Re Paul C's [OPE-L:5118]: . > If a nation maintains a large military establishment, a large part of > its best engineers are involved not in the design and production > of capital goods but in the production of machines which do > not constitute capital. This slows down capital accumulation in > those countries. The person hours spent on Trident submarines > and aircraft carriers are hours not spent modernising the means of > production. Unproductive labor employed by the state *can* promote capital accumulation within an individual nation if that labor brings about revolutions in technological change for capitalists in that nation. Indeed, it is an enduring myth to believe that the only source of technological change are capitalists and that the state merely represents a hindrance to technological change. Consider such mid- to late 20th Century technological breakthroughs as radar, jets, satellites, computers, GPS, and the Internet. (Not to mention atomic energy and Tang!) For the most part, these technological advances were the result of research and development work done by state employees employed by the DOD or NASA. In time, the technologies were diffused in the private sector because the state essentially gave these technologies gratis to domestic corporations. Yet, this by itself doesn't mean that the labor employed by the state on R&D etc. is productive labor -- even though the "wealth of the nation" may ultimately be increased as a result of such labors. In solidarity, Jerry
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