----- Original Message ---- From: brad bauerly <bbauerly at gmail.com> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Mon, April 19, 2010 5:27:06 PM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] agricultural productivity
Michael wrote:
Agricutural productivity depends upon the metric you use. The most common is output per unit of labor. So you get an innovation, such as the short handled hoe, to drive workers harder.
Is that an improvement? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You also get the mechanical reaper, which increased the productivity of wheat production by at least 7 fold and decreased the sweat and backbreaking work of harvesting.
Is that an improvement? Or do you think it better to have seven people harvesting the wheat? If so, which seven? Are you going to volunteer yourself to give up the benefits?
I think any attempt to paint everything to come out of capitalist agriculture, or capitalism, as bad is really dangerous for the left. Clearly there are very bad things and some good things. To say it again, the point is to appropriate the good and transform the bad.
Brad ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk