion states are attaining mistrust of its citizens.

In 2011, main stream media got exposed as a tool of capital. MSM’s acts appeared deep rooted conspiracy, often a conspiracy of silence, to the protesting people. It tried to keep silent on the Occupy Movement. Its “shrewd” tact to ignore people’s struggles ultimately breached its credibility, and to regain credibility, it had to provide information, sometimes disinformation or misinformation.

In 2011, the dominating economy’s incapability is being exposed as it continues to snatch away social safety arrangements, as it fails to provide bare minimum livelihood space to citizens, and as it fails to balance its competing interests. In a continent, dominating capital stands on the brink of falling apart as its powerful parts fail to resolve fatal competition.

In 2011, like past years, states, huge in number, continue to serve their masters – capitals, monopoly finance capital, speculator capital, ecocide capital, war capital. With demagoguery and outright falsehood, with a state of war or a threat of war, with justification to torture and murder, states fomented protests, revolts and occupation in 2011.

Status quo is engaged with full force in stopping peoples’ legitimate claims on economy and politics. In 2011, societies are on the border of bankruptcy, societies are faltering with burden of seemingly endless mal-governance, lumpenocracy, immense corruption and hopelessness. Dominating classes’ historical role has brought the societies to this limit. The dominating classes have initiated the process of destruction of these societies. In countries, people found no other way but protest and revolt in 2011 as speculators and bankers shape economy and trample sovereignty, polluters define limits of livable environment, and tyranny encroach public spaces. All Tyranny depends on deception, hypocrisy, economic and political power, and compels people to resort to revolt. The year, as a reaction, demonstrates force and power of revolt. The year is witnessing unimaginable riches and military might, but finds it imprisoned to the desire to use the power in the interests of absolute minority section in societies. People find them encountering tyranny and oppression in the guise of status quo in 2011.

“No nation”, as James Madison said in Political Observations in 1795, “can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.” But, the world is experiencing continual war waged by dominating capital. The year 2011 with pain and tears is going through this war. It is war for resources and cheap labor being waged in lands around the globe, it is war for thievery, it is wars declared and undeclared, and it is age-old war waged by a minority class against the majority classes. Under the endless sky, it is being waged in politics, in diplomacy, in economy, in propaganda, in ideology and education. It is being waged in the squares of the cities, in slums, on waste dumping grounds, with public properties being sold in market, in factories and workshops, in ports and offices, in degraded educational institutions and hospitals without any ribbon of hope, in all public spaces.

In countries, people are now no more wandering, no more having aimless moves in 2011. In countries, people are now striving to transform politics, taking initiatives in politics with limitations imposed by a period and respective societies. Despite the fact, protesting people, revolting people, not individuals, have initiated a process to reclaim their space, their land, to reiterate
This land is your land,
This land is my land
This land is our land.

Democratic Struggle And The Struggle For The Environment Are Tied Together

By Fred Magdoff & Farooque Chowdhury

Interview of Professor Fred Magdoff by Farooque Chowdhury on climate crisis

“People's democratic struggle and the struggle for the environment should be intimately tied together. If the environmental issues are brought front and center within the people's struggles it might even result in more support for change”, said Fred Magdoff , co-author of What Every Environmentalist Needs To Know about Capitalism, A Citizen's Guide to Capitalism and the Environment (with John Bellamy Foster. MR Press). I n an interview, first carried by MRzine , Fred Magdoff, professor emeritus of plant and soil science at the University of Vermont and adjunct professor of crop and soil science at Cornell University said: “We should oppose all ‘market oriented' so-called ‘solutions'. They are not actually solutions, but rather just a new way to make money.” Prof. Magdoff writes frequently on political economy. His most recent books are The Great Financial Crisis (written with John Bellamy Foster, MR Press) and Agriculture and Food in Crisis (edited with Brian Tokar, MR Press).

In the backdrop of climate crisis threatening millions of people around the world and their struggle for democratic life, and the coming climate talks in Durban, CoP 17, Fred Magdoff ( FM ) was interviewed in late-November, 2011 on climate crisis by Farooque Chowdhury ( FC ), a Dhaka-based freelancer. Following is the text of the interview:

FC: We know CoP 17 is going to begin in Durban . What issues should the most affected/vulnerable countries raise in the conference?

FM: The most affected and vulnerable countries are clearly concerned about the lack of urgency felt by the wealthy countries. The crux of the issue is to get a commitment from the United States , Europe, and Japan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There is some indication that China is beginning to move in that direction, although its rapid pace of growth may outweigh efforts to reduce emissions. Although effects are already felt in the U.S. and Europe , the most difficult results of climate change have been felt in the poorer countries and among vulnerable people. The sea level rise along with warming is necessitating the transfer of Alaskan villages away from the coast. Seawater intrusion in Vietnam 's Mekong Delta region is causing salinity to develop in some of the rice soils, reducing their productivity. The melting of the Andean glaciers has already resulted in water shortages during the dry season.

FC: There is the debt crisis in Europe . The Great Financial Crisis has not retreated to its den. What will be the probable impact of these on the CoP 17?

FM: The theme that is commonly expressed by those wishing to do nothing is that a movement to restrict greenhouse gas emission would cost jobs. Fewer coal miners, less electricity generated (if coal powered electric generating plants were closed down), and so on. So they say that this is not the time to do something that would cost jobs. Of course, it is just an excuse. If a transition was planned and done well many jobs could be created. Also, what kind of society and economy do we have that would say that we need to continue polluting so people can work? This is not only an irrational economic/social/political system but also a dangerous one.

FC: In the backdrop of conflicting interests of major polluters, which is essentially conflict of interest of related capitals for their accumulation, what should be the negotiating strategy of most vulnerable countries in CoP 17?

FM: Far be it from me to give advice to the most vulnerable countries. They seem to be very well aware of the political problems. They have previously tried a number of innovative strategies and I am sure that they will continue to do so.

FC: Is there any change in the climate crisis negotiation scenario since the CoP 16 in Cancun ?

FM: The position of the wealthy countries has if anything solidified and hardened. There is an Guardian (UK) article of November 20, 2011 that is titled “ Rich nations 'give up' on new climate treaty until 2020” and has as its subtitle: “ Ahead of critical talks and despite pledge for new treaty by 2012, biggest economies privately admit likelihood of long delay.” This, of course, has been greeted by the most vulnerable with dismay and anger.

FC: As a participant, you presented a key note paper in the Mother Earth conference in Bolivia . There is the Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia . A ministry in the country looks after these rights. Have the deliberations and call of the conference, and the step by Bolivia made any impact in today's discourse on climate crisis?

FM: I think that Bolivia played a very important role following the failure of Copenhagen meetings in December of 2009. Just bringing so many people together in Cochabamba , Bolivia in April of 2010 was quite a feat. The discussion was very good as was the final declaration of the conference. One of small things that happened was the exposure to the large group of how the United States was using a money offer in order to get Bolivia and Ecuador to sign on to the Copenhagen statement drafted mainly by the wealthy countries. A cabinet minister from Ecuador said that she was authorized to tell the assembled people that Ecuador refused the money but was prepared to offer the United States the same amount of money if it would agree to sign the Kyoto protocols. Needless to say, there was plenty of laughter after that statement.

FC: Is there any conflict, but not articulated, between the dominating economic interests and people's interests in the position emerging economies have taken in climate crisis negotiation?

FM: YES! The main conflict is one of the interests of capitalism as a system and of its most powerful representatives. Since at the heart of the issue is the normal way capitalism functions — it has to continue growing or else it's in crisis and has no other goal other than the accumulation of more and more capital. It would take a VERY enlightened leader of one of the leading rich capitalist countries to even attempt to take on the vested interests that are perfectly happy with the way things are.

FC: If “yes”, how to resolve this contradiction or what program should be there from people's perspective in the emerging economies?

FM: This is certainly a very difficult question to answer. Perhaps an equivalent of “direct action” activism is needed by the most vulnerable. Maybe disrupting the workings of the UN or other world organizations might get some positive results.

FC: A portion of capital is now-a-days active to make a climate deal as climate crisis threatens its domain. At the same time, to a section of capital, climate crisis appears a potential market. How to ensure people's interests in this market that is making climate crisis a commodity?

FM: I think that we should oppose all “market oriented” so-called “solutions.” They are not actually solutions, but rather just a new way to make money. They give the appearance of accomplishing something, although they are rife with fraud and do not solve the problem even if well carried out.

FC: What role can people's organizations play in respective countries/societies that can impact climate crisis negotiation? Should these only be confined in raising demands, organizing demonstrations, etc. or along with these, widen public space through mobilizing people in positive, locally practicable approaches?

FM: It is up to the creativity and energy of the people to develop new approaches to the negotiations. It is not clear to me how to negotiate when one group is not really interested. This is something like what is happening in the U.S. Congress where the Republican Party has absolutely no interest in negotiations, whatever the consequences.

FC: Can participatory climate assessment at local level be a tool, a better one than mere forming human chains, etc. for a shorter period, to make people actively aware and to actively mobilize them on the climate crisis issue?

FM: Using a participatory assessment to make people aware of their climate and the implications of changes that are occurring can certainly be useful. It is also important to start discussions and even planning at the local level for sea level rise, droughts, floods, hot weather, etc. — whatever is most relevant to the local or regional situation. There are low-tech ways of lessening some of the detrimental effects.

FC: Will not climate crisis negatively impact people's democratic struggle?

FM: I think that the people' democratic struggle and the struggle for the environment should be intimately tied together. The climate crisis, as well as the other environmental crises that are occurring, should make it clearer to people that these are crises of the system itself. And the only meaningful way to deal with social as well as environmental problems is to organize a new society based on equality, democracy, and care for the environment. So the issue itself provides another argument against the capitalist system.

FC: Should the crisis be viewed as a potential threat to people's struggle for a decent, democratic life?

FM: The way I view it, while making things more difficult for people, climate changes provide another argument against the capitalist system and provides more urgency to seek systemic changes. If the environmental issues are brought front and center within the people's struggles it might even result in more support for change.

FC: Is not there the need to include climate demands in the program for democratic struggle, targeting the global and local climate criminal capitals that are snatching away atmospheric space from people?

FM: Absolutely. This must become a central part of the struggle. And I would broaden the issue to other types of environmental degradation — chemical pollution of air, water, and food; overfishing by factory-size boats causing depletion of fish stocks; soil erosion and degradation; depletion of fresh water supplies; etc.

FC: Can organizing climate crime tribunals at respective levels be a forum for active mobilization and protest by climate-poor?

FM: Yes. I think that this is one of the ways that more attention can be focused on the issues and on the intransigence of the wealthy countries.

FC: Thank you, for the interview.

Europe’s Lost Decade!

It is Europe, neither Italy nor Greece, that is now having a tragic appearance. The “attributes” of tragedy are now in Europe’s economy, politics, institutions, diplomacy, and “democratic” practice, in essence, autocracy of bank capital. Finance and political leaders’ HardTalks are revealing the bitter fact, a fact that bares the heart and brain of capitalism.

The world is going to have a lost decade. The IMF chief has made the warning on November 8. George Soros warned a few days back: Europe may experience a lost decade.

Japan’s and Latin America’s lost decades are old stories. Of Africa? Of the poor? Who knows? Probably, it is lost centuries.

Christine Lagarde, the IMF chief said: “The world runs the risk of a downward spiral of uncertainty.” She has warned that the global economy is at risk of being plunged into a “lost decade”.

Amid fear of the escalating euro zone debt crisis making impact on the world economy the IMF chief said: The crisis has resulted in an uncertain outlook for the global economy. “We could run the risk of what some commentators are already calling the lost decade,” she added.

She forecasts: “There are clearly clouds on the […] horizon, particularly in the advanced economies and particularly so in the European Union and the US.”

Only a few days ago, George Soros, the billionaire financier, warned the EU faces an economic “lost decade”, or more. Citing a combination of a bank crisis and a sovereign debt crisis he expressed fear: “Europe is in […] a very serious crisis.” The crisis, he apprehends, “is a political crisis. The euro is in the process of undermining the political cohesion of the European Union.” “This will lead to a long-term economic depression. When you look at similar situations [like Latin America in the early 80s and Japan slightly later] you had a lost decade... I am afraid that this is the outlook for Europe this is the unfortunate reality”, he concluded.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has warned: The EU was in its “deepest ever crisis”. In an interview with the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung Barroso said that national governments can’t be trusted to take determined action. Setting rules for a stable euro zone could not only be left to the member states. He has suggested: the EU’s institutions need to be strengthened to stabilize the euro zone. He called for more power for the EU's institutions, arguing that it was an “illusion” to think that the euro zone’s economic policy could be coordinated just by the European Council.

Alistair Darling, the former UK chancellor, has said: The economic crisis facing Europe has become far worse than the banking crisis of 2008 and will see the break-up of the euro if it is not resolved by Christmas. “In 2008 we were facing a banking crisis. Now we are facing an economic crisis, and if it gets worse it will turn into a banking crisis that will worsen the crisis”, he said.

He told the Guardian: The G20 summit in Cannes was “a disaster”. The G20 leaders “appeared to gather on a wet Friday, appear mesmerized by Greece and then were away by 3.30, as soon as they possibly could get out of the place. Sometimes it is better to have no summit than a failed summit”.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, said in her weekly podcast: It would take a decade before the euro zone is in a better position.

Joseph Stiglitz suspects that “we’re going to see a lot of volatility. Whether at the end the euro zone will emerge intact or not, it’s hard at this point to say.” “It all depends on the politics. […T]he political process in some ways is not in tune with the economics. The problems are deep.
I think there is a reasonably good chance that a year from now you would find the euro zone smaller than what it is today”, he added. (“Austerity not the way to go for Europe”)

The macro-scene is grim. Europe’s slow down will bring down exports from the US. Similar fate looms over Asia. The US and the euro zone are the biggest markets for Asian goods. Suffering economies of the US and Europe are slowing down demand for Asian goods. China has already begun experiencing this. A slowdown of Asia’s export oriented economies will have greater negative impact on the global economy.

Not only Asia’s export oriented economies, a few of Europe’s economies are also experiencing the chill. Economists and the Danske Bank are warning that Denmark may be on the brink of a new recession as exports are being affected by the slowdown in Denmark’s traditional trading partners. Danske Bank has reduced its growth forecast for this year to 0.7% from its previous forecast in October of 1.1. The 2012 forecast has also been downgraded to 1.0% from 1.6%. Italy’s financial crisis has yet not showed signs of improvement despite Silvio Berlusconi’s pledge to resign once Parliament passes austerity measures. Markets does not know its reactions to Italian political drama.

Many analyses, ideas and suggestions are now floating on the finance-politics stage. There are talks of hyper-deflation, “kick-starting” the economy, turbo-capitalism that dislikes any regulation inhibiting financial markets’ growth, turbo-Keynesianism, turbo-capitalism’s more accommodating twin, etc. Bankers are encroaching sovereign space of states. Democratic practice is being infringed by bank capital. Suggestions for immediately recapitalizing Europe’s banks are there. The mainstream assumption that financial markets are capable of taking care of all their “good” work now stands wrong. That was an imagination without any roots in reality.

The specter of crisis, “financial crisis”, “economic crisis”, “banking crisis”, and other crises – political crisis, interstate crisis”, institutional crisis, crisis in formation of state, crisis in visualization of EU founding fathers – are now haunting the continent overwhelmed with advanced capitalist economies. Euro, according to Soros, is “an incomplete currency: it had a central bank but no central treasury.” (“The European Union’s Catalogue of Failures”, July 18, 2011) European leaders, Stiglitz said, “didn’t do anything in the 10 years before there was a crisis.” (op. cit.) There are now many similar ideas and concepts in the market of mainstream discourse.

But, what are the roots of the crisis? The MSM simply skips the answer. The MSM constantly declines to look at the base of the crises. As the causes creating these crises the MSM finds “leaders’ lack of farsightedness”, “institutional weakness”, “stubbornness or weakness of this leader or that leader”, etc. But does a leader act according to own choice or preference or whim or knack? Can a leader act on own wishes and can an institution play role on the basis of its own wisdom? Where from the wishes and wisdom enter into head or decision making process? On these, and similar other questions, the MSM stands on a void base, an absolute void.

The MSM has to provide answer to the burning questions: why lost decade visits this country and that continent? Why their wisdom and analytical prowess visit them always after a crisis calls in, and why they fail to identify root cause of all the crises?

The MSM is concerned with securing banks, finance, credit-credibility. Why it fails to put people, their suffering before finance, etc.?

Stiglitz finds politics will determine the euro zone’s shape. No, capitals shaping politics will determine euro zone’s shape. Capitals’ contradictions within itself will determine its accommodating/co-opting capacity and power. Its conflicting interests will shape euro zone, euro zone’s institutions, and politics, democracy and sovereignty in countries in the zone.

Because of limitations imposed by interests of capitals involved in the crisis the dominating capitals will stand against people in respective countries, and as a whole in the entire zone, and squeeze their life to squeeze out all the surplus peoples in these countries are capable of generating. This will sharpen contradiction between the peoples and the capitals in the crisis dominated zone influencing politics in the zone. The sharpening contradictions pose a burning question to the peoples in the continent: will the coming days bring only suffering to them or struggle along with suffering? Answer to the question and actions by them will influence politics of bank capital in the zone.

Dance: Language Of Protest

Protest has its own language. And, protest has its many languages. Silence sometimes speaks as protest. Dance also. In countries, protesters, in group or individually, have danced as protest.

In Chile, student demonstrators took to the streets of Santiago. They danced as protest in June, 2011. Dressed as goblins and ghouls from Michael Jackson’s iconic “Thriller” video they protested, as they described, the country’s “rotten” and “dead” education system. The protesting students re-created Jackson’s moves in front of presidential palace. They said: the zombie motif was an appropriate metaphor for the country’s education system.

One student said: “Public education is dying so we took this Michael Jackson creation and we united to this movement that is dying, the zombies.”

A 72-year-old woman on the floor of a George Washington University dance studio, a 39-year-old Maryland woman in her apartment, a 38-year-old dancer in Charlottesville, and many others danced to draw attention to refugees, particularly the Iraq and Afghan wars refugees. They, the 31 solo dancers, took humanity’s problems seriously while millions turned busy with New Year celebrations. (Washington Post, “31 Dance Performances Protest Results of Wars”, Jan. 2, 2009)

The Maryland woman danced for 24 hours. “It’s not about being radical for the sake of being radical,” said the dancer before commencing her in-home performance.

One of the dancers “chastised the United Nations in particular for maintaining its ‘impressive composure’ in a world soiled by ‘war, starvation, refugees, pornography, slavery, you name it.’” Others planned to bring to notice the “plight of Iraqi refugees, the bombing of Gaza and the scourge of war in general”. One of the dance-protest participants said: “You know you want to do something. You become like an antenna for an idea, and an antenna for a value system. … It’s saying, ‘Hey, let’s think, let’s move, let’s consider.’ It’s a lot about tapping into basic human things like compassion and memory”.

The plight-protest-project was conceptualized by New Yorker Miguel Gutierrez. Miguel described it as an “endurance-based action”. “It was either art, depending on your view of such things, or a political protest, or both.” The idea was of having dancers around the country to “make a social-justice statement for the new year by wearing blindfolds and earplugs, denying themselves food and letting the world watch their improvisational performances via the Internet.”

In 2008, a group of persons gathered at the Jefferson Memorial to dance in silence. They were dispersed and one woman was arrested on misdemeanor charges. A year later, a judge affirmed a ban on dancing at the memorial, “in order to maintain an atmosphere of calm, tranquility, and reverence.” The charge against the arrested was demonstrating without a permit.

Reports across the internet inform, on a late-May afternoon, five protesters were arrested by US Park Police in the Jefferson Memorial for dancing in silence. Titled as “civil danceobedience”, the dancers were there protesting the court decision in early-May that upheld a ban on dancing within the memorial.

Dance Anywhere, an annual, conceptual public art performance, invites people to stop and dance on a specific date and time. By co-opting art into daily public spaces and demonstrating audiences to dance, DA “transforms perceptions of where and how art can occur, demonstrating that art does not need to be exhibited in a gallery, and dance does not need to be performed on a stage.” The initiator, a professional dancer, conceptual artist and printmaker exhibiting nationwide for 30 years, is “committed to changing the world through community service and art.”

DA is an open invitation for people to stop and dance at a specific time around the world. Participants are encouraged to document their experience through photography and video, which is shared on the DA website. In 2010, it was March 26.

DA tries to engage people, many in number, in a global public art performance, to build community and change the world through dance and art, inspire audiences to reconsider art, public space, and community, make art accessible to all by bringing dance to public spaces.

Why do people dance? At certain age, under 16, Dr. Peter Lovatt says, “dancing is for fun.” At other stages, “dance has different meaning and motive, drive and desire.” Dr. Lovatt, principal lecturer in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and known around the campus as Dr. Dance, found reasons behind dancing is related to age, gender and genetic makeup. He has completed a research into dance, analyzing 13,700 people’s responses to issues related to dancing. Lovatt says: “Some dance because they are told they have to, and it has been used to show strength and fearlessness”. (Guardian, “Why do people dance? And what makes some more confident than others? Dr Dance has the answers”, mid-Dec. 2009)

Many ethnic groups, studies have found, use dance in their regular activities as a way to keep communities and larger population together. Dancing help societies keep younger generations within guidelines. But, dance cannot transcend socioeconomic condition in the society it performs. It reflects the divide that economy imposes on society. Under-classes fail to accept dances of upper-classes. To the under-classes, dances of upper-classes that tell stories of only the upper-classes appear abstract. Dance also turns into tool of the upper-classes to perpetuate their hegemony. Then, people, depending on their level of learning, develop their own domain of dance. Hegemony doesn’t allow people to have their own dance. This leads hegemony to narrow down people’s space for their dancing. That’s done by lengthening people’s working hour, increasing hardship in life, and by making language of dance imperceptible by people.

Dance “may reflect or challenge the social, cultural, even religious traditions and values of their root cultures.” (Michael Crabb, “Why People Dance, Dance & Dancing: Just Doing What Comes Naturally”)

Why do people protest? Science provides the answer. Luxury of arrogance or indulgence with ignorance or denial of undeniable rights produces protest. Is it possible to torpedo the reasons behind protest? It is also science that provides the answer. It is a nay, an emphatic no. Protests look for language within limits of reality. Protest denies power. Protest disobeys authority. But it can’t deny reality. Dance with delicate steps, with complex expressions extends parameter of protests. But it can’t restrain reality. These, dance and protest, live within reality, evolve within reality. Pace and speed of dance and protest depends on reality. That’s its strength.

A Drama In Disarray: G20 Summit In Cannes

The G20 summit in Cannes has concluded in disarray and without details in “agreements”. Leaders were unable to agree upon financing the IMF to help advanced capitalist countries in distress. No G20 state is willing to participate in the euro zone bailout fund.

However, one “achievement” is there instead of a total failure: interventions in two democracies – Greece and Italy – appeared close to coup although a G20 leader disagreed. So, all should agree with the leader: These are not coups de grace, but a mere attempt to change government or press government to listen to interventionists for the sake of markets. Italy and Greece have been made to submit to creditors’ dictation.

The Cannes Crisis Festival, considered a flop by some commentators, saw little progress on resolving Europe’s debt crisis. The leaders, as Angela Merkel acknowledged, had failed to interest any of the G20 state in investing in a new initiative. From her statement it appeared that China and Russia bargained a bit. Russia and China demand IMF to secure their investments. A strange symptom within a world structured along a NATO-WB-IMF-WTO design.

But Cannes summit has failed to raise market confidence. Stock markets in New York, Frankfurt and Paris initially expressed their reaction by moving down.

The continuing eurozone debt crisis dominated summit had the hope to increase IMF resources by $250bn to more than $1tn. But the hope has not touched this material world. The hope has been kept suspended for G20 finance ministers with the hope to be materialized in next February.

The summit communiqué made commitment to move “more rapidly” towards greater exchange rate flexibility, agreed to give IMF more money, welcomed Italy’s “wisdom” to invite the IMF to monitor its reforms, and called on countries with strong public finances to take steps to boost domestic demand.

“Dark clouds, Ban Ki-moon warned at an event with main stream labor leaders in Cannes, “have gathered once again over the global economy. […M]any people cannot even see the light at the end of a long, long tunnel.” With a similar mood, David Cameron said the crisis was having a “chilling effect” on his country’s economy. He hinted at worse to come, describing this as only “a stage of the global crisis”. The UK leader felt that in the interest of his country the eurozone crisis should be sorted out as rapidly as possible.

For playing down failure to make progress on major issues Nicolas Sarkozy tried to appear as a warrior for the cause of Robin Hood tax. Sarkozy expressed his willingness to “fight to defend Europe and the euro” as he said in a post-summit press conference.

Sarkozy said: We cannot accept the explosion of the euro, which would mean the explosion of Europe. He has assured that the G20 had agreed to boost the IMF. He made a forecast: G20 would agree by February. The French leader denied the demands on Silvio Berlusconi represented almost an IMF coup: “We never wanted to change governments, either in Greece or in Italy. That is not our role; that is not our idea of democracy.” However, he said that George Papandreou’s decision not to tell fellow EU leaders about plans to hold a referendum was “shocking”. Barack Obama reminded Greek and Italian parliaments to take decisive action. The US leader praised increased scrutiny of Italy as a step in the right direction.

The summit deliberations showed Britain’s inability to take burden. Cameron admitted that the G20 summit had failed to resolve the eurozone debt crisis. He went on: “I’m not going to pretend all of the problems in the eurozone have been fixed, they haven’t.” Cameron feels, “[t]he problem is that not all of the details... have been put in place.” He assured British taxpayers that increasing UK contributions to the IMF would not put their “money at risk”, and the money would not support a eurozone bailout. He revealed a fact: Contributing money to support the IMF was, as a trading nation, “in our interests”. He also suggested that the issue of increasing contribution to the IMF would not be put on a vote in the Commons. It appears that UK capital does not have interest in euro bail out, but in expansion of global business.

The Greek drama annoyed the Cannes festival as Papandreou announced to hold a referendum on austerity package being pushed through Greece’s throat. The political move panicked markets around the world and the G20 leaders. But dominating capital’s dictation made Papandreou step back. He threw away referendum plan to seek people’s mandate on the austerity plan that includes sell-off of public property. The Papandreou government sought confidence in parliament after alleged horse trading and survived a confidence vote.

Italy with its near-nonexistent growth was an amazing player in the Cannes show. Rome now threatens to carry Europe’s debt crisis up to a level that can fall on the entire earth’s capitalist economy, and make it spin listlessly. Italy’s borrowing rates are rising to the levels that forced the PIG to seek bailout “benevolence” in all its crudeness. With a $2.5 trillion debt Italy has agreed to let the IMF monitor its implementation of austerity program.

But, as a Reuter’s story described, the “fierce pressure from financial markets and European peers” was not a humiliation for Berlusconi as he agreed to have the IMF and the EU monitors. It was reported that Berlusconi “was summoned to a late-night hotel meeting with Merkel, Sarkozy, the IMF director general Christine Lagarde and Obama, where he was instructed to bring Italy under […] IMF surveillance to ensure he implements […] measures, including changes to the labor market, […] the sell-off of state assets.” However, Berlusconi tried to minimize the satiric-political impact of the decision, saying that it had been requested by Italy rather than imposed by world leaders. He boasted: He had invited the IMF to offer advice; he had rejected an offer of IMF funds. He claimed that his country was more solid than France or the UK. “Italian restaurants and vacation spots are always full. Nobody has the sense the country is in a crisis”, said the scandal-ridden Italian leader.

The IMF bosses will audit Italy’s books of accounts to make sure the austerity measures are implemented with brute force. An EC team will also supervise. Moreover, the Media Mughal of Italy with a history of not standing by promises had to make a new promise to European leaders in Cannes, the famous film festival place that sees attractive film figures: a confidence motion within 15 days in Roman Senate. These developments achieved by external and Italian finance elites impacted Italian politics. Desertions from coalition government of Berlusconi have made its life uncertain.

Shall there be horse trading in the country’s political market dominated by the rich? Shall the trade be called democratic distribution of patronage by one of the richest men of Italy? All, from Catholic Church to business, want Berlusconi’s exit. But the democratic warrior knows well that Italy is not Libya. This perception has led him to brush aside the desire of powerful interests. He has already found traitors to the country as he described party rebels. Have ghosts of fallen dictators overshadowed the character of Italian comedy in a Roman Holiday? However, there are all the possibilities of Berlusconi’s Mubarak Moment.

The world now is a bit different whatever the Italian leader claims. The IMF bosses do not only dictate the poor in the South. They are now showing muscles in advanced capitalist countries. Now, after Greek Tragedy and Italy Incident, the ruling elites, many of them are pure robbers and plunderers, of IMF-dictated-poor countries should get “rid” of sense of shame. The founding fathers of the Bretton Woods institutions had not imagined that one day in future their institutions designed to subdue the poor world would discipline advanced capitalist countries. Even, Marx had not imagined. Has something rotten down in the core of capitalism? The IMF is disciplining Ireland, Portugal and Greece, “dignified” capitalist countries not “shameless” like the poor countries.

Russia made a major advance in the summit as the country will be allowed into the WTO, “the biggest step in world trade liberalization since China joined a decade ago.” The step will have implication on present major players in the world trade club. China’s increasing power was evident in the summit as the country resisted calls to allow its currency to appreciate. It now appears that these two countries are making their voices heard in the gathering of the powerful and aspiring-powerful.

The disarrayed drama, the unwillingness to fund IMF, the flexing of power reaching close to coup in advanced capitalist countries, the humiliations, etc. raise a few fundamental questions related to capitalist world system that was in euphoria with a brute onslaught named globalization a few years back.

November 2: General Strike In Oakland

Oakland is going to observe a general strike on November 2. The strike will be “against the growing gap between the rich and everybody else,” said the website of Occupy Oakland. “The whole world is watching Oakland,” OO said in a statement. “Let’s show [the world] what is possible.” The OO announced on its website that it is planning a march to the Port of Oakland, the US’ fifth busiest, to “shut it down.” New agency reported that tens of thousands of people are expected to participate in the general strike. It was also reported that organized labor will extend support. These are signs of growing discontent.

The decision for city-wide general strike was passed by Occupy Oakland General Assembly by a 96.9% majority. The OO has urged other groups nationwide to organize similar events.

The OO statement said: “We […] propose that on […] November 2, 2011, we liberate Oakland and shut down the 1%. We propose a city wide general strike.” Now, Oakland is getting prepared for a general strike that in 1946 also observed a general strike

The OO has invited all students to walk out of school. “Instead of workers going to work […] the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city.” The statement said: “All banks and corporations should close down for the day or we will march on them.”

The OO has also called on people “for much more. People who organize out of their neighborhoods, schools, community organizations, affinity groups, workplaces and families are encouraged to self organize in a way that allows them to participate in shutting down the city in whatever manner they are comfortable with and capable of.” On November 2, marches have been planned at 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m., so that as many people as possible can participate.

The decision for the general strike came out as a result of an incident related to Scott Olsen, 24, former Marine and Iraq War veteran. Olsen sustained a skull fracture after being shot in the head on October 25 with a police projectile while peacefully participating in an Occupy Oakland protest. The images of Olsen standing peacefully in the Oakland protest frontline, next to a Navy vet holding a “Veterans for Peace” flag, and the images from moments later of Olsen lying on the ground wounded have shocked all. The atrocity sparked anger leading to a call for the general strike. Olsen has become a rallying cry for the USwide Occupy movement.

Olsen served two tours of duty in Iraq before being discharged in 2010. After leaving the Marines, he was working as a system administrator for a software firm. He joined the Oakland protests with members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, a group raising issues of homelessness and unemployment among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. “It’s ironic that days after Obama’s announcement of the end of the Iraq War, Scott faced a veritable war zone in the streets of Oakland […]”, The IVAW said in a statement.

John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation and associate editor of The Capital Times writes: “We Are All Scott Olsen!” was the message of solidarity vigils, rallies and marches held in cities across the US and around the world in answer to a call from IVAW and Occupy Oakland for recognizing Olsen. Thousands attended a candlelight vigil in Oakland. In Las Vegas, an image of Olsen was projected at the site of the Occupy encampment. In New York, Occupy Wall Street activist took to the streets chanting “New York is Oakland, Oakland is New York.” In London, images of Olsen were displayed at gatherings. The buzz about the wounding of the veteran was everywhere, and was best summed up by activist protesting at Wisconsin’s state Capitol with Olsen in February. It read: “He could be any one of us.” (The Nation, Oct. 28, 2011)

The Oakland Occupy protests that began October 11 have witnessed more than 100 arrests and a violent confrontation last week between protesters and police. According to press reports, the conflict came after police dismantled the protesters’ camp for more than two weeks. Police fired tear gas over a three-hour period clearing out the camp on October 25.

Only Oakland is not experiencing steps by authorities. Steps against the protesters are being escalated as people are protesting in US cities. On October 30, about 30 anti-Wall Street protesters were arrested in Portland, Ore., after they refused to leave a park. Later they have been freed. In Nashville, demonstrators raised slogans in defiance of an official curfew: “Whose plaza? Our plaza.” State troopers began enforcing the curfew on October 27 night, three weeks after protests began. In Phoenix, a Councilman suggested charging demonstrators the costs of the city in overtime for police, and others since the protests began October 14. The cost was calculated: $204,162. Probably, it is the fee for protest in a democracy!

The issue of cost is not sarcasm with democratic rights, but the real face of a democracy that spends trillions of dollars to help its absolute minority, the finance-elites, and fails to help the suffering millions, the absolute majority. This has plainly been told by Monthly Review editor John Bellamy Foster in his speech in Occupy Eugene rally on October 15, 2011: “US society has become fundamentally unequal.”

In this society, John B Foster said, “between 1950 and 1970, for every additional dollar made by those in the bottom 90 percent of income earners, those in the top one hundredth of one percent received $162 dollars. But that was back when things were more equal! Between 1990 and 2002 for every added dollar made by those in the bottom 90 percent of the population, those in the top one hundredth of one percent made an additional $18,000. […] In the United States 400 individuals […] own as much wealth as the bottom half of the US population, some 150 million people. […] The top 1 percent of the population in the United States owns four times as much financial wealth (excluding houses) as the bottom 80 percent of the population. […W]e live in a plutocracy rather than a democracy, where money outvotes public opinion at every point in the political process. […U]nions are on the defensive in this country. [T]hey have been smashed by unfair legislation. [T]hey are struggling to find a way to fight back. […E]lementary and secondary education system in the United States is being privatized and destroyed. […A]ll of this is related to the system of economic power, to a society that believes in the Wall Street principle, “greed is good,” the signature of capitalism.” (“Why We Occupy, What We Know”)

The worldwide monopoly-finance capital’s tricks are many, and it has to depend on its political machine. Attempts are made to avoid public scrutiny, which expose the real face of democracy and accountability. Actual amount of bail out is much more than the widely cited amount. Citing an audit by the US General Accounting Office, John Bellamy Foster said, the Fed provided more than $16 trillion in financial assistance in the latest financial crisis to the largest corporations in the US and the world. “The rich were bailed out while the majority of the population was made to pay the cost! And we are still paying!”, he said.

The present financial crisis that has built up the background of today’s occupy movement should be understood in proper perspective. The crisis has not cropped up from housing bubble, etc. that are widely being mentioned. Rather it is a terminal stagnation in the economy that Paul Sweezy and his fellow-travelers told decades back. Pointing out this Foster said: “[T]here is no real economic recovery; […] we are in a period of economic stagnation, where only the rich are prospering. That economic growth in the United States has been slowing down in each successive decade since the 1960s and is now virtually stagnant.”

Today’s worldwide movement has the painful experience of blood and tears, an inevitable output of imperialism. The Monthly Review editor said: “United States and its allies have been engaged recently in wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. […A]n intervention is being planned for Iran, and possibly Venezuela. […US] military bases dot the entire globe and are increasing in numbers. […US] spends around a half a billion dollars officially on the military each year, and in reality a trillion dollars a year.”

Today’s worldwide Occupy Movement is historically significant in this world of seven billion people. “We know that we are the necessary, last defense of humanity. That we are the world’s 99%. That we will not ‘thin out’ when the weather gets bad. That we are not a mob. That we are the earth, we are democracy, we are the future. The world has been occupied too long by a tiny minority. It is time for the people to reoccupy it. To take it back”, Foster said. [Emphasis added.]

Resistance and revolts in societies have respective trajectories determined by historical and socioeconomic condition. “[…A] Great Revolt from Below was likely in the United States today, given a deep and lasting economic stagnation. But that we might have to wait three or four years, just as in the great depression, for it to get off the ground, and for the people to ignite. That, just as in the Great Depression, the revolt would not materialize until people had learned that the promise of economic recovery was false, that they had been lied to and systematically robbed. Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Eugene, Occupy the United States is the Great Revolt from Below in our time. […] Everywhere people are uniting in struggle”, said the Monthly Review editor.

Today’s movement in the US is significant. “The reason is that we in the United States live in ‘Fortress America’, the heart of a world empire. Revolts are not supposed to happen here! If a break in the wall appears, if massive protests occur, here, ‘Inside the Monster’, as José Martí called it, the whole world is suddenly uplifted and encouraged to resist. Because then they know that the empire is crumbling. Our struggles here are opening up space for resistance for all the people of the world”, John Belly Foster said.

But, it should not be expected that these public protests and the general strike are the US’ Tahrir Time. Still a critical mass of labor, and, broadly, people are in the waiting. Without their active participation the Tahrir Time will not touch ground. A general strike, part of democracy people can practice, turns political, broadly and specifically. A general strike for political rights, and based on democratic principles trains people with politics. It facilitates activate passive part of populace, and raises essential and functional political questions, which are essential parts to move forward. The plebeians’ general strikes, secessio plebis, ultimately made the patrician creditors bow down – adoptions of the Twelve Tables and the Lex Hortensia. But, it took more than two hundred years in Rome.

The Opaque Brussels Deal Shows Germany’s Upper Hand

German capital’s bold face and private bankers’ negotiating power are evident in the Brussels deal the euro-leaders have made on October 27. The summit made Italy, the “brave” warrior in Libya, a caricature while the UK, the Empire’s faithful friend, stood on the sideline. The deal now keeps hope on China. There are yet knots to untie, and the task has been kept for future that signals significant changes on the world stage.

The deal, essentially with private bankers, came out after long wrangling as the power game was with the private creditors. The summit had to negotiate with interests of private banks, represented by the Institute of International Finance (IIF). The EU communiqué sets out a 10-point program for an inner EU institution. Policing of euro is preferred by the euro-leaders, and a police baton will be carried by the EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner. Capital needs disciplining. It cannot always free wheel.

Despite vague in detail the deal is not totally empty. It made the French president feel a sense of relief. “If there was no accord […],” Nicolas Sarkozy said, “it’s not just Europe that would face catastrophe, but the whole world.” Now the leaders are keeping hope on investment by China, Russia and Japan.

But the leaders failed to succeed in making a comprehensive package they were trying for. Two of the key elements of the deal are the recapitalization of European banks, and leveraging the EFSF, increasing its potential available capital to about $1.4 trillion. They hope that it will be capable of financing big countries like Spain and Italy.
Cutting down sovereignty of Greece and Italy is one of the achievements of the summit. Bosses will now check all tax and spending decisions, and ensure implementation of austerity plans in Greece. Athens will be virtually controlled by Brussels bureaucrats, as Rome by Berlin.

Private creditors hold about two-third of Greek debt, which is 360bn euro in total. The leaders have banked on voluntary commitment of private banks. They hope that the private creditors will write off Greece’s 50% of debt, and this act of mercy will reduce the mauled country’s debt to 120% of its annual income, down from the present 180%.
A ray of hope is there for the tormented country: additional financial help from the IMF and the EU. This benevolence will enable Greece to pay its bills until 2014.
The Greek tragedy heroes are now going to land on heavily indebted and slowly growing Italian capital’s domain with its diminishing sovereignty. Italy with $2.6 trillion in sovereign debt outstanding, the fourth-largest debt in the world after the US, Japan and Germany, will now be dictated. Rome will be assigned to carry out this job and that task within a time frame. This is the democratic face of global capital that knows no frontier. It’s capital’s bold, but tragic journey.

Italy’s Libya expedition friends, France and Germany, pressured Rome. Italy publicly turned a caricature. Later, Berlusconi assured in an interview that Merkel had apologized to him, but immediately after, in a statement the German government denied the Italian leader’s assertion that made the Italian comedy much more laughable.
Italy has agreed to reduce its debt level over the next three years from a current level of 120% to 113% of GDP. Rome will also increase retirement age from 65 to 67. In August, Berlusconi promised ambitious reforms to get the ECB to buy Italian debt. But he failed to accomplish any of those.

Berlusconi, who, by his count, has survived 577 police interrogations and 2,500 court appearances related to political and saucy scandals, again had to make pledge to the EU, actually to Angela Merkel and Sarkozy. Probably it was not befitting for a powerful player in the NATO’s Libya Conquer play. After all, the Italian prime minister was close ally of the French power in the expedition, and as a genuine NATO warrior he boldly disregarded calls for help from his former friend Gaddafi. The Italian warrior, however, had no other way but to agree to the pressure mounted on him by the two European powers as French banks have the biggest exposure to Italian sovereign debt, more than $500 billion, and Italy is too big to bail out.

After “sweet” encounter with French and German friends, the billionaire prime minister of Italy will have to face Italian labor now. That will not be an easy game not only for Berlusconi, but also for the entire Italian fuel thirsty elite. Italy’s labor unions are angry with the Italian leader’s pledge. The Roman elites have now pledged to their European friends, philosophers and guides – the German and the French – to allow capital to put burden on shoulder of labor, make cutting down of labor easier for capital. Promise has been made to legalize the drive against labor by next May. The sovereign savior of capital has also pledged to sale assets, public assets. The Italian labor will now find no other way but to respond boldly and widely. A number of lawmakers from Berlusconi’s coalition have signed a letter asking him to stand down.

With one of the worst interest rates among eurozone members and sitting at the top of a list of defaulters Italy’s, the world’s eighth-largest economy, debt rating has recently been down graded by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. They have warned of more in future.

Europe now seeks help from China as the Brussels Deal expressed its desire. The continent hopes that the emerging giant will contribute to Europe’s Special Purpose Investment Vehicle, one of the two proposed ways of increasing the firepower of the EFSF. But there are unresolved problems.

There is the already-known opposite pulls. Germany will not allow the ECB to provide unlimited funds in case of a domino effect from the Greek write down impacting Italy or Spain. France likes the ECB to provide the ultimate backstop so that investors are assured that no eurozone country would bust. The opposite views have respective deep interests.

The Brussels deal is the German chancellor’s success story. Merkel dreams of revision of the union treaties and imposition of German political discipline on the Greek public sector. Then, shall that be on a wider domain? She is now competing with Sarkozy for dominant position. The Deal made it clear that France has been forced to give up a few of its position it clutched for the last few months. Germany seems got upper hand. It is competition of fragmented capital united in its global expedition.

There are significant questions related to China’s investment in Europe, and Germany’s bold face. Already, the debt crisis has taken character of political problem with roots deep in areas of capital and society.

Toward Sino-Russian Comprehensive Strategic Relationship

Russia and China are in a chorus after their recent Libya experience. The old foes turned friends are moving toward, as Chinese president Hu Jintao said, a “comprehensive strategic relationship.” Putin, the Russian leader, found no problem “in the political and humanitarian fields at all.”

Putin is not happy with the US. The former KGB boss with the dream of a new empire tried to make a sweeping stroke at US monetary policy, but the Empire. Was that a tactical restrain? To him, dollar’s dominance is parasitic. “The US is not a parasite for the world economy, but the US dollar’s monopoly is a parasite”, Putin said in an interview with Chinese state media.

Almost at the same time, as an initial response to the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Act that the US Senate passed, and that till now verbally threatens to punish China for undervaluing its currency, China condemned the US.

The condemnation, essentially a political reaction, shows that China now stands for free trade, stands for WTO, an essential arrangement for almost global capital. Capital in its voyages to expansion required “free” trade. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said: The bill is essentially trade protectionism, a serious violation of WTO rules. The Chinese commerce ministry and the People’s Bank of China had no reason to react differently. With a $273bn trade surplus with the US in 2010 China warned of triggering a trade war. Beijing will retaliate in case the bill turns into a law by taxing US multinationals in China.

China, however, still prefers to avoid confrontation with the US. The Chinese leadership’s choice is a win-win situation. The capital there, not entirely Chinese, still needs time and space. The Chinese, the former Mao followers, now, like to depoliticize economy. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said: “We should […] resist politicization of economic and trade issues, and safeguard the healthy development of Sino-US relations.” A dream indeed! Economic and trade issues in modern world is fully politicized.

Led by conservatives and Democratic liberals the US bill with thin possibility of turning into a law is actually a political tact, targeting own electorate, on the part of a section of the US capital. Another section dislikes even the tact. Echoing the section, Economics professor at Long Island University Panos Mourdoukoutas wrote in Forbes: Major US multinationals with a large presence in China will be particularly vulnerable.

Many multinational companies oppose the US legislative initiative, which is still now a political posture. John Boehner, the House Speaker, also dislikes the legislation. To him, the legislative action is like dictating another country. He apprehends that dictating another country’s currency policies would be dangerous. House Republican leaders agree with many business groups that action against China could result in a trade war. The Obama government prefers diplomacy instead of the legislation that might violate international trade rules. Critics warn that it will provoke Chinese retaliation and hurt Americans in one of their fastest-growing markets.

Capital in the US is in a multidimensional problem with itself. It is failing to create jobs in home. But the jobless rate is a threat to its politics. It cannot hurt its part in home. It has to make the part competitive. It cannot also hurt its other part operating from the soil of China using cheap China labor. That part, not totally “communist” capital, has to be kept profitable. That part needs the US market. Even, cheaper commodities from “friendly” capitals will enter the US market and engage into competition if Chinese commodities are pushed away with the power of legislation. Market is really difficult! “Free” market is much more! Profit reigns there. This compels capital to dictate market for making market “free”. It is capital’s dictatorship, not even capital’s democracy. It is dictatorship of a free, democratic capital.

This Sino-US trade tension provided a partial background to Putin’s China visit, an annual diplomatic ritual. The diplomatic act commemorated the 10th anniversary of Russia-China treaty of “Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation”.

China-Russia strategic partnership is passing a decade and a half. Now, China, as premier Wen Jiabao told reporters after meeting Putin, wanted to strengthen the strategic partnership into a comprehensive strategic partnership. The process was initiated months ago. In June 2011, Hu and Medvedev, the Russian president, confirmed the strategic goal while the Chinese president was visiting Russia: comprehensive strategic partnership.

Putin has an imperial target in view – Eurasian Union – that he unveiled in an article in Izvestia, the Moscow daily, about a week ago. His dreamed Eurasian Union, a counterweight to the EU and the US, will be a confederation of former Soviet republics. He has proposed for “creating a powerful supra-national union capable of becoming a pole in the modern world, and at the same time an effective bridge between Europe and the dynamic Asia-Pacific Region”.

Russia’s learning with the EU and NATO close-ship is not a happy one. NATO troops are training at the Russian border, in Georgia. It’s NATO’s first military training center in the Caucasus. With a vigorous posture France is trying to take an active role in the area. Ukraine and Georgia are moving closer to NATO. A chain of NATO missile defense systems stretches along the Russian border, from Turkey through Romania and Poland to Norway. The US and Romania signed an agreement on deployment of US missile defense system by 2015 at a Romanian Air Force Base. A few hundred US military personnel will be stationed there also. A few elements of EUROPRO system will be installed in Turkey. Everything indicates that the US military machine and NATO are encircling Russia.

The East appears brighter to Russia. The country likes to build a pipeline through North Korea to South Korea.

Russia, the world’s largest energy producer, and China, the world’s top energy consumer, are expanding cooperation in areas of energy and military technology. The former rivals, and now occasional partners in diplomacy, have already resolved their boundary conflict. They have held a number of joint military exercises over the years. They are in BRICS and the SCO, emerging counterweights to NATO.

Replacing Germany China became Russia’s top trading partner in 2010 with commercial turnover of $59 bn. This year, it may exceed $70 bn. The partners want to increase trade to $100 bn by 2015 and to $200 bn in 2020. Immediately before Putin’s arrival in China the two countries made 16 economic and trade deals worth over $7 bn that include China’s investment of $1.5 bn in a Siberian aluminum smelter and $1 bn into a joint investment fund.

Russia wants more Chinese investment. The energy giant began supplying oil to China through the 1,000 km Skovorodino-Daqing pipeline on January 1, 2011 boosting China’s energy security and entering a reliable energy market.

These deals, partnership, will impact regions. Russia and China will not be lone actors in these regions. Ruling elites in the region have varying types of relations with geopolitical giants. South Asia will not be a far away idyllic place.

Army General Nikolay Makarov, Russia’s chief of general staff, a few weeks ago said: Russia’s military must be ready to the worst possible scenarios as the political situation in the world is taking complicated and unexpected turns. At a Moscow press conference Makarov said: The world situation especially in North Africa and the Middle East is constantly changing. “What happened in these regions was difficult to predict and the events developed at a tremendous speed. No one can tell now what will happen there. However, this is a signal for all states. We, the military, must be ready for the worst scenarios”, said the Russian general.

Pawns and lackeys in the Third and Fourth Worlds will, if tricky enough, find opportunities to have a better prize from masters in this increasing rivalry. Faction(s) of ruling classes in these societies will enter into deals with the geopolitical actors. A few of them may have scope, at least temporarily, to withstand masters’ pressures. In turn, masters will find out trusted lackeys to replace disobedient friends. Lackeys will appear on stage with masks of civility, democracy, poverty alleviation, etc. only to ensure masters’ interests. Political strife and upheaval in some of these societies is in the waiting. Countries in south-east and south Asia are vulnerable to this changing balance of power.

Gradually increasing competition for market and source of raw materials leading to rivalry will influence democratic movement in Third and Fourth World societies. Identifying friend and foe in democratic struggle, struggle for building up a peaceful, happy life, will turn into a complex job. An informed and aware people make the task easy that can also thwart design to install new pawn.

It’s Now, Occupy World Wide

Across oceans and covering continents people around the world are struggling. There are protest marches, demonstrations, occupations. It’s now global, a globalization of struggle for democracy, for a decent life. It is One Earth One Humanity One Loved, as a placard in the Occupy Wall Street Movement announces.

It stands opposed to capital’s globalization that is going for centuries but that has failed to make this world livable. All around the globe, capitalism, its ideology and political systems in all variations are being questioned, criticized, condemned, and rejected. Even, political leaders cannot now ignore the broad message people are trying to articulate in their own ways. The leaders have to admit, even as tact to win over electorate, the rightful claims made by people.

Even, main stream media cannot now ignore the people’s struggles, sometimes sporadic, isolated, unorganized and immature, sometimes lacking clear vision, and sometimes lacking mooring in proper perspective and politics. But all are great, great in terms of goals, dreams and aspirations, great in terms of common journey. They, collectively, own a power, a power that is exerting pressure on status quo. Status quo, its politics and politicians, its arrangements and facades, its tricks and theatrical moves, its demagogues and democracy, is feeling existence of the movement, and is getting exposed. Its recent pronouncements and practices revel these.

Struggles appearing small and insignificant carry promises of lofty goal: a peaceful, mutually tolerant, decent life free from greed. The struggles, small and smaller, big and bigger, are, as a whole, creating force for gaining momentum for bringing in change in this planet, for a livable, beautiful planet.

Now, the facts:

Barack Obama, told reporters: “I think people are frustrated and [...] the protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works.”

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has spoken out in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement. She said on ABC’s “This Week”: “I support the message to the establishment, whether it’s Wall Street or the political establishment and the rest, that change has to happen”, Pelosi said. “We cannot continue in a way that is not relevant to their lives.” She added that the bank bailout has fuelled animosity towards Wall Street as the benefits have not been felt by ordinary Americans. “The thought was that when we did that [pass the bailout], there would be capital available and Main Street would benefit from the resources that went largely to Wall Street”, said Pelosi. “That didn’t happen. People are angry.”

Eric Cantor, House Majority leader, a top Republican, referred to the OWS movement participants “growing mobs” that are trying to divide the country.

Two Republican presidential candidates accused the protesters of carrying out “class warfare”.

GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the protests are designed to draw away attention from President Obama and labeled them “anti-American”. “The proof is quite simply the bankers and the people on Wall Street didn’t write these failed policies of the Obama administration,” he said. “They didn’t spend a trillion dollars that didn’t work. The administration and the Democrats spent a trillion dollars.”

Newt Gingrich, another Presidential candidate, told CBS that he agreed that the protests are “a natural product of Obama’s class warfare.” “We have had a strain of hostility to free enterprise. And frankly a strain of hostility to classic America starting in our academic institutions and spreading across this country.”

Michael Bloomberg, New York mayor, said the protesters are “trying to destroy jobs of working people in this city.” In his weekly radio address, Bloomberg said: “They’re trying to take away the tax base we have, because none of this is good for tourism.” “If the jobs they’re trying to get rid of in the city - the people that work in finance, which is a big part of our economy - go away, we’re not going to have any money to pay our municipal employees or clean the parks or anything else”, he said.

Richard Fisher, Dallas Fed president said: “I am somewhat sympathetic - that will shock you. We have too many people out of work for too long. We have a very frustrated people, and I can understand their frustration.”

Michael Neal, head of GE Capital, the finance arm of General Electric Co, said that he was sympathetic to the OWS movement. “If I were unemployed now, I’d be really angry too. There are a lot of unhappy people right now and there’s not a lot going on that gives you much reason to be inspired”, said Neal.

The pronouncements/observations tell respective economic-political position. But, the fact is: at least for now, and till a rightist onslaught begins, it is not possible to ignore people’s aspiration and indignation. All and everyone have to reveal respective position in terms of capital and classes. One of the gains the movements have made: expose status quo, its limits, status quo cannot maintain its silence.

Depending on social reality and equation of social forces, similar movements are moving with own pace. News headlines from main stream tell: “Wall Street protests hit 70 US cities”, “Wall Street protest movement spreads to cities across US, Canada and Europe”. Similar many are there. The movement organizers claimed: In the US and around the world, there are now 1,257 Occupy Together communities.

Other than these Occupy Together communities, in struggle/occupation, in the phase of preparation, in solidarity, there are occupations going on, functionally and effectively, challenging neo-liberal policy and politics. Following are a few, very recent:

Brussels

AFP reported: Hundreds of ‘Indignants’ from France, the Netherlands and Spain set up camp in Elisabeth Park in Brussels on October 8 to protest EU-ordered austerity measures. Belgian protesters joined them. Defying a ban and rain they pitched tents. The protesters have walked, some for months, from as far as Spain’s Atlantic coast. They plan to hold an alternative parliament in the park in October 8-15. The protesters informed: police have been deployed around the park with dog handlers, mounted police and a bus for mass arrests. The authorities had banned the group from setting up camp there as the park had no running water. The local mayor suggested the protesters to move into a Flanders University empty building. The EU leaders will meet in a summit, dominated by the continent’s debt crisis, on October 17-18. (“Anti-Austerity ‘Indignants’ Occupy Brussels Park”, Oct. 9, 2011)

London

The Guardian/UK reported: More than 2,000 people staged protest on Westminster Bridge in central London on October 9 to highlight the health and social care bill. Unfurling banners reading “Save our NHS” the protesters dressed up as medics sat down and blocked the bridge. Hundreds of police looked on. UK Uncut, the anti-cuts group that organized the Block the Bridge, Block the Bill demonstration, said: “Today has brought together doctors, nurses, parents, students, unions, pensioners and children together in an unprecedented act of mass civil disobedience. We are occupying the bridge because the bill would be bad for the NHS, bad for patients and bad for society.” The protest drew support from people across the UK. Sam, a therapy radiographer from London, said: “The NHS is the greatest invention in this country's history, providing universal healthcare for all. If it is sold to private companies this will no longer be the case.” Susan Secher, 53, a human resources manager from London said: “…the bill is being pushed through and this is our last chance to stop it and people are becoming desperate.” Janet Bennett, a pensioner who had traveled down from Liverpool said: “The NHS is so important to people in this country and we need to stand up and protect it from this creeping privatization, and this is why I am here today.” The bill is due to go before the House of Lords this week. (Matthew Taylor, “Protesters Against NHS Privatization Occupy Westminster Bridge”, Oct. 9, 2011)

Chile

From Santiago the Guardian/UK reported: In late May, came the “Chilean Winter”, a national student uprising seizing control of the political agenda and taking over of public educational institutions. Now, about 200 state elementary and high schools and a dozen universities are being occupied by students in Chile. Weekly protest marches throughout the country find 50,000-100,000 students on average. There are protest marches by thousands of students in Santiago. Recently, downtown Santiago saw protesting youth, tear gas, and arrest of more than hundred students.

One of the occupied schools is the Carmela Carvajal primary and secondary school, Chile’s one of the most successful state schools. Dozens of girl students of the school, the country’s most prestigious girl’s school, are living a revolution since May. They held a vote after taking over the school to approve the takeover. About half of the 1,800 students participated in the polls. The yays outnumbered the nays 10 to one. The five-month occupation shows no signs of dying.

They are still fighting for their goal: free university education for all. The student-occupied school is a wired reality of a generation that boasts the communication tools that feisty young rebels of history never dreamed of. When police forces come closer, the students use Facebook chat sessions to mobilize. Within minutes, they rally support groups from other public schools in the neighborhood. “Our lawyer lives over there”, said Angelica Alvarez, 14, as she pointed to a cluster of nearby homes. “If we yell ‘Mauricio’ really loud, he leaves his home and comes over.”

Sleeping on a tiled classroom floor and using classroom chairs to barricade themselves they are always on the lookout for police raids. Authorities have repeatedly attempted to retake the school, police were sent to evict the rebel students, but so far the students have held their ground. Police took back the school 10 times. But every time the students occupied it back.

Guest lecturers provide free classes on topics ranging from economics to astronomy. Extracurricular classes are there. Rock bands perform on weekends. Neighbors donate foods. So much food is donated that the Carmela Carvajal students regularly pass on those to hungry students at other occupied schools.

The students vote on all issues including daily duties, housekeeping schedules and the election of a president and spokeswoman. The school rules now include several new decrees: no sex, no boys and no booze. A few students tried to bring in alcohol, but they were caught and punished. As punishment they had to clean the bathrooms.

Politicians and many parents fret that 2011 is “a lost year” for public education. But for many of the students the past five months has been the most intensive education of their life.

The students are demanding a return to the 1960s’ free public university education, and education be recognized as a common right for all, not a “consumer good” to be sold on the open market. Current tuition fees average nearly three times the minimum annual wage, and with interest rates on student loans at 7%. Now, Chile’s many schools are for-profit institutions, run as businesses. A leading newspaper regularly featured advertisements of schools for sale that often described the institutions as highly profitable investments. This pushed students demand financial reform, a centerpiece of their uprising. Initially, the students’ demands were flatly rejected by the conservative government of president Pinera. But, now, the government is moving towards meeting students’ demands.

The students’ unified front is supported by an estimated 6 of 10 adults in Chile, far higher than the country’s political coalitions or President Pinera. (“Chilean Girls Stage ‘Occupation’ of Their Own School in Education Rights Protest”, Oct. 8, 2011)

Greece

In Greece, demonstrators are blocking government agencies and clashing with government thugs amid plumes of tear gas. Workers and employees are staging job actions. Almost everyday a sector is on strike. Demonstrations become more massive and more organized. “[C]lass oriented trade unions and anti-monopoly coalitions of the self employed take up initiatives, through meetings at the work places, at neighborhoods…” Students move on to huge demonstrations. In a correspondence with In These Times, George Pontikos of the All Workers Militant Front (PAME), described a steady escalation of militancy across a growing swath of Greek society. (“While Wall Street Quakes, Greece’s Fire Still Burns Bright”, In These Times, Oct. 7, 2011)

A few days back, a group of students occupied a TV station in Greece. A number of campuses are being occupied by students also.

MSM

Main stream media initially tried to ignore the movement. But it failed. That’s because of power of society, which MSM always tries to manipulate. MSM’s change in tone or posture signals a number of aspects. Now, section of MSM speaks, with its own tone that safeguards its interests, in favor of people’s aspirations and questions section of capital.

In an editorial the New York Times said: “As the Occupy Wall Street protests spread […] the chattering classes keep complaining that the marchers lack a clear message and specific policy prescriptions. The message — and the solutions — should be obvious to anyone who has been paying attention since the economy went into a recession that continues to sock the middle class while the rich have recovered and prospered. The problem is that no one in Washington has been listening.”

Further indicating the non-responsive political system, the editorial said: “It is not the job of the protesters to draft legislation. That’s the job of the […] leaders, and if they had been doing it […] there might not be a need for these marches and rallies.”

It said, as the leaders have not performed “the public airing of grievances is a legitimate and important end in itself.”

Citing the Occupy Wall Street protest as “more than a youth uprising” and “the first line of defense against a return to the Wall Street ways that plunged the nation into an economic crisis from which it has yet to emerge” the editorial said: “[P]rotest is the message […] the protesters […] are giving voice to a generation of lost opportunity. […]”

Mentioning collusion between financial sector, regulators and elected officials, it said: “The protests […] are exactly right”.

Citing profiteering from credit bubble, and consequently loss of jobs, incomes, savings and home equity costing millions of Americans the editorial said: “As the bad times have endured, Americans have also lost their belief in redress and recovery.”

The NYT editorial mentioned that bailouts and “elected officials’ hunger for campaign cash from Wall Street,” have increased “[t]he initial outrage”. Terming combination of these two as “toxic”, the editorial said: the “combination […] has reaffirmed the economic and political power of banks and bankers, while ordinary Americans suffer.”

“Extreme inequality”, it said, “is the hallmark of a dysfunctional economy, dominated by a financial sector that is driven as much by speculation, gouging and government backing as by productive investment.”

It mentioned “concentration of income in today’s deeply unequal society”, resurgence of inequality, corporate profits reaching to “highest level as a share of the economy since 1950, while worker pay as a share of the economy is at its lowest point since the mid-1950s”, decline of real income of working-age households.

Referring to research the editorial said: “[S]uch extreme inequality correlates to a host of ills, including lower levels of educational attainment, poorer health and less public investment. It also skews political power, because policy almost invariably reflects the views of upper-income Americans versus those of lower-income Americans.”

“No wonder”, the NYT editorial said, “that Occupy Wall Street has become a magnet for discontent.” As policy goals to address the grievances of the protesters the editorial mentioned 1. lasting foreclosure relief, 2. a financial transactions tax, 3. greater legal protection for workers’ rights, and 4. more progressive taxation. The editorial said: “The country needs a shift in the emphasis of public policy from protecting the banks to fostering full employment, including public spending for job creation and development of a strong, long-term strategy to increase domestic manufacturing.” (“Protesters Against Wall Street”, New York Times, Oct. 9, 2011)

MSM in the periphery initially followed its masters: totally ignore the movement, total disregard to the movement. But, now, “things” are changing. A section of the peripheral MSM, talks in the tone of movement participants, questions speculators, criticizes failures of capitalism. It’s not because of only advancement of the movement, but also because of power of capitalism’s failure, power of people’s mood, and need of the section to secure it consumers and credibility.

Solidarity from afar

Hugo Chávez has condemned the “horrible repression” of anti-Wall Street protesters. He expressed solidarity with OWS activists who are staging rallies and marches against corporate greed. “This movement of popular outrage is expanding to […] cities […]”, Chávez said at a political meeting shown on state TV. (“Chávez condemns Wall Street protest ‘crackdown’”, guardian.co.uk, Oct. 9, 2011)

Solidarity is there in countries. In countries, people have hope. Materializing hopes takes time, and time teaches through achievements and failures. This solidarity, this hope makes the movement worldwide.

Cut Down Ratings And The Split In Europe

With confusing creditworthiness two more countries and many banks in Europe have “achieved” downgraded ratings over the last few days. And, there is a split. The Germans and the French have, temporarily, disagreed to agree. For the financial elites, political implication of these pulls and pushes is in the wings. “There is a high risk that this crisis further escalates and broadens,” Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German finance minister warned.

The sovereign debt crisis now burdened with downgraded rating of Italy and Spain, the third and fourth largest economies in the euro zone, needs financial power of the two European giants, Germany and France, to salvage it. But the giants were split on the question of salvage approach. They have unity of aspiration in rescuing interest seeking capital. But they differ on the rescue path. Ultimately, because of their common interests, they have to agree. They will agree on at least one point: press down people, take away labor’s bargaining capacity, appropriate whatever people have.

Belgium, a former colonial plunderer, owns a public sector debt equal to Ireland. The country has been warned of a downgraded rating. France is also at risk of facing the same reality. If it slips down, a larger problem will appear: financial support for the PIG would tumble. Fitch said: market confidence in Italy had been eroded. Fitch’s rating for Italy is now equal to Malta and Slovakia. The south European state with the largest debts in the euro zone, at 1.9 trillion euros – 120% of GDP, seemed is teetering.

But Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, does not care about those ratings, it seems. He trusts market, which is now ravaging people. A confident Frattini said: “markets don’t care much about the role of Fitch, Moody’s and company.” However, the Spanish economy ministry expressed “respect” to the downgrading decision. It seemed, the political representatives of the financial elites are confused with their tools, domain and approach. A confused mind of “confident” capital!

Moody’s has downgraded credit rating of 12 UK financial firms: Lloyds TSB, a division of part-nationalized Lloyds Banking Group, government-controlled RBS, Nationwide Building Society, Co-operative Bank, Santander UK, and the building societies of Newcastle, Norwich & Peterborough, Nottingham, Principality, Skipton, West Bromwich and Yorkshire. Nine Portuguese banks have experienced the same. Simultaneously, French banks are over-exposed to peripheral euro zone debt.

However, the UK chancellor George Osborne is confident in the viability of his country’s banks. He said: “I’m confident that British banks are well capitalized, they are liquid, they are not experiencing the kind of problems that some of the banks in the eurozone are experiencing at the moment.” During an interview with Radio 4, Osborne expressed his agreement with the governor of the Bank of England, who said on October 6 that the world was facing its biggest ever financial crisis. Osborne said: “Not only have we faced the biggest banking crisis of my lifetime and your lifetime, the deepest recession since the Second World War, but also Britain was at the epicenter of it.” (guardian.co.uk, Oct. 7, 2011)

But the British leader, it seems, considers that the mighty British financial firms are immune to capitalist disease as he expressed during the interview. Probably, he has forgotten that poor Greece is putting pressure on the rich French and the Germans, and there is capital’s globalization, which has made immunity impossible for the big capitals. A Greek default would create catastrophic consequences for the European and global economy. It will be impossible for the British finance capital to escape that consequence.

Banks and financial firms, cruel characters appearing comical at current time, are one of the stakes of the entire system. Capital cannot dream to let these drown. The European banks, as the IMF estimates, need up to 200 billion euros. Paris wants to use the EFSF, the euro rescue fund, to recapitalize its own stake. Berlin prefers to use the fund as a last resort. Market appears as the first choice to the Germans. But, market is not behaving in a way that can be perceived by capital rational.

Greece has also made impact on the Belgian-Franco municipal lender Dexia, which is facing the threat of becoming the first major European institution to fall victim to the eurozone debt crisis. France and Belgium are arguing over respective taxpayers’ share to salvage it. The two countries plan to break up Dexia and provide state guarantees to cover a “bad bank” of assets. To provide state guarantee, they have to use public money, the old, easy escape route, which is virtually stealing public money.

Greece standing on the brink of bankruptcy has created a buoyant investment market, for which capital was counting days. Germany having high stake in Greece is now trying to grab a bigger part of the country by taking the role of advisor there. Already, the German government has voted in favor of a European bailout fund to aid Greece. Germany now has offered its civil servants and banking experts to Greece with the task of showing salvation path: cut down red tape, set up a new state bank, formulate laws, attract private investment, design project finance, etc. The German consultants will bring salvation!

Crisis brings new opportunity. Germany is looking for investment opportunities in Greece. The German economy minister has made a deal during his Athens visit. He brought with him German industry representatives seeking business in Greece, whose ruling elites have put important chunks of public property on sale. A scramble for Greece will not be surprising. It will be a competition that capitalizes bankruptcy. Labor with a huge reserve army there is hard pressed that puts capital in a better bargaining position.

Greece is at a crossroads and will need to implement “much stricter structural reforms” to avoid default, IMF mission chief to Greece was cited as saying by a German newspaper on October 8. It’s an old, global prescription the bosses prescribe. A “much stricter structural reforms” will press the Greek people much strictly, and that is more dispossessions, more hardship, snatching away of bargaining capacity of labor.

Capitals still are trying to act jointly, especially as they face stronger competitors. The heads of the French, German and Italian employers’ lobbies on October 8 called for stronger European economic and political union. They suggested EU’s only “determined” action. “A diverse Europe, composed of many countries, will only be in a position to maintain its economic position and retain its role of political decision-maker in this changing world if it progresses relentlessly toward a political union,” the heads of France’s MEDEF, Germany’s BDI and Italy’s Cofindustria said in a joint letter. They like to follow this path “to confront the United States, China and emerging economies”, as they said. The business leaders are aspiring to build bridge of unity on a foundation split by competition at its core.

But for capitals, still there is no way out from crisis. “There should be no confusion about what is happening. These are desperate remedies for increasingly desperate problems. […] These shifts may be too little and too late – and millions may still pay the price of that”, said an editorial of guardian.co.uk (Oct. 7, 2011)

The people in the UK, as people of other countries, are paying the price. Citing PricewaterhouseCoopers guardian.co.uk informs: British workers going to retire with private pensions will be facing harder days as their pension incomes are substantially less than three years back. Overall pension incomes are now 30% lower than they were three years ago. (Oct. 8, 2011) These facts provided by the main stream cannot be ignored by capital. And, capital cannot ignore the reaction these acts, appropriation at social level, will produce.