absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-29 Thread Charles Brown
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/29/business/29tax.html http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/29/business/29tax.html ? hp=pagewanted=printposition= July 29, 2004 I.R.S. Says Americans' Income Shrank for 2 Consecutive Years By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON The overall income Americans reported to the government

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-22 Thread Charles Brown
absolute general law of capitalist accumulation is mistaken, when you say: These claims about how a subjectivity willing and able to transform productive relations into rational relations are mistaken. Individuals immiserized in this way would ( not) be subjects of this kind

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-22 Thread Waistline2
These claims about how a subjectivity willing and able to transform productive relations into rational relations are mistaken. Individuals immiserized in this way would ( not) be subjects of this kind. there is no necessity, however, for capitalism to produce immiserization. The organic

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-21 Thread Charles Brown
by Chris Doss For formal logic , arriving at a contradiction means there is a mistake, something is false. -- Technically, this is false. In logic, ever since Plato, the rule has been that something cannot both be and not be in the same way at the same time. Dialectics in Hegel and Marx do not

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation/dialectics and logic

2004-07-21 Thread Charles Brown
system are the motives for it to change into a different system, i.e. socialism ? Contradiction as the basis for change is a dialectical concept. Marx deals with dialectical, not formal logical contradictions. The contradictions dealt with in the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-21 Thread Chris Doss
CB: What's the difference between what you said and what I said ? I believe you state the rule of non-contradiction, which is what I am referring to. --- I thought you were implying that Marx and Hegel denied the RoNC. Maybe I misread you. __ Do you Yahoo!? Vote

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-21 Thread Ted Winslow
of capital and via this an industrial reserve army. This produces immiserization of the proletariat. This is the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation. This is irrational and therefore unreal. The rational outcome of the law by which a constantly increasing quantity of means

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-21 Thread Ted Winslow
I didn't set off the quote from Marx. It's the passage beginning within the capitalist system. It's also from Chap. 25 of Capital http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch25.htm. Also, I meant to say: Individuals immiserized in this way would _not_ be subjects of this kind. Ted

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation/dialectics and logic

2004-07-21 Thread Devine, James
don't know about motives, but obviously for Marx, the contradictions in capitalism create possibilities for the emergence of socialism. The contradictions dealt with in the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation are the poverty and unemployment that inherently accompany technological

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-21 Thread Waistline2
In a message dated 7/21/2004 8:07:43 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: there is no necessity, however, for capitalism to produce immiserization. The organic composition of capital doesn't have to change in the way Marx assumes. For this and other reasons, the creation of

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-21 Thread Ted Winslow
Marx sets out the differentia specifica of capitalist production in the following passage from Chap. 25 (that this is an expression of motivation dominated by greed is made clear in other passages in Capital and elsewhere). This too is an absolute law of this mode of production in the sense

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-21 Thread Charles Brown
by Chris Doss 21 July 2004 12:29 UTC CB: What's the difference between what you said and what I said ? I believe you state the rule of non-contradiction, which is what I am referring to. --- I thought you were implying that Marx and Hegel denied the RoNC. Maybe I misread you. ^^ CB: I can see

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation/dialectics and logic

2004-07-21 Thread Charles Brown
. ^^ The contradictions dealt with in the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation are the poverty and unemployment that inherently accompany technological progress under capitalist relations of production, a contradiction of regress and progress, with regress being absolute

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation/dialectics and logic

2004-07-21 Thread Waistline2
In a message dated 7/21/2004 11:36:26 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: The contradictions dealt with in the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation are the poverty and unemployment that inherently accompany technological progress under capitalist relations

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation/dialectics and logic

2004-07-21 Thread Devine, James
Charles:The contradictions dealt with in the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation are the poverty and unemployment that inherently accompany technological progress under capitalist relations of production, a contradiction of regress and progress, with regress being absolute and progress

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation/dialectics and logic

2004-07-21 Thread Mario José de Lima
, July 21, 2004 2:31 PM Subject: Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation/dialectics and logic Charles:The contradictions dealt with in the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation are the poverty and unemployment that inherently accompany technological progress under capitalist

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation/dialectics and logic

2004-07-21 Thread Devine, James
] absolute general law of capitalist accumulation/dialectics and logic Dear Devine / To relate each contradiction with its results is to return to an explanation established in causality. In fact, it will lead to the abandonment of the totality notion./ Mário - Original Message

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-21 Thread Ralph Johansen
explicitly repudiates. Ralph - Original Message - From: Ted Winslow [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2004 5:57 AM Subject: Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation Marx sets out the differentia specifica of capitalist production in the following

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-21 Thread Ted Winslow
Ralph Johansen wrote: Where do you find in Marx any reference to innate greed as the motivation for accumulation under capital? Greed, sloth, etc., are among the seven deadly sins of western mythology and religious doctrine, the basis of Judaeo-Christian guilt, not the basis for accumulation

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-20 Thread Chris Doss
If dialectics form a system of logic, it's one that's qualitatively different from formal logic. In fact, I'd call them a system of heuristics (which Webster's defines as an aid to learning, discovery, or problem-solving ... that utilize self-educating techniques). --- It is a system of logic in

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-20 Thread Devine, James
dialectical thinking is a system of logic in the Hegelian sense of the word, [which] is not logic in the Aristotelian or Russellian senses. exactly. jim devine

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-20 Thread Chris Doss
dialectical thinking is a system of logic in the Hegelian sense of the word, [which] is not logic in the Aristotelian or Russellian senses. exactly. jim devine --- In fact in Hegel the dialectical thinking isn't merely a process taking place in the human mind, but simultaneously taking place

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-20 Thread Charles Brown
by Chris Doss --- It is a system of logic in the Hegelian sense of the word, which refers to the relationships between ideas as the develop in the unfolding of Absolute Spirit. Hegel was using the word Logik with its Greek root, logos, in mind, esp. the use of logos in Hellenistic and Roman

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-20 Thread Devine, James
/~jdevine From: PEN-L list on behalf of Chris Doss Sent: Tue 7/20/2004 8:48 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [PEN-L] absolute general law of capitalist accumulation dialectical thinking is a system of logic in the Hegelian sense of the word, [which

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-20 Thread Charles Brown
). For formal logic , arriving at a contradiction means there is a mistake, something is false. For dialectics, contradictions can be fruitful, drive the process to finding a truth. A dialectical question might be what contradictions is Marx dealing with in the absolute general law of capitalist

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-20 Thread Chris Doss
Grammar, logic and math are systems of ordered symbols. -- Me: Not to the Greeks, or to Hegel. They are objectively real. That's why the Greeks never evolved the concepts of negative numbers or zero; how can you talk about zero of something? It's absurd. In one late work of Greek mathematics I

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-20 Thread Chris Doss
For formal logic , arriving at a contradiction means there is a mistake, something is false. -- Technically, this is false. In logic, ever since Plato, the rule has been that something cannot both be and not be in the same way at the same time. Dialectics in Hegel and Marx do not deny this; they

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-20 Thread Chris Doss
I mentioned Plato: Technically, this is false. In logic, ever since Plato, the rule has been that something cannot both be and not be in the same way at the same time. --- Plato, of course, is where the conceot of dialectics got started in the first place. Does anybody know of Marx ever

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-19 Thread Charles Brown
thinking the use of absolute in the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation is in the opposition absolute/relative, as in absolute and relative surplus value and other usages. However, here , Marx does not mention a relative. Perhaps these are the exceptions , the non-all other things being

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-19 Thread Devine, James
Charles writes: The funny thing is dialectics is logic. So, it is a way of talking about things. Formal logic is a linguistic project. Why not dialectical logic to some extent ? what exactly is logic then? I'm no expert on philosophy, but it seems to me that dialectics isn't a logic in the same

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-19 Thread Charles Brown
by Devine, James Charles writes: The funny thing is dialectics is logic. So, it is a way of talking about things. Formal logic is a linguistic project. Why not dialectical logic to some extent ? what exactly is logic then? I'm no expert on philosophy, but it seems to me that dialectics isn't a

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-19 Thread ravi
Charles Brown wrote: by Devine, James Charles writes: The funny thing is dialectics is logic. So, it is a way of talking about things. Formal logic is a linguistic project. i am not sure who wrote what, but addressing the above: i would submit that formal logic is a mathematical project,

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-19 Thread Gil Skillman
Charles Brown wrote: by Devine, James Charles writes: The funny thing is dialectics is logic. So, it is a way of talking about things. Formal logic is a linguistic project. To which Ravi responds: i am not sure who wrote what, but addressing the above: i would submit that formal logic is a

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-19 Thread Charles Brown
. So, mathematics is linguistic is another proposition :) Anyway, I wonder if the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation is not an empirical generalization, but a statement of a theoretical conclusion or something. One of the earlier posts raised this. But, maybe if it is empirical

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-18 Thread Devine, James
Charles asks:Are you saying someone has put Hegel ( or dialectics) into simpler language ? No. I'm saying that Marx's dialectical and materialist perspective (in CAPITAL) can be translated into relatively common-sense terms by using a non-Hegelian language. jd

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation/ Hegel/Marx

2004-07-16 Thread Charles Brown
with scientific materialist ontological premises and of the inability of minds dogmatically attached to these premises to comprehend alternative premises such as the premise that relations are internal. CB: How does the concept of internal relations help explicate the absolute general law

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-15 Thread Charles Brown
In the following Engels uses the categories absolute and relative to analyze Hegel. See especially the last sentence in the passage below. Perhaps this usage can help understand Marx's use of absolute in the absolute law of capitalist accumulation. CB ^^ Frederick Engels' LUDWIG FEUERBACH

FW: [PEN-L] absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-15 Thread Funke Jayson J
a great deal of sterile controversy. As an example we may cite the famous 'law of the increasing misery of the proletariat,' which Marx called 'the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation.' Anti-Marxists have always maintained the falsity of this law and have deduced from

Re: FW: [PEN-L] absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-15 Thread Ted Winslow
Jayson Funke quoted Sweezy: Marx was a strong adherent of the abstract-deductive method which was such a marked characteristic of the Ricardian school... Marx believed in and practiced what modern theorists have called the method of 'successive approximations,' which consists in moving from the

Absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-15 Thread Charles Brown
with increases in inequality. The opposite of this version of the trickle-down effect can be seen in Karl Marx 's absolute general law of capitalist accumulation, in which he posits the normal tendency of economic growth under capitalism as being that wages fall behind the growth of labor productivity

Re: Absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-15 Thread Devine, James
that's because I rewrote -- or wrote -- most of the stuff on the Wikipedia about the trickle down effect. (There's also an entry on trickle down economics, but, the last time I looked, it was incoherent. When I rewrote it, the fellow used (misinterpreted) my text as representing bad thinking.)

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-14 Thread Charles Brown
of workers, whose misery is in inverse ratio to its torment of labour. The more extensive, finally, the lazarus-layers of the working class, and the industrial reserve-army, the greater is official pauperism. This is the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation (p. 631) These, strictly

the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-14 Thread Charles Brown
exploitation of the World Spirit? Hegel's absolutes however, end up being permeated with absolute negativity, there his dialectic remains relevant to Marx's dialectic of Labour and Capital. In Capital, Vol. I in the chapter on the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation; capitalism, which cannot

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-14 Thread Ted Winslow
Daniel Davies asked: was he right? Hegel's logic elaborates an ontology. One of its key concepts is internal relations. Individual entities are internally related where their essences are the product of their relations. This contrasts with the concept of external relations which conceives

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-14 Thread Charles Brown
In Hegelian jargon absolute is contrasted with relative. Perhaps Marx sharply stresses the bad sides of capitalist production as its absolute aspect, but with equal emphasis clearly proves that this social form was necessary to develop the productive forces of society, etc. , as the relative

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-14 Thread Waistline2
nverts the old category of industrial reserve army from being a reserve of the industrial system . . . the superfluous population world wide is not a reserve of industry waiting to enter exchange on the basis of a boom. The "absolute general law of capitalist accumulation" does not mea

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-13 Thread Charles Brown
Please excuse a layperson's answer: Secular is a trend without end. Carl That's one of those terms of art that reverses the lay sense. In a religious sense a trend without end is sacred. Charles

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-13 Thread Charles Brown
by Devine, James CB: Maybe the use of absolute here is not significant. JD:As I said, I think the word probably means abstract, but I'd have to consult a Hegel expert. Unfortunately, Marx decided to play with the use of Hegelian language in CAPITAL. This has put off and/or confused a lot of

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-13 Thread Devine, James
just one point, since I'm busy: CB writes On this, I take the position that Marx actually believed that dialectics is valid and therefore necessary as part of his conception ( not merely the word forms to be coquetted with, despite Marx's own description). In other words, we can't dispense with

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-13 Thread Carrol Cox
Devine, James wrote: I don't reject dialectical thinking. I just don't like Hegelian jargon. I think that all of CAPITAL could be translated in relatively simple language without dropping Marx's dialectical method, mode of presentation, or understanding of the world. In _Alienation_

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-13 Thread Charles Brown
by Devine, James just one point, since I'm busy: CB writes On this, I take the position that Marx actually believed that dialectics is valid and therefore necessary as part of his conception ( not merely the word forms to be coquetted with, despite Marx's own description). In other words, we

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-13 Thread Waistline2
A spectre is haunting the developed world - the spectre of the Limits to Growth. All the makers of accepted opinion have combined to exorcise this spectre: market analysts, editorialists, news anchors, economists. But the spectre remains as the economy's problems grow. We are now about to

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-13 Thread Charles Brown
Speaking of Hegel... CB News and Letters October 1998 Journal of Marxist-Humanism ... Class 5: The Notion of Capitalism: The Absolute General Law of Capitalist Accumulation. Class 5 focuses on the absolute general law ... www.newsandletters.org/ Issues/1999/Jan-Feb

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-13 Thread sartesian
One more thing... I went back and paged through Capital, and then picked up Vol 1 of the Science of Logic, and damned if I can find anything anywhere in Capital that approaches, parallels, the language Hegel uses in the Science of Logic-- not that Hegel doesn't make sense-- but Capital, to a

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-13 Thread Shane Mage
sartesian wrote: One more thing... I went back and paged through Capital, and then picked up Vol 1 of the Science of Logic, and damned if I can find anything anywhere in Capital that approaches, parallels, the language Hegel uses in the Science of Logic-- not that Hegel doesn't make sense-- but

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-12 Thread Charles Brown
Thanks for your comment, Gil. Please excuse a layperson's question, but I have never quite been able to understand this economist's use of secular. What is the definition of secular. Charles by Gil Skillman You could certainly point to recent economic phenomena supporting an affirmative answer

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-12 Thread Daniel Davies
July 2004 13:47 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation Thanks for your comment, Gil. Please excuse a layperson's question, but I have never quite been able to understand this economist's use of secular. What is the definition of secular. Charles by Gil

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-12 Thread Carl Remick
From: Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks for your comment, Gil. Please excuse a layperson's question, but I have never quite been able to understand this economist's use of secular. What is the definition of secular. Please excuse a layperson's answer: Secular is a trend without end. Carl

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-12 Thread Gil Skillman
Hello, Charles. Secular meaning over a long period of time. As dd points out, economists usually use this in the sense of as opposed to cyclical. Gil Thanks for your comment, Gil. Please excuse a layperson's question, but I have never quite been able to understand this economist's use of

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-12 Thread Devine, James
Charles Brown writes: I appreciate what you are saying about Marx qualifying his statement. I believe all social scientific empirical generalizations are less than 100% true ( including the one I am making here ? Reflexivity alert :)). This sentence that I type now isn't true. I wonder

Re: the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-09 Thread Chris Burford
- Original Message - From: Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 3:45 PM Subject: [PEN-L] the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation How broad does Marx intend this generalization to be ? His use of the term absolute seems to indicate

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-08 Thread Chris Burford
] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 2:46 PM Subject: [PEN-L] absolute general law of capitalist accumulation Does the empirical generalization suggested below have validity today nationally or globally ? Charles The greater the social wealth, the functioning capital

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-08 Thread sartesian
] Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 12:16 AM Subject: Re: [PEN-L] absolute general law of capitalist accumulation This revolution has to be achieved by radical reforms in the *relative* distribution of world money, and in the first place by the peaceful but utterly effective dethronement

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-08 Thread Chris Burford
- Original Message - From: sartesian [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 1:51 PM Subject: Re: [PEN-L] absolute general law of capitalist accumulation Chris Burford states at the beginning of his post that the general law exists only to conclude, in his

the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-08 Thread Charles Brown
extensive, finally, the lazarus-layers of the working-class, and the industrial reserve army, the greater is official pauperism. This is the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation. Like all other laws it is modified in its working by many circumstances, the analysis of which does not concern

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-08 Thread Charles Brown
by sartesian -clip- Any number of radicals, of left or right, can and will argue that the workers in the advanced countries must sacrifice their wealth for reasons of right and left-- like the national good, the international good, the moral good, and for the sake of the soul. But such

Re: the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-08 Thread Devine, James
Marx qualifies this absolute law immediately after stating it. For him, it's a law at the level of capital in general, the subject of volume I of CAPITAL. However, it might be changed by the competition of capitals, e.g., the uneven development of capital on the world scale. During the period

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-08 Thread Charles Brown
I appreciate what you are saying about Marx qualifying his statement. I believe all social scientific empirical generalizations are less than 100% true ( including the one I am making here ? Reflexivity alert :)). I wonder whether the use of the term absolute is some type of rhetorical advice to

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-08 Thread Gil Skillman
Concerning Marx's statement of the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation, Charles asks Does the empirical generalization suggested below have validity today nationally or globally ? You could certainly point to recent economic phenomena supporting an affirmative answer to this question

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-08 Thread Devine, James
Concerning Marx's statement of the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation, Charles asks Does the empirical generalization suggested below have validity today nationally or globally ? Gil writes: You could certainly point to recent economic phenomena supporting an affirmative

absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-07 Thread Charles Brown
. This is the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation. Like all other laws it is modified in its working by many circumstances, the analysis of which does not concern us here. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch25.htm#S4

Re: absolute general law of capitalist accumulation

2004-07-07 Thread Devine, James
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine -Original Message- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Charles Brown Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 6:47 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PEN-L] absolute general law of capitalist accumulation Does