Frontline – July 05, 2019

authoritarianism’

BY

SPECIAL

ARRANGEMENT

domtoputabidingconstraintson

capitaldoesnotexistbecausecapit-

alismis a deterministicforce.Or to

putit differently,ina waythatex-

plains whytheyarecalled the“spon-

taneous” tendenciesofcapital:in

capitalism, theonlythingthatpos-

sessesfreedomor spontaneityiscap-

ital. Wedon’tpossessthefreedomto

constraincapital(atleastnotper-

manently).It is in thenatureof these

tendencies, and therefore in the

natureof capital, to refuseto tolerate

more than temporary constraints

upon itself. And,if thisis right,I am

sayingthatwhatweareseeingtoday

is liberalism’sessentialrolein facilit-

atingthesetendencies.Allthishas

interestingconsequencesforhowto

thinkabout thestandard debates

thatI mentionedearlier.

AnotherwaytoelaboratePat-

naik’spointis in termsof a disjunc-

tion.Ashesays,whatfollowsfrom