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121 Conspiracism -- rank: 1000

I see from a review in the International Herald Tribune there is a new book on the USA's love for conspiracy theories: Enemies Within:The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America, by Robert Alan Goldberg. I presume this is a populist trend that indignantly fails to understand the class prejudices of older societies. In England, the "old boy network" is a term that is well understood and immediately links to class. The IHT review does not get to class issues, but it does note that the or ...

Document Size:	5282
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Tue Jan 15 23:35:58 PST 2002

122 Anger and the spirit of socialism -- rank: 1000

From the latest New Scientist: An artificial experiment but one that may actually explain why socialists are so bad tempered ! Of course presented in a reductionist way, that it is all about anger. In fact to the extent it is true, it is a manifestation of the fact that the social context is crucial in all our lives. Only the fetishism of commodity exchange obscures the fact that we live in a highly complex social environment, which, of course, should be under democratic social control. http://w ...

Document Size:	5204
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sat Jan 12 10:21:11 PST 2002

123 Quest for a word -- rank: 1000

At 11/01/02 01:09 -0600, you wrote: >There should be a single word (adjective) for the following complex. >Suppose someone knows about China and knows about metaphysics -- and >therefore believes that he knows about Chinese Metaphysics. That is a >_______ mode of thought. Or one could say to her, "You are being >______________." > >Carrol It might be easier in German. Chris Burford

Document Size:	4827
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Thu Jan 10 23:43:05 PST 2002

124 New Democracy in AFGHANISTAN -- rank: 1000

In the very broadest terms something like New Democracy is probably the best to be hoped for in Afghanistan, and the chances of this would only have been complicated by the fierce clashes between Brezhnev's Soviet Union, and Mao's China. But it may be worth thinking of the issues again, as the only way to help Afghanis to resist the domination of global finance capitalism and of the Empire, would be to focus on what would be the objectives of national reconstruction from the point of view of a n ...

Document Size:	9008
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Mon Jan 7 16:27:07 PST 2002

125 Red-red Berlin -- rank: 1000

Negotiations have been completed between the SPD and the PDS about the coalition government of Berlin following their election successes last year, and the failure of the coalition attempts between SPD, Greens and FDP. The PDS representing almost 50% of the voters of the former East Berlin will be responsible for 3 out of the 8 departments: those for health, social affairs, and consumer protection, arguably the less important ones. Gregor Gysi former chairperson and their leading candidate in th ...

Document Size:	5651
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Mon Jan 7 15:39:25 PST 2002

126 Marxism is a science -- rank: 1000

At 03/01/02 17:39 -0500, you wrote: >On the state whithering away, you are premature to claim that it >won't, if we take Marx to be speaking of a multigenerational process, >epoch in length, which is reasonable for a world revolution. Are not openly violent repressive means of control being replaced by more subtle ways of controlling social and economic processes? Even the use of the death penalty is dropping even in the USA. Chris Burford. London

Document Size:	4884
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Thu Jan 3 16:08:04 PST 2002

127 Deutch and Popper -- rank: 1000

At 02/01/02 09:37 -0800, you wrote: >Yep. But just like any practical scientist, Popperians ignore or >explain away examples that contradict their favorite theory. And this >is not meant to diss scientists: holding onto a theory in the face >of "unruly" data is in fact a crucial characteristic of science >(PKF's stuff on Galileo is great on this). Anybody who thinks that >scientists digilently throw out an elegant theory just because some >data contradicts it n ...

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Wed Jan 2 12:18:57 PST 2002

128 Dawn of the Euro -- rank: 1000

At 31/12/01 21:47 -0800, Chuck wrote: >Dennis, you keep announcing this mysterious and dark struggle, going >on for months now, ...titanic forces stirring in the subterranean ocean >beds... And I have seen nary a ripple. I agree with Dennis that this is a world historical moment, even though there are qualifications. It is as impressive as the road network of the Roman Empire in an age of different technology, a masterpiece of human cooperation whatever class masters have guided it. Her ...

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Tue Jan 1 14:26:31 PST 2002

129 British not patsies! -- rank: 1000

At 12/02/02 07:53 +0800, Greg wrote: >There is an element of fatal fanatsy in all this, the baby boots Caligual >routine is simply unrealistic and self-delusional. By spurning >sychophantic multi-laterialism - which admittedly was as far as >multi-lateralism really ever reached - is not Bush providing the ground >for some real multilateralism. AT one point or another his "allies" will >cool off completely and wonder whether more strength might be obtained by >a wid ...

Document Size:	5519
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Tue Feb 12 00:25:59 PST 2002

130 linda lay in the news -- rank: 1000

Out of an increasingly competitive field, I nominate this for a prize for the best thread title of the month. Possibly helped by the fact that I had no idea that linda lay was a person. Chris Burford London

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sat Feb 9 00:53:33 PST 2002

131 how big are MNCs -- rank: 1000

At 06/02/02 14:54 -0500, Doug quoted the FT article: >Does anybody doubt that the US legal system could break up Microsoft if it >wanted to do so? But does anybody doubt that in class terms the influence of finance capital on the political system would be so great that a monopoly like Microsoft would not automatically be broken up. Or that a company like Enron could finance, what is it, two thirds of the members of Congress, and both political parties in Britain? And that when it comes to ...

Document Size:	5159
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Wed Feb 6 23:26:02 PST 2002

132 Japan's demographic crisis -- rank: 1000

The extreme concentration of capital in Japan and its partial sharing with the majority of the population has added a severe demographic problem to Japan's capitalist problem. It needs labour power fast. from http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,644033,00.html >>> 500,000 off of the population every year until 2050, when one in three will be of retirement age. If the trend continues to 2100, the number of Japanese will have halved and many vibrant cities will be ghost to ...

Document Size:	5374
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sun Feb 3 00:31:06 PST 2002

133 China "running dog of European imperialism" - US Trade Rep -- rank: 1000

At 27/04/02 18:27 -0400, you wrote: >Quote of the week, for sheer arrogance and hypocrisy, has to go to US Trade >Representative Robert Zoellick who, the Asia Times reports, described China >as a "running dog of European imperialism", after Beijing's move to raise >its first trade dispute at the WTO against the US over the protectionist and >unilateral steel tariffs it imposed. I thought that China's first move on steel was to protest the counter-measures of Europe again ...

Document Size:	5786
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sat Apr 27 23:52:10 PDT 2002

134 Germany - East gap grows? -- rank: 1000

Interesting exchange on Germany as a whole. How crucial is the stagnation of East Germany in the overall picture? Following the severe losses by the SDP in the regional election in Sachsen-Anhalt in the East, coming in behind the PDS, the International Herald Tribune carried this item on the continued stagnation of the economy in the East. Is it true that this is a main factor dragging German performance down? And if the problem is getting worse, can it be remedied under the present polices inst ...

Document Size:	10613
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Fri Apr 26 23:11:45 PDT 2002

135 Sensible mainstream commentary on Fr. elections -- rank: 1000

At 23/04/02 10:37 -0700, Brad Mayer wrote: >To staunch the manipulative, self-serving hysterics. While I can agree with some of Brad's points could he please say to what he is referring in this comment? The Brookings Institute article does comment: >The impression of a France in the hands of extremists or on the verge of a >fascist takeover — some French commentators on election night did not >hesitate to make allusions to Germany in 1933 — needs to be put in perspective. But various ...

Document Size:	5946
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Tue Apr 23 23:08:45 PDT 2002