What in the hell …

Today on the plane, El, and train I read The Abolition of the State: Anarchist & Marxist Perspectives (more…)

This is obvious, but there’s no predicting how one’s interests might change. For instance, I’ve become interested in laundry (more…)

In case anyone’s interested. (more…)

I went out both Saturday and Sunday nights this past weekend, despite my
a) feeling like crap
b) being super snowed under with work
c) feeling generally antisocial and curmudgeonly when it comes to other people or late nights
d) being cheap and yet still pretty broke (as usual)
e) having to work early Monday morning

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Now certainly I agree that flags are such ugly things (and that irony is the refuge of the educated - always complaining but they never quit), but I do have an affection for the old black and red. (more…)

ΔM, that is. The difference between M’ and M. As in M-C-M’, the circuit which Marx identifies with capital (the circuit of money as capital).

The difference is surplus value, which is really what I’m on about. M-C-M’ is really M-C(mp+lp)…P…C’-M’ where mp=means of production and lp=labor power and …P… indicates production. Which is to say, the capitalist, our man Moneybags, makes an initial outlay for means of production (say, buildings and tools/machinery and raw materials) and for labor power (workers), which are then combined to produce a new product which is then sold for an amount greater than Moneybags’ outlay for mp and lp. The difference between the outlay and take home is the profit or surplus value (for now we’ll say profit and surplus value are the same; we’re also going to leave aside accumulation for now and just assume it happens normally).

Let’s say Moneybags spends $1000 and makes $1500. Let’s say annually. In that case the change in M is $500. Moneybags spends $500 on means of production and $500 on labor power (hiring ten workers for the year) and makes $500 over and above his costs. So far so good, right? All good and Marxly? (more…)

I have a fairly sizable chunk of work that I really must do IMMEDIATELY. (more…)

Nettie pressed on the fabric with her palm to hold it flat as she inched it toward the spinning felt-covered rollers. The rollers took the edge of the tablecloth, pulling it, so that the fabric now moved on its own under Nettie’s hand. Her skin stuck to the wet linen for a moment too long; now her hand was between the rollers. Nettie screamed and tried to pull her hand free. The rollers pulled her forward with the linen tablecloth, grinding her palm against the steam-heated iron roller inside the machine. (more…)