Good stuff. Are there more videos to come? Some of the most important aspects of Marxism weren't there such as the falling rate of profit or the inevitability of crisis. Will they be in later videos?
@Na11y Yes there are more videos planned in this Law of Value series. The next is on Abstract Labor. The draft script of this is already posted on my kapitalism101.wordpress site.
I have an older video about the Falling Rate of Profit. just search for Falling Rate of Profit on youtube and you'll probably find it. Or see the link on my wordpress blog.
That was the most well written bullshit I have ever heard. Using far stretched ideas with philosopher grade language doesn’t make the case for communism any better.
@Yereviltwin2 . This video is not intended to 'make a case for communism'. Do you have a specific criticism of an argument in the video or just a bunch of rhetoric?
@Yereviltwin2 It's a critique of a specific aspect of capitalism and advocates that we need to break with capitalism in order to avoid such problems. In order to make a case for communism I would need to describe some concept of communism. I could make such an case but that would require a different video and different arguments. Please advance a specific critique of an argument in the video since you are so certain that it's "bullshit".
Buddy, your whole body of work is a means to an end. Your blog and YouTube site is dedicated to discrediting “Kapitalism,” and propping up Marx’s theory of communism.
Communism has always been successful in lofty theory only, never in real world application. I calling bullshit on the crutch of whole argument, not just a specific point.
You points are well said but it’s based on a failed theory.
@Yereviltwin2 Marx didn't have a theory of communism. He had a critique of capitalism which is necessary if we are to form a theory of anti-capitalism. I have no interest in advocating the failed experiments in 20th century communism. This blog is intended to re-examine Marx's critique of capitalism for the purpose of helping create a new vision of an anti-capitalist project.
What do you mean he didn’t have a theory of communism? The man wrote the communist manifesto, and you are just reiterating that same critique.
The critique is “Kapitalism” is bad and his communist theory is correct. Well we have had over a hundred years since his death to see his theory put to action against a capitalist one, and it’s clear as day that the capitalist won.
Claiming the opposite is your goal and your claim is BS.
@Yereviltwin2 Have you even read the Manifesto? Nowhere in the Communist Manifesto or any other writing by Marx is there a theory of what a communist society would look like. Your are arguing that since the USSR was a failure then Marx's critique of capitalism is 'BS'. Yet you haven't actually advanced any critique of Marx at all, just the obvious argument that the USSR was a failure. I don't think that is a referendum on Marx at all.
Correct!! Everywhere Marx’s communist theory has been put to into action there has been utter failure. Marx’s theory, when applied, has failed. The history is written on the wall. Capitalism when applied has give the greatest amount of people the greatest amount of wealth.
I have 60 selections of varying types of toilet paper at the grocery store, Capitalism won.
@Yereviltwin2 I don't think that 20th century communism was an expression of Marxist theory b/c: 1. Marx didn't have a theory of communism. You can't 'put it into action' because it doesn't exist. 2. Many of the key aspects of capitalism that he critiqued were also present in the USSR.
This is why it is necessary to return to Marx, rather then Lenin Stalin or Mao, if we are to revive the anti-capitalist project.
You still have not advanced any critique of any argument I've made.
So what you are saying is that the communism that was attempted and put into practice was based in Marx’s criticism of capitalism but not on any theory he put forth.
Alright then, are you also doing the same? Just pointing out why capitalism is wrong but not offering a solution? Or is your solution to capitalism true Marxist communism?
@Yereviltwin2 I am saying the USSR had little if anything to do with Marx. His name was used but not his ideas. Communism existed before Marx. Marx sought to give communist movements a more scientific critique of capitalism so that they could no exactly what they were fighting against. He never wrote any theories about what communism would look like. Most of the institutional features of capital that he criticized were not eliminated in the USSR.
Wha what!? That’s like saying that Jesus has little to do with the catholic church. That’s silly.
So you’re also saying is that Marx was just a critic of Capitalism and nothing more? OK, are you the same? And do advocate a type of replacement for capitalism, if so, what?
@Yereviltwin2 That's a great example. Yes I would argue that Jesus has little to do w/ the Catholic Church except that they use his name in justifying holy wars, supporting the medieval state, and molesting boys. There is nothing in the political acts of the Catholic Church that has anything to do with the ideas of Jesus.
Yes I am saying, for a fact, that Marx never wrote any plan for what Communism would look like. I challenge you to find a text in which he does.
@brendanmcooney He does however give us the tools we need to figure out what it would mean to form a break with capital: we'd need to abolish socially necessary labor time, value production, private property, etc. But Marx doesn't give us a plan for how this could happen. That is up to us to figure out. Lenin argued that we can eliminate capitalism just by taking over the state and turning all property into state property. I don't think this is an adequate vision.
@brendanmcooney I am very critical of Lenin and 20th century communism but I'm convinced that Marx's critique of capital is the only body of thought adequate to the task of building a new anti-capitalist politics. My goal in this blog is to explore Marx's ideas with other people to aid in the task of forming a new anti-capitalist politics.
For the record, you do not actually have a critique of any of the arguments in my videos right?
@brendanmcooney To be fair, Marx did have an idea of how to move from capitalism to another system. He saw the working class as the group with the power to do away with capitalism, by taking control of the mean of production and setting up a new economic system which suited their interests (one in which the means of production were under their democratic control.) I do not think we should leave out that important contribution to socialist theory.
Brendan, have you any thoughts on Kliman's new book? He's said what is in it before, but I recently listened to the interview he gave on DietSoap where he said that most of the claims being made in OWS, due to the issues of the Law of the Tendential Fall in the Rate of Profit would, such as those for higher wages, are really not at all the solution from an economic point of view.
Besides the message of removing financial interest from politics, what claims do you think should or could be made?
Does the Subjective Law of Value even contradict Labour Theory of Value? It just seems to say, 'People make choices,' which is true but not very profound or contradictory.
Excellent videos, by the way, this latest batch is particularly accessible.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. It seems to me that they are just saying X is more usefull to do than Y. It doesn't explain how X and Y got there, or why I find X more usefull. It feels like micro economics for dummies.
The bit on how the abstractions used by Marx to understand capitalism were the operational abstractions created by a real functioning capitalistic society was nothing short of brilliant; it really helped me see the opening of Capital in a new light, thanks for that.
@GalenAus Sorry. Not meant to be condescending. I am merely trying to describe the nature of a protest in a bourgeois democracy. This is always how I feel at a protest- like I'm just trying to make a big enough stink about something so that perhaps some distant politician might notice...
@brendanmcooney So true lol. At the end of the day, non-entreprenuers and workers are second class citizens, and Corporations, entreprenuers and capitalist are first class citizens.
another great series. if you havent (you may have given his recent media visibility in relation to OWS) you may want to check out "debt: the first 5000 years" by david graeber. its really good, and more or less marx-y. graeber is an anthropologist and he gets into (among many other things) the complete lack of any human societies operating via pure barter
@mistersix420 I don't think David Graeber understands the regression theory that he's criticizing, since he essentially strawmans it. The argument isn't that there was some barter society that eventually gave way to our own, modern, credit-based society. Instead, the austrians are saying that, before the existence of money, there was a demand for individuals to trade things they had for things they didn't have, and that money/credit was a tool that allowed these things to happen more effectively
@ancapistan well, i think his point is that that doesn't really happen either. in earlier social configurations people quite often don't bother with what we might identify as trade. they rely instead on vaguely reciprocal gift-giving etc, and money finds it origin instead in bureaucracy (as in the temples of mesopotamia) and law (as in barbarian law codes specifying restitution for various injuries and wrongs, where the vagueness tolerated in gift giving is replaced by exact money amounts)
Good stuff. Are there more videos to come? Some of the most important aspects of Marxism weren't there such as the falling rate of profit or the inevitability of crisis. Will they be in later videos?
Na11y 1 month ago in playlist More videos from brendanmcooney
@Na11y Yes there are more videos planned in this Law of Value series. The next is on Abstract Labor. The draft script of this is already posted on my kapitalism101.wordpress site.
I have an older video about the Falling Rate of Profit. just search for Falling Rate of Profit on youtube and you'll probably find it. Or see the link on my wordpress blog.
brendanmcooney 1 month ago
yeah i agree with a few commentators here, this specific video series on value is nearly excellent ! I would give it 100 thumbs up if I could.
seigneurvoland666 1 month ago
Amazing. I loved this video series. Everything I knew was wrong with capitalism but didn't have the words to explain it. Subscribed.
Magicwillnz 1 month ago
That was the most well written bullshit I have ever heard. Using far stretched ideas with philosopher grade language doesn’t make the case for communism any better.
Yereviltwin2 2 months ago
@Yereviltwin2
It's good that you supplied arguments and gave examples, else we would just dismiss your comment as vague and useless.
pulsatingremedy 2 months ago
@Yereviltwin2 . This video is not intended to 'make a case for communism'. Do you have a specific criticism of an argument in the video or just a bunch of rhetoric?
brendanmcooney 2 months ago 5
@brendanmcooney
Wha!? Of course it’s intended to make a case for communism. You have Marx’s head at the start of the video and on your blog.
“in order to exercise such collective power we must break with the capitalist mode of production”
Break with capitalism mode and replace it with what? Marx's communism!
Yereviltwin2 2 months ago
@Yereviltwin2 It's a critique of a specific aspect of capitalism and advocates that we need to break with capitalism in order to avoid such problems. In order to make a case for communism I would need to describe some concept of communism. I could make such an case but that would require a different video and different arguments. Please advance a specific critique of an argument in the video since you are so certain that it's "bullshit".
brendanmcooney 2 months ago
@brendanmcooney
Buddy, your whole body of work is a means to an end. Your blog and YouTube site is dedicated to discrediting “Kapitalism,” and propping up Marx’s theory of communism.
Communism has always been successful in lofty theory only, never in real world application. I calling bullshit on the crutch of whole argument, not just a specific point.
You points are well said but it’s based on a failed theory.
Yereviltwin2 1 month ago
@Yereviltwin2 Marx didn't have a theory of communism. He had a critique of capitalism which is necessary if we are to form a theory of anti-capitalism. I have no interest in advocating the failed experiments in 20th century communism. This blog is intended to re-examine Marx's critique of capitalism for the purpose of helping create a new vision of an anti-capitalist project.
What is the 'failed theory' that you refer to?
brendanmcooney 1 month ago
@brendanmcooney
What do you mean he didn’t have a theory of communism? The man wrote the communist manifesto, and you are just reiterating that same critique.
The critique is “Kapitalism” is bad and his communist theory is correct. Well we have had over a hundred years since his death to see his theory put to action against a capitalist one, and it’s clear as day that the capitalist won.
Claiming the opposite is your goal and your claim is BS.
Yereviltwin2 1 month ago
@Yereviltwin2 Have you even read the Manifesto? Nowhere in the Communist Manifesto or any other writing by Marx is there a theory of what a communist society would look like. Your are arguing that since the USSR was a failure then Marx's critique of capitalism is 'BS'. Yet you haven't actually advanced any critique of Marx at all, just the obvious argument that the USSR was a failure. I don't think that is a referendum on Marx at all.
brendanmcooney 1 month ago
@brendanmcooney
Correct!! Everywhere Marx’s communist theory has been put to into action there has been utter failure. Marx’s theory, when applied, has failed. The history is written on the wall. Capitalism when applied has give the greatest amount of people the greatest amount of wealth.
I have 60 selections of varying types of toilet paper at the grocery store, Capitalism won.
Yereviltwin2 1 month ago
@Yereviltwin2 I don't think that 20th century communism was an expression of Marxist theory b/c: 1. Marx didn't have a theory of communism. You can't 'put it into action' because it doesn't exist. 2. Many of the key aspects of capitalism that he critiqued were also present in the USSR.
This is why it is necessary to return to Marx, rather then Lenin Stalin or Mao, if we are to revive the anti-capitalist project.
You still have not advanced any critique of any argument I've made.
brendanmcooney 1 month ago
@brendanmcooney
So what you are saying is that the communism that was attempted and put into practice was based in Marx’s criticism of capitalism but not on any theory he put forth.
Alright then, are you also doing the same? Just pointing out why capitalism is wrong but not offering a solution? Or is your solution to capitalism true Marxist communism?
Yereviltwin2 1 month ago
@Yereviltwin2 I am saying the USSR had little if anything to do with Marx. His name was used but not his ideas. Communism existed before Marx. Marx sought to give communist movements a more scientific critique of capitalism so that they could no exactly what they were fighting against. He never wrote any theories about what communism would look like. Most of the institutional features of capital that he criticized were not eliminated in the USSR.
brendanmcooney 1 month ago
@brendanmcooney
Wha what!? That’s like saying that Jesus has little to do with the catholic church. That’s silly.
So you’re also saying is that Marx was just a critic of Capitalism and nothing more? OK, are you the same? And do advocate a type of replacement for capitalism, if so, what?
Yereviltwin2 1 month ago
@Yereviltwin2 That's a great example. Yes I would argue that Jesus has little to do w/ the Catholic Church except that they use his name in justifying holy wars, supporting the medieval state, and molesting boys. There is nothing in the political acts of the Catholic Church that has anything to do with the ideas of Jesus.
Yes I am saying, for a fact, that Marx never wrote any plan for what Communism would look like. I challenge you to find a text in which he does.
brendanmcooney 1 month ago
@brendanmcooney He does however give us the tools we need to figure out what it would mean to form a break with capital: we'd need to abolish socially necessary labor time, value production, private property, etc. But Marx doesn't give us a plan for how this could happen. That is up to us to figure out. Lenin argued that we can eliminate capitalism just by taking over the state and turning all property into state property. I don't think this is an adequate vision.
brendanmcooney 1 month ago
@brendanmcooney I am very critical of Lenin and 20th century communism but I'm convinced that Marx's critique of capital is the only body of thought adequate to the task of building a new anti-capitalist politics. My goal in this blog is to explore Marx's ideas with other people to aid in the task of forming a new anti-capitalist politics.
For the record, you do not actually have a critique of any of the arguments in my videos right?
brendanmcooney 1 month ago
@brendanmcooney To be fair, Marx did have an idea of how to move from capitalism to another system. He saw the working class as the group with the power to do away with capitalism, by taking control of the mean of production and setting up a new economic system which suited their interests (one in which the means of production were under their democratic control.) I do not think we should leave out that important contribution to socialist theory.
SxcLilAussieBabe 1 month ago
Some economists are now using Karl Marx theories to explain why the capitalism is failing.
darksid007 3 months ago
Well done, Brendon. I think you managed to cover the broad aspects of the Marxist critique of marginal utility with great brevity.
jncoles 3 months ago 2
Brendan, have you any thoughts on Kliman's new book? He's said what is in it before, but I recently listened to the interview he gave on DietSoap where he said that most of the claims being made in OWS, due to the issues of the Law of the Tendential Fall in the Rate of Profit would, such as those for higher wages, are really not at all the solution from an economic point of view.
Besides the message of removing financial interest from politics, what claims do you think should or could be made?
yadsik 3 months ago 2
Does the Subjective Law of Value even contradict Labour Theory of Value? It just seems to say, 'People make choices,' which is true but not very profound or contradictory.
Excellent videos, by the way, this latest batch is particularly accessible.
jeevesbond 3 months ago
@jeevesbond
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. It seems to me that they are just saying X is more usefull to do than Y. It doesn't explain how X and Y got there, or why I find X more usefull. It feels like micro economics for dummies.
pulsatingremedy 3 months ago
The bit on how the abstractions used by Marx to understand capitalism were the operational abstractions created by a real functioning capitalistic society was nothing short of brilliant; it really helped me see the opening of Capital in a new light, thanks for that.
moysesb 3 months ago
@moysesb
You can also read about it in Socialism: Utopian and Scientific.
pulsatingremedy 3 months ago
"people run around in the street begging for the system to take notice of them" sounds extremely condescending.
GalenAus 3 months ago
@GalenAus Sorry. Not meant to be condescending. I am merely trying to describe the nature of a protest in a bourgeois democracy. This is always how I feel at a protest- like I'm just trying to make a big enough stink about something so that perhaps some distant politician might notice...
brendanmcooney 3 months ago 8
@brendanmcooney So true lol. At the end of the day, non-entreprenuers and workers are second class citizens, and Corporations, entreprenuers and capitalist are first class citizens.
Tougemaster06 3 months ago
@GalenAus From the way I've seen wall streeters sneering while drinking champagne and taunting protestors I'd say it's pretty accurate.
Drum circles, protest songs and hand holding won't do much until we hurt their bottom line.
dffykvn 3 months ago
another great series. if you havent (you may have given his recent media visibility in relation to OWS) you may want to check out "debt: the first 5000 years" by david graeber. its really good, and more or less marx-y. graeber is an anthropologist and he gets into (among many other things) the complete lack of any human societies operating via pure barter
mistersix420 3 months ago
@mistersix420 I don't think David Graeber understands the regression theory that he's criticizing, since he essentially strawmans it. The argument isn't that there was some barter society that eventually gave way to our own, modern, credit-based society. Instead, the austrians are saying that, before the existence of money, there was a demand for individuals to trade things they had for things they didn't have, and that money/credit was a tool that allowed these things to happen more effectively
ancapistan 3 months ago
@ancapistan well, i think his point is that that doesn't really happen either. in earlier social configurations people quite often don't bother with what we might identify as trade. they rely instead on vaguely reciprocal gift-giving etc, and money finds it origin instead in bureaucracy (as in the temples of mesopotamia) and law (as in barbarian law codes specifying restitution for various injuries and wrongs, where the vagueness tolerated in gift giving is replaced by exact money amounts)
mistersix420 3 months ago 3
Exactly my thoughts, but a lot better said than I ever could!
People should educate themselves and see the forces who have power over them that they have created themselves, for what they are!
Fav'ed
dewinthemorning 3 months ago
Great videos.
Xenu 3 months ago in playlist More videos from brendanmcooney