Hey, Joe, How have the mighty fallen

The tumultuous events that over the past two weeks have rocked the heartland of international capitalism, Wall St., in New York, and sent tsunami-like waves through the corridors of finance capital the world over, have most of the world still reeling in shock. The collapse of some of the “untouchables” of finance capital and the desperate efforts on the part of the US Federal Governmental (and governments in other major capitalist countries) to keep the ship afloat can’t help but bring to my mind that famous calypso of old:{{more}}

“HEY, JOE, do you remember me… Come see how de Yankee bottle of whiskey gone down low”. For that is the reality of the situation. Who could have imagined that these giants of finance capital would crumble so rapidly as crisis after crisis sweeps the castles of the money moguls. Months ago, it was Bear Stearns, in the UK, and, before it, Northern Rock, also in the UK. Now in the space of days, the towers of international finance capital have tumbled, much as the twin towers did in 2001. At least, extreme external terrorism brought down those towers. But the explosions which brought down Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, and caused the sale or forced nationalization of Merrill Lynch, HBOS, Wachovia, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG, in the USA, Bradford and Bingley, in the UK, and Fortis and Dexia, in Europe, all have their origins in the nature and workings of capitalism itself.

The rabid right-wing extremism of the Bush administration and its insistence on giving finance capital a free hand, under its deregulation policy, has led to fiscal irresponsibility on a scale never before imagined. The investment banks, egged on by financial gluttony, have wheeled and dealed, buying and selling over debt and mortgages, creating a virtue out of what in reality is but a virtual economy. No longer was the production of goods the driving force behind economic growth, but the pursuit of profit. Oil prices and the cost of food skyrocketed, not because of the classic shortage in supply, but because thieves were manipulating the market. Crooks with their suits and lap top computers held the rest of the world to ransom. One only has to recall Englishman Nick Leeson who brought down Barings Bank in a US$1.6 billion scandal in 1995, the Japanese Yasuo Hamanaka fleecing the Sumitomo Corporation of US $2.6 billion one year later and the Frenchman Jerome Kerviel rocking Societe Generale to the tune of US$7.2 billion between 2006 and 2008. It could not continue forever.

Now with Bush on his way out, all the proverbial “Kings’ horses and Kings’ Men” face the unenviable task putting the financial “Humpty Dumpty” together again. Desperate intervention of the major capitalist governments is the response. In stark contrast to prevailing “free market” philosophy, billions are being poured into the “black hole” to bail out and shore up the system. The very future of this way of modern life is at stake, and make no mistake, this is what the interventions and nationalizations are all about. The actual plight of the people, those who can no longer afford mortgages and have to wake up to the nightmare of living beyond means, are not the foremost consideration.

Ridiculously, some of the most rabid exponents of unbridled capitalism are coining some previously unheard of terms to describe the government nationalization. There is talk of “financial socialism,” whatever that is. The skepticism of the American people towards the humongous bail-out proposed by the Treasury is rooted in the fact that in every similar crisis it is those who trigger it, those whose super-greed has rocked the foundations, who always seem to benefit most. Additionally, they are also aware that the warmongering of the Bush-Cheney-McCain clique has severely weakened the US economy.

Sorry for the next President, if it happens to be Barack Obama. His will be the task to revive the severely wounded eagle. And if by chance an ageing McCain wins, with vacuous Sarah Palin as Vice President, then God help the American people and the people of the world!

Renwick Rose is a community activist and social commentator.