Jim Devine writes: >> BTW, doing _too_ good a job in producing goods and services was part >> of Marx's critique of capitalism (part of the "old" left). In some >> phases of the accumulation process, for example, capitalism produced >> too much to be purchased, given the restricted purchasing power of the >> working classes.
I doubt very much people that the attraction of Marx, especially in the 19th Century and early 20th Century, was that capitalism produced too much, that the capitalists couldn't make enough profit, etc. I doubt the workers were marching in Red Square with banners that said "In Some Parts Of The Accumulation Process, Capitalism Produces Too Much!!" >> >> More new-lefty is environmentalism, many of whose adherents argue that >> capitalism is producing too much given the carrying capacity of the >> Earth, which will eventually lead to a downward spiral of human living >> standards, among other things. (Marx was also an environmentalist, but >> that's another story.) Agreed that the strength of the New Left is the environmental movement. The proponents have been very successful in attacking the very idea of "growth," and claiming that capitalism sacrifices all to growth. A very different argument than the argument that socialism can produce more growth than capitalism. David Shemano
