>Ken Lawrence is right about the shift from the relative surplus value to
the
>absolute surplus value discussed by Sohn-Rethel in The Economy and Class
>Structure of German Fascism. My question is: Is fascism almost impossible
>today,since the relative surplus value is the dominant and decisive form
of
>surplus value in the contemporary capitalism?
>Ulhas
with due respect to Alessandro, *this* is the critical issue. Why do Ulhas and Ken (and Sonn-Rethel for that matter) think that a switch from producing relative surplus-value to absolute surplus-value -- alternatively, a switch from capitalist to non-capitalist mode of production -- would result in an economic miracle? There seems little to support this thesis, and much (including much in Marx) to support the contrary point of view that the capitalist mode of production is more efficient, given the productive forces available in 1930s Germany. On a related point, Brad wrote:
>And sending some of the unemployed to labor camps in the Masurian
>swamps, and crushing unions, and freezing wages...
Making slaves out of the unemployed is not a growth-promoting measure compared to employing them, nor is crushing unions or freezing wages -- or at least, they all may arguably be, but the historical evidence is very ambiguous. I don't find it credible that particularly the last two "structural" measures would create a massive boom in GDP, or would tow an economy out of recession. I do find it credible that a massive monetary expansion would do just this, if sterilised domestically and financed externally by defaults on debts.
dd
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