Yeah but the theory of evolution writ large needs shaking up. The whole theory reeks of Malthusianism, a disproved economic theory, since Darwin was influenced by Malthus. Many of the sick consequences of "Social Darwinism" are a result of the theory's flawed precursory logic.
That being said I tend to skew cynical. Still I'd like to see parts of a mostly-correct predictive model questioned and reevaluated
Thanks for the explainer, funny how people confuse bog-standard military-political maneuvering with imperialism, def something to look out for then.
Omg that link is so incredibly econ brained. It's like bourg academic economists have to write garbage like this to prove they haven't read Marx.
Marx's formulation of LTV is explicitly that what is contained in value isn't labor, it is labor power. It isn't just work, it is working for the capitalist. Power is energy exerted over time, allowing us to determine the actual material composition of value which eludes the bourgeois economist and their idealistic and transparently useless equilibrium pricing. Marx teaches while bourg economics obfuscates. He is explicit and repetitive, which makes us truly consider the "stuff" of value. This is why liberals can't tell the difference between mercantilism and capitalism. Value is our time and energy, our limited renewable life taken out of us, much of which is unpaid, and converted into commodities which converts to profits for the capitalist. Private property has never been anything but a grift, a way to trick the masses into voluntarily surrendering our material bodies for a dream sold to us by parasites.
Capitalism is class oppression, if it wasn't it wouldn't create value, it would just shift it around like medieval mercantilism. Honestly I think this is where a lot of progressive liberal "Marxists" end up in an overly economistic interpretation, especially class reductionist tendencies. Misreadings of Marx lead to bourgeois economic obfuscation; a close reading of Capital gives us the basic formulations for dispensing with bourgeois economics for good.
So is it just in relation to medieval Italian city states? Idk about that history.
You said they're not capitalist, they're like proto-semi-merchantile (yeah I would agree) but that's the only reason you cite that they weren't imperialist. Hence my confusion. Or Shoot me a link, I'm a reader
Wait are you saying imperialism didn't exist before capitalism because imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism? That is incredibly backwards
One thing I noticed when I read it was that a lot of the things in Capital is stuff I already kind of figured out. I had read Marx before, but like the way that it works is very familiar, as a worker. I never read a book that I felt was written for me, for us as much as this one. The difference is that where I had a notion of a concept or relationship, Marx has a proof of it; where I had an understanding, Marx goes much, much deeper with historical examples and tables and insight (often interwoven with references to all manner of classic literature and philosophy, the magic is in the notes.) I went into this book expecting to learn an economic theory, but what I really gleaned from it was a method of critique
I recently read Spinoza's Ethics, and its ordered very similar. It starts with the most basic provable material claims, and from that (not without some liberties) constructs an entire system of ethics and human nature by building, staking provable facts one on top of another, the conclusions are constructed meticulously. It also starts very dry and difficult. Marx is taking it so much further because he is trying to make sure that bourgeois economists can't say "Marx never considered x." Its a lot of ground to cover though. And it takes a little patience. There is a ton of value in the detail esp in the later chapters.
Anyway I'm excited for more people to read and learn from this incredible work, just being a nerd over here thanks for humoring me
Many people have brought up the first chapter of Wretched of the Earth when discussing Israel's campaign against the Palestinians, but its past time we brought up the last chapter as well
Isaac Deutscher once told the following story about reading Capital:
I was relieved to hear that Ignacy Daszynski, our famous member of parliament, a pioneer of socialism, … admitted that he too found hard a nut. “I have not read it,” he almost boasted, “but Karl Kautsky has read it. I have not read Kautsky either, but Kelles-Krauz, our party theorist, has read him, and he summarized Kautsky’s book. I have not read Kelles-Krauz, either, but … Herman Diamond, our financial expert, has read Kelles-Krauz, and he has told me all about it.”
There's a lot more in Capital than what you can get from any summary. You should read it, it was written for you. When you can find the time, comrade
Fun game! How many common "refutations" of Marxism, the kind you might find in r/neoliberal, are directly addressed in the first chapter, especially in the first few pages of Capital.
We get to that next. Here's a diagram from Harvey that I found extremely helpful to understand how Marx structures the work
First we define a commodity, something that is made to be either used or exchanged. Then we kind of shelf use value until we get to defining labor. Then exchange value will be delved into which is where we get to your question. Basically, value comes from comparing the value of this commodity to that commodity, which necessitates the creation of a universal constant, money. One thing that I think about constantly is how alienation is brought about by objectifying and valuing the self, through this constant unconscious process of comparison and evaluating.
Blinken gaslights other countries for not believing flimsy justification condoning genocide
So is a crucial part of the theory no longer "survival of the fittest?" Because that's straight Malthus. I'm not a biologist, but I study and read and try to pay attention.