[OPE-L:5107] Re: Re: Re: productive and unproductive labor (again)

From: Paul Cockshott (paul@cockshott.com)
Date: Mon Mar 05 2001 - 04:31:14 EST


On Sat, 03 Mar 2001, you wrote:
> Paul C,
> 
> I proposed a manner of dealing with roads in OPE-L4969 (19 Feb)
> Rakesh considered this acceptable...I think, from his response... does it
> not deal with part of your question?
> 
> 
I am not really happy with it. My feelings go along with those
of charlie in his posting about the concept in marx as being
primarily part of the polemic against feudalism. Applying it
to modern economies with combinations of modes of production
has the effect of promoting the distinction of whether labour
produces private profit to an unduely high level whilst
demoting the concept of whether the labour is socially productive.

I am of the view that labour that does not produce Sraffian
or von Neumann basic goods should count as unproductive
in the material sense. This is the global set, productive for
capital is a subset.

I would not count labour in the arms industry as productive,
since, from the standpoint of society as a whole, and even
from the standpoint of capital as a whole it is unproductive.
This was evident to Ford and Kellog.



-- 
Paul Cockshott, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland
0141 330 3125  mobile:07946 476966
paul@cockshott.com
http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/people/personal/wpc/
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