Cuneiform was developed to promote state power -- that is, to do the accounts for the state.
^^^^^^ CB; King was in his counting tent, counting all his cattle and chattel . What was the state power excercised on behalf of , what class ? Perhaps slaveowning commodity traders ? Migrant animal husbanders and herders, shepherds, desert pastoralists, maybe. ^^^^^ Around p. 700 of the Grundrisse, Marx has a wonderful section describing how "people's technology" -- as Doyle calls it -- would actually make the economy more efficient. That section offers a wonderful window into the way that capitalism defeats its supposed purpose -- to develop an efficient economy. I am working on a new book, The Procrustean Economy: Breaking out of the Iron Cage of Capitalism, to get a handle on this subject.
