Re: marxism-socialsim concepts and people

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>> MikalacNS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 12/04/00 01:01PM >>>

CB: Nice going , Norm. Did anyone mention _Value, Price and Profit_ yet ? It
was explicitly a popular lecture by Karl Marx on the fundamental's of his
approach to political economy.

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i pulled that essay off louis's list along with a bunch of others, including
the Manifesto.  however, i've been reading a lot of lister quotes from
"Grundrisse", 1840 Notes, Critique of Gotha Program (what's the Gotha
Program?).  are these original tracts essential reading for an understanding
of the marxist-socialist positions or are "Capital", "Manifesto" and the
above-quoted essay sufficient?

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CB: No doubt _Capital_ is sufficient for its subject, but _Value, Price and Profit_ might help to understand the main concepts.

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The "dialectic between technology and ecology ...."

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been reading a lot about the marxist "dialectic" these days.  would a
translation be: dialectic = social "law" or inevitable cause-effect
relationship among social events?


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CB: I'd say , no. Dialectic is a way of understanding change or development. It is not confined to the social, but applies to the natural as well.

See the note on it by Lenin. Also, see the discussion of Hegel by Engels in _Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy_


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various 1848 European (Italy, Swiz., France, Germany, etc.) revolutions
mentioned in marxist writings.

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i'm curious what all the 1840s European conflicts were about.  where can i
find a couple of books that explain the causes and effects of these revolts
without the writing being too polemical?

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CB: Of course the Marxist position is that they were about class struggle especially.


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the 10 US-years under the Articles of Confederation.

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in the U.S. btwn 1776 and 1787, the 13 states established their individual
Constitutions which pretty much kept legislative, executive and judicial
powers within the state legislatures.  i'm thinking that maybe that era was
about as "socialist" or "anarchist" (no connection btwn them, of course!) as
the U.S. ever became.  these state legislatures gave minimal cooperation
among the states under the Articles.

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CB: Anarchist, not socialist. However, the colonial states were states.They had repressive apparatuses which were used especially to repressive indigenous Americans and African slaves. They were by no means lacking in state apparatuses.

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state supremacy and the Articles were anathema to the elite Framers of the
U.S. Constitution, of course, and the Fed Constitution changed all that.
however, i always wondered how the masses (not the elites) felt about these
supreme state legislatures.  anyone out there know where i can find info
about reactions of the little people ("the masses") to the state
constitutions, laws and events during that period?

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CB: See _The Colonial Era_ By Herbert Aptheker ( International


i'm trying to determine if the Articles and state constitutions during that
period were unsatisfactory just to U.S. elites or to the U.S. masses as
well.

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thanks for your help.

norm