Heterologias

Fritz Lang, Metropolis, 1927

One of the richest and most eminent American merchants, a certain Edward Albert Filene, Vice-Chairman of the International Congress of Chambers of Commerce, is now touring Paris, Berlin and other big European centres to make personal contact with the most influential people of the commercial world.

At the banquets arranged, as is fitting, by the richest people of Europe in honour of one of the American rich, the latter is developing his “new” ideas on the world power of the merchant. Frankfurter = Zeitung,^[1] the organ of German finance capital, reports in detail the ideas of this “advanced” American millionaire.

“We are experiencing a great historic movement,” he proclaims, “that will end in the transfer of all power over the modern world to representatives of commercial capital. We are the people who bear the greatest responsibility in the world and we should, therefore, be politically the most influential.

“Democracy is growing, the power of the masses is growing,” argued Mr. Filene (rather inclined, it seems, to regard those “masses” as simpletons). “The cost of living is rising. Parliamentarism and the newspapers, distributed in millions of copies a day, are providing the masses of the people with ever more detailed information.

“The masses are striving to ensure for themselves participation in political life, the extension of franchise, the introduction of an income-tax, etc. Power over the whole world must pass into the hands of the masses, that is, into the hands of our employees,” is the conclusion drawn by this worthy orator.

“The natural leaders of the masses should be the industrialists and merchants, who are learning more and more to understand the community of their interests and those of the masses.” (We note in parenthesis that the cunning Mr. Filene is the owner of a gigantic commercial house employing 2,500 people, and that he has “organised” his employees in a “democratic” organisation with profit-sharing, etc. Since he considers his employees hopeless simpletons, Mr. Filene is sure that they are completely satisfied and infinitely grateful to their “father-benefactor” ....)

“Wage increases, the improvement of labour conditions, that is what will bind our employees to us,” said Mr. Filene, “that is what will guarantee our power over the whole world. Everybody in the world who is at all talented will come to us to enter our service.

“We need organisation and still more organisation—strong, democratic organisation, both national and inter national,” the American exclaimed. He called upon the commercial world of Paris, Berlin, etc., to reorganise international chambers of commerce. They should unite the merchants and industrialists of all civilised countries in a single, mighty organisation. All important international problems should be discussed and settled by that organisation.

Such are the ideas of an “advanced” capitalist, Mr. Filene.

The reader will see that these ideas are a paltry, narrow, one-sided, selfishly barren approximation to the ideas of Marxism propounded over sixty years ago. “We” are great masters at upsetting and refuting Marx; “we”, the civilised merchants and professors of political economy, have refuted him completely!... And at the same time we steal little bits and pieces from him and boast to the whole world of our “progressiveness”....

My worthy Mr. Filene! Do you really believe that the workers of the whole world are actually such simpletons?

W. [V. I. Lenine], "The Ideas of an Advanced Capitalist", Rabochaya Pravda, No. 4, July 17, 1913. Tradução de George Hanna, Lenin Collected Works, Moscow, Progress Publishers, 1977, volume 19, pages 275-276.

Etiquetas: Bourgeoisie, capitalism, Colonialism, Communism, Democracy, Economics, Engenheiros, Filene, Gillette, Lang, Lenine, Marx, Mass Media, novos religiosos da utopia laica, Politics, Revolution

posted by Antónimo  # 3:29:00 da tarde 4 comments

Etiquetas: capitalism, Colonialism, Democracy, Droit, Economics, financial-nominalism, Geo-política, Middle East, Politics, Tariq Ali

posted by Antónimo  # 11:34:00 da manhã 0 comments

Etiquetas: Angola 62, Barack Obama, Cibernética, Economics, Engenheiros, Mass Media, Sport

posted by Antónimo  # 12:08:00 da tarde 5 comments

Orazio Gentileschi, "Danaë", c. 1621: "Desde os gregos, vai para mais de vinte cinco séculos, se sabe que o divino é meta-existente - quer dizer, está para lá da existência, transcende-a. (...) Por muito que nos custe, Deus não orbita: exorbita. Uma exorbitância completamente fora do alcance da nossa bolsa e dos basbaques da nossa ciência." (Eng. ferroviário César Augusto Dragão Lopes da Silva, "Exorbitância", Dragoscópio, 5 de Maio de 2008). Foge daí, Danaë filha, que o gajo vai com o corpo celeste fora de órbita e ainda levas com ele! Não! Não ponhas a mão! (Bom. Está bem... Ao menos deixa a boquinha fechada...). Não é por acaso que a indústria lhe chama o "money shot"...

Etiquetas: Amor de Mãe, Angola 62, caralho, Engenheiros, Gentileschi, God, pornography, Religion

posted by Antónimo  # 11:33:00 da manhã 2 comments

Etiquetas: Amor de Mãe, Angola 62, Authority, Colonialism, Engenheiros, Geo-política, God, Middle East, paneleiros, Racism, Religion, Sexuality, War on terror

posted by Antónimo  # 12:18:00 da tarde 0 comments

Etiquetas: Amor de Mãe, Angola 62, Authority, Colonialism, Engenheiros, Geo-política, God, Middle East, Politics, Religion, War on terror

posted by Antónimo  # 1:35:00 da tarde 2 comments

Etiquetas: Amor de Mãe, Angola 62, Barack Obama, capitalism, Colonialism, Democracy, Politics

posted by Antónimo  # 5:17:00 da tarde 3 comments