--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > I think that there is room for a lot of improvement > on > the issue child rearing. All the societies which I > know of, contain an element of hierarchical power, > even the preliterate, classless ones. > Non-democratic > hierarchical power is always abusive as far as I'm > concerned. As Marx remarked somewhere, the first > division of this kind of power relation was between > men and women--pre-existing class society. On > reflection, I thought that I would include children > in > this dynamic, ergo that reflection which got this > whole thread started. > Comment > > Could you quote the source of Marx statement please > . . . because I thought > he was talking about the division of labor and the > subsequent evolution of > property forms and not "hierarchical power."
Hi Melvin, 1844 Paris Manuscripts, Marx makes a major point of the relationship between the sexes: "The infinite degradation in which man exists for himself is expressed in this relation to the woman," There are also observations of this sort in his Ethnological Notebooks. Some discussion of this unpublished work can be found here: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/marxism-thaxis/1997-February/002795.html I do think that authority can be justified in many, many cases, such as telling a child not to cross the street because of oncoming traffic or when a language teacher is being *given* the authority to impart knowledge by the student. That kind of authority is mutually beneficial, mutually power enhancing. It is a recognition of mastery, not an obedient response to imposed power i.e. my freedom is based on your unfreedom. I'm also in agreement that the basic division of labour in society, which you point out, was an historical necessity for human development. It is now time to *sublate* many of those forms of authority and divisions of labour because they have gone from being necessary to being a fetter on our further freedom. Wobbly greetings, Mike B) ===== **************************************************************** "Freedom is what we make of it. If we stand against repression, authority and illegitimate structures, we are expanding the domain of freedom and that's what freedom will be. That's what we create; there is nothing to define in words." -- Noam Chomsky http://profiles.yahoo.com/swillsqueal __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/
