[IT]
That is, the victory of opium and Capital. Which, as usual, go hand in hand.
It is described as a clash of civilizations between radical Islam and Occident. The former, expression of a reactionary, intolerant and violent world, and the latter, the kingdom of democracy, freedom, equality and tolerance. The narration is so convincing that in Paris, and a little everywhere in every countries of Occidental Eldorado, millions of proletarians and bourgeois, governed and Right- and Left-wing governors have met together to demonstrate against the attack directed by a cell, we do not know of which Islamic organization, against the newsroom of the satiric magazine “Charlie Hebdo”.
And other millions of people, on the other side, still today demonstrate against the outrage that, according to them, Charlie Hebdo had caused to their religion. Meanwhile, the actual context from which the attack has originated, is completely hidden, that is the permanent imperialistic war, by now become, even if with clearly different features with respect to the previous ones, a proper world war, which stake is, as usual, more prosaically, l’argent, world supremacy. On the other hand, of which more or less radical Islam and of which Occident, with its values, are we speaking? The variables of the one and the other are so many that in order to list them, the pages of a very big book would be not sufficient. Actually, the fronts are very composite and variously articulated, depending on the transformation of some macro-economic variables and, in this phase, precisely of oil price. As we have already demonstrated in different occasions, it is one, if not the most important one, of the macro-economic variables to determine the monetary mass expressed in dollars in circulation on a world scale. To every variation of a certain extent, it also corresponds a variation of exchange relations among all the most important currencies and an advantages and disadvantages re-distribution of the different world bourgeoisie segments, depending on the position that any of them occupies in the world economic-financial system. Well, in the last few months, as it is known, oil price – and with it, the gas one – has decreased of about 50%, because of the introduction in the North-American market of the ill-famed shale oil and shale gas, and of the contemporary demand reduction, due to the permanence of the world economic crisis.
From this event, a no-holds-barred war among the different factions of the international bourgeoisie has sprang, sided on one front or on the other, according to the advantages and/or disadvantages deriving from such a low price. At first, above all between Saudi Arabia – that uses conventional extraction technologies, together with the most important oil companies holding its licenses – among which also the USA big companies of this sector – and the firms using non-conventional technologies [1], such as, indeed, those ones used for shale oil and shale gas. They could have, in order to avoid the repercussions of supply excess on prices, reduced the production, but making so, they would have had to renounce forever a remarkable rate of their profits. So, relying on the fact that the extraction costs with non-conventional technologies are very high, they have chosen a further price decrease, with the aim to eliminate, now and forever, shale. In effect, the analyst M. Ricci informs us: “At 45 dollars per barrel, the 95% of shale oil production is out of the market.” [2]
The more so as with a price at this level, there will be the bankruptcy of the not few producers, too, who, even if using conventional extraction technologies, have higher extraction costs or budget constraints that do not allow them to absorb such a big and so prolonged decrease.
For example, Russia, although its manufacturing costs are among the lowest in the world ( a little more than 4 dollars/barrel) and despite it is, as Saudi Arabia, strongly interested in eliminating the concurrence of American shale oil and, if possible, also some of the traditional producers, because the oil and gas exportations form the 50% of its federal budget, it is very probable that, if oil price would stabilize for much time under 60 dollars/barrel, it would have many problems to stay in the game. [3]
So much so that, in order to not pull itself out, it has asked and obtained from Saudi Arabia to “control together the productive surplus levels, the most worrying aspect of the market situation.” [4]
In other words, the failure of shale oil would have consequences not only on the firms of this sector, mostly little and middle-sized ones, but also on the bank system, that, profiting of the copious liquidity made available by the Federal Reserve with the frequent quantitative easing of 80 billion of dollars per month, has financed them without splitting hairs too much. As well as, in the case of oil price increase, also the export sector would find itself in great difficulties, because, already now, its productivity margins are reducing, because of dollar revaluation with respect to almost all its competitors’ currencies. Actually, in the time of world economy, borders correspond less and less to national ones and more and more to the interests of international bourgeoisie different fractions. At this regard, it is emblematic what is happening in the clash between Russia and Ukraine and, inside this last one, between Russia and Kiev supporters. Indeed, here we could expect everything except that a conspicuous segment of the Ukrainian bourgeoisie united to Kiev, will continue to do business with the Russian one. And not only for “Gas and coal, which the country (Ukraine – editor’s note) needs desperately in order to not freeze to death: as Washington Post has discovered, weapon factories – of which the country is one of the first ten producers in the world – has continued to export to Russia also during the war, while the country asked Occident for war material supplies. And farmers have taken advantage of the embargo to the European agriculture products (above all the Italian ones) to provide the Russian markets.” [5]
In such a mess of discording interests, where does “Occident” start and end, considering that even the different factions of the American bourgeoisie are fighting each other? And where does Islam start and end? Perhaps in Syria, where there are more Islamist factions fighting each other than ants in an anthill? Or in Nigeria? Or in Iraq, where Sunni of Isis fight against Shiite who support Iran, but also, together with Shiite, against Kurd Sunni? And it is true that the deplorable people who have attacked Charlie Hebdo are Islamist, but it is also true that they were all at least second generation French. Who went to French schools and who have grown there. In every way, modern proletarians who have lived their life searching for some barely decent job opportunities and exploited exactly like every proletarian in this world, because, at any latitude, the capitalistic system can only base itself on the most brutal exploitation of labor force.
One of the commando components, as media of all around the world reported, in 2009 was part of a delegation composed by nine workers (recently taken temporarily by Coca-Cola plant in Grigny) chosen to meet the then President Sarkozy and to discuss with him about the increasing youth unemployment. He was so anti-Occidental that at the end of the meeting, with journalists who asked him how it was, praised Sarkozy for having shown his interest in their request to obtain a permanent contract in substitution of the temporary one. Obviously, he remained a temporary employee and as such, forced to sell, to say it with Marx, “his very self, and that by fractions. He auctions off eight, 10, 12, 15 hours of his life, one day like the next, to the highest bidder, to the owner of raw materials, tools, and the means of life, i.e., to the capitalist.” [6] Without future and even without the hope of a future, in a continuous wandering between a work place and another and between them, nothing.
“To put meaning in one's life may end in madness, but life without meaning is the torture of restlessness and vague desire.”, one of the most beautiful Edgar Lee Masters’ poems says. [7]
And from here, the distance is short to feel themselves soldiers of a God who promises Paradise in heaven and on earth. But, actually, this is a renounce to life. And this is well known by the priest who, with the tunic stinking of oil and dilated by money, greets him at his service and makes of him sometime a human bomb, a selling priced weapon, sometime a machine to slaughter defenseless prisoners or to shoot defenseless journalists. And it is also well known that the opium (any religion) and the Capital, a mortal vise for Proletariat, go hand in hand.
Notes
[1] We consider non-conventional all those technologies different from the ones used to extract oil and gas directly from subsoil. The most famous is the fracking one, consisting in the chipping, by explosive or by injecting liquids at an high pressure, of rocks or clays in which oil or gas are entrapped.
[2] Maurizio Ricci – “Petrolio, è Guerra di ribassi” – La Repubblica, January 14th, 2015
[3] Data taken from: Margherita Paolini – “Nella guerra del gas Mosca parte da Ankara” – Limes, December 2014
[4] Ib., pag. 182
[5] Dario Quintavalle – “Per scacciare i Gattopardi mettiamo l’Ucraina sotto tutela – Limes, December 2014.
[6] K. Marx, “Lavoro salariato e Capitale” – Ed. riuniti – pag. 20.
[7] Edgar Lee Masters – “Antologia di Spoon River” – George Gray – Einaudi Editore – pag. 67.