- Capitalism and Alternatives -

Marxism, and other Purple Dinosaurs

Posted by: Dr. Cruel on November 30, 1999 at 10:29:16:

In Reply to: Barney posted by Stoller on November 24, 1999 at 16:18:15:

:
: : In war-torn Leningrad, the city was surrounded by the evil Hitlerites, supposedly to be starved into submission. At the time, food was particularly valuable...

: Monopoly conditions ALTER the LTV (which was predicated upon competitive capitalism)---as anyone who actually read Capital will surely recall...

And you, one presumes, recalls reading Webster's Dictionary. Food in a city under siege is not a commodity under 'monopoly' conditions. It is rare, far less available than the demand would warrant. Marx's labor-value theory falls flat here, and you are being deliberatly obtuse in not accepting that simple fact.

: : If you are hungry enough, you will pay $500 for a 'roll'...

: Perhaps a quick review of differential rent (second to the last section in Capital volume three) will refresh your memory. Land, being finite, is ALSO subject to monopoly conditions and follows the same consistent reasoning in Marx's theory. For a super-brief study of differential rent, see the first part of this post...

Again, you are being deliberately evasive. Marx was intending to tie a malevolent intent to market forces. His LVT even goes so far as to deny that such forces exist as such, i.e. as mechanisms of supply and demand, and not the nefarious plot of a group of Machiavellian-minded capitalists.

: : Very good, Grasshopper. Your reformation into an industrious capitalist is coming along quite nicely. Bravo.

: As Fred always said to Barney: VERY droll.

As I seem to recollect, Barney was the smarter of the two.

"Doc" Cruel

P.S. It would seem that you fare poorly in this "debate". Perhaps we should switch sides; at least then you'd have the possibility of working from a position of self-evident fact.

Just a friendly suggestion, brother.


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