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The Second Communist
Manifesto (A.B. Razlatzki)
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 Introduction
for Western and World Readers
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Introduction
(1999)
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Foreword
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Part
I: Bourgeois and Proletarian
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Part
II: Proletariat - Boss
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Part
III: The Crisis of the Workers Movement
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Part
IV: Proletarian Dictatorship & Proletarian Democracy
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Part
V: Classes and the Struggle for Socialism
USA,
Socialism, Us...
State
Imperialism Should be Distinguished from Economic Imperialism
Notes in the Margins of History
Turbulence
in Social Development and the Stratification of the Superstructure
|
A.B. Razlatsky
State Imperialism Should be Distinguished from Economic Imperialism
Historically, these periods were superimposed, taking place generally as
parallel series of events. Frequently, as a result, the distinction between
their natures is simply not noticed and this leads to mistakes; with one
process being taken as the causal link to the consequences of another.
State imperialism is feudalism raised to a higher level. At this level
the place of the feudal lord is occupied by, sometimes very sizeable, groups
of people. Consider for example the role of Great Britain as the lord of
the British Empire. Most frequently it is racism which serves in the capacity
of an idea dividing the 'lordly' group from the rest of society. Nationalism
too, although this is not obligatory, for there can also be other ideas;
religious, party-political, in fact whatever idea, so long as it permits
the raising of insuperable barriers and qualifications for entry into the
elite. Such 'lordly' groups strive to secure their well-being through the
maintenance and exploitation of the rest of society in serfdom.
Economic imperialism is international monopolism, a purely bourgeois
phenomenon. It conducts its struggle, not in society, but in a given branch
of production, suppressing and subordinating competitors by means of economic
pressure. It prefers not to clash with society.
It is a widespread mistake to ascribe war to economic imperialism. As
a matter of fact, economic empires conduct only economic struggle; though
it is true that they do not shrink from bribery, economic espionage and
the use of state influence.
To conduct a war, the more backward state imperialism is needed. This
is a relic, a dying survival of the past; as evidence of this take the
self-destruction of the colonial empires. Yet it continues to remain a
danger, even, to be honest, on the basis of socialism. This is why it is
absolutely essential to deal the death blow to its organizing ideas. |
