Steel and Concrete in China and Spatial Fixes - David Harvey's Harvard Lecture

Democracy and Class Struggle is well aware of the role of Harvard University as both apologist for Imperialism and as innovator for Imperialism from derivative markets to capitalist greenwashing mathematics to  military and intelligence co-operation with the US Empire - therefore we are surprised to see David Harvey speaking there - has he acknowledges he was surprised himself by the invitation - and shares the deep contempt for Harvard University that Democracy and Class Struggle also shares.

While David Harvey can be criticised for old Social Democratic tendencies he is always worth listening to and more importantly learning from.

It is David Harvey’s contention that the production of space, especially the distribution and organization of the territory, constitutes a principal aspect of capitalist economies.

His writings on this theme have contributed to the ongoing political debate on globalization and on the different spatial strategies associated to global processes.

A foundation of Harvey’s intellectual project is his “close reading” and interpretation of Karl Marx’s Capital, which he has taught and read for decades and documented in his Companion to Marx’s Capital (2010).

But Harvey’s work is distinguished by the way he has brought Marxism together with geography with productive results for each discipline.

For instance, he has approached the overaccumulation of capital by way of its reflection in spatial expansion in order to demonstrate its causative role.

His book Limits to Capital (1982), which traces this argument, is a mainstay of the contemporary understanding of capitalism’s perennial economic crises (among others are Ernest Mandel’s Late Capitalism (1972), Giovanni Arrighi’s Long 20th Century (1994) and Robert Brenner’s Economics of Global Turbulence (2006))

Among other ideas, Harvey is known for his critical interpretation of the ideas of Henri Lefebvre and his own formulation of the “right to the city.” His book Spaces of Hope (2000) explores a role for architecture in bridging between the human body and the uneven development that is characteristic of globalization.

Asked to single out a favorite of Harvey’s books, Dean Mohsen Mostafavi refers to Harvey’s book Social Justice and the City (1973) as “an important articulation of the relationship between the city as a physical artifact and its social consequences.

His writings have provided an acute analysis of our society and provide an indispensable framework for new forms of spatial imagination."David Harvey, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology & Geography at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), is the 2015–2016 Senior Loeb Scholar.


LINK TO PROGRESSIVE LABOR PARTY PAMPHLET ON HARVARD UNIVERSITY AND IMPERIALISM - TAKE TIME OUT TO STUDY PAMPHLET ABOUT HARVARDS ROLE AS IDEOLOGICAL INNOVATOR  FOR US IMPERIALISM.

Build a Mass Communist Worker-Student Alliance to Smash Harvard's Bosses 

http://www.plp.org/leaflets-pamphlets/pamphlets/


SEE ALSO: 

http://democracyandclassstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/what-is-social-character-of-china-is-it.html

https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/uk.ebbingtide/csd-china.htm

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/historical-materialist-manifesto-for.html


http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/dogmatic-marxists-and-dogmatic.html

http://democracyandclassstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/the-tenacity-of-free-market-ideology.html

France : Anti Labour Reform Protests transform into new Social Movement - Front Nationale hypocrisy and corruption exposed in Panama Papers

SEE ALSO: 

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/le-monde-accuses-jean-marie-le-pen-and.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/class-struggle-in-france-in-2016.html

David Cameron - Hypocrisy in Politics - Cameron should not just resign he should be jailed

SEE ALSO:

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/the-guardian-newspaper-has-confirmed.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/david-cameron-admits-he-did-have-shares.html

The Guardian Newspaper has confirmed that in 30 years Blairmore Holdings has never paid a penny of tax in the UK on its profits plus Channel 4 revelations

David Cameron’s father took detailed legal advice about the pros and cons of different tax havens before the fund he had helped set up was transferred to Ireland, the Guardian can reveal.

A leading international law firm wrote an analysis of the Cayman Islands and Bermuda as possible places to host Blairmore Holdings Inc, as it considered whether to “migrate” the investment fund from Panama.

Blairmore was moved in June 2012 to Ireland – another tax haven with many of the advantages of offshore jurisdictions.

The Panama Papers highlight how Blairmore’s directors wanted to continue to avoid paying UK taxes at a time when David Cameron was already the leader of the Conservative party.

And the move to Ireland came in the same month as Cameron, by then prime minister, was railing against tax avoidance schemes, describing them as morally unacceptable.

“Some of these schemes we have seen are quite frankly morally wrong,” he said.

Awkward questions

This latest disclosure will add to the awkward questions facing Downing Street from the Panama Papers leak.

While Cameron has insisted he will not benefit from any offshore funds in the future, he has not said whether he benefited in the past.

Fund run by David Cameron’s father avoided paying tax in Britain

Papers seen by the Guardian show the directors of Blairmore sought advice from the London solicitors Simmons & Simmons in March 2008.

They were seeking guidance on the advantages and disadvantages of moving Blairmore, which was set up in 1982 with the help of Cameron’s father, Ian. The fund was registered in Panama by Mossack Fonseca, the firm at the centre of the Panama Papers leak.

The legal advice was written for Cameron Sr and other directors, who appear to have been “jurisdiction shopping” for the best place to secure the fund in the future.

At the time, Panama was coming under pressure from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development over the secretive nature of its regime.

The five-page analysis was written by a lawyer who set out the benefits of different Caribbean islands, noting that in one, the “level of actual regulation is very light”.

“Both the Cayman Islands and Bermuda are considered market-leading offshore financial centres with sophisticated investment fund infrastructures,” noted a lawyer at Simmons & Simmons.

“Both offer political stability, an abundance of professional service providers and responsive regulatory bodies.”

The document explains how much it would cost Blairmore to transfer to Bermuda or the Caymans.

Simmons & Simmons said it would charge £40,000-£50,000 for a transfer to either jurisdiction. It recommended additional support from another law firm.

To move registration to Bermuda would cost Blairmore an additional $6,000 for work carried out in the Caribbean, and £15,000-£17,000 in London.

The Cayman move would cost $7,300 on the island and £15,000-£17,000 in London.

Mossack Fonseca would charge $4,500 for either move.

Simmons also noted that: “In general, regulatory intervention in Bermuda is considered slightly heavier than in some other offshore jurisdictions.”

The memo also highlights the advantages of operating in the Cayman Islands.

It explains: “The Cayman Islands is by far the jurisdiction of choice for hedge funds and hedge-fund managers. By June 2007, over 8,300 registered mutual funds were operating in the Cayman Islands.”

Ian Cameron died in September 2010. In June 2012, the fund was shifted to Ireland, where it is subject to EU regulations – which would have made it much easier to market to European investors.

 Jimmy Carr was criticised by David Cameron over his tax arrangements, which he later changed. 

It says: “While most of the holdings and cash will transfer out to the new Irish fund, we will leave some funds behind – this will be less than 0.5% of the fund’s total assets. There will be some cash left to pay invoices and also a few companies which have not yet been sold and are not eligible [for regulatory reasons] in the new Irish fund.”Blairmore Holdings, named after the Cameron family’s ancestral home in Aberdeenshire, has managed tens of millions of pounds on behalf of wealthy families.

Clients have included Isidore Kerman, an adviser to Robert Maxwell who once owned the West End restaurants Scott’s and J Sheekey, and Leopold Joseph, a private bank used by the Rolling Stones.

The Guardian has confirmed that in 30 years Blairmore has never paid a penny of tax in the UK on its profits.

Cameron addressed the issue of tax avoidance head on in June 2012 after the Times revealed the aggressive tax avoiding arrangements of the comedian Jimmy Carr.

“I think some of these schemes – and I think particularly of the Jimmy Carr scheme – I have had time to read about and I just think this is completely wrong.

“People work hard, they pay their taxes, they save up to go to one of his shows. They buy the tickets. He is taking the money from those tickets and he, as far as I can see, is putting all of that into some very dodgy tax avoiding schemes.

“That is wrong. There is nothing wrong with people planning their tax affairs to invest in their pension and plan for their retirement – that sort of tax management is fine. But some of these schemes we have seen are quite frankly morally wrong.”

Carr later changed his tax arrangements.

Panama Papers reporting team: Juliette Garside, Luke Harding, Holly Watt, David Pegg, Helena Bengtsson, Simon Bowers, Owen Gibson and Nick Hopkins

SOURCE: http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/07/david-cameron-father-ian-sought-legal-advice-tax-havens-panama-papers

David Cameron admits he did have shares in his Fathers Offshore Trust - seems to have had a memory recovery

Seems he had a memory lapse when he made statement below - he would never lie would he ?

David Cameron has sensationally admitted he trousered thousands of pounds in profits from cash staked in his dad’s offshore firm.

A shame-faced Mr Cameron admitted to owning thousands of offshore shares with wife Sam, which they flogged for a whopping £30,000 just weeks before he became Prime Minister.

Labour MP John Mann said: “Cameron has been less than honest. He should resign immediately."

In a bombshell interview with ITV’s Robert Peston tonight, the PM admitted he and Sam bought thousands of shares in his dad’s tax haven firm Blairmore in 1997.

Source: Daily Mirror

SEE ALSO :

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/mossack-fonseca-and-mauricio-macri.html

Nota Bene

When his Father died in 2010, David cameron was already Prime Minister. So who collected the money from the company in Panama and what happened to that money? Or is it it still sitting there?
Why are the journalists not asking this?
**Edit**
So it appears the company was moved to Ireland in 2010 and has assets of £35 Million. So who owns that company now? Were death duties paid on the assets?

"A source close to Blairmore Holdings - which is still operating with assets of £35 million – said the company had been moved because its directors believed it was about to “come under more scrutiny”. "
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/…/panama-papers-david-cameron-f…

Trump makes America Hate Again - Immigrants compared to Snakes in New York Speech

Democracy and Class Struggle says will the Statue of Liberty now be returned to France by the United Snakes of America in view of  the Statue inscription:

We respectfully ask comrades in France to begin proceedings to have the Statue of Liberty returned to France ASAP.


NB

Donald Trump’s own grandfather was an illegal emigrant whose income stream included alcohol and prostitution at a time when these were legally contested. He was an unwanted returnee to Germany, and then a potential “enemy alien” within the United States who had declared his loyalty to the German Kaiser – but ultimately made an economic contribution spanning generations

See Also:

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/organised-crime-in-us-politics-from.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/usa-donald-trump-and-myth-of-victimhood.html

Polish Fascism is Europe's Problem

Much of the Polish fascists  propaganda and hatred is directed towards the left and the LGBT community. It is also deeply anti-Semitic and, more and more, is targeting the Roma.

Has the above video shows Islamophobia figures large in Polish fascist propaganda

It also finds support amongst some church and “family values” groups that support the movement’s attacks on abortion and LGBT rights.

SEE ALSO: 

http://www.dreamdeferred.org.uk/2014/02/the-ugly-face-of-polish-fascism/


http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/robert-paxton-professor-emeritus-of.html

SEE ALSO: 

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/france-unsuccessful-fascism-failed.html

Democracy and Class Struggle is studying what can be described as a first stage of Fascism from India to Turkey to France and Poland to USA.

We are interested in the  universals in Fascism but realise than much is specific to India and Turkey and France and Poland and USA.

Contrasting the views on  Religious Hindu Fascism with the European and American emerging Fascism allows us to identify universals but should not make us overlook Fascism's localisms and specificity at the beginning of the 21st Century.

SEE ALSO

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/usa-

Class Struggle in France in 2016 against the Neo Liberal Labour Laws - Long Live La Cause du Peuple - Long Live the Parti Communiste Maoiste

See Also 
http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/red-salute-to-france-and-our-comrades.html


http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/france-international-solidarity-with.html

The New Mexican Revolution interviews by Chris Hedges

The Mexican Revolution for a Re- Foundation of the Nation from the bottom up

India: Western Ghats : Naxalites never die they just multiply

Democracy and Class Struggle says despite all the murders and imprisonment of comrades by the Indian State -  naxalites never die they just multiply - the Modi's  the  Hinduvuta, the Congress think they can kill an idea - the idea that national and social liberation of the Indian People from comprador capitalists like the Tata's and the Birla's is possible in 21st century

About a dozen armed Maoists, including two women cadres, reportedly stormed a village along the Western Ghats close to the Kerala border in the Nilgiris district late on Friday night and addressed a gathering of about 150 tribals.

According to police sources, the Maoists came to the Nedukal Kambai village in the Kolakombai police station limits around 9 p.m.

Asking the villagers to gather at a common place, a couple of them began addressing the gathering, while others took positions to guard.

Making an appeal to the villagers to join the CPI (Maoist), they released a manifesto promising to restore land, water and forest rights to the people.

During the hour-long meeting, the Maoists distributed pamphlets and pasted posters in the village, according to sources.

Calling for strengthening the ‘People's Liberation Guerrilla Army’ to establish “people’s rule”, the Maoists urged the tribals, Dalits, students, women and educated youth to join the armed struggle.

Vowing to render justice to the Munnar tea estate workers, they appealed to the people to reject the elections which “was the path of corrupt politicians” and drive away the Special Task Force (STF) from the forest area, the sources said.

As the news of the Maoists’ visit spread early on Saturday, a huge posse of policemen, including STF personnel, conducted combining operations in the area. Inspector-General of Police (West Zone) C. Sridhar visited the area.

The incident comes months after senior Maoist leader Rupesh alias Jogi, who heads the Western Ghats Special Zonal Committee, his wife Shyna and three others were arrested near Tirupur based on intelligence shared by the Special Intelligence Branch of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh police.

The sporadic activities of Maoists along the Western Ghats are part of their agenda to establish a stronghold in the tri-junction of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, police sources added.

When contacted, a senior police official said combing operations were on till late on Saturday and nothing could be confirmed on the movement of the Maoists. “We have some information that cannot be confirmed at this juncture,” he said.

SOURCE: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/armed-maoists-storm-village-ask-people-to-boycott-polls/article8427982.ece

SEE ALSO:

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/tata-steel-and-salwa-judum-what-you.html

https://www.facebook.com/Stop-Indias-War-on-the-People-167572753339209/?ref=ts&fref=ts