tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3591186784456519139.post9195507456207947708..comments2024-01-02T17:38:32.872+00:00Comments on Economics of Imperialism: Debt, Society, History, Morality & ImperialismTony Norfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896437404164741498noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3591186784456519139.post-67036367552753564042013-06-01T12:38:20.480+01:002013-06-01T12:38:20.480+01:00See the reply to these comments in the article on ...See the reply to these comments in the article on this blog, dated 3 September 2012.Tony Norfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03896437404164741498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3591186784456519139.post-15556438792418930792012-08-28T00:03:14.125+01:002012-08-28T00:03:14.125+01:00Just a couple notes:
I do not actually say that c...Just a couple notes:<br /><br />I do not actually say that changes in the nature of money are the driving force of history; you just seem to conclude this because I do not provide a theory of the "motor of history" at all, but mainly describe what happened, and since the book is about money and debt, money and debt are what I focus on. However when I do suggest specific you will find, if look carefully, that it's always based in class struggle of some sort or another. Coinage comes about through the rise of professional armies and slave systems. The ban on usury in Islam comes from a shift in class alliances. Etc. Sometimes I note ironic results, such as the disaster that certain forms of debt resistance in the ancient Middle East had on the status of women, or the way that successful popular resistance in Ming China set the stage for the elite counter-offensive in 16-17C Europe. But it's always class struggle ultimately. Skim the book again with that in mind and you'll see it. <br /><br /> The idea that most money owed in the world today is owed to China or other Asian creditors is simply untrue. They just hold a lot of US treasury bonds, which are losing propositions economically anyway. About 74% of the US public for instance, are in debt, and 1 in 7 are currently being pursued by collection agencies, and the amount of student loan debt at all is over a trillion dollars. Close to none of that is owed to China. DGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18268518178739960879noreply@blogger.com