Fabio Vighi is Professor of Critical Theory and Italian at Cardiff University, UK. His recent work includes Critical Theory and the Crisis of Contemporary Capitalism (Bloomsbury 2015, with Heiko Feldner) and Crisi di valore: Lacan, Marx e il crepuscolo della società del lavoro (Mimesis 2018). In this episode he talks about how the growing economic crisis is the product of State policy.
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Inflation and the Controlled Demolition of Society
Inflation is an economic phenomenon characterized by a sustained increase in prices of goods and services over time. While inflation may seem like a natural occurrence in a growing economy, unchecked inflation can have severe consequences on both individuals and the broader society. In many ways, inflation can act as a tool for a controlled demolition of society, with economic inequality, social unrest, and political upheavals being just some of the possible outcomes.
One of the most significant impacts of inflation is its effect on income inequality. When prices rise faster than wages, people who rely on fixed incomes or low-wage jobs suffer the most. Inflation erodes the purchasing power of those who cannot keep up with rising prices, leaving them unable to afford basic necessities. This income inequality can lead to social unrest, as people become more aware of the discrepancy between their standard of living and that of the wealthy elite. Inflation can also widen the wealth gap, as the rich can use their wealth to hedge inflation and protect their purchasing power.
Inflation can also have dire consequences on the value of money. As inflation increases, the value of a currency decreases, leading to a reduction in the real value of savings. This erodes the foundation of society, which relies on savings and investments to fuel economic growth and progress. The loss of value of money also leads people to seek alternative stores of value, such as gold, cryptocurrency, or other assets, further destabilizing the economy.
Furthermore, inflation often leads to political unrest and destabilization. As inflation erodes the purchasing power of the poor and working-class, people tend to lose faith in the government and ruling elites. This erodes the legitimacy of the government and can lead to political uprisings and mass protests. Inflation can also be used as a political tool to divert attention away from other problems by making it a central issue. This tactic is often used in troubled regimes to deflect criticism and maintain power.
Inflation can be caused by various factors, including government policies such as an increase in the money supply, a decrease in interest rates, or external factors such as supply shocks, wars, or natural disasters. Although inflation may not always be intentional, it can be used as a tool for a controlled demolition of society. This can be achieved through various means, including wealth redistribution, political manipulation, or economic warfare.
In conclusion, unchecked inflation is a serious threat to both individuals and society as a whole. It can lead to income inequality, social unrest, political instability, and the erosion of the foundation of society. Therefore, it is crucial to have sound economic policies in place to manage inflation and prevent the controlled demolition of society. Only a healthy economy built on a foundation of stability can provide a better future for all citizens.
"Why don't we just plan it out democratically – what's the barrier there?" – This very question is why I lean Marxist over anarchist, and why those old reading habits of mine with Machiavelli still resonate. The answer is – Power. Power motivates, and it motivates even a capitalist class who realises the jig is up and they are literally just making fake money to use in a fake system so everyone can pretend things are just the same as before. The illusion becomes the crucial element itself to the continuance of the social power of a given few. The forms, words, symbols of capital become almost like Confucian rituals, cited and re-enacted to legitimate social position, the dynasty, not really effectual means of anything. That is, if Prof. Vighi's hypothesis is correct.
He is overstated automation. Most of the manufacturing has just moved out of the West to avoid environmental and labor cost.
A debt jubilee would buy some time and ease suffering. Highly unlikely tho.
If you wanna defeat imperialism, you're gonna need firepower. A defeated Russia is a good thing for any Leftist movement.
@14:33
Right that covid was taken advantage of by capitalists, but kinda that's the whole point. Wrong that "lockdowns" were even really a thing in the white West, except for people with disabilities who are still not safe to leave home in many instances due to Left capitulation to eugenicist "own the libs" Rightist pandering. Discussing this from a "Marxist" perspective as white American and European middle aged male people isn't invalid, however, it does leave out the massive insights one could get from Asian and Latin Marxists experiences of China and Cuba that have or haven't had to deal with economic effects of covid, and how their societies faired.
A big gap on the economics NO ONE talks about is the loss of MILLIONS of skilled members of the working class. Does 1.2 million fewer Americans in less than 3 years, 100,000 covid orhpans, millions crippled from covid unable to continue work not have an economic toll?
I could very well be wrong on this, but isn't attributing inflation to the mass issuing of debt kinda following the same logic that bourgeois economists use? At least where I'm from It's pretty clear that inflation comes from the price hikes induced by capitalists as a response to economic contractions
Doug, interesting interview. I'd like to discuss this with you Doug.
Do you have time?
Good guest. Solid connection of the Ukraine War & the economy. Maybe this will open the door for more of us to come over to the anti-war position, which oddly is still marginal on the left. An intelligent man like this requires a deeper response then "Putin bad". I like his laugh.
Could anyone recommend a good normie friendly pod to introduce these ideas? I have a few friends who are very acab, but post Robert Reich memes. There is a big chunk of aggressive lumpen picking up on rad lib memes. I feel like they could do better than John Stewart. Its kinda cute though. Npr Gojira fans. Non college, criminal records. Not graphic designers. Wacky world.
This guy's smart, but he's trying to resolve Marxism and Keynesian economics in a way that just won't ever get anywhere.
He's kind of like a Richard Wolf. He's not wrong, but he's not getting any closer to the truth of it all, because the terms limit the imagination.
Even this "inflation" discussion, it relies on a certain objectivity of a currency's nominal value, and abstracts away what even is a literal price increase, and how they happen.
The whole, right-wing "inflation is an invisible tax" line is a weird equivocation, with bad framing, because a business increasing prices, and the state levying a tax are entirely different things.
Or if they truly are the same thing, there's a classic argument that we shouldn't have taxation without representation.
Paying attention to the use of language is a good point the guest made. I've been watching a lot of our town's council meetings and it's surprising and in a way disturbing in what way people fall into the capitalist language trap, calling people 'stakeholders' instead of 'citizens','residents' or even 'people.' Seems like in town the developers and landlords have set the rules of the game which calls for certain language to be used and these function as barriers for the conversation to never move beyond certain limits. More worrying is that this languange is at this point more or less internalized, a default position.