Anger is a legitimate emotion in the face of injustice. Passive acceptance of evil is not a virtue.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
A look back on the fall of communism
It's 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and Karl Marx, grandfather of communism, is being rehabilitated. Looking back on the unravelling of the Soviet system and the unlikely staying power of a once-ridiculed worldview
I have some disagreements with this article. However, I think Marx's "chief contribution" (which wasn't his at all) was his X-ray of capitalism based on the labor theory of value: Labor is the source of all value.
Let me approach why I say this from another angle: The labor theory of value was more or less put forth by the capitalist icons of Smith and Ricardo. Yet, when Marx embraced its principle tenets, capitalists have been going out of their way (literally bursting their arteries) to discredit it. That capitalists flee frantically from the labor theory of value as though it were the plague ought to tell you something.
I am eternally fascinated at how many capitalists and capitalist ideologues, whom I have argued incessantly with, have feverishly used the failure of Marx to predict the historical victory of socialism and communism over capitalism as an opportunity to try to discredit the labor theory of value.
The two need to be considered separately.
While the inevitable march toward socialism and communism may not have occured, this has NO BEARING WHATSOEVER on the legitimacy or not of the labor theory of value. The labor theory of value is as airtight and congruent as it has ever been and serves as unbridled proof as to who is ultimately responsible for creating the wealth that has benefited the world (albeit in a highly skewed manner).
I am still here because I find you so utterly annoying. Especially when you use other languages in an attempt to obfuscate, intimidate and disguise the weakness of your "points".
"The cat and the mouse are never the same opinion"
Why use spanish when your lame-ass point is just as lame-ass in english?
Fleming, I suppose you are one of those anti-intellectual yanks who give the world the impression that all yanks are dumb. (I know you don't give a miniscule rat turd what the rest of the world thinks). Remember John Kerry's great crime, "He speaks FRENCH!" I like Maracatú's Latin tags, they raise the tone. Maybe that's your problem as you labour (means labor) to turn this site into a midden. What have the Swedes done to merit your attention? Beware the Swedish social democratic virus.
Great comment Mara. Contrary to what this gentleman "thinks" I personally enjoy reading your comments about this area of expertise such as the economy. Could he just engage in a debate on the ideas he disagrees with instead of trying to debase the comment with silly and nasty remarks.. We can only dream on. I told the guy is just a pathetic piece of useless shit. Not that you didn't know mind you.
<span>Great comment Mara. Contrary to what this fleming gentleman "thinks" I personally enjoy reading your comments about this area of expertise whixh way out of my reach, such as the economy. Could he just engage in a debate on the ideas he disagrees with here instead of trying to debase the comment with silly and nasty remarks.. We can only dream on. I told the guy is just a pathetic piece of useless shit. Not that you didn't know mind you.</span>
Why shouldn't Mara write about such things? What's your problem with it asshole? Why don't you let people write whatever they feel right or necessary? Who appointed you to assess what's annoying or not?
Ah yes Jemmy Whemmy, I thrive on my extreme obtuseness. In fact I like to thrust into the face of the world, screaming, see, we are dumber than shit yet we still are the mightiest country in the world. Doesnt it just suck??
Latin is fine, and I studied it in high school and briefly college. I usually dont mind its use on old buildings or pronouncements of great gravitas LOL.
But you see that is not the case with Maracutu. He employs his latin as would a bully in a schoolyard. He is saying that if one cant communicate in latin then he must be their intellectual superior, thus rendering all dicussion moot in the face of his giant intellect. I reject that 100%.
The swedes were chosen at random, no ulterior motive or message. But I do "beware them". Somehow they cannot understand how their little homogenuous haven is not replicable the world over.
BTW, I actually enjoy our little back and forths. You have a saracastic (but not caustic) sense of humor that I enjoy. Kind of like trading barbs with a good lad/bloke/mate/pal/buddy in a pub/bar over a pint/draught. Insults are sure to ensue, some of which are grounded in truth, but that is what guys do.
Petit con: (fr) boy who spend all his time on the internet making up imaginary sex terms which he's never experienced. I dont find our interactions engaging, interesting or enlightening. You will please excuse if, as vza suggested, henceforth I ignore your posts.
Are you solving the problems of thw world with a pint flemming? Or are you exacerbating them? I do not expect you to know the difference so it is a moot point...lol
<span>we are dumber than shit yet we still are the mightiest country in the world. </span> --------------- More chest thumping from the gorilla..A nice change indeed.
Gee tgia, if you are so open minded, why dont you tell us about the last time you "tolerated" a MAJOR position stance different from your own on the palestinian/israeli thing? Or perhaps the last time someone convinced YOU that you were wrong about some significant issue in the palestine/israel situation?
Look here fleming..Look here very carefully..You have NO position and you never had. On the other hand you have a strange attitude problem. You're a bully of the worst kind. You do not tolerate any opinion of any kind among our commentators and like a chihuahuah barks at anyone who dares walking past. I'm quite pleased to tell you that you can think whatever the reason you'd be banned for but the problem remains. You're a barking mad bully. The day you're happy to just stating your opinion and go you'll be treated like eveybody else, otherwise it's PINBALL with your ass and I'm happy to play!
<span>Look here fleming..Look here very carefully..You have NO position and you never had. On the other hand you have a strange attitude problem. You're a bully of the worst kind. You do not tolerate any opinion of any kind among our commentators and like a chihuahuah barks at anyone who dares walking past. I'm quite pleased to tell you that you can think whatever the reason you'd be banned for but the problem remains. You're a barking mad bully. The day you're happy to just state your opinion whatever it is and go or comment on whatever other commentators have stated in a civil manner, you'll be treated like eveybody else, otherwise it's PINBALL with your ass and I'm happy to play!</span>
Lets see, Im the bully, yet you are the one constantly threatening to ban, and then banning, and then unbanning, and then re-banning, in order that I BEHAVE in a way that YOU approve. So...who is the bully?
<span><span>Great comment Mara. Contrary to what this fleming gentleman "thinks" I personally enjoy reading your comments about this area of expertise which is way out of my reach, such as the economy. Could he just engage in a debate on the ideas he disagrees with here instead of trying to debase the comment with silly and nasty remarks.. We can only dream on. I told the guy is just a pathetic piece of useless shit. Not that you didn't know mind you.</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="">The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error. - John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859</span> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style=""> </span>
Fleming, do you post on any websites where you can write, "I'm in complete agreement with that statement"? you know something like 'Worshippers of the Almighty Dollar', or 'The Ayn Rand Fan Club'. I'd love to visit and poke fun at the bedlamites.
Now my veiws are confirmed in many of the media sources I frequent - such as the Wall Street Journal, Barrons, CNBC, random emails from buddies and many other outlets. But that doesnt really help you, does it.
Ayn Rand does rock. She predicted what is basically happening now in Atlas Shrugged: "From those according to their ability, to those according to their need"
I have some disagreements with this article. However, I think Marx's "chief contribution" (which wasn't his at all) was his X-ray of capitalism based on the labor theory of value: Labor is the source of all value.
ReplyDeleteLet me approach why I say this from another angle: The labor theory of value was more or less put forth by the capitalist icons of Smith and Ricardo. Yet, when Marx embraced its principle tenets, capitalists have been going out of their way (literally bursting their arteries) to discredit it. That capitalists flee frantically from the labor theory of value as though it were the plague ought to tell you something.
I am eternally fascinated at how many capitalists and capitalist ideologues, whom I have argued incessantly with, have feverishly used the failure of Marx to predict the historical victory of socialism and communism over capitalism as an opportunity to try to discredit the labor theory of value.
The two need to be considered separately.
While the inevitable march toward socialism and communism may not have occured, this has NO BEARING WHATSOEVER on the legitimacy or not of the labor theory of value. The labor theory of value is as airtight and congruent as it has ever been and serves as unbridled proof as to who is ultimately responsible for creating the wealth that has benefited the world (albeit in a highly skewed manner).
Maracutu: This is not academia. No one knows what you are talking about. Few care.
ReplyDelete"I am eternally fascinated at how many capitalists and capitalist ideologues, whom I have argued incessantly with,..."
But of course you have! Of course you have. You are as capitalist as much as I am muslim.
Cur etiam hic es?
ReplyDeleteEl gato y el ratón nunca son de la misma opinión.
I am still here because I find you so utterly annoying. Especially when you use other languages in an attempt to obfuscate, intimidate and disguise the weakness of your "points".
ReplyDelete"The cat and the mouse are never the same opinion"
Why use spanish when your lame-ass point is just as lame-ass in english?
above was me...
ReplyDeleteOr: ovan var jag
In Swedish! Arent I so clever??? HAHAHHA
Fleming, I suppose you are one of those anti-intellectual yanks who give the world the impression that all yanks are dumb. (I know you don't give a miniscule rat turd what the rest of the world thinks). Remember John Kerry's great crime, "He speaks FRENCH!"
ReplyDeleteI like Maracatú's Latin tags, they raise the tone. Maybe that's your problem as you labour (means labor) to turn this site into a midden.
What have the Swedes done to merit your attention? Beware the Swedish social democratic virus.
Welcome back (with reservations)
Great comment Mara. Contrary to what this gentleman "thinks" I personally enjoy reading your comments about this area of expertise such as the economy. Could he just engage in a debate on the ideas he disagrees with instead of trying to debase the comment with silly and nasty remarks.. We can only dream on. I told the guy is just a pathetic piece of useless shit. Not that you didn't know mind you.
ReplyDelete<span>Great comment Mara. Contrary to what this fleming gentleman "thinks" I personally enjoy reading your comments about this area of expertise whixh way out of my reach, such as the economy. Could he just engage in a debate on the ideas he disagrees with here instead of trying to debase the comment with silly and nasty remarks.. We can only dream on. I told the guy is just a pathetic piece of useless shit. Not that you didn't know mind you.</span>
ReplyDeleteHave you ever played pinball fleming?I'll let yout you guess whast I mean by that question.
ReplyDeleteWhy shouldn't Mara write about such things? What's your problem with it asshole? Why don't you let people write whatever they feel right or necessary? Who appointed you to assess what's annoying or not?
ReplyDeletefleming..Kiss ikhtak shoe kalbeh..
ReplyDeleteGoogle that!
Petit con.
ReplyDelete<span>Petit con.</span>
ReplyDeleteGoogle that.
Good to be back (with reservations)
ReplyDeleteAh yes Jemmy Whemmy, I thrive on my extreme obtuseness. In fact I like to thrust into the face of the world, screaming, see, we are dumber than shit yet we still are the mightiest country in the world. Doesnt it just suck??
Latin is fine, and I studied it in high school and briefly college. I usually dont mind its use on old buildings or pronouncements of great gravitas LOL.
But you see that is not the case with Maracutu. He employs his latin as would a bully in a schoolyard. He is saying that if one cant communicate in latin then he must be their intellectual superior, thus rendering all dicussion moot in the face of his giant intellect. I reject that 100%.
The swedes were chosen at random, no ulterior motive or message. But I do "beware them". Somehow they cannot understand how their little homogenuous haven is not replicable the world over.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I actually enjoy our little back and forths. You have a saracastic (but not caustic) sense of humor that I enjoy. Kind of like trading barbs with a good lad/bloke/mate/pal/buddy in a pub/bar over a pint/draught. Insults are sure to ensue, some of which are grounded in truth, but that is what guys do.
Petit con: (fr) boy who spend all his time on the internet making up imaginary sex terms which he's never experienced.
ReplyDeleteI dont find our interactions engaging, interesting or enlightening. You will please excuse if, as vza suggested, henceforth I ignore your posts.
Are you solving the problems of thw world with a pint flemming? Or are you exacerbating them? I do not expect you to know the difference so it is a moot point...lol
ReplyDelete<span>we are dumber than shit yet we still are the mightiest country in the world. </span>
ReplyDelete---------------
More chest thumping from the gorilla..A nice change indeed.
No fleming..You can't google those things..
ReplyDeleteNever mind..
His problem is that he simply doesn't tolerate other people's opinions but he likes to think it's the other way around.
ReplyDeleteCognitive dissonance.
We have to settle for one thing with the dude..There's absolutely nothing to learn from him. We have to be content with being bullied..
ReplyDeleteGee tgia, if you are so open minded, why dont you tell us about the last time you "tolerated" a MAJOR position stance different from your own on the palestinian/israeli thing? Or perhaps the last time someone convinced YOU that you were wrong about some significant issue in the palestine/israel situation?
ReplyDeleteLook here fleming..Look here very carefully..You have NO position and you never had. On the other hand you have a strange attitude problem. You're a bully of the worst kind. You do not tolerate any opinion of any kind among our commentators and like a chihuahuah barks at anyone who dares walking past. I'm quite pleased to tell you that you can think whatever the reason you'd be banned for but the problem remains. You're a barking mad bully. The day you're happy to just stating your opinion and go you'll be treated like eveybody else, otherwise it's PINBALL with your ass and I'm happy to play!
ReplyDelete<span>Look here fleming..Look here very carefully..You have NO position and you never had. On the other hand you have a strange attitude problem. You're a bully of the worst kind. You do not tolerate any opinion of any kind among our commentators and like a chihuahuah barks at anyone who dares walking past. I'm quite pleased to tell you that you can think whatever the reason you'd be banned for but the problem remains. You're a barking mad bully. The day you're happy to just state your opinion whatever it is and go or comment on whatever other commentators have stated in a civil manner, you'll be treated like eveybody else, otherwise it's PINBALL with your ass and I'm happy to play!</span>
ReplyDeleteDodging my question, eh tgia...
ReplyDeleteLets see, Im the bully, yet you are the one constantly threatening to ban, and then banning, and then unbanning, and then re-banning, in order that I BEHAVE in a way that YOU approve. So...who is the bully?
You didn't get do you?
ReplyDeleteGuess not.
ReplyDelete<span><span>Great comment Mara. Contrary to what this fleming gentleman "thinks" I personally enjoy reading your comments about this area of expertise which is way out of my reach, such as the economy. Could he just engage in a debate on the ideas he disagrees with here instead of trying to debase the comment with silly and nasty remarks.. We can only dream on. I told the guy is just a pathetic piece of useless shit. Not that you didn't know mind you.</span></span>
ReplyDelete<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="">The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error. - John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859</span>
ReplyDelete<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style=""> </span>
but that is what guys do.
ReplyDelete--------------
Geezus kryste get me out of here! This macho shit is vomit inducing..Puke!!!
<span> but that is what guys do. </span>
ReplyDelete----------
I can see what the problem is..
Kryste.
Fleming, do you post on any websites where you can write, "I'm in complete agreement with that statement"? you know something like 'Worshippers of the Almighty Dollar', or 'The Ayn Rand Fan Club'. I'd love to visit and poke fun at the bedlamites.
ReplyDeleteSorry Jemmy, Im a fighter not a lover...hahah
ReplyDeleteNow my veiws are confirmed in many of the media sources I frequent - such as the Wall Street Journal, Barrons, CNBC, random emails from buddies and many other outlets. But that doesnt really help you, does it.
Ayn Rand does rock. She predicted what is basically happening now in Atlas Shrugged: "From those according to their ability, to those according to their need"