On 6/6/06, Anthony D'Costa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
... Robinson's notion of exploitation is very similar to Marx, i.e. how is economic surplus generated? Labor exploitation is one (thus being unemployed generates little surplus)....
I don't think Louis was criticizing Joan. You are right that a very simple Marxian story of exploitation is very similar to Robinson's. Because it's better to be exploited than starve (because there are no jobs besides working for the capitalists, in a simple story), you voluntarily submit to being exploited, so that you produce surplus-value. (This differs from Roemer's simple story, by the way, in which it's equally good for the worker to be exploited than to not be exploited. Exploitation arises from the technical superiority of the capitalist production process.) By the way, the JR quote isn't _in_ Kristof's article as much as attached to the print version. It doesn't show up at all on-line. The headline writer could have written it. -- Jim Devine / "The crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career." -- Albert Einstein.
