[Reader-list] Message from Chinese activists and academics in support of Occupy Wall Street

[Joshua Soans]

Very interesting article in the New Scientist:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed--the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html#

AS PROTESTS against financial power sweep the
world<http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/15/world/occupy-goes-global/?hpt=wo_t3>this
week, science may have confirmed the protesters' worst fears. An
analysis <http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1107/1107.5728v2.pdf> of the
relationships between 43,000 transnational corporations has identified a
relatively small group of
companies<http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed--the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html#bx283545B1>,
mainly banks, with disproportionate power over the global economy.

The study's assumptions have attracted some criticism, but complex systems
analysts contacted by *New Scientist* say it is a unique effort to untangle
control in the global economy. Pushing the analysis further, they say, could
help to identify ways of making global capitalism more stable.

The idea that a few bankers control a large chunk of the global economy
might not seem like news to New York's Occupy Wall
Street<http://occupywallst.org/forum/proposed-list-of-demands-please-help-editadd-so-th/>movement
and protesters elsewhere (see
photo<http://www.newscientist.com/articleimages/mg21228354.500/1-revealed--the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html>).
But the study, by a trio of complex systems theorists at the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology in Zurich, is the first to go beyond ideology to
empirically identify such a network of power. It combines the mathematics
long used to model natural systems with comprehensive corporate data to map
ownership among the world's transnational corporations (TNCs).

"Reality is so complex, we must move away from dogma, whether it's
conspiracy theories or free-market," says James
Glattfelder<http://www.sg.ethz.ch/people/formercoll/jglattfelder>.
"Our analysis is reality-based."

Previous studies have found that a few TNCs own large chunks of the world's
economy, but they included only a limited number of companies and omitted
indirect ownerships, so could not say how this affected the global economy -
whether it made it more or less stable, for instance.

The Zurich team can. From Orbis
2007<http://www.bvdinfo.com/Products/Company-Information/International/Orbis>,
a database listing 37 million companies and investors worldwide, they pulled
out all 43,060 TNCs and the share ownerships linking them. Then they
constructed a model of which companies controlled others through
shareholding networks, coupled with each company's operating revenues, to
map the structure of economic power.

The work, to be published in *PloS One*, revealed a core of 1318 companies
with interlocking ownerships (see image). Each of the 1318 had ties to two
or more other companies, and on average they were connected to 20. What's
more, although they represented 20 per cent of global operating revenues,
the 1318 appeared to collectively own through their shares the majority of
the world's large blue chip and manufacturing firms - the "real" economy -
representing a further 60 per cent of global revenues.

When the team further untangled the web of ownership, it found much of it
tracked back to a "super-entity" of 147 even more tightly knit companies -
all of their ownership was held by other members of the super-entity - that
controlled 40 per cent of the total wealth in the network. "In effect, less
than 1 per cent of the companies were able to control 40 per cent of the
entire network," says Glattfelder. Most were financial institutions. The top
20 included Barclays Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and The Goldman Sachs Group.


On Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 5:02 AM, Jeebesh <jeebesh at sarai.net> wrote:

> Very soon occupy New York Times will start. It will be a carnival of
> leaderless rejoicing :)
>
> On 13-Oct-11, at 8:02 PM, Joshua Soans wrote:
>
>  praiseworthy sentiments, unlikely to change much:
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/**09/25/nyregion/protesters-are-**
>> gunning-for-wall-street-with-**faulty-aim.html?_r=2<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/nyregion/protesters-are-gunning-for-wall-street-with-faulty-aim.html?_r=2>
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 2:08 PM, Patrice Riemens <patrice at xs4all.nl>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  Reposted from nettime-l with usual apps 4 X-posting!
>>>
>>>
>>> This letter of solidarity, signed over by 50 intellectuals and activists
>>> in
>>> China, was posted to Utopia yesterday. Thanks to everyone for the
>>> translation and editing work!
>>>
>>> http://chinastudygroup.net/**2011/10/message-from-chinese-**
>>> activists-and-<http://chinastudygroup.net/2011/10/message-from-chinese-activists-and->
>>> academics-in-support-of-**occupy-wall-street/
>>>
>>>  From the middle of September, a great "Wall Street Revolution" has
>>>> broken
>>>>
>>> out in the United States. This street revolution, going by the name of
>>> "Occupy Wall Street," has already expanded to over 70 cities and
>>> countries
>>> in North America, Europe, and other areas. In their statement on "The
>>> Wall
>>> Street Revolution," the American people have sworn that this demand for
>>> "a
>>> democratic country, not a corporate kingdom" mass democratic revolution
>>> must spread to every part of the world, and they will not rest until this
>>> goal is met. From the anti-capitalist demonstrations that began after the
>>> 2008 financial crisis, and which this year have spread across Europe, the
>>> Middle East, North Africa and South America, this magnificent global mass
>>> democratic movement has finally spread to the center of capitalism's
>>> financial empire -- Wall Street.
>>>
>>> The eruption of the "Wall Street Revolution" is an historical indicator
>>> that the popular democratic revolution that will soon sweep the world is
>>> set to begin. It is an especially significant and important event for
>>> this
>>> movement. Before this most recent action, street protests had virtually
>>> been exclusively used as a tool by US elite groups to subvert other
>>> countries. Now, however, the "Wall Street Revolution" -- with its goals
>>> of
>>> shared prosperity and popular democracy -- has launched protests in the
>>> country that is the self-proclaimed defender of democracy. This will
>>> inevitably strike a hard blow against the US elite group, itself
>>> responsible for the plunder and oppression of people all over the world,
>>> and the group that pushed the world into crisis and instability. The
>>> protests ring the death knell of the rule of capital. Popular democracy
>>> will replace elite democracy in the 21st Century, and the curtain has
>>> lifted on the movement from elite politics to popular politics. Using the
>>> language of the "Wall Street Revolution," this is a struggle of the
>>> popular
>>> 99% against the corrupt 1%, a struggle of the popular 99% against the
>>> elite
>>> 1%,and is the final struggle of the popular forces against elite
>>> capitalist
>>> rule.
>>>
>>> The world belongs to all of the people of the world. Countries belong to
>>> the entire people of those countries. Even more so, wealth is produced by
>>> the entire people, and therefore should be shared by the entire people,
>>> it
>>> cannot be monopolized by the 1% -- or even less than 1% -- that is made
>>> up
>>> of an extremely small number of elites. The demand for common prosperity
>>> in
>>> economics, and popular democracy in politics has become an unstoppable
>>> historical trend! The rapid expansion of a fictitious economy and the
>>> massive flow of social wealth has created an amply reliable material
>>> foundation for the realization of the common wealth of all people. The
>>> development of internet technology and political civilization has created
>>> the conditions for human society to make the transition from capitalist
>>> democracy to popular democracy. Human society is fully capable of
>>> transforming, on the foundation of the past democracy of slaveholders,
>>> the
>>> democracy of feudal lords, and the democracy of the capitalist class, to
>>> make the fundamental shift from the democracy of the elites to real
>>> popular
>>> democracy. Common prosperity and popular democracy will become the main
>>> content of the historical transformation of the 21st Century. No matter
>>> how
>>> brutally the American riot police will attempt to suppress the
>>> participants
>>> in the Wall Street revolution, no matter how much the global elites --
>>> especially those in the U.S. and China  -- try to suppress news of the
>>> Wall
>>> Street revolution, they cannot stop the vigorous growth and ultimate
>>> victory of the democratic revolution of the people of the world.
>>>
>>> The violent repression and virtual blockade of news about the "Wall
>>> Street
>>> Revolution" by elite groups led by the US proves that the fate of
>>> oppressed
>>> people around the world is the same, regardless of whether they are from
>>> developed or developing countries, whether they are from so-called
>>> democracies or authoritarian countries. The international elite was the
>>> first class to link-up internationally via globalization. Their plunder
>>> of
>>> public wealth and repression of popular democratic movements is cruel and
>>> far-reaching, and utterly lacking in freedom and democracy. So-called
>>> freedom and democracy in modern society is nothing more than democracy
>>> for
>>> capitalism, an elite democracy. Freedom is another word for the elite to
>>> plunder, oppress and violently suppress others. Popular forces have been
>>> completely excluded from the freedoms and democracy of modern society,
>>> and
>>> the extent of democratic rights is to choose between presidential
>>> candidates that have already been vetted by capital. You can vote once
>>> every four years, but you have no way of affecting the people above you
>>> who
>>> directly determine your fate: your boss or superior. And there is no way
>>> of
>>> constraining the capitalistoligarchs who can take away the wealth of the
>>> majority of the population with the slight of hand of fictitious capital.
>>> Freedom and democracy have become a virtual game, nothing more than a
>>> tool
>>> to subvert other countries. Now the popular and democratic world
>>> revolution
>>> -- symbolized by the "Wall Street Revolution"- demands an end to this
>>> political game, and that freedom and democracy be returned to the people.
>>> Democracy is not just a check on the president, but a check on government
>>> officials; democracy is not just a check on power, but a check on
>>> capital.
>>> If the rights and privileges of feudal and absolute rulers are understood
>>> to be a sin and abomination, then giving those rights to capital is also
>>> a
>>> travesty.
>>>
>>> Securities and computer networks should have been two crucial elements of
>>> our shift from an industrial society to an information society, from a
>>> material economy to a virtual economy, from capitalism to a
>>> human-centered
>>> economic system, and from elite politics to popular politics. But the
>>> elite
>>> class has turned securities into a tool of appropriation akin to the
>>> 'indulgences' issued by middle-age church functionaries in Europe. In the
>>> new securitized economy, all the public's wealth can easily melt into
>>> thin
>>> air -- including their houses, wages, labor power and even their hope for
>>> the future. All these things have become the targets of appropriation by
>>> a
>>> tiny elite minority. Both the white-collar middle classes in developed
>>> countries -- owners of fictitious property, and the blue-collar workers
>>> in
>>> developing countries who cannot afford housing or health care, belong in
>>> point of fact to the same class: modern proletariat. When the people
>>> protest the unprecedented plunder and vast income gap perpetrated by
>>> fictitious capital, they are met with violent repression -- both in so-
>>> called democracy countries that claim to be defenders of human rights
>>> such
>>> as the US, and in authoritarian countries that are said to lack freedom
>>> and
>>> democracy. Faced with street protests erupting from the Balkans to North
>>> Africa, President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have repeated over
>>> and over, "The rights of peaceful protest and the occupation of public
>>> space should be respected at all times." Yet when US citizens attempt to
>>> exercise this right they immediately are faced with violent repression by
>>> armed police, and a blockade by the news media. If this is reaction of
>>> the
>>> US -- the self-proclaimed leader in human rights -- then we can imagine
>>> what the reaction will be in other capitalist countries. Rule by the
>>> capitalist elite is just as described by the "Wall Street Revolution" --
>>> everywhere. There is nowhere left were we can live and die as people.
>>>
>>> The eruption of the "Wall Street Revolution" in the heart of the world's
>>> financial empire shows that 99% of the world's people remain exploited
>>> and
>>> oppressed -- regardless of whether they are from developed or developing
>>> countries. People throughout the world see their wealth being plundered,
>>> and their rights being taken away. Economic polarization is now a common
>>> threat to all of us. The conflict between popular and elite rule is also
>>> found in all countries. Now, however, the popular democratic revolution
>>> meets repression not just from its own ruling class, but also from the
>>> world elite that has formed through globalization. The "Wall Street
>>> Revolution" has met with repression from US police, but also suffers from
>>> a
>>> media blackout organized by the Chinese elite.
>>>
>>> The same fate, the same pain, the same problems, the same conflict. Faced
>>> with a common enemy in an elite global class that has already linked-up,
>>> the people of the world have only one option: to unite and in a unified
>>> and
>>> shared struggle overturn the rule of the capitalist elite, to ensure that
>>> everyone enjoys the basic human rights of work, housing, health care,
>>> education, and a secure old-age. But we must go further if we are to
>>> realize shared prosperity and popular democracy in a new socialist world
>>> historical framework, If we are to fully escape and neutralize the crises
>>> and disasters that capitalism has brought the human race, and realize
>>> harmonious social development.
>>>
>>> The great "Wall Street Revolution" and the great popular "Chilean Winter"
>>> that preceded it signal that the day when we realize shared prosperity
>>> and
>>> popular democracy is approaching. It signals that worldwide popular and
>>> democratic socialist movement -- dormant since the 1970s -- is waking up
>>> again. But this time, it will be the final battle to put capitalism in
>>> its
>>> grave. The victory of popular democracy and death of elite rule are
>>> inevitable! The embers of revolt are scattered amongst us all, waiting to
>>> burn with the slightest breeze. The great era of popular democracy, set
>>> to
>>> change history, has arrived again!
>>>
>>> Resolutely support the American people in the "Wall Street Revolution"!
>>>
>>> Resolutely support all street protests pushing for shared prosperity and
>>> popular demoracy!
>>>
>>> Long live the "Wall Street Revolution"!
>>>
>>> Long live the global movement for popular democracy!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ______________________________**___________
>>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
>>> Critiques & Collaborations
>>> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
>>> subscribe in the subject header.
>>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/**mailman/listinfo/reader-list<https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list>
>>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/**pipermail/reader-list/<https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>>> >
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Joshua SOANS
>> Executive Editor
>> MedicinMan
>>
>> www.medicinman.net
>> ______________________________**___________
>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
>> Critiques & Collaborations
>> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
>> subscribe in the subject header.
>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/**mailman/listinfo/reader-list<https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list>
>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/**pipermail/reader-list/<https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>> >
>>
>
> ______________________________**___________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/**mailman/listinfo/reader-list<https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list>
> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/**pipermail/reader-list/<https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
> >
>