Re: China's new Marxist left

[Grant Lee <grantlee@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I was struck by the vigour with which the assembled Chinese Marxist
> economists were discussing the law of value--- in particular, how to
> demonstrate that utility yields value and the capitalist is a productive
> worker.

> This is ironical, right?

I would be one of the last people to defend the Chinese "Communist" Party.
Nevertheless, capitalists have a dual role; expropriator and -- albeit to an
infinitely smaller degree -- expropriated:

"The capitalist, as representative of capital engaged in its valorisation
process - productive capital - performs a productive function, which
consists precisely in directing and exploiting productive labour. The
capitalist class, in contrast to the other consumers of surplus value, who
do not stand in a direct and active relation to its production, is the
productive class par excellence. [See Ricardo] (As director of the labour
process the capitalist can perform productive labour in the sense that his
labour is included in the overall labour process which is embodied in the
product.)" Marx, 1864, "Results of the Direct [or Immediate] Production
Process" http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1864/economic/ch02b.htm

regards,

Grant.