Lizzie45
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
If all you were trying to say was that accurate predictions in physics and astrophysics are easier than in fields which involve human action then you are not saying anything new. But if historical materialism is “unscientific” on that account, then so are a lot of other theories, including the view that capitalism will be the only game in town for ever or at least for the next million years
It’s not a question of whether predictions in some fields are easier than in others but rather a case of whether they are falsifiable or not. For any hypothesis to have credence, it must be inherently disprovable before it can become accepted as a scientific hypothesis or theory.
I don’t recall saying that capitalism will be the only game in town for ever but on the evidence thus far it should be fairly apparent that it’s still going to be around for a very long time.
And it’s time the human race probably doesn’t have due to any of the potential reasons both of us have enumerated.
I think that’s scheduled for sone 50 billion years, isn’t it?
Well no, considering that Andromeda is approaching us (Milky Way) at an estimated velocity of 110 kilometres a second, much sooner than that.
But you’re missing the point. I was attempting to use a rhetorical flourish to contrast the genuine science of astrophysics with the pseudoscience of historical materialism.
In any case other events may well intervene (nuclear annihilation, climate catastrophe) long before the proles get around to liberating themselves.
…on other planets besides Earth…
Which ones did you specifically have in mind?
Lizzie:
1) How would you ‘fix’ or change the SPGB?
2) Better yet, what ostensibly socialist/communist group (either marx- or anarchist- based) do you find yourself in agreement with?
ZJW:
1) I’ve already given my answer in #243575
2) I’m not associated with any party or group: I have some ‘sympathy’ with the SPGB’s position although I think the global ‘working class’ is extremely unlikely to emancipate itself.
There is far greater certainty that the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies will eventually collide.
If more and more workers are sacked and machines or AI replace them where does surplus value come from?
Being a product of labour, a machine like every other commodity contains value in addition to its use-value. That value is determined by the amount of socially necessary labour required to produce the machine. During the productive process, the machine wears out, and has to be replaced in the course of time. It follows then that the machine cannot pass on any more value than that which is contained within it in the first place. The machine is used in the production of commodities, and it gradually by stages, perhaps over years or decades, comes to the end of its working life. But during its working life it has added value to the particular commodity for which it was designed. Each of the commodities, therefore, has consumed part of the value of the machine, and consequently the machine has transferred its value to the products.
Is he the one who criticises NATO’s Drang nach Osten in Ukraine?
Yes, Roger Waters has consistently denounced the Moscow regime for its military operation in Ukraine while also steadfastly pointing to the hegemonic aim of US imperialism that is driving the conflict which threatens humanity with nuclear annihilation.
Just want to keep an eye out for you if you end up working in whatever nursing home I end up in.
Fear not! I’m a physicist, not a physician. 🙂
Actually, you are on the right track.
Oh, and don’t I know that! 🙂
Serious question. If I join the SPGB now would I qualify for a share in its assets (sale of No 52 and its not inconsiderable other monies) when it folds?
Isn’t the burden of proof on the SPGB? If what you are doing is sound, why such lamentable results?
Don’t be too hard on the SPGB, Essex Boy! It’s not doing anything wrong, apart from wasting its time. It should be blatantly obvious by now the problem lies fairly and squarely with the intended recipients of the ‘message’: the ignorant and politically unsophisticated mass of humanity.
exempli gratia:
This hasn’t worked in the past, it isn’t working now and there’s no reason to suppose that it will be more successful in the future.
Succinctly sums up the SPGB’s quandary!
Over 100 years of ‘activity’, fewer than 300 members, all of your companion parties defunct or near defunct, and still no socialist revolution in sight.Were the Socialist Studies group in attendance?
Only in spirit I imagine – must be all dead by now. 🙁
If the paper money is in excess, if there is more of it than represents the amount of gold coins of like denomination which could actually be current, it will (apart from the danger of falling into general disrepute) represent only that quantity of gold, which, in accordance with the laws of circulation of commodities, is really required and is alone capable of being represented by paper. If the quantity of paper money issued is, for instance, double what it ought to be, then in actual fact one pound has become the money name of about one-eighth of an ounce of gold instead of about one-quarter of an ounce. The effect is the same as if an alteration had taken place in the function of gold as a standard of prices. The values previously expressed by the price £1 will now be expressed by the price £2.(Capital Vol. I, page 108 in Allen & Unwin edn.)
Long experience has shown that Marx was right. Whenever inconvertible paper money has been issued in excess for a considerable period it has raised prices above what they would otherwise be.
Energy bills to drop £440 a year according to new price cap forecast.
Why not just go on a hedonistic binge or, alternatively, cut your wrists and be done with it.
I’m already on a hedonistic binge – and loving it!
Coming here is merely one of my many excesses. 🙂 🙂 🙂I would far sooner aspire to a better society even if it is unlikely to come in my lifetime
So would I, and I do. Unfortunately there are far too many idiots who don’t.
