[lbo-talk] Mike Judge v Karl Marx

Peter Hart Ward pward at peterhartward.com
Sat Oct 27 20:21:20 PDT 2007


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.



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