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Marx (cont.), Market Socialism
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The three Laws of Capitalism
Exploit Others! Private property
Labor becomes a commodity
Extraction of surplus value
Grow or Die Surplus value will always decline
Capitalists will respond with both market and non-market strategiesglobalization, technology,concentrate wealth, advertising, control theGovernment, deceptive ideology
Capitalism will die anyway Why?
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4. Construct an Ideology to Defend
Capitalism or Are our brains colonized?
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The Industrial Reserve Army
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Marxs Prediction and Prescription:
Capitalisms inevitable death
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The ultimate double movement:
Revolution
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Was Marx right?
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Income gap grows
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Wealth is concentrated.
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Decline in real wages
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MarxismEconomic classes,
not individualsare the actors
Property rights
cement classinequality
Labor theory of
value
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Marxist Theory (cont.)
Inevitable decline of Capitalism or Revolution?
But continued diminishing of the surplus
Wage suppression, outsourcing, technologicaladvance, search for new markets, capture of the state
Diminishing of the surplus under market competition
Capitals expropriation of surplus value + exploitation,
commodification and alienation
Socialism would bring about Equality
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Marx Prescription: Socialist Equality
Principles Abolition of private property
economic rights
equality of outcome vs. equality of opportunity
Worker controlled states (no more classes)
State provides economic rights
State ownership of the means of production
State control of wages and incomes in the service ofequality (distribution of resources)
State planning of economic goals
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Can it work? Economic Liberals say NO
Private property and the Market are naturaland promote freedom: public ownershiptakes away liberty
Socialism reduces economic incentive we pretend to work and they pretend to pay us
Socialist countries mis-allocate resources and
reduce growth, thus reducing overall welfare No price signals, thus no good information needed
for allocation
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Socialism was widespread
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the race between the capitalist and socialist systems would
ultimately be decided by
which could ensure higher productivity. --Vlad Lenin
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Didnt work out so well in practice
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A more successful path? Can Equality
be achieved through market socialism?
Roemer wants welfare equality without anyunacceptable loss in efficiency
The market can provide this because.. It doesnt depend on private ownership of property
(capitalism has given birth to non-profits, public firms,social democratic property, labor-managed firms.
Firms are thick, not thin Liberal myth of talent
Markets operate within the context of non-market institutions anyway. Firms, contract law,government,
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Political Economy of Community
Communitarians,, Gift Economies
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In Liberal Theory, Freedom Trumps
Equality but also trumps community
Community
Equality
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In Socialist Theory, Equality Trumps
Freedom AND Community
Freedom
Equaltiy
Community
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Both are incomplete: Whole chunks of human
experience that liberalism and socialism leaves
out..Freedom leaves out importantsocial needs
All behavior is reduced toprivate choices
The good of the community is
identified only with thoseindividuals who are effectivecompetitors in the struggle forlife.
All rationality, no emotion
All law, no heros
Markets insecurity,fragmented community
Equality
All class conflict, no feeling
of human solidarity
Class conflict fragmentedcommunity
Equality does not erase
alienation
Even Roemer admits thatequality does not create
communal solidarity
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Even more than freedom and equality,
humans long for community
People crave for an identity bigger thanthemselves
This was Marxs utopian vision
this is an age of economic interdependence andWelfare Statesbut also an age ofspiritualinsecurity
Community provides spiritual security Fellow human beingsall living beings.general will
Religious community
The State as spiritual Community
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And Rousseau says: Individuals need
community to survive
Each of us puts his person and all his power in
common under the supreme direction of the
general will, and, in our corporate capacity,
we receive each member as an indivisible part
of the whole.
Like sticks in a bundle:
Stronger together!
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The General Will and Marxs ultimate
vision: Communism and Communal sharing
Communal Sharing (CS)everyone is equivalent andundifferentiated
Marx:
to each according to his need,
from each according to hisability
Rousseau:
Each of us puts his person and allhis power in common underthe supreme direction of thegeneral will, and, in ourcorporate capacity, we receiveeach member as an indivisiblepart of the whole.
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New mode of production and gift
economy
property is owned by the community
stewardship, not ownership
labor and the fruits of labor are shared
social status ?
gifts create community
Value is not determined by price but bycommunal solidarity
?
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What about the individual?
personal responsibiolity is most likely to flourishwhen there is genuine opportunity to participatein communal life.
What are the incentives to produce? Money? Profit? No.
High compensation doesnt attract the very best. Itattracts the greediest.
Truly great people strive for more than wealth Could a gift economy satisfy human needs anddesires?
Could a Gift economy really work?
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Digital technology may be creating
community
Radically different
Mode of production
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Is this a community like Marxs
communist utopia?
"We are enabling Internetusers to author their owncontent. Think of it asempowering citizenmedia. We can helpsmash the elitism of theHollywood studios andthe big record labels. Ourtechnology platform willradically democratize
culture, build authenticcommunity, create citizenmedia."
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It creates both freedom
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AND community..
Beastie
DukeMozilla
Tux
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Digital goods are are anti-rival
If I consume it, I dont take it away from you
But how does it get provided when there are
free riders?
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What about rationality and property
rights?
What about exchange?
What about price?
What about profit?
What about intellectual
Property?
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Social Media: Community, Big Brother, or
another form of market manipulation?