Bill,
It's the skewed distribution, more than a supposed under-production,
that is the fundamental problem of capitalism that you are talking
about. But I think that the nature of what is being produced, is
just as significant a problem of capitalism as the production or
distribution.
Classical Marxists have tended to shy away from mentioning the
tremendous quantity of garbage and harmful products that capitalism
produces. We are at sea in a cesspool of garbage while
living in our capitalist society. That's what I mean by
artificial squalor.
No doubt that the pro-capitalist Tresies of America will enter in at
this point, with their ......What about the great consumer and other
products that Yugoslavia, Russia, and China are known for?
Weren't they far worse?
As a matter of fact, the industrial production of these societies may
have been less destructive to the environment, and of an OVERALL better
quality, than what was coming out of the First/ Third Worlds of that
period. We can certainly say that the distribution of finished
(non-military) product was less skewed.
Tresy would have us believe that capitalism now can run the ex-Soviet
Bloc countries without Chernobyl, Lake Baikal, etc. What we
really fear, is the absolute certainty that capitalism will now take a
bad situation and make it far worse, as it pillages wood products, oil,
and other resources from the region.
It wasn't Russia that churns out 40% of the world's garbage daily. Or
was responsible for depeleting atmoshere and biodiversity. Or
was behind Bhopal or the 2 World Wars. Or that has oversold ATB
use as the focal strategy against disease.
Tony
.........................................................
Bill bartlett
Bracknell tas.
Date: Wed, Feb 16, 2000
Tony Abdo wrote:
[...]
"Artificial" also refers to more than economy running at below full
capacity. There is also the small matter of what is being produced.
Under capitalism, -the what- causes more squalor than -the how much-.
You have a point, but the point I was discussing is more fundamental. It
is conceivable that capitalism could adapt to producing different
things, but it is clear that producing enough of everything to satisfy
all material human needs is incompatible with the capitalist system.
Bill bartlett
Bracknell tas.
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