[Marxism] Knowledge Society and Capitalism

["Jurriaan Bendien" <andromeda246@xxxxxxxxx>]

I enjoyed reading Cockshott & Cottrell also, but I think their book is not
without problems. For example, they confuse international trade in a
socialist economy (applying the comparative costs principle) with foreign
trade in a capitalist economy (based on absolute competitive advantage and
maximising real returns), adhering instead to a Ricardian theory of foreign
trade, which has been totally disproven logically and empirically.

Unsurprisingly, Paul Cockshott's theory about imperialism is a bit
"eclectic" to say the least. He argues there was imperialism, then it went
out of existence, and now it exists again. It's a bit like a rabbit which
disappears into its warren and then pops out again.  He argues that profit
cannot arise from unequal exchange (
http://reality.gn.apc.org/polemic/imper.htm ) and he argues that "unequal
exchange" would mean that "US workers exploit Mexican labour". Unequal
exchange is a medieval theory according to Cockshott, not in the sense of
mercantile capitalism but a Thomist doctrine of just price, because, he
argues, the "terms of trade" are determined only by the productivity of
labour, and nothing else.

Cockshott & Cottrell make very good points about participatory democracy,
but they don't develop much of a theory about decision-making which is of
organisational significance. So in some important respects I think their
book has more poetic value than real theoretical substance. Which is not to
say that these authors aren't very capable of very good and substantive
research, because they are. At least they really understood what the
question is, as the title of their book states: "Towards a New Socialism".
In that sense, they're ahead of much of the British Left.

Jurriaan


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