On Wed, 06 Jun 2001, you wrote: > > It is essential to show the farmer that he is like any other worker, and not somehow potentialy 'better off' because has some temporary land right. To save his skin he must agree to a general working class programme, since no one else can realyy help him. > > Nationalise all the large estates so that the small farmer can be protected from extortionate rents, then promote cooperative farming with sales to State 'Marketing' Boards. This would guarantee 'prices' that allowed decent rights of purchase. This however requires compelling the large retail corporations to accept these cost prices without altering retail prices . This would reduce their accounting rates of profit. The investors would rebel, this would precipitate a political crisis. If investors refused to invest in such chains you could nationalise them... this would deepen the political crisis, and so on . Reform is not an option. > -------------------- This is rougly along the lines of the reply that I gave him. I further said that food policy should be based on a plan to meed the dietar needs of the population, wth state marketing boards purchasing the amounts needed for this purpose. I invoked the example of Boyd Orr to support this. Problem with this of course is that with current labour productivity in the large farms it may be that the socially necessary part of the small farmers working day is only a couple of hours. In that case it may be unrealistic to suppose that the small farms can continue even under socialism. ---------------------------------------------- > 'Protecting' the small farmer, is like 'protecting' any worker that not only produces surplus labour as surplus value (here rent) and also receives less than the value of their own labour.... (which also 'produces' confused indignation on the part of the liberal, political consternation on the part of the social democrat and contempt from the large capitalist).. it can only be done either by directly attacking capitalism's chain of interelated activities, or 'stealing from various other employees 'Peters' to pay farmer 'Paul' in order not to attack capital. The latter of course is a 'satisfactory' State farm subsidy system paid from other workers taxes, evening out exploitation amongst the workers, managing their 'discomfort'. The old 'happy' days of pre Common Market Britain!! In fact of course this 'evening out' is more likely to be done by more intensely exploiting labour in the oppressed states. In this case the 'domestic Peters' would be much happier !! So actually, in the end, it means a consistent anti imperialist position. > > > Regards > > Paul Bullock > > -----Original Message----- > From: Paul Cockshott <paul@cockshott.com> > To: ope-l@galaxy.csuchico.edu <ope-l@galaxy.csuchico.edu> > Date: 06 June 2001 13:29 > Subject: [OPE-L:5801] socialism and the small farmer > > > >At an election meeting in Lanark yesterday, after speaking on > >the labour theory of value, exploitation of the worker and > >the economic advantages of socialism I was questioned by > >a small farmer, who claimed that they were the most exploited > >class in the country, and that they got on average about > >1.85 pounds an hour for their labour. He wanted to know > >what was the socialist response to the problems faced by > >the small farmer today. > > > >I must admit it was not a question that I had anticipated > >having to answer, and if he is right in his figures, then > >farmer's labour is only being valued at about 1/9 th of the > >social norm in the UK, (the MELT is between 15 and 16 > >pounds per hour). > > > >What would participants response to this be? > > > >What do you think is the cause of this unequal exchange > >and what is the remedy for their condition. > >-- > >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/ > >http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~wpc/reports/index.html > > > > > -- Paul Cockshott paul@cockshott.com
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