From: Paul Bullock (paulbullock@EBMS-LTD.CO.UK)
Date: Sat Dec 04 2004 - 15:35:06 EST
Gerry, The emphasis both here and in other responses on the actual immediate function of gold, I think , misses the point. Gold has been pushed to one side as far as a means of exchange for some time, and the use of the dollar as a standard of price is forced as a result of US industrial, commercial, and political power. The dollar is socially acceptable. In this case gold's function, which remains as the universal equivalent, reamisn the commodity which by its nature is most suited to expessing the social, abstract, nature of human labour under capital, continues to exist, to guide the process from behind the scenes... elsewhere I referred to the Swiss Franc's gold backed constitution ( presumably Fred would think this an eccentric, erroneous or anachronistic rule for the Swiss to have persisted with). Why is there any gold at all at Fort Knox? Why do the Europeans keep gold in the Fed? That is the question to be asked... why hasn't it all been sold for dollars... to the jewelry or industrial ( computer, space etc ) industries? Why mine more when Fred could advise that it all be sold off.... somebody must be making an expensive mistake somewhere according to the 'de-monetisers'. The question is not what if a 'dirty' trick is played on gold, but why it is there to be dirtied. Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: Gerald_A_Levy@MSN.COM To: OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 2:11 PM Subject: [OPE-L] gold and the struggle against US and European imperialism Claus, Akira, Paul B (and everyone else), A. As you know, the world's largest accumulation of gold is located in the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Interestingly, most of that gold belongs to central banks in Europe. Most of the gold owned by the US is stored at the Fort Knox Bullion Depository in Kentucky. B. Unless I have misunderstood your position(s), you claim that gold remains the money commodity and this is essential for the operation of the capitalist monetary system, and hence capitalism (and, of course, imperialism). C. Suppose that two (perhaps 'dirty') bombs were detonated in NYC and Kentucky [*NB: especially to archives readers and FBI and CIA agents (!), I am not proposing that anyone do this!*] which either destroyed the gold at those locations or rendered it value-less (by nuking it). Think of this as a kind of Anti- Capitalist 'Goldfinger' thought experiment. D. OK, so what is the impact of C. on US and European imperialism? Could US imperialism possibly retain its dominant position in the world capitalist economy -- from *your* perspective -- without that gold? What about German, French and UK imperialism? Will they suffer a lethal blow -- from *your* perspective -- as a result of the bombings? E. Suppose that someone (not necessarily you) claimed that US and European imperialism _would_ suffer a lethal -- or near-lethal -- blow if those 2 sites were bombed. Wouldn't the logic of that position suggest that if one is committed to the struggle against capitalism and imperialism then one should 'pick up the bomb' and engage in isolated, strategically-directed attacks *against gold* ? In solidarity, Jerry
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