Jim Devine wrote:
It's hard to say using any kind of brevity. One shared characteristic would having zero surplus-value.
Does "surplus-value" in the sense applicable to capitalism have meaning in an ideal community? Production in the realms both of "necessity" and "freedom" of an ideal community is production by "universally developed individuals," i.e. involves a form of "labour" antithetical to the alienated form taken by wage labour in capitalism. Labour time in the realm of necessity of an ideal community would have meaning, but not the meaning it has in capitalism, so a measure of it requiring the latter meaning would not be applicable.
“On the basis of communal production, the determination of time remains, of course, essential. The less time the society requires to produce wheat, cattle etc., the more time it wins for other production, material or mental. Just as in the case of an individual, the multiplicity of its development, its enjoyment and its activity depends on economization of time. Economy of time, to this all economy ultimately reduces itself. Society likewise has to distribute its time in a purposeful way, in order to achieve a production adequate to its overall needs;just as the individual has to distribute his time correctly in order to achieve knowledge in proper proportions or in order to satisfy the various demands on his activity. Thus, economy of time, along with the planned distribution of labour time among the various branches of production, remains the first economic law on the basis of communal production. It becomes law, there, to an even higher degree. However, this is essentially different from a measurement of exchange values (labour or products) by labour time. The labour of individuals in the same branch of work, and the various kinds of work, are different from one another not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. What does a solely quantitative difference between things presuppose ? The identity of their qualities. Hence, the quantitative measure of labours presupposes the equivalence, the identity of their quality.” (Grundrisse, pp. 173-4)
Ted
