[lbo-talk] Mike Judge v Karl Marx

[Peter Hart Ward]

I think the fundamental problem from the perspective of social  
liberation is not Capital but inequality of power. That the unjust  
distribution of wealth is in fact a symptom, though not a logically  
necessary one, of unequal distribution of power. One could imagine,  
as Plato did, an universally ascetic society that would also be a  
tyranny for most of its subjects. Ostensibly this was the case in the  
Soviet Union, though in reality of course the ruling establishment  
had nicer homes and were better fed than the average citizen.* I  
think that failure to recognize this fact is a fatal error that  
orthodox Marxists are obliged to make.

My guess is, although this is an empirical matter not one that can be  
settled by argument, that until the problem of power is resolved  
there is little hope of resolving the problem of economics.

Speaking of personal experience, I am much more resentful of having a  
manager telling me what to do at work than the fact I'm poorly paid.  
I'd suggest that "Office Space" is of a great deal more sociological  
significance than Das Kapital.

*Actually the Soviet Union and its satellites were (and Belarus, Cuba  
and probably North Korea remain) massively egalitarian economically  
compared to their Western counterparts. It is also true that the USSR  
was relatively benign as an imperial power compared to the US-Western  
Europe. However these facts should not suggest that the Soviet,  
essentially Platonic, model provide an inspiration (in terms of  
political structure) to Western leftists.