Justin Schwartz wrote:
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> The LTV is also supposedto help explain crises, but Marx lacks a coherent
> crisis theory. The notes Engels worked up into CIII contain several stabs at
> one, but not properly developed one.
>
I wonder. Early on (I forget which work) Marx comments that the separation of production and consumption establishes the _possibility_ of crises. Perhaps that is _all_ a "theory" of crises can offer. One of the stable things about capitalism is its extreme variability at the level of phenomena. A good deal of rather ephemeral marxology has gone into making Capital III "coherent" and "complete." Perhaps it's all wasted energy.
Some of the more flagrant tactical and strategic blunders or omissions in communist history have come through assuming fundamental principles (e.g. the priority of class to all other relations) translate directly into strategic and tactical practice -- which leads to such bullshit as marxist (or "marxist") ignoring core issues such as the struggle for women's liberation and anti-marxists generating endless dual theories etc.
Quantum mechanics is of little help in engineering a new electric range or determining the amount of baking powder in a receipt. The LTV resembles quantum mechanics more than it resembles _The Joy of Cooking_. Struggle towards the establishment of class solidarity and class readiness to fight resembles the latter more than the former.
Carrol