Been reading Friedman's The World is Flat

[nadinbrzezinski]

and while I highly despise Friedman he is correct in the analysis, but he is wrong as to the end conclusion.

Here is a little factoid... how old is the modern nation state? About 500 years if you want to be charitable... in reality I'd say three hundred. How old is the modern corporation? Just about 300 as well...

Well, while he is kissing the ass of market economy he is missing two things:

1.- High monopolistic practices are anathema to capitalism... yes capitalism has been replaced by a new form of a command economy. I don't care if this is a state run command economy, or corporate run, it is far able to respond to emergencies either way.

2.- The nation state is coming to an end. Yes, they will keep the hologram going, since it is good to keep the peasants quiet... USA, FRANCE, BURKINA FASO... don't matter... but the global order that is emerging is not controlled by nations. It is controlled by corporations. We are entering a new age that is very different and very scary. Will we be able to recapture the commons from corporations? Perhaps... but if I am right it will require the kind of international cooperation that has not been seen. Why the hologram has to be kept. You see you Americans cannot trust them Chinese... see how that works?

Oh and I am sure Friedman would not be able to see this... not in the DNA of most people quite frankly.

[Skink]

1. the BFEE runs all.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. No, Corporations... and the global organizations

that have been set or changed from original intent.

If the BFEE is even real, it is one of many interests here.

[corpseratemedia]

3. corporations and gangs/militias

the latter often enforcing the will of the former and continually generating chaos to prevent populist or progressive governments and economic justice and order from ever taking hold





I'm a bit half-glass empty today because (I decided) today sucked for me lol, but seriously, I think politically what's happening with Mexico and what's been happening in Somalia etc. could be a shadow foretelling of our future (it's our present reality for our under-class) if our govt. continues to give away all our economic/political power our already bloated domestic and international oligarchy. Just writing that made me laugh because our govt. is owned by the domestic/international oligarchy who am i kidding.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Governments and national borders are just figments

any more.

As to Mexico, for other complex reasons I agree with you... it is moving north.

[Radical Activist]

5. I can't stand Friedman.

Once in a while I hear or read a crazy rant about one world government. The John Bircher types go on about the UN but ignore the only thing approaching a functional world government with any real power, the WTO. The corporations backing far-right groups don't want people thinking about the WTO so much.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Yeah but I actually have to read him

as what he writes IS relevant to the history of unions.

So I got a CHEAP copy...

Oh and on edit let's list them shall we?

WTO
World Bank
IMF

It is the bare bones of that world government (corporate run by the way) if you want to go there.

It is the beginning of a post nation world system. It will not be that obvious for another generation or so I think... but that is what is coming.

[jwirr]

7. That is interesting and probably a good analysis of the danger we

face. It made me think of Emmanuel Todd's book "After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order". In this book he talks about regional governments (powers) which will develop in the place of nationalism. Example: China and the smaller Asian countries, Central and South American countries, Russia and European (Plus Iran) countries. Regarding the North American nations he sees them as standing alone because of their unwillingness to give up their nationalism.

This could be the first steps in fighting corporatism. It would seem to me that South American nations are already well into the struggle to build a regional alliance and fight corporatism with socialism/nationalizing corporations. Maybe we should rethink our attitude toward them.

What scares me is that corporatism by any other name is still fascism. If we are lucky they may settle for feudalism.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Well the first step is... to

realize what exactly we live under, and it is not Capitalism.

[jwirr]

9. If we ever did live under a true capitalism.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Though not true capitalism

I'd offer the mixed economy of the 1950s... as a success story... and it did encourage true capitalism at the level of the small bidness owner.

[jwirr]

11. I would agree with that but I was in a poor family back then and there

was very little help for the poor. We did survive though. My father was a jack-of-all-trades and could scavenge many of the things we needed to survive. What made it hard was that many of the farmers around us were actually becoming very rich while we did not seem to be going anywhere.

I would like to thank you for your many inspiring posts. They make us think.

[Taverner]

12. Funny thing about the Roman Republic

People thought they were still in a Republic, long past Caligula's reign.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. So true