====================================================================== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. ======================================================================
If Capitalism is crumbling, then it is because of the inherent contradictions in that mode of production. Dialectically speaking, in the present historical form of Capitalism, we are estranged from ourselves, estranged from others and estranged from Nature. Alienated from ourselves because we are forced to act as though we were commodities, bought and sold to further the enrichment of our masters. Alienated from each other because the production process is made up of many competitive units who have no idea what their labour is worth and only meet together in the process of buying and selling. Alienated from Nature because labour has become a commodity and not a means to satisfy human needs. This fundamentally divisive nature of Capitalism can only lead to crisis as the productive capacities increase and become divorced from the real needs of human emancipation. So the struggle against present-day, existing Capitalism takes the form of a) a yearning for democratic self-management and a say for all individuals in public affairs. This demand for direct democracy is the striving to overcome the estrangement of self with others. A say in the management of public affairs was only the prerogative of free men in Athenian society, but nowdays it must encompass ALL. b) a yearning for individually and collectively (and bridging the gap between the two) managing the means of production. The Capitalist division within the process of production must be overcome through social ownership. These demands are those of the productive class, although they are not precisely formulated as yet. As Capitalism, the alienation brought about by the transformation of labour into a commodity, sinks deeper into crisis, the necessity for a holistic, Fruhromantik, reconciliation of producers becomes more evident (although the mental categories available make it very difficult to express). Politically, unions are the first instruments that the working class can use to express their frustration at being divided during production, and develop their consciousness of belonging to a class. Unions are the natural building blocks of a post-Capistalist society. Political parties, which rely on directing production from above, cannot fulfill the role of self-emancipation and self-managgement of the working class. ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
