[lbo-talk] Firesale of the Empire

[Eric Beck]

On 12/11/09, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> On Dec 11, 2009, at 3:53 PM, Eric Beck wrote:
>
>> More generally, the left really needs to get over its
>> accumulation-by-dispossession kick.
>
> Thank you. My complaint is that it treats as new something that's been
> around forever, and minimizes the role of production in favor of
> appropriation - and exchanges analysis for moralizing.

I thought maybe my comment was too oblique, but you got it exactly.
Though "minimizes" is probably generous; I would say "disappears
completely" is closer. Critiques like Taibbi's seem to assume that
value just appears, is not produced by labor. We're all
citizen-taxpayers, and none of us are workers. This wouldn't be that
remarkable if it were just Taibbi and progressive types thinking this,
but that it also infects Marxists like Harvey is kind of alarming.