tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post7151752803377918311..comments2023-11-05T03:12:10.925-06:00Comments on Renegade Eye: Niger Delta: The Bankruptcy of Individual Terrorism and the Historical Crisis of CapitalismFrank Partisanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03536211653082893030noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-1115831086791260472007-12-31T15:35:00.000-06:002007-12-31T15:35:00.000-06:00Ask me to leave, and I'm gone.Ask me to leave, and I'm gone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-17276567713244424632007-12-31T11:05:00.000-06:002007-12-31T11:05:00.000-06:00Farmer is quite the expert on Venezuela.Why has he...Farmer is quite the expert on Venezuela.Why has he made Renegade Eye his new home?troutskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16020298501632120830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-91319344335622149462007-12-28T14:06:00.000-06:002007-12-28T14:06:00.000-06:00A socialist redistribution of wealth that will inv...A socialist redistribution of wealth that will invest ZERO in "profitable" or "productive" means of production and spawn a gazzilion new labourers with nothing to labour upon. Brilliant! NOT!<BR/><BR/>In the case of Nigerian "transnational capitalism" those who provide the market and blow their wealth on foreign goods are the "suckers" (you and me). Yes "Shell Oil" profits... but not nearly as much as Nigerian "Royalty" collectors.<BR/><BR/>And putting socialist bureaucrats into the roll of domestic "profit-making investor" is a cruel cruel JOKE! Just look at Hugo Chavez. He's investing his capital everywhere BUT in the Venezuelan economy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-67128147946480045542007-12-28T09:42:00.000-06:002007-12-28T09:42:00.000-06:00Yes, this is a very crazy and dangerous situation ...Yes, this is a very crazy and dangerous situation going on in the Niger Delta region. I've been following it for a while and glad that you are shining light on the issue also.<BR/><BR/>The infrastructure of Nigeria, and Africa, in general is in complete turmoil. The residents are not only being exploited by Transnational Capitalists but also by every level of the State and authority in Nigeria.<BR/><BR/>As you summed, the only solution is a redistribution of wealth, which can only occur through a socialist mode of production.blackstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06486087989322216502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-24632138945778790542007-12-27T17:07:00.000-06:002007-12-27T17:07:00.000-06:00The day oil returns to $15/barrel is the day Chave...The day oil returns to $15/barrel is the day Chavez gets shot in the head.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-48803572077240015322007-12-27T17:06:00.000-06:002007-12-27T17:06:00.000-06:00...self-sustainably profit, anyways.And if your gr......<I>self-sustainably</I> profit, anyways.<BR/><BR/>And if your growth is NOT self-sustaining, it's like force-feeding cattle for twenty years and then STOP feeding them in the middle of a winter famine. Millions... possibly billions, die.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-64419432561564794842007-12-27T17:04:00.000-06:002007-12-27T17:04:00.000-06:00...and investing in money-losing bath fixture "wor......and investing in money-losing bath fixture "worker coops" or "hotels" is like flushing good money down a toilet.<BR/><BR/>One has to be able to benefit from the "surplus value" of labour that comes from a "division of labour" to "profit".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-90478102296195540132007-12-27T17:01:00.000-06:002007-12-27T17:01:00.000-06:00...but merely investing in the local economy is no......but merely investing in the local economy is not enough. The money must be invested into "productive" sectors of the economy AND NOT "services". The "service" sector is a DRAIN on the "productive" sector. (Adam Smith, WoN)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-72903045829697855232007-12-27T16:54:00.000-06:002007-12-27T16:54:00.000-06:00Were the leaders of Nigeria REAL capitalists, the ...Were the leaders of Nigeria REAL capitalists, the money would ALL be going back into the local economy, but THEY are NOT capitalists.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-46420867800098199832007-12-27T16:51:00.000-06:002007-12-27T16:51:00.000-06:00The fact that the Nigerian people are getting bent...The fact that the Nigerian people are getting bent over and raped is NOT Exxon or Shell's fault. They're merely providing a way for decent folk to earn a living. Talk to the Nigerian proto-primitive capitalist accumulatists if you think that the money Shell is FORCED to pay THEM isn't being properly "re-distributed" and that capital re-investment is NOT occuring. THAT is where your problem lies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-54765630310072868582007-12-27T16:44:00.000-06:002007-12-27T16:44:00.000-06:00The point is, the Nigerian government is making re...The point is, the Nigerian government is making revenue off oil from Shell and other companies, and they should invest it in the nation's infrastructure, education, health care, etc. How many miles does your average Nigerian slob have to trudge to get a bucket of water? I don't know that much about it, but if Nigeria is like a lot of countries, probably quite a few, all for a bucket of water filled with parasites that will eat your guts from the inside out. Fuck that. How many Nigerian villages could use electricity. How about land irrigation for farms? How about a decent education? Those kinds of investments aren't socialist giveaways, they are common sense investments in people's health and well-being, the kind that pays long-term dividends.<BR/><BR/>Or, if they don't, well, that's just too bad, as leaders of the nation, a position for which they spent a lot of personal energy to acquire, they are obligated to the people they are lording it over. I don't mean obligated in the sense they have to dole out so much money to each individual a month with no requirements or no questions asked, but they have a responsibility to the country and it's citizens as a whole. That's what being in leadership positions is all about.SecondComingOfBasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03336586430250490679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-78801337191505030732007-12-27T15:03:00.000-06:002007-12-27T15:03:00.000-06:00...so like I said before, the problem of capitalis......so like I said before, the problem of capitalism is one of coping with wealth... ensuring it get's <I>virtuously</I> reivested into some self-sustaining, if not PROFITABLE, enterprise.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-3274784476310577962007-12-27T14:46:00.000-06:002007-12-27T14:46:00.000-06:00btw - Only an idiot would invest his hard won "cap...btw - Only an idiot would invest his hard won "capital" in a country like Nigeria or Venezuela, controlled by leaders who are still in the the "primitive" mode of capital accumulation. No wonder the "unofficial" dollar exchange rate in Caracas is almost 3 to 1. Everyone's busy trying to get their money OUT of the country.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-91009122984500978202007-12-27T14:39:00.001-06:002007-12-27T14:39:00.001-06:00It is looking very much as though the era of the n...It is looking very much as though the era of the nation-state, with national armies fighting other national armies, with soldiers who possess a patriotic, sworn loyalty to that state, is over. It's private individuals making war with hired armies, and mostly on civilians, not on professional armies.<BR/><BR/>See the new book coming out in March, On Empire: America, War, and Global Supremacy, by Eric Hobsbawm, who describes this proces -- how we got here from there -- in precise detail.<BR/><BR/>Love, C.Foxessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06754083123669916994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-35104711755211979262007-12-27T14:39:00.000-06:002007-12-27T14:39:00.000-06:00Oh come now pagan, we all know that Nigeria isn't ...Oh come now pagan, we all know that Nigeria isn't being run by capitalists. Capitalists invest their capital in self-sustaining means of production that generate surplus capital (profit). Nigeria's leaders are 'investing' in Swiss Bank Accounts.<BR/><BR/>Chavez, on the other hand, <I>is</I> investing in the Cuban means of production (like the recently reopenned $120M refinery @ Cienfuegos). Only I don't think it's going to make him any additional 'capital' to re-invest... especially since it's only capable of refining petroleum products suitable for the Cuban economy...<BR/><BR/>I wonder how many Cuban Divisions Fidel owes him now... and I wonder how long before Hugo starts down the tried and true <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primitive_accumulation_of_capital" REL="nofollow">primitive</A> means of capital accumulation... more <I>like</I> the "Nigerians".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-22929174946453078652007-12-27T11:52:00.000-06:002007-12-27T11:52:00.000-06:00Farmer John, you're smoking up all your profits ag...Farmer John, you're smoking up all your profits again. Is your idea of capitalism a handful of elites doling out money to their supporters, and buying luxury items for their girlfriends? If I had to choose, I think I'd pick Venezuela over Nigeria any day.<BR/><BR/>Not to say Venezuela is doing everything right, of course they're not, but how can you sanction this?<BR/><BR/>Who says they have to dole out all the profits to every single individual in Nigeria. It seems to me if they really believed in capitalism, they would want to invest a percentage of their profits in infrastructure, education, health care, etc. It would pay dividends over the long haul.<BR/><BR/>Of course, they could keep on doing what they are doing, and they will keep getting the same results they are getting now, until eventually-as usual, of course-they end up with another Lenin, another Chavez, another Castro, etc., etc., etc. <BR/><BR/>Sometimes you have to make choices in life, and leaders are supposed to be intelligent enough to make the right choices. If they are the right kinds of leaders, they invest in the common good of their nations and peoples. If they are not, then they act like they are acting right now in Nigeria. Then guys like you come around moaning about how those "poor slobs" should accept their lot in life because it would be sooooooo much worse under communism. <BR/><BR/>You ought to spread some of that crap around on your farm, it will help you make up all those profits you're smoking up.SecondComingOfBasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03336586430250490679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-42065766837126464732007-12-27T08:16:00.000-06:002007-12-27T08:16:00.000-06:00The problem of capitalism is NOT one of poverty. ...The problem of capitalism is NOT one of poverty. It is one of coping with wealth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-45923851854637898452007-12-27T08:13:00.000-06:002007-12-27T08:13:00.000-06:00Nigeria, thirty years after the socialists take co...<A HREF="http://youtube.com/watch?v=0czY0RVmdLA" REL="nofollow">Nigeria</A>, thirty years after the socialists take control...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-16806004345109883662007-12-27T07:59:00.000-06:002007-12-27T07:59:00.000-06:00The city Lagos in the 1940's had about 200,000 peo...<I>The city Lagos in the 1940's had about 200,000 people. By 2020 or 2030, it will have a population of 25 million.</I><BR/><BR/>Oh, I forgot. Socialist only worry about equality of distribution. Production is a propblem for the capitalists to figure out...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-11085584657175762002007-12-27T07:52:00.000-06:002007-12-27T07:52:00.000-06:00Thomas Malthus, "Essay on the Principle of Populat...Thomas Malthus, "Essay on the Principle of Population"<BR/><BR/><I> I think I may fairly make two postulata. <BR/><BR/> First, That food is necessary to the existence of man. <BR/><BR/> Secondly, That the passion between the sexes is necessary and will remain nearly in its present state. <BR/><BR/> These two laws, ever since we have had any knowledge of mankind, appear to have been fixed laws of our nature, and, as we have not hitherto seen any alteration in them, we have no right to conclude that they will ever cease to be what they now are, without an immediate act of power in that Being who first arranged the system of the universe, and for the advantage of his creatures, still executes, according to fixed laws, all its various operations. <BR/><BR/> I do not know that any writer has supposed that on this earth man will ultimately be able to live without food. But Mr Godwin has conjectured that the passion between the sexes may in time be extinguished. As, however, he calls this part of his work a deviation into the land of conjecture, I will not dwell longer upon it at present than to say that the best arguments for the perfectibility of man are drawn from a contemplation of the great progress that he has already made from the savage state and the difficulty of saying where he is to stop. But towards the extinction of the passion between the sexes, no progress whatever has hitherto been made. It appears to exist in as much force at present as it did two thousand or four thousand years ago. There are individual exceptions now as there always have been. But, as these exceptions do not appear to increase in number, it would surely be a very unphilosophical mode of arguing to infer, merely from the existence of an exception, that the exception would, in time, become the rule, and the rule the exception. <BR/><BR/> Assuming then my postulata as granted, I say, that the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man. <BR/><BR/> Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio. A slight acquaintance with numbers will shew the immensity of the first power in comparison of the second. <BR/><BR/> By that law of our nature which makes food necessary to the life of man, the effects of these two unequal powers must be kept equal. <BR/><BR/> This implies a strong and constantly operating check on population from the difficulty of subsistence. This difficulty must fall somewhere and must necessarily be severely felt by a large portion of mankind. <BR/><BR/> Through the animal and vegetable kingdoms, nature has scattered the seeds of life abroad with the most profuse and liberal hand. She has been comparatively sparing in the room and the nourishment necessary to rear them. The germs of existence contained in this spot of earth, with ample food, and ample room to expand in, would fill millions of worlds in the course of a few thousand years. Necessity, that imperious all pervading law of nature, restrains them within the prescribed bounds. The race of plants and the race of animals shrink under this great restrictive law. And the race of man cannot, by any efforts of reason, escape from it. Among plants and animals its effects are waste of seed, sickness, and premature death. Among mankind, misery and vice. The former, misery, is an absolutely necessary consequence of it. Vice is a highly probable consequence, and we therefore see it abundantly prevail, but it ought not, perhaps, to be called an absolutely necessary consequence. <B>The ordeal of virtue is to resist all temptation to evil.</B> </I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-39942048115274879032007-12-27T07:46:00.000-06:002007-12-27T07:46:00.000-06:00Only one question. Once you begin your welfare pa...Only one question. Once you begin your welfare payments to the 133 million poor inhabitants of Nigeria with one of the highest fertility rates in the region w/5.6 birth's/woman... and the population triples to 400 million... and then the oil money runs out... who's going to feed the 400 million poor slobs still living there?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-10537539792149645862007-12-26T23:57:00.000-06:002007-12-26T23:57:00.000-06:00I had a discussion once with a Canadian about the ...I had a discussion once with a Canadian about the Niger Delta. She thought my argument that the exploitation of the area had led to the waves of unrest, was simplistic.<BR/><BR/>I told her it didn't make it less true. Thank you for this, Renegade.laspapihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15623856064617482177noreply@blogger.com