Capitalism; Imperialism; Saving and investment; Socialism
'Capitalist production is a phase of economic transition, full of
inherent contradictions which only develop and become visible to the
extent that capitalist production develops. The tendency of
simultaneously creating and destroying a market is just one of these
contradictions. Another is the hopeless situation that will ensue, all
the sooner in a country like Russia which lacks external markets than in
countries more or less fit to compete in the open world market. These
latter can find some means of relief in this seemingly hopeless
situation by heroic measures of commercial policy, that is to say by
forcibly opening up new markets. China is the most recent market to be
opened up for English commerce, and it proved adequate for a temporary
revival of prosperity. That is why English capital is so insistent on
railroad building in China. Yet railways in China mean the destruction
of the entire foundation of China's small rural enterprises and her
domestic industry. In this case, there is not even a native big industry
developed to compensate for this evil to some extent, and hundreds of
millions will consequently find it impossible to make a living at all.
The result will be mass emigration, such as the world has never yet
seen, and America, Asia and Europe will be flooded with the detested
Chinese. This new competitor on the labour market will compete with
American, Australian and European labour at the level of what the
Chinese consider a satisfactory standard of living, which is well known
to be the lowest in the whole world. Well then, if the whole system of
production in Europe has not been revolutionised by then, that will be
the time to start this revolution' (ibid., p. 79).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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