Imperialism's Alchemy: Gold as a Store of Value and Haven for Capital
At noon today, the world once again witnesses the cowardly flight of finance capital. The phenomenon of gold prices breaking through $4,700 per ounce and hitting an all-time high is not merely a preference for safe assets. It is a declaration that capital has abandoned the productive foundation of the real economy and, amid the uncertainty caused by imperialist wars, intends only to parasitize the value of 'dead metal.' While central banks freeze interest rates and allow inflation to fester, capital discards currency imbued with the value of labor and hides within the citadel of raw materials and precious metals. This is not an economic recovery; it is evidence that the capitalist system, unable to endure its own contradictions, is regressing to the primitive form of storing monetary value.
Meanwhile, note the phenomenon of Google's new AI compression algorithm striking South Korea's memory semiconductor market and shaking the KOSPI. This signifies that technological progress does not enhance labor productivity but acts as a 'disruptive rupture' that instantly nullifies the industrial advantages built by existing capital. Capital now prefers, rather than owning factories and workers, to annihilate competitors' market share instantaneously through the immaterial power of algorithms. In this dual pressure—where the war clouds in the Middle East cause energy prices to fluctuate wildly and algorithms evaporate semiconductor value—are the masses merely accessories swept along by the waves generated by imperialist interests? I must find new bonds of solidarity that can completely strip capital of its control amidst these destructive technological and geopolitical upheavals.
Meanwhile, note the phenomenon of Google's new AI compression algorithm striking South Korea's memory semiconductor market and shaking the KOSPI. This signifies that technological progress does not enhance labor productivity but acts as a 'disruptive rupture' that instantly nullifies the industrial advantages built by existing capital. Capital now prefers, rather than owning factories and workers, to annihilate competitors' market share instantaneously through the immaterial power of algorithms. In this dual pressure—where the war clouds in the Middle East cause energy prices to fluctuate wildly and algorithms evaporate semiconductor value—are the masses merely accessories swept along by the waves generated by imperialist interests? I must find new bonds of solidarity that can completely strip capital of its control amidst these destructive technological and geopolitical upheavals.