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OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 4/29/20

The decline of neoliberal globalization and the fascistic restructuring of American capitalism

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China can quarantine its population for months and economically bounce back, because it has a planned economy with a strong social safety net. But the U.S. is now doomed to a continued series of downturns in the coming months and years, with unemployment sure to remain very high however soon the quarantine measures end. It doesn't help that the U.S. is preparing to default on debts owed to China, which could further harm the U.S. economy.

All of this is a recipe for rising lower class discontent and a continued growth in labor struggles. It also reduces the economic power of the capitalist class. The American workers, who were more expendable when the U.S. corporatocracy could reach further out, are now more essential for the system to function. This is why Trump is rushing to get all of the laid off people back to work.

There's a perfect storm to be faced not just for the Saudis, but for the U.S. and the other countries which have embraced neoliberalism and economically tied themselves to Western imperialism. America's recent economic chaos and governmental ineptitude to respond to the pandemic has proven the U.S. is a failed state, and similar situations are arising for partnered powers like Brazil and the U.K. Around the world, the contradictions of capitalism are heightening.

Economic nationalism, further monopolization, and a sinister opportunity for big tech

Trump's "America First" economic approach is becoming more accepted among the U.S. ruling class as the cold war with China escalates. Bloomberg reports that "Businesses are reassessing China's role in global supply chains, and by the time this virus burns out, many of them will have started planning to relocate at least some of their production elsewhere. Deglobalization is accelerating." This embrace of isolationism within the corporatocracy, the political establishment, and the military elite is the latest part of how American imperialism is turning inward.

In this situation where the U.S. empire is in decline and looking towards nationalism over globalization, the biggest corporations are trying to reshape the economy best to their advantage. A consolidation of economic power is going on within the imperial core, one where the 0.01% are growing richer than ever while almost everyone else becomes poorer.

If a number of financial institutions go down like Lehman Brothers went down in 2008, they'll be replaced by BlackRock, the private contractor that's been tasked with managing the Federal Reserve's bailout slush fund. BlackRock is bigger than Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Deutsche Bank combined, and because of the Covid-19 crash it's become the operating system of the U.S. treasury. BlackRock is also a major Trump donor. This political and economic power grab represents "the Wall Street-ization of the Fed," as the journalist Pepe Escobar has called what's happening to the financial system.

It's a scheme that will both make BlackRock a supreme financial power over the United States, and make plutocrats like Jeff Bezos come out on top by injecting a market stimulus which is increasing the market value of Amazon and other monopolies. Bezos in particular has opportunities to profit from the turmoil of the coming months and years, because Amazon provides technology for the military/intelligence complex. And intelligence agencies and the military are going to need more resources as they seek to further fortify the national security state.

Bill Gates, whose Covid-19 philanthropy has worked to solidify billionaire control over public health, stands to benefit from the pandemic in more ominous ways. Gates' multi-billion dollar project to create and distribute a Covid-19 vaccine isn't motivated by a pure humanitarian desire; part of the endgame of his mass produced vaccination campaign is a new digital mass surveillance system, as he's explicitly stated in one recent talk: "Eventually what we'll have to have is certificates of who's a recovered person, who's a vaccinated person"So eventually there will be this digital immunity proof that will help facilitate the global reopening up." This is a prospect for the long term. In the short term other facets of big pharma, like the notoriously corrupt company BioPort, are profiting greatly from Covid-19.

Gates' vision for a vast, high-tech tracking network is where the demand for artificial intelligence-driven mass surveillance comes in. Last year, the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence-which has ties to the CIA and to top Trump donor Sheldon Adelson-called for the U.S. to adopt a mass surveillance system far more extreme than that of any other country. A desire to compete with Chinese technology was the NSCAI's main rationale for advocating for the implementation of a new national infrastructure, one where interconnected AI systems monitor everyone's daily activities. The commission stated that surveillance represents "one of the 'first-and-best customers' for AI," and that "having streets carpeted with cameras is good infrastructure."

The companies helping to bring us towards these "smart cities" are Google, Palantir, and the other Silicon Valley tech giants that have ties with the NSCAI. They're already facilitating the transition into their ideal post-Covid-19 scenario, as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Lockheed Martin, and Oracle are advising the White House in its project to reopen the economy.

Now we can get a sense of what the ruling class plans to replace neoliberal globalization with. The NSCIA's ultimate goals are to overhaul traditional car ownership and normalize self-driving cars, to move beyond in-person shopping so that all shopping is done online, and to do away with paper money and make currency entirely take the form of digital wallets. It's no wonder why they're aiming for a replacement of the American currency system, since the U.S. dollar is losing its value.

If these changes accompany a universal basic income, as many billionaires have begun to propose implementing, capitalism in the U.S. will move beyond the old neoliberal model and (the ruling class hopes) reach a stable new equilibrium. The future these oligarchs and corporate giants want is one where living standards are improved enough for workers and poor people to stop organizing, and where dissension is kept in check by intensive surveillance and a militarized police state. This is the repressive, extremely unequal, and globally isolated version of American capitalism that's going to follow the country's era as a hegemonic power.

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Rainer Shea is writing articles that counter the propaganda of the capitalist/imperialist power establishment, and that help move us towards a socialist revolution. Donate to me on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11988744

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