so-soIt's fine. At this point in history the Communist Manifesto is more of a novelty than anything else. Discovering that about a third of this plus-sized pamphlet is devoted to shit-talking other leftists really drove home that nothing in it was new or scary even at the time. The Communist Manifesto is, upon inspection, revealed as really nothing more than a single piece of a long running, much more widespread conversation.
“. . . The capitalist who employs improved but not yet universally used methods of production sells below the market price, but above his individual price of production; his profit rate thus rises, until competition cancels this out; in the course of this period of adjustment, the second requirement is fulfilled, i.e. growth in the capital laid out . . .”
After lab work🩸💉and a stop at Petsmart 🐈⬛, it‘s time for a sandwich, Coke, and Marx.
#TLT #ThreeListThursday @dabbe
Had to jump in for this one (but couldn‘t quite narrow it down to three 😆)
1. Tagged
2. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
3. The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell
4. The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
5. Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad
Apparently I really like memoirs 📚
WE DID IT!! After more than a year, and 1,000+ pages, my partner and I finished reading Capital Vol. 1!! We basically took turns reading the entire thing out loud line by line. I also kept a notebook that I‘ve updated after each chapter (still need to finish my notes on the Appendix)! It was so much clearer (and funnier!) than I anticipated & I would encourage anyone who wants to read it to not feel daunted. But, definitely read with a buddy 🤓
“The capitalist himself does not know in most cases how much variable capital he employs in his business. We have already seen . . ., and we shall now see further, that the only distinction within his capital that impresses itself on the capitalist as fundamental is the distinction between fixed and circulating capital.”
Marx and Engels‘s historical analysis is breathtakingly, brilliantly simple. I think it‘s wrong but, again, you‘ve just got to admire its genius. Obviously, without understanding the historical basis of Marx‘s thought you can‘t understand anything else in Marxism.
“We see here again how a variation in constant capital has the same effect on the rate of profit, irrespective of whether this variation is brought about by an increase or decrease in the material components of c, or simply by a change in their value.”
Enjoying an egg and cheese sandwich and a “shakerato” (espresso and sugar shaken over ice) with some Marx before running errands. Officially enough of a regular at this cafe that the owner knows my name ☕️ 📖
After a long break, finally picking up Marx again. Enjoying a picnic in a local park with the best flowers. Having an egg and cheese sandwich on a cheddar chive biscuit and a rose white mocha. One of the park workers gave me a flower crown!
