Neo-Transnational-Corporate-Mercantilism

I made reference to the title of this post in my universality post (minus the transnational addition). On that post I said I didn't know whether or not I had made up that term or not. A quick google search revealed many references to "corporate mercantilism", so I suppose I am not that original.

mercantilism: an economic system developing during the decay of feudalism to unify and increase the power and especially the monetary wealth of a nation by a strict governmental regulation of the entire national economy usually through policies designed to secure an accumulation of bullion, a favorable balance of trade, the development of agriculture and manufactures, and the establishment of foreign trading monopolies

transnational: extending or going beyond national boundaries

I think it was important to add the transnational word to the phrase because the definition of mercantilism could lead one to think that our global economic-power systems are controlled for the benefit of American corporate interests. The problem being that there is nothing American about these corporate interests. The modern American, or otherwise, pimps of cheap labor and resources care little for one society's success over another's. This is because they can hold personal power that often outweighs that of states. I do not say this in a nativist or patriotic context, I am rather trying to be precise. This is not American imperialism so much as it is corporate imperialism by way of U.S. mercantile-like practices .

This form of imperialism is, however, supported and propped up by the American government. In his shocking autobiography, Confessions of an Economic Hitman, John Perkins outlines his role in this complex system. He was technically the employee of a private corporation for decades, but was interviewed and checked out by our federal government. He spent his career working in the shadows around the world (Central America and Mid-East specifically) to open up markets to the U.S. On the rare occasion that he or other hitmen failed, the leader of that country would inevitably die in a plane crash (Omar Torrijos of Panama 1981).

What is the goal of neo-transnational-corporate-mercantilism? The goal is control and personal wealth.

Free trade agreements are used to break down protectionist policies around the world and to shatter others' labor and environmental regulations. There is actually a provision in NAFTA that says corporations can challenge and abolish a law in Mexico, Canada or the US if it hinders their ability to profit from open trade. These agreements also make it easier for corporations to transcend nationality. They can move factories to the places with the most minimum labor standards, claim bankruptcy in the US while stashing billions elsewhere, avoid paying anyone taxes, and so on.

International aid agencies, like the IMF and WTO, are the other major culprits. Their job is to dangle huge lumps of money in front of developing economies. The price for dealing with these devils is the relinquishing of sovereignty. Social programs must be slashed and foreign companies must reap the rewards. It is no mystery why Africa is such a horrible place to live. Beginning centuries ago, Africans have been forced into the global money system, meaning land used for food in the past had to be used for cash crops (cotton, coffee, etc.). The cards have always been stacked against the African poor, making it easy for corporations to own vast tracks of land and extract the resources and money. The WTO and IMF only make this process more efficient for the modern era by not allowing money to be spent on the betterment of a country's peoples.

What we see today is unparalleled stratification of the world's populations at home and abroad. Today billions of people are struggling to survive. This is in part due to increasing food and energy costs, while energy and agribusiness multinationals are reaping historic profits. Global climate change hurts most those who have also had the most resources extracted and hoarded.

Wars are started to control the remaining resources. Make no mistake, multinational executives
planned the Iraq war in the spring and summer of 2001 (see Greg Palast's Armed Madhouse). Israel condemns the people of Gaza to a prison, while subjecting the West Bank to occupation, largely impacted to where water and other resources are. Private wars are raged in Africa to control diamond resources.

What seems mystifying is how expensive these products are getting. Evidence is strong that the oil interests pushing for invading Iraq wanted to do so in order to SLOW oil production. Oil prices are up and Exxon rolling in the dough. De Beers sits on a massive amount of diamonds to keep prices up.

We now live in a global oligopoly. International media moguls either hobnob with or are also weapons manufacturers. Weapons manufacturers are also ex-generals and ex-generals serve in major governments. It was recently uncovered that the Pentagon has held a propaganda program that used ex-generals who went on TV thousands of times in America to speak for the federal government. Our war profiteers, information disseminaters, civilian government officials, military brass, party leaders Republican and Democrat, food producers, and energy providers, foreign tyrants are all working in the same fold. These people work to increase their personal power, much like the crowns did to increase their own wealth during mercantilism.

The bright side is they can't hold power forever. We may very well see some massive global movements of noncooperation in the coming decades.