World's Greatest Country? | March 23, 2004
On March 21, 2003, as I headed home, a day after the United States formally invaded Iraq, I ran into a colleague from Northeastern University--a professor of the humanities--at the Ruggles train station in Boston. I was aware of his political inclinations, and he of mine, from previous encounters. Still, I thought we were on friendly terms.
"I bet you oppose the war," he greeted me, as I approached him.
"Not at all," I shot back, " I wish to see Iraq liberated as much as you."
Although, it was only the second day of the war, and the bombs and missiles were accurately on target, it appeared that the tension leading up to the war had taken their toll on our colleague's nerve. He snapped at my banter. Agitated, he began to poke his finger in my face, while lecturing me about how "thankful" I should be about living in "the world's greatest country ever." Luckily, my train arrived on time--for which I am thankful--saving me from an unhinged patriot's harangue.
This was not my first encounter with the overzealous patriotism that often dominates political discourse in the United States; and not only among members of the zany right. All too often, politicians rally their audience with inflated claims of American greatness. The United States is "the greatest country in the world." At other times, it is "the greatest country ever," "the greatest country ever conceived," or "the greatest country in the history of mankind." When the exuberance soars, America also "kicks ass!"
Nearly as often, one hears of the United States as the great Samaritan: second to none at 'civilizing' half-breed races. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, the United States is the "the last best hope of mankind," no less. More frequently, it is "the shining beacon on the hill." Recently, John Kerry, Democratic Presidential candidate, roused students at UCLA, "I believe we can bring a real victory in the War on Terror. I believe we must, not only for ourselves but for all who look to America as the last best hope of earth." I have to wonder if the Vietnamese civilians killed by Kerry and his crew also looked upon them as "the last best hope of earth." [4]
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A Short History of the Global Economy Since 1800 | June 20, 2003
This is a short history of the global economy since 1800. It is about the system of global capitalism that took shape once the British economy went 'underground' and began to draw its energy and, increasingly, its raw materials from mineral resources.
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Pauperizing the Periphery: Two Decades of Neoliberal Economics| June 07, 2003
Contrary to the grandiose claims made by the ideologues, the neoliberal, open-door economic regimes imposed on the Periphery by Core capital--starting in the 1980s--have produced no economic miracles. Instead, these economic regimes have brought economic ruin or, at best, lack-luster performance to the countries they have touched most deeply.
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Published in
CounterPunch , Outlook India, and Al-Ahram | View Acrobat PDF version here.
A New International Division of Labor| March 25, 2002
The world has never shown a greater, more deeply felt solicitude for the wretched of the earth--the hundreds of millions who die miserable deaths on less than a dollar a day--as it has in the six months since September 11, 2001. These concerns are being showcased at the Conference on Financing Development that is even now underway in Monterrey, Mexico, where the heads of the richest, most powerful nations will pen their signatures to a Consensus on how to eradicate global poverty in our lifetime.
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Published in
CounterPunch | View Acrobat PDF version here.
Colonialism and Industrialization:
A Critique of Lewis | Review of Radical Political Economics [Forthcoming; 2003]
This paper presents a critique of W. Arthur Lewis' economic expla-nation of the division of the world into industrial and agricultural countries. First, Lewis' claim that industrialization in the tropics was held back by small markets and adverse factoral terms of trade is flawed in its logic, and lacks empirical support as well. Second, his rejection of the imperialist origins of poverty is poorly argued, and his claim that colonial policies did not differ from policies of sover-eign countries is not supported even by his own evidence. He also ignores the strong correlation between loss of sovereignty and poor growth performance.
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Articulating Group Differences:
A Variety of Autocentrisms | Science and Society, Summer 2003
Have stronger groups in asymmetric relationships always mobilized ideologies of differences to perpetuate their superiority? And have they always employed the language of race, blood, or lineage? Can there be an autocentrism of weaker groups in asymmetric relationships? Is their autocentrism different from the autocentrism of stronger groups? Should we expect a difference between autocentrisms which justify existing inequalities, projected inequalities, or imagined inequalities? Is Eurocentrism different from other autocentrisms that supported the ascendancy of other groups?
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