"If you wanted to give the briefest possible definition of imperialism we should say that imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism . This definition contains the essential, since on the one hand the financial capital and banking capital of the few monopolistic largest banks, merged with the industrial capital of monopolistic unions, and on the other side of the division of the world means the transition from colonial policy, extending unhindered to areas not yet dominated by any capitalist power, the colonial policy of monopolist possession of the land surface permanently broken. "(Lenin)
INTRODUCTION
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 had marked the victory of young, but explosive German capitalism. The balance of power between the biggest capitalist powers (Britain, France, Germany) were changing rapidly and then went to the scene of European politics had come in, albeit subordinate, even Italy.
England, who had a prevalence throughout the century almost total industrial production in railways, maritime transport, foreign trade, finance world, was facing the German competition, also implemented by forms of dumping, or selling below cost abroad with the ability to maintain high prices in the protection and with the open support of the state. It also set in England in this period, the ideology of free trade. Joe Chamberlain calls for the protection against dumping and German Cecil Rodhes further colonial expansion, to create new reserves to markets and sources of raw materials and new markets to the British capital, and at the same time to save them from competing with the capitalist countries.
From Cairo to the Cape is the word order door, at the turn of the century, the war angloboera.
In this situation there is the ideology of 'imperialism' and the British economist Hobson wrote in his 1902 book "Imperialism: A Study."
The new word is spreading and penetrating also in the labor movement.
But in what way? There was and there is still a common language in the vernacular meaning of the word 'imperialism' as political oppression, territorial expansion and domination. Thus we speak the same way as 'imperialism' Roman antiquity, and individual imperialism: English, British and then French, Russian etc..
This unscientific way of interpreting reality on the move new and increasingly serves only to confuse. In his book, however, Hobson does not fall into the error of a vernacular interpretation of imperialism and confusing with so many different phenomena. Already eight years earlier (1894) had written a book in which he spoke of the evolution of capitalism of his era. But imperialism, a word he uses for the first time in a scientific manner, he remained for a political choice of capitalism, so due to the need for new markets, the increased industrial production, but which could be modified with a different distribution policy income, which increases the income of workers.
Even in the socialist writers who appealed to Marxist ideas are not were extremely clear.
It 's true that since 1896 the various resolutions of the Second International Congress contain continuous sentences of militarism, of the abuses of capitalism, the dangers of war, and remember that all these phenomena are consequences of capitalism. However, both the Marxist writers, in greater or lesser degree, it is even more in the resolutions of the Second International, these phenomena are considered as a consequence of capitalism, but not a necessary consequence, that is due to the fact that capitalism has its laws of development undergone great changes and is past the stage of the media industry competition prevailing at the stadium fund monopolistico.In predominates also in the labor movement, the thesis that imperialism is a special policy of capitalism, and as such can be fought and changed the political struggle of the working class and the masses.
The collapse of the Second International before the outbreak of World War I, among many
causes, no doubt the ideological weakness, which had not allowed the proper understanding of the nature of imperialism in the imperialist world war.
IMPERIALISM AND CAPITALISM
Lenin sees the contrary, since the beginning of World War I, the need to give a clear interpretation of Marxist economic imperialism in its origins and what weapon to give the necessary theoretical labor movement, and to understand the nature of the imperialist war going on and how it represented the inevitable outcome of conflicts between the imperialist countries to divide the world into spheres of influence .
Lenin wrote that, in the years 1915 and 1916, after consultation with and recorded a vast literature, as shown by 2Quaderni imperialism ", that his work entitled" Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism, "and he calls" essay People "just because he had to serve as a weapon to theoretical masses.
He says now what is the purpose of his book in the preface to first Russian edition, which appears in April 1917. He intends to clarify the fundamental economic problem, without consideration of which are incomprehensible the current war and the current political situation: namely, the economic problem of the essence of imperialism, and already the first page of text says .. . "We will not, although they deserve, not the sides of the economic problem."
The purpose of his political and ideological struggle was in fact to combat the view that imperialism was a policy of capitalism, such as, especially after their betrayal, like Kautsky and fellow theorists argued, against which Lenin wrote numerous articles. .. and to prove that imperialism is a stage or phase of capitalism, its highest and final stage.
This title will become clearer and polemical: "Imperialism as the last stage or phase of capitalism."
that Lenin introduced the important concept of 'phase'. It 'important to this concept because it shows that imperialism is a necessary, which comes under the proper laws of capitalist development that Marx had discovered, and therefore it is always capitalism, not something new, but capitalism is a particular : monopoly capitalism. Keep in mind this concept of phase is even more important today because the bourgeois ideology tries to prove that there is as in capitalism, but in a particular economic system and what to mystify reality, confusing.
There is a current theory, in fact, who argues that we live in a kind of "popular capitalism or democratic" and this thesis, supported by social theory, especially by Strachey whose book "Contemporary Capitalism" has been translated into Italian, had no luck around 1960 but his influence has been declining thereafter. It argues that democratic development has changed the nature of capitalism and its laws and economic development and popular control of the "democratic state" may allow a control of monopolies and development economico nell'interesse delle masse.
Riappare ancora la scissione tra politica ed economia.
Vi era poi, molto più importante e di moda negli anni sessanta, la tesi della tecnostruttura sostenuta in particolare dal Galbraith, da ultimo nel suo libro apparso anche in italiano, "Il nuovo Stato industriale". Qui si sostiene che non si è più nel capitalismo, perché le grandi società sono amministrate dai tecnici e non dai capitalisti. Sono amministrate cioè, secondo lui, in modo da raggiungere il massimo di espansione economica, nell'interesse di tutti. Si dice ancora che il 'mercato' conta sempre di meno, perché la tecnica produttiva moderna esige che si pianifichino per un periodo abbastanza lungo production and consumption. Consequently they are no longer operating the old economic laws of capitalism, we are in a new system, neither capitalism nor socialism, which can be regarded as 'techno'.
Even with this thesis tries to mystify reality, taking advantage of some phenomena that is reflected in it, but generally speaking, in order to deny the Marxist interpretation.
The masses they find in their daily experience of struggle that will continue to live in capitalism, which always operates the law of profit and exploitation, and that you must always fight against capital, private or state that it is, and that consciousness is increasing with the great struggles that are the uniform feature of recent times. But it is not enough. It should also be aware of this fact theoretically: why Lenin is always alive, and alive is its concept of imperialism as a stage of capitalism, responding to its own laws of capitalist development. To make an example that seems clear to me, even human life passes through different stages, childhood, youth, maturity, old age. In each of these phases there are changes in the human body, which all together characterize the particular stage. But the more fundamental biological always continue to operate, even in old age, which, taking us back to capitalism, imperialism can be compared. There
erano stati nel capitalismo grandi mutamenti già ai tempi in cui Lenin scriveva e tutti assieme hanno caratterizzato la fase che Lenin chiamò imperialismo. Altri e grandiosi mutamenti sono intervenuti negli seguenti, dall'epoca in cui Lenin scrisse "L'imperialismo fase suprema del capitalismo". Di questi mutamenti occorre tener conto, e il pensiero marxista ne tiene conto, tanto che ha caratterizzato il periodo che si è aperto con la prima guerra mondiale, come periodo della crisi generale del capitalismo, in cui vi è una perenne instabilità economica e politica. Sorge e si sviluppa il sistema socialista, crolla per la lotta di liberazione nazionale la vecchia organizzazione colonialistica, si susseguono crisi di ogni genere. Ma siamo always in the imperialism that is at a stage of capitalism and increasingly operate and apply the basic economic laws of capitalism. This must never be forgotten: to fight and overthrow imperialism means to fight and overthrow capitalism.
Today, after more than ninety years since the writing of "Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism," this good "wise people" of Lenin, the masses more and more people become aware of the reality in which they live and struggle against imperialism and continue its misdeeds.
But for this we need to learn more about the meaning of Leninist imperialism, remember the characteristics with which Lenin called imperialism, which are:
1) the growing concentration and centralization of capital, a phenomenon already significantly when Lenin wrote, but has continued to grow and more and more rapidly in recent years (just remember the enormous recent merger of Fiat and Chrysler).
2) the appearance that becomes more and more financial capital, with the creation of complex financial sectors that dominate manufacturing and services increasingly broad. The Leninist concept of financial capital, another characteristic of imperialism, that was further developed.
3) well, more importantly, took over the export of capital, the internationalization of capital. However le nuove forme non modificano la sostanza del concetto sviluppato già da Lenin.
4) più stretto si è fatto il rapporto tra oligarchia finanziaria e Stato, anche se il mutarsi dei rapporti di forza tra classe dirigente capitalistica e classe operaia nella società, grazie alla lotta delle masse e all'esistenza del sistema socialista, influisce sulla struttura dello Stato e apre nuove possibilità di sviluppo democratico.
5) non è cessato il fenomeno della divisione del mondo in sfere di influenza, anche se l'imperialismo statunitense è oggi predominante, non è cessata la legge dello sviluppo diseguale del capitalismo e quindi il continuo mutarsi dei rapporti di forza tra i capitalismi, base economica contrasts between the imperialist countries and the international economic imbalances.
not ceased, although it has taken on new aspects, exploitation of imperialist countries on developing countries, even if they are formally independent, this exploitation was kept under the leadership of U.S. imperialism throughout the last century, not only with economic weapons, but with shameful crimes, assault, as in Vietnam, intrigues and coups as in Latin America, Africa, Asia .... Which still follow each other.
not changed this situation the only thing really new, that was on the rise in the days of Lenin and Lenin's writings mentioned in this post his book on imperialism and monopoly capitalism that State.
This phenomenon, in the further development of capitalism was necessary to avoid disastrous economic crisis and ensure economic reproduction, he must, in the intentions of the capitalist ruling class, to ensure the desired rate of profit. This is its purpose: it is used all the instruments of economic policy, control of wages, subsidies, rewards, and finally the most important, the monetary operation or through the slow inflation reduces real wages and raise profits.
We are always in capitalism and imperialism in its infancy and a player who is a fighter against imperialism must also feel the need to deepen his theoretical knowledge, reading the essay by Lenin and the more recent writings, among which I would suggest "Economics" by Antonio Pesenti, which is largely in the latter part of 'imperialism today.
The top five marks of imperialism are: 1. the concentration of production and capital, which reached a high degree of development so as to create monopolies decisive role in economic life.
2. the merger of banking capital with industrial capital and the formation, on the basis of this financial capital, a financial oligarchy.
3. la grande importanza acquistata dall'esportazione di capitale in confronto con l'esportazione di merci.
4. il sorgere di associazioni monopolistiche internazionali di capitalisti che si ripartiscono il mondo.
5. la compiuta ripartizione della terra tra le più grandi potenze capitalistiche. L'imperialismo é dunque il capitalismo giunto a quella fase di sviluppo, in cui si è formato il dominio dei monopoli e del capitale finanziario, l'esportazione di capitale ha acquistato grande importanza, è cominciata la ripartizione del mondo tra i trust internazionali, ed è già compiuta la ripartizione dell'intera superficie terrestre tra i più grandi paesi capitalistici.
SEE ALSO ... LENIN - Photos, drawings, images of his life
ON RELIGION - Vladimir Lenin Materialism and Empiriocriticism - Vladimir Lenin ARGUMENT IN APRIL (The April Theses) - Lenin and the Russian Revolution _______________________________________________
