Hi Ben > On Feb 4, 2026, at 14:59, Ben Seattle via groups.io > <[email protected]> wrote: > > As far as the benefits of increased productive forces, I neglected to mention > that, when the working class runs everything, an increase of productive > forces will make it possible for workers to have more disposable (ie: free) > time--because the workday or workweek can be shorter.
Why only an increase in productive forces? Why not a decrease in some of the overdeveloped countries in the world? We are able to affect the earth's rotation with our agricultural forces and melt the earth's glaciers with our industrial forces. The future self-emancipated working classes may therefore choose to reduce the productive forces in some countries rather than increase them. I just read a relevant piece on Simon Pirani's blog on this topic: https://peopleandnature.wordpress.com/2025/04/23/technology-and-society-how-not-to-use-karl-marx/ "Laying out a stirring vision of social change, Marx argues that it is this tension between productive forces and the social relations that gives rise to changes in people’s consciousness, not the other way around." The focus of the essay is a critique of Malm and Carton's Overshoot. Mark -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#41446): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/41446 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/117439078/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
