Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ROBERT WARE
1. The 21st century brings new political and financial institutions which suck wealth through
economic conditions and new activist methods new forms of imperialism. Moreover,
never known before, even by those prescient capitalism in the 21st century has established
giants of the 19th century, Karl Marx and global structures and institutions, now backed
Friedrich Engels. Like you, I am not prepared by unparalleled military power that can literally
to dismiss the insights, understanding, and annihilate the world.
theories of those great thinkers and activists. 5. In the 21st century, capitalist imperialism has
There may be some changes here and there, but extended itself far beyond what Marx and
what Levins and Lewontin said about Engels Engels could ever imagine or a 19th century
applies equally to Marx: they may have been capitalist could ever dream. The Chinese walls
wrong in many ways, but they were right about have not been battered down, but they have
the important things.i been lined with fastfood stands. This capitalist
2. I will focus on some new developments of expansion has been aided by new instruments
application, practices, politics, and activism of production like those of robotics, computers,
appropriate to the 21st century, and in particular and nuclear technology, and facilitated by new
for marxist internationalism. Marx was an forms of communication and transportation.iii
internationalist and knew that, as millions are Trillions of dollars (sometimes in euros and
saying today, a better world is possible. His yens) are transferred daily, making financial
principal goals remain. As the ringing capital adept, flexible, and dangerous. (No
conclusion of the Manifesto of the Communist doubt Marx and Engels would be filled with
Party made clear, the proletarians must break shock and awe by the US weapons of mass
out of their chains and win a new world. destruction lined up against Iraq as well as the
3. The Manifesto began with the observation destruction of massive capitalist towers by a
that [a] spectre is haunting Europethe small number of al-Qaeda operatives.)
spectre of Communism. (CW 6, 481)ii Marx 6. It is still also true, however, that the union
and Engels proceeded in the Manifesto to [of workers] is helped on by the improved
recount ways in which capitalism was means of communication that are created by
becoming a global phenomenon. It was only a modern industry and that place the workers of
matter of time that globalization would extend different localities in contact with one another.
and tighten its tentacles. During that time (CW 6, 493) Marx and Engels, who were
capitalism has shifted its foundations from the amazed by the advantages afforded by the
British empire to the American empire. But telegraph and the railways, would cheer on, and
there are also many capitalist roots, not only in join with, those who use the internet, the
Europe but in Japan and in formation telephone, and the airlines to organize meetings
elsewhere. such as those of the World Social Forum in
4. The battle is no longer one of contending Porto Alegre, and of course the many other
national European powers or of global international meetings around the world.
superpowers. At the beginning of the 21st 7. The exploited and oppressed are also acting
century there is a dominant empire that serves globally, like the capitalists, and are raising
the expanding capitalist oligopolies and dissent and struggle to a new international