[lbo-talk] Understanding _Capital_ (Was Re: barbaric)

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

On 3/7/07, Bill Bartlett <billbartlett at aapt.net.au> wrote:
> At 9:01 PM -0500 7/3/07, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
> >On 3/7/07, Bill Bartlett <billbartlett at aapt.net.au> wrote:
> >>  It isn't free, it is coerced. However the point "Andie" is making is
> >>  that capitalism uses economic coercion (work for us or starve) rather
> >  > than political coercion (work for us or we'll shoot you).
> >
> >It's important to understand what makes capitalism what it is, to
> >counteract commodity fetishism.  That's where theory matters.
>
> Its a lot more than that. Ultimately, capitalism depends also on the
> consent of the working class. This is important to understand in the
> context of strategy and tactics, which means this question of
> economic vs political coercion is critical.
>
> If your understanding is that the capitalist class rules via physical
> force (politically) then you are likely to be inclined towards
> fighting the class war by taking up arms. However once you realise
> that they rule economically, it becomes apparent that this is
> completely the wrong strategy.

Well, I suppose that depends on where you are, e.g., in Japan or
Somalia, to take extreme examples.  It would be stupid to do politics
in Japan as if you were in Somalia, but it would be also stupid to do
politics in Somalia as if you were in Japan.  But the type of people
who confuse what may work in Japan and what may work in Somalia are
lacking in common sense, not theory.
-- 
Yoshie
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