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Re: NAFTA, Capitalism and Alternatives, Debate VIII/2

According to Victor O. Story:
> 
> The above statement is at the heart of the matter.  This is the 
> disagreement at the heart of this thread.  The PRI is resisting the 
> Zapatistas NOT to carry out some capitalist plan as Harry argues, but 
> merely to maintain PRI control.  The PRI PRETENDS to pursue 
> neoliberalism.  It is windowdressing.  Salinas and his brother and 
> friends have proven this.  Making Salinas and his friends rich is not 
> capitalism, it is authoritarianism.  Call it authoritarian capitalism if 
> you must call it capitalism, but if you admit to this, then it is no 
> longer neoliberalism.  The terms do not match the reality.  That is why a 
> constructive focus for such discussion should follow the same line as 
> Subcommandante Marcos, and shift from anti-capitalist language to a 
> critique of the system the PRI actually uses to maintain power in Mexico.
> 
> 
I second Victor's comments. Autocratic capitalism is at the heart of Mexico's
troubles. Salinas & Co. have been able to manipulate the Mexican economy for
their own financial and political gain, and now those chickens are coming home
to roost. The peso devaluation is a prime example.

The Zapatistas are offering "democratic capitalism" as an alternative
to the centralized economy of the PRI. This does not entail the participation
of the poor in the existing political/economic structure, nor does it mean
overturning capitalism. What democratic capitalism means is that local
political and economic actors will exert direct control over their own
socioeconomic well-being.

Naturally,  such a theory of democratic capitalism is bound to encounter 
opposition from all sides.  The PRI opposes it because it is a direct threat
to their hegemony. Traditional socialists oppose it because it does not 
overturn capitalism, it merely places it in a more hospitable political
context. Neoliberals hate it because the proliferation of economic and 
political power makes it harder for a central government to impose
economic shock therapy over the wishes of the people. And the U.S. opposes
it because it is easier to deal with a handful of Harvard-educated cronies
than it is to deal with thousands of state and local leaders.

The Zapatista strain of democratic capitalism mirrors the development
of civil society and new social movements throughout Latin America.
As the neoliberal reforms of the 1980's concentrated more power in the 
hands of a small, unresponsive group of technocrats, then NSM's arose
in order to return economic autonomy to the people. Housewives Leagues,
Community Welfare Organizations, and Price Defense Committees are all
examples of ordinary citizens picking up the slack the government has 
created, while demanding control over their local economies.

Saludos,
Wyeth

-- 
A. Wyeth Ruthven
5 Rogers, Newcomb Hall Station
Charlottesville, VA 22904
awr2k@Virginia.edu
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