Re: [Marxism] Dueling Powers and Capitalist Property in the UnitedStates by Matt Russo (Joaquin Bustelo)

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Matthew Russo wrote:

> 
> Yes, it is precisely the point here that capital is a social relation, and
> for precisely that reason the wage worker who is privileged to own
> capitalist property no matter how petty (successfully of course), stands in
> more that purely a wage earning, unpaid surplus value providing relation to
> the capitalist class.
> 

These are basically the same points that Engels made in "The Housing 
Question". 
(http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1872/housing-question/index.htm) 
Back in 1981 when I first hooked up with Peter Camejo, I introduced him 
to an old friend in NYC who is no Marxist but pretty sophisticated 
politically. He told Peter that there will never be a revolution in the 
USA because workers owned their own houses and thought like the 
bourgeoisie even though their property was negligible. To my surprise, 
Camejo agreed with him although he advised my friend that never is a 
very long time. One of the reasons I find these arguments dubious is 
that they are endorsed by the SWP which stated in the Militant newspaper 
that is incorrect to fight against foreclosures. That took a lot of 
chutzpah considering that the SWP leader lived in a million dollar condo 
in the West Village.

Maybe I'll try to find some time in the next week or so to see what 
other post-Engels Marxists had to say on the question of housing.

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