It's on a blog, *here <http://cuafrica.blogspot.com/>*.
It started in June. I will do it again through another channel, next year. Best, VC On 20 October 2010 12:48, Sibongile Mbele <[email protected]> wrote: > Comrade, thanks for this constructive information...Do you know the links > to other chapters? I would like to join in your study sessions/groups to > enlightened myself even more....How do I ago about that? I'm based at Jozi > CBD. > > Thanking in advance for your assistance. > > > Kind Regards, > Sibongile Mbele > > Mobile: +27 76 9001858 > Fax: +27 86 695 1227 > > "Successful people make a habit of doing things other people aren't willing > to do" > > > On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 12:14 PM, DomzaNet <[email protected]>wrote: > >> >> *Course on Marx's Capital: Part 23* >> >> >> <http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D4UK2kWf5ik/TL7Ajwn-FGI/AAAAAAAACsk/uwpbulseC3A/s1600/MogadishuApril2007+-+2.jpg> >> *Mogadishu, 1993* >> >> *Colonialism* >> >> Here we are, nearly at the end of Capital, Volume 1, the famous and huge >> book that so many people talk about and so few people read. We have read it. >> We are more fit to be cadres. We are more fit to be the vanguard. What >> remain are only the three last chapters, which are not difficult to read, >> although as always they challenge us to be brave and to act, and action will >> never be easy. >> >> In *Chapter 31* Marx states that the origin of the industrial (not >> farming) capitalist is in colonialism. >> >> *“The discovery of gold and silver in America, the extirpation, >> enslavement and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, the >> beginning of the conquest and looting of the East Indies, the turning of >> Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of black-skins, signalised >> the rosy dawn of the era of capitalist production. These idyllic proceedings >> are the chief momenta of primitive accumulation. On their heels treads the >> commercial war of the European nations, with the globe for a theatre.”* >> >> *“To-day industrial supremacy implies commercial supremacy. In the >> period of manufacture properly so called, it is, on the other hand, the >> commercial supremacy that gives industrial predominance. Hence the >> preponderant rôle that the colonial system plays at that time. It was "the >> strange God" who perched himself on the altar cheek by jowl with the old >> Gods of Europe, and one fine day with a shove and a kick chucked them all of >> a heap. It proclaimed surplus-value making as the sole end and aim of >> humanity.”* >> >> This last describes in a single sentence, the state of affairs that >> Marx's book was written to expose; and Marx did succeed in exposing >> “capital” as “surplus-value making”. >> >> Yet it appears that Marx did not deal with Primitive Accumulation in the >> sense that the phrase would nowadays be understood. Marx does not establish >> that capitalism required a ready pile of money or its equivalent. What he >> establishes is how the requisite class forces were brought into being, in >> Western Europe, in the revolutions that overthrew feudalism. >> >> It is a mistake to think that a capitalist business requires “capital” >> in advance, if by “capital” is meant money in the bank, or land, buildings, >> equipment et cetera. It does require such things, but they do not make it a >> capitalist business as opposed to any other kind of project. What makes a >> business work as capitalism is a dual relationship. The first part of it is >> the relationship between the worker and the capitalist. The second part is >> the relationship of the capitalist with his market. If these two >> relationships do not exist, or are faulty, then a capitalist business will >> not survive. But if they do exist, then the other means will probably be >> found without too much difficulty. >> >> Marx shows clearly how the proletariat arose historically in Europe in >> the 16th century. He shows how the bourgeois class arrives on the scene. He >> shows how all the social building blocks including proletariat and market, >> are assembled, but not the money. In any case, capital is not money, it is a >> relation. Marx says so, directly, in Chapter 33. So the accumulation >> necessary for capitalism is not treasure, but is an accumulation of >> relationships; this is what we learn from the chapters in “Capital” on >> Primitive Accumulation. >> >> Marx does not, in Capital, make a strong distinction between slavery and >> capitalism. He describes slavery candidly and without flinching from the >> horror of it. But he never discusses slavery in a comparative way, as >> distinct from surplus-value-extracting bourgeois-and-proletarian capitalism. >> Yet (bourgeois) slavery also started in the 16th century, or slightly >> before, and it ran on as a transcontinental Atlantic system for the next >> three hundred years, in parallel with the early development of capitalism >> proper, until Marx’s time, such that the last end of bourgeois slavery was >> the cataclysm of the American Civil War, that was happening while Marx was >> writing Capital. >> >> *Chapter 32* of Capital, Volume 1 contains about 1000 words in only four >> paragraphs. It is a full historical sweep from the past of slaves and serfs >> through present capitalism to the future, when the expropriators will be >> expropriated. It resembles the Communist Manifesto. >> >> *Chapter 33* is very interesting but in spite of its title, it is not >> really about colonialism. Instead, Marx uses the example of part of one >> colony of the time, Australia, to make points about capitalism and to >> “discover in the Colonies the truth as to the conditions of capitalist >> production in the mother country”. Also note the very last paragraph of the >> chapter (and the book), which says: >> >> *“We are not concerned here with the conditions of the colonies. The >> only thing that interests us is the secret discovered in the new world by >> the Political Economy of the old world, and proclaimed on the housetops: >> that the capitalist mode of production and accumulation, and therefore >> capitalist private property, have for their fundamental condition the >> annihilation of self-earned private property; in other words, the >> expropriation of the laborer.”* >> >> *“...capital is not a thing, but a social relation between persons, >> established by the instrumentality of things,”* says Marx. >> >> In the next part, we will commence a ten-week course Capital, Volumes 2 >> and 3. >> >> *Please download and read the following document**:* >> >> *Click here to download Capital V1, C31, 32, 33, Capitalist, >> Accumulation, Colonialism, in MS-Word file >> format<http://communist-university.googlegroups.com/web/1524%2C+Capital+V1%2C+C31%2C+32%2C+33%2C+Capitalist%2C+Accumulation%2C+Colonialism%2C+1867.doc?gda=D_mB4JUAAAB4MbH-vDwpNagN2sDR9UloMzSG2ynLnrFM4apJjB-9d2hlX2dxbRLV-W0NNomDNgD-0xTaH0GwBed3K-ed6TiTgoourxM03oqR> >> * >> >> >> >> -- >> Posted By DomzaNet to >> CUAfrica<http://cuafrica.blogspot.com/2010/10/colonialism.html>at 10/20/2010 >> 12:14:00 PM >> >> -- >> You are subscribed. This footer can help you. >> Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to >> this message. >> You can visit the group WEB SITE at >> http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery >> options, pages, files and membership. >> To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected]. >> You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to >> put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to >> this address (repeat): [email protected] . >> > > > > -- > > -- > You are subscribed. This footer can help you. > Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to > this message. > You can visit the group WEB SITE at > http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery > options, pages, files and membership. > To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected]. > You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to > put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to > this address (repeat): [email protected] . > -- Blog at: http://domza.blogspot.com/ Communist University web site at: http://amadlandawonye.wikispaces.com/ Subscribe for free e-mail updates at: http://groups.google.com/group/Communist-University/ Library of documents (CU "CD") at: http://cu.domza.net/ [email protected] -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
