Friday, October 10, 2008
Open Thread and Parasitic Imperialism
Meanwhile, you might also consider this article by Ishmael Hossein-zadeh, Parasitic Imperialism, an article from last year that, when read retrospectively, reveals the relationship between the current financial crisis and US militarism:
A sober, thorough going analysis worth reading in its entirety. As I watch the collapse of global equity markets unfold, I can't help recalling that the event that pulled them out of their doldrums after 9/11 was . . . the invasion of Iraq.Since imperial policies abroad are widely discussed by others, I will focus here on parasitic military imperialism at home, that is, on what might be called domestic or internal imperialism. Specifically, I will argue that parasitic imperialism (1) redistributes national income or resources in favor of the wealthy; (2) undermines the formation of public capital (both physical and human); (3) weakens national defenses against natural disasters; (4) accumulates national debt and threatens economic/financial stability; (5) spoils external or foreign markets for non-military U.S. transnational capital; (6) undermines civil liberties and democratic values; and (7) fosters a dependence on or addiction to military spending and, therefore, leads to an spiraling vicious circle of war and militarism.
