[OPE-L:6744] [OPE-L:217] Re: Re: Re: Chapter 1

John R. Ernst (ernst@PIPELINE.COM)
Mon, 26 Oct 1998 00:30:17

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It seems to me that one of the problems in working
out Marx's notion of value is the failure to identify
his starting point. Sure, we all know it's the commodity.
But it is part of what Marx calls "an immense
accumulation of commodities." Can we then say that land
is a commodity under consideration in Chapter 1?
Is land accumulating? I think not. Hence, Marx
is free to locate the common substance of those commodities
that are part of that "immense accumulation."

If we rule out land as a commodity by saying that it is not
a product of labor, Marx's argument becomes tautological.

John Ernst

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