Perhaps we can get an understanding of the issues on this thread by imagining Waistline's totally robotized or automated factory.
As Walter Reuther said (to Ford ?) if automobile production is 100% robotized, then who will buy the cars produced ? This refers to a zero profit realization problem for capitalists when there is zero consumption. If workers aren't paid anything the masses are in absolute poverty and absolutely restricted consumption, and they can't buy anything. So, the capitalists have zero realized profit. It is also an absolute overaccumulation situation. The rate of profit is zero because the OCC is mathematically undefined or maybe infinite, as the denominator in the OCC fraction is zero. Constant capital/ variable capital is 1/0 - "one over zero". Since there is no varible capital, no human labor all robots, there is no source of value, no new value, so there is no surplus value and no profit. If there is no exploitation there is no profit. The rate of profit is zero. If there is no profit, there is no capitalism. So, as capitalism moves toward no variable capital and all constant capital, absolute overaccumulation , it moves toward its own negation. Perhaps this extreme, and imaginary * example demonstrates the truth of both overaccumulation ( OCC of infinity/undefined, robots can't be exploited, so zero surplus value) and overproduction/zero-consumption (robots can't buy cars, zero realization of profit ) How's my math ? * (Of course, a perpetual motion machine is an impossibility because of the laws of physics, maybe one of the laws of thermodynamics) Jules Verne _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
