Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Thinking out loud: imperialism
Since it's my job to think now, and I'm bolstered by a latte and a walk in the brilliant, cool sunshine, here are my thoughts on imperialism and Canada.
Canada is an imperialist country. I reject the argument that, because the U.S. is the biggest imperialist power, that means we're oppressed. We are willing junior partners, in many ways:
Economics
Our economies are linked; our capitalists own lots of their assets. In fact, the world economy is kept afloat right now by the financialization of U.S. markets, and the resulting liquidity - U.S. bonds and equity (shares) are a sink for overproduction. (Please excuse me if I'm massacring economic concepts; I'm still trying to master Robert Brenner's The Boom and the Bubble... OK, a summary of it.) The point is, we can't talk in a meaningful sense about U.S. imperialism as single-handedly ruling the world: all the ruling classes have American assets. And that's a deliberate strategy for hegemony by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Politics
Canada has played a willing role in many American imperialist adventures: Vietnam, Israel, and both Gulf Wars, among others. We sold weapons to Suharto when he massacred 200,000 Timorese and helped initiate the coup in Haiti. Uunlike what left-nationalists think, whether we did so reluctantly, or with gusto is besides the point. We did so. It's not a matter of political will; it's a matter of economic interest. In every imperialist pursuit, our capitalists have benefited.
Looking at the global political system, there's another role for Canada. Our reputation as peacekeepers allows a humanitarian cover for imperialism. And 'humanitarian intervention' is the watchword for imperialism these days. So Canada actually plays a very specific role, one that the U.S. can't: we're the velvet glove over the iron fist. (For ideological consumption back home. I'm pretty sure Haitians believe that Canada training death squads for policework isn't soft and fuzzy.)
What's to be done?
It would've been much easier if Lenin had written a sequel called Just Go For A Coffee And Talk About It. I'm convinced of this analysis of Canadian imperialism. A lot more remains to be said, of course, but the framework holds within an overall analysis of capitalism. Canada is a medium-sized capitalist power, with all the responsibilities for implementing the neo-liberal order that suggests. I can blog about this; but can I write a thesis on it?
I'm not sure. Does anyone have any suggestions for further reading? I very much enjoyed David McNally's Understanding Imperialism Then and Now, and I recommend it for everyone. I'm looking for more articles on the New World Order and/or Canada's place in it(ones that do more than simply recount Canada's crimes, voluminous though they are). Or long, multi-volume books with lots of theory and detail. But articles would be good too.
Theorize it... theorize it...
Canada is an imperialist country. I reject the argument that, because the U.S. is the biggest imperialist power, that means we're oppressed. We are willing junior partners, in many ways:
Economics
Our economies are linked; our capitalists own lots of their assets. In fact, the world economy is kept afloat right now by the financialization of U.S. markets, and the resulting liquidity - U.S. bonds and equity (shares) are a sink for overproduction. (Please excuse me if I'm massacring economic concepts; I'm still trying to master Robert Brenner's The Boom and the Bubble... OK, a summary of it.) The point is, we can't talk in a meaningful sense about U.S. imperialism as single-handedly ruling the world: all the ruling classes have American assets. And that's a deliberate strategy for hegemony by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Politics
Canada has played a willing role in many American imperialist adventures: Vietnam, Israel, and both Gulf Wars, among others. We sold weapons to Suharto when he massacred 200,000 Timorese and helped initiate the coup in Haiti. Uunlike what left-nationalists think, whether we did so reluctantly, or with gusto is besides the point. We did so. It's not a matter of political will; it's a matter of economic interest. In every imperialist pursuit, our capitalists have benefited.
Looking at the global political system, there's another role for Canada. Our reputation as peacekeepers allows a humanitarian cover for imperialism. And 'humanitarian intervention' is the watchword for imperialism these days. So Canada actually plays a very specific role, one that the U.S. can't: we're the velvet glove over the iron fist. (For ideological consumption back home. I'm pretty sure Haitians believe that Canada training death squads for policework isn't soft and fuzzy.)
What's to be done?
It would've been much easier if Lenin had written a sequel called Just Go For A Coffee And Talk About It. I'm convinced of this analysis of Canadian imperialism. A lot more remains to be said, of course, but the framework holds within an overall analysis of capitalism. Canada is a medium-sized capitalist power, with all the responsibilities for implementing the neo-liberal order that suggests. I can blog about this; but can I write a thesis on it?
I'm not sure. Does anyone have any suggestions for further reading? I very much enjoyed David McNally's Understanding Imperialism Then and Now, and I recommend it for everyone. I'm looking for more articles on the New World Order and/or Canada's place in it(ones that do more than simply recount Canada's crimes, voluminous though they are). Or long, multi-volume books with lots of theory and detail. But articles would be good too.
Theorize it... theorize it...
