Angelus:
How does one abolish a global system?! The Cuban revolution might be a historical manifestation of anti-capitalist struggle, but the statement "Cuba abolished capitalism" is exactly the sort of problem with is/is-not thinking.
The same way that feudalism was abolished in a number of countries in Europe over about a century and a half. Capitalism might be a global system, but it does not operate in Cuba. That is until recently and mostly under control of the government. I understand that you are some kind of advocate of communism or something. I have encountered ideas like yours on the aut-op-sy mailing list and usually in the context of discussions of obscure Italian autonomists. You are of course welcome to your own take on things even though they really have very little in common with Marx, who hailed the Paris Commune with all its limitations.
Class is a secondary, maybe even tertiary question. Expropriating the "capitalists" is all good, but supressing the law of value would seem to be more central.
I have no idea what you mean by "the law of value". Even if every country in the world had a Cuban type system, there would still be "value creation" if you mean this in terms of the circulation of money, wages, profits and losses in state-owned firms, etc. I am not interested in philosophical defenses of a classless society. I was first exposed to this when I read Socialist Labor Party material in the late 1950s and find it both sterile and sectarian. You of course are welcome to it.
Nothing against empirical research. But you don't necessarily need Marx for that (I'm sorry if that sounds condescending, I mean it as neutral as possible).
I am not talking about "empirical research". I am talking about historical materialism. I have read your posts on Doug's list and they consist of nothing but vaporous declarations on the need to transcend the law of value. Are you allergic to facts?
