Louis Proyect wrote:
> I shocked to discover that Arrighi views Adam Smith as a prophet of markets,
> but not of capitalism. Not only that, what's been happening in China for the
> past 20 years ago is the development of markets rather than capitalism. Boy,
> you learn something new every day.
well, to some extent he's right -- about Smith, not China.
Smith didn't really have a concept of capitalism _per se_, separate
from markets. At the time he wrote, the social distance between the
workers and the capitalists was relatively small in the cities and
towns ("relatively" meaning compared to nowadays). (The working poor
were another matter: as Michael Perelman points out, he sneered at
them and worse.) There was some circulation between the two groups. So
Smith advocated "free markets" (against the Mercantilist state) and
even said that the benefits of spreading markets would benefit the
poor and working folks. On the side, he even advocated high wages
(Book I, chapter 8 of the WEALTH OF NATIONS).
In practice, of course, Smith's advocacy of free markets has been used
as an ideological cover for the expansion of capitalism. It's a
bait-and-switch. We're promised Smithian free markets but what we get
is Friedmaniac capitalism, the benefits going to the rich and the
costs being dumped on the working class (unless they fight back). And
this is what's happening in China, as I understand it.
--
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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