SNIP
Jack Cole wrote:
> On Mon, 13 Dec 1999, john courtneidge wrote:
> > >Part of Ed's post begs a reply.
> > Dictionary definitions of capitalism highlight two essential features
of the
> > capitalist system: that the factors necessary for the production of those
> > commodities necessary for human life are in private ownership and that
these
> > factors are used for private benefit (or 'profit').
Jack Cole wrote:
> Maybe a new formulation, starting from scratch, or somewhere less
> convoluted than the outcomes of two centuries of tortured philosophy.
>
> Start with the concept of value and a concept of value transaction.
> Commerce, capital, common good, public and private, the information
> environment, and purposes of human interaction. See what you can build
> from those building blocks.
Brad wrote
I know this is "utopian", but one of the main problems with
capitalism is the existence of *workers*.
If the renting of
persons was outlawed like the selling of them has been, then
we could have a market economy of *peers*, in which every person
was an independent or cooperative producer.
This would also put a lid
on income inequalities, since there are few persons who,
by their own labor, would be able to earn more than
a few hundred thousand dollars (US) per year [I'm thinking of
specialist medical doctors here, as examples].
If the ante-bellum Southern intelligentsia,
like Thomas Jefferson, couldn't figure out how to
deal with slavery, we shouldn't be too surprised if
Bill Gates and Donald Trump and Leona Helmsley
can't figure out how to deal with wage-labor.
\brad mccormick
Edward said:
The whole point about motivation in a capitalist society was "reward or
gain for effort."
When the "new labour demanding" capitalists found that no one would work
for them, there followed the "enclosure laws" depriving labour of a means
(rural, agrarian, mixed farming) of existance without wages. deprived of a
means of existance labour was swept into urban areas for exploitation by
capitalists who hired the lowest bidder.
Since that time, the capitalist motivation has changed to "privation for
lack of effort."
Regards
Edward G
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