From: Gerald Levy (glevy@LAGCC.CUNY.EDU)
Date: Mon Feb 04 2008 - 11:38:38 EST
>> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuBo4E77ZXo><~!B*+R^&>>> Which parts of this scenario are more likely to >> happen than others? > I'm quite skeptical about this clip too. However, the point about a > North American Union was new to me. If I may speculate further: I think > it is consistent with the tendency of capital to eliminate all > geographical, social and political barriers to the free movement of > commodities, capital and labour. If it were left to capitalist logic > alone, there would be a single global state apparatus whose only purpose > would be to keep regions open to profit-making and to protect private > property. > Of course, capitalist societies do not evolve according to the > tendencies of capital alone. Hi Dave Z: On the last sentence, we agree. I think that the possibility of "one government" in NA is highly unlikely. More than that, I think it fundamentally mis-reads the character of the current initiatives undertaken by the US state. While recent administrations have certainly pushed the agenda of "free trade" and international capital mobility in NA (NAFTA and the current efforts to pass "Plan Mexico") they have no such commitment to the "free movement of labor [power]". Under the guise of "homeland security" and fighting the "war on terrorism" there have been a number of initiatives against immigrant labor, e.g. the construction of "The Wall" on the US-Mexico border. The fact that all of these initiatives have not passed despite widespread support within the two bourgeois parties is in large part a result of the success of the massive protests in the streets in 2006 by immigrants against proposed changes in immigration policy. But - to put it mildly - the US government is not a consistent champion of the "free mobility of labor". I disagree also on what parts of the video raise more likely possibilities. Putting aside a lot of the hyperbole in the video, I think the diffusion of the V-chip is a very real possibility. This technology already exists so, in addition to cost, it's fundamentally a question of whether the US state has the political will and ability to impose this on the US population. They might. Rather than insist (at first) that everyone have the V-chip implanted, they might insist for reasons of "national security" that certain groups need to be implanted with the chip, including * state employees, especially military and law enforcement personnel; * employees at defense contractors, guard labor, etc. * transportation workers, especially at locations which are deemed to be potential "terrorist targets". Etc. Then, there are basically politically powerless groups who it would be relatively easy for the state to impose its will on, such as: * prisoners; * convicted felons; * individuals convicted of sex crimes. Then, there are immigrant workers (who allegedly need to be kept track of for reasons of "national security"). And children (the rationalization would be that the chip could be used to "protect" them from abduction and predators ). The government could then insist that newborns or children before they are enrolled in public schools have the V-chip " for their own protection". Whether resistance to such initiatives would be powerful enough to de-rail such initiatives is a possibility but remains to be seen. If the protests of 2006 are any indication, any attempt to impose this on immigrant workers would likely result in huge social upheavals. The point is that once such an invasion of the human body by the state is imposed on one group then it makes it easier to impose on others and thereby diffuse the technology. Note also that the chip can have a commercial purpose, i.e. in addition to personal ID and information like medical records, it can be store financial information. And, combined with GPS, it could be the most far reaching technology of control by the state yet developed. Science fiction? Maybe, maybe not. In solidarity, Jerry
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