Swarthout’s Reviews > Empire of Capital > Status Update
Swarthout
is on page 14 of 184
"Today, it is harder than it was in earlier colonial empires to detect the transfer of wealth from weaker to stronger nations. But even when it is painfully obvious that such a transfer is taking place, how it is accomplished is no less opaque than the relation between capital and labour, and this opacity leaves a great deal of room for denial."
— Mar 19, 2026 08:48AM
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Swarthout’s Previous Updates
Swarthout
is on page 62 of 184
"Grotius’s argument had clear affinities with the Roman law principle of res nullius, which decreed that any ‘empty thing’ such as unoccupied land was common property until it was put to use – in the case of land, especially agricultural use. This would become a common justification of European colonization"
— Mar 22, 2026 10:25AM
Swarthout
is on page 20 of 184
"It is, for instance, significant that modern revolutions have occurred not in advanced capitalist societies but in societies where the state has presented a visible target, with a prominent role in direct exploitation."
— Mar 19, 2026 02:55PM
Swarthout
is on page 19 of 184
"Although the sovereign territorial state was not created by capitalism, the distincively capitalist separation of the ‘economic’ and the ‘political’ has produced a more clearly defined and complete territorial sovereignty than was possible in non-capitalist societies."
— Mar 19, 2026 02:49PM