Chomsky on "theory" from Barsamian interview,was "no social science theories"

Justin Schwartz jkschw at hotmail.com
Fri Dec 14 12:08:10 PST 2001



> >
> > NC: He [Marx] had essentially nothing to say about socialism, a few
>scattered
> > sentences here and there.
>
>This _was_ Marx's core theory of socialism -- that it was undiscussable
>(under capitalism) except in the most cursory way. That's perhaps the
>main thing that distinguishes Marxism from liberalism -- Marx's disdain
>of prophecy & promises.
>
>Carrol

That's not a theory in the sense that Chomsky means, which is an explanatory and predictive theory that tells you about the nature and behavior of some phenomena. Btw, although Marx repeatedly _said_ that one couldn't talk about communism, he didn't mean it. For example, he "knew" that it would be a nonmarket, and indeed ultimately a nonstate form of economic coordination, and he heaped vitriol and scorn on fools who, like myself, doubted these propositions. As indeed do you, Carrol.

jks

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