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Consider that the theatre of international relations and politics is only one, and that behind the scenes there is a bigger narrative at work around trade and c

Consider that the theatre of international relations and politics is only one, and that behind the scenes there is a bigger narrative at work around trade and corporate power and most importantly the oil and gas sector. There are many in the investor class who have interests in both Russian and Western oil & gas companies. And under the Trump administration the same people even openly penetrated the official state executive (Rex Tillerson, etc.) The spectre of climate change -- or more particularly what state actors might actually eventually attempt to do about it -- unites those people more than national borders divide them. Number must go up. Most of the song and dance about the Russo-Ukrainian war is about this. Nordstream 2 being only one part of it.

walleeee 2y ago
The most insightful comment I have seen in this thread. It assumes a single investment context, the global (read: western) financial system, right? Is the latter more firmly wedded to the idea of growth than the rest of the world, or is that an illusion? Consider the (unsuccessful but suggestive) attempts to establish a commodities-backed currency by BRICS. Is this an attempt to sustain growth by alternative means, or to preempt and manage its end? My impression is a system in which the national interest takes a backseat to investor interests can't contemplate reform in which the number might cease to go up, because growth is a load-bearing feature of governance (read: those in and with a hotline to government want growth for their own benefit, and need it to secure the support of a population which has also come to expect it). Some nations, while heavily dependent on the global financial system, have maintained at least the semblance of sovereignty, on the other hand, and may be able to consider the situation in (slightly) more realistic terms. Of course, decline is nearly as ripe for exploitation as growth, while perhaps requiring more expenditure in narrative construction, so I hazard no guess on which system prefaces a more humane future. Is this a reasonable interpretation?
- cmrdporcupine 2y ago
  > It assumes a single investment context, the global (read: western) financial system, right? Why should it? Capital accumulation and trade happens regardless of the currency or method of exchange. It will find a way to flow. All that is solid melts into air.

walleeee 2y ago

The most insightful comment I have seen in this thread. It assumes a single investment context, the global (read: western) financial system, right? Is the latter more firmly wedded to the idea of growth than the rest of the world, or is that an illusion? Consider the (unsuccessful but suggestive) attempts to establish a commodities-backed currency by BRICS. Is this an attempt to sustain growth by alternative means, or to preempt and manage its end? My impression is a system in which the national interest takes a backseat to investor interests can't contemplate reform in which the number might cease to go up, because growth is a load-bearing feature of governance (read: those in and with a hotline to government want growth for their own benefit, and need it to secure the support of a population which has also come to expect it). Some nations, while heavily dependent on the global financial system, have maintained at least the semblance of sovereignty, on the other hand, and may be able to consider the situation in (slightly) more realistic terms. Of course, decline is nearly as ripe for exploitation as growth, while perhaps requiring more expenditure in narrative construction, so I hazard no guess on which system prefaces a more humane future. Is this a reasonable interpretation?

cmrdporcupine 2y ago
> It assumes a single investment context, the global (read: western) financial system, right? Why should it? Capital accumulation and trade happens regardless of the currency or method of exchange. It will find a way to flow. All that is solid melts into air.