ANARCHISTMONTHLY VOL 46 No 5 MAY 1985 45p
The DismalScience Sexand Power Chile CND ANARCHISTNEWS n4r{-AlTCongress ln the aftermath of the miners'strike and File Conferenceon 20th April. followingother major industrial disruption NSF of Norway has given massive throughout Europe, it was natural that solidarity support to the miners.in these dispute5,and to a lesserextent Britain, as well as retaininglinks with unemployment, should dominate the labour organisationsin polandand Latin debatesat the Congressof the Inter_ America. nationalWorkers Association(lWA_AlT) The representativeof the International (Northern Section) in London over Secretariat in Madrid announced a cratic_unions Easter.ln all sevencountries represented are, it seems,turning to coming campaignthroughout much of the at the Congresscounting OBU for support.The OBU, wfrilh is delegatesand Latin Americato reinforcecontacts and observers, not in thb lWA, is less sectarianand advancethe influenceof the IWA-AlT in ideological Reportsfrom all than most of the sectionsof the sectionsshowec that area, Countries named for special up the International.As a resultit seems the involvement of the organised attentioninclude Brazil, to Columbia,Bolivia havehad more social impact international anarcho-syndicalistmove_ and than most.lt Costa Rica. ln Bolivia, during the has. produced mentin theseindustrial and pamphlets which put a socialdisputes. recent successfulGeneral Strike, there The Danish basically direct actionist case without ASO is activein thecurrent havealready been many communications waveof strikes using the labels of libertarianpolitics, overGovernment imposed and contacts from sections pay of the andsetting themsleves up as restraint. syndicalist _ sittingducks. union - the COB with the Their approach In Germany the FAU is in the is more subtlethan manv f
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I gAe( ,EI'{.qR NrP tpg oF couRse7srop IT SLZ ERE. TRASHIN'OUR MANORf I-KI,TDUM ANALY5Is BadNews FromThe Dismal Science WORLDMANAGEMENT AND THE SUPER-STATE
The difficultieswhich face the Western scaleotherwise the old solutionsfail. Any corporations,pension funds, and the rich world economiesare currently particularly governmentwhich at the presenttime generallyare moving their money from acute but they are not insurmountable. deliberatelytries to expandits economy country to country seekingthe highest Mostof them canbe tracedto onesource. has to considerthat when it doesso it possibleinterest rates.This meanscountries Over the last five yearsthe old national will probably succeednot in expanding bid against each other to attract these economieshave beentransformed into a salesand productionfor its own factories funds and so high interest rates exist genuine world economy (or at least a but sales of goods made abroad (for which prevent investmentin industry. genuineWestern world econony) as the economistswhat I am arguingis that the These high interest rates also create volumeof world tradehas expanded but valueof the multiplierhas significantly severepressure on debtor nationsforcing the managementagencies are insufficiently fallen).This meansthat whenpeople like them to cut back and even put weaker international. Mitterand attempt to expand they end banks at risk but they do producevery ln 1972the valueof importsinto the up having awful problems with their nice returnson their capitalfor the rich. UK was f11,072,800,000.By 1972 it balanceof paymentsand so they haveto ln the UK realinterest rates have moved had risen to f56,940,300,000 (for totally reversetheir policies. Reagan's from minus 13J% in 1975 to plus 2.5% comparison purposesprices rose 3.74 expansionof the USA economy (forget in 1983, leavingpeople like homebuyers times over the same period). This the rhetoric - a hugebudget deficit and seriouslystruggling to get by. amountedto f 1,000of importsfor every an 8% growth rate is an expansionary At the sametime thesemovements of personin the country.This expansionof policy of major proportionsmuch of it funds between countries cause wild tradeis a worldwidephenomenon and its fuelledby defencespending) is likely to fluctuationsin currencyvalues making it significanceis that it meanswe are back run into the sameproblem. virtually impossiblefor firms to plan in an eraof genuinecompetition between The natureof the situationcan perhaps ahead and so preventsinvestment. For firms. best be illustrated by consideringthe instance,the pound was worth $2.40 in In the 1950sand '60sin mostwealthy history of Americancar productionover 1980 and only $1.07 in early 1985.At nationsthere were usuallyonly threeor the last few years.lt is not so very long the moment it is fluctuatingwildly day four firmsmaking each product or offering sincefirms like GeneralMotors, Chrysler by day. eachservice. This made agreementbetween and Ford werecomfortably confident of No one state is powerful enough to the variousfirms easy and preventedprice their sales on the American domestic control the currency movementswhich warsbeing too seriousor too frequent. market. They competed on things like are causingthese rapid changesand so At the sametime the variousnational producingnew modelsand on advertising conditionsexist in which avirtualcollapse stateswere able to controltheir economies strategiesbut they were very cautious of one or other majorcurrency may even via deliberatemanipulation of the levelof about competing on price. Between be possible.Central bankers are, however, demand.In essencethis idea isvery simple. 1978 and 1982 productionof passenger slowly moving towards the idea of The idea was that wheneverthere was a vehiclesin the USA fell from 9.2 million collective inter-state action to protect sign of a slump the governmentsimply vehiclesto iustunder 5 millionvehicles. their currenciesand this international printed money and spentit on, say,road What was happening was genuine managementwill eventuallycome and buildingor investmentgrants to industry. competitionwas takingplace om markets then currenciescould be peggedin value. The extra money boosted peoPle's which had once beenthe secureprovince Agreementson the levelof real interest incomes which boosted sales which of a few stablefirms. As the 1920sand ratescould also be reached. boostedproduction. This extra produc- '30s demonstrated real competition is 3. Broad trade agreementsmight be tion meant there were more goods very bad for business.lt forcesthem to reached,eg to peg the proportion of availablefor the money to be spent on cut pricesand createsa genuinerisk of imports into a country or to slow down so you didn't get inflation. In other bankruptcy. lt also tempts them to the rate of changeof import penetration words what was being done was to Put introduce labour saving machineryand under threat of the increasinguse of peopleto work to makethe goodswhich cut back the workforces.The result is artificial trade barriers. Strict quotas they themselvesbought. risingunemployment. could be imposedon importsfrom third This system worked to achieverapid lf this damagingcompetition is to be world countries to shut them out of economic growth and good profits for avoidedan internationalmanaging agency OECD markets.More likely, however,is industry (thoughvery poor interestrates will haveto be createdwhich is aspower- that internationalcompetitors will merge were paid). From 1945 to 1970 unem- ful asthe nationalstate - a kind of super- or co-operateso that thereare only three ploymentin the UK neverwent above4% state.This is whatpoliticians like Edward or four firms in the world makingeach and this was coupledwith low inflation Heath and Willy Brandt are groping productfor which thereis a worldmarket, and rapid growth rates.Other countries towards.Such a managingagency could and these firms will not compete on did evenbetter. takeaction in a wholenumber of areas. pflce. This controlledexpansion lasted so 1. An internationalagreement could be 4. Minimum safety precautions and long that it cannotbe lookedupon asa reachedto boost all OECD countriesat pollutionmeasures could be agreedworld- boom. lt representeda genuinechange the sametime. Suchan agreementwould wide to prevent third world countries from uncontrolledcompetitive capitalism haveto be enforceableby the super-state drawing firms out of the rich countries to a nationallymanaged form of capitlism authority but it would work to ensurea by offering Bhopal style safety checks which if applied internationallyneed plannedend to thecurrent slump without and ruthlesssuppression of workers.At neverexperience a slumpof the classical balanceof paymentsproblems developing. the moment third world countries are variety. 2. The effects of the movement of out-bidding each other in the vicious The problemat the moment is that enormous sums of money between natureof their 'freetrade'zones. since a world economy now exists the countries could be reduced. At the 5. Energy conservationmeasures could systemneeds to be managedon a world momentArab oil countries.international be encouragedworldwide so that the FREEDOMANALYSIS threat of oil reservesrunning out doesn't collectively. expectto seea steadilyincreasing role for credtea limit to productive capacity. Of course such speculationcreates remote international bodies like the 6. lt is even possibleto conceiveof a enormousgrounds for error. lt depends IMF which could developinto effective super-statetaxing national governments on a major ideologicalshift taking place world managementagencies and steadily (just as tlie EEC does)so that the funds in the ruling class.lt saysnothing about reducethe independence of nationalstates. can be used to develop third world the reaction of ordinary people. to lf this develops.ordinary people will countries.We are used to the Marxist economic developments (eg if wage becomeeven lesscapable of controlling ideathat capitalismwants us to be poor. militancy is relativelystrong they may eventswhich directly affect the way they A more realisticidea is that poor people have to use unemployment or rigidly live their lives than they are at present. make poor consumers.Better by far to enforcedwage controls to keepus incheck, An economicsystem carefully run by a get new markets and new Drofits by if generalisedmilitancy is sufficiently super-statecan be permanentlysucqessful developingthese economies. This wasthe strong the whole economy could be at providingan endlesssupply of jobs, logic applied by planned capitalism organisedon a co-operativebasis). ltalso wagesand consumer goods. What it cannot within nationswhich becamerich - why says virtually nothing about ecological provideis freedomof thoughtand action shouldn't it be applied internationally limitations on growth and the potential anda life which you control yourself. as well as domestically.Capitalism, or for environmentaldisaster which a huge A K Brown at leastthat sectionof it which isinvolved expansionof productionmight create.lt PSThis articleis an attemptto drastically in production,would rather deal with a alsocompletely ignores the fact that since reduceideas which would haveoccupied world of hardworking dutiful consumers. we are now backin an eraof competition a complete issueif all the background It is thereforemore realistic to expectthe we can presumablyexpect normal trade had beenfilled in. Criticismis welcomed, growth of more middleclass nations than cyclesto operateagain and a boom might but could criticstry andquote happenings a deliberatedriving down into poverty of take placefor cyclical reasons. in the real world ratherthan happenings the third world, but this development Nevertheless,on one essentialpoint takingplace only in Karl Marx'shead. can only be pursuedby the rich nations I think I am unlikelyto be wrong.We can Lostinthe PermanentDepression There is a marked tendency amongst spending, which merely transfers re- do for eitherjob. anarchiststo write at a very complex sources from the private sector to the All it needed was to abandon the level, usually 'losing' the averagereader state sector. The solution was, quite politicalgoal of full employmentwithout without actuallyrevealing the underlying literally, to control the rate of interest, a revolution (managedby the Labour principles or forces involved. lt's all print a little more money and spend that Party who left 1.5M unemployed)and rather like a detailed discussionand (preferablyon somethingworthwhile, but underthe guiseof an'attackon inflation, argument about the orbits of various Keynesjoked that you could bury money substitutethe aim of maximisingthe rate planets,which somehownever mentions in holesin the groundand pay peopleto of returnon accumulatedwealth. gravity. So here's a mini-version of dig it up again). This depressionis a deliberate,con- 'Keynsian economic analysis and the This seemslike somethingfor nothing, trolled political aot. How far Thatcher's currentPeople's Crisis'. but as Keynespointed out, unemployed side really know what they've done I What was 'new' (1936) about people and resourcesare just going to cannot say. Perhapsthey don't realise Keynsianeconomics was his observation waste.The wealth they could have pro- Keynesis aliveand well and livingin the that whot was true for an individual firm duced is simply lost to us for once ond TreasuryComputer. He would be stunned (micro-economics) or consumer wos not for all. to see his equationsput to exactly the necessarily true for the economy os a Why then do we have mass unem- oppositetask to what he had in mind. whole (mocro-economics),This division ployment now? Well, during periods of The important thing to notice about between small scale (micro) and large 'controlled' full-employment capital all this is that computerguided, nearly scale (macro) effects is to be found accumulatesfaster than the demand for scientific,post-Keynsian economic theorv throughout the physicalworld. To use it. Beinga commodity,its pricetherefore says the same as us. That running the Proff Searle's now 'famous example, falls. Indeed, Keynes predicted an economy from the point of view of individual moleculesof H20 are not absence of a rote of return on accumu- Capital(a thing) leadsto lesstoral wealth wet. Liquidity shows up & a feoture ' lated weolth as a result of a 'generation' and treatslabour (people)as a disposable of their interaction. While common of state-managedful l-employment. commodity. 'What is Labour?Nothing. senseis certainly better than bad theory, This is not meretheoretical whimsey. Whatshould it be?Everything.,Who said macro whole-systemeffects are frequent- It actuallyhappened, here in the UK in that? ly not obvious in social life. Our indi- the mid-70's.The Left, of course,utterly The return on Capital is now at vidual experiencewill even misleadus failed to noticethis real 'crisisof capital- historically high levels.The rich have into seeingthem as 'obviously'wrong/ ism'(from the capitalist'spoint of view). solid political and economic reasons silly'nutter'stheory'. The Left seemedto expectthe capitalists for keepingthings exactly the way they ln economics,individual savingmakes to take it lyingdown! are now, plus the meansand knowledge for individual prosperity. However, After 1974 and the miners' victory, to do so. Keynespointed out, at the nationallevel the Right did a massiverethink and We have had our 'generationof full where one person'sspending is another examination of their position. Some- employment'. . . welcometo the Stable, person's income,saving leads to unem- where,someone realised that if you could Controlled,Permanent Depression. ployment (unlessits re-investedin Capital the produce run Naiional economyto full Stu Goods). you employment,then could alsorun it PS Nobody'sperfect. THEy could fuck Contrary to popular belief, the to produceony level of unemployment it up. Keynsiansolution to un€mploymentwas you cared to name and hold it there, not huge government borrowing and steady.The samecomputer model would PPSDid you get'lost'?Sorry.
11 FREEDOMDEBATE AND ANALYSIS CNDand Effective Action althoughsuch deaihs wou[d have dirninish- Rather than go tramPing around the engagedin an escalationof credibility. ing returns,particularly against a back- fields of Molesworth last Both dealin moralassertion and numbers, absorbent groundof generalunrest and tension'For Monday I devotedthe time to the currencieswhich will reach limits of Easter ihosewho would choosethis path timing commentson Andy Brown's exchange.When these limits are reached, following a senseof theatre are probably of (Freedom April then credibilitybegins to breakdown. lt and 'Dangerous lllusions' For most though, 1e8s). is what happensat this point that should prime importance.' ,concern nvda will increasinglybe seenas a tactic To disposeof the criticism of AB's usinitially. to ratherthan a conviction. piece, it doesa lot of what it correctly There is no short cut. Peoplehave As such it will ProbablYbe the final accusesCND of doing, shadowboxing test the illusionsof their culture. Many that tactic in the breakdownof credibilityof around the reality of issuesof political neverdo, and remaincontent within the moral rulesof the culturefor many. power and (nuclear)peace. This is regret- culture, but it is among those who are ln this it has a Place and should be table becausethere are realissues buried led to do so that we may exlect to find encouraged.Police clubbing. and booting beneaththe tramp of apparentlypointless new convertsto sanityand anarchy.But will of the pacifist middle-classesfrom the marchingfeet, particularly pointless when we haveto acceptthat the maiority bloodstainedwheat of Molesworth,in they march miles'away from anything not be able to face the implicationsof contrastto the samething happeningto other than wire and uniformedminions. a breakdown of credibility, cognitive to minerson coal tips, could be a climatic Those of us who haveseen the lack of dissonancetakes over very easily final scene in the logic of the current point should be directingour energies protect us from different realities.One round of people versusgovernment in to the resolutionof theseissues' reasonfor the triumph of the bomb in the matterof provisionfor genocide' One reasonfor the declineof CND last our culture is probablythat manypeople AB is right of course,governments will time round is not very acceptableto realise that you can't just get rid of simply brush asidesuch protest in the anarchists.lt was not exhaustioncaused nuclear weaponsand leave everything final analysis.The troubleis, mostpeople by ineffective action, but the fact that else the same;they want the rest of the simply do not believethis. A sort of the middle classbureaucracy which held culture as is, even though it produces cultural cognitivedissonance operates at it together packed uP. WhY? As more biocidalweapons. this level.Hitler's gift to governmentsof than one suchworthy said,and honestly 5o we need to changeour culture. the world of open plan genocideis kept believed,"Now we have got a Labour Anarchistsaccept this, but aremore than well hiddenfrom the likely victims;each Governmenteverything will be all right". vague on suitable methods. lt may be generationhas to discoverthe possibility That particularlesson may havebeen that lots of people trying the mental for themselves. learned,but in manY PlacesCND is shift requiredfor nvda are takinga step So what of answers?I hoPe it is not simply a Labour Party front, actingasa in the right direction. There is a key what I think AB meanswhen he saysthat funnel for the politicallynaive. But there factor within the conceptof nvdawhich "it (nvda)can be replacedby someuseful are some differences.Last time around is rarely discussed,but which is entirely political activity". Surely that is what direct action was anathemato CND, consistantwith my idea of anarchy' lt happenedto those left high and dry in hence the Committeesof 100 in which is this: in place of force nvda puts the C'NOlast time round: how doesthis help? many of us spentour time; now they are responsibili.tyand choice of any action We have to try somethingnew. To aCtivelyencouraging non'violent direct .upon the personit is beingused against' defuseboth biocidalweapons and govern- action. (Your freedomends where theirs begins.) mentswe haveto developcultural struc- CND was never anti-war' lt is not The scenarioused to illustrate the tures which avoidthe possibilityof such therefore illogical for it to support principlewas this: if the bomber(this was aberrations.The problem for all of us, excursionssuch as the Falklands,or some time ago) is about to take off, and from 'concerned,Croydon'to the purest cultr,rreclashes like Belfastor Beirut.And you wish to stop it you could a) thiow anarchist,is that we are all playingon there is a qualitativedifference between a yourselfinto an engine,or b) lie in front their pitch, with their ball, by their rules, few thousand(or millions)of humans of the wheels.Which is nvda?Obviously (yes,of coursethe refereeisontheir side). devotingthemselves to mutual annihila- the latter, becauseit puts the choice and What we have to do is invent new life' tion, which is fairly acceptable,and the responsibilityfor your death upon the gamesthat avoidthis dependance,and to option of planetary biocide, which is pilot. He mustmake the consciouschoice startto plaYthem for real. not. to run you over.Holding him up whilehis lf we areright in oppositionto 'them', The point about the politicsof respec- engine is un-gummedis not the same then they will becomeas irrelevantas toble people is surely this: it does not thingat all. many of the other socio-culturalartefacts matter whethertheir assumptionsof the Whether the successof such actions which humanity has left behind in its reality of the democratic processare may be worth stakingyour own life on evolution.Of coursepoliticking can offer corrector not; what is importantis that dependson the degreeto which you and ego boostingexcitemgnt, but its danger thegovernment is committed to pretending the pilot sharethe samesystem of values. is that is simply reinforcesthat which it that they are corredt.Both government ln the days when Gandhiwas unsettling confronts.In the end (or if thereis to be and protestorscan then beviewed as being the British Raj, or evenwhen Vietnamese no end) a new socio-culturalparadigm is Buddhistsburned themselves passively to the only answer. death,individuals who were preparedto make this sacrificemight havecut some The keystonewhich has to be removed ice. But is nvda relevantin this sense first is that which underwritesmost un- today? desirablehuman activity: our institutional We all know that under an increasing structures.The taskwe shouldbe address- pacifists,is number of circumstancesSovernments ing, whetheras anarchistsor need little encouragementto kill people the meansof destructuringthe institutions who inconveniencethem. One couldstill ,vhichgenerate the Problems. die asan act of absolutemoral conviction, ColinJohnson
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-t' FREEDOMDEBATE CND Debate I agreewith Andy BroWn,the nucleardis- rrmament movement collapsedin the 1960s becauseof delusions.Anarchists and others tried to tell peoplewhat was happening,but the deludedcould not understandour warnings.The cult of 'non-violentdirect action', however,did no harm; the delusionwhich causedthe collapsewas faith in democraticleader- ship. We must distinguish between the campaignfor nucleardisarmament, ie a campaign,and the (capitalletters) Cam- paign for Nuclear Disarmament,ie an organizationwith membershipfees and paid officers. Anybody may be a member of CND who will pay the sub, but the policy of CND is decidedby a committee. Beforeabout 1968there was a permanent committee(doubtless they were re-elected annually), consistingof Canon Collins (chairman) and the other founders of CND. None of them favoured 'direct activity of both CND and the nudlear the endof gettingLabour into power. action'; their sole plan for gettingrid of disarmamentmovement outside CND, so It wasobvious Labour in oowerwould nuclear weapons was to convince the much so that the movement and the keep the bomb, and like many othersI lawmakersby reasonedargument. With- organizationbecame confused in people,s thoughtat the time that the controllers out exception^they weremembers of the mihds.Gerald Holtom's famous nuclear of CND were a crew of cynicalpolitical Labour Party. Their professionalorgani- diszirmamentsymbol, designed for a tricksters.lt soon becameclear, however, zer, the remarkable Peggy Duff, was groupcalled the DirectAction Committee, that their only fault was misplacedfaith anotherkeen Labourite,fully committed came to be thought of as a CND trade in humannature. Canon Collins published to the CND line. mark. CND was mis-creditedwith various an 'Open Letter to Denis Healey''(the The first two Aldermastonmarches, 'direct' actionswhich they opposed.The new Labour Minister of Defence),so one by a lone elderly pacifist and the confusionpersists to this day,as we seein expressiveof disillusionand frustration next by some tens of thousands,were Andy'sarticle. one could almost see tearstainson the quite independentof CND; examplesof Hugh Gaitskell,faced with a ban-the- printed page. PeggyDuff resignedfrom 'non-violentdirect action', marchingto bomb decision at the Labour Party the Labour Party, after many .yearsirs a Aldermastonto argue with the workers annual conference,said in a famous Labour Councillor,with well-publiciied in the atomicweapons factory. Seeing the speechthat he would continueto fight it. expressionsof disgust.All the officersof numbersprepared to march,CND under- Harold Wilson,faced with a similardeci- CND, both honoraryand paid, resigned took the organizationand turned subse- sion, did not say either that he would their offices. quent marchestowards Westminster,in fight it or that he would acceptit; he said The movementin generaltrusted the conformity with their policy of con- 'We hqd totolly reserued our position.' CND leadership,CND had trusted the verting the peoplewho commandedthe Taking non-committment to mean Labour leadership,and everythinghad work ratherthan thosewho did it. acceplance, CND diverted all their gonephut. The marchesnow becamethe principal resourcesand usedall their influenceto DonaldRoeum A far-too-longDebate Reply ft is really good to seeFreedom coming as I am not one of those people who that 40,000old agepensioners had died up with somegood articleswhich discuss believesall theoretical,and consequently, last winter becauseof cuts in benefits presentday problemsand issues.lt seems prqcticql, problemshave been solved. for heating.Bakunin's State, especially to me manyanarchists have become stuck As far as I cansee, Bakunin wascorrect the despotictsarist regime he livedunder; in the 19thcentury along with theirlong- in his analysisof the impoitanceand and in whoseprison he wasincarcerated, time protagonists,marxists (and, for function of state political power, but which existed in order to protect the that matter, conservatives),as Bookchin what exactly does 'smashingthe state' interestsof a rulingelite and expanding writes, 'just as the emergenceof private (which Marx also enthusiasticallyadvo- property becamesociety's original sin in catedin the CommunistManifesto) mean Marxismorthodoxy, so the emergenceof today.For example, the State of Bakunin's the Statebecame society's original sin in time did not fund or run hospitals,play- anarchistorthodoxy'. In the Stu/Mick grounds,day-care centres and the like, debate over delegationof power, Stu institutionswhich compriseour welfare arguesthat Marxism has no theory of state, which, in true libertarianfashion politicalpower, but lam alsobeginningto the presentradical Tory Governmentis wonderhow far anarchismhas progressed 'smashing'with terribleconsequences - it in developingits theoryof politicalpower, was recently estimated in the Guordian
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