Fw: Marx & Command Economies

Joe R. Golowka joeg at ieee.org
Wed Sep 13 13:14:10 PDT 2000

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"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure" - Thomas Jefferson ----- Original Message ----- From: "stanley archacki" <sarchack at niu.edu> To: "Multiple recipients of list" <mhf-list at venus.soci.niu.edu> Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2000 1:48 PM Subject: Re: Marx & Command Economies

> --=====================_706638==_.ALT
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
> Below is a quote from the "Private Property and Communism" essay of the
> 1844 Manuscripts.
>
> (1) in its initial form only a generalization and completion of that
> relation (of private property). As such, it appears in a dual form:
> on the one hand, the domination of material property bulks so large that
it
> threatens to destroy everything which is not capable of
> being possessed by everyone as private property; it wants to abstract from
> talent, etc., by force. Physical, immediate possession is
> the only purpose of life nd existence as far as this communism is
> concerned; the category of worker is not abolished but extended
> to all men; the relation of private property remains the relation of the
> community to the world of things; ultimately, this movement
> to oppose universal private property to private property is expressed in
> bestial form -- marriage (which is admittedly a form of
> exclusive private property) is counterposed to the community of women,
> where women become communal and common property.
> One might say that this idea of a community of women is the revealed
secret
> of this as yet wholly crude and unthinking
> communism. Just as women are to go from marriage into general
prostitution,
> so the whole world of wealth -- i.e., the objective
> essence of man -- is to make the transition from the relation of exclusive
> marriage with the private owner to the relation of
> universal prostitution with the community. This communism, inasmuch as it
> negates the personality of man in every sphere, is
> simply the logical expression of the private property which is this
> negation. Universal envy constituting itself as a power is the
> hidden form in which greed reasserts itself and satisfies itself, but in
> another way. The thoughts of every piece of private
> property as such are at least turned against richer private property in
the
> form of envy and the desire to level everything down;
> hence these feelings in fact constitute the essence of competition. The
> crude communist is merely the culmination of this envy and
> desire to level down on the basis of a preconceived minimum. It has a
> definite, limited measure. How little this abolition of private
> property is a true appropriation is shown by the abstract negation of the
> entire world of culture and civilization, and the return to
> the unnatural simplicity of the poor, unrefined man who has no needs and
> who has not yet even reached the stage of private
> property, let along gone beyond it.
>
>
> At 10:57 PM 9/11/00 -0500, you wrote:
> >Hey all,
> >
> >Below is a question that was asked in response to Peter's Brittanica
article
> >on another listerv. Anyone know the answer?
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Chris Burford" <cburford at gn.apc.org>
> > > One specific question from the article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica
> > >
> > > > Marx opposed centralized state control of the economy
> > > >(he called those who advocated it "crude and unthinking communists")
> > >
> > > Where did Marx say this, anybody?
> > >
> > > Chris Burford
> > >
> > > London
> >
> >Joe R. Golowka
> >JoeG at ieee.org
> >
> >"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood
of
> >patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure" - Thomas Jefferson
>
> --=====================_706638==_.ALT
> Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"
>
> <html>
> Below is a quote from the "Private Property and Communism"
> essay of the 1844 Manuscripts. 
>  
> (1) in its initial form only a generalization and completion of that
> relation (of private property). As such, it appears in a dual form: 
> on the one hand, the domination of material property bulks so large that
> it threatens to destroy everything which is not capable of 
> being possessed by everyone as private property; it wants to abstract
> from talent, etc., by force. Physical, immediate possession is 
> the only purpose of life nd existence as far as this communism is
> concerned; the category of worker is not abolished but extended 
> to all men; the relation of private property remains the relation of the
> community to the world of things; ultimately, this movement 
> to oppose universal private property to private property is expressed in
> bestial form -- marriage (which is admittedly a form of 
> exclusive private property) is counterposed to the community of women,
> where women become communal and common property. 
> One might say that this idea of a community of women is the revealed
> secret of this as yet wholly crude and
> unthinking 
> communism. Just as women are
> to go from marriage into general prostitution, so the whole world of
> wealth -- i.e., the objective 
> essence of man -- is to make the transition from the relation of
> exclusive marriage with the private owner to the relation of 
> universal prostitution with the community. This communism, inasmuch as it
> negates the personality of man in every sphere, is 
> simply the logical expression of the private property which is this
> negation. Universal envy constituting itself as a power is the 
> hidden form in which greed reasserts itself and satisfies itself, but in
> another way. The thoughts of every piece of private 
> property as such are at least turned against richer private property in
> the form of envy and the desire to level everything down; 
> hence these feelings in fact constitute the essence of competition. The
> crude communist is merely the culmination of this envy and 
> desire to level down on the basis of a preconceived minimum. It has a
> definite, limited measure. How little this abolition of private 
> property is a true appropriation is shown by the abstract negation of the
> entire world of culture and civilization, and the return to 
> the unnatural simplicity of the poor, unrefined man who has no needs and
> who has not yet even reached the stage of private 
> property, let along gone beyond it. 
>  
>  
> At 10:57 PM 9/11/00 -0500, you wrote: 
> <blockquote type=cite cite>Hey all, 
>  
> Below is a question that was asked in response to Peter's Brittanica
> article 
> on another listerv.  Anyone know the answer? 
>  
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Chris Burford" <cburford at gn.apc.org> 
> > One specific question from the article in the Encyclopaedia
> Britannica 
> > 
> > >  Marx opposed centralized state control of the
> economy 
> > >(he called those who advocated it "crude and unthinking
> communists") 
> > 
> > Where did Marx say this, anybody? 
> > 
> > Chris Burford 
> > 
> > London 
>  
> Joe R. Golowka 
> JoeG at ieee.org 
>  
> "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the
> blood of 
> patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure" - Thomas
> Jefferson 
> </blockquote></html>
>
> --=====================_706638==_.ALT--
>
>

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