When an idea grips the masses, it becomes a material force. The printing press may have revolutionized the way in which ideas might grip masses. The printing press' product's use-value is to be read and gripped by the ideas in the document printed.
Waistline2 at aol.com <http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis> wrote: Is the printing press a force of production ? John Henry WL: The printing press is first and foremost a machine and a "press." A press is a specific kind of machine whose primary function distinguish it as a "press" because it applies pressure - force, to imprint something else; for instance various stamping press. The printing press is one kind of machine and one kind of press, amongst millions of millions of instruments, presses and machines that constitute the forces of production that are all ways driven by a definable energy grid or source. The material power of the productive forces or even the printing press as a specific machine, is measured against itself in its evolutionary development, from one state of productivity - input and output, including energy, to the next and in the value sense, in relationship to a mass of labor deployed and used to produce a definable quantity of products. The initial measure of the productivity of "the print machine" is against simple tool and instruments usage to write and recreate symbols on something. Forces of production is a concept within Marxism that describes the unity of tools, instruments, machines, infrastructure and underlying energy source, in combination with human labor. Thus, from my view point the question: "Is the printing press a force of production?" is stated and posed incorrectly. The question is lopsided and not very different from asking "if human beings are a force of production." Human beings are most certain the most important and revolutionary ingredient in the forces of production or "the productive forces in society." After all it is our alienated labor that creates the tools, instruments, machinery and harness the energy source that breaths life into the concept "forces of production" or simply "the productive forces." Seems to me that human beings are a force of nature. Productive forces at a certain stage in their development, most certainly after the growth of the division of labor and the increased separation between mental and physical labor, embody and make manifest relations of production. Society is formed on the basis of the unity of productive forces and productive relations or as it is also stated, relations of production. Productive relations, or production relations or relations of production, are the laws defining property and the relationship of people to property in the process of production. The process of production defines itself. Waistline _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list [email protected] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
