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William's avatar

Brilliant, far-reaching post, as ever. Thank you once more

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Hermes the goat's avatar

I too like Ian Welsh, and also read that same post a couple of days ago. He generally has something to add to many far-ranging discussions. He mostly hits right on the target of what is important about a particular issue. I do find that he sometimes misses though, and found the particular post to be a miss. You caught it right in your quote: "Capitalists create great societies. Financiers destroy them."

For one thing, the line between "capitalist" and "financier" is so blurry I think it is a distinction without a difference. When Ford spends half a billion a year on stock buybacks, for instance, are they financiers or capitalists? But anyway, that's not my point.

My point is: while it may be true financialization destroys "great societies" (as has happened in the past, just look at the Dutch) -- and I don't intend to be mean in putting it this way, but -- I wish Ian would pick up a book and read about the history of capitalism sometime. Capitalism does not make "great societies." Capitalism is a totalizing system, just like feudalism was, and the only "great society" it can produce is for capitalists (or what at the moment are generally called oligarchs). If anything, it has been resistance to capitalism over the past couple of centuries that have made enough space for there to be "great societies," that is, for those of us who are not oligarchs.

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