Rodney Shakespeare wrote: > > John, > Alright, I was wrong, you do not ascribe to the labour theory of value > (however, see my remarks later on). But to say that a tomato only has value > when it is picked is to ascribe to something which is ridiculous. Does a > gold nugget only have value when it is picked up? Does fertile land only > have value when it is tilled? Does a mahogany tree (alas) only have value= > > when it is cut down? Do the fish breeding in the water only do it the > moment before someone catches them? > > The binary productiveness analysis deals with who or what produces the > wealth -- the mineral-bearing land massively contributes, as does the > fertile land and the mahogany tree. To say otherwise is to say that the man > who picks up the nugget is the one who produced it; that the man who cuts > down the tree did all the growing; and that the man who ploughs the field > has done all the growing. Frankly, that's preposterous. Agreed. Assuming that one can calcuate the value of that which is in an incomplete state vs the market value is impossible.
The only real question is, since 'fairness' wont work, is what will work during the meantime while we search for a better answer. The US Libertarian party makes the same mistake, inferring that they know what 'fair' is. The principle at first seems obvious, but as we see, the definitions begin to look like court briefs. You can spend so much time trying to define 'profit' & 'earnings', that there isnt any time left to make any. I have been a member in egalitarian communes, which spent so much time at meetings trying to reach consensus, that the market window closed before a decision was made. The assumption that you can educate the masses is being challenged by the human genome data which is showing us a rapidly expanding list of psychological dysfunctions which limit the reasoning power which the theorists here and elsewhere planned to rely on. As Aristotle said, most men are [still] such fools to passion that they'd be better off in the hands of a more rational master. Despite all the arguments of all the economic theorists, the average couch potato is not going to operate in his own best interest, and never has. --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84IaC.bcVIgP.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html --^----------------------------------------------------------------
