Capital is free to sweep into any country while labour is restricted

by Dr Vickramabahu Karunaratne

(November 14, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Slavoj Zizek while analyzing the views of Chakrabaty who says “as many observers have noted, post modernity is not the overcoming of modernity but its fulfillment. In the post modern universe, pre modern ‘leftovers’ are no longer experienced as obstacles to be overcome by progress towards a fully secularized modernization, but as something to be unproblematically incorporated into the multicultural global universe”. This deduction can be applied also to the role of the national state, in the global capitalist universe. National state is an archaic entity established centuries ago by the bourgeois emancipation.

Economic power

We have come a long way from the time Lenin explained the parasitic nature of the state. Since then the state has developed its structure through modern technology, and many parts of bureaucracy are, today, replaced by intelligence machines. But still the state remains a national instrument operated by those who control economic power. In that sense what Engels said about the state at the time of the Paris commune is still valid. Lenin explained “For, in order to abolish the state, it is necessary to convert the functions of the civil service into the simple operations of control and accounting that are within the scope and ability of the vast majority of the population, and, subsequently, of every single individual. And if careerism is to be abolished completely, it must be made impossible for “honourable” though profitless posts in the civil service to be used as a springboard to highly lucrative posts in banks or joint-stock companies, as constantly happens in all the freest capitalist countries.” In the present context of global capitalism, world over, top bureaucrats adjust their work patterns, keeping an eye on lucrative jobs in multilateral organizations: IMF, WORLD BANK, WTO, UN COMMITTEES, etc. There are attempts to bring national states together to facilitate the functioning of global capital. One good example is the European Union.

However, the national states continue, incorporated into the ‘multicultural global universe’; because these are necessary to contain and control the working masses. National states, even in the developed world of liberal democracy, have the specific function of controlling the proletarian masses. These are run by so called national leaders selected through elections conducted within the national state boundary. For example in the course of the presidential elections President Obama stressed the responsible role of the Americans in the present global setup. These orations were in the tradition of early leaders of Americans, such as Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. They all stood for bourgeois nationalism.


Restrictions

More it stresses the liberty of capital to roam the world and more restrictions, legal and social, will be placed on mobility of labour. “Boat people are frequently a source of controversy in the nation they seek to immigrate to, such as the US, Canada, Italy, Spain and Australia. Boat people are often forcibly prevented from landing at their destination, as was the case under Australia’s 2001-07 ‘Pacific solution’, or they are subjected to ‘mandatory detention’ after their arrival. In the recent past, Lanka became a controversial source where refugees were concerned.

Not only Lanka, all poor countries are accused of releasing illegal immigrants to countries considered to be rich and powerful. The net flow of illegal immigration pattern is almost entirely from countries of lower socio-economic levels to countries of higher socio-economic levels, and particularly from developing countries to rich countries. While there could be other causes associated with poorer countries, the most common motivation for illegal immigrants is the pursuit of greater economic opportunities and quality of life in the destination state. The final picture is that the capital is free to sweep into any country while labour becomes a restricted item that should overcome many custom barriers. The ‘most’ post modern entity in the world today is finance capital, as it can cause changes before it could arrive.