[lbo-talk] Re: Interview with Michael Hardt

BklynMagus magcomm at ix.netcom.com
Tue Nov 23 14:07:21 PST 2004


Dear List:

Michael writes:


> Personally, I find the new research on "positive psychology"
and "flow" to have rather serious socialist implications. Strong social relationships, altruism, and absorption in meaningful, difficult work produce happiness. Higher piles of trinkets and more hours of passive entertainment do not.

Isn't this something we can all attest to out of experience and common sense as well? The more one has, the more anxiety one generates about protecting/enhancing/maintaining one's possessions.


> One could start a worse project than trying to rewrite Das Kapital
starting from the human being, instead of the commodity, and employing this new information about happiness and joy.

Shouldn't we always start with the human rather than the commodity? If we start with the commodity, then don't we end up commodifying human beings (with all the problem that such commodification entails)?

Brian Dauth Queer Buddhist Resister



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