The Sharks Circle — Neoliberals in Wall Street are Attracted to Blood
Background and the ‘Miracle of Chile’ (Scare quotes)
As the Russo-Ukraine war continues, the real purpose and angle of the US ruling class comes to the surface, and it is a familiar pattern of creating a crisis that they can profit from. It is the same tactic used after NATO liquidated Yugoslavia, broke it up into itty bitty pieces to share amongst themselves. The same tactic utilized after undemocratically dissolving the USSR and setting off ‘shock therapy’ for the previous republics.
On the surface and to the public, the policies are advertised as: public-private partnerships, ‘opening of markets’, freedom and democracy, liberalization of the economy. Defund the public sector, privatize previously nationalized assets, and bring down the austerity hammer on workers.
In reality, these are policies of class warfare, systematic violence against the working class of a particular country.
The particular cookbook in Ukraine resembles the ‘fascism from without’ model the US perfected in the veritable lab experiment of post-coup Chile. At that time, September 11th, 1973, the US supported the overturning and murder of Salvador Allende, the socialist leader of Chile. Augusto Pinochet took his place, ending the rule of the people in favor of the rule of capital. Interestingly, and perhaps uniquely at the time, the capitalists that benefitted the most were not even in Chile! This was the ‘from without’ part I referenced, the new system that was setup was specifically made to benefit foreign markets, mainly the United States.
First things first. The Chilean coup military established a junta, suspending all political rights, dissolving Congress, and immediately repressing left wing movements (amazing how this always happens!). The Nixon administration back home formerly recognized their new puppet leader in ’74, after the dust had settled. Although official figures vary, some tens of thousands of Chileans, mostly leftists were murdered following the coup, and another 40k imprisoned. Deaths squads maintained a brutal ‘law and order’ over the disparaging and reluctant public.
Over the first 3 years, an additional estimated 130k were arrested or disappeared. The Chilean coup regime published a fake account of the coup, helped in large part by the CIA in language and dissemination. The ‘Chicago Boys’, spearheaded by the neoliberal Milton Freidman, all but ran the Chilean economy after the coup. Pro-business policies were implemented across the board, and while neoliberals will show you the GDP growth from $14 billion in 1977 to $247 billion in 2017, a Marxist will ask where that growth actually went! And turns out, 28.1% of the GDP is concentrated in the hands of the 1%. Absolutely massive stratification of the economy in favor of the rich. The new constitution drafted in 1980 privatized fundamental aspects of Chilean life: natural resources, land, and food. It entrenched the ‘rights’ of capital and profit in sectors such as education, healthcare, pensions, labor regulations and more.
Luckily for Chile, this experiment may be coming to an end. Neoliberalism’s failure to help the majority prosper will lead to its death knells. Today, half the population subsists on less than $500 a month, and nearly 70% on less than $700. They are also deeply in debt, many at over 40% of their income, proportionately.
This same model is being proposed, openly and in plain language, for post-war Ukraine.
Economic Warfare in a Wartime Economy
Since February 2022, Ukraine has been under attack by external forces (Russia on the one hand and CIA-trained extremists on the other), and by their own government, which has used the wartime chaos to liberalize the economy.
March 2022 — Ukrainian parliament suspends ability for labor to negotiate (employers can now suspend collective agreements).
May 2022 — a permanent reform is passed that excludes a large chunk of Ukrainian workers from their own labor rights!
Even today, the neoliberals complain of ‘outdated labor policy’ in Ukraine, blockages that legally make it difficult or inconvenient for them to squeeze surplus value from the citizens. Many of these laws are hangovers from the infinitely more democratic and pro-worker USSR. Its collapse has truly been a disaster for the world at large, and set the stage for the current imperialist derived, NATO-driven war.
What the West has Planned for Ukraine
Representatives (the sharks) of Western governments and corporations met in Switzerland in July to plan a series of economic ‘reforms’ they mean to impose on post-war Ukraine (the blood). These policies call for an assault on labor laws, “open markets,” dropping of tariffs, deregulating of industry, and the sale of state-owned enterprises to private investors (in the West, no doubt). This isn’t the first meeting the West’s ‘economic planners’ have had in regards to Ukraine. For the past few years, they’ve met annually to discuss the possibility of a conflict and how to capitalize on it, under the name of Ukraine Reform Conference.
What’s this really about? Freedom and sovereignty for Ukraine? No.
Freedom for capital to exploit the already poorest nation in Europe, one that is undoubtedly rich in resources. This all will happen at the expense of the Ukraine people, who deserve a chance to rebuild and develop independent economic policies that benefit their people, not just their ruling class and oligarchy. The URC aimed explicitly to put Ukraine on a path of “strengthening the market economy“, “decentralization, privatization, reform of state-owned enterprises, land reform, state administration reform,” and “Euro-Atlantic integration.” You can see it plainly on the above link. These are the same interests that pushed hard to make sure this war happened in the first place, attempting to weaken Russia at any cost, even the lives of Ukrainians they pretend to care so much about. Truly monstrous behavior.
These policies of privatization are not democratic in any way. The people are largely against them. Because of this, Ukrainian ruling class turned to Britain for some lessons on how to make these unpopular policies palatable. What did the UK and US imperialists suggest at these planning sessions? If the URC is anything to go off of:
1. Less taxes on the wealthy (40% of Ukraine’s GDP is taxes currently)
2. “Updated” labor laws — Ukrainian workers with one year experience are guaranteed a nine week ‘dismissal notice’ when fired, currently. That is too long for the imperialists.
3. Deregulation — enhance competition and ‘remove red tape’ (this generally means there are just too many blockers for exploiting workers!)
4. More FDI — this will allow western companies to control what is and isn’t invested in after the war, when rebuilding is a centerpiece. They can make Ukraine an export based, dependent client/colony.
Conclusion
When post-USSR Russia was exposed to these same or similar shock therapy, these saw 3.2 million excess deaths. What this means is that the West will have more blood on its hands than the very invasion they moralistically stand against, without a hint of self-awareness or a whiff of their own hypocrisy. Joining in the bloodshed are Ukraine’s very own, homegrown oligarchs, behind the guise of ‘recovery’. They will gladly reap the benefits of further exploitation and restructure Ukraine into their own image. What is needed is working class leadership, solidarity and a creative vision for rebuilding Ukraine. They might do well to join China’s BRI, an alternative to the austerity centered fascism from without. Because that is ultimately what is happening. Fascism is capitalism in decay, in retreat. Ukraine’s capitalists are pressing forward now, hand in hand with the imperialists of the world, hoping to claim the ultimate victory over the Ukrainian working class: guaranteed labor exploitation and a spot at the table of wealth.
I hope you enjoyed the article. This is certainly a subject of great sensitivity, but I’d like to dare anyone reading to really think about what the role of their government is in this conflict, who benefits, and who is hurt. We can stand in solidarity with those whose lives are ruined, while not painting a rosy picture to cover our nations complicity in causing this ruin. We can demand better. Demand real sovereignty. Demand that the US allow Ukraine to govern itself, rather than operate as a client of empire.
