Page - 100 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

100 chapter 3 whichaccompanycapitalconcentrationandcentralisation,arefundamentally importantfortheharmoniousgrowthofthecapitalisteconomy.Developments suchastheexportofcapitalsurplus,rationalisationofthemanufacturingpro- cess, technological progress, and replacing free competitionwithmonopoly marketcontrol increaseproductivityandwork intensity.Bauer felt that these processeswerepositive.Heviewedthedemiseofmanybranchesofcommer- cialproductionandtheirconsequences–thedestructionofsmalltraderesult- ing fromtheconcentrationofcapital–asan inevitable sideeffectof internal development tendencieswithincapitalism.Ontheotherhand, it is crucial to understandthatBauerdidnotquietly ignore thenegativesocial andpolitical effectsofimperialistpolicies.Morethanonce,hepointedoutthattheyaggrav- ate class antagonisms and lead to awidening of the economic gap: a small groupofcapitalistsbecomeswealthierat theexpenseof theworkingmasses; petty owners aredeclassedand join the ranksof contractworkers. Theyalso result infallinglevelsofconsumptionamongthepopulation,decliningwages, andrising levelsofunemployment.Theweakeningofdemocraticstructures– a result of the growing interventionismof thebourgeois state, the reinforce- mentof its instrumentsofpower(thepoliceandarmy)andtheirdeployment in the service of capital – posed, in his view, a serious danger to social life. Anexpandedarmy–asheargued inopposition toSchippel –doesnotbear any benefits for theworkingmasses at all. Rather, it becomes amachine to strangletheirresistance,abarriertotheireconomic,politicalandsocialeman- cipation.42 Bauer’s merit as far as raising awareness of imperialism’s consequences, however, laynotinhisgeneralobservations,butinhisattempttodemonstrate howmonopoly policies helped shape the standard of living for theworking class.Hisearlier judgements fromtheyears 1906and1907arenotentirelyreli- able,which resulted fromthe fact thatdataon thedevelopmentof imperial- ismwas sparse andcouldnotprovide abase for objective assessment in the early stages of his research. In his laterwork, Bauer revealed to theworking class thedangersandostensiblebenefitsofcapitalism’sdevelopmenttowards imperialism.43Ontheonehand, theperiodofcapitalcirculationis shortened duetointensifiedproduction,andtheimportofcheapfoodsupplies fromthe colonies improves thepurchasingpowerof labour.On theother, thepositive consequencesofcapitaloutflowareneutralisedbytariffpolicies that serve to 42 Schippel’sanalysisconcludedthatthearmyofthebourgeoisstatecanbeconvertedintoa people’sarmy.Hence,theprogressofmilitarisationcanbeconsideredasawayof‘growing into’ socialism. 43 KarlRennerandMaxAdleralsowroteaboutthis–seeRenner1915;compareAdler1915.