Volume I of CAPITAL is all about class domination, exploitation, and struggle. But
volumes II and III are more "superficial" (in Marx's terms), dealing with the
relationships among industries, issues of finance, etc. In fact, volume III is in many
ways the same as the bourgeois political economy of Marx's day. The difference is that
the volume III analysis is done within the context of volume I's analysis. For
example, though Marx's analysis of interest rates isn't that different from bourgeois
views, he views interest income as part of surplus-value, which comes from
exploitation. He sees markets and competition as distorting appearances, so that
people don't usually see it that way. (Instead, they might think of interest as income
extorted by unfair usurers, etc., which is true in many cases but not on the societal
level.) But that doesn't say that Marx simply flushed bourgeois analysis down the loo.
Sure, behind markets there are death squads. But the system has to be legitimated,
too. No system can run totally by force for very long. (If it does, the entire
surplus-product goes to protecting the system and it doesn't grow.) Commodity
fetishism (the illusions produced by competition, as vol. III calls it) helps to
legitimize the system. We can't understand that by simply looking at the death squads.
jd
-----Original Message-----
From: PEN-L list on behalf of Charles Brown
Sent: Fri 6/25/2004 7:35 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc:
Subject: [PEN-L] Marxist Fianancial Advice
I always wonder whether Marx intended the concepts in _Capital_ to be used
in detailed analyses of things like oil price fluctuations or concrete
business cycles. The only practice that might accompany such analyses would
be such things as Keynesian and social dem reforms to soften the impact of
recessions or regulation of the oil companies and their prices: Marxist
advice on how to reform capitalism.
Marx's discussion of the struggle for shorter work week reforms is related
to actual mass movements of workers at the time, situations where masses of
workers were in fact in organized motion and thereby with potential to turn
into revolutionary struggles. But today , there are not mass worker
movements to influence oil prices or blunt the business cycle.
Charles
^^^^^
by sartesian
Keerist, can't we at least spell "financial" correctly? And then terminate
this thread?
Marxist financial advice. Come on. Cut it out. Where doe s this take us?
Marxist arbitrage? Marxist hedge funds? Behind every free market there's a
death squad, at least one.
You need more money? Ssssshhhh. Don't tell anyone. Figure it out yourself
or go get a CFA.
Next subject, Marxist methods of seducing housekeepers?
