Jerry, I fully agree with the first half of your [7210]: for Hegel all contradictions are internal. The concept of alterity, i.e., unrelated otherness, does not exist in Hegel. Marx did not sufficiently criticize this but partly took it on board with his thesis that external contradictions were ultimately irrelevant for capital; it would overcome them all and its downfall would be its internal contradictions. Not because they would lead to an automatic breakdown; capital can limp on for ever with whatever contrivance is necessary to keep the internal contradictions in check, but because it would lose its legitimacy. A good example are here the intellectual property laws. Information is not suitable for the kind of exclusive private property inherent in commodity production. Therefore the capitalists come up with the contrivance of copyright laws etc., which have a hard time being accepted by the masses, see Napster and software piracy. Of course, most internal contradictions of capital are much nastier than this. It is a too optimistic view to think that only internal contradictions are relevant for the downfall of capitalism. When the internal contradictions of capital have become strong enough to become a problem for it, then the other side of the coin, the socialist relations growing in the womb of capitalism, are strong and developing as well. These internal contradictions are really an embarrassment of riches: capitalism has pushed productivity to such a level that the commodity form is no longer adequate. This is why Marx thought the solutions of the problem arise together with the problem itself. But in the external clash between capital accumulation and the limited resources of our planet, there is no such other side of the coin which would provide a solution, exactly because this clash is external. Perhaps this will clarify why I consider the distinction between internal versus external contradictions relevant here. Hans G. Ehrbar
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